Clean GREEN SMOOTHIES. How to, what to, and why to.

So I made my first green smoothie a few weeks ago and failed miserably. It tasted...green. Really really green. I put out a cry for help via Instagram and got SO many tips, lots of helpful and some not so helpful (love you guys anyway):

SO here is what I learned:

You can break it down like this:

Pick what you want to use, blend the liquid and greens together first. Then add in the fruit and powerfood toppings and blend well. Pour into a tupperware, chug as you sprint to catch the bus.

My favorite combos:

Apple Lemonade

• 1 cup kale
• 1 cup almond milk
• 2 apples
• Juice of one lemon
• 2 teaspoons ground flaxseed

Tropical Vacay Smoothie

• 1 cup kale
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1/2 cup pineapple
• 1/2 cup mango (I picked up the "tropical fruit blend" at Trader Joe's for $3, it has the pineapple, mango and guava)
• 1/2 cup guava
• 2 teaspoons ground flaxseed
• Juice of 1 lemon

Classic Strawberry Banana

• 1 cup spinach
• 1 cup almond milk 
• 1 cup fozen strawberries
• 1 banana
• 2 heaping spoonfuls of Greek Yogurt
• 2 teaspoons ground flaxseed

Some tips:

• If using kale, you HAVE to include an acidic fruit to cut the bitterness. Lemon works great and so does pineapple. Or both. People on Insta also suggested ginger.
• My friend Lizzie swears by these. She throws in peeled beets, brussel sprouts (no joke), broccoli, and anything else nutritious in her fridge. She swears the lemon covers the taste of everything.
• These are great for "clearing out the system" if you know what I mean. It's amazing. I had a legit food hangover after a cheat night, drank one of these puppies and cleared the cheats right out. Felt 100 x better. Sorry for the overshare.
• I found whole flaxseed for way cheaper than the ground. I just put 1/2 cup of seed in my blender at a time, put it on "grind", and stored it in the freezer. PS: don't forget the lid on the blender. This is an easy thing to forget before coffee.
• You can use whole chia seeds, but whole flaxseeds pass right through your system. You can buy flaxseed ground, or grind it yourself in a coffee bean grinder or a blender.
• My friend Jeffrey turned me onto simplegreensmoothies.com- it has tons of recipes and challenges.
• Cleaning a blender can be a b*tch. Especially before coffee (hey bloody hands!). Fill the blender about halfway with water and a squirt of dish soap, put the lid on, and put it on blend for about 20 seconds. Now you have clean blades and cut-less hands!
• Frozen fruit can be a lot cheaper than fresh fruit during off season. Plus it makes the smoothie more frozen-y. Go for it, just NO canned fruits! Fruits and veggies lose lots of nutrients in the canning process!

Now for WHY green smoothies. I think the nutrition facts speak for themselves.

Apple Lemonade:

Tropical Vacay:

Classic Strawberry Banana:

What is your favorite green smoothie recipe? I want to try new ones!

PS: Need a blender? I ordered mine on Amazon 2 years ago and it's still goin strong after 2 years of frozen drinks and smoothies. 

Hope this helps everyone, so unlike me when you try you're first green smoothie you're not like:

 Or

But more like:

Linking up today at Tough it Out Tuesday, Turn It Up Tuesdays, Delicious Dish Tuesday, Mamade

Clean Eating Mexican One Pan Meal + weekend recap

Happy Monday! How was everyone's weekend? I celebrated the 7th anniversary of my 21st birthday- do I seem older??

Today's recipe is one I made as my lunch for the week last week. The plantains and sweet potatoes added a nice sweet complement to the cumin, turkey, garlic and beans. It was delicious!

Servings: 5
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb lean ground turkey, browned ($2.00)
• 1 ripe (brown) plantain ($.50)
• 1 avocado, chopped ($1.00)
• 1 can black beans ($1.00)
• 1 green bell pepper, diced ($.89)
• 1/2 large onion, diced ($.50)
• 1 large tomato, diced ($.80)
• 1/2 sweet potato, diced ($.40)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder (less if you don't love garlic as much as I do)
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

Combine all the ingredients except the avocado, mix well, and cook over medium-high heat in a non-stick pan for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, add the avocado, and voila! You've got lunch for the week! Serve with salsa and Greek Yogurt.

I switched it up and ate it plain on Monday, on salad Tuesday, as a lettuce wrap Wednesday, on an Ezekiel tortilla Thursday, and plain again on Friday. It was so good!

Sooo as for the weekend, my birthday was pretty low key this year, which was what I wanted- I'm so focused on the house right now and wanted to be able to get up Sunday and paint/work (which didn't happen anyway because the baseboards weren't installed yet). Friday night a few friends from the neighborhood came over and we had beer and hookah on the balcony (yay nice weather!)

A few friends of mine from high school who live in DC came along for my favorite bottomless mimosa/bottomless buffet brunch at Front Page (on the porch!!) on Saturday, then we went to Local 16's rooftop (my other favorite). We bopped down the street to Chi-Cha Lounge for awhile, then capped off the night with some jumbo slice (thank you, DC).

Sunday we got up early and went to the house to check out progress. There wasn't much we could do but I need some advice! HELP!

This is our new walk-in closet (!!!!). The floor is slanted on my side- any ideas how to use this space so it's not just wasted? I'm thinking I might put some shelves over the slant? Not sure though? Thoughts? Ideas?

This is Andi attempting to look 100% uninterested in Max, her new neighbor- look how hard she's trying! I love this pic. BUT- Andi is a climber. Even while I was out there with her she tried to climb the fence! Anyone have ideas for how to keep her in? We are putting up a new fence soon, but it's just not in the budget right now.

Our new kitchen faucet came in. This house stuff has taught me A LOT about compromise, and about how different Harrison and my ideas are about decor... This hose faucet was a compromise. It reminds me of the giant things we used to clean dishes at the restaurants I worked in... This faucet is even removable and stretches...what do you think? Is this cool? Am I just scarred from years cleaning dishes at restaurants?

And now for some before/after pix, because these make me feel 100x better about the progress, and the fact that we are at T-Minus 10 days out from the day we have to move out of our current place (EEK):

The downstairs bathroom- can we just talk about WHY anyone ever wanted PINK toilets?!?!

New floor, new toilet, cleaned walls make a humongous difference. We have a pedestal sink going in soon- pix coming! If there needed to be any more evidence of how much of a NON DIY person I am, please observe the fact that I couldn't even figure out how to move this door out of the way for the picture..sorryyy!

Master bathroom during- again, who wanted a blue tub?!

Master bathroom: almost there! I love the subway tiles, and on last Tuesday's post I asked for suggestions on backsplash and paint colors- there were SO many good ideas (THANK YALL!) and Julie at The Natural Junkie suggested subway tile for the backsplash and I was like WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT?!, so we just ordered some more of this in a smaller size! Still working on the paint color.

And that's it! Leave any advice in the comments- I appreciate it! And I hope everyone has an awesome Cinco de Mayo! This is actually a day that I drink margaritas at home because I refuse to fight the crowds of drunks in sombreros and pay for overpriced margs. I prefer be a drunk in a sombrero in the safety of my own home, with cheap tequila and no lines. #sorry

Linking up today with Weekend Recap, Much Ado About Monday, Monday Morning Gossip

Clean Eating Fiesta Stuffed Chicken + Home Reno Updates!

Happy Tuesday! Is anyone else really not feeling this Tuesday? Is it summer yet? Is it time to move into the new house yet (the answer to that is no- more on that later).

Last week I made this yummy fiesta stuffed chicken, and here's the recipe just in time for one of my favorite holidays- Cinco de Mayo (which happens to fall the same weekend as my birthday- Lindsay de Mayo sooo..)

Servings: 2
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients:

• 2 Chicken Breasts, thawed ($5.00)
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 Bell Pepper, diced ($.80)
• 1/2 Large onion, diced ($.50)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Lime Juice of 1 lime ($1.00)
• 1/3 Cup Fresh Cilantro, fresh ($.50)
• 1 Tablespoon Cumin
• 1 Tablespoon Paprika
• 1 Teaspoon Sea Salt
• 1 Teaspoon Black Pepper

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Butterfly cut the chicken breasts (see here for a 10 second tutorial). Season the chicken breasts with cumin, paprika, salt and pepper.

Combine the bell pepper, onion, garlic, lime and cilantro- now you have pico de gallo! Spoon the pico evenly onto one half of each chicken breast (one butterfly wing?). Fold the other half over so you basically have a taco with a chicken shell and pico stuffing.

Place the chicken breasts into a baking pan and add the chicken broth. Cook for 20-25 minutes, or until the chicken breasts are cooked all the way through. 

I chopped up some sweet potatoes that I seasoned with cumin and sea salt, and cooked in the oven with the chicken breasts and topped with some extra pico de gallo that I made. YUM!

And now for Home Renovation Update: Self Reflection Edition. In this process I have learned a few things about myself:

1. I am extremely Type A (Type A + perhaps?)
2. I need to control everything
3. There are approximately zero things I can control in this project
4. I live by deadlines, timelines and checklists. If all my boxes aren't checked off, then the day is not over yet.
5. Deadlines, timelines and checklists are mere suggestions for contractors. Checklists apparently do not exist in this industry.
6. When things are off schedule, I am thrown into a tizzy and get completely stressed out (sorry, Dad, for my major temper tantrum the other day re: things not running on schedule)
7. Nothing in construction runs on schedule.
8. I feel like when I can't oversee everything, nothing will happen right.
9. I haven't overseen anything for the last week and everything is completely fine.

So I guess God is telling me to let go of some control huh? It's hard to teach this old dog new tricks, but I'm trying to give over some of the control and be a little more Type B about this. I'm so thankful to have my parents helping out and doing so much of the projects because a) I trust them and b) they understand how psychotic I am because they made me and c) they explain everything to me, including WHY things have to run behind schedule. 

So now for picture updates:

Kitchen Before:

Kitchen Before:

 Kitchen ALMOST THERE! HELP- what color would you paint the kitchen? What kind of backsplash would you use?!?

Master closet before:

Master closet during (it now takes up AN ENTIRE WALL)

Linking up today at Turn It Up Tuesdays, Delicious Dish Tuesdays, MaMade, Tuesday Recipe Swap, Tough It Out Tuesday, What We Eat Wednesdays

Clean Eating Mushroom & Kale Stuffed Quesadillas + Weekend Recap + My chipped tooth

This weekend was amaazzz, and despite the high of 45 degrees in Milwaukee we had a blast at my friend's bachelorette party!

I made these mushroom and kale stuffed quesadillas when my dad was in town helping with building the kitchen in our new house and they were a hit with Dad and Harrison so I consider this a win!

Ingredients:

• 4 Tortillas (I use Ezekiel) 
• 1 pack mushrooms, sliced ($2.50)
• 1/2 lb ground turkey, browned (I used leftover from our calzones last week) ($2.00)--Turkey is optional. If you want to go vegetarian these would be just as good, but Harrison refuses to eat anything that even sounds vegetarian sooo..
• 1 zucchini, diced ($1.50)
• 1 squash, diced ($1.50)
• 1 onion, diced ($1.00)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup kale, removed from stems and diced ($.50)
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 2 teaspoons Garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon Paprika
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 teaspoons sea salt

Serve with:

• Black beans
• Greek Yogurt
• Avocado

Combine everything but the kale and tortillas in a large non-stick frying pan and saute over medium heat for about 6 minutes. Add the kale and mix well, letting everything cook together for another 4-5 minutes. Make sure to stir this constantly so nothing gets stuck to the pan.

Top some tortillas with the turkey/veggie mix, add some Greek Yogurt, black beans, and avocado and enjoy!

Annnd in other news- Milwaukee is really fun! Who knew right?! We got in Friday night and went to Waukesha for the bride's dad's retirement party where the accents were ouuttt offf controoll! We kept it pretty low key Friday and hung out at our hotel bar (stayed at the Intercontinental  in the Third Ward- definitely recommend!) where we saw IRA GLASS from This American Life. He was so nice and asked lots of questions about what we were doing in Milwaukee, so if he mentions Milwaukee bachelorette parties next week, you know where it came from! Sidenote: my iPhone's theme for the weekend was Blurry Pictures but hey.

I could kill the bystander for taking a blurry picture

Saturday we got up and had amazing breakfast burritos and coffee from Colectivo, went to the Milwaukee Public Market where we explored local food/vendors/artists, and saw some cool local art:

Saturday afternoon we went out to Waukesha (the bride's home) for the wedding shower at A Touch of Glaze  where we all painted pottery for the bride and groom and drank wine (lots of wine). It was such a fun shower and so different from other showers I've been to- no cheesy games, just making plates, bowls, and mugs for them! I love this idea and kind of want to copy it?

After the shower we all came back to the hotel and got dressed for the Pin Up themed bachelorette party. The MOH got us all big flowers to wear to go with the theme:

We had dinner at  Swig which was delicious food for really good prices and really tasty local beers. I love this picture of my 2 best friends (who I lived and worked with for a year in Rhode Island) because a)it's goofy and b)you can see how good Amanda did with her hair for the pinup theme:

We continued the party at a 20's themed bar called Bugsy's Back Alley Saloon. The staff was dressed like full-on flappers (kind of goes with the pin-up theme?) and there was live music and cheap beer so we were happy. Then we took the party to a fun dance club called Oak Lounge where things spiraled out of control, one thing led to the next, and the bride chipped my front tooth. I couldn't be mad because it was so funny and such a great story...remember your bachelorette party when you broke my tooth? Anyone have recs for dentists in the DC area? I'm thinking about keeping it for the next 2 months so it can still be chipped in Amanda's wedding pictures and we can have this memory forever:

I was driving the strugglebus on Sunday because I'm too old for this. We went to Milwaukee Ale House  on the river where I drank a (life-saving) bloody mary and ate a famous Milwaukee brat.

The bloodys come with a sidecar of beer. thank you, Wisconsin

Amanda got a cheese burger and in true Wisconsin fashion, it came with about as much cheese as it did meat:

They also had some amazing menu items I'd like to try another time:

All in all it was an amazing trip. I am so glad I got to celebrate one of my best friends, and it didn't hurt that Milwaukee is a pretty cool city. My friend is moving there this year and I can't wait to visit her in the summer to take advantage of Lake Michigan and the river!

Linking up today with Monday Morning Gossip , Much Ado About Monday, Monday Tips, Weekend Recap

Guest Post: The Primal (blueprint) and how Gwen Lost 66 pounds at age 62!

Gwen is taking over for the day while I'm getting my life together and avoiding another Dude Where's My Car sitch! Gwen has the best attitude and her blog is hilarious while very informative- follow her here.

I'm really excited to be doing a guest post for Lindsay!  She was impressed with my health turn-around, and asked me to talk a little bit about it, and the new food life style that has worked for me.  Maybe you've heard about it:  it's called the Primal (blueprint.)  It's basically next to no grains, sugars, or processed foods.  I'll put a primal food pyramid down a little further in the post.

I lost 66 pounds last year following it, and I'm 62!  The effect of what can happen to you when you give up grains and sugar IS that dramatic!  Believe me, I know how FOREIGN an idea that can sound.  I was a starch addict.  I used to ADORE warm buttered rolls, garlic bread, chips (with or without dips), crackers, fully loaded baked potatoes, pie, brownies, cookies, streusel topped muffins, donuts…yeah, ALL of it.

Out of control eating.  I got this five foot, 2 inches when stretching frame up to 195-204 pounds on two occasions after the age of 50.  DUMB.  But I ate with uncontrolled abandon.  I ate bored.  I ate stressed.  I ate happily with others.  I didn’t give a shit, enough, about what it was doing to me to attempt to break the eat-causes-craving cycle.  Hell, I didn’t even know that the cycle existed!  I lost over 70 pounds in 2009, doing the low carb / low fat South Beach diet, and thought I was on top the world.  But I didn’t keep it off, because I didn’t GET it, didn’t KNOW.  I gained 60 of those pounds back.  Sure, I had a medical situation that scared me into an even deeper ‘what’s the point, I don’t give a shit’ mind frame that made gaining all that weight back disgustingly easy.  But I still didn’t get it.  I thought moderation would work.  It didn’t, because I still didn’t KNOW.

Know that grains -even in moderation- can cause all this damage.  Damage that inflames your body internally, which leads to disease.  Eating grains IMMEDIATELY  leads to brain chemistry changes that make you crave more grains (and sugar) even more powerfully than alcohol, cigarettes, or illegal drugs cravings!!  IT’S TRUE.  Lots of studies to back this science up.

Unfortunately, simply limiting grains doesn’t stop the cravings.  That’s why so many people fail at maintenance, even if they lose a LOT of weight!!  Why dieting success rates are so poor.  Eventually, the grains-causing brain chemistry changes win.  You start feeling deprived.  You start with eating a little bit more, ‘just this one time.’  This one time becomes many times.  Before you know it, you are ‘up’ ten pounds.  Ten pounds becomes twenty, and by then you are established on a path of dieting failure.  Yet again.  Wash, rinse, repeat.

It’s not only me that’s ‘been there, done that.’  Thousands upon thousands have.

Little did I know it just took a couple of brave steps outside my comfortable (oh come on, but not REALLY comfortable when you factor in guilt and shame and fear)….box of loving/eating starches…  just a couple of brave steps...my life would change dramatically and radically for life.  (I know, I'm starting to sound like a late night infomercial.  LOL)

First step was:  being willing to admit that what I was doing wasn’t working for me.

Second step was admitting that maybe there were answers out there that I didn’t know about yet.  Even at the ripe old age of 61.

Third step was seeking out new answers.  New theories.  Not the socially acceptable/long established ones.

Fourth step was being willing to read data that challenged all that I knew, all that the FDA and  medical community that I knew…had told us all along.  That was actually the biggest step!

Fifth was reading this data, these books, with an open mind.  Once I did that, the seas parted.  I got so excited, so passionate, so angry at Big Agra and Big Pharmaceuticals, that it EASILY propelled me to DARE to attempt the changes necessary.

Sixth was giving up grains and sugars as an experiment of' n = 1', (the term means n=YOU, a study of one person.  Yourself.)  even though I had never heard of that term before or then. (or until almost a year later!)  It wasn’t cold turkey.  It took a couple of months of trying it, pulling back, trying it again.  Between November 2012 and March 2013.  I had a bout of ‘carb flu’ in December and then on another attempt in January.  But when I realized the ‘carb flu’ was just one more part of n = 1 / my body’s proof of how ADDICTED to grains I was, I became determined to kick grains fully to the curb to reach out and grab the brass ring of better health.  To stop the eat-crave cycle and WIN.  So I tried it a third time, and this time FULLY gave up grains, not just a half-assed few days attempt, and didn’t have carb flu this time and I have NEVER looked back!

Because a funny thing happens about a week or so after giving up grains.

The bloating stops.  The brain clears.  You literally start feeling lighter and more free-spirited.  Even though still quite overweight, you start feeling in charge and yet FREE AS A BIRD.

Again, not just me.  Happens to THOUSANDS.

But you never know until you give it a good college try.  I suggest a week, but if you can spare 30 days, I swear you will never be the same!  You will wonder how it took you so long!  You, too, will start shouting it from the rooftops!  Your success, physical and every bit as importantly, EMOTIONAL, will propel you the rest of the way and change your life forever.

I highly suggest two books:

Wheat Belly

and

The End of Overeating.  You can find both on Amazon (real books or Kindle versions.)

The transformed my life.

Come on, you’ve given 30 day attempts (if that still scares you, how about a simple 14 days?) to many different other diet plans.  Why not consider this one?  Sure it’s scary.  I PROMISE you the rewards will outweigh any ‘how could I ever give up THAT?!” mindset.  Or fear of how you will live the rest of your life eating so unlike those around you.  You will become a beacon of light for YOU.  Your 180 degree turn around will propel you to happily continue the changes in your diet that you have made.  It honestly becomes easy.  I promise.

But the first step is accepting that what you are doing really isn’t working.  Or that it’s hard to continue to fight the cravings.  To get feelings of deprivation.  And want all of that to STOP.  Want to find true, lasting success.  Want to learn a way to put your health above your temptations.

It CAN be done!!!  :)

I’m a 62.5 year old living proof!  :)

If you want to read more, my blog is:  http://www.againstthegrain.us/

Oh, and here is the Primal Food Pyramid:

Clean Eating Spaghetti Pie + Weekend Recap

Happy Monday! How was everyone's weekends? We survived a weekend of kitchen renovations..and ate a delishhhh spaghetti pie made with spaghetti squash zomg.

Servings: 5

Prep Time: 20 mins

Cook Time: 80 mins

Ingredients:

• 1 spaghetti squash ($3.00)
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons oil (coconut or olive)
• 1 lb lean ground turkey ($3.00)
• 1/2 cup natural chicken broth
• 1 cup clean (sugar-free, natural- I used a garlic basil sauce from Trader Joe's) tomato sauce ($1.50)
• 1 green bell pepper, diced ($.80)
• 1/2 large onion, diced ($.50)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese ($1.50)
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 1 tablespoon Basil 
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Chop your spaghetti squash in half long-wise and scoop out the ribs and seeds in the middles. Put the two halves on a baking sheet, cut side up (so they are sitting on the round sides) and brush the oil onto the inside of the cut halves. Heat in the oven for an hour.

While the squash is cooking, start cooking the ground turkey in a large frying pan on the stove over medium high heat with the chicken broth and seasonings (Italian seasoning, basil, salt, pepper, garlic powder). Once the turkey is browned and most of the broth is absorbed, add the onion, green pepper, and garlic and lower the heat to medium. Heat for about 5 minutes. 

Add the tomato sauce to the mixture and heat for another 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly (I may or may not be a super obsessive stirrer and the excessive stirring may or may not be totally unnecessary).  Remove the mixture from heat.

Remove the spaghetti squash from the oven and allow to cool about 5 minutes. Once cooled a little, use a fork to poke at the edges and scoop the innards (the spaghetti-ish stuff) out of the spaghetti squash. Get as much of the "spaghetti" scooped out as possible, there should only be a really thin skin left. 

Combine an egg with the "spaghetti noodles" until the egg is completely mixed in. Pat the "spaghetti" down around a 9x9 round pan (you can use a square pan too), making sure to press it up around the edges too (see pic below). Evenly spread the meat mixture on top of the spaghetti squash. Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese on top and heat for 25 minutes at 400 degrees. Slice up and enjoy!

Sooo this weekend was jam-packed. My parents came in town and totally demolished the kitchen and hung the cabinets- now that I can see what it's going to be I'm ZOOO EXCITED

Before (remember how there was a wall there? If you follow me on Instagram you know that my mom knocked the wall down with a hammer BY HERSELF):

After:

I got in on some of the action (construction goggle swag):

I took a little break from getting in the way of helping with renovations to go see one of my good friends from home's documentary premier at the Cherry Blossom Festival- yall my friends are going places! It was so amazing and inspiring- after college Wesley taught in Japan for 2 years, and had gone back to see his students graduate the day the tsunami hit. He was missing for a week, and thankfully survived, but unfortunately not all of his friends did. He made this documentary telling the story of volunteers who rallied around the town of Tohoku (Tohoku Tomo means Friend of Tohoku). It was such a powerful reminder that no matter what your skill set, you can always serve others. It was also interesting to see how the recovery process is going years later. Check out the documentary website and go like their Facebook Page! Here's my friend and his crew doing the Q & A session:

Linking up today with Monday Morning Gossip, Much Ado About Monday, Fluerty and Fit , A Change of Pace, Delicious Dish Tuesday