In the medical office I work in, each morning we start the day with one of my Green Smoothies. Two of our friends stopped by yesterday with lettuce, spinach, kale and some fruits to put in our smoothies..unfortunately this picture does not do any justice to the beautiful produce spread out on the table. In this picture is Dr. Mamdani, our two friends and myself...we are all holding up our green smoothies.
We also have steel cut oatmeal with our smoothie...steel cut oats is the absolute best oatmeal you can get....it's loaded with fiber and helps eliminate cholesterol from our body.
I started making green smoothies at the office almost three years ago, (it will be 3 years in August). My co-workers were constantly coughing, had colds and allergy symptoms. I decided it was time to do something about this, and convinced the doctors to buy a Vita-Mix blender for the office. Once it arrived, the morning smoothies started. I threw in lettuce, spinach, kale, a banana, apples and pears...added flaxseeds, (loaded with omega-3 and helps to bring down cholesterol levels), a little bit of water and ice cubes, and a little bit of raw honey. Now, the color of this drink is dark green, so I had to put the smoothies in paper cups with lids on the top so my co-workers weren't looking at the color or they would not drink it. However, once they tasted how good they were, we went to tall glasses and never looked back. Also, over time I kept cutting back on the amount of honey I added until eventually it was completely eliminated. Now, no one would think of adding honey because it would just be too sweet!
After a few weeks of having smoothies every morning, suddenly no one was coughing, there were no colds going around the office staff, and everyone felt good!
Now we that we built our immune systems up, we seemed to have another problem.....high cholesterol. I'm the only person in the office that does not eat meat or dairy and I knew i would never get everyone to do this, so I had to come up with something that might help bring down cholesterol levels. One very simple natural way to reduce cholesterol levels is to eat oatmeal.....not the instant variety that has an ingredient list a paragraph long, but the plain and simple steel cut oats....the cadillac of oatmeal.
I decided I couldn't go right to steel cut oats though, I thought I had better start with plain Quaker Oats. So I cooked it in the morning and just brought the pot to work with me....we added honey and fruit to it and everyone ate it with their smoothies. Then, I decided it was time to graduate to the steel cut variety, and much to my surprise, everyone preferred it over the Quaker Oats! I thought they would have an issue with the texture of the steel cut oats, but everyone loves it. So, we start the day off with a green smoothie, loaded with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, and a side of steel cut oats, loaded with fiber and cholesterol lowering abilities.
It really is easy to eat healthy....it just takes a little planning. For people that say they have to grab something to eat on their way out the door, why not grab a green smoothie? What I have told many people to do that just don't have the time in the morning to make a fresh smoothie is to whip up a full blender full, (make it the night before), and pour the smoothies into a disposable coffee cup with a lid and freeze them. You can buy the cups in the grocery store...they come in packs of 10 or 20 with lids. I believe you can get like 6 or 7 smoothies from a full blender....there's the weeks' breakfast ready to grab and go! Just make sure you take one out at night and defrost in the refrigerator for the next morning.
People with small children tell me the kids love to help make these and love to drink them! The color doesn't bother the kids at all....and once you taste how good they are, the color won't bother you either!
So for a fast, easy, and extremely healthy way to start the day, get yourself a high-powered blender, get some greens and fruits, (any kind, one hint though, the riper the fruit the sweeter the smoothie), and start making your own green smoothies....you'll be surprised how that one little drink in the morning will make you feel.
We also have steel cut oatmeal with our smoothie...steel cut oats is the absolute best oatmeal you can get....it's loaded with fiber and helps eliminate cholesterol from our body.
I started making green smoothies at the office almost three years ago, (it will be 3 years in August). My co-workers were constantly coughing, had colds and allergy symptoms. I decided it was time to do something about this, and convinced the doctors to buy a Vita-Mix blender for the office. Once it arrived, the morning smoothies started. I threw in lettuce, spinach, kale, a banana, apples and pears...added flaxseeds, (loaded with omega-3 and helps to bring down cholesterol levels), a little bit of water and ice cubes, and a little bit of raw honey. Now, the color of this drink is dark green, so I had to put the smoothies in paper cups with lids on the top so my co-workers weren't looking at the color or they would not drink it. However, once they tasted how good they were, we went to tall glasses and never looked back. Also, over time I kept cutting back on the amount of honey I added until eventually it was completely eliminated. Now, no one would think of adding honey because it would just be too sweet!
After a few weeks of having smoothies every morning, suddenly no one was coughing, there were no colds going around the office staff, and everyone felt good!
Now we that we built our immune systems up, we seemed to have another problem.....high cholesterol. I'm the only person in the office that does not eat meat or dairy and I knew i would never get everyone to do this, so I had to come up with something that might help bring down cholesterol levels. One very simple natural way to reduce cholesterol levels is to eat oatmeal.....not the instant variety that has an ingredient list a paragraph long, but the plain and simple steel cut oats....the cadillac of oatmeal.
I decided I couldn't go right to steel cut oats though, I thought I had better start with plain Quaker Oats. So I cooked it in the morning and just brought the pot to work with me....we added honey and fruit to it and everyone ate it with their smoothies. Then, I decided it was time to graduate to the steel cut variety, and much to my surprise, everyone preferred it over the Quaker Oats! I thought they would have an issue with the texture of the steel cut oats, but everyone loves it. So, we start the day off with a green smoothie, loaded with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, and a side of steel cut oats, loaded with fiber and cholesterol lowering abilities.
It really is easy to eat healthy....it just takes a little planning. For people that say they have to grab something to eat on their way out the door, why not grab a green smoothie? What I have told many people to do that just don't have the time in the morning to make a fresh smoothie is to whip up a full blender full, (make it the night before), and pour the smoothies into a disposable coffee cup with a lid and freeze them. You can buy the cups in the grocery store...they come in packs of 10 or 20 with lids. I believe you can get like 6 or 7 smoothies from a full blender....there's the weeks' breakfast ready to grab and go! Just make sure you take one out at night and defrost in the refrigerator for the next morning.
People with small children tell me the kids love to help make these and love to drink them! The color doesn't bother the kids at all....and once you taste how good they are, the color won't bother you either!
So for a fast, easy, and extremely healthy way to start the day, get yourself a high-powered blender, get some greens and fruits, (any kind, one hint though, the riper the fruit the sweeter the smoothie), and start making your own green smoothies....you'll be surprised how that one little drink in the morning will make you feel.
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