My adventure with Green Drinks

I can remember, at least 15 years ago, when my dad bought his first juicer and would juice everything! He would make straight up carrot juice and try to make my brother and I drink it. We REALLY did not like it. What 12 year old would?? And now, it is the biggest trend. A couple of months ago I tried my frist official green juice at SCLA Boston, and thought it was made with WAY too much ginger. I tried to force myself to take it down, but just couldn't. I later tried a juice from a local store near my apartment, and really liked it. It was made from kale,celery, apple, pear and carrots. Whenever I am at Whole foods I always see the "BluePrint drinks. I am usually hesitant to buy them because of the cost, $10!

But today, I bought one... and I LOVE IT! It is very earthy and has a hint of lemon at the end. I truly enjoy the taste but can see how some people might not be able to take it down. I think it helps when the juice is realllllly COLD!

I am not a fan of drinking juices as a substitution for meals. I think grabbing a juice as a snack, or pick me up is fine. Or even alongside a piece of almond butter and toast for breakfast. The green BluePrint drink has only 130 calories. NOT enough for a meal, well for me at least. I plan to add more juices into my diet, but more as a morning addition or midday pick me up, rather than as a meal substitution.

On my wish list is a juicer, but I have been banned from buying any more gadgets at the moment... there is NO room in my apartment for anything! SO I will have to wait, OR just keep buying crazy expensive drinks!?

What is your favorite green juice mixture? Do you have a juicer? Which one?

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Brandon Bettencourt and filed under drink and tagged blueprint drink green drinks juice juicer.

NYC for the day, and a 30 minute interval workout

Off to NYC with my mom to try on my wedding dress!!! EEEK a little nervous because this is the first time I try it on! We are taking a bus there and then a train back. I made sure to pack some yummy snacks for us. I packed an apple, nuts, an egg with avocado on Ezekiel bread,Cinnamon raisin Ezekiel bread with PB (SO GOOD!), and a cranberry bran muffin from Trader Joes,

OK I leave you with this INTERVAL WORKOUT . Off to run to the BUS!!!! XO

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Brandon Bettencourt and filed under Uncategorized.

Water Challenge

Here is a Facebook post I received today! Set yourself a reminder so that you do not forget! I have had a lot of people tell me an alarm, or note helps.

It's happening! People are staying committed and drinking their morning glass of water!! I am loving seeing your tweets, messages, and posts! Keep up the good work. It is not too late to start with this healthy and EASY habit. Many people drink coffee first thing in the AM. But a lot people told me they made the effort this morning to drink a cup of water before their cup of coffee. YES!

http://youtu.be/bs_cCEUpv9U

Keep sending your water drinking pictures! Do it now! Tweet or post your pictures! Twitter: @SweatwithLH Facebook: Sweat With Lauren Hefez

The first couple of pictures that I received this AM... :)

Posted on January 14, 2013 by Brandon Bettencourt and filed under Uncategorized, food and tagged drink healthy hydrate water.

Dairy free tomato soup! YUMMY!

Yesterday I made a tomato soup. I read different recipes and came up with my own. The final product was delicious. A definite thumbs up!

Ingredients:

10 vine ripe tomatoes cut in quarters

5-7 garlic cloves

EVOO

1-1.5 tsp cumin

1tsp coriander

salt

pepper

basil

oregano

1 Cup chicken or vegetable stalk

cayenne pepper (optional for a little kick)

goat cheese (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450

Dice tomatoes into quarters and put them in a baking dish. Cover the tomatoes with EVOO and add plenty of salt, pepper, oregano, and basil. I would say add enough salt not TOO much, but do not be afraid to add the pepper, oregano, and basil.

In the dish place 5-7 garlic cloves. They will get nice and soft as they cook in the oven and will add great flavor to your soup.

Place the tomatoes and garlic in the oven for 35 minutes. As they cook you will notice juices emerging from the tomatoes and a wonderful smell will fill in the air! Mix the tomatoes twice. Once after 15 minutes and again after 25 minutes.

After the tomatoes are cooked, carefully take the dish out of the oven as the tomatoes will now be sitting in a lot of tomatoes juices.

Heat a large pot (one that you would make a soup in) and add EVOO or vegetable oil, crushed garlic, cumin, coriander, and a little cayenne pepper if you want a kick. I would add about 1/2 tsp-1tsp of each, less for the cayenne. Feel free to add more of the seasonings and make sure there is enough oil so that the seasonings do not get stuck to the bottom of the pot. Do not let the garlic burn. Put the fire on medium to low heat. You want it to sizzle for about 3-5 minutes. Keep mixing.

Add the tomatoes and all of their juices to the pot of seasonings and mix for a minute.

Add 1 cup of chicken or vegetable stock. Mix everything and simmer on low for about 3 minutes.

Take the tomato mixture off the heat and let it sit and cool down. After about 10 minutes blend everything. You can puree if you have an immersion blender. Or you can pour it in your blender like I did! Works great.

I made the soup with a grill cheese sandwich on the side. YUM. For my camera man I added a tsp of crumbled goat cheese, in his bowl, to give it a little more creaminess. Camera man said he LIKED the tomato soup!!!! This could be one of the very few dishes he has given positive feed back on. WOW.

I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Posted on January 10, 2013 by Brandon Bettencourt and filed under food, savory, entree, apps/side dish and tagged dairy free diet eating fitfluential food heathy recipe soup tomato.

Dairy free tomato soup and whats in my shopping cart!

I went a little crazy at Whole Foods today. Usually I go food shopping 2 times a week and grab a few things here and there. But today I did it ALL in one shot. When I started putting my groceries on the conveyor belt (?) the Whole Foods employee asked if I wanted delivery. Delivery? UMM YES please! It was PERFECT. I walked home, without my groceries, and Whole foods arrived at my apartment just 30 minutes after me! The delivery charge for me was $5, it depends on where you live and/or how much money you spend. The charge was worth it for me because I would have paid more for a cab ride home with my groceries. Check out their delivery fees here.

My groceries arrived neatly packed and I couldn't believe how simple and painless the process was. The only thing I took home with me was my fresh ground almond butter. I was craving an almond butter apple sandwich on Ezekiel bread, and I did not want to wait for that to be delivered!