Well, I made the original green smoothie again this morning (spinach, celery, strawberries, banana) and it was goooddd!! I'm still amazed!

CC - glad you found a combo you like! I'm going to try something new tomorrow, but need to get to the grocery store first.

Sue K - You've taught me something new again! I had no idea that you weren't supposed to heat EVOO!!! I will have to pick up some Light OO for cooking. Thanks for pointing that out...I really had no idea!

Bernie - I found a pure olive oil spray at the grocery store. I don't use it a lot since being in the Zone (prefer to just use the regular liquid OO) but it is handy to have when a baking dish needs a little greasing etc. The one I found is made by Mazola and it contains 100% olive oil, no other ingredients/preservatives at all.

You're welcome! :-)

and I am happy with using almond oil, which Sue K suggested also.
Oh, and gazpacho can be delicious if well balanced.. acidity.

Hi Janet... almond oil for cooking?? ohh... I should try that.... I guess I should go to the US side to find some almond oil... here is used to massage and for mommys bellys (mom to be)..... but I do not remember I've seen cooking almond oil, but sounds delicious...

Hi Jana: Olive oil from mazola.. that's available here,... I use it now and then for baking... and when I run out of canola oil... for cooking my eggs, veggies and ham breakfast....

Meri: is your City sunny?? mine should.. but uncommon for this time of year, we have 4 days with clouds.. I miss sun...
have a nice day all of you...

CC, great that you're getting there as well... :-) And thank you for the clarification re "unfavourables". I have quite a lot of knowledge about the glycemic load and I'm quite sensitive to it, I for example never drink juices et cetera, but in the form of a green smoothie it works. It actually works better than eating everything separately in the morning due to my extremely sensitive stomach. The fact that blending it makes it easier to digest works for my benefit: I don't get tummy pain! It's brilliant. Otherwise wouldn't want to eat too many veggies in the morning since the whole day might be a bit swollen or puffed after that.

Blending is actually also one of the cooking methods that raw food eaters use and that's where I've picked it up. It's based on the idea that the better the body can digest the food the more it gets to utilise the ingredient's valuable particles such as vitamins, enzyms, et cetera. Since the digestion starts already in the mouth saliva being the first to do the job they tend to add something to chew on even in the smoothies or "soups". Sprouts usually.

I really like many of the ideas and recipes that raw food eaters use but am not fanatical about that either. I just pick the things that suit my life, my body, my taste buds and my health from every diet form, if you know what I means. :-) I nowadays am ultra happy with the "signature combo" of a diet I've created for myself! :-D

Jana, superduper!! I love it too! :-D And my report continues. I made a "comparative" run on the weekend without having anything in the morning before, didn't feel very energetic and actually felt sort of out of breath. Today I went for a run again and had a bit less than the time before. Just maybe three teaspoons of natural yoghurt and less than a teaspoon of cashew nut butter. Run was good, not extra super but very very good 7km and I DIDN'T GET THE VOMITING FEELING when I did my cool down! Progress! So happy. Gonna continue on this path. :-)

Jep. And I do have a recipe for a gazpacho, just a sec and I'll post it here, I go get it!

I've been looking for almond oil but haven't been able to find it yet....I hear many mention it on these forums and want to try it too

Bernie...the Mazola olive oil is in spray form...it is the only one I've seen that is 100% OO with no additives, most of the other sprays have chemicals and other oils added to them...I really like the Mazola for the spray type. But I buy Bertolli or other Italian type liquid olive oils. I cook almost everything in OO, except when I'm make oriental type dishes then I use toasted seasame oil

The Gazpacho (which is a traditional Spanish recipe and usually made with bread in it to make it thicker)

2 to 4 garlic cloves
0,5 kg of tomatoes (ripe)
1 green bell pepper
1 cucumber
(half an onion, piece of fresh chili or a hint of Tabasco if you like, my stomach won't want any of these)
water
red wine vinegar (heard that sherry wine vinegar works as well)
salt
black pepper
olive oil

Dice the veggies (just roughly, clean them first naturally) and put them in a blender, add maybe 1 decilitre of water first not to make it too runny, add more if needed. Blend until totally blended (duh). Season with vinegar, salt and pepper. Taste. Move to fridge to let it err... How do you say it, to make it tastier? For some hours preferrably, overnight works very well as well. Eat! Or take it to go and add some ice cubes to make it stay cold.

Oh and the Green Angel: I just use the two and maybe add some water to make it runnier, it's a treat! :-P

Bernie, well... It's usually quite sunny in the summertime but now it's been cloudy and rainy maybe for a week. Before that we had a real taste of summer, hot and sunny, hope it gets back here O_O Luckily my vacation's not until August! The rain and cold is a bit offputting since I bike every day... Tired of getting wet and cold. Cold like plus 12 brrr. Today's been a bit warmer tho.

Meri! Glad the yogurt experiment is working out for you, keep adding little bits until you are able to get your 1/2 - 1 block without the nausea. I must admit that OCCASSIONALLY I have done my exercise without having the snack before hand as well. This is usually just because I am not hungry at all or if I sleep in I tend to head straight to the exercise equipment without taking the time for a snack (want to get my workout in before the kids wake up) and I find the same thing...my workouts are never as good when I've done this...its much better with 1/2 block in my tummy. So I don't really take that shortcut anymore....better to have a GOOD workout with less time than a longer lazy workout, I think.

Thanks for posting the Gazpacho recipe....I'll give it a try but tomatoes aren't really my thing....maybe they will taste different when pureed?

Tomorrow I'm going to try the Green Angel.

It sounds like its been cold for the season everywhere....I can't believe its almost mid-June and the warm weather hasn't even started yet! Let's hope it comes soon

And How--about the weather!

I really need to get outside for swimming, but the weather isn't cooperating!

I hear ya CC, we opened our pool weeks ago but have only been in it once so far. I had big plans that I was going to add laps to my morning workout routine but the weather has not been co-operating. C'mon summer!!!

This morning I tried the Green Angel.....it was yummmmmy!!! Very thick, should have put it in a bowl instead of a glass as there was no way I was going to be able to drink it. Now I'm excited to try the Crocodile because I quite enjoyed the avacado in today's smoothie. Meri!!...I never would have attempted these totally new concepts without your encouragement...with my super-sensitive stomach I have tended to stick with what I know....this is fabulous! I feel so adventurous!

Off to the grocery store today so I can get some more green smoothie ingredients!

Jana! The Amazing Adventures of the Green Angels! :-D RAW!!!! So, so happy that you enjoyed it too, am sure you're gonna like the mousse as well, if you like a chocolate mousse at all :-) And that has to be sweetened, but I guess you knew that. Which sweetener do you prefer, by the way? Something natural like agave nectar or honey? Artificial ones?

Oh yes and the Green Angel is a bit more like mousse as well, so a bowl works better, unless you like to blend it with a little water or juice (juice I never tried myself).

Unfortunately Gazpacho IS a tomato soup so I think that if you don't like tomatoes, maybe it's not your thing then... But you can try? :-) I also have another a bit different recipe (less garlic and peel the tomatoes before blending it, basically) that might be better, that's the one I used last time. Almost the same tho. If you try, be careful adding the water, it may not need it at all.

And for us with a special (i.e. sensitive) stomachs these smoothies work ultra well <3

Continuing to new adventures,
sincerely yours,

Meri

Good Morning Meri

Since starting the zone I really haven't been using any sweeteners....but there has been a fudge recipe posted on another thread that calls for fructose so I'm going to buy some of that when I go shopping today...gotta give that fudge a try!! For the chocolate mousse I will probably use some natural honey though...I like to go natural as much as I can. I'm looking forward to it....LOVE chocolate!

Yes I'll still try the Gazpacho even though its tomato....I like hot tomato sauce, salsa, ketchup, etc...just not raw tomato so maybe the puree will make it more like cooked tomato. I won't know if I don't try!!!

I agree that these smoothies work well for the sensitive stomach...its a great way to get more veggies in too! thanks again for sharing your ideas.

take care

Jana, I was also hoping to add swimming laps to my daily routine, had a good start last week (while the indoor pool was still available), but now that it is "summer", the indoor pool has changed its summer hours.

So, I planned on swimming laps on Monday, but the pool was closed because it was raining.

I planned on swimming yesterday, and the pool was closed because the heater was broken. Same thing, today!

Hopefully we will get out of this cool weather pattern, and water heaters won't even matter!

Meri, again-thanks for those wonderful green smoothie ideas! I am happy that they work nicely for you (and Jana, too). I think that they could work well for me, as well. Seemed to be just fine with it over the weekend, didn't have any problems with hunger control. That is a big one for me, getting new recipes to work for me!

Jana, have you ever tried raw chocolate? The only option is to make it yourself tho. I combine virgin coconut oil (I know it's not zone approved but heck it's good!), cocoa nibs (pieces of cocoa beans), cocoa powder and something sweet, usually I flavor it with a hint of cinnamon and actually finger salt is amazing in it! Oh yes and I always put a lot of goji berries into it. Raw chocolate's the best a chocolate lover aiming for optimum nutrition and health can get! And it tastes better than any other "real" chocolate.

And you might like the gazpacho then, maybe just boil the tomatoes quickly (like a minute) to peel them first. And you can season it towards something you like, so if you like it hot just add tabasco or chili. It's a perfect summer soup.

I actually use the artificial sweeteners usually, basically just for the raw chcolate, doesn't add up to much. Also organic honey and agave nectar I use sometimes. Usually just banana or something like that works. We also try to get everything possible in organic, they taste so much better and I guess there are other advantages as well... ;-)

CC, wonderful to hear that you're getting new ideas! And I'm sure you'll create something of your own out of the green smoothie and then WE'LL get to try that! :-P I rarely make "normal" smoothies but these green ones are really my thing.

And re eating enuf veggies... I think if it's possible to eat too much that would be me! I'm just crazy for salad, I love crunching hehehee. The recommendation is half a kg a day but I eat more like at least a whole kg. In the winter time it's not so easy to get good fresh ones but I'll manage and then I'll cook some... :-)

CC - I know its sooo frustrating when you have something in mind and then you show up and its unavailable....good luck next week with the pool. I hear the weather is supposed to turn here soon so hoping so....the outdoor pool season is already so short in this area...but this year we've basically lost a month of the only 3 we get!!! Maybe it'll stay warm into September this year...although that isn't the same because the kids are back in school and fall activities so the pool wouldn't get much use even if it is very hot. Oh well, I guess we can keep hoping for an amazing July & August!

Meri - that raw chocolate sounds interesting. I've never tried Goji berries...I do think I saw them at the grocery store though...are they small greenish spiky things? by small...I mean about the size of grapes? I'd like to give it a try!

thanks for the suggestion of boiling the tomatoes for a minute and peeling them...I think that method will work. Hoping to get around to trying it later today or tomorrow. I picked up all the ingredients yesterday. Oh and by 'hot' I meant warm not necessarily spicy....my tummy is ok with some spices but others make it flip.

I'm getting better at having more veggies, but I tend to reach for the fruit a lot. I think a lot of that has to do with the shear volume of veggies per block in the Zone.....it seems that after a huge salad or plate full of veggies I'm still short a block or 2 so I end up with fruit again! BUT I did have a green smoothie for breakfast this morning

Jana you can find gogi berries (little pinkish red dried berries) and raw chocolate powder in health food stores.

Thanks Sue....I guess those weren't goji berries that I saw then!!! LOL! I was scared for a minute there, wondering how you even begin to prepare those spiky ones! I'll look in the health food store for the ingredients.

Youre' welcome! I'm not sure what they look like fresh, so who knows, maybe they could have been. :-) They're usually in the supplement aisle. Look for a "Super Foods" section. Keep in mind that dried fruit should be used in moderation in the Zone (unfavorable carb). And then there's all the chocolate covered gogi berries, gogi juice, gogi snack bars, you name it (I'd stay away from all of these).

Gogi berries are being hyped right now because they are a source of polyphenols. They are but one source and there thousands of different polyphenols that, so far, have been identified in nature. I prefer a mix of many, so I drink some Sea Health Plus daily.

Jana, for preparing the tomatoes you have to make a "cross" cut into each by knife before putting them into the boiling water, I think it's called blanching? They it's easier to peel them! And I'd recommend to put less garlic, maybe just one clove at first. My stomach also goes upside down for most spices... Not the mild ones so badly but them as well, especially if they're more exotic.

Maybe the green spikey things were cardamoms? :-D Dunno :-D Anyway, I like gojis and there's about 500x more vitamin C for example than in oranges. And I don't binge on them, usually I eat just a little bit per day. Like ... maybe 20? Hard to count those small ones! Anyway, they are basically the only friend fruit I use. And I don't use anything ready made, I prepare my food myself unless I go eat out. I don't do bars or anything like that so I always know what I'm eating.

As for the raw chocolate I eat one or max two per day, quite often not at all. But now I just made them! :-P But they shouldn't be a problem for staying in the Zone or for my health, more like a benefit I think. :-) Now I'm into seasoning them with gourmet (finger) salt! They just melt in the mouth, oh my, you should try <3

This conversation might a bit far from the original topic but I'm liking it :-D

Sue K - thanks for the info, I appreciate it!

Meri - yes I think we've gone wayyy off topic here but I am really enjoying how much I am learning on this thread. Things have been crazy busy here for the past couple of days so I haven't been able to try the Gazpacho yet...but hoping to either for lunch today or over the weekend. Still enjoying my morning green smoothies though! thanks for the tip on peeling the tomatoes. My stomach is odd with what makes it 'flip' I can eat some very spicy stuff like chili without problem and then something else much milder like cauliflower can put me in agony for days. spices are the same...but its hard to pinpoint which spices send me off because most recipes have a combination of spices.

I'm going to get to the health food store early next week and get the ingredients for the raw chocolate...I'd like to try this. Meri, have you tried Sue K's Batter Brownie Smoothie? It is wonderfully chocolatey!

Hope you have a great weekend!

Meri....I tried the Gazpacho for lunch today. I made it earlier this morning left it to chill until lunchtime. Mine turned out green for some reason??...I thought I 'read' you say that it would be red? Maybe its because I left the skin on the cucumber? Anyways, it turned out very good....a lot of food, but good. I started eating it in a bowl like cold soup with a spoon but it was taking waaayyy too long to eat that big bowl so I poured it into a glass to drink the rest. Very filling, I could barely finish it....so hopefully it will keep me in the Zone until snack time later.

thanks for sharing the recipe...it was nice to have a different sort of veggie for lunch instead of just salad or warm veggies for a change

Jana, hey you! And greetings from the summer cottage by the lake, just came home yesterday from a three day trip. Ahhhh :-) Should get warmer tho.

And no wonder you were all filled up! The recipe's for like four people :-D I'm so so sorry I forgot to mention it but I hope you'll survive? :-) I mean it's not dangerous to have it all but it might be a bit too much... Glad you liked it! I always leave the peel on the cucumber and the soup is sometimes more ref and sometimes more green, I don't know really. And some people use tomato juice as a liquid and then it's prettier for sure, but we'd not prefer juices so... Anyway, it's great to exchange ideas and also stomach experiences, my stomach's quite unexpectacle as well, but I'm finally getting the hang of it. I think. Then there are days I just don't know... :-)

I definetely need to try that smoothie recipe, just have to find it out first :-P And raw chocolate is just something divine in my opinion. It makes you feel so good and well and is good for you and you don't need much of it. But I understand that it's not the zonest thing on earth. Like me ;-)

Tho it would be nice to just have an endless weekend it's sort of nice to go to work, all the routines make sure my tummy's better. And there's the midnight summer's festival on Friday in Finland so it's off, again heading to the countryside on Thursday I think. Take care and in the zone! You all. :-)

Hi Meri!

Thanks for sharing your great recipes here! Lake cottage sounds fun. :-) My cousins have one and I love to spend time there in the summer.

Some chocolate info, it's raw cacao powder (a.k.a. raw chocolate powder) that's in my smoothie recipe that Jana mentioned. The amount used in the recipe is approximately 10 grams and contains only 0.8 grams of fat, making it fine for the Zone (the recipe's based on a recipe found in books,; refer to my recipe for more info).

The raw chocolate that we'd need to be more careful with is that which has been made into actual chocolate candy (bars, chips, blocks, etc.), because it contains added cocoa butter and other fats, making it very high in fat, especially saturated fat.

Have a great day!

Hi Meri! Glad you had a good time at the cottage. That is how I grew up....my parents had a summer lake cottage as well and we would go up as much as possible all summer. It was wonderful and I have may fond memories of my time at the lake. Now my DH and I have opted to make our backyard our 'holiday place'...we bought a house in the country on an acre with a pool...so we've got some space and a place to swim and relax. DH has a long commute to work everyday and we have 5 children so we spend A LOT of time driving them around...so when summer weekends come we like to just walk into the backyard and enjoy our sanctuary.

Hmmm...so that recipe was for 4 people!!! LOL!! I did measure everything out as I was putting it into the food processor and it added up to only 3 blocks...but because they were all favourable veggies it sure added up to a big batch of soup. Maybe next time I'll divide the Gazpacho into thirds and then have an apple with it for desert instead of sooo many veggies. The good news is it did keep me in the Zone. All I had with it was 3 oz of turkey breast.

You can find Sue K's brownie batter smoothie in her recipe thread. Its in the 'food tips' forum....I think the recipe is somewhere around page 4 or 5. If you can't find it let me know and I'll post it for you here. It is very yummy...no veggies though!

I've tried a couple of different variations of the green smoothie over the weekend...tried my 'usual' but without the banana one day (that's actually an unfavourable carb so thought I'd try it without) and it was really good as well. This morning I was out of spinach so substituted romaine lettuce instead with the celery and strawberries...it was ok...better once I added the banana in again :-) I'll have this one again too one day, I liked it.

How are you doing lately with the pre-workout snack?

Hi Everyone!


Jana,thanks for directing everyone to my smoothie recipe. If anyone's looking for the recipe, I just checked my recipe thread and it's the 4th posting on the first page of the thread. Here's the address for the thread:

http://www.zonediet.com/Community/F...fault.aspx

Enjoy!