Green smoothie love

As readers of this blog will know, I am an advocate of including as much raw food in my diet as possible, particularly important for endo warriors who need super dooper nutrition mainlined into our poorly systems!

As a family we are part of a lovely local Farm Club, and currently on the plot is an abundance of chard. I love this recipe from Raw Diva Tera Warner  (another blog I cannot recommend highly enough) which uses chard and peaches for some super sweet green smoothie action which will send some nutrient dense yumminess your way.

Check it out:

Green Smoothie Recipe: Strawberry & Peachy Green Smoothie

Ingredients:

• 1 cup strawberries
  (leave the green tops on)


• 2 peaches,
  sliced and pitted


• 1 frozen banana


• 4-6 leaves of chard,
  roughly chopped


• 1 cup of fresh orange juice
  or coconut water
  or spring water

Directions:
Put the fruits at the bottom then the greens and add the liquid.
Blend and serve.

In your smoothie the peaches and chard are providing fibre, potassium, Vitamins C and B3, E and K, , betacarotene and small amounts of calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, iron and zinc, anti-oxidants,  Chard also helps to regulatie normal blood sugar levels, perfect for endo warriors with hormonal imbalances.

I posted this recipe in a Project Endo daily email this week, and fellow endo warrior Cath had some great advice for making green smoothies: “I drink a green smoothie (around 300-500ml) everyday and have been even before I got diagnosed with endo. It's amazing what they do for your hair, nails, skin and more than anything your energy. What I like to do is buy a whole bunch of ingredients from the markets (chard, kale, spinach, cos/romain, pineapple, banana, peach etc etc etc) plus frozen berries and make up a few different flavour combinations. (spinach & banana / banana berry, tropical kale etc etc). I make enough flavours to last a 1 to 2 weeks. I blitz just the produce ingredients and pop them into zip-lock sandwich bags and freeze them. Then when I want to drink one I pull it out of the freezer break it up (they generally don't freeze 100% solid) and blitz it with water or coconut water. It takes about 30minutes prep on my day off but means I don't have to wash my blender everyday!!! I really feel the difference if I skip a day or 2. “ Catherine Nichols, Project Endo warrior.

I am going to give this a go, and have also signed up for the Green Smoothie Challenge, a free email support for enjoying green smoothies. Want to join me?

Diva's raw chocolate fudge brownies

Hey Diva readers! In my raw food journey I am experimenting with more recipes and combinations of food.
Here is a little something I concocted yesterday that I think you may like:

Diva's Raw chocolate fudge brownie.
You will need:
1 cup of raw cacao butter, grated/in small chunks
1 cup raw cacao powder
Vanilla essence
Porridge oats
4 or 5 large medjool dates
3 apples

Juice the apples and soak the oats in a bowl with the juice.
Whilst the oats are absorbing the moisture, chop the medjool dates into small chunks.
Using a saucepan and bowl like a bain-marie, heat the shards of cacao butter.
Stir in the cacao powder, and add a few drops of vanilla essence.
The medjool dates will add enough sweetness but in case you want more, add a teaspoon or two of agave syrup.
Stir the chocolate mixture into the soaked oats and dates, and stir well.
Press into a loaf tin and leave to chill in the fridge.

After an hour or so you will have lovely, fudgy, gooey, good for you brownies.

You could also add a few cacao nibs for an extra crunch, or some crushed almonds for more of a nutty texture.

Let me know what you think!

Yoga Magic

I have recently been rediscovering the magical properties of Hatha Yoga.

As an endometriosis girl finding ways to complement my energy levels and cardiovascular activities are a challenge; I used to go to yoga before having the Mini Divas, and have been back for the the last 3 weeks for some much needed strength and stretching.

What I love about yoga is the fact that I might have a mind racing full of the day's events, I may feel tired and worn out before a class, yet without fail I come out feeling energised, calm and restored. Hatha yoga for me has been like rediscovering a kind of magic potion, and I never fail to be amazed that this über ancient meditation and exercise form can work on so many levels.