First of the Smoothie Recipes > Kiwi Strawberry!

FINALLY! My first smoothie is made! I started my smoothie project over a month ago by ordering the Oster My Blend 250-Watt Blender on Amazon. I found a crapload of sweet recipes that I couldn't wait to try.

Don't forget your smoothie grocery list and healthy add ins like flaxseed and raw cacao! If your fruit man is back - grab your cheap fruit and you are ready to go.

Fruit Man shopping

The first recipe we tried was a Kiwi Strawberry - sounds refreshing and makes me crave Spring like anything.

Dice up your Kiwi

Dice up your strawberries (like 5 or 6 - whatever you can fit in there)

Add in your milk and a teaspoon of flaxseed for good health :)

Blend her up!

First smoothie of bikini season :)

Strawberry Kiwi Smoothie Recipe:
1 Kiwi - diced
6 Strawberries - diced
Almond Milk (or soy/rice/etc)
Teaspoon of flaxseed
Ice cubes
> Throw them in together and blend it up to enjoy!

The blender had some trouble with our larger ice cubes so we need to break up the cubes more in the future. Also you could taste the flax seeds in the shake so I need to figure out how to make that better - any suggestions?! My husband and I also agreed it needed to be sweetened up - maybe we will add in honey next time. Any other sweetener suggestions?

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The Fruit Man & Welcome Spring

S here, with some crazy Spring theories. I like to pretend that March 1st means Spring. I am ready to whip out the sundresses and sandals, no matter what. Of course, this past week's March snowstorm showed me who's boss. But then Saturday and Sunday were beautiful! My first signs of spring in New York City are 1. Sidewalk seating is open and 2. Fruit man is back on the corner.

Well - The Fruit Man is back on the corner! He only goes away the very coldest months of the year, so it was good to see him back. Grocery store fruit is so expensive, so we rely on fruit stands to get decent priced produce.

Fruit Man is back with a small set up - in a month he has a larger selection!

90th St Block Fruit Man

Nicer weather approaching also means getting out of the apartment more, just to get out because it's nice, so we just burn more calories daily by default. Instead of taking the subway, we'll choose to walk a few miles, or walk through the park an extra mile to get to the grocery store.

Central Park - right outside of our apartment

Walked over to Riverside Park

St Thomas for 4 days with my husband - then back to a snowy city

Quick weekend trip to wash away winter blues

Hurry up Spring!!

Riverside Park shows signs of Spring :)

Fruit Man - smoothie purchases sneak peak:

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My Alternative Cereal

I miss my sugar filled, processed cereals some days.  While oatmeal is my go-to most mornings, sometimes I want something a little more sweet.  So, this is my nutrient dense morning cereal:

Ingredients:
Strawberries (slices)
Blueberries
Bananas (sliced)
Any other fruit
Top with a teaspoon of Stevia
Soy or Almond milk

And then some mornings, like this morning, I just really want a big salad! =)

Get creative with your breakfast! Anything goes, as long and it fuels you for the day in a healthy way!

-Lacey

Gardening, pt I: The Setup

Before Mike and I even started house hunting, we made a list of requirements. These were 'must-haves' for our first home. There wasn't much on the list. We're fairly low-maintenance and don't require much space. In fact, many of the homes we saw within our price range we deemed 'too big'. Too many rooms. Far too much square footage.  It was more room than we knew what to do with. We don't need a living room and and family room. We don't need a dining room if the kitchen is already large enough to hold our table. Our requirements came down to a garage, for Mike's truck work, and a yard large enough for the dogs to run around and to hold a decent sized garden.  Really, that's about all it came down to.

Photo from nuchylee

As you can see, gardening was in our minds from the beginning. Luckily, the home we bought in October met both of those requirements. We were very lucky to get a 2 car garage and our large yard (almost a 1/4 acre).

Why gardening? Well, there's a few reasons for us. Firstly, Mike and I both grew up with parents who gardened. I can remember the hot summers running barefoot to the side of our home to pick off those juicy, plump tomatoes so Dad could start canning them for salsa and pasta sauce.  Or grabbing fresh cucumbers to use in salad or for the incredible Bread & Butter pickles my Dad would make.  And my favorite...string beans. To this day, they're still my favorite.  The nostalgia I get from being in a garden is worth going through he hard work myself to have one.

Secondly, our diet consists so much of fresh vegetables and fruits that not only will it save us money, but we'll get more of a variety of plants in our diet as well as consume only organic plants.  When we moved we had to start using a different grocery store. This store, while it meets most of our needs, doesn't have the variety of fruits & vegetables that our old store did. Also, options that are available don't always come in an organic version. Having our own garden meets our desires and budget. Plus, I can't even describe how much better fresh produce, right off the plant, tastes than eating the stuff in stores that has been shelved for weeks.  Knowing my food is safe and healthy makes nourishing my body so much easier.

Lastly, it's fun. Yes, it's hard work. Yes, it can be frustrating at times. But the satisfaction you get from producing your own food on the dinner table is exceptionally rewarding.  The soul-nourishing, health-rewarding, and memory-making benefits of gardening are something I look forward to.

Photo by happykanppy

So, last week, Mike and I sat down and started planning. Our blueprint for how the garden will be built, arranged, and planted is mostly complete.  We also have our list  of what we'll be planting, when we'll be planting, and when we'll be harvesting.  And thankfully friends from college and family members all with experience have been chiming in to help us out with research and planning. All of your advice has been greatly appreciated. While we grew up around gardening, planning it and doing it yourself is far different.

So, here's our setup, for now. This is our home with the backyard. The solid lines outlining the backyard is the fence. The dotted line down the right side 5 feet in is the easement we cannot build over.  Ignore Mike's truck backing into the fence to dump dirt. Haha. He has way too much fun as an engineer.  This is built to scale. The raised beds are 8'x4', and the two smaller ones in the front middle are for herbs and they are 3.5'x4'.  We're thinking about fencing it in to keep the dogs out.

Our bluprint. Garden located in the upper right corner of the yard.
Bottom left is east, top right is west. Bottom right is north, top left is south.

Planting list thus far:

Spinach

Carrots

Radish

Lettuce

Eggplant

Brussel Sprouts

Bell Peppers

Potatoes

Cantaloupe

Tomatoes

Cucumbers

Green Beans

Onions

Leeks

Broccoli

& Lots of herbs!

So, this is our plan so far. I'll keep you all posted on how the process continues with building, prepping seeds, and all that goodness. Consider this a free view into what works and what fails miserably. We're learning as we go and hopefully you can live vicariously through our gardening adventures.  More than anything, I hope you're inspired to start your own. Even if it means having 2 pots of something, or a small herb garden in your kitchen window.

Also, any hints, tips, or advice...please leave it as a comment! While the books I've been reading help, nothing is better than personal experience. 

Oh--I have a thing for naming things. My Kawasaki motorcycle is "Sweet Dee".  I've been thinking of naming the garden, just for fun. Maybe to get a little sign made to put out front of it. My first thought was "The Not-So-Secret Garden". Yay or nay?

To dirty hands and fresh food,
Lacey