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!

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Time To Get The Whole Planet Choco-Vibing!

I’ve been living on this stuff, no kidding. Truthfully, you really could live on it for ages… it’s rich in calcium, magnesium, protein, essential fatty acids, chlorophyll, and so much more! For people who still think chocolate is unhealthy and something to resist or to force out of their lives, try this smoothie out and have an experience of how great you feel on it! It’s great for energy, well-being, mineralizing, alkalyzing, balancing hormones, raising your libido, increasing stamina, and just generally feeling awesomely happy and ready for anything!

You can include the greens or not, you can include the raw cocoa butter or not, and all the rest in the recipe remains the same and still makes for an awesome meal, any time of day. And with or without greens, it’s a pretty shake — frothy, rich brown… gorgeous!

Angela Leeds’s “ChocoMacaVerde” Smoothie

The Ultimate Live-Green Raw-Chocolate Smoothie

• 4 tablespoons Hemp seeds
• 3 heaping tablespoons Raw Cacao powder
• 1 heaping tablespoon Raw Carob powder
• 1 scant tablespoon Raw Maca powder
• dash “Himmy” salt (Himalayan Crystal salt)
• 1 medium handful fresh spinach or parsley (you can also make it without the greens)
• 3 tablespoons of your favorite raw sweetener (honey, agave, maple syrup, rapadura cane sugar… your pick)
• (optional) 1-2″ square inch block of Raw Cacao (Cocoa) Butter (majorly jacks up the flavor!)
• (optional) 1-2″ piece of Raw Vanilla Bean
• (optional) a few shakes of raw chili powder (cayenne) to taste if you want to jack up the heat!
• (optional) ice
• water to 32 oz.

Blend everything up, drink, and get your choco-vibe on!

Tip: If you have some Raw Chocolate Nibs on hand and have a high-speed blender, throw a few of those in as well for an additional layer of Choco-Vibing flavor!

Another tip: If you’re adding Raw Cacao Butter, make sure you melt some in your hands and put on your face, especially around the nose & eyes — great moisturizer, and raw chocolate products have the highest antioxidant profile on the planet. Great for your skin! Be careful in cutting up that raw cocoa butter, tho… it’s hard stuff!

And yet another tip: The ingredients for this smoothie are highly portable. You can pack all ingredients and a blender and take with you on the road, and pick some greens up along the way… or not… and always have GREAT nutrition with you when you travel!

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

I am a full convert to the health-enhancing properties of Raw Cacao. Feels like a wonderful tonic whenever I take it. And the Navitas “Cacao Power” Raw Chocolate Powder is really what it says on the bag: “King of Cacao”. It is absolutely superb. Far superior to anything I have ever ground up myself from raw cacao nibs.

Mixed with warm nut milk and your sweetener of choice, it’s a great way to start a cold morning…

Raw “Hot” Chocolate?

It may sound like a misnomer to say “Raw” and “Hot” together, but in fact there is nothing that says that live foods can’t be warm to the touch. And I mean warmer than “tepid”. If you can comfortably put your hand in a liquid that is warming up, you’re good to go. It didn’t kill off the living enzymes in your living fingers after all, did it? And while it may just feel comfortably, solidly “warm” to your hand, it will likely feel much warmer to your tongue!

It makes no sense to me why people deprive themselves of the warmth and soothing qualities of warm foods just because they’ve “gone raw”. I mean… the inside of your body is nearly 100 degrees! Ever slept next to a pregnant woman, who’s like a veritable furnace? Ever hung out with a high-performance athlete who’s inner fire is easily stoked high? Life is warm, there’s heat to it. Without that inner heat, you lose your drive. Life must have balance in it, and that includes our diet.

So, take some fresh Almond Milk, or Pecan Milk (yum!), or Pumpkin Seed Milk… warm it up gently in a saucepan with Raw Chocolate (Cacao) Powder and a few other tasty ingredients, and you’ll have a rich, warming, creamy-chocolate concoction as filled with healthifying nutrients as it is delicious!

Use Different Kinds of Milk to Make Your Raw Hot Chocolate

Raw Hot Chocolate with Almond Milk is a great calcium-magnesium combo (almonds provide the calcium, the cacao provides the magnesium). A good thing for anyone with mood swings, cramps, and general hormonal problems.

Raw Hot Chocolate with Pecan Milk is great for anyone concerned about cholesterol levels… and for anyone wanting to zing up their love life! The plant sterols in pecans are well-known for their cholesterol-lowering properties, and their high zinc content is required for the production of testosterone and often recommended for a healthy prostate. Pair that with the dynamic, heart-energizing qualities of the Raw Cacao and, well…I’m beginning to get a better of sense of why this particular combination is my favorite!

Raw Hot Chocolate with Pumpkin Milk is super-high in magnesium, with the added benefits of zinc, B vitamins, and iron. This combination is a nutritional powerhouse.

Raw Hot Chocolate (Cacao) Recipe

• 1 C. Raw Nut or Seed Milk (I used some Pumpkin Seed Milk in the photo above, but you can use milk made from almonds, pecans, cashews, walnuts… whatever you like)
• 1 T. Raw Cacao Powder (or more if you like it very dark)
• 1 T. raw honey, raw agave (or I will sometimes use unprocessed “rapadura” cane sugar) (use more if you like it sweet — I do not)
• dash “Himmy salt” (Himalayan Crystal Salt)

Warm ingredients gently in saucepan — don’t walk away, it takes less than a minute! If the air is cool, you’ll be able to see a bit of steam rise, and you should be able to put your finger comfortably into the warming liquid.

Stir (or use a little whisk to froth it up). Serve. Makes 1 mug or 2 smaller cups of cocoa.

And Then… Spice It Up!

Angela’s Favorite Raw Hot Chocolate Garnish: A few good shakes each of organic Cinnamon and Cayenne Chile powder! If you’re under the weather physically or emotionally, give your cup some heat!!!

Pumpkin Seed Milk turns out a lovely pale green color. However, it will take a photographer with better skills than I to capture its delicate color… far prettier in real life than my current photographic skills can convey.

Using Nut and Seed Milks in Live Green Smoothies and Raw Foods Recipes

Although I don’t normally use nut or seed milks in my Live Green Smoothies, there are quite a lot of uses for fresh nut and seed milks. It can be fun to use them to make a nice creamy Raw Chocolate or Vanilla Smoothie (with or without live greens). And I do use them for making Warm Live Soups, and they’re great over Raw Oatmeal, if you’re a fan of that in the morning. And if you’re like me and don’t see anything at all contradictory about healthy living AND the regular enjoyment of a smart cocktail, live nut and seed milks can be useful for making certain cocktails. I’m going to have to remember to post the recipe for one of my personal vanilla creations, “Mama’s Milk“. I’ve got a slew of “Raw Cocktail” recipes just waiting to be unleashed on the world. Heh.

But most of all, I enjoy nut and seed milks in one of my favorite warm beverages: “Raw Hot Chocolate” with chile & cinnamon. Since for me Raw Chocolate is a staple and a FOOD rather than a candy or something to angst over, I do like to make some kind of nut or seed milk at least once a week.

Why I Like Pumpkin Seed Milk

I love everything pumpkin, so I’m not surprised that I gravitate toward using pumpkin seeds to make fresh milk. I particularly like the fact that pumpkin seeds are inexpensive - easily half the price of my favorite nut milk darlings, pecan. You can buy a huge bag of pumpkin seeds without digging too deeply into your wallet. I invest in good quality Raw Coconut Oil, Hemp Seeds, and Raw Chocolate as staples in my kitchen, so frequently using sensibly priced pumpkin seeds and humble parsley seems to balance the equation and appeals to my latent frugal side.

I also just love the fact that pumpkin seeds are green! Consider me generally biased toward anything green and anything orange. I guess pumpkin seeds fit the bill on both accounts. I know that deep within the core of each seed lies the potential for a luscious, plump, cheerfully orange creation.

Pumpkin Seed Nutrition

Pumpkin seeds are packed with nutrition, some highlights of which include a significant source of the anti-oxidant Vitamin E, as well as the essential fatty acid Omega 6, and a good bit of protein. It’s also a great source of folate (folic acid). Especially good for pregnant mothers.

I make milk from pumpkin seeds using the same proportion as with the nuts, and I make sure to use the leftover pulp in some fashion. I purchased my nut milk bag online from Alissa Cohen’s site… it’s a nice large size. And I make sure to always use it so the seam of the bag is on the outside, that way the pulp doesn’t get caught in it when I’m trying to clean it.

Fresh Pumpkin Seed Milk Recipe

• 1 C. raw Pumpkin seeds (no need to soak)
• 4 C. quality water
• good dash “Himmy” salt (Himalayan Crystal Salt)
• 1 T. raw honey (or other sweetener to taste — sweetener is optional, as you might want the milk for a savory recipe, such as a soup)

Blend ingredients till smooth in blender.

Place nut milk bag in pitcher (or bowl) & pour the milk into the bag. Carefully (just so you don’t splash yourself or the counter) squeeze the pulp down towards the bottom of the bag & the milk out the bottom. Slide and push down as you would a tube of toothpaste. When you get to the bottom, really give it some good squeezes to get all the moisture out.

Note: It will be easier the less powerful your blender is. The more powerful it is, the finer the pulp will be that you’ll have to squeeze to get the milk out.

Use right away, or by the next morning. Keep leftovers in the fridge. It’s normal for separation to occur, but when you stir it up it gets creamy again.

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

Live Green Smoothies For Beginners

To help you gauge a good beginner’s proportion of greens to fruit, I’ve included measurements below. But I personally never measure my greens or my fruit when I make Live Green Smoothies. Since we’re dealing with fresh produce here, it’s hard to standardize measurements. A small very ripe banana will tend to be sweeter than 2 medium un-ripe bananas. “Three leaves of kale” could be tiny or gargantuan, depending upon the bunch you bought.

A good ratio to use when making green smoothies is 60% fruit to 40% greens.

You can use any kind of greens, and it’s good over time rotate your choice of greens. But keep it simple. There is no reason for complexity, and in fact the simpler your Live Green Smoothies are, the better your body will be able to digest and absorb the special nutrients that they carry.

A newbie to Live Greenies will generally enjoy them on the sweeter side. But your tastes will adjust after awhile and you’ll want less sugar and more greens. There are no hard-and-fast rules, though,only guidelines. Mostly importantly, learn how to make the smoothies that taste good to you so that you’ll enjoy drinking them, and drink them often!

After you’ve blended your smoothie, taste it before you pour it out. Ask yourself the following questions, then add fruit or greens accordingly.

• “Do I want this more sweet, with more fruit?”
• “Do I want this more watery, with less greens?”
• “Do I want this energizing and really clarifying, with more greens?”
• “Do I want this more refreshing, with less fruit?”

A Word About Blenders

When I first started “going raw” and discovered Live Green Smoothies, I had a $20 two-speed “smoothie blender” I picked up at Wal-Mart. I achieved my entire personal transformation using that blender, and I enjoyed drinking all the smoothies that little pipsqueak of a machine churned out.

However, when I later picked up a powerful 3+ HP Blendtec “Total Blender” (revamped and now called “Home”, but the same machine), my experience of drinking Live Green Smoothies jacked up as much as my vitality had. I’d never want to go back — the pricier Blendtec was worth every penny. So, if you can afford it, get a Blendtec. If you can’t… no worries. Your smoothies will just be a bit “chewier”… but there’s no harm in that.

However keep this in mind: there is evidence to show that the 2+HP blenders have the ability to break through the cell wall of the fruit & vedge in your smoothies, making them all that more digestible and their nutrients all the more “bio-available” to your system!

A Word About Preparing Your Greens and Fruit

If you use organic produce and you have a Blendtec, everything is quick and easy: Rinse the produce and throw into the blender whole, except for fruits that have pits or rough external skin. I don’t peel or core my apples; I use the stems on my greens; I don’t dice anything into small pieces; and I don’t make my smoothies in stages (”First blend this, then blend that… and now this.”) Everything goes in, the button gets pressed, and presto, in 40 seconds it’s done. Maybe I’ll add ice at the end, so I’ll do a 2nd round. But that’s the maximum fussiness I put into my smoothies. I am both busy and lazy, and I have to be hard-pressed and well-persuaded to put needless energy into any of my tasks.

In addition, I use water to create at least a 32 oz finished product, so I don’t have to repeatedly jam the fruit & vedge down to get it to blend. There is sufficient liquid in the blender to get the job done quickly and easily.

If you don’t use organic produce, I recommend that transitioning over to more organic – besides the pesticide residue you’ll decrease in your system, and your contributing to more balanced agriculture, studies have revealed that organic fruit & vedge do indeed have more nutrients. And I’ve taste-tested many times — organic produce is definitively sweeter, more mineral-rich, and more tender than produce grown using pesticides. As for food preparation, you’ll have to be more aware of removing peels and skins, roots and tops. Do what you need to do to make sure the food is clean and safe.

Simple Greens-and-Fruit Combinations For Live Green Smoothie Beginners

Spinach is the green of choice for beginners. It has a strong, tannic flavor when cooked, but when it is raw it has virtually no flavor at all. Instead, it gives a flavor of intense “freshness” when combined with fruit. Parsley is also very refreshing and enjoyable for beginners. I tend to use Parsley far more frequently than Spinach these days because it’s much, much cheaper and I’ve tightened up the purse strings. As you begin to branch out, try other greens: Kale, Arugula, Watercress, Beet Greens, Collards, Dill, Cilantro, even Broccoli. Later you can even experiment with making Live Green Smoothie with sprouts…which make “green smoothies” of all lovely colors — purple, fushcia, orange, and yellow!

In general regarding fruit: choose “sweet” fruits as the basis of your combination. Reserve less-sweet fruits, such as berries, as additions… unless you want an extremely low-sugar, very tart smoothie.

• One of my all-time favorite smoothie combinations is Spinach and Pear. It tastes like “essence of pear”… super-refreshing! Try 2 pears to a handful of spinach.
• Another excellent combination is Parsley and Mango. This makes for a gorgeous spring-green smoothie, and these two flavors really complement each other. One mango should suffice; add a banana or some grapes if you want it sweeter.
• Spinach with Banana & Vanilla is great, especially if you add a bit of ice — it’s like a pretty, green, vanilla shake! Use 2 bananas with the spinach, and add either a dash of organic vanilla extract or a 1″ piece of vanilla bean.
• One I make frequently is Grapes with Parsley. It’s extremely refreshing, and one that I generally make when I’m less inclined to sip — for example, when I’m taking one to the gym or making a smoothie after an intense workout, or when I’m getting my third blenderful of smoothies in at the end of a busy day. Use the grapes from a nice large bunch!

Basic Live Green Smoothie Recipe for Beginners

• 1 cup (or a good medium-size handful) fresh spinach or parsley
• 2 heaping cups (or two pieces) fresh sweet fruit
• good, pure water to fill blender to 32 oz (or to the point at which it won’t explode when you turn it on to MAX)
• 1 cup of ice (optional)

Blend: Put everything in the blender and blend til everything is broken down as good as your blender can manage. In my Blendtec, I have it set to 40 seconds, which is overkill. If you have a weenie-blender, you might want to give it a full minute or more.

Drink: Pour into glass & drink, or into ice-filled water bottles to take with you on-the-go. One blenderful will generally fill two large water bottles with ice, with a bit left over to drink.

Clean up: Rinse with hot water, then tip over to drain & dry. No need to use soap — you haven’t used anything that requires soap to break down.

After getting your smoothie feet wet, begin tinkering with these proportions.

• Add a larger handful of greens, between 1 and 2 cups, or more. Try different combinations. Branch out to using kale, arugula, dill, watercress, beet greens, collards, broccoli… or anything else green you can buy in your produce section!
• Add less fruit, or play with fruit combinations.

And then start exploring some of the more adventurous combinations on this site and elsewhere!

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Here are some “How To Make A Green Smoothie” videos, for your viewing pleasure…

How To Make A Green Smoothie, with GreenSmoothieGirl

This video was produced by Green Smoothie Girl, whose site is an absolutely awesome resource for green smoothies. Make sure you check it out! It’s extremely informative and well-organized, and I find that I’m extremely well in sync with GreenSmoothieGirl — AKA Robyn’s — take on everything from the greens to soy to coconut oil and salt.

video management, video solution, video streaming

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This video was produced by Tim VanOrden of Running Raw.Com. I love this guy, and need to go out of my way to meet him because he’s also someone who has been leveraging the vital power of raw foods to become an elite athlete later in life. And he’s got more personality than his smoothie has chlorophyll!

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This video was produced by Sergei Boutenko, a member of the Boutenko Family well-known for being leaders in bringing green smoothies to the world. Make sure you check out their site. I completely support their “Keep It Simple” take on green smoothies. They are wise and informative — not to be missed!

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

Okay, time to address some of the basics about Live Green Smoothies. I’ve been lovingly hounded by my close friends and many colleagues over the last few years to give them some “Live Green Smoothie Basics”, so today’s the day all that info’s going up, and I’ll sleep the sleep of the just having finally delivered on my lagging promises…

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So… What’s a Live Green Smoothie?

A Live Green Smoothie is a handful of fresh greens and a handful of fresh fruit, all whirled up in the blender with the best water you have on hand.

Well, that’s the short answer, anyway.

There are  actually many, many — perhaps inexhaustible — ways to make a Live Green Smoothie. But today, let’s just talk basics…

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Live Green Smoothie Basics: Greens, Fruit, & Water

Live Green Smoothies Are Made With Living Greens

There are “green smoothies” and then there are “live green smoothies“.

I could make a green smoothie out of some milk, a frozen banana, and a couple tablespoons of powdered greens (such as spirulina or barley greens), and while that would be a far more nutritious drink than a McDonald’s shake or a can of Diet Coke, it wouldn’t be a Live Green Smoothie. Live Green Smoothies are made only with “live” greens.

I’m not knocking powdered greens. There are some excellent products out there, and they have their place. Anybody can benefit nutritionally by adding a quality powdered green to their diet, and if you are vegetarian or vegan, or shooting for being very “high-raw” or 100% raw vegan, an excellent powdered green may be a valuable component of your diet.

But I have never, ever felt the same way in my body with a smoothie made with that powder as I do with smoothies made from humble parsley, fresh kale, baby spinach, or home-grown sprouts.

In my view, powdered greens — no matter how expensive they were — should be relegated to “convenient backup” or “serious nutritional support” rather than the primary agent of nutrition in one’s daily diet.

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So What’s a “Live” Green… and Why Should I Care?

A “live” green is a green leafy vegetable that is still living, that hasn’t had the life cooked or dried out of it. Live greens still possess their living enzymes, the magical components that give all living things their viable life force.

In addition, green foods as a group are the most nutrient-rich foods on the planet. They are low-calorie, low-sugar, and low-fat, while at the same time high in minerals, vitamins, and the natural elements your body requires to run smoothly, without dis-ease.

The closer that live greens are to their original growing state, the more jam-packed with life-force, vitality, and nutrition they are. So, for example, greens tumbled out of a plastic container from your grocer’s produce section are simply not equal to greens you’ve cut from your garden, or from a pot growing on your windowsill.

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Mainlining Vitality

Green foods are nothing short of an intense nutrient injection into your system, and certainly the biggest nutritional “bang for your buck” that you could buy or consume. And when you blend greens up in your blender, all these valuable enzymes and nutrients become more “bio-available”, meaning that more get used.

When you drink Live Green Smoothies, you mainline these enzymes and nutrients into your system, and the mechanism that gives you your energy and health jumps into action. It’s got what it needs and runs with it! Your body is literally waiting on you to pour these enzymes into your system so that it can do its job and serve you quietly in the background without symptoms of fatigue, pain, or disease!

When you provide your system the living enzymes and rich nutrients it craves, you get a potent boost of well-being because things are working as they’re supposed to. When you don’t provide the enzymes and nutrients, you experience your energy being thwarted; you experience either constant cravings and restlessness, or listlessness and fatigue. And certainly, it’s easy then to start to fall into degenerative states of imbalance and disease.

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Chlorophyll… the Happy Magic Behind Live Green Smoothies

The regenerating, cleansing, infection-fighting, healing, and detoxification properties of chlorophyll-rich greens are well-known. With all that power lurking in live greens, waiting to be used, just think of the amazing changes you might unleash by jacking up the greens in your diet! You’d be turning yourself into a high-performance machine rather than the sluggish-engine-needing-a-tuneup that most people possess.

When I’m drinking Live Green Smoothies throughout the day, it feels like there’s liquid sunshine in my bloodstream. I’m not using hyperbole here — it genuinely feels like “liquid sunshine”. And why not? Chlorophyll is manufactured in partnership with sunshine — it is a product of white sprouts being exposed to the sun’s rays.

Chlorophyll is the green pigment formed in most plants when they are exposed to sunlight.

A fact I find extremely fascinating is that a chlorophyll molecule and a molecule of heme (the red pigment in the hemoglobin of your blood) closely resemble each other. Both are made up of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen atoms organized around a central atom. In the chlorophyll molecule, that central atom is magnesium, while in heme it is iron.

Heme is an essential molecule for life — it is involved in sensing and using oxygen in your bloodstream, an extremely powerful role. Heme’s oxygen-related role and its correlation to chlorophyll is certainly a key to why Live Green Smoothies are so amazing in the body.

When I “jack up” my intake of “Live Greenies”, often just overnight I begin to feel an increase of oxygen in my body. I experience an increase of “ease” and peacefulness, similar to the sensation one gets after a good aerobic workout. It’s well-known that aerobic exercise is recommended for depression-sufferers due to the mood-elevating effects of increasing oxygen to the body. In the quantities that I consume Live Green Smoothies (by the blenderful, two to three blenderfuls a day) Live Green Smoothies have a similar effect. Try them out and see for yourself.

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What Fruit Should I Add to My Live Green Smoothies?

Someone once told me that, when greens and fruit are blended together, the greens act as builders and the fruit acts as a cleanser. This strikes me as perfect teamwork — the greens detoxify and the fruit flushes out, the two of them working in harmony.

You can put whichever fruits or fruit combinations you want into Live Green Smoothies, but I find that they require as a base some kind of sweet fruit, such as apples, pears, bananas, mangoes, oranges, grapes, papaya, and plums.

Berries of all kinds are great in Live Green Smoothies, but they taste best when combined with other sweet fruits because they do not provide much sweetness on their own. However, if for health reasons you require keeping the glycemic level of your diet extremely low, then berries are the place to start when creating your smoothies.

Can I Put Frozen Fruit Into My Live Green Smoothies?

When I first started out making Live Green Smoothies, I kept bags of frozen fruit in my fridge and used them daily. But then I realized that these foods were just as dead as the cooked foods I was moving away from. I consequently haven’t used frozen fruit in my smoothies for years.

A living thing is permanently affected by freezing. Freeze your hand solid overnight and tell me tomorrow after you’ve defrosted it if it’s anywhere near its original state. In fact, it will die and will have to be lopped off; that’s a fact. Similarly, meat that’s frozen in a freezer is actually tenderized when it’s defrosted, because the cells are damaged during the freezing process.

Living tissues are made of cells containing water, which expands when frozen, ultimately causing the cells to explode.

Putting frozen bananas and frozen mango into your green smoothie will most certainly be delicious… but it will not be a bonafide Live Green Smoothie made from living greens and living fruit.

Because Live Green Smoothies are all about maximum nutrition and vitality for your dollar, time, and consumption, I invite you to consider switching to only fresh fruits as your primary ingredients. Consider the frozen varieties in the same category as dried greens — they are backup for the sake of convenience, when the real deal is not on hand.

And of course, if it comes down to making Live Green Smoothies with frozen fruit or not making them at all, well…make the dang LGS!

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Does It Matter What Kind of Water I Use?

It will definitely matter to your health overall what kind of water you use when making your Live Green Smoothies. Your body is made up primarily of water. Use the very best quality water you have access to.

The subject of how to create the best water possible for yourself is a rich and critical subject on its own, which I’ll be discussing in later posts. But for now:

• If you’ve been drinking un-purified city tap water, at least invest in a decent counter-top filtration system, or use spring water.
• Water bottled in glass is better than water bottled in plastic.
• Pure water out of your own well is generally better than anything you could buy at the store.
• There are also excellent “water alkalyzers” that sit on your counter and purify the water while they also raise its PH content. I use one of these for my water, and it’s pretty nifty.

But whatever you do, just make sure  you use the best water you can.

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So, the Next Step… Whip Up a “Live Greenie” and Take It For a Test-Drive!

The thing to do now is to give yourself an experience of the energy, vitality, and well-being that comes from drinking Live Green Smoothies.

“The proof is in the pudding”, so-to-speak. Take this out of the realm of theory and create an experience of it in your life. The results will become inarguable.

Go to “How To Make A Live Green Smoothie” — read the simple instructions and watch a few of the videos. Then jump right in and make one.

Drink the whole blenderful. Then tomorrow, make two blenderfuls and drink them before the day is through. And on the third day, challenge yourself to make and drink three blenderfuls — two in the morning and one in the evening, around supper-time.

On the fourth day you’ll know in a very personal way what a Live Green Smoothie really is, because it will be deep inside your body, working its magic. And you’ll be hooked, because your system will start craving them.

After one week of three blenderfuls of Live Green Smoothies every day, the magic of Live Green Smoothies will become utterly self-evident.

One of my favorite Live Green Smoothies!>

This is extremely thick, tastes like a rich dark chocolate shake, and can be make with or without the addition of fresh greens. The recipe below is without greens, but if you want to add them, I recommend a handful (1 cup or so) of either fresh spinach or parsley.

Spinach pairs wonderfully with Raw Chocolate, because fresh spinach in a smoothie does not add flavor, it adds a sensation of “freshness”. Parsley has a bit stronger flavor, but it still pairs nicely with raw chocolate — I use it all the time.

Even without the addition of raw greens, however, this smoothie is nutrition-packed!

• The Hemp Seeds are intense superfoods, with Omega 3 and Omega 6 essential fatty acids that rival those in fish oil.
• The Raw Chocolate is rich in magnesium (nature’s #1 natural source of magnesium, the last I checked).
• The Avocado is high in oleic acid (great for the cholesterol-conscious) and in phyto-nutrients that combat cancer. And awesome for the skin.
• And if you add a few Almonds or some Raw Carob Powder, you’ll include a good dose of calcium to pair very nicely with the chocolate’s magnesium!

The “Liquid Brownie” Raw Chocolate Smoothie Recipe

• 3 heaping tablespoons Raw Cacao Powder
• 3 tablespoons Hemp Seeds
• 1 Avocado
• 3 medium-sized Bananas (fresh, not frozen)
• 2 tablespoons raw honey (or agave or rapadura cane sugar)
• dash Himalayan Crystal salt
• water to below the 32-oz mark
• 2-3 cups ice

Blend it up real good and pour into a couple glasses. It will be very thick!

As I mentioned above, you can also add some Raw Carob Powder (1 tablespoon) and/or a handful of Raw Almonds (If you have a Blendtec blender, these will be utterly pulverized. If not, it’ll just make your smoothie a bit “chewy”!).

And as always… ADD GREENS whenever you want!

[Note: The photo above is someone else's -- I'll take a picture the next time I make one of these... which won't be long. It's a favorite recipe of mine. Anyway, the photo looks exactly like the Liquid Brownie when I make it! Dang... it's making me hanker for one right now. Lucky me -- I have all the necessary ingredients!]

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 Fruit Topping is wonderful, nutritious, addictive, quick-to-make, and hard to keep on hand because everybody wants some!

The recipe portions are small because I used to make it in one of those mini-food processors, but I’ve since realized that I should at least double (or quadruple) the portion and use a larger machine… otherwise I’m liable to try to bogart the whole batch!

You could just sprinkle on sliced or chopped fruit and go, but the way I normally eat it is to sprinkle it on fruit in a bowl, pour some fresh pecan or almond milk over it (or other fresh nut or seed milk), sprinkle with hemp seeds, and then dig in. Exactly as it looks in the photo:

Try Different Kinds of Honey

It’s fun to experiment with the type of honey you use because different honeys lend different nuances of taste. One of my fave honeys for this recipe is the organic Hawaiian Lehua honey by Garden of Life – it’s one of the tastiest I’ve tried. Quite floral… delicious with vanilla.

If you’re not a honey-eater, just use some agave instead.

Try Different Kinds of Nut and Seed Milks

Most people quickly become familiar with how to make fresh Almond Milk when they begin exploring a raw foods lifestyle, but there are other kinds of nut and seed milks which are wonderful!

I love Pecan Milk (shown in the picture above). It’s rich, warm, and nutty tasting, it’s full of healthy zinc (great for men and their prostates and for pregnant women… and well, everyone needs zinc for healthy growth, cell development, and DNA synthesis).

Also, in my house Sunflower Seed milk rules because you get a tremendous nutritional bang for your hard-earned buck! Much cheaper than almonds or any of the other nuts, you can buy a huge bag of them and not break the bank. And they are high in fiber, protein, essential fatty acids, vitamins A, B complex, C, potassium, and magnesium! They’re also GREEN, and make a very pretty creamy-green milk. So… bring on the Sunflower Seeds, I say!

Vanilla-Macadamia-Hempseed Fruit Topping Recipe

• 1/4 C. raw Macadamia nuts
• 1 t. raw Honey
• dash “Himmy” salt (Himalayan Crystal Salt)
• 2 T. Hemp seeds
• 1/8 t. Vanilla extract (or a snippet of Vanilla Bean if you have some on hand)

Blend in small food processor, or just chop the nuts & mix by hand.
Serve on fresh fruit with fresh nut milk. Sprinkle with extra hemp seeds, if you like.

This is an excellent breakfast recipe, but I’ve also had it as a snack, and for a light dinner many times. It really satisfies on a number of levels — sweet, crunchy, creamy, tart, and belly-filling!

If you come by the site today and see the site reloading in various themes, it’s cuz I’m trying to find just the right combination of features that I feel will make site navigation easy & enjoyable. This is what I’m looking for:

• A 3-column theme so everything isn’t all smushed together on the right there.
• Sidebar widgets that have nice “button-type” headers.
• Sidebar items and links to generally be more visible.
• A theme that retains a “Live Green” feeling.

In fact, I’ve downloaded my own theme-generator and have decided to design my own theme for the long-run. But I want something decent for in-the-meantime.

So… bear with me. Enjoy the content while I find just the right “look & feel” of the place, here!

And by the way, your comments about what you like/don’t like in the existing format… very welcome!

Last night I was craving some sorbet and got to snooping around my kitchen to see what ingredients were laying about to satisfy my jonesin’, and ended up assembling an absolutely delicious sorbet from Red Grapes, Apple, Hemp Seed, and Coconut Oil (with added ice, of course). Got me thinking that I’m hardly maximizing the potential of my Blendtec blender. So now I’m on a kick to see how many different kinds of raw smoothies I can invent!

I had this Creamy Mango Sorbet for breakfast today.

This sorbet and has a milky quality because of the Hemp Seed, which always makes things creamy. The addition of Coconut Oil gives it a nice melty “mouth-feel”. And those two components alone really jack up the nutritional and health benefits of the dish!

Great Nutrition to Start (or End) the Day

Hemp Seed is one of my favorite superfoods. It has:

• An idea ratio of Omega 3 and Omega 6
• A full amino spectrum, making it an excellent protein source
• And a massive trace-mineral profile

Coconut Oil is another fave, one I could probably add to any raw recipe in some way and improve it. Its health benefits are extensive, but just for starters:

• It’s a thyroid stimulant, having the effect of increasing one’s metabolic function, making it helpful for anyone wanting to lose weight. Meanwhile, the fat in Coconut Oil is medium chain fatty acid, which means that the body can more easily convert it into energy, similar to carbohydrates.
• It’s also rich in lauric acid, which the body converts into monolaurin, reputed to be a powerful anti-viral.

Combined with the powerful antioxidant and anti-cancer qualities of the phenols in the mangoes, what might seem to be just a lightweight little dessert recipe is actually an extremely nourishing meal!

I whipped it up in about a minute… once the mangos were cut.

Creamy Mango Sorbet Recipe

• 2 Mangoes, just the flesh
• 3 tablespoons Hemp Seeds
• 1 heaping tablespoon Coconut Oil
• 3 cups ice

Add food ingredients to blender and blend til smooth. Add the ice to finish it off. If you don’t have a powerful blender, the ice may eventually chew up your blades, but the Blendtec eats it up quickly.

This smoothie is not very sweet — it’s rather delicate. If you want it sweeter, add a banana, or some raw honey or agave, or a few grapes.

I took a picture of the dish, but it’s utterly lame. Apologies to you talented food photographers. I have a lot to learn!

Halfway through the blenderful, I added a banana & a handful of parsley, giving it a “Live Green” factor… and I like that version even better. Which just proves to me yet again… “Live Greenies Rule”.

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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No matter who you are…

Mommy-Blogger, Digg-Master, SEO-Guru, Raw-Guru, Social Media-Diva, Twitter-holic, Hoop-oholic… or some guy who hasn’t had his Wheaties in years…

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