whoa, where is the time going? (plus... a green smoothie)

so, i have many unfinished posts on this thing. what is my excuse? i just had a mostly slower pace for a couple months! now as fall gets ready to start, i am de-cluttering and getting things back in gear. but back to excuses.... i'm going to blame my lack of blogging on baby brain! paul and i are expecting "the little" in december! i'm happy to say that so far pregnancy has been glorious and i have escaped first trimester with minor nausea (that was eliminated with eating) and extreme exhaustion that had me basically comatose after work or napping on the couch so that i would have the energy to go brush my teeth before bed!
second trimester has felt a lot more energetic and i'm hoping this keeps up as i'm heading into my final trimester.
i'm getting myself ready for the unwanted advice and touching that seems inevitable but i feel lucky to have only had one comment of concern about my vegan lifestyle (ie "did you hear about the vegan couple whose baby died?") and i feel really great about my diet and exercise right now! i haven't had any strange cravings. i guess the most surprising to me is that i don't want to eat coconut milk ice cream and raw chocolate as much as i usually do! and i haven't had the same urgency to go to starbucks for my unsweetened soy green tea latte as i have in busy work months. veggie brown rice sushi has been my meal of choice when i'm hungry but can't think of anything i want and in general, i'm really enjoying hunting down new vegetables and fruits to try at the farmers market and eating different grains and beans and legumes. ethiopian food has come up as a dinner craving a couple times though i don't feel like that's specific to pregnancy!
i'm taking vegan prenatal vitamins and while i was taking separate folic acid tablets, i (coincidentally?) did not feel like making my morning green smoothie! too much green leafies?
anyways, i'm finished the bottle and i feel like the folic acid in my prenatal and my food is more than sufficient and i've regained my green smoothie tendencies! hurrah! i'm taking daily iron (spatone liquid iron is my fave) and generally that is just with orange juice or a ginger/orange/frozen banana smoothie but sometimes it ends up in a green smoothie.
i made a green smoothie tonight to get some drinks in the freezer for some mid-morning energy boosts in the next couple work days and it was a nice one so i figured i should post it!

ingredients:
-about 1.5 cups filtered water
-one nub of ginger
-the tops of about 4 purple carrots
-a few sprigs of parsley
-about half or more of the tops of a bunch of radishes
-one peach
-one pear
-about 1 cup of orange juice

i got everything from the farmers market except the ginger and orange juice. maybe that's why it was so especially delicious!
anyways! i'm so excited to meet the little! but also really enjoying this time that she's been hanging out inside me. i can feel her moving around now and it's fun to feel her movements especially when me or paul are talking. i haven't had any food aversions so far and figure this means she is going to be super happy and excited to eat fruits and veggies like us! (and green smoothies, of course!)
hope your september is off to a great start and you are still enjoying farmers market goodies! i'm relieved to know ours goes into october as i was worried this was the last month!

hippie greens. not for the win of all green smoothie drinkers.

this morning's smoothie was some lacinato kale, parsley, arugula, a pear, an apple and two frozen bananas with 3 packets of spatone liquid iron and filtered water to get the liquids up to 1 cup in my vitamix.
when i tried it, i could definitely taste the spice of the arugula and was curious about paul's reaction. he was not impressed and said it definitely tasted like "hippie greens", the side salads ("organic spring mix from a bag") that seem to be the usual at some restaurants. he hates hippie greens! he tried using an apple as a chaser and a banana as a chaser.


i ended up with almost 2 glasses of smoothie this morning. oops. i will not use arugula tomorrow!

thanksgiving sunday morning green blend.

i'm at my parents' house for the weekend and i'm on smoothie duty for the mornings! i'm so excited they have been doing their own green smoothies since my last visit. and it's exciting to come for a visit and have a stock of fresh, organic yummy things to blend up!

this morning, i blended a couple leaves of kale (kale kind of frustrates me lately as there are more bugs than usual to clean off!), 1/3 a bunch of italian parsley, 3-4 stalks of red chard, 3 pears, 2 peaches, about 2 cups of water.

green smoothie party!

tonight was the perfect mellow friday night with my lovely lady friends and green smoothies!

these ones are: 2.5 cups filtered water, half a bunch of kale, some cilantro and parsley, 2 peaches and 1 apple and a couple dates because we were date crazy! DELICIOUS!!!
this is my IDEAL friday night. someday there's gotta be a dance club open that only serves coconut water and wheatgrass shots and green smoothies to fuel the moves! the waldorf is getting there for sure with vanessa's elixir bar downstairs and the coconuts in the tiki bar but still...

the perfect day smoothie.

today's smoothie, just before a much-desired trip to the beach (for which i packed some strawberries, radishes and cucumbers! yum!), i've blended a peach and an apple, one piece of kale, a couple mini bunches of parsley and cilantro with one cup of filtered water. THE BEST!

make-this-morning-easier smoothie

today's smoothie for paul and i (with extra for seconds for me! hehe) is 2 cups filtered water, 1 avocado, 1.5 frozen banana, 1 teaspoon(ish) spirulina, 2 plums, 1 bunch of parsley, 1 bosc pear and a nub of ginger. YUM!

b-ham and time with the fam!

this week i have been hanging out with my parents in chilliwack and on wednesday, i went down with my mom and aunt to bellingham. before i show off some things me and my mom have been making for meals this week, i gotta introduce a new crepe place in bellingham (as of april this year) called ab crepes on railroad, near everything i wanted to see in bellingham (terra organica, buffalo exchange, digs...)

this place is great as they have vegan/GF crepes and regular crepes. i got a southwest crepe, without cheese of course. they didn't have daiya but the girl helping us mentioned they had several people asking about it within a couple days so they were considering it! ^_^

the gluten-free vegan southwest crepe (basically salsa and avocado), cucumber instead of cheese

at terra organica, i got some chocolate for paul (because i ate his stash out of the freezer! oops!) and my mom got some snacks for us, including one of my beloved nori sticks from gopals. i hadn't tried this kind (texas barbq) and me and my dad loved it! he agreed it was like pepperoni and it had a nice kick of spice!

back at my parents's place that night, my parents had pizza and i made a salad for their sides and for my dinner! the salad consisted of greens from my mom's aunt's garden on the island, beet tops, and mushrooms with a dressing of blended lemon, garlic, walnuts, ACV, salt pinch and some salad booster. super delicious!

on tuesday night, we made ani phyo's raw chili to top a collard green leaf and some beet greens with ground walnut taco "meat" and avocado on top of that. awesome! i love that my parents have been enjoying the food that i enjoy. i must be doing something right! it's also been super nice that my mom is paying close attention to what she buys as she has a gluten allergy and dairy sensitivity. so she looks out for a lot of the same things i look out for!

i made smoothies every morning this past week for me and my parents which was fun. my first one was a chocolate banana one for my dad (frozen banana, cacao powder, mesquite, maca, coconut milk and a bit of ginger). this one was frozen mango and banana, apricots, lemon juice, a bit of camu camu, mesquite, ginger and goji powder with water.

this smoothie is lettuces from my mom's aunt's garden, apricots, frozen mango and banana. 

and this morning, i did the last collard leaf, some more of my great aunt's garden greens, some parsley, 4 apricots, 1.5 frozen bananas and a fresh mango. my parents are loving these smoothies and i'm excited that they will continue to do them when i am back home! i think it's such a great and yummy way to "get your greens"! ^_^

yesterday's lunch was an avocado/cucumber/lettuce sandwich on silver hills chia chia bread. my mom took me to the silver hills shop in abbotsford on our way home monday and it was awesome to see the assortment of raw and organic foods they are stocking! 

for dinner last night, my mom sliced up a zuchinni into noodles and rinsed the kelp noodles and we tossed them into a sauce i made out of 1.5 avocados, a garlic clove, juice from 1 lemon, a splash of ACV, a sprinkle of cumin and salt and a bunch of fresh basil before serving on top of a collard green leaf. SO YUMMY!

tonight we roasted marshmallows in the backyard with my friend since grade 2 (!!!) and her 4 (!!!) kids. it was so much fun! and it was awesome that it wasn't even noticeable that i had vegan/gluten-free graham crackers, chocolate and marshmallows (though the dandies were noticeably smaller than the kids'  marshmallows!

it was a wonderful week off and definitely a vacation being at my parents' place! 

now i have to start using my dehydrator again when i get home! ^_^

so fresh and so green!

this morning's smoothie is my first since arriving back from quebec city. soooo great to be using the vitamix again!

this one is: a parsley bunch, some frozen banana, avocado and bosc pear. 

yum!

"le réfrigérateur toute" smoothie

today's smoothie is not mostly greens, but is mostly green.
it is creamy, ever-so-slightly-sweet and filling!

this smoothie is 1/3 a bunch of parsley, a few sprigs of mint, a couple celery stalks, one carrot, one avocado, one pear, one avocado, two dates (i was worried it would taste like salad), and one cup of filtered water. i have enough for 2 smoothie glasses and well, since paul isn't here and it's basically lunch time, they're mine!

p.s. i went to leanne and liam's super busy potluck last night! at any given point, with all the comers and goers, there'd be at LEAST 30 people there! so, lots of vegan treats to try! i at first was avoiding my allergy list foods (gluten, wheat, cashews, peanuts, etc.) which is super tricky at a potluck (with dishes that don't have listed ingredients and way too many people around to try track down who made what) but i soon figured i might as well see what happens. if i ballooned out into a 8 month's pregnant lady like the last time i had green pepper, i would just go home! anyways... i felt fine! and relieved. my naturopath encouraged me during my last appointment, saying i should not worry about having some of these things during my upcoming quebec trip as for one, eating vegan in QC will be hard enough, but also if i am relaxed about it and relaxed in general, food sensitivities shouldn't flare up too harshly. i think after my next liver cleanse, i want to get my allergies tested again. i'm confident that my "avoids" list is going to keep getting smaller!

oh, but back to L+L's... they have these cool plants that don't have roots or soil or a pot? and they are green! what are these things? are they these tillandsia plants?

i can vitamix again!!!

i have been watching my fedex tracking and knew that my vitamix arrived in ontario for repair last friday. well, i was so overjoyed to get a canada post parcel notice today after work... and super surprised when it was my vitamix! one week after it arriving for repair, it is back with me!
what service!!! (thank you, vitamix!!!)
and the best part is that IT WORKS!
i can't wait to have daily green smoothies again! forever! i'm going to take such good care of my newly restored vitamix!

this one was parsley, frozen banana, some spatone liquid iron, some camu camu, apple juice and water.

i'm excited to do a 2 day green smoothie challenge i just read about in rawbc's emailout. it is monday and tuesday, july 23 + 24th, and you only drink green smoothies those days. sounds like heaven! if you participate, you are encouraged to let the green smoothie people know at info@rawbc.org with your name and city/town. they suggest 60% (organic, of course) fruit, 40% dark leafy greens and 2 cups of water in your blender. and the challenge is 2 days/month. sounds like a great idea to me!

day 26 of 30 green smoothie days in a row

today's smoothie is basically a repeat of yesterday's (loved it!) but i added one apple:

day 25 of 30 green smoothie days in a row

today was my perfect green smoothie. paul wasn't totally into it (he blended his with more water  - he's not keen on drinks you have to chew! hehe) but i really appreciate that he wants to drink healthy things ^_^

(all the tall glasses were in the dishwasher so we had to do a couple refills!)

so today was... a couple stalks of celery, about half a long english cucumber, a parsley bunch, a nub of ginger and the juice of one lemon.

this is the juice of my one lemon.

figure today is a good day to point out the importance of having seeds in your citrus fruit! david wolfe says (in his sunfood diet success system book) that :"a good quality citrus fruit should contain 14-15 seeds, even if the fruit is small in size. the more seeds in citrus, the better. the less seeds in citrus, the more hybridized or grafted is the strain. after you purchase or pick them, keep citrus fruits in sunlight or on the windowsill so they remain at their maximum nutritive value and quality. the more ripe and sun-exposed the citrus fruits, the sweeter and less acidic are its contents."

and i think it makes common sense, yes? you want to eat the most natural food as it simply must be the most nutritious and healthy! healthy plants want to (and can!) reproduce. can seedless plants reproduce? hmm... thinking not. buying organic guarantees that you are buying non-genetically modified produce. just one more reason to buy organic, just saying.

so, as much as seeds can be a drag, i'm totally happy to see them when i open up my fruit. it means i have a good one ^_^

day 13 of 30 green smoothie days in a row

wow, day 13! i can't believe it!
well, today i made a less-sweet smoothie. i used an apple, pear, avocado and parsley.

the texture was a bit weird - not quite solid like a smoothie and i had to "drink" most of it with a spoon. oops.

 i didn't want to wake paul this morning so his smoothie was in the fridge until later when i blended it with a bit more water (i used 1.5 cups of filtered water) and a frozen banana.

day 11 of 30 green smoothie days in a row

i somehow forgot to take a photo of my parsley smoothie this morning! for me and paul, i had just over a cup of filtered water with about 2/3 of a huge bunch of parsley, a few remaining leaves of romaine, a sprinkle of frozen mango chunks, 1 anjou pear and 1 frozen banana.

guess i'll just have to add some other photos instead!

so... first... a pleasant surprise when i went for tea this morning at delany's and learned i could get an unsweetened green tea latte with soy. they leave out the vanilla syrup and it is truly unsweetened (unlike starbucks whose matcha still is sweetened. as an aside, anyone remember when starbucks used to add that wretched "melon"-flavoured syrup to their matcha? ech!). and i actually got soy when i ordered it. hurrah!

and now my lunch today. such a treat to get to be home for lunch! it's nice getting to make food for paul too ^_^ so this salad is: collard greens, kale, red cabbage, beet, red onion, radish, carrot, basil, and avocado with (cold-pressed) flax oil and fresh squeezed lemon. yum!

hooray for new old juicers and local organic food and translucent lime green grasshoppers on car roofs!

i forgot to mention that while in seattle, i happened to lament that my juicer was burnt out and my friend's brother timo and his wife said i could have their juicer they were planning to sell as they just got a new one! eek!

i did carrots with beet, lettuce, parsley, cucumber, celery and added wheatgrass and spirulina and camu camu.

it's been MONTHS! maybe even 5 months! so many months!

what a glorious night because i can juice again! and now that i have all that pulp, i'm going to make crackers and bread again! YES!

okay and then today... i made a potato salad with potatoes from my friend's garden and basil, parsley and chives from my nannying job family's garden. splash of apple cider vinegar and olive oil with salt and pepper... ah, and i added sliced bits of pickles for extra kid appeal. but mostly, local and organic ingredients! love it!!! potatoes and pickles not raw but hey... works for me!

 and just before heading to the farmers market, i saw this amazing grasshopper on a car roof. isn't it amazing and cute? it didn't look real!

the benefits of eating at rooted cafe...

first... an amazing raw kale caesar salad!

 then, beautiful organic (and local whenever possible) produce!

getting rid of your cold...

morning vitamin C smoothie: parsley (couldn't resist as its iron should be more easily absorbed with all of this vitamin C!) and filtered water, camu camu, freshly squeezed orange juice (eek! so amazing! from the juiciest sweetest oranges ever!), mango, papaya...

 and then frozen bananas and some frozen raspberries...

 and later we did several shots of what organic lives puts in their cold/flu shot: e3 live, celery, ginger and camu camu!

coughing and sneezing = gone!