a trio of smoothies.

3 cups of water, 2 apples and 2 pears and the greens (and stems) from one bunch of beets made 3 portions of this not-so-green green smoothie!

the tops of a bunch of carrots,  3 cups of water, 1 plum and a couple handfuls of frozen plums, 1 sprig of mint and 1 apple made up this smoothie for 3! 

a few leaves of kale shy of a bunch, the juice of 4-5 oranges (about 2.5 cups) and 2 frozen bananas created 3 cups of  my favourite green smoothie this week! fresh orange juice? swoon!

"le réfrigérateur toute" smoothie

today's smoothie is not mostly greens, but is mostly green.
it is creamy, ever-so-slightly-sweet and filling!

this smoothie is 1/3 a bunch of parsley, a few sprigs of mint, a couple celery stalks, one carrot, one avocado, one pear, one avocado, two dates (i was worried it would taste like salad), and one cup of filtered water. i have enough for 2 smoothie glasses and well, since paul isn't here and it's basically lunch time, they're mine!

p.s. i went to leanne and liam's super busy potluck last night! at any given point, with all the comers and goers, there'd be at LEAST 30 people there! so, lots of vegan treats to try! i at first was avoiding my allergy list foods (gluten, wheat, cashews, peanuts, etc.) which is super tricky at a potluck (with dishes that don't have listed ingredients and way too many people around to try track down who made what) but i soon figured i might as well see what happens. if i ballooned out into a 8 month's pregnant lady like the last time i had green pepper, i would just go home! anyways... i felt fine! and relieved. my naturopath encouraged me during my last appointment, saying i should not worry about having some of these things during my upcoming quebec trip as for one, eating vegan in QC will be hard enough, but also if i am relaxed about it and relaxed in general, food sensitivities shouldn't flare up too harshly. i think after my next liver cleanse, i want to get my allergies tested again. i'm confident that my "avoids" list is going to keep getting smaller!

oh, but back to L+L's... they have these cool plants that don't have roots or soil or a pot? and they are green! what are these things? are they these tillandsia plants?

day 28 of 30 green smoothie days in a row

i was excited to try some new (to me) snacks at whole foods in bellevue today where sarah and i met leanna for lunch. including these raw vanilla coconut ice cream pops! YAY! super good.

when i got home, i made this green smoothie which paul says is his favourite yet! i used the tops of the bunch of rainbow carrots we got from spud when they didn't have the beets i ordered!
oh yeah, the smoothie:
*carrot tops (the greens! of a whole bunch of rainbow carrots! inspiration here)
*2 carrots
*1 pear
*2 navel oranges
*2 blood oranges (small)
*1 frozen banana
*some mint leaves

paul was fine with the pulpy texture because it was thicker. i didn't use ANY water for this one! so pleased i used the greens i don't usually do anything with. next challenge is to use the tops of radishes before they get all wilted and mushy.

day 22 of 30 green smoothie days in a row

today's smoothie was some remaining collard greens, romaine lettuce (i feel like i haven't used romaine in awhile), an asian pear, 2 kiwis (they were getting kinda soft), mint leaves (not as much as yesterday) and an apple with 1 cup of filtered water.

i loved the texture - the pear and kiwi added a light grittiness. paul found it too thick (and not ice cream smooth-type thick!) so he blended it with some apple juice.

i love that making a green smoothie is a daily tradition now. next week, as i am spending one night in seattle, paul is going to have to make at least one of his own ^_^ i'm curious what he will concoct!

day 21 of 30 green smoothie days in a row

i'm having one of those days where i'm just in awe of people who think cheaper food is better value. i realize most people don't want to think of where their food came from or how it was made but i'm continually amazed that people can think cheap food that you have to eat way more of and feel sick after, is the better deal. granted, i do tend to eat more food than i need, but i am working on that. when i don't focus on my enjoyment of eating and let my stomach tell me when to eat, i really don't need much. which is kind of annoying sometimes! but that's how you make a real food, organic lifestyle affordable. and make nutrition actually possible for your body!

so what has inspired this ramble? well, next week i'm planning to go down to seattle with a friend and i was just looking for some new places to go and have been focussed more on the gluten-free vegan choices. i have been to flying apron bakery so i was excited to see a place i hadn't been to before: jodee's desserts. jodee used to make all the raw desserts at thrive and last year opened her own place in greenlake. in effort to see if i could find out if she relies on cashews for her desserts (still don't know), i looked up her place on yelp.

i'm dumbfounded by some of the reactions. it reminds me of when i was demoing raw organic products like coconut water and people generally take things without inquiring what they are. or they see a name they recognize like "macaroon" and don't ask any questions. i suppose that having the same names as the indigestible stuff they are used to could be misleading. i have to remind myself that there are still people out there that don't know what gluten is or dairy (??? i know!) or sugar. reading "compared to something with actual butter, sugar, and all the "standard" ingredients you will find in baked goods, this isnt even close." kind of frustrates me as that isn't the point. it's like how i have felt being on this elimination diet for 2 months. though i can't eat some things, it's really not a big deal. i eat other things. and i enjoy other things. as a long-time vegetarian, i'm not looking for something that is going to taste exactly like meat. why? i'm over it. i don't want it! and though sometimes i have enjoyed "novelty" food, it isn't food i typically search out.

i was also taken aback by the but the flavor was a pungent artificial lime comment. um, this would definitely be the one place where they wouldn't be using artificial flavours!!! people are so detached from what food is and what it should taste like, they don't even know the flavours of real foods anymore? imagine kids growing up on watermelon gum, banana candy, apple lollipops and "pink" flavour finally trying some real fruits. what are they going to think?

i was trying to find prices for jugo juice and booster juice and all those places to compare as people also like to complain about paying $7 for a smoothie. i have always been amazed at being able to get a raw, organic, superfood smoothie at organic lives for just $7. i'm not sure what people expect food to cost. i feel so guilty when i think of how far some of my food choices have travelled to get to me! nevermind the packaging and shipping costs, what about the labour and production costs to the farmer? and maybe the smoothies at the chain places are $6, but what are you paying for? how much sugar is in one of those drinks? or dairy? i'm always amazed at the people who insist that a fruit smoothie needs a sweetener added to it. yuck! and that ice needs sugar to be able to blend. headache, anyone? why ruin a good (for you) thing? and wouldn't you rather pay a bit more for something that is going to sustain you in a good way rather than pollute your body?

i felt like an alien at work the day a lady was lamenting over her $6 jar of 'natural' peanut butter that was taken by airport security. i recall the times i have spent 3 times as much to get a jar of organic, raw almond butter! i appreciate the work involved to make such a thing and the cost to acquire raw and organic almonds! yes, it's exciting that the natural peanut butter is just made of peanuts (i remember when i first discovered whole foods and would make the trip out to west van so i could grind some peanuts for my own butter to take home!) but when i think of moldy legumes with pesticides, toasted to not taste the toxicity - yikes. i don't know how people are so hung up on it. especially when there are so many other options out there (like jungle peanuts! support heirloom crops! save plant variety!). and especially when so many people are deathly allergic. why would i want to ingest something that could put someone else at risk? i have thought about it many times on the bus... if i happened to have peanut breath or had touched peanuts and then someone with the allergy was nearby, could i risk harming them?

i recall sherry strong comparing fuel for your body to fuel for your car. you wouldn't put crap fuel in your precious car - why do you think it's okay for you? you can replace cars but your body is really the only one you're going to get! the most nutritionally-dense, organic foods you can eat will sustain you the best, heal you and keep you the most healthy! why eat something you're not so sure about?

i'm super excited for summer when i can be buying even more produce directly from local farmers. that's how you get cheap organic food! how else? well, i always suggest to people to even start with one organic thing. (perhaps one or all of the dirty dozen!) i really believe that if more people bought just even one thing that was organic, even more of a demand for organic will surface and the price will continue to go down! i'm so happy when i see organic produce for sale cheaper than conventional! that's how it should be! it sucks that the cost to certify as organic is so expensive. because really, to produce organic food, you don't need anything but knowledge! no pesticides or seeds to buy every year.

okay, i really need to cut myself off here and get into today's smoothie. ha. i'm still on a high from my liver/gallbladder cleanse! i feel so much more energetic and productive and content! and this all from giving my liver a bit more space to do its thing? oh yeah! i'm already super excited to do my next one! monday morning i wasn't so sure i could do it again but now... oh yeah! definitely!!!

so! today's green smoothie!

it was a blend of red leaf lettuce with some collard greens, mint and pear and one sambazon unsweetened organic acai berry smoothie pack and i ended up adding 2 frozen bananas. it was a weird taste. maybe too minty? but no reaction from paul so maybe it wasn't anything unusual.

day 20 of 30 green smoothie days in a row

today has been a wonderful day off. i was up early and feel so accomplished and it's barely mid-day now. yay!
for today's green drink, i blended 1 cup filtered water with almost a whole bunch of mint, my remaining kale, a bunch of red leaf lettuce and 2 apples. yep, i am still enjoying apples. (just not apple juice on its own! hehe)

and since i didn't mention it yesterday in my long post, i have to mention it today! on monday, i received my first grocery delivery from spud and it was so exciting! i am already excited to peruse online to figure out what to get next week. i LOVE that on the bill they print out (on the other side of their newsletter) how many kilometres your food travelled to get to you so you can keep track! though i really only find that accurate for produce. but that's so awesome just for that. (ie just because someone's warehouse is here in vancouver doesn't mean that the actual food stuffs were grown and processed here, like say coconut water).

one of our bins. the produce bin! 

i'm pretty proud that i have been eating more local (or at least north american) produce as of late. though today i put some bananas in the freezer and will probably add one to a smoothie tomorrow. but it feels soooo great to eat stuff that grows where i live! i hope someday i live in an apartment with green space for gardening or at least some south-facing light!

anyways... i used lots of mint today in my smoothie (which was super yummy) because i got an extra package of it FOR FREE since they were out of the basil i wanted (which was taken off my bill) and i wanted to get some organic lives chocolate macaroons but they were out so they substituted the lemon macaroons with a discount! ah, and their small (raw, organic) coconut waters on super special right now - about $3.50 each! (usually they are at least $5). LOVE IT.
i generally go get groceries (mostly produce) 3 times a week which gets annoying sometimes. i love that i can get the biggest trip out of the way (and delivered to me!) especially with annoying bulky things like toilet paper or heavy stuff! hurrah!
my friend phil told me about spud the other day and then i was curious as i have seen their trucks around. then he showed me that if i used his promo code, he would get a $25 credit and i would get the same but over 4 orders. and delivery is free in my area if i spend at least $35. no problem! especially having fun stuff like gluten-free bread (made almost entirely of quinoa and brown rice flour) from glutenell in their warehouse! yum! it was amazing having a "bread" again yesterday for the first time in what feels like forever. i liked it slightly toasted best, with garlic and avocado and raw sauerkraut. DROOL. hehe.

catching up...

i've been terrible at updating lately but of course still taking photos of foods i think are fun.
one night in the last few weeks (gah!), i made some sort of ice cream. i'm guessing it was a chocolate mint type thing. but maybe it was just mint leaves on the side of something with cacao nibs. i'm guessing frozen bananas were involved, a splash of almond milk (which i FINALLY started making my own of! hurrah for vitamix!) and who knows. was that it? was there some lucuma maybe? why is it so white? oh man, i'm thinking now that this might just be some of that coconut milk ice cream which is not raw in the least. it might be the chocolate chip mint one and i added nibs to it to make it more legit. ha. the martini glasses help too, right?

ok so ANYWAYS, feb. 13th me and paul hosted some friends for raw dinner. YAY!!! first up (after a veggie juice!) was the caeasar salad i believe i've posted before. i like to practice first so it's not so nervewracking having people over. though i love doing a recipe/idea for the first time for potlucks. maybe it's because there are other dishes/people involved so it's not all relying on me!

then... the raw lasagna! YAH! that day i was like CRAP i don't have anything white or cheese like for a ricotta type layer!!! so i went to gorilla food for some of their alfredo sauce to put as a layer along with marinated mushroom, pine nut pesto, sundried tomato sauce with slices of roma and then ani phyo's marinara sauce for top and bottom layers!

i LOVE all the layers! i felt i put a bit too much thyme (time? ha, not really) into the marinara sauce but at least it wasn't bland?

 for dessert... the brazil nut/almond 'shortbread' from organic lives. these are soooo awesome. i have been begging for them to keep this cookie going. i think hearts are TOTALLY relevant past valentines' day but i don't care the shape of them! if that's why they're done, they should just make 'em in another shape! i just want them again! they are the best! i don't know how you would pick a baked sugar cookie when you could have these!!!

 ooh and then another day recently, i finally made use of the burgers (from nature provides) i bought at karmavore. warmed em up in the dehydrator and packed some romaine leaves (the bun!) with beets and peppers and onions. hurrah! i went to buddha-full the other day and noticed their amazing kale chips are from nature provides. i didn't previously make the connection that the fabulous pizza (i had bought the crust from karmavore also) and raw burger was nature provides also! and so then i'm told that they are building a spot for nature provides in the restaurant to make everything there in house! eek! i love buddha-full. they are going to start having theme nights, i think the last friday of the months so there is a raw meal of a certain style of food like italian or what not. organic lives did an indian one in january which i sadly missed. they debuted a raw samosa which will hopefully be appearing on the menu any day now. i think they are doing a mexican night next! anyways... excited to see what will be served up in buddha-full in the coming months!

 and then there is rooted cafe in eternal abundance on the drive. i was there on friday for dinner and started with the raw chocolate heart! YES! not too sweet... just right!

 and gah, the raw kale caeasar... i could eat a million of these forever. i can't imagine getting sick of this!

 raw tomato red pepper soup with flax cracker. excellent! and inspiring me to get on trying the soups in the vitamix again...

 and well, i had to have a second dessert! after dinner! hehe. the cheesecake! YES!!!

i want to get out to the drive more often. i love what the rooted cafe is doing!!! the food and the people there are so amazing!!!