Addictions

I think it's fair to say that I have my vices. Long walks in San Francisco, the combination of dark chocolate and peanut butter, good books, organic produce, and time with my husband (a precious commodity these days!) are right up there with roses on raindrops and whiskers on kittens, if you know what I mean. Today, however, my list of favorites contains a few more, shall we say, time-frittering, items. For example, when I entered the blogosphere, I did not anticipate how much time I would eat up (pun intended) reading other peoples' blogs. There is just so much STUFF out there to read and analyze and learn, and so many intelligent and inspiring voices in the mix! But, me being me, it is the one blog with the least amount of pertinent information - the "dark chocolate and peanut butter" of my blog world - to which I am addicted.

Every day, almost without fail, I check in to see what the staffers at VegNews had for lunch. Why do I care you ask? Well, I'm not really sure. I suppose part of it is meal ideas, but more than that, I'm a sucker for finding out about the new vegan swag they get to ingest in the name of product testing. Now, anybody who actually saw me eat lunch every day would find this all very perplexing indeed. You see, for the last 2-3 years or so, I have had the same thing for lunch almost every day. It is my healthiest addiction and it keeps me going, keeps me full, and is the cornerstone of my nutrition program. I present to you...... drum roll please.......

The Green Smoothie


As you can see in the "before" pictures, a green smoothie is a simple concoction of greens and fruit blended together. On this particular day I was using bananas and red chard. 5 bananas and about 5 big leaves of chard to be exact. Add a little water, and you're good to go; assuming you have a Vita-Mix, that is. I wouldn't try this in a regular blender. On other days, I've been known to have pineapple/spinach smoothies, melon/romaine smoothies, mango/kale smoothies... you get the idea. It's a really easy way to gets tons of raw nutrition into your body in a short amount of time. I have 20 minutes for lunch M-F, so it works out well. I just pour it into my Kleen Kanteen in the morning, and pop it into the fridge when I get to work.

I know what you're thinking - "But, how does it taste?" It's a simple answer really. It tastes like whatever fruit you use. The fruit taste really does overpower the greens. I use less pungent greens like romaine with weaker tastes like melon, but when using ripe bananas or mangoes, just about anything goes, from collards to dandelions.

So, while I am reading about the lunch of other vegans in my town, I am mostly scanning for dinner ideas. Lunch is a no-brainer, and one which I just thought I'd share because I feel like it plays in integral role in supporting my health. Vegans AND others, please try one, or at least get the book and learn more. In this case, the grass truly is greener on my side of the fence.