"Get Skinny's" Delicious Dandelion Smoothie

Breakfast of pretend champions.
Dandelion Smoothie.

 Well......I am STILL on the yerba mate, as I can only imagine heroin or something stronger (coffee) may be more difficult to quit!!  But then it is sold as a "health supplement" so maybe it isn't the demise of my character.  :)   However, I have been stocking up on greens and using an entire bunch of greens in my smoothies.  Dandelions....how funny that I have planted 2 packets full and maybe 2 plants came up.  When you are seeking it, it just does not come!! Think of all of those years I was brainwashed to think Dandelions were bad!  Now I pay $2.50 a bunch for them (organic) and will try to nurture them in the Square Foot Garden again this year.

Ingredients.

1.  One Bunch Greens.  If you are a Green Virgin, use something mild like spinach.  Later, try Kale,     Collards, Swiss Chard, or Dandelion Greens.  If you are hardcore, Arugula.

2.  2 bananas.

3. Stevia packet. Add a splash of vanilla if you'd like.

4. Water or Coconut water.  Or....Nut Milk if you want to fatten it up a little.

5.  Blend.  Vita-mix is the best but any high speed blender should work.

6.  Welcome, you are no longer a "Green Virgin".

So Simple.  1 minute total time! Bananas, One Bunch Dandelion Greens, Stevia, splash of Vanilla.

Okay, I always buy the plain herb.  But this is really so much better in smoothies.  It is very sweet and the texture is a bit nicer.  I know it's better to just use the herb, but I find myself not drinking an ENTIRE bunch of dandelions that way!!  So.....compromises.

                   

While I can't seem to pry myself out of bed for yoga or mediation, I always seem to hear the alarm when I go out with the "Gateway Girls" to feed the dogs in East St. Louis.  PJ has gone EVERY single day, for well over a decade, to feed and care for the dogs in this severely impoverished area.  Whenever there is a foster available, GPG can pull the dog from the streets and they get a new chance at life.  While any other activity this early in the morning would be total drudgery, this one leaves me feeling good.  Well, most of the time.  It is hard to see all of the animals that are on the street and may never make it to a home.  Many are there for years, and then one day they disappear.  I just have to put up a wall in my head to be able to go see them......I remind myself that in the "normal" world millions of boy baby chicks are ground up alive, daily, because they don't produce eggs.  I remind myself of all of the animals suffering in factory farms.  Of the people in other countries that have to risk their lives to even get a drink of water.  Of all of the suffering.  Somehow, if I overwhelm myself with all of the suffering, then I trick myself into being able see this microcosm of suffering.  And just recognizing that I cannot change all of the suffering. But recognizing this does not excuse me from seeing from what is in front of my face and doing little things to just try to reduce the suffering in a small way.  So many people just throw in the towel because they can't change it all, asking what difference they can make.  Well, each one of us can make a HUGE difference.  Think of all of the changes that have already been made.  Think of "No-Kill" cities like San-Francisco.  Think of people like Dennis Kucinich who think that creating ways to provide water to all of the people in the world would be far more productive to our "National Security" than trying to build more weapons to protect what we have, or what someone else has and we want.  

What are things you do to "reduce the suffering" in your life?? Have you given up red meat?  Fish?  Recycle?  Try to live with less than you need?  Meditate? Be a mentor to kids?  Foster stray animals?  Help people overcome addictions?  Try to purchase more sustainable products? 


Are you a dandelion lover?  Are you growing greens in your garden this year??