Hump Day

Haven't had a green smoothie in a while and thought I was due...I forgot how tasty these are!  I've tried several versions, but this one is by far my favorite.

Tropical Green Smoothie

1 frozen banana, sliced

1.5 C frozen fruit (I used the mango, peach, pineapple, strawberry blend)

1 C non-fat vanilla Greek yogurt

2 handfuls of fresh baby spinach

Enough water to get everything blended (I used about 1.5 C)

 

 Even Lon likes this one and he absolutely HATES pineapple (I know, crazy right?)  It does have a lot of fruit and some people might look at that as too much sugar, but I have to mow and trim the yard this morning so I need some energy (and motivation!).  Since our yard is one big slope from front to back that will be my workout today.

  Here's the latest harvest from our little tomatoes plants (which are wild and crazy now) we got as a housewarming gift.  They are super delish...especially the Sun Golds (orange cherry tomatoes). We finally have enough basil to make our own pesto, too.  Lon is the pesto pizza king and he makes his own crust!  One of our favorite meals.  Yummmmm....

  Well, I guess I need to finish this smoothie and get outside.  One of the one days we've had in a long time (and are going to have) without rain in the forecast. Where is Fall????  This humidity sucks.  Guess I'll appreciate my cooler, drier weather that much more when it gets here.  Happy Hump Day!

A promise...

I was just playing around, making some holiday candies using Dove Caramel Promises. Some of the promises inside were worth repeating. Here are my eight favorites in Top Ten list-style:
8. Keep your promises to yourself and others.
7. Don't covet; compliment and aspire.
6. The key to happiness is enthusiasm!
5. Take chances and risks-they are worth it!
4. Drink champagne, wear a tiara, use the good china.
3. Dream in real time.
2. Smile-you ARE amazing!
And my #1 favorite promise found in today's bag is......
1. Well-behaved women rarely make history.

(Can you believe it, three posts in one day?!?!?!?)

What was the 'candy' you ask? Super easy and very popular. I've heard them called different names, but I know them as:
Thumbprints
Tiny Twist pretzels
Dove Caramel Promises (or Rolos, Caramel Kisses, Caramel Treasures, etc.)
Pecan halves

Preheat oven to 200 F. Place parchment paper on cookie sheet. Arrange pretzel twists on paper. Top pretzels with caramel candy (one each). Place in the oven for 3-4 minutes until chocolate starts to get shiny/barely melty. Be sure to watch since if they get to hot, they'll run everywhere. Remove from oven. Press pecan half into top of each candy. Cool. Enjoy!

It's my BIRTHDAY WEEK!

Lon introduced me to the 'Birthday Week' concept many years ago and I still think it's a great idea. You have a whole week to do a lot of fun stuff, a little fun stuff or fun stuff here and there. That way, if you have to work on your birthday or it rains or plans change, you have 6 more days to make up for it! We kicked off my birthday week last Thursday. I picked last Thursday because we have plans to finish it off this Thursday (even though my 'real' birthday is Wednesday). Technically, that's a week and one day, but well...I think I deserve it. I also work every Friday, so I couldn't start last Friday to finish this Thursday, well, you get the idea. After I got home from class Lon took me to one of our fave places downtown, The Mushroom (most of you probably know it as Mellow Mushroom, but we nickname most places we like). Split a yummy toasted hoagie, drank some seriously tasty beer and did our weekly crossword puzzle. (We're going to make a great retired couple, don't you think?) For some reason, we thought it would then be a good idea to head over to a not-so-great Mexican place only because they have a rooftop bar that overlooks the TN River. Of course, if you only order margaritas and queso, they can't screw it up too bad. They really should have people of some type of Hispanic heritage working there...they'd do much better! Just ask El Meson (THE best Mexican restaurant in Chatt!) Anyway, got a table on the rooftop, ordered a pitcher and basked in the sun. Fantastic start to a great week!
For Easter we had a super yummy breakfast (at home) and then went hiking on Moccasin Bend. Got a little muddy, but it was fun to explore a new trail. Afterwards, we went 'house hunting' (really just fantasizing). Watched 'Where the Wild Things Are'. Kind of disappointing. Cute enough, but not one we'll want to watch again. Been let down by several of our Netflix choices lately. The Hangover, Couples Retreat, Four Christmases...all let downs. They weren't bad enough to turn off, just none that we wholeheartedly recommend. Tonight we have Juno. We'll see...
The big finale for my birthday is....drum roll, please...another movie! But not just any movie, a Tim Burton movie...with Johnny Depp. Two of my faves! Yep, we're risking everything and venturing out to the theater (please wish us luck!) We have a new theater downtown (first LEED certified in the country...something to do with being 'green'). It has a VIP theater (with adult bevvies, real food and electric recliners) that comes with a VIP price tag. We will NOT be going to that theater (even though I think it would be cool...the tickets alone are $15-20!) Instead we're going to a matinee (hoping most people have already seen it) on a Thursday (hoping most people are at work/school) to HOPEFULLY enjoy the 3D Alice in Wonderland experience without cell phones, people talking and kicking the backs of our seats. I'll let you know how that goes.
Right now, the windows and doors are open, a nice cool breeze is blowing in, the sun is shining and it's getting up to a record-breaking 90 degrees today! Don't know where this summer weather gets off showing it's sweaty head in April, but we'll have our 60's back by this weekend. Silly summer...just can't wait for June. But it must, it really must. I NEED my Spring! And to think last year it SNOWED on my birthday! I remember...we were at The Dog (Hair of the Dog Pub, that is). This officially starts our 3rd year in Chattanooga...and we still love it! I don't know that Lon and I have lived anywhere (together) for more than two! Crazy...
Guess that's enough for today...hope it's beautiful where you are. :)

Life is meant to be lived

Wow...what an absolutely gorgeous spring day! Ever since we moved to one of the most beautiful cities I've ever lived in (and I've lived in quite a few!), I have developed a new appreciation of nature and all the beauty she has to offer. Today was a perfect spring day...high of 71, low of 43. Not too hot to make you sweat, but not cool enough for a sweater. Lon and I had a yummy breakfast of homemade bran pancakes with fresh strawberries. We took a few hours (windows and doors open, of course) to hone some critical skills. He practiced (played) Texas Hold 'Em on the internet and I made a few pieces of hemp jewelry (which I promptly put on). Then it was time to head out and soak up this glorious Sunday. We headed close to downtown, parked, and walked about 2.5 miles into downtown via the Riverwalk (one of my favorite-ist parts of Chatt!). We passed a group of kids (age 6-17) playing amazing music (sounded very Irish when we passed by) under one of the TN Aquarium bridges. They were Bow-Dacious, a string band from IL...very talented kids! They had a good crowd gathered, complete with parents/kids dancing all over the place. Always seems to be something going on around town (which makes us wish even more that we lived in the heart of it). Then it was on to the 'Deal of the Day.' Almost every bar/restaurant in town seems to have some sort of deal on Bloody Marys and Mimosas on Sunday (Brunch rocks!) So we popped into Mellow Mushroom to have one of the best Bloodys in town. Nice and spicy...and apparently enhanced with a splash of Guinness. Yummy! There we split a small Kosmic Karma pizza for lunch. Delish...what's that? You don't know Mellow Mushroom? I truly feel bad for you...it is a very tasty, very laid back, very cool little pizza place with some of the best microbrews available. Besides, who could turn down pizza from a mushroom dude named Mel? What's Kosmic Karma, you ask? Only one of the most flavorful little pizzas you could put in your mouth, that's what! Picture it...freshly tossed spring water dough (nice and chewy), spinach, feta, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, mozzerella and pesto...all with a nice sprinkling of parmesean on top. Goes perfectly with a spicy Bloody (and water, too!). Afterwards we headed down to the river, took a new path, saw some beautiful forsythia, cherry trees and Bradford pears...everything is trying to bloom! Headed back to the Jeep for a nice round trip jaunt of a mere 5.8 miles. We earned our Bloody Marys today and we enjoyed every drop! :)
Now, I'm just working on some study questions on the respiratory and digestive systems and Lon went to a local R/C track to watch some races. It's going on 7 pm and the sun is still high in the sky...I LOVE SPRING!
Ahhhhh....been a while since I really posted....feels good. I hope the weather is gorgeous wherever you are. Get out and enjoy it!

(Side note...if you are being picky, that pic IS from downtown Chatt, but was taken last fall...we didn't take the camera walking with us today. However, it is very similar. There were no clouds today, the sky was bright blue and the trees are green. Just trying to keep it real!)