green monster morning

Do you ever wake up dreaming of a personal chef creating a buffet of Green Monster for you in the morning??

It happened this morning for my cousins, aunt + mom.  Luckies!

As I told you yesterday, AJ + Jenna were non-stop with the questions about how spinach could possibly be included in a smoothie.  I was a littler concerned not using the Vita-Mix, hoping it would not leave little spinach pieces, making them gag :)

Lucky for everyone, this blender was a beast!  Lucky for me too because if there were spinach chunks I would have never heard the end of it!

We started off slow with a lime green colored Peanut Butter Banana GM.  So creamy + delicious.  Everyone loved it and said there was ZERO spinach taste.  I told you so!

I actually got this blender for my aunt + uncle awhile back from Bed Bath + Beyond.  I think it cost around $40.  It was seriously impressive.  The glass pitcher was nice + sturdy and the 1-14 speed settings is a nice feature.  With a little help [carefully sticking a spoon in the top] each smoothie was 100% smoooooth. 

Mango Strawberry Banana – with OJ + ice + spinach

Guzzled these down too!  Green Monster tasting buffets are quite fun…even for the smoothie chef!

Getting merkier!  This was a Strawberry Banana Chocolate monster with: strawbs + banana + almond milk + cocoa powder + ice + spinach + chocolate milk

I made a giant Purple Slurple for round 4 –> Blueberry Raspberry Strawberry Monster with: strawbs + blueberries + raspberries + banana + oj + ice + spinach

Can you guess the favorite??  It was hands down, the Peanut Butter Banana GM [used almond milk], which got my vote too!  Such a fun morning feeding the family spinach for breakfast…muahahahaha

I stocked up on fruit at Whole Foods yesterday.  I’ve been craving fruit 24/7 lately!  The cantaloupe was on sale + superrrrb.  I filled it with cherries + blueberries + TJ’s honey green yogurt + Mama Pea’s cherry almond granola.  This TJ’s yogurt is amazing.  It’s full fat and just has the silkiest texture with a not-too sweet flavor. 

Then I got busy making my brown rice krisp bars.  I wanted to make one of my best friends, Megan, a birthday treat before we met up for dinner.  She is married with 2 kids, so I thought these would go over well with the whole family :)

Megan + I have been friends since about 7th grade.  I love seeing her when I’m home but it’s definitely not enough! 

We went to an amazing middle eastern restaurant called Aladdins.  The food was outstanding.  We had a little wine, split a falafel appetizer, and both got an entree. YUM.  I noticed they have a FAbulous smoothie + juice menu with great prices.  I’ll have to sneak back there before I leave on Monday!

After our relaxing + chatty 2.5 hour dinner :) we went to see my brother play the Tabla with a band at a cafe.  It was completely awesome. 

My brother always amazes me with his talent. 

I don’t know how to describe the music but it was really upbeat and all of the musicians were insanely talented.

Loved the trumpet!

Who all played in their school band?  What instrument?  I played the flute for at least 5 years and the cello + piccolo for 1 year.  I reallllly want to get back to playing the cello at some point!

Chris leaves for Ecuador tomorrow, which I mentioned a week or so ago.  I’ll finallllly get to see him on June 29th, when he returns home.  The full time apart is 3 weeks, which is really long!  Our 2yr anniversary is this monday, when I’m traveling back to Colorado.  I can’t wait for him to get back safe + sound so we can celebrate! :) 

If you missed why he’s going to Ecuador…

Chris is traveling to Ecuador 2 days before I get back to Colorado.  He’s going on a small trip with a non-profit engineering group [Engineers Without Borders] here in CO.  The focus of the project they’re working on is to develop and sustain a potable [drinking water] and irrigation system in a small group of villages in Malingua Pamba, Ecuador.

Not sure what’s on tabs for tomorrow morning + afternoon.  I haven’t been doing much exercise since I’ve been home because of the whole sinus/dizzy/nausea thing that was going on for over a week.  I have been taking long walks at least every other day though.  I can’t wait to get back to the normal routine!  We have a family wedding tomorrow night, which should be really fun.

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

Ashley