Today's smoothie:

This isa different twist on green smoothies. Since my temporary blender isn't blending as smooth as I like I decided to mix 8oz is of yesterday's green smoothie recipe with 8oz unsweetened almond milk... Green milk.... Yum!

Smoothie Tip:

Not sure about how to transition into green smoothies? One of the easiest ways to train your taste buds to crave green smoothies is to start with a good base for your smoothies.  You can find a variety of green smoothies in the produce section of any grocery store.  Odwalla, Naked, Bolthouse, Trader Joes all have green juices. 

Easy recipe: 8oz bottled green juice, handful of greens, 1/2 cup berries...blend.  add liquid if too thick. This a fast and easy smoothie for those who don't have much time. 

Don't have a blender, just drink the bottled green juice with a healthy salad on the side (skip the bad dressings!)

Remember, our goal is to feed our bodies fresh greens daily.  So it is better to get it any way you can than to not.

ACTS of FAITH: March 11

There are three kinds of people in the world: those who make things happen, those who watch things happened, those who wonder what happened.   ---Unknown

I was thinking about it but…I was going to but…I want to but…I wish I could but…These are the excuses we give for sitting on our butts. We tell ourselves we are waiting for something to happen. We tell ourselves something is missing. We tell other people we will do it, whatever it may be, but we never do. If you think what you need is not there, find it. If you cannot find it, make it. If you cannot make it, find someone who can. If you do not have the money to pay them to make it, get it done on credit. If you have no one to borrow from, ask someone else to borrow it for you. If you do not have credit, get some. If you cannot get credit, go out and do something that someone will pay you for so you can pay for what you need. There are no “buts” so big that they cannot be moved. Once you move the “butt,” everything else will follow.

I would sit here, but I have something to do.

My First Post & My First Foodie Pen Pal Reveal Day: January 2013

Today is January 31st?
Today is January 31st? Really?! Already?!  I can't believe I have allowed the entire month to past me by and not start posting to this blog.  Yes I have an excuse, many of them from illness, to injury, to stress, traveling to just plain laziness.  But that is all in the past now. 

So, here we go....I am so excited that my first post on this blog will be about something that I am really happy about... Foodie Pen Pals (http://www.theleangreenbean.com/foodie-penpals/) I found out about Foodie Pen Pals last year.  I am not really sure exactly how I ended up in the website.  It ws probably through some vegan or running blog, but I sure am happy I did.  I was paired with two wonderful ladies.  I was supposed to sent a box to Ritsa (http://runnerritsa.com/) and receive one from Kristina (http://cucinakristina.com/).

Although I have never met these ladies, we were perfectly matched up.  Ritsa enjoys coconut and larabars...two of my favorites. Kristina sent me an email asking my preferences and if I had allergies.  I basically told her I would like vegan food and tea.  From that she sent me a box full of some great goodies.  Unfortunately, my box was bullied during transit but I was able to salvage most of the contents.  Kristina included a very nice card with a recipe for black bean burgers.  She was thoughtful to send a bag of wheat gluten (needed for the recipe) but it did not survive.  The jar of heart of palms did not survive as well.  I have never tried them so I will definitely add them to the grocery list next month.  Here is what survived:

Sorry, I couldn't get the picture to turn.  How did Kristina know that I love ginger and am obsessed with ginger chews.  The jar is Cookie Butter from Trader Joes.  I have been reading about this on several blos for months but since there is not a TJ near me I was not able to try it out.  I was trilled to find that the jar was in the box and survived.  The pita chips are also from TJ and are the cinnamon sugar flavor. One quirky thing about me is that I must have a crunchy food with my meal. I have satisified this craving by crunching on cucumbers to stay away from the unhealthy foods/snacks. The pita chips will be saved for a cheat meal.  Lastly, she included a box of TJ Pomegranate white tea.  I had a cup immediately.  This tea is so fragrant and has a bright red hue.  It looked like pomegranate juice.  I drank it with no sweetener added and it was divine.  I will be adding this on my shopping list (well worth an hour and  half drive to TJ) and having a cup every evening to relax. 
Thanks Kristina!!

Overall, I really enjoyed my first Foodie Pen Pal experience.  I can't wait to see what next month brings.

What is Foodie Penpals and How to become one!

• On the 5th of the month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
• You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!
• The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
• You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
• Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you can choose to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month.
• Foodie Penpals is open to US, Canadian residents & UK residents. Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only.
• ***If you’re in the UK, please contact Carol Anne from This Is Rock Salt at rocksalt@thisisrocksalt.com to get involved!