Purple Protective Power Punch! Or something...

Happy Easter!! A wonderful time of miracles and renewal!

I hope it's been a relaxing, blessed weekend for you all :)

I had an amazing weekend of stress-relieving fun - starting with a brisk walk to a cross-training class at Body Boutique, where my instructor kicked encouraged me through several rounds of push-ups, walking lunges, jumping rope, and trying to lift my toes to my hands as I hung from a bar! (My toes never made it anywhere near my hands, just to let you know!) ;-)

Then I did a quick half mile jog to my weekly free yoga class at LuluLemon Athletica! What a great class it was! The first half was some good leg strengthening poses (no more!! I was so tired after the cross training!) but thankfully the second half was just a lot of deep stretching, deep breathing, and calming.

Ahhhh, peaceful :)

After that, I made a few shopping stops to get some last minute food items, then home to my dear Dave to spend a chunk of time in the kitchen! We popped in some Artemis Fowl audio books, and whipped up a health storm!

I tried my first GREEN JUICE! Wow, what a shock to the system! Instead of blending a bunch of greens with fruit, I basically just put the greens through my juicer, sans fruit. An entire head of red-leaf lettuce, handful of spinach, one whole cucumber, two stalks of celery, and half a lemon. Talk about a power kick! While I normally love the health benefits of fiber from the whole food, now and then, juice is great! This fiber-free juice goes quickly through your digestive system, the minerals and nutrients being easily absorbed into your blood stream. A quick kick of tons of nutrition! The flavor took some getting used to, but I was on such a health-high from the morning workout, that I was loving replenishing my system with minerals and health!

We are also trying our hand at making home-made sauerkraut! Rich in beautifying minerals and digestive probiotics, it's a great food to have on hand - if you can find it without being pasteurized. So, I have NO idea how our batch will turn out, but I'll let you know Friday when it's done!!

We also made up some salads, sprouted some sunflower seeds and quinoa grains, and Dave made raw vegan chili all on his own!! I was so proud :) He had enjoyed it so much when I made it last time, that he wanted to learn the recipe so he could make it on his own!

And another success? I made vegan burgers - that he liked!!! Amaranth, millet, onions, carrot, celery, spinach and seasoning... they didn't taste like burgers, but they were good! And once we loaded them up with tomato, onion rings, a dab of ketchup, and he used some A1 sauce... we wrapped it in a collard leaf rather than a bun, and went to town! We were both shocked at how much we liked them! It was an easy recipe from a book, and it's another one he hopes to learn!

So that was my Saturday. What a day! We relaxed in the evening, just basking in the glow of nutritious food.

And tonight, I had fun playing with a new food: açaí berry!

Probably many of you have heard of this new "superfood" berry - the media loves to promote the latest "cure all." And I won't go that far! But it's yet another tool for your belt of beauty, your weapons of wonder! Like most berries, açaí berries are rich in age-fighting antioxidants, and carry a lot of health benefits. So, this weekend, I bought some frozen açaí puree, and tonight I tried my first smoothie with it!

I should play with the recipe some more, and come up with some clever name... but for tonight, I just went with Purple Protective Power Punch, or Protective Purple Paradise! (Protective to your health and beauty because of the antioxidants, fibers, and healthy fats!)

2 scoops chia seeds (about 2 Tbs)

2 cups Coconut milk (I used So Delicious Original flavor)

1- 3.5oz packet Açaí berry puree

2 Tbs organic cacao powder

1 tsp vanilla

1 Tbs local honey (or sweetener of your choice, to taste)

Soak the chia in the milk for about 10 minutes, so they can plump up. Then add all to your blender, and blend away to smoothness!

This lovely smoothie packs over 10 grams of fiber, healthy omega fats from the chia, healthy medium-chain fats from the coconut milk, and great antioxidants from the cacao and the acai! Happy health and happy skin, here we come!

Alright, and happy studying - here I come! Time to continue reading my current nutrition book: What to Eat by Marion Nestle. Awesome book about the politics behind food labels and recommendations. Things aren't always what they seem ;-)

Have a good night, and for my Polish friends and family: "Wesołego Alleluja!!!"

"Hallelujah, He is Risen!"

Peace and Prosperity <3

~Katie