Paula Abdul’s “Forever Your Greens” Shake

I think Paula Abdul looks pretty good for nearly 50! Right?!

Well – I had no idea she was into health until I saw her on Dr. Oz. She said that she had an accident many years ago and has had chronic pain {RSD} ever since. She also says she has days where she feels inflamed and her joints ache. As soon as I heard this I became very interested because I suffer from inflammation and joint pain myself. Paula says the first thing she does when she feels inflammation is refer back to a plant based diet. Her breakfast every morning is a green shake… something I also consume at some point just about every day!

I happened to have all of the ingredients in her recipe so I made it first thing the following morning. I took a little taste before pouring it into my glass… and it wasn’t my beloved peanut butter banana tasting green smoothie at all… but it was a nice change and actually pretty good. It tasted light, clean, refreshing, … and I don’t know how to say this so it sounds appealing… but it tasted really healthy!

There are two reasons why this shake is one of my new favorites! I had no joint pain for the rest of the day! I can’t remember the last time I didn’t have joint pain. That in itself would make me drink this shake everyday, but the second best thing was that it made my skin glow. I know lots of people say “oh this will make your skin glow, blah blah blah” but no joke… the day I drank this smoothie I noticed my features looked brighter and my skin looked great! I could really see a difference. I actually notice this a lot when I eat a PLANT ONLY based diet… which is half the motivation I had for becoming a vegan/raw foodie in the first place! Yes I realize what a vain statement that is, but I do want to look good. And if eating just plants make me look half as good as they make me feel… well then I have my answer. Being completely vegan is a goal I am working to get back to… and I will admit, its hard sometimes. I love greek yogurt, egg whites, and blackened salmon. These are all foods I let back into my diet during my pregnancy and I will have a hard time saying goodbye to again.. so it will be a process weeding out the last few non-vegan favorites and returning back to my pre-preggo diet. I plan on going a little slow with the transition so I won’t feel like I am being drastic, but in time and when I am ready I will get there.

Anyways… back to the smoothie. To achieve glowing beautiful skin – try drinking this smoothie by itself for breakfast and letting it digest before consuming anything else. And if you are feeling extra motivated, try eating only plants for the rest of the day… and check out your reflection from time to time throughout the day.. your skin will be so happy and you will have so much extra energy. So all you coffee lovers out there, go ahead and skip that cup of joe, you won’t be needing it after you drink this!

Forever Your Greens Shake inspired by Paula Abdul as seen on Dr. Oz

Ingredients

1 cup fresh kale
1 cup spinach
1 1/2 Tbsp. hemp seeds (I used 1 tbsp. hemp)
1 tsp. chia seeds (I used 1/2 tbsp. chia)
1/2 avocado (I used 1/2 a frozen avocado)
1/2 banana (I used about 3/4 a frozen banana)
1/2 apple (I tossed the whole entire apple in, seeds, core and all… I did remove the small stem tho)
1 cup coconut water (I love “Taste Nirvana” Coconut water… its much better in my opinion than any other brand)
pinch of stevia (I used two packets of stevia)
4 ice cubes