Kale-Apple Smoothie

Kale-Apple Smoothie

This morning i made myself a Kale-Apple Smoothie, based on this recipe from Real Simple.  It came out awesome, although i did need to add an extra half cup of water to thin it out enough to easily drink (and for the immersion blender to do it’s magic).  I froze all my fruit and veg the night before, so it was ready to go.  It’s more than two hours later and i still feel content hunger-wise.  This may be one of my go-to’s when i have some kale to use up.  Which right now we do!  This was the last week of our autumn farm share and we received two big bunches of it!

My new favorite treat!

I’ve written previously about my love of smoothies.  There is something nice about a cold sweet drink that isn’t soda or juice.  I’ve recently discovered a concoction that i’m greatly enjoying as i study, and may be a regular treat.

• 1 frozen banana
• 1 cup frozen mango chunks
• 1 cup + some almond milk (to get appropriate texture – more milk makes is slushier)
• some vanilla extract
• some ginger

I’ve been throwing it all in a ball jar and using my immersion blender to make it a creamy, fruity, cold delicious.  It’s a lovely yellow color, and really good after a run.

Today was the official start of my DDP Yoga journey.  I did Energy! this morning, which went well.  Staying in the lunges for the full segment will likely by goal #1.

Healthier Foods

There’s a bunch of food pictures here.  I hope they make you think YUM! instead of ewww.

I’ve been cooking.  A lot.  And spending time concentrating on what i eat.  This means some interesting adventures in the kitchen.  I wanted to share some of my concoctions.

Tuesday night i made Santa Fe Turkey Stuffed Peppers, a recipe from Skinnytaste.  I did have some slight modifications to the recipe because of what we had in the house and i hate using  a portion of a can of beans for some reason.

These came out great, although n

ext time – more seasoning.  I had skipped the spicy peppers, but the recipe needs a bit more of a kick.  They look ugly, as you can see, but taste pretty darned yum and make great leftovers.  I’m also guessing they’d freeze well.  I had it with some brown rice mashed with avocado and a salad.  There are lots of salads in my life right now.

Yesterday’s breakfast was a scary smoothie – almost black!  It was made of:

• 1 banana (frozen)
• 1.5 cups of chard (frozen)
• 1 cup cherries (frozen)
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1 tbsp cacao powder
• 1tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 cup water

It’s official, chard in my smoothies is too grassy-tasting for me.  I need to try mixing it in a combination of greens, not just straight like this.  Other than that, this came out pretty good.  The smoothies aren’t super low in calories and are sugary, but it’s from fruit.  I didn’t get this way from eating too many apples!  It kept me feeling full well until lunch, and it takes a while to drink that much, which feels satisfying in itself.

Last night’s dinner adventure was a stir fry with flank steak, peppers, snow peas and broccoli.  The peas and peppers were in this week’s farmshare, and i picked up the broccoli at the stand.  I don’t cook much beef, but i wanted to make this process easier on the husband, and thought this might perk him up.

I made a sauce with:

• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tsp garlic
• 1 tbsp chili sauce
• 2 tbsp brown sugar

and let the meat marinate in half of it while i chopped  the veggies.  I was worried about it being too spicy, but it was just enough of a kick.  I loved how vibrant the veggies looked and they were cooked just enough.  And for a girl who doesn’t like much beef?  This was awesome.  I’m definitely going to make this dish again with whatever veggies are looking good.

Smoothies

This may come as a shock, but studying for the Professional Engineer exam has been stressful.  My ‘free’ time has been spent, the last several weeks, in front of piles of text books practicing calculations, reviewing regulations and memorizing equations.  Or collapsed in a pile of tears, stressed and afraid.

This situation has created two challenges.  The first is no time to go outside and walk/run.  Last year i ran quite a bit, and then lost it in the fall.  I’d like to get back to it, but the studying and stress created a time and energy crunch that just didn’t let it happen.  The second was stress eating.  I am awesome at eating my emotions, and so found cookies, chips, chocolate and just about anything else to eat to soothe my stress.

The result, of course, is gaining weight, which is the opposite of my long term goals.  So, now that the test is over, i can return to healthier eating and getting more exercise.

When i try to ban something from my diet, i crave it like nothing else.  Or it’s suddenly everywhere, taunting me.  Knowing this, as well as how easily i can become obsessive at tracking calories (i end up going for low-score and not eating), i’m just changing habits towards more healthy ones.

Step 1 of this is changing over breakfast.  I love fruits and enjoy smoothies, but my blender isn’t the best, and i was convinced i couldn’t make a good smoothie with it.  Then, after a little internet-foo, i realized i could use my immersion blender with a mason jar.  This has revolutionized breakfast for me!  So i’ve been adventuring the last few days with mostly fruit combinations.  My goal is to focus on this for a week or two, playing with the ratios and what works best for me.  I’m 3 for 3 on good combos, and looking forward to finding more!

I also signed up for the 2013 CSA at our local farm, which should give me opportunities to play with even more great combinations.  I can’t wait for that to start up in a few weeks!

Pear, banana, strawberry and spinach, i added water & orange juice.

strawberry, blueberry, carrot and spinach, i added water & pomegranate juice

strawberries, blueberries, banana and spinach with water & pomegranate juice