The Joys and Horrors of Green Smoothies!

Alrighty, to start this post off, for those of you who didn't already know-- The Wakefield Family joined the green smoothie train many, many moons ago. Like almost 730 moons ago.... (That's 2 years of moons for those of you who aren't good at moon-counting.) :))

We are veteran green smoothie drinkers. We've had good smoothies and we've had baaad smoothies. We've tried spinach smoothies and we've tried cilantro smoothies.

(Spinach, guys. That's my tip for you. Spinach! :)))

There's been blueberry-mushroom smoothies and there's been delicious smoothies.

And then there's those smoothies that I'll call "Suicide Smoothies".

Remember as a kid, taking your cup up to the soda fountain and splashing in a little bit of every flavor of soda? 

Suicide smoothies = suicide soda!

...But instead of different sodas, you throw the last of all the random vegetables and fruits that you have lying around into the blender with some greens and water, and --voila!-- you have the most disgusting and nutritious thing ever to enter your digestive system!

I did just that the other day... We were running low on all the good smoothie ingredients.

So I figured I'd make do.

Alfalfa sprouts, pear, a bit of lemon, mushrooms, Swiss Chard, half an orange and maybe a few other things...

I took one sip of that and decided it was grocery time!!  

Good and gross smoothies aside, I believe in all of their benefits! It's kind of hard to argue with the fact that greens have so many vital nutrients, but are not normally included in the average American's diet! ...I'm always shocked at all of the examples of unhealthy living and eating that I see when I visit the U.S. I mean, Mexico has it's unhealthy ways too, but honestly, America is in a class of it's own when it comes to bad eating habits!!

Yikes... I think I'll step off my soapbox now before I get labeled as a health nut!! Because I'm not! Hahahaa :)) I enjoy junk food just like anyone else... But there is a balance, people!

Or at least there should be...... LOL.

So yada yada yada, all that to say-- we are indoctrinating the good people of Mexico with not only the Bible, but also with Green Smoothies!

Both are of very great benefits to your health and well being. ;)

There is an elderly lady in our church, Elisa, who has several issues with her health-- She misses a lot of church because of them.  For a while her skin was starting to turn yellow from her liver problems... This family is one of the poorest in our church, so that means no doctor's visits. But we did, and still do pray for her.

But one time my dad, Elisa, and her family got to talking about her diet and green smoothies. We found out that they only ever eat beans, rice, and tortillas. No meat, and no fruits or vegetables. Well, if you know anything about liver problems and what you should be eating, beans and tortillas don't cut it!

Bro. Dad, who also has liver issues, told them about green smoothies and how they would help Elisa. But like I already said, this family is poor.

Too poor to buy the fruits and vegetables to make the smoothies.

Bro. Dad came up with an idea-- He offered to go over every morning for 7 days to this family's house, fix them smoothies, and show Elisa how she could improve her diet.

Here's Bro. Dad, headed out the door, Vitamix in one hand, and a pitcher of clean, drinkable water in the other! (We'd never been to their house, and weren't sure if they would have clean water.)

Dad whipped up a smoothie for everyone-- Even the little girls.

Araceli and Mairi!

And guess what? They liked 'em! :)

Mairi is so precious. She is her gramma's little keeper. If Elisa goes to find a chair to sit down,  little Mairi is there holding her hand leading the way, and every now and then I've seen her reach up to feel Elisa's forehead. Just checkin' on gramma! :)) So cute!

And here they all are! (Besides Sis. Mom the photog)

Pastor, Elisa, Araceli, Mairi, and Lupe.

They've been keeping up doing the green smoothies for a couple weeks now and Elisa is looking so much better! Pray that she keeps on getting stronger!

God Bless, and don't forget to drink your green smoothies! ;P

*Nicole*