after a little break... how about some smoothies?

Oh yeah. I have a blog!

It has been a crazy few months.

I know its April, but is it too late to still talk about how great 2012 was since I disappeared for a little bit?

It was probably the best year ever.  I had meet the love of my life and we quickly fell in love.  After almost an entire year of being together, he proposed, and of course, I said yes!  And this was all before the clock stuck 12:00 on New Years!

I know 2013 is going to be just as exciting.  Not only am I opening a new chapter of life after I graduate from college in about a month (*happy dance), but I get to experience it all with my best friend.  I truly feel blessed.

ANYWAY...

I've been on a smoothie kick lately.  It's starting to be a bad habit, but smoothies are sooo good.
I convinced my mom to buy a Vitamix, and I never thought a blender could be so much fun!  I've seriously enjoyed coming up with new smoothie recipes with this machine, and I thought I would share a couple of my favorite ones with you!

Strawberry-Lemonade Smoothie

 

1-2 banana, 1 lemon, 3-5 strawberries, 2 handfuls of spinach, 4 oz. of orange juice, 4-5 ice cubes, squirt of agave if it's too sour for you. Enjoy!

Green and Delicious!

  

1/2 avocado, 1 orange, 1 banana, handful of spinach, 4 ice cubes, and a little water. No extra sugar!

delicious red and yellow trees

One thing I love about living in the Washington D.C. area is all the beautiful colors on the trees during the Fall season.  Right now, there is not a lot of leaves left on the trees, but there are still some that are lingering on the near-naked branches.
I was on a walk the other day and I passed by these two trees.  One was a bright red and the other was a perky yellow.  The only word I could use to describe these two trees is DELICIOUS.  Their colors almost made me want to eat them because they were so bright and beautiful.  It was so cool to see these two lively trees surrounded by a bunch of not-as-lively-looking ones.

On Guard Pumpkin Bread

Interesting name for bread, huh?

So, my mom is a consultant for a company called doTERRA.  They manufacture essential oils.  If you're ever looking for an alternative method of healing, I would check out some essential oils.  In addition to them being excellent for your health, you can also cook with them!  Cool, right?  My mom has a recipe book that had directions for On Guard Pumpkin Bread.  On Guard is a blend of oils that is great for fighting viruses and bacteria.  I typically use it as an alternative to hand-sanitizer.  It also smells really good!  It's exactly what Fall is supposed to smell like.  So, here's the recipe:

1 (15 oz) can of pumpkin puree

4 eggs

1 cup liquefied coconut oil

2/3 cup of water

2 drops doTERRA Cinnamon Essential Oil

1 drop doTERRA Ginger Essential Oil

4 drops doTERRA On Guard Essential Oil

2 cups white sugar

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp ground nutmegPreheat oven to 350 degrees F.  In large mixing bowl, combine wet ingredients (including Essential Oils) until well mixed.  In separate bowl, combine dry ingredients and mix well.  Slowly incorporate dry mixture into wet mixture (about a cup at a time) mixing well as you go.  Pour batter into greased bread pans or cake pans.  Top with a generous sprinkling of brown sugar.  Bake for 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Makes about 2 medium sized bread loaves or one 9X13 cake pan.

On Guard Pumpkin Bread

Personal notes:

You may want to play around with the amount of oils you use.  Personally, I could have been happier with a couple more drops of cinnamon.

If coconut oil doesn't suit you, try another hard fat, like lard.

It tastes even better with some butter and honey.

Overall, it was a good first try.

welcome to my blog!

Hello, world! Welcome to my blog!
Follow me as I share with everyone my love for literature, food, and photography.
Peace and love :)