Mama Juice

Now that I am getting back on the juice train...I look at it differently. Its mama juice!!! To give me, as new mama, some energy!!! Yes, its always been great for me and healthy BUT now I NEED it to get through the day. Natural stimulant. Gives me sustained energy and immunity builders that I need from so little sleep. And feel that it truly is the best way to get vitamins and nutrients. Plus as an added bonus feel that the baby will get passed along a lot of great stuff through my breast milk and hopefully will love vegetables through this process :)
Today's mama juice was made of 1 head romaine lettuce, few handfuls kale, handful parsley, small bag of carrots ( approx. 10), 2 apples, 4 lemons, 1 orange, 1 pear and a whole bunch celery. Ended up leaving out the red pepper that is in the photo bc made more fruity.
The big jar is the end product which I will pack up with me when I leave in a bit to get me through the day. I am leaving around 9:45 am and probably will not be back until 430 pm or so. Going to meet my girlfriends and their new babies!! All 4 of our babies were both within a month of each other, then my last appointment with the midwives, then to go rent a breast pump 9mine broke this morning), then to return our new vacuum cleaner (wrecked our floors!! Long and sad story but oh well, they are just floors in the end). Have a lovely juicy day!
xoxmc

Morning Time

Its astonishing to say but rarely do I have even 5 minutes to get on my yoga mat and stretch. And I need it desperately. But the day just starts and becomes a whirling dervish with newborn stuff and laundry and constant nursing, grocery shopping, making a quick juice or meal. But last night the baby slept for a big chunk which allowed me to sleep. So I have now been wide awake since 4 am. We fed, changed diapers, folded some laundry and then when she fell back asleep I did some yoga in the dark. Slowly stretching to the sound of her deep breathing and little woodland creature whimpers. And I feel so much better. During pregnancy it was the lower half that needed help and now it is the upper half. My chest, shoulder, neck and back need a lot of help to stretch and open. My shoulders tend to slope forward anyway but now with breast feeding, holding the baby for many hours a day, getting in weird positions to get her in and out of the car, etc. the upper portion of the body gets wrecked. My neck and shoulders are like rocks and even my forearms have these tight sinewy muscles that almost make me cry when I start to massage them. Now that we are at the six week mark and things are becoming easier and more routine I am going to start making more time myself and my body. I did forward bends, triangle, shoulder stand and plow (yay I can finally do these without the pregnant belly!!!), back and shoulder openers with the block, cat/cow, down dog, and off purse childs pose. Nice to not be in a rush but to enjoy each stretch luxuriously. A true gift. More of that to come. The sun is now up. The husband is stirring and I am drinking tea and ready for my packed day that lies ahead.
xomc

Baked Tofu and Sauteed Lentils, Mushrooms and Onions

Dinner tonight:
1. Tofu- I baked some tofu yesterday and I have to say its awesome. Which is a pleasant surprise because I generally do not love the things that I cook. Love my juices but the food not so much. And baking...forget it. So I actually marinated the tofu overnight and baked it yesterday and it tastes even better today. The skin has a chance to harden more. I took extra firm tofu and cut it into thinnish slices. Then I covered it in a marinade of amino acids, tamari, a bit of hot sauce and TONS of nutritional yeast with some clean water. Then I put the the slices on an oiled baking sheet. Baked on 350 for 45 min. or so.
2. Sauteed whole white onion in a bit of olive oil with salt and pepper. Let them get tender then added mushrooms. Then poured on some tamari and let them cook down.
3. Then added cooked lentils (trader joes) and some organic grape tomatoes. Blended together until cohesive and hot.

This is a very easy, low fat, high protein vegetarian dinner. Tastes meaty from mushrooms and lentils.
Enjoy!
(Sorry briefly typed. Holding baby with one hand and typing with one hand that is hurt).
xoxxmc

Juice away the germs

Its that time of the year when seemingly everyone seems to be catching something. Now that I have a baby I am even more paranoid than ever about getting sick. I have been fighting off a sore throat for two days which angers me. I think a lot has to do with major sleep deprivation and breast feeding but also am around people and hence germs. Doing tea with raw honey and lots of veggie juice!! Today I made a big batch of celery, romaine, kale, ginger, orange, grapefruit, apple, carrot, and lemon juice. And I also just juiced 10 pounds of oranges which surprisingly does not go that far. I am doing all I can to flood my system with nutrients and antioxidants. Also, that will pass along to the lil one through my breast milk. Other sick defenses I use are large amounts of vitamin C powder, vitamin D, probiotics, rhodiola rosea, and astralagus. Back on the juice track after veering off of it during my pregnancy. Feels so good to be back. My body is literally drinking it up. Goodluck out there through this sickie season!

xoxxmc