the edible perspective » green monster

dog hog blog

Ashley — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 04:22:16 +0000

I’m so glad I have most of my appetite AND a small amount of energy to make some easy, delicious food.

Below is Food For Life, millet bread. Have you ever picked up a loaf of gluten free bread? It’s small, weighs a ton and will set you back $4-6. However, it’s comforting and deliciously different from wheat based bread. The millet bread is dense and almost thick + cakey in a way. I like the texture and the flavor is mild.

I topped it with unsalted/unsweetened PB, coconut butter, + raisins.

I made a HUGE green monster, that turned purple from 1c of blueberries. It didn’t even all fit in this glass!

contents were:

spinach
blueberries
almond milk
acai juice [no sugar added]
chia seeds
banana
avocado [makes smoothies suuuuper creamy]
strawberries
vanilla chai protein powder [amazing grass]

Delicious.

Dakota knows I’m sick. She pouts even more, if you can imagine that. It is on rare occasions like this that I let her up on the couch and then immediately regret my decision.

She is SUCH a couch hog! I was smooshed.

She loves to be buried in blankets and does not try to find her way out…

My afternoon smoothie was slammin’!!!! I made a variation from the orange banana smoothie I made a few weeks ago, which was a variation from Angela’s creamsicle smoothie. This was much more creamsicle like!

Orange Coconut Creamsicle

3 clementines
1/4 avocado
1/2 frozen banana
1T chia seeds
~1c unsweetened almond milk
~1T coconut butter [coconut oil will work too]
1t vanilla
1t maca powder [optional]

Pour almond milk into a blender.
Add all ingredients. Peel as much pulp off the clementines as possible.
Blend on low, working up to high until smooth.
Let sit ~3min to thicken, if desired. [the ground chia seeds will thicken it]

*Make sure your banana is frozen or this will be too liquidy. You can also freeze the clementines [after peeling them] and the avocado, if you wish.

*If you use a whole banana it will overpower the flavor.

*If you use more avocado it will mask the flavor. I find that coconut milk [from the carton] also masks flavor in smoothies.

This was suuuuper creamy, with a mellow vanilla flavor, slight hint of coconut + banana, and orangey deliciousness. If you want a more robust orange flavor, add zest from the peel.

Back to lounging around and trying to kick this fever out the door!

Ashley

my favorite smoothie

Ashley — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 04:51:21 +0000

Hi hi hi!! Wow, today was an exciting day around the blogosphere.

First, it started off with Caitlin’s amazingness on The Today Show. Wow, did that girl rock it. I was 100% impressed. Just lovely.

Second, the Healthy Living Summit chatter was non-stop today! Emails, chats, tweets! I’m getting so excited

Third, I was talking to ThenHeatherSaid about packing for HLS and somehow we got to talking about height. I had NO CLUE that she is 5’10”!! Did you know that HealthyAshley is 5’10” as well?? I got a LOT of “height” tweets today and it was fun to learn how tall everyone really is. How tall would you guess that I am? A lot of people thought I was 5’7”…nope, I’m just over 5’4”!

Okay, time for food.

I am entering the Stonyfield Smoothie contest for the Healthy Living Summit. This is my favorite 5 ingredient smoothie, for a few different reasons.

I started with 1c of Stonyfield Oikos Greek Yogurt [plain] to pack in a good amount of protein to start off my day. I love how low in sugar Oikos is. Then I add 2T organic [whole foods] peanut butter. This adds healthy fats, more protein, and a little fiber. Adding nuts or nut butter to my breakfast, really helps keep me satiated.

I like fruity smoothies, but they can be really high in sugar. Even though it’s all naturally occurring sugars, I try to keep my sugar intake low in the morning. If there was one fruit I had to put in every smoothie, it would be a banana. They provide a decent amount of fiber and potassium and are more filling than other fruits.

What better way to start your day than with a vegetable. Spinach is FULL of health benefits and will leave you feeling clean + energized. Perfect for the morning! The best part is, you can’t taste it at all.

Add some ice + let ‘er rip!

Disclosure: This entry is for the Healthy Living Summit Stonyfield Smoothie Contest. Stonyfield is a sponsor of the Summit, but not this contest.

Peanut Butter Banana Oikos Green Smoothie

2 handfuls ice [~1+ cup]
1c plain organic Stonyfield Oikos Greek Yogurt
2T organic creamy peanut butter
1 organic frozen banana
2-3c organic spinach

Add ingredients in this order. Yogurt + Peanut Butter + Banana + Ice + Spinach
Blend away until creamy + smooth.

*You can also blend the yogurt + spinach together first, until smooth. Then blend in all other ingredients.

Enjoy in a bowl.

Or in a mug.

Fresh + delicious. Healthy + filling. What could be a better way to start your morning?

Smoothie Stats:

cals – 350
sugar – 26g
fiber – 7g
protein – 33g
fat – 15g

Green smoothie bloopers!

I should have poured it from the mug –> bowl instead of bow –> mug. FAIL.

Two extremely generous blog readers, sent me packages of the new Larabars today!!

Andi + Miriam, thank you ladies SO SO much!! I really appreciate it!

I dug into the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough first. They were a little melty and at first I loved the chocolate chip gooeyness. However, overall the flavor was on the bland side + after eating half I had to stop because of how sweet it was! I have heard a few others say these have been too sweet as well. I can’t wait to try the rest though.

I made a summery lunch today and had Ann over to share it with.

Are these not the more adorable things ever?

Even their shadows are cute. hehe

Here is the recipe. Nothin’ fancy.

Couscous + Roasted Veg

1 pint cherry/grape tomatoes
1c dry couscous
1 green zucchini
1 patty pan squash [or yellow squash]
4 stalks of kale, washed + de-stemmed
2 cloves garlic, minced
olive oil
s+p

Roast zucch + maters at 350* with a little olive oil, s+p. ~25min
Add in chopped kale for another ~15min.
Bring 1.25c water to boil with 1T olive oil.
Add in 1c dry couscous, turn off heat, cover + let sit for 5min.
Heat a sautee pan over medium with olive oil. Add in 2 cloves minced garlic + baby shrooms. Cook about 5min.
Fluff couscous with fork.
Combine in a bowl and top!

Toppings:

goat cheese
pepitas
equal parts: olive oil + fresh lemon juice + red wine vinegar

Then Ann and I did a little shopping over on Broadway, but I found NOTHing. Shopping fail! However, the ice cream from Sweet Action made up for it!! They have the most amazing flavors.

Blackberry Lavender!!! I know that sounds kind of intense but the lavender was subtle. I can’t even explain how delicious this was.

When I got home, I finally got to video gchat with one of my FAV’s!!!

Ashley!! <3 We had sooo much fun chatting. It was exciting to actually talk with her, rather than just email. I admire her for all that she does with her blog, while maintaining a full time job and training for marathons. She astonishes me. Her recipes are stellar, writing is superb, and photography is amazing. I just love her style. Wish we lived closer!

I squeezed in a 40min swim today too!

100m warm up
20 lengths freestyle
10 lengths breast stroke
10 lengths back stroke
18 lengths freestyle
100m cool down

Total distance: 1650m

Aaaaaaaand from that + my bike ride, my hunger was through the roof! I’m also pooped.

Night Happpppy Friday!

Ashley

p.s. Recently, I installed the comment reply notification widget. Are you all getting emails when I reply to your comments??

one of those days

Ashley — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 19:15:13 +0000

I’m still working at Whole Foods every few weeks and I had to go in Saturday morning from 9am-5pm. We got to bed at a decent time Friday night but I was still pooped when the alarm went off at 7:45. I dragged by butt out of bed and nothing seemed too off at that point.

I made a delicious, quick and refreshing breakfast.

I’ve been eating Plain Wallaby Organic [my favorite brand of non-Greek yogurt] instead of Greek yogurt recently. Here’s why:

MUCH cheaper $3 for 32oz as opposed to $5 for 16oz
Fat + Organic – Any of the organic Greek yogurts seem to all be fat free. I like fat in my yogurt!
Nutrition is somewhat similar

1c Wallaby Plain – 140 cals : 11g protein : 4g fat : 9g sugar
1c Oikos Plain – 130 cals : 23g protein : 0g fat : 9g sugar

So the protein is WAY higher in the Greek, but I get enough protein from other sources. For now, I’m sticking with the non-Greek!

This was about 1c of yogurt, a bunch of fruit, Love Grown Foods granola, a drizzle of honey, and a toasted Ezekiel sprouted grains English muffin with melty pnut butter smothered on top.

Melty pnut butter on a bagel or English muffin is one of the best things everrrrr.

Touch of sweetness from the fruit + honey. I found a great deal on organic strawbs + bluebs at WF the other day.

Once I got to work, it turned into one of those days. My legs were in slow-mo from my bike ride the day before, and I think I left my brain in bed.

First. This happened. I was going to get some sauce for the turkey meatloaf and was moving a different container of sauce for an Indian dish. The lid was not on correctly so I dropped it when I picked it up. This drawing below is not an exaggeration. It’s exactly what happened.

ALL OVERRRRRR.

I also dropped a container full of water and these radish flower garnishes all over the prepared foods area.

THEN, I burnt my hand. Not too bad, but no burn is fun. This is not typical for me! I dropped 2 other things, but can’t even remember what. I’ve blocked it out of my memory.

I still had yellow saucy goo all over me + my hat.

I redeemed myself when I came home, with this dish. It’s what I made for our friends’ going away party. I would have to say, it turned out delicious. The texture was amazing.

Summery Quinoa Millet Casserole [adapted from 101 Cookbook’s, Heather’s Quinoa]

[Serves ~10]

1c white quinoa + 1c black quinoa + 1c millet – rinsed + drained
4c water [for the quinoa] + 3c water [for the millet]
2T olive oil
1/2c pepitas [pumpkin seeds]
3c kale – washed, de-stemmed + chopped
1pint cherry/grape tomatoes

1/2T olive oil
1t sucanat [or other sugar]
1/4t salt

1 avocado
1.5c frozen corn
1/2 – 3/4c raw vegan pesto
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 small yellow onion, chopped
black pepper
1/2-1t fine grain sea salt

Preheat oven to 350*. Slice cherry tomatoes in 1/2 and put on a baking sheet.
Toss with olive oil, sucanat [or other sugar] and salt.
Bake for ~45min, tossing once after 25min.
Heat a large pot over medium heat with 1T olive oil.
Add in rinsed quinoa + millet. Stir for about 2min to bring out nutty flavor.
Add in all water. *see note below
Bring to a boil and cook for about 20+ min until all water is absorbed. [It took longer than normal with such a large quantity.]
Fluff with a fork.
In a small pan over med-low heat, toast pepitas, stirring frequently until just browned. ~5min.
In a large sauté pan heat 1T olive oil over med-high heat.
Add in garlic + onion, stirring for ~2min.
Add in quinoa + frozen corn. Stir.
Add in chopped kale and cook for ~3min, until kale is slightly wilted.
Take off heat. Gently stir in pesto, pepitas, and tomatoes.
Salt + pepper to taste.
Top with 1 diced avocado.

*You can definitely use all quinoa in this but the millet gave it an creamy + thick texture. There is no difference in water amount or cook time between black + white quinoa. I only got the black quinoa for the color. Millet has a similar cook time to quinoa, so it worked fine cooking them together. You can sub out any grain you wish in this dish.

**I meant to also toss in 1 can of rinsed garbanzo beans for a little more protein but forget. I think it would be a great addition.

***Feel free to sub in a store bought pesto or a non-vegan version. If it’s an oily pesto, you might not need as much.

****Also, I made the quinoa + roasted the tomatoes the day before to save time. It just took a little longer to heat the quinoa up in the pan. I also threw it in the oven [on a low heat] to keep it warm when I got to the party.

I absolutely LOVED the texture of this. Very creamy but a nice crunch from the pepitas. The flavor of the pesto and the sweetness of the tomatoes was awesome too.

The roasted tomatoes should look like this when they’re done. I use parchment paper for easy cleanup.

I was exhausted from work and then racing home to shower + finish making this dish but it was worth it! The party was so much fun.

The bro-in-law. Do you see me?

One of our friends has a moped/bike thing. The boys thought it was a good idea to play with it in the alley. I was thrilled…

So was Jen. Jen is our friend that’s moving. Very sad!! She and her boyfriend Jay are off to DC. We’ll definitely miss them!!

Kurtz tried to jump on the bike. What happened after this photo was not pretty. He was okay, but the bike took quite the hit.

Ann [Kurtz’s g/f] was also less than pleased.

Jen has a great style and always has the best accessories.

Ugh. The husband.

At least he had a helmet on?

Hovan!!

Do you see the wet spot on the neckline of my dress? I dropped a bunch of watermelon all over the place. Yup, fail #789 of the day.

We had an awesome cookout with our friends and the quinoa dish went over really well. Then we stopped at a bunch of Jen + Jay’s favorite bars. It was a good night!! We got home late and I was not feeling blogging at 2am.

When I woke up, I found vomit on my yoga mat.

I promise it was not from me or the husband.

Which dog is guilty? I’m guessing the brown one.

I was slightly dehydrated from last night but this kale green monster kicked whatever small hangover I had to the curb. It rocked.

Kickin’ Kale Pnut Butter Banana Green Monster

2c washed + de-stemmed kale
1c ice
~1/2c milk of choice
1/2c plain yogurt
1-2T pnut butter
1 banana
6 strawberries
1/2t cinnamon
1T chia seeds

Blend awaaaay!!

I got a great tip from a reader for blending Green Monsters. If you don’t have a blender that pummels through kale or spinach, try this!

Blend/puree kale + milk/liquid and then add in all other ingredients and blend again until smooth.

We’re off to Ft. Collins today to shop around for a house to rent!

Hope you all have a lovely Sunday!!

Ashley

adventures thru my point n’ shoot

Ashley — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 06:31:47 +0000

Thank you all SO much for your congrats + well wishes. I truly appreciate your support. You have all helped get me to this point. So, thank you again!

….

I got a lot done this morning and was itching to get outside for a bike ride. I haven’t been on my bike in a little over a week [except for an errand or 2]. It was around 90* and super sunny by noon. It’s not quite as bad with the wind in your face though!

I thought I would take my point n’ shoot along with me today.

Start.

The Cherry Creek Bike Path is awwwesome. It only takes me about 1 mile to ride to it and from then on, you don’t have to deal with traffic or crossing intersections. The Cherry Creek runs most of the way along the path as well. I don’t bike [or run] with music, so I really like hearing the little mini waterfalls + nature noises.

There were 2 detours on the route today, which were pretty annoying! Riding through gravel/loose dirt on a road bike is not fun.

And then after, once you’re back on the path, your tires are slippery from the dust + debris.

You can barely see the mountains but they’re there!

After ~22m, I tossed my bike to the side, legs feeling like lead, and took off on a little barefoot jaunt. I ran somewhere around 300-400yds [like the other day] and felt great. I’ll probably up it a little next week!

I love that I match my shirt.

Apparently I can’t keep clean while riding my bike.

Time for 20min of yoga for cyclists, from yogadownload! I have been doing this all week, each morning but today I waited until my ride was over. It was fabulous. However, I was literally about ready to chew my arm off for lunch!

Kenna seriously LOVES the yoga mat. Everytime I stand up, she lies down.

Ugh.

Then, after lunch, the dogs watched me get some work done.

See! I told you…loves that yoga mat!

I did a little work and then needed to go to WF to pick up a few ingredients. We have friends moving to DC next week, so tomorrow we’re going to a cookout to say goodbye!

It was SO HARD to get back on the bike and pedal to the store. It’s not far, but it was hot + I was tired. However, I am still enjoying getting around on bike, so that motivated me to go!

That is the end of my point n’ shoot adventures.

…

Here’s some food from today!

I could NOT decide what to make for breakfast. I wanted a smoothie but also a banana scramble. Typically I make a banana scramble sandwich but that plus a smoothie would be way too much food.

So I bring you, the naked banana scramble.

Simplified Banana Scramble

3T rolled oats
2-3T milk
1t cinnamon [I like a LOT of cinnamon]
1/2 banana
1T wheat germ
1T pnut butter

Mash with a fork.
Heat + grease a pan over medium heat.
Plop scramble into pan and flatten out a bit.
Let cook for 3-5min and flip or mash and brown on the other side.

I thought the banana scramble I made a few days ago was the best ever, but this just topped it! I topped this with Crofters Blueberry Jelly + Wallaby plain yogurt.

I gave it a go at another Kale Green Monster.

This was not as good.

Drinkable. But not recipe worthy.

Typical Ashley salad.

I’m still obsessed with the sourdough. It makes the best toast!! Gaaah!

Delicious egg sandwich! Two pour, poke + spread eggs + a little Organic Valley white cheddar + s/p. The bread made this sandwich better than ever!

Like Mary Poppins!

All of this fit in my backpack. I thought it was a pretty good haul by bike!

I love these bars and they were on sale for $1. I’m pretty sure they’re normally $2.99, so this was a fabulous deal. They are similar to Larabars but I like the texture + flavors more. I’m still on the lookout for the new LB flavors though!

I bought black quinoa today! I’ve never seen black, only red + white. It has the same nutrition + cook time, however it was cheaper and I wanted it for pretty color

I’m using a 1:1:1 mix of black quinoa, white quinoa + millet in the dish I’m making for Saturday night.

Along with other delicious things.

Raw pesto fail.

Roasted. SO amazing. It was hard to keep my hands off these!!

Pretttty.

Night!

~Ashley

back to it

Ashley — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 23:11:34 +0000

I’m trying to get back in my normal routine of working out. I’ve had a few weird things happen in the past month that set me back a bit. About 4 weeks ago, I pulled my quad, sprinting around the bases in the summer softball league Chris + I are playing on. I hobbled around for about a week but was able to swim + walk, pain free. I definitely didn’t want to overwork my quad so I kept my workouts a bit easier. Then, about 2.5 weeks ago I had a weird sinus dizzy/nausea thing that even kept me from doing any exercise for about 1 full week.

While I was home in Ohio, I kept things pretty simple, as far as workouts were concerned. Once my sinus issues cleared up, I walked almost every day. One day I even got to walk with Abby Normally and another with Angela Oh She Glows!! I slacked on lifting weights while home but still managed to bust out a few sets of crunches + push ups here and there. Whenever I travel I try to maintain my balanced lifestyle, which is not always easy.

Here is how I stayed on track:

avoided eating out too much, but when I did I found restaurants with great veggie options
cooked a few dinners for my parents and a few for the whole family
maintained my filling breakfast routine with either cooked oats, overnight oats, or a smoothie
had a Green Monster buffet with my family one morning
bought my favorite foods at Whole Foods
walked almost everyday by myself, with friends, or with my cousins
sliiightly decreased my food intake [but still eating whenever hungry] because I wasn’t doing my typical intensive daily workouts
stayed on the go with my mom…I honestly didn’t turn the TV on once in the 12 days I was home

I also ate dessert almost every night, which I don’t typically do at home. Well, I always have some sort of snack because I’m ravenous 2hrs after dinner, but it’s usually not s’mores

Yesterday I showed you the 4 boxes of couscous that Lundberg sent me. Well, last night I tried the first one out. I cooked up the Mediterranean Curry flavor before I left to babysit for the evening. It was done in a quick 15min. Then I just popped it in tupperware with a little organic white cheddar on top along with a big cup of chickpeas.

YUM. This had great flavor!!

It was nice and fluffy too. I love the texture of couscous. You can check out Lundberg’s site for more info on their couscous. The nutrition facts are great and it’s GF and vegan! You could definitely use this for other things too…like making stuffed veggie peppers.

The only thing I didn’t like was that it was a tad dry. I might have cooked it 2-3min too long, or it may just need 1T of oil added to the boiling water to moisten it up a bit. Overall, I really enjoyed it!

It’s quite warm in our house, even in the morning. We don’t have a/c, so I’m definitely not feeling the hot oats right now. I was craving a Green Monster, SIAB style!!

It was a beautiful muddy green hehehe

Muddy Green SIAB

1/2 banana
1c strawberries
2c spinach
1T chia seeds
1.5t maca powder
1 scoop chocolate Amazing Grass
1/4c rolled oats
~1c hemp milk

Topped with:

1T homemade peanut butter heated + stirred with 1T milk
~1T cacao nibs

Deeeeeelicious, filling AND refreshing!! I was stuffed. It kept me full for about 4 hours, which is practically unheard of!

So now I’m trying to get back to it. Back to my normal work out routine that is. My quad is feeling much better, so yesterday, after a 4 week hiatus I hopped back on my road bike. I went for a 12 mile ride at Wash Park. The first loop was terrible. I felt so out of it! However, after the 2nd and 3rd loops I got back into the zone and finished a total of 5 laps = 12 miles in around 45min. I came home and lifted.

3 sets bicep curls
3 sets pushups
3 sets various kinds of crunches
3 sets of overhead shoulder press
3 sets of front raises
3 sets of lateral raises

And then I foam rolled for about 15min. And that felt glorious!!!

Today I hopped in the pool for what seemed like FOR-EV-ER but was really only 40min of swimming. I definitely felt a bit out of shape in the pool, even though it’s only been 2.5 weeks since my last swim.

Then I came home and stuffed my face with lunch! Ann is about to come over to watch So You Think You Can Dance + Sushi + Wine and I couldn’t be more excited.

I also got a phone call from the huz today…woohoo!! It was only about 3min long but so good to hear from him

Adios!

Ashley