"Maternal Love Made Edible"

While searching like a junkie for a quick yet new brownie recipe this afternoon I came across this lovely.

This is not the one I ended up making because I did not have chocolate chips...probably for the first time ever. But this is definitely on my "to-make" list. Who can resist "maternal love made edible"?

GSC, Day #5--finally feeling the effect!

Breakfast smoothie: 3 large kale leaves
2 bananas
1 cup water
1/2 apple

Today I blended the kale and water first, improving the texture quite a bit. This smoothie was probably the least sweet of all of those I've made so far, but it was the most filling. I had no sugar cravings at all the entire morning! I didn't have another smoothie for lunch, I had pita bread and hommous instead, but I am considering a green smoothie "snack" in the afternoon to hold me off until dinner. So this really does work!

GSC, Day #4, the murky smoothie

Breakfast smoothie: 1 handful baby spinach
couple kale leaves
2 bananas
handful of frozen mixed berries
1 TBSP raw honey

The texture on this one was rather swamplike since the kale didn't get mixed very well. I think for future smoothies containing kale I will have to blend the greens first. On the plus side, it was very filling and I did not have my usual sugar cravings, although I was already thinking about cupcakes (see previous post).

These are not green OR raw!

But they look delicious!

http://howaboutorange.blogspot.com/2007/11/cream-cheese-chocolate-cupcakes.html

I keep seeing this blog "How About Orange" referenced on different sites and finally had to check it out, mostly because orange is my favorite color. This is a great blog! Check out the pictures of the orange office.

I think cream cheese chocolate cupcakes make a great dessert after a morning if green smoothies, don't you? Everything in moderation...:)

GSC, Day #3

Breakfast Smoothie: 1 pear
5 strawberries
1 banana
3 handfuls of baby spinach
1 cup water

I've only had one smoothie today. I ate a big green salad for lunch instead. This morning's smoothie was actually rather filling, could be because I used more greens. By lunch again I was quite hungry, so I had a couple tablespoons of hommous with pita bread and a big kale salad with pecans. At this point I still feel ok, not as tired as I am most afternoons, so that's an improvement.

GSC, Day #2

Breakfast Smoothie: 1/2 mango
2 handfuls baby spinach
approx. 1/4 cup blueberries
1 orange
1 cup water

Lunch Smoothie: 5 large strawberries
2 handfuls baby spinach
1 apple
1 cup water


This morning I tried to use up the rest of our fruit before going to the farm market for more, so the combination was kind of weird, but still good. This one was definitely more "earthy" than the others I've made thus far, it had a grassy flavor but was still sweet enough to taste good to me. It actually kept me pretty full until about 11:30, when I was suddenly very very hungry for lunch. I had intentions of having a pretty salad and then a smoothie for lunch, but I was too hungry to assemble the salad and opted for hommous and pita bread instead (not a bad choice as far as lunches go, but not the "raw before dinner" that I was going for). Once the hommous and pita settled my hunger, I made another smoothie. This one was not quite as filling, and now a couple hours later I am experiencing my typical afternoon sugar cravings. Luckily I bought lots of fruit this morning so I have that to snack on, but that doesn't make the Girl Scout cookies in the pantry any less tempting.

something to try...homemade "Lara-type" bars

In trying to reach my goal of "raw until dinner" I've been looking for some creative raw snacks. I picked up a Lara bar at my last trip to the grocery store. I am usually not a fan of these types of health/protein/snack bars but I heard this one was raw so I thought it might give me some good ideas of what I could make myself. I had the cherry pie variety, and it was amazingly good! Anyhow, I started looking online for a homemade version and was pleased to find that they look rather easy. This blog has a nice recipe.

Green Smoothie Challenge, Day One

So today is the official first day of green smoothie goodness, although I did quite a bit of experimenting last week. Nate picked up Magic Bullet blender for us! That makes smoothie-making so quick and the clean-up so easy. I fell asleep early last night so I didn't get a chance to make up a batch for Nate before he went to work, so for today he'll have his after dinner. I made one for breakfast, consisting if the following: 1 banana, a handful of baby spinach, a cup of water, and one orange. It was great! I do think I need to add more greens to tomorrow's smoothie because I still felt a little hungry. My goal as of today is to try to eat raw until dinner a few days a week. I'll need to go to the farm market when the kids get up from their nap to stock up on fruit and greens. Other than that, we're off to a good start!

Can you make a cupcake out of a chik-o-stik?

I'm making my chocolate pretzel cupcakes (not the vegan ones) for girls night tonight and it suddenly occurred to me that a Chik-O-Stik cupcake might be oh so wonderful. So I googled "chik o stik" (after a few mis-spellings) and realized not only has this been done before, but people seem to like it. More later...

The Happy Foody Green Smoothie Challenge!

I don't know about you, but I am not a big fan of green vegetables. But considering they are such an easy source of good stuff such as iron, calcium and folate, I decided I need to make a better effort to work them into my diet. Sara of the Happy Foody blog has come to the rescue with her "Green Smoothie Challenge". It couldn't get much simpler: one month, 2/25-3/25, one green smoothie each day. I'm excited to concoct some yummy green goodness, and drag Nate and the boys along with me!

First Attunement

Yesterday I went for a Reiki 1 class, and received my first attunement. The class itself was amazingly interesting, and the attunement was beyond what I have the ability to articulate. I actually saw colors!

There was a woman in the class whose energy was so powerful she actually seemed to radiate. She talked a bit about her avoidance of reiki, something to which I can definitely relate. The first time I became curious about learning to use the energy was at least five years ago. I've never understood it, but have always felt drawn to it.

I crave more instruction and information, but I think I am going to postpone Level 2 for awhile to see how this first attunement unfolds.