Razz Parsley Smoothie

Ever since I watched Hungry for Change I've wanted to use parsley and cilantro because of their cleansing properties. (Click here for my thoughts on the movie.) So I finally got around to buying a parsley plant, and I used some in a smoothie because: if you can mix spinach and fruit...then you can mix parsley and fruit!
I made this up as I went, so that's how the recipe is written, but I think there's a better way to do it:

1. Don't have your raspberries, peaches, and juice ALL be frozen. It takes a lot of blending and forking to break it down. Frozen peaches are the hardest of those 3. This is also the reason I added whole milk.
2. Blend the parsley leaves first with a little water (or milk) so they're as small as possible. You can't taste the parsley if you just swallow the smoothie, but blending the parsley should eliminate the need to chew anyway.                                                                                                                       PS: You can always use less parsley

Razz Parsley Smoothie

• 1/3 c. + 1/4 c. frozen raspberries
• 6-8 tbs white grape juice, frozen
• 1 1/2 peaches, frozen 
• 1/4 cup canned coconut milk
• 1/4 cup whole (cow) milk
• 1/2 c. plain yogurt
• 24 fresh parsley leaves

Blend and drink!

 I've started me a little garden. ; ) Left to right: aloe vera, carrots, basil, and parsley. Don't know if it will work, but this is what I'm trying with the carrots.

Brrrr, closing my window at night is no longer convenient. =(

A Week's Worth

6-21

I'd rather have a little less money in my life than waste the time and frustration on constantly trying to get the best interest rates and trying to save money as tax free as possible.




 MIND BLOWN! My high school friends know one of my Bio professors because his...."child" goes to school with them. They also call him by his first name, whereas I call him Dr ____. (Funny right? With age we usually call adults by their first names, but my younger friends are the ones who get to do that.) Haha, SO crazy to see him hanging out with my friends. This small world is amazing!

This bizarre little kitty was eating a can of cat food in the middle of a church parking lot at 9 pm!

Wow, those "Keep Calm and...." signs are getting really overdone!




6-24

Annoyed by overflowing wallets and heavy key chains? Throw your discount cards on their own key chain!

Make a sailboat tee

So I made this using Merrick's Sailtboat Tee tutorial. It was meant to be a trial run because I didn't have the sponge paintbrush that it called for, but I really like how it turned out - even though the freezer paper was barely ironed on as I painted. (Maybe it takes holding the iron in one place for a lot longer?)
At first I planned to use a new dish sponge, but then I realized that was too big so I used cotton balls. There's really only one little mistake - on the right side of the dark blue sail!
Previously, this wasn't a shirt I wore in public because there are faded bleach areas on the back, but I might like this too much now! The solution? Wear this cream sweater on top:

Is the skirt too daring of a pairing? ; ] (I truly do write poetry.)
Some friend has got to be honest about that!
Do flowers and sailboats work?

Guess what. It's really a dress.

I really like it better as a skirt....
However, there is a roll in the front that the chest & straps create, and a tie in the back; but I think those are manageable. A thick belt might even be a good cover up....we'll see.

Having fun gettin' crafty! What have my friends been crafting?

Homemade Ketchup & Kidney Bean Burgers

Want ketchup without the corn syrup? Try this Quick and Easy Ketchup recipe! It doesn't taste like Heinz when it's just taste tested, but it tastes like traditional ketchup in and on these kidney bean burgers. If it isn't frozen, I bet it will spoil quickly with the apple juice in it...  That little amount of vinegar will doubtfully preserve it.

Changes to the two recipes:

• No thyme in the ketchup
• In the burgers: 

1. white whole wheat flour (maybe 2 tbs extra because the consistency did not look like it could make burgers.)
2. no pecans - Just sounds icky
3. whole egg  - Why waste?

Carrot Cheesecake

Carrot Cheesecake - adapted from Kraft

• 1/4 c. butter, melted
• 1 1/2 c. homemade graham cracker crumbs
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, divided

• 2 cups no-salt-added cottage cheese
• 6-8 tbs milk
• 2 (8 oz) pkg Neufchâtel cheese, softened
• 3/4 cup sucanat
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 c. shredded carrot   

1. Preheat oven 325 degrees.
2. Mix butter, crumbs, and 1/2 tsp cinnamon; press into bottom of 9" springform pan.
3. Combine cottage cheese and milk in blender, blend.
4. Combine Neufchatel cheese and cottage cheese mixture in a bowl, beat. Add vanilla, sucanat, and 1 tsp cinnamon; continue beating. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each just until blended. Stir in carrots, spread over crust.
5. Follow Kraft's "Bake" step and/or see my notes below.

Notes: 

1. The cottage cheese substituted for sour cream and 8 oz of cream cheese and I can't taste the difference. I used it mainly because it has so much protein compared to cream cheese, plus there's less saturated fat.
2. I should have just pureed the carrots. That would have covered up the brown hue that the sucanat lends. An orange cheesecake would have been neat. =) 
3. I bake my cheesecakes with a 13x9 filled with water on the bottom shelf of the oven, and I leave it in the oven to cool for an hour or more (with the door open) after it finishes cooking. I probably got those tips from Perfect Cheesecakes and Baking Cheesecakes, step by step.  Mine still crack even though that pan of water replaces a water bath which is supposed to prevent cracking. That really doesn't bother me because I'm not trying to impress others with how they look, but someday I might care. 

(I don't find this particularly attractive, but I'd rather not use someone else's picture.)

Homemade Italian Salad Dressing

My own salad dressing substitute.

I don't even use dressing on my salads, but sometimes recipes call for it and friends usually want it. My reason for making it is to avoid unhealthy sweeteners, excessive salt, and those natural (or artificial) flavors that wouldn't be necessary if the dressing was actually good. I also want to use healthier oils, and who needs xanthan gum, beta-carotene, calcium disodium EDTA, natural flavor, paprika oleoresin (color), citric acid???


Homemade Italian Salad Dressing - adapted from Allrecipes

• 1 tbs homemade garlic salt
• 1 tbs onion powder
• ~1 tbs honey
• 2 tbs dried oregano
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 fresh basil leaves (or more!)
• 1 tbs dried parsley
• 1/4 tsp celery salt
• 1 tbs salt

The recipe is actually very flexible because I've put a couple different portions of the mix in with the liquids below and the combinations have been fine. I halved the above and mixed it with the liquid amounts below, but technically you're "supposed" to use 2 tablespoons with the liquid mixture.

• 1/4 c. apple cider vinegar
• 2/3 c. olive oil
• 2 tbs water

Directions
Mix the dry ingredients and add 2 tbs to the wet ingredients.

Not extremely attractive looking, but it's separated and the olive oil is hard.

Crisp and Bread

These two certainly don't make my healthy list, but the first is so much better than the second!

Apple Pear Crisp - adapted from Allrecipes.

• 4 red delicious apples
• 1 (29 oz) can of pears (in pear juice, not syrup)
•  2 tbs all purpose flour
• 1/4 c. honey
• 3 tbs lemon juice
• 1/2 c. flour
• 1/2 c. packed brown sugar
• 1/2 c. rolled oats1/4 c. ground walnuts
• 1/2 c. butter

Follow the directions at the Allrecipes link.

Besides changing the apples & pears, and deleting the cranberries, I doubled the filling but kept the topping the same. I put it in an 8x8 and two custard dishes (not because it wouldn't all fit in the 8x8.)




 
Broccoli and Four Cheese....Bread - adapted from Allrecipes

• 1 1/3 c. warm water
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 2/3 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 2/3 c. white whole wheat flour
• 3 1/3 c. bread flour
• 2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

• 1 lb fresh broccoli, chopped
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1/2 c. shredded provolone cheese
• 1/2 c. parmesan cheese
• 1/2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 c. ricotta cheese
• 1 tbs olive oil

Follow step 1 at the allrecipes link.

I don't like step 2 because it was messy. I think I would have preferred making a cheese mix that wasn't melted before it was put in the oven.

I like short cuts...so I spread the dough out on a 15x12" cutting board (I would suggest flouring it - I didn't), dumped all the filling in, and pulled the dough up and around.

Really wasn't a fan of this recipe....especially since I intended it as a dinner...and it was like a hunk of carbs...and kind of left me gross feeling. I'm also not used to so much white flour.

Other cooks mentioned that there was too much dough for the filling, I bet they're right, because this little....bread....doesn't have much broccoli and cheese in it.

I'm pretty sure I used less white whole wheat flour than I could have. I think I read that the consistency of bread gets messed up if when one substitutes whole wheat flour for more than 1/3 of the flour. Thus I could have used 1 1/3 cup white whole wheat flour.

I literally cut and served this then grabbed it and put it back together to take pictures!

A Week's Worth

6-13

Instead of 27 Dresses....can I do 365? 

No, not a wedding every day...just a different Target dress every day.

I'm not even a Target fan...  It's just that I was there today.

6-16

There's rice in my Italian dressing...
Haha...onion always clumps because of moisture, so I thought I'd add some rice to it to soak up the moisture the way people do with salt. Well, that's a bad idea because onion powder gets sprinkled a lot less often than salt. So, I dumped a tablespoon of onion powder into my measuring spoon and now it's in my dressing. No big deal, we'll live. =)


6-19

American Eagle's necklaces are so classy. The party jewelry of Charlotte Russe and Rue 21 can't rival it...


6-20

That awkward moment when you have a face mask on and an important phone call comes in. Let's try not to get the phone all sticky...

Creative projects and experiments

A couple weeks ago I took in a dress for the first time. I bought an XXL for because I liked it, it was $5 - $6, and I wanted to experiment with it. I didn't cut the seams open and no one pinned it while it was on me. I just measured, pinned, and sewed.

I made this 5-strand braided bracelet with embroidery thread(?) using this tutorial.

(Sorry for the blur.) Turned this ugly old necklace into....

....3 bracelets. Green & purple, orange, and yellow. (They're together for the sake of a picture.)

Made this...butterfly food....using these instructions. I didn't see a single butterfly, it hardened, and there were a couple of dead bugs in it. Mer. This picture was taken after it was outside in the sun for a couple days.

Made this headband using this 5-strand braid tutorial and using step 4 of this tutorial.

Don't try conditioning your hair with coffee. It is an acid (for those of you who use a base for your shampoo), and it may smell amazing, but coffee is filled with oils and will leave a gross film on your hair.

Do try brushing your teeth with a coconut oil and peppermint essential oil mixture.


So many more fun ideas swirling through this mind!

Tuna Egg Salad

It's so much fun to draw from (about) 5 recipes to make one! So much more adventurous =)

Via

• 4 hard boiled eggs
• 3 (6 oz) cans tuna, drained & flaked
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• ground black pepper
• ~ 1 1/2 tbs dijon mustard
• ~ 1 1/2 tbs lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp dill weed
• ~ 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• mayonnaise

Peel and slice eggs. Combine first 10 ingredients in a bowl. Add mayonnaise until it reaches the moist consistency you desire. (I probably used about 1/2 cup.)

Chocolate Avocado Pudding Cake

If you happen to make Chocolate Raspberry Avocado Pudding and don't like it...try turning it into this cake!
The pudding has a fantastic texture, but maybe it just tastes too much like avocado for me? I don't even know...  (When you strain the raspberries for the pudding...go plant the seeds. Hey, you never know! A plant is probably even more likely than a lotto win.)
The recipe yielded probably 2 1/2 cups of pudding, so you pretty much need the whole batch.

With a little math, two guide recipes (Chocolate Pudding Fudge Cake & Cake Mix from Scratch), and pudding, I made this cake:

• 1 1/3 c. all purpose flour, sifted
• 1 c. white whole wheat flour, sifted
• 1 tbs baking soda
• a pinch of salt
• 1 c. honey
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 c. Chocolate Raspberry Avocado Pudding
• 2 eggs, beaten with a fork
• 3/4 c. unsweetened baking chocolate squares, chopped

I literally put the first 9 ingredients in the bowl and stirred; added the chocolate chips and stirred.
I don't care about wet and dry ingredients when I'm making my recipe as I go.

Pour into a greased & floured 9x13 and bake at 350 for about 35 minutes.


Note:

1. I would suggest using 1/2 cup of olive oil, because it's just a little dry. (I thought the fat of the avocado would be more sufficient than it was.)
2. I would have used 2 cups of chopped chocolate if I had that much. (And that probably would have been crazily intense!)

If I do say so myself...this is quite tasty, especially for how healthy it is!

A Week's Worth

6-6

My Christmas music definitely needs to be taken off my ipod when it's out of season. Shuffling 1500 songs is the way for me, but not when Christmas tunes pop up.



6-7

Hahaha...some versions of Proverbs 24:21 say (some form of), "Do not associate with those who are given to change." I'm listening to a Proverbs teaching, and because those words are preceded by instruction to fear God & the king, Pastor Tom Hough talks about respecting our political leaders. He then speaks of the change and division that some political leaders bring when they step into office. Ha, Obama. Don't associate with Obama. =P



When barefoot walking/running... who needs to think about arch pain when ones soles are constantly being jabbed with stones? Just kidding ; ) It's not that bad. I went almost 2 miles during my second barefoot walk.

I've done this =) Via

Speaking of exercise, it's awesome when I can actually incorporate exercise into something useful. Like...taking odd roads (which made my ride ~4 miles longer) to bike to the library that's farther away from me to drop off a book that I've only had out for 2 days. That's how good Loving is!!






I definitely don't like this long jean skirt. But I feel like it has potential. What about knee or calf length with lace?


6-9

Well...I'm not drinking ginger-ale to relieve migraines, but I'll sure take ground ginger in a capsule everyday! If I remember....






6-10

How does "mignon" mean "small and pretty; delicately pretty?!" I only think of a dead cow! That would make a cute compliment if it weren't for the association.



6-12

Driving with the windows down and the heat on is an amazing option when it's a little nippy out!

Butternut Squash & Sage Sauce

A tasty butternut squash recipe that I did over spring break.

Butternut Squash & Sage Sauce. Adapted from SeriousEats

Via

• 1 2-pound butternut squash
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 8 large sage leaves
• 1/3 cup minced shallots
• 1 cup low-sodium chicken stock
• 1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut squash into ~16 pieces, place in a baking pan with 1 inch of water or less, and bake for about 30 minutes, or until tender. Let the squash cool (gently running cold water of it works) before easily peeling off the skins. Then mash with a hand masher.

Warm oil in medium saucepan. When foaming subsides, add in sage leaves and cook until they darken and crisp and butter browns slightly. Transfer sage leaves to paper towel lined plate. Add shallots to pan and sautée until softened, about 5 minutes. Add in chicken stock and squash, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook until squash is completely tender, about 10 minutes.


Stir in Parmesan cheese and heavy cream and cook until warmed through, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Either crumble reserved sage into sauce, or use as a garnish. Use immediately.

Note: I honestly don't know what size squash I used. My other changes: 

olive oil, not butter

a random amount of dried sage

onion, not shallots

added 25 oz pinto beans for some protein

A Little Italian

Tasty, but this Lasagna Soup didn't taste exactly like lasagna the way I expected. No big deal.

• I left out the salt because who needs it with all the cheese and chicken stock?!?!
• Used ground turkey because I don't eat sausage. Ew.

Via

This Three Cheese Eggplant Parmesan was very heavy; tasty, but heavy. I think the oil was a bit much, or maybe my eggplant was too little. I only cut it into 16 slices which fit in one 13x9 pan. I should have added spinach or more mushrooms to fill the meal more...   And cooking pasta for this didn't even cross my mine, ha. Good thing, college pasta-ed me out.

• Make your own homemade bread crumbs for this! I left out the sugar and used this bread. It might be the healthiest I've ever found.
• Halve the eggs and breadcrumbs if you don't want to waste both in the end.
• Adding fresh basil never hurt anyone. =)

Bada Bing Bada Banged Potatoes. Ha, I don't understand why the "ed" was added to that. *Shrug*. They're tasty. =)  They were too completely smashed for me to handle them and place them on a baking sheet, so they ended up slightly like smashed potatoes.



This might not be Italian, *shrug*, it could pass as Italian bread...
Buttermilk Honey Wheat Bread
Tasty, tasty.

A Week's Worth

5-30

Lawn Mower art! (It says "Lisa.") I must have looked like I was spying on my neighbors when I was taking this.

Wow, I thought I was being very original! Not so: The Art of the Lawn.


6-3

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." - Gandhi

Well isn't that just a nice, fuzzy, false quote?!! That quote can only be true if the humans of that nation are taken care of better (equally would be a feat for this country!) than the animals of that nation! 
This woman pointed out that pets aren't aborted. They're carried to term and the owners look for good homes for the unwanted puppy, kitten, etc. Not so with human babies...




I'm surprised I never realized myself that Middle Eastern could/should cause vitamin D deficiency in women since their clothes cover their entire bodies. A professor of mine mentioned it last semester. I don't know how prevalent it is or anything, but I'm not surprised that Google results are minimal to none. Why would Middle Easterners want the world knowing this?

Black Bean Dip and Homemade Chocolate

WOW, this homemade chocolate is so fantastic! It's not even going to become chocolate chips! It's just sitting in a plastic container in my fridge and being slowly(?) nibbled away at.
Anyway, why would I make chocolate chips when I just process unsweetened chocolate for that purpose?

Done right, I don't even see how these Hot Chocolate Bars have a chance of tasting better. See here how I changed those Hot Chocolate Bars.



I also made black bean dip with my homemade salsa yesterday!

Supersonic Black Bean Dip

• 1/2 cup homemade salsa
• 1/2 - 1 cup canned black beans

Combine in food processor and process until smooth!

Note: The dip was quite spicy with 1/2 cup beans, but a little to tame with 1 cup; 3/4 cup might have been a good idea.



Hey, I'm a word girl; "supersonic" is a synonym for fast. ; )

Coconut chocolate spread?

I wanted to make chocolate the other week....but I wanted to use up the coconut butter I had made...   So I took a chocolate bar recipe and changed it a little.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cocoa powder
• 6-8 tbs coconut butter (Make your own here)
• 1/4 c. honey

Mix and refrigerate.


It's quite strong on the honey, kind of burns my throat, isn't smooth, and isn't as hard as it would be had I used coconut oil. If I let it warm up, it should be like a chunky, coconut flavored Nutella. So in a couple days, when my week of smoothies is over, maybe I'll use up this odd chocolate in these Nutella Brownies.

The hardened consistency; the white speckles are little bits of coconut "meat".

Look for tomorrow's post about the fantastic chocolate I've made since this!

...Folic Acid Smoothie

I try to be daring and open minded when it comes odd, healthy food combinations. However, putting peanut butter with applesauce, blackberries, and yogurt is a little too much!
I drank half of this smoothie, left it in the fridge for a couple hours, and blended some pear juice cubes in later. If this is even possibly (no, it probably is), I think the pear juice made it worse. But I didn't want to waste healthy ingredients....

Chug and swallow, honey. Chug and swallow.

Via

Ingredients

• 1 c. plain low fat yogurt
• 1/2 cup frozen blackberries
• 1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce
• 1 tbs all natural creamy peanut butter
• 1 tbs wheat germ
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

(Note: I left out the honey and ascorbic acid.)

Recipe adapted from: The Ultimate Smoothie Book

Warning: Don't try this at home.

Surprisingly Good & Horribly Bad

I'll start with the good!
I didn't expect orange, ginger, peach, and cinnamon to taste good together, but they're great!

Via

Just Peachy & Spice

• 3 TBS orange juice concentrate
• a dash of ground ginger
• 1/4 cup canned coconut milk
• 2 frozen peaches
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Combine and blend!

Notes:

1. It called for 3/4 cup orange juice, which is 3 oranges (peeled & juiced) or 3 tablespoons of concentrate plus 9 tablespoons of water. I choose to leave out the water for a thicker smoothie.
2. I was sketchy about how the ginger would taste so I didn't use the 1-inch chunk that it called for!
3. It called for milk of choice: I wanted the thick, smooth, fattiness of coconut.
4. It really, truly calls for 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon! It's not overpowering like I thought it would be, and it's so healthy! Check out these benefits!
5. I left out the 6 ice cubes it called for.

Adapted from: The Ultimate Smoothie Book



Now for the bad....
I changed the Feel Better Berry Smoothie a little too much.

First I wanted to try using coconut milk instead of almond milk, then I wanted to try out my little theory of using coconut butter to make coconut milk (see that theory at the bottom of this page). I left out the coconut oil (because who needs that when you have coconut butter?!), I didn't need or want the sweetness of the honey, and I used less lemon juice. You won't want to try this, but here it is:

• ~ 1/3 c. coconut butter + 1 c. water
• 1/2 c. frozen raspberries
• 1/2 c. frozen blackberries
• 1 handful frozen spinach
• 1 ice cube sized amount of lemon juice

Thick. Crunchy. Gross.

Cousins

Growing up, "cousin" mostly meant: A relative who's close to my age who I see a couple times a year.
But not with Matt. We're 7 months and 8 miles apart. (No, I didn't mean to say "8 days.")
Sadly, some of my other cousins have never even been to my house, but Matt and I hung out when we were kids....even if I was just the victim of his and my brother's spy games.
We were in the same class from 7th grade until we graduated from high school together, and I'm sure we've fought more than my brother and I even have. ; )

Matt and me (that sounds grammatically wrong, but I'm quite sure it's correct) with our siblings and great grandpa.

Matt and me with my guinea pigs.

We played on the same soccer team. (Oct or Nov 2007) (We're the outside ones.)

We had the same classmates. 10th grade

We had the same friends. (9-5-09)

We were the same height... he..he..hee...(when I wore 3 inch heels). 11th or 12th grade

We boated together. July 2010

We tubed together. September 2010?

We played Bocce ball together. September(?) 2011.

We ended high-school together. Last day of senior year.

We graduated together

My graduation party

All my lovely cousins, minus one, plus Grandma. Wish we had all gotten to grow up together.

A Peachy Morning, Pesto Chicken Pasta, & Homemade Salsa

My brother gave me this book many years ago, and now it'll be super helpful since I'm on a smoothie kick! Changed a tiny bit, but it's from the book:

Peachy Morning

• 1/2 c. canned coconut milk
• 1 c. plain low-fat yogurt
• 1 c. frozen peaches, cut in chunks
• 1 c. frozen cherries
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Combine and blend until smooth =)




Last night's dinner was Chicken Pesto Pasto from Allrecipes which I only changed by leaving out most of the peppers. Check it out!



Speedy Homemade Salsa. Adapted from Allrecipes.

• 14.5 oz diced tomatoes
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 3-4 jalapeno pepper slices
• 1 tbs apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbs dry cilantro
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp salt

Mash with a hand masher or process in a food processor.

Note: I used powder because don't like raw onion or garlic. I hand mashed because I wanted chunks in my salsa. It kind of seems Italian to me...  Maybe that's just because I associate diced tomatoes with Italian food.