Luscious Crimson Smoothie

Luscious is right. Luscious. Vibrant. Slightly tart, definitely sweet. Slightly bitter, definitely awesome. Thick, creamy and dreamy.

I made a huge batch of this with the intention of sharing it with my family. I didn’t. I often go to bed with a thought for what the first thing I want to put in my body is. I am usually intentional with my first meal. And this time, I knew I wanted it to be red. Bursting red. With lots of anti oxidants and immunity boosting qualities. I wanted it to feel refreshing while still warming my body. I wanted it to be bursting with flavor and dense in vitamins. I wanted something that would make me feel alive and excited to be awake. This smoothie did all those things and then some. I’m making this again tomorrow.

Just in case you needed more convincing here are a few nutritional benefits of some of the ingredients in this smoothie:

beets: high in iron and B vitamins (great for blood and new growth cells), as well as potassium and magnesium. They also contain tryptophan (creates a sense a well-being).

grapefruits:  high in vitamin A (good for mucus membranes and skin) and vitamin C (an antioxidant that helps the body develop resistance against infections). Vitamin C also helps in the absorption of dietary iron (so a great pairing with the beets!)

maca: high in vitamins B, C, and E (healthy immune system, skin and eyes), as well as iron, calcium and magnesium. Maca is also known to increase energy and improve one’s mood. There are many other benefits to maca that I won’t post here. If you’ve never tried maca, I suggest you do 🙂

jicama: high in fiber it is also rich in vitamin C and provides healthy amounts of minerals such as magnesium, copper and iron. Another great addition for this smoothie 🙂

Ingredients:

• 1 large beet or 2 small ones
• 2 large pink grapefruits
• 1 large chunk of ginger (about 2 inch cube)
• 1 cup chopped jicama, or 1 cucumber
• 1 cup fresh strawberries
• 1/2 cup raspberries
• 1 large banana
• 1 TBS maca (optional but highly recommended as it gave me super powers)

Steps:

• juice first 4 ingredients
• add juice to blender with all other ingredients and blend on high until nice and smooth
• pour in your favorite large container and feel alive!
• this made enough for two large servings. I sprinkled some cinnamon on top because cinnamon makes me happy.

Advertisement

Cacao Energy Clusters

These little clusters are packed with nutrient dense ingredients: flax seeds (high in omega 3’s, good kind fat), cacao powder (powerful antioxidant, god for fighting free radicals), maca powder (good for energy) amongst several other amazing ingredients.

This recipe kinda just happened. I had made a lot of sprouted buckwheat when prepping for making raw granola, and didn’t feel like really putting anything fancy together so just threw a bunch of ingredients in the bowl, thinking I was going to be making another granola. Before putting it in the dehydrator I tasted it and it tasted so good I immediately wrote down what I had used in order to not forget! When it came out, instead of being a granola, it was more of an energy cluster. Not only because it stuck together in convenient clusters, but also because the flavor was so rich that I don’t think I could actually eat a whole bowl of it. A few clusters was enough. I packed some for a hike and my daughter wanted some for her school snack. I am so happy I wrote down the ingredients so I can make this again.

So here it is. Another kitchen happy “accident” 🙂

Ingredients:

• 3 cups sprouted buckwheat, or buckwheat that has soaked for at least 8 hours, then rinsed really well
• 1 cup oats
• 1 cup sunflower seeds
• 2 TBS mesquite powder
• 2 TBS maca powder
• 1/4 cacao powder
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
• 1/8 tsp salt

Steps:

• mix everything together in a bowl, adding the wet ingredients last
• spread on a dehydrator sheet, tapping it down to make it more compact
• dehydrate at 115* for about 12 hours or until dry and crispy
• store in an airtight container for weeks! (Although ours lasted barely a week)

If making this in the oven, put it on the lowest setting for about an hour, try it and keep checking every 10 minutes until fully done.