I added (to taste) cardamom, ginger, honey, cinnamon, allspice to what you see there – a cup of soymilk, a cup of spinach, and a cup of roasted butternut squash. You can add water and ice cubes if it’s too thick. Use almond milk or hemp milk instead if you like.

As we begin the second quarter of the year I think back to January, and how hyped we were about our new blenders, green smoothies, and lofty goals. Just checking in… are you on schedule or have you fallen by the wayside?

This was made using my Ninja blender and was one of my favorite smoothies, using leftover roasted squash!

The 21 day habit this month will be Drink Your Greens. Now remember, the plan here is not to drink green smoothies for 3 weeks in place of all meals, but rather to add them to our diet as a way to make sure we are increasing our fruit and veggie intake. And here’s why…

1. Detox – You do not want to piss your liver off, so give it some love by drinking some cruciferous veggies. These include kale, broccoli, cabbage, bok choy, cauliflower just to name a few. These blood cleansers assist the liver in the process of detoxifying our blood, protecting us from some cancers. I love that the name cruciferous means cross bearing, as these veggies have crucefers, cross shaped flower petals.  Who knew?

2. Fiber – As I mentioned on the facebook page, Americans spend $600 million annually on laxatives. When you juice, you throw away that lovely bowel moving fiber.  So if you are able to take in the additional fiber, then by all means, do!

3. Meal replacement – or should I just say portable, drinkable meal. That is one of my faaaavorite features of healthy green smoothies.  Add a scoop of peanut butter, some chia seeds, or flaxseed meal for an even more complete meal.

4. Nutrients – You could eat a salad for lunch, but when you drink your veggies you multiply the nutrients you take in, as you are able to drink far more leafy greens than you can eat.

5. Weight loss – The increase in fiber from drinking green smoothies leads to feeling fuller longer and less spikes in blood sugar levels, which can help with losing weight.  Yay!

6. Beverage variety – I’m a huge water pusher. I don’t even see the point of drinking sweet sugary beverages, unless of course it’s a martini or margarita, then by all means have one. Or two. But if you want to switch up from drinking just water, add some fruit, or make your own smoothie or juice.

7. Beauty – Toxins removed from the blood and bowels can only lead to healthier skin, hair and nails.  We all love that, don’t we?

So how have you been doing since the January smoothie habit?  As for me, I’m holding steady, still loving my green smoothies. I stopped for a couple of weeks due to plain old dontwannagetupthisearly-itis. But I’m back. And I came back to get those of you who got left behind.

For those who have kept steady on the course, congrats. Will you do all of the readers here a huge favor by sharing with us your tips for keeping the passion for reaching your goals?  Drink Your Greens, 21 Days to a New Habit starts April 9.  The Q&A session is April 8 in the Soul Food Therapy Google + Hangout.  See you there?