Sometimes you just crave a little bright green to start your mornings.
Those days I turn to my easy, creamy, green smoothie!
I’m so happy now that the days seem brighter and longer. I’m about 90% sure that Canadians get more depressed and grouchy in the winters because it’s so gloomy all the time. It’s no fun to start working when it’s dark and to come home just as the sun is setting. Luckily for me, I work beside a giant window, so at least I get some of the sombre daylight even though I’m cooped up all day.
The first few months of the year always seem to slip past me. January was full of drama, February just super busy, March was just a whirlwind of work things and YouTube, and now it’s April and everything is finally coming together! It feels like such a contrast to the gongshow that was my life last year. It still blows my mind how much things have changed for the better.
Last night I was feeling super overwhelmed with a bunch of projects that had to get done for work and around the house, but when Eddie came home around 1 am after a 14 hour day, he kissed me on the head after he came in and let me continue working while he cleaned the catastrophe I left in the kitchen after I made pizza buns. I didn’t even realize what he was doing until I looked over and noticed how clean the kitchen was.
I was blown away and just so thankful.
This past weekend, we buckled down for a solid hour and cleaned the living room, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom, until it was spotless and de-cluttered, and I never realized how much I need to have a clean living space. It just feels so much more peaceful and comforting, and it took half the time it would have taken me on my own.
That is possibly the most boring revelation for you to read, and for that I’m sorry. But it is honestly so so so nice to have someone to do this with me. To have an actual partner who is in this with me 100%. A partner who shares the load and helps keep me steady when I’m feeling low, and I can help him when he can’t muster the energy to do what he needs.
I’m just stupid with happiness right now I can’t even deal with it. On Easter weekend, we spent so much time just vegging out that I started to feel a little stir crazy and I wanted to go on a road trip. We ended up visiting Rise Above in St. Catharines for possibly the most MIND BLOWING meal of my life. We meant to get some donuts from Beechwood Donuts but they had sold out by the time we got there around 4 pm. As a result, Eddie and I are going to revisit St. Catharines for our anniversary (WHICH IS IN TWO MONTHS WHAT?!) so that we can enjoy some delicious vegan donuts and some more Rise Above goodness.
Anyway, I tend to make green smoothies around Shark Week when my body is craving greens and iron. I use hemp seeds for protein, feel free to add in your favourite vegan protein powder, but I prefer to just get my proteins through eating whole foods. My green smoothies often change depending on what kind of greens I have in the fridge, but I often alternate between spinach, kale, and dill. You can also use cilantro, sweet chard, beet greens, or any other greens you so choose, but the combination of spinach and dill is my favourite.
You can see how I make it in this week’s video, which also includes some footage of my trip to St. Catharines to Rise Above!
Lisa Le
Yields 2
15 minPrep Time
15 minTotal Time
Save RecipeIngredients
- 1 orange, peeled and roughly quartered
- 3 loose cups of spinach
- 1/2 cup of dill (fronds from about 3 sprigs)
- 2 inches of English cucumber, washed and roughly chopped (about 1/2 cup cucumber?)
- 3 ribs celery, roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup hemp seeds
- 1 apple (whatever kind of apple you like)
- 2 small bananas, frozen
- 1 cup frozen mango chunks
- 1/2 cup water (you may need to adjust depending on your blender)
Instructions
- Combine ingredients in your blender and blend until smooth! You may need a high-powered blender to pulverize the greens until they're smooth, especially the dill, but spinach is quite tender so using a standard blender might be okay. I had to blend all the fresh stuff first and then add the frozen components because my blender was too full.
- Enjoy!
JP says