Fresh and Green Has Arrived for Spring!

In July 2010 I packed up shop, let my apartment in Greystones, County Wicklow  (just outside Dublin) and embarked on what I can only describe as a very adventurous trip of Canada and the West Coast of the United States. This trip saw me visit Toronto, Vancouver, LA and many town and cities in California all the way down to San Diego.

One of the main reasons I made this trip, besides scratching the Bear Grylls side of my nature, was to see what was going on in the world of nutrition, whole and living foods in the US.  I feel very fortunate to have been able to make this journey and extremely grateful for both the experience I had and the wonderful people I met, some of whom I felt I had known for many years. I am also delighted to have made some amazing contacts, both on line and in person with those leaders in the areas of holistic health and wellness. Thank you my friends. I continue to be inspired by your dedication and foresight. You continue to light my way...and you know who you are!

I have personally being drinking a green drink either in the form of a juice, smoothie or wheatgrass shot almost daily for many years. On my trip, I ran into a common denominator, that I found on both the east and west coast....It was the colour green.

People are already aware of the healing benefits of eating or drinking more fruit and vegetables however, our markets have  become increasingly saturated with many sugared drinks . One of the most heavily marketed products over the last few years has been the fruit smoothie. What I can say is, fruit is good, but greens are waaayyy better. Many of the manufactures promote the health benefits of these fruit smoothies, however, they offer you frozen yogurt (which is much closer to ice cream than yoghurt) in place of live yoghurt. These claims fool the non-discerning public into thinking that these are fruit smoothies are health enhancing drinks, which of course is dependant on many variables including who makes them, what's in them and how long they are on the shelf.  No wonder people like these smoothies though...mostly, they are laden with sugar and really are dynamite in a glass, but not in a good way.

So, what I decided to do was to put a small book together to show people how easy it is to add in those leafy greens into your daily routine. How to make delicious, tasty smoothies, without the need for dairy products or too much fruit to make it enjoyable.  Only this morning,  I made a smoothie from rocket blended up, with one mango and one orange. Don't knock it till you try it though, as it really was delicious! In the book I have a similar recipe using rocket using two mangoes, but as I only had one, I improvised. You see, you really can do anything with leafy greens, fruit and a blender and what this is what this book is all about. I also explain why green is so life enhancing and why you would be hard pushed to find a better healthy habit to include into your day then having a green drink.

It is easier than you think to eat (or drink, as I am suggesting ) your greens. The recipes are easy to follow and I have mostly used ingredients that are easy to find in your local supermarket or farmer's market. What I wanted to do was to make it easy for you to get started and I hope I have achieved this with Fresh and Green http://kitchengreenie.blogspot.com/p/products.html.

I wish you many healthy, happy and creative moments in your kitchen

Ruth