Green Frozen Lemonade

I ended my last post blabbing about doing some “damage control” from the mouth parties I’ve had over the past week (lifetime). I want to focus on getting adequate micronutrient and phytonutrients as I feel like I don’t do it consistently enough—and I could definitely stand to benefit from solid nutrition. I believe that plants, especially fruits and vegetables, are the best source to get a lot of nutrition for relatively few calories and, if you grow them or find a bargain at the store, little $$$. I didn’t bargain-shop for my plants last night, in fact, I did the exact opposite and bought the most expensive plants I could find because I’d rather spend the money on quality food than something that I don’t need, won’t ever use more than one time, and have no room for.

You should never feel guilty about spending a lot of money on something that is beneficial to your health and well-being. Never apologize for choosing top quality foods over a vacation or new purse or whatever floats your discretionary spending boat.

We took a journey to Mother Earth’s in Kingston. I like Nature’s Pantry in Newburgh but they have a really tiny produce section; Mother Earth’s has a pretty large selection for a small “natural” foods store.

My hefty haul:

Gorgeous heirloom tomatoes

Japanese sweet potatoes

Overpriced organic carrots – I know I can grow these orange sticks for pennies! I need some dirt.

Overpriced but highly nutritious weeds aka dandelion greens. My paternal grandmother used to pick these in her yard, on the side of the road—and eat them! I plan to do that too in our next house. Our current lawn has deer trampling through it daily and the rest of the area doesn’t seem appetizing; we have a LOT of dog-walkers in the ‘hood and I really don’t want to pick weeds that they have, umm, fertilized, lol.

You can get these for free virtually everywhere that grass grows; just dig them up, wash them well, and enjoy as a salad or cook them. They’re very, very good for you and quite tasty. I bought them because I like them but I also read recently that they’re a good natural diuretic. I’m going to have some for dinner in a bit, I can’t wait to pick them on my own!

Dinosaur kale

Yoga salad (lentil + veggie sprouts) because I’m such a yoga maniac. Or not. Sprouts are also nutritional powerhouses. They have concentrated nutrients because they’re basically an entire plant’s worth of nutrition in an itty bitty portion.

Beets – Very easy to prepared and another root veggie packed with nutrients.

Pears. Bonus for the leaves still being attached. Confirms that they were indeed grown on a tree. Yay, nature! Keepin’ it real. Wouldn’t it be nice if money did? Well, actually it sort of does. And it grows and multiplies in big central banks, too.

Rainbow Swiss chard. I’ve never had this but hear it’s delicious, and of course super good for you. Let’s hope I don’t mess it up.

More sprouts!

And even more! Clearly I want ALL of the nutrients. I am unapologetically greedy with the greens.

Organic berries

I wasn’t kidding. I’m straight up greedy.

My first time buying Amazing Grass GreenSuperFood:

I see it has a good reputation on other blogs, so why not? I’ll be trendy, too. 4 years after everyone else of course. Oh, and that little 8.5 oz tub was $33 bucks, but Amazon sells it WAY cheaper. It better make me a superhero. heh I’ll settle for tasty.

Stuffed olives —

Tiny sweet potatoes

Baby sunflower greens – New to me. I love trying new stuff!

Speaking of trying new things, Dustin recently discovered sun-dried tomatoes (on his Panera Bread panini) and his picky-palate gave them two thumbs up, so I made sure to get lots of them. I mean, he said he likes something that’s GOOD for you. Sound the shopping alarms, I’m buying a truckload. Or a quart of them.

I should try making my own. I have a dehydrator (that collects dust) and usually have tomatoes on the brink of bad, so perhaps I can prevent waste and create taste. Sounds like a plan.

I don’t know why I bought Kim Chee. Spicy (pepper) foods give me an instantaneous headache and ear-popping reaction, but I was somehow drawn to this jar.

So get this: I had about 1/4 cup of it today and it didn’t give me the terrible reaction. I don’t know why, but I was surprised. It burned the hell out of my lips and tongue, but I didn’t have the unusual reaction. Maybe because it’s fermented?! I don’t know. Probably just lucky and I shouldn’t press my luck, but something about it is addictive. I love sour and spicy foods! I’d love to be able to have this.

Cacao nibs – unsweetened! And some mineral water to make ice cubes. I know that seems frivolous but I can make a lot of ice cubes with it.

I LOVE “Just Tomatoes Just Strawberries” and all of the Just Tomatoes freeze-dried products. The texture is SO AWESOME! And yeah, they are very expensive, but this huge bag will last me a few months, I hope. They taste good in yogurt, cereal, oatmeal, in trail mix, or on their own. I couldn’t help but tear into the bag as soon as we got home. YUMMY!

We stopped at Hannaford on the way home for some odds and ends. I started my day with a nutritious and delicious icy green smoothie:

Green Frozen Lemonade

What you’ll need:

• ~2 cups fresh baby spinach
• Juice from 1 fresh lemon (~3 TBSP)
• 1 cup ice cubes
• 1 TBSP raw honey or sweetener of choice
• 1/2 cup cold water

What you’ll do:

1. Squeeze your lemon juice and remove seeds if necessary;
2. Add all ingredients to blender and blend on high speed until smooth.

Put some elbow grease in it, too! Squeeze the heck out of that lemon.

Tip: Roll your lemon back and forth on the counter before cutting it. It helps gets the juice out.

I save my lemon rinds to freshen up my microwave. Just add them to a bowl with about an inch of water and microwave on high for 3 minutes or so. It will take the stinkies out and make it smell citrusy.

Yummy, and despite being only about 100 calories, it kept my tummy satisfied for about 3 hours before I made a HUGE salad with my lovely fresh produce that I hauled home the night before:

Confession: I didn’t know if you’re supposed to eat sprouted lentils raw or not, but I threw caution to the wind and did it without Googling. I know, I know… dumb.

Well, it tasted good, but after some Googling realized it’s probably not the best way to eat lentils. I feel… bloated now, haha.

But the salad was fantastic while I was eating it!

• Sprouted lentils and sunflower greens
• Leftover balsamic-pomegranate glazed carrots
• Granny Smith apple
• Fresh blueberries
• Fresh strawberries
• Kirby cucumber
• Grape tomatoes
• Black olives
• Pink Himalayan salt
• Black pepper
• Extra virgin olive oil – 1 TBSP
• Balsamic vinegar – 3 TBSP

I ate the whole thing except for a pool of balsamic vinegar + EVOO with about 1/3 cup of loose lentils floating in it.

Lessons learned from this salad:

1. Don’t eat raw sprouted lentils.

2. I don’t like the texture of Granny Smith apples; they remind me of raw potatoes or water chestnuts and the texture rubs my tongue the wrong way, yuck.

3. Don’t eat raw sprouted lentils.

Besides the honey, I’m vegging it today. Plants rule. I’m going to eat some more of them now as a matter of fact. I’ve already had 9 servings of them today. And except for the lentils, they were all fruit and veggies. No nuts or grains or seeds. I feel satisfied, but that could be partially due to those raw lentils occupying my entire stomach region at the moment, haha.

Tagged as: beverages, drinks, frozen lemonade, fruit, gluten-free, loot, Paleo, plants, shopping, smoothies, vegan, vegetables, vegetarian, veggies