Green Smoothie Love

These smoothies have really become a big part of my life. I didn't have time to make them the past two months because of my work schedule so I was over the moon to get back to it.  This particular batch contains spinach, cucumber, pineapple, apple and banana.

If you are a smoothie lover, green or not, here are two things I have learned from my concoctions.

1. If you want something fresh and frothy, cucumber is your friend.  Cucumber has the ability to take a sweet drink and make it almost ice cream like. It's amazing.

2. If you want something creamy, banana is the ingredient you need to add. When I first started making green smoothies, I hesitated adding banana to spinach. I don't know why considering I was loving the spinach/pineapple combination. When I finally did it, I was blown away.

As I learn tips, I will share them here.  In the meantime, if you have any tips, please comment below.

I Am The Girl

I am the girl that gave up canned and boxed foods years ago because of the salts and sugars used as preservatives.

I am the girl that struggled to give up the dairy products that I love so much because they cause me migraines.

I am the girl that has tripled her water intake in the last year.

I am the girl that added green juices to her diet, drastically increasing the number of fruits and vegetables I consume.

I am the girl that walks around the building or the floor at work because I understand that my job has us at a desk for too long during the day.

I am the girl that hasn’t bought table sugar in over 6 months.

I am the girl who was losing weight leading up to her wedding and almost had to get more alterations to account for the extra losses.

But I am also the girl that had a serious health scare this week. I caught a bug at work this week and by the time I made it to the walk in clinic, my blood pressure was so high I had to immediately go to the ER.

I’d be foolish to think that over the years I’d done enough. I know I could have done more. I know I have more to do. The hard part is not letting this make me feel like all I have done has been for nothing.

It has not. This will not defeat me.

 Take care of yourselves.

And when you think you’ve done enough, do more!

Winter Prep-The Skin

The weather is starting to show signs of wanting to change. This is a welcome change for me as I thrive in Fall/Spring climates. Summer and Winter are not my friends and both wreak havoc on my skin. Over the past two years, I’ve noticed my skin getting more sensitive and I’ve really had to step up my game in terms of moisturizing and caring for my skin. I have never been a fan of lotion. It never seems to really soak in and it leeches back out at the slightest sign of sweat.

I still haven’t perfected what works for me, but I’m a lot closer. Here is a breakdown of the things that are working for me right now.

Of course, a good skin regimen is going to include actions that help boost health from the inside and from the outside.
The easiest thing we can do internally is to drink more water. Whether it’s bottled water or my chia water, I have kicked me intake up drastically over the past few months. I have noticed several benefits to the increase, the most important of which is the glow my skin has taken on and the decrease of dry patches. My lips and hands have become the spots that flare first so when I noticed problems with either, I immediately drink a glass or two of water before I do anything else. Even before I reach for topical solutions, I drink water.



Vitamins have also become vital to me over the last few years. I am well over due in thanking Centrum for stocking me up on multi-vitamins at Blissdom 2012.



In addition to a general multi-vitamin, I have incorporated a Skin, Nails and Hair Vitamin into my regimen. Because I started taking this at the same time I ramped up my water intake, it’s hard to say how much value it is adding, but I have seen enough improvement to keep it up. I picked this up at my local health food store. It is pricey but worth it when you have skin issues like I do.



Because I am not a fan of lotion, I have had to re-think my topical solution for skin care. I tried shea butter for awhile and my skin loves that stuff. The problem I have with that though is the time it takes to apply. Apply shea butter is not quick and I need something quick if I’m going to stick with it. Oil to the rescue! I’ve seen quite a few YouTubers make oil mixes for their hair and skin and I finally decided to give it a try myself.



I made a mix of avocado, coconut, castor and olive oils. The applicator bottle that use has measurement marks on it so I put in two ounces of the olive and avocado oil, one ounce of the castor oil and one ounce of the coconut oil. I go with less castor oil because it promotes hair growth and I would like the little body hair I have to stay that way. I does soften things up though. I take it easy on the coconut oil because it tends to over power the smell of the mix. I do love the smell of toasted coconut but I don’t want to smell like it all day. I keep this applicator bottle in the shower to apply while my skin is still wet. Talk about big improvement. With the exception of my hands which get washed several times a day, my skin doesn’t need anything else applied through the day. We’ll see how things hold up through the winter months.

Because I wash my hands so often, I do need to have something on hand to deal with that. I used to keep shea butter on my desk at work, but since shea butter takes a few minutes to soak in, I run the risk of getting things greasy as I work. Right now, I keep a bottle of cornhuskers lotion on standby but I am trying out a new body cream by ILY. More on that product line later.



I will be ecstatic if I can make it through the winter without those painful dry patches on my hands and legs. I would love to know what you all are doing to keep your skin healthy.

Tips for Restrictive Eating While Traveling

I’m slowly tackling the changes that have been needed in my diet. Until it became necessary for me to give up all things dairy that I really became aware of how many foods contain cheese and yogurt and sour cream and cream cheese. These ingredients make so many of the foods we easy so yummy! I’m a little lucky in that I don’t have to give up cakes, cookies and baked goods that contain milk, but sauces and icings are still a struggle.

In addition to eliminating the dairy, I have decided to significantly cut the amount of bread and fried foods that I eat. Yesterday, I had lunch at Cracker Barrel and everything tasted terrible and smelled just as bad. There was nothing wrong with the food so please don’t take this as anything against the CB. The problem is me. I have noticed that as I change how I eat, my appetite and food tolerance are changing as well. And No, I am not pregnant. That was the first thing my mother asked when I said everything tasted and smelled bad. ☺ My problem, and really it is not a problem but a revelation, is that I’ve been hanging around and eating dinner with my vegan friends and my body is craving more of a natural, if not completely vegan, diet.

I think if we are really going to tackle the weight and health issues, we have to look beyond the what the dairy, farming and weight loss industries are telling us. We have to stop listening to them and start listening to our own bodies.

These are the things that I know about me.

• When I drink more water, I want less sugar.
• I enjoy the thick, creamy sauces that are made with cashews rather than milk or heavy cream.
• I still enjoy and crave the yogurty goodness of a nice Indian curry sauce. I will just eat a few times of year and suffer through the headaches that comes.
• Cake is still a craving but I crave it less.
• The more vegetables I eat, the less meat I desire.
• I am loving the homemade version of some of my once favorite take-out items…like pizza.
• My midsection as decreased as I have decreased my intake of bread.
• My plantar fasciitis hasn’t bothered me in at least 2 months. I think this is a result of the increased water intake.
• My body loves eggs.

I’m sure there are many other things I will learn as I continue to modify how I eat, but since I have been prone to travel in the past for work, I wanted to make sure I concentrated on how to continue eating more healthy fare while on the road. I am currently on the road for a job interview. For 3 days, I have been trying to make the best decisions possible so as not to feel terrible while driving or while doing the interview. My solution was to rely on the grocery store. There is a Publix supermarket just a few blocks from my hotel and since I have a refrigerator in the room, I decided to go over and buy boiled eggs and fruit for breakfast and edamame salad to snack on. I thought I would eat out after my interview but I ended up going back to the grocery store for more fruit and a nice spinach, mushroom and carrot salad. I still found myself at Zaxby’s a little later, but considering how much fruit and veg I had consumed, I have no hard feelings about the chicken tenders and extra Zax’s sauce. This trip only took me 5 hours away from home, so I will need to do more planning for longer trips. In the past, I would try to drive straight through as much as possible only picking up things that I could eat while driving. I will have to change that habit if I am going to keep my travel time as healthy as possible.

This is a work in progress but as I make more changes, my momentum is growing and more changes are being prompted. I encourage you all to make a couple of small changes and see how your body reacts. There are many reasons to change how we eat, but if you are resistant to listen to anyone, open up to listening to your body.

Picking Up Subsitutions

Ignore the boiling pot in the background. If you follow me on Facebook, you know I am prone to make batches of soup in the middle of the night.

I wanted to make sure I followed up on my migraine diagnosis that I received last year. I am still learning to live dairy free, but I’m happy to say that I am finding some really good alternatives to the dairy products that I love and miss so dearly.

Last month, I attended a healthy cooking class in Hixson, TN that was sponsored by the Seventh Day Adventist Church whose members are primarily vegan. Even though I don’t have plans to go fully vegan, I do think we should eat more meat-free meals than we do and because of my dairy-migraine issue, I need to learn to cook dairy free. There is no better place to learn that than in a vegan kitchen.

So, let me run through with you some of the dairy substitutes that I have either already tried or am about to try.

• Milk--I gave up regular milk years ago and started drinking Soy Milk. For the past few months, I have preferred Almond Milk. Both are great alternatives. I have had no problem substituting them in recipes other than having to account for the sweeter taste. Regardless of which I pick up, I always go for the Silk brand.
• Cheese--When I was in Virginia, I discovered a pizza place that had vegan pizzas. I fell in love with the cheese they used and by calling the restaurant and researching through Google, I found that I could buy this cheese in the store. The brand is Daiya and it melts so perfectly. I have used it for everything, including grilled cheese sandwiches.
• Vegan cream cheese--This particular brand is the best that I have tried and I am loving it on everything. Remember my sexy breakfast?
• Sour cream--I have not tried this Better Than Sour Cream yet, but I have a couple of recipes that recommend it so I will be trying this soon. I have the Tofutti brand.
• Ricotta Cheese--this is also made by Tofutti and I have yet to try it. A friend bought it for me to try after I was talking about finding substitutes to allow me to make my favorite lasagna roll recipe.--more on that in a bit.
• Tofu--During the healthy cooking class, the instructor showed us exactly how to use Tofu as a substitute for ricotta cheese. This was the first thing that I tried following the class and it worked perfectly. My favorite lasagna rolls are back on my frequent meal list.
• Yogurt--So Delicious is the best brand for dairy free ice creams and yogurts. I was thrilled when I ran across this greek style version in the store. I ate some of the plain this morning with some of my homemade granola. love, love, love!

Learning to cook with a food restriction is difficult but it is doable and the results can be oh-so delicious. And just so you know I’m not kidding--yea, you!--below is a pan of my favorite lasagna rolls, made with tofu in place of ricotta cheese and topped with Daiya mozzarella style shreds. yum!



Even if dairy is not an issue for you, try a few of these substitutions for a healthier eating option.

Healthy and Sexy

What do you get when you mix De Wafelbakkers whole grain pancakes, vegan cream cheese, a banana and strawberries? Well, you get what I consider a healthy, simple and very sexy breakfast--or anytime meal as I did not actually eat this for breakfast.



Seriously, if my fiancé served me this as breakfast in bed, I would love him forever…or at least until it was time for another great meal.
De Wafelbakkers is a new brand to me. They had a booth at Blissdom 2012 letting us sample their whole grain and flax seed pancakes. I love these pancakes and the best thing is, you don’t need any syrup. These babies are quite tasty on their own. But that standalone flavor also makes them prime candidates for accepting toppings. They provided us a recipe card for a Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich but you could easily top this with cream cheese (as I did), Nutella or any other nut butter you have around the house. You could also be very boring and just add syrup but I dare you to break out of the box and ditch the sugar-laden topper.

De Wafelbakkers provided other goodies to Blissdom attendees but none tops the chance to make a video to become their spokesperson. One of the great things that Blissdom brought to me was an opportunity to break out of my shell. I jumped at the chance of making a video for their great product and if nothing comes from it, I did something I never thought I would do.

Chia Water?

A few weeks ago, I attended a healthy cooking class in town. I am still digesting all the wonderful information that was given during the two day event but one thing that was mentioned briefly was chia seeds.

It did not occur to me immediately that I knew exactly what chia seeds were. The little terra-cotta animals growing wild hair was the furthest thing from my mind, but that’s exactly what they are. The little grass-hair growing seeds that so many of us had in our kitchen windows so many, many years ago. But fast forward to today and I now know that chia seeds are amazing little seeds that I should pay a little attention to.



Over the past year, I have been trying to increase my water intake. I have gotten into the habit of keeping a cup of ice water with me at all time, especially when I will be in any one place for a period of time. Yesterday when visiting a friend, she dumped a couple of spoons of chia seeds into my water and suggested that I adopt it regularly. She said a church member does it and it’s a good way to add the whole grain to your diet. I was incredibly nervous. Chia seeds develop a gelatinous substance around them when they soak in water and I immediately thought of flax seeds. You can soak flax seeds in water for a period of time and end up with a really great hair gel. So I was just a little bit worried that after 20 minutes my water would be sludge. But it wasn’t and I survived my first encounter with chia.

When I got home, I consulted Dr. Google and I learned so much.

• This little seed absorbs 9 times its weight in water and since it takes your body longer to break down the chia, your body stay hydrated for longer.
• That little expanded water seed fills you up so you stay full longer and eat less if you consume the chia seeds regularly.
• Chia is considered roughage so you will get a little cleaning as it goes through your system.
• Zero calories, lots of fiber--you don’t get any better than that.
• Chia is a gluten free grain for those with gluten intolerances or allergies.

The more I read, the more I was determined to continue adding chia to all of my drinks. Since it doesn’t affect the flavor, you can add them to your water or your favorite fruit juices and forget they are there.

And, if you are diabetic or suffer from the occasional sugar spike (or dip), the chia will help you stay more level.

Please try it and let me know what changes you notice. I’m hoping this will help my skin stay hydrated and my fiber level increase. I want to hear what you think.

Boy Tested And Approved

I am quite smitten with my pre-assembled smoothie packs that I put together. The amount I put into each pack is the perfect size for making a smoothie that just the right size for meal replacement. One of the biggest struggles I have at times are with portion control so this keeps me from over indulging even if it is on something so healthy. I do like having the extra vitamin boost of having the sea vegetables (wakame) included but it does take some extra blending to break up the wakame flakes. But when I encounter flakes that didn’t break up well, I just swallow them and move on.

The true test for the acceptability of the flakes was to try it out on the future hubby. The boy was in town for the weekend visiting. I couldn’t have been happier to see anyone else on this earth! As soon as I saw him, the worries of the week melted away and I was able to forget and just get wrapped up in love. Saturday, I made the boy a simple breakfast of boiled eggs, toast and a smoothie. I’m also trying to get him to be more mindful of portion sizes so it was a stretch to have such a simple breakfast. I put extra effort into making it look really pretty.



I held my breath as he took his first sip of smoothie which was blended with vanilla milk--he is not a big fan of the almond or soy milks that I prefer. He absolutely loved it and even more he loved my presentation which he deemed to be very “French”. I don’t know about that but I very happy to know that he enjoyed it. I’m one step closer to convincing him that simple eating can be quite enjoyable. Every meal doesn’t need meat and every meal doesn’t need elaborate ingredients.
So, my recent smoothie mix is boy tested and approved! If you find a favorite smoothie blend that works for you, let me know about it.

Smoothie Base

When I decide to add something new to my life, I like to make it as simple as possible so as not to become a burden. In this case I am re-incorporating something that I absolutely love…Smoothies! I have had this book since college and it has been well used and well loved.

I do have some favorite recipes marked in the book, but for right now I’m going to use the book more for information and inspiration rather than exact recipes. Good fruit is scarce in the grocery stores right now so putting together a good base of fruit is difficult. I decided to keep things simple and basic. I like to keep the main ingredients frozen so no ice is needed. I used to keep the chopped fruit in individual containers in the freezer and take out what was needed for the specific recipe I was making. This time I decided to go even more simple and do individual bags with all the ingredients needed to make one smoothie.

The base ingredients I am using are bananas, cranberries, blueberries, wakame flakes and brewers yeast. As other fruits are available in the house, I can add them to the blender when making the smoothie.
One of the things I love about the Smoothies for Life book is that it gives you basic information about every ingredient used so you know exactly why it is beneficial in the smoothie. With this information, you can adjust ingredients as needed for the benefits you are seeking. Here is a bit of information about the ingredients I am using.
Bananas-great source of pectin (fiber) and add protection to the stomach from ulcers. Good source of B6 and potassium which lowers the risks of heart disease and hypertension respectively. They add a creamy texture and thickness to the smoothie.
Blueberries-aid in preventing bladder infections and reduces inflammation.
Cranberries-aid in the growth of collagen, aid in preventing bladder infections, reduces inflammation.
Sea Vegetables--The book recommends Algae or Kelp but I had Wakame in the cabinet so I decided to use it. I found some information on this site.
Sea vegetables are a good source of minerals and trace minerals. They also contain good levels of magnesium, potassium, folate, vitamin K, calcium and iron as well as protein. They are especially rich in iodine which is crucial for a healthy metabolism and thyroid function.Brewer Yeast Flakes-excellent source of B vitamins and chromium, aiding in blood sugar regulation and energy production. Also aids in prevention and treatment of heart disease.
The wakame flakes were the only ingredient that needed some prepping before hand. These flakes need to be soaked in water to really be incorporated while blending.
I soaked some flakes in water. Because they do expand, not much is needed.
I divided the bananas (chopped), cranberries and blueberries into 10 zipper sandwich bags. To that, I added one teaspoon of both the wakame flakes and the brewers yeast.

The bags were promptly sealed and put into the freezer.
The liquid base of my smoothies will be almond milk and I will sweeten as needed with honey. I’m not sure how many calories each smoothie will have but I’m going more for the nutrients and energy boost than any kind of weight loss supplement. I love a cup of coffee in the morning, but I love having energy throughout the day even more so I am looking forward to adding smoothies back into my daily routine. I’ll update with a taste review after I’ve mixed the first one. This is my first time using the wakame flakes so it will be interesting to see if the other ingredients mask the salty-sea flavor.

Finally an Answer

Since I was in high school, I started having terrible headaches. In the beginning, I’m sure my mother thought I was feigning my headaches to get out of doing housework. When they first started, the headaches would pretty much cripple me. There was nothing I could do except lay in a dark room with a bag of ice on my head and pray the pain would stop soon. I remember my mother coming into my room one day and found me laying silently crying into my pillow. That started the parade of doctors into my life. As a child I was never given a clear diagnosis. One doctor said maybe you need glasses. I did and I got glasses, but the headaches didn’t stop. The next doctor suggested I had sinus problems. I did and I got medication for it, but the headaches didn’t stop. The next doctor couldn’t even guess at it and suggested I have an MRI. My early nineties insurance wouldn’t pay for it and I was afraid of what they would find.

Over the years, I learned to live through the pain. In college, I learned to function through it all. I still went to class. I still went to parties. I still went to my work study job on campus. I even went to football games, all while functioning through my headaches.

As an adult, I sought out the help of an allergy doctor. I found out I’m allergic to a litany of things, but it still didn’t help with the headaches. When I told the allergy doctor I thought I was developing a food allergy, he responded negatively. So I found another doctor. She was great. She started off her session in prayer and asked God to guide her in helping to find the problems that were affecting my life. She never she could fully resolve my problems but she did help me to realize that I couldn’t live my life with restrictions. I would always have environmental factors that would cause me to sneeze and wheeze and whatnot, but I couldn’t let that keep me from living.

It wasn’t until I was traveling and needed to see a new allergy doctor that I was led down a different path. After describing my issues to the allergist, she asked me, “Have you ever seen a Neurologist?”. Of course I hadn’t. I hadn’t thought my issue was serious enough for that. I was living through my pain for so long that it not occurred to me to seek a higher level specialist. The allergist suggested I may have food-induced migraines.

I took her recommendation and sought out the care of a neurologist and today I can say that I am a migraine sufferer. I am still learning what foods cause me the problems, but that my friends is another post for another day.

Take care and eat well.

Sick Sunday

I have a headache that won’t let me go this weekend. I get a little dizzy when I move too much so for right now I am sitting in bed. I’m trying to read some of the blog posts in my RSS reader and watch a little Doctor Who.



I’m always amazed when I open my RSS reader and I see that one blog has put up 10 to 20 posts in a week. I find myself skipping a lot of these posts. Some seem to be more about volume rather than content. For now, I won’ be expelling anyone from the reader but it takes a lot of time to keep up with the good content when you have to surf through all the fluff.

Hope you all are having a headache free existence.

Wouldn't You Know It

My month of unemployment is coming to an end and wouldn’t you know, at the end of it I start to get sick. My throat is sore, my sinuses are draining on overdrive and I am constantly freezing. I’m getting on a plane in 4 days. I would like to do so without being sick. I’m hoping it won’t last long.

It’s time to go back to work as last week I made a serious impulse purchase. It wasn’t much of an impulse because I’ve been looking at getting a new one for about two years. I just wouldn’t have expected it to be this one.



But I love it and sad as I was to see my Jeep go, it was time for us to part.