Smoothie and Other Simple Recipes

Hi S.,

I am sorry you are feeling so run down but it is hard to keep going with two little ones around. I would suggest you look into better vitamins as well as these great ideas moms have sent you. I have 4 and so will tell from experience how much fun having the kids are and watching them grow.

Fondly,
C. Willis
Helping Families clean their homes of toxins
www.LiveTotalWellness.com/Arizona

I like to get Kirkland's organic vanilla soy milk at Costco. They have a very simple recipe on the box for smoothies. It's basically soy milk, fruit and ice. They suggest adding sweetner but I think it's just the right amount of sweet because of the vanilla soy milk. I don't add ice because I buy their frozen berry mix and just use that. Good luck! I've so been there.

Try adding apple juice to your smoothies. It is a natural sweetener. I always make my smoothies with yogurt, frozen fruit, and apple juice. They are much sweeter this way.

Sounds like good suggestions. I just had a comment on green smoothies. Before I was pregnant this time (I'm 13 weeks), I'd have a green smoothie every morning. But after becoming pregnant, I just can't stomach them. There's something about the smell of the ground greens and the texture. Hopefully at some point I'll be able to eat them again...maybe after the baby's born. My sister said the same thing - she'd eat them a lot before pregnancy but then couldn't stomach it.

one cup pineapple juice, one cup vanilla yogurt, one cup frozen strawberries and one banana! Mix in blender and enjoy. :) You can also add a scoop or two of protein (probably vanilla or banana) if you like... I find this is pretty sweet... though a little cold for the time of year! :)

And I like, for a snack, yogurt with mixed berries and granola sprinkled on top... like the parfaits at McDonald's. ;)

Have you tried crystallized ginger for your morning sickness, btw? My ob-gyn swore by it when she was going through morning sickness and also having to attend surgeries...

For three of my pregnancies, I threw up all day and all night for five months. The doctor said that I needed to get nutrition down for the baby. He suggested peanut butter for the protein and getting it down quick (but I couldn't stand the jelly on it then) and grapes and watermelon to keep fluids down (water always came up). He said to make my goal to eat something packed with nutrition and keep it down for two hours. I always threw up after the two hours, but I was able to keep it down for that time, and all three babies turned out well. I know, nothing sounded good, but I forced myself to eat and discovered some foods that were less distasteful than others. Luckily, there is an end to it - you just have to think of your goal - a happy, healthy baby.

you can use honey instead of sugar

Bless your heart for feeling so yucky! I had my 4th son just a year ago, and it was a tough pregnancy because I was so stinking tired from taking care of 3 other kids!! I hope you get to feeling better soon!

Here's the recipe for my family's favorite smoothie:

- plain yogurt
- vanilla or plain soymilk
- flaxseed meal (I buy the "Red Mill brand" and keep it in the freezer
- ripe banana
- frozen strawberries and/or frozen mixed berries (we get them from Costco)
- honey

I always make a huge amount so I'm not sure how much to tell you to do for a single serving, but this is a fully loaded, high fiber, nutritionally packed extravaganza of flavor! You don't need to add ice because of the frozen fruit. Make sure you get ground flaxseed meal because whole flaxseeds aren't absorbed by the body - and flaxseed it super high in Omega 3's and protien and fiber - it's a super food. Depending on how ripe your banana is, you will need to adjust how much honey you put in. My kids LOVE this smoothie - we all do. I make them at least 3 times a week.

As far as meals go, here are a few suggestions:
- whole grain toast with natural peanut butter
- whole grain crackers and cheese
- granola bar or cereal bar (Fresh and Easy and Trader Joe's has a great brand of cereal bar that doesn't have High Fructose Corn Syrup)
- a cup of soup (Fresh and Easy has some great ready made soups that are delicious)
- a bowl of nutritious cereal or oatmeal
- yogurt with granola
- fresh fruit and veggies with your "meal" or snack on throughout the day.
- bean and cheese burrito made with a whole grain tortilla

I don't know how you're doing with taking vitamins, but try and get them in with your smoothie in the morning and you will get a good energy boost from that.

Congrats on #3 and hope everything goes well! Good luck!

I have a good shake every morning. 1/2 cup plain yogurt, 1/4 cup oj, 4 or 5 strawberries and half a banana. Blend it up! I also put in one scoop of protein powder, I get the whey one from Target, it is time release, keeps me full for a while. I wonder if that would help you not to get nauseous....
Good luck! :)

Try adding some sort of juice with your yogurt/fruit/ice mix. At the smoothie bars they always use juices to sweeten it up.

S., Congrats on #3! Reading your note took me back to late April of this year when 2 days after my second child's birthday I found out we were pregnant (yes, birth control sometimes fails). I was so very sick all day long for 9 weeks, sometimes throwing up so much that i had to go to Urgent Care for an IV, but always tired and nauseous. It was hard, but I made it with 2 little kids of similar ages to your so you can too.
I recommend eating every 2 hours whether you feel like it or not. If your blood sugar dips too low or stomach is empty you will feel worse. Combine protein with carbs for the best effect. For example, cheese or peanut butter and crackers, yogurt and fruit, etc. is better than crackers or toast alone. I ate a lot of plain oatmeal with all 3 of my pregnancies in the first trimester when I felt sickest. It's a complex carb with some fiber to keep things moving through. I also liked eggs, usually cold and boiled. Whatever sounds good, eat it. Don't worry too much about sugar, you do need some. Mixed nuts worked well for me so I kept them in my diaper bag along with ginger snap cookies. As for smoothies, I used 1/2 to 1 c plain yogurt, 1/2 banana, whatever berries I had on hand and a little ice and water or milk. You can also use vanilla yogurt if you like it sweeter. You might find that the simpler and blander smoothies are better right now.
Preggie pop drops (at MotherHood or Babies R US) and chewing gum help in an emergency for nausea. Rest whenever you get a chance because the more tired you are the more nausea you will have. My youngest has had teething issues at night which meant I was getting up 2-3 times nightly during my first trimester, so I know what you mean by very tired. Cut your holiday social calendar down a bit so you won't become overtired and get sick. Also, you may need to let the housework and cooking go for a while so you can rest.
Best Wishes! R., Nurse-midwife since 1999 and happily married SAHM since 2005.

I prefer a smoothie without yogurt. Although it doesn't contain probiotics, it should be easier on your stomach. I use frozen fruit, a banana, and apple or white grape juice. You shouldn't need to sweeten it, particularly if you use one of these juices. Also, frozen strawberries are usually the sweetest of the frozen fruits. And a banana will add a lot of sweetness as well as great nutrients.

I would steam veggies, which will keep their nutritional value but will make them easier to digest. Then, boil a chicken in water and chicken bullion (keep the skin on, because you do need to eat some fat). When it is cooked, pull the skin off and discard. Pull all the chicken meat off the bones. Steam some rice. Mix the chicken, the rice and the veggies together. This recipe was recommended to me by a nurse. After the birth of my son, I was extremely ill. I dropped weight until I weighed 80 lbs. I couldn't keep any food down. This recipe saved me. If the steamed veggies bother your tummy, just start with the chicken and rice, and add the veggies when you feel stronger. When you stop feeling nauseous, you can go back to nuts. But, hold off on those until then.

A.

A.

I am in my 7 month of pregnancy #3 so I know how you feel! I was trying everything with the morning sickness and I could not keep ANYTHING down. I eventually ended up in the hospital (twice) because of dehydration.We even tried crackers by the bedside so I can have something as soon as I got up. I started to get worried and then my husband had an idea. I always have loved instant breakfasts you know the milk chocolate kind and they were nutrious(sp?) So we tried that and it worked as soon as I got up my husband had it ready and I would drink it slowly and then about 10 min after I was done got up and continued on throughout my day without the morning sickness but if I ran out or if I waited to long it was a very bad day. Well I hope that helps. Good luck and congratulations with your new addition :)

I use soy milk in my smoothies and it adds a lot of sweetness so I don't need to put in sugar. I don't like the taste of soy milk normally but in smoothies, it's great. Feel better soon!

Sounds like my last pregnancy, I had 3 great ones (all girls) and then my last pregnancy was miserable (boy)! I was sick and tired and cranky the whole time! I got really good at fixing crock pot meals in the morning so I didn't have to mess with dinner when I felt the worst (evenings). I got a crock pot recipe book at Costco that I loved. One recipe I tell all my friends is put 3 or 4 frozen chicken breasts in the crock pot with one can of beer (alcohol will cook off) and one packet taco seasoning, cook all day on low, when ready to serve shred chicken and spoon into taco shells or tortillas! Easy and delicious! I also make smoothies every morning for all my family and we have perfected a couple recipes:
1)apple juice & orange juice/banana/frozen strawberries(from costco)/handful of ice/honey/scoop of ground flax seed(costco)/add any other goodies to hide like protein powder, metamucil, liquid vitamins etc.
2)milk/carnation instant breakfast chocolate powder mix/banana/ice/any other goodies like above

Hope you enjoy! God Bless, keep saying "this too shall pass", because it will!

Congrats on #3! And sorry you are feeling this way, it's no fun!

My Mom, Dad, sister (24) and myself are raw foodists. We follow the 80 10 10 diet, if your interested in learning more just let me know. Basically it's fruits and veggies with low intake of nuts and fats. Everything is all raw, no cooking, as this takes away a lot of the nutrients. My mom knows so much more about it then me though.

I started eating this way for health reasons and am doing much better.

For Smoothies, we do alot of green smoothies. What are Green Smoothies? They are a mixed fruit smoothie with greens in them like, kale, spinach, lettuce or chard. When I first heard about them, I thought, how gross! But when I tried it it was delicious! We ad no milk or dairy or sugar either. Because fruit has natural sugars anyways.

If you want recipes just let me know.

My kids have at least one smoothie a day and love them! And there are so many creative ways to drink down your veggies and fruits!

Green Smoothie
1/2 cup OJ
2 Bananas
1 Apple
Handfull of grapes
handfull of baby spinach
Blend in Vitamix or Blendtec, if you use a regular blender it might be a little chuncky, thats why I invested in my blend tec. Love it!

K.

Hi,
We are a big smoothie family. My 15 year old has one each day. We buy the big bag of mixed berries at sams club. If you need to make it sweet..try some honey. Also add a banana..it also adds some sweetness to it. We also use apple juice to thin it out a bit...that will keep you from needing the milk. Oh and my daughter doesnt add yogurt to hers..its all fruit. Good luck

Orange Julius Type Drink:

1 cup plain yougurt
1/2 cup orange juice (or other flavor of your preference)
4 or 5 ice cubes
put all ingredients in blender and blend

"Milkshake":

1 Frozen banana
1 cup milk
1 tsp. Vanilla
Put all ingredients in blender and mix well

Variations:

Add 1/4 Cup Berries to above recipe
or
Add 2 Tbsp. Peanut Butter to above recipe
or
Add 2 Tbsp. Peanut Butter and 1 tsp. Cocoa Powder (or Carob Powder to above recipe
or
Add 1 or 2 pieces of Fruit (your choice) to above recipe. (ie: 1 peach or 2 plums)

Hope this helps. If you really need more sweetner, try adding local honey, Pure Maple Syrup or Agave necter instead of sugar.

J. Powers/Author
The Truly Grain Free Cookbook; Beet and Cane Sugar Free Too!ISBN #: 1-60563-263-5
www.freewebs.com/trulygrainfree