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For The Love of Vitamix | Macho's Favorite Smoothie

 

 

If you'd like to order a Vitamix of your very own... you can get FREE SHIPPING (a $25 savings! $35/CAN)

Just call :: 1-800-VITAMIX

and use the code  ::  06-006644

10 Minute Tomato Soup :: Vitamix

Hey guys!

Clark and I visited some friends a few weekends ago. Folks we've known for years. We both have two kids so when we get together there's no frills... super casual... laid back fun... and usually great FOOD.

They too recently invested in a Vitamix and for dinner my girl, Danna, whipped up an amazingly zesty tomato soup. I loved it so much I insisted she send the recipe along.

And now... I'd like to pass it on to you!

Did you know that the Vitamix has such a powerful "engine" the friction from the blade itself can literally "COOK" food? Yep! That's right - you can make delicious soup in 5 minutes flat in the thing.

Just another reason to love it!

Start out with these ingredients ::

First, preheat your oven to 400... and cube up some good crusty bread. Place on a cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil.

Sprinkle with some good parmesan or romano cheese and a little salt and pepper.

Then pop it in the oven for 6-8 minutes.

In the meantime... Chop up your onion and garlic and get them going on the stove in a little bit of EVOO. This is the ONLY additional cooking you need to do.

While that's rolling - add your cans of tomato to the canister.

Next add the sauteed onion and garlic.

A little white wine vinegar...

Then turn the baby on variable speed 10/High and let er rip for about 4 minutes.

Check on the croutons... they should only take like 6-8 minutes...

Now check the soup... should be steamy after about 4 minutes...

Add your seasonings to taste... s&p, red pepper flakes, heavy cream (Lord have mercy!)... blend another minute. Then serve topped with croutons. :)

Here's the recipe :

You can download the recipe HERE.

Interested in purchasing a Vitamix for yourself?

Get FREE SHIPPING with this code :: 06-006644

@ www.getvitamix.com

or call 1-800-VITAMIX and mention the code.

:)

 

 

Wedding Soup

Hey guys! So - I promised I would post that recipe for the Italian Wedding Soup I've been feasting on all week long....

MMMMMM!

here you go!

You can download it 

HERE

 

Have a great weekend!!

Vitamix In Action :: My Favorite Green Monster Smoothie

As many of you already know. I'm in LOVE with my Vitamix machine. I'm utterly endebted to my brother and sister-in-law for turning me on to it.

After many requests - I decided to just shoot a very quick iPhone video of myself making my daily greenie. At first - there weren't this many ingredients. Only about 3 really. But as my palette has adjusted to the taste I've slowly been adding things that I felt would be great in rounding out the smoothie as an all-in-one-cup meal. I'm talking about extra greens in powder form, coconut water for extra antioxidants, flax oil for omega 3's, and whey protein - in addition to the fresh fruits and veggies that account for the bulk of it.

Lately Clark and I have upped our game a bit and have been drinking one of these as a meal replacement DAILY (v. weekly)... and the benefits are just huge. I feel like my body is just "cleaner." Like my blood is clean or something. I know that makes no sense at all. Sounds freaky, really. But I mean it.

Seriously - my skin looks healthier - my digestive system is operating with good "turnover" and I have the peace of mind knowing that I've had loads of veggies each week - and loads more over the course of a month.

So - here goes... my favorite green smoothie.

Filmed, in the middle of REAL LIFE... My apologies.

 

Enjoy! :)

And  - because I forgot the BEST PART of the Vitamix... here's a very brief P.S. on that...

 

And because I love y'all so so much. And I think that everyone should own one of these. It's an investment - but one that is utterly worthwhile....

Here's a code you can use to get free shipping on a machine of your very own. It will save you $25/US or $35/CAN.

Simply visit www.vitamix.com and use this::

 

CODE :: 06-006644

 

In case you are interested - I purchased a refurbished model 5200. It has the same exact 7 year warranty as the brand new ones!!!

 

And also in case you want to make yourself a grocery list - here's a list of the ingredients in the smoothie ::

 

Katie's Green Monster

Kale (3 large leaves)

Apple (cored, skin on)

Blueberries (handful)

Strawberries (6-8)

Frozen Banana

Carrots (peeled)

Red Bell Pepper (1/4 to 1/2)

Cucumber (1/2)

Flax Oil (generous drizzle)

Coconut Water (1/2c. to 1 c.)

Spirulina Algae Powder (1t.)

Wheat Grass Powder (1t.)

Crystallized Ginger Slices (4-6 pieces)

Whey Protein (1 serving scoop)

 

 

Homemade Bolognese

It's been far too long since we cooked something here on the blog.

I actually have lots of photos waiting in the dusty volumes of Lightroom containing step by step instructions on how to make a few of my favorite dishes. I just need to - well... dust them off and write about them!

Isn't that ALWAYS the case.

One dish - however - I've just been in the groove of making lately - so instead of dusting off some old photos for a post - I decided, today, to write about my most recent culinary adventure.

So these, dear friends are right off the camera for ya.

Homemade Bolognese Sauce.... mmmmm. :)

This recipe began several years ago - something I tore out of Real Simple Magazine... and I've adapted and adapted and adapted. So much so, I'm not even certain it still qualifies as bolognese... I'll let you all be the judge.

So!

Here's what you'll need to get started ::

** Note - you will NOT need a curious 3 year old to make this dish.

This has been a public service announcement.

Thank you very much.

Back to our regularly scheduled program...

 

Lots of chopping here at the start...

Celery, carrot, onion... the trifecta. Plus garlic - minced well.

Then into a large dutch oven, on medium heat with some extra virgin olive oil...

Take a whiff of that! So awesome.

Then add your ground beef (or turkey) or whatever you like... I used beef.

Two times ago when I was making this - I got to this point and realized I didn't have any diced tomatoes in the house. I looked in the pantry for a suitable alternative... so I grabbed a large can of roasted red peppers. Same color, right? Same texture, right? They seemed like they could work...

I drained them off and gave them a quick chop.

What an interesting and yummy twist it gave to this sauce.... I haven't looked back since.

SO! While that is browning... go ahead and chop yourself up a large can of roasted red peppers. :)

Then... add about a cup of red wine to your pot... and also about 1 cup of milk.

And the peppers...

At this point I realized - the beef I had in there was a little too greasy for my taste so I used some paper towels to "wick" up the fat.

Next time I'll use a leaner cut of ground beef or turkey.

Then I added a large can of tomato paste to the pot.

Finally, since I had the diced tomatoes this time - I threw them in too. Plus a large can of tomato sauce.

Now we are really getting somewhere. This feeds an army... Or just you... with plenty to freeze leftover!!

Now for the seasoning... parsley, oregano, nutmeg, salt, pepper...

I give those a chance to blend awhile... simmering about 30 minutes uncovered...

At last - I add plenty of parmesan!!!! Ohhhhhhh yeah.

After you give that a quick stir... add the lid like this... Crack it just a bit to let off some steam - but not SO much that you'll be needing to add any water as it cooks.

Let it simmer on low all afternoon.

Stirring occasionally.

And - just as a side note - if it looked like it was reducing a bit too much - I probably wouldn't add just water (though you could) to thin it out... I usually keep a can of Campbells tomato juice in my refrigerator - so I'd probably use that.... V8 would work nicely too! I'm all about keeping the flavors ROBUST.

____

Now - because I'm an utter bone-head... I forgot to take a photo of the finished dish. Probably because we didn't consume this until late late laaaaate that night.

What I can tell you is - I served it with the loveliest cavatappi noodles. My favorite thing is to just ad the noodles directly to the sauce and mix it all together... YUM!

If I'm totally honest - it's even better the next day like tha - after the sauce has the opportunity to become ONE with the pasta. It's heavenly. I do this most anytime I make spaghetti.

Anywhooo....

Here is a DOWNLOADABLE RECIPE just for you blog lovers!!!!

Bon Appetit!

 

Instagram Love

Decided to do a quickie digi layout with some Instagram pix I've been assembling on the ol' iPhone.

This template was a freebie from the one and only Cathy Zielske.

P.S. Did I tell you guys I broke down and got a Vitamix? Ohhhhhhh yeeeeeaaaaah. And it lives up to every promise of function, muscle, ease of use - not to mention you can make just about anything in it. I'm totally blown away and am in the process of becoming an affiliate. Much more on the Vitamix to come... I've made smoothies, hummus, frozen cappuccino... up next on my list - fresh bread dough, hot soup, salsa, and bbq sauce....

As Ferris Bueller once said of Cameron's Ferrari, I too shall say of the Vitamix...

"It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up."

But back to the matter at hand.

No I haven't documented anything about either child in a matter of months - but dang it - I'm gonna document my culinary adventures and missteps!

:)

_{LAYOUT SUPPLIES :: Adobe Photoshop CS5, Template: Insta Freebie from Cathy Zielske, Cardstock:: Michelle Martin Siri Solids Paper Pack, Fonts: Avenir, Market Deco, Brisk, Embellishments: Katie Pertiet Dried Brush Edges}

Also - a huge thank you to those who have donated to Justin's fundraising challenge. The rest of you - It's not too late! What a great cause (the SOWF) it is - click the post below to make your pledge! xo

 

Guest Post :: Vitamix Bliss - Part Deaux

By :: Elizabeth Martin

 

There are questions I didn’t really answer in my first post about my new Vitamix, so I’m going to try my hardest to dispense with the meandering story-telling and stick to the facts in this post.  I said try.  No promises.  With that in mind, let’s try this again.

 

Things I love about the Vitamix:

 

The variable speed dial – This allows you to chop/mix at a precise level, from 1-10.    If I want to make salsa, I’ll set the dial to 4-5.  If I’m making a smoothie (of the green variety), I’ll turn it up to 10, then switch over to “High” to fully pulverize all the ingredients.  As you can imagine, the versatility of the variable speed dial allows you to make a lot of different types of foods.

 

The plunger – There’s a little see-through topper that inserts into the lid that – like most blenders – contains the ingredients while chopping them like crazy.  But if you happen to throw a lot of ingredients into the canister, you can replace that little see-through topper with the plunger to mash everything down.  It is awesome, and you can mash away to your heart’s content.  The plunger is designed so that it’s long enough to push everything down into the spinning blades, but ingeniously short enough so that it does not also become a victim of the Vitamix’s super fast blades.   

 

The sheer, unbridled power – As I said before, the Vitamix’s motor is a total beast.  My husband used to drive a Honda Fit (he loved that car), and I honestly think that the Vitamix could have taken him in a straight up drag race.  It’s no joke… when I turn it on, our dog runs for cover.  Because this thing has such a powerful motor, you don’t have to spend so much time chopping and cutting things up.  Just throw it in.  You also don’t have to worry about burning out the motor.  My friend who introduced me to the Vitamix had burned out four or five blenders before she finally bought her Vitamix.  Regular blenders usually just can’t stand up if you are planning to make green smoothies long term.

 

The seven-year warranty – My understanding is that if you have any problems at all, the Vitamix people will fix it or replace it – free of charge.  I think this is great, and I hear their customer service is great, too!

 

The cookbook – The Vitamix comes with a fabulous and pretty extensive whole food recipe-book.  I pretty much made up my own recipe for our green smoothies, but everything else I’ve made since pulling this thing out of the box has come from the Vitamix cookbook.  The cookbook is separated into the following categories: beverages, soups, dips & spreads, sauces, breads, breakfast, desserts, dressings & marinades, and recipes for kids.  There is also a separate pamphlet focused on whole grain recipes.  So far, I have made the following: hummus, whole wheat bread, apple pancakes (made with whole wheat flour), and smoothie popsicles (for my kids).  I plan to try making various nut butters (since peanut butter is a no-no) and rice milk. 

 

The dry mix option – The Vitamix also comes with a dry mix canister (if you opt for one of the upgraded packages).  You can use this canister to grind your own flours and grains.  I plan to use this to grind grain for a whole-wheat cereal for my kids.  Really, the possibilities are endless.      

 

The clean up – Again with the clean up.  I love how easy the Vitamix is to clean. This is a big plus for me!

 

The three-payment option – I have the Vitamix 5200, and I’m not gonna lie… it wasn’t the cheapest appliance.  My husband, kind soul that he is, knew that I really wanted one, so he researched what kind to get (there are a few different versions sold at different retailers).  We were thinking about buying one from Williams-Sonoma, but then my husband discovered that if you buy the Vitamix directly from the source over the phone, they offer you the opportunity to spread your payment over three months.  Which is pretty sweet. 

 

(Again, it’s not cheap… but if you’re gonna use it long term, it’s totally worth it.  We used our regular KitchenAid blender for several weeks before finally purchasing the Vitamix.  There is a world of difference.  Where we were kind of chewing our smoothies before, the Vitamix is able to really mix everything up so that it truly is a green smoothie.  It is downright frothy!) 

 

The health benefits – I feel that I have benefited from this purchase in so many ways that I thought the best thing to do would be to try and stay concise.  He it goes:

 

Headaches: I have not had a headache since I started drinking my daily green smoothie.  This is saying a lot for me.  I used to be almost immune to Advil because I took it so much.

 

Weight loss: I have lost about 7 pounds with this dietary change.  That is always a fabulous benefit!

 

Mental clarity: I feel I am able to focus more on my tasks at hand.

 

General digestive regularity: This dietary choice has so much fiber in it that I have been amazed at how regular I am… and I was already a very regular person, before the green smoothies… if you know what I mean.  (I’m talking about pooping.) 

 

Less tired/more energy: I have been a lot less tired, which has made me feel just happier during my day.  It takes a lot of energy to keep up with my kids… 

 

Skin, nails, and hair: The green smoothies have definitely improved all of these.  My skin is clearer than it has been in quite awhile.  And my nails and hair are so much stronger and healthier looking.  I have a lot of bounce in my bobbed haircut!

 

 

The only downside: The only thing that has been less than fabulous is getting my mouth used to the acidity of the smoothie.  Because there are so many fruits in the drink itself, my mouth took some time to adjust and so I had a few tender taste buds at first.  Not really that big of a deal.  

 

So if you can’t tell, I absolutely love the Vitamix.  I really can’t recommend it enough.  If anyone still has specific questions that I didn’t answer let me know.  I would love to help you out. 

 

Thanks for reading!

 

PS – Wheat germ is great!  I use Mother’s Natural.  I buy it in the organic (frufru section) near the different flours and oats. 

Surfboard 2.0

Remember this project?

Part One

Part Two

Remember how it went so horribly wrong at the end?

Well - a whole year has gone by while this thing sat in Macho's room - an eyesore of a home accessory.

A couple of weekends ago I dragged it's sorry ass out to the garage - determined to begin it's second refurbishing.

Ugh... that clear coat epoxy resin never really cured properly so - it was super sticky all this time. And a year's worth of airborne dust is now stuck to it.

 

N i i i i i c e.

What. A. Mess.

Anyway - I enlisted this guy and this guy to help me out.

My other little brother "T" was in town visiting and he helped out too while Macho did a lot of supervising.

While the first coat of citrus stripper did its thing - we took ourselves a boat ride and packed a picnic lunch. Of course Macho provided entertainment...

teaching us all how to growl properly...

And this little one... 

Well, she just sat around looking good.

"Daddy, please wave to all my fans out there."

"You guys like my new bikini?"

Of course - daddy also always knows the EXACT proper moment to hand her back to me.

I think it's pretty obvious by my smiling that I'm utterly unaware of what's happening.

Motherhood.... where's the respect?

At any rate, while the surfboard was marinating in heavy chemicals in the garage - we were having a few hours of fun.

When we returned we were really getting somewhere...

This was after two applications and two scrapes...

The box o' sludge that came off...

I'm thinking one more application and we should be set...

Again - during the marination phase - we occupied ourselves.

With a feast.

Look at Roxy... she's all.... mmmmmmmm. For moi?

And - this photo - man - it has a story....

Ok - I'll tell ya.

So - several months ago while were up visiting Mimi and Grandpa... Apparently my dad was doing something, and the word "Damn" accidentally slipped out - and Macho picked it up.

Well - it all came full circle in this moment. I guess the "thing" that Grandpa was doing - was maybe hitting something - or working on something - when he said "Damn it."

And over the past few months since that visit, occasionally - we've caught Macho saying "Damn it." "Damn it." Usually when playing with toys - crushing them together - in the playroom, all alone. And we'd either ignore it (sometimes when you make a big deal out of things like this- it only fuels his desire to say it MORE) - or we'd try to correct him quickly and move on.

Well, this particular night - as we had all the crabs spread out before us - Macho sits down and grabs both mallets and begins to bop up and down in his seat chanting :

"We gonna DAMN the crabs! DAMN the crabs! DAMN the crabs!"

Full circle moment...

DAMN = hit.

OOOOOoooooohhhhhhhh. DAMN the crabs! I get it!

And ya know what - while trying really really hard to keep my giggle contained - we all sorta explained his misunderstanding of the word - and now he's MUCH clearer on the issue.

Anyway - that's just a funny little sidenote.

We did put a friggin' wreckin' on those crabs though....

18 Jumbo's divided by 3 adults. Hammered it out. Right?

Then... it was back to the garage to check on our progress...

And seriously - I have to include Clark here... It's not like he wasn't involved. In fact - he was probably more involved than I was half the day... He just can't stand to not be included in anything that's going on in his "Happy Place."

So - Clark did one final scraping then wiped the whole thing down with an old rag and some Acetone and we got this beautiful thing you see here...

Voila. Back to square one and feeling great about it.

Now... the matter at hand will be taping it off again - with expert precision - exacto blade style.... Then spraying it with red lacquer... again ... then adding all new board stickers... again  ... then maybe a spray coat of polyeurathane. NO MORE clear coat resin.... Man alive - unless your surface is dead flat and straight - fugettabout that stuff.

Please stay tuned.... as our daytime drama "Surfboard 2.0" continues...

:)

 

Guest Post :: Vitamix Bliss

By: Elizabeth Martin

 

(Warning right up front… this is kind of all over the place.  But we get somewhere by the end.  I think.)

I used to never think about the food I ate, but all that changed when I had my son.  Jack is a healthy, happy little guy -- but he does have a good deal of allergies, and some of them happen to be food related.  When he was still a baby, we discovered that he was allergic to: eggs, milk, peanuts, and a few different kinds of tree nuts.  To put it mildly, this was a game changer for me.  I went from being blissfully unaware of food content to having to look at every label and every ingredient of every piece of food I bought.  (Take a wild guess at how many different types of food have milk and/or eggs as an ingredient or were processed in a plant that also handled nuts.  If you said: “Damn near everything,” you’d be close.)  Because I was still nursing him at the time, I had to be very focused on the food I was eating.  And when he stopped nursing, the focus turned to his own diet and, by extension, the rest of the family.  Basically, we’re like vegans that eat meat instead of peanuts. 

[SIDE NOTE:  I am not one of those crazy hipster moms that think food allergies are fun and trendy.  I did, however, attend a food allergy “support group” on one occasion when I was still coming to grips with all of this.  That was an eye-opener.  Some children in attendance were allergic to pretty much everything but water and celery.  That made me feel lucky.  Other kids, however, were proudly hailed by their mothers as being allergic to things like nutmeg and cinnamon  -- and nothing else.  I’m not kidding.  (I wanted to chokeslam those bitches.]

At first, I was very, very angry about all of this.  I begrudged the parents who could go out to eat with their kids, get food at a drive thru, and not give a second thought about what other kids in the playgroup were eating.  Sometimes I suffer momentary bouts of HDS (high drama syndrome -- that’s a technical term, usually accompanied by imaginary chokeslams). 

Now, however, I think it was a blessing in disguise because I have become much more conscious of what my family eats.  It was a natural progression for me to go from focusing solely on avoiding certain foods and ingredients to becoming interested in organic food and foods rich in essential vitamins and nutrients.  Reading food labels for hours on end will do that to you.  Bottom line, I have become a big believer that your body, health, and general wellbeing is very much linked to what you eat.   (Okay, so in that sense, I guess you could say that I’m one of those crazy hipster moms.)

So what have we decided to do?  Actually… nothing all that extreme or drastic, really.  We eat in shifts at our house right now anyway, which -- for this purpose at least -- works to our advantage.  Basically, my husband and I eat what we normally do for breakfast and lunch, but we’ve replaced our dinner with a “green” smoothie.   As a result, we now “eat” (drink) more fruits and vegetables in a week then we used to have in a whole month.  

 

So… after all that meandering backstory, here comes the main thrust of this post: I just have to sing the praises of my brand new Vitamix! 

We’ve been drinking these green smoothies for a while, using our regular kitchen blender, but we recently bought a Vitamix to make the process easier.  I’m not sure if you’ve heard of Vitamix -- I never had before I saw one at my friend’s house last year -- but they are amazing!  Take a blender, and then add the motor of a lawn mower.  These things are fierce! 

(This part coming up sounds like a shameless infomercial plug, but it is true…)

The Vitamix is so versatile and powerful that it can replace the following appliances in your home: the blender, the food processor, the bread-maker, and even the ice-cream maker.

So this has become dinner for my husband and me:

 

Here is a list of the ingredients for one drink:

A handful of pineapple;

Three strawberries;

A handful of blueberries;

One banana;

Half an apple;

One carrot;

Half an avocado (not pictured, but usually included);

Two teaspoons of wheat germ; and

Lots and lots of at least two of the following greens: watercress, kale, collard greens, and/or spinach.

Because freshness is key to all of this, I make about two or three trips to the grocery store every week.  Of course, my frequent trips to Giant could also be a product of my complete inability to make a decent grocery list, but let’s blame it on something else.  In any event, my daughter actually cheers when I pull into the grocery store parking lot… so at least we all enjoy the experience.  (I’d cheer, too, if I got to cruise around in the car cart.)

I did buy a book to help me out with coming up with recipes when we first started all of this, but to be honest, I haven’t used it much.  It was great for telling me all the vitamins and nutrients that could be found in specific fruits and vegetables, but after that I kind of just took it from there.  I keep the basic things that I have listed above and then sometimes add a few things that look good to me in the store.  I am sure some of you are thinking, “You have got to be kidding.  You eat the same thing every night?”  Well, yeah.  My husband and I are boring, and variety is not necessarily the spice of life for us.  If you are thinking of trying this and feel that you may need a little more variety… buy a recipe book!

But no matter what you end up deciding to include, never, EVER forget to throw in a banana.  For real.  Be advised: the term “green smoothie” is simply a euphemism for “hey-this-looks-like-a-tall-glass-of-baby-poop.”  But as long as you include a banana in the mix, all you taste is the banana.  I’m totally serious.

Perhaps best of all, clean-up with the Vitamix is wonderful -- it's beyond easy.  With my blender, I always ended up taking it completely apart and washing every piece by hand.  This became tedious after the first night.  With the Vitamix, all I do is rinse the container out, fill it up halfway with warm water, add two drops of liquid soap, put it back on the base, and turn it on for thirty seconds.  Then I rinse again.  That’s it. 

Besides green smoothies I have also made whole wheat bread in my Vitamix.  It was so easy and ended up great.  I can’t wait to use my new “toy” to its fullest potential. 

 

Raw Week

On Sunday Clark and I decided to go raw for a week.

We packed up the kiddies and visited his family up in western PA over the weekend and during our trek I took a look around our van and silently lamented what a big bunch of garbage eating punks we all were. Then I started to think about life "outside the van." All the chips, frozen pizzas, Chick Fil A, Diet Pepsi, M&M's, hot dogs, etc. etc. etc. Made me quite sick at myself. Life is hectic and busy and sometimes frozen pizzas and Chick Fil A are all you can do at mealtime to save your sanity...

But - I've been wearing out that excuse. I'm tired of feeling tired. I'm tired of my skin breaking out all the time. I'm tired of having lower back pain like a MOTHER. I'm tired of the vicious cycle that carbs and sugar provide... the high and the ridiculous low. And the craving for more. Poor Clark has to contend with NO caffeine too. Since being pregnant with Macho - I swore off that stuff. Been a decaf girl for over 3 years now. Not looking back.

Clark and I are both fairly "lean" people... good genes I guess - because our diet and exercise routine would suggest that we should both weigh over 200lbs. So really, this week isn't about weight loss. It's about hitting "reset" on our digestion, packing ourselves with healthy fiber, fats, vitamins and minerals. It's about more energy and better overall health.

I've done detoxing in the past... In fact, I had a spare one of these in the pantry. So Clark is using that in combination with our raw diet. Since I'm still nursing the little one, I didn't wanna overdo it with a lot of herbal supplements that would pass through to her. So I'm just doing the raw food part of the cleanse.

I didn't read any specific book - or follow any specific plan, per se... Just googled "raw diets" and followed a few links to find out what was "approved" and what was not. YES :: Raw Fruits & Veggies, Uncooked Nuts, Dried Fruits (unsweetened), beans... NO :: Meat, dairy, anything cooked, grains/starches, anything with refined sugars. And I watched a few YouTube videos on some good, healthy recipes.

I have found that when I'm told EXACTLY what and when to eat I begin to obsess about food and thus become ravishingly hungry all the time. It's just my personality to become obsessive about things. So I decided reading a big book would be bad...

Food just needs to be a part of my day - not the focus of my day.

On our way home on Sunday, we stopped at Whole Foods and stocked up on things like, raw cashews, almonds, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, kale, spinach, flax oil, spirulina powder, unsweetened coconut, coconut water, dried fruits... and then went to my local grocery store and purchased just about every type of produce they sold.

Here's what my kitchen looked like on Sunday night...

(forgive the iphone photos)

Ummmm... honey? I think we need a bigger fridge.

And we got started making green smoothies, salads and other wonderful raw dishes...

Love Instagram by the way... :)

Macho wanted a "red" smoothie - little did he know there were beets and a carrot in there with his strawberries!!!

This is an adapted recipe from a site I browsed called www.thebestofrawfood.com.

Basically it's a cucumber "boat" filled with fresh guacamole (avocado, tomato, onion, cilantro, lime juice and salt). I've eaten this twice now and it's AWESOME.

For dinner one night I made this salad... Spinach, red pepper, cucumber, grape tomatoes, black olives. I had some homemade pesto in the refrigerator that I made a couple weeks ago... so I took a scoop of that - added the juice of one lemon and a bit more olive oil and made more of a pesto vinagrette for on top. Sooo delish.

At night I usually make a "green" smoothie for Clark and I. One thing I've learned - don't skimp on the water base (I've been using coconut water)... This smoothie was waaay too thick. And though the flavor was great - the consistency made it really hard to drink. This bad boy was packed with kale, spinach, carrot, avocado, strawberries, blueberries, apple, pineapple, spirulina powder, flax oil and banana... A meal in a cup.

From what I understand... the whole juicing/smoothie thing is great because it takes out the "chewing process." Therefore, the fresh foods are already semi-broken down when they enter your body and the absorption of nutrients happens in like 20 minutes. Ka-chow!

This is what I've been eating for breakfast. And, truly - I've had to stop myself from eating it multiple times a day... Fresh berries, raw nut and dried fruit mix (cashews, almonds, banana chips, sunflower kernels, raisins, cranberries), flax seeds, unsweetened coconut... with rice milk on top.... AHHHH MAZING.

On the other hand...

I have had a few missteps. Like this particular smoothie.

My attempt at a savory "Bloody Mary" style green monster. Celery, tomato, carrot, kale, salt, lime juice, parsley.

Yep - the gag reflex won out on that one and I stuck to crudites and hummus for din-din.

Ahhhhhhh...

 

So... how am I feeling?

PROS::

I think it's pretty amazing how these foods sustain you. I mean, I really didn't have any sugar/carb withdrawl - and I haven't been hungry AT. ALL. That's just plain incredible in my book.

Plus - on days when MK is here watching the kiddies and I'm in my hole working... By 3pm I was usually doing everything possible to keep my eyes open... Probably because I'd had a hot dog and chips for lunch with a Diet Pepsi (caffeine free, of course) followed by some Oreo's or a handful of M&M's....Talk about JUNK right into my trunk.

But now - I cruise right along through the afternoon... no fatigue.

My skin is showing signs of improvement... Another few days and I'm thinking I'll be in better shape there. Being 33 with blemishes is just stupid. Like, enough ALREADY!

And lastly - and this may sound weird... I feel like the blood pumping through my veins is "cleaner." Sounds strange, I know.... But hey, I AM STRANGE!! Haven't you people figured that out yet?

CONS ::

I have had a pretty bad sore throat for the past few days but I'm thinking that's unrelated...

I was SUUUPER bloated last night. You'da thought I had a bun in the oven again. I need to do a little reading on how to combat that issue.

Finally - I need to do a little more research on how to get kale to taste good in the blender. Now that I "know that taste" I'm having more difficulty masking it... Where - the first night I just gulped it down and thought it tasted great because I'd never had it before. I've been saving my spinach for salads becasue I don't think I can do kale with a fork... but that may have to change.

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My brother and sister-in-law are also inspiring us. They recently purchased a Vitamix and are so in love with it. In their case, they have replaced one meal a day with a green smoothie. They've been doing that for a few weeks now with great results... Liz has offered to write another guest post on this - which I'm really looking forward to!!!

SO folks - have any of you ever done this? I'm really digging it. And I'd love to hear what you've done! Post a comment and let me know!