MS Wine Tasting Tour

On Saturday, my sister, mother, and I hopped on a bus, and checked out some really amazing wineries on the PA-NY border.

Though it didn't do much for my diet, having to down a gazillion of those little ball cracker thingies to keep standing (I'm generally down after 1 glass), we had a great time- and it was wonderful to spend some time with my family, amid these crazy hectic lives of ours!

Pouring the grapes into the squishing bucket

While we were 'wining' my babies were Geocaching with Daddy!

...at a Frisbee Golf Course!

Ate lunch at the haunted Kelly Hotel

Mom taking a pic of me on the balcony, trying to catch a ghost

See any ghosts?  Me neither...

SOMEone's excited to get her wine!  :-)

We had a fantastic day!  Time to go home and burn it all of... that'll take a week or so....  :-)

Banana Spinach Smoothie- UPDATED

Since I'm on the smoothie kick (and trying to get some veggies into my kids!)- we tried out a new one this morning from one of my favorite health blogs- fANNEtastic foods!

A Banana Spinach Smoothie!  Spinach, Banana, and Milk!  Simple, yet delicious!

I subbed Vanilla Almond Milk for the milk, and added a few ice cubes because I like my smoothies pretty cold- but it turned out great!  I was really skeptical when Anne said that you couldn't taste the spinach at all-- but you truly can't!  It tastes like a banana, vanilla milkshake (depending on how much ice you add).  This is a great Green Starter Smoothie, if you're hesitant about going green.  (cough cough, MOM)

And by the way, the kids did like it, but I may try Chocolate Almond Milk next time.

Note:  I added some Ovaltine to the last few bits of their drinks to get them to finish up.  Although it wasn't a pretty green anymore, it tasted pretty good!

UPDATE 10/12:  I tried this with Dark Chocolate Almond Milk instead of Vanilla, and added 2 tsp of instant coffee---- FANTASTIC!  


Basically, I just combined my Iced Mocha with the Banana Spinach Smoothie.  The reason I did this is because I was reading in my RunnersWorld magazine that bananas are good for fluid transfer within the body, in addition to other things.  (Not the article I read, but a goodie on bananas)  Apparently, I have some trouble with this, as I tend to get dizzy/faint when standing up/ changing positions a lot of the time.  First, the doctor told me to drink more water... which I thought was crazy because I was drinking 8-12 cups a day at that point.  THEN she said to drink LESS water, increase the sodium!  A little contradictory, eh? (Apparently, sodium helps with fluid transfer as well)  So I tried to focus a little more on gatorade, a little less on water.  It helped a little, but not tremendously.


Recently, I've been really bad at getting my water in... maybe 3 cups a day?  Of course, I haven't been doing as much cardio either because of the ankle... but I've been drinking the green smoothies (with added water) - all of which require a banana, in my book.  It occurred to me one day, that the dizziness has really subsided significantly!  Coincidence?  My guess is 'no'.  So, bananas it is!  


Update: 10-15 - Just made it again this morning, this time with nonfat milk and 2T Rich Chocolate Ovaltine... also fantastic, and more protein.  (1g in Almond Milk, 8g in milk)  I still can't get over the fact that I can't taste spinach AT ALL!

GREEN Ice Cubes in my Freezer!

I confess.  I have GREEN ice cubes in my freezer......... purposely!

Earlier this summer my mother introduced our family to a Vita-Mix Blender.  Though, it was quite the investment- it was worth every cent!  I use it at LEAST 3 times a day, for smoothies, soups, sauces, and many other things.  Before the Vita-Mix, we rarely got our 5 fruits and veggies in a day- now we're right on target or more!  I've never eaten healthier!

Now, why the green ice cubes?  Because my husband and I are now addicted to Green Smoothies  (it's the first way I've ever gotten him to eat a salad!!!).  I puree the nutrient packed green stuff (currently, spinach and kale) ahead of time, and then freeze it into ice cubes to save some time in the mornings.

Sure, that doesn't sound very appetizing at first... but when you mix it with fruit, you can't even taste it-- and they are SOOOO good for you!  After about 3 weeks of: 1 green smoothie a day, around 5 days a week- I FINALLY broke through a weight loss plateau that I had been stuck at for a YEAR AND A HALF!!!  Exercise got me hooked on physical activity, running helped me lose some inches, but only green smoothies helped me drop the pounds.  AND, the other thing I noticed-- is that my memory is clearer too. I was really worried that the MS was putting me on a downhill memory slope, and that was very scary.

Have you ever seen the commercial for cleaning wipes where the father and daughter are building a volcano in the white kitchen, and it explodes, leaving red everywhere??  That was me this morning, except green.  (had to break up a frozen spinach square- it didn't exactly go as planned)  All over the cupboards, all over the counters, all over me, in my hair and everything.  I would have taken a picture, but, honestly, I was not a very happy camper at the time.  Thinking back on it though... I wish I would have.  

If anyone has any good green smoothie recipes, I'd love to try 'em out!

Our Basic Recipe:

1 head Romaine Lettuce

1 1/2 c. water  (we like ours relatively thin)

1/2 c. Pomegranate Juice

4T Flaxseed Meal

Since this takes up the whole blender, blend first to make room, then add:

1 banana

1 green apple

1 pear

1 c. frozen strawberries

Blend and enjoy.  

We usually split this, Scott getting a little more.

Enjoy!