The Green Monster

Ever since my last attempt at a green smoothie, I've been browsing Pinterest for a better smoothie recipe. Breakfast is essential to my mood and mind function when I'm working, so I'm always looking for something with protein that is fast and healthy.

So I came upon this awesome recipe by Kristin. I wanted to try it because it basically has everything in it I wanted, plus she said it didn't taste healthy. The reason I was worried about that last part is that Kyle recently ate some Greek yogurt for the first time (which is a part of this recipe) and thought it was really gross. 

Green Monster Smoothie

Looks yummy, huh? So while making it this morning (and seriously, less than 5 minutes) I had to sample the Greek yogurt. I didn't think it was as bad as Kyle said, but it is a lot tangier. I know, yogurt is good for you, but I actually can't stand it in general. Luckily, you can't taste it in the Green Monster. I couldn't taste anything except the peanut butter and the bananas, and it was so delicious!

Representing Ferris State!

I can tell these are going to be addicting, but it's definitely not something I would have every day. Bottom line, though, is that I think you should try it! Spinach is good for you, and it really does taste good.

Ironically, this also happened today. We love to laugh here. HULK SMASH!

Celtic Pride

Since the death of my first pair of Skullcandy headphones (which got me through Ice Brigade and many hours at the gym, thanks to Kyle), I've been using the shitty stock ibuds. (Do you like the name I just made up for them?) They're uncomfortable, and they don't fit anyone. 

I ordered a pair of Titans for Kyle for Valentine's Day, and while shopping I found another awesome pair and decided to order them for myself. I love basketball, but the Celtics aren't my favorite team...I just loved the design!

Celtics Skullcandy earbuds

I finally got to use them yesterday, and of course, they sound amazing. Kyle and I decided to do the crazy Hundred Workout, and I used my iPod during the running portion. Absolutely love them! They don't have inline volume control, but they're great ear buds for the price, and they come with the interchangeable ear gels, so they fit perfectly. You can find them on Best Buy's site.

Sadly, Ky still hasn't gotten to enjoy his ear buds. When they arrived, they did not have the nylon cord that the product description and photo showed. It was super disappointing, and we ended up returning them. So we ordered a Rasta pair on Amazon that should have the correct cable, so hopefully they will be here soon!

My First Green Smoothie

I've always loved throwing fruit and ice into a blender for a quick breakfast smoothie, so when I started seeing these "green smoothies" online everywhere, I wanted to try one! We had some spinach so I decided to make one on Friday morning.

Green Smoothie ingredients

I followed this general recipe which only calls for fruit, spinach, water, and ice.  An important tip to keep in mind is that you need to add much more water than you think.  My blender is a couple years old and has blended many beverages in it's time, so my smoothie didn't blend as easily as I hoped, but adding more water helped. 

My "Green Smoothie" that wasn't green, but still delicious!

I only used berries in my smoothie, so it turned out purple, and not green.  It was still really good and I really loved it as a way to get more greens.  If you use bananas, mangoes, etc., the smoothie will be green.  I also know a lot of people add yogurt or some type of protein to their smoothies, but that isn't something I've tried yet.  The smoothies are super filling though, and now that we have some bananas, I think I will try another one tomorrow morning!

Super Lasagna 2012

We're just taking it easy tonight and watching the Super Bowl, so we decided to make some delicious (vegetarian) lasagna.

Lasagna prep.

It's so easy to make and super delicious.  You can add meat if you'd like, but obviously I'm not a fan so we omitted that.  Also, we used fat free or reduced fat ingredients where possible, so it's healthier!

Here's what you need:

1 box of lasagna noodles

1 jar of spaghetti sauce

1 container of cottage cheese

Parmesan cheese

1 bag of mozzarella or Italian cheese

Spinach

Onions

Garlic

Celery

1. Preheat your oven to 350*.

2. Prepare lasagna noodles according to the directions on the box.

3. While you're cooking your noodles, cut up the onions, garlic, and celery and saute in a pan, along with any spices you want.  When the veggies have cooked down, add your spaghetti sauce to the pan.

4. Begin layering the ingredients in a 9x13 pan.  We did noodles, spinach, cheese, then sauce.  We had enough to do 3 layers, and left a little sauce and cheese to sprinkle on top.

5. Bake for one hour, or until the wetness has cooked out. (Yes, that is a scientific cooking term.)

Delicious lasagna!

Here's the link to this post on Pinterest.

Also, happy 52nd birthday to my Daddy today!  I can't wait to see him next weekend.

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Kensington Palace

I am behind on everything this year. I finally got a calendar.

This is February: Kensington Palace.

Kensington Palace

I have been there, but the flowers weren't in bloom then. More on this later.

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Christmas 2011*

*Yes, this photo was actually taken today.

So just like every parent's child, I'm always saying I won't be like my mom (who I actually do share quite a few personality traits with). But today that was all thrown out the window, because we just took down our Christmas tree. Today. February 1st.

O Christmas Tree!

This has Theresa Benham written all over it.

This was our first year with a live tree. I was so excited and happy to get it, and I really did enjoy it for a long time. But I highly DO NOT recommend that you keep a live tree in your house for this long. I actually had to wear work gloves to even take the ornaments off. Oh. And it's a HUGE fire hazard. There's that.

Right now I'm just glad it's the hell out of our house. As Kyle dragged it outside, leaving sharp, dead, pine needles everywhere, he said, "Can we get a fake tree next year?"

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The cone of shame

It's been a crazy couple weeks! Little Miss Leela went in to get fixed shortly after my last post. Her wound wasn't stitched properly and became infected, so she had to stay at the animal hospital for a few nights.

The cone of shame!

We missed her terribly, but she is doing much better now! She came home with us Saturday, 1.28.12 wearing this cone. In case you didn't know, cones of shame have come a long way. This one is not only cute, but also inflatable! Kitten doesn't like it, of course, but she is almost back to normal.

I definitely have to give mad props to the Lowell Animal Hospital! They fixed both Bender and Leela, and when we had problems with Leela, they took her in right away and even provided us with medicine. We will definitely be returning for her follow up care!

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