Holy Kale!

New discovery! Kale chips! I have been using Kale in my juices (not smoothies, I've read it doesn't blend well) But today I discovered cooking Kale! It was AMAZING!

I made 2 batches because we ate the first batch before dinner!

Kale Chips

• 
  
  wash kale and rip off stems
• 
  
  Lay kale on baking sheet
• 
  
  drizzle kale with olive oil
• 
  
  sprinkle with sea salt and pepper
• 
  
  cook @ 350 for 10 minutes on each side
• 
  
  (I did 15 minutes without flipping it & they were perfectly crispy)

And this was the rest of dinner, a wrap with "fake" chicken (I only buy this when it is on sale) couscous, tomato, spinach, onion, and garlic hummus.

I thought you should all see what I have to work around in my kitchen! My kitchen is not big and he is, so I have to step over him every time I go to the fridge! So annoying, but I try to make the best of it because I know some day I will miss stepping over my big boy!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Rest & re-energize!

~A

What is your milk of choice?

Good Morning blog friends! Yesterday I didn't juice or have a smoothie and I felt lazy all day! Now, it may have just been the weather that made me feel so lazy, but I'm curious today to see how I feel after juicing since the weather is rainy yet again!

Yesterday's lunch was Butternut squash and white bean soup with Mary's Gone Crackers. I get this soup from Farm Fresh Delivery & all you have to do is heat it up. Delish!

I wanted to share this ABC pasta with all of you who have kids. It is organic, whole grain, and delicious! It only takes 5 minutes to make and it's one of Sophia's favorites! I just sprinkle it with Parmesan cheese and she gobbles it up! I get mine in my Farm Fresh Delivery bin, but I have also seen it at Whole Foods.

Dinner last night was Sandella's. I got the vegetarian quesadilla, and it was just ok. Didn't I say last time I went there I was going to stick with their salads? Their salads are wonderful!

Breakfast this morning was 1/2 cup Bear Naked granola with 1/2 cup almond milk.

For those of you who haven't tried soy milk or almond milk. Silk makes both of these milks & is my favorite brand. I also really like coconut milk made by So Delicious. These are my favorite "cow milk" alternatives. However, when I was still drinking milk I always bought Horizon brand (or any other organic brand) It is a lot more expensive, but to me it was worth it for my health.

Also, while I had the camera out I took a picture of 3 of my favorite things to put in my smoothies. I am a visual person and thought you might like to see what the packages look like. On the left is the chia seeds, in the middle is Amazing Grass wheatgrass, and to the right is my FAVE the Amazing Grass Chocolate Superfood! I got all of these at the Vitamin Shoppe in Greenwood, but again you can order them online & find them other places I'm sure.

Off to the grocery! I'll show you tomorrow any new exciting finds!

~A

Kohlrabies

And the winner is the one and only player...Denise! Hooray! I'll have to find out if she like these before I buy her some!

You pronounce this kohl (just like the store) rabi (sounds like the name Robby, not the foaming at the mouth animal disease) Kohlrabi is an above ground vegetable from the cabbage family and resembles a turnip. They grow well in a hot or cold climate.

The farmer I bought these from told me to cut off the leaves (they are useable too, however I didn't this time) and then peel it and slice it, and eat it raw. She said her family eats it like chips and dips it into ranch dressing or hummus. They can also be cooked. I followed her advice and ate them raw.

So here is my review of Kohlrabi:
It was a little radish like. However it was very mild in taste and the crunch was wonderful! Definitely something good to eat when you want crunchy! As I was eating this I was dipping it into a vinaigrette dressing and I decided it would be really good if you let it soak in a vinaigrette.


















A recipe I found online said to:
Peal and cut the Kohlrabi into 1/4 " pieces
Cook in salt in salt water until tender
Pour a white cream sauce over the Kohlrabi
Add Blue or Gorgonzola cheese on top




(too cheesy for me, but I may try this sometime for Matt and Sophia)


So here is breakfast today! I LOVE breakfast food!
Oatmeal with these mix-ins:
chia seeds
cinnamon
strawberries
almond butter
pecans

I also had hazelnut coffee with sucanat and a little creamer. I decided today that once this can of coffee is gone I am going to try really hard not to buy anymore, and try to drink green tea instead...we'll see!

Hope you all have a great Monday!

~A

Who wants to play along?

Hello blog friends! I am really excited that you all are checking out my blog and maybe even joining along on your own journey! I think there is a lot of power in surrounding yourself with like minded people and sharing ideas with each other. Maybe we could even start a little dinner group once a month @ different restaurants??? Thoughts???

Yesterday was a fun day of Farmer's Markets. We hit up two, cause that's how we roll! I started the day with a nice "Cherry Bomb" smoothie.

Here are all of my goods from the markets! The white container is my new talc-free lavender powder from Natural Independence, it is local and handmade. No chemicals and no artificial fragrance, just pure ingredients and essential oil! The other goods I got are parsley, kale, peaches, beets, & a mystery vegetable!

Who wants to guess what it is? The winner gets a free bundle of them on me!

Of course, I also had a green juice at the market then we walked down to the circle and I stopped and got an unsweetened green tea @ Starbucks. I really wished I had my stevia. Starbucks didn't have any, so when I got home I loaded a bunch of packets into my purse for future outings! (thanks for the idea Mom)

Dinner was a loaded salad with romaine lettuce, mini sweet peppers, onions, cucumbers, edamame, & raisins with Mary's Gone Crackers.

I also rebounded on my little trampoline for about 35 minutes. I am really lovin' this! At first I didn't know if I should wear shoes or not. I googled it and found that you can do it either with or without shoes. The first day I wore tennis shoes and my feet were a little sore the next day, so every time since then I have done it barefoot and I think I prefer it this way. I love the time of just having on my music and making a fool of myself, and let me tell you I sweat like crazy while jumping. Way more than when I go running believe it or not (may have something to do with my turtle pace when running)

Hope everyone is enjoying Father's Day!

Peace, love, mystery veggies, and of course DADS!

~A

Fasting Friday

Kris Carr is one of my favorites! I am so inspired by her, she a thirty something former actress who was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer nearly 8 years ago and there were no treatments the doctors could do for her, so she has treated herself with whole foods, and many other interesting practices. Kris is a big believer in the power of juicing. One day a week she gives her digestive system a break by juicing all day.

So yesterday, I decided to try it. This certainly isn't for everyone, and I wasn't sure I could do it but I have been researching and learning a lot about it so I wanted to try. Matt wasn't here today which made it a lot easier to not watch someone else eating. Sophia doesn't make a difference on this because I am not tempted by the food she eats.

I started the day with a "Green Monster" with

spinach

chia seeds

water

frozen banana

frozen cherries

Amazing grass

Then around noon I had a fresh juice with

celery

cucumber

apple

lemon

kale

spinach

~This is when I wanted to just forget it and go to my favorite Mexican Joint, but I stayed strong I had another Ultimate Greens Juice (the same one above)

Then I did another workout rebounding! By the way I LOVE doing this!

After working out, I fixed myself a "Cherry Bomb" and Matt a Green Monster!

I felt incredible after juicing all day, I felt so lite! I think I may try this one day a week from now on. I definitely won't do Friday's again, but am thinking maybe Tuesdays or Wednesdays would be good. It will be challenging once school starts again, but I love the way it made me feel so I am going to plan on doing it through the rest of the summer and then re-assess in the fall.

By the way, I highlighted Matt's name in red throughout this post because he I love him, he is fine, & he does a lot of nice things for me! Janet Jackson reference here, from the song "What have you done for me Lately"

Make Juice no War! (Kris Carr says this and I love it)

~A

Where is your local Farmer's Market?

My cousin asked me where I was finding out about where the Farmer's Markets are. You can find farmer's markets in your area by checking out your Local Food Guide or your state's agricultural department. Here are the links for Indiana:

http://www.in.gov/apps/ISDA_FarmersMarket/destination.aspx

http://www.in.gov/icw/files/food_guide.pdfh

Happy Hunting!

~A

You dropped a bomb on me...baby!

So I got an idea for a new "Green Monster" off of another blog and it is AWESOME, and for those of you who are a bit afraid of the "Green" good news! It's brown, as in chocolate brown! The name of this drink is "Cherry Bomb" and I am hooked! I changed it a bit from the blog I found it on. This all goes into the blender:



1 cup water
1 frozen banana
1 cup frozen cherries
1 scoop chocolate protein powder
1 scoop chia seeds (optional)
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 scoop of chocolate Amazing Grass
a splash of vanilla






And here you have it, Cherry Bomb!



















So inside the cup is what the UPS man brought me, My new glass Dharma Straws! I like them because they are glass not plastic so they won't leach plastic chemicals into my drinks, and because they are eco friendly. I LOVE drinking through straws, they make me do a better job of getting my water in!



Lunch was a big gianormous salad that I made!



Dinner was a veggie burger.



Then, we were off to spend time with good friends and sip wine!!!
~A