Woman in Real Life

There's a lot of buzz around the holidays already - people are talking about shopping for gifts, making goodies and putting up the Christmas tree. It's exciting, for sure. But the holiday season also comes with a lot of stress. It's a bit of a whirlwind. There are so many tasks to manage and maybe you're preparing your home for company or worrying about spending time with people who stress you out. Cold and flu season is also ahead and all the time spent indoors in close proximity to other people increases the possibility of viruses spreading.

All of this sounds dismal, and I don't mean to take the fun out of the holidays. I just want to be conscious that we need to balance the excitement of the holiday season with the need to stay healthy during late fall and winter. Now is a great time to reduce stress as much as possible and provide appropriate care for yourself and your body. One easy way to do this is to drink lots of fluids, like water and herbal tea. Add good sources of fibre to your diet and eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. Which brings me (finally) to this tasty and healthful juice/smoothie combo.

If your Valentine is still full on with his or her new year's health kick, this Beet-ing Hearts Blood Orange Smoothie is a great option for saying "I care." It's delicious, smooth, creamy and a bit sweet, while containing health-protective ingredients like beets, blood orange, strawberries, chia seeds and coconut oil.

There's no question that concocting a delicious, nutritious smoothie is a great way to start your day. But sometimes we run out of fresh ideas, right? At this time of year when we naturally put a renewed focus on healthy eating, I turned to some incredibly talented blogging friends for vegan smoothie inspiration. And boy did I get it!

I was salivating looking at all of these smoothie recipes. Whether you are searching for a green smoothie, a fruity smoothie or a dessert-like smoothie, there are plenty of options here to satisfy your desires. Over 75 of them in fact! With all kinds of ideas for add-ins to make your smoothies healthy, delicious and extra-special! So go ahead and sample one or two or three. You need these smoothies in your life!

Remarkably I had forgotten just how nutty spring can be around here. Tuesday saw hail, heavy rain, sunshine and wind, all within a few hours. My eating patterns (or lack thereof) have been much the same - anything from hot soup and warm muffins to smoothies. My Monday day of eats looked like this - started off with a chia seed banana berry smoothie for breakfast.

Do you have any stress in your life? If you said "no" I'd really love to know your secret! Whether it's work and family commitments, illness, aging parents, sleep troubles, racing thoughts or a combination of all of the above, most of us experience some level of stress in our daily lives.

While our bodies are equipped to handle some stress, too much stress can have detrimental effects. The Mayo Clinic has identified these symptoms of stress - headache, muscle tension or pain, chest pain, fatigue, change in sex drive, stomach upset, sleep problems, anxiety, irritability, sadness, overeating, undereating and more! Gets you all stressed just thinking about it, doesn't it?

Now that it's mid-February, it's a good time to check in on our resolutions and goals for the new year. Have they been neglected, abandoned, put on hold? Perhaps they are still going strong? I'm not one for setting resolutions, but I did have some "gentle goals" for 2015. Mainly my focus has been on eating healthier - incorporating more fruits and veggies in my diet and ensuring I put an emphasis on extra nutrients and antioxidants.

I am thrilled that 2015 sees me once again acting as an ambassador for Almond Breeze. This tasty almond beverage has been helping me along with my new year's goals for happier, healthier living. Almond Breeze is a lactose free, gluten free and dairy free source of calcium. It can be easily incorporated in all of your favourite recipes for a healthier alternative to cow's milk that's perfect for those with dairy intolerances, vegans and anybody seeking a diet lower in fat.

Well, it's November and the weather is completely unpredictable, A light dusting of snow the other day, rain today. All you can do is cozy up whenever possible with a bowl of steaming soup or a comforting warm meal.

Unless you've got the heat pumped up and you're making a smoothie, of course. I made this quick and simple Sunshine & Light Orange Kale Smoothie this week, Now and again I realize I could be eating more fruits and vegetables. That's where smoothies come in handy - you can pack in fruits and veggies and still feel like you're getting a bit of a treat. This smoothie is perfect for those rushed mornings or for a pre- or post-gym pick-me-up. It's on the sweet side, because that's how I like my smoothies. That makes it safe for those who aren't quite ready for a super-green smoothie yet! The recipe follows.

We all know by now that smoothies are a really effective way of getting nutritious foods and beverages condensed into one healthy little meal that's perfect for folks on the run. This makes smoothies an optimum breakfast or snack for kids, parents and grandparents alike.

I don't keep any regular, dairy-based milk in the house. And we eat soy foods (like tofu and tempeh) regularly, so I generally don't put soy beverages in our smoothies. My preferred "milk" for smoothies (and cereals and granola) is almond milk. So when I was asked to create a recipe using Blue Diamond Almond Breeze, it was a natural fit.

The last couple of weeks have been very busy and eating on the run isn't always the healthiest kind of eating. Add to that a few rum and cokes and my irritable bowel is...well, irritated. So I've been trying to eat well this week - less sugars, less breads and more veggies. My overall plan is to ensure that everything I eat has nutritional value.

Prior to our trip to Niagara Falls this weekend, though, there wasn't much food in the house. As I complained this past Friday on Instagram, I had some trouble putting together breakfast and lunch. Come Friday, there's often no fresh fruit in the house and very few groceries in general. But breakfast was pretty good anyway. I topped some Nature's Path instant flax oatmeal with ground flaxseed, pecans, dried cranberries and almond milk.

Happy What I Ate Wednesday! We are still suffering here in the Greater Toronto Area, with little to no sunshine and extremely cold weather. It's depressing, I admit, but I figure all you can do is treat yourself a little bit. Put the fireplace on, have a cup of tea, read a good book, listen to The Smiths (I like to wallow a bit in my misery) and eat some tasty food.

I definitely did that last bit yesterday. On What I Ate Wednesday, I generally show you my Tuesday day of eats, and I'm going to do that again today, even though it was a day of not particularly healthy eating. I started out well, with a banana-strawberry-orange juice smoothie for breakfast.

With the focus clearly on healthy living at this time of year, I thought I'd review some of my personal favourite smoothie recipes from Woman in Real Life's archives. As you know, smoothies are a quick, healthy option for busy mornings, afternoon snacks and even post-dinner treats.

Smoothies are great for kids and adults alike, because you can sneak in veggies and then sweeten them up with fruit. Some of these smoothies are straight out sweet and delicious, while others are higher on the healthy quotient with added greens but enough fruit that they are still quite tasty. Click on the titles for the recipes.

It's What I Ate Wednesday and time for a little look at some food highlights from the past week. I have been trying to eat less chocolate and other sweet stuff. Hence the dried apricots. I grabbed a couple of apricots whenever I craved something sweet. For about two days. Then the apricots were gone.

In anticipation of the spring weather that doesn't seem to be coming around here, I have been consuming a lot of morning smoothies. Generally, I use whatever fruit I have in the fridge or freezer on any given day.

I happened to have some pineapple one day and I thought it might add a nice tropical touch to my smoothie.

I threw about five chunks in a Magic Bullet cup and added a banana, a handful of frozen strawberries, half of an apple and some orange juice.

Before I get to this week's What I Ate Wednesday, I have two winners to announce. Congratulations to K.S. Barrett, the winner of Lucy's delicious vegan and gluten-free cookies. Congratulations to Brenda W. too! She won the Crofter's organic jam. I have sent you both emails. Enjoy these wonderful products!

This week I have been consuming smoothies almost every morning. I have been experimenting with smoothies that don't contain non-dairy milks for a change. This one, above, is pure fruit and water (I think so anyway. Sometimes I forget what I threw in there.)

Happy What I Ate Wednesday! So far I haven't made any Christmas cookies. If I had, I would be forced to show you lots of photos of all the cookies I nibbled on while I was baking. That's still to come.

In the meantime, a look at some of the stuff I ate this week. 

I like my smoothies to be a little (or a lot) sweet. So, rather than going totally green, I added a bit of veg and a lot of fruit to my breakfast smoothie today. The result is this delicious yet healthy green-ish smoothie.

Happy Friday! How many of you are going shopping? I'm not sure how long Black Friday has been a tradition in the US, but it just started happening in the last couple of years in Canada. Because we celebrate Thanksgiving in October. Not that I'm complaining. A sale is a sale, and I am a woman, after all.

It's time to share simple cell phone photos from our week. Around here, we have been spending a lot of time at my son's basketball tournaments. His sister is getting used to watching.

Happy What I Ate Wednesday, and Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends! (And good luck fighting the crowds if you are going shopping on Friday!)

I have not been inspired cooking-wise this week. It happens. So, for healthy and quick, I usually go with stir frys. Here is my lunch from yesterday...a stir fry of mixed frozen organic veggies and extra-firm tofu, with kamut udon noodles and teriyaki sauce. I added some Lundberg Family Farms sesame and seaweed rice chips on the side and washed it down with Silk chocolate soy milk.

I ended up with this sweet and delicious smoothie, perfect for those who love cherries like I do. Fresh cherries, cherry ice cream, cherry pie…I could go on.

Anyway…add a little bit of your favourite protein powder if you like for a healthy boost.


Linking up to: Thursday's Temptation at Two Yellow Birds Decor and Lifeologia's Potluck Party

I have to say this has been a week of particularly delectable food. We have our good weeks and our bad weeks around here when it comes to food, as I’m sure most families do.

This week has been a good one, and I have discovered a few new favourites, including the amazing pancakes pictured above, a noodle recipe from a magazine and a fabulous new cake recipe.