Smoothies!

So, I'd been threatening to try smoothies as part of my weight-loss plan for the last year or so. The drawback was that I needed a blender- the one Schmucknuts gave me had given up the ghost a long time ago, and the spare one a friend had promised me never materialized. I could have bought one at any point, but it's more fun to spend money on junk fun stuff, right?

One of the things I did on my staycation this year was decide to get my crap together once and for all. I want to travel again, and I especially want to go to Europe...specifically England. Traveling gets difficult when you have back & knee problems, adding fat to the mix is a recipe for disaster. So I'm making a real effort to start shedding weight.

I gave in and bought the damn blender. I bought a cheap one, designed for a smoothie or 2 at a time. Knowing my attention span, I was afraid that I'd buy an expensive one, make 1 or 2 drinks and then it would become a paperweight. I've been using it for about a month now, drinking smoothies almost daily, and you know what? It's helping!

I'm down 8 lbs. since my last weigh in. It's getting more fruit & veg into my diet, although I haven't been able to bring myself to try a green smoothie yet. The cats run when they hear the blender, which is always fun to watch. I need to try to get some more exercise worked into my schedule, but baby steps are better than none.

So, today I'm going to leave you with a recipe for one of the first ones I tried. It's from the book Skinny Smoothies by Shell Harris & Elizabeth Johnson:

Apple Raspberry Smoothie


1 banana
2 small-medium apples peeled & coarsely chopped
1/2 c red grapes
1/2 c raspberries
1/2 c water
4 ice cubes

Put the water in the blender first. Add other ingredients, ending with the ice cubes. Blend until smooth & drink!

Poetry Monday

Sick



'I cannot go to school today, '


Said little Peggy Ann McKay.


'I have the measles and the mumps,


A gash, a rash and purple bumps.


My mouth is wet, my throat is dry,


I'm going blind in my right eye.


My tonsils are as big as rocks,


I've counted sixteen chicken pox


And there's one more-that's seventeen,


And don't you think my face looks green?


My leg is cut-my eyes are blue-


It might be instamatic flu.


I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke,


I'm sure that my left leg is broke-


My hip hurts when I move my chin,


My belly button's caving in,


My back is wrenched, my ankle's sprained,


My 'pendix pains each time it rains.


My nose is cold, my toes are numb.


I have a sliver in my thumb.


My neck is stiff, my voice is weak,


I hardly whisper when I speak.


My tongue is filling up my mouth,


I think my hair is falling out.


My elbow's bent, my spine ain't straight,


My temperature is one-o-eight.


My brain is shrunk, I cannot hear,


There is a hole inside my ear.


I have a hangnail, and my heart is-what?


What's that? What's that you say?


You say today is...Saturday?


G'bye, I'm going out to play! '






Shel Silverstein