Green Monster Smoothie

Oh wow...I think I just had a revelation.

I know I get my fruits and veggies in more than the average person, but when you try to count up all the servings you're supposed to have each day, it can get overwhelming. And, well being very into cooking, I'm always looking for yummy new things to make to incorporate my greens.

Well, I stumbled upon this Youtube "vlogger" a week ago that offered this great concept: DRINK your veggies! Sort of like a V8, except what I'm about to propose is literally an organic garden sitting right on your taste buds. It's called the Green Monster. Roarrrr.

While I halved the portion of the original recipe, this bad boy has approximately 3 servings of fruits and veggies, a mere 30 grams of cars, 11 grams of great fat, and 3 grams of protein. And trust me, this drink is filling, but only about 150 calories!

And also, I know the idea of this smoothie will turn some people off, but please don't knock it until you try it.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of filtered water
• .5 organic granny smith apple
• a handful of fresh parsley
• 3 stalks of celery
• 3 romaine lettuce leaves
• one fourth of an avocado
• half a lemon

Preparation:

1. Put the water into the blender first.
2. Put all the ingredients into the blender according to the ingredient list.
3. Blend.
4. Drink.

Oh my lord, its a salad in a bottle.

To define the taste, it would be fresh. It's not overly sweet like a fruit smoothie, but it's absolutely drinkable. I slurped it just as fast as any other smoothie I'd drink; there was no nasty flavor or aftertaste. I am going to be making this every week. The benefits for your digestive track is insane. Hopefully you work up the courage to try it!

And no, it's not expensive. I spent less than $12 on the ingredients and that is enough for 4 smoothies!

Washington DC Fancy Food Show

I've been doing a little traveling down south to visit my college friends that reside in DC.

 Did some grade A tourist-ing.

So besides for sight-seeing, going out to see DC night life the first time, I got to tag along with family friends at the Fancy Food Show at the Convention Center.

Oh my lord, you guys, this place consisted of 4 endless rooms (seriously, it took 4 hours to get through half of one!!). They were all full of amazing foods from all over the world.

I don't think I've ever eaten so much in one day. Every vendor had something crazy to try and you just couldn't resist!

Some things I found that I'm trying to locate at home:

Delish and vegetarian and...DELISH. Great for college kids living out of a freezer/fridge

Seriously, whatever the heck this was, I want more of it. Because it's not at all bad for you and it tasted SO SO good. You can dip pretzels, fruit, or crackers into it. Good for when you're hosting a party.

These chocolate bars are not only phenomenal, but they look so pretty that they'd make great gifts. They're called Zoe's Chocolate Co. You can buy them at www.zeoschocolate.com. I ate the Raw bar, which is for people who like intense dar chocolate. It was sprinkled with roasted cocoa niblets straight for the cacao tree. MMM.

There were so many other things I loved, but this would go on for hours if I didn't limit myself to just a few pictures.

I had such an amazing time in DC and I already can't wait to go back!

Artificial Sweetners

Oh how badly I'd like to try this. But then I realize it has aspartame. Our addiction to artificial sweeteners is scary because we think we can get away with no calories and no side effects. It's even scarier when young girls try to starve themselves by drinking diet coke to suppress their appetites. 

Instead, I found this nommy alternative that is from the stevia plant and taste so refreshing. 

Wake up world, know what you're putting in your body! Moderation is not bad (I try to give up my Crystal Light, but I'll treat myself to it for a great low calorie chaser), but just be aware!

I don't care what anyone says...

Ice cream, candy, frozen Snickers bars, a glass of ice cold beer or soda...all tasty choices for a hot day.

But NOTHING tastes better on a hot summer day than...

A wedge of juicy watermelon.

Screw Starbucks

I'm not a coffee drinker, but I do love my Tazo teas. If you've never tried a Passion iced tea lemonade (unsweetened or sweetened), you haven't lived. But I also find that when buying anything from Starbucks, you're paying more for the cup and logo rather than the drink itself. 

So I recommend making this popular drink at home to save some money!

Go to Whole Foods or Fairway, or any store that sells Tazo teas. I love getting the assorted pack because while I do love my green tea, having plenty of yummy flavors to choose from is always nice. 

Instructions:

1. Put 1 packet of Splenda, sugar, or Truvia into a long glass. 

2. fill with 5-7 ice cubes.

3. Place the Passion tea bag into the glass.

4. Fill with chilled and distilled water (such a great rhymer).

5. Mix with a straw to get the sweetness up from the bottom and the tea flavors down from the top. 

6. While I didn't do this step, you can add in a very small amount of lemonade to add another sweet flavor to the tea. Not a necessary step. 

I love it so much that I just keep putting water in it so I never reach the bottom of the glass. 

Woke up and something weird happened to my breakfast...

Whatttt???

My favorite greek yogurt "Chobani" was frozen in my boyfriend's refrigerator.

Incredibly bizzare. Still tasted good though...

4th of July Cupcakes

I've always wanted to make these types of cupcakes, the kind where you use food coloring to make an array of layers in the cake. What better than on 4th of July to shake up a boring vanilla cake recipe into something red, white, and blue.

This recipe is really easy because you can basically use a box mix, an old family recipe, or the first one you can find on Google and it will come out great. When you mix up your cake recipe, you're going to want to separate the batter into 3 bowls where you will mix in red food coloring to one, blue food coloring to another and nothing to the third. You have the freedom to add as much food coloring as you'd like to reach any desired shade. 

Once you've colored your batter, you'll want to put cupcake liners into the muffin pans. Then take a tablespoon and put an equal amount of blue batter into the bottom of each liner. Next, you'll do the same step for the "white" batter, and then the red batter. Bake recipe according to the directions. 

When done baking, let them cool. I used a pink frosting and blue icing pen to write on the cupcakes with cute little sayings related to the holiday. 

See? Extremely easy! And taste nommy.

Hope you had a good 4th of July!