How Smoothies Rock Your Health (and a yummy recipe)

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Remember when Donkey in the animated movie “Shrek” says: “You know what ELSE everybody likes? Parfaits! Have you ever met a person, you say, let's get some parfait, they say, Hell no, I don't like no parfait. Parfaits are delicious!” This is how I feel about smoothies. In addition to being just plain delicious, smoothies are pretty much the best-tasting and most nutritious on-the-go meal known to man. 

Here are the main reasons why smoothies are so amazing for your health. 

Smoothies:

• Are chock full of vitamins, enzymes, and minerals
• Are easier for your body to digest, which means optimal nutrient assimilation (they get where they need to go in your body quickly)
• Stabilize blood sugar (especially smoothies with a healthy fat in them, as fat is key for blood sugar stabilization)
• Are a fabulous way to consume a variety of different fruits or vegetables at one time
• Are terrific for cleansing the body of toxicity
• Are an easy way to add more fiber to your diet for optimal bowel function

In addition, blending your food provides even more benefits.

• The health of your body depends on your digestion. When you blend your foods, you are supporting the digestion process by doing much of the work. Your body does not have to work so hard to break down the nutrients.
• Did you know that 80% of your energy is spent digesting and assimilating your nutrients? Less work for your body means more energy for you.
• Instead of having to prepare and eat cup after cup of healthy greens or fruits, they are packed into one nutrient-dense smoothie. 
• Smoothies can also be a good way to get picky kids to “eat” their fruit and veggies without even knowing it.
• By adding greens such as spinach, kale, collards, etc. to your smoothie, you can take all these benefits to the next level.  Need to try it yourself to believe me?  Here is a great recipe to get you started.

Here’s a great recipe from my Fall Detox Program:

Make this and other smoothies in advance, drink them anytime of day or take them on the-go. 

Vegan Lunch Ideas & Smoothie Recipes

My husband graduates tomorrow from a very tough swimming course in the Marine Corps. Proud wife right here! It was a very physically demanding and mentally draining few weeks for him but he hung in there (a lot of people quit or were dropped... 7 out of 13 actually!). Anyway, he had asked me to plan out his breakfasts and lunches so I did just that! 

Each week I wrote down the recipe for 5 smoothies for him to have for breakfast. He only wanted smoothies in the morning because he didn't have much of an appetite. They were also nice and quick for him to make! I even laid out some of the ingredients the night before, knowing he probably didn't know what they all were haha  Here are a few of the smoothies he had:

Tropical Energy:

1/2 cup frozen pineapple

1 banana

1 tsp maca powder

1 cup spinach 

up to 1 cup unsweetened almond milk

Vanilla Almond:

1 frozen banana

1 spoonful almond butter

1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder (he used PlantFusion)

1 tsp flaxmeal

up to 1 cup unsweetened almond milk

Mango Peach:

1/2 cup frozen mango
1/2 cup frozen peaches
2 tbsp hemp powder
1 tsp sunflower seeds
1 banana
up to 1 cup coconut water

Very Berry:

1 cup frozen strawberries
1 frozen banana
1 scoop Eureka! Berries powder
2 tbsp hemp seeds
1 tsp chia seeds
1 cup spinach
up to 1 cup water or unsweetened almond milk

Chocolate Blueberry:

1 scoop Vega chocolate protein powder
1 frozen banana
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1 tsp hemp powder or seeds
1 tsp sunflower seeds
up to 1 cup unsweetened almond milk

For lunches, I went with smaller meals because he didn't have a lot of time to eat. I made sure to include a lot of protein, nuts, seeds, veggies and fruit.  It's been pretty humid here lately so it's nice to eat cooling foods.  He also didn't have access to a microwave or anything so I had to stick with cold meals.

Note: My husband is vegetarian but eats a lot of vegan meals. Mostly he just eats eggs and cheese a few times a week. 

You'll see here that I repeated a lot of things and that was simply to keep the cost of groceries down.  The recipe for the zucchini muffins is here and the bars here (I didn't stick exactly to the bar recipe but close. My husband said he didn't love them but still ate them where as they are a new favourite for me!).

Vanilla coconut yogurt topped with chia seeds, fruit (strawberries, cherries, blueberries), homemade chocolate zucchini muffin, homemade superfood protein bar, SoDelicious almond milk, mix of Greek dishes.

Apples, almond butter, homemade chocolate zucchini muffin, GoMacro bar, Vega Sport accelorator (it was gross so he didn't drink it. I tried one of their energy ones and didn't like it either. Just has that fake taste to it, you know? I guess if you like Crystal Lite type stuff you may enjoy the taste), seitan sandwich and SoDelicious almond milk.

Green Superfood bar, veggie sandwich, banana, apple, homemade superfood protein bar, SodDelicious almond milk.

Quinoa with veggies and Tofurkey pesto spinach sausage, cilantro Bitchin' sauce, bell pepper, apples, almond butter.

Strawberries, apple, veggie sandwich with Tofurkey deli meat, trail mix and homemade superfood protein bar.

Veggie wrap with wild rice and lentils, apples, almond butter, trail mix, veggies + hummus.

Looking for more vegan friendly lunch ideas? Check out this post from 7 Day Vegan! Lots of great ideas.

Quick Eats

CSA. Hachiya Persimmons!

Smoothie with chocolate protein powder, goji berries, chia seeds, frozen banana and frozen blueberries. 

Smoothie with frozen banana, frozen mango and goji berries. 

Burrito with roasted broccol, cauliflower, rice and chickepeas 

Archer Farms thin crust topped with marinara, Yves salami, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, bell peppers and black olives. 

Veggie sandwich with Yves salami 

Gluten free blueberry muffins

Simple pasta with tomato sauce and garlic toast. Oh and some Gardein Scallopini "chicken".

Burrito with sauteed zucchini, eggplant, squash and lentils. 

Blended frozen banana, frozen pomegranate and carob powder. I love that it sorta looks like neopolitan! 

Vitamix Love

As you will see, I finally bought a Vitamix!! I've been wanting one for a couple years now but they are pretty expensive so I was having a hard time taking the plunge. I went with the cheapest refurbished one from vitamix.com plus the longer 8 year warranty. I ended up with the Culinary Arts Institute Professional Series. It is definitely living up to all of the hype so far!! 

Groceries:

I finally joined a CSA! I've been wanting to for some time but since I don't drive it wasn't possible to pick it up each week. Then I discovered one (Abundant Harvest Organics) that delivers too! So now I get a box (small pictured but they also have a large one plus you can add on a TON of things) every Wednesday! It's grown organically on local farms, can't beat that!  I am very impressed with the quality too. Check and see if you have a CSA in your area!

Meal prep:

Just a little bit of meal prep since I didn't really grocery shop on the weekend. One of my favourite "larabar" recipes, hummus and tomato sauce (I added spinach so it's kinda brown). I finally bought a Vitamix so I used it to make all of this!! 

Breakfast:

Homemade granola (Forks and Knives cookbook) with fresh white peach and banana.

Oatmeal with peaches and blueberries

Tofu scramble with bacon tempeh and a crescent roll

Lunch/Snacks:

Leftover green curry with tofu from Thai One On (Vista, CA)

Amazing smoothie! Frozen blueberries, frozen banana, vanilla protein powder, chia seeds, almond milk....

Easy frappucino with banana

More smoothies. I have one every day post workout.

Carrot cake smoothie. Yum!

Blueberry chocolate protein smoothie and the Vitamix!! I love it SO much.

Dinner:

A very delicious sandwich with leftover grilled veggies and some Trader Joes "beef-les" which is pretty plain tasting but it was great like this. It'd be tasty with BBQ sauce too!

Quinoa nachos. I  made this sauce and loved it!! I might try it without the oil next time though, just add more water. If you like nutritional yeast sauces, give this one a try. I also made this green bean salad but with walnuts not almonds and it's a new favourite!

Gluten free pasta (Target now carries some, fyi) with the new Boca "chiken" patty, tomato sauce and more of the grilled veggies.

Grilled veggies! I marinated the kabobs in a mustard sauce.

Dessert:

Strawberry sorbet soft serve style and frozen. It's basically just frozen fruit and almond milk in the Vitamix. Soft serve is served right away or you can freeze it for an hour or so for a more frozen texture.

Another sorbet I made.  It's just so easy in the Vitamix!

Maple frosted donuts for national donut day hehe 

Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Groceries:

Eggs (for husband), Bitchin Sauce, hummus and strawberries from the Farmer's Market. My husband was with me so, more dips than usual haha

Indulgences! The ice cream sandwiches are kinda meh but the popcorn, chocolate and chips are favourites of mine. Oh and the red two buck Chuck. I'm trying the Green Fin tonight. Found both using Barnivore. 

Bought too much processed food but only ate the spring rolls and faux chicken (with  my husband) and a bit of the cheese. so I guess that's not too bad for a week.

Groceries this week were from Trader Joes.

Food prep:

Walnut banana muffins, black bean falafel, quinoa, quinoa salad and homemade granola (used a basic recipe from the Forks Over Knives cookbook but added walnuts, almonds, raisins and freeze dried raspberries)

Breakfast:

Homemade granola (so delicious) with coconut milk

Oatmeal with blueberries, peanut butter and homemade strawberry jam.

Quinoa with almond milk, pecans, blueberries and goji berries.

Lunch/snacks:

I hadn't had Chipotle in so long! This is my usual order, veggie bowl with black beans, brown rice, corn, mild salsa, lettuce and guacamole.

Pita bread and hummus from the farmer's market, black bean falafel and quinoa salad

Tried a different bread (pictured above with the groceries) and I really like it. I generally buy Ezekiel or FoodforLife Rice Almond... or make my own.

Cherry smoothie

Chiptole again! I treated a friend to lunch for taking me to an appointment and we got this after. This location had a new vegan option, a shredded marinated tofu. It was delicious! A bit heavy for the bowl though so next time I will ask for less or do tacos/burrito. I know my husband would love it too.

Mango carrot smoothie

Rainbow chard wraps and a protein smoothie

Dinner:

Tacos with black beans, cabbage, kale, sweet potato etc

Kale chips, wild rice, bell peppers, onions, black beans and hummus

Trader Joes vegan sprint rolls, stir fry and dipping sauce.

Super tasty eggplant parm and asparagus.

Archer Farms pizza crust topped with marinara, avocado, mushrooms, spinach, olives, Boca burger and Trader Joes vegan cheese.

Dessert:

"Frosty". 10-15 ice cubes, 2 tbsp cocoa powder, 1/4 banana and as much almond milk as needed

Definitely a favourite recipe for chocolate chip cookies.

Combine 2 cups almond flour, 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour (I used gluten free), 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 cup maple syrup, 1/2 cup melted coconut oil and 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Add spoonfuls to a greased baking sheet and cook for 10min at 375F.