Etched Glasses and a Stow and Go Raceway

I made a couple of things for birthday gifts this week.  They both, in some way, have green elements to them, but not really.  It's probably a bit of a stretch.


Personalized etched pint glasses

Just about anything in your kitchen that's made of glass can be etched.  

Ashley from Make it and Love it made a great tutorial for the process.   

Stow and Go Raceway

The raceway is open and ready for hot-wheels action

rolled up with cars safely tucked inside

These are a few of my favorite "green" things!

Cabbage Salad:

1/2 head of cabbage

green onions sliced

1 pkg. ramen noodles

sesame seeds toasted

slivered almonds

Dressing:

1/4 olive oil

1/2 Tbs. sugar

1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar

seasoning from noodle packet

pepper

My Green Tupperware Bowls

I really love these bowls. The big one there at the bottom is 42 cups. The smaller ones are great for just putting whatever in the fridge, and I didn't realize how much I needed these big ones until I canned tomatoes. And I also use them for tossing salads and then I transfer the salad to a smaller serving bowl. Anyway...love 'em.

Green Oobleck

Daniel's class made some green oobleck in honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday this week. He's been having a lot of fun with it. It actually bounces!

Sorry, I don't have the recipe, but if your up for a good read, the book is called "Bartholomew and the Oobleck".

One last thing - Andrew and I have a favorite song, it's "21 guns" by Green Day. We like to crank it while were driving.

Chlorophyll Cocktail

Yes, even the banana is a little green, so let it ripen and use a frozen one!

My favorite ingredient for this drink is alfalfa, but spinach works just as well. (Oh, but I do miss my alfalfa patch!)


 Ingredients:


A big handful of alfalfa or spinach....

A smaller bunch of parsley...

Pineapple juice to cover the spinach and parsley...

Juice of one lime...

One banana....

And plenty of ice--blend until smooth.

Taste it. If it's not sweet enough, add some agave...














Or a little more pineapple juice. Even though this is a healthy drink, nothing's healthy if it doesn't get consumed!
Healthy food is allowed to taste good!

Enjoy this wonderful drink. If you have left-overs, it keeps just fine in the refrigerator for a couple of days in a covered jar--just shake it up and drink it down!

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Spinach Artichoke Dip
This stuff is sooo fantastic and easy!!!!!!!!

1 cup Mayo
1 jar Artichoke Hearts
1 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese
1 cup Pepper Jack Cheese
12 oz frozen Spinach
3 cloves Garlic
pepper to taste
1 can Rotel
1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning

Fresh Parmesan to Garnish with

Blend all ingredients in blender, then bake at 350 for 35 minutes or until dip is bubbling. Take out of oven, stir and garnish with fresh Parmesan cheese.

Green

green green green green green green
March is just around the corner.  Let it be green this week.  


ribbit.

Hot Artichoke Dip

Ingredients:

2 cans artichoke hearts, drained

1 large can chicken

1 cup grated mozzarella cheese

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup mayo

Directions: Chop up artichoke hearts, break apart the pieces of chicken and mix everything in a bowl and microwave for 6-8 minutes - until cheese melts and is bubbly.

This is pretty much good with any kind of cracker you can get your hands on. I took some to church for potluck today and we ran out of crackers and people started eating it with croutons.

Chocolate Strawberry Mousse Dip

3/4 c. thawed frozen strawberries or fresh
1/2 avocado 
2 dates (optional, just add more sweetener if you don't have these)
1/4 c. maple syrup or honey
1 heaping T. cocoa powder
1/2 t. vanilla
1/2 c. yogurt ( I used plain soy yogurt)
1 T. psyllium seed (optional- I added this because the yogurt I made was realllllly runny. This just thickens it. 


Place all the ingredients in the blender and process until smooth. The avocado sounds weird, but, it creates that fluffy smooth texture and is full of great nutrition! I think I will double this recipe next time. I hardly left any for Noah! It was goooooood!
 I was doing some reading on white sugar and found some information that was so interesting. Here's the link http://macrobiotics.co.uk/sugar.htm . It talked about when we take in white sugar, since it has been stripped of all of it's minerals and vitamins, our bodies leech the necessary vitamins and minerals from ourselves in order to process it through. It takes vitamin B's and calcium and other things. They linked that to osteoporosis.  I have had calcium problems in my life. Probably all the yummy chocolate treats and goodies I like to eat. So to find out that natural sugars have their minerals and vitamins in them to help process in my body, I have a great incentive to use them! This concoction of mine turned out great! It can be eaten as a pudding or dip to your favorite fruits. If you left the cocoa out, you would have a nice strawberry dip to add to a fruit salad! Hope you enjoy! 

While I was working on this, I looked over at Noah. He had opened the bag of mangoes I was going to use and was creating his own recipe! He knows what he is doing and is so proud to be a part of it! This morning I was so tired. I got up and to my surprise, he had climbed out of bed and was playing in the kitchen, filling my blender and grinder full of toys! I can hear this siren going off in my head "Watch Out! His brain is turned on!"