Food Combining and Green Smoothies

Fruit should be eaten alone, according to food combining rules. But what about green smoothies - doesn't blending fruit with greens break that rule and invite digestive problems?

I was wondering about that myself, after someone left a comment here regarding just this question. I wasn't too worried about proper food combining when it came to green smoothies, since I had been drinking various combinations of fruit and greens with no discomfort at all. On the contrary, after drinking my mixture of greens and fruit, my stomach felt cool and soothed.

Recently, I got my answer when reading an article written by Frederic Patenaude. He states that greens don't count as vegetables.

According to Patenaude, greens such as lettuce, celery, spinach, and other green leaves are very versatile in food combining. They go well with anything, fruit as well as any other food.

Fun with a Dehydrator

Here we have, from top to bottom:

Tamari almonds, Coconut " bacon" and two trays of Kale Chips. I don't have the Teflexx mats yet, so I use parchment paper and that works great.

If you don't have a dehydrator, you can set the oven at a low temperature and achieve similar results.

There are all kinds of recipe books for raw food enthusiasts that can be obtained from the library or purchased chock full of great ideas for delicious, nutritious foods.

Also, online there are also many recipes available to try or adapt to your own tastes.

Craving Chocolate?

For those chocolate cravings, I have come up with a recipe that rivals Starbucks Chocolate Banana Vivanno in taste and definitely kills it with nutritional quality. This drink is sugar free. The sweetness comes from the banana and stevia in the protein powder.

Delicious Creamy Chocolate Banana Shake

1/2 cup almond milk
3/4 cup water
4 ice cubes
1/2 frozen banana
1 T. raw cacao (regular cocoa powder is okay too)
1 scoop protein powder (I used vanilla flavor - Dr. Turner recommends whey, but whatever you choose, make sure the sweetener is stevia)

Put all ingredients in your blender and blend until everything is pulverized. At the end, add the protein powder and just gently stir it in with a couple of pulses, as apparently the protein can be damaged by extensive blending.

Feel free to substitute your choice of milk and protein powder!

I am really sick and tired of feeling lousy because of chronic health problems, so I have decided to focus on looking after myself this year, put on my oxygen mask, so to speak, so I can be better able to fulfill all my responsibilities and care for others better.

I think most women can relate, especially when you have kids, work and complex schedules to coordinate. We often put ourselves at the bottom of the list. This isn't working for me any more. I am finally fed up and ready for change, so I have joined a bootcamp run by a Toronto Naturopath, Dr. Natasha Turner. I believe most of my current issues are related to hormonal imbalance.

For two weeks, as a group, we are doing a detox. Verboten foods are dairy, gluten containing grains, corn, many oils, alcohol and caffeine, peanuts, sugar, citrus (except for lemons and limes) and red meat. I am finding this diet very easy since I have eliminated most of these foods from my repertoire already.

For those interested in Dr. Turner's program, here is her book:




I have not been hanging out a Starbucks, since I have basically given up coffee and most prepared foods, but I saw this cup on sale for Boxing Day while visiting a book store and couldn't resist. It has double walls and a reusable straw and is the perfect size for this shake, containing 20 oz. of liquid. I debated with myself a little before purchasing it, because I am trying to get plastics out of my life, but this one is BHA free and is not for warm or hot liquids, so bad chemicals are much less likely to leach into what you are drinking. Much better than disposable cups with straws for sure!

My first ever completely raw sandwich!

Here is my lunch - avocado, mixed greens, tomato, cucumber and some dijon mustard. It was absolutely fabulous!

About Food and Recipes

This morning I set out trying to find the scrap of paper upon which I had scribbled the ingredients and measurements for the Sun Dried Tomato Pesto I put together to serve over zucchini noodles. So far, the search has been fruitless, but I will keep you posted and put the recipe with the picture when I find it!

I have a bad habit of throwing things together without really keeping track of what I did and then, on the occasions when it turns out fabulous, I am left with no idea of how to duplicate the food. My recent solution is to keep a piece of paper on the counter to record my ingredients and the measurements.

When I first started preparing food, many moons ago (I think brownies might have been my first creation, when my age was still in the single digits) I was annoyed with vague directions, such as usually came from experienced cooks, a handful of this or that, and so on. I needed to be given absolute instructions and measurements. Now, with years of experience, I have found that with cooking in particular (baking can be a little trickier), you can be much looser and more creative. Now that I am entering a whole new world of dehydrating foods, I am excited to see that dehydrating something that you put a bit too much liquid into is not a problem - just leave it in the dehydrator a little longer!

Yesterday, I made Igor's Live Flatbread, from Raw Family Signature Dishes written by Victoria Boutenko. This flexible, wrap-like bread, which is essentially a raw food take on Russian Caraway bread, was so easy to make and the step-by-step directions and photographs were very helpful for a newbie. It was very helpful to know, for instance, that using a 2-cup measuring cup (heaping full) to scoop the batter will give you the right amount for each tray. The one change I would make to the recipe is to grind the flax seeds BEFORE starting the rest of the recipe as this will save having to wash and thoroughly dry the container before proceeding with the wet ingredients. You do need a very large bowl, as I made half the recipe (which filled 4 dehydrator trays) and that was a lot of batter!

I also made some crispy, super delicious Sour Cream and Onion Kale Chips and will post the recipe for that soon!

For now, here is a photograph of the peeler I used to make the zucchini noodles. It was surprisingly fast to do enough for a family of four. Kids really enjoy this task, so get some help in the kitchen!