Bonus Post! Green Smoothie Recipe

I recently attended a Vitamix demo where the demonstrator gave out a recipe for a delicious Green Smoothie that does not taste like grass! (Or "the lawn", as she put it.) I've made it since then, although I didn't have all the veggies she used so I made a few substitutions, and it is pretty darn good.

Loretta's Green Smoothie

**All measurements are approximate**

~ 2 cups green grapes
~ One chunk (about a 3/4 inch disk) from a summer squash (I subbed cucumber)
~ 1/4 cup of the outer leaves from a green cabbage (I left this out)
~ 1 cup spinach
~ Approximately 6 pitted dates
~ 2 inch circular section from a pineapple; include the core and cut into large chunks; makes about 3 cups
(she said you can even use the skin but she trimmed it off in case we were squeamish)
~ 2 cups or more of ice

Can also add flax seeds, protein powder, etc.


Place the ingredients into the Vitamix in the order given. Start on Variable Speed 1, dial up to 10, then to High until everything is blended up and smooth. Use the tamper as needed. Add ice through the cap opening as needed.

I absolutely love, love, love my Vitamix! I have used it every single day since I opened it. I've made soup, tons of smoothies, and ice cream. The best part is that it is easy to clean; fill the container with 5 cups of warm water, add 2 drops of dish soap, and blend for a minute or two. Pour the soapy water out over the tamper and lid to clean those then a quick rinse and it's clean. It becomes its own dishwasher!

I feel like I've joined a Vitamix cult!!!

Update on THE BIN and Notes on Homeschooling

I groused so about the bin that DH couldn't stand it anymore. He put up a good fight, but in the end he came through and shoved that thing back in my car last night. I had mere minutes to get to Home Depot before they closed, but I made it. I was anticipating some problems about returning The Bin but it was no sweat, and the two employees who helped me out were great. I am impressed with their customer service, actually. So now The Bin is gone, I have my money back, and my pool fence still needs a storage container of some sort, but I'll worry about that another day.

Also on the organizational front, I spent a good portion of the day yesterday (when I wasn't dealing with The Bin) setting up our home school program for this school year. I have a ton of materials so I went through everything and pulled the items I'll use with the little ones this year. (The Eldest is in the dual enrollment program now so I'm not assigning her work anymore.) I was also able to purge, purge, purge a lot of curriculum items they have outgrown; it's nice to have some space on my bookshelves. (So I can put away the books stacked in piles around the house. Bookshelf space doesn't stay empty for long around here!) I set up our schedule and put some new educational posters on the wall. I pulled out my plan book so that's ready to set up. We're basically good to go!

The End of My Summer Break

This has been a busy summer but I've managed to keep some open time over the past two weeks for some "home days". I love my home days. I use them first and foremost as a time to rest and recharge. I also use the time, unless I'm having fibro flare ups, to work around my house. I've been on an organizing kick lately, tackling some of my grandmother's things, a portion of my closet, my bedroom, and spending a little bit of time in The Yougest's, aka The Wild Child's, bedroom. I've also worked on our backyard and laid the groundwork for our first (in this house) fall veggie garden. (Well, I set out a tarp where I want the garden to go so that the grass will die underneath it. Oh, and our compost bin is filling up.)

I purchased storage containers for The Wild Child's room and bins for some outdoor storage. I have some serious buyer's remorse for one bin, though. It's for our pool fence, which we don't really need on a regular basis since the kids are proficient swimmers. (We still need it for Girl Scout meetings since younger siblings are usually in attendance.) I measured and everything but the selection at the home supply store was limited, I was aggravated and in a hurry, so I pointed to one that was long enough, plus some room for clearance, and said "I'll take it". BIG mistake. DH put it together and it's GI-GORMOUS; it's way too big for the pool fence. It takes up a huge portion of our side yard and it was expensive. I desperately want to return it, but I'm not sure how we're going to get it back to the store. It's assembled now, after all, and I don't know that it will fit in the back of my mini van. I may be stuck with this ridiculous, over sized, over priced, impractical monstrosity of a storage bin; I'm having fits.

I'm also coughing. I have a cold; scratchy throat, coughing, sneezing, itchy eyes, runny nose, and I feel like I'm getting a fever, so I'm ending this post right here and going to bed. ~:-P

A Lovely Birthday

I had a wonderful birthday yesterday. I almost squeezed in everything I wanted to do; I only missed my walk since "Eat, Pray, Love" ran long and sunlight was fading fast by the time I got home. (I opted for a family bike ride with the remaining sun, which I like better than walking anyway.) Three of my wonderful, amazing friends showed up to watch the movie with me which made it a lot of fun. I absolutely made the right decision to not allow DH to see the movie; guys don't get it, but I thought it was fantastic. (Which is a word of warning- unless you are with a really unique sort of guy who wants to watch it, leave him home. See it alone or see it with other women; DO NOT make a guy see it if there is even the slightest hint of resistance. He'll ruin it for you.) One friend brought kettle pop corn to share that was amazing! (I have to get her recipe.) The sugar coating on the kernels felt... lacy, almost. No, it didn't taste like lace, it was the texture, silly. Yes, I blew my sensible eating habits, but I really did have only two (HUGE) bites of Key Lime pie for dessert with my lunch. Good thing- it was really rich. Any more than that and it would have made me ill.

And I got presents! One of my friends brought me a lovely orchid, which is so special since my grandmother collected orchids. Every time I look at it I get warm feelings from remembering both my friend and my grandmother. Another friend gave me a silk plant that's also got little twinkle lights all through it. (I love twinkle lights!) She uses them for ambiance in her house instead of candles since she also has a child who LOVES to play with fire. (Her daughter and The Youngest, aka The Wild Child, are kindred spirits.) Now I have ambiance in my house, too!

Per my request, DH got me a Vita Mix, the Binford 2000 of blenders. (OK, I'd link you to an explanation of Binford 2000, but it seems it isn't on the internet. It's a reference to the show "Home Improvement" with Tim Allen, where his eyes would get real big when he was talking about souped up tools made by the company that sponsored his show within a show, "Tool Time". The Binford 2000 series was supposed to be top notch and super powerful. My Vita Mix is top notch and super powerful!) It arrived before my birthday but I decided to save it and didn't open it until yesterday. It comes with an instructional DVD that includes several recipes. We were watching it together (the little ones were fascinated) and DH was inspired by a citrus slushie recipe so that was the maiden voyage for the Vita Mix. (It was actually a margarita recipe but he made it minus the alcohol, of course, so we call it a slushie.) It was amazingly good and ever so festive. After that we tried to make a broccoli soup recipe from Alissa Cohen but it didn't turn out the way I remember it. (I had it at a raw foods "cooking" class a year ago; I think we goofed on the recipe.) The soup did get warm, though; the friction in that blender puts out some heat!

All in all, it was a good day and a good start to my 47th year.

Foods That Start with the Letter Q

I made a quinoa quesadilla tonight for dinner that was so wonderful I have to blog about it. I was inspired to make the quinoa (as opposed to the rice and canned re-fried beans I typically put on quesadillas) after watching a recorded episode of "$10.00 Dinners with Melissa D'Arabian" on the Food Network. It's one of the few cooking shows I still watch since her recipes are either meatless or easy to convert to meatless. She uses a lot of "inexpensive proteins", as she calls them, like beans and quinoa. At least one recipe per episode is usually meatless. (She does NOT refer to anything as vegetarian- that would be tantamount to treason on Food Network.) She also has great tips like suggesting that you soak and cook dried beans ahead of time then portion them out and freeze them for later use, like canned only cheaper (and without the bad plastic cans are lined with).

As for the episode that inspired the quinoa, she cooked the quinoa in the microwave. Rinse it well, then put one part quinoa to two parts water in a loosely covered microwavable dish, (I have a glass dish with a lid), and cook on high for 9 minutes. (I cooked mine for 8 per the package instructions.) Let it sit for a few minutes, fluff and flavor. Here is where we differed. I didn't make the Lentil-Quinoa Salad she made; instead I added caramelized onions and bell pepper chunks and some salt and pepper. I also threw some diced tomato in my bowl, but The Eldest asked me not to add it to the serving dish since she doesn't like tomatoes.

After the quinoa was done I used it on my quesadilla. I toasted a tortilla in a frying pan after spraying both sides with canola oil cooking spray. Once it started to brown I added the quinoa mixture to one half, topped it with a little bit of cheese and some diced lettuce and tomato, folded it over and let the cheese melt for a minute, then slid it out onto a plate. So simple and so delicious; I had to share the recipe!!

Krav Maga

I put The Eldest in a situation yesterday that is causing her a world of hurt today. You didn't know I was an abusive parent, did you? It's for her own good, I promise. What terrible thing did I do, you ask? I signed her up for Krav Maga, the self defense system used by the Israeli army. She took her first hour long class last night and she went for it. There was another girl, about her age, who wimped out halfway through the class but my kid stuck with it; I'm so proud. And she's so sore, poor baby; she couldn't even lift her arms after the class.

The experienced students were tough! (They invited me to stay and watch for the first class.) She was paired up with a young mom (her little boy was hanging out with The Wild Child) who obviously has been doing this a while and was kind enough to take The Eldest under her wing. That woman could pack a punch, let me tell you. I wouldn't want to be the crook that messes with her. The Eldest is far from that kind of power at this point, but if the classes can give her that, she's going.

I was anxious to get The Eldest in some sort of self defense class. I worry about her; she's going off to college next year and I won't be able to be with her and watch over her any more. I am haunted by Natalee Holloway, Jaycee Dugard, and other young women who have been kidnapped and killed, or kidnapped and abused for years. I want my children to have the skills to fight back if someone tries to do the same to one of them. I made sure they could all swim to protect them from drowning. I make them wear helmets when they ride their bikes and seat belts when they are in the car. Human predators are another hazard I need to make sure they are protected from. I know it's not foolproof. Just like good swimmers can still drown and a seat belt doesn't always mean you'll walk away from a car accident, this is not a 100% guarantee that no one will ever hurt them, but it's the best I can do.

A Dietary Setback

I'm having issues with soy, which is a huge problem now that we are vegetarian. Soy in all of its incarnations is a new culinary adventure for me but I was going at it full tilt. I tried tofu at various restaurants and from the prepared foods case at Whole Foods. We tried several of the soy "meat" products from the grocery store. I bought tempeh. We made stir fries and marinades with soy sauce. We even threw roasted edamame on salads.

Well.... turns out all that soy caused me to have some problems. Namely, it made my breasts feel like they did when I was lactating and it was past time for the baby to nurse. In other words, tingly and tender and sensitive to touch, but with no relief from actually nursing. Blech. I didn't realize it was the soy at first and went to the doctor about it but she couldn't find anything wrong. I finally had an epiphany one day- IT COULD BE THE SOY, and asked my acupuncturist (a long time vegan) if it was possible. She said go off soy to see what happens, duh. Well, I went off soy, and yep, that's the culprit. I even reacted to a tiny bit of soy sauce in a recipe. It's definitely the soy.

BUT IT'S JUST NOT FAIR!!!!! Why couldn't I have known this going in? I mean, it only cropped up after I really started to like soy and soy products. I'm bumming. There are so many things we discovered and really liked, and now we have to give them up. Well, I have to give them up. No more faux BLTs. No more "Joggin' John" with the soy sausage. No more soy marinated mushroom caps filled with guacamole. (From the raw foods class I took last year.) No more stir fry. WAHHHHH.

OK, OK, if that's the worst of my problems life is pretty good. But it's still aggravating!

PS: Does anyone know of any substitutes for soy sauce?