Mango Green Monster Smoothie Using My Samson 9001 Juicer

MMM I’m completely addicted to my early morning green smoothies! After one of these babies I feel like I have enough energy to lead an army. Give one a try and you will begin to believe in the benefits of raw foods. Which, by the way, I definitely need to write a detailed post about sometime soon! Here’s my Mango Green Monster Smoothie Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 tbs flax
• 1/2 mango (DO NOT INCLUDE THE PIT, skin is acidic tasting, so probably best to peel)
• 1/2 banana
• 2 cups spinach
• 1 cup almond milk (or soy, rice or regular old dairy)

Steps if Using a Juicer:

1. Set up the juicer for homogenizing frozen foods – mincing cone or homogenizing blank and no nozzle required.
2. Clean off your produce and cut it up.
3. Put everything but the milk through your juicer and collect it in a bowl.
4. Mix it all togehter, stirring in the almond milk.
5. Send that entire mixture through your juicer one more time if necessary.
6. ENJOY!

Steps if using a blender:

1. Rinse off all your produce and chop is up (remove peal of mango and banana)
2. Place in blender: almond, then spinach, then banana and mango, then pour in milk.
3. Blend or pulse on high until everything is well blended.
4. Enjoy!

I made this Green Monster using my Samson 9001 Juicer but you can also make it using a blender. I would highly suggest a commercial strength blender like a Blendtec Total Blender.

The Green Monster Smoothie was started by Angela at OhSheGlows. She’s great! Please check her blog out if you have some time!

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Raw Almond Butter Cup Using a Blendtec Total Blender

So I’m completely obsessed with raw desserts. Every time I go to a raw food restaurant I just quiver when I see the options. Although I’m well aware that the desserts aren’t healthy for me simply because they’re raw (eating a dessert is still eating a dessert), that doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to indulge in raw deliciousness!

I bought this book called EverydayRaw by Matthew Kenney. Here is his recipe for Raw Almond Butter Cups. Give them a try and I think you will fall in LOVE!

To make this recipe, you will need a very good, high powered blender. I highly suggest a Vita-Mix 4500 or a Blendtec Total Blender.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup almond butter
• 1.5 cups agave (divided)
• 2 cups coconut oil (divided)
• 1/2 tablespoon sea salk
• 1 cup cacao nibs
• parchment paper
• a half-sheet pan (a pan that has walls, not simply a cookie sheet)

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, mix the almond butter, 1/2 cup of agave, 1/2 cup of coconut oil and sea salt. Set aside until ready to use (not in refrigerator).
2. In a Vita-Mix, blend cacao nibs, 1 cup agave, 1.5 cups coconut oil until smooth.
3. Spread 1/2 of the cacao mixture from Step 2 onto a parchment lined pan (it needs to be a pan that has walls, not just a cookie sheet) to create a thin layer. Place in freezer for 15 minutes or until it firms up.
4. Remove from freezer and spread almond butter mixture from Step 1 over the hardened cacao mixture.
5. Spread remaining cacao mixture over the top of the spread almond mixture and put the pan back into the freezer until its firm.
6. Remove from freezer and turn out the mixture from the pan onto the cutting board. Remove parchment paper and cut up the firmed up mixture into small piece. Voila! Almond butter cups!
7. Be sure to store these in the fridge or freezer.

Yield: about 1.5 quarts.

WARNING: HIGHLY ADDICTIVE!

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Banana Almond Butter Cup Ice Cream Using a Vita-Mix 4500 and a Samson 9001

Ok, so as my addiction to raw desserts continues, I also wanted to learn how to make delicious raw vegan icecream (it’s my favorite!!). You can make some very simple recipes by blending up a banana and some almond milk, maybe some vanilla and letting it freeze (or a frozen banana and mixing in almond milk and vanilla), but here is a more complex, delicious recipe!

I got this recipe from EverydayRaw also (by Matthew Kenney)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cashews, soaked 1-2 hours
• 1/2 cup young coconut meat
• 1/2 cup agave
• 1.25 cups water
• 2 fresh bananas, ripe and peeled
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/4 vanilla bean, scraped out
• a pinch of salt (preferably sea salt)
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 3/4 cup Almond Butter Cup Pieces (see previous post for recipe)
• 1/2 cup cacao nibs

Directions:

1. In a Vita-Mix, blend everything except the Almond Butter Cup Pieces and the Cacao Nibs until the mixture is very smooth.
2. Stir in the cacao nibs and 1/2 to 3/4 of the almond butter cups. Put remaining almond butter cups back in the fridge.
3. Spread that mixture into a parchment lined pan and make a layer that is no more than 1 inch thick. Leave the mixture to freeze.
4. Once frozen, remove mixture and cut the frozen mixture into strips that will fit in your masticating juicer (set it up to homogenize- either mincing cone or open blank, no nozzle required).
5. Send the frozen chunks through the juicer to homogenize and you will be left with a soft-serve like texture.
6. Stir in remaining almond butter cups and enjoy! Put remainder back into the freezer.

Yields: 1 quart

Note: You need a masticating juicer to make ice cream this way. I used my Samson 9001 Juicer but any masticating juicer will do. Also, if you don’t have a juicer, you can use an icecream maker or try to stir the mixture every 3-4 hours and it freezes.

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Raw Almond Milk Using a SoyaBella or Vita-Mix 4500

Okay so one of the first things I fell in love with that fell into a raw food diet was almond milk! You can buy it at the store but if you make it yourself there is NOTHING else like it! I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!

You either need a soymilk maker – like the Soyabella or a blender, like the Vita-Mix 4500 and a fine mesh screen. Sprouting bags or nut milk bags work very well, but you can also use pantyhose if you are desperate (or a cheesecloth). You don’t need a bag with the Soyabella because it has a little screen inside it that will contain the almond pulp and strain it automatically.

Directions:

1. Soak 1 cup of almonds in 3 cups of water overnight (6-8 hours in the fridge)
2. Rinse off the almonds (you will notice they have now expanded). You want a ratio of about 1 cup of almonds to 3 cups of water in the blender. This means you will need somewhere between 3-4 cups of water in your blender (since the almonds expanded). But simply throwing in 3 cups of water is perfectly fine!
3. Add in some vanilla bean or agave if you’d like it to be sweet.
4. Blend the entire mixture on high until its fully blended. (depending on your blender this could be 30 seconds – 2 minutes).
5. Get a large jug and strain the mixture through your milk bag into the jug (I use a mason jar). Squeeze at the almond pulp until all the liquid has been squeezed out.
6. Voila: Almond milk! I haven’t found a great use for the almond pulp yet but I will let you know when I do. Store the almond milk in the fridge (a sealed container is best). It’s good for a week or 2.

Note: If you’re using the soyabella, it’s very easy! Just throw soaked almonds in the container with water and blend. Read the instructions and you’ll be golden!

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Juice Recipes for Anemia

Here’s a list of some of my juice recipes that would be great for treating iron-deficient anemia. Please notice that most have dark green vegetables and a source of vitamin c

• Dark Green Delight
• My Liver Feels Dandy
• Gimme Three CCC’s
• Spinach Fighter
• Wheatgrass Delight
• Energize My Morning
• Immune Boost
• Punch Me Parsely
• Ginger Kick

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Mighty Mint using my Green Star 1000

I was feeling like something fresh with a nice kick so I tried out this juice with some mint and ginger. Results? DELICIOUS! I don’t like drinking too much sweet juice but I find the combination of veggies with a green apple, mint and ginger makes it just right! It really just hit the spot for me (don’t you love it when you make something healthy and it just satisfies all your cravings perfectly? I do!)

Give this a try and let me know what you think:

Ingredients:

• 2 stalks of fennel
• 1/2 – 1 cucumber
• 1/2 green apple
• 1 handful fresh mint
• 1.25 inch piece of ginger

Diretions:

1. Wash and chop your fruits and veggies. Make sure the cubes are small enough for your juicer.
2. It’s mostly crisp produce so you can throw it all through in any order. Might want to mix the mint with something crisp or just don’t save mint for last (this makes it easier for the juicer to extract juice from the leafy greens)
3. Pour it into a glass and enjoy! (Maybe over some ice?). Put any leftovers in a sealed container to avoid oxidation.

Serves: 1-2

I made this juice using my Green Star 1000 and it was great! I would suggest using a wheatgrass juicer to make this recipe. Get yours from PurelyJuicers!

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Green Monster Smoothie Using my Samson 6-in-1 Juicer

As I said in my last post, I’m on a bit of a green juices and smoothies ride right now. I just can’t get enough of them! I love to make healthy green smoothies for breakfast (which is strange, because I normally don’t even like smoothies that much!) But I just can’t seem to get enough of them! I drink one in the morning for breakfast and I just feel like I have so much energy all day long and I’m not experiencing the same types of cravings I used to. I would highly suggest giving one of these delicious green monsters a try!

I made this smoothie using my juicer on the homogenize or mince setting.

Juicer Set Up:

• Mincing Cone (or homogenizing blank)
• Drum Cap Only (no Nozzle Required)

Ingredients:

• 1 tbs flax
• 1 banana
• 1-2 cups spinach
• 1-1.25 cups almond milk (or soy or dairy or rice, etc)

Directions:

1. Rinse spinach and peel banana (you can also chop it if you’d like)
2. Send the flax, banana and spinach through your juicer (either one at a time or a mixture).
3. Mix with milk product (in a glass or bowl) and if its too chunky, send the mixture (yes, with the almond milk) through your juicer one more time.
4. Either sip away or chug that baby and begin to feel the energy soaring through you!

Serves: 1

**HINT** You can certainly add ice for some added chunkiness but I find the banana makes it thick enough! You can also play around with this recipe, swapping in different fruits, but the banana is usually an important ingredient for the texture. Try half a banana and some other fruits.

Can’t keep fresh fruit or fresh bananas around? Freeze them and use frozen fruits! It’ll make it even more like a smoothie! You can also use frozen spinach if that’s easier for you. This morning I had no fresh bananas left but remembered I still had a batch of my homemade ice cream in the freezer. I just threw in a banana-sized chunk and it was delicious!

I got the Green Monster Recipe from Angela at Oh She Glows. She maintains an awesome blog- check her out!

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Dark Green Delight using my Green Star 1000

I’m going through this green drinks phase right now (and I am definitely not alone!). I make green smoothies for breakfast, juice wheatgrass when I have it, and I’ve been loving my all-green ingredient juices. Really, I just keep a lot of greens in the fridge and get creative. However, I just made this juice and love love loved it. It’s pretty green though, so it might take some getting used to if you’re new to the green movement hehe.

All the wonderful greens in here mean this drink has lots of chlorophyll, iron, magnesium, vitamin C, bioflavanoids, and many many more wonderful things that are great for your overall health. Give it a try and feel yourself bursting with energy all day long!

Ingredients:

• 1 handful kale
• 1 handful spinach
• 1 handful parsley
• 1 handful basil
• 2 stalks of celery

Steps:

1. Rinse off the above ingredients.
2. Send them through your juicer.
3. Sip on the green goodness! Make sure you put any leftovers in a sealed container to avoid oxidation.

Serves: 1-2 (depending on your juicer and how much you like to drink)

Hint: you can play around with your ratios to get your preferred flavor down. This juice is just full of lots of different very strong flavors. They can mix together and overpower each other. If you find you tend to like one flavor more, just throw in a bit more of it, and a bit less of the other thing. It will easily overpower your less favorite flavor but still create this wacky green medley on your taste buds. YUM!

If you’re juicing leafy greens, you will get best results with a masticating juicer. I used my Green Star 1000 on this recipe and it worked like a charm- extremely dry pulp every time!

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Juice Recipes for Depression

Here are some juice recipes that can help lift your spirits and ward off depression:

• Lift My Spirits
• Gimme Three CCC’s
• Spinach Fighter
• Energize My Morning
• Gimme My Magnesium
• Fresh Green Morning
• Punch Me Parsley Juice
• Gimme Somethin’ To Sprout About
• Wheatgrass Delight

Give them a try and let me know if they help! Good luck!

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Lift My Spirits Using the Samson 9001 Juicer

Maybe it’s the weather (it’s been super rainy over here) but I’ve been feeling a little … in french you would say mouche. It means blaaahhh! hehe. So, I decided to look up a recipe that’s good for depression. I will likely do a whole other post on depression. But just in case you are feeling down and need a little pick- me-up, give this juice a try!

Why it Will Work:

Fennel Juice: Fennel juice helps endorphins get released into the blood stream. As we all know, endorphins make us feel happy and can also help us relax.

Celery Juice: Celery juice can act as a sedative, which is likely due to the phytochemical in it (butyl phthalide). Historically, celery juice was used as a remedy to help heal a broken heart; it is said to help you forget your troubles and calm the nerves.

… and not to mention the loads of vitamins and nutrients that help build energy and keep you feeling refreshed! Give this juice a try and let me know what you think!

Ingredients:

• 4 stalks of fennel
• 4 carrots
• 3 stalks of celery
• 1/2 pear
• 1/2 inch piece of ginger

Directions:

1. Rinse and chop the above ingredients into cubes that will fit down your juicer tube.
2. Juice the ingredients, alternating between soft and hard fruits. It’s probably a good idea to start off with some carrot and end with some carrot.
3. Pour the juice into a glass and feel your spirits lift as you indulge in this natural remedy!

Serves: 2

I made this juice using my Samson 9001 Juicer, which I would highly recommend. Check out some more masticating juicers from Purely Juicers.

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