The Tropical Getaway Smoothie

It's been a while beautiful. The last few weeks of winter have been a time of reflection and going inwards for me. A process that I believe has only just begun. In the past few weeks, I've fuelled my body with sugar, carbs and a lot of wedding cake. I feel sluggish, tired, and sore. But I woke up today, with the cool breeze of spring, flowers in our little bedroom, and sunshine peeking through, and in my eyes and in my heart - winter is over. Spring has begun.

I don't know if you feel this way, but as soon as my body recognizes spring it craves a different kind of support - greens, fruit galore, salads, veggies with hummus, smoothies, juicing - the good stuff. Its as if it knows its time to shed the crap we dealt with in winter, change up our lifestyle, and awaken to new possibilities. It recognizes its time to cleanse, and to physically let go of the dust that settled over winter.

Today, as I was scrolling through Instagram, I just knew I needed a really epic smoothie. The last few weeks saw my Vitamix gathering dust instead of brewing up delicious tonics, elixirs and smoothies. And today, it got a fresh helping of tropical fruit and kale. Yum. I crafted the best smoothie I have had in a very long time, and its totally cleansing and nourishing too. I'm sipping it out of a stemless wine glass, and picturing myself on a tropical island somewhere, soaking up the vitamin D and smelling the salty air. But let me get to the smoothie.

This delicious bevvy is loaded with vitamin C, a very important vitamin for boosting the immune system, wound healing and overall elasticity and health of your skin, its great in detoxifying the body of certain heavy metals such as lead, and actually plays a key role in creating the neurotransmitters in your body that help keep your mood elevated. Its also important to absorb a number of other minerals in your beautiful bod, such as iron. The vitamin C comes from pretty much every ingredient in this smoothie, but the orange, pineapple, mango, and lemon juice pack a punch.

It's also full of vitamin A and K from the beautiful dino kale in this drink, fibre and protein from chia seeds, as well as a slew of other vitamins and minerals. It also contains anti-inflammatory herbs such as turmeric and ginger. This drink will remind you of a tropical getaway and your body will love it.

The Recipe:

2 cups kale

1 cup cashew milk

1/2 cup pineapple

1/2 cup mango

1/2-1 orange, peeled

1/2 lemon, juiced

2-3 tbsp chia seeds

1 inch each fresh ginger and turmeric, or 1/2 tbsp powdered each

1 banana

1 medjool date

Pop into your high speed blender and blend for about 30 seconds. More if you aren't using a Vitamix, or Blendtec. Pour into a fancy glass or mason jar, and sip.

Seriously, you are going to love this. Its definitely cheering me up today. I've got a jam packed day planned, and starting it off with a little joy is so so important.

Some other ways I'm choosing joy: