2013-05-18

Kale Orange Creamsicle Smoothie

Hello all!  Very sorry I wasn't able to post my daily log yesterday.  My day was jam-packed with errands and a lot of fun.  First, I woke up and did some household chores before my mom and I were to have a girl's outing.  My mom ended up canceling, unfortunately, because she is a substitute secretary at a local school district and had accidentally gotten signed up for a shift when she had thought she had marked out for the day.  Bummer!

I then stayed around the apartment in the morning doing a bit more housework and rearranging the living room.  Feng shui anyone?  I also finally hung up some pictures that had been sitting in the corner since we moved in over a month ago :/.  After that, I made Kevin lunch and brought it to him at work since when he went to make it himself this morning his deli meat had gone bad (I think that's a sign he should go Nutritarian with me, don't you?).

After making Kevin his lunch and I made myself a green smoothie to-go (see below).  Once I brought Kevin lunch, I went to run some errands for the rest of the afternoon.  This included getting a new screen protector put on my iPhone, getting a birthday present for a friend, going to a local spice and vinegar specialty store, trying to get Rip Esselstyn's newest book My Beef With Meat (which I decided to probably just get on my kindle iPad), going to spend a gift card at a novelty store, and getting some things at Target.

At Target I was browsing the clearance clothes rack and decided to treat myself to a new dress to wear out last night since I have been well at sticking to my 6-Week challenge.  I posted the picture on Facebook to the group Dr. Fuhrmans Eat To Live - Nutritarian Plant Based Diet.  I got a lot of great responses and encouragement from the group.  Later, when my mom had seen the picture online, she told me she was so surprised that that was me and that I was looking so great.  Thanks mom, for always being my #1 Cheerleader :).  Here is that "progress" picture:
After running errands, I did a small workout (more about that in my daily log below), then got ready for our fun evening out... you guessed it, in my new dress that is one size smaller that I would have been two weeks ago!  First, we parked at my work that is by the Spokane Arena, and walked across the Downtown Riverfront Park to go to dinner downtown at The Steelhead Bar and Grill.  It is an upscale gill that makes great fresh food. 

Normally, while eating out, I would try to get a salad, but all of their salads here had meat included.  I know I can ask for no meat, but I'm always worried that I will still get charged the meat price for the salad even though I ask for it off.  I don't think that's fair, do you?  Instead, I ended up ordering a portobello sandwich with a side salad.  It was a big sandwich, but this ended up being my lunch and dinner, so the portion worked out perfectly.

After dinner, we went back across the park to the arena for a Spokane Shock indoor football game. Since Spokane doesn't have its own NFL football team, we have the Shock instead, which is essentially  a team with fairly professional-grade players on a field about a quarter of the size of a normal football field.  That means lots of action, lots of scoring, and lots of crowd fun!  My dad was able to score us ticket is one of the suites through his work, so we got a great view!
During the game they had a raffle toss where you donate $5 to a local charity, and you get 6 small footballs (think tiny stress-ball size) to attempt to throw into a car that drives slowly around the field with its windows down between the 3rd and 4th quarter.  The balls that make it in get put into a raffle to win half of the money from the proceeds.  From where we were seated, this is nearly impossible, but we gave it a shot anyways.  I threw two of them, Kevin threw three, and one we gave to another guy in the suite that is a client of my dad's.  It turns out that the client had thrown the ball down to the lower seats, and someone has picked it up and tossed it in.  We surprisingly won the raffle!!!!! We ended up walking away with over $300!

Luckily, that night we were also going to the casino for a friend's birthday.  No big money was won, but we did have a lot of fun.  We didn't get home till later in the night, so there was no blog post, and I will report my weekend log on Sunday or Monday.  Now, my daily log, and make sure not to miss my smoothie recipe below!

Food Log:

  • Breakfast: Kale Orange Creamsicle Smoothie (recipe below)
  • Linner: Portobello sandwich on a focaccia roll and a mixed greens side salad
  • Extras: 2 beers at the casino
Exercise Log: 1 mile outdoor run, abs, push-ups 

How I felt:  Yesterday I felt very confident and happy. For the first time in a long time, I felt good about how I was eating and my body image.  At no point during the day was I temped to eat any SAD (Standard American Diet) foods, although there were plenty around.  Today (Saturday) will be a bit more of a challenge, as I am going to a friend's BBQ in the evening.  Instead of grilled meats, I'm opting to bring two corn on the cobs to grill for myself. Yum!  Hopefully the BBQ will have a couple of healthy sides.  I did hear that someone was bringing hummus!  Now on to my recipe....

Kale Orange Creamsicle Smoothie
Ingredients:
  • 1/3 cup raw cashews
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 handfuls of chopped kale
  • 3 small oranges, peeled (about 1 cup or so)
  • 1 Tbsp ground flaxseed (optional)
  • Several ice cubes

Instructions:
  • Place all ingredients in a high-speed blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Add more ice to achieve the thickness you desire. 

Amy's Notes:  
This was the perfect serving side for a meal on the go.  For this, I used cashews and water because I didn't have any non-dairy milk, but you could easily substitute 1/2 cup+ for that portion of the recipe.  Also, feel free to leave out the kale if you want more of a traditional orange creamsicle taste.  The great thing about this recipe is the oranges are sweet enough that extra sweeteners (dates, stevia, etc.) are not needed.  I put my smoothie in a to-go water bottle since I was running out the door to Kevin's work.  Green smoothies are great for a meal on the go!  Enjoy!

How often do you enjoy green smoothies?  

2 comments:

  1. Every single day. Need to try this.

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    Replies
    1. Good for you, Julia! What a wonderful way to get your greens!

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