Healthy Inspiration Tuesday!

I am so excited for this post, and thought long and hard about the first entry into the Healthy Inspiration Tuesday series, and what kept knocking on the door was my Matcha {Green Tea} Smoothie.  This is the breakfast of champions, combining fruit, spinach, coconut milk and my new secret weapon……Matcha Powder.  Why am I drinking vegetables?  So many reasons, not enough time…plus I might bore you to tears.  Sigh!!  This post might explain a little about my reasons, but I promise to go deeper in the upcoming weeks ahead.  I know, I know…..you will be waiting on the edges of your seats….lol!

Since I first completed my week long Juicing, I have been reading gazillions about healthy, clean living.   What a shock!  No, not the reading part.   Anyone who has met me knows that I prefer curling up with a good book versus getting all dolled up and going to a party!     Clean, healthy living versus a sugar laden pastry or cake?    What’s it going to be?    Triple Threat (Slutty) brownies or a layered tropical smoothie?     Very hard choice to make!  Some of you can resist the temptation of sugar, and I applaud you for that.  Me???  I have had a long-standing love affair  addiction to sugar since I was a little girl.  Let me be fair to my parents and say sweets were not a big thing in my home, but I did seek it out elsewhere….. spending my precious change on candy bars at swimming meets or eating pop tarts and candy instead of the high school cafeteria lunch.  Don’t get me wrong, my current house is not laden down with bags of candy and sugary sweets.  I don’t eat it everyday.  I can go weeks, and even months without touching the stuff.  I can even make chewy chocolate chip cookies and not even eat a single one.  Okay, that last one was a flat-out lie….I apologize.  My point is….I have a problem…..I recognize it……but desparately want to live to a ripe old age, and I feel that clean living is where it is at.

Which brings me to the brand spanking new Healthy Inspiration Tuesday….or HIT for short!  I am so not good with acronyms….I wish I was.  I spent weeks trying to find one to symbolize eating and living healthier.  All I could come up with was HIT.  Is there a small violin playing somewhere for me?  HA!

Actually, it says it all.  I am eating healthier (most of the time), I am inspired daily by what I am learning about the foods that we put in our bodies, as well as, the beauty and cleaning products that we use in and around our homes……and it is currently Tuesday!   HIT it is!!!   But I will tell you a secret…I could easily be convinced to change it if one of you are so creative and witty and can give me something better!!  Any takers????  Anyone?

What keeps coming to mind is the S.O.D.A group a co-worker belongs to.  If some of you don’t know, I work at the local school district managing the State and Federal funds, reeling in department budgets and overall playing the bad guy when someone wants to buy something that we cannot afford.  The scope of my job also swings to the cafeterias, as this department is totally self-sufficient and receives zero funding from the general fund.  Okay, getting a little side-tracked!  Have you all heard about the new federal requirements school cafeterias are facing?  It’s all about the components…portion sizes and adding in plenty of colorful fruits and vegetables.  Nothing bad about this program.  Caused a bit of a panic initially, as we don’t want to raise lunch prices and we all know fruits and vegetables are purchased at a much higher cost.  We can dissect this more later, I am sure you all have opinions on school lunches and I would love to talk about it….I can go on and on!!  Where the hell heck was I going with this rambling?  Oh yeah…..my co-worker is in charge of the dietary components of the new school lunch program and belongs to the S.O.D.A group.  Classic irony, as you cannot find a can of soda anywhere in our school setting.  Perfect!     Perfect!      Perfect!  I heard they want to change the name, but I think the Southern Ohio Director’s (could be Dietician) Association needs to keep their name.  It is the perfect acronym and is pure irony!

Wow, I have really gone off base haven’t I?  Where was I?

What will you find at Healthy Inspiration Tuesday?

This page is going to be about healthy, clean living.  I will post recipes, time-saving tips and even household items that I find useful and think you might too.  Am I giving up sugar all together?  Nope, I can’t.  I love creating and making desserts.  It makes me feel great when I create something that tastes out of this world, and makes my family and friends happy.  And who are we kidding…..there is plenty of sugar in fruit….and I refuse to give that up.  This page will also be about mental health, giving myself a little bit of freedom to forgive myself when I slip up.  No one is perfect, and I am tired of being my worst enemy.  We only get one go-round and I want to make it last as long as possible.  Which is where Matcha {Green Tea} Smoothie comes into play!
I found Matcha Powder online about a month ago.  I was reading about a couple of women who are treating their cancer purely through food.  No chemo, no radiation…..nothing……and they have kept the cancer at bay for years.  This is where I learned the benefits of green tea and that matcha powder is derived purely from the green tea leaf.  I am not a huge green tea person, but I figured I would give it a shot.  Ordered it from amazon, and it better be good, as it cost me $32 for 2 oz.  I tried to drink it just like hot tea, and I tell you I just could not handle it.  I did not have it in me to drink what was in my cup.  It was strong and VERY BITTER!  I thought I could put it in a mean green juice, and it was a no go as well.  I saw a recipe online using bananas, spinach and water to make a smoothie and figured what the hell…..let’s put a small amount into this smoothie and see if the banana’s will mask the bitter taste.  Sigh….still wasn’t a fan….but was not going to give up.  I had an abundance of mangos left over and decided to throw one of those into the blender.  Was reading the benefits of coconut milk and literally ran to Krogers to pick some up.  You know it is right down the street right?  PT tells me that all of the time….never get tired of hearing it….not!

I had a WINNER!  Loved the taste of this smoothie.  Over the next week I experimented with various fruit, amount of spinach and coconut milk….threw in some flax-seed and chia seeds and I have been drinking this every morning since.  I have never been a breakfast eater.  Usually will declare that 2 cups of coffee is sufficient, but in my quest for change I am committed to changing my ways….and breakfast is back on the menu.  I have not let go of the mangos, but have learned that I prefer fresh peaches in this recipe.  Give the mangos a shot….you might like them better than peaches.

Matcha powder has become a staple in my life and routine.  I know I need to get adventurous, and try it in new recipes……btw, tried it in greek vanilla yogurt and practically gagged it down….green tea taste was way too strong…..but in the meantime will just blend it into my morning smoothie.  Can’t go wrong with a breakfast that encompasses 4 servings of fruits and vegetables.  Maybe I should give this recipe to our school cafeteria!!

Welcome to Healthy Inspiration Tuesday!  I hope you enjoy this Matcha {Green Tea} Smoothie as much as I do!!

Matcha {Green Tea} Smoothie