Pumpkin & Pomegranate

Salad in a glass!

I am a BIG fan of my smoothies. I usually have them after a workout as the protein is a nice boost, and that is when I have the time to make one. Trust me, if I had a blender at my desk I would be having a couple of these babies during my work day as a pick me up. They make me feel AMAZING!

I like many different smoothie combos, but this is my go to when it comes to an after workout health booster. Mainly because I shove as much good stuff as I can into the pitcher. it is basically a salad in a glass.  M would say that it tastes “healthy”. Not an insult, but it doesn’t taste like a milkshake either.

I am not a fan of the term “superfood”. I usually roll my eyes when someone uses this term because generally it is used as a way to sell something. I remember when frozen blueberries where dirt cheap, then they became “superfoods” and suddenly blueberry prices skyrocketed. I walk through costco and I see it written all over boxes of processed foods, hear the people giving out samples tell all about the power of the superfood inside the product,  see people stocking up on concentrated supplements of the stuff and I just get queasy. Yes, there are things that are good for you, yes there are things that are better for you than other things, but the best way to get the nutrients is from the actual whole food. Not some processed concentrated crap in a capsule. Not in a sugary granola bar with 4 goji berries, or an oil and sugar covered blueberry in your cereal box. People, people, people! Eat REAL FOOD.

That said…there are times when I do take whole food supplements. In fact I am not one for a multivitamin that does not come from whole foods. From my research and reading into nutrition I do not trust regular multivitamins. I personally believe that most of the time if you are eating a truly healthy diet they are unnecessary, and can be dangerous. Vitamin A for example is very dangerous when taken in excess.  Folic acid has also been shown to be unhealthy when given to men, folate (which is the naturally occurring form) is much healthier to consume. The only vitamin I currently take on its own is Vitamin D. I take it in an oil form, and I do this because I do not sunbathe as I am very pale (and worry about skin cancer), and it is necessary for proper calcium absorption and overall health. Otherwise I get my vitamins and minerals from whole foods I eat, and the one supplement that I do take regularly.

This supplement is part of what makes my smoothie “swamp sludge”.  I am an avid reader of “Kristen’s Raw” which is a blog by a raw chef who I find to be quite spunky and knowledgeable.  She included a supplement called Vitamineral Green into her smoothies, and I took a cue and added it to mine. I LOVE it.  It is raw, has an incredible list of greens included, and is one of the best green supplements I have ever seen (if not the best). I am a huge fan, and do try to take this in some way every day. I feel like it fills in the missing gaps in my nutrition, without doing damage or just creating expensive urine (which most multi-vitamins end up doing).

Kristen also led me to my favorite hemp protein as well.  I have been drinking protein shakes after my workouts for about a year and a half, and my protein of choice had been whey. In the past 6 months or so I have made the switch to hemp protein. I could go into the nutritional differences, but ultimately the reason I switch was because of sugar. My whey protein shakes contained sugar, and my pure hemp protein did not. Now, after I did more research and changed some things in my diet hemp makes even more sense to me. Hemp is a whole food (whey is a byproduct), is rich with Omegas, and since I now do not consume dairy it is the preferred protein powder source for me.  My current favorite is a raw hemp protein powder by Manitoba Harvest. I get the plain hemp protein powder, but they also have one with added fiber. I figure I eat enough fiber as it is and I prefer to get more protein and the added fiber would be unnecessary for me.

I also add a couple other “superfoods” ;-) but I do that for flavor! I am just pleased that the stuff that tastes good is also good for me!

The addition of Kale into this is purely for health reasons. I like the taste of health, I like the feeling of my cells singing and the spurt of energy I get from eating nutritious foods, but honestly I could do without the odd bit of kale getting stuck in my chompers. I WISH I had a Vitamix. Alas, I do not, and my poor little Oster does not do the best job of fully incorporating the kale. So yes, I do have to go check my teeth in the mirror after I have one of these puppies.

OH I nearly forgot about chia. I LOVE chia! We are great buds! I use chia seeds in my smoothies, I toss them in breads, use chia gel as a fat replacer, make chia puding (it sort of has the texture of tapioca pudding), etc. Chia are another on the “superfood” list, but I try to ignore that.  They were a very important part of the Aztec diet, and rightly so. They are FULL of protein and the richest vegetarian source of omega 3’s. They are much better than flax because they won’t go rancid and can be stored in the pantry. Flax on the other hand quickly loses it’s potency when exposed to oxygen. For more information on chia I really recommend this site.

Swamp Sludge

Ingredients:

• 1. C. cold water
• 1 frozen banana
• 2-3 raw kale leaves
• handful of frozen berries (usually strawberries or blueberries)
• 4 T Manitoba Harvest Hemp Protein Powder
• 1 T Vitamineral Green
• 2 T Raw cacao nibs
• 2 Medjool dates (or 1 T date sugar)
• 2 T chia gel (or 1 T chia seeds)

Method:

1. Combine ingredients and blend. Some blenders are more powerful than others so you might need to chop the banana, or add in on thing at a time. I tend to add them in the order listed, but blend a few items at a time before moving on to the next.

I figure I might as well show you my chia gel too :-)
It is definitely some interesting stuff. I keep some in the fridge and use it up fairly quickly. Works quite well as a fat replacer in baked goods, but I also prefer it to straight chia seeds in the smoothie as they are less likely to stick to the glass when they are already in gel form.

Chia Gel

Ingredients:

• 1 Part Chia
• 9 parts water

Method:

1. Combine the chia and the water and stir. Let sit 1 minute then stir again, breaking up any clumps.
2. Store chia gel in fridge for up to 2 weeks.