Showing posts with label January. Show all posts
Showing posts with label January. Show all posts

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Getting your greens

We all know that January brings with it a desire for better health and wellness. Those of you who have been to a fitness centre in the month of January have witnessed the phenomenon firsthand.

I now find myself torn between a desire to exercise and eat more healthfully and an inability to resist clearance-priced Christmas goodies, particularly chocolate. My compromise is to go to the gym three times a week, eat healthy meals and treat myself to a little snackie once in a while (okay every evening).

Keeping in mind my quest for good health, I was intrigued by a green smoothie recipe that came to me via an email from VegNews magazine. I have long enjoyed making smoothies, but I tend to load them with fruit and even sometimes maple syrup, because I like them sweet. Today, however, I find myself a convert to the “green smoothie.”

I imagined this recipe would appeal more to the adults in this household (because of the kale), but I decided to have my nine-year-old son sample it first. He immediately pronounced it a “fail,” because the kale was still in very small chunks like “pulp.” I processed it more (it takes some time in my blender) and that did the trick. He found that he actually liked it. Bonus.

While I was trying to take a photo of it, I knocked my husband’s portion of the smoothie over. (I had already consumed mine.) Not fun to clean up, and no smoothie for him today. Good thing he's not home right now.


Green Smoothie
Makes 2 servings
What You Need:
3 cups kale
1 banana
1 orange
1 pear, sliced
1 cup grapes
1 cup non-dairy milk
5 cubes ice (I added a couple more.)

What You Do:
In a blender, process ingredients until smooth.


Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Woollen-Muffler Days

I’m not a big believer in making New Year’s resolutions. I don’t want to set myself up for failure.

I do believe, however, that the start of a new year is a good time to reflect on the events of the past year, as well as your hopes and dreams for the year to come.

Every January, I turn the cover on my aging copy of Simple Abundance as if it were brand new to me. With my poor memory, it practically is.

Beginning with the January 1st entry, I embark on another “transformative year of delight and discovery,” in the words of author Sarah Ban Breathnach. Maybe this year I will add to the gratitude journal I began in 1997. Looking at it now brings back lovely memories, as well as remembrances of beloved people and pets who have since passed away.  This year, I might finally follow Sarah’s suggestion to make an illustrated discovery journal, collecting beautiful images that speak to my soul.

Or, maybe not. Who knows? I’m not putting any pressure on myself.

In any case, this new year holds untold possibilities for all of us, beginning with the (sometimes challenging in northern climes) beautiful, windy, snowy month of January.

“January, the month of new beginnings and cherished memories, beckons. Come, let winter weave her wondrous spell: cold, crisp, woollen-muffler days, long dark evenings of savory suppers, lively conversations, or solitary joys. Outside the temperature drops as the snow falls softly. All of nature is at peace. We should be, too. Draw hearthside. This is the month to dream, to look forward to the year ahead and the journey within.”—Sarah Ban Breathnach

What are you dreaming about this January?