Drinking Green

You have heard the saying, "you are what you eat." Well, we are not turning green nor are we growing mushy, but we are healthier. Many of you know a bit of our "food" journey, and for those of you who don't, I will give a short re-cap of the last couple years of our eating habits. We decided a few years back to really investigate and be more intentional about our food choices. We began eliminating anything that had high fructose corn syrup in it from our diet (which turned out to be in nearly everything pre-packaged or processed). The reason being that high fructose corn syrup is highly genetically modified and basically just chemicals. Not really giving our bodies any sufficient nutrients. We switched all of our favorite pre-packaged foods to organic which eliminated the high fructose corn syrup and MSGs. We then began switching everything else to locally, organically grown foods. We joined a farm share, planted our own small garden and bought meat from local farmers. We felt confident that our food choices were healthier and wiser. Yet, we were still purchasing pre-packaged foods (mostly organic). I began looking at the ingredients on the organic foods we were buying and found that many of them had organic cane sugar. So, now we are on the third phase of our food journey and that is phasing out nearly all pre-packaged goods organic or not. Two years ago we canned all our own pickles, relish, tomato sauces, and applesauce. Last year we were not as fortunate as the summer garden saw more rain and slugs than actual produce. We pray for a better year this year, but we are committed to supporting the local growers and find what we need through CSA (community supported agriculture). There are some things that we simply will never do without....ice cream being one of those. We are not vegetarians, we are not making any rules for ourselves. We are simply choosing to live more simply in this particular area. We still enjoy eating various "bad for us" foods. We just choose not to eat them on a regular basis. Birthday parties and holidays are certain exceptions to our everyday diet.
We believe that our bodies were not given to us to be abused or taken advantage of. The LORD dwells in us, thus we want to be very intentional in the way we take care of our bodies....spiritually and physically. We were talking to Kaylynn the other day, telling her that God wants us to do everything as unto Him, and this is just another way that we can do that. Food is given to us for energy and also to appreciate God's creation. There are so many natural (not modified in any way) foods that the LORD has given us, and we are thankful to enjoy them!

So, here is one of our new favorite treats: SMOOTHIES!!!! Who knew drinking veggies and fruit could be so fun? The color certainly makes it more exciting!!!!

All very happy kiddos drinking their very healthy breakfast!!!

The recipe is very simple....you can really add whatever you want. We especially love the spinach because that gives it the green color. You can use a basic blender too which is nice because that's all we have.

3 oranges (juiced or not)
1 lemon
Frozen blueberries to taste
Strawberries to taste
1 Frozen banana
Handful of flax seed
6 ounces of spinach
Plain yogurt (this is entirely optional....we make them with and without. The frozen banana gives it that frothy thickness so the yogurt is not necessary for that)
Try some Mango too or fresh pineapple or watermelon. YUM!

Look for bananas on sale (the really ripe ones work the best)....then buy a bunch, peel them, then stick them in the freezer.
These smoothies are a yummy treat and can be used in place of high sugar dessert. We also freeze them so the kids can have them as popsicles.
What do you put in your smoothies?