Adventures in Green {Smoothies}

The advent of a new year always brings with it new goals and new adventures, and this year is no different.  I find myself a bit nervous and excited at the same time about the journey I am about to step into tomorrow.

You're probably thinking something major is about to happen, right?

Before the anticipation gets too thick in here, let me fill you in on the details.  Josh and I are going to drink only green smoothies for the entire month of January.  The seed for this newest heist was planted when we watched the Netflix documentary "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead" last week.  Great flick if you haven't seen it!  Highly inspirational and informative regarding our current thought processes and general eating habits in today's culture. 

Frothy Green Goodness

In any case, Josh looked over at me after the movie and said, "I'd like to do green smoothies for the month of January."  Oh my. 

Now, I'm generally a pretty adventurous person; but I'm not gonna lie.  This one has me a bit nervous.  Oh, I know we'll pull through just fine in the long run...but truth be told, I have been gulping down the coffee the past two days like the Mayans were right and the world is ending.  And sure, I've eaten an extra dark chocolate truffle, or ten, just knowing what's coming.  And perhaps I took down Ms. Linnie's entire tin of homemade rocky road fudge on Sunday without even telling anyone that I had it in my possession in the first place. 

Can you blame me?  Really?  I'm about to just drink my food through a straw for 31 days.  A little grace, please.

Nonetheless, I am excited.  Sure, I moan and whine a bit before the initial commencement; but mark my words, halfway into the month of smoothiedom when even my skin turns green and a bit Hulkesque, I will be the poster child for green smoothies.  I will proclaim their goodness far and wide and seek to share their immense benefits with the world. 

And be sure and check back in here frequently, as I will be updating our progress daily throughout the month!

So, here we go. On the brink of the great cleanse of 2013, I wish you the best in all of your 2013 New Year's goals.  I lift high my glass of green goodness and toast to your hopes and dreams for the days ahead.

Happy New Year!

My Recipe for a basic Green Smoothie:

1/2 cup ice
1 cup water
Fill blender with greens to the top.  Our greens of preference are spinach or kale.  We also have used cabbage, collards, Romaine lettuce and anything else green and raw! 

Blend well.  This will blend down to about 1/3 of a blender-full.

Now add in:
4-5 bananas
1/2 cup peanut butter or raw oats (for protein)
any other fruit you please (frozen berries, fresh pineapple, oranges, apples, etc.)

Blend away and serve!  Drink in all of those wonderful antioxidants and feel the health and wellness.

This is a basic loose template.  You can swap out almost any ingredients you choose.  The goal is to  blend up a glass of health and enjoy!

Enjoy today,

P.S. You are welcome here! Thank you for stopping by for a visit. Feel free to join the conversation by leaving a comment and sharing your thoughts.

Christ{MAS}

In Spanglish?  "Christ...MORE".

I recently saw a T-shirt emblazoned with the word "Christ(mas)".  Which set me to thinking.  Now, I don't know if the shirt creator was trying to employ a bit of a Spanglish play on words, but that's exactly how my brain interpreted it.  And of course, our company name being the mixture of Spanish and English that it is, it's only natural that my mind would travel this path.

Interpretation?  "Wash me clean".

Christ{mas}.

How absolutely appropriate.

This season of joy is accompanied by the fullness of forgiveness and the melody of redemption and restoration.  It marks a sacred space when the tapestry of time and the grace story of the ages continue their weaving through a baby boy in an animal's feeding trough.  Through the celebrations and remembrances here in 2012...He shines. 

Emmanuel, God Himself with us.  

Christ More.


^"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”  Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

'Glory to God in the highest heaven,and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.'"  ~ Luke 2:8-14

Enjoy today,

P.S.  You are welcome here!  Thank you for stopping by for a visit.  Feel free to join the conversation by leaving a comment and sharing your thoughts. 

Staycation

It's been a busy couple of weeks around the soap shop, as I'm sure it has been for all of you!  December always brings with it a joyous hustle and bustle; a bit of scurrying from here to there.

In this midst of this Christmas season, our family took our last week of vacation for the year.  Instead of going somewhere, we stayed home on a "staycation".  Every now and then we like to do this instead of traveling.  We use the time instead to be together and make new memories in a cost-effective manner, take care of home projects and do a general scrub-down of our house.

We spent the time baking our annual Christmas cookies together as a family.  The recipe list this year included gingerbread men, snowballs, sugar cookies and peanut butter kiss cookies.  We do this each year in December.  Once finished, we give them as our Christmas gifts to my husband's co-workers and our neighbors.  It's a tradition our children really look forward to!

We also used the time to give our living room a much-needed fresh coat of paint.  Sprucing up and clearing out for the holidays always helps to set my spirit still before all of the busyness sets in!

Each of these cleaning and sprucing activities serves a purpose in our family's mission.  We do these things so that we may better focus on what is important and essential.  We have found that the more simply we live, the more time we have for our favorite traditions such as the making and delivering of the cookies.

I heard it said this past week that we are always in the process of glorifying something; always making someone great.  This set me to thinking.  How little can I make of my surroundings and myself, so that God can be glorified and magnified in our family's life?

May we become less, that He may become greater.

Enjoy today,

P.S.  You are welcome here!  Thank you for stopping by for a visit.  Feel free to join the conversation by leaving a comment and sharing your thoughts.