Daily Greens Smoothie recipe

Ingredients: Use all the organic, non-gmo, locally sourced things. The base of spinach with the addition of good fats, provides a slightly sweet and creamy smoothie. I'm of the mind that if it's good for me, I will put it into my system, but this .. is .. delicious*.

3-5 handfuls of spinach

1.5 cups nut milk

1 tsp spirilina

1 tbs collagen lipids

1 tbs plant based protein

1 tbs mct oil

1 tbs grass fed cow's butter

1 tbs seeds for the current cycle (see: seed cycling) 

1 tsp adaptogenic herbs: ie ashwaganda, maca, astragulus, chaga, reishi, etc. (see: adaptogens)

1 date (optional) 

3-5 ice cubes

Combine and buzz in a high powered blender. 

Makes approximately 32oz

Drink with your supplements and vitamins.

*If you are used to a sweet fruit based smoothie or a creamy chocolate shake, add a maple syrup to taste and gently use less overtime. Sugar is one of those things that causes a great deal of inflammation in my body leading to more intense emotions of irritation and anger, so with the exception of a treat or in season fruit, I've been slowly eliminating all suger from my diet.

Friday Night Gnocchi Fight

We set out to make gnocchi. We used a recipe from Martha Stewart Living. It seemed easy enough, potatoes, flour, an egg, salt. Peel and boil potatoes, mash potatoes, put mashed potatoes on flour surfaced, make a well, crack an egg, mixing it up, form logs, cut logs, form gnocchi, boil, watch them float to the surface and then saute them in butter with sage. Everything was going along really well, we were having a great time, the toddler was helping, the baby was sleeping. Then ... Nathan and I began to fight about the size of the individual gnocchi. This fight which began so simply escalated into a discussion about listening to one another and us not doing that. Maybe you can relate?  Maybe it was Friday the 13th, maybe in was the full moon, oh and maybe it was mercury retrograde? Maybe it was my fear for what Martha would say?  Who's to know. Anyway, after it was all resolved, we ended up on the couch cuddling and me with a bowl of deeply comforting gnocchi that was exactly the right size. If you try to make gnocchi yourself, be prepared to have it take much longer than you expect, because things always do.

Picnic at The Zoo

This turned out to be a super challenging afternoon in the form of a toddler breakdown and an extremely long and arduous walk back to the car (up a hill, carrying a screaming toddler on my back and a baby in the front pack!). It's a really good thing that we had such a great lunch. But, the animals were so gorgeous and we had lots of fun too (the first half of the day)! Tartines Chicken, Mozzarella and Basil 1/2 a large baguette 1 slice of mozzarella 1 tbs tomato sauce 2oz left over roast chicken 4-5 basil leaves

Preheat oven to 350. Open the baguette, slick on the sauce. Assemble ingredients. Pop in the oven for 10 minutes. Let cool. Wrap and go!

Shrimp and Cheese 1/2 a large baguette 1 slice of cheddar 1/4 lb shrimp 1 tsp old bay 1 tbs mayo 1 tsp Dijon mustard 1 kale leaf

Preheat oven to 350. Heat up olive oil over medium high heat in a skillet. Season shrimp with old bay and cook in the skillet for 5 minutes. Open the baguette, slick on mustard and mayo. Assemble ingredients. Pop in the oven for 5 minutes. Let cool Wrap and go!

Admission is just $4 (kids 2 and under are free) every 2nd Tuesday at the Oregon Zoo. 4001 SW Canyon Rd. Portland OR 97221 503.226.1561

Grapefruit Fennel Avocado and Basil Post Memorial Day Salad

Our Memorial Day weekend was jam-packed! Out-of-town Family. BBQ. Tacos. Ice Cream. More Ice Cream. Donuts. Biscuits and Gravy. Gardens. Waterfalls. Dinner. And, a date! After Grandma and Grandpa went home to Wisconsin, the kids went to bed and the house we returned to some order, I made myself a sweet succulent summer salad to clear the pallet with what was left over in the fridge.

Ingredients

Salad 1 whole grapefruit* 1/2 bulb fennel shaved/sliced thinly 1/2 avocado chopped 2 tbs cotja (or feta) cheese crumbled 5 fresh basil leaves chopped 5-6 raspberries

Dressing 1 tbs apple cider vinegar 1/2 tbs dijon mustard 2 tbs olive oil

Combine all ingredients. Serve with dressing. Eat right away and enjoy the sweet taste of summer!

*Note: If you find the taste of the grapefruit to be too bitter for your taste, add some honey or sugar to the dressing or directly to the grapefruit.