“I’m eating chocolate that doesn’t stain my clothes or give me a mustache!”
— Lucy having a snack

I’ve been tweaking my morning smoothie, looking to simplify it, up the protein, and drop the carbs and sugar a bit. This is what I came up with for today. Despite the lack of fruit it tastes pretty good (to my taste buds, at least). I’ll probably use this as my main smoothie for the time being, probably swapping the egg for some berries every other day.

I still don’t really know what I’m doing, mostly just trying stuff out that I read about on sites and forums. However, it’s still better than what I was doing in the not too distant past (skipping breakfast and/or lunch, followed by non-stop eating at night.)

Ingredients:

• 80 g coconut milk
• 1 raw egg
• 1 scoop ground flax seed (I’ll probably switch this to chia seeds)
• 4 oz ice
• 1 scoop protein
• 2 oz spinach,
• 4 oz water
• A few drops of vitamin d3

Breakdown:

• 466 calories
• 17 carbs
• 37.5 protein
• 3 sugar
• 5.5 fiber
• 27 fat

We’ve been trying to eat better lately. One offshoot of this has been eating a lot more fruits and veggies. At first, we just bought whatever we could find at the neighborhood PW or Costco. However, this eventually lead to weekend trips to local Farmers’ Markets and paying heed to how the stuff we were eating was grown. Jill and I have joked about our “journey”, wondering how soon it will be before we’re wearing hemp sandals and debating the merits of raw goat’s milk.

We try to buy organic (despite that Penn & Teller episode) when we can, but sometimes it’s not practical due to convenience, cost, location, etc.. Because of this, we’ve adopted a “This Should Be Organic, This Doesn’t Matter” philosophy based on articles like the following:

• The New Dirty Dozen: 12 Foods to Eat Organic
• The Clean 15: Foods You Don’t Have to Buy Organic
• Top 12 Fruits and Vegetables You Should Buy Organic

Because some of the articles above use the very irritating “let’s divide this one short article into multiple pages so we can increase out web site hits” philosophy, I’m posting the relevant info here:

Should Be Organic: Celery, Peaches, Strawberries (gotta work on this), Apples, Blueberries (gotta work on this too!), Nectarines, Bell Peppers, Spinach, Kale, Cherries, Potatoes, Grapes, Leafy Greens, Carrots, Pears, Tomatoes.

Don’t Necessarily Have to Be Organic: Onion, Avocado, Pineapple, Mango, Asparagus, Sweet Peas, Kiwi, Cabbage, Egg Plant, Papaya, Watermelon, Broccoli, Sweet Corn (not sure about this), Tomato (huh, this is on the above list too!), Sweet Potato.

Now, many of the foods above we don’t really eat on a regular basis. However, there are some that we we eat pretty much daily. So, our personal organic/not organic list kinda goes like this:

Should Be Organic: Spinach, Lettuce, Berries (Blueberries, Raspberries, Strawberries — we have to be more diligent on the berries because sometimes I still just grab frozen non-organic bags at Costco because of the convenience.)

Doesn’t Have To Be Organic: Banana, Onion, Pineapple, Cabbage, Broccoli.

I’m sure this list will change as we proceed down our road to better health (which I’m sure will still contain occasional pit stops at In-N-Out!) This post is meant as a snapshot, a point of reference regarding where we stand right now (in our hemp sandals, of course.)

This new smoothie is basically a tweaked version of Alton Brown’s smoothie. Jill and I like watching Alton’s Good Eats. He had a really good episode recently where he documented how he got back in shape (including how he made his smoothie.) It was very inspiring, especially with the new year and all. We actually keep the show on the our DVR (a poor excuse for our old, beloved Tivo) for reference.

Anyway, though Alton’s smoothie is great, I changed my version a bit by adding spinach (to make sure I get my vegetables), Omega 369 oil, and water (so that the smoothie isn’t so thick—I usually drink this before I leave for work in the morning and need to be able to down it quickly if I’m running late.) I also use some different fruits (basically I substitute stuff I can get frozen at Costco.)

Here’s my recipe:

• 4 oz Acai Juice
• 4 oz Soy Milk (or Almond Milk)
• 8 oz Water
• 1 Tbsp Omega 369 Oil
• 4 oz Spinach
• 4 oz Banana (basically 1 frozen banana)
• 4-8 oz Mango, Papaya, Strawberries, Pineapple (amount depends on how I feel)
• 4 oz Raspberries, Blueberrie, Marionberries

One really good tip Alton had that helps a ton: combine all the ingredients in your blender carafe, then cover and refrigerate overnight. This saves a lot of time in the morning and also makes the blending a lot easier since all the frozen parts have been given time to thaw a bit.

Each morning before work I’ll whip the carafe out of the fridge, blend it up, and make two drinks. I down the first and leave the second in the fridge for the girls to drink once they wake up. It’s been working out great so far. However, I’m sure the recipe will change again in the future!

Have a Drink from Mike C on Vimeo.

In an attempt to eat a bit better, I’ve been making green smoothies a few times a week. They taste surprisingly good (even the girls like ‘em!) and have been really effective in increasing our intake of fruits and veggies. Another added benefit:  they’re a great way to use up stuff that’s been sitting in the fridge for a while, so you really cut down on food waste.

Anyway, you can toss about anything into a smoothie (once in a while I even toss beans into mine!) I have a couple of staples I always use, like *spinach and bananas. For sweeteners I usually alternate between frozen fruits like strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, mangoes, pineapples, etc. For green stuff, I’ll add things like kale or chard (which look like they’re from Star Trek) , celery, cabbage, etc.

I’m still at the stage where I’m experimenting with every smoothie I make (btw, in the video I’m using one stalk of chard, not kale). However, I think I’ll eventually stick with a few favorite recipes (once I find out what they are.)

*I’m now averaging over a pound of spinach a week. I think that’s Popeye territory.

Music:

• “Om Du Möter Varg” from Wermland by Detektivbyrån