Fresh Green Juice from Baby Spinach, Grapes and Pears

18 March 2014

With one leg out the door, packing and getting ready for my trip to Europe – on the first flight tomorrow morning. And, …. I am also making green juice,why? Because, I love it and it’s easy, so why not? But also, to stay hydrated, nourished and survive jet-lag before it even arrives.

Lots of freshly squeezed green juice helps my body prepare for the trip across time zones. But you don’t have to be travelling to benefit …from freshly squeezed green juice.

Freshly squeezed green juice is so packed with vitamins , minerals and nutrients that you can almost feel every cell in your body wriggle with joy and gratitude, as you drink it!

It’s easy to prepare and it tastes so good. Children love it and it’s a great way for us to sneak in some of the greens that we know are so good for us!

Sweet Green Grapes

Fresh Baby Spinach

This is what went into the green juice:

2 bunches of baby spinach

Big cluster of sweet green grapes

4 pears

3 lemons

Ice

Lemons

Pears

Rinse and squeeze, squeeze, squeeze everything into an irresistible green juice
— and Enjoy!

“If life gives you lemons make some kind of fruity juice” – Conan O’Brien

Thank you for visiting my blog!

Soothe your Jet-lag and sleepless nights

21 July 2013

16 Comments

I just returned back from Europe and the first couple of days with jet-lag were rough, to say the least!

9 hours time difference, really does you in and affects your entire system, in a big way! I felt completely out of balance…

Woke up at 1:30 in the morning and was hungry, started to unload the dishwasher and checked my email ……

I desperately needed to soothe that out of control jet-lag of mine!

Sleepless nights creates imbalance in the body, it affects our health and overall sense of well -being, but there are lots of different ways we can promote great sleep and regain balance again.

Jet-lag is always talked about as something we get when traveling thorough time zones. But really, we go thorough the exact same thing if you work shifts, if you have had a baby and need to get up to feed in the middle of the night or when we are simply stressed and just can’t sleep at night. Regardless of the reason it is important that we take time to really soothe that sleepless, tried and exhausted body of ours in order to get back in to balance and promote good sleep patterns again.

I travel a lot and often experience jet-lag – so these are my favorite tips for soothing jet-lag and regain balance again:

I set the clock and go with the time it is where I am
I don’t nap or sleep during the day even though I am dead tired.
I spend time outside and get as much sunshine/ daylight as possible, as it helps to adjust to the new time zone.

A swim in the lake

I go to bed early (but not too early…)
I get up at the usual time
I quickly get back into the routines and follow the daily rythm
I exercise gently – a swim, a walk, a bike ride, yoga
I meditate
I drink lots of water

Fresh Cool Water

I drink green juice and/or green smoothies

Green and delicious

I eat lots of healthy food to help my body restore, find balance and rejuvenate.

Balance

This mornings fresh green juice –

Refreshing green juice

Red Kale, Apple, Ginger and Lemon Juice

5 sweet apples

1 bunch of red kale

1 lemon

A small slice of fresh ginger

Wash and clean the apples and kale, peel the lemon and the ginger – run it all through the juicer and serve ice cold.

Sleep well

Summer without stress

24 June 2013

13 Comments

I’m off! Today is the day I have been longing for – for months – the first day of the summer holiday!

I am off to spend 3 delicious weeks in a summer-house by the sea.

I can hardly wait.

Summer

I am so excited and at the same time I know it’s important to plan ahead, so that we make the most of it. Successful holidays don’t just happen. Holidays can be disappointing! We all have expectations and dreams and they may not turn out the way we wished, hoped and longed for. Unfulfilled expectations cause stress and disappointment!

The time leading up to the holidays can be particularly stressful.

We all need our holidays – to recharge, rejuvenate and fill ourselves with new energy.

So how can we increase our chances of fulfilling it …

This is “my” plan for a stress-free summer:

Unplug. Actually turn of all electronics and be out of reach. Yes, no need to check emails, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, blogs etc.
Mindfulness – live in the moment. Practice mindfulness, breathe, and be in the moment.
Meditate – to reconnect with myself through daily mediations
Read books – instead of computers and internet, I want to read great books, in the shade …..
No plans – be spontaneous. No schedules, just feel the flow and be part of it.
Play – God yes, be crazy, play let go, have fun, look silly
Bare feet – connect to the earth and the ground -lots of research on this …. great idea.
Go slow – nothing I need to do or nothing I need to get to – just inhale the moment – remember to stop and smell the roses.

Smell the roses

“Every Sweet-scented rose tells from it’s heart the secrets of heaven and earth” –Rumi

Bare feet in the sand

Beach

I know this will not be easy and I am sure I will have withdrawal issues for a while 🙂 But I also know how vital, how crucial, it is to disconnect to reconnect – and recharge.

” And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair”

Khalil Gibran

I hope you have a wonderful holiday!

Au revoir Copenhagen and Thank You!

3 May 2012

11 Comments

Landed in Vancouver last night after being in my old home Copenhagen – for 10 beautiful days!! When we left it was 20+ degrees (70 F) and Copenhagen was showing off, maybe to make it harder for me to leave, I don’t know 🙂

I am married to a Canadian and we have 2 wonderful Canadian/Danish teenagers – this is why my life is split between two of the most gorgeous places in the world. I am so lucky, and hugely privileged, but it is always related to both great happiness and great sadness. Fantastic to say “hello” and sad to say “goodbye”- so I cry with happiness when I arrive and cry with sadness when I leave. That is just the way it is.

Let me rewind a bit – Sunday the 29th of April I tied my shoe laces put on my cap and went out to do the wwwp5k, my opportunity being an early morning run in Copenhagen. I enjoyed every minute of the run and took lots of photos along the way. When I got home I wrote my blog, posted it, closed the laptop and went out to enjoy the rest of my Sunday.

Tuesday morning Danish time I got up and with my cup of tea, I turned on the computer – my in-box was flooded with emails from all over the world, hundreds of emails! I was in shock, what was going on?? My stats had gone from 150 on my busiest day to 8700 in a day!!!!

This is what had happened

I have been asking myself “Really?” over and over again over the past couple of days.

I have been jumping up and down with joy and gratitude too. Most of all I am humbly grateful from the deep bottom of my heart!! Thank you, WordPress for “pressing me freshly” for giving me this opportunity! Thank you for all the views, thank you for all the “likes” and all the comments, thank you to new followers, I am thrilled to have you here – Thank you all!!!

I am grateful beyond words at this point, really!!

All this happened while I was getting ready to go – packing and saying good-bye.

and so “au revoir Copenhagen”, with all its beautiful people and places! The last photos I took before leaving Wonderful Copenhagen.

I love the old back yards

And the garden of Rosenborg Castle in the sunshine

Rosenborg Castle dates back to 1606 and houses the crown jewels and the queens soldiers have residence here. It was King Christian IV favorite place to live until his death

All the way round Rosenborg Castle there are these old sentry houses that today are home for small art galleries, cafes, flower shops, designers, jewelers, etc.

Across from Rosenborg Garden is my favorite juice place – Big Apple Juice Bar- owned and run by Christian – I went down there one last time to get myself a “Green Fix with apple” – a delicious juice made with celery, cucumber, spinach and apple- yum!!

While he was busy making my juice I enjoyed the flowers in his shop

Now I am back home with my family in Canada. Tired and happy – my kids have been in the garden to pick these beautiful flowers for me.

A Morning Run in Copenhagen

29 April 2012

216 Comments

I grabbed the opportunity to join in the fun by running the 5k wordpress run. A brilliant idea by WordPress – you simply run/walk/skip/dance/jog/skate/ 5k wherever you are in this world and then you blog about it.

As some of you may know I am visiting Copenhagen, and what better way to breathe in my old city than by running through its beautiful streets? I long to see the little mermaid again – to give her a good morning kiss. I’m up and out by 7am – the only thing I forgot while planning this – a terrible jet-lag.

So off I go and this just proves that as soon as you get yourself out there it is amazing!! It’s absolutely fabulous – I have Copenhagen all to myself and the sun is rising, the air is fresh and not a person in the streets.

Right away, I meet this lovely little family:

I continue out to Langelinje and pass Gefion springvandet – revisiting my childhood.

Copenhagen is the “city of towers” and when I turn around I see the tower of the old stone English church where I was married and behind its steeple, the magnificent dome of the Marble church right next to where we live when we are here in Copenhagen.

I continue my run along Langelinje enjoying the fresh sea breeze and my solitude on the path.

Suddenly I see her sitting there in the morning sun. The little mermaid – I love her – and either my jet-lag or the sea breeze is suddenly making my eyes moisty.

I turn around and run back towards the city center – wanting to enjoy more of the city in the early morning sun.

Past Amalienborg, where Queen Margrethe lives – a beautiful palace in the center of Copenhagen with the Marble Church in the background. Past the small dock where the royal family, kids, grandchildren, and 2 dachshunds embark on their way to other parts of Denmark – we are in the land of the vikings remember, so by ship of course.

Run, run, run – I am honestly enjoying this run through Wonderful Copenhagen that holds so much history, culture, architecture and beauty. An adventure through my own city and I mindfully see things that I just took for granted when I lived here. I am loving every minute.

I reach the old harbour – Nyhavn – a romantic place from the seafaring days but today is full of restaurants and cafes. The place where everyone longs to sit outside in the sunshine and well into the long light summer nights.

This morning it is still quiet but later today it will be packed full of people enjoying life in the sunny side of the street!

And the quiet side of Nyhavn on the other side

Round the corner from Nyhavn I almost fall into a pile of bikes! Copenhagen is a paradise for many things among them cycling. And there are many bicycles!

How about this cute “bike-dress”!

I fell in love with this old lamp on my way home

And this adorable door

I love running – I can explore, I can experience, I can inhale life, I can do it anytime, it’s cheap, I don’t have to book or reserve – I just do it, anytime, anywhere, anyplace.

On the way home I run into “Joe and the Juice” and get a big glass of Arth Away – a glass of green juice made from fresh spinach, apples and pineapple – I’m off to enjoy the rest of the day! Wishing you all a beautiful Sunday.

Trying to stay healthy on the road

26 April 2012

6 Comments

Here I am visiting Copenhagen – one of my favorite cities in the world and the place I was born. It is also the home town of Noma chosen as THE best restaurant in the world. Denmark is the “France” of Scandinavia and a mecca for amazing restaurants and gourmet food. Oh yes, and home of the famous Danish pastry!

Yes, you bet, temptations on every single corner! On top of that seeing family and friends every day for lunch and being invited home for scrumptious dinners. So fantastic and at the same time so easy to make unhealthy choices.

So what to do?

For me it is about balance. I could say yes, and go out for fabulous meals at every mealtime. But I can also choose to meet for lunch at the local juice bar and join my friends for a delicious green juice. It is more about being together and green juice and socializing works (surprisingly) well together!

If I drink a green juice and have some fruit for breakfast I get the nourishment my body needs and I feel content – content in a way that I can pass all the Danish pastries in Copenhagen without needing to eat them.

At the same time having met my needs for nourishment I can eat whatever I feel like eating for lunch.

I brought my jogging gear and a jogging tour through the old streets of Copenhagen is quite an experience a great way to see the city!

It is true it is difficult to stay healthy on the road but my biggest challenge is in reality ME. I am the one who can make healthy choices or unhealthy choices. I decide if I want to put on the jogging shoes and hit the road or stay home and eat pastries. I will do a bit of both I will also enjoy a Danish pastry and gourmet meals. Balance is the key for me.

How do you stay healthy on the road?

Anne Sture Tucker

Balanced Living

Category Archives: Travel/health