In my quest to curate the perfect environmental life, I'm always on the look out for people, places and things that give me inspiration. It was only recently that I realized one of those eco-heroes lived right under my own roof. Her name is Katie Ann Browne, and she is my fifteen-year-old daughter.
My third child and only daughter, Katie has bestowed the honor of being one of just two females born into an Irish Catholic family of eight male cousins after over three decades. So exciting was her arrival that she was feted in all shades of pink for years!
Near the end of Katie's first year of exclusively breast-feeding, I received a call from one of my oldest and dearest friends, who was getting married to the love of her life in a quaint village in Umbria. I wrestled with the question of whether to go or not. But, having been a veteran Mother of over a decade, I knew that children can happily survive, if not thrive without you for a week. The prospect of seeing good friends and drinking Italian wines won over my guilt and so her Dad and I left she and her brothers with the housekeeper, the baby nurse and a freezer full of frozen breast milk.
Birth order was a key influencer in her little life. Born as her older brother had just turned two and her oldest was eleven, Katie had no intention of being spoon fed mud colored mushy baby food while her brothers got to savor Annie's Mac and Cheese. By the time I got home from Italy, Katie had gummed down her first Cheerios off the kitchen floor, graduating from breast milk to mouse-sized Morning Star nuggets before she could walk. I've always been curious to know how all of this could have evolved so naturally, but I suspect our baby nurse Dora, was a co-conspirator.
Fourteen years later, I left Katie and her brothers in the capable hands of their Dad to attend Harvard’s ALI Program. When I left, Katie was still eating her hybrid model of chicken nuggets mixed with an occasional slice of pizza or take-out Panda Express, sprinkling just enough veggies in to appease her vegetarian Mother.
To my surprise, when I returned, as when she was a toddler, Katie had magically graduated to the next level of food. Katie had discovered the benefits of eating healthy in the absence of my nutritional counseling. She was reading organic food blogs, sharing recipes on Pinterest and giving me nutritional tips on the power of adding seeds into my diet. Overnight, her complexion, her body, and her attitude had grown from a teenager to one of a young woman. Her passion and her focus both amazed and awed me. I also got a glimpse of how social media when used for good, can wield powerful changes in the youth of today.
Now my eco-hero and I spend our time after school searching for local juice spots and smoothies that offer the perfect combination of consistency, taste, and sugars that are specific to our diet for that day, some of our favorites include: Juice Ranch, Pressed Juicery and Lucky Llama. We discuss how much protein we've consumed, what grains we've eaten, what greens and seeds we need to add in to round out our daily diet in much the same way her brothers and Father discuss their stock picks. After which, this budding organic chef will pick through whatever we have in the fruit bowl and refrigerator, and create the most delicious afternoon pick me up smoothie.
I'm still not sure what magic shifted her from a teenager who avoided eating anything green to this vibrant young woman who shares her mother's commitment to a lifestyle of health and wellness. But it makes me prouder than ever that she is not only my daughter but my eco-hero.
Katie's Green Smoothie - "The One"
1 Large frozen banana
1 Cup packed spinach
1 Cup almond milk
1 Tbsp vanilla protein powder
1 Tbsp greens powder
1 Tsp cinnamon
1 Tsp finely ground flax seeds
1 Tsp chia seeds
1 Tbsp almond butter (vary as desired!)
A few ice cubes