Farmer's Market - July 24, 2012

Yay!! I went to the farmers market for the first time in quite awhile!

Golden beets
Dino kale - 3 bunches
Mint
Carrots
Tomatoes
Green Beans
Strawberries

Yay!

Juice Fast Recipes!

Here it is!!  Almost all of the juices we made during our 5 day juice fast!!
Please check out my entire juicing experience here.


The numbers correspond to the juice picture at the top of this post.
The veggie/fruit photo you see made enough for 2 pints.

Sorry about some of them that don't have ingredients.  Bad blogger me. :P


Don't want to look through all of them?
My FAVORITE is #8.  ***DROOOOOOL***




#1 - Magenta Zing
*Not bad at all.  Pretty tasty.  Ginger was a bit strong for me.

Watermelon (1/4 of a small size watermelon)
Apples - 2
Carrots - 4
Beets - 1 with leaves
Celery - 3 stalks
Ginger - 1 inch



#2 - Popeye's snack
*Yum.  I wish I put more pineapple in this.  Again, ginger was a bit strong for me.  Less next time.

Spinach - 1/2 bunch
Romaine lettuce - 4 leaves
Dino kale - 6 leaves
Apples - 2
Strawberries - 9
Ginger - 1 inch
Pineapple - 1 spear



#3 - ???
No photo... don't remember ingredients.  Sorry!!




#4 - Dark Knight
I don't know why this one came out so dark.  Maybe this was actually 3???
The taste was okay.

Apples - 2
Cucumber - 1
Baby Celery - 1/2 bunch
Carrots - 3
Spinach - about 1/2 bunch
Swiss Chard - 3 stalks



#5 - Leftovers
Not bad, but I think the celery was a little too strong.

Strawberries - about 15
Pineapples - 3 spears
Watermelon - very little (hahah)
Celery - 3 stalks
Cucumber - 1/4
Carrots - 2
Dino Kale - 3 leaves
Spinach - about 1/2 bunch



#6 - Citrus Sensation
YUM.  First all fruit juice we made.  H thought there was too much lemon but I liked it. :)

Pineapple - 2 spears
Oranges - 2 to 3
Strawberries - basketful
Lemon - 1
Apples - 2



#7 - Bright Green Goodness
Too much celery!

Spinach - 1/2 bunch
Dino kale - 8 leaves
Cucumber - 1/2
Celery - 4 to 5
Baby celery
Pineapple core
Ginger - 1/2 inch



#8 - Delicious Mint Refresher
STOP RIGHT HERE!  THIS IS SO SO SO SO SO SO SO YUMMY!!!!
My FAVORITE!  This and every variation of this was SO SO SO DELICIOUS!!!!!
If anything, make this one!!
(adapted from William Sonoma's 30 days of juicing)
(I like mixing this with some sparkling water, too. YUMMMMM.)
(Adding oranges or lychee or anything else is yummy too.)
(This is just yummy. ahahahahahaah).

Pineapples spears - 4
Strawberries - 1 basketful
Apple - 1
Mint leaves - about 30




#9 - Mango Tango
Yum. :)  All fruits again.

Pineapple - 2 spears
Strawberries - 7
Mango - 1
Nectarine - 1
Apple - 1
Orange - 1



#10 - Green and Orange Power 
Not bad.  The golden beets made it so I didn't have to worry about staining anything...

Spinach - 1/2 bunch
Carrots - 6
Golden beets - 1
Apple - 1
Lemon - 1
Orange - 1




#11 - Creamy Sweet Potato Delight
I kept seeing that you can juice sweet potatoes... so we tried it.  It made it creamier than usual. The taste was alright.  Interesting and it was a nice change to our normal juices.

Sweet potato - 1
Carrots - 5
Orange - 1
Apple 0 1
Dino kale - 3 to 4 leaves
Romaine lettuce - about 5 leaves
Swiss Chard



#12 - Red Carrot Envy
The lady at the farmers market told us that these red carrots have more beta carotene in them, so I bought a bunch.  This juice was pretty good. :)

Red carrots - 3
Oranges - 1
Apple - 1
Cucumber - 1/2
Baby celery



?????? - Not pictured
I don't have a picture of the juice.  I know it's not up there because this one should be super magenta color from the beets.

Apples
Mango
Dino kale
Beets with leaves
Celery
Red carrots
Romaine lettuce


#13 - ???
No photo - can't remember the ingredients. Sorry again!!!



#14 - Same as #8
YUMMMMMM



#15 - Kale surprise
Lots of kale but yummy! :D

Nectarine - 1
Oranges - 2
Dino kale - 8 leaves
Red carrots - 2
Apple 1



#16 - Homemade sorbet - nothing extra added
I LOVE our juicer.
It makes fruit sorbets, pasta, nut butters, etc.  SO AWESOME!

We decided to make a sorbet out of strawberries, pineapples, and bananas that we froze.
We passed it through our masticating juicer twice and it was SO creamy and delicious.

I loved that it was all natural.  I didn't have to feel guilty letting Y enjoy it.  It was like ice cream to her. :D

Well, that's it folks!!
Since our fast, we are still juicing everyday at least for breakfast.
H is still juicing for both breakfast and lunch almost everyday.


Let me know if you make any of these!
Seriously... #8 is the bomb.  We added lychee once to it.  DELICIOUS!!!


:D

Adventures in Juicing: Juice Fast - Day 5 of 5

I didn't get to post this last night because I went out, but here it is!

End of my 5 day juice fast!!!!

I had whole wheat toast and peanut butter to break my fast.

I know, I know.... I ate (chewed) on veggies last night as part of dinner, but this whole wheat toast and PB is the first thing I ate that wasn't... raw veggies or fruits.

My stomach handled it very well.

I juiced for breakfast and for lunch.  Toast and PB was my afternoon snack.


Then, for dinner, I had fried rice with takana and jako (some japanese pickled veggies and tiny fish) at the karaoke bar.

It was SO GOOD. hahaha. Mmm...
It was a lot of food, but I ate it all.  Super full afterwards.

No problems with digesting.  I had no stomachaches, headaches, nothing.
Breaking my fast was super successful.


Would I ever do a 5-day (or more) fast again?
Probably not.

I lost too much weight, so maybe if my goals was weight loss, I might do it again.

I'm down to do a 1 or 2 days juice fast again, though.

I just miss chewing and swallowing too much.  *shrug*

The best part was the amazing deep sleep I got every night!!!!


Next up:  The Juices and the recipes!!!!

Adventures in Juicing: Juice Fast - Day 4 of 5

Yesterday, I said that we were gonna start breaking our fast today by eating veggies and fruits in addition to the juice meals...


Well, during the day, the only thing I chewed on was... 2 orange slices and a slice of watermelon.


I just didn't feel like eating.


I just kept juicing and drank that for meals.




For dinner, though, we had more to chew on.




H made veggie broth out of the veggies we had in the fridge and we drank hot veggie broth. YUM. 


We also ate a kale/swiss chard/spinach/cucumber salad with Hiro's homemade dressing made out of veggies we had plus lemon. YUM. 

Still nothing other than veggies and fruits, but we got to chew. :) 

We pretty much just chewed on what we would've juiced for dinner. 
We will continue to juice tomorrow and eat at night, too. Probably add other stuff back in. I'm excited.

I'm looking forward to eating again.  

Er... like, something other than raw veggies and fruits.  

I'm looking forward to sharing all the juicing recipes and which ones we liked... and didn't like as much. :) 

Stay tuned!

Adventures in Juicing: Juice Fast - Day 3 of 5

Nothing really different from yesterday, except....

I have lost A LOT of weight.
6 pounds in 2 days.

This actually scares me a little.  I knew I'd lose some weight, but I'm already pretty small and didn't have to lose too much.  I didn't want to be underweight.

My tummy is flat, tho.

I never thought I was retaining any water or had much bloating, but I think that's the weight I lost.
I just feel... thin.  Like when I grip my hands together, my fingers feel... thin.

I don't mind the juice fast, but this rapid weight loss is definitely scaring me.


As much as I don't really want to, I think I have to adjust my juice fast for the last 2 days.

You see, H and I originally planned to do the juice fast a different way.  We were going to have juice as our meals and eat raw fruits and veggies as snacks whenever we wanted to.  I'm not quite sure when we decided to make this into an only juice (plus water) fast.

Anyway, starting tomorrow, I'm going to eat solid foods (raw fruits and vegetables) along with all the juicing.


I'm not doing this because I feel hungry because, believe it or not, I don't feel hungry.

I'm doing this because I don't want to be underweight and I don't want to get myself to an unhealthy place.


ANYWAaaaaaayyyy, here's a picture of my "dinner" tonight.

- Sweet potato
- Carrots
- Apple
- Orange
- Kale
- Chard
- Lettuce
- Ginger (not pictured)


It was alright.  I think we put in WAY too much ginger. hahaha.  It was kinda spicy. :P

I had no idea you can juice sweet potato, but I looked online and there's a lot of info about it!
It made the juice a little creamier, which was a nice difference from what we've been having.

2 more days!!!

Adventures in Juicing: Juice Fast - Day 2 of 5

Here we are at day 2 of my juice fast.

I'm still not getting that "I'm hungry" feeling.  I'm doing ok.
I'm not hungry.... but I want to chew on something.  :/

The WORST was making Y's dinner today.
I sauteed some kale, swiss chard, tomatoes, and baked tofu and added in pasta and cheese with some garlic.

OMG, it smelled SO GOOD.
*sigh*


I had a total of 4 glasses of juice today.

We made a delicious "just-fruits" juice for our afternoon snack.

YUMMMMM!!!!

- Strawberries
- Oranges
- Nectarines
- Pineapple spears
- Apples

DELICIOUS~!!!

It was such a welcome difference from all the other veggie/fruit juices.


Overall, I'm feeling okay.
A bit more lethargic today.  I read that people go through this phase as the body is getting rid of toxins. The "I'm-so-full-of-energy" feeling is supposed to come soon.  I sure hope so.
I also felt a little faint when I stood up sometimes.

Time for my dessert!! Dessert = sparkling water.  Yum.  hahaha. :P

Farmer's Market Trip - June 12

Since we're juicing, I decided to go to the farmer's market today to get more organic fruits and vegetables.
It's the same farmer's market we go to on Saturday, but since I can't go on Saturdays, I went today!

Here's what we got!!

- 2 bunches of dino kale
- 1 stalk celery
- 1 bunch spinach
- a LOT of purple carrots
- 2 cucumbers
- 1 bunch golden beets
- 4 lemons
- 7 nectarines
- 1 large bag oranges

All for about $20!!

Adventures in Juicing: Juice Fast - Day 1 of 5

Here we go.

Juice from our juicer and nothing but juice (and water) for the next 5 days.
Organic veggies and fruits.

I'm not doing it for longer because I don't have to lose any weight and I don't have to majorly change my eating habits/lifestyle.

I'm doing it because... honestly... I just want to.  *shrug*

I want to send micronutrients into my system and from my research, juicing is the best way.
I want to see if it'll give me clearer skin.
I want to see if I'll sleep better.
I want to see if I'll have more energy during the day.
I want to see if it'll make me... "regular".
I want to see if it'll help my joints.
I want to see if it'll help me with my body aches.


I have no idea if it'll help me with these things, but I'll let you know.

I don't have huge expectations.  After all, I'm only doing it for 5 days.  There are people out there that do this for months!

I'm also not doing this under a doctor's care.  Again, it's only 5 days... and if I feel absolutely gross, the juice fast will be called off.

We also discussed how if it gets difficult and we are just STARVING, we will be okay with eating raw fruits and vegetables.

_______________________________
ANYWAY... Day 1 Report!

H and I had 4 big glasses of juice throughout the day that we juiced using our Omega.
YUM. :)
We juiced each time... which is okay for now.  I wonder if we'll feel like it's too much.
I know that some people advise against juicing beforehand and that it's better to drink the juice right after you juice it, but I think I'm okay with sacrificing a little bit of micronutrients...
We'll see.  Like I said, we don't mind the juicing for now.

We drank a lot of water all day long.  I always do that anyway, so this was nothing new.


We had sparkling water for "dessert".  What a treat! hehehehe! :P


I don't feel hungry, but I DO wish I was chewing something.  Every time I gave Y a snack or fed her a meal, I found myself wanting to put her food in my mouth. :/

I felt sleepy right around the time she took her nap, so I slept for about 30 min.
Otherwise, I'm feeling great and pumped for tomorrow.

H, on the other hand, is experiencing a little more difficulty.  He's hungry and said he couldn't really concentrate at work, especially with people drinking water and snacking all around him.  He also experienced headaches.


I read that it takes 2 to 3 days to start seeing any of the benefits that I listed above.

Check back tomorrow for Day 2!

Also, at the end of the 5 days, I'll post photos and recipes of all of our juices!!  :D


Have you done the juice fast before?  Any advice?

Adventures in Juicing - Experimenting (Pre Juice Fast)

I finally did it.  After months and months of research, I bought a juicer.  :D :D :D :D :D
Don't get me wrong.  I still LOVE making smoothies.  To me, a smoothie is totally different from juicing.

I bought the Omega 8004.  I went back and forth about which juicer to get... centrifugal or masticating.

Centrifugal or masticating...
Centrifugal or masticating...

Ultimately, the masticating kind won because I wanted my greens to be juiced well.


I want to do the "juice fast" for 5 days straight, where I'll only drink juiced veggies and fruits the entire time.

I WOULD start today, but I have a bonfire to go to on Saturday and... well... I don't want to juice at the bonfire.  *shrug*


SO, H and I decided to spend these next few days experimenting with various juice recipes.

Today, for lunch, I had this very deep green juice.

- Dino kale
- Celery
- Apples
- Carrots
- Cucumbers
- Lemon

(all organic)

Um, so being a first time juicer, I must say.... I did really good!! hahahah.
This was so yummy!!
I might have put in too much celery, though...
but it was still very yummy!!

AND, I am super full. I have a sandwich waiting for me because that's what lunch was supposed to be, but I'm gonna have to wait to eat it.

Can't wait to try more recipes so we can have a handful before we actually start this fast next week!!

Anyone have any juicing recipes they'd like to share with me?  (please? hahaha)

:D

Super Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

This cookie isn't green... and it's not particularly healthy... but I thought I'd share anyway! :D  

Well... I DID use "natural" peanut butter (the one with only peanuts, palm oil, little salt, and molasses)... *shrug*.  

I found this recipe on Pinterest on how to make super easy peanut butter cookies.  

It says that its only 36 calories per cookie.  Those huge cookies are NOT 36 calories.  

I made 38 smaller ones and those are like 50 calories each.  Those huge ones must be like 100+ calories.  :P

Anyway, they were SO easy to make.  I don't know if I mentioned this before, but I love baking.  

However, I broke my mixer so I've been baking less.

This recipe doesn't require a mixer.  Just a spoon. :D  

I made small dough balls and placed them on the cookie sheet. 

I also made sure to spread them out because I didn't want it to become one huge cookie like the one on the recipe.  

They actually didn't spread that much...  

These cookies are deeeeeelicious!  YUM!! 

No butter, no flour, no vanilla extract... so easy!!!

(By the way... my homemade vanilla extract is pretty much done! stay tuned for pictures!!)

RECIPE

SUPER Easy Peanut Butter Cookies (The recipe says healthy, but I think they're just... normal cookies hahaha)

- 1 Cup Peanut Butter

- 1 Cup Sugar (I used a little less than 1/2 brown and a little less than 1/2 white)

- 1 Egg

- 1 TSP Baking Soda

1.  Mix peanut butter and sugar.

2.  Mix in egg and baking soda.

3.  Make dough balls and place on cookie sheet.

4.  Bake at 350F for 8 to 9 minutes (recipe says 10, but it seemed too much for me).  

That's all! 

Let me know if you try it!

Wool Dryer Balls

So, you saw in my previous post that I started making my own laundry detergent.

Around the same time, I ordered some wool dryer balls to replace and get rid of dryer sheets.

Dryer sheets are just bad news.  They're toxic and they coat your dryer with gunk... which ultimately gets on your clothes AND Y's cloth diapers.  Those of you that cloth diaper know that you're not supposed to use dryer sheets when you dry the diapers, so that "gunk" getting on the diapers is not good.



Wool dryer balls cut down drying time.

Wool dryer balls help to eliminate static (but you have to be careful not keep the dryer running for too long... no amount of dryer balls will eliminate static if you over dry your clothes).

Wool dryer balls are kept in the dryer so you don't have to worry about adding anything each time.

Wool dryer balls last a really really long time.  Someone said over 5 years!

My wool dryer balls came smelling like mango citrus!! YUM!! The scent doesn't last forever, but I really liked the smell!

I don't have to spend money on dryer sheets!


I bought these 6 from Buddha Bunz when they had this HUGE sale (not available anymore) and I got them for cheap, but you can get them anywhere.  You can even make them yourself.  I googled "wool dryer ball" and there were so many DIY tutorials.  I might make some later!


OH, and being a massage therapist, I have to wash sheets all the time.  When I was using dryer sheets, my sheets would come out still wet because they would get bunched together and wouldn't unwind themselves... BUT with these wool dryer balls, they don't get bunched up because the dryer balls bounce around and keep the sheets from twisting! :D



I <3 my wool dryer balls! :D

Weekend Farmer's Market Trip - May 26

I couldn't go to the farmer's market again.  I'm just too busy on the weekends.

H and Y went, though!

Here's what they bought...

Strawberries
Cherries
Kumquats
Beets
Swiss Chard
Kettle Corn (from a friend)


Strawberries are super sweet!!!  mmm~
Cherries are yummy, too.  I haven't had cherries in forever.

I hope I can go to the farmer's market with them soon.
Probably not, though, since I started work and I work Saturday mornings. booo...

What do you like to buy at the farmer's market?

Cloth Diapering in Japan - UPDATE!!

Last week, while I was in Japan, I was lucky enough to visit my friend, Julia in Ishikawa-ken.
She's about to become a mommy and I HAD to visit her before her little one arrived (I HAVE to visit her after the baby's born, too... hahaha).

We looked through all the baby stuff she had.  I swear, Japan has some of the CUTEST things ever... and the most useful things.  Some of my beloved baby products are from Japan.

I'm super excited that she's going to be cloth diapering her baby!  She showed me the cloth diapers she received from people in Japan... and she asked me how to use them.

Well, first of all, they look nothing like what we use, have used, or have ever seen.


These diapers are super long, super thin, and is one big loop.  They seem different from our flats here and the directions on the package did not help.

We had a better idea about how to use these ones... but it still didn't really make sense. thats the cover on the bottom right, and thats the absorbent cloth pad in the middle... but that larger light cloth on top??  It's super super thin.  We thought it was a liner but it's bigger than the cloth pad part, but not big enough to really wrap it... and if you keep it open like it is and place it in the cover, it won't fit.   hmm...

Me being silly with the first diaper.  See, it's a big loop.  

She gave me two of these long loop ones... If I can't figure out how to use them, they're gonna become dish towels....

Both of these diapers are sold in major baby stores in Japan.  She has a lot of these... both kinds.  It would be great to get some insight on how to use them!

I tried researching, but haven't really found an answer... any input is greatly appreciated!!


Small update!
I found this site that shows one way of folding those long loop diapers.  It's not one of the ways shown on the package, but I decided to give it a try...

I did the hotdog fold and followed the t-fold method directions.

I decided to use a Snappi, though, since Y is very active and I don't want the diapers to unfold.

(click for bigger photo)

Anyone else have any other suggestions?

No 'Poo Tuesday Report - Week 13

So you may wonder if I've given up on this "no 'poo" experiment since I've been MIA for so long.

Well, I'm still doing it and I LOVE it still.

I went on my tour in April and went back to 'poo.  My face broke out!!  Using shampoo again made my face breakout, and I thought maybe it was the change in climate or the traveling... but as soon as I got home and started back on my no 'poo regimen, my skin cleared up again. hmmm~

Then, last week, I traveled to Japan and used shampoo for 9 days.  I broke out AGAIN!  and again, I thought maybe it was the climate change and the traveling... and again, as soon as I got back and started using my no 'poo concoction, my skin started to clear up. HMMMM......

Anyway, I love the no 'poo thing.  I wish I knew more people that were willing to do this no 'poo experiment with me.  My hair isn't greasy.  It doesn't smell funky. It's super clean and I have way more volume than before.  I think it's because I'm not using chemicals that strip away EVERYTHING in my hair, even the good stuff.

I'm super happy to be back on my no 'poo experiment once again.

Are you doing it yet?  :)


To read about my past weeks and to find out my no 'poo recipe, check out my no 'poo arvhive!

No 'Poo Tuesday Report - Week 7

Quick report.

Things are going well.

I mentioned that I'm going on tour on the east coast this week.

Leaving tomorrow early morning.

Gone until Sunday night.

I'm sad, but I can't go "no 'poo" while I'm on tour.

I can't think of a way to carry the no 'poo mixture on board and I can't make it there because I don't know what kind of water they have. If they happen to have hard water like we do here, there will be no where for me to boil water and I don't want to trouble my group and go get distilled water. Our schedule is packed as it is.

So, for 5 days, I'm going back to 'poo.

Hope it doesn't mess things up.

Otherwise, everything is going good. :D

Weekend Farmers Market Trip - April 7

We couldn't go last week because I was running in the Warrior Dash and my family came to support. It was a really fun obstacle course run, but I missed Farmers Market!

This week, I'm leaving on tour to the east coast, so when we went to the Farmers Market, I thought we wouldn't get as much food... but my hubby didn't think that way. lol

This is what we got:

- huge daikon

- apples

- grapes

- oranges (DELICIOUS! I forgot what kind it was... started with a c)

- LOTS of cilantro

- 2 bunches of baby celery

- strawberries

- beets

- other greens (not pictured)

Yum!!

I hope I can eat some local foods while I'm on the east coast!

Homemade Laundry Detergent - Hard Water

I've been wanting to make my own, homemade laundry detergent for a LONG time.

Almost all the recipes I found for homemade detergent called for "Borax".

Then, I kept reading how bad it is. So, I had to research it.

I read and I read and I read. I came across this post on Crunchy Betty.

I'm concluding that I'm okay with using Borax for washing my clothes.

There are probably tons of other chemicals in the store bought detergent that's not labeled that I'd be worried about.

Dry or liquid? This time, I made dry, powder detergent.

Next time, maybe I'll make liquid. We'll see. :)

Okay, to the good stuff.

Here are the ingredients:

- 2 cups Washing Soda

- 2 cups Borax

- 1 bar Fels Naptha

You may wonder why this recipe calls for more borax and washing soda than other recipes found online.

It's because we have hard water.

Geez, water issues again?? I have to make our No 'Poo recipe a special way because of our hard water.... and now, our detergent? Well, I guess I'll just deal with it...

So, I grated the entire bar of Fels Naptha (which, by the way, is a laundry soap).

I tried putting it through our tiny little food processor to make them into tinier pieces, but it ended up just balling up. lol. no good. It crumbled anyway when I crushed it with my hands, but next time, I'll just keep them shredded like the photo above.

Then, I put everything into an empty, huge coffee container and mixed and mixed and mixed until the yellow soap seemed evenly distributed.

- We put in 2 tablespoons (we're using the scoop that came with the coffee container) as the water is filling up in the washer. I first start off with hot water and then if I need to switch to cold, I switch it after I know that the soap has dissolved completely.

- We add Oxy Clean to the "1" line before adding clothes.

- We also use white vinegar in a Downy ball for the rinse cycle as our "softener". :)

So far so good. It's been 2 weeks and everything seems to be working great!

I even did a test wash and put tomato sauce on a hand towel and let it sit for 2 days before washing it. No stain! :D

MUCH cheaper than store bought detergent and less chemicals. Yay.

Here's where I need your help.

I read that Fels Naptha may not be the "greenest" soap to use.

I wanted to use Dr. Bronner's Castille soap, but I also read that it doesn't get as clean. That's no good. I also read about Ivory, so I might try that.

Suggestions?

No 'Poo Tuesday Report - Week 6

Making the ACV mixture stronger and less diluted totally worked!

My hair is not dry and static-y anymore! Yay!!!

I'm kind of at the point where I miss that nice shampoo/conditioner smell.

I know that's one of the selling points for shampoo and conditioner.

I don't mind the ACV smell, but... still, I miss that shampoo/conditioner yummy smell.

I gotta keep reminding myself that the fragrance is just one of the bad things about those products and that there are so many other chemicals in them that are super bad, too.

Plus, my hair is still healthy looking and clean. The only thing missing is that fragrance. I wonder if I can add my own somehow?

(For my No 'Poo recipe and previous entries, check out "No 'Poo" under the categories on the right side!)

My Green Monster Smoothie

I love making smoothies.

I really like this green smoothie recipe I found online.

It is SO SO SO delicious and super healthy!

I always substitute the flavored yogurt for non-flavored Greek yogurt and add honey.

Today, I decided to change it up a little bit.

I added frozen peaches, whole flax seeds, and kale!

I also didn't have any bananas in the freezer so I just used a handful of ice cubes.

Yuri's Green Monster Smoothie

5-6 ice cubes

1 1/2 cup non-fat milk (I had to use more because my blender kept getting stuck)

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt1-2 tablespoons honey

6 oz frozen peaches (1/2 bag from Trader Joes)

1 banana

1 to 2 tablespoons peanut butter

1/4 to 1/2 cup whole flax seeds

1 cup kale

Baby spinach - fill the blender to the top

Put everything into blender and blend!

It's seriously SO delicious. You can't even tell you're drinking spinach!

My little Y LOVES this drink.

You can add whatever you want. I've added blueberries, strawberries, oranges, apples, etc, etc... (but if you add things like blueberries and strawberries, your smoothie will come out looking a little darker and not as bright green).

Let me know if you try it!

Also... let me know about your blender. I need some recommendations!

Cloth Diapering a 1.5-Year-Old Toddler

I recently blogged about why we started cloth diapering and how it inspired us to live greener.

Well, I thought I'd share our stash with you!

Our stash has changed dramatically since she was a newborn.

We loved loved loved prefolds and fitteds with covers when she was tiny.

Now, this is our stash.

From the top row left side:

Those are just some our cloth wipes that I ordered from this amazing WAHM. I got them 20 months ago and they're still like new. I love her stuff so much that I ordered unpaper towels and other goods from her (will blog about those later).

The next 2 piles are Fishnoodles and Bright Star Babies (both are by the same company, now called Peachy Green). I love love love these. They're super trim. I will say, though, that I have to use their hemp booster so that Y doesn't leak out, but the hemp boosters are super trim, too, so no big deal. Y is wearing one in the first picture of this post at the top. These are Size 1 diapers. On one side, she's at the smallest setting and on the other side, it's set to the 2nd smallest setting... so I'm pretty sure she can wear these until she's potty trained!

The tall pile in the middle of the top row are my pocket diapers from BumGenius. These are definitely my go-to diapers and they're also what we use as our nighttime diapers (we stuff them with the doublers that are pictured on the bottom row, very left). We DO NOT use the microfiber inserts, though. We stuff them with Flip diapers organic inserts. This combination is perfect for us.

Next to those are the diapers that I made. I made more, but these are the ones she still fits into. They are fitted diapers.

Our two BagShot Row Bamboo diapers are on the top row, all the way to the right. We don't use these. They are back-up dipes for us.

Bottom row, all the way to the left - These are the Stay Dry Doublers from BumGenius. This is what we stuff the pockets with for extra protection for nighttime.

The orange one next to that is our one and only SoftBum all-in-2 diaper.

The blue and yellow one next to that is our BumGenius Organic Elemental all-in-1 diapers. Easy to use.

The green and orange one in the middle is our Gro-baby diapers (now GroVia). I used the covers as her swim diapers for swim lessons. :)

The polka dotted ones are Rumparooz. We have 3, but she was wearing one of them. These have a much lower rise compared to the other ones.

And lastly, we have these prefolds, covers, and snappis (we have more, but I can't find them). We rarely use these now. They're completely our back-up diapers.

There you have it! Our toddler cloth diaper stash!

Wish I took a picture our stash when she was a newborn. We have most of them still, but it's in storage. I'll definitely remember to take a picture if and when we have another newborn!

Oh, I took a picture of the inside of our diapers.

NO STAINS.

I don't "sun" them.

I don't bleach them.

I simply wash them with All Free and Clear.

That's all.

That green strip of fabric on the bottom is a fleece liner that I cut out. I put this on top of each diaper before I put it on Y. It keeps her feeling dry AND (best of all) her poop literally rolls off. :D

Ok, one last picture.

I was putting the dipes away after taking these cloth diaper pictures, and Y wanted to help!

:D

Do you cloth diaper? Why/why not? I'd love to hear your thoughts! Oh, and I wanna know your stash, too!!

No Poo Tuesday Report - Week 5

Things are going pretty good.

I noticed that my hair was getting dryer... might be the weather.

So, I decided to make my ACV mixture stronger and less diluted.

We'll see how that goes!

I'll report back next week to let you know!

:D

Have you started?

No 'Poo - Week 3 (my first no poo post)

No Poo - Week 4 - with recipe