Purple Smoothie Recipe

This is our purple smoothie we always do about 3 times a week - the kids love it, we love it and it's just chock full of good things!  You will need a high-powered blender such as Vita-Mix to make it super smooth.  You might need to change a few things up to your taste - it seems to taste a bit different everytime I make it because I never measure the ingredients, and raw food tastes a bit different each time.  This makes 2 tall glasses and 2 small glasses of smoothie.  If this makes too much for your family, pour the other parts you don't eat into freezie pops! 

1/3-1/2 can of full-fat coconut milk
About a cup or more of water depending on how thick you want it
1 to 2 leaves of kale or 2-3 cups spinach
1 ripe banana
1 large apple
1/2 of a 12 oz. bag of frozen strawberries
1/2 of a 12 oz. bag of frozen blueberries
2-3 TB of flax seeds

Blend on high for at least 30 - 45 seconds to blend the flax seeds.  ENJOY!

Veggie bean cakes and greens

First of all, I can't tell you how excited I am with myself that I actually created a new recipe!  I'm NOT usually one to fly solo without a recipe (because I've tried that before and it was pretty much a disaster everytime).  But, today, I tried something that the kids actually loved!!!  Woohoo!  Well, my husband wasn't there to taste it tonight - and he's my ultimate taste tester, because he is the chef in the family - BUT, the kids and I really loved it!  I will say, it probably needs a bit more herbs or something, but it still tasted good to me.  Here is the recipe:

1st, Steam or boil cubed sweet potatoes and carrots.

2nd, get some rice going (1/4 cup of dry white rice) to make 1/2 cup 

3rd, saute ingredients below:

1/2 onion

2 minced cloves of garlic

1/5 of a yellow pepper (I wasn't sure if the kids would like this, so I didn't put alot!)

(Saute above ingredients w/ grapeseed oil) until tender and then add for 2 minutes:

1 TB chopped fresh oregano (fresh from my garden - yay!)
1 TB chopped fresh basil

4th, preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Or, you could just brown each side of the below patties in a skillet on medium heat w/ a tiny bit of grapeseed oil.

5th, throw in Vita-Mix or food processer ALONG WITH sauteed things above:

1/2 cup of cooked sweet potatoes (I had some left over from our sweet potato pancakes this morning!)
1/2 cup of cooked white rice (more leftovers!)
1 can of Great White Northern Beans (drained/rinsed)
2 TB of egg that has been beaten
1/2 cup - 3/4 cup of cooked carrots (I steamed mine)

Put brown rice flour in bowl (or any kind of crumb mixture - we're gluten-free here, so that's what I used), and spoon out globs of mixture into and work flour into until you can form into patties.  Put on baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes on 1 side, flip and bake for another 10 minutes on other side.  Sprinkle a bit of sea salt on it to taste.

We had some collard greens (I think?) or some kind of greens that I got from my friend's CSA while she was on vacation, and I steamed those to go on the side.  Steam greens for 5 minutes.  I actually steamed mine a bit too long I think for 6-7!

YUMMO!!  I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!  The picture is not very good - sorry, don't have a fancy camera!  Hopefully you get the idea of what it should look like.  I actually did some in the skillet and browned them a bit in just a tiny bit of grapeseed oil.  You could also do that - I actually liked the skillet ones better I think, even though they both pretty much tasted the same.  So, this 1st picture is of Mitchell choking down his greens - he did NOT like these, but he was willing to eat them all for a 3rd Veggie bean cake :)  Evelyn took that picture - she was taking a bunch of pictures!  HA!  The 2nd picture is of him finishing up his Veggie bean cake.

Bees, honey, and allergies...and GMO's

I went to Whole Foods today and there was a girl there that was selling raw honey.  I had a taste, and YUM!  I was wanting to get some because so many say that local honey helps with allergies.  Well, thankfully, I have not had any fall allergies this year for some reason???  I always do, so I have been baffled as to why I don't yet!  So, anyways, she went on to explain that her honey was raw (which means, not heated in any way - which I love because it preserves the healthy enzymes in the honey that heating destroys), and the bees that made the honey were in a nature preserve that had totally ALL non-GMO plants and vegetables, and soil that was pesticide/herbicide free.  For $5 that was totally worth it to me!  But, it was so sad because she was telling me that bees that pollinate from plants that are genetically modified will immediately start tremoring and will start trying to clean themselves from the pollen that they just collected.  And, there will be a ton of bee babies and it will look like a completely healthy situation, but these bees that are collecting from GM plants are just leaving their babies high and dry!  So, there are areas where bees are disappearing.  This is such a tragedy in ways I can't even begin to imagine.  We need bees!!!  I also just read the other day that many countries in Europe and Australia are banning GMO foods, and our good 'ole FDA here in America keeps touting the safety of these foods.  Ugggh...so frustrating to me.  So, if you're going to plant your own garden by the way, the best seeds to get are organic and heirloom seeds.  These are seeds that have not been genetically modified in any way and will keep producing seeds year after year.  There is a documentary I have heard of and have not yet been able to watch called, "Vanishing of the Bees."  I would think that it would be worth checking out for the health of our whole country.  Also, I went to Trader Joe's today and the lady at the checkout was telling me that the Trader Joe's brands should all be NON-GMO.  I was so excited to hear this; although, I probably need to confirm that with the manager there.  Anyways, food for thought.


I was just reading the other day about how several countries are now banning foods that are Genetically Modified (called GMO foods).  So, she was telling me

Funny stuff

I loved this article I read today on Baby Center today and I wanted to share it with you!  It really reminded me the benefits of cutting up and being silly with your kids - and how it helps them to cope with difficult things that will come up in their lives.  Some of my fondest memories at my Grandma and Grandpa's house were watching the Laurel and Hardy movies that my Grandpa had taped.  I can still hear my Grandpa laughing so hard at those movies he'd end up in a coughing fit.  I have since sat with my children and watched some Laurel and Hardy movies and some of them have left me crying and falling out of my chair I'm laughing so hard.  It's contagious and so my kids will be doing the same!  My sense of humor is very slap-stick - I just love silliness.  Anyways, hope you enjoy this article and do something fun and silly with your kids! 

Here is the link to the article if you'd like to give it a read:  http://www.babycenter.com/0_big-story-how-to-raise-a-fun-and-funny-child_1739289.bc?scid=bigkid_20110329:2&pe=ZmtsdXhPfDIwMTEwMzI5

A priceless picture of Mitchell and his friend Sera

  This picture was taken at a local Valentine's Day Dance - so cute!  :)

I love decorating cakes!

Well, this year Evelyn LOVES Angelina Ballerina, so I decided to attempt to do an Angelina cake!  The only thing I wish I did different was start sooner - which is always my wish...but the cake was a bit too hot, so it made the icing too warm and smear into the other colors...but here it was - I wasn't that excited about it really and didn't think it was all that great...until Evelyn exclaimed, "I LOVE IT!!!!!"  That just made my day - she absolutely loved it and I was so happy!!! :) :) :)  Here is a picture of it...and below that is my little Evie, so proud of her tinkertoy creation. :)

Free Couples' Money Assessment

Hello everyone!  I wanted to let you know of this free, limited time offer at http://www.crown.org/ called the "The Couples' Challenge."  I haven't taken it yet with my husband, but I plan to!  I think it helps you to determine your spouses' values and how that translates in how he/she spends money.  It sounded very interesting when I heard about it.  Just go to the website and it will scroll by on the flashing items on the front page.  Let me know if you do it and if it helps you!