Good Morning and Happy Friday!

Think you need a coffee in the morning to wake up? Think again. A superfood smoothie, aka ‘smoothing’ (my made up word), in the morning is like coffee on steroids. Over the past year or so, I have developed a true love of coffee and wake up jonesing for java first thing. I just love the smell of coffee and the comfort of a steaming cup in the morning. There is no need to give up your coffee and if you love it, you may enjoy this post on java. However, back to the smoothie discussion- I did a little experiment recently where I swapped my coffee for a superfood smoothie. I’m training to walk the Camino de Santiago in Spain next year and want to be sure to get a wide range of superfoods into my daily diet. WOWSERS. I have never felt so good as I do when I ‘smooth.’ PS, I still may have a coffee after, but at least I get my superfood smoothie into my daily routine. Can’t give up coffee first thing? Go for it and ‘smooth’ after or anytime during your day. You will be glad you did.

Here’s how it’s done:

SUPERFOOD SMOOTHIE

November 18, 2016

by Susie Belanger

Category Uncategorized

Ingredients

• 1 organic apple, seeds, stem and core removed
• 1.5 cups frozen mixed berries (Costco sells frozen, organic berries)
• generous handful of organic kale
• 1/2 an organic cucumber
• 1/2 to 1 banana (optional - include if you like a sweeter blend)
• 1-2 cups spring water (amount depends on how thick you want it)
• 1 T organic, raw, apple cider vinegar
• 2 T organic flax seed
• 1 inch cube of peeled, fresh, organic ginger root
• 1 t turmeric
• dash of cayenne

Instructions

1. Toss all ingredients in a Vitamix, Nutribullet or other blender.
2. Blend on low for several minutes then high for several more minutes until you have the desired consistency.
3. Enjoy and prepare to be energized.
4. As with all my recipes, do not put off making this if you are missing an ingredient. Blend what you have and add the other ingredients to your shopping list. Mix it up. Do what feels right. There are no rules here.

Switching gears…

DIY, ORGANIC CANDLES

The holiday season is upon us, even in South Florida where despite blinking lights on palm trees, it will never truly feel like Christmas. However, I somehow manage to get into the holiday spirit and enjoy the cooler temperatures by lighting my candles and making my home cozy. I even wore my fake-fur lined winter fuzzy socks yesterday that I bought for holiday trips home to Massachusetts. Yes, I’m a bit odd but it was a frigid 67 degrees when I woke up!

I learned (online) to make candles a year or two ago and was hooked. I use organic beeswax, coconut oil and essential oils. It’s a relatively easy and fun do-it-yourself project. Candles make great holiday gifts.

Recipe to come but first the truth about traditional candles. Traditional ‘wax’ candles are paraffin-based. Paraffin is a petroleum byproduct made from sludge waste when crude oil is made into gasoline. That doesn’t sound like something I want burning in my home especially if the windows are closed. Another option is soy-based candles. However, I have yet to find an organic, non-GMO soy product but I will continue to look. So for now, I am using organic beeswax from a known beekeeper. Here’s a good blog post from Nourishing our Children on the subject of candle making and ingredients. Note: I am a 95% vegan. I eat only vegan at home and occasionally eat sustainable seafood, wild/line caught fish, and eggs or cheese from pasture-raised animals at restaurants or friends. I will one day be 100% vegan. Stay tuned on my closing the 5% gap. Beeswax and honey are not vegan. Bees work hard to create wax and honey and that’s something to consider especially if you are an animal/all creatures lover like me. Please contact me if you have a good, vegan candle recipe to share. I would love to hear from you.

DO IT YOURSELF CANDLE RECIPE

You will need a double boiler, glass containers, wicks (I like the ones with sticky paper on the bottom) and organic beeswax, coconut oil and essential oils of choice. For my own personal-use candles, I wash and reuse jam, jelly or olive spread jars and kind of love seeing the old labels still on there. In a double boiler, melt 12 ounces of organic beeswax over medium heat. Be patient as the wax takes its sweet time to melt. While the wax is melting, set the wicks in place in the jars. I like to use 8 ounce mason jars. Once the wax is melted, mix in 12 ounces of organic coconut oil with a stick or wooden spoon. Stir in the essential oils (10-12 drops each) and pour into your jars leaving 1/4 inch at the top. Wait 4-5 hours and voilà, you have a candle.  Not a Do It Yourselfer? I am now offering my products, including candles for sale. Here’s a list of what I’m offering as of today – belavie-products-pricing-november-2016   Stay tuned for my SHOP page, which is currently being designed by my amazing, talented, web designer, Ansley Fones.

Don’t work too hard today and have a beautiful weekend.

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