The Live Green Smoothie Diet

Don’t forget to check out Angela’s “LGS Daily Recipe” online recipe magazine & the new “Jack Up The Raw” 6-week coaching program!

Now, there’s plenty of reference throughout the raw foods community about how well Raw Cacao (Chocolate) and Goji Berries go together, but I had actually never tried it until today. And I’m bowled away… it is phenomenal!

I added 1/4 cup of Goji berries to my Liquid Brownie recipe, and I don’t know that I’ll ever make a raw chocolate smoothie without Gojies anymore!

Raw Cacao and Goji Berries are two of the most potent superfoods on the planet… and should be the cornerstone of any diet focused on super nutrition, maximum health, and peak performance.

If raw cacao is the Food of the Gods, and Goji Berries are the Food of Longevity… it’s not hard to comprehend why I’m feeling…

“I could drink this stuff forever…..”

The Raw Kitchen

You can buy Goji Berries & Raw Cacao Powder, Nibs, and Butter for your own kitchen right now, if you like…!

I am a huge fan of Navitas Naturals products — my kitchen is full of their products, and they are all excellent. I use their Cacao Butter, their raw Cacao Powder, their raw Maca Powder, and Golden Inca Berries.

Don’t forget to check out Angela’s “LGS Daily Recipe” online recipe magazine & the new “Jack Up The Raw” 6-week coaching program!

Raw Smoothie Recipe for Glowing Skin: Papaya and Red Raspberry

I drank this smoothie almost every morning for three months when I first went raw and I always equate it with the most glowing, porcelain skin I’ve ever had.

Clogged Pores

For a number of years, I tried many different approaches to clear the pores around my nose, which always felt clogged no matter what I did. I wasn’t eating poorly — my diet was actually quite healthy by traditional standards. But no matter what I tried, the pores there always felt rough. I had facials professionally done, did Aztec mud masks and other facials on my own, used all kinds of exfoliating agents from both the spa and from the health food store… I tried expensive serums, fancy tonifiers, special creams… I used one of those little pore-sucking gadgets (pretty cool, actually). But nothing ever really made a difference for me.

Enter, the papaya. I was introduced to the papaya from reading David Wolfe’s book Eating For Beauty(still my #1 favorite raw food nutrition book). I’d already known that papaya was famed as a digestive aid due to its potent enzymes, but David Wolfe introduced me to the idea of using a green, unripe papaya for facials. That’s what motivated me to buy my first papaya, and I did indeed use it occasionally as a facial. I’d just mash it up and put it on my skin for about 15 minutes, and I could feel the enzymes working on my skin.

But because I was buying giant papayas, I had plenty left over and began making smoothies with them. I thought they’d make a lovely orange-fuschia smoothie if I added red raspberries — and they did indeed, one of the prettiest smoothies ever — and that’s how I started up with this simple concoction.

Papaya Improves Digestion… and Pore Clarity!

I suspect that the phenomenal digestion-enhancing properties of the papaya are the reason why the pores of my skin started to clear up as I’d never experienced before. I’d do a facial and afterwards they’d feel smooth… and would stay smooth! I’ve frequently observed that there is a correlation between clogged pores loaded with blackheads and someone who appears to have poor digestion & what I call a “dirty intestine” — one that is suspiciously loaded with undigested dead food (such as, from the typical American pizza-burger-fries diet). I also believe there is a correlation between that part of the nose and the intestines in Chinese medicine, as well.

Perhaps the papaya so effectively enhances digestion that it helps clear the intestine, reflected in the cleaner pores around the nose. The papaya seems to have a theme going for it, because its  seeds are famous for being potent anti-parasitics.

In any event, if you want glowing skin with clear, porcelain-fine pores, this is the smoothie to start consuming every day. As I had a winter with more unhealthy starch than I’ve had in years, I know that this smoothie is going into my daily diet plan pronto to help regain the lovely raw glow & healthy skin that I had come to enjoy.

My Favorite "Papaya, Raspberry, Goji Berry, & Lime" Raw Breakfast Smoothie!

Papaya & Red Raspberry Smoothie Recipe

• 1/2 giant papaya, or 1 whole small one (no seeds or skin)
• 1 pint fresh red raspberries (yes, you can use frozen as backup, but there’s no true replacement for fresh)
• water to 32 oz.
• (To make extra-special, add Goji Berries & fresh Lime juice! See “update” below…)

Scoop out the papaya flesh into the blender. Add the raspberries and water, and blend.

Pour Over Ice and Bring To Work or School!

Personally, I like to make the smoothie without ice, then pour over ice in 2 large water bottles, drinking the rest on-the-fly. I often would make another batch to use up the entire papaya and take all four bottles with me on the road to work, drinking them by lunchtime. As I am a proponent of drinking three blenderfuls of live smoothies every single day, this is a great start!

Note: Papaya will make your stools smell like… papaya. But for beautiful skin… who cares?

UPDATE: March 29, 2009

I improved upon this recipe with the addition of Goji Berries and fresh Lime juice… see here for the recipe! It’s my new favorite breakfast smoothie!!!

A delicious, creamy, warm, comforting and satisfying raw vegan soup you can make quickly and easily!

Wish I had a camera to photograph this one, but the kids have absconded with it for a party… The creamy surface is a lovely golden sunshine color (actually, think “mac ‘n cheese”) while the body of the soup below is a warm orange. It probably took me two minutes to make it… maybe three. It’s the perfect temperature for soup, comforting and savory, with a quick home-made curry blend of turmeric, coriander, and cardamom powders (woulda added chili but I’m out!). It’s spicy and very satisfying… and filled with still-living fresh raw nutrients! I love warm live soups… you get the comfort of the warmth and the nutrition of the living.

Warm Live Soup Recipe:

Golden Curry with Red Pepper and Hemp Seeds

• 3 cups water
• 1/2 red pepper
• 1 garlic clove (not too big)
• small slice of red onion
• 1/4 cup hemp seeds
• 1 heaping tsp. raw coconut oil
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• dash (1/8 tsp.) coriander powder
• dah (1/8 tsp.) cardamom powder
• *Himmy salt & fresh black pepper to taste

Put water in pan over heat. Add remaining ingredients. When water starts to steam slightly (you’ll still be able to put your fingers in the liquid…), remove from heat and blender with hand-blender (or other blender). Note: You can add a bit of raw chili or some chili powder if you want more fire! *Himalayan Crystal Salt

Live Green Smoothie Diet Site Now Two Weeks Old…

My Live Green Smoothie Diet site is just two weeks old, but I discovered today that out of 340,000 search results for “How To Make A Green Smoothie”, mine is on the 1st page of Google, and the 5th non-video item. In addition, my Before & After pictures are showing up on the first page of certain searches, and the site is #2 for Green Smooothie Diet on yahoo (Google hasn’t yet shown it the cred it deserves *grin*).

I’m closing in on 700 visitors, after a slightly slower second week because my posting has been quieter while I’ve been developing my Ultimate Superfoods Resource Center. But I think the site is off to a good start.

My intention is to blast Live Green Smoothies out of the niche raw food community and out into the mainstream, where people can learn how easily they can add green smoothies into their lives and normalize their weight and reclaim the health & energy they crave, without deprivation or struggling with guilt.

We’ve Only Just Begun…

There is just so much information I have to share here on the subjects of both green smoothies  & raw foods, it’s a bit like trying to channel Niagara thru a firehose, but week-by-week, I’ll get it out.

My “Ultimate Superfoods Resource Center” will have many articles and videos to browse, as well as a shopping page where you can buy superfoods both “on-the-cheap” and “the best from the best” at a discount. And after that I’ll launch my free eBook, “Happy Juice: The Live Green Smoothie Way to Happines For No Good Reason.” And there’s more planned beyond that… the coming weeks will be full of “launches” and new recipes and articles.

It’s currently a one-chica show here, and less than two months ago I didn’t know how to build much less run a website and make it visible. One thing I’ve learned — everything takes far more time than one might imagine. Hopefully with experience, the process will streamline for me.

Please bookmark the site and come back frequently!

And leave your comments and feedback when you drop by! I love checking out your own sites if you have them, or answering questions if you have those!

Looking forward to getting to know you better…

Angela

Don’t forget to check out Angela’s “LGS Daily Recipe” online recipe magazine & the new “Jack Up The Raw” 6-week coaching program!

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I’ve been mainlining these two recipes lately. I think my skin might turn orange. If that’s the case, when I return to ballroom competition, perhaps these Goji drinks will replace the need to “fake tan”. =)

Goji Berries are a pretty reddish color in their dried state, but when they are blended up in drinks, the spectacular orange hue of their ridiculous beta carotene content explodes into your glass! The outcome ends up looking like creamy carrot juice. It must be the protein content of Goji Berries that makes them so creamy when they’re blended. I’ven noticed the same thing about Broccoli when it’s blended up in a smoothie — it becomes creamy, which I’m sure most people would never expect.

I like to make Raw “Soda Pop” using raw honey and organic, unpasteurized Apple Cider Vinegar, and lately my soda of choice is made with the addition of Goji Berries and the juice of a whole organic lemon. (The obvious benefits of buying organic aside, there is simply no comparison between a non-organic lemon and an organic lemon… the latter is like perfume, so fragrant, and tends to be much sweeter and delicate in taste.)

The other thing I’ve been doing is taking the same recipe but adding only 2 cups of water, then making a tea with equal parts of that mixture and hot water. Looks like frothy, creamy carrot juice in a mug, and is very flavorful.

Recipe for Goji Berry “Raw Soda Pop”

• 1/4 cup Goji Berries
• juice from one organic lemon
• 2 heaping tablespoons raw honey
• 2 tablespoons organic, raw Apple Cider Vinegar (such as Braggs)
• 3 cups water
• 3 cups ice

Blend up and drink.

Note: You can also leave the ACV out of the recipe and just go with the lemon juice. It is excellent.

Recipe for Blended Goji Berry-Lemon Tea

Make the above recipe (with or without the ACV), using only 2 cups water.  Then make a 50-50 tea using one part of the Goji/Lemon mixture to one part hot water.

Don’t forget to check out Angela’s “LGS Daily Recipe” online recipe magazine & the new “Jack Up The Raw” 6-week coaching program!

How to Make a Super-Fast, Super-Easy, and Super-Refreshing Raw Soft Drink!

One of the things I’ve discovered along the way is that the use of organic Apple Cider Vinegar coupled with raw honey (a famous and ancient combination) in a very simple blended drink produces a kind of “soda pop” beverage. Lately I’ve been drinking a lot of a favorite Goji Berry-Lemon raw soda I like to make, and it reminded me I wanted to share my versatile raw soda recipe here.

One thing most people don’t realize when they drink soda is that the “spritzy” quality in the taste isn’t just the carbonation, but all the citric acid added to the soda. Citric acid may give a tasty “zing”, but it’s very acidifying to one’s system, so while we may want to drink a soda for “refreshment”, in fact it has the opposite effect because your system will then require the consumption of a tremendous amount of water to dilute that acidified state. Most people don’t do this, so they set their bodies up to be prone to degenerate into a host of imbalanced states.

However, the use of organic, raw, unpasteurized Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) gives that spritzy-tangy quality while alkalizing your system. And most people sorely need that alkalizing effect. You can also add fresh lemon or orange juice to the drink, which further adds to the alkalizing quality, and certainly adds a tasty layer to the flavor. It also makes a beverage that is truly refreshing. You can almost hear your cells going “aaaaaaaaahhhhh!”

Endless Flavor Possibilities…

So, here’s my general template recipe for making “Raw Soda Pop”. The flavor variations you can add to this are truly ENDLESS. Pop in a bit of mango, or a few blueberries, or some goji berries… or a piece of vanilla bean. You could add mint, or a bit of pomegranate concentrate, or a bit of lemon & ginger. My recommendation is to treat this as you would a genuine soda — to create a very simple flavor profile rather than a melange as you might in one of your breakfast power smoothies.

Lately, I’m practically  mainlining a Goji Berry-Lemon “raw soda”, which is very creamy because that’s what happens to Goji Berries when you blend them up. But I’ve also gone one step further and have started reducing the water in the raw soda blend and then adding hot water to make a tea! Again, so refreshing, and you can feel the healthifying well-being that emerges afterwards. Very unlike the kind of soda most people live on…

Make It Fizzy If You Want… or Turn It into A Raw Cocktail!

Also, if you must have some bubbles, add some quality seltzer. Shoot… you could even segue this into a bonafide cocktail by adding a shot of your favorite vodka or tequila. Pure raw foodists might cringe at this, but my message on this site is the same I live by: add, add, add… add all the healthifying maximum nutritional goodness you can! The rest will take care of itself, because your tastes, cravings, and sensitivities begin to change on their own. If you enjoy alcholohic beverages, then… let’s find great ways to make some “raw cocktails”! They are far more healthifying than anything a bartender could ever make for you. Why not serve double duty and get your intox AND your detox on at the same time? =)

Raw “Soda Pop” — The Basic Template Recipe

• 2 heaping tablespoons raw honey
• 2 tablespoons organic, raw Apple Cider Vinegar (such as Braggs)
• 3 cups water
• 3 cups ice

Blend up and drink. If you want it both sweeter and tangier, you may want to increase the honey and the ACV each to 3 tablespoons — the recipe above is lighter and milder. If you aren’t quite adjusted straightaway to the taste of the ACV, add a bit more honey!

Suggested Additions to the basic Raw “Soda Pop” recipe:

• Raspberries, strawberries, or blueberries…or a berry mix
• Juice from one lemon
• Mango
• Ginger
• Cherries
• Pomegranate (1/2 a skinned pomegranate or some pomegranate concentrate)
• GOJI BERRIES!!!
• Inca berries
• Peaches, plums, red grapes, honeydew, pumpkin, sweet potato… the list could go on forever.
• You could make a mean Virgin Bloody Mary using this template recipe — squeeze in a tomato, then add some ginger, celery, chile, and lemon! Add vodka or tequila to be not-so-virgin…

Most Gorgeous Bright-Orange Smoothie Ever…

With working on my Superfood Living site, I have superfoods massively on the brain, so here’s one of my all-time favorite raw smoothie recipes for starting the day… or just any time you really want a “zing” for your taste buds and energy. My youngest son (18) loves this one… it’s the recipe he most requests, and it includes two superfoods on my Top-10 Superfoods List.

Goji Berries

Goji Berries could be considered “the king of superfoods”. They look like little red raisins, and easily beat out oranges for their Vitamin C content, carrots for their bet carotene, and isteak for ittheir iron. They’re high in antioxidants and Vitamin B… and they’re a complete protein source (all 18 primary amino acids , and a few more to boot), very rare for a fruit. In Chinese medicine, they are considered the number one food or herb! Goji Berries are considered an “adaptogen”, which helps normalize system functions throughout your body, whether they are “high” or “low” (as in, helps you whether you’re hypo-glycemic or hyper-glycemic, or whether your blood pressure is high or low).

Golden (Peruvian) Inca Berries

Golden (Peruvian) “Inca Berries” are another potent adaptogen with high protein (slighter higher percentage-wise over the Gojies, actually). They’re high in Vitamin C and other vitamins, as well as in bioflavanoids (super-useful little critters for protecting your general health) and pectin (great for helping to lower cholesterol). They are also wildly tart… bite into one of those babies and they’re sure to wake you up in a jiffy!

Paired with the oranges, this smoothie actually tastes very much like a raw “sweet tart” candy. And the addition of raw coconut oil gives a creamy undertone and warm energy to start the day (or to re-energize later on…).

“Morning Pick-Up” Raw Smoothie (with Goji Berries and Golden Inca Berries)

• 1/4 cup Goji Berries
• 1/4 cup Inca Berries
• 2 sweet Oranges, peeled
• 2 tablespoons raw Coconut Oil
• water to 32 oz.

Blend everything together until smooth. Add 1-2 cups ice and blend again.

Note: If you’re blender isn’t high-powdered, you’re going to have some satisfyingly chewy bits of berry to munch on at the bottom of your glass. Inca Berries for some reason are surprisingly the hardest things I’ve yet found to break down completely… even my Blendtec needs a couple go-rounds to get them. But they’re fun to chew. They’re tart enough to elicit a good shiver, at times.

Another Note: This recipe is sweet enough for me, but if you like it sweeter, just add a banana or a bit of raw honey.

Don’t forget to check out Angela’s “LGS Daily Recipe” online recipe magazine & the new “Jack Up The Raw” 6-week coaching program!

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These last few days, I’ve been busily developing an adjunct to my site which will be an “Ultimate Resource Center” for Superfoods research, as well as a centralized location to choose a number of different ways to buy Superfoods (”on-the-cheap” or “the best from the best”). I’ll announce the launch of this Superfoods site soon, and then I’ll return to getting my free e-Book “Happy Juice: The Live Green Smoothie Way to Happiness for No Good Reason” ready for launch.

In the meantime, I’ve been “choco-vibing” like crazy with Raw and Live-Green Chocolate Concoctions, and experimenting with ways to jack up the Maca, and wanted to share some recipes variations others might enjoy. The variations are jacked-up nutrition rich in several different kinds of superfoods! Some of the best nutrition that raw foods has to offer…

With my ChocoMacaVerde “Ultimate Live Green Raw Chocolate Smoothie” recipe as the starting point, I’ve whipped up the following awesome concoctions this past week:

• Made an intense raw chocolate ice cream without the greens, but with added macadamia nuts, and definitely using the raw chocolate powder, nibs, and cacao butter in the recipe (and lots of ice).
• Left out the greens and jacked up the raw maca and raw carob (heavy on the raw chocolate nibs and vanilla bean), and made a bit lighter without the addition of hemp seeds (whoops… ran out!).
• Added parsley and substituted pumpkin seeds for the hemp seeds… and doubled the maca & carob.

I also have made a “ChocoMaca Cocoa” a few times using equal parts raw chocolate power, raw maca powder, and raw carob with either raw cane sugar (rapadura) or raw honey. Makes it quite thick, and I tend to need to add more warm water halfway through the mug because it gets too cool.

Maca being the root of a cruciferous plant, it has a bit of that strong flavor that sulphur-rich foods carry (it’s a potent radish, after all), so to my taste buds it requires a little flavor-masking. The ChocoMaca Cocoa does the trick.

The Raw Kitchen

You can buy Goji Berries & Raw Cacao Powder, Nibs, and Butter for your own kitchen right now, if you like…!

I am a huge fan of Navitas Naturals products — my kitchen is full of their products, and they are all excellent. I use their Cacao Butter, their raw Cacao Powder, their raw Maca Powder, and Golden Inca Berries.

Don’t forget to check out Angela’s “LGS Daily Recipe” online recipe magazine & the new “Jack Up The Raw” 6-week coaching program!

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This is a delicious, energizing, soothing, and warming tea… and fun to eat because of the plump squishy Goji Berries that float to the surface!

All three of these ingredients are energizing in their own way. Get a polysaccharide rush from the Goji Berries and the Honey, and feel your inner heat RISE with the metabolic-warming power of the raw Coconut Oil. The Chinese believed that Goji was the key to long life, so if you add Royal Jelly instead of the honey, this might genuinely be the key to longevity if taken every day!

If you’re trying to lose weight, both the Goji Berries and the Coconut Oil can help!

1. Goji Berry is a complete protein and so rich in nutrients, those two facts combined must be why it’s well-reputed to be an appetite suppresant.
2. Raw Coconut Oil is known to stimulate the thyroid and metabolism.

A few additional facts about Coconut Oil, in case you missed that news feed:

Although it is a fat, the lauric acid in Coconut Oil is a medium-chain fatty acid, which your body can utilize more directly as energy (like a carb) as compared with other fats. Coconut is the most stable, slowest-oxidizing of the fats. And your body uses the lauric acide to produce monolaurin, which is a known anti-viral. Thatsalotta health benefits in one cuppa tea…!

Tea with Goji Berries, Coconut Oil, and Raw Honey

• Heaping tablespoon of Goji Berries
• 1 tablespoon raw Coconut Oil
• 1 tablespoon raw Honey (or Royal Jelly)

Put ingredients in a cup and pour warm water over. Stir and sip. Doesn’t take long at all for the Goji Berries to plump up!

Don’t forget to check out Angela’s “LGS Daily Recipe” online recipe magazine & the new “Jack Up The Raw” 6-week coaching program!

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Polysaccharide Mania

I’m currently intent on infusing, steeping, immersing, soaking, and otherwise entirely juicifying every cell in my body with polysaccharide-rich superfoods, so I made up this Polysaccharide-Rich Live Green Smoothie with Goji Berry as an easy basic recipe to get the job done.

Without getting into all the great nutritional science behind polysaccarides here (for that, stay tuned for my new Superfood Living “Ultimate Resource Center” site, soon to launch…), suffice it to say that polysaccharides enable tissue to function properly in your body, decreasing joint pain, improving nervous system function and eyesight, release energy, and basically making you feel generally great.

If I had some Noni Juice in stock, I’d give this smoothie a gigantic dose of noni as well since that’s mad-crazy-rich in polysaccharides.

But this Goji Berry concoction is doing the trick. The flavor is rather mild. The beta-carotene in the Goji explodes to give a color that’s sort of orangey-brown. If that turns you off I say… get over it.

Goji Berry-Banana-Parsley “Polysaccharide-Rich” Live Green Smoothie

• 1/4 cup Goji berries
• heaping cup or so of fresh parsley
• 2 bananas
• water to 32 oz
• (ice optional)
• (If you’ve got some Noni juice on hand, throw a good 4 oz shot of that in!)

Blend up and drink. Don’t let a drop go to waste…!