Last newsletter, I shared some tips for easy and nutritious summertime eating with my Twenty for Twenty and Plenty mojo. One of the staples in my meal mojo is green smoothies. “Why is that?” you might ask.

Well, for one, there are some extraordinarily delicious ways to blend veggies together, and we’re big fans of delicious, are we not? Another reason is that vegetables – loaded with vitamins, phytochemicals, and fiber – are REALLY good for us, which is why it’s recommended that we eat 7-9 servings of veggies a day for optimal health. With a serving equal to a half-cup, that means that we’re aiming for 4-ish cups of vegetables a day!

Meanwhile, the average American eats less than 2 servings of veggies per day. And in our defense, it can be hard to shift our eating habits to include that many of our colorful plant friends. (And no, fries and ketchup don’t count.)

Become a Vegetable Smoothie Ninja

That’s where green smoothies come in handy. We blend the vegetables up, and now have a storable, portable, veggie-slam-dunk with about 2 cups of vegetable goodness in our 16 oz. serving of smoothie. Half of your LRA (Laurie Recommended Allowance) right there. (Haha. You can thank one of my current BetterHealth Journey? clients for that tongue-in-cheek variation of the notoriously unhelpful RDA.)

I shared a recipe in a blog a few years back which you can find HERE. Very yummy. Yet I came across one that I like even better, mostly because I’m a huge fan of the taste of both mint and lemon and this bad boy has ’em both.

Light, Lemon-y, and Luscious Green Delight

• 1/2 avocado
• 1 c. chopped organic romaine lettuce
• 1/2 c. organic spinach
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 3 stalks of organic mint – stems and all
• 4 drops liquid stevia
• 1 c. water
• 1 tsp. MCT oil (optional)
• 1 scoop clean protein powder (optional)

The mint and lemon make this smoothie taste very light and summery. I make up a quadruple batch and store them in 16 oz. glass containers. If filled right to the top and capped tightly, they keep fresh for up to five days. This means that, for me, a Food Sass? breakfast or snack is served in 3 seconds flat for 4 of the 5 weekdays. How sweet is that?!

Remember that ingredient choices are important, and there are scores of protein powders on the market that have un-snazzy ingredients like chemical sweeteners, health-eroding fats, sugar, colorings, additives, and the like. Some examples of clean protein powder are Standard Process’s SP Complete (available in vegetarian and whey-based formulas that include nutrients in addition to protein) and Opportuniteas Grass-Fed Whey Protein Isolate (a light whey protein formula that doesn’t add any texture or flavor to your smoothie – ideal for whole-food smoothies). The former you can procure from me, and the latter you can purchase online.

I hope you love this smoothie as much as I do! This daily green smoothie is one of the non-negotiable basics in my self-care. Self-care is important. It helps us to be our very best selves and feel happy and whole.

Self-care and Book Tour (wooooot!)

Self-care is so important that it got a whoooole chapter to itself in my upcoming book Wild World, Joyful Heart. Which, thanks to your voting help a few weeks back, now has its cover art complete. My next blog post will be The Big Reveal of the cover, along with exciting info about the book, which will publish on October 8, 2019. I can’t believe that launch is less than three months away!

With that in mind…do you have a great venue near you (co-working space, library, leadership group meeting location) where you could invite gobs of your friends and colleagues to gather for a book event?

My book tour starts in my home city of the Greater Boston area and will include 10-18 U.S. cities; the official launch event will be in Medfield, MA on the evening of October 8th. I’m working on setting up the remainder of the tour, and it would be great if your local area could be included! It would be delightful to hang out in person and have a book-centered workshop about how to develop empowered well-being in a wild and crazy world.

Email me at info@lauriewarren.com if your town or city should be a stop on my tour. What fun we’ll have!

Create Vibrant Health: BodyMindSpirit?

With love and excitement,

Laurie