Green Peachy Cleanse

I am still drinking my green drinks, but I am starting to modify them. Granny Smith apple are a bit out of season and getting very expensive. SO.... move on to summer fruit. I can remember last winter (who could forget a Polar vortex), coming across recipes with summer fruits and melons. They are all my favorites, so let us commence with the summer recipes.

This recipe still has a green apple in it, but today was the last of the apples. It also contains a peach. I made this recipe twice, once with spinach and once without. (Believe it or not, the grocery shopper sometimes forgets her spinach.) Without the spinach, the color was slightly orange. With the spinach, all GREEN.

The peach gave the drink a bit of thickness. Full flavor. All the things I love

I am also working on drinking more Plain Water

Green Peachy Cleanse
adapted by ME
Ingredients

1 cup water
1 piece fresh ginger
1 peach, pitted and sliced
1 handful fresh spinach
1 green apple, cored and sliced
1 squirt Agave Nectar (Optional)

Directions
Place all ingredients in your Vitamix or high powered blender in the order listed. Blend until smooth.

My normal handful of fruits and veggies

My almost full blender. I just love this machine

This was such a good drink. 

The Peach really amp'd up the flavor

Green Cleanse - 9

I have FOUND IT..... I know, I like my green cleanse drinks. I am this freaky creature of habit. But I did something a bit different. THIS is the flavor I have wanted. I may never post another Green Cleanse drink. RIGHT.... until next week.

As we all know, I am a recipe junkie. I hope that someday, when I die, they will pass out my recipes... wait that is what the Internet is for.. I have read lately, that people are saying that Agave Nectar is just sugar. Well, it is and it is not. I am not even going to get into this debate. Crap, I used to use Splenda. I still like some Truvia once in a great while. I cannot bail out on the Agave. We are friends and I have a large bottle to use up first. Using Dates to sweeten and thicken shake and drinks have been part of my repertory for a while. So, I decided to give it a whirl. Why not. I liked everything I was adding to the drink anyway.

A lovely green color with a nice thick foam on top

YUMMY

Green Cleanse - 9 

adapted by ME

Ingredients

1 cup water

1/2 -1 fresh lime, juiced

1-2 cup fresh spinach

1 green apple, cored

4-5 dates

ICE - optional

Directions

Place all ingredients in the blender in the listed order, and blend until smooth 2-3 minutes.

I placed mine in the refrigerator overnight for a good chill, but you could drink immediately.

The Dates are the magical fruit that blow this drink out of the water

I always talk about "in the order listed", better for the blender

Looks fabulous on my table

I revamped my Easter centerpiece

I drank this for my late morning drink. 

Just what I needed. 

Green Almond Cleanse

Green Almond Cleanse... I went off the tried and true and outside my box. This recipe was just delicious. If I would have had raw almonds, it would have tasted better. You were suppose to soak your almonds overnight in water, used the water and pulverized the almonds. WELL, I was making this last night for today, and I am not at all that organized to make this into a two day drink. I can barely plan my days let along a two day drink. So, I punted and used Almond Milk. It is in the frig and need to be used.

This is a quick recipe, and without a doubt, it can be modified. GO for it people. Live a little

Look at that pretty green color. 

Rich, dark and intense

Green Almond Cleanse

adapted by ME

Ingredients

1 cup Almond Milk

1 green apple, cored and chopped

1-2 cups spinach

4-5 dates, pitted

Directions

Add all ingredients into high powered blender, mix until totally smooth. Drink up

Simple ingredients that you would have on hand

Because of the dates, there is NO added sugar

Trying to work on my photo skills. 

I really just need to commit more time. 

Green Cleanse - 8

I am starting to get bored drinking the same green drink everyday. They are always delicious, and clean out of the garbage in my system, but I need to vary....

So today I pulled out a cucumber...(giggle giggle). Back to the drink...
I still have mint and ginger in the frig and they have not been used in awhile. Maybe tomorrow, I can go a little Cuban and live outside of the box. Right.

Why I like green cleanse, besides all of the nutrients and lack of calories, they taste fresh. Some days, with all that is thrown at you and the crappy weather we are still having, it is nice to taste fresh. This drink is quick, one less thing that feels like a task.

LOOK at that INtense Green color. 

Those are Vitamins baby..

Good for you fruits and vegetables

Green Cleanse - 8

adapted by ME

Ingredients

1 cup water

1 green apple, cored and chopped

1-2 cups spinach

1 juiced lime, pulp also

1/2 sliced cucumber

1-2 squirts Agave Nectar

1-2 cups Ice

Directions

Place all ingredients in a high powered blender and mix away. MY apple took an extra minute. Use your tamper if needed. Mix until totally blended. 

I do not always picture the Agave Nectar. 

That is the sweetener that I like to add. If you prefer Honey,

be my guest. Some people like to add nothing, that is good also

Like most of my recipes, quick and easy.

Open the refrigerator, take out 

Just some rough cuts to make everything blend better

Water versus a Green cleanse. I will drink the Green cleanse all day

Ready to roll. Got my drink and I am out the door. 

Have a great day

Chicken Sausage and Rice Skillet

Quick, Easy Dinners. I have no time to cook, tooooo busy.
                                 I do not know how to cook..... really, this is easy
                                 You can skip take out & save some money
                                 You can make a dinner in 20 minutes that taste great

I made this the other night. You can make a Semi-Homemade dinner for your family. NO excuses. This was easy. If you are a newbie or non cooker, just have all the ingredients and throw this together. YOUR family will be Hugely impressed.

The beauty of this recipe is, it can be modified. use Turkey links instead of Chicken, Change the spinach for Zucchini, Change the spices or the cheese. If you are feeding more than 3 or 4 people, add more sausage, vegetables or rice.  Live people -- move outside of the box...

Chicken Sausage and Rice Skillet
modified from dashrecipes.com
Ingredients
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onions
8 ounce package of cremini mushrooms, sliced
8 ounce package of spicy chicken sausage
10 ounce package of frozen spinach
3 tablespoons of tomato paste
1 cup chicken broth
1 8.8 ounce pouch precooked Brown rice
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and Pepper
Red Pepper Flakes (optional)

All easy ingredients. 

As you can tell, sometimes I buy all my groceries at Target. 

Heat oil in a large skillet pan over medium heat, add onions and cook for 2-3 minutes, they will start to look clear. Add your chopped mushrooms and let cook. The mushrooms will start to turn brown and release their liquid.  Stir occasionally, 5 minutes. Take your chicken sausage and cut into small pieces and add to the pan. Stir in with the onions and mushrooms. Add the frozen spinach. (DO not defrost) Salt and Pepper everything at this time. Gently stir until the spinach is no longer frozen and starting to mix through. Add the Tomato paste and stir. Add Chicken broth and Rice Pouch and mix in.Once it is thoroughly heated through, Add the Parmesan cheese.

Totally heated through. Ready to add the Cheese

A quick easy dinner in 20 MINUTES.

There really was more to dinner that night

Serve with a Salad and some Italian Bread.

Even a glass of Wine!!! Enjoy

Spring Green Cleanse

Holy cow thunder and lightening. From 1:00 am on last night, we have been up. Windy and Rainy like you cannot believe. If you ever wondered about Chicagoland weather, just live here for awhile. HIGHLY unpredictable and forever changing. As I made this delicious beverage, I watch it just pour outside. There is no running for me today. I would be hanging out in the basement with Shaun T doing some type of Insanity workout. Over the winter, I have not lost any weight, (depressing) but I have lost inches. My jeans still fit. I can actually do several big girl push-ups, (NO Knees) and jumps. My feet will leave the ground. I am grateful to have ran 4 days this week. That is the most since last November. WOW. Yoga is still a large part of my fitness routine. I have spread myself out to three different Yoga studios. Different teachers, techniques, and philosophy's. I keeps me from getting bored and betters my mind.

So why am I selling this drink as a Spring Green Cleanse. Well, it is green and it SO reminds me of Spring. Winter has lasted somewhere close to forever here this year. Usually with a green cleanse, I only use water, but today, I went with Almond Milk. I also used plain non fat Greek Yogurt in this recipe. I am going outside the Box with this recipe. So unsure, but it TASTE Delicious. A bit of Orange Sherbet, but way healthier. This recipe is a keeper, and this is why I am sharing it with you.

Green creamy goodness

Spring Green Cleanse

adapted by ME

Ingredients

1/2 cup of Almond Milk

6 ounces of Greek Yogurt, plain

1 cup of Spinach

1 Green Apple, cored and chopped

1 Tangelo or Mineola, peeled and quartered

1 piece Fresh Ginger, size of fingernail

1/2 Avocado, peeled

Juice of 1 lemon

1-2 cup of Ice (optional)

Directions

Place all ingredients in a blender. Blend until completely smooth. Drink up or place in the refrigerator and drink tomorrow. 

Very basic ingredients. 

The Almond Milk was not present for the picture

Rough chop and peels. 

This was a very simple healthy drink to throw together

The Vitamix was pretty full. 

I always mix everything first and then throw in the ice.

 This drink had a nice creamy texture. 

I think I will try to skip the Almond Milk next time and just use water

With both an Avocado and Yogurt, and all of the fruit, this drink is just delicious

I like my Lime Mint Drink, but this may be my new favorite.

Purple Cleanse

OMG .... I found a new color. NO way. Can it really be. I am such a dork. And I love it. Besides always eating spinach, I ventured out of the box. I purchased a package of Kale, Chou, Frisse. This working me into a kale world. I may or may not ever get completely there, but I am trying. During the week for lunch, I eat a salad almost every day. I mixed the Kale, Chou, Frisse mixture with the Spinach, very good. It has added more flavor naturally to my salad. People, add some spunk to your food. This is a simple no calorie way to add flavor without adding fat or sodium.

This drink has Acai in it. Acai is considered a super food. Loaded with fiber. I read today that Acai is NOT considered a weightloss. Disapponting, because I want everything to help me lose weight. Chocolate, cookies, potato chips.....That is the purple color. There is NO way this drink could stay green.

There is a slight hue of green, but it was purple.

I was at Sur la Table and purchased this cute tea towel. I am sure it will be in more photos.

The funny thing is, no dishes or hands will be dried with this towel.

Purple Cleanse

adapted by ME

Ingredients

1 cup of water

1 packet frozen Acai concentrate

1 green apple, chopped

1 fresh ginger, thumb nail piece

1 cup spinach

1 cup kale, Chou, Frisse

1 cup ICE

1 squirt Agave Nectar (optional)

Directions

Please all ingredients in the blender in the order listed. Blend for 1-2 minutes. The greens will take a bit longer than usual. Add the Agave Nectar if you would like it a bit sweeter.

If you are not on board with the Kale Blend, just use all spinach

The Acai came out of the freezer section at my Grocery store. 

There are 4 packets in this package. This was reasonably priced.

Each package is only 80 calories.

You can add it to water or a smoothie, to make any sort of drink

The Kale, Chou, Frisse blend is delicious. And not difficult to eat. 

This made two large drinks. 

I really enjoyed the flavor

Green Cleanse - 6

Last week, we were in Florida to see my Mom. It was a great trip. We celebrated my birthday for many more days. I was lucky to see my sister and her family. She has the best looking boys. 

We tried very hard to eat some what healthy. I made green cleanse drinks for most days. I could tell when I did not drink one. My Mom made us fresh orange juice everyday. That was also delicious. Pulp and all, I did not care. There are no cool drink pictures, I was on vacation. We stopped at a Whole Foods one day. I purchased Goji Berries. Those are a work in process. There is a different taste there, but they are a super food. We ate in a few days, the eating out was a killer. Grouper is the fish for that area, and it was fantastic. Grilled, fried, in tacos, on a bun, anyway it was good. BUT.... the cold slaw, potatoes (french fries) and desserts were KILLERS.

Pina Colada Ice box cake. Homemade and DELICIOUS

A beautiful sunset that day

Just a gorgeous sunset

My Mom and I celebrating my Birthday with cocktails

Birds. 

My Florida sister. I love hanging out with HER

Green Cleanse - 6

Adapted by ME

Ingredients

1 cup of water

1 juiced lime

1 green apple, chopped

1 orange, peeled and chopped

1 piece fresh ginger

1 1/2 cups fresh spinach

1 cup ICE

Directions

Place all ingredients in a blender in the order listed. Blend until smooth.

Just a few items for a fantastic clean healthy drink

Everything is cut up and ready to go

A perfect combination of Healthy flavors

Back on track again. A Coconut Jack's glass, shell and limes, make it all good

From toes in the Sand to....

THIS is what we came home to. I HOPE we are done for the season.

Green Cleanse - 5

How many GREEN drinks are there???? And she was Afraid... Good Lord. I am drinking one of these everyday. I truly like how they taste, and the vitamin packed goodness I am ingesting. Not really sure if my face is glowing. With the harsh winter and it only being March, I am quite pale. In a few day, my Husband and I will be heading South to visit my Mom. There will be beach pictures posted. alcoholic beverages consumed, loads of fresh fish and seafood eaten, and not enough green cleanse smoothies drank. I will try, but when you are out of the normal element, things go to crap. 

We will also see my Florida sister. I really look forward to seeing her. It has been awhile. She has also been cleansing and eating better. It will be fun to compare drinks while we are sipping on "cocktails". There is also a song that will be sung also while we are down there..... toes in the water, a$$ in the sand.....

While surfing the internet lately, I have noticed several recipes using oranges. I wanted to try something before we went on Vacation. My Mom always goes to the farmers market and gets fresh oranges every week. She is big into juicing. Awesome source of Vitamin C. This recipe was delicious, but I figure fresh oranges will be the bomb. 

This is a quick easy recipe. I am still liking how fresh ginger tastes. It add that fresh punch to your recipe. 

 Which one is greener? 

There is NO crap or preservatives in this drink, all natural

Green Cleanse 5

adapted by ME

Ingredients

1 cup water

1 green apple, cored & chopped

1 orange, peeled, cut up

1- 1 1/2 cups fresh spinach

1 lime, juiced

1 fresh ginger, nail size

ICE

Directions

Place all ingredients in a high power blender in the order listed. Blend for 1-2 minutes until smooth. 

Just a few ingredients. The spinach was busy and did get in the original picture.

There is no fancy chopping. Keep it simple

That darn spinach. Was not ready to be Vitamix.

The greens and orange are coming together. 

A fantastic drink is starting to form

I am really glad I tried this drink with the orange.

Opening more doors people. Moving outside the box.