The Green Smoothie

I started hearing about people making green smoothies and wondered what all the fuss was about. Someone connected me to the web site greensmoothiegirl.com. I went there to see what she had to say. One thing that I heard was that a good blender is a huge benefit to making a good green smoothie. I have a good blender, but I did not have the BEST blender. My sister had bought a Blendtec blender last year and when I was in Texas on vacation last month, I used it to make a smoothie and knew I really "needed" one of those.

One morning I was on line and decided to price out the Blendtec and Kathy happened to be on line too. I told her I was going to buy one and she said she would sell me hers. So, we made a deal and I got her blender. Now, I can make the green smoothie in about half the time and virtually 30 seconds of clean up.

INGREDIENTS:
I start with water and then add whatever I like.
Blueberries-frozen ones that I bought from Michigan last summer:

Banana that I freeze when they get too ripe to eat:

Strawberries that I picked last summer and froze. Now with the Blendtec I won't even need to cut the hulls out of the strawberries:

...and the rest, anything green I happen to have--this is kale, spinach, and collard greens along with carrots and an apple.

Blend by pressing the "smoothie" button.

Oh, and you can see, I used some chia seeds too...they don't mix so well, so I may just toss them in just before I drink it.

The finished product...in Ryan's fancy glass. (I drink mine out of a normal glass)

Cooking...yes, you read it right

I started this whole process with my food processor. I had not gotten my new blender when I started this, so I used my food processor for this recipe. I had a red and green pepper to start, then added a bunch of other vegetables that I had in my refrigerator. Broccoli, spinach, onion, zucchini, and tomatoes. Not sure if I had added more or not. I used a can of tomato paste and two cans of spaghetti sauce, but I will stop adding that when I can get the recipe perfected. I think the sugar in the canned sauces is the addiction that I have. I added about 2 pounds of ground beef and a pound of Italian sausage which I had browned. This mixture spent all day in my new 7 quart crock pot.

When I realized how much sauce this made, I knew I would have to figure out a way to preserve it because the three of us would not eat that much sauce in two days. I have a Food Saver, but it doesn't work well with liquid because the vacuum pulls the liquid and then the bag won't seal. My thoughts were, I need to freeze the sauce first, then store it. So, I started by putting the sauce in a silicone loaf pan that I usually use for breads and put the sauce in the freezer.

Jim thought I was making bricks. I took these "bricks" out of the pan. The silicone pans are so slick, the frozen block just pops right out. I then put them in a Food Saver bag and sealed them up nice and tidy.

It is important to label the finished product. I am sure that if I don't, I would pull out one of these blocks thinking it was a yummy loaf of banana bread and be surprised to find it to be a yummy block of spaghetti sauce.

Interupted Blog Time

I was so looking forward to getting on here and talking about some things. I can't even really remember all that I wanted to say...oh yeah, had to do with cooking. Yes, cooking...the thing I rarely do. I wanted to share the steps I went through to make some awesome spaghetti sauce and how I preserved it, etc. Jim thought I was a bit out of my mind the other day when I was taking pictures of all the steps I was going through. Life is not dull at my house!! I can always find something to do to make Jim wonder if I have totally lost it.

So, ends up, I get the pictures uploaded to my home computer...that's all, couldn't get any farther in the process since other things came up. Ryan came in my room (I was still in bed when he got home from school) and told me that Jim said I could sleep until 6 o'clock and then we were going out for fish. It was nearly 4 o'clock and I thought it was odd that we were going out that late. So, I got up and checked with Jim, we had reservations for 6 o'clock, so I really couldn't stay in bed that long. So, I showered and got ready, the uploaded the pictures and got my new profile picture for Facebook. Out the door we went. By the time we got home, I was ready to go back to bed. I know it sounds like a lot of sleep, but a lot of the time in bed I was reading and not sleeping. I am addicted to reading so I do it a lot when I really should be sleeping. (I had just finished my run of nights, so I needed sleep)

So, the blog will have to wait even longer, because I got a call at 6 AM asking me to work at St. Mary's because 2 of the three nurses scheduled to work were sick. Of course, I could not say "no". So, here I am, not at home posting pictures to my blog, just talking about it. I hope to get some time to get the photos up and to finish one measly scrapbook page to also post on here. If I post stuff that I get done, it won't look like I do nothing but read and sleep!!

Happy Saturday...my niece celebrates her 34th birthday today. It seems like only yesterday when I was waiting to hear her news. Happy Birthday, LeAnn.

I Am Confused

I like to think that I am computer savvy enough to pretty much figure out anything. Well, either I am not, or things are just getting too complex for my overtaxed brain. I guess I can use the excuse that I am just coming off the night shift. Yeah, that's it, there is my excuse.

Oh!! The Sounds of Christmas

It is that time of year again, when we start to feel the pressure and push of the season. I wish it didn't have to happen, I wish that every year. I think what it calls to me is failure. I have failed as a parent to make traditions and memories for my children around the holiday that they can take with them wherever they go. I hate putting up all the decorations that only the four of us really see. It seems pointless, but yet we still continue to do it. I failed as a child and early adult to see the value in those "things we did every year" for the sake of the holiday. I feel I have a bit of Scrooge in me. Don't get me wrong, it is not the meaning of the holiday that I reject or have a problem with. I think I more have a problem with it not being Christmas every day of the year. We should celebrate the birth of our savior every day, every moment, every breath...but I fail to do that. I think December is just my month to remember how far I fall short of making JESUS the reason...not just of the season, but for everything. When I think of how he made such a humble entry into the world, suffered as a poor person, had to work for a living, was rejected and turned away, and yet, went up the hill and faced death for us, how can that not be the driving force of every minute of my life? I am a failure. But still, knowing that no matter where or how I fall short, he loves me, cares for me, understands me, comforts me, did I say, loves me? I just get so overwhelmed by the thought of a perfect God, loving an imperfect me.

So, hopefully, my sentiment does not carry over into the rest of my life. Hopefully I can "fake it" for the sake of my family and hope to have a very merry Christmas.

Thanksgiving

I spent a bit of time with my dad today after work. Jim and the boys went up north, so I knew I would be home alone. I went right to Rock Haven from work. He was wide awake and ready to walk when I got there. We walked, I talked--he listened!! I fed him his supper and know he would have never eaten that asparagus if he had a choice. In fact, I didn't even make him finish it, because I am pretty sure he never liked it.

I am thankful for Dad, for all he taught me, for all he did for me, and for still being there for me. I am also thankful that God gave me a man to be there when Dad could not be, Jim. I love him dearly, and for my two other "men" in the making. They have taught me so much about life, funny what we learn from our kids.

There are so many things to be thankful for, but today I just want to say, Thanks for my DAD!!

The Continued Adoption Story

I had Ryan read the previous blog the other day and he said, "Where is the story of me?"

Well, there is a story, and here is some of it.

We had finished the legal aspect of adopting Dan and immediately put our application in for another child. We also had very busy lives with two businesses and I worked besides. Each time the state would call with a child, there just seemed to be too much going on at the time to think of adding another person to the mix. Years passed and it seemed as though we were probably just going to have Dan and that was all. We had not pursued any other children, we had pretty much resolved that a family of three was enough.

In March of 2000, we had just moved into the house we built for ourselves. Jim had been in the building business for many years and had built many custom homes. Since his business was thriving, he felt we needed to move out where we could have more land in order to have the supplies and vehicles we needed for our business. We built a house with a lot of garage space and a beautiful wooded area behind the house. We were getting yard work done and just getting settled in the house and the phone rang one day...

Jim was home alone, he answered the phone and it was a social worker from the state. She said, "There is a 2-1/2 year old boy who is in foster care, parental rights have been terminated, and he is ready to be placed for adoption. We found your name and we want you to meet him." Jim called me on my cell phone. I was on the way to the vet with our dog. He told me about the conversation and my immediate response was, "Call them back and tell them absolutely not." I was just not in the frame of mind to put myself through that all again. I was fine with how it was. He called them back and told them we were not interested. The social worker said, "Can you just meet him and then decide?"

Well, we agreed and this is what we saw when we went to meet him. He stole our hearts and we agreed at that meeting that he needed to be a part of our family. On the way back home, Dan was in the back seat and I could see his face in the mirror. I said, "Are you laughing?" and Dan said, "No, I am crying, can we go back and get him? Can we keep him? Can we go back tonight when they are sleeping and take him?"

We all had that same feeling but we waited through the process and on May 12, 2000, Ryan came to live in our home. It was all new to us, he was still in diapers and did not speak clearly enough for us to really know what he wanted. I took time off from work to get to know him. We had a great 6 weeks. However, it wasn't great for all of us. Jim struggled, he felt we had taken on too much. He felt the age difference was too great and the challenge of this young of a child was more than we could handle. There were many discussions, we sought counsel, life once again was filled with uncertainty that reminded us that we could really do nothing about some things that happen. I recall sitting in the living room one evening, having spent many many days and nights crying and praying that God would change Jim's heart, and Jim said, "I just can't do this." I said, "Jim, in all the time that I have known you, there is one thing I have never heard you say and that is 'I can't do this.' You have always worked through problems and I have never seen one too big for you." I don't know if that statement was the turning point for Jim, it seemed to have been, because I don't recall the pain or the question after that of what we were going to do with Ryan. He became ours even before we went to court and had it made legal.

I often say Ryan is our "oops" because he really did show up when we least expected. He had brought joy into our lives and a love of life like no other. We are thankful for his early years when someone chose to protect him and give him a foundation on which he can grow. He loves others, he loves kids, he loves life and we LOVE him.