Morning Dunham Smoothie

I have been making a morning smoothie a lot lately. Mostly because it is a great way to get your vitamins (I have made my own vitamins in an herbal tincture over the past year, but I also have the same "formula" in a powder and can easily blend it in a smoothie. That'll have to be another post). I have certain non-vegetable likers who really need the greens and vitamins too and this is an easy way to get those to them. Here is our current recipe (well, I haven't actually measured anything - that's just how I cook):

1 1/2 - 2 cups frozen fruit (we use cherries and apricots from our trees this past summer)
1/2 cup plain yogurt (Brown Cow, Cream on the Top)
1 -2 cups fresh baby spinach (Costco, glorious Costco)
2 T orange juice concentrate (the kind with no garbage in it)
about 1-2 T raw honey
1-2 heaping T flax seeds
1-2 heaping T vitamin powder (I make my own, but it is very similar to More Than Alive Superfood. Or you can buy all of the individual herbs there and make your own.)
about 1/16 - 1/8 tsp. of cayenne pepper (depending on who will be drinking it)
enough water to make it all move in the Vitamix

If it isn't sweet enough you can add more OJ concentrate or a little more honey. Yes, it is kind of brownish green, but no one here complains - it tastes that good!

Hello Chia

Goodbye flax seeds, hello chia. Remember chia pets? Those crazy porcelain animals that grew "hair" in just a few days? That is all I knew about chia seeds until reading about them recently, so I was thrilled to receive some chia seed to try from More Than Alive. I had previously taken flax seeds for fiber, Omega 3 fatty acids and the detoxification benefits. Unfortunately, in order to get the benefits out of flax you have to eat them freshly ground, so I did not take them as often as I should have - lazy me. I was thrilled to read that with chia seeds you do not have to grind them to receive their benefits. Not only do they contain a great amount of fiber, but they also contain both Omega 3 & Omega 6 fatty acids at a 3 to 4 ratio and provide great detoxification properties. Here are some other great benefits of chia seeds: high in protein, high in calcium and boron (which helps your body absorb calcium), help detox your body from intestinal yuck, high in vitamins E, C, and B, and regulate your blood sugar. AND they are so easy to take. You can add them to all sorts of foods you already eat including salads, cereals, smoothies and soups. Just last night, I was halfway through making cornbread before I realized that I was out of eggs. I had read that chia seeds and water will substitue as an egg when baking. I tried it and it worked great. It seemed a little flakier than usual, but the cornbread tasted great. Chia seeds actually taste good by themselves - they have that oily crunchy taste that flax seeds do. Just be prepared to spend the next fifteen minutes picking htem out of your teeth if you chew them up. I just take 1-2 teaspoons and wash them down with water. What an easy and healthy addition to your daily routine. For more information about chia seeds, check out the More Than Alive website.