Its time for those horrible
Ds - Detox, Diet, and (renouncing) Drinking.
WAAAAAH
It's not
going all that well.
Our family is so god-damn
enormous that we're barely finished with Christmas. We had our last Christmas lunch yesterday, Spanish style, on twelfth night. Its quite a relief, actually, that it's over. It's tiring being full all all the time.
This, to my intense relief, is what our first shop of 2013 looks like...
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| Not a pig-in-blanket in sight |
Now I have to say I don't
believe in the word 'detox' as such - eating pomegranates and drinking green tea is not
going to magically undo all the damage you've done over the festive period.
I've read conflicting arguments, but I'm of the belief that there is no food
that will detox your body for you -- you have to do it yourself, by
eliminating the things that are in fact toxic.
Those elements in abundance
over Christmas are the unholy trinity of fat, sugar and alcohol. I swear, my
liver hurts at the mention of booze.
In place of eliminating all
the toxic crap, it makes sense to replace it with things that are kind to your
body and complexion. This smoothie tastes as nice as pie. Well, not pie, it really doesn't taste of pie at all but it
really doesn't taste all that grassy.
I put in an egg white for
lean protein -- I believe in egg yolks, I really do, but they do taste yuck
raw, whereas egg white all blended up is invisible and tasteless. Instead, I
put in a teaspoon of coconut oil. The egg and coconut oil are important
additions - smoothies are notorious for giving you an insulin spike if you're
not careful, and the protien and (small amount) of fat in this will knock that
on the head a bit.
Do remember that if you are
trying to lose weight, you should think of this as a meal replacement and not a
snack. Smoothies are often a dieter's downfall as they allow you to consume
alot of calories in a very short space of time. That being said, I tried to use
fruit and veg that aren't all that calorific.
I use alot of frozen stuff
here because its cheap, seasonal (you always get the best of the season in the
freezer and it tends to be British too), and makes the smoothie nice and cold.
I would recommend going completely organic, as always, but if you can't fathom
it, then at least make sure your egg is organic.
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| Separated at birth |
1 egg white (free range, organic, and very fresh, straight from the fridge - or use that pasteurised one in a carton if you're a seasoned egg white eater)
1 teaspoon coconut oil,
just about melted
4 balls frozen leaf spinach
or 3 handfuls fresh
a handful of kale, stalks
removed (unless you have a vitamix, in which case leave them stalks in there)
a handful of green grapes
a juicy ripe pear
half a small apple
coconut water (1 juicebox),
or use normal water or diluted fresh apple juice
a thumb sized piece of
ginger
frozen strawberries, about
a cup or handful
half a lemon
Right. If you have a
vitamix, you know what to do. bung it all in there.
For us mere mortals with
KitchenAids, I think it works best to blend the greens and ginger first,
then add the apple and pear, blend again, then the strawberries and grapes,
blend, then the egg, lemon juice, coconut water and oil. And blend it until its
completely smooth and green with no distingishable bits of anything.
