This lifestyle has made me quite adventurous in trying new foods. It is an experience for me. I never know what i’m going to like or dislike…my palette has changed so dramatically and is open to so many new flavors that the process is quite exciting.

My son’s school had a spring bazaar the other day and a company called Teena’s Pride donated an incredible variety of organic vegetables to our school to sell. What an amazing experience it was to walk into the school and see so many vegetables and herbs to choose from. I bought a bok choy plant, swiss chard plant, a white egg plant, mint and some scallions.

I loved going home with my little plants!!!!

Coincidentally, Orlando had found these beautiful golden beets at Whole Foods that day so we had all these bright beautiful veggies to work with that week!

The next morning I had these plants in my kitchen and I just couldn’t wait to use them…so what is the first thing I do when I have leafy greens… I make a smoothie!!!

Here’s the recipe:

• 4 leaves of Bok Choy
• 1 small avocado
• 1 peeled red pear
• a squirt of lemon

This smoothie came out fantastic. The avocado made it creamy, the pear gave it some sweetness, the lemon added just the right tang. It was great.

But more than delicious, it is nutritious. Check out the health benefits of this smoothie:

Bok Choy – member of the cabbage family

• Bok Choy is similar to broccoli and brussel sprouts…otherwise known as a cruciferous vegetable.
  
• It is loaded with vitamins A and C – in fact it is said that one cup of shredded bok choy has 34 percent of the recommended daily value of vitamin c and more than a full day’s intake of vitamin A!
• One cup also contains about 3% of the recommended daily intake of magnesium and phosphorus, 7% of calcium and 26% of Vitamin K.
• I’m not done…it has 11% of the recommended daily intake of folate vitamin B-6 and 4% of potassium.
• It also contains the antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin which are great for your eyes.

So basically Bok Choy is good for your heart, good for your eyes, good for your bones and its an anti-cancer food. WOW! And that’s only with one cup. And yet it has a measly 9 calories.

Avocados also contain fiber, potassium, and vitamins but are best known for being a source of good heart-healthy fats, which are crucial in your daily diet. Despite the known “fat” controversy that there has been over the years, good fat is essential in lowering LDL cholesterol.

Pears and Lemons are powerful cleansers for the body and are popular in detox smoothies and juices.

They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day… well if that is true, then make it count with this powerful smoothie.

Have a wonderful day!!!

I am so incredibly proud of my girlfriend Frances that I am dedicating this post to her. Frances was hosting a party the other day for her friend who sells Mary Kay, Rebecca Pereira. Simultaneously, Rebecca is encouraging Frances to join the Women’s Cancer Association. Anyway, the invitation called for Makeup and Munchies…little did the invitees know that the “munchies” part would be mainly veggies!!!!

I thought hosting a party was pressure enough, but I got a call from Frances that I did not expect. She said, “Caro I want to make a healthy dinner for this party.” At first glance, this may not appear to be a big deal. But the reality is that it is a huge deal.  It is quite intimidating for a person that generally does not cook (FRANCES DOES NOT COOK!) to not only make a meal…but make an unpopular dish for a group of people and risk the whole thing to be a flop.

But my brave friend Frances decided this was a risk she was willing to take. We planned and plotted on what dish would be appropriate for this event. We thought Kale chips would be a good idea and at the suggestion of Orlando, we decided on Ratatouille as the main meal.

Frances even asked her friend to refrain from bringing dessert. What touched my soul deepest was the REASON Frances made this decision. She told me that she agreed with my post on Breast Cancer Awareness. She said that one of the things she wanted to bring to the Woman’s Cancer Association was the awareness that if we are going to get together to raise funds for cancer research and create support for women with cancer…we should participate fully and start with eating anti-cancer foods ourselves. She took this seriously and put all her energy in making this happen at her party. I am so impressed by her.

…On to the party….

Her party menu consisted of:

• grapes, multigrain crackers, hummus and kale chips as appetizers
• ratatouille as the main course

She took the Ratatouille recipe from Pile on the Greens, went to the store and bought all the ingredients.

Then she called in for a little help from the veggie expert:

Orlando taught her how to chop egg plant and guided her through the process. She followed our recipe and worked hard to make this incredible platter of pure veggies…

Then she sprinkled some cheese on top…

and voila!!!

She also made delicious kale chips. To make kale chips you just break off little chip like pieces…toss in olive oil, salt and pepper and put in the oven at 375 until crispy.

All the girls were totally impressed. Not only did the meal look and smell delicious…

it tasted delicious too!

At the end of it all we had happy girls that got to spend quality time together, laugh, play with makeup, and eat healthy, satisfying food.

Now THAT was a successful party!!!! Thank you Frances for supporting this cause, spreading the word, and walking the talk. You inspire me my dear friend.