Blue-Green Smoothie

Did you know that the blue-green algae spirulina is 65% protein? So instead of using whey powder or soy-based protein powders for your protein shakes why not use spirulina instead? It’s is easier to digest, has far greater nutritional benefits and doesn’t have the negative side effects of soy.

This smoothie combines blueberries and acai berry powder for their antioxidants, parsley and green grass powder for their phytonutrients and chlorophyll, superfoods maca for it’s adaptogenic and nutrient-dense properties and blue-green algae for it’s protein and chlorophyll, and kefir for it’s beneficial micro-organisms.

This recipe calls for milk kefir, but you could easily substitute kombucha or water kefir instead, which would also make a vegan version of this smoothie.

Ingredients:

3 cups kefir
3 ripe bananas (fresh or frozen)
2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1 kiwifruit
1 handful parsley
1 tablespoon spirulina powder
1 tatblespoon maca powder
1 teaspoon green grass powder (I like Healthforce Nutritionals Vitamineral Green)
1 teaspoon acai berry powder
1 tablespoon honey (or agave syrup or stevia, or other sweetener of choice, optional)

Instructions:

Blend well using a high-powered blender. At tip if you’re using frozen bananas and honey – blend everything except the bananas thoroughly, then add the bananas and blend them in. If you’re using good quality honey it will probably be thick (no, the runny honey in the plastic bear squeeze bottle isn’t healthy), and it will freeze into a solid lump as soon as it hits the cold of the bananas. It’s much easier to blend in the honey if you do it before adding the bananas.

Blueberry Orange Smoothie with Acai Berry

When it comes to quick and simple recipes with high nutritional benefits, smoothies are at the top of my list. In an almost unbelievable stroke of good fortune I happened to be looking in a part of the freezer section of my local supermarket that I usually ignore. The supermarket has recently moved everything around, and in my hunt for my favorite organic frozen blueberries I happened to see a few boxes of frozen acai berry puree for less than a quarter of their normal retail price. What!? True. I bought 3 boxes, but I wish now, after having come up with this awesomely delicious smoothie, that I had grabbed all of them. Even though this is yet another blueberry smoothie recipe (and I put blueberries in almost all my smoothies), the fresh, tart flavor of the freshly squeezed orange juice and acai berry make this my favorite so far.

In case you’re one of the dozen or so people who have managed to escape the hype spread by MLM marketers pushing expensive acai berry drinks, let me just give you a quick summary so you know what all the hype is about. The acai berry is one of those ‘recently discovered’ superfoods from the Amazon basin that the native people of the region have known about forever. It turns out that this little dark purple berry doesn’t taste all that great, in my opinion, but it’s super-high in wonderful, health-promoting antioxidants. Like off the scales, higher than any other food, according to the popular O.R.A.C antioxidant rating scale. Blueberries are too, as a matter of fact. So, blend raw frozen blueberries and acai berries with some high in vitamin C freshly squeezed orange juice and you’ve got something that not only tastes great, but is more nutritious than the watered down, pasteurized, expensive drinks those MLM companies are selling. So, without any further ranting, here’s my best blueberry smoothie recipe yet…

Ingredients:

2 cups fresh squeezed organic orange juice
1 cup frozen organic blueberries
100gm frozen acai berry puree
2 ripe bananas (fresh or frozen)

Instructions:

Peel the bananas, toss them and  everything else into the blender. Blend thoroughly. Serve. Enjoy!

Blueberry, Orange, Acai Berry Smoothie Recipe

Carob Mint Superfood Smoothie

This carob superfood smoothie has become my latest addiction. They are so good I sometimes have them twice a day. And I don’t mean, have a glassful, I’m talking the whole blenderful! Kids would love this smoothie!

They are great cold, like a thick non-dairy milkshake, if you use frozen bananas and let the mint tea cool before making the smoothie. But they are equally nice if you use fresh (not frozen) bananas and make it while the mint tea is still warm (not too hot though). It’s winter here in New Zealand, and it’s just turned really cold. I always find it hard to stick to a predominantly raw food diet when the weather turns cold, and amazingly just having these warm smoothies in the morning, and warm tea at night is making it really easy.

Ingredients:
2-1/2 cup mint tea
3 ripe bananas (fresh or frozen)
2 Tbsp carob powder (raw carob if possible)
1 Tbsp Maca powder
1 Tbsp Lucuma powder
1 Tbsp Mesquite powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp vanilla bean powder or extract
1 tsp honey (optional)
1 Tbsp chia seeds (optional)

Instructions:

Carob Mint Superfood Shake

Make the mint tea by steeping a handful of mint leaves in 3 cups hot water until cool (or warm if you want a warm smoothie) and then straining the leaves out. Some of the water will evaporate leaving about 2-1/2 cups, but don’t worry if it’s more or less.

The honey, or whatever sweetener you prefer is optional. Carob is naturally sweet, as are the bananas, and the superfoods mesquite, lucuma and maca (to some extent), so it doesn’t necessarily need sweetening. Just go with what tastes good to you. The chia seeds will thicken it up. Chia are quite amazing, they are very sustaining and even using a small amount like this will I notice the difference. If I put chia seeds in this smoothie I can go for hours before I feel hungry.

Put all the ingredients into a blender and blend well.

Raw Vegan Carob Mousse

This rich, creamy, raw vegan carob mousse only takes about 10 minutes to make. It’s hard to believe it doesn’t contain sugar. But between the sweetness of the stevia, and the natural sweetness of carob, it’s a totally satisfying dessert.

It’s very easy to make this a raw vegan dessert, you just need to use truly raw carob, but I can show you where to get that at the end of the recipe.

If you’re not familiar with carob, it has a chocolate-like taste, but no caffeine or theobromine, so you don’t get that hyper, jittery feeling that raw cacao (chocolate) can produce.

After finding it at my new local bulk food shop I’ve been using it a lot. You can add it to smoothies, substitute it for raw cacao in all my recipes that call for raw cacao powder, make ‘chocolate’ milk, either with nut milk or dairy milk. I actually prefer it to raw cacao now.

Ingredients:
1 ripe banana
1 ripe avocado
2-1/2 teas carob powder *
1/4 teas stevia powder **
1/4 teas organic vanilla extract

Instructions:

Add all ingredients to a blender. Using the plunger that came with your blender to scrape down the sides and keep the mixture moving. If you don’t have a plunger for your blender, stop occasionally to scrape down the sides with a spatula and push the mixture around a bit so that everything gets blended smoothly. If you need to you can add a teaspoon of water to keep the mixture moving through the blender.

Serves 2 – if you can share

Raw Vegan Carob Mousse - YUM!

* Carob powder is usually roasted. If you want a totally raw vegan Carob Mousse you here’s where you can buy truly raw carob.

** Stevia is an amazing herb. It’s many times sweeter than sugar. It has no calories. Doesn’t feed candida. Doesn’t cause an increase in blood glucose.

You may be able to find stevia powder in your local health food shop, if not it can be purchased online as  stevia liquid extract or stevia powder.

Raw Vegan Chocolate Mousse

If you love desserts, and chocolate desserts especially, but were afraid you’d have to give them up in order to eat healthier, rejoice! It turns out that in the uber-healthy world of raw food, desserts are some of the easiest and most delicious dishes to make. And if you have a special relationship with chocolate, you’ll be delighted to know that organic raw chocolate is not just good for you. It’s a superfood! It’s that good for you!

Organic raw chocolate, also known as raw cacao, is higher in magnesium than any other food on the planet. Magnesium is the number one mineral deficiency in the world. Raw cacao is also the #1 source of antioxidants, iron and chromium. So if you’re a chocolate lover just trade the commercial, processed chocolate for raw organic cacao. Then trade in the guilt for the satisfaction and joy of knowing you’re eating one of the healthiest foods on the planet. Yes, there is a god!Okay, so if you’re new to raw cacao it comes in a few different forms. There are whole beans, broken bits of bean called nibs, cacao powder, and cacao licqor (no it’s not alcoholic) which is made from beans that have been ground into a paste which hardens into something like a block of chocolate. They are all good for you. The cacao powder is convenient, but it has the cacao butter removed, so you are losing that healthy fat. The nibs, beans and licqor (if grated or cut into small pieces) can all be ground down into a powder in a coffee grinder, so I usually buy the nibs or licqor.

Ingredients:

1 ripe avocado, peeled and pitted
1 ripe banana, peeled (can use a frozen banana if you want a chilled version)
2 tbsp sweeter (honey, agave syrup, soaked pitted medjool dates)
5 tbsp raw organic cacao powder or ground organic raw cacao nibs
1/2 tsp natural vanilla (extract or vanilla bean powder)
1 tsp maca powder (optional)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
dash of Himalayan sea salt

Instructions:

Add all the ingredients to your blender and blend until smooth and creamy. You can add a little water, if necessary to keep the ingredients moving so they blend thoroughly. If you used soaked dates as your sweetener, add the soak water.

Serve immediately.

Makes 2 servings… if you can share