Raw Mom Success Stories: Family Transition to Raw Foods

My Family is RAWsome!

- by Layce Andrews

My journey in pursuing optimum health through raw foods has been exciting. It has only been 6 months since my family went from vegetarian to presently exploring raw foods. I had no idea how many options I would have but the recipes are endless! I thought the raw food lifestyle was going to be a lonely world… Was I ever wrong!

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Purslane Green Smoothie

Gardening time is upon us! Planting, tilling, composting, and of course, pulling up weeds, are all part of a gardener’s life. But don’t throw away the edible weeds! We at Raw Mom are happy to have a post from “The Orginial Raw Mom” and edible weed expert, Victoria Boutenko, about a common weed: purslane.

Green Smoothie from Purslane by Victoria Boutenko.

Purslane has a slightly sour and salty taste and is eaten throughout America, Europe, and Asia. The stems, leaves and flower buds are all edible.

Purslane contains more omega-3 fatty acids (mostly alpha-linolenic acid) than any other leafy vegetable plant. Purslane has 0.01 mg/g of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). This is an extraordinary amount of EPA for land based vegetable sources. EPA is an Omega-3 fatty acid normally found mostly in fish and flax seeds. It also contains vitamin A, vitamin C, and some vitamin B, as well as dietary minerals, such as magnesium, calcium, potassium and iron.

100 grams of fresh purslane leaves (about 1 cup) contain 300 to 400 mg of alpha-linolenic acid. One cup of leaves contains 90 mg of calcium, 561 mg of
potassium, and more than 2,000 IUs of vitamin A.  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portulaca_oleracea

Purslane Mango Smoothie

• 1 bunch (or 3 cups) purslane,

• leaves, stems, and flowers

• 1 large mango, peeled, pitted, and sliced

• 3 cups water

Blend well

Yields: 1 quart (liter) of pleasant, not too sweet smoothie.

Some of the best foods for you are found right in your backyard. Purslane, nettles, dandelion, lambsquarters, and more, are all available to you and free! Share your favorite wild edible smoothies with us!

Video of the Week: Sergei Boutenko on How to Make the Best Green Smoothie

This week  it was interesting to watch Sergei Boutenko’s video on how to make the best green smoothie. I think this video may be especially helpful to those of you that are new to Green Smoothies. Keep in mind that if you are enjoying your green smoothies without following the guidelines described here by Sergei– don’t worry– as long as you are getting your greens and enjoying your smoothie, there are no rules to follow.

I think the best part of that video is watching Sergei dance at the end! Do you feel like dancing while drinking your green smoothies? I often do!

You can find more about Sergei Boutenko and the Raw Family at their website.

P.S. If you like to dance while drinking your green smoothie — send us video or pictures! (Use the comments to link or just send it along to tami.greensmoothieblog@gmail.com; You can also post it to our facebook group: http://groups.to/greensmoothie/)