by Yvonne Maffei | Sep 21, 2014 | Thoughts on Food
I found a pretty remarkable video online that I think really articulates a lot of what I’ve been wanting to share for a very long time, all compiled into a 45-minute piece of staggering information about the connection between sugar with consumer wellness and how industry associations and food manufacturers place it in food products in quantities that are pretty surprising to most consumers.
The Secrets of Sugar is a powerful documentary that discusses the sugar industry, research based on sugar consumption and what consumers are up against when eating the typical diet of processed foods where additional sugar is pretty hidden. They discuss a possible connection between high sugar consumption to fatty liver, diabetes, cancer and even possibly Alzheimer’s.
I’d love to read your comments about this documentary at the end of this post.
Disclaimer: This information is not intended as medical advice. Consult your doctor for further information on this and other wellness topics.
![Smoothie Packs]()
by Yvonne Maffei | Aug 28, 2014 | American, Drinks, Suhoor, Summer
This past Ramadan I got really used to drinking smoothies at iftar and sometimes even at suhoor. Now here were are a couple of months out, and they are very much still on my radar, especially since I’ve frozen so much of the fruit that was leftover and still gets left over from weekly shopping. But what I decided to do this time around was to make packs of fruits, combining the ones I wanted to have together in a smoothie since it’s just easier to take it right out of the bag and add the things you can’t necessarily freeze so well. Here’s what I do:
Gather your favorite fruits, freshest fruits, most seasonal fruits and think about what combos you’d like to prepare in a smoothie. Then, get proper freezing bags, plus think about what liquids you’d like to add to the smoothies once they’re prepared fresh (I don’t actually advise freezing milk, yogurt, coconut water or any creams but just showed them here for visual purposes).
Mark the bags, using freezer tape and nice and bright markers like Sharpies, which don’t bleed when cold or frozen.
I personally like to combine dates with figs, dates with apricots, figs with bananas, pineapple with banana and coconut flakes.
Proportionally, I bag enough for one or two, but not more than that at a time so that they’re easy for everyone in the house to make their one when they want, especially for breakfast.
For example, I put 2 large figs (cut in half so that when they’re frozen they’re easy on the blender), 1/2 banana, 1/2 cup whole milk. Really delicious and makes about 12 ounces of a very smooth smoothie when blended until all the lumps are gone.
One last word of advice is to use whole milk products such as whole-milk yogurt so that the resulting drink isn’t too watery. Coconut water is so excellent in smoothies, too, but you almost never need as much as you think because the fruits have so much water in them, too, especially after they’ve been frozen.
![Green Breakfast Smoothie]()
by Yvonne Maffei | Feb 7, 2014 | Breakfast & Brunch, Drinks
I’ve heard all sorts of people say that they’ve never felt better after drinking ‘green’ smoothies- with lots of green veggies like celery, spinach, kale, avocados as well as other things like beets and carrots. Chock full of vitamins, minerals and fiber, they’re said to help detox the body, or cleanse it. To be honest, it just never seemed appetizing to me. I never heard anybody say “yum” after drinking some thing green. Would you think that would be the case?
Well, I’ve reading more and more and viewing some documentaries about getting serious about short and long-term health benefits of drinking your veggies and finally decided it was time to get out the Montel (blender, that is). I don’t have a Vitamix (yet) but if I keep going down this juicing path, I just might have to get one…
There I go, thinking about new kitchen appliances (all those Costco demos tend to stay in your head, I must say).
Back to the smoothie. I played around with this recipe and I finally have found one that I enjoy very much, but I encourage you to use it as a base recipe and use similar ingredients you have in your fridge.
For example, I use kale- but you can use spinach instead. You can also add Romaine lettuce, if you have that. I also add a red apple, but a green apple will give it a more tart flavor. I add avocado to smooth out the drink, but you can leave that out. To make it sweet, I add some honey, but you can add two pitted dates instead. I wouldn’t skip out on the banana, that just makes it really good. Throw it all in the blender with some filtered water or freshly squeezed orange juice and blend away.
I never thought I would like drinking green juices as much as I do now, and it feels good to start my day with these instead of coffee (although I have coffee later in the day after I’ve taken in some food). How about you? Do you drink green smoothies? Why or why not?
If you have your own smoothie recipe to share, you can submit it here.
Disclaimer: This information is not intended as medical advice. Please consult a physician for medical questions and concerns.
