2012 Resolutions

This week I finalized my 2012 Resolutions.

1) Reduce artificial sugar intake. My skin has been freaking out and I think it might be related to the copious amounts of sweets I’ve been ingesting. I’m not going to cut out sweets completely but I will aim to have three treats or less a week.

2) Act on my goal to incorporate more cardio exercise in my lifestyle. V and I agreed to start running together but we still haven’t gone! We even have our running shoes and everything! So far, I’ve managed to get on the treadmill twice (an hour each time) but that’s over two months.

3) Keep up my routine of going to the Dailey Method four times a week. I’ve managed to do this in the last three months!

4) Try adding kale to my smoothies to increase daily veggie intake. I’ve read that it’s tasteless in smoothies, I hope that’s true.

Smoothie Wednesday?

Where did my smoothie Wednesday posts go, you ask? I still have smoothies on an almost daily basis, but I haven’t tried out new combinations in a while. I have my standard favorites and honestly, I’ve lost track of which recipes I’ve posted.

My basic recipe goes something like this:
- overripe banana (I know some people are anti banana, I can’t help you if you are)
- strawberries
- pineapple
- any other fruit

I might need a new blender soon though. We broke one of the two cups that came with the blender and apparently, the company that makes it doesn’t sell replacement parts. If we break the last one, we’ll have to get another one. Maybe something like this one. I briefly considered a Blendtec but decided it was overkill for what I do.

Smoothie Wednesday

I picked up some kiwi fruit from Berkeley Bowl and decided to throw it into my smoothie.

Recipe: pineapple, kiwi fruit, strawberries

Grade: 3/5, way too tart! I think V would have liked it more.

Smoothie Wednesday

I was going for a tropical taste but the freezer aisle at Trader Joe’s doesn’t offer too many tropical fruits.

Recipe: strawberries, mangoes, pineapple

Grade: 3,5, it needed more tropical flavor

Smoothie Wednesday

We didn’t have orange juice so V decided to use a real orange.

V’s recipe: peaches, strawberries, mangoes, orange
K’s recipe: strawberries, pineapple, mangoes, water

Grade: 4/5 for both

Smoothie Wednesday

I’ve been adding flax seed meal to my smoothies to boost its nutrition content. I add about a teaspoon of flax seed meal (you have to use ground flax seeds, whole seeds pass through your digestive system without getting absorbed) to each smoothie. I found out the hard way that adding too much makes the smoothie taste like ground up vitamins, blech.

Recipe: strawberries, pineapple, blackberries, raspberries, cherries

Grade: 3/5, not full-bodied enough

Bananarama

I went ape over bananas and bought a bunch to freeze for my smoothies. Adding slightly overripe bananas to my smoothies makes them sweeter and thicker.

Instead of freezing the bananas whole, I sliced it so it would take up less space in the freezer. With slices, I can also control the amount of bananas I use. Sometimes I don’t want a strong banana flavor.

Smoothie Wednesday

I like to use bananas in my pre-workout smoothies. It makes the smoothie more substantial so I don’t work out hungry.

Recipe: blueberries, strawberries, banana, water

Smoothie Wednesday

We’re not regular juice drinkers but V got carried away by visions of dancing smoothies and bought two cartons. Our juice was a few days away from expiring and we still had over half a carton left so these smoothies had a lot more juice than usual.

Recipe for V’s smoothie: peaches, strawberries, pineapple, mango juice (replicated from last week)
Recipe for K’s smoothie: strawberries, pineapple, blueberries, mango juice, water

Smoothie Wednesday

My banana ignited in the microwave again! There’s something about the banana stem that’s highly combustible so after this smoothie, I started taking the stem off before I defrosted it in the microwave. Problem solved (but not before I replicated the experiment so I could get pics).

combustible frozen banana (it’s an overripe banana, that’s why it’s dark brown)

Recipe for V’s smoothie: peaches, strawberries, pineapple, mango juice
Recipe for K’s smoothie: strawberries, pineapple, blueberries, banana, water