Watermelon Stars

Watermelon stars are a fun addition to any party. I love them because they work well for getting people excited about fruit. The striking color of the blueberries and pink watermelon along with that the watermelon is star shaped. If you are concerned about the fruit that misses the cut, you can always throw the leftovers into a smoothie or even enjoy it right on the spot and leave the stars for your guests. 

Brownie Bites

Brownie bites, possibly one of the world's greatest inventions. These are gluten free and dairy free to accommodate all the allergies in my family and would be a great addition to a fourth of July menu. Coming up this week I will have a recipe using these brownie bites to make a festive trifle. But if making a trifle is too much, you can simply dress them up by sticking in some handmade flags and put them on a pretty plate or cake stand. 

Simple Pennant Banner

With the Fourth of July just around the corner, I thought I would show you how to make a few decorations. First up is a simple 4th of July themed pennant banner. This banner is so simple, quick, and easy you could do it on the 4th of July. So lets get started!

June Favorites

This June I fell in love with quite a few products.

First up is this workout top from Gap. I seriously can't stop wearing this... and I even wear it for purposes other than working out. (oops) It is made of synthetic materials which is not my favorite, but it is super light and soft and breezy for hot summer days.

Yosemite National Park Trip

Driving from Oakland to the National Park. 

Stopped off at Whole Foods for roadtrip supplies and lunch.

Admiring natures beauty with all the other tourists. (El Capitan)

Checked out Bridal Veil Falls pre-wedding.

Sipping on water & lemonade in these beautiful mason jars. I have a habit of adding water to all my drinks. 

Oh and pies at a wedding, pretty awesome. I knew they were probably laden with buttery goodness, so I thought it best not to try any and let my brother do the tasting.

Friday the trip began when my mum and I drove three hours to my aunt's house to drop off the beagle. When we got home the house seemed eerily quite, attempting to keep myself occupied I packed and then proceeded to bake banana muffins at 9pm. My excuse was that we needed to use up bananas and they would be nice to have on our trip... Saturday morning we were up early heading off to the airport. Arriving at Oakland International Airport ( not so international ) we made our way slowing to Yosemite. We stopped several places along the way, but the best stop was the veggie fajitas that we had in Mariposa.

Next morning we decided to seize the day and head off to be tourists. Taking the road down to the valley floor, we stopped at every touristy place along the way. Cheezy right? But with only a few hours to spend, we tried our best see as much of the park that we could. Arriving pack at Wawona summer camp, we got ready for the wedding, ( which by the way was amazing ). Their wedding was one of those pictured perfect Pinterest weddings that every girl wants. Once the wedding was over, nothing interesting happened. So that was my beautiful weekend warrior adventure last weekend. Also sorry for the absence here on the ole blog, but school, swimming, and my food instagram occupied all of my time. Summer is just around the corner and hopefully it will give me more time to blog, but I am not promising anything since pilot school is on my mind at the moment.

Green Smoothie Success!

Today's green smoothie is sponsored by a curious beagle. 

After church today I came home and made a delicious green smoothie. These past few weeks my green smoothies have been struggling with their lack of green color, but today I have succeed with making a truely green smoothie!

Serves 1-2 (about 3 cups) 

-spinach

-frozen peaches

-banana

-mango

-oj

Blend in all up until beautifully green. 

Note: If you are new to green smoothies, start out with a little bit of spinach and slowly add more as you taste buds adjust. 

(Sorry for the lack of measurements. I don't use exact measurements when making smoothies, just throw some fruits and veggies in a blender and blend.)

Weekly Photos

Most of the fresh produce from the weekly grocery shop. 

Weekend waffles!

Sunday morning fruit with the beagle. 

 A very sleepy beagle while the rest of us watched the Olympics. 

Sunday hike down to the river. 

The beagle loves laundry fresh out of the dryer. Good thing she was freshly bathed. 

Marlene's Natural Market salad with tahini dressing.

Cinnamon raisin Ezekiel bread with peanut butter and banana coins. 

Pre-swim meet practice snack of homemade whole wheat bread rolls. 

I am in love with eating bananas and peanut butter right now, hence my banana stash. 🙊

Sorry for the absence lately, it is just that my life has just changed completely. This past week was Student Week of Prayer at my private school. Student Week of prayer (SWOP) is a week devoted to hearing fellow students talk about their walk with Christ. For those of you who don't know I am a Seventh Day Adventist, and it is a really important part of me. Well, so on one of the last days of SWOP I felt Jesus near me for the first time in my life. And no I'm not crazy, but it was truly an amazing experience. Long story short I was enthralled by all of the students talks and so you guys got set aside for the week. Also tomorrow is my first race day for our school wide swim meet! Have a lovely week everyone!

-Emily 

Grocery Haul

Organic vanilla soy milk, high-pulp oj, 3 bunches of organic bananas, blackberries, 2 packets of raspberries, organic baby spinach, medjool dates, organic 70% dark chocolate, plain hummus, garden herb sunshine burgers, 2 jars of organic peanut butter, organic whole grain blueberry waffles. 

4 organic gala apples, 7 organic kiwis, 3 cucumbers, organic celery, asparagus, organic cauliflower, brussel sprouts, mini red potatoes, 4 blood oranges, organic navel oranges.

Not pictured: One loaf of Dave's Killer Bread Good Seed and one loaf of Franz Gluten-Free Bread.  

This is almost what a usual grocery shop looks like for me, except I never buy chocolate. But I ended up buying it to make homemade peanut butter cups for my family. But other than that I generally eat mainly fruits and vegetables with the occasional bread, sunshine burger, and waffle. As you may have already seen peanut butter is one of my mainstays. My family thinks I'm crazy sometimes due to the amount of it I eat, but it is the best way for me to fill up after a long swim session. Usually a 1/4 cup of peanut butter is accompanied by 2 organic ripe bananas. Hope all of you had a wonderful Valentine's Day filled with love for yourself and others! 

-Emily

Special Valentine's Day Treat!

When I came home from swim meet practice today, I found a package waiting for me. My Grammy sent me a lovely parcel for Valentine's Day with huge packet of organic ( non-gmo/all natural) gummy bears!

 Before I started to reform my eating habits gummy bears were one of my favorites. The problem was I would always feel sluggish and gross after eating them. Well when I started reading the packages, no wonder I felt so sick, they were full of crap! Long story short I was over the moon with excitement!

-Emily

Early On-The-Go Breakfast

First day of vacation and I was up and out the door before 6:30am. I had a dentist appointment 15mins away... well I woke up late and barely made it out the door in time. This meant no breakfast! Eek, what a scary thought.

But have no fear I stopped at Starbucks and had a delicious bowl of warm oatmeal. The key in this breakfast is that it was warm, the weather here in the pnw has taken a turn for the worse. Honestly I have never felt a winter so cold here. With a wind chill of 8° and gusts sending it to 0°, we are in for a few cold weeks. 

-Emily

Studying for Tests and Swim Training

Everyone's dream evening includes studying for tests right? If only that were true...

I was quite surprised at how little I have used so many muscles over the past few months. Having said that, it felt amazing to be back in the pool. Although I have to rush to get ready and run to my afternoon classes, there is something about swimming that keeps bringing me back. Perhaps it is the feeling of gliding through the water with only your thoughts or maybe it is the feeling of accomplishment when you finish a workout. Maybe I will never know, but atleast it brings joy to my dreary winter days! 

-Emily

Sunday Errands

The beagle's weekly bath. 

Sunday chores stop for nothing. Today I rolled out of bed straight to running errands. This Sunday we had to pick up dog food from Mudbay and do the bi-weekly grocery shop. Our local grocery store was plagued with many last minute Super Bowl shoppers, but we managed to find everything and get out fairly quickly. Arriving home we had some tasty twice baked potatoes and I moved on to laundry and cleaning. I really think these Sunday chores are growing on me, but I don't think I will ever look forward to doing homework. 

-Emily

Bleak Winter Days

This past few weeks have really been getting me down. Maybe it is the cold dreary weather or the extra homework at school. It just seems that everyday is a struggle to get of bed and be productive. 

Thankfully this weekend is helping me have a better outlook on life. After a short easy Friday at school my brother and I went for a lovely hike on Tiger Mountain. We took the beagle and although it was cold we had loads of fun. And best of all I felt accomplished! 

Today I decided to go to church with my mum and it was surprisingly refreshing. When we got home we decided we were due a relaxing Saturday. So we spent the afternoon wrapped in toasty blankets watching YouTube videos. 

These past few weeks have been rough but I have loads of exciting things to look forward to this month. This Monday I will start my swim training again. I am really excited to be able to be back in the pool and this semester we are going to be working on endurance training! To make the month even better we have a "homeleave" (which are short breaks every month, since I go to school at a private boarding academy...but I am a village student, meaning I don't live at the school). It starts on Wednesday afternoon!!! So far I have plans to go hiking with my brother and the beagle, have a mummy-daughter day, drink loads of smoothies, and do the oh so exciting job of cleaning my room.

 Hopefully I will be able to find cheer in these bleak winter days, because the sunny days full of happiness seem so far away. 

-Emily

Sick Day

Unfortunately I had to take a sick day today. Although staying home is nice, it isn't so nice to spent that time sniffling and sneezing. Oh well, atleast I can sleep with the beagle and watch Parks and Recreation. 

-Emily

Living on Tea

basically I'm living on tea

Sickness has struck me down this past weekend. I was doing quite well with avoiding colds which circulate around my school, but it seems my immune system has let me down this time. It seems as if there is nothing worse than wasting a weekend due to sickness. Hopefully I can get back to feeling better before this week is over. 

-Emily

What I Ate Today

For breakfast I drank a 1 liter smoothie at around 6:30am. This morning the smoothie consisted of 1 orange, 1-2cups of frozen strawberries, 1 ripe banana, and two dates. (Sorry no photo, I forgot this morning!) 

I had a mid-morning snack of dried figs, dates, and almonds at work. 

This week I have been making sure to drink atleast a liter of water during the morning. (before lunch)

Lunch consisted of 2 large salad rolls (rice paper filled with carrots, lettuce, cucumbers, green onions, celery) and a tin full of fresh fruit at around 12:30pm. 

Dinner started out with 2 slices of Dave's Killer Bread (good seed) toasted, spread with organic MaraNatha peanut butter, topped with 1 super ripe sliced banana, and sprinkled with chia seeds. 

Then I moved on to eat half a mason jar of homemade dehydrated curry kale chips. (so addictive)

And to top it off 1 segmented grapefruit with blueberries and raspberries. (all organic)

-Emily

My Favorite Vegan Snacks

These past few weeks I have been changing from a dairy-free lifestyle (due to food allergy), to a vegan lifestyle with more raw food. A treacherous change for me, but I already feel so much better about my body.

Snacks are a important part of my day. When you eat mainly fruit and vegetables, it is better to eat more than 3 meals to get enough calories for the day. Unlike previous snacks filled with strange things, my new favorite snacks are vegan and mainly raw.

- fruit! I love almost any kind of fruit 

- dates and almonds

- homemade dehydrated curry kale chips

- peanut butter

- smoothies

- veggie sticks with hummus

I hope these snacks inspire you to change up your diet! 

-Emily

My Family's Wool Sock Obsession

This last Sunday I was deemed the task of hanging up all of the wool socks to dry. This entire bin was full of every kind of wool sock you could imagine. Although I don't particularly enjoy the task, I am mighty happy to have lots of clean wool socks for the week. 

-Emily

Adventure Fund

Let us be adventurers.

The idea of a adventure fund seems like a fantastic idea; saving up to travel somewhere once a year. I only have a small problem, I must choose whether to save the small amount of money, which I make as a grader at my school, or spend it on travel?

I am wildly in love with the idea of travel, it is this idealistic idea of adventure. I am happy with a simple day adventure out to the pacific ocean, but I always imagine travel involving leaving the Pacific Northwest. Sometimes my imagination runs wild as I sit in Algebra 2 class, dreaming of hiking in Iceland, exploring far away islands, eating exotic fresh fruit... But back in reality I am learning about logarithms.

Thoughts for the day.

-Emily

Strawberry Date Smoothie

I may have created one of my best smoothies. Simple ingredients which most people should have on hand. Yes it has dates, which are like pure sugar? Right? Well according to raw vegans they are great for you. Might want to double this recipe, it is that tasty

Serves one (1/2 liter)

1 cup of frozen strawberries

5 pitted dates

1 banana

Place it all in a blender and cover with filtered water. Blend and you are good to go. 

-Emily