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Morning Family Ritual

About a year ago, I read a book called The Beauty Detox Solution.  I had followed the author for some time on social media, and she described a way of eat that was easy on the digestive system, so your body had extra energy–loads of it.  That’s truly what sold me on it, not the beauty aspect, but I wound’t be mad at it…  So, not just energy in the day to be a living, functioning person, but internal energy your body can also then use to improve skin, hair, etc because it’s not being over taxed digesting (Think about how you feel after a huge meal.)  She said that when you think about what takes the most energy in a day, you may think of a workout, BUT no!   (This part was news to me): Actually digestion takes 80% of our daily energy, and our body will cut off anything else because we need it to live, and on top of that, we eat in such abundant ways that our bodies aren’t designed for, with improper food pairing, which can leave us tired and fatigued most of the day.  

 

So, I finally went on Amazon and just bought it.  I had put it off forever, and it was only about $11, so I made the purchase.  If I try to overhaul everything and try to be perfect, I’ll not only give up, but go the opposite way, I like baby steps and they really work for me!   I am the kind of person who can be totally excited about very small steps of improvement.  

 

So, there is this smoothie, she talks about it always, and I wanted to start with just that.  She was trying to debunk the commonly believed thought that big breakfasts give us a lot of energy.  (WHAT!?)  She said that actually, it takes our energy because our digestive tract has to kick into overdrive to digest it, and any caloric energy we would derive from it won’t be available for hours later once it’s in the intestine.  That’s why this smoothie was supposed to be incredible; predigested, light, but packed in nutrients.  I told Andrew we’d try the smoothie FIRST, but then still eat our reg breakfast, and just see what we think.

 

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The smoothie was totally awesome, sweet even with the green color.  After at least a week of this, we decided on a weekend to try JUSTTTT the smoothie without any extra breakfasty foods (We weren’t sure we trust her digestion idea yet 😉 and see how we felt.  

 

Spoiler alert, we felt great…. Not hungry, and then big time energized.  Energy was the main reason I even wanted the book, the smoothie, the ‘solution.’  As a mom of four, I wanted to feel empowered, and not bleary eyes on the couch.

 

Next phase we added hot lemon water for the very first thing, then a large glass of water with a probiotic, THEN the smoothie.  We were feeling all kinds of perky, hydrated, full, light, energized each morning.

 

We had and currently have our kids drink this smoothie first thing every day.  We rotate the greens, bring in stuff from the garden if we have it, we’ll swap our fruit if we feel like it or if we have something on hand, but mostly stick straight to the original recipe.  “How do you get your kids to drink it?”

 

I know everyone is different, but we do put a high value in our family on health and gratitude.  It’s something we train them in, just as you’d train them to brush their teeth or learn math problems, or have manners.  The older three kids liked it from the first moment (It’s actually really good), Poppy had to get used to it, but taste buds change over time.  They adapt.  I’ve heard people say things like, “Oh I’d never force my kid to eat something they didn’t like!”  Oh really?  What about bed times, what about going to school?  Wearing clothes?  Walking with you in parking lots?  At times we all ask our kids to do things they aren’t going to cry happy tears about, until it becomes routine.  And their health is something I’m willing to put the effort into at the front end of.  My kids ask for it now, they help me make it, they are sad if we’re somewhere and can’t have it in the morning (Seriously, although we do make it while on vacations when possible, which is most of the time)

 

Every family is different, and this is what works for us.  I feel at peace giving it to them, knowing that at the start of the day, they’ve had their greens and veggies, their bodies are at an alkaline state meaning inflammation and disease will have a hard time sticking around.  Once the smoothie is gone, they can then have whatever they like; cereal, oatmeal, etc etc.  Andrew and I just have the smoothie.

 

When people start the smoothie, it does some heavy duty ‘cleaning’ of the intestine of old built up junk.  So as you go on, and drink them more and more, your body is able to absorb more of the nutrients with more access to intestinal lining.  I have noticed a difference in my skin and nails as well, which is secondary to how great I feel, and how empowered I feel to do whatever I want in the day without needing to lay down dead.

 

I have given it to homeless mothers and children.  We used to have a homeless boy stay with us one night a week.  The first morning when I kindly told him he’d be having the smoothie, he balked.  I paid him a dollar to have a large spoonful, that was it.  The next week I asked him to drink half a glass for the dollar, then the whole thing, then no more money, but we asked him to drink it before other breakfast.  We started noticing the dark circles under his eyes going away, his skin tone more even.  He said he was more alert in glass.  I’d give it to his mother each time she was over, knowing too that it built up a taste tolerance and even desire for vegetables in other meals.  She laughed after the first time, “That thing cleaned me out!”  I laughed and told her it was temporary, and that there may be some junk to clear out, she nodded and said, “Oh yeah!”

 

So, here we are!  All winter when some of our dear friends battled sickness and flus, we thankfully did not.  Which is why I’m writing this!  I don’t think my 4 biologically unrelated children have super genes, but they are prepared each day with a delicious smoothie that you don’t have to sign up for some MLM, costly powder ‘nutrition system.’  Every single item can be bought at the grocery store, or grown for free in your yard.  The exact recipe in this photo serves all six of us each morning.  We drink them with glass straws we got off Amazon, and love it.  Even if you were to try it one time, you’d be doing your body a huge favor!  Even if your kids want to fist fight you, but you are able to make it a priority and they have a tiny scoopful one day, that is a huge success!  HUGE!  Kids need to try things 10 times before they like them, and it’s true, you’d be one time down.  Imagine them soon liking slurping down greens and fruit.  The smoothie is a hard working smoothie and you could geek out and look up the multitude of good things it’s doing inside of you for hours.

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Oh, and by the by, Kimberly Snyder is not a name dropper, but she works with lot of celebrities.  Like Owen Wilson, who drinks this smoothie, and brings it on set and gets everyone into them.  Reece Witherspoon, Fergie, Drew Barrymore, they ALL drink it.  They got that glow.  So what I am TRYING to say is that I basically have celebrity skin…so, wear shades around me next time, k?  


I’ll talk about the rest of the story and the food transformation we’ve been through and how it’s affected how we feel and what we can now do that we weren’t able to before, but I’ll save it for another post.  Nothing, nothing beats how we feel.

 

So, if you try this smoothie, please let me know!  I’d love to hear what you think, especially if you have one for some days in a row and how it makes you look and feel on the inside and outside, so keep in touch!  I also love Kimberly’s Podcast, Beauty InsideOut.

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GGS when it’s trying to be Extra

 

 

 

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  • Heather July 26, 2017, 3:09 pm

    Oh wow I think I need this! I eat pretty well – smoothies are a daily thing around here & my kiddo loves them. But we’re going through a stressful period & I am SO tired! Serious lack of energy that has me constantly reaching for iced coffee & chocolate (two things I don’t eat much of anymore). Do you think the smoothie would still “work” without the banana? Banana allergies suck.

    • Erica July 27, 2017, 10:58 am

      Heather- we make these daily and love them, substituting what we have in abundance from the garden or on hand. Really do keep you full and energized. We substitute avocado for banana as I can’t eat bananas. We use avo for a thickener in all of our smoothies and protein shakes. A little stevia will make up for the loss of sugar from banana.

      • tinyteam July 27, 2017, 12:05 pm

        Thank you Erica for responding! I wasn’t sure the solution, although I’ve heard Kimberly talk about substitutes for it in the past…ALSO you make them daily!? That’s so rad! xoxo

  • kate July 28, 2017, 3:26 pm

    Any ideas for a celery substitute? We’d love to try! You’ve sold us! But…we need something other than celery.

    • tinyteam July 31, 2017, 9:34 am

      I have heard Kimberly talk about this on her podcast! She says cucumber is a great celery sub 🙂

  • Mariana July 28, 2017, 7:48 pm

    Thank you for sharing this! It’s been a while since I last did green smoothies but your post reminded me of how good you feel. Thanks for that.
    Now, question: When you say this recipe is good for all the fam, how much smaller quantities do you think would work for just one adult? Half? A third?

    • tinyteam July 31, 2017, 9:35 am

      Andrew and I pour ourselves about 20oz into glasses, then the remainder we divide into four glasses for the kids. If someone is out of town, they get more, and drink whatever they get

  • Lauren M Flynn July 29, 2017, 7:50 pm

    Any other banana substitute suggestions? I hate bananas and I like avocado but find it hard to stomach in smoothies. Also what kind of blender do you have that grinds all that up so well?

    • tinyteam July 31, 2017, 9:44 am

      If it helps, I don’t love plain celery, but once it’s mixed up in the smoothie, I can’t taste it, and also feel good about the fact that I’m actually ingesting it! So you could try a small amount in there and see if you even notice it, you may not. Also we love the Vitamix; of all the blenders we use, the flavor comes out best with the one: delicious.

      Other bananas substitutes could be mango, and an AMAZING one that I have learned about from Kimberly is Pineapple, major beauty food.

  • Karen July 30, 2017, 12:26 pm

    It works!! Thank you for this so much. I have been looking for a good green smoothie recipe for months now that didn’t taste so “green” if you know what I mean. This tastes really good. I think I’ll be making this lots…

    • tinyteam July 31, 2017, 9:46 am

      Wonderful, good for you! If you continue on the journey, the book will be a good guide for you, plus it will empower you as to all each smoothie is doing each time you have it.

  • Diana August 1, 2017, 6:03 am

    Do you have a high powered blender (Vitamix or something)? I was going to try this but I’m not sure my Kitchen Aid blender will work, especially for something like celery.

    • Karen August 4, 2017, 6:53 am

      My Ninja works really well. I can’t afford an expensive blender…

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