Our FAVORITE Fruit and Green Breakfast Smoothie

I’m on a big “green smoothie” and raw food kick these days as part of taking my own “healthy living tips” advice!

I’ve actually enjoyed smoothies for quite some time, and John and I have been adding more and more “live” and “raw” foods to our lifestyle as well, while we simply remove more and more yucky foods (aka “Standard American Diet” foods). So, there is not some overnight “ah ha” moment that has suddenly had us jump on any particular bandwagon.

For me, the more I find myself studying and writing on various topics within the self development and growth field, the more I find myself incorporating a lot of what I learn into my own life. For some weird reason, I actually find it to be a lot of fun!

And, one of the things that I’ve noticed along the way is that it’s not so much about what I ADD to my life – it’s as much about what I DISMISS from my life.

For example – and I’ll be writing more on this topic as time allows – I honestly don’t think you can find one single item in my house that contains “high fructose corn syrup.” I’m serious. Just now – right before I wrote this sentence – I actually went through our entire food storage (which consists of a small pantry, a shelf of grains, and a refrigerator) and there is not one single bit of food in this house that has high fructose corn syrup (even the jam and the chocolate you see in the fridge!).

Nor are there any foods with artificial food colorings added.  (None in the ketchup either)

It wasn’t a matter of dumping every single thing we had in the house and replacing it. It was just a matter of not buying stuff with that junk in it any longer. And before we knew it, we had a high fructose corn syrup-free kitchen.  Same thing with any kind of color that has a dye number attached to it.

So, as we went along, I started thinking about fruit. I know that fruit is very cleansing and nutritious. But for some reason I just have never really been a big fruit eater. I DO like berries. Actually I love berries! Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries… yum!

I like apples – as long as they are very crisp and non-mushy. I love tomatoes and avocados too.

Melon of any kind I can do without. Bananas I can go either way on, but I’ll eat them and put them in smoothies. But NEVER mixed with anything else. Ever. It’s a “slime” thing I guess…

But to actually buy and then EAT a piece of fruit was another story. It just isn’t something I would reach for on a voluntary or conscious level. (Dark chocolate is another story altogether…)

Some Of The Natural & Healthy Food People I’ve Been Learning From (These Guys Have “Healthy Living Tips” Down To A Science):

So, the more I read and learned, the more I realized that I just needed to find a way to get a bit more fresh fruit into my life. I came across the famous “Green Smoothie Girl” (Robyn Openshaw) and her excellent resources, and began learning from her.

Then I found out about Matt Monarch and his wife Angela Stokes-Monarch, who are widely regarded as raw food pioneers of the present day. Young and exceptionally healthy looking, I happened upon them when I bought some Chia Seeds.

The order came with an interesting note from Matt that invited customers to visit their website “Raw Food World” and also to learn about Angela’s journey from being something like 160 pounds overweight to a very healthy 138 pounds. Their story is quite fascinating (as is the fact that they are currently living a healthy lifestyle down in Equador where the living is easy…).

So I began working a little bit with Chia, heavy-duty greens (my absolute favorites are Vitamineral Greens as formulated by Jameth Sheridan – another hyper-healthy and great looking guy), and good fruits.

My latest concoction is the breakfast fruit and green smoothie that I filmed (and then ate) today. Although the video below explains and shows how I made it, here are the ingredients for your own experimentation:

• 1 Mango
• 1 Banana
• 2 Medium-Sized Apples (with skin – but no seeds since I find them bitter)
• 1 Pound of Strawberries
• 1/2 Cup of Chia (prepared the way Matt & Angela direct – see the video)
• 2 Tablespoons of Vitamineral Green
• 1 Cup Hemp Milk (You can use Almond Milk – or even yogurt if you are a yogurt kind of person – but if you DO use yogurt, please use a high quality brand and stay away from the kinds you’ll likely hear about on TV commercials)
• (Although I did not use it in today’s smoothie, I really like to add about 1/2 Cup of Pineapple pieces)

Blend it all until smooth in your Vita-Mix or BlendTec or other high quality blender – and ENJOY!

Please watch the video – and then if you need any of the ingredients or equipment I talked about, I’ve posted a few links below. NOTE: The Vitamineral Green is typically VERY expensive – I’ve shopped nearly everywhere for them, and the BEST deal I have gotten was through Amazon. It’s over $70 at a store near where I live.