Today I started the day as a frustrated 35 year old woman.  I quit smoking in April of ’09 and am so thankful to have kicked that nasty habit!!! Unfortunately, that victory came with a price tag to the tune of a 45 pound weight gain in about 12 months.  Everyone I have spoken with has insisted that the health benefit of smoking cessation far “outweighs” the burden of becoming severely overweight.  I agree, instantly!  However, being 175 pounds and 5’1″ at the age of 35 feels sad.  I have never been “skinny”, but never really worried about my weight.  I enjoy eating, graduated from a top Culinary school, and am an advocate of eating healthy.  I am happily married and the proud parent of two great, encouraging, loving kids (ages 9 and 11) who insist i am more beautiful today than ever!  

Lately, though,  I feel like if I don’t do something really great for myself, I might not be the active, awesome, grandma I look forward to being.  At this point, it IS about the weight but more about my HEALTH!!!  It is a known fact that smoking robs your body of nutrients, and today I actually apologized to myself for treating me so bad for so long.  To make an excruciatingly long story a bit shorter, I was surfing the web looking for a Pumpkin Gingerbread recipe.  I wanted to make use of the beautiful pumpkins I had purchased and been given.  Maybe use them for holiday gifts?!  Anyhow, Ohsheglows was the second site listed on Google, so I clicked…..and two hours later, after reading your blogs…Voila I have imbibed my first Green Monster!!!

I AM SOOOOO GLAD I FOUND YOUR SITE!!!! When I read about your outlook on exercise and healthy eating, I thought, she must be my long lost sister!LOL! JK.  I look forward to reading more and beginning my journey into fun, fitness, and transformation!!!  Oh, BTW, my Green Monster consists of: 3 handfuls of baby spinach, a banana, a squirt of agave, 1/4 c frozen leftover berry smoothie(vanilla yogurt, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, agave), 4oz. cranberry grape juice, dash of allspice, and an accidental glob (1Tablespoon?) of cinnamon……DELISH!!!!!

This is my first attempt at tackling a green monster, and it turned out to be a delicious success!

Ingredients:
8 mint leaves
2 tbl. chocolate soy protein powder
1 tbl. chia seeds
1 tbl. flax seeds
1 banana
1.5 cup baby spinach
1 cup vanilla soy milk
Ice

Mix in blender, starting from top of ingredient list going in first! Blend for about a minute, and enjoy your chocolicious mint monster!

I started drinking “Green Monsters” – “Green Smoothies” before I ever saw your website or your blog when I was trying a raw, vegan diet, which didn’t last. I am, however, excited that so many other people have been inspired to eat well and help themselves in their journeys to health and well-being.

I have a number of Green Monsters and recently, have a favorite, which I am sharing here. My Green Monsters generally consist of whatever we have on-hand. We don’t have a lot of money and try to eat healthy despite that aspect. So, we never have any Green Monster that is the same, but we get close most days…

Cucumber Apple Berry “Green Monster”

1 cucumber, peeled and sliced
1 apple, peeled and sliced
1 scoop of “Amazing Green” (Berry, chocolate, or green- whatever your preference)
1 small bunch of lettuce, spinach, or other leafy veg.
1/2 cup of blueberries
1/2 cup of coconut juice

Put all in a jar or blender and blend until smooth. You can go more or less on the coconut juice to get the consistency that you want. You can also add in sunflower seeds or cashews to make it more “creamy”, too…

Good luck on your journey to health! ~ Kristina

One day I was hungry and I needed to get my protein, potassium, fiber, and nutrients into my drink.  Made myself a daring green smoothie to get all my nutrients into one sip :). Must try the tofu + banana in the smoothie! The consistency is thick and filling!

Flavor:        1 cup of original sweetened almond milk + cinnamon
Potassium:  1/2 ripened banana
Protein:       1 serving of tofu
Detox:         1/2 serving of wheat grass powder

I have been drinking green monsters for quite a while… Always delicious, but this morning I came up with my favorite and most nutritious monster to date! It’s called “green monsters under the bed”
1 cup chopped frozen spinach
1/2 frozen banana
5 frozen dark sweet cherries
1/2 cup frozen strawberries
1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 scoop strawberry protein powder (i use designer whey)
1 scoop chocolate amazing grass superfood powder
1 tbsp twister superseed powder (chia/brown rice/flax)

Blend and enjoy!

I’ve been trying to make a green monster ever since I discovered your “movement”.  But the problem was, I was so used to putting all kinds of nut butters and frozen fruits into my smoothies that I never got a green monster.  It was usually brown or purple.  Well, after experimenting this week with more greens, and less others stuff, I used yesterday’s CSA box as the perfect green monster embryo!

Ingredients:
1 banana
5 pitted medjool dates
1/4 c frozen blueberries
1/2 tsp. spirulina powder
1/2 tsp chia seeds
1 large kale leaf
2 large chard leaves
10-15 large spinach leaves
5 large rapini leaves
(basically one heaping plate full of leafy greens)

Blend until dates disappear!

Since I’ve been a little girl, I’ve always hated vegetables… with a passion. The thought of them actually makes me gag. (Ok, so maybe I’m being a LITTLE dramatic.) Back in January, I joined Weight Watchers and started working out and have lost about 70 lbs. Now, I hit somewhat of a plateau for a few weeks and wasn’t losing any more weight. It was then I decided I needed to start sneaking veggies into the foods I already liked. It couldn’t be too terrible, right? I gave a Green Monster smoothie and chance and it was DE-LISH. I cannot get enough of them.

1 cup unsweetened almond (or nonfat) milk
1 handful spinach leaves
1 scoop Jay Robb’s Chocolate Egg White Protein
1/2 banana
1-2 tablespoons instant coffee
1 teaspoon PB2
1 tablespoon chia seeds
1 tablespoon flax seed
pinch of cinnamon
1/2 cup ice

Blend together and enjoy!

Ok, so I heard about this from a friend of mine and we actually nicknamed the drink “Oscar” after Sesame Street. 🙂 She made it for me at her house and I knew I was hooked. I love yummy tasting drinks and food that are great for you; it makes eating healty easier!

I made my first drink just now and let me tell you…I was impressed! I put my own spin on it and have to say: I could drink this all day, everyday! I don’t measure when I cook, only when I bake. So my fingers were crossed when I was throwing everything in! So here goes:

Organic spinach
Organic banana
Ice cubes
Bolthouse Farms: Soy Vanilla Chai Tea
Gran~biotics: vanilla almond crunch granola
Cinnamon
Honey

So YUMMY!!!…you gotta try it!
-Michelle