Tropical Popeye

One of my favorite spinach smoothies is pretty basic with a twist:
Popeye
2 C Spinach
1 Chilled Apple, chopped with skin
1/2-1 C Water or fresh apple juice
1 Tbs Honey
1 Handful Fresh Mint
(I always add in supplements, i.e. chia..)

This refreshing and delicious green smoothie is perfect post run or as a on the go meal. Apple and Spinach are pretty good friends. But Kale would be a tasty replacement. Pear definitely would be yummy in this too.

Today I needed and on the go, out the door, 5 minute meal and had some fresh pineapple to use up. Here is the Tropical Popeye:
2 C Spinach
1 Chilled Apple chopped with skin
1/2 C Fresh Pineapple
1/2-1 C Water or fresh apple juice
1 Tbs Honey
1 Handful Fresh Mint

Easy! And most certainly has been done before. The pineapple, mint and honey combo I wasn't so sure about, but the flavors complemented each other nicely. Tangy, sweet and minty.. perfect sunny day smoothie!

Breakfast Blueberry Smoothie

I change up smoothie recipes every few days.  Usually I can't get enough of one particular combo for two or three days, then I'm ready to change. Right now I'm making one I happened to make a lot last Spring. It's loaded with carbs, fiber and protein, so it makes an awesome post run meal. Oh yeah, and it's YUMMY!

Breakfast Blueberry Smoothie
1 cup of Blueberries (frozen)
1/4 cup Raspberries (frozen)
1 Heaping Tbs Flax Seed (ground into meal first)
1 Heaping Tsp Wheat Germ
1 Tsp Chia Seed
3/4 cup (or more) Almond Milk (homemade recipe on this blog!)
1 Tbs of your favorite protein powder (optional)

Blend and Enjoy! Nothing too special, just lots of blueberry love.

Back in school I was really into Spirutein. I still like it, I'd just rather have straight Spirulina. However,  I get tired of everything tasting like Spirulina, so sometimes I leave it out and use Vega or pea protein powder. But you can always just double up on the Wheat Germ, which is 28% protein.

Spring Cabbage Slaw

Picnic Anastasia Island

While I was in Florida, I indulged in fresh produce allll day long. Florida Bananas, Watermelon, Cantaloupe, Blueberries, Strawberries, Peaches, Tangerines, Grapefruit, Kale, Squash, etc. etc. Oh my gosh, the list goes on. I ate SO much fruit. It was heaven. I browsed the Farmer's market listening to live music for well over an hour shopping.

This tangerine tree to the left is at my Aunt's house. I even brought some grapefruits from her trees home with me. MMMmm.  Well, now I'm back in Alaska and produce is a little harder to get. Much less LOCAL produce. So, my diet comes back to a lot of root veggies and greens. Which is great, yes. But I do miss the fresh fruits in a bad way. All of our berries are frozen, our bananas are the conventional gassed kind, and watermelon.. basically doesn't exist. We do get a lot of produce from Washington (Full Circle Farms) and California. We can get greens from the neighboring farm (or from our own once they are ready). This area is definitely bountiful in berries during summer. Looking forward to that! It was much easier to keep a raw food diet in Florida though. Now I'm eating sprouted grain tortilla's and eggs again (loaded with raw veggies) when I'm feeling slack. I definitely rely on more dehydrated raw foods here. I definitely feel the difference in my energy. I ate 5 various citrus fruits alone yesterday. Which are $2.77 lb here. So, that was rather indulgent. It's so much more expensive to eat produce here. :(
Last night I made a delicious Red Cabbage Slaw. I generally avoid all sugar not found in fruits/dates etc. But I did use a bit of Agave in this. I found some very interesting (and disheartening) info on Agave and how your body metabolizes it similar to HFCS. Who knows. For now, until I have time to research it more, I'm cutting it out.

Delicious and Beautiful!

Spring Cabbage Slaw
1/2 Red Cabbage sliced into thin shred
1 Carrot Shred
1/8 cup Raisins (soaked)
1 Leaf Kale Shred
1/4 cup Cubed Cucumber

Dressing:
2 Tbs Red Wine Vinegar (or ACV)
1 Drizzle of Olive Oil (or sesame if your feeling like asian slaw)
2 Tbs Onion Chopped
1 Clove Garlic
1/4 Tsp Celery Seed or Salt
3-4 Cranks of Ground Blk Pepper
1/8 Tsp of salt (or more to taste)
1 squirt of Agave Nectar (could use honey)

Process all dressing ingredients until onion is tiny.

Mix all veggies in a bowl, add dressing, stir. Let sit for 10 minutes at least in fridge. Enjoy!

Delicious Chili Lime Delicata Squash

 I have quite a few fun squashes left over from fall. One was this beautiful Delicata squash, that is apparently making a comeback. I just bought it because I had never seen it before. I was in luck! It's a fabulous smooth fleshed sweet squash. I tend to make squash with1) nothing 2) maple syrup 3) as soup 4) as raw salad and I needed something different!

Here is how I prepared it:

    1 Delicata heirloom squash
    2 Tbs Olive Oil (or subs with Earth Balance)
    1 Tbs Fresh Lime Juice
    1 Tsp Chilli Powder (you can add 1/4 tsp Chipotle powder-optional)
    Salt and Pepper (to taste)


Directions:
Cut the Delicata lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and place cut side down in baking dish. Add a little bit of water to the pan to help steam the squash and prevent it from sticking.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. check for tenderness with fork starting at 25 minutes if your squash is especially small.

in a bowl, whisk oil, lime juice, chili, salt and pepper (one or two grinds from a grinder of each was enough for me).

Once Squash is baked, flip over, brush or spoon dressing all over cut side of squash. Enjoy!!

You could also peel and cut the squash into strip for chili 'fries.'

Source of recipe: Made it up

Makes: 2 servings, Preparation time: 5 minutes, Cooking time: 30 minutes