Simple Superfood Smoothies : A

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Your Health Sondi Bruner
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SIMPLE SUPERFOOD SMOOTHIES
 Simple
SUPERFOOD
SMOOTHIES
A Smoothie Recipe Book
to Supercharge Your Health

SONDI BRUNER
PHOTOGRAPHY BY EVI ABELER
For my husband
Copyright © 2019 by Rockridge Press, Emeryville, California

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Contents
Introduction vi
Supercharge Your Health with Superfood Smoothies ix
PART ONE: SUPERFOOD BASE-ICS
Chapter One: Common Berries 3
Chapter Two: Bananas 19
Chapter Three: Common Nuts and Seeds 35
Chapter Four: Dark Leafy Greens 51
Chapter Five: Yogurt and Kefir 67
Chapter Six: Avocado 83
Chapter Seven: Beets 97
Chapter Eight: Oats 109
PART TWO: SUPERFOOD BOOSTS
Chapter Nine: Cinnamon 123
Chapter Ten: Cacao/Cocoa 135
Chapter Eleven: Ginger 147
Chapter Twelve: Turmeric 157
Chapter Thirteen: Green Tea and Matcha 167
Chapter Fourteen: Pomegranate and Acai 177
Chapter Fifteen: Chia Seeds 187

Substitutions Cheat Sheet 196 | Conversion Chart 197

The Dirty Dozen and the Clean Fifteen 198 | Resources 199 | References 200
Recipe Label Index 206 | Index 209
Introduction
S moothies always provide a quick and
convenient meal in my household. In
fact, it’s hard to remember a time when
they weren’t a part of my life, but the
truth is I didn’t discover the beauty of the
smoothie until I neared my mid-twenties.
Until that point, I had never even seen a
person consume a smoothie. But on taking
my first sip, I was instantly hooked on the
burst of flavor and intensity.
At first, I relied on smoothies mainly
for their taste. I didn’t pay much atten-
tion to their health benefits or prepare
them myself—I just purchased them from
smoothie bars. Later, in 2006, eight years
after being diagnosed with Crohn’s dis-
ease (an autoimmune digestive disorder),
I realized I needed to take control of my
health and focus on consuming foods that
would help ease my symptoms, address
inflammation, and boost immunity. My diet
vi
and lifestyle at the time were simply not
supportive of digestive health. This led to
little appetite and difficulty eating, con-
stant bloating and gassiness, countless
hours in the bathroom, and severe anemia.
Essentially, my quality of life was poor,
and if I wanted to live vibrantly, I had to
make changes.
I began cooking almost everything
from scratch, a big adjustment as I was
accustomed to buying many packaged
items. Soon I was learning how to bake my
own crackers and whip up condiments,
and I invested in a cheap blender so I could
make smoothies, dips, and sauces at home.
Smoothies are beneficial to a wide
range of health conditions, but for me they
were life-­changing, because I could pack
many more nutrient-­dense ingredients into
a single glass than I could ever consume
in one sitting if I left those foods in their
whole forms. Smoothies made it easier for basics: blending fruit, veggies, nuts, seeds,
me to eat without pain or discomfort and spices, herbs, and liquids to make deli-
take in the nutrients I was missing. They cious, health-­building smoothies.
were also dead simple to blend, which Superfoods are all around us—­you can
enabled me to make smoothies a habit. conveniently find them at your local gro-
Once I started nutrition school and cery store without breaking the bank. With
learned about the amazing benefits of this book, it’s my goal to help you discover
superfoods, I began honing my smoothie the benefits of everyday ingredients and
techniques with both whole foods and create deliciously simple smoothies that
superfood powders. Here’s where my will bring you good health. You deserve it!
smoothies veered out of control: They
became time-­consuming, complicated
(I would often add 12 to 15 ingredients to
the blender, several of which were con-
centrated powders), and a heck of a lot
more expensive. While some ingredients
are worth the money if you are targeting
a specific health issue or have a nutrient
deficiency, it was not sustainable for me to
keep creating these superfood monsters.
And so, after about a year, I returned to the

Introduction vii
viii Simple Superfood Smoothies
 Supercharge Your Health
with Superfood Smoothies
A mid our modern lives, it can be chal-
lenging to prioritize our health. Some
view busyness as a status symbol or a
source of pride, but for many of us, it’s not
always possible to tear up the to-­do list
or escape to a rustic, Wi-Fi–free cabin in
the mountains for a week. Between work,
family, friends, hobbies, volunteering, and
exercise, it can be difficult to find the time
to eat, much less cook! Still, neglecting our
health in the present can lead to serious,
chronic consequences in the future—­and
this may compromise our ability to take
care of ourselves and those important to
us. We can’t be there for those we love if
we are too sick to enjoy the precious time
we have.
Enter the smoothie: a convenient,
affordable, efficient way to facilitate
health. Smoothies require no cooking, so
you can prep or blend them in batches
ahead of time, and you can even take one
with you on the go. If you’re curious about
how you can use specific superfoods to
strategically enhance the health benefits
of your smoothies, the recipes here will
help you explore beneficial ingredients
and how you can make them taste won-
derful, too.
Why Superfoods?
If you’ve watched television or picked up a
magazine or newspaper in the last couple
of decades, you’ve probably heard the word
“superfood.” Often, these news stories or
features tout a trendy ingredient that is
the best or latest thing you must include in
your diet.
There isn’t a scientific or legal defi-
nition for the word superfood, so there
isn’t a conclusive and official meaning—­it
depends on who you ask. The food indus-
try is criticized for exploiting superfoods
as a marketing tactic to sell products,
and to some extent, this critique is true:
No single ingredient will magically and
instantly improve your health, and there
ix
are consumers who are lulled by label
claims, even if a product contains other
harmful ingredients like added sugars or
known endocrine disruptors. Some foods
are advertised as the exclusive source
of rare and special nutrients, yet nature
tends to have redundancies. If you can’t
afford a powder of an omega-3–rich
superfood, rest assured you will be able to
find those healthy fats elsewhere.
Still, it’s fair to describe superfoods
as nutrient-­dense ingredients that are
beneficial to our health. This is a broad
definition, but one I like because it
includes simple and accessible ingre-
dients. Simply put, superfoods contain
macronutrients, vitamins, minerals,
antioxidants, and other compounds that
affect our health. You don’t need to ven-
ture to the ends of the Earth for expensive
foods—­superfood ingredients are all
around us. We just need to appreciate
these everyday ingredients for their valu-
able attributes. For example, a modest
clove of garlic packs a large nutritional
punch that benefits immunity and cardio-
vascular health. Swathes of ingredients,
including vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds,
beans, legumes, fish, eggs, poultry,
and even red meat, have unique and
helpful compounds.
x Supercharge Your Health with Superfood Smoothies
Some scientific literature alludes to
“functional foods,” roughly defined as
foods that may improve health or pre-
vent disease. Investigations into specific
superfoods—­fruits and vegetables in
particular—­have found that these ingre-
dients can reduce our risk of chronic
diseases such as cancer, heart disease,
obesity, and diabetes, as well as contain
nutrients that reduce inflammation, boost
immunity, and protect gut health.
Your superfood smoothie journey can
begin by using basics that are easily acces-
sible at your local grocer. You don’t need to
drop a load of cash on pricey powders—­one
ingredient isn’t going to make or break
your health. Good health builds with every
choice you make, and all of the everyday,
nutritious ingredients add up!
The Big 15
I could highlight dozens of foods to use in
smoothies, but in the interest of keeping
the recipes simple and straightforward,
I’ve selected 15 key superfoods to get
you started.
This book is divided into two parts: The
first features superfood basics, ingredients
that function as the base of your smooth-
ies, while the second section focuses on
ingredients that work best as superfood
“boosts,” those you only use in small
amounts for their health benefits and con-
tribution to flavor.
The first section will feature:
• Common Berries
• Bananas
• Common Nuts and Seeds
• Dark Leafy Greens
• Yogurt and Kefir
• Avocado
• Beets
• Oats
The second section will feature:
• Cinnamon
• Cacao/Cocoa
• Ginger
• Turmeric
• Green Tea and Matcha
• Pomegranate and Acai
• Chia Seeds
These 15 foods are all high in key
nutrients, the specifics of which you will
learn more about in later chapters. Read-
ily available in most grocery stores, these
ingredients are affordable and easy to store
in your pantry, refrigerator, or freezer, and
they impart great flavor to smoothies. You
may already have some of these at home,
making it even easier for you to begin
without delay (or excuses!).
With each chapter, you will learn how
to effectively use these ingredients to build
smoothies that are nutritionally balanced,
tasty, satiating, and well-­textured.
Getting Started
Whether you’re a smoothie newbie or stuck
in a smoothie rut, the next few sections
offer tips and advice to help you make
your superfood smoothies a success. You’ll
discover the key components essential to
every smoothie, handy tools of the trade,
smoothie troubleshooting, best practices
for storing and shopping for superfoods,
and more.
Smoothie Basics
Whether you intend for your smoothie to be
consumed as a meal or a snack, always aim
to incorporate the following components:
• Fiber
• Protein
• Fat
• Liquid
The first three elements will amp up
the staying power of your smoothie, help-
ing you feel satisfied and satiated, as well
Supercharge Your Health with Superfood Smoothies xi
as provide you with the valuable macro-
nutrients you need throughout the day.
Fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds are all
sources of fiber. Nuts and seeds (as well
as their butters) are also good sources
of protein and fat. Additional sources of
protein include protein powders or beans
(yes, beans!), and remember that veggies
and fruits contain small amounts of pro-
tein, too. You can find healthy fats in oils
(coconut, flax, hemp, chia, olive), as well as
in ghee and nut/seed milks.
The final component, liquid, will help
your smoothie blend easily and provide you
with hydration for digestion, circulation,
skin health, and nutrient absorption, while
flushing out waste. Water is the easiest,
cheapest, and most convenient option, but
you can also use nut/seed milk, coconut
water, or 100 percent fruit juice.
Smoothie Blending Tips
Various experts and chefs have their
favorite methods for the best way to layer
a smoothie, and I have mine, too. Gener-
ally, I add ingredients to the blender in the
following order:
1. Liquids (this provides a vortex
so the rest of the ingredients get
sucked into the blades)
xii Supercharge Your Health with Superfood Smoothies
2. Greens, veggies, and herbs, if used
in large amounts
3. Fruit
4. Nuts/seeds/nut butters/yogurt
5. Spices and powders
However, there may be instances where
you’d want to add the spices and powders
after the liquid: For example, if you are
including a protein powder, it may not fully
dissolve if it’s added on top of everything.
It also depends on what kind of machine
you own and the size of the container. If
you have a regular blender, you may need
to blend the liquids with the greens and
veggies first before adding the remaining
ingredients to ensure that everything mixes
evenly (and that you don’t end up with any
large veggie chunks).
No matter your blender, I recommend
starting on the slowest speed so ingre-
dients can begin to integrate, and then
gradually increasing the speed. If you go
from “off” to “high” right away, your ingre-
dients will likely fly around the blender and
then get stuck beneath the blades.
I’m not a fan of adding ice to smooth-
ies, as it can water down the taste and be
challenging for some machines to blend
smoothly. I may include it if the other
ingredients are cool or at room tempera-
ture and I’m aiming for a slushier texture.
If you’d like to experiment, try ice in
crushed form or small cubes for easier
blending rather than large cubes.
As you practice your smoothie-­making
skills, you’ll get to know the intricacies of
your blender and what works best for you.
I don’t think there is a definitive “right” way
to blend a smoothie, so don’t get too caught
up in the order of blending. Follow your
instincts, which you will hone as you go.
Smoothie Prep Tips
Smoothies are quick to prepare, but some-
times, even with the best of intentions,
we run out of time in the morning or life
simply gets in the way. The solution?
Smoothie kits! These allow you to batch
prep ingredients so your smoothie can be
ready in seconds. Here’s how you do it:
1. Wash, prep, and measure out ingre-
dients for your smoothies (except
for the liquid).
2. Put the ingredients in a baggie
or jar, seal, and label with the
smoothie name.
3. When you are ready to sip, pour the
liquid into the blender, dump in the
contents of the bag or jar, and blend.
The number of smoothie kits you
create will depend on your freezer space,
but you can easily prep your smoothies for
the workweek (five kits) as a good start.
Another option is to fully blend the
smoothie and then freeze it. Store each
one in a mason jar or another freezer-­safe
cup, ensuring you leave at least an inch of
headspace to allow for expansion. Remem-
ber you will need time for the smoothie to
defrost, which can take from 12 to 14 hours
in the refrigerator, so plan accordingly if
you want to drink your smoothie first thing
in the morning. At room temperature, a
smoothie will take from 2 to 3 hours to
thaw: This is a good option if you want to
grab it from the freezer in the morning and
consume it later as a snack or at lunch.
Troubleshooting
Your Smoothie
Despite their simplicity, superfood smooth-
ies can have some common pitfalls. When
you’re working with limited ingredients
and time, a chalky or slimy smoothie can
really turn you off. Let’s chat about some
common smoothie problems and how you
can resolve them.
Problem: Your smoothie is too tart/sour.
Solution: Add a natural sweetener
such as maple syrup, honey, coco-
nut sugar, dates, raisins, or stevia.
Supercharge Your Health with Superfood Smoothies xiii
 Equipment + Tools for Superfood Smoothies
The essential tool for making superfood smoothies is a blender. You have several blender
options to choose from:

High-Speed Blender. This type of machine is my personal favorite. I hemmed and hawed
about buying one for over a year, and my only regret is that I didn’t purchase it sooner.
High-speeds make smoothies very smooth and creamy, are very fast, and can be used for
many other recipes in the kitchen. It’s not unusual for me to use my high-­speed blender
several times a day. They are pricey, but you can look for refurbished ones online that
cost less.

Regular Blender. A normal countertop blender will do a great job, particularly if you are
new to making smoothies and aren’t sure you want to make a huge investment. Some
blenders will have a smoothie button that is more effective at crushing ice and other
tough ingredients. You may find you need to add a little more liquid to bring your smoothie
together in a regular blender as opposed to a high-speed, and your smoothie won’t be
quite as velvety smooth. However, your result will still be delicious!

Single-Serve Blender. This type of blender is convenient because you can blend your
smoothie, then remove the jar and use it as a glass (it also comes with a lid if you want to
take it with you). These are typically quite powerful, and as a bonus, there is less cleanup.
The downside is you can only make one serving at a time.

Aside from a blender, you’ll need minimal equipment: Measuring cups and spoons are
helpful, along with a tamper to help push ingredients toward the blades for smooth
blending—­many blenders come with one.

Lastly, a helpful (but not essential) smoothie accessory is a glass straw. I like using glass
straws because they are reusable, durable, dishwasher-safe, and you can see through
them, so you know they are clean. Stainless steel straws are also a good option.

xiv Supercharge Your Health with Superfood Smoothies

Start off with ½ teaspoon, and add
more as needed. A quarter of a
banana helps, too, or a sweet spice
such as ground cinnamon.
Problem: Your smoothie is too sweet.
Solution: Add freshly squeezed
lemon or lime juice. In the future,
scale back on the very sweet fruits
(like banana, mango, figs, and
grapes) to start, and then add more
if needed.
Problem: Your smoothie is too thin.
Solution: Add frozen fruit, ­avocado,
chia seeds, or flaxseed (these “gel”
up in water), cooked pumpkin/
sweet potato purée, frozen cau-
liflower, yogurt, nut butter, or
smoothie cubes from leftover
smoothies (see Made Too Much?,
page xvii).
Problem: Your smoothie is too thick.
Solution: Thin with water, nondairy
milk, or 100 percent juice. Add a
little at a time, or you may over-
shoot and end up with a smoothie
that’s too thin! Another option is
to use fresh fruit instead of frozen,
or fruits with high water content
such as melons, oranges, grapes,
or cucumber.
Problem: Your smoothie is too chunky/
not blending properly.
Solution: Cut vegetables and
fruits into smaller pieces so they
blend more easily, blending your
greens with liquids first. Remem-
ber to start at a low speed and
gradually increase to higher
speeds. Also be sure to stop the
blender at intervals if ingredients
are getting stuck, and stir the
mixture. You may also need to add
more liquid.
Problem: Your smoothie tastes
too “green.”
Solution: No one really wants to
drink a salad. Try adding half a
frozen banana, berries, a date,
maple syrup, honey, mango,
pineapple, 100 percent juice, or
coconut milk (don’t add all of these
at once, but choose one or two for
troubleshooting). Keep in mind
that some greens are quite bitter
when blended in smoothies, like
dandelion or collards. You can
absolutely build up your tolerance
for these, but start small. Baby
greens, which are milder in flavor,
are also helpful.
Supercharge Your Health with Superfood Smoothies xv
 Problem: Your smoothie separates.
Solution: Give it a quick shake
or stir.
Problem: Your smoothie is stringy.
Solution: Some vegetables like
celery, ginger, and stems of greens
don’t blend entirely if your machine
isn’t strong enough. To eliminate
the unblended bits, strain your
entire smoothie or blend the string-
ier items with water first, strain,
and then proceed with the rest of
the ingredients.
Problem: Your smoothie is dull or
doesn’t really taste like anything.
Solution: Only use the recipes in
this book—­just kidding. We all have
different palates, and sometimes
a smoothie will taste only so-­so
to you. First, choose high-­quality
ingredients that are in season or
were flash frozen when they were in
season (after all, a tasteless melon
in January won’t suddenly taste
more intensely watermelony just
because you put it in your smoothie).
Improve smoothie flavors with
herbs and spices (you’ll find sev-
eral options in part 2 of this book).
Another game changer is a pinch of
xvi Supercharge Your Health with Superfood Smoothies
sea salt: While we are accustomed to
using salt in savory dishes or baked
goods, remember that salt is a flavor
enhancer and a worthwhile addition
to all smoothies.
Building Your
Superfood Stash
Superfood smoothies are simple to whip
up at a moment’s notice if you have a
well-­stocked pantry, refrigerator, and
freezer. Some superfood ingredients won’t
need much storage space (such as dried
spices), while others may require more prep
and room in your refrigerator or freezer.
Building a good pantry takes time, so start
with one item at a time—­perhaps the ingre-
dients or flavors you enjoy the most.
As with other types of recipes, a tasty
smoothie begins with quality ingredients.
You’ll learn more about what to look for in
each smoothie chapter, but overall, it’s a
good rule of thumb to purchase the best
quality you can find and afford. I like to buy
local, organic ingredients when possible
for my health and the health of the planet.
A review of over 300 studies of organic
crops in the British Journal of Nutrition
concluded that organics contain more anti-
oxidants and fewer pesticides and
 Made Too Much?
Don’t toss extras away!

• If your eyes were bigger than your stomach and there is enough left over for a small
serving, seal your smoothie in a jar and store in the refrigerator. Drink within 24 hours.
If you won’t be drinking it that soon, freeze in a freezer-­safe jar (be sure to leave an inch
of space at the top to allow for expansion).
• If there is a bit left over, but not quite a full serving, pour into ice cube trays and freeze
for use in future smoothies.
• If you have children and there is enough to fill a small glass, then share!
• Make fruit leather: Spread leftover smoothie on a parchment-­lined baking sheet, and
dehydrate in the oven at its lowest temperature until dry.
• Use leftovers in baked goods like muffins, cookies, breads, and brownies. This tends to
work better with smoothies that are fruitier and less green.

heavy metals, while another study in the
same journal noted organic milk has more
omega-3 fatty acids (important for skin
health, digestion, and cognition) and a
healthier fat profile than conventional milk.
Check out the Dirty Dozen and the Clean Fif-
teen (see page 197), which lists the fruits and
vegetables with the most and least pesticide
residues. It’s a wonderful guide to help you
prioritize which ingredients to buy organic.
Local ingredients are also a fabulous
option as produce loses nutritional value
as soon as it is plucked from the ground or
picked from a bush or tree. By purchasing
fresh, local ingredients, you cut down the
travel time from farm to plate, and your
food will retain more nutrients and flavor.
Let’s look at some specific tips for shop-
ping and storing the Big 15 superfoods
highlighted in this book.
Avocado: Picking the perfect avocado
can be tricky. Avocados will ripen after
harvest and darken as they do. If the
avocados in the store look ripe, give
them a gentle squeeze—­they should
yield to pressure, but not collapse
under your fingers. Another trick is
to check under the stem at the top:
If it’s green underneath, it’s still good.

Supercharge Your Health with Superfood Smoothies xvii

 If it’s brown/black, the avocado is over-
ripe. I’m generally not a fan of freezing
avocados because the texture becomes
odd when they thaw. But if you toss
your frozen avocado straight into a
smoothie, this won’t be an issue.
Bananas: Some grocery stores will
save brown bananas for customers
who like to bake or make smoothies.
Speak to your produce manager about
this, and you’ll probably get a good
deal on them. Store in a dark cupboard
until ripe (i.e., with many brown spots).
Slice, place on a parchment-­lined
baking sheet, freeze, and then store in
a freezer-­safe container.
Beets: Look for smooth, firm beets
with no blemishes or shriveled bits. If
the beet greens are still attached, save
them to use in smoothies or stir-­fries.
Store in the crisper.
Cacao/Cocoa: Cacao powder has either
been minimally heated or is still raw,
while cocoa is roasted. The former
tends to be more bitter, though the
variety of cocoa bean also plays a role.
Store in the pantry.
Chia Seeds: Buy whole chia seeds
instead of ground. Chia contains del-
icate fats that are susceptible to heat,
xviii Supercharge Your Health with Superfood Smoothies
light, and air, and the grinding process
will oxidize those fats and increase
their potential for becoming rancid.
Store in the refrigerator.
Cinnamon: Purchase ground in small
amounts rather than bulk for optimum
freshness. Store in the pantry.
Common Berries: You can purchase
numerous varieties of berries in a
single clamshell or bag, or you might
buy a bag of mixed berries. If buying
fresh, look for berries that are firm
(not mushy), and be sure to check at
the bottom of the container for any
mold. Store in the freezer.
Common Nuts and Seeds: If buying
from grocery bulk bins, purchase
from stores that have a high turn-
over to obtain the freshest nuts (you
don’t want to scoop from a bin where
almonds have been languishing for
three months). Nuts and seeds have
delicate fats that are susceptible to
heat, light, and air, so store in the
refrigerator or freezer to prevent them
from going rancid or sour.
Dark Leafy Greens: Look for greens
that are perky and unblemished.
To extend the life of your greens,
wash and dry them well, then
stick them in a jar of water or vase
before refrigerating.
Ginger: You can use either fresh or
ground ginger in smoothies. If choos-
ing fresh, look for ginger that has
smooth, thin skin and is not shriveled
or wrinkled.
Green Tea and Matcha: There are
many different varieties of green tea,
as well as numerous brands of matcha,
so experiment with the assorted
types you find available. ­Culinary
matcha is more affordable than
ceremonial-­grade matcha.
Oats: Rolled oats are a nice option
for smoothies, though you could
also choose quick-­cooking oats for
smoother blending (I personally
enjoy the texture of thicker oats,
but you might not). If gluten
intolerance is an issue, purchase
certified gluten-­free oats. Store in
the pantry.
Pomegranate: The darker the skin,
the sweeter your pomegranate will be.
Store in the refrigerator.
Turmeric: Purchase ground in small
amounts rather than bulk for optimum
freshness. Store in the pantry.
Yogurt and Kefir: Making your own
yogurt and kefir is both economical
and easy (see chapter 5, page 67). If
you choose to purchase your yogurt or
kefir instead, check labels for added
sugars and preservatives; if opting for
dairy, try to choose organic. Store in the
refrigerator, or freeze in ice cube trays
for long-­term storage.
Using and Mixing
Superfoods: More Is
Not Always More
We have the tendency to believe that if
something is good for us—­diet, exercise,
sleep, work—­then more must automatically
be better. But this usually isn’t the case,
especially with certain potent superfoods.
Theoretically, it’s possible to overdo it on
any food: You’d probably feel quite ill if you
ate four bunches of kale in one sitting. (And
you certainly wouldn’t digest and absorb
the nutrients if you were eliminating that
kale soon after in the bathroom!)
An advantage of many superfoods
is that you don’t need to use large quan-
tities to experience the benefits. In fact,
you want to avoid consuming too much.
For example, turmeric is a very powerful
Supercharge Your Health with Superfood Smoothies xix
 Saving on Superfoods
Food bills add up, so try these tips for saving on superfoods.

• Buy in bulk where possible. If you have the freezer space, purchasing cacao, nuts, and
seeds in bulk is much more economical. Check out stores like Costco for large bags of
frozen fruit, and shop your farmers’ markets or grocery stores—­you can often purchase
ingredients at a discount if buying in large amounts. Make friends with the produce
manager at your local store.
• Purchase spices in small batches, as you often are using these in small amounts, and
unused leftovers will lose flavor, freshness, and nutritional value as they sit in your
pantry unused. Check out local ethnic markets for certain spices like turmeric or for
matcha, as these can potentially be cheaper there than at conventional stores.
• Make your own nut and seed butters and nut/seed milk. You’ll save money, and at the
same time, you can customize to your tastes and skip the added sugars. Make batches
in bulk and freeze.
• Look for sales, either in person, online, or by reading sales flyers.
• Comparison shop at different stores, and get familiar with price points.
• For some, online grocery shopping is more affordable because you can shop with your
list and won’t be lured by promotional displays or other distractions.

spice. Adding ¼ teaspoon to your smoothie on a regular basis—­along with making

will help support your health, but blend
in 2 tablespoons and your smoothie will
be undrinkable.
If you’re worried that a small amount
won’t make a difference, remember that
the little pinches add up. Sure, you may
not experience any change in health
from a ¼-­teaspoon dose of turmeric on a
single day. But if you consume turmeric
additional positive diet and lifestyle
choices—­you’re more likely to see a shift.
As I mentioned earlier, it isn’t a single
factor that makes or breaks our health.
Dropping 1 tablespoon of turmeric into
your smoothie isn’t better than ¼ teaspoon,
especially if you spend the rest of your day
gorging on junk food. We don’t need to
push each superfood to its limit.

xx Supercharge Your Health with Superfood Smoothies

 Generally, the ingredients in the second
section of this book are more successful
in small amounts due to their impact on
overall flavor and consistency. However,
some ingredients in the first section, too,
can be difficult to digest if consumed in
excess. To keep this all straight, the chart
below offers guidelines for recommended
ranges of quantities for consumption. If an
ingredient is new to you—­or you are new to
smoothies—­beginning with the minimum
amount is a good idea.
Similarly, attempting to include every
superfood at once will either ruin your
smoothie or, at the very least, destroy the
taste of any distinct ingredients at all. See
the chart below for recommended com-
binations to boost the flavors and health
benefits of your smoothies.
Note: Quantities can vary depending
on your health status, activity level, and
individual needs, as well as whether you
intend for your smoothie to serve as a full
meal replacement or a snack.
Supercharge Your Health with Superfood Smoothies xxi
Recommended Superfood Doses (per Single Smoothie)

Superfood Minimum Amount Maximum Amount

Avocado ¹⁄8 avocado ½ avocado
Bananas ¼ banana 1 whole banana
Beets, cooked, puréed 1 tablespoon ½ cup
Beets, raw, grated 2 tablespoons ¾ to 1 cup
Berries ¼ cup 1 to 1½ cups
Cacao/Cocoa 1 teaspoon 3 to 4 tablespoons
Chia Seeds 1 teaspoon 2 to 3 tablespoons
Cinnamon, ground ¼ teaspoon 2 tablespoons
Dark Leafy Greens ¹⁄3 cup 1 to 1½ cups
Ginger, ground ¹⁄8 teaspoon 1 to 1½ tablespoons
Ginger, raw ¼ teaspoon 1 to 2 tablespoons
Matcha ½ teaspoon 2 teaspoons
Nut/Seed Butters 1 teaspoon 2 to 3 tablespoons
Nuts/Seeds, ground 1 teaspoon 3 to 4 tablespoons
Nuts/Seeds, whole 1 teaspoon ¹⁄3 cup
Oats 1 tablespoon ¹⁄3 to ½ cup
Pomegranate Juice (100 percent) 2 tablespoons 1 cup
Pomegranate Seeds 1 tablespoon ¾ cup
Turmeric, ground ¹⁄8 teaspoon 1 teaspoon
Yogurt/Kefir 1 tablespoon ¾ to 1 cup (Fermented foods
can be difficult to digest at
first, so work your way up.
You may max out at ½ cup,
so see how it goes.)

xxii Supercharge Your Health with Superfood Smoothies

Superfood Combinations

Combination Flavor Profile Health Effects

Blueberries + Chocolate Sweet/Slightly Bitter High antioxidant value
Blueberries + Strawberries Sweet High antioxidant value
Chia + Yogurt Sweet Aids digestion, anti-­inflammatory
Chocolate + Cinnamon Sweet/Bitter Anti-­inflammatory
Cinnamon + Ginger Sweet/Spicy Anti-­inflammatory
Greens + Avocado Sweet/Bitter/Creamy Fat in avocado helps vitamin and
mineral absorption
Greens + Lemon Bitter/Sour Helps vitamin C and iron
absorption
Greens + Nut/Nut Butters Sweet/Creamy Aids vitamin absorption,
anti-­inflammatory
Lemon + Green Tea Sour/Bitter Vitamin C in lemons helps cate-
chin (antioxidant) absorption from
green tea
Oats + Orange Sweet Heart healthy
Turmeric + Black Pepper Spicy Pepper helps absorption of tur-
meric constituents
Turmeric + Ginger Spicy/Bitter Anti-­inflammatory, immunity boost
Yogurt + Banana Tangy/Sweet Workout recovery

Supercharge Your Health with Superfood Smoothies xxiii

Using the Recipes
The recipes in this cookbook are organized
by superfood ingredient. Each chapter will
feature a single superfood, with informa-
tion and instructions on how to use it best,
followed by recipes. Each chapter will build
upon the previous ones, incorporating
additional ingredients to create more fla-
vorful, complex smoothies.
For easy reference, each recipe comes
with recipe labels highlighting the primary
benefits or functions of the smoothie. You
can also search by recipe label in the index
(see page 206).
Recipe labels include:
Heart Healthy: This smoothie con-
tains ingredients that benefit the
cardiovascular system.
Immunity Boost: This smoothie fea-
tures ingredients beneficial to the
immune system.
Kid Friendly: Look for this label when
you need a smoothie more pleasing to
a kid’s palate.
Meal Swap: This smoothie is high in
protein and/or calories, so it can serve
as a full meal.
Weight Loss: This smoothie contains
ingredients that may aid in weight loss.

Each recipe also comes with a

Anti-Aging: This smoothie contains
bonus tip:
ingredients that combat the effects
of aging.
Power Up! Tips for adding another
Anti-Inflammatory: This smoothie superfood from this book for an extra
includes anti-­inflammatory ingredi- health boost.
ents that can help reduce body pain.
Prep Tip: Helpful food prep tips.
Energy Boost: This smoothie includes
Simplify It! Tips to make the smoothie
ingredients that can increase
even easier/faster to prepare.
energy levels.
Substitute It! Tips for substitut-
Greens Lover: This smoothie contains
ing ingredients to change the
green vegetables or green herbs.

xxiv Supercharge Your Health with Superfood Smoothies

What About Dairy?
Today we can choose from a wide array of dairy and nondairy options to meet our dietary
needs and preferences. So how do we begin to narrow these down?

NONDAIRY

Consuming dairy-­free alternatives such as nondairy milk and yogurt can have numerous
benefits, ranging from improved digestion, clearer skin, and relief from sensitivities and
allergies to less inflammation and better weight management.

Of course, dairy-­free products may contain adverse ingredients. Watch out for added
sugars or artificial sweeteners, and make sure to choose unsweetened or low-­sugar
plant-­based milks. Nondairy products can also contain processed, low-­quality oils, pre-
servatives, and stabilizers—­typically, a shorter ingredient list means a healthier, more
natural product. Better yet—­make your own! It only takes a few minutes to blend a Basic
Nut Milk (see page 38), which you can then flavor yourself to your heart’s desire.

DAIRY

If you opt to include dairy in your smoothies, I suggest you look for organic/grass-­fed milk,
sheep or goat milk, fermented dairy, and full-­fat dairy. Here are some good reasons to
choose these products:

Organic/Grass-Fed Milk. Studies comparing conventional milk with organic milk show
that organic has a higher amount of anti-­inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids, a higher
quantity of CLA (a fat that encourages weight loss and benefits the cardiovascular system),
and a lower amount of omega-6 fats, which can be inflammatory when consumed
in excess.

Sheep and Goat Milk. These milks can be easier to digest than cow milk.

Fermented Dairy. Fermented products like yogurt and kefir (see chapter 5) can support
healthy digestion, as some of the lactose is consumed in the fermentation process.

Supercharge Your Health with Superfood Smoothies xxv

 Full-Fat Dairy. Skip low-­fat or fat-­free dairy. Fat provides flavor and texture/thickness;
when they remove it, companies add sugar, artificial flavors, stabilizers, and preservatives
in its place.

A note on sourcing dairy: In most cases, the best dairy comes from small producers and is
sold at local grocery stores. Farmers’ markets are a good bet, too. However, some larger
chains carry high-­quality dairy from smaller local farms, so check your local supermarket.

macronutrient ratio or to address a and your palate. I encourage you to use

different health effect or taste profile.
Taste Tip: Advice for improving or
changing the smoothie’s flavor.
Remember, you are your own best
guide in the kitchen. Trust your instincts
these recipes as models, not dogma. There
may be times when you’d like to add more
water for a thinner smoothie, or use fewer
kale leaves. And if you aren’t crazy about
the taste of one smoothie today, tomorrow
is another day!

xxvi Supercharge Your Health with Superfood Smoothies

Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
 So it came to pass that the little motherless boy, weeping for the
mother he was never to see again, was now Sir Henry Alden of
Aldenmere.
At first all was confusion and dismay, but after a time Mr. Eyrle
took the reins of government and restored something like order.
When the news began to spread there were callers innumerable.
The country that night supped full of horrors. Sir Ronald Alden had
died abroad and the shock of his death had killed the beautiful,
lovely wife, so devoted to him.
They robed her in white, as they had done the first Lady Alden;
they covered her with flowers, they laid them on the silent breast, in
the white hands, and crowned with them the golden head. So fair,
and still, and silent she lay when Lord Lorriston and Kenelm Eyrle
between them led the unhappy mother into the room. No words
could tell her grief. Did there flash across her a memory of that
evening so long ago when she had taken Sir Ronald into the sunlit
garden to renew his friendship with Lady Hermione and Miss
Severn?
It was not until she had gone away and the two gentlemen stood
in the death chamber alone, that Lord Lorriston remembered the
packet.
He spoke of it to Mr. Eyrle.
“Will you fetch it, Kenelm?” he said, “and I will read it here in her
presence. I have a conviction that there we shall find the key to the
mystery.”
Kenelm went in search of it. It lay on the table in the room where
she died. He brought it at once to the earl, who took it from him.
“Before I read what may be her justification, Kenelm,” said Lord
Lorriston, “look at her face. Was anything ever so fair, so noble, so
true? That face is but the index of a soul more fair, more noble, and
truer still. Nor murder, nor jealousy, nor unholy hate ever marred the
perfect beauty of that soul, or ever found a home there. That is the
temple of a pure spirit—how could you so misjudge her?”
 “Only from her own words; and those I heard against my own
will.”
Lord Lorriston bent down and kissed that white brow.
“There was no justification necessary, in my eyes,” he said; “still I
will read what is written here.”
 CHAPTER LII.
SIR RONALD’S CONFESSION.

“Not to be opened until after my death,” was written on the outer

cover of the packet in Sir Ronald’s bold, clear hand, “and then to be
read by no one save my wife. Should she die first, under penalty of
my curse I forbid this to be opened, and command it to be
destroyed.”
When Lord Lorriston had read that he showed it to Mr. Eyrle.
“Will it be honorable for us to read the contents?” he asked.
“Yes,” replied Mr. Eyrle, “a sudden idea has occurred to me, and
in your daughter’s name, I think that paper should be read.”
Lord Lorriston read it aloud, kneeling by the side of the beautiful
dead woman, whose love had proved so fatal to herself and to him
who loved her. It began:
“My Dearest Hermione—I am going abroad in an expedition
that may be attended with some danger, although I have every hope
of returning in safety; yet I write this because against the accidents
of life we cannot take precaution. I know not what may happen,
therefore I write this; no one but you will read it—oh, wife of my heart
—and I lay my soul bare before you. Hermione, what has been the
life of my life, the soul of my actions? What has been the source of
all my virtues, all my few good deeds, all that is noblest and best in
me?—my love for you. What drove me mad?—my love for you. Men
have loved before, and men will love again, but I do not believe that
ever one loved a woman so entirely, so devotedly, so wholly as I
loved you.
“My darling, my wife, that love was no ordinary passion, common
words will not tell it. Do you know what dew is to thirsty flowers,
sunshine to birds, light and warmth to fair spring blossoms? that you
are to me. The light of my soul, my one hope and treasure. Ah,
sweet wife of mine, go out in the woods and count the leaves on
each tree; go to the shore and count each grain of sand; look up at
the bright heavens and count each pale, pure star; you could do that
more easily than I can tell you how deeply, how dearly, how well I
love you. The world does not hold your peer, my love. Looking back,
I cannot remember the time when I did not love you with the same
passionate love. When we were children I worshiped the ground you
stood upon, and my love grew with my growth. When I came back to
Aldenmere and found all the promise of your beautiful youth fulfilled,
and you yourself lovelier than dream of poet ever was, I swore to
myself that if any man living could win you I would be that man. My
darling, you know how I tried. I loved you, I sought you, I was never
happy out of your presence, or away from you. My very life was so
wrapped in yours that I had no existence away from you. I can
remember when I first began to hope that you would care for me. I
can remember every faint token of preference you ever gave me, all
your pretty shy, sweet, maidenly ways. Hermione, sweet, true wife,
do you remember the evening out among the flowers when I spoke
to you of love and you did not send me from you? I went home that
night with my heart on fire, resolved to ask you at once to be my
wife, for I could brook delay no longer; my love was eating my very
life away. Darling, was it a sweet, maidenly whim to make me still
more eager, or was it that you were really engrossed? For one whole
week I went every day to Leeholme, but could not contrive to spend
one solitary five minutes with you. Oh, love, my love, had it been
otherwise the story of my life would have been different.
“At last, when I could bear the silence and suspense no longer, I
wrote to you and asked you to be my wife. You remember what
followed. I received a letter, written apparently by you, refusing me
with few words. Hermione, I went mad; my love had been so mighty,
so powerful, so strong, I could not bear the shock of seeing it all
scattered to the winds. I could not bear the refusal. God keep any
other man from suffering what I did then! I could not tell you, darling,
even if I tried. I do not believe any man suffered so much and lived.
A thousand times each day I was tempted to end my own life, but the
Alden pride, so strong in the men of my race, forbade me to die
because a woman was fair and false. Ah, me! what I suffered! I
hated my life; I loathed myself. I tried to drown all memory of my
most fatal love in the whirl of fashion, the pursuit of study. My darling,
I might as well have taught myself to fly as to forget you. Then there
came a time when the sneers of men, the sarcasm of women
aroused all the pride of my nature; it should never be said that I was
wasting away for the love of one who never loved me. I heard that
you were going to marry Kenelm, and I, reckless, despairing, half
mad and wholly wicked, married poor Clarice.
“I should have been true to you, my love—the sweet, pure love of
my youth—I should have been true to you, even though you had
never cared for me. When I married Clarice I meant most royally to
do my duty, to be kind to her, to make her happy, to indulge her, and
I succeeded. I never loved her, but I cannot tell if she found that out.
All went on calmly, if not happily, until the day when I met you in the
woods. You remember it, Hermione, then my heart leaped up like a
burning flame, devouring all before it, and then I learned that most
fatal truth, that you had never received my letter and, what was of
still more importance, you had not answered it, therefore had never
rejected me. Then I learned that you loved me. I wonder that I ever
recovered my senses when I remember the madness of my love.
You remember our farewell. With your last words ringing in my ears
—with your last gentle look haunting me—I swore to myself, like the
reckless madman that I was, to find out who had trapped me, who
had lured me to destruction, who had taken the letter I wrote to you,
and had answered it—imitating your writing and signing your name.
“How was I to find out? I swore that I would move heaven and
earth but that I would unravel the mystery in the end. I need not tell
you all my efforts. For long they seemed in vain, utterly, helplessly in
vain. At last, my attention was called to a strange fact, and that was
that my wife’s maid, Mary Thorne, seemed to be entirely mistress of
her. If Clarice ordered her to do anything she did it if she liked, if not
it was neglected. I found, too, that Clarice had given her at different
times large sums of money. I remonstrated with her, but you
remember her pretty, bewitching, caressing ways. She only smiled
and told me that she had always spoiled Mary Thorne. But,
Hermione, underneath that smile I detected fear, real fear, and I
wondered how it was. One day, going quite unexpectedly into my
wife’s dressing-room, I heard her ask Mary Thorne to do something
and the girl insolently refused. I could not bear that. I spoke sharply
and insisted on her instant dismissal, but to my surprise Clarice grew
pale with fear. ‘I do not think my mistress will allow me to leave, Sir
Ronald,’ said the woman, and she was right. Clarice hung weeping
round my neck and begged me not to send away a maid to whom
she was much attached, and who was most valuable to her. I yielded
to her wish, but from that moment a certain conviction came over me
that Mary Thorne knew some secret she was keeping from me. I
dare not think the secret concerned that letter, though instinct told
me so. I sent for my groom—the one who had taken the letter—and
what I discovered was this: The letter was safely delivered, and
placed on your toilet-table by your own maid. Mary Thorne, who was
engaged in doing something for you at the time, my darling, saw it
placed there. Mary was working in your room, she told me, on the
day that letter was delivered. You were out, and she sat sewing in
your room. While she was there Clarice went in to speak to her, and
bending over the toilet-table, saw the letter in my handwriting
addressed to you.
“Mary told me that she saw Clarice deliberately take up that letter,
place it in the pocket of her dress and then quit the room. She
returned in half an hour and placed upon the table another envelope,
the exact counterpart of the one she had taken away.”
 CHAPTER LIII.
THE SLAVE OF PASSION.

They paused in the reading of that confession, and Lord

Lorriston, looking at Kenelm, said to him:
“This is worse than my darkest dreams ever foreshadowed.”
But Kenelm made no reply. He was thinking of the two fair
women he had seen lying here dead, both slain by the fatal love of
one man. Then they read on:
“I was determined,” said Sir Ronald, “to solve the mystery, to
know who had taken my letter and who had written that false
missive. No one ever knew the pains I took over it, the enormous
expense! But I would have spent the last shilling I have in the world
rather than have failed. For many long months I had detectives
employed secretly, but the mystery seemed so great they could not
fathom it. At last I heard it, as I have said, through Mary Thorne, who
had been Clarice’s maid. She told me this story: On the day of that
visit to Thringston, she was sitting helping in some work in Lady
Hermione’s room, when she saw her mistress start in, and after
looking earnestly at the address of the letter, put it in the pocket of
her dress and go out of the room quietly as she entered it. In half an
hour she returned and placed an envelope there so exactly similar
no one could tell them apart. That little circumstance struck Mary
Thorne as being very peculiar. Most maids make themselves
mistresses of their mistress’ secrets. Mary knew that of poor Clarice.
She knew that Clarice loved me. She knew, also, in common with the
rest of the world, that I loved Lady Hermione. Most things, even our
nearest and dearest secrets that we hesitate almost in telling each
other, are known and discussed in the servants’ hall. There is no
doubt that all this had been told there.
 “So Mary Thorne watched her young mistress. It is not pleasant
to have to write of the treachery of those we have trusted. Clarice
trusted this girl implicitly, and she, in return, betrayed her, read her
letters, watched all she did, and made herself mistress even of the
poor lady’s hidden faults. Clarice stole my letter—the one I had
written to you—stole it, read it, and destroyed it by tearing it into
minute pieces. These pieces, Mary Thorne, with infinite patience and
perseverance worthy of a better cause, put together, and managed
to read sufficient of it to know that it was an offer of marriage from
me to my dearest Hermione.
“When she told me, my first impulse was to raise my hand and
slay. One moment’s reflection showed me that it was, after all, the
fault of her class—that want of honor, that morbid desire to pry into
the secrets of others, all come from the loose, imperfect method of
training.
“I pass it over now, as I did when I heard it. My eyes fell once
more on that letter—the letter that has proved the curse of my life. I
read again the words I had written when full of hope, as a spring
morning is of beauty. They seemed to raise living heads like
poisonous adders and sting me. No further proof was wanting to me.
Mary Thorne had evidently thought some day or other, to make her
price of these fragments of a letter. She had carefully preserved
them—she had gathered them from a fireplace in Clarice’s room.
Then she watched her mistress. Clarice, under pretext of a violent
headache, shut herself up in her room, and spent many hours in
practicing writing. Pieces of paper that the girl had preserved
showed that she had been imitating your handwriting. Should
Kenelm Eyrle ever read this story, or hear of it, he will remember that
we had often in our childish days been astonished by the facility with
which Clarice imitated different handwritings.
“Shut up in her room, she forged that letter in your name to me.
Deliberately, wickedly, cruelly, falsely forged the words that cut me
off from the world of men, blighted my life, marred every hope and
plan, brought curse and ruin upon me, the words that have lost me
this world, and, I fear, oh! I fear, will lose me the next. Mary Thorne
watched her young mistress dress herself and steal unobserved
from the house to post the letter that was my death warrant. And
then she waited and watched, thinking that when I recovered from
your dismissal I should turn with my whole heart to her. I did not do
so. I have never loved any woman but you, my Hermione. I never
could. I tried, but it was not in my power. You are soul of my soul, life
of my life, my heart has never beat for any love but yours. So, my
wife, I heard this tale of treachery, of the cruel and wicked wrong
done to me. Mary Thorne had saved all these fragments of papers
and lived in the hope of some day making money of them. She was
in love with James Conyers, the groom who had taken the letter, and
whose assistance I had sought. The bribe I offered proved sufficient
for her. It was a large sum of money to be paid on the spot, and a
promise that James Conyers should have the farm called ‘The
Willows’ when the lease of the then tenant had expired. One
morning, a beautiful bright morning, when the world was full of
melody, she told me this. We were standing under a grove of tall,
stately oak trees, and, Hermione, as the words dropped slowly from
her lips they maddened me. I can remember watching the sunlight
as it came filtering through the great green boughs. I can remember
listening to the sweet song of a little bird, while mad anger and
fierce, wild passion ran riot in my veins. Ah, my darling! a man
commits a great crime, and his excuse is, ‘I was mad!’ People cry
him down. They say, ‘This is but an excuse; he was sane enough!’
Ah! my wife, I know that madness comes in swift, keen darts of
flame, in a fiery surging of hot blood through heart and brain, in a
sudden impulse that calls in a mighty voice for the deed to be done
—and it is done. As I stood under the trees, Hermione, the sunlight
grew blood-red. The girl, in her weak, shrill voice, finished her tale.
She had given me every detail of the forgery and the fraud. When
her voice ceased, it was as though some cord had snapped
suddenly in my brain, and I turned away. ‘You will not forget your
promises, Sir Ronald?’ she said. ‘No; I will not forget them.’ And as I
walked from the oak trees I kept repeating to myself those words, ‘I
will not forget them!’
“Was I mad? Only God knows. I can remember that every beat of
my pulse sent a burning thrill through me, that the beating of my
heart seemed to come to me as a hot, heavy sound. Hermione, do
you remember? Oh! sweet wife, how it pains me to look across the
gulf of years, the sweet, sinless happy years; do you remember that
one evening at Leeholme Park? You showed some curiosities that
your cousin had brought from abroad with him. Amongst them was a
small, sharp, bright, pointed Grecian dagger, an antique of great
value, with a jeweled handle—one which Grecian ladies wore as a
toy, which had, without doubt, been used in many a deathblow. I took
it up in my hands to admire it, and you gave it to me, asking me with
a smile never to let your cousin know, or he would be jealous.
“It must have been fate that led me that morning to the little
drawer, where I kept all my souvenirs of you. This lay amongst them,
and I saw that one of the rubies was missing from the handle. I had
some intention of going over to Leeholme that day, so I put it in my
pocket, thinking that I would call at a jeweler’s and have it replaced. I
wish it had not been so, Hermione. Had not that weapon been in my
hands, the deed would not have been done. I walked on with the
same hot surging through heart and brain, this same dull roaring, as
of distant cannon in my ears, and the sunlight was all red. It came to
me like a picture in a red frame. I saw a lake—clear, cool, deep, dark
water—with green boughs bending over it. One bough was swinging
to and fro in the wind, and on it sat a little bird singing sweet, jubilant
notes. Clarice sat underneath the tree. She looked so white and cool
in the midst of the hot sunlight, and the mad, red wildfire that danced
before my eyes. She was smiling—looking at the water and smiling
as though her thoughts were happy ones.
“Hermione, how far was I guilty? Standing within the pure
presence of the great God, I swear to you I do not know. I was not
master of myself. The red flame seemed to leap about me and to
mock me! Hisses of laughter sounded in my ears! Oh! my darling,
when I saw her sitting there, so bright, so beautiful, so happy—when
I remembered that her fraud had parted me forever from you, I went
mad! It all returns to me as the memory of a scene in which I had no
share—as though I had stood by and seen some other person do it. I
remember taking out the dagger and creeping silently behind her
chair, she neither saw nor heard me. She was singing in a soft, low
voice to herself. I saw the rings of golden hair on her white neck. A
fury of murderous hate came over me. She had parted me from you.
“A thousand mocking devils seemed to be mocking around me as
I plunged that dagger right into her heart. She uttered no cry, no
sound, but fell with her face foremost into the lake, and I ran away.
“I remember how the green bough was swaying and the little
birds singing when I turned round to see, and there was a gleam of
golden hair in the cool, dark water. Hermione, I am making no false
excuses to you—I am not seeking to clear myself from blame—but
sure as I am now living and writing the words, so sure was I mad
when I murdered the unhappy girl, whose only fault had been loving
me too well and forging a letter that she thought would bring me to
her feet. I was mad! God knows it! Believe me, sweet wife!”
 CHAPTER LIV.
A DREAM AND THE AWAKENING.

Lord Lorriston’s voice died away in a low sob as he read the

words.
“It is terrible,” said Kenelm, “that Ronald is right. When he did that
deed he was mad. What a fearful love his was.”
Then Lord Lorriston read on:
“There came to me, Hermione, a curious instinct of self-
preservation the moment that terrible deed was done. The red flame,
the mocking devils, the hissing flame all vanished. I was cold, sick,
faint, shuddering with awful, unknown dread. I went straight home
into the library. I opened some paper, took a pen in my hand and
waited.
“How long did I wait? Oh, my God! when I remember the agony
of those bright, sunny, cruel hours—how the sun shone, how the
flowers bloomed, how the bees and butterflies flitted past the roses
in the window, how the birds sang, how warm gusts of sweet odor
came floating into the room, and I sat motionless, silent, mute and
dumb with horror, waiting till some one should come and tell me what
was the matter in the woods. Waiting with a soul so full of horror I
wonder that I did not die. Waiting with such sick dread as no words
can realize—every golden gleam of sunlight bringing to my mind the
fair hair floating in the dark water. Waiting until it seemed to me the
whole world was still in one awful pause—the sunbeams never
moved, the listening air was still—the deep, brooding silence grew
so awful, so terrible that I tried to cry out, but could not.
“Then it came—the rush of many feet, the murmur of many
voices, all crying for Sir Ronald—Sir Ronald—for my lady was
drowned in the wood!
 “Mary Thorne had found her, and she was the first to tell me the
tale. There was no suspicion in her mind. I saw at once she never in
the least suspected me of having caused the lady’s death. Oh!
Hermione, I cannot tell you all the horrors. I do not know how I bore
it. A thousand times each day the impulse came to me to own myself
guilty and to put an end to my tortures. I made all kinds of pretexts
and excuses to throw people off their guard, to give them a false
clue, a false step, yet longed that they should turn round suddenly
and find me guilty.
“People talk of remorse. Ah! my darling; the remorseless sting of
that terrible pain never left me. It seemed to eat my very heart away,
to prey upon my mind. It robbed me of health, of strength, of peace. I
suffered terribly—God knows—most terribly for my sin! I could never
tell you how much. Perhaps the most bitter hour of all was when I
stood with Kenelm by the body of Clarice and heard the story of his
love for her. How cruel Fate was! I loved you! Kenelm loved Clarice,
and we were parted.
“Can you imagine what a long, dark, dull brooding dream is,
Hermione? That was mine after she was buried. A man who commits
a murder is hung for the crime; his lot is merciful compared to that of
the man who repents and lives on. I have wept tears of blood for
mine. I would have given my life over and over again ten thousand
times never to have done the deed. I would have suffered the
extremity of torture for the power to undo it.
“But remorse and repentance were all in vain; nothing could bring
my wife back to me. She was gone forever. Nothing could undo my
crime. Its record was written in the Book of God. Who could tear out
the page? Hermione, I wore myself to a shadow. I neither slept, nor
ate, nor rested. My nights and days were one long agony. I used to
lie on my face for long hours together praying God to pardon me—to
pity me—but peace and rest were all over in this world. I only
remember that time as a hideous darkness in which there came no
gleam of light.
“Until, like a white dove over troubled waters, like a sunbeam in
deepest night, like a soft, sweet strain or harmony amongst terrible
discord, came your little note, Hermione, and then, like snow before
the sun, my sorrow seemed dispelled. I dared to raise my head, I
dared to hope that God had pardoned me. I dared to hope white-
winged peace might hover over me once more.
“You know the rest, sweet wife. For a short time I was happy
because my love for you was so mighty there was no room for
anything else in my heart, but after a time the fear, the shame, the
remorse, the unutterable dread, the terrible anguish, all came over
me again, and I knew that in the end they would kill me. Ah! my wife,
what words will thank you for your love and care? Yet the more
noble, the more true I found you, the deeper and more intolerable
grew my remorse.
“Then my little children were born, and I looked in the sweet,
innocent faces. My pain was martyrdom, and as they grew and
began to talk to me, to love me, I loathed myself with the deepest
loathing. Were my red hands such as holy lips should cover with
tender kisses?
“Hermione, I can bear it no longer, so I am going away. It is at my
own instigation that this offer has been made to me. I can bear the
sweetness, the brightness, the purity of your presence, the
tenderness of your love, the affection of my children, no longer. I go
out like Cain, with the red brand upon my brow.
“I shall never return, love. Something tells me that death awaits
me in that far-off land, that I am unworthy to sleep where the heroes
of my race rest. I who married a woman and slew her. I have asked
you, on my return, to meet me under our favorite tree. I shall never
see you there, but go, my love, sometimes, when the wind whispers
in the leaves, and it will tell how dearly I loved you. The great God is
very merciful and He knows what I have suffered. It may be that my
restless spirit will sigh among the branches. Go there, sweet wife,
when the dew falls, and remember that I loved you with a love
exceeding that of all other men.
“You will come, in time, to think of my life as a short one of
tragedy—a love story that ended in madness and murder—a dream
that had a most terrible awakening.
 “You may ask me why—when I have tried so hard to elude all
suspicion, and have succeeded—why have I preserved the dagger—
why have I written this? I cannot tell you, Hermione. There is an old
saying, ‘Murder will out.’ I feel compelled to write this confession.
The idea is strong upon me that if I do not, harm and evil will come to
you, and, my wife—life of my life, soul of my soul—we shall meet no
more. You may never read this; it may be lost, it may be
undiscovered, but if ever it comes to light, in reading it, judge me
mercifully, for I was mad when I took the life of the woman I had
sworn to love and cherish. I pray God in His mercy to pardon me,
and I pray Him to keep from all men a love so terrible as mine.”
And there the manuscript ended. Lord Lorriston laid it down, and,
kneeling by the side of his dead daughter, he wept aloud. It was a
terrible story—a story of love so mighty in its wild passion it had
blighted their lives.
Kenelm Eyrle listened to the deep sobs of the strong man, then
he laid his hand reverently in the folded hands of the dead lady.
“It seems to me,” he said, “that she was born the victim. Clarice
betrayed her, and Ronald’s love has brought her nothing but misery.”
Then they discussed the story of her self-sacrifice. Kenelm
understood it. He told Lord Lorriston how they had opened the box to
find the document, and had found there the dagger.
“This confession must have been lying near it, and Hermione
took it without my knowing. She had read it and declared herself
guilty in order to save him.”
“She loved him well, poor child,” said Lord Lorriston.
“She would have died for him,” continued Kenelm. “She would
have gone, for his sake, to prison, and from the prison to the
scaffold, if by doing so she might have saved him.”
“She loved him dearly. His death has broken her heart,” said Lord
Lorriston. “In her case death is far more merciful than life—she
would have been wretched, knowing his guilt, and wretched,
knowing his death. It is better as it is.”
 Even the father who had loved her so dearly kissed her face and
murmured the same words, “It is better as it is.”
The story of that last hour of her life is known to none. The doctor
said she died of disease of the heart; it might be so—but those who
loved her knew her heart was broken. She had taken out that
strange, sad confession of his, so mingled with love of her in order to
destroy it, and she died with it in her hands.
What passed between her soul and God, who shall tell? Her
terrible sorrow, her shame, her despair—she had to suffer it all
alone; there was no one to help her bear it in that terrible hour; no
one to soothe her agony; she struggled with it and died alone. The
merit of the grand, self-sacrifice she would so willingly have
accomplished was all her own; she had taken upon herself the
burden of his guilt and been willing to suffer for it. All her sweet
woman’s nature rose in rebellion against it—her true and loyal
nature, that had in it no taint of anything mean or false—her delicate,
sensitive, spiritual nature, that loved right and hated wrong, but she
had trampled all under foot, and by reason of her great love had
been willing to die the most shameful of deaths for his sake.
They thought a great deal of it at the time, but in after years they
thought still more. How dearly she had loved him! How great was the
sacrifice she would have made for him, when for his sake she was
willing to die on the scaffold to shelter his sin!
The whole country round was grieved at the intelligence. People
said, with tears in their eyes, they were not surprised; they would not
believe in the doctor’s fable of disease of the heart—that she died
because she loved Sir Ronald so well; she could not live without him.
Gloom and mourning spread from place to place, for she had been
loved as dearly in the cottages of the poor as in the halls of the rich.
 CHAPTER LV.
THE REST IS PEACE.

“There must have been a spell in Aldenmere,” so people said.

This was the second fair young wife who had been carried from
there to the grave; the second who had met with a tragical death.
What would become of the place? Who would take care of the
children? These and a hundred other questions they asked, but no
one answered them.
They did not bury Lady Hermione by Clarice’s side. Lord
Lorriston, knowing all, could not endure the thought of it. She was
taken thence, and the grave is on the western side of Leeholme
churchyard, a warm, lovely, sunny spot, where the sun shines and
the dew falls, where birds sing sweetest music and flowers yield
richest perfume. The story of her deep, true love and unutterable
sorrow, of her grief and heroic self-sacrifice, are buried with her.
The little Harry was heir to Aldenmere, but Lord Lorriston said the
associations connected with the place were all so sad, that the
children should not live there; they should make their home at
Leeholme until the young heir was of age, and then he could please
himself about returning there. The servants were all paid off; they
were not sorry to leave a place rendered gloomy by two such
tragedies. Some of them declared that long as they lived they should
never regain their natural spirits.
Aldenmere was closed. The head gamekeeper and his wife were
put in charge of the place. The state apartments, the magnificent
guests’ chambers, the superb reception-rooms, were all closed and
left to solitary desolation. Lord Lorriston declared that he never even
wished to see the place again—it was so full of sorrowful memories
for him.
 The little orphan children were taken home to Leeholme, where,
under the loving care of Lord and Lady Lorriston, they grew in
strength, beauty and goodness. The after life of Sir Henry Alden, of
Aldenmere, was eventful, but his story has been told by pens more
eloquent than mine. The little child whom Sir Ronald kissed and
blessed before he went on that long voyage from which he was
never to return, made his name famous all over Europe. There was
one thing he never knew, and that was the true history of his father’s
life. Nor was that secret ever known.
Kenelm Eyrle found some means of pacifying the detectives he
had so hastily summoned. They never heard one word of the truth,
nor was it ever told; Lord Lorriston never even told his wife, and the
secret of the first Lady Alden’s death remains a secret still.
Lord and Lady Lorriston found comfort after a time in the children
they had adopted. Baby Maud grew up the exact picture of her
mother, the same sweet face and tender eyes. There were times
when, as Lorriston grew older, he would forget the tragedy at
Aldenmere, and, seeing the golden head, would call her Hermione.
There were times, too, when he longed to take the child on his knee
and tell her how nobly her mother had kept her vow. But he never did
so. The children grew up with no other knowledge save that their
parents had both died when they were very young.
There were times, too, when Kenelm Eyrle regretted his
sternness, his lost desire for vengeance, his long years of search for
the criminal whom he afterward found in his dearest friend. If he had
been less vigorous, less exact, Lady Hermione might have lived. He
was very lonely; the great purpose of his life was accomplished; he
had found out who murdered Clarice, but in making that discovery he
made many others. Clarice was not what he had thought her. He had
believed her one of the noblest and truest of women; now he found
out that she had committed the most dishonorable of all frauds. The
whole of the sad tragedy at Aldenmere was the consequence of her
fault. If she had not stolen that letter and forged another there would
have been no wrong, no suffering, no murder; after all, she had but
reaped what she had sown—lo, that while his pity for her never grew
less, his love, the intense passionate worship he had felt for her
during life and for her memory after death, decreased. He had
believed her an angel—she was but a faulty woman; he had believed
her a goddess—she was but an ordinary fellow-creature, with more
faults and imperfections than fell to the lot of most people.
The very consciousness of this made him more lonely than ever.
He had so fitted his life with a reverential and worshiping love of her,
that now that love had changed its character, his life seemed empty.
He had not been to the Dower House for some time, because he felt
that it was not kind nor wise to add to the perplexities of Lady
Pelham.
One morning a messenger came with a note for him. It said
simply: “You have been so kind to me that I cannot help writing to tell
you that my husband lies even now on his deathbed and has sent for
me. He has promised to do me justice and to clear my good name
before the world.”
A few days afterward he read in the papers that Sir Alfred
Pelham was dead, and before his death he had exonerated his wife
from all blame. He had sworn to her innocence, and had withdrawn
the charges brought against her after begging her to pardon him.
Kenelm Eyrle read it with pleasure. He read long articles in which
the law, as it exists, enabling a man to wrong his wife in so deadly a
fashion, was reprobated as it deserved to be.
He often found himself wondering whether she would return to
the Dower House or not; he found his thoughts returning continually
to her. Her beautiful face haunted him. He remembered her indignant
appeals to Heaven for the justice she was not likely to obtain from
man. It was a source of keen pleasure to him when she wrote to say
that she intended to return to the Dower House, the only place where
she had ever known either peace or happiness. She did return. It
would be long to tell how their friendship ripened into love—how
gradually the living love replaced the dead one in Kenelm Eyrle’s
breast.
He is not so confident now over matters; time was when he would
have laughed to scorn any one who had hinted that Clarice could be
not only replaced but surpassed. Now he was not so violent in his
opinions nor so apt to rush into extremes. The first impetuous love of
his youth was lavished on Clarice Severn; the love of his sadder,
wiser manhood was given to Juliet Payton. They were married some
time afterward and lived happily enough at “The Towers.” Mrs. Eyrle
is very kind to Sir Ronald’s orphan children, for long after Lady
Hermione’s death, Kenelm never saw them without tears in his eyes.
Children of his own make “The Towers” merry with their happy
laughter; life is made up of sunshine and shade. He had suffered
much, but peace and rest came to him after long years. There is one
duty he never omits, and that is visiting the graves of the fair women
who lost their lives through an unhappy love.

THE END.