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We bought granite on Saturday!

We got up on Saturday and decided to trek to the ReStore to see what we could find and we got this!!! It was $113 and can be cut, delivered and polished for another $125. But for less than $250, we’ve now got granite for the downstairs bathroom! Here’s a close up: HERE. I’m worried that there isn’t enough of our green in it to match, but I guess the room can be repainted if necessary. I’m hoping it will work once we get it… should be sometime after the New Year.

They also had a piece that was brown (and almost twice the size) that would have fit the guest bathroom for $200, but David wouldn’t let me get it too… maybe I’ll have to sneak over there tomorrow. Happy Holidays to us… Santa got us rock!

Countdown to Christmas

I wanted to share what I made and sent to the younger kids in the family… it is an advent calendar with a twist. The round tins are magnetic and have a “little surprise” inside each one starting Dec. 1 and going all the way to Christmas morning. Here’s another view.

I wanted to do something a little special to remind the little ones of what Christmas should mean and the things they should enjoy. I also thought that each day (if I remember) I will try to post the little notes that I put in each one… please consider doing these with us and post what you think or how you celebrated each one (posting pictures would be even better!!!). It is not necessary to do these, but I just thought they might reinforce the simple joys of the holiday… some things you may have already done or maybe you haven’t even thought of them so far, but you can try to plan it for the week or post about it later (there’s no pressure here… just good ol’ fashioned fun).

PLUS, I thought it would be a nice way to bring the family together through activities without us actually “being together.” This way we can all watch a movie together or drink cocoa together, etc. So here we go… bring on the Holiday Spirit:

Dec. 1: Have a house lighting ceremony, complete with a tongued drum roll! (like in National Lampoons Christmas Vacation)

Moon Cookie Attempt #1 for David

I tried my first attempt at making David’s favorite cookie tonight. The best ones are found in NY at Wegmans and we don’t have one here. I thought I would try in honor of his homecoming today. While it doesn’t taste exactly like the ones from Wegmans, its a pretty good runner up. I found the recipe online and modified it slightly. I’ll be sure to post the recipe after I get David’s feedback.

Viva la moon cookie.

Beautiful Graffiti

Starbucks Banana Walnut Bread

I think I need to try this recipe this weekend. It came from Starbucks and I am hoping it is just like their banana pound cake, which is one of my favs. Now I just have to hold out and hope they might share their Marble Cake and Vanilla Scones.

I have also started adding some recipes to my FlickR page in a set called Family Recipes. I saw on Martha that people are doing this, extending FlickR past just a photo storage place, and I thought it was cool. So when I have a picture of whatever it is, I will try to include the recipe if I have one. I only have a few up there now, but I included the picture of this recipe card in there.

My ICA Show buys

My First Green Smoothie

Okay, so these are totally addicting! The Hot Pink Breakfast smoothie I posted yesterday is ALL I can think about. I had another this morning. I don’t know why it’s so addicting… I think it’s the coconut. But then again maybe my body is just calling for the vitamins I’m now getting from the carrots, beets, strawberries, and coconut (I left out the nuts yesterday and today added almonds for vitamin E). I’m in heaven.

I also tried my first green smoothie for a mid-afternoon snack… YUM! I tried making it like the Naked Green Machine (it lists ingredients on the side), although I got a little lazy and stopped measuring and just started throwing stuff in… so while it didn’t taste just like it, it was still pretty good. I accidentally eliminated the broccoli, parsley and garlic (not sure about adding garlic), and didn’t want to freeze the kiwi so I just threw it all in. I also started to run out of room in the blender. And I’m still not sold on the extra powders and such. I may get some spirulina and wheatgrass eventually, and I already plan to add flax seeds or flax oil, but they are a bit pricey for starting out… but for now, here’s what I did:

Erin’s 1st Attempt Green Machine (the lazy way)

2 Granny Smith apples, with skin
1/2 banana
1/2 cup frozen mango
1 kiwi
2 handfulls spinach
1/4 – 1/2 cup pineapple juice

Now here’s the green machine:

Joining the Green Smoothie Revolution

I want to be more healthy… this has always been a goal of mine and somehow I always fall off track. Part of it is because I live with a carnivore who doesn’t really eat very healthy at all and I have become submissive to his cooking (it’s pretty fantastic to have someone cook dinner for you, and especially when he’s such a great cook). Well, I have slowly put back on 15-20 pounds and I seriously equate a lot of it to not eating the amount of veggies/fish that I once did (as well as not exercising enough and eating out too much). This all got me thinking that I needed to look into some raw diets or at least try to figure out a way to get more veggies into our meals. So I started doing some research.

I had been looking into juicing because I wanted to find a way to make our favorite breakfast drink, Naked’s Green Machine. Green Machine is a disgusting looking (but delicious) green drink you find at the store that has apples, bananas, broccoli, spinach, kiwi and more in all it’s green goodness. Sam’s club used to carry it so we’d get a deal, but now they don’t so it’s major expensive and I wanted a recipe. Well, somehow I came across these books: The Green Smoothies Diet and The Green Smoothie Revolution. Basically you start incorporating leafy veggies in with your fruit smoothies. Well, we love smoothies so the idea seems like a great way to get more veggies in our diets. I have only started reading (starting with the Green Smoothies Diet) and I love what I am reading so far… like how disease and sickness become a thing of the past… like how you will have more energy and no longer be sluggish in the morning (like I have)… like how your eyesight may improve… and how you basically get 15 servings of fruits and veggies all in one drink. Basically, you get up in the morning and make one for breakfast and you have all your daily requirements in this area filled. And because the veggies are not cooked and are blended raw, you are getting every little vitamin you can out of it. It even means that you can take things like spinach and freeze it before it goes bad, and then add it to your drink.

So for now I am reading my book and I have started having smoothies regularly. I started last night with a pumpkin smoothie that I got out of the Biggest Loser Diet… it left a lot to be desired. You combine 1/2 C pumpkin, 1/2 Cup milk (ricemilk for me), 1/2 C greek yogurt, 2 Tbsp. agave nector (for sweetness), and then 1/4 tsp. cinnamon, 1/8 tsp. ginger, 1/8 tsp. nutmeg, and 5 ice cubes. Well, I added more ice cubes because it wasn’t thick/creamy enough… then I added 1/2 a banana and some dates. It just didn’t hit the spot, so I may need to try something else.

I really wanted to make a green smoothie this morning and try for Green Machine, but instead opted for the author’s Hot Pink Breakfast Smoothie which she showed on YouTube. It was actually pretty good. I was surprised. It has coconut milk, raw beets, carrots, strawberries, yogurt (optional), vanilla, dates and cashews in it. I did not put the nuts in it, but this sucker is surprisingly addictive. It’s a taste that you don’t necessarily love, but you can’t stop drinking… I think maybe it’s the coconut. Anyway, here’s to my first breakfast smoothie! And here’s the recipe:

Hot-Pink Breakfast Smoothie
GreenSmoothieGirl.com

Puree all ingredients except strawberries in BlendTec for 90 seconds. Add strawberries and puree on high until smooth. Notes I have been drinking this every morning for five years, just because I love it! Raw beets are an excellent blood purifier, coconut liquid is packed with minerals and electrolytes, and how many breakfasts do you know that taste great and contain raw carrots and beets? Makes one quart, a 450-calorie breakfast that has 4 servings of fruits and vegetables, 15 percent plant protein, probiotics from the yogurt, and high-nutrition, unrefined fats in the cashews.

Oldies But Goodies for Halloween Fun

Since Halloween fell on a Saturday this year, we went out on the town with some friends. We decided to revive some costumes that we had to save a little money. David wore his Jack Sparrow costume that I made him several years ago and I went as my favorite black raven costume with wings, feather wrist cuffs, a black boa, and fancy black feather lashes. I even put a little bird in my hair. I have a mask on a stick that goes with it for the costume, but did not hold it up for the picture. I shoudl be getting up pictures on my FlickR soon.

We had a great Halloween, although passing out candy earlier in the night was a little lame due to rain. I have a TON of candy still at the house… YUCK! Hope everyone’s Halloween was spooktacular!