BOSS Smoothie

The Husband and I often unnecessarily create acronyms for everyday random things.  We don't constantly talk in acronyms like robots, but make one up because we think it's funny, use it heavily for half an hour, then forget about it thereafter until we think of a new one.  Because that's how we do.  Love that man.  For example,

TMB: tight mama booty
SMS: so much spit-up (thanks Ben)

And today, the BOSS Smoothie.

BOSS Smoothie (Banana-Orange-Strawberry-Soy Milk)
Time: 5 minutes
Servings: 1-2 servings

Ingredients:
        2 oranges, peeled
        1 cup frozen strawberries
        1 frozen banana
        1 cup unsweetened soy or other plant-milk
        1 cup ice cubes

Instructions:
1.)  Add all ingredients to a high-speed blender.
2.)  Start on low speed and gradually increase to high.
3.)  Blend for 45-60 seconds on high speed.  Serve immediately.

Amy's Notes:
I whipped up this little yum yum before Kevin headed to work today and we split it.  Could easily be one large serving too.  And now, a bit of Kevin and Ben humor to start your weekend.

Great job Ben!

We're so proud of you!

Here Dad, have a beer.  You saw nothing.

Health and Happiness,

Amy

Mojito Green Smoothie

Happy Earth Day to all!  I thought I would share with you guys a little info-graphic that I made to send out at my work.  It is fairly general and doesn't include as much information about diet and the health of the environment as I would normally put in.

Some of you who have read my "about me" section may know that my college major was Environmental Science, so I am very passionate about doing what we can to preserve the world that we have.  When I started following the Nutritarian lifestyle, I did it for weight loss and my health.  As time has passed, I have come to find that one of the best ways that you can care for the planet as well as your own health is by eating a whole foods, plant-based vegan diet that focuses on organic and local produce.  

I have had the whole foods part down for a while, but now I am starting to focus more on where my food comes from and how it was grown.  I buy organic when possible (available and financially reasonable), and have been striving to get more of my food from closer sources.  I really can't wait for summertime when there is a farmer's market only 3 miles from my apartment, to which I plan to bike to and from.  When I'm the one biking, and I get all of my energy from food that was grown in the sun, you can't get more solar powered than that!

I haven't featured a smoothie recipe in a while, so I thought Earth Day seemed like a great day to have a green smoothie that is full of nutrients and delicious!

Mojito Green Smoothie
Time: 5 minutes
Servings: 1-2 servings

Ingredients:
        2 packed cups/large handfuls of organic spinach, washed
        1/2 cup plant-based milk
        1/2 cup ice cubes
        1 frozen banana
        2 dates, pitted
        Juice from 1 lime, or about 1.5 Tbsp
        2 Tbsp fresh mint

Instructions:
1.)  Place all ingredients into a high-speed blender.
2.)  Blend on high until smooth and creamy.
3.)  Enjoy immediately.

Amy's Notes:
This recipe packs quite a bunch of spinach, with the green taste masked deliciously with the lime and mint combo.  Who needs a mojito with liquor when you can have greens?!

What are you planning to do this next year do decrease your environmental impacts?

Amy's Immune Boosting Juice

Blah, I'm sick at home with a head cold today.  I think I can blame it this time on a compromised immune system from staying up late and drinking a bit too much over the weekend.  Luckily, at work I have been switched over to a laptop with docking stations at both of my offices, so I was able to take it home and get some work done this afternoon.  Before sitting down to work, I decided a nice fruit and vegetable juice could help kick my immune system back into gear.

Amy's Immune Boosting Juice

Time: 15 minutes
Servings: 1-4 (makes about 4 cups)

Ingredients:

4 green tart apples, cored
2 medium oranges, peeled
1 large grapefruit, peeled
1 lb organic carrots, tops removed
1 beetroot, peeled
2 inches peeled fresh ginger (optional)

Instructions:

1. Wash and prep all ingredients.
2. Run through a juicer extractor (citrus juicers won't work for this).
3. Stir, skim off any excess foam, and serve over ice or chilled from the fridge.
4. Consume the same day to take advantage of the fresh immune boosting juice!

Amy's Notes:
This juice was so pleasantly sweet from the fruit and carrots, but had a wonderful earthy taste from the beet.  I could tell after I had drank some of the juice my energy levels seemed to be up, and I was able to concentrate better as I worked.  I just know that all of those fresh nutrients are doing wonders to help my immune system fight off this cold.

As another note, I did not have ginger on hand to use in this recipe, but if I did, I would have tossed it in there.  Not only does it give any juice it is in a nice sweet, clean tang, but it is another great one for your immune system.

For those of you that are interested, here is some more information about the immune boosting power of all of the ingredients from my juice today:

Apples: Apples contain quercitin, a flavonoid antioxidant which has immune boosting properties. Quercitin reduces the incidence of the common cold, has anti-inflammatory properties, benefits the heart, reduces risk of cancer, and also helps prevent allergies. Since apples are abundant in the fall I always like to include them in my juice recipes. (source)

Oranges:  Juice from oranges give your body a kick of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Folate or Vitamin B-9, and Copper.  All are vital nutrients in a well functioning immune system.  (source)

Grapefruit:  Like oranges, grapefruit is packed with Vitamin C.  Vitamin C-rich foods like grapefruit may help reduce cold symptoms or severity of cold symptoms; over 20 scientific studies have suggested that vitamin C is a cold-fighter. (source)

Carrots: Carrots are one of the most overlooked vegetables for overall health. They benefit the heart, lungs, skin, eyes, and  immune system. Carrots contain beta carotene which fights infection. Other orange vegetables such as butternut squash, pumpkin, and sweet potatoes also contain beta carotene as well as vitamin C, another immune boosting nutrient. (source)

Beets: Beet juice does not only enhance the immune system; it can also benefit your health in other ways.  Some of the essential nutrients that are present in beet juice are beta carotene, vitamin C, carotenoids, sulfur, calcium, iron, manganese, and potassium choline.  This drink can improve the function of the brain, cleanse blood, and strengthen the gallbladder and liver.  (source)

Ginger root: Check out this list of reasons ginger is great for your immune system.

Spinach Melon Green Smoothie

Happy Friday to everyone!  I spent the morning cleaning, the afternoon with my mom going around town, the early evening shopping with Kevin, then a quick workout before my dinner smoothie (see recipe below) and watching the Mariners while relaxing on the couch. First, is my daily log, and stay tuned for my super simple green smoothie recipe after!

Food Log:

• Breakfast: lots of water
• Lunch: Ethiopian Vegetarian Combo Split with my mom... (check out the pictures below too!)
• Veggie Sambussa Appitizer: delicate pastry filled with lentils, onions, and spices
• Vegetarian Combo: Yatakilt alicha (potatoes, carrots, and cabbage delicately sauteed with onions, garlic, ginger, and tumeric), Yemisher kik we-t (split red lentils cooked in berere sauce), Shiro (ground chickpeas mildly spiced and slow cooked with chopped onions and tomatoes), Yaterkik alicha (yellow split peas cooked with tumeric, garlic, and onions), with a bunch of Injera (spongey fermented flatbread) to dip and scoop
• Dinner: Spinach Melon Green Smoothie
• Extras: drinks with my friend in celebration of his grandma's life (she passed away peacefully today)

Exercise Log: Jogged for 20 minutes, abs, squats, stretching

How I felt:  Today was a fun day, and definitely a different food schedule than usual, but in the end, I think I did fairly well.  I didn't get in a true salad, but after my evening workout, I wan't in the mood for making a salad, let alone eating and having one sit heavy in my stomach.  My solution to that... this awesome new smoothie!

Spinach Melon Green Smoothie

Amy's Notes:  Feel free to use whatever melon you prefer for this recipe.  I used cantelope (rock melon) because I needed to use mine up, but I bet honeydew melon would go wonderfully as well!

Ingredients: 

• 2 huge bunches of spinach
• 1 cup fresh melon
• 1 frozen banana
• 2 dates
• splash of non-dairy milk to thin

Directions: Place all ingredients in a blender, and blend until smooth and creamy.  Add more non-dairy milk to thin to your desired consistency.

Have you ever tried putting melons in a smoothie?  Crazy right!?

Kale Orange Creamsicle Smoothie

Hello all!  Very sorry I wasn't able to post my daily log yesterday.  My day was jam-packed with errands and a lot of fun.  First, I woke up and did some household chores before my mom and I were to have a girl's outing.  My mom ended up canceling, unfortunately, because she is a substitute secretary at a local school district and had accidentally gotten signed up for a shift when she had thought she had marked out for the day.  Bummer!

I then stayed around the apartment in the morning doing a bit more housework and rearranging the living room.  Feng shui anyone?  I also finally hung up some pictures that had been sitting in the corner since we moved in over a month ago :/.  After that, I made Kevin lunch and brought it to him at work since when he went to make it himself this morning his deli meat had gone bad (I think that's a sign he should go Nutritarian with me, don't you?).

After making Kevin his lunch and I made myself a green smoothie to-go (see below).  Once I brought Kevin lunch, I went to run some errands for the rest of the afternoon.  This included getting a new screen protector put on my iPhone, getting a birthday present for a friend, going to a local spice and vinegar specialty store, trying to get Rip Esselstyn's newest book My Beef With Meat (which I decided to probably just get on my kindle iPad), going to spend a gift card at a novelty store, and getting some things at Target.

At Target I was browsing the clearance clothes rack and decided to treat myself to a new dress to wear out last night since I have been well at sticking to my 6-Week challenge.  I posted the picture on Facebook to the group Dr. Fuhrmans Eat To Live - Nutritarian Plant Based Diet.  I got a lot of great responses and encouragement from the group.  Later, when my mom had seen the picture online, she told me she was so surprised that that was me and that I was looking so great.  Thanks mom, for always being my #1 Cheerleader :).  Here is that "progress" picture:

After running errands, I did a small workout (more about that in my daily log below), then got ready for our fun evening out... you guessed it, in my new dress that is one size smaller that I would have been two weeks ago!  First, we parked at my work that is by the Spokane Arena, and walked across the Downtown Riverfront Park to go to dinner downtown at The Steelhead Bar and Grill.  It is an upscale gill that makes great fresh food. 

Normally, while eating out, I would try to get a salad, but all of their salads here had meat included.  I know I can ask for no meat, but I'm always worried that I will still get charged the meat price for the salad even though I ask for it off.  I don't think that's fair, do you?  Instead, I ended up ordering a portobello sandwich with a side salad.  It was a big sandwich, but this ended up being my lunch and dinner, so the portion worked out perfectly.

After dinner, we went back across the park to the arena for a Spokane Shock indoor football game. Since Spokane doesn't have its own NFL football team, we have the Shock instead, which is essentially  a team with fairly professional-grade players on a field about a quarter of the size of a normal football field.  That means lots of action, lots of scoring, and lots of crowd fun!  My dad was able to score us ticket is one of the suites through his work, so we got a great view!

During the game they had a raffle toss where you donate $5 to a local charity, and you get 6 small footballs (think tiny stress-ball size) to attempt to throw into a car that drives slowly around the field with its windows down between the 3rd and 4th quarter.  The balls that make it in get put into a raffle to win half of the money from the proceeds.  From where we were seated, this is nearly impossible, but we gave it a shot anyways.  I threw two of them, Kevin threw three, and one we gave to another guy in the suite that is a client of my dad's.  It turns out that the client had thrown the ball down to the lower seats, and someone has picked it up and tossed it in.  We surprisingly won the raffle!!!!! We ended up walking away with over $300!

Luckily, that night we were also going to the casino for a friend's birthday.  No big money was won, but we did have a lot of fun.  We didn't get home till later in the night, so there was no blog post, and I will report my weekend log on Sunday or Monday.  Now, my daily log, and make sure not to miss my smoothie recipe below!

Food Log:

• Breakfast: Kale Orange Creamsicle Smoothie (recipe below)
• Linner: Portobello sandwich on a focaccia roll and a mixed greens side salad
• Extras: 2 beers at the casino

Exercise Log: 1 mile outdoor run, abs, push-ups 

How I felt:  Yesterday I felt very confident and happy. For the first time in a long time, I felt good about how I was eating and my body image.  At no point during the day was I temped to eat any SAD (Standard American Diet) foods, although there were plenty around.  Today (Saturday) will be a bit more of a challenge, as I am going to a friend's BBQ in the evening.  Instead of grilled meats, I'm opting to bring two corn on the cobs to grill for myself. Yum!  Hopefully the BBQ will have a couple of healthy sides.  I did hear that someone was bringing hummus!  Now on to my recipe....

Kale Orange Creamsicle Smoothie

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup raw cashews
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 handfuls of chopped kale
• 3 small oranges, peeled (about 1 cup or so)
• 1 Tbsp ground flaxseed (optional)
• Several ice cubes

Instructions:

• Place all ingredients in a high-speed blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Add more ice to achieve the thickness you desire. 

Amy's Notes:  

This was the perfect serving side for a meal on the go.  For this, I used cashews and water because I didn't have any non-dairy milk, but you could easily substitute 1/2 cup+ for that portion of the recipe.  Also, feel free to leave out the kale if you want more of a traditional orange creamsicle taste.  The great thing about this recipe is the oranges are sweet enough that extra sweeteners (dates, stevia, etc.) are not needed.  I put my smoothie in a to-go water bottle since I was running out the door to Kevin's work.  Green smoothies are great for a meal on the go!  Enjoy!

How often do you enjoy green smoothies?  

Healthy Chocolate-Fix Smoothie

I hope everyone had a splendid weekend.  I'm currently getting over a bit of a head cold that I caught from Kevin, which he probably got from the school he works at.  I'm happy to have Monday and Tuesday off this week, and I will be starting a new job hopefully on Wednesday or Thursday!  Yay!

I'll give you a "quick" breakdown of how my life has been changing over the past few weeks:

I have been working as an Administrative Assistant at Tradesmen International since July, but in the beginning of January I had had a meeting with my boss that would change everything.  Since it was the beginning of the year, I thought long and hard about where I want to be in a year professionally, and I decided that I wanted to start pursuing careers in the field I graduated in, Environmental Science.  I have always been an honest person and appreciate when others are honest with me, so I sat down with my boss and discussed taking Thursday afternoons off so that I could have some time to start looking for environmental jobs.  Since I got all of my work done by noon most Thursdays, this was no problem, and he understood that I was going to be with them temporarily from the beginning.  I told him that it would probably take me months to find the right job that I was looking for, and that I would of course give him my two weeks.  He was very understanding and supportive that I wanted to go after something in my field.

Well... about three weeks late I had a few leads on some jobs I had been looking into, and even an interview.  However, I also found out that I was being "laid-off" and would be worked through the end of the week and replaced by "someone who is wanting to be with us long-term."  Damn-it!  This will definitely teach me to be honest when it comes to things like this.  It turns out that the person they gave the job to replace me was my boss's brother's friend/girlfriend.  They kind of got what was coming to them in the end though: when I went to pick up my final check, I learned that the computer I had been working on and had all of my documents and spreadsheets I had created to do my job efficiently had crashed.  All I can say is karma is a bitch!

So, I have been out of work for two weeks, but I'm happy to announce that I've taken another job as an Administrative Assistant/Project Coordinator at a well known engineering firm that has wonderful connections and gateways to environmental positions I hope to get to someday.  Did I mention that I work about 20 hours less a week than my previous job and that I get paid about the same?  I think that's a fair trade-off.  In the end, I'm a firm believer in thinking that everything happens for a reason.  I'm just happy that this led me to something bigger and better.

Now, on to my recipe.... I, like most women, get that time of the month when chocolate seems to find its way into my mouth one way or another.  I thought I would try making something that would hopefully be more forgiving than a candy bar.  All I can say about it is... it is supposed to make two servings, but if you end up having the whole thing over an afternoon snack, dinner, and evening snack... I'm not going to judge you ;).

Ingredients:

• 2 cups non-dairy milk
• 2 frozen bananas
• 6 ice cubes
• 1/4 cup natural peanut butter
• 2-4 dates
• 1 large kale leaf
• 2 Tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 Tbsp ground flaxseed

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients into a high powered blender and blend on high until smooth and creamy.
2. Serve cold immediately, store leftovers in an airtight container for up to one day... but it won't last that long.

Amy's Notes:

• I used homemade almond milk for my smoothie, but any type of non-dairy milk will work.  If your milk is unsweetened, you may want up to 4 dates, but start with two and work your way till you find your desired sweetness.
• I used 1 large kale leaf, which equaled out to about 2 cups of greens, but feel free to add as little or as much of any type of dark green that you have on hand.

Red, White, and Blue Smoothie

I hope everyone had a great Fourth of July. I spent mine going with my girlfriends to a local lake and tanning at the beach, then I went to a friends backyard party at his new house. I found that I was able to eat fairly well while enjoying the activities of Fourth of July. This included having a smoothie for breakfast, a veggie burger from Red Robin, and some veggies at the backyard party. The veggie burger from Red Robin was surprisingly delicious. I had the burning love burger with a veggie patty, guacamole added and a lettuce wrap instead of a bun.  Just delicious, and fairly nutritarian.

Overall this week has been very busy for me. I started my new job on Monday and have been getting the hang of it. I think they're pleasantly surprised by my effort and eagerness. Hopefully a raise will be coming after my 90 day review. Because I am working so much I haven't had much time to cook, let alone blog about it. And I realize that my Fourth of July post is a few days late, but I am doing my best.

In other news about my life, in Spokane the largest three-on-three basketball tournament in world happened last weekend, and Kevin was visiting for that. It was so nice to see him again after being away for over a month. He and his team won the championship for his bracket. Here are a few pictures.

Team Beans N Rice Hernandez
(Danny, Nathan, Kevin, and Scottie)

Kevin's bad first day burn.  I called it the V-burn,

Danny has some major hops!

The winning team gets to take the tape off the streets!

Unfortunately, when the tournament was over, Kevin and his his team had to head back to the West side of Washington. Then, on Monday I had my first day of work at Tradesmen International. I am enjoying it so far, but like best that I am finally making money better than spending it. Kevin and I also started our own cell phone plan. I had had some graduation present money left over from my parents that I had been saving, so I decided to get iPhone. It is literally one of the coolest things I've ever owned. For the last four years I had a first generation iPod touch, which has, quite frankly, been on it's last leg. In comparison, the iPhone is so fast and operates so flawlessly, I am just amazed. For example, I am writing my blog post today on my phone and using the audio to talk to it and tell it what to write. Pretty amazing, right? I'm not sure how well this will post, so bare with me.

Back to Fourth of July: As with most holidays, I wanted to try to eat something festive. On Pinterest so many Fourth of July foods and drinks were showing up, I thought I would give it a try too. Like I said above, the Fourth of July post a little late, but the recipe is still delicious for any day.

Red, White, and Blue Smoothie

Ingredients:

• 2 cups fresh strawberries, greens removed and roughly chopped
• 1 cup blueberries
• 1 large frozen banana
• 1 cup alternative milk
• 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed (optional)
• Extra strawberries and blueberries to decorate the glass

Directions:
Please all ingredients except for the extra garnish fruit in a blender and blend until smooth. Add more alternative milk to achieve the desired consistency. Serve immediately cold with the strawberries and blueberries garnishing the top of the glass for a festive look.

See!  Red strawberries,
white almond milk and bananas,
and Blue blueberries!

Amy's notes:
This can be a wonderful smoothie to be served as breakfast, or as dessert at the end of the day.  I used almond milk, but feel free to use any alternative milk you choose, preferably unsweetened.









How was everyone's Fourth of July holiday?  Did you have problems sticking to your health goals from being around traditional Fourth BBQ foods?

Amy's Favorite Green Smoothie

Hello all!  Boy has it been a crazy week for me!  Last week I was running all around town for job interviews and whatnot, only to find out on Friday that I had gotten the Administrative Assistant position that I had been hoping for.  So, I am officially the new Admin Assistant for Tradesman International in Spokane Valley.  Ok, so not an environmental job, but at least its a full-time M-F job with good pay and benefits.  Since Kevin has started his online school to get his Masters in Education, a full-time job was all I needed.  Now we are going to be officially living together in Spokane after we get married, which is a huge relief to me because I won't have to move things far.

The countdown is now 75 days till our wedding, and there are still many things that need to be done.  I don't officially start my new job until next Monday, so I will be working like crazy trying to get a lot of the little things done this week.  This includes planning the invite design, addressing all of the invite envelopes, meeting with our reception coordinator for decoration and food plans, practicing more with our cake, making the party favors, planning the wedding pictures, and coordinating the wedding weekend itinerary.  Wow, that's a lot of things when they're all listed out!

Here is our first attempt.  Not too bad considering my mom needs new Crisco for the frosting and the strawberry filling make the frosting a bit pink.  This is only the top layer done nicely, the bottom layer will be nearly three times as thick as pictured here.  Our homemade cake is more for decoration and picture purposes, on the actual day we are getting Costco cakes to feed most guests.

In the meantime, I have been following Dr. Fuhrman's Eat to Live 6-week plan and have been feeling great!  I haven't had too much weight loss to speak of yet, unfortunately.  I think this is due to the fact that I still tend to overeat, even though it is all good plant-based foods.  I have also been working out like crazy, so maybe my appetite is increasing accordingly?  All the same, my goals continue to be to follow the 6-week plan (my version explained here) till I find the weight loss results I'm looking for, to continue to work on my food addictions and mental issues with overeating, and to continue to exercise regularly.

I have been having more green smoothies in the mornings in an effort to vamp up my greens intake for each day.  Since my parents have a garden in the backyard with abundant kale, I have been mostly using kale for my smoothies along with some fruits we have on hand for sweetening.  Here is my favorite combination of greens and fruit in a green smoothie:

Ingredients: (1-2 servings)

• 2-3 cup packed dark greens (kale, spinach, collard greens, etc.)
• 1 cup berries (blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, cherries, etc.)
• 1 1/2 cup alternative milk (almond milk, soy milk, rice milk, coconut milk, etc.)
• 2 large frozen bananas
• 1 T ground flaxseeds

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients into the blender starting with the soft ingredients, and placing the frozen banana in last.
2. Blend until smooth and creamy.
3. Serve immediately or store in fridge to consume later that day.

Amy's Notes:

The ingredients I used today for pictures are bolded in parentheses, so I used kale, blueberries, and almond milk.  This recipe generally makes enough for me to have a full glass for breakfast and to give a smaller glass like the one pictured above to my mom as a snack.  If you feel that this has too strong of "green" taste for you, just add more fruit as you would like to increase the sweetness.  Believe me, if I first drank this before being a nutritarian for a while, it would be a bit of a shocking taste to me.  Now, however, I love the slight bitter flavor of the greens with the sweet of the fruit.  Yum!

I'd love to hear from my readers on a few topics, so feel free to answer one or all of my questions :)

Do you have any tips or reminders for me as we get closer to Kevin and my Wedding day?  Is there anything that you enjoyed at your wedding that most people might not think of?

How do you do with overeating and food cravings?  What do you do to stay on track?

For those of you who are going through the Eat to Live  6-week plan, how is it going for you?  Have you seen great results yet?  I'd love to hear some updates!