Green Smoothies

I have had A LOT of questions lately about WHY I am promoting green smoothies. I am not getting any sort of monetary gain from promoting these, especially since you make it yourself, stock the ingredients from your local grocer, and I have nothing to gain by you drinking them.... except... I do have something to gain by helping someone overcome stress, anxiety, depression, cancer, diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, the list goes on! The gain: adding value to someone else.

Here are a few things I love to have on hand when I make my green smoothies:

-Baby Spinach, Baby Kale or a Baby Power Greens Blend

-Strawberries (frozen)

-Bananas (fresh or frozen)

-Blueberries (frozen)

-Mango (fresh or frozen)

-Pineapple (fresh or frozen)

-Grapes (fresh or frozen)

-Pears

-Carrots

-Cucumber

-Celery

-Any sort of frozen antioxidant berry blend

-Walnuts, Chia or Flax seed

-Oats or my favorite protein powder

-Almonds or Peanuts (nut butters or raw)

-Oranges or any citrus fruit

-Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk

-Unsweetened Coconut milk or water

-Avocado

-Ginger Root

-Herbs (cilantro, parsley, basil, mint)

-A 32 ounce Wide Mouth Mason Jar

-4 Stainless Steel Straws (12mm and 9 inches tall, these are the best in quality we found, there are cheaper ones, but these won't bend AT ALL! Super sturdy!) Second best option 6mm and 10.5 inches tall: 4 Stainless Steel Straws (Thinner)

-Mason Jar Straw and Lid or you can get something like this with a handle: Pioneer Woman Mason Drinking Jar

-Vitamix or High Speed Blender

-Manual Citrus Juicer OR if you like to make huge glasses of fresh squeezed orange juice, we have made three years of GOOD use out of this Heavy Duty Citrus Juicer



This list is totally optional, and is geared toward the produce we typically have on hand anyway, we don't buy anything extra unless I am doing a 30 day challenge from www.simplegreensmoothies.com, or just trying a recipe I found online.



If you have questions, post them in the comments below!  If you want to join me as I make them LIVE for the month of April, head on over to www.fb.com/healthynfitforlife and subscribe so you can see me make them live, and ask any questions as I go!


Happy Green Smoothie Making!!



Beginner Green Smoothie:

2 C Baby Spinach
2 C Water or unsweetened Apple or Orange Juice
1 Medium Carrot or small beet (only if you like beets)
1 Cup Strawberries
1 Cup Frozen Pineapple
1-2 Frozen Bananas peeled and cut into 2 inch chunks


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WELCOME!!

WELCOME!!  

A little about me, my name is Ashley, I am 29, married to my best friend for 8 years, and a mama of 5 beautiful children! No really, they are! Alice is my oldest, she is 6; Norah is my second, she is 5; Declan is my third, he is 4; Lacy is my fourth, she is 2; and Juliette is our fifth and she is 6 months old.  And to answer your next question, NO, we aren't done yet!  Haha!

I am passionate about my family, motherhood, our health, and fitness.  I am just like any other busy mom out there!  Being healthy, and loving motherhood did NOT come naturally to me... I have had to learn this, it has given me purpose in life, and I love sharing everything I can about it!

We Homeschool off and on, we are active in our Faith, we have Dance, Soccer, and other fun activities, my husband works full time, I work part, part time as a Health and Fitness Coach with Beachbody and I help others figure out how to eat healthy and fit exercise into their days. Most of all, we want to have energy to make the most of our time together as a family, and we can't do that if we are exhausted from everything else on our plates!

We eat clean (for the most part), and enjoy a wide array of mostly plant based foods.  

Our journey toward a healthy life started a little bit before my 3rd pregnancy.  N and my husband were lactose intolerant (still are), and we needed to figure out a way to replace the dairy and get all that 'calcium' that you can supposedly only get from cow's milk.  Oh man, on this journey we have learned SO much about God's green earth!  (We DON'T need cows for calcium...  more on that later.)  The point is, we were then projected onto OUR path towards Whole Food, Plant-Based lifestyles.

This blog will be devoted to helping the BUSY moms out there learn how to EAT CLEAN, GET FIT, and lead their families and themselves toward living healthy, happy, fulfilling lives. And No, I will not push anyone to eat exactly like us!  I will just SHARE, and let YOU decide what is best for YOU!

SO WELCOME!