Cashew Heaven.

The newest addition to our morning smoothie routine has been cashew milk. I started making it to substitute dairy, not really because I don't want dairy but more because whenever I buy a large container of yogurt we don't finish it, all small containers get eaten with no problem, go figure. Have you ever made homemade cashew milk? It's tasty and really add some healthy bulk to our meal and I like the creaminess of it too!

There are loads of recipes out there to choose from. Some tell you to add a pinch of sea salt and a splash of vanilla. Some suggest a bit of agave for sweetener. But I just use it plain since I only use in my smoothies and not for drinking. Here's how you make it.

Ingredients
1 cup of raw cashews soaked in water overnight
3 cups of water

Dump and rinse the cashews that were soaked. Add cashews and 3 cups of water to the blender and blend until smooth, 1-2 minutes. We decided that we like the cashew milk better than almond but you can basically use the same recipe for almonds. You use have to strain it through a fine mesh sieve or through cheese cloth. Add to your smoothie and enjoy a rich and healthy morning!

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Hiding Out

 

Happy 2013! A little late, I know. I've been hiding out with the family, recovering from what I guess was the flu, and prepping for an exciting event. But I'm back and I'm ready for action in 2013. Life can be crazy sometimes, and not so much other times. We are still in the apartment and hoping to get out of there soon. While the place is nice, it just isn't home and I'm starting to miss knowing where our things are. But most importantly, we are healthy, happy, and together. I hope that you can all say the same and I wish you a very prosperous year! Stay tuned for an exciting give away Monday!

Happy Friday!

Juiced

Mr. Oliver has been on a little kick of asking for juice all of the time. I'm not a big fan of it myself so I find it hard to do. So many juices are so full of sugar and just of absolutely no use. But I have found some that are tasty, no sugar added, organic stuff. All of those requirements can equal out to be pretty pricey. So after talking to a friend about the beloved Vitamix, I decided to try to make some of my own! It was fast, easy, and guzzled down. So I feel like a success, at least for now. Here's what I did.

Carrot Orange Juice Juice

2 peeled oranges, halved

5 carrots, halved

2 C Water

Ice

Put all of the ingredients into the mixer and quickly turn up to 10, then switch to high. The tip that I heard was to let the mixer run on high for at least 90 seconds to ensure smoothly blended juice. No one wants to chew their juice. I had to add a little more water in the end because this mixture was tasty, but really frothy. Oliver seemed to really like it. I know this is not a "juicer" juice, but I'm pretty pleased with it. I think that it might be good with a little bit of ginger tossed in too! It's a good way to start off your day feeling healthy and strong! Hope you like it.

Mean & Green

Here's how my life goes. I do my very best to eat responsible, leafy green meals multiple times a day so I can then go for short walks with the family for cookies. Luna Bakery, you call my name but I counter it with tasty green smoothies and stir fry kale. French fries on the weekend, I see you too...we're all good.

Tuesday Tropical Smoothie
Large handful of spinach
1 banana
1/3 cup frozen mango
1 diced frozen kiwi
1 Tbsp ground flax seed
1/4 avocado
Water

Put it all in the blender and blend until smooth. Share it with the little one and start the day!

Be About It

Fitness is a commitment that has lately been easily neglected. I'd rather not run when it's 100 degrees outside. I'd rather hang out with my family when my husband comes home. I'd rather not skip dinner to hit the gym. I'd rather sleep in than get up before the sun to make a 6:30 yoga class. Have you heard these reasons before? They are all very valid but they are also just excuses. It's easier to talk about it than be about it sometimes. It feels selfish to carve out personal time away from the family just for myself when there are plenty of other things that "need" to be done. But in order to be that healthy, well-rounded person that I want to be, I have to make a commitment to myself to get back at it. So this week I'm hitting the gym and have returned to the yoga studio a few times. Here's to being your best self! How do you keep active?

Image source: Wild Spine via Pinterest

On the Table: Eat Your Veggies

Are you a fan of vegetables? It's so easy to get in a cooking rut and end up making the same things every week, pizza and pasta are easy. So I'm trying my best to mix things up while making sure we get our fill of fresh vegetables. Visiting the farmer's market weekly helps me to find new and fresh things to build our weekly menu around (do I sound like a broken record yet about the market?). 

Fresh salads and stir fries are really quick and easy. These top two meals featuring fresh spinach, zucchini, and broccoli. Then I like to add beans or lentils too to bulk up the meal.

My husband loves green beans so I made an easy side salad of cooked beans with balsamic and garlic to accompany our quick dinner of Luna burgers and oven fries.

Every morning. I have a green smoothie. The ingredients always include spinach, banana, and flaxseed then vary between mangos and peaches, or berries. Sometimes I use kale but my blender is no Vitamix so it can be a little chunkier than I like.

Now that Little Man has mastered the straw, he's all about me sharing with him too. How do you add vegetables into your meals? I'm always looking for something new.

This Weekend in Cleveland

Here's another round up of things to do in Cleveland this weekend. I selected three things that I hope to do. Maybe I'll see you there! Yoga Rocks the Park comes to Cleveland this Saturday in Lincoln Park in Tremont. The fun starts at 9:00 and goes until 3:00. Check it out if you can!

21st Annual Chardon Flea Market in Historic Chardon Square will feature hundreds of vendors selling vintage and collectible items from 8:00-4:00.

Holden Arboretum Bouquets Wine Tasting from 5:00-7:30. There will be live music and food sampling to go along with domestic and regional wines. Entrance is free!

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On the Table: Orzo Salad

If you haven't already heard, lunch can be my nemesis. It's either heated up left overs or I'm scrambling to put something decent together at the last minute. I certainly have my good days though, when lunch is a breeze and I'm full and happy. But yesterday I had a peanut butter sandwich at 10:30 and then a bowl of chips at 2:00, that was not my best effort. So today is a fresh start and I made enough for tomorrow too! 

Ingredients

1 cup of Orzo pasta

1 diced red pepper

2 cloves of minced garlic

8 chopped olives

1 cup of frozen peas

Grated Parmesan

1 Tbsp dried dill

Salt & Pepper

Balsamic vinaigrette 

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add your orzo and cook for 7-9 minutes (or whatever the box instructs). While the pasta is cooking chop up all of your vegetables and put in a large bowl. Drain the pasta and add it to the bowl. Add your salad dressing while hot and mix in dill, salt and pepper as needed. Top with grated parmesan and stir. Put the whole thing in the refrigerator until cool. Then serve. This dish is so simple and tasty, it's crazy. It would be a perfect side to bring along to your Memorial Day picnics! Enjoy your weekend friends, and also remember to honor those that have served our country. 

Into the Yard

The sun was shining bright, the babe was napping, so I took to the backyard. We have had some success with vegetable gardening in the past, now that we finally found the sunny spot in our shady plot of land. The beds needed some tilling but they were in fairly good shape because we actually took take of them pretty well last fall by removing the debris and turning the soil.

I usually do not garden in my teal pants but I was in a hurry since I never know how long he'll sleep.

I planted two kinds of lettuce and some arugula.

The winter was so mild that I never pulled out the kale, it's nearly shoulder high and blooming.

My favorite flower bed/herb garden is at the foot of our back stairs. My husband created this little plot for me and I love to see it when I walk out of the back door. The chives are blooming and going crazy as usual. We also have mint, oregano, thyme, rosemary, and to my disbelief, cilantro! It went to seed last summer and actually came back, it's kind of all over the place but it's there so I'm counting it. I can't wait to get the tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers in. After several years of trial and error I think we have a solid plan to have a successful victory garden this year. What do you plant in yours?

P.S. If you live in the Cleveland area and are looking for some inspiration check out the Woodview Hope Garden! It's a generous and impressive garden that donates their harvest to a local food bank. 

On the Table: Flax Seed Waffles

Baby boy loves some waffles. While his usual breakfast is scrambled eggs with spinach and a banana, lately, he (ok, we) have really been enjoying a quick frozen waffle. No big deal, right? Well some of the store bought ones are full of sodium and sometimes pricey. I suppose that's all relative depending on how you value your time. Me? I like to make things easy complicated. Enter the idea of just making a bunch of waffles and sticking them in the freezer for later. No biggie.

At first I found this recipe. As I was wandering the aisles at the store wondering where to find malted milk powder, I came across the waffle mix and decided to cut myself a little bit of a break. So I just bought the mix and some flax seeds and called it a day.

Ingredients

1 cup of waffle mix
2/3 cup + 1 Tbsp milk
2 Tbsp honey
1 egg
1/4 cup flax seeds
2 Tbsp melted butter

Mix all the ingredients together until the lumps just disappear and cook! My biggest issue with this was my waffle iron sticking. My plan was to slightly under cook them so I could freeze them and then pop the in the toaster later, but the waffle iron was not agreeing with me. So they are pretty much cooked and then I'll just be sure not to crisp them up too much in the toaster.

They ended up looking really good and tasting delicious. Some of our favorite toppings are blackberry jam, butter with cinnamon and agave, and the old stand-by maple syrup. Eat 'em up!

To Market, To Market

Tomorrow is the first day of the outside season of the North Union Farmer's Market at Shaker Square! This is by far our favorite place to go, there is nothing better! We have a routine that goes like this: Up and out early, fill our mugs with coffee at Dewey's, and grab a scone from Lucy's Sweet Surrender, then we hit up the rest of the stands. Or if it's a special day there might be a food truck there so we treat ourselves to that!

I love the market because it's inspiring! It makes me want to learn how to cook with all these fresh, new ingredients. I love to talk to the vendors and ask their opinion on cooking techniques too. I want to support local growers and do my best to buy what they have to offer. This week I'll be on the look out for ramps and mushrooms!

Now with the babe in tow, the mornings are even more adventurous! Last summer was all about finding new foods for him to try. Making his food was easy when we started with fresh, local ingredients. 

We buy our plants for our little garden there too. These beautiful tomatoes plants came from Ridge Bridge Farm. 

When we travel we always try to check out local farmer's markets. While in Seattle everyone is sure to make a stop here. We were there for a week and I think we went 5 times!

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The Santa Monica Farmer's Market is huge! We went on a sunny Wednesday morning and ogled the amazing produce! There were things there that I have never seen before! I can't find any of the photos that I took while there but imagine a busy street packed with vendors and fresh produce! Oh, and did I mention that you can see the ocean!

And I can't forget to mention the amazing Green City Market in Lincoln Park in Chicago. This place is inspiring! It's huge and has great food to get on the spot, freshly made smoothies from the fruit farmers, and fried cheese curd! We have also gone to Independence Park Market in Irving Park where our lovely friends live. It also has some pretty awesome food on the spot and a good variety of fresh produce too!

So here's a good growing season and a very Happy Friday!

Smooth It Out.

I try my best to be a healthy eater, although I do appreciate a good dessert and french fries, I'm only human. Recently, we started making green smoothies for breakfast just to get in that extra serving of vegetables every day. Here are a few of my favorite recipes. I'm always up for new ones too, so please share them if you've got them!

Green Mango Smoothie

Handful of kale

Frozen mango chunks

Banana

Your choice of milk or water (I use soy, the husband uses 1%)

Blend until smooth.

Spinach Berry

Handful of spinach

Frozen raspberries, blackberries, or blueberries

Banana

Your choice of milk or water

Blend until smooth.

Green Berry Ginger

Handful of kale

Frozen raspberries

Banana

Peeled and chopped fresh ginger

Water

Blend until smooth.

The combinations are simple but endless. Enjoy!