Vegan Month of Food: Cancer-Fighting Sweet Watercress Smoothie

Good morning! I?m so happy to slow down on all of this talk on cancer and surgery and get back to more food talk. I do very much appreciate your notes on my recovery from my surgery; I am doing a lot better. Last night I got my first full night of sleep in over a week (!) so I now I really am starting to feel good. Sleep = happiness.

The farmers? market on Saturday was my first big outing since surgery. Alan was so proud to catch some wild chickens in the background of this photo:

The fridge was a wasteland at this point so I stocked up on arugula, watercress, lettuce and kale. The fresh veggies combined with the rest of the frozen soups I am working my way through should get me through mid-week at least.

Watercress is one veggie that I have mixed feelings about. It?s supposed to be so, so healthy, but I really don?t like the flavor. Besides blending it into a soup, the least offensive way I?ve found to consume it is in a green smoothie.

I ended up making this smoothie for dinner on Saturday night because a. it sounded good and b. it was easy.

The watercress I bought at the market looked like this:

I have seen watercress at the natural food store that is a lot more delicate and tender than what I bought. But, since I was blending it anyway, I didn?t really care about it being tender.

I combined the following ingredients into my Vitamix: unsweetened soy milk, peanut butter, watercress, frozen banana, blackberries, strawberries, flax meal, chia seeds, carob and frozen pineapple:

As a side note, have you tried carob powder yet? I have been obsessed with it for months as an alternative to cocoa powder:

I know it doesn?t have the same antioxidant profile as cocoa or cacao (raw cocoa), but I cannot eat too much cocoa powder because it is way too addictive and stimulating for me.

Also, I wanted to show you how I keep my ground flax seeds and chia seeds ready to go in two separate containers:

This amount will be enough for at least a month and I just keep the containers in the fridge and add a tablespoon to my smoothies. Another side note is that Dr. Fuhrman mentioned at the Getaway that he thinks both chia seeds and flax seeds should be ground before consuming. He also said that he now prefers chia seeds over flax seeds, but I believe he is still advising the consumption of both. For now, I try to get about half of a tablespoon of each per day with slightly more emphasis on the chia seeds.

The smoothie turned out so pretty!

Here?s the recipe:

Sweet Watercress Smoothie

2 Servings

Ingredients:

2 cups unsweetened soy milk

2 tablespoons unsalted peanut butter or almond butter

1 bunch watercress, washed

1 frozen banana

1/2 cup frozen blackberries (you can substitute blueberries if you prefer)

1 cup frozen strawberries

1 tablespoon flax meal

1 tablespoon chia seeds

1 tablespoon carob powder

1 cup frozen pineapple

Directions:

Add the ingredients to a high-speed blender and process until smooth.

Since I had been craving something sweet, this hit the spot for sure. I should note that this makes two really big servings, Alan had the other half for dinner.

I suppose I?ll start talking about some of the lessons I?ve learned from this cancer experience as they hit me, but one little thing I?ve started doing is using my ?nice? kitchenware instead of saving it for special occasions. Drinking my smoothie from my favorite purple glassware was a treat:

This is totally hokey, but each day is a gift and I want to remember that. What are you feeling grateful for?

I have a full day today between meeting my surgeon to have my stitches removed (this better not hurt), getting my pathology report and meeting my endocrinologist for the first time since my biopsy when he discovered the cancer. The two big items on the agenda will be figuring out the next step in my treatment plan and getting me started on my thyroid replacement medication.

I will be see you back here on Wednesday; have a great day!

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Tagged as: almond butter, banana, blackberries, carob, chia seeds, flax meal, frozen pineapple, peanut butter, strawberries, watercress

Source: http://www.carrieonvegan.com/2012/10/22/vegan-month-of-food-cancer-fighting-sweet-watercress-smoothie/

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