Enchanted Chameleon

Green Smoothie of the Week - Why So Serious?

My husband tells me sometimes that I've lost my sense of humour.  :(  I don't think he likes it that I don't laugh at all his jokes anymore.  

Last night I came to the awareness that I've been a lot more serious with Cillian too.  Lot's of no's, don't touch that, don't mess that up, don't this, don't that, etc, etc.  I think my apparent missing sense of humour might have something to do with it.    

And it's not even totally gone.  I still laugh at the other half of Jeff's jokes and with friends and giggles with Cillian but there is definitely less humour about myself and certain roles that I play lately and I was thinking of the Joker's "Why so serious?"

Serious reading, serious thinking, serious planning, serious cleaning, serious managing, serious getting us out the door, serious blogging, seriously uncompromising, seriously tired, serious, serious, serious.  

I think I need a remedy to make me smile...

Although I have some new leads in my reading of Conscious Eating by Gabriel Cousens in relation to my health and lifestyle, the always fail safe for me is a green smoothie.  If I miss one that day, I notice it.  I get cranky later on, or dehydrated, or impatient or I suppose in this case, just a little too serious about everything.  So here is a Green Smoothie recipe to make me smile.

The Joker Green Smoothie

• 2 Cups Water
• 3 Stalks of Celery
• 1 Cup Cranberries
• 1 Mango

Blend water and celery until liquified.  Add cranberries and mango and blend until smooth.  Allow the tartness of the cranberries to pinch the insides of my cheeks forcing a smile.  Hey, fake it till you make it.  It really does work!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.  I think I'll take Sunday off for some inner reflection.  I'm finding it difficult to blog this past week.  My mind is overly occupied and staying clear is overly difficult. Perhaps a day of inner reflection can help to clear unnecessary thoughts and get me a little more focused than I was the past few days.  Thanks for tuning in.  Suzanne

Green Smoothie of the Week - Full Moon

For the past couple of weeks I've been experimenting with oranges and blackberries, trying to come up with an 'orange and black' inspired and infused Green Smoothie for Halloween.  Unfortunately I haven't come up with anything worth sharing.

However, yesterday I did make an exceptional Green Smoothie and I have a little awesome 'the goodness of the Green Smoothie' story to share...

I was feeling a little low yesterday, no particular reason, just feeling things a lot more than usual.  I had a couple of cups of my Green Smoothie in the morning and then mostly snacked the rest of the day: crackers, butter, trail mix.  By 4 pm I was so fatigued, no energy and was wondering how I would possibly make it through the evening till bedtime.  Cillian and I headed out to the Quay for some ball play, and I brought the rest of my morning's Green Smoothie with us, filling an entire mason jar.

Cillian jumped into the balls and I jumped into my smoothie and a great phone call with my wonderful friend Marita.  Well, by the time my phone died I was completely perked up and feeling like a brand new me.  I not only made it through to bedtime easily and effortlessly, I read some more of my giant text book Conscious Eating, I searched through Ravelry for Xmas gift inspiration, cleaned up the living room, put C to bed and cleaned and organized the mass chaos of yarn, needles and books that had exploded on my dresser next to my bed.  

It was a Green Smoothie miracle.

This smoothie could easily be a witch's brew or a ghost's slime (don't they all though!) but since it turned out to be a Full Moon yesterday and I won't easily forget how the smoothie turned my day around, I call this Green Smoothie the Full Moon.  Enjoy, oh and Happy Halloween!!!

Full Moon Green Smoothie

• 2 Cups Water
• 2 Cups Swiss Chard
• 2 Apples
• 1/4 Pineapple

Blend water and greens until liquified.  Add in fruit and blend until smooth.  Allow the green goodness to ease your pain and even keep the wolves from barking at the moon.  Suzanne

Green Smoothie of the Week - What a Day!

Ever have a day like this:

• slept in
• witnessed spontaneous choreographed dance routine to "Wild Thing" on the Seabus on the way to the aquarium
• fell on the regular bus and have a big owie on my arm
• connected with a toothless lady on the bus talking about her grown children
• picked up 2 parcels from the post office containing new and vintage treasures
• had a date with hubby to see Don Nigro's Sex and Death short plays
• witnessed full frontal male nudity in the first short play - always a surprise for me!
• returned home to find babysitter's car was missing (it was technically both stolen and towed and now is evidence!)
• received another parcel in the mail that had been damaged in transit and was missing 4 of the 6 cool buttons I spent hours searching for on Etsy...

It's okay.  Don't try to top that.  I even looked up if last night was supposed to be a full moon and it wasn't. It was just an incredible day!  And now for the green smoothie to go with it:

What a Day Green Smoothie

• 1 Cup Rainbow Chard
• 1 Stick Celery
• 1 Asian Apple Pear
• 1 Apple
• 2 Bananas
• 2 Cups Water

Blend the water, chard and celery until liquified.  Add for the fruit and blend until smooth.  Sit back, enjoy the yumminess in awe.  What a day!  Suzanne

Green Smoothie of the Week - Zoo Story

 

We eat greens, yes we do,

We eat greens, how about you?!

Yesterday, 2 young women at the zoo commented on how the giraffe's spend almost the entire percentage of their day eating and they stay so skinny!  Well, look at what they eat?!?!  

I don't have a green smoothie recipe for you today but I do have a green smoothie recommendation.  Try a seasonal green smoothie with apples and cinnamon.  I recently tried some different ones from Victoria Boutenko's book Green Smoothie Revolution and they quite literally tasted like apple pie.  What better comfort food than a healthy sip of apple pie in the morning???  Maybe I'll try concocting some sort of pumpkin pie spiced smoothie for Thanksgiving...?  Have a great weekend and Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian Friends.  Suzanne

Green Smoothie of the Week - I am Present

Since I'm off for the weekend in Performers Mastery Review Workshop land I thought I would share my smoothie recipe a day early.  This one I am especially proud of because it was an unlikely combination in my opinion but it turned out so delicious in the end.  But first, a little side story...

There is a wonderful raw restaurant in San Francisco that I absolutely hope to enjoy in person one day called Cafe Gratitude.  They have two awesome books out called I am Grateful and Sweet Gratitude and the absolute most amazing names for everything on their menu and in their books - I am Renewed, I am Enlivened, I am Enlightened, I am Bright, etc.  I can only hope, wish and pray that when I finally get around to opening my juice bar next year that I come up with equally cool names with such beautiful synchronicity.  

In any case, as I enter this weekend my main focus is presence and I thought what better to call my beautiful Green Smoothie that I present to you - I am Present, in hopes of good karma this weekend that presence will also come back to me.  So here it is, the I am Present Green Smoothie (not to be confused with the I am Present Mushroom Bruschetta at Cafe Gratitude!)

I am Present Green Smoothie

• 1/2 bunch Cilantro
• 1/2 Mango
• 1/4 Pineapple
• 1 Cup Water

Blend water and greens until liquified.  Add mango and pineapple and blend until smooth.  Take a moment, be present and enjoy.  You can also double all of the ingredients and have more to share or just more to keep you present throughout your day.  

And while I am feeling so gracious...

I am Sweet

I am Colour

I am In Love

Have a wonderful weekend!  Suzanne

  

Green Smoothie of the Week - 1/2 Raw + 1/2 Cooked =

 = HEADACHES!!!

Definitely not any green smoothie I'll be drinking!

No no.  1/2 Raw + 1/2 Cooked = Me and Headaches.  Which is unusual, I'm not a person that has a problem with headaches.  I think my current diet has me in a constant state of toxicity and detox.  So I thought who better than to share a Green Smoothie recipe with you today than someone other than me! Seriously, I googled recipes for green smoothies for headaches and came across this blog called Natural Counsellor and thought why not give a couple of her recipes for weight loss, headaches and high blood pressure a try (although I'm really just trying to cure headaches this time round).  And so with that in mind, Green Smoothie #1 with Berries will be escorting me to our second week of the Waldorf Parent and Tot Program (hold the bread at snack time).   

And just so you don't think everything in my life is 50/50, including my diet, I wanted to share my 100% excitement over one of the many exciting things in these parts.  I've signed up for my first online swap with Vintage Swaps 2009

 I am 100% thrilled to be one of the 100 participants in this years Vintage Swap and cannot wait to get involved in the process of getting to know my swap partner, digging into my stash of vintage goodies and best of all, shopping for more!  And to top it off, to receive a handpicked selection of equally if not more wonderful vintage goodies.  How wonderfully exciting.  Instead of sitting around mulling how to get rid of headaches last night, I sat around enchanted by all the wonderful blogs out there (and then posting them in my Enchanting column for you to clamour over as well!)

Finally to confirm once and for all that I'm all in, I wanted to remind you that I am still committed to a giveaway sometime soon, to celebrate the 5000th click onto Enchanted Chameleon.  Please keep checking in as I am doing my best to come up with something truly enjoyable.  Currently there are goodies from Real Raw Food and yours truly!   

Have a wonderful weekend.  Suzanne

Green Smoothie of the Week - Back to School Special

Or in our case, our very first day of school special!  

Today Cillian and I are attending our first day at the Vancouver Waldorf School's Parent and Tot program and Jeff is attending his very first beginner yoga class at the Community Centre.  I'm really excited and looking forward to getting to know Waldorf and connecting with other like minded parents in our new hood.  We could definitely use a little routine in our world and I know W. is all about routine.  It'll be a great chance to see if W. is for us but I'm especially looking forward to learning!  I could use some exposure to some new people and parenting since I've mastered the art of keeping to ourselves since we've moved.  Hopefully they don't read my blog (or just not yet) to find out about all the DVD watching that's been going on since the move!  EEK!  

In any case, for a special day like such a special smoothie is in order.  I tried this one earlier this week and still can't get over the simplicity and deliciousness all in one.  It's from Green Smoothie Revolution by Victoria Boutenko and it's called Empeachmint!

1 Peach

1 Sprig of Mint

1 Cup Spinach

1 Cup Water

Blend water and spinach together until liquified.  Add peach and mint leaves and blend until smooth. Other great combinations with mint include:  mango, mango and strawberry and pineapple. 

Have a great weekend! 

Green Smoothie of the Week - Road Trip

Cleaning

Dishes

Food prep

More dishes

Laundry

Surfing (blogs that is)

Packing

=  We're off for a little road trip (as all you clever people had already figured out from the title).  Off to Kelowna for a wedding and visit with Jeff's mom and sister.  We'll be back with pictures galore I'm sure of the Okanagon on Tuesday but in the mean time how about a green smoothie for the road?

Road Trip Green Smoothie

2 Peaches

1 Kiwi

2 Plums

1 Mango

2 Cups Water

2 Cups Spring Salad Mix (Take out any red cabbage if it's one of those mixes)

Blend the greens and the water until liquified.  Add all the fruit and blend until smooth.  For our smoothie this road trip I actually made it the day before, doubled all the ingredients (except water, I used 3 cups instead of the 2) and put it into an awesome tupperware container that I once thrifted.  If you double up and don't have a Vitamix you may run out of room with fruit.  What I did was blend until it was full, dumped half the pitcher into my tupperware and then added the rest of the fruit.  It actually came out to a pitcher and half of smoothie and no bananas means it's Papa friendly.  Mixed with a bag full of other goodies, we are set and ready to go!  

Have a great long weekend.  Suzanne

Green Smoothie of the Week - The Everything Smoothie

This one is mine, I am pleased to say.  Well, at least mostly mine.  I originally made Alissa Cohen's Creamy No-Crust Pie and it was so delicious I had to incorporate it into a Green Smoothie.  In fact, what I actually did was just dump the leftovers of the pie into a blended pitcher of spinach!  Ha ha! But so yummy and so worth it!  First there was the Everything Bagel. Now I bring you the Everything Green Smoothie!

Everything Green Smoothie

2 Cups Water

1 Bunch Spinach

2 Mangoes

2 Bananas

Peach

Papaya

Kiwi

1/4 Pineapple

Blend the greens and water till liquified.  Add the fruit and blend until smooth.  In case you fill your blender to the brim and have fruit leftover?  Toss it together for a delicious fruit salad.  In fact, I highly recommend doubling up on some of the fruit and tossing it together Creamy No-Crust Pie style, blend some mango and banana together for the cream. Yummy!  Happy Weekend.  Suzanne.

Green Smoothie of the Week - Confirmed

I haven't been experimenting with my own recipes as much as I've been full on making recipes from Green Smoothie Revolution by Victoria Boutenko and by far my most favourite smoothie this week included fresh pressed apple juice, water, dandelions, mangoes and pears.  Absolutely delicious and in my case, also kid friendly.  It definitely feels like a confirmation that greens really are a superfood because of the super way they are making me feel.  

Of course, there is always a test when there is change to confirm that we are in fact committed to said change.  Without any details there was an opportunity for me to throw in the towel.  Words were said, little idiosyncrasies unveiled that briefly challenged my motivation to heal and care for myself, to be my full potential and some "what's the pointish" feelings arose and tempted me back into my hole.  But a sparkle of hope glimmered through my thoughts.  Perhaps the green in my cup brought out the green in my eyes and I knew that this was a crossroads and I could make a choice.  So I threw my towel the other way and gave into hope.  I accepted that I was enough, that little things were just little things, no end was near in sight and there is a good reason to continue on my path.  

Not so long after the choice was made Cillian and I were out on the Seabus on a spontaneous trip across the water for a spontaneous lunch date with each other at our favourite raw food spot in Vancouver, Gorilla Foods.  On the quick trip across the water, a confirmation came from an outside affirmation in the likes of a sweet lady named Carol.  She came over to tell me that "I was a great mom especially in the way that I spoke with my son, answered all his questions and gave him choices and options something she should probably try more with her 12 year old".  More than hope sparkled my thoughts and my eyes this time.  That was far more than what I needed to hear.   After, it might have been the hemp and cacao in my lunch or the 'spontaneous' kindness of a stranger but something was making me happy and blissful and best of all - content.  Highs and lows, I am on the right track.  Highs and lows, I am enough.

A final confirmation came yesterday afternoon.  Regardless of how I've been feeling lately I've definitely been trying to get up and out of my funk with my 10 Things here and some unpacking and doing there.  The other day I decided to revisit my business plan for my juice bar idea and in so doing I tackled one other small detail required for pre production - registering the name.  I filled out the paperwork and sent my absolutely awesome name and two 'not so bad, I can live with those' follower ups into limbo to see what business I will hopefully be running soon.  Well, I'm very very very pleased to confirm that my first and best choice is THE name and I will finally speak that name and maybe with your support out there see my juice bar come to fruition?  

 Juice Caboose 

Mobile Juice and Smoothies

Hooray!  There will no doubt be a place for a Green Smoothie with mangoes and pears on the menu somewhere along the line at the Juice Caboose for all of you to come and enjoy with me - to be confirmed...  Suzanne