Green Smoothie Update

Posted by Sister Notes on June 26, 2009

Wow, what a week! I wrote about starting my green smoothie adventure on Tuesday, but I actually started over the weekend. For simplicity I’ll call Monday, June 22nd, 2009, DAY 1.

Basically, I’ve been drinking green smoothies for breakfast all week. I’ve made about 3-4 cups worth, drinking half for breakfast and the rest for snack. My lunches this week have been fairly light and I tried to incorporate something raw each day. Basically, my work-day diet has been smoothies, snacks, my daily Luna Bar dose, and a few squares of 72% chocolate (from the emergency reserve drawer). Oh and a morning cup of coffee.

By Wednesday (DAY 3) and through Thursday (DAY 4) I can say I wasn’t feeling the warm, fuzzy, green-smoothies-are-great attitude that I’d been reading about. On the contrary by Thursday I was feeling sluggish and foggy with a headache similar to a caffeine withdrawal headache. This was not the “tons of energy” that I’d been reading about.

Oops! I had glanced over the fine print! Occasionally, I came across a reference to “detox“. That is to say, the detoxification process where an abundance of fresh (raw) foods in one’s system causes the body to start releasing stored up “toxins” back into the bloodstream. If the body doesn’t eliminate these toxins fast enough, the body gets to “enjoy” their effects once again and thus the lousy feeling! This is NOT the time to quit! This is actually a good sign. Though I hadn’t really purposed to, my body is getting rid of some stored up garbage that I didn’t know was there.

Today is Friday (DAY 5)! A reason to celebrate all by itself, but even more so for me today. No backache, no headache and most importantly, NO SLUGGISHNESS! For the past two mornings, I woke up and my eyes popped open of their own free will. I did not have to pry them apart even though I know I am still not sleeping through the night. This is truly a victory! Today, I’ve been able to keep my head up and mind fairly alert from the time I woke up at 5:45 until at least now (~9:30 pm).

Now, maybe detox was not what caused me to feel so crappy the past couple of days, maybe it was just “something in the air”. Either way, after a day like today, I’m ready for more green smoothies! Oh, I got the kids (age 12 and 16) to drink smoothies too - not exactly of their own free will, but because Mommy said so. Now that I know a little more about detox, I’m going to cut back on the number of greens in their smoothies to hopefully ease their transition. I’m looking forward to an exciting summer!

Today’s smoothie ingredients (approximate quantities):

• banana, 3 frozen strawberries, 9 frozen blueberries, 1 clementine (peeled)
• 1/2 cup loosely packed parsley*
• 1 stalk celery
• 1 leaf of kale
• a handful of fresh cut greens (collards and lettuce and mint) from the garden
• 5 ice cubes
• 1 cup water, yield: about 3 cups (you might want an opaque cup - greens and blueberries aren’t a pretty color combination)

Kids’ smoothie (to be augmented with additional fruits to individual tastes):

• 1 banana, 2 clementines
• ~1/4 c loosely packed parsley*
• a handful of fresh cut greens (collards and lettuce and mint) from the garden
• 5 ice cubes
• 1.5 cups water, yield: about 3 cups (a beautiful bright green)

* I keep a bunch of curly parsley from the grocery store in a jar of water on the countertop much like putting fresh cut flowers in a vase. So far they are still nice and fresh (better than wilting in the the fridge). We should finish the bunch by the end of the week.

Why doesn’t our National Health Care Debate spend more time discussion the state of National nutrition? How many blood pressure pills would it take to buy one high-speed blender? How many anti-depresants could be traded for a fridge full of leafy greens and fresh fruit? I don’t want to find out, I just want to feel healthy and happy, naturally.

 Time for Something Different

Posted by Sister Notes on June 23, 2009

Well, I wanted to say, “It’s time for change…” but I think I heard someone say that already.

Ever have one of those days (or weeks) where you want to climb to the top of a mountain and just scream? That is to say, to um, exercise the lungs? Yes, I’ll go ahead and admit it, I’m feeling just a wee bit frustrated and tired. It’s the tired part that’s frustrating me most I think. Sleep is supposed to be refreshing and reinvigorating but I don’t seem to be getting there of late.

A few weeks ago, I got started (maybe even hooked) on smoothies for breakfast. Oh, how yummy! I need to credit my Mother-in-Law with the inspiration. My daughter and I are enjoying them! My reason for trying the smoothies was wanting to find something different and yet healthy for breakfast. I was beginning to feel the weight of my staple of daily granola and it was getting to warm for oatmeal. But, unlike the oats and granola, the smoothies didn’t seem to quite satisfy for long. So, I’ve been looking for ways to tweak the blend.

But, what do the smoothies have to do with screaming on mountains and feeling tired? Not to worry, I’m working up to the connection. The feeling tired thing has really started to bother me and I’ve been suspecting I need a change in my diet. I’m not a total lump, I just feel like I ought to feel better after a night’s rest. OK, here’s where the connections starts to form. In looking for ideas on smoothies, these green smoothie references keep showing up! Green? Yuck! Or so I thought…

Oh, I forgot to mention that feeling tired has coincided with what seems like two weeks straight of rain - day and night, night and day, buckets and buckets…I’m only slightly exagerating. It’s hard to feel perky while dripping. This weekend, when we got a break from the rain, I got a chance to see how my little garden patch is doing. Oh the lettuce! Oh the collards! They look beautiful, we’ll need to eat them up while we can!

Back to the diet concerns.

Also this weekend, I was cruising the stacks in the library and came across some interesting reads: Green for Life, by Victoria Boutenko and Eating in the Raw, by Carol Alt. The first is a fascinating introduction to green smoothies - the what, the way, and the how (and the yum). I was intrigued enough to try something other than salad with my fresh crop of garden greens. The next book was one of several I picked up on eating raw foods. The raw food idea was intriguing because once the rain stops, the weather will turn quite warm and I don’t look forward to heating up the kitchen to make dinner. Cool summer dinners sounds enticing.

I added a handful of greens to my next smoothie and though it looked awful, it tasted fine! According to all that I’ve been reading about green smoothies and raw foods, this may be the diet change that I need right now. Paired with all that I’ve been learning about the condition of our food supply and the impacts to public health my desire for “regular” food has declined sharply. I just don’t get excited about a donut anymore…

The green smoothies are simple enough and the potential benefits of raw are motivating enough for me to give it a go. A little extra accountability and encouragement would also help. So, I’m letting you all know that starting today, I’m making myself a tall green smoothie for breakfast. I just got to chapter 10 of Carol Alt’s book (the beginning of the recipies). Next, I’ll look for ways to incorporate raw into other meals.

So much has been said on the benefits of green smoothies, check these sources out. If you have a decent blender in the house and the opportunity to pick or purchase some leafy greens why not give it a try with me? At least once? If so, please let me know!

http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2009/02/the-wonders-of-green-smoothies.html

http://www.greensmoothiekid.com/

http://greensmoothierevolution.com/gsfaq.htm

http://www.greensmoothiechallenge.com/

http://www.greensmoothieblog.com/

http://www.greensmoothiegirl.com/

Today’s smoothie:

• 1/4 cup oats
• 1 Tbsp flax seed
• 3 strawberries
• ~7 blueberries
• 1/4 cup plain yogurt
• 1 clementine (peeled)
• 1 banana
• ~1/2 cup parsley
• from garden: approximately 5 mint leaves, 3 lettuce leaves, and 2 collard leaves
• 1/2 c orange juice (just because)
• 1 c water and 3 ice cubes

makes way more than one tall glass - the rest I’ll pack for lunch or snack…

 Happy Father’s Day

Posted by Sister Notes on June 21, 2009

To my Dad, who let me join him on one of is photography outings even though I was so small that the grasshoppers jumped as high as my head (and I screamed).

To my Dad, who played late-night Monopoly games with me.

To my Dad, who drove me in the dark of the night to empty fields in Spain to find Halley’s Comet.

To my Dad, who took the passenger’s seat when I first got behind the wheel.

To my Dad, who would pick me up from work at midnight and still get up early the next day for his work.

To my Dad, who drove down and up the State of California so that I could explore my college options.

To my Dad, for his example of love and support,

Happy Father’s Day!

 What do the names mean?

Posted by Sister Notes on June 17, 2009

So that we remember

 My Patio Garden

Posted by Sister Notes on June 10, 2009

Tomatoes, basil, tarragon, mint, and marigold…

As of June 7th, 2009

As of May 30th, 2009

As of May 9th, 2009

as of May 9th, 2009

 The Green Hearts are Coming

Posted by Sister Notes on June 7, 2009

The Green Hearts are coming! At least I hope they are coming to the U.S. soon.

GreenHeart Sony Ericsson Phone

A few days ago, Sony Ericsson announced that its eco-friendly concept phone is to become a reality!

The C901 GreenHeart phone sports a minimum of 50% recycled plastics, an on-board user manual (a 90% reduction in paper usage), and reduced packaging. According to Sony Ericsson’s press release, the phone will also come with a headset made from recycled plastics.

Ah, but what can the phone with the green heart do? Take 5 MP photos (with 16x zoom), play MP3 and AAC music (with Mega bass, of course), browse the web, text, e-mail, play games, take notes, do wake-up calls, oh and, let you TALK for over 9 hours! Groovy!

And if all of that is just a wee bit too much, Sony Ericsson will also offer the GreenHeart Naite. Same green features but with a 2.0 MP camera and basically a little lighter on the other whizz-bang stuff.

The only question I have now is WHEN?

 Cadbury Chocolate Going Fair-trade

Posted by Sister Notes on June 6, 2009

Ah chocolate! Way back when I was a wee thing with eyes trained to the TV, Easter meant a Giant Bunny, Cadbury eggs, and of course, the Resurection. I can still picture the Cadbury egg commercials [fade to fuzzy camera shot and insert nastolgic music here...].

Fast-forward to a TV-less adulthood, kids with food allergies, and a growing awareness of where my food comes from. I can’t remember when I last saw a chocolate egg. Yet, I just read news that brought a twinkle to my eye and images of creamy chocolate danced before my eyes.

Cadbury, that UK-based confectionery, announced back in March plans to achieve Fairtrade certification for the Cadbury Dairy Bar from the Fairtrade Federation by the end of this summer. According to Cadbury’s press release, this would mean a tripling of Ghana’s fairtrade chocolate sales! A higher demand for fairtrade chocolate means better living conditions for more of Ghana’s cocoa cultivators.

So, if you are in or planning to travel through the UK or Ireland this summer,   keep an eye out for the Cadbury Dairy Bar with the Fairtrade Federation’s Certification. Oh, and let me know how they taste! Who knows, maybe by Easter 2010, we can enjoy fairtrade Cadbury Eggs in the U.S. - sweet dreams!

p.s. If you are in the U.S., Cadbury products are manufactured by Hershey’s in Pensylvania. Feel free to let Hershey’s know you’d like to see fairtrade certified chocolates in the States too!

 Weston Price Diet?

Posted by Sister Notes on May 26, 2009

“Well, duh!” I thought after reading an article from my local news about the benefits of an all-natural diet. But, the article discussed a family following the Weston Price Foundation Diet - a diet that encourages traditional rather than processed foods.

So, I looked up the Weston Price Foundation to learn more about this “new” diet. After reading the open letter to the U.S. President, I was definitely drawn in. There’s much more to the Weston Price Foundation than I can divulge tonight, but you may check then out at www.westonaprice.org.

Oh, if only our National attention on health care would focus more on the quality (rather than quantity) of the food we eat. I can image the health care savings we would realize if we impoved the quality of our food products. I’m a firm believer that what we put in our systems directly effects how our system feels and reacts. I can cite two simple examples:

1) In college, my dormitory’s cafeteria was blessed with a fancy waffle iron. Prior to my morning 8:30 AM class, I would treat myself to one of those special waffles. A weekness, I know! By 9 AM, however, I would be “studying” the back of my eyelids. On a whim, I traded the waffle for a bowl of cereal. I was surprised at what a difference a seemingly small change in diet made. I stayed awake for the entire class! Sssh, don’t tell my folks, or at this point, my kids! Conclusion: what I eat has a direct impact on how my body performs.

2) My Grandmother-in-law (well into her 80’s) visited my family for several days while we were living in Europe. We lived on the third floor of a building WITHOUT an elevator! We were prepared to make several accomodations including spending out time at her hotel room rather than having her make the audurous climb up the stairs. However, she’s a strong willed and fantastic woman! She made the climb the first night (with several rest stops). But, toward the end of her visit and after several home-cooked meals of plenty of whole-foods and vegetables we were all amazed at how well she was able to take the stairs with few rests toward the end of her visit. I was thoroughly surprised at what a difference a few days on an alternate, healthier, diet could make!

So, here’s my own plea to President Obama…

Dear Mr. President,

As you discuss the high costs of health care and future funding for medicare, I ask that you consider improving our National Food Supply in order to improve the health of the American population and consequently realize an immediate reduction in the cost of our collective health care due to the rather immediate improvements to our health.

Sincerely,

Felicia

Mother-of-two

 Remembering

Posted by Sister Notes on May 24, 2009

Last week, I met someone who used to be a Marine. But, I think once a Marine, always a Marine. In any case, my first response was to say, “Thank you!”

As Memorial Day approaches, I realize what this day off from work is really supposed to mean. To all those who serve and have served my Country’s military, I say, “Thank you!”

Thank you for your incredible sacrifice, thank you for your courage, and thank you for your dedication. Thank you because you served so that others may have better lives.

Thank you to my Dad, my Pop’o, my Uncle Eric, my Uncle Keith, and the many other service men and women who have touched my life.

I remember you and your service.

 Responsible Camera Choices

Posted by Sister Notes on May 19, 2009

Well, I didn’t get the “eco-friendly” phone. But, I did switch to a phone service provider with a conscious. Isn’t it eco-friendly, if a portion of their income is given to support Greenpeace?

I also didn’t get an “eco-friendly” computer. But, I did install a new-to-me operating system and now our existing computers are like-new! Isn’t the “reduce” part of reduce-reuse-recycle-repurpose a valid eco-friendly, sustainable choice?

Last on my list of desired electronic gadgets is an eco-friendly camera. I’ve been looking for a sustainable replacement for my old camera since it “retired” after giving me about five and a half years of faithful service. Being somewhat picky about its replacement, I started looking for something small (i.e. pocket friendly). And, after my experience at the Inauguration, something that could handle cold weather, oh and sandy beaches, um and, clumbsy fingers - as long as I’m dreaming!

All of these criteria pointed me to a cool line of digital compact cameras from Olympus called Stylus Tough. Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, Olympus has labled these as Shockproof, Waterproof, Dustproof and Freezeproof! As exciting as all those things are to me, that’s not what got me jumping. It was the little symbol of a leaf with the word “eco” in it. According to Olympus, these cameras are also,

Certified as an Olympus Eco-product, this camera has a reduced environmental footprint across its entire product lifecycle, which encompasses not only the product and its packaging, but also the manufacturing and logistical processes in bringing the product to the marketplace.

What a nice surprise! After poking around a bit more on the Olympus website, I found the Olympus Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) page. Do your favorite companies have CSR statements? Run a check using your favorite web search engine. Of course, I realize that a statement doesn’t automatically equate to action. But, I consider it a definite step in the right direction. I aplaud an effort by a company to be more accountable for their actions.

I don’t have one yet, but an Olympus Stylus Tough camera is now on my watch list.

Kudos to Olympus for a well presented CSR!