Monthly Archives: April 2015

My #Smoothie Journey – Fighting back against kid crud #recipe

purple smoothieI’m starting to lose track, but I’ve been at this once-a-day smoothie meal replacement game for about a month now, and we’re on household illness number three since I began. This time it appears to be a kindergarten-sized intestinal virus, and boy, I don’t want to catch it! As it is, I was up all night tending to my poor little sufferer.

Here’s what I concocted in my new Nutri Ninja blender to fight the germs. What do you think?

The Crud Fighter Smoothie

1 handful mixed kale and spinach

1 Cup frozen mixed berries

1/2 green apple

1/2 cup pineapple

1 cup coconut water (optional pineapple flavored)

1 squeeze ginger pulp

Blend it all together and enjoy! It is a bit tart, so honey would be a good addition and also another germ fighter. On a hot day, you could also add ice. This firmly packed my Nutri Ninja single serving cup.

 

 

My #Smoothie Journey – Partner Buy-in

purple smoothieSo, you’re living with someone else, a partner, children, friends, etc. and you’ve started down this new diet journey, cluttering your countertops and refrigerators with new food items and appliances. How do you make them okay with it?

As you know, my smoothie quest is wrapped around a search for better immune support. I have yet to talk my child into so much as trying a smoothie, but my husband has just come on board. It took about 2 1/2 weeks to achieve this, mostly by accident!

What I did was offer him a taste of every smoothie I made. Since most of them aren’t disgusting, he lost his fear of them. I also kept preparing meals, instead of just forgetting him, though the leftovers have really been piling up. Then, I started preparing light meals with light smoothies, and we’re having them both for dinner. Now, he’s ready to start the smoothie-as-a-full-meal revolution with me!

Meanwhile, I’m reviewing The Apple Cookbook by Olwen Woodier (3rd edition) so I’ve been using it to find the complementary light meals to go with the light smoothie. Tonight is going to be an eggnog smoothie to compliment a Welsh Rarebit. Last night we had an apple sausage omelet with a mango veggie smoothie.

What combinations sound like a good idea? Any hints on keeping your home front enthusiastic?

My #Smoothie Journey – Shopping

shopping

I had a rather expensive and scattered shopping trip to Fred Meyer yesterday. Some of my finds are in the picture above. I was in the process of fighting yet another bug and probably became overambitious, shopping for too many different recipes at once. My husband brought the bug home this time. I had 24 hours of sore throat, but I seem to have kicked it!  Did smoothie drinking do the trick? Hard to say.

Yesterday, I tried my first recipe from Marco Canora’s cookbook – a berry smoothie. Extra virgin coconut oil is my new favorite ingredient. How yummy! Today I think I’ll try the same recipe, to use up my berries, but add a scoop of one of the two green supplements I bought on sale yesterday, and see what it does to the taste.

It is undeniable that some of these smoothies are going to cost more than what I usually spend on a meal, but I think I’d rather spend my protein dollars on yogurt than meat, then splurge on fruit I was not eating before. None of the superfood add-ins are cheap either, but I’m in the experimental phase. We’ll see what I stick with. Definitely the coconut oil!

What is your favorite fruit?

Could People Magazine change my life? #Smoothie #recipe #MarcoCanora

canoraWe all have our guilty reading pleasures, and People Magazine has been mine ever since I did a “test” subscription on my son’s new iPad two or three years ago. I can’t say I’ve been excited by too many of the recipes over this time period, but the April 13, 2015 (Avril Lavigne cover) issue may just have changed my life.

In it, there is an article about Marco Canora with three of his smoothie recipes. He’s shilling a new cookbook (which I just got around to buying today) and I’m not sure how important smoothies are to his overall food world, but for some reason, the concept struck me. I’ve made all three of his recipes with variations multiple times in the past 2 1/2 weeks. I’ve dug out a couple of other cookbooks we purchased for my mother-in-law when she was fighting cancer – the Crazy Sexy books, raw food books, smoothie specific cookbooks. My mother caught the bug and bought us the Linda Westwood book Slimming Smoothies. I’m smoothie-ing every day now and just ordered a new Nutri Ninja blender that I hope can manage ice and chia seeds a bit better!

Why am I doing this? My young son and I have traded off seven colds and 1 bout of flu since October. It’s been miserable around here. My husband has only caught a couple of them, but he doesn’t need to be this drained with his very physical job. A few days after I started smoothie-ing, my son brought home the stomach crud. I didn’t catch it! Was it the smoothies? I don’t know, but adding at least another daily serving of veg and two of fruit, as the smoothies tend to have, must be doing something good for my body. Not to mention the added liquid, which I certainly need. I’m trying to replace dinner daily with my smoothie. Will I lose weight too? I need to get on the scale and start tracking.

Anyone interested in joining me on this diet exploration? I’d love to discuss recipes and cookbooks with fellow smoothie-ers!

 

Wedding Matilda by Heather Hiestand: Cover Reveal

Wedding Matilda-highres

Blurb:

Sugared violets, buttercream…but he craves her kiss most of all…

Orphaned as a boy, Ewan Hales is proud to make his living as secretary to the manager at Redcake’s Tea Shop. But the startling news that he’s heir to the Earl of Fitzwalter changes everything. While tendering his resignation to lovely Matilda Redcake, however, Ewan is struck by her spirit, the luscious bow of her lips—and a realization. Matilda might not marry a working man—but will she wed a future nobleman?

Ewan’s unruly hair and roguish kisses are tempting, but Matilda has far too many problems to consider romance. With sabotage at a cake factory threatening the family empire, she must focus her considerable willpower on keeping Redcake’s from ruin—until she learns that her young son has been kidnapped. Together, she and Ewan must uncover the truth before they can savor the sweet freedom of love…

Out this August! Preorder at Amazon, Barnes & Noble or your favorite etailer!

https://heatherhiestand.com/books/wedding-matilda/