Blogging. I have been a busy bee and blogging has unfortunately taken a backseat. I am in the midst of working on a number of personal and work related projects one of which will be over in two weeks and than means back to regular blogging and daily posts.
Green Smoothies. It’s finally starting to look like summer here and with summer comes yummy fresh foods. One thing I have been missing lately are green smoothies & green monsters– I think it’s time to make a come back.
Hiking. Again one of those summer things that we hope to do a lot of this summer. We are even going to pump it up notch and go backpacking (do some over night hikes) on the Long Trail. So June please come soon so I can blog more, hike more and work (a little) less.
Yoga. Lately I have been so dedicated to my C25K and strength training that yoga has taken a back seat. At this point my body hates me because it is getting so tense – it is screaming for yoga and I should probably listen.
Yesterday all I seemed to want to eat was soygurt- Whole Soy of course- I had it for breakfast and lunch. I would have had it for dinner as well but hubby stopped me. Yesterday a.m. I had a big beige bowl of vanilla soygurt with cashews, flax sprinkles, oatmeal (not cooked) and a banana. I had seen on Caitlin’s blog about using uncooked oats in her oatmeal and I was skeptical at first but decided to give it a try. It is actually really good and makes the yogurt have a little more body and makes it filling. I even got the hubby to try it since to his disappointment I did not make granola as I had intended.
Disclaimer: Paramount Coffee provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.
Since hubby decided to work from home/day a half PTO I didn’t go to the coffee shop like I usually do, we both commute to work right now and I have to be to work later than him so I hang out at Speeder and Earl’s sipping coffee and doing school work or blog posts. Anyways, since he didn’t go into work I didn’t have to leave early so I enjoyed some of my “weekend coffee” which lately has been from Paramount Coffee who was kind enough to send me a few samples of their coffee (I recently spotted some ground flavors at the local TJMaxx). My favorite of the three I received has been this Fair Trade Organic Community Blend which is a medium roast and is “A combination of Asian and South American coffees in a medium-dark roast. A very rich cup with low acidity and pleasant flavor. (source).” I have also been enjoying the Fair Trade Organic Swiss Water House Blend (Decaf) which I like to sometimes mix with my caffeinated beans to cut back on the caffeine. Both of these have been really tasty and I can’t wait to try the third one I received which is a Fair Trade Organic Music Morning- sounds uplifting eh?
Following work I headed straight home to get something to eat since all I had at the office were some veggie sticks, pretzels and Tribe Forty Spice Hummus which is my absolute favorite! However I was super hungry when I got home and to my disappointment the wonderful smell of food that I came home to was non existent, hubby had made himself lunch and it smelled amazing! So I turned to the soygurt this time mixed berry and added a little oats and flax sprinkles. I also made hubby and I a green smoothie to share that included a frozen banana, a packet of chocolate Amazing Grass, unsweetened chocolate Almond Dream, a small spoon of Sunbutter and lots of spinach. I also enjoyed a tangerine and some water out of my new water bottle from Earthlust. Isn’t this water bottle so cute? GUESS WHAT! I have one to give away to you all as well so keep your eyes peeled for a post tonight about how you can enter to win your own stainless steel water bottle from Earthlust.
I forgot to take a picture of dinner but don’t worry it wasn’t very appealing to the eyes however it was delicious! We had a mix of onions, peppers, celery, cabbage, mushrooms, broccoli and tofu all stirfried up with BBQ sauce, soy sauce, chili flakes, garlic powder, and a little brown rice syrup and I served it over greens. It was really delicious but I was hungry later so I had a small banana with Sunbutter as we caught up on an episode of House and The Amazing Race- I forgot how much I love this show, GO COWBOYS! Haha.
This morning I am just hanging out at the coffee shop sipping on some decaf maple french toast coffee and I ate a bagel with hummus and tomato that I had picked up before we left home. You’re probably saying why not just get a bagel at Speeders? Well I would but they have Montreal style bagels which have eggs in them! I know right BOOO! So they are usually pretty good and don’t say anything if I eat outside food- love Speeders.
Oh and P.S. I found the charger for my camera battery so no more mediocre iPhone shots!
Question of the Morning: What is your favorite soygurt brand and flavor?
In the past 2 years I have really gotten into the raw foods diet and although I do not practice it as much in the winter I still try to get in at least one raw meal a day (we live in VT and produce is not so great in the winter). Somedays this means just keeping it simple and having a green smoothie usually for breakfast, sometimes at lunch. The recipe book Green Smoothie Revolution by Victoria Boutenko has been a great resource for making some delicious green smoothies as well as providing a ton of information about green smoothies in sections such as The Importance of Rotating Greens in Your Smoothies and Food Combining in Green Smoothies.
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The second part of this book features:
Tips and Tricks for Smoothie Preparatoin
Green Smoothies for Beginners
Supergreen Smoothies
Savory Green Smoothies and Soups
Green Smoothies for the Adventurous Souls
Green Puddings
Green Smoothies for children
Green Smoothies for Pets
Green Smoothies for Body Care
So far I have been mostly playing around with recipes from Green Smoothies for Beginners, Supergreen Smoothies and Green Smoothies for Children however I am interested in trying some green soups and puddings soon. The great part about this book is the variety of recipes there are, 200 to be precise, that are all fun and different. The recipes use a variety of greens to keep things interesting as well as a number of great fruit and veggie combinations. My favorites (so far) have been the Medallion Melon which is simple cantaloupe and romaine- simple and delicious. However, my absolute favorite and so far go to smoothie has been the Winter Green Smoothie which is berries, spinach, water and ginger- soooo good.
Over all this is a great book for those interested in raw foods, green smoothies and healthy new ways to get greens into ones diet.
Blogger Disclosure: Cooking For A Vegan Lover received this book at no cost from the publishing house for review.
