– by Sue Skidmore
Seek and ye shall find. Well, we went looking for stories about people who love green smoothies, and we found Sue Skidmore! She’s an inspiration to us. We often hear from people who love green smoothies, but only when they’re home with and with everything they need readily at hand. The moment they go on vacation, *poof* and then they find themselves back in a junk food rut a few weeks later.
It IS possible to be healthy far, far from home. With a little resourcefulness, you can stay green on the go just like Sue…
We all seem to have one challenge or another to acquire and keep the wonderful habit of making ourselves a daily green smoothie. For some it is availability or seasonal absence of ingredients; for others, cost or inexperience and uncertainly.
I had happily and slowly begun a green smoothie habit this past summer in British Columbia, Canada, after hearing of the benefits of green smoothies from no less than four people in quick succession. They seemed to have something here!
So I began making friends with the little row of organic kale in my garden, alternating it with the mixed lettuces and spinach. All went well and I was on a lovely green roll, until our inevitable B.C. frost and the promise of terrible weather sent me on my usual southern escape to Mexico.
Now Mexico is not known as a country of great greens eaters, but I vowed that this trip would be different and actually contemplated packing my aging Oster, but opted for the arrive and see what happens route instead.
I found great accommodation with the Hostel Vallarta Sun in Puerto Vallarta, a hostel with a great kitchen – no blender. So following the example of a savvy traveling friend, I approached the restaurant down a few steps from the hostel, to see if I could rent theirs. No problem.
But then there was the contamination issue. Mexican greens need to be soaked in an antimicrobial solution for 15 minutes before use. And so the routine began..
Find a local market, inquire in broken Spanish regarding the cost and location of the fruit and veggies and sometimes even WHAT a food item is, and buy the ingredients, watching carefully that the change is correct, cart them home by foot…
Next, prepare the soak water and soak everything 15 minutes minimum, rinse, pack it all into a bowl and head to the restaurant hoping not to catch them at a peak period. Make small talk with the owners, again in Spanish, create a racket that their partons have to put up with, pay them a tip, and share a little sample before leaving.
My favorite recipe has evolved into two bananas and often one other small fruit like a mango, bit of mamey (a tropical fruit common to Central America), or pineapple, one medium cucumber, a rib of celery, a large handful of spinach, blended with yogurt drink ( I will soon leave off the yogurt) and a scoop of MILA (a blend of chia seeds), greens powder and a Tbsp of nuts.
The smoothie has often been a mid afternoon meal for me, keeping hunger away ’til it’s time for a small, late dinner for this budget traveler.
The effort has been worth it.
Sure there are days when a smoothie is not possible, but to my surprise, on those days, I really, really miss that feeling of feeding the cells of the body a light and easily digestible feast. And there have been surprising and valuable offshoots to the whole process: carving friendships in Spanish that I never would have created, offering taste tests to hostel mates, and the best surprise of all, bonding with the owner of the typical Mexican restaurant down the street, in a salute to our health over green smoothies.
It turns out, as he quietly confided in me, that his DOCTOR has firmly prescribed regular smoothie making, Mexican-style, for his health….with grapefruit, juice, celery, oats, and cactus. The guy is hooked!!!!
Who says there is nothing new under the Mexican sun !
** Do you have an interesting story and picture about green smoothies you’d like to share with us on the blog? Send them to [email protected] and, if we use your story, we’ll send you a free coupon for the 10-Day Green Smoothie Challenge!