Chocolate blueberry Smoothie

Today for breakfast I made a super yummy smoothie. I have a nutribullet and used the smaller regular blending cup.

The ingredients are Coconut water, Greens (i used baby kale, but spinach will also work well), blueberries, and plain cocoa powder (no added sugar).

It is important to first blend the greens. Unless you have a vitamix if you they will not blend well if you blend everything together. SO start with about a quarter cup of coconut water and a handful of your greens of choice. Blend the greens until they are smooth and then add you fruit. I use frozen fruit from whole foods. This time i defrosted them over night in the fridge but you can leave them partially frozen to get a more sorbet like consistency. In the bag there were about 2 cups of blueberries. The cocoa powder is really to taste. I like about a tablespoon.

I used blueberries this morning because that i want i had on hand. I usually made this smoothie with cherries and it is super delicious as well. It is probably my favorite smoothie. I love that smoothies are a delicious way to get a few more fruit and veggies in.

Happy Earth Day!

Hey! Long time no see 🙂 Today is April 22nd also known as Earth Day. The time once a year the country gets together and decides to think a bit about the planet. Unfortunately, for many people this is the only time of year that people think about the planet. Don’t misunderstand I’m not judging I am no saint myself. While I try to make good choices sometimes I get lazy about it too. I don’t always bring my reusable bags when I go shopping, I sometimes don’t recycle (the recycling is in a different part of the complex than my apt). I tell myself all sorts of excuses, I’m just running in for a few things, it’s only a few recyclables and it’s raining The first few times it is easy to rationalize, but after a while you just develop bad habits.

The amount of plastic bags and items that could be recycled that end up in our landfills and water ways is insane. Each of our individual items may not seem like much but added together its big. It’s up to each of it to make our individual small contributions so together we can make an impact.

They say that it takes three weeks to break a bad habit. With that in mind I would like to use this Earth Day as a chance to challenge myself. For the next 30 days I will use my reusable bags every time I go shopping (I have these cute produce bags im looking forward to using too) and I will recycle all items that can be recycled. I start this challenge in the hopes that after 30 days I will be able to change my bad habits and keep going.

What are you doing this Earth Day to make a difference?

Fruit for Health

Yummy snacks from the Garden

Today I picked some of the fresh peas that I grew this year.  There is something about fresh peas that you have grown yourself that makes them taste so much nicer…Or nice at all as I don’t usually like peas…haha

Exciting Ice Cream find!

So this past weekend, while doing my weekly shop at Whole Foods, I wandered over to the ice cream freezer.  This is not something I usually do, since they stopped carrying my green tea soy ice cream 😦  While I was there I discovered something that I’m sure many of you already have…  So Delicious Cookies n Cream Almond Milk Ice Cream.  I swear you could hear a heavenly chorus as my eyes fell upon it…there was cheesy movie lighting it was bad…lol.  A pint landed in my cart before I could even finish a thought.  I couldn’t wait to get home and try some.

At my Whole Foods the fun ice cream flavors are coconut ice creams.  The Soy delicious (I loved that this brand was fruit sweetened) is not being carried anymore and the almond milk was just in the normal flavors…chocolate, vanilla etc.  So finding a new fun flavor was exciting.

I had a busy day on Saturday so I wasn’t able to try some until after dinner that night.  Soooo yummy.  I was happy to find out that that they do not scrimp on the cookies.  There was a good ratio of cookie to ice cream and because it was almond milk ice cream it wasn’t too heavy.   I have a feeling this ice cream may be finding its way into my shopping basket a number of times this summer….

Mother’s Day

This Sunday was Mother’s Day.  This year I wanted to take my mom somewhere fun.  About a month ago we were out and started talking about gardens.  It came up that we both wanted to go to a place called Longwood Gardens.  It is a little far, but good for a day trip.  It was decided, that’s where we would go for Mother’s Day.

There is a café in the Gardens, but it was being used as a reservation only Mother’s Day brunch.  Just outside of the Gardens, however, is a picnic area.  I thought it would nice to have a picnic then walk through the gardens.  My mother and I are both trying to eat a little healthier right now so for lunch I made us salads, some bruschetta and fresh strawberries for desert.

After lunch we packed everything up and went inside.  Longwood Gardens is a place that I went on a field trip when I was in middle school.  I remember it being pretty and large, but other than that I couldn’t recall.

It was beautiful, there were different paths to stroll along with different things to see.  Some of the areas were more formal garden, like the Italian water garden, and some were more organic.  There is also a conservatory with different tropical and dessert plants and flowers as well.

On the whole it was a lovely day and we were so glad we decided to go there.

 

 

WDW Sept 2012 Day 7 Final

After the tour was over it was about 3:30. We had early dinner reservations at 50s Primetime, so we hopped a bus for DHS.

 

 

 

 

 For dinner I opted for my usual, a peanut butter and jelly milkshake (rice dream milk and ice cream) with a side a fries. Sooo good. It was a great last meal in Disney.

 While we were eating the skies had opened and it was raining very hard. We had to wait in the lobby for a little until the rain lightened up. Once it did we had to catch a bus back to the resort as the boats were not running because of the lightening.

 We called it an early night as our flight was very early the next morning. We were up at four am to Saturday to catch our flight. It was a great trip and I can’t wait to go back for Christmas!

WDW Sept 2012 Day 7 Part 2

 After the show we split up again. This time it was for a very good reason. My sister and I were going on the Wild Africa Trek! It was time for us to go to the meeting area.

 We checked in and about 15 minutes before the tour as recommended. The rest of our group soon arrived. It was a small group this time, there were only six of us. This was nice as it didn’t feel crowded and we were able to ask any questions that we wanted. Warning, they took a lot of picture for us during the tour so this part is picture heavy.

 The tour started with us being taken behind scenes to be fit with all of our gear.

 

 

 They first took us through the Pangani trail. They gave us a guided tour and taught us a lot about the animals in the area. We spent some time with the bird and learning about their habits. They were really beautiful and it was nice to have someone pointing out the different types.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After our walk through the trail it was time for us to go behind scenes. We started with the hippos. We were even able to watch them feed them.

 

 

 

 

 

 After we left the hippos it was time to go over our first set of rope bridges. This part was really cool, they have the bridges over the alligators and crocodiles. We learned a lot about the crocodiles. For example, they are the only animals that our always on set. The only time they are taken back is for their medical checks and if Disney is expecting a bad storm or hurricane.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once we were done here, it was time to move to our safari truck for the rest of our tour. We also got to lose the gear, which was nice as it was heavy. This part of the tour was a really long and in-depth safari. It was really nice, as we were able to pull over and go in areas that you don’t get to go in on the regular safari. We spent like 20 minute just hanging out with some giraffes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About half way through the safari part of the tour, it was time for lunch. This was one of the most relaxing lunches I have ever had. The area that they set it up in was sooo nice. You have near 360 views of the savannah. The weather was perfect, warm with a nice breeze. There were animals all around. You get like 30 minutes to just eat and walk around.

 They ask if you have any dietary restrictions when you sign up for the tour. All of the food for lunch is provided by tusker house. There were able to prepare an all vegan menu that was absolutely delicious. They serve it to you in the really neat lunch boxes. I wish I know where I could get one.

 

 

 

 

 

After we got back into the truck and were able to see the rest of the savannah.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 All too soon our tour was over. They told us that a portion of our tour fees would be donated to and animal charity of our choosing. Both my sister and I chose Big Cats.

 

 This was a really great tour and I would totally do it again.

 

Day 7 Part 3 Final 

 

WDW Sept 2012 Day 7 Part 1

Our last full day was spent for the most part at Animal Kingdom.

 

 We stared our day in Dinoland, with a ride that we could all enjoy, The Primeval Whirl.

 

 After that my father and I split up with my mom and sis. They went to get some breakfast as we went to Dinosaur. My mom and sis don’t like this one very much.

 

 There was no line and we were on and off fairly quickly.

 We met up with my mom and sis by Pizzafari, one of the only places open for them to get food. We then split up again. This time it was my mother and I, with my dad and sister going to ride Everest.

We spent our time wandering around Camp Minnie Mickey and getting some character meets in.

 

 

 Now it wasn’t so hot this morning, but for some reason they had the fan misters running. This put so many water drop in the air that it ruined most of the pictures that we managed to take that morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 My dad and sis we done with their ride about now and wanted in on the action.

 

 

 

 

 We were planning on seeing the next Lion King show so we didn’t want to stray too far. So we wandered the area for a while. I picked up a Pineapple bar.

 

 Soon enough it was time to get in line for the show. It was very entertaining and always.

Day 7 Part 2

WDW Sept 2012 – Day 6

When I woke up that Thursday morning, I could hardly believe it. We only had 2 days left in Disney and there was still so much that we wanted to do. Given this today was going to make up for lost time. This morning we wanted to go to Epcot as the first day we didn’t really do all that much in Future World. I think with coming and going from the back entrance you tend to forget about some of the things that are there once you ride the big rides.

 We arrived for rope drop, then proceed to wait and wait some more. For some reason with the back entrance they do not start letting you through until exactly opening time, even though they let the people in the front of the park in and up to a certain point. This always bothers me. Anyway, we finally were let into the park and saw…no one. There was hardly a person to be found.

 We headed straight for Soar’in with the idea to pick up fast passes and if we were quick enough also make in onto the ride. We were not prepared for what we saw when we arrived.

 

 Yes, that is a five minute wait time. Now I know that the park just opened, but Soarin starts with a half hour wait and just goes up from there. I have never before seen this. Needless to say we headed straight for the stand by line.

 

 

 We walked all the way up to the loading area. There was already a family in the front row of B so we ask to sit in the front of C. They CMs were very nice and pointed us over. Soon it was time for our flight. It was enjoyable as always and I couldn’t wait to ride it again.

 Surprise….we didn’t have to wait at all. When we started to unbuckle our seat belts a CM came over and asked if we want to ride again. There was no one waiting to sit in glider C so we got to go again. I have had this happen on rides like The Peoplemover, but never even dreamed that it would ever happen on Soarin.

 Two rides in a row satisfied our Soarin fix for a while so we decided to make our exit.

 

 After that kind of experience on Soarin, we felt pretty confident that we would be able to get on Mission Space with little wait, so we headed in that.

 

 

 

 

 

After our deep space training we found ourselves quite hungry. I guess a space trip to Mars and back can do that to a girl. Good this we had breakfast reservations at Kona Café in the Polynesian. I was sooo excited for this reservation as I didn’t know what I was going to order, but was happy with the choices. We took the monorail over to the TTC then over to Poly. My dad met us there and was already waiting at a table for us. While everyone was looking over the menu, the chief came out to go over my options. I asked is the Tonga Toast could be veganized. My answer was yes and no. He said that technically no because they couldn’t speak to cross contamination. But he even it that is okay with you it’s still not recommended as it just doesn’t taste as good because of the ingredients that needed to be left off.

 That was okay as I had seen a picture of the fruit plate and was equally excited for that. Since it came with sausage or bacon I asked if I could get Mickey waffles instead….they even brought me non-dairy butter!

 

 Everything was really good. The fruit was juicy and fresh and the Mickey waffles were very yummy. Once everyone was done eating my sister and I excused ourselves to go back to Epcot to get some more rides in.

 

 

 

 

 Our first ride choice was SSE. Like living with the land, this is another ride I can just do over and over again.

 

 My sister sat in the first row or the car and I sat behind her. This way we were both able to pick our futures.

 

 

 

 

 This is totally my ideal living room…

 

Another place my sister and I love to play is Innoventions. I seriously don’t think we will ever grow out of this place. Our first stop was the Vision House. This is the latest version of Disney environmentally friendly home. I love this stuff and can’t wait to employ some of the techniques in my home one day.

 

 After learning how to make our hypothetical homes greener we decided it was probably a good idea to learn how to keep it from burning down on us.

 

 And since we wanted our dream homes to become a reality one day, we learned how to save up for them.

 

 By now it was getting close to 1 o’clock. Every time we are in Innoventions we say that we are going to go to the Disney Chase Visa character meet and greet and get out picture taken and every time we don’t. It is only open from 1-3 pm and we are usually out of the parks in the afternoon. This time we were still there and I was determined that we were going to get our picture this time. When we arrived about 15 minutes before it opened, there was already a small line forming so we hopped right in. Soon it was open and the line began moving, then it was our turn J

 After getting meeting Mickey and Co, we were just hungry enough to warrant a snack. We stopped by the electric umbrella for some fries. The fries here are always cooked in their own fryer so you don’t have to worry about cross contamination.

 After our snack we headed toward the front of the park so see if we could have our picture printed out already. We were in luck and were able to pick it with us. They must send the photopass pictures digitally, because we were able to pick up the photo about 15 minutes after we had is taken.

 Picture in hand it was time to make our way back to the BCV as my sister had to leave.

After hanging out for a few in the hotel, my mom and I decided it to make our way back into Epcot for a few more rides before dinner. We started by making a right to go through the countries. We stopped in America to listen to the Voices or Liberty. I love listening to this group and try to catch them at least once a trip. I never take pictures inside though, because I you end up sitting so close to the group.

 

 

 We started towards the Land as we knew we were going to be eating at Sunshine Season. As we were making our way down I couldn’t help but take a look at the wait time for Soar’in. Can you believe it at around 4:30pm the wait time for this was only 10 minutes. I didn’t remember to take a picture this time as I think I was in shock, so you are just going to have to take my word for it.

Even with the short wait time we decided to pass as we had already gotten our fill that morning. We made our way to look at what was on offer at Sunshine Season. It was now that we were acquainted with the fact that the menu has change. Usually I get the vegetarian platter with the items that are vegan. This time the items offered was just sad. The tofu is usually fresh and prepared on site, this time I was give defrosted tofu nuggets that I have to make my mother try for me because they looked so much like fast food chicken nuggets. My mother got beef and broccoli and was just as disappointed. The sketchy neighborhood Chinese place makes better. Needless to say we are crossing Sunshine Season off our list until the food quality goes back up to where it used to be.

 

 I know that I took a bite on one of the nuggets, but this was even to me looking this pathetic.

We stopped for one more ride on Spaceship Earth before making our way out and onto the monorail.

 

 

 

 We were going to spend the rest of our evening at Magic Kingdom.

Where did we leave off…oh yes, the Magic Kingdom.

 Soon enough we found ourselves walking through to the MK

 

 

 

 

 I wanted to go take some pictures by the wishing well, so we headed in that direction. As we were walking we passed the Merida meet. She was just ending so I got a picture as she was on her way out.

 Finally we made it to the fountain.

 

 The lines were short in Fantasyland so we opted for a spin on Dumbo so we could see the new line system. There is a play around where the kids can play instead of standing in line.

 Almost as soon as we sat down it was our turn.

 

 After Dumbo we walked further into FL passing by Winnie the Pooh. I haven’t rode this in forever and the line was only about 20 minutes so we gave it a go.

 

 

 

 The ride was cute and I would ride again assuming the line was short.

Our last ride for the evening was Small World.

 

 After our boat ride we slowing made our way to the front of the park, stopping in the shops along the way.

Day 7 Part 1