Wednesday, April 28, 2010

green smoothie Wednesday

Each Wednesday I think I'm gonna share with you my green smoothie (just in time for these warmer days of spring and summer). Today's smoothie consisted of watercress, strawberries, an old apple-peeled, unsweetened herbal brewed tea-that was left over from yesterday, a generous squeeze of lemon, and finally some agave nectar~

~ingredients
watercress was the new thing in the smoothie today, it's a bit peppery, reminds me of arugula.


~lovely lemon

~blended


Cheers!

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

run, girl, run


I've been contemplating about whether to post about this or not, but I'm going to go ahead and post about "the run" (or more like the run-walk-run). You see around the beginning of April I was shopping at our local food co-op (I'm usually in there at least two or three times a week) and most of the time after I finish checking out I go check the bulletin board at the front of the store. Usually on the board there are flyers for local events, classes, things for sell and so forth. On this particular day a flyer caught my eye, it was a flyer concerning a 5K walk/run. In my head I said to myself "if this race is on a Sunday, I'm game!" (we attend church on Saturday). I took a registration form home and realized that the date for the walk/run was on April 25th-a Sunday, decision made.
In the weeks preceding the race, I started working out more-using the gym membership that I already had, but now putting it to more use. Not all the workouts were enjoyable of course, but the after workout feeling made the workouts seem well worth it (and I do like sweating, it makes me feel like I'm doing something :) I also found this program to be a helpful reference.
The weeks flew by and finally race day approached, which was this past Sunday. More that eight hundred people from our city woke up early to participate in this race (the race benefited a local business that employs people with disabilities).
When I arrived at the racing venue, I placed on my number and got a chip to put on my running shoes. I got out to the starting line, went to the back of the crowd and finally took off when the guy yelled "go!" through his megaphone.
I started off with a slow jog, but then about 1/2 mile into it my calves cramped up (note to self, running on a treadmill is not the same as running on pavement, thanks). I stopped jogging and just began walking-for about a mile and a half. The walking helped out my calves and for the last leg of the race I was able to jog it out to the finish line. I was glad to finish, my body was glad also.
Really what possessed me to do this? I think it's because I need goals-especially in the area of exercise. For most of my life I had periods in which I'm active, and then I fall into the abyss of non-activity-it's a cycle, active, not active, active, not active-around and around. I'm going to be completely honest here and say that really I'm far from my ideal weight and I've struggled with this for most of my life. Genetics, having children, moving from state to state, along with other life stressors, I can try to blame-but excuses, are exactly what they are-excuses.
Now that the race is over, I wonder if I'll keep up my workouts, will I be just as motivated as I was before the race? I think so, a friend of mine gave me this verse when I told her about the race- "I can do everything by the power of Christ. He gives me strength." Philippians 4:13 NIRV. So true. When it boils down to it, its not about the race, or really about the weight, its about being responsible with my health-being a proper steward of it.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

spring~full force

~one of my garden helpers


~peas in a cup, staked with chopsticks

~a chive flower soon to emerge


~dandelion seeds

~redbud in full bloom

a little planting, a lot of blooming, and a bit of sneezing-that's whats been going on around here lately.

hope you all are enjoying Spring in your neck of the woods (except for the sneezing part that is :)

Sunday, April 18, 2010

kindness

When I started blogging I did so mostly to have a creative outlet, a space to show just some of the little things that we do daily (really I say a little 'cause I'm a bit of a private person in many ways). Yet as time progressed I realized that there is a whole lot of us that are sharing, using the internet, as a place of community. Yesterday I received a package from Libby (her crochet and photography are pure awesome). What really blew me away was that the contents of the package were so me~

~pretty yarn


~plantain chips

(I was tempted to eat these chips all by myself, but I shared some with the family)


~curry powder

(now I have to get my curry on)

All I can say is thank you Libby for your kindness and thoughtfulness, and isn't it something that I received your package exactly a year after starting this blog-how cool is that :)

Thanks again, Libby!

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

getting reacquainted


getting reacquainted, originally uploaded by *nichole*.

Really coffee is my every morning usual-I absolutely love my coffee, but today I wanted something-no scratch that-I needed something different. I haven't made a green smoothie in a long, long, while. This mornings concoction consisted of frozen mango chunks, spinach, honey, water, hemp-protein, chia seeds, and a small squeeze of lemon, and it was so refreshing, a totally successful reunion I'd say.
Green smoothies stick around this time, I think I need ya!

Monday, April 12, 2010

a little....

~crocheting


~reading


~growing


has been taking place in those moments when I need a moment.

happy Monday!

Monday, April 5, 2010

fruity

Yesterday for Easter I made two types of desserts-both based on fruit. As I've mentioned before I'm trying to healthify (is that a word?) our sweet selections. Now the most simple dessert one can make involves chocolate and fruit-and I believe anything with chocolate qualifies as a dessert.

~dried apricots and strawberries with dark chocolate


~our second dessert, a dairy-free fruit tart
we are not vegan, or even vegetarian for that matter-but the more I cook the more I love looking everywhere for recipes, ideas, suggestions. I don't like limitations, especailly in the kitchen. I made this tart by googling certain things (like dairy free vanilla pudding and vegan fruit tart) and the tweaking what I saw online with what I had in the pantry and fridge. The crust of the tart is a combination of ginger cookies, fine coconut flakes, almonds, dried apricots, a little coconut oil, and a dash of salt-pulsed together in the food processor then pressed into a pan. The filling part of the tart consists of pudding made with almond milk and pureed mango(I made the pudding first, cooled it overnight and folded the mango puree into the pudding the following morning). Strawberries and plums complete the top of the tart. Not too hard at all, and well worth the effort. Isn't it an awesome thing when desserts are actually good for you (:

Sunday, April 4, 2010

this Easter~










"These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation: but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."
John 16:33 NKJV


and because of this promise I am so utterly grateful not only on this Easter day, but everyday.

Friday, April 2, 2010

flowers~paper and planted

We did a little crafting for Easter today by making paper flowers. I remember getting this idea a while ago from an old episode of Martha Stewart (yes, I'll admit it, I'm a real Martha fan). One particular bride wanted paper flowers for her wedding and even carried a paper flower bouquet down the aisle. Ever since that episode I've been wanting to make some myself (and thought that it would also make a great spring/Easter craft, here's the link for the flowers we made today). My youngest even wanted to help out with the flower making, despite fighting a fever for the last couple of days. I purchased the crepe paper, floral wire, floral tape from Hobby Lobby and Michael's.
Now to flowers planted~yesterday we planted some zinnias in our planter box and some violas in a container. We also got around to some seed starting, yay! I purchased my tiny Jiffy hothouse last week and in it put tomato, pepper, eggplant, okra, and squash seeds. The little hothouse is now on top of the fridge (where's it a little warm) and when all the conditions are right, tiny seedlings will make their debut-how exciting is that!

~little hands cutting crepe paper


~our Easter bouquet


~zinnias planted


~seed starting tray


Wishing you a blessed and Happy Easter weekend