I'm Going Green!

I just made my first Green Monster and it was delicious!! What is a Green Monster you ask? They are Green Smoothies that incorporate either Spinach or Kale. Right now I am guessing you are making a horrified face and trying to hold back your gag reflex. I did the same thing! Once you get done doing that, you have to trust me and grab your blender to make this surprisingly amazing drink! It is beyond healthy for your, gives you so much energy, takes next to no time to make and you can customize it to your liking. You can check out way more recipes and the website for them here.

Here is the basic recipe:

Virgin Green Monster

2 cups organic spinach

1 – 1 1/4 cups soy/rice/almond/hemp etc milk

1 Tablespoon Flax (optional)

1 banana

Ice

Add everything but the ice and blend for about a minute until mixed thoroughly. Then add ice and blend again!

Green Mbelle*ish Smoothie:

2 cups spinach

1 – 1/4 cups soy milk

1 banana

1 Tablespoon Ground Flax

4-5 whole frozen strawberries

1 scoop Soy protein powder

1 teaspoon agave nectar

Same instructions as before, blend everything until you don't see any spinach flecks, maybe 1-2 minutes.

 

See the flecks still in this picture?  Not done yet, keep going til the mixture looks like the finished pic below!!

I have already stocked my freezer up with frozen bananas, peaches, blueberries, strawberries and blackberries. And I was a little hesitant with the spinach so I only bought one small bag of it but now I am a HUGE fan and will make sure to buy a good amount next time I’m at the store. We started doing smoothies in my house just the last couple weeks because my daughter, Mela, is becoming the two year old that has no interest in eating so we have found that if we make a smoothie she can still run around and play and she thinks she is getting a treat! But what she doesn’t know is all of the nutritious ingredients I am sneaking in to them!

Hello World!

This is it!  Here we go, so many things I want to say and having to put it all in some sort of order,  talk about stress!  So I will start with why I have decided to name my blog Mbelle*ish.  Pronounced embelish, it means “to make beautiful” and I found that once I decided to become vegan, my entire world changed to the point that I feel whole physically, emotionally and mentally.  I am married to my husband, Marcus, of 3 years with whom we have our daughter, Mela, who just turned 2.  She keeps us on our toes all of the time and yet is the coolest thing that has ever happened to us!  My husband has been my biggest supporter with deciding to even become vegan with me.  So as of Memorial Day 2010, my husband and my daughter have both adapted a vegan lifestyle as well!  The transition took a little getting used to on Marcus’ part because he was the processed/frozen food king.  Dinner took him 15 minutes at 350 degrees no matter what.  Recipes and Marcus don’t get along very well, he has asked me questions about making Bisquick pancakes before!  Gotta love it, that being said, I have had to step up my grocery shopping/meal planning game!  I know when I have done well when he says, “if you wouldn’t have told me this was vegan, I wouldn’t have known.”  This coming from a picky eater is true success!  He is the same guy that before becoming vegan would say he hated fish but loved sushi and wouldn’t eat meat on the bone but LOVED ribs!  This makes absolutely no sense, I am aware! Now you see why this is such an accomplishment.  Now throw the fact that I have my daughter who is your typical 2 year old and goes thru ups and downs.  Some days she is fine and others she could care less about eating.  So I am now learning new ways to add even more nutrients into her meals, like adding flax meal to her pancakes and soy protein powder into fruit smoothies.  Below is her favorite smoothie and I can whip it up in no time at all.  She will almost always drink it, whether it is just a snack for her or even a dessert.  You can substitute any fruit combination you would like.  I almost always have bananas in my freezer for when I make banana bread muffins and I keep a bag of frozen strawberries and blueberries for muffins and pancakes also.

Fruit Smoothies

1 cup original soymilk

3-4 whole frozen strawberries

1/2 frozen bananas

2 tsp soy protein powder

1 tsp agave nectar

Blend all the ingredients together til smooth.

I find myself making a double batch, one for her, one for me! YUM!