Orange + Mango = Magnificent Smoothie

Today for lunch I had a smoothie that was sooo good... I think I might be dreaming about it tonight.  I don't really like mangoes in general, but in a smoothie I think they produce a rich flavor and a smooth, creamy texture.

The smoothie (in case you are too thick-headed to figure it out from the title), is an Orange Mango Smoothie.  It was literally the BEST SMOOTHIE I THINK I'VE MADE SO FAR!!!

The best part was that I couldn't tell that I had put a veggie in it!!!  I read that cabbage leaves don't normally destroy the taste or color of a smoothie, and guess what?!  They were right!!!  The veggie didn't disrupt the color OR the taste!!!  It was AMAZING!!!

Maybe I can somehow convince my mom to let me have only this smoothie...

Nah...  I wanna see if I can find a smoothie recipe that is even better than this one.

Orange Mango Magnificent Smoothie:

1c oranges
1c mangos
1/2 c bananas
2 cabbage leaves

!!!ENJOY!!!

Question of the day:
What is your favorite way to eat cabbage?

Mine:
DUH!!!  Until now I've always hated cabbage... until this smoothie.

Kiwi-Apple-Pear Green Smoothie

Day two on my smoothie diet... I'M STILL ALIVE!!!

I was actually expecting to forget and eat a "normal" breakfast but instead, I actually remembered to drink a smoothie.

This sounds really weird coming from me but I feel tons better taking these healthy suckers.  They seem to give me lots more energy than normal food.  For instance, this morning I woke up completely sleep deprived (lately I've been having the hardest time sleeping), but after I had my green smoothie for breakfast, Like fifteen minutes later I felt like I just had the best night of sleep and I was completely energized.  It was AWESOME!!!

And since I'm nice,  I'm going to give y'all the recipe to my favorite smoothie I've made today.

It's really yummy!!!

... Just ignore the green color...

Aloha Apple Kiwi Smoothie
(This does have pear in it but you can't really taste it)

1c apple juice
1/2 c pears
2 kiwis
1 small cucumber

Optional:
1/2 c ice
1/2 stalk of celery

I actually liked the smoothie best when I added the cucumber in!!!  Shocker, right!!!

Question of the day:
What is your favorite smoothie combination?

Mine:
I have no clue... I'm still experimenting!!!

My Smoothie Week: Day One

This morning I decided that I am going to do an all smoothie diet!!! 

I think that it's going to be fun... as long as I can avoid the gross smoothies.... Glop, glop...

When I first asked Mom if I could do the diet, I was afraid that she'd make me overload them with veggies.  Much to my surprise, she's letting me make them as long as I put in a little bit of veggies.  I did do a bit of research on the art of green smoothies.  I learned about some of the different veggies I could use and why it's really important to use different veggies rather than always relying on just spinach as my green.

My goal is to try it for one week.  If all goes well, I'll try it for another week.  And if it continues to go well, I'll keep doing it, though I'll probably start phasing in some non-smoothie meals.  Hey, I still want to cook!

I just want to try to lose the weight I gained from all the all-you-can-eat buffets at Beaches.  Curse you buffets!!  You are just too yummy!  Anyone else struggle to stay away from the pastry and ice cream section?

I also think that it will help me have better eating habits.

Hmmm... let's think about that.  Who really wants to drink a blended up grilled cheese sandwich?

Any takers?

I thought not...  Get my point?

I started today.  I had one as an afternoon snack and made a pretty good one for dinner while the rest of my family dined on chicken curry, broccoli and rice.

Banana-Almond Delight

1 cup almond milk
1 banana
1/8-1/4 tsp stevia

Blend it up in a blender.  It was uber-yummy!


Strawberry-Banana Blast

1 cup almond milk
2 bananas (1 frozen)
4 large strawberries
1 handful red leaf lettuce
1/2 -1 Tbsp xylitol (or 1/8-1/4 tsp stevia)

Blend together.  If you want it colder, use all frozen fruit.
This one wasn't quite as good as the Banana-Almond Delight, but it was pretty good considering it had lettuce in it.


Challenge of the Week:
Surprised you, didn't I?
I challenge you to make at least 1 green smoothie a day and tell me how you feel at the end of the week.

To make them more palatable, use more fruit than greens.  A pretty good-looking site my mom uses is Incredible Smoothies.  She lists TONS of smoothies and ideas on there.  I'm planning on trying some from there as well as from our Jamba Juice Smoothie book (without the ice cream or juice--unless I squeeze it myself)... and experimenting on my own!

Also, PLEASE share this blog with your friends.  Let's work to make a healthier world!  C'mon, who's with me?!s

Question of the Day:
What is your favorite smoothie combination?

Mine:
Anything from Jamba Juice!

Back Into Gardening

WHOOP WHOOP!!! Now that it's spring, Mom and I are starting to plant seeds into our garden.  It was fun to get my hands dirty and to think about all the things I can make when they start growing.

Some of the seeds looked like burrs (stickers or what ever you call them).

It's also amazing to see how small carrot seeds are.  'Cause carrots are pretty big.

I can't wait till I can start harvesting!!!

Another reason that I'm in such a good mood is because I get to see Hunger Games tomorrow!!!  My cousin and I are going to paint our nails District 12 and Capitol colors.  I'm probably going to have trouble sleeping tonight; I'm so excited.  I just hope that the movie isn't an embarrassment to nature... Or the book. I know that's asking a lot, but seriously, you pay to see a movie for a popular book, and all you get is some crap that shouldn't even be considered something based off the book.  Oh well... Keeping my fingers crossed.

Question of the day:
What is the worst movie based off a book or TV show you have ever seen?

Mine:
Percy Jackson... That was terrible.
OH!!! And Avatar The Last Airbender... That was probably the worst one yet.

Potato Pancakes

A friend of ours gave us a big box of potatoes for Christmas.  We don't normally eat very many potatoes, so they have just kind of been shoved in the refrigerator for the past few months.

Until now.  Mom just rediscovered them.

Behold, the lowly potato...

So, now we are trying to figure out what to do with all of these very large Idaho potatoes.  Yesterday we made mashed potatoes.

Today, we tried something new for lunch:

Potato Pancakes!

That might sound a bit disturbing, but they are actually extremely yummilicious!  I wanted to eat the whole batch...  But I didn't... Mom made me stop...  So mean, Mom!!! ;)

Actually, that turned out for the better because I had the rest for dinner!  Ok, Mom, you're forgiven!

Potato Pancakes

2 large russet potatoes

1 egg, beaten

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

1-2 Tbsp flour

Grate the potatoes; drain off any liquid.  Add the egg, salt, pepper, and flour and stir until well combined. Heat about a tsp of oil in a frying pan.  Drop blobs of potato mixture into pan and fry until brown on each side.  Keep adding a little oil between batches when the pan gets too dry.  

Question of the Day:

What is your favorite way to eat potatoes?

Mine:

I can't decide.  I love cheesy mashed potatoes... and these potato pancakes... and hash browns... and french fries... potato smoothie... MOM!  Get off the computer and write your own blog!!!

Tropical Delight Smoothie

Happy first day of spring!!! :)

Ahhh yes, spring is in the air.  Birds are chirping, the sun is shining and flowers are blooming...  

Well, they were blooming until Provo got a decent snow storm over the weekend.  Good thing it has mostly melted after today.

To celebrate the first day of spring, in spite of the snow, I created a little smoothie for dinner.

Yummy... Smoothies...

I LOVE SMOOTHIES!!!

Except green smoothie creations my mom produces... I prefer my artichoke plain, Mom (I hate artichoke, by the way).

So, to avoid Mom's personal favorite, Artichoke-Avocado Smoothie, aka The Double-A Shot of Death, I took matters into my own tentacles... I MEAN FINGERS.

I created a healthy, yummy, and non-green (sorry spring) smoothie.  It has no veggies in it, which makes me happy...  No more artichoke smoothies for me!!!

Tropical Delight:

1c water or milk

1 1/2 c frozen Festival Blend (mango, papaya, pineapple and strawberries)

1 banana

1/4 tsp stevia

Blend together until good and smooth.  If you want it creamy, use milk or almond milk.  If you want it more fruity, use just water.  You can also adjust the stevia, using more or less, depending on how sweet you want it.

CAUTION: 

This smoothie does not contain any artichoke.  So if you wanted an artichoke smoothie, this isn't the blog for you.

Question of the day:

What is the grossest smoothie you've ever had?

Mine:

Artichoke-Avocado Smoothie.  Take my advice and never try it.  And if you you want to try it, please send me a video of you drinking it.  I don't care if you make a funny face, just send it... You'll always be known as a brave soul in my book.

Green Eggs and Ham

So... today Mom and I decided to make green eggs and ham for dinner because we felt like celebrating St. Patrick's Day a little bit longer.

We got the idea from Audrey.  She came back from school obsessing about green eggs and ham.  So what better way to feed a kids curiosity than to make it for them.

It was yummy but we put a little too much food coloring in the eggs.  Other than that they were awesome.  I made mine into an green egg, ham, and cheese, sandwich. Yum!!!

Question of the day:

What did you make for St. Patrick's Day?

Mine:

Green eggs and ham... no duh!!!

Turks and Caicos Day 11

Day eleven here in sunny Provo, Turks and Caicos...  WOW!!! It  doesn't feel like it's been eleven days!!!  But at the same time, I feel like I have been here in "tropical" Provo for a really long time...  If that makes any sense.

Unfortunately, I'm not staying in Beaches anymore.  *Sad face*

Instead, I am now staying in Regent Grand.  It's great and all and I've made another friend but I still like Beaches a bit more.  The hotel is great and all but I like how in Beaches I felt completely carefree.  Plus, here in the Grand Regent hotel we have a better view of the ocean.  Ocean smocean!  I want to have fun!!!  And go back home.

I miss experimenting in the kitchen.  I think that as soon as I get home I'm going to bake something...  If we have anything in the fridge.

Dreaming... Just dreaming...

Question of the day:
What should I bake when I get home... perhaps I'll share some...

Mine:
I have no idea.  But what ever it is, it's going to be good. :)

Turks and Caicos Beaches Resort Activities

Beaches Resort reminds me a lot of Disney Land.  They have quite a few things in common.  For instance, like Disney Land, Beaches has characters that you can take pictures with.  But, unlike Disney Land, the characters at Beaches are the Sesame Street characters.  Beaches also host character breakfasts, but unlike Disney Land, you can't get their autographs... Oh well, hakuna matata.

BUT what I liked about Beaches more than Disney Land was the activities thrown at me by the teens club.  Like the time when I got to do tie dye for the first time.

That was really fun.  I was tempted to run back to my room and grab all of my white clothing!!!  There were a lot of cool designs that people created.  One kid created a tie dye heart on her shirt while her brother crafted a tie die diamond onto his.  I still think mine was cooler. :)

Unfortunately, I couldn't find my shirt when it was time to pick it up, so now I don't have it. :'(  At least I still have a picture of it.

Near the end of my stay, I got to be a balloon animal maker's assistant!!!  It was a lot of fun.  I even got some pictures of the balloons I made. 

I think I now want to be a ballon maker in my spare time.  The ballon animal maker's name was Lauren.  The first time I met Lauren was when I did a little Turks and Caicos trivia game in the pool.  She was the judge and spokes person.  And I somehow won even though I was guessing the whole time. 

Flashback;

Lauren: What color represents the island Providenciales?

Me: PINK!!!

Lauren:  Correct.

Me: Say what?!  I was just joking!!!

Here is another flashback;

Lauren: What is Turks and Caicos national tree? (I can;t remember how she said it, but this sounds about right) I'll give you a clue.  It starts with an H and it is a name.

Me: HEIDI!!!

Lauren: Nope.

Me: HEATHER!!!

Lauren: Correct!  Ladies and Gentlemen, was have a smarty pants in our midsts.

Me: ???

I ran into her again during her ballon animal making shift.  We started talking and I showed her how to make a ballon cat and parrot.  She taught me how to do a flower, and a few others.  What can I say, it was really fun.  To bad I might not ever see her again. :'(  Keeping my fingers crossed though.

Question of the day:

Mine:

Turks and Caicos Day One Teens Club

As you know from my last post, my family left last Saturday for Turks and Caicos, Island Providenciales (or Provo for short)... Hmmm... We started in Provo and ended up in Provo...

We stayed in Beaches Resort (if your kids watch Sesame Street then you probably know what I'm talking about).  Let me tell ya, if you ever have the chance to go there, GO!!!  I loved it!!!  The service was great, and I actually met new people and made many new friends, unlike most trips we've gone on.  There were these "kid's clubs" that parents would drop their kids off at.  Normally, I wouldn't want to go to those, but I basically lived at the teen club because I liked it so much. :)  

At my "teen club," there was normally always a new person to meet and make friends with.  Plus, there was plenty of fun activities to do all day long.  I really enjoyed the water slides/water park.  It consisted of four water slides, a lazy river, and a kiddie park.  My friends and I played there a lot.  We even played "Cache Cache" which is the French version of "Hide n' Go Seek" (anyone else love that game?).  Most of my friends I made were from Canada so they spoke multiple languages, including French and English.  It was fun learning to play familiar games from other cultures and learning their twists on the rules.

Question of the Day:

What is your favorite resort/hotel you have stayed at and why?

Mine:

BEACHES!!!!!!!!!!!!  Why?  If you're still wondering, you obviously haven't really read my post...

Turks and Caicos MADNESS

Last week, my family embarked on a little adventure trip to Turks and Caicos.  Turks and Caicos is a series of small islands in the Caribbean (but it's not the same as the Cayman Islands).  We stayed at Beaches Resort which was probably the best (if not one of the best) hotel we've ever stayed in.  (I'll talk about our stay in my next post.)

We were supposed to come back from our trip yesterday.  BUT, the local fire department went on strike, so all flights were cancelled, both coming in and going out of the airport.  And now, we are now stuck here on a little island for at least another four days!!!  I'm not complaining about it, but I'm just a little homesick since we haven't been home for almost three months now!!!

Back to the airport situation:

The airport was I-N-S-A-N-E!!!  I feel bad for anyone who was claustrophobic.  There were literally lines of people snaking out and around the airport trying to either get on their flight or trying to rebook it because it was cancelled.  Some people were even trying to cut the lines but were sent back by the security (Go Team Security!!!).  There was one guy who cut in front of us but got caught, and when he was told to go to the back of the line, he started getting mad at the security guard (I'm going to start calling security guards SGs...  My heart goes out to them for this.  I would've hated to be in their place that day), but the SG calmly countered the man saying that all the people behind him were dealing with the same thing as him.  I also feel bad for the people at the counter.  They were dealing with frustrated people who were probably ready to shoot someone (not really though).

And a little later, things got so out of hand that the airport got a little visit from the news.  Meanwhile, others were pulling out cameras, iPhones, and iPads to take videos of the chaos (I wonder if you'll find any of the videos on YouTube?)!!!

Question of the day:
What's your airport "horror" story?

Mine:
This was my worst experience.  But one story that I heard is that a lady's sixteen-year-old daughter was flying in a plane from Atlanta to Turks and Caicos (this was just yesterday!!!) and right when her plane was about to land, the fire department went on strike.  So her plane was circling in the sky for a good hour and then had to flight back to Atlanta!!!  Now, she is in Atlanta with no place to go, completely alone, and doesn't know what to do!!!  (Scary huh?)  Glad that wasn't me, but I still feel really bad for her!

Whoopies

In case you're wondering what in the world a whoopie is, I'll tell ya.  A whoopie is a cookie sandwich with marshmallow cream and chocolate.  It's really yummy...

But the first time I heard of them I thought my mom was talking about whoopie cushions.  Yeah... That was really weird.

Anyways, my mom found this recipe from Chocolate Covered Katie (Is it just me or does it seem like all of our recipes come from her?) and they looked really good.

So we gave one to my Mom's trainer, Steve for his birthday.  I even added a swirly candle on top of it... I thought it was a nice touch :)

We did have to change it a bit, though, because they turned out really runny the first time.

Here is the modified recipe:

Whoopie recipe

(makes 12 circles)

• 1/4 cup milk of choice
• scant 1 tsp vinegar
• 1/2-2/3 cup whole-wheat pastry flour (or white flour)
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• just over 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup evaporated cane juice (or white sugar)
• 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 F. Mix vinegar into milk, and set aside. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients and mix very well. Then add the vanilla to the vinegar mixture and stir. Pour wet into dry, and stir to combine. Drop tiny circles (a little over the size of a silver dollar) onto 1 or 2 cookie trays. (Or, if you have a whoopie pie maker, you can use that! I don’t have one.) Bake around 8 minutes.

*These are fantastic with the homemade marshmallow cream and chocolate sauce that Katie lists on her blog.* 

Question of the day:
What has been your favorite post that I've done?

Mine:
The Polka Dot Banana Bread :)