Green Monster Attacks...and it's delicious

I tried my first Green Monster. No, it's not a type of jello shot, pesto eggs, or green popsicle but instead it's a spinach smoothie. Let that sink in...a SPINACH smoothie. Yeah, I was equally horrified and disgusted but I talked myself into trying it (HA! take that inner fatty!). The girl who created it--check out her website here--writes about healthy living and with the help of other readers, has created tons and tons of recipes for many kinds of Green Monsters. I tried the virgin monster because I was still very wary of the idea of shoving over 2 cups of spinach in my breakfast...bleh!
I woke up this morning (after having dreams about the most delicious chocolate cookies that were made into sandwiches with layers of buttercream icing...oh man, I was sad to wake up). I went to the freezer and found this:

Why is there a banana in my freezer?

Ladies, this is what happens when you leave your husband alone for 2 weeks. Apparently the banana was going bad and he thought I could use it for banana bread so he froze it for me. Weird. Anyway, so a virgin green monster needs ice, spinach, a banana, and soy milk (or any kind of milk you want to use). The recipe also has an optional addition of flax seeds but I have no flax seeds. First you layer the spinach, then banana and finally the milk and blend for a good minute. I blended mine for a while because I wanted to pulverize the spinach into submission.

Before spinach is beaten into submission

After the beating, don't let the fluorescent green color scare you off

After you have blended your ingredients, add the ice and blend once more and pour it into your fanciest glass and TaDa! Green Monster has landed.

My Rainforest Cafe fancy glass, the bottom use to light up but sadly it does no longer

Now I fully expected this to taste not just bad but really, really bad. I took my first sip and big shocker: it tastes like a banana smoothie. Seriously! I drank that sucker down in like 3 minutes. However, I will admit that the last sip was mainly foam and it tasted a bit spinach-y. I can't believe that it is 9 in the morning and I have had over 2 cups of spinach already. Another big plus is that the smoothie has only 180 calories, give or take depending on type of milk and the size of the banana--did anyone else giggle about the size of banana? no? just me? okay then-- plus I feel super full. To please my inner fatty, next time I think I'll try one of the chocolate or chocolate/peanut butter versions also I think it would be really easy to just toss in whatever fruit you have on hand. Click here for all sorts of Green Monster Recipes!
Logan has a big doctor graduation thing tonight so I must go gussy myself up.
Off to Gussy,
Steph

Virgin Green Monster

• 2 cups organic spinach
• 1-1.25 cups milk (your choice of cow’s milk, soy, hemp, almond, rice, etc)
• 1 tablespoon flax (optional)
• 1 banana
• ice

Place the ingredients into the blender in the following order: 1) Flax, 2) spinach, 3) banana, 4) milk. The reason for this order is so the heavier ingredients weigh down the flax and spinach and keep it from flying up around the blender and sticking to the side. Blend everything on the highest setting for 1 minute or so. Finally, add ice and blend on the ice setting.

Fighting my inner fatty

Against my better judgment (and my inner fatty) I went running today. Instead of hanging around the neighborhood I went to a local park-it's huge and has tons of trails that wind around a lot through woods, fields (corn fields randomly-if it was darker and creepier I would have totally been scared of Children of the Corn happening), and typical park stuff. I ended up running for about 50 minutes which is a long time for me, I am slowly working my time up as I would like to be able to run for around 1.5 hours eventually. I am toying with the idea of training for a half marathon but then I realized that I should probably focus on simply not dying while running a 5k for now.
I went running in a fantastic OU shirt today and I figured people were watching me run by them because they recognized the greatness that is OU, not because they were simply wondering how someone could actually be jogging at that slow of a pace.

Boomer Sooner! (I swear I really did go run after I took this)

Pretty uneventful run but definitely hit some mental blocks. At many points my mind was saying "what the hell are you doing? You jogged for like 10 minutes, you're done! Lets go home and eat some chocolate." and "You look ridiculous running and you're crazy slow...look I think a turtle just passed you!" What can I say? my inner fatty is a mega-bitch. I think that is the hardest part of running, fighting the mental battle to keep going even when your mind is telling you to stop. I loved the feeling once I was done that I had run for almost an hour-that's a whole episode of Gilmore Girls without commercials!-and I lived. In fact, within a few minutes (and lots and lots of air conditioning) I was fine, a bit sweaty and red faced, but fine. Maybe I really could survive a half marathon (with lots and lots and lots of training).

PS. My mind was also saying this during my run:

MUST remember them next time.

Running outside is hard

Just got back from decent run. At the end I ran into a bunch of my neighbors (I have really nice, sociable neighbors) and their dogs freaked out and fought each other over who got to smell me. I hope that doesn't mean I smell like ground beef after a run. It was my first time using my new Garmin 305 aka my new favorite toy. I got it last night and spent a good hour playing with the features. Sure, it looks like an 80s calculator for your wrist but it tracks my exact distance, speed, time, heart rate etc. I also really like how I can design runs or courses online and upload them. You can even run against a certain pace or a previous run and little running figures depict how far ahead/behind/equal distance you are comparatively. Another handy feature is that it has a GPS which is really helpful considering I don't know my area incredibly well and there is a good chance I'll get lost at some point. I swear I am not getting a free Garmin for all this positive stuff, although if they want to send me one I'm totally on board :)

So for the past several runs I have been using a treadmill at my gym and today was my 2nd run outside. I have discovered the following:
     1. I must bring tissues. I don't know if it was allergies/cooler weather/etc but my nose was running like crazy-if only my legs would run that fast!-and I had no way to wipe it other than with my hand-grossness.
     2. Running outside is WAY harder than a treadmill!! I can't emphasize that enough: there are hills, dogs, people, cars, holes in the ground and all sorts of crazy stuff. I  felt guilty because my endurance is better on a treadmill so I consoled myself with the fact that running outside is harder, not sure if that is true but we'll go with it.
     3. Proper running shoes and socks are fantastic! My old shoes died a few days ago so I invested in some new ones today. I tried on a ton of pairs but my new ones have tons of support. I usually go with New Balance but didn't love any so I went with Ryka Revive 2 this time, specifically these:

I have to have non-white shoes because white shoes make my feet look like huge hobbit feet. Seriously, ginormous!

      3 cont. When I bought the shoes I went ahead and picked up some proper running socks. I have always used cotton and always gotten wicked blisters so I was mighty tempted when a running friend told me about synthetic socks for running. The salesman plus Runner's World recommended Experia socks:

The store I was at had a deal going where you buy one you get one 1/2 price so I picked up a couple pairs. So far I really like them, they fit a bit tighter than normal socks but the extra padding is really nice and after a semi-long run today there no blisters yay! I'll have to wait and see if they hold up and the multiple recommendations ring true.
     4. Last but certainly not least: MUST USE INHALER! I was running on this really flowery trail in the woods (crazy pretty) but all of a sudden my asthma started really acting up. It use to be way worse when I was a kid so I don't freak out during attacks but I really wished I had my inhaler on me because it made the last bit of the run kind of painful.
One of my favorite parts about running is discovering new things in your local area. Today I found a new trail that weaves through the woods and a bunch of wildflower fields. It was absolutely breathtaking. I will definitely run it again but the path is a bit wild so knowing my luck (and my extreme intolerance) I will probably get poison ivy. The semi-overgrown nature makes for a slow run because it's hard to actually see the path plus it's much more hilly.

On non-running notes, I was making coffee this morning and I spotted one of my favorite birds at my feeder: a Baltimore Oriole!! I always loved spotting these back in Oklahoma and my mom, aunt and I would almost always see them each year during our lake vacation so it was so neat to see one here. I didn't want to scare him away so I took a picture from inside my kitchen:

I love how brightly colored they are! I tweeted (not sure if that is an actual verb) the Connecticut Audubon Society and they replied that I most likely have a mated pair nesting somewhere in the trees in my backyard. How exciting! I love seeing new and unique birds at my feeders, makes sitting outside that much more enjoyable :)

I know, I know, I know...I have been a very naughty blogger. The past few months have been so busy with me jumping back and forth between Connecticut and Oklahoma, getting ready to start a Ph.D. thus stress eating lots of chocolate and sun dried tomato hummus may have been involved...just kidding!....oh wait that actually happened :( and getting my house/garden in shape for summer visitors (seriously, I have 6 different guests heading this way this summer). Moral of the story is that I have lots to do but not very much motivation so this is the result:

I got back from Tulsa a few days ago and I have resolved to actually get stuff done course as I write this I'm sitting eating cereal and watching the entire Firefly series. Have you watched Firefly before? It's a great cross between a Western and Science Fiction. It got canceled way before it's time and I pretty much love anything by Joss Whedon who brought us the brilliance that is Buffy. Besides, Firefly provides lots of this:

Oh Nathan Fillion why don't you come be my 2nd husband? I make really delicious desserts and I have two very adorable cats.

Anyway, so I am finally settled back into my house so that means it is time to start working out again. I actually managed to run a few times in Tulsa (I didn't die so I count it as a win) but as I am trying (and mostly failing) at becoming a runner/slow jogger, I am trying to make myself run on a regular basis. I did my first CT outdoor run a few days ago with a pedometer I picked up at Target and after running for 30 minutes it told me I traveled a distance of .2 miles...I may be slow but not THAT slow. I have heard great things about Garmin GPS sport watches and have been debating buying one for months. A fellow blogger-who is super hilarious and you should totally go read her blog this very second, http://www.runningoffthereeses.com, recommended the Garmin 305. It tracks distance, pace and you can track all of your runs on the computer. I also like that it works for cycling as well. I don't bike very often but I may if I lose my fear of falling onto hard surfaces. I have this big scar on my knee from my last fall and I am a bit gun shy.

Not the most beautiful thing in the world but does the job

The price dropped to $128 so I snapped it up and it should be here Monday (yay! new toy!). I figure if I spend that much money on a watch I darn well better get my butt outside and run.
I would post a recipe for the yummy, marriage proposal inducing (from one of Logan's co-docs...a lady co-doc), strawberry pecan cake with cream cheese icing but I am too entranced by my future 2nd husband so perhaps the next post, which I promise won't be in three months...maybe three days.
Moral of the story:
I'm back bitches!

PS. As I finished this entry, a tween Zac Efron showed his pretty face on a Firefly episode and I had to share it with y'all:

"One day I'll spontaneously break into song about basketballs and big dreams"

The Pleasure of Sharing Your Home

I don't know if it is because I was raised with the idea of Southern hospitality but I have always loved opening my home for guests. I love cleaning obsessively, stocking the guest room/guest bathroom with goodies like candy, bottled water, snacks, toiletries etc, and of course cooking for them, especially breakfast. I hosted a girls weekend a few years ago and I remember getting up and making everyone pancakes with fresh peach compote. I was so happy to be spending time and sharing a meal with some of my favorite people and to share something that I love to do with them.
I have a busy few weeks because I have one of my very best friends coming to visit for a week and then my mom is coming for a week right after. Needless to say, the house was cleaned top to bottom this weekend, sheets and duvets were freshly laundered and housing projects completed (I refinished my counter-tops and applied window film to my bedroom window-I'll probably do a post devoted to home improvement in the next few weeks. The counters and window came out fabulously).
As I said, one of my favorite things to do is cook for my guests (plus it helps get rid of the paint smell) so for my dear friend I made some lavender honey scones and simply because once I get cooking I have difficulty stopping I went ahead and made some spiced nuts (Recipe posted here).

Lavender Honey Scones

Lavender honey scones on my newest silver antique find, also came with a round tray and a pitcher

I am not sure how easy it is to find cooking lavender in the USA. I bought a big package when Logan and I were in France last year so I am still using that. I wouldn't be surprised if it required a visit to Whole Foods or similar to find.

1 1/2 cups of white flour
1/2 cup of whole wheat flour
1/4 cup of sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
4 tsp of cooking lavender
3 TBS of butter, cut up into small pieces
10 TBS of buttermilk-I never stock buttermilk so I just used skim and then added 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar, this curdles the milk and gives you the same effect
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/8 cup honey, spray the measuring cup with cooking spray and the honey will come out easily
2 tsp of flour plus extra for dusting kneading surface
1 large egg white, beaten
Lavender sugar for sprinkling on top, to make lavender sugar take some white sugar and put in a container with some of your cooking lavender and leave it. I make a bunch and use it when needed. The lavender scents the sugar plus you have some buds in the sugar for color.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Take the white and whole wheat flour and combine it with the sugar, baking powder, salt and lavender in a bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or knives until it looks like coarse crumbs (often I get frustrated and just use my hands, quicker but messy). Set aside and then combine buttermilk, vanilla, egg and honey in a bowl. Add the wet into the dry ingredients and stir until just moistened (this is one of those batters that you DO NOT want to over mix. Don't worry if it is really sticky.) Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead the dough 4 or 5 times and shape into an 8" circle. Dust the top with flour and then cut into 8 wedges. Place the wedges on a greased cookie sheet and brush the wedges with the egg white then sprinkle the lavender sugar on top of them. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

These scones are delicately sweet and have an amazing honey floral scent. They are fantastic with afternoon tea, a good book and a cat on the lap.

Happy Spring,
Steph

PS. Here is a picture of my newest night time visitor. Apparently I am feeding quite the menagerie.

He/She is eating cinnamon raisin bread I put out

Home Again

After a long weekend in Dallas and a week in Niagara/Finger Lakes area it is so nice to be home. The simple acts of sleeping in your own bed, making coffee in your coffee maker, using your own shower, and petting your own kitties are all comforts in their own right. The end of our trip marks the beginning of a busy season for my husband and myself so it is very bittersweet, however our trip was lovely. We went to an Ice Wine festival-ice wine is made from naturally frozen grapes and is only made is very limited quantities. It is very sweet and it usually an after dinner drink, similar to port. I have tried ice wine before and I was not a fan however I was able to try many varieties at this festival and found that I simply had not tried the right ones! I fell in love with Standing Stone vineyards and their Riesling ice wine, as well as Fulkerson's Cabernet ice wine and Johnson Estate Vidal ice wine. By the time we left the area we bought 8 bottles of wine and 4 bottles of ice wine (although one ice wine and one regular wine were for the neighbor who house and cat sat for us). It was such a fun festival, there were lots of wines to try, cheese and fudge samples as well as an ice carving demonstration.

Right as he was getting started

Sanding the ice sculpture

Finished product, only 45 minutes after he started!

After the wine festival we went to Niagara for a night. We stayed at Embassy Suites where we were all the way up on the 32nd floor and our suite had a great view of the Falls. Also Embassy Suites is one of the few hotels in the area that has windows that open so we were able to fall asleep to the roar of the falls (actually quite soothing).

American side of the falls, also called the Bridal Veil falls

Canada side of Falls, also called Horseshoe falls because they go all the way around making a horseshoe shape.

At the top getting covered in mist. It was so neat watching the water come plummeting down

We went behind and under the falls. This is a view from under to the side.

One of the portals directly behind the falls...frozen this time of year

 We also did an educational tour where we found out how the falls were formed. The tour had an interactive part where we got pummeled with fake snow, pelted with water and wind and eventually felt like we were going over the falls with the help of huge, wrap around movie screens and a moving floor. We also visited the Butterfly Conservatory where they had over 2,000 butterflies. It was nice to hang out in a tropical environment for a few hours-what a change from the winter outside!

Butterflies feeding, apparently they were quite hungry

After Niagara we traveled to the Canandaigua area of New York where we stayed at an absolutely wonderful lake cabin for 5 days. It was so restful just cooking, using the hot tub, playing games, star gazing, bird watching, hiking and just reconnecting with my husband. While we were there we went and hiked the "Grand Canyon of the East." It had three waterfalls on site and we hiked to two since the roads were closed. After seeing Niagara I expected to be underwhelmed but actually it was very beautiful.

Grand Canyon of the East, as a visitor to the real Grand Canyon I am not quite convinced :)

The Middle Falls

Pretty rainbow over the falls

We made our way home on Friday and have spent the weekend relaxing and getting ready for a busy few months. I can't believe we have been in Connecticut for 9 months; it has flown by so quickly. I am happy that we have been able to explore our new home as much as we have yet there is always so much more to see!
Happy Mardi Gras (almost),
Steph

Traveling Time

As the snow slowly starts to melt, things in our household are heating up as we prepare for our big trip for the season. Every year we try to take at least one bigger trip but this year has been full of a lot more weekend getaways as we explore our new state. This past summer we traveled to Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard for a long weekend and had a great time checking out some of the most in-demand beaches in the country and eating lots of ice cream (Cape Cod is saturated with ice cream shops. Almost all of them make everything on site so the finished product is absolutely divine).

One of many, many photos of us eating ice cream from various parlors around Cape Cod

Since Logan has been so busy with his intern year we thought a relaxing trip would be the way to go so I researched for weeks to find a romantic lake cabin. I had the criteria of semi-remote location, lake view, hot tub, and fully equipped kitchen (we love to grill and cook throughout the trip). It took me a while to find the perfect spot but I finally "found the dot on the map" (that's their slogan) and was overjoyed to book The Quiet Place on Canandaigua Lake- one of the Finger Lakes in upstate New York. They have several different options for cabins but we fell in love with the view from the Naples Chalet. Check it out, they look so nice and I bet it will be so romantic.
Our cabin website: The Quiet Place
Apparently Naples is the grape capital of the world and the home to Grape Pie. It is suppose to taste a lot like blueberry pie and I am excited to sample the unique deliciousness.

We booked for a week but then we found out about a Ice Wine festival (lots of free ice wine and tasty treats to go along with it) at the New York Wine and Culinary Center just a few days before we go so our relaxing, romantic lake weekend got a bit bigger...
We decided that we would drive up to Canandaigua for the festival and visit some friends in Rochester for a night then Logan pointed out that Rochester is so close to Niagara Falls (about a 2 hour drive). After a bit of research on Niagara Falls we decided to go for it, you're only young once right? Now we are spending a day in Niagara before heading back down to the Canandaigua area to enjoy our lake trip. Niagara in the winter is said to look absolutely beautiful and this will be my first time seeing the amazing falls. Apparently during the winter the mist from the falls will freeze the trees nearby creating a vision of water and ice.

From CanadaCool.com

Photo from:http://www.photography.ca/Forums/attachments/f32/5853d1267392844-niagara-falls-ontario-canada-5.jpg

We are planning on heading into Canada for the night (yay for another passport stamp!) and stay at one of the hotels with a view of the Falls. We have been told that a view of the Canada falls is better but the American view has a cool lightshow at night. We haven't settled on a hotel yet because we are messing with the details but I will definitely take tons of pictures and post them here.
I am huge fan of taking some time away with your significant other, friends or simply by yourself. It is a wonderful chance to reconnect, relax and enjoy your beautiful surroundings. Also, I also really like researching before heading off for a trip. I had not done this much in the past and then when Logan and I spent three weeks in Europe we used Rick Steve's guidebooks. They were incredibly helpful and I felt that it helped find great restaurants, we got some history on what we were visiting, and also saw some off the beaten path sites. For example, I had been to Paris before but I had never heard of the Alpine Garden in Les Jardin des Plantes and it was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.

For this trip, we have combed through many books on the Finger Lakes and now, Niagara Falls to find the most delectable eateries, greatest places to hike and most beautiful views. I hope all our research pays off but I am just so excited to get away with my wonderful husband and share a cool new experience with him.
Happy Trails,
Steph