Do you ever feel besieged by diet advice? Working with food and reading many blogs I see much, and often contradictory information. 5:2, South Beach, Paleo etc… Rules, rules and more rules. Counting, charting and considering. It is enough to make my head spin and make me reach for the chocolate.
No more! I am throwing the diet book and information out of the (virtual) window, and going back to basics. Inspired by Sophie’s wise words a couple of years ago I am going to follow one simple rule – eat a generous portion of (raw) vegetables with every meal whenever you can.
How simple is that? Vegetables fill you up and are good for you. Raw vegetables have all the benefits of more vitamins and take longer to eat, thus avoiding some of the over-eating caused by your brain not registering your stomach is full. They are nutrient, but not calorie, dense and are not full of sugar like many fruits.
I’ll say it again:
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Forget diets and eat a generous portion of (raw) vegetables with every meal whenever you can.
Ever since the arrival of the itamix I’ve been enjoying green smoothies for breakfast most days – it is an easy way to add a hefty helping of both fruit and vegetables to your diet and I am always astonished at how you simply cannot taste the green; usually spinach or kale, in the drink. It is the ultimate in stealth vegetable consumption.
Recently I’ve been making my smoothies even greener with the addition of a spoon of powdered wheat or barley greens – a nutritional power house packed with “18 amino acids as well as beta-carotenes, folic acid, pantothenic acid, vitamin B1, B2, B6 and vitamin C; also minerals including potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, copper, phosphorus, manganese and zinc”, which when mixed into a smoothie almost undetectable.
My latest concoction is a peaches and greens smoothie, rather than the more calorific peaches and cream.
Recipe: Peaches & Green Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 cup spinach leaves
- 1 cup grapes (frozen)
- 1 peach
- 1 banana
- 1 tsp flax seed
- 1 tsp powdered greens
- 1 tsp coconut oil
Instructions
- Place all the ingredients into the blender, together with a little water and blend until smooth. Serve immediately.
Franglais kitchen, Nazima
wow what a great recipe. I do love the philosophy and I realised I kind of do that now most meals. I haven’t had the courage to use kale in a smoothie but will give a go. Must get flax seeds too. A great breakfast idea. Love the picture (I think you instagrammed the setup picture and was impressed even then!)
Helen
Thanks Nazima. Go for the kale in the smoothie!
Jacqueline
Not to self, must freeze grapes!!! Gorgeous smoothie!
Helen
Freeze grapes, especially if you buy seeded ones by accident.
Michelle Utterlyscrummy
What a delicious and healthy start to the day! Quick, easy and very good for you. I adore the styling and the milk bottle too :)
Helen
Thank you Michelle. I adore my green smoothies! The bottle came back from Washington DC earlier this year!
Jen @ Blue Kitchen Bakes
Smoothie looks great, love the vibrant colour and I bet it tastes really good too. I’ve tried spinach once in a smoothie and was pleasantly surprised that I couldn’t taste it, looks like I’ll have to try kale next :)
Helen
Go for it Jen. Kale rocks!
Katie
Gorgeous photo and great colour! I’m a big fan of frozen grapes just as a snack in their own right. It’s like a little burst of sorbet. I need to do some green smoothies to give my sluggish system a bit of a kick. Still loving my fast days tho!
Helen
I cannot get on with 5:2. Have tried and just get too hungry.
Heather Haigh
I also like to include a fair amount of raw in my diet and juices and smoothies are great – I do ok with wheatgrass, chlorella and spirulina but I have yet to aquire anything like a taste for barleygrass I’m afraid.
Helen
This powdered barley grass has very little flavour really…
Heather Haigh
The one I tried had a really horrible texture. Wondering if it was the particular brand or the fact I was trying to take it mixed with just a little juice and hidden in a smoothie might have been better.
Helen
I think that less could b more Heather. Which blender do you have?
Heather Haigh
I do only have a cheapo blender – certainly my smoothies could be smoother – one day I aspire to a vitamix lol