Mean, green, lean and damn good!

You know me. You know I like to get the good stuff in so I will have less room for and less inclination towards crappy foods. This is my warm-weather go-to smoothie: sweet, tropical flavor and it blends really nicely.

Ingredients:

This is for an approximately 16oz serving.

• pineapple = frozen, I use about 1/3 cup
• mango = frozen, about 1/3 cup
• spinach = fistful
• avocado = 1/4 to 1/3 of an avocado
• cilantro = a few sprigs, to taste

Add a little water or chilled green tea to thin it out a little. If you're taking it on the run, you'll want it to be a little on the thinner side- the thicker the consistency, the more difficult it will be to drink on the go!

I like this recipe because it has a pretty solid nutrient content. While it may not contain huge amounts of any one nutrient, the list is impressive:: vitamin a, beta carotene, b2, b3, b5, b6, folic acid, biotin, vitamin c, vitamin e, calcium, chromium, flouride, iron, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, phosphorous, potassium, riboflavin, zinc

A few blending tips:

• When you're making smoothies, you want to make sure that the more fibrous and/or the lighter ingredients should be the closest to the blade. I use a NutriBullet, so when I'm filling the cup thingy, I add the heaviest items first and end with the lightest. This way, when I screw on the blade attachment and flip it upside down the ingredients that need the most slicing and dicing are pushed down onto the blade by the heavier stuff. For a regular stand blender, add the light stuff first- remember, you want the lighter stuff near the blade.
• Always add a liquid. I usually opt for tea or water, but I use one borrowed smoothie recipe that calls for apple juice. For my palate, anything other than tea or water makes the concoction too sweet.
• Press start and walk away. Something about the noise the blender makes, usually compels me to stop it too quickly and the smoothie ends up chunkier than I prefer. Turning it on and then doing something else for a minute or so allows it to work for a sufficient amount of time, and makes it nice and smooth.
• If you're going to add yogurt, do it after its the consistency you want. 

What are your favorite smoothie recipes?

Offer up any creative cilantro recipes!

Tea Fields

Close-up shot of some the tea!

The weather is getting warmer and things starting to look a lot greener around here. This morning, as I was making my tea, I was struck with the realization that I won't be able to make the annual trip to the Boseong Tea Fields.

Boseong was a great, albeit difficult, place to visit in the spring. It is classified as a county, and in Korea that kinda means that its half way between rural and suburban. The main bus hub is small which means that buses don't run to and from there terribly often depending on where you are coming from- or you might need to plan for a connector. If you're coming from anywhere outside Jeollanamdo (the province in which Boseong is located), a overnight in Suncheon or even Gwangju would be worth a thought. Getting from the bus terminal to the tea fields is pretty easy. The bus is labeled and there are likely to be other people headed there, too. 

The fields are great for wandering. There are pathways all around, so you could definitely make a day out if it. I wish I had my FitBit while I was over there- definitely put a massive dent in my daily steps whenever I visited! There is a moderately-sized hill that you can climb up and get a great view of all the tea and the surrounding landscape. There are some food options, but it might be wise to pack a snack or lunch.... unless you plan to survive on green tea ice cream for the day. No one would judge you for that.

The souvenir shop is cool, too. I always stocked up on tea bags. They have loose tea and I think they have instant (powdered) tea as well. The green tea cookies and candies are pretty nummy, too. There are loads of trinkety things, as well. If you need to grab a souvenir for someone, this is an awesome place to do it!

Getting back from the terminal can be a little tricky. I noticed that the chart that says what time the buses are supposed to run, isn't always accurate... and the later in the day you leave, the more likely you are to run into transportation hitches. Taxis are available, but make sure you note the name of the bus terminal you want to go to- because there are two. Made that mistake once, and it was a very mistake to make. Apparently the other terminal is way far away, and we had to pay the driver to bring us out there... and then another driver to bring us back to where we originally wanted to go. Whoops!

What is your favorite kinds of tea?

Today, I ate...

I recently had someone ask me what I eat in a day. I was a little surprised since I'm not a trainer or a nutritionist; merely a hobbyist I guess. I don't subscribe to any particular diet, but I do research a lot of different food trends and pull some ideas from each one. I'll go over 2 days worth of food; be ready for some startling honesty.

The past few days have been moderately inactive. There was a big snow storm and my car isn't super capable in the snow. I've basically stalked my FitBit stats to make sure I'm not totally sedentary, and I've been pretty successful in getting in 8,000 to 10,000 steps without even leaving the house!

Mind you, I set up shop in the kitchen most days so I'm face-to-face with food-cues all day. I decided to use Thursday and Friday of last week because they most honestly represent my eating patterns. I'll explain a few of the items/meals below!

home popped popcorn: I love popping popcorn on the stove top. It's a filling and satisfying snack and the best part is you know exactly what you're getting: popcorn and the small amount of (olive) oil its popped in. I like to sprinkle a little grated paremsan or cumin over mine.

Joseph's wrap: I recently discovered this wrap has 7 grams of protein and 6 grams of fiber with only 70 calories and a relatively short ingredient list.

roasted seeds: I buy packages of seeds from the store and roast them at home and keep them in an air-tight container. I use both sunflower and pumpkin seeds, soak them in salty water for about 30 mins, and then roast them in a little coconut oil at 375 degrees for 7 minutes, stir and then another 7 or 8 mins. I like mine to be pretty well done, so sometimes I let them go a little longer. They're fantastic salad or soup toppings and give you a crunch without all the cals/carbs/salt of croutons!

homemade tomato soup: 1 carrot, 2 celery stalks, 1/2 of an onion, 2 plumb tomatoes, 1 can diced tomatoes (I only used this because I didn't have enough fresh tomatoes), 2 bullion cubes in 1 cup water, 1 tsp minced garlic, 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil. Sauteed the onion, celery, and garlic in 1 tbs evoo until soft. Added garlic and 2nd tbs evoo. Add tomatoes. Remove from heat and cover. Dissolve bullion and let cook. Throw it all in the blender (or use an immersion blender) and when combined, moved to a medium pot and let simmer for 20-30 mins.

homemade banana "ice cream": This is great. It usually ends up being vegan, but not always. 1 sliced frozen banana and 1/3 cup Greek yogurt are the only things I use in my base. Sometimes I add bacon and a little pure maple syrup. This time, I used cocoa powder, a few dark chocolate chips, walnuts, and a little almond milk to loosen it up a tiny bit. In a food processor, blend the base items (my sister adds dates to her base) until very well combined. You'll need to take the top off and stir the contents a few times... has a tendency to kinda climb the wall of the food processor therefore missing the blade. Then throw in your flavorings and BOOM. Delicious.

oatmeal: Friday, I home made apple sauce from 1 medium apple (took me 5 mins- super fast!) and stirred it in to 1/3 cup cooked steel-cut oats. Chopped walnuts and threw them in there, too and topped it all off with 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk. However, my faaaavorite is 1/3 cup oats, 1 tbs natural peanut butter, 1 medium banana, 1/2 scoop Jay Robb vanilla whey protein, and 1/4 cup almond milk. I eat this 3-5 times per week and it keeps me full for a long time.

smoothie: If I'm concerned about the nutrients for the day. Say, I know I'm going to go out to dinner or I'm eyeballing the carbs to the point where I know I'll give in.... I make a smoothie and throw in at least 1 serving of veg and 1 of fruit. If I know I'm going to reach for something crappy, at least I'm getting the vitamins and nutrients in, too.

Chobani: I really like the Chobani passion fruit yogurt. There is a ton of fruit in the bottom, so I can stretch 1 container into 2 servings. I scoop out 1/2 the container and then mix it with a few spoonfuls of plain Greek yogurt.

The crappy stuff: I bet you're wondering about the meatball sub and the pb&j toast. I have a huge problem with night time snacking. Like, mammoth. I do use my FitBit food log, so I know where I am for the day. Thursday, I had a particularly low-cal day because I also had a really intense gym workout. I'll usually look at my log and figure out if I've gotten enough fruit and veg, and then think up a snack option and log it before I make it. If it keeps me at/under my daily calorie goal, I'll go for it; otherwise I come up with other ideas until I find a suitable snack that works with my goals. I realize it is not the healthiest way to go about snacking; however, until I have complete control over the grocery list, this is the best way to handle it. (*I don't snack every night... just happens that I did on Thursday and Friday).

Cold Day French Toast!

This morning I woke up thinking, "I want something that involves syrup." My first thought was pancakes, but I wanted something easier: it was cold and I was getting hangry. 

Here was my solution:

• 2 slices of Ezikel Bread (good bread option, check it out!)
• 2 eggs
• cinnamon
• toppings: syrup and walnuts

If I know I'm not going to use the excess egg to make a scramble, I mix in the cinnamon. The bread was a little eggy, so I took a large pan lid and covered the pan (this keeps the heat in and starts to cook the egg on the side of the bread facing up and makes flipping less of a gooey mess). The best part about it was that it was about 500 calories and kept me full; it was about 4 hours until I thought about food again!

"But what's that green thing in the picture??"

I got up a little late today. I've noticed that on days where I get up late, I struggle to get the right amount of fruits and veggies for that day. When this happens, I'll usually make a smoothie to go with breakfast and last through the morning. This one is usually orange, but I added 2 extra ingredients to get another serving of veg

Smoothie:

• tangerine (or 1/2 an orange)
• 5 or 6 chunks, frozen mango
• 1 boiled carrot (to soften for blender)
• 5 or 6 chunks, frozen papaya (extra) 
• handful of kale (extra)