Just a quick note for a smoothie to try. You can do this with frozen ingredients, or not.
1 pint strawberries (I use organic and wash them and keep the greenery on for some "greens")
1 banana
1 date
1 cup of water (don't freeze this part)
1 tablespoon of hemp seeds
5 brazil nuts (could be any nuts, really - sometimes I use almonds (10), cashews (10), or macadamia nuts (10))
Blend away and yum! If you freeze it, it's more like a milkshake, unfrozen more of a smoothie but it's really creamy with the nuts and seeds in it. Love it.
Try making your own concoction today. Play with it and have fun.
Eat Raw, Live Well!
Melinda
I also had Artisana's walnut/cashew butter on my celery - the last few had a couple of raisins on them for some "sweet" taste. It's a great way to get some celery in!
Saturday, March 28, 2009
A Birthday...
My daughter attended a 6th birthday party for a friend of hers at a local rec centre pool. I was super impressed with the instructors that led the party and they did a great job with the kids in the pool. They kept everything calm and orderly...a hard thing to do with 15 youngsters in a pool!
There were two other things that impressed me. The little girl celebrating the birthday decided to go along with a tradition that others had begun a while ago. She asked that people bring money instead of a gift. Half of the money would go towards a charity and the other would go towards a nice gift from all her friends. What a great solution to getting loads of toys that they 'll only play with for a couple of weeks. What a great way to show our kids how to give back. What a great way to help out those less fortunate.
Then, for the "goodie bags", which I loath - with all the candy and cheap dollar store items that break in a few days - they had planters that they got at Home Depot for 5 bucks. Most of the kids were surprised, asking if that's all they got, and if there were any candies, etc. Others were thrilled, asking if they could plant them when they got home. My daughter fell into the second category.
We got home and within five minutes had the package taken apart, and we added the water so the peat could rehydrate. 15 minutes later we were planting seeds. It was great. We enjoyed planting the seeds and now we'll watch them grow.
Happy to say that I came home from this party feeling more fulfilled than at other parties, that's for sure. And, I've got some great ideas for when my kids' birthdays roll around again!
What types of things do you do at your kids' parties that are helpful for parents, the environment, and others?
In joy,
Melinda
There were two other things that impressed me. The little girl celebrating the birthday decided to go along with a tradition that others had begun a while ago. She asked that people bring money instead of a gift. Half of the money would go towards a charity and the other would go towards a nice gift from all her friends. What a great solution to getting loads of toys that they 'll only play with for a couple of weeks. What a great way to show our kids how to give back. What a great way to help out those less fortunate.
Then, for the "goodie bags", which I loath - with all the candy and cheap dollar store items that break in a few days - they had planters that they got at Home Depot for 5 bucks. Most of the kids were surprised, asking if that's all they got, and if there were any candies, etc. Others were thrilled, asking if they could plant them when they got home. My daughter fell into the second category.
We got home and within five minutes had the package taken apart, and we added the water so the peat could rehydrate. 15 minutes later we were planting seeds. It was great. We enjoyed planting the seeds and now we'll watch them grow.
Happy to say that I came home from this party feeling more fulfilled than at other parties, that's for sure. And, I've got some great ideas for when my kids' birthdays roll around again!
What types of things do you do at your kids' parties that are helpful for parents, the environment, and others?
In joy,
Melinda
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Vitamix Blender
I've been using my Vitamix almost daily since I purchased it at Costco about two and a half years ago. Some days I even use it three to four times! Well this morning I was making applesauce for my little guy, and I noticed that one of the plastic parts that keeps the lid on the container had snapped off. Not sure when this happened, but I am sure it was ingested at some point (the blender is so powerful it was liquified?!) as I never found it on the counter before today nor today.
I made the applesauce and then called Vitamix. They have a seven year warranty and we've only had the machine two and a half years. My husband called (he's the one with the magic touch when it comes to returning or repairing items). The customer service rep we had was not the kindest person, but was straighforward and to the point. We expected that we'd have to send our container in to them and then we'd get one in return when they saw the flaw. Well, as it turned out we are going to have a new container wihin 12 business days. She confirmed our address and said that they'd send it right away.
Nice. Here I thought it was going to take a lot more red tape to get this taken care of and it was easier than taking a bandaid off my little guy! :) I have to say I am very pleased. I've always sung the praises of the Vitamix for health and wellness, and now after my first experience with their customer service and warranty I am going to recommend the machine once again!
Go out and get one NOW! It will help anyone who is trying to eat more raw and living foods. There's so much you can do with it! I'll be posting some smoothie and other recipes so that you can try them. You've got 12 days and then it's recipe time!
Eat Raw, Live Well.
Blend away!
Me
I made the applesauce and then called Vitamix. They have a seven year warranty and we've only had the machine two and a half years. My husband called (he's the one with the magic touch when it comes to returning or repairing items). The customer service rep we had was not the kindest person, but was straighforward and to the point. We expected that we'd have to send our container in to them and then we'd get one in return when they saw the flaw. Well, as it turned out we are going to have a new container wihin 12 business days. She confirmed our address and said that they'd send it right away.
Nice. Here I thought it was going to take a lot more red tape to get this taken care of and it was easier than taking a bandaid off my little guy! :) I have to say I am very pleased. I've always sung the praises of the Vitamix for health and wellness, and now after my first experience with their customer service and warranty I am going to recommend the machine once again!
Go out and get one NOW! It will help anyone who is trying to eat more raw and living foods. There's so much you can do with it! I'll be posting some smoothie and other recipes so that you can try them. You've got 12 days and then it's recipe time!
Eat Raw, Live Well.
Blend away!
Me
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Celery
I've never been much of a celery fan. It always had too strong of a taste for me. Turns out, by putting more vegetables into my body, my taste for this (and cilantro) has changed. I actually crave celery now in some ways. I love to add it to my juices, blender drinks, smoothies, and energy soups. It's also one of my favourite snacks.
Here's my current favourite. I just Twittered about it as well.
Nuts about Celery recipe:
Celery
Macadamia nut butter (but really any nut butter will work)
Toppings: (choose one or more of the following)
Goji Berries
Sun dried raisins (usually with seeds - more nutritious, and not GMO)
hemp seeds
Or anything else you can think of.
Put nut butter into the concave part of the celery
Sprinkle toppings on.
Eat and enjoy.
In snow and sunshine - yes, it snowed here again!
Melinda
Here's my current favourite. I just Twittered about it as well.
Nuts about Celery recipe:
Celery
Macadamia nut butter (but really any nut butter will work)
Toppings: (choose one or more of the following)
Goji Berries
Sun dried raisins (usually with seeds - more nutritious, and not GMO)
hemp seeds
Or anything else you can think of.
Put nut butter into the concave part of the celery
Sprinkle toppings on.
Eat and enjoy.
In snow and sunshine - yes, it snowed here again!
Melinda
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)