Carrot Peach Smoothie

Ingredients:

3 Freshly Juiced Organic Carrots

Carrot pulp from the juicer

6 Fresh Peaches

2 cups of Ice

We juiced carrots the other morning and had some leftover.  I simply took the juice and the pulp from our juicer.  I put them in the Vitamix that my friend Molly let me borrow.  I added fresh peaches and ice.  It was amazing!  The carrot pulp was completely integrated into the smoothie - no lumps.  It made enough for all 5 of us to enjoy.  The whole family loved it!!

We have been experimenting with the Vitamix (The best way I can describe the Vitamix is that it seems to be a blender on steroids!).  It will make any food so creamy!!  

Orange Delight Smoothie!

Ingredients:
4 fresh oranges
2 cups fresh spinach
1 cup almond milk
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 cups ice
10-15 drops stevia








Place all ingredients into the blender. Blend well and serve! Makes 30 ounces.

Don't let the green fool you! You cannot taste the spinach. This is a way to get protein, fiber, calcium, and tons of phytonutrients! This recipe is kid tested. My kids love this combination. Our friend next door even asked his mom to get the recipe!

Green Juice

Ingredients:
2 stalks kale
1 cup spinach
2 green apples
1 medium cucumber
2 stalks of celery
1/2 lemon
1 small piece of ginger

This recipe is for juicing. Place the kale and spinach in the juicer followed by the ginger. Then after that has run in the juicer for about a minute, add the other ingredients.  I use as many organic fruits and vegetables that I can get locally.  This makes about 24 ounces. Drink immediately and enjoy!

Thanks to my friend Binky for this recipe! It has become one of our favorites.

Live Active Nutrition Instead of Coffee

Try starting your morning with live active nutrition. This morning we made Carrot Spinach Apple Juice in the juicer. It will give your body energy and feeds your cells living nutrition to get you started right! It helps to turn your body alkaline.

We think coffee gives us the boost we need to get our body and mind going but actually it has a negative affect on the body. It turns the body acidic which produces an environment that disease thrives in. It also acts as a diuretic contributing to dehydrating your body. It can contain caffeine which is NOT a nutrient. It is a stimulant which actually triggers your body's stress response.

Your body adapts to the stress by stealing nutrients and energy from a system that does not have to have it for immediate survival. Essentially you are robbing one system to pay another which is not a longterm strategy to keep your body healthy.

For true sustainable energy you want to give your body excellent nutrition on a daily basis. This will decrease your need for outside stimulants to give you a boost.

Apple Beet Morning Treat!

Apple Beet Juice

Ingredients:
4 Gala Apples (large)
2 Beets

We have a Hurom Juicer and enjoy making fresh juice in the mornings.  It is a great way to get power packed nutrition to start your day.  It is nutritious as well as cleansing for your body.  Apples and beets are filled with antioxidants which prevent disease and feed your cells live active nutrition.

This made enough for our family of 5 to have 4 ounces each!  Yes, it does taste different from store bought.  But there is NO COMPARISON.  Store bought juice is mostly sugar, often with additives and dye, and contains limited fiber and no living nutrition - not to mention you have no idea from where that juice originated!! We do not buy juice in our home. Period.  This is the option for our kids.  It did take a little while for them to adjust to fresh juices, but after they adapted, they love it and ask for it!

Our kids are allowed to take different days to choose their own fruit and vegetable combination.  When they are involved in the process, they take ownership and begin to enjoy it.  As we make the juice, we talk about what is actually in the fruits and vegetables and what it is doing in their bodies when they drink it.  Kids minds are sharp enough to realize the benefits.  When given the good options to choose and the proper education, they begin to make these excellent choices on their own!

Is it always easy to get them to adapt to the healthier option?  NO!  Do we have some difficult conversations?  YES!  But I NEVER regret the investment and time it takes them to learn to enjoy the healthier option.

Green Smoothie

Smoothies are a great way to include lots of power packed nutrition in a fun drink!  We make smoothies several times a week and enjoy them for breakfast or snack.  This smoothie really surprised me!  My friend Margaret told me she put kale in smoothies for her girls in the summer.  She said they could not taste the kale.  I thought I would try it with an existing recipe I use. 

Banana Nut Butter Smoothie

1 cup almond milk

1-2 frozen bananas

2 T. Nut Butter (almond, peanut, sunflower, etc)

1/8 cup Juice Plus Vanilla Complete

2 T flax seed meal

1 stalk of kale

Blend well. Add ice if you would like it thicker. (This recipe is easily doubled!)

We were all surprised that we could not taste the kale.  It turned it a beautiful green color!  Since then we have added kale to lots of smoothies we make.