Green Smoothie Day 2 And Day 3

Just a short post today :)...... to let you know that I am still drinking Green Smoothie in the morning and I am still LOVING it!!!


I forgot to tell you that the recipe I shared with you from the last post makes 2 servings. The book said "You may either make the full recipe, and save half for later (store in fridge and use within 24 hours), or make half the recipe". Oops!!! I have been drinking the whole thing 3 days in a row!!! And I was still hungry later on....What is wrong in my tummy????

Green Smoothie Day 2

Yesterday, I ran out of mango chunks so I subbed with frozen blueberries. The color of smoothie came out pretty yucky but I still slurped it up as fast as the day before. The taste was a little bit weird but not that bad. I think I like it with mangoes better.

Green Smoothie Day 3

This morning, I filled up this Tupperware with my green smoothie (still 2 servings..haha!!) to enjoy at work. I bought frozen mango chunks from Trader Joe's last night (24 oz for $2.49). I really love the idea of using frozen fruits. It is so quick and easy....the best part is that I don't have to worry about cleaning up!!!

It was so wonderful starting my day with this healthy and yummy breakfast!!!

Green Smoothie And Sushi Dinner!!

I am definitely determined to drink "Green Smoothie" every morning starting TODAY! Please wish me luck with this!!!



.....So I picked up a bunch of fresh kale at the grocery store as planned. I had my CLEAN book ready in the kitchen so I was good to go!



The recipe called for: 1 1/2 cups of almond milk, 1/2 cup of coconut water, 2 leaves kale or Swiss chard, coarsely chopped, 1/4 avocado, 1/2 cup mango chunks, and 1/2 cup of ice.



As EASY as I am, I just poured 2 cups of almond milk into the blender and skipped the coconut water because I didn't have it. I used half avocado just because I like it so much and frozen mango chunks (I skipped the ice because I don't like it too cold). Oh, I didn't add any agave syrup though, I put it in the pic because I was at first freaking out by the warning of my husband that I was not gonna like the taste of the raw kale in this smoothie because of the bitter taste. Good thing, I tasted it before I put in the syrup!!!

You know WHY???

Because I L O V E it so very much (without the sweetener), I drank it all up with my big straw out of the blender within no time. Mmmmm, so great and refreshing!!! :)

Our Sushi Dinner on Friday Night!

We have had Sushi Rolls for dinner on Friday night 3 weeks in a row because I wanted to use up all the Sushi ingredients and my family was so okay with that as we all love Sushi. A little more work for me though, I have to make 3 different fillings for each of us. The above picture was my pan-fried tofu and veggie rolls, so yummy! I ate them right from the cutting board because I was too tired to put them in a nice plate, he he he!!! :)

This plate was for my husband, with imitation crab meat and veggies. For my son, Nathan just likes it with imitation crab meat only (No pic). To be honest with you, I don't mind eating crab meat but I thought tofu was a better choice for me. My tummy was so happy that Friday night. YUM!!!

Do you think it's too boring to eat Sushi Rolls every Friday night???

Easy Fruity Soy Smoothie!!!

I started my Friday morning with this easy fruity soy smoothie. I actually used mango but I called it "Fruity" just because it sounds better, ha...ha..ha!!! :)


By the way, you can use any kind of fruit you prefer. For me, whatever I have in my fridge, it will do!

In blender, combine about a cup and a half of vanilla soy milk, 1/2 cup of mango chunks, 1/2 avocado, 2 Tbsp of agave syrup, and 1/2 cup of ice (if desired). Blend together until smooth and creamyyyyyy. Mmmmm!

What a perfect breakfast!!!

I loved my mango smoothie so much so I made another one for lunch, this time I used about 5 dates instead of agave syrup because I love dates and I have a LOT of them (3 lbs for $5.99 at Costco).

This amazing CLEAN book by Dr. Alejandro Junger is the reason why I'm craving smoothie. I bought this book at Magpie a couple weeks ago because I'm interested in the clean program. Before I finished reading it, I couldn't wait to have a peek at the clean recipes in the last chapter of the book. I found easy and healthy recipes especially for smoothies. I really wanted to make green smoothie from his recipe but I didn't have kale or Swiss chard today so I have to wait until my next grocery shopping trip.

Who is Magpie???

Magpie is a lovely gift shop, located in downtown Manhattan Beach where I have enjoyed working for over 10 years. Magpie will have a website very soon, so if you are interested in getting news from Magpie, you can send your email address to magpiecollection@verizon.net.

Last but not least, I have good news from Magpie for anyone who was born in September and October that you can enjoy 20% off your purchases during one visit at Magpie by the end of November'09 (Furniture & sale items excluded). Simply show us proof of your birth date.

Have a lovely weekend, everyone! :)

Easy Veggie Pumpkin Pie

Let me introduce you to my pumpkin who survived from the heat of recent summer in my garden. I was so happy when I first saw this baby but I didn't know what to do with it.

????????

So I left it in the fridge for about a month. My poor baby!!!

Meanwhile, I was doing research on pumpkin recipes from cookbooks and websites. It was so amazing how much I learned about pumpkins. These orange veggies are so good for us all which I will talk more about them later in another post.

After a long discussion with my dearest son, I decided to make "Pumpkin Pie" because that is the only thing Nathan would eat made out of pumpkins!!!

Easy Veggie Pumpkin Pie

I ended up using an easy recipe from a box of sugar based on what I have on hand!

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups of pumpkin pulp puree

2/3 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup turbinado sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 8-inch frozen ready made pie crust

Note: The recipe also called for a pinch of cloves but I didn't have it.

1) Preheat oven to 325 F.

2) In a large mixing bowl, combine and thoroughly mix all the ingredients.
3) Pour the pumpkin mixture into the unbaked pie shell.

4) Bake at 325 F for about 1 hour or until pumpkin mixture is set or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. (I baked mine for 65 minutes).

5) Serve with whipped cream (if desired).

And... here is a beautiful piece of my delicious pumpkin pie. I am so proud of myself that I finally cooked this precious pumpkin. The most important thing is that my family loved it and enjoyed it very much!!!

"Your Blog Makes Us Smile" Award

I am very delighted to let you all know that I have received this fantastic award from the lovely Rose at Roses r Red since the end of June. Rose has an amazing blog about her veggie creations, pretty things and fantastical experiences that always makes me smile:) Thank you so very much, Rose! I really appreciate it.

The rules of this award are to pass the award onto six other bloggers whose blogs make you smile:). I found it too hard for me to decide because all of the blogs I read always make me smile:) So I hope it would be alright if I have to break the rules. I would like to pass this award onto EVERYONE on MY BLOG LIST. Your blogs are so inspiring and always make me smile:), thank you all very much!!!

I'm Back!!!

Hello Everyone!

I'm finally making my way back to the blog world after my 6 weeks vacation in Thailand and 5 weeks of jet lag or other excuses I made to whoever asked me why I didn't update my blog for such a long time.

Here I am...trying really hard to publish a new post with tons of pictures to share and so many stories to tell. I'm completely confused while looking at all the pictures and trying to figure out what to do with them and what to say about them.


Well, I should stop worrying about those pictures and show you what I'm cooking today!

Sweet & Sour Easy Veggies

I got this sweet & sour sauce (Roza brand) from Thailand and I was dying to make this dish for the longest time. I know that there are so many great recipes out there to make this sauce but I like to do things easy (lazy way), so I just stir-fried all the veggies with the sauce and used canned mushroom instead of meat and ate it with jusmine rice. So satisfying!

Easy Veggie Thai Red Curry with Tofu

Just wanted to share with you my easy veggie Red Curry with Tofu I cooked to satisfy my craving after I saw it on Kim's Blog the other night. I have tofu, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, yellow squash, chickpeas and cherry tomatoes. Served with brown rice, I was totally in heaven!!!!

Garden Update # 2

This was how my garden looked like during the time we were in Thailand. My dear friend, Dee Dee who helped us out with watering the plants was so kind to take pictures of our plants and emailed them to us. Thanks so very much, Dee Dee. You're the best!!!


Dee Dee described this pic as "Vine growing onto gravel". And here is the answer for the mystery plant. Please come back soon, I'll show you what I'm going to do with this lovely pumpkin!!!

Hope everyone has a lovely week! Until next time ... :)