What Making a Smoothie Actually Looks Like

Yesterday I bought a hand held blender, so that I could make fruit and vegetable smoothies.  I'd seen photos of these amazing green drinks that looked so beautiful.  Surely I could make one!  

This afternoon, I looked on Food Gawker (one of my favorite websites) for a good recipe.  After a quick search for spinach smoothies, I found this:

http://zoomyummy.com/2011/01/13/detox-smoothie/

And this: 

http://www.52kitchenadventures.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Tropical-green-smoothie-2-1024x979.jpg

And this too: 

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjljAgFocMfc9YGDmJFxgNZMtjJCJ119R7qc34gbaweHL-GBa4GfEgmQpl9eKjHLkItRGasFeyCpxUk8GZFKvVoD2D9ebhXTIDSjUhY4WpCQ0RNtBBJyIlIQ6Rfa6i0reonNVvpG3eEiG0K/s1600/Spinach+green+Grape+Smoothie+2+-+small.jpg

Yummo!  I could make that....sure thing!  

So...I piled up my ingredients on the counter.  1 frozen banana from last winter, some fresh kale, some fresh spinach, fresh ginger root, frozen strawberries, and a bag of frozen mangoes.

I put the banana and some of the spinach in the cup that came with my new hand held blender thingy.  I tried mashing it in there, and smelled only the aroma of an appliance engine working too hard.  This shit was not blending like I hoped it would.  I grabbed the vanilla soy milk from my fridge and reluctantly poured some in.  It started to work a bit better, so I added some strawberries.

Next I added some mango and a big piece of ginger root.  Mash Mash Mash the stupid hand held thing went.  I needed more milk.  As I was adding stuff to my smoothie, I of course kept wondering what the point of a smoothie was.  I like to eat spinach and kale and fruit.  Was it necessary to put it all together?  

I kept having to stir the damn thing, which for those who know about my sensory issues (i.e. I don't like water, or wet things in general touching me), this was quite uncomfortable.  "I'm gonna do this," I kept telling myself, "Even if I'm covered in green junk by the end."

I continued to jam and mash the blender thing into the cup, every once and a while pushing too hard and causing it to spill over the sides and onto me/the counter/the floor.  "This better taste good," I said out loud, wondering who really makes a smoothie without making a mess.

At last, I was done!  My counter, blender, and hands were covered in green goo.  I quickly cleaned up and took one last cell phone photo of my smoothie.  I should mention that my cell phone was also adorned with green splotches of goo.

I'm sitting on my couch now, drinking my smoothie, which all in all is not that bad.  I think the large quantity of ginger is what made it taste better than shit.  Will I make another smoothie?  Absolutely... I have a whole kitchen full of produce that needs to get eaten.  Besides, the lady at target said I could only return the blender if it was defective, not if I just didn't like it.  

Bon Appetite!  

A Spoonful of Peanut Butter

Helps the medicine go down?  Well...kind of.

Some mornings, J and I go to the gym.  We usually do 30 minutes of cardio, and then follow it up with 60 or so minutes of lifting.  It's a drag to get there some mornings, but once we get going, it's great.

I'm the kind of person who needs a lil something in my belly before I can run around.  When I run a race (like this coming Sunday, actually), I like to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich about 2 hours before race time.  If we get to the gym by 6 or 6:30am, there's no way I'm getting up 2 hours earlier.  I tend to rise about half an hour before needing to be at the gym, and finding nutrients is always a fun thing.

I'd say my go-to pre workout food is a spoonful of peanut butter.  Anything more, and I'll get a stomach ache.  Anything less, and I'll feel dizzy and weak.  Oh, and when I remember, I also take a scoop of N.O Xplode in a glass of water.  Apparently it's supposed to make me stronger.  We'll see.

Now that I need to be really mindful of my spending, I need some more food suggestions.  A week or so ago, I was with some folks who posed the question "What would you eat if you were homeless and only had 2 dollars a day?"  Another person took this down the route of "And you were homeless, on drugs, addicted to alcohol, etc..." Being stubborn/defensive, I of course had to chime in and say that not all homeless people are addicts.  But that's not the point of this story... The point is, what would you eat on 2 dollars a day?  I know people survive on less than that, but let's just start with this for the sake of the story.

If I only had 14 dollars a week to spend on food, I would probably go to Mississippi Market to get some grains.  I would likely get granola, brown rice, and maybe some quinoa or barley.  I'd also get some dried beans for protein.  I'd then head to super target or rainbow for some fruit and veggies (whatever was in season and the cheapest).  If I had any money left over, I would buy a bucket of ice cream.

A friend and I are supposed to sit down any day now, and talk about how to eat on a budget.  I did buy a book a few months ago on that same topic, but that was when I was gainfully employed and "eating on a budget" was more of a choice than a necessity.  I'm not down to the $2 a day thing yet, but I think it's important to think about how to stay fueled without breaking the bank....and doing so especially as someone who is active most days and needs adequate protein, nutrients, etc. 

Suggestions are encouraged from foodies, athletes, starving artists and moms.  All other opinions/suggestions are welcomed as well.  Thanks!

Fate

I believe that things happen for a reason.  Here's an example.  This morning, I decided my food blog sucks.  A couple hours later, I got an e-mail from Andy saying he is going to start up his blog again.  Hooray!!  

If you are sick of looking at my photos of cereal and ice cream, head over to Andy's page!!  

You can also see his brother (Chris/Felix) here. 

My food blog sucks

I think I'm going to go back to my regular gig here...writing about what's on my mind, not what's in my belly.  

Here though is a picture of breakfast.  I'm going to the gym in a few hours, and need the energy.  It's a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on brownberry bread, a shot glass full of blueberries, a glass of soy milk, and a jar of water.  A quick note about milk: I rarely just drink a glass of (soy) milk, or any milk for that matter.  Not sure why I did this morning...I guess my body needed the extra protein.  Oh, and I've been on a blueberry kick the last couple of days.  Talk about a superfood!!

Breakfast

I have a 10k road race coming up in 13 days.  I've almost entirely fallen off the running wagon... so here I am, trying to get back into it.  I ran 4 miles yesterday (on the treadmill at the gym) and felt fine.  I'd like to run a sub 8 pace for this race...which might be a lofty goal considering I've been running once a week for the past several weeks... We'll see how it goes.  It's been hard to run this winter.  I mean sure, I live half a block from the gym, and yes my sister did buy me some yaktrax for my shoes if I choose to run outside... but.... well, there are no buts.  I've just been slackin.  

There's no point in getting down about it though.  I think I would have in the past...but now it's not worth it.  It simply is what it is.  Today is always a good day to start anew.  It's funny, I put this quote up yesterday on facebook.  "Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.  Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it."- Carol Lloyd.  I think there's a lot of truth to that.  We (people in general) often have ideas of what we want to do, who we want to be... but we get lazy or scared or busy and don't take the time to even begin.  What happened yesterday doesn't matter.  It's what happens today that leads to tomorrow, and I want tomorrow to be better than today.

Not your average foodie

I appreciate good food.  Really, I do.  I appreciate sauteed vegetables over brown rice or cous cous, a hot curried soup, a medium rare piece of steak, a fillet of grilled salmon, etc... 

The problem is...I don't cook very often.  I've got the equipment (to cook/bake), I just don't have the food, and I don't make the time.  I'm working on it though, as you can see...

The refrigerator of a foodie...

The shopping list of a foodie...

The groceries of a foodie...

Clearly, I'm not your average foodie. But I am going to push myself to cook a bit more and really beef up this blog.  Yes...pun intended.  Stay tuned. 

With the kids

6:30am: alarm went off

6:35am: rolled out of bed

6:35-6:36am: used profanity

6:55am: posted a stevie wonder song on facebook

7:05am: arrived at family friends house to help get the kids off to school

7:20am: fed the kids

7:30am: ate 2 small bowls of cereal and some string cheese

7:30-8am: watched some show on the disney channel (with the kids)

Happy Wednesday.

bowl #2 of cereal this morning

Food Blog

 
Lately I've been thinking about the things I write on this blog.  Some are good.  Some are bad.  I just write, I don't have much of a filter.  Part of being a grown up is having a filter.  It's something I need to work on.  Speech is free, yes-- but I've got to be smarter about it.  Maybe.

I was thinking the other day, that I need to "tone it down" a bit on my blog, which sucks, because I think a lot of what I put out there needs to be said.  And if I can't say it on my blog, where can I?  That's one side of the argument.  The other side is that I need to be smart about what I write.  My mom tells me (often) that I shouldn't be writing half of the stuff I write on here.  I communicate through writing... it clears my head, mends my heart, makes shit meaningful and puts it context.  I suppose that is what a journal is for though.

Yesterday I thought to myself, maybe I should change ashamarie.com to a food and music blog.  Food and music can be non-political.  Well...music can be really political, but it won't get me in trouble like some of my writing will.  And food, well, access to food is political, and food itself is political...but taking pictures of food, I could do that.  

Here's the problem though.... I don't eat enough to do a food blog.  I was telling a friend about this idea, and she said "Yeah, you could post clementine and mixed nuts for lunch, granola bar and a beer for dinner, etc."  Okay, so maybe it's not that bad...but my friend thought it would be hilarious to have a food blog that wasn't extravagant like so many others are.  Makes sense to me...but we'll see.  

I went to a benefit last night for Ann Marsden at the Dakota.  If you aren't familiar with Ann's work, check her out.  She has an amazing eye, guided by a loving heart.  Anyhow...I didn't order any food, but took pictures of the food my friends ordered.  That's one way to do a food blog I suppose.  I could also start cooking more.  That might be a smarter option.  We'll see.

B's food.  Cell phone photo.

J & J's food.  Cell phone photo.

An offering.  Cell phone photo.

Q's food.  Cell phone photo.

I probably don't need to write "cell phone photo" after each picture I post.  I do that because the quality is so much poorer than with my regular camera.  But...if I start doing more food related entries, chances are I will be documenting with my cell phone quite a bit.  

Regardless, cheers to good friends and good food!

This day is dedicated to sweatpants...

I don't have cravings too often, but when I do, they are strong. This morning, I woke up craving a totino's pizza...you know the ones, they cost about $1.50 and are made of cheap ingredients. My homegirl Ashley and I used to eat them all the time when we were in jr. high. (We ate everything back then).

Anyhow, I woke up with this craving, and figured what the heck...might as well indulge.

I got dressed (i.e. put some clothes on over my pajamas), and walked to the corner shop. "Good morning," I said to the guy who works there. He wished me a good morning as well. I walked over to the deep freezer with the pizza's, and there was nothing in there. I chuckled, and walked around the store and didn't see any pizza anywhere. Was this some kind of joke?

"Where's the pizza?" I asked. He told me they ran out, and a new delivery was coming tomorrow. I smiled....serves me right for craving pizza at 9 something in the morning.

Oh, I should note, that as I was putting on my shoes to walk to the store, I thought to myself I might get hit by a car on this pizza run.... and not in some messed up suicidal way, but in that I was so tired, I could just see someone running me over cuz I wasn't paying attention.

I tend to feel things very acutely, and so for just a moment, I thought maybe I should forgo the pizza. But then I thought better of it. I needed breakfast, and I might as well risk it. Right?

Since there were no pizza's at the corner store, I got a chicken cordon bleu-- I haven't had one for years. I also grabbed a can of diet coke. So random. I've been having headaches all week this past week (tuesday-wednesday were the worst I've ever had, EVER), and so I've been trying to be more conscious about what I eat....which for the record, I eat pretty well. I don't eat much-- but the stuff I do eat is good for me. <-- this is why I thought having some pizza today would be okay.... just not trying to make it a habit.

As I walked to the store today, I thought "This day is dedicated to sweatpants," because it really feels like a sweatpants day. My plans today include working on an essay for school, going to the gym, and doing a crossword puzzle. Oh, and tea with Nicole when she gets here (soon). My point is...all of today's activities can be enjoyed while wearing sweats.

I'm tired... I stayed up last night watching Hugh Grant movies. I used to not like him at all-- but now, well, I kind of find him charming (which is probably why I didn't like him initially). Anyhow, I stayed up late (2am) watching "About a Boy" and "Did you Hear About the Morgans." I think once I get some food and some caffeine in me, I'll feel better. Wishing everyone a lovely sunday! Oh...we got one helluva snow storm last weekend...I took some photos. I'll post them soon.

Hell's Garden

After months of begging my mom to let me have a garden at her house, she agreed! She was hesitant at first, assuming that I would get excited about it, dig up the dirt, get bored with it, and then leave her with a pile of dirt and weeds in the yard. Such is not the case.

The fine people from a backyard farm are going to come in and install a raised bed. We will be doing square foot gardening, which I thought was kind of stupid, but as I've read more about it, I'm a little less apprehensive.

My friend Julie is going to help with the garden, so there will be 3 of us. Julie and I talk about the garden all the time, making plans and lists of things we need. Here is what that list looks like.

Matching carhartt overalls. (I'm hoping my mom gets a pair too).

Hats.

Slingshots, to keep away the squirrels/kids.

Cocktails.

A trowel.



Some gloves.



As you can see, we are taking this pretty seriously. Our garden (tentitvely called "Hells Garden" until we come up with a better name) is going to be 4 x 8, which is bigger than we initially planned. We are going to plant a ton of stuff, including edamame, zuchinni, tons of lettuce/kale/spinach, tomatoes, carrots, cilantro, etc... the list goes on.

I have this half-dream of one day owning a fish farm, and sitting out on the lake with a beer in one hand, and fishing pole in the other. I would catch a number of fish, cut them up, and bring them to sell at the farmers market. We wont have enough vegetables to sell at the farmers market, although Julie and I have talked about pulling a wagon of our harvest around the neighborhood, and selling what we can. We'll see about that... it mostly depends on how sexy we look in overalls, as to how many vegetables we can sell.

On a more serious note, I am excited to grow my own (and eat my own) vegetables. The stuff we get at the store, often comes from really far away... lots of energy is used to get it to our dinner tables. I'm all about trying to keep things local, and I think this is a great way to start!

Perhaps this is all really optimistic... I'll check in, within a week or two, and let you know if the "honeymoon period" of this garden has come and gone.

the picky begger?

I'm getting ready for Keith Grauman's "1st Annual Chili Cook-Off" today. I woke up at 8am, and got out of bed around 10. I checked the temperature. -9 F. (F as in Fahrenheit, or Fucking Freezing). I put on as many layers as possible, and walked to Mississippi Market.

Lentils...Check. Serrano Peppers....Check. Mustard Seeds....Check. Green Juice for breakfast....Check.

I left the Co-op with 31 dollars less than I came in with. Oh well. I picked up some staples while I was there too.... (i.e. canola oil, dried red chillies, etc...). I got to the end of the (short) block and this Asian dude comes running towards me, waving his hands.

"Sir, Sir", he asked, trying to get my attention. Usually, when someone calls me "Sir", I am annoyed and just ignore them...but when it's winter, and I'm wearing 2 hats, 3 pairs of pants, 3 shirts and 2 jackets....I take on a pretty androgynous look, I guess. Anyhow, I stop for the dude...knowing he's gonna ask for money (you can see it in his eyes).

"Sir....Oh, Mamm, Mamm, can you give me a couple dollars, I want to buy some noodles, some ramen noodles", and he pointed to the co-op. "Sure", I said, and suggested we walk into the market together. "Oh, I don't think they have them here", he said. "Let's find out", I replied, and started walking towards store.

We get inside, and walk down the "ethnic" aisle. "How bout these", I ask, pointing to the rice vermicelli noodles? He said no. "How bout these", I ask, pointing to the ramen noodles. Nope, those wont work either (even though it's specifically what he asked for).

He said the noodles he wants are at "Sun Foods" on University and Dale (which is about 6 blocks from where we are). "Too bad", I wanted to say, but instead I said "Well, you said Ramen Noodles, which are right here, and I'll get them for you if you want". He declined. I said "Sorry then, I can't help you", and walked (with him) out of the store and home.

Now...I am a picky eater...those who have raised me, lived with me, or dated me can attest to this. But here's the thing....if I am hungry, and someone offers me food, you damn well better believe I will eat it, and I will be grateful for it.

This dude was obviously just interested in my money. When people ask me for money (usually in my neighborhood, coming home from the bar or coffee shop), I often say I don't have any. There's one lady who always asks me for bus money, and I never have any....perhaps because she switches from needing bus money to money for gas for her sisters car a few blocks away.

When people ask me for money for food...I usually don't give money. If I have food with me (either just purchased, or leftovers) I will offer what I have. Sometimes folks will take it. Other times they wont. It kind of separates those who actually want food, and those who just want money.

If someone came up to me and said "Can I get a few dollars for a beer", I would just go to the Pub with them and sit for a beer. Chances are, they have an interesting story....and I'd be willing to bet, not many people who take the time to listen.

Out of curiosity....what do you do when you see someone asking for food/work/money?

Firk Ya!!

Tis the 2nd day of spring...
What better day to host the 2nd Annual Firkin Fest!!

I HAD to leave work early today, due to the weather being so beautiful, my bike looking so appealing, and the thought of sampling dozens of microbrews being so tempting!!!

Details: Happy Gnome (selby - in between western and dale). Time: NOW until 11pm (or close, I'm not sure). 25+ brewers pouring 50+ beers! $5 to get in the tent. $1 per ticket = 1 sample.

(taken from the happy gnome website)

Thanks to Kristina and Chris for providing the heads up on the tasting!

And thanks to Jamison for getting me in touch with your relative for hockey tickets to tonights UMD v. Denver game!

And thanks to mother earth for letting the sun shine her beautiful light, keeping us warm and happy.

Let the festivities begin. Firk Ya!!

food.

I've recently been on this kick to eat better food. It's hard cooking (for myself and one other), especially since we both don't like to eat the same things over, and over, and over again.

I went to Kai's boat last week, to get my study on....because sometimes you have to make a big change in scenery when stuck in a studying rut... and we made some lunch. We made pizza, which I think Kai does often, but I had never done before (unless you count english muffins with cheese and pasta sauce a "pizza").

I don't like red sauce, so I used olive oil on mine, and added some prosciutto (which upon buying it at my local co-op realized how crazy expensive it is!), some spinach, some mozzarella, some tomatoes, and a bit of black pepper. All this on top of some dough from Cossettas. Yum!

my pizza!

Cheeky Monkey Deli just opened, a block from my house! Ryan, Jen and I went there the other day for lunch. It was real tasty! Ryan got a nutella and banana sandwich, jen got a chicken and avocado sandwich, and I got a brie and ham sandwhich (on Ciabatta bread). I think our sandwhiches were each 5 dollars, which is great since i saved half of mine for dinner. And the refills on coffee are free! Hooray for a good local deli. I didn't take any pictures, because my little camera is in Hawaii with my boss Emily.

Speaking of work.... I've hurt my back, from guess what? Doing books! Sad. I went to a sports medicine doctor yesterday, who basically said that I need to start lifting weights (or quit my job), because I'm a wimp who can't life boxes of books. The doctor was a pretty serious guy, which is too bad, because I wanted to tell him all the names I made for the knots in my back (hilary, hilda, gregory, and lawrence).

Anyhow, I guess it gives me good reason to get back to the Y. I need to start doing books again (I haven't for the last couple of weeks b/c of my back), so I can stay busy and earn some money. That's all for now, I guess. I've got today to do homework, maybe take some pictures (with my "big" camera), and eventually go to the Y... sounds like a decent day. May yours be as well.