Juice and Smoothie Recipes on Instagram

I am fairly new to both the iPhone and Instagram but I'm having a lot of fun with them. I get a lot of questions about smoothies and juices mostly ..."what do I put in them?" It's funny, this is the one place this normally recipe-centric girl is creative. You can put whatever you want in them or whatever you have on hand. Here are some ideas:

Tuesday something very rare happened, I found myself with no greens- we were kale, microgreen and spinach-less. This proved a delicious, refreshing combo.

Have I mentioned the puppy? Yes, it's been a little over a week. This was my effort to make up for sleep with juice.

I love Prince although I named this smoothie only after making it. Some of my favorite ingredients are used here.
Do you juice or smooth? What are your favorite ingredients or combinations? Do you use Instagram...it's fun.

Smoothie Scientists and Giveaway

Yesterday we sent out our “Smoothie Support Group” newsletter tackling your most pressing smoothie issues: how to ensure your smoothie isn’t a gazillion calories, solutions for those of you who feel you rather eat versus drink your calories and the most common smoothie query “do I need a Vitamix?”

When I last posted about smoothie ingredients, one commenter said “You talk about things you put in your smoothies a lot and I have this image in my head of you with a zillion potions and powders, in a lab coat

Carolyn and I in front of Smoothie Central cabinet with all sorts of powders and mix-ins

That’s all Carolyn and I needed to read…enter your Smoothie Scientists in our labcoats. Here is our video debut (we’ll hone our skills, I promise) with our Thin Minty Smoothie.

6oz Harmless Harvest Coconut water
1 cup frozen blueberries (if you skip berries be sure to add ice cubes)

1 handful kale

1 scoop Sun Warrior Chocolate protein powder

1 Tbs Cacao nibs or powder

¼ avocado

Organic Peppermint extract
pinch Himalayan salt

6 drops NuStevia

Cacao, if you’re not familiar with it, is what chocolate is made from. The powder or nibs are high in fiber (good to get things moving), it keeps LDL or bad cholesterol from doing nasty things, is a mood booster and a source of magnesium (most people are magnesium deficient).

Turmeric Carrot Smoothie with must-have Strawesome 

I love to “smooth” it’s true and have been playing around with my Turmeric Smoothie

 6oz ice water (or I tried with carrot juice too)

1 scoop Vanilla Sun Warrior

½ frozen banana

1 tsp. nut butter (used cashew butter)

Ice cubes

Cinnamon

¼ to ½ tsp. turmeric

NuStevia (used their lemon flavor)

Reasons everyone should add turmeric to your diet daily:

• Weight loss- studies (yes on rodents but still) show turmeric added to diet resulted in less weight gain; less lower body fat, if you’re a “pear” turmeric is for you.
• One double blind, placebo-controlled study found that turmeric reduced symptoms of bloating and gas in people suffering from indigestion (love well executed bloat study).
• It is a natural liver detoxifier, important in the summer time with perhaps more cocktails consumed
• Good for healthy skin and conditions such as psoriasis
• It is a potent anti-inflammatory with zero side effects; therefore, it is a natural treatment for arthritis, soreness following exercise and nature's Advil
• Prevents various forms of cancer from spreading, described as “turning off cancer cells”

I want to try turmeric in a smoothie with Socal Cleanse hemp protein (which made our protein powder Hall of Fame). It’s what we call our Monday morning protein- excellent for bloat or when PMS strikes. Socal has generously offered to give away a bag of their protein to one of our thirsty (we didn’t say bloated) readers.

To enter comment below and tell us where you stand on the smoothing spectrum (smoothie newbie or seasoned smoothie maker), what your favorite smoothie is and what type of blender you use. If you haven’t lost your smoothie v-card, what’s holding you back?

The Most Underestimated Ingredient

I could lie and say this post is for St Patrick’s day but it’s not; my only St Patrick’s day associations are traffic and vomit (nice I know) from the parade. This year, as I do every year, I steered clear. My book, which now has a title! is getting turned in and I skipped going to Vermont to edit and edit some more. The extent of my cooking this weekend was smoothies, socca (my current favorite carb) and steaming vegetables. Last night I made one of my favorite “just me” concoctions. I heated a small cast iron pan, added some coconut oil. Tossed on leftover vegetables, mushrooms and asparagus and added an ingredient that doesn’t get nearly enough love…frozen peas. I scrambled the veggies with a couple of eggs and sprinkled it with a little Himalayan salt. Delicious and not something I could serve the whole family.

As I added the peas (after brief nuking) I wondered why peas are dismissed, especially frozen peas. It may be the association with mushy, canned peas or the assumption that peas are nutritionally average but please don’t prejudge. My Cascadian Farm peas have 6 grams of fiber, 6 grams of protein and a mere 100ish calories per cup. Peas also contain phytonutrients called saponins that have anti-inflammatory properties. And they’re pretty too.

Didn't post photo at the top to ruin the ingredient surprise, sneaky.

I’ve praised peas before in this Blisstree article. 

We use peas with pesto in gluten free pasta, in a great side dish with shallots and spinach (you can absolutely “Ina-size” this cutting the added fat and it’ll be just as good).  I will never forget a pea and mint smoothie that greeted us when we finished a hike at Blackberry Farm.

And let’s not forget the world’s best ice pack.

Unknown runner's leg, "frozen pea icepack" turned up many post plastic surgery photos,

People are starting to appreciate peas or actually they’re extorting peas for their protein. Larabar has a new offering called Alt with pea protein and Sunwarrior’s Warrior Blend protein powder uses peas in the “blend”. Chances are you have some peas in your freezer now that you had forgotten about, go show them some love.

And this book I’ve been annoyingly mentioning? It’s called

The Little Book of Thin

Foodtrainers' Plan-It-to-Lose-It Solutions for Every Diet Dilemma

Slated for January 2014, promise me someone will buy it.

Are you pro pea? What do you use them for? What do you feel is the most underestimated food? 

Chocolate Knight and Giveaways

Evolve Truffles, our #1 this year

I apologize. I know many loyal Foodtrainers’ blog readers are single and Valentines Day is especially annoying with the hearts, the love, the whole thing. I’m married so who am I to complain about the day of love, right? Monday, we sent out our February Chocolate Newsletter and I was in the office talking about the week’s schedule with Carolyn and up popped this on my screen.

I’m going to take the boys to the Rangers/Islanders game on the 14^th, is that Valentine’s Day? Have an extra ticket, let’s all go.

Let’s dissect. A loving father sees two New York hockey teams are playing each other next week. He plans to take his children and perhaps one of their friends to the game. He starts to enter it in his calendar and has a strange feeling something else is happening that day. He has four tickets and reasons that inviting his wife solves any potential conflict. Plus, in his male mind, is there really anything more Valentiney than Madison Square Garden, beer and beer? After many years together, I can totally laugh at this but let’s be clear I’m not going to the game. When I posted this on FB a friend suggested a spa night but I have a better idea. Chocolate Night. Let me tell you who’s invited.

Numi Chocolate Pu Erh Tea

Pu Erh tea is a fermented black tea that has been shown to improve weight loss.  Numi infuses their pu erh with cocoa taking "healthy chocolate" to a whole new level. And Numi wanted one of you to sip this tasty tea too, more on that below.

Evolve

These truffles are gluten free, soy free and dairy free. They are also low calorie with two approximately 100 calories but that’s not the whole story.  The co-creators of Evolve truffles started making them as an experiment and let me tell you, they are a home run. They are insanely delicious with flavors ranging from coconut to bacon (nitrate free, not to worry). If I were presented these as a gift, I would change my thoughts on Valentines day. Feeling unloved? Evolve has generously offered a $25 gift card for one of our readers.

Sun Warrior Chocolate Protein

I am a smoothieholic and this is one of my favorite ingredients. It's not your run of the mill protein powder. It’s raw, vegan and also non-GMO and soy free (very important when it comes to protein powders). I love to blend Sun Warrior with homemade almond milk, fresh mint, kale and avocado. Vitamix romance at its best.

Dark Chocolate Kind Bar

Perhaps you know about Kind bars but did you know a handful of their bars have less than 5 grams of sugar? I'm crushing on their Dark Chocolate Cinnamon Pecan bar. These treats may be the only reason to go to Starbucks.

Cocoa Pili Nuts

A client brought these back from a trip to Asia and I was swooning from the first bite. Pili nuts are super nutritious loaded with magnesium and omega 3s and taste similar to macadamias. To top it off they’re dusted with cocoa. No more boring almonds, these are are heavenly.

So, whether you’re single or married or somewhere in between, whether you love Love Day or hate it chocolate (good, dark, high quality) never lets you down. One lucky reader will receive a Chocolate Care Package with each of these treats. To enter comment below and tweet about chocolate love @Foodtrainers by Sunday February 10th.

 And get this. When I joked to the boys about the hockey game my younger son looked at me and said “I’m not going”. I asked why not and he said “I’m going to stay with you on Valentines Day". Love.

Are you a Valentines Day lover or hater? What will you do on Thursday?And what about chocolate? What’s your favorite healthy chocolate?