smoothie

Persimmon Eggnog: Healthy, Easy, Vegan Persimmon Smoothie

I have to admit… I have NEVER eaten a persimmon!

Is that shocking?

I guess that’s because we never ate them in my family when I was growing up. Then why is everyone talking about persimmons in the fall and giving them away?

Many people have planted persimmon trees perhaps due to the fact they are hard to find in our local stores. That’s because they don’t ship well commercially.

I was at my chiropractor last week and he had baskets of persimmons one of his patients was giving away. I asked the doctor what to do with them and he got all excited telling me about this particular type. I guess you have to be careful to know if you are getting an astringent or sweet type.

He told me this particular type of persimmon was sweet – the longer you let it ripen, the sweeter it will get. And you can just eat it like an apple.[Continue Reading]

Vegan Ginger Beet Smoothie with Mint Recipe

By Gail A Robins Leave a Comment

Today I was making my lunch smoothie in a hurry. Although I was running late, I wanted to make a beet smoothie and take a few pictures because the color is always so beautiful.

But – being that I was in a hurry, my pictures came out no where near what I intended, so I’ll just leave most of them out!

All my smoothies are green smoothies. Since the greens don’t seem to change the taste, why leave them out? I like having the extra nutrients.

Greens

Save the beet greens to use in your smoothies. I wash them when I am ready to add them to my smoothie so they don’t wilt in the refrigerator.

I wrap all my greens in a towel and place them inside a large freezer bag and hold them in the produce drawer in my refrigerator.[Continue Reading]

Raw Vegan Sweet Potato Smoothie Bowl Recipe

By Gail A Robins 3 Comments

Once fall arrives I start craving pumpkin and sweet potatoes. I don’t like preparing raw pumpkins, so I use sweet potatoes instead. They’re easy to clean and cut and just the right size to use in a raw smoothie.

I prefer to use raw, but roasted (unsalted) nuts and seeds are fine. And when I use flaxseeds, I prefer to use the whole seeds.

If you have a Vitamix blender, you don’t have to worry about peeling the sweet potatoes or the apple. The peel will blend up smoothly so you don’t even know it’s in the smoothie. That means your body will get all the vitamins and nutrients without leaving anything out.

You don’t need any additional sweetener in this recipe. The apple and the banana add all the sweetness you need for the sweet potato.[Continue Reading]

Simple Vegan Meals: Here’s What I Ate Today

By Gail A Robins Leave a Comment

Last night I met the girls for a ladies only pot luck. I did a lot of cooking this week and I wasn’t ready to take time to make another recipe for everyone else to eat. Yes, I’m stingy that way!

Here’s my reason… I take the time to carefully select my food and I only buy organic. I am the only vegan at this pot luck and I already know from experience that most people won’t eat it. So I indulged myself and stopped by my favorite vegan restaurant and ordered my favorite wrap. Yes, I ordered extra so everyone could have a taste. Only one person tried it (as expected), so I brought the rest home.

I don’t eat between meals because I’m not hungry and I follow simple intermittent fasting techniques. I’m just delaying my food to give my body more time to work on digesting my food and burning fat.[Continue Reading]

Vegan Meals That Taste Good: Finding the Right Flavor Balance

By Gail A Robins 1 Comment

Before I decided to go vegan, I wondered what the heck vegetarians ate. And what about diabetics… how do they live without sugar?

Just the other day I had someone ask me what vegans eat. I told her no meat, poultry, fish, or dairy. In addition, I have given up grains and sugar for health reasons. She was shocked and mumbled that left only fruits and vegetables!

I had to laugh because basically she’s right – only she forgot about legumes and nuts and all the wonderful substitutes that can be used for just about everything we used to eat and crave. The difference now is that the food I eat keeps me healthy, full, and tastes so much better. Cleaning my body from the inside out has actually improved my taste.[Continue Reading]

Vegan Cantaloupe Smoothie: With Dates, Basil and Greens

By Gail A Robins Leave a Comment

Vegan Cantaloupe Smoothie Thick and rich!

I was feeling full today and not really into eating, but I knew I needed my nutrients. I had no intention of writing a post about this today… I just wanted something quick and easy. Therefore, I don’t have all the usual pictures I would take showing the ingredients and the process.

I took one sip of the finished smoothie and knew I had to share it with you.

I was planning on using the organic berries I had in the freezer, but instead I opened the refrigerator and my gaze fell on the ripe cantaloupe already sliced and ready to go. Bham – that’s what I wanted. I gave it a quick taste after blending in the Vitamix and fell in love.[Continue Reading]

Vegan Meals to Make: Quick Vegan Shopping List

By Gail A Robins 3 Comments

I really don’t like having to go shopping for food more than once a week because I end up spending too much money. That’s why I like to cook things in advance and store them in glass containers in the freezer. This prevents fresh food from going bad, which can happen very quickly when you purchase organics.

Over the years I started to notice that fresh produce was lasting longer and longer in the refrigerator. At that time I had no idea it REALLY was lasting longer due to the toxic chemicals they were sprayed with… not to mention GMOs. I don’t believe many people were aware of that 20 years ago!

I love to cook, so reviewing all the beautiful vegan images on social media sites makes me want to try too many recipes in one week. That’s another way to increase your food bill, especially if you don’t already have most of the ingredients on-hand.

It’s finally Fall and all I can think about is pumpkin spice!

[Continue Reading]

Chocolate Orange Vegan Smoothie Recipe

By Gail A Robins Leave a Comment

Years ago, one of my favorite things was dark chocolate covered orange sticks. I served these as an after dinner candy when I had people over.

About a month ago, I was debating what to use to make my green smoothie as I was looking for a new taste instead of the same old ingredients I had been using. Of course, that was going to be limited by what I had in my cabinets!

Gazing into the refrigerator, my eyes fell on the bag of oranges I had not used up. Yum – fresh, juicy oranges looked good, but what else did I have that would make them into a new recipe?

I opened the cabinet and discovered a bag of cacao powder that probably had about a quarter cup remaining. That reminded me of the chocolate covered orange sticks and I got excited.

One thing you need to know is that I use green smoothies as a meal replacement – usually for lunch. I add the extra nutrients I need as a Vegan and I don’t like to be hungry, so I make these large. The great thing about green smoothies is that you can add more or less of the ingredients to satisfy your taste.[Continue Reading]

The Wrong Greens for Your Raw Vegan Smoothie

By Gail A Robins Leave a Comment

A few years ago I started making smoothies for breakfast, a quick snack, or a low-calorie dessert. At that time I was into matching different combinations of spices and herbs with the fruits and vegetables I was using. For instance, does basil enhance beets and can I add mint to grapefruit?

I was having a great time testing and tasting and then one day I thought I was just brilliant… I decided I could make my smoothies more healthy by adding fresh greens. No – I had not heard of “green smoothies” yet so I actually thought I invented them – silly me!

The best part of using greens in my smoothies was that it didn’t seem to matter which greens I used; none of them seemed to adversely affect the taste of the smoothie… until last year.

Something I added turned my favorite smoothie so bitter, I could barely drink it. I made a mental note to discover the name of that green, but promptly forgot.

Well – it happened again last week. I spied a neon lime, leafy green and quickly added it to my basket.

The next day I pulled it out of the fridge, marveled at the size of the leafs and added it to the Vitamix container. I blended and poured and marveled again at the beautiful color. After the shock of the first gulp I realized I had done it again. It was bitter or did it taste like my smoothie was full of pepper? Then I realized it tasted like one of my most hated condiments – horseradish!

I already had my daily addition of flaxseeds and green protein powder added to the smoothie, so I wasn’t about to pour it down the drain. I managed to drink it down to the last drop and quickly rinsed out my mouth.

A few days later I remembered to locate the green in the produce section of my favorite market and there it was – Mustard Greens. I had to go home and research what on earth a cook could do with mustard greens.

I was surprised to find they are related to kale and cabbage because I really love both of those. Evidently they lose some of the peppery taste when cooked and are frequently used in Chinese, Japanese, and Indian cooking. The recipes I found using cooked mustard greens really did make my mouth water, so I may try a few… some day.

For now, I can assure you I will never again make the mistake of purchasing mustard greens for any of the raw vegan recipes and smoothies I make.

P.S. I absolutely LOVE my Vitamix. I have used it every single day since I purchased it… best investment I ever made. Using a regular blender on green smoothies will leave you with small bits of leafy greens floating in your drink. The Vitamix blends it all; releasing the important nutrients inside the greens.

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