Shout Outs - Sister's Soft, Moist Sunday III

If you were following along back in April, and I selfishly hope that you were, you'll remember my taking part in Making Love in the Kitchen's 3-Day Green Smoothie Cleanse. At the time I wasn't sure what drew me to this challenge, but I'm beginning to wonder if it was some sort of subconscious precognitive hunch. Of course, it may have been co-incidence or just plain old luck that prompted me to participate. Whatever the reason, I find that I'm drawing on that experience every time I break out the blender and try to conjure up new smoothie for my sister.

Not that I'm trying to dispense nutritional advice. That's Meghan's job. I'm just trying to find a way for my sister to incorporate more whole foods into her diet. Participation in the cleanse has given me the confidence to experiment. I find myself combining ingredients I'd never considered before, like watermelon with cucumber or strawberry with lettuce and green tea. In spite of my sister's doubts, I'm sure nothing I've combined will harm her. She suspects I might be trying to get even for past sisterly mishaps. Like the gum in my hair incident. She forgets that I test all these smoothies on myself and hubby first.

Another advantage of taking part in Meghan's program was the opportunity to connect with other participants. Even now, months later, I found myself being inspired by Ginger Lemon Girl's (aka Carrie's) experiences during the cleanse. It was her unique solution for conquering peanut butter and jelly sandwich cravings that prompted me to do a little experimenting of my own. While my recipe is rather different from hers (I based mine on price, ingredient availability and my sister's taste) the original idea came from her. I'm grateful to her for sharing her thoughts so freely, and I'm grateful to Meghan for hosting the cleanse and making such connections possible.

This Week's Soft, Moist Selections

PB & J in a Blender

(This one is a work in progress. When I asked hubby what he thought it tasted like, he said satay sauce. Obviously needs some work, but tasty none the less. You can add more or less water, depending on how thick you like your smoothie. Also, consider other fruit instead of strawberries if strawberry jam isn't your favourite.)

Makes 4 cups

1 cup strawberries
3/4 cup apple juice
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 banana
1 cup milk
1 tbsp honey
1/2 cup water

- Blend strawberries and apple juice.
- Add peanut butter, banana and milk and blend.
- Add honey and water and blend until smooth.


Banana, Peach and Green Tea Smoothie

(I'm guessing a nectarine would work as well as a peach here. I'm also guessing that plain yogurt and a bit of sweetener of your choice would work for the vanilla yogurt. I know, that's a lot of guessing, but that's much of what has been involved in this process. No wonder my sister is suspicious of my concoctions!)

Makes 3 cups

1/2 banana
1 peach peeled and sliced
1 cup green tea
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
1 cup ice cubes

- Blend banana, peach and green tea.
- Add yogurt and blend.
- Add ice and blend.

Go Green!

A number of you were interested in the 3-Day Green Smoothie Cleanse I took part in back in April. For those of you who are feeling adventurous, Meghan over at Making Love in the Kitchen is hosting another cleanse starting June 7. I encourage you to go and check it out. I won't be taking part this time, as I will be doing some traveling. Somehow I don't think my blender would make it past airport security.

If you're undecided about leaping into cleansing, I've written a summary of my experiences. I hope it helps you in your choice. Let me know what you decide. I may be away from home during the June cleanse, but I'll certainly be checking in here and at Meghan's site for anyone needing moral support!

Go Green!

Green, Clean and Smooth

The 3-Day Green Smoothie Cleanse is over, and I‘m in my second day of transitioning from it. I’m still not sure what prompted me to take part. Timing I guess. Work has been stressful, and the cleanse came along at the peak of this stress, so I jumped in.

And it was a jump for me. Cleansing is something I had never considered before. In fact, I thought people who took part in cleansing programs were a bit odd and granola-y. I guess I’m one of them now. Sign me up for my socks and Birkenstocks.

I’m glad I did it though. It gave me something positive to think about when worries threatened to overwhelm me, and I feel a sense of accomplishment for having completed it. Would I recommend it? I’m not sure. When I heard about Meghan’s program I knew I had to be a part. It just resonated with me in a way I can’t really explain. If it resonates with you, go for it. If not, I hope you find something that ‘speaks’ to you in the same way. It’s a wonderful feeling.

I’m going to list my observations from the experience below for those of you who might be interested in this or a similar program. I hope that something here helps should you choose to take on the challenge. Of course, I found my biggest help was the wonderful support I got from my husband, from my friends and from Meghan and the rest of the 3-Day Green Smoothie Cleanse participants over at Making Love in the Kitchen.


- When I started telling people what I was doing, I found a surprising number had tried a least one cleansing program.

- Many people I know drink green smoothies on a regular basis. This was news to me.

- There were people who thought I was nuts, but there were more who were curious about the program.

- I was able to sit with others who were eating without wanting to mug them for their food.

- I didn’t have as many cravings as I expected.

- My biggest cravings came at dinner time. That’s when I wanted something savoury.

- It is not wise to try to make a savoury green smoothie and pretend it is soup.

- Avocado in a smoothie makes for a very unusual texture. I found those ones very hard to get down.

- Most smoothies that taste odd on the first sip improve by the second or third sip. Keep sipping.

- I should have predicted that green smoothies come out much like they go in.

- A surprising number of people asked me if my pee was green yet.

- My teeth feel cleaner.

- I did not lose any weight, but my husband says I look slimmer and somehow I feel lighter.

- I feel calmer and lighter in spirit. I had moments of wonderful, peaceful happiness while cleansing.

- I cried much more easily during the cleanse.

- My regularly runny nose and scratchy throat almost went away. This is in spite of the heavy pollen we are experiencing right now. My car has been covered in fine yellow dust most days.

- I have plantar fasciitis. My foot has not hurt nearly as much this week.

- Regarding the above two points: I don’t want to think about what this might mean I should eliminate from my diet. Can we say denial?

- My skin feels much smoother.

- Some points on coconut oil:

• - I’ve been putting it on my skin after my shower.
• - Coconut oil smells heavenly. It made my skin smell like a macaroon.
• - Delicious smelling skin can be a problem when you can’t have macaroons.
• - Coconut oil is a solid at our current room temperature.
• - Small chunks of unblended coconut oil float like anaemic boogers in a sea of green smoothie.

- My first solid food after three days of cleansing was applesauce with sunflower seed butter. Divine.

- After three days of smoothies, solid food made my mouth very happy. My stomach wasn’t as impressed.

- Good advice from a friend: Chew, chew, chew your food when transitioning from the cleanse. Be slow. Take your time.

- Though I wasn’t particularly hungry on the cleanse, once my stomach got used to solid food it became rather demanding on a regular basis.

- I was able to incorporate a wonderful amount of local food into my smoothies. Kale, carrots, cabbage, lettuce, spinach, strawberries, blueberries, chard, collards, etc.

- Some of the ingredients travelled tremendous distances. I’m not sure how comfortable I am with that. Something to think about and work on should I choose to do this again.

- I'm fairly certain I'll be doing this again.

Day One Down

Yesterday marked the first official day of the 3-day Green Smoothie Cleanse. I say “official” because there were a few days of transition leading up to it. Considering how my transition days went, I’m beginning to think that I don’t handle change well. Those of you who know me can get up off the floor now. It wasn’t that funny.

The cleanse is going well so far, I think. Having never done this before I’m not sure what to expect. I’m a bit tired and spacey, but I have days like that anyway. My head hurts a bit, and I had trouble getting to sleep last night. Again, I’ve been feeling stressed about work, so it’s hard to tell if it’s the cleanse or the job causing those symptoms.
On the plus side, I’m not particularly hungry, and I’ve had no real cravings so far. I even went to a pot luck last night and wasn’t even tempted by the food. That is quite odd for me. I’m usually a mindless grazer when it comes to pot lucks.

The first day of the cleanse was made much easier by hubby’s joining me. When I announced my intention to take on this challenge I had no idea he’d be interested. He immediately decided to support my crazy endeavour by doing the transition days and the first day with me. I am honoured by his thoughtfulness. I was so moved and grateful that there were tears yesterday morning. Mine, not his. (Did I mention I've been a bit emotional so far during the cleanse?)

Mind you, it hasn't all been wild emotions. There was a moment yesterday morning when we realized that there are some silly side effects to green smoothies. We recorded it to share with you here. Note that hubby is the one with the whiskers.

Green Smoothies, Greener Planet

I came home from yesterday's Farmer's Market with a bag full of green goodies and an Earth Machine composter.

I was inspired to buy this inedible item while making my smoothie yesterday morning. As I chucked strawberry hulls into the trash on top of cauliflower leaves from the night before, I realized that I was sending a lot of good stuff to the landfill. When I saw the composters for sale right next to the market yesterday morning I felt like it was meant to be. I already have a half a bucket of scraps to feed to my new friend. Better get it assembled!

If I hadn't signed up for the 3-Day Green Smoothie Cleanse I likely wouldn't have considered composting again. Vegetable scraps tend to get hidden in with the rest of the trash, but when all we're eating is fruits and vegetables it becomes obvious how much waste we're sending to the landfill that doesn't need to be there. Who would have thought that cleansing would be good for me and for the planet?

Masters of the Art of French Cooking

Do you hear that? The voices, the laughter, the corks popping, the arteries hardening? It can only mean one thing.

You’re hearing the echoes of my book club’s discussion of Julie Powell’s "Julie and Julia".

OK, there wasn’t much book discussion. We’re rather lax in that department, but there was lots of sharing and savouring. When we did talk about the book, we came to the consensus that Julie Powell is nuts. We all struggled to prepare our selected recipes from Julia Child’s "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". Considering the trouble I had when I attempted a trial run a few weeks ago, I took childish pleasure in that. Few of us could imagine doing a second recipe, let alone trying to cook every recipe in the book.

In spite of our lack of enthusiasm for our own MtAoFC creations, we all enjoyed the dishes prepared by other club members. That could be because many of us were too frustrated to enjoy the results of our labour-intensive recipes. We all agreed that, left to our own devices, we could have created similar dishes with less effort, and they would have tasted better.

Like I said, though I wasn’t impressed with my Riz Duxelles, I was impressed with the rest of the food. When I’m not completely intimidated by their cooking abilities, I do so love being the same book club as these women. More pictures from the evening are below. Try not to lick your monitor.






After reviewing the pictures, I can see it's a good thing I signed up for Meghan's 3-Day Green Smoothie Cleanse over at Making Love in the Kitchen. In fact, I'm feeling pretty good about my decision to join, but that could be because I'm still full of French food. Check back in a few days to see if I'm still feeling so positive!