Where Do You Get Your Protein?

I get that question a lot.  

As a vegan, getting enough protein is the least of my concern.  

Mainly because it's readily available in a lot of the foods most of us consume quite often.

When I met Afya Ibomu at DC VegFest, she gave me a card listing plant-based sources of protein that includes nuts/seeds, beans, fruit, vegetables and grains.

Here are just a few of those great sources...

Vegetables:

Green peas   Spinach   Tomatoes   Peppers   Broccoli   Baked Potato   Cabbage

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Fruit:

Papaya   Apple   Banana   Berries   Mango   Grapes   Grapefruit   Oranges   Pear

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Beans:

Tofu   White Beans   Black Beans   Tempeh   Kidney Beans   Chickpeas

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Nuts/Seeds:

Almonds   Cashews   Pecans   Pumpkin Seeds   Peanuts   Walnuts

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Grains:

Quinoa   Brown Rice   Couscous   Barley   Cornmeal   Wheat Flour   Oat Bran

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Afya Ibomu is a certified holistic health counselor...check out her site here.

D.C. VegFest Recap (A Few Pics & VIDEO)

We enjoyed lunch with this fabulous view. 

I have to say the Richmond Vegetarian Festival was better this year because there were more vendors, the location was spread out, and the food lines weren't nearly as long.  We all wanted Everlasting Cafe but the line was sooo long, we settled for falafel & French fries.

We also wanted to drink a coconut but that line was just as long. *sigh*

The boys came for dessert and eating falafel was just a means to an end. 

I was glad to meet Afya Ibomu. Even though I prefer my Kindle, I purchased her book.

Overall, we had a great time and it's always good to be around so many like-minded people. 

I didn't take nearly as many pictures as I planned but I did a little vlogging.

Check it out...

4 Ways to Get Your Kids to Drink GREEN Smoothies (VIDEO)

The first time I gave the boys a kale smoothie they looked at me like I was crazy. It was 2008 and let's just say we were new passengers on the "eating better" train.  Elijah outright screamed "no!" and ran from the kitchen. Even though Jason was curious, he also refused, and Brandon reached for the cow's milk beside the blender instead.

Things are a lot better these days.  Even though kale isn't their favorite vegetable in the world, they no longer give me hassle about drinking/eating it.

*Choose your fruit wisely- Pineapple & bananas are my go-to kale smoothie fruits because they're super sweet and tend to be inexpensive. Also, they do an excellent job of reducing the bitter flavor that raw kale has. I like to make sure the fruit is frozen to make it more appealing.

*Less kale/more pineapple.  Don't feel like you have to fill your blender to the rim with kale. Start off by adding a little kale to each smoothie, then gradually increase each time.

*Let them help-I never forced the boys to drink green smoothies but having them help me naturally led to *tasting* it.

*Don't give up! Keep offering green smoothies and they will eventually try it.I never in a million years thought my kids would drink them but persistence paid off! *patting myself on the back* 

Bonus tip: One of my Youtube viewers suggested using a cup opposed to a glass when serving green smoothies to younger children. Since it's sweet, they may not care about the color once they start drinking it. 

In conclusion: Green smoothies are an acquired taste for kids.  Don't be afraid to add a little agave nectar or use spinach instead of kale.  Spinach is an excellent choice because (unlike kale) it isn't bitter and you mostly just taste fruit.

Watch me make a kale salad & kale smoothie with Jason below. 

How do you get your kids to drink green smoothies?

Fresh Juice Without A Juicer

I got rid of my juicer about 2 months ago.

*waits for the vegan po-po to snatch my membership card*

In all seriousness, my cheap juicer just didn't work for me anymore. I found it wasteful (the fruit pulp always very wet after extraction) and cleaning the multiple parts got old fast. Plus, I was too lazy to compost the pulp and the subpar juicer didn't like green leafy vegetables.

I've always been more of a smoothie mama anyway, so there's no love lost (or money) since I didn't technically pay for it.  I used my debit card points to purchase but wish I used those points toward a flight. Just saying

Don't get my wrong, I'm not against juicing at all.  In fact, I think juicing is wonderful if you have a picky child or you want to increase your vegetable/fruit intake.  I just have a problem with the inferior juicers taking up space in most department stores. In my opinion, juicers are one of those appliances that you have to spend some serious dough on to get the full benefits.

But I digress.....

Want fresh juice but a juicer isn't in the budget right now?  No worries-your blender can handle that task for you.

You just blend your fruit/vegetables with water and use a nut milk or paint bag to strain it.

Here's a video demonstrating the process....

Maybe one day I will go fancy. *giggles*

Have you had a better experience with inexperience juicers?

5 Advantages of Drinking Water in the Morning

Saw this on Tumblr....

This chart is right on time.

Water challenge day #5-so far, so good