(more) smoothie recipes and other life commentaries.

Smoothie #19:
less is more on the ginger!!! trust me. though maybe I just got ginger happy and didn’t read the recipe amount… ha!

Nature jams…seriously?!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=trueview-instream&v=yd3QWrH6mIU

Wednesday January 15th
2 weeks my friends. 2 weeks until two of my dearest friends and I are reunited in Taiwan!!! It’s a wonder I’m not hyperventilating. For real. This week started off super rough…the weather was cold, rainy, and windy. And I had a bad attitude and didn’t work out. So today I was back to yoga. Phew! I needed to zen out…big time. And round 2 again tonight for Dancing Yoga. My Level 2 kids are driving me insane. I tried to be nice. I tried ignoring. I tried quiet. And now I’ve resorted to raising my voice. @&#*&@(. And I sound like my mother when I was a kid and didn’t listen. No tattling…(I have 3 siblings)…No arguing (I was always right, right?)…and Be nice…(4 hour car rides without picking a fight…yeah right.)…and my ultimate favorite…Because I said so! My little Taiwanese kids are catching on fast too…it’s kinda impressive when they tattle on each other and another kid goes “So and so you’re tattling, Teacher Megan doesn’t like that.” So help me. It’s total pay back time and I’m not even a parent yet! Maybe teaching is worse pay back ‘cuz instead of 1 or 2 kids, it’s 12 Taiwanese 7 year olds also cussing at you in Chinese under their breath. Awesome. Fingers crossed my own kids (someday) will be little angels. One can only hope…because I’m at my wits end with these crazy kids! But then they do something really funny and I’m in the middle of telling them to pay attention (for the millionth time) and I have to bite my tongue. Like the other day we were in the middle of recording a lesson and two of the kids had gone to the bathroom and one of the kids ran back in and says “So and So is going poo-poo.” On tape. It’s recorded. I about died in the middle of recording. I am becoming a stoic face pro…especially when they decide to get right up in my face and wave to see if I flinch. Not one movement in their direction. Aiyaya.

Friday January 17th
I can’t resist giving my Level 13 students five extra minutes at the end of class to read. One of them is reading the Hunger Games. I ordered my breakfast today in Chinese. I dance to this song. This week has been a rough week mentally. So glad it’s Friday. Weekend will bring time to think and refocus and adjust my attitude. Need to work on my Chinese pronunciation and read. My delts are sore. My legs are sore. Lifting weights is hard, but so worth it. Talking to myself at the gym is rather amusing. I used to do one set of 10 and be like good job Megan, now I do 4 sets of 20. Ow. Then I realized I was lifting kilograms instead of pounds. So I was lifting heavier than I thought…no wonder my arms were shaking and my brain was like why can’t you lift this? Ha! Oh and please explain losing another pound while eating mini chocolate cakes. I will never know this answer because half the time I gain ten pounds just looking at it. Ran into my friend tonight at the gym too and this is what she says to me, “the personal trainer on duty and I were talking about you…we think you are the first woman to do those machines. I’ve never seen a woman lift that bar with weights on it…” Cool. Five more pounds to go til goal weight. I’ve so got this. Today’s plank time: 4:20.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY2ycrpbOlw&list=RDecV1NHmELuA

Saturday the 18th
Chat with my amazing cousin. Yoga. Starbucks. Studying Chinese. Writing. A new Malaysian restaurant that serves Gordon Biersch beer called Melaka Kopitiam.  So exciting…it was delicious! I must say it was a much needed restful day.

Sunday the 19th
What started as a low-key Sunday morning of skyping grandma, pilates, and tea with a friend (best Chai tea latte!), turned into a 8 hour day of hanging out at the cafe (Titty Tea) with the owner and an electrical engineer from NYC traveling in Taiwan for business. Ironically he had been to the cafe I want to go to that was featured under the Taiwan section of the BBC favourite cafes. Intelligent conversation and Korean food for dinner (I got to order in Hangul-Korean).

Tuesday the 21st
Woke up and studied Chinese at Starbucks. TODAY was the first day of their Starbucks card program…if you buy a card for 100NT then you can get 2 hours of free wifi and drink discounts! My card is super cute and has Chinese written on it. First day of Winter Camp…not too bad! I have the little kids so we watched a scene of Snow White (the theme is Drama/Fairy Tales) then I taught them some basic phrases and vocabulary and they acted it out. So cute. However, they were sooo quiet and usually they are bouncing off the walls. So strange. Fabulous Mandarin lesson today! I’m learning…slowly, but surely. I have a great tutor! This is what she has to say on her facebook page: “Thoughts of Stacy So happy that my student Megan who has been taking Chinese lessons for only 3 hours can order breakfast by herself using a simple sentence pattern我(wǒ) 要(yào) 一(yí) 個(ɡè) 雞(jī) 蛋(dàn) 和(hé) 一(yí) 個(ɡè) 面(miàn) 包(bāo)。I want one egg and one piece of bread. Today, she actually ordered coffee in Chinese too. 我(wǒ) 要(yào) 一(yí) 個(ɡè) 咖(kā) 啡(fēi)。Although now she only knows one measure word “個” which is a general measure word for things, its already very encouraging for a beginner learner as she. For items in a form of liquid like water, coffee, mike , measure words are up to their containers, so we can say 一(yì) 杯(bēi) 水(shuǐ) a cup of water 一(yì) 瓶(pínɡ) 水(shuǐ) a bottle of water 一(yì) 碗(wǎn) 水(shuǐ) a bowl of water 一(yì) 桶(tǒnɡ) 水(shuǐ) a bucket of water 一(yì) 缸(ɡānɡ) 水(shuǐ) a barrel of water 加(jiā) 油(yóu) ！ all the beginners… the satisfaction of conquering difficulties is just great!” Today’s workout: 200 weighted walking lunges, 120 weighted bench step-ups, in addition to other leg lifts and an arm workout. Killer. My triceps are burning and my thighs are shaking. Ahh!!! At least some country music (Florida Georgia Line and Luke Bryan) played while I was lifting today. Made me so happy! Plank- 4:41.

Week #4: Sweet Tooth Smoothies…the only downfalls are A. Mangoes aren’t in season. (I am questioning the location of these smoothie makers…I live on an island and I still don’t have access to mangoes in JANUARY!) B. I don’t have access to peaches right now either. Sooo…I will be mixing it up with past smoothie recipes. Just wanted to share these in case YOU happen to live in an area where mangoes are plentiful… if you are in that location I’m highly jealous. 🙂 These recipes will be in the making (everyday) this summer. C. random note: avocados have now disappeared from my supermarket as well… note to self, hoard the seasonal food and freeze it…ha!

Smoothies #22- 26
Coconut Dream
Serves 2
2 cups fresh kale, stems removed
2 cups coconut milk, unsweetened
1 cup mango
1 cup pineapple
1 banana
2 tablespoons coconut flakes, unsweetened

Peachy Cobbler
Serves 2
2 cups fresh spinach
2 cups almond milk, unsweetened
2 cups peaches
1 apple
1 banana

Dreamsicle (yay a smoothie that I can get all the ingredients for!)
Serves 2
2 cups fresh spinach
1 cup fresh orange juice
1 cup water
2 oranges, peeled
2 bananas
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries (yay a smoothie that I can get all the ingredients for!)
Serves 2
2 cups fresh kale, stems removed
2 cups almond milk, unsweetened
2 cups strawberries
2 bananas
3 tablespoons cacao powder

Pink Flamingo
Serves 2
2 cups fresh spinach
2 cups almond milk, unsweetened
1 cup strawberries
2 cups mango

#27, #28. #29. #30:

Shauna’s Sangria
Serves 2
2 cups fresh spinach
1 cup fresh orange juice
1 cup water
1 pear
1 apple
1 cup strawberries
½ cup grapes

Side-by-Side Citrus Breeze
Serves 2
GREEN SIDE:
2 cups fresh spinach
1 cup water
¼ cup pineapple, frozen
¼ cup mango, frozen
½ banana
½ orange, peeled

YELLOW SIDE:
1 cup water
¾ cup pineapple, frozen
¾ cup mango, frozen
½ banana
½ orange, peeled

*Blend each side separately and use a piece of cardstock paper to divide your glass as you pour. 

Creamy Sunrise
Serves 2
2 cups fresh spinach
1 cup water
3 oranges, peeled
1 banana, frozen
½ avocado
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Jen’s Coconut Twister
Serves 2
2 cups fresh spinach
1 cup coconut water
2 oranges, peeled
1 cup pineapple, frozen
2 tablespoons coconut oil
2 tablespoons chia seeds

Cheers to (almost) 30 DAYS of Green Smoothies! Feeling great!!! Another two pounds down.

1. Made Coconut-Lime Quinoa Oatmeal for breakfast. I really need to work on my quinoa technique. 

2. Winter Camp: Watched Peter Pan instead of Snow White. So.Much.Better. Teaching the phrase “I can fly, you can fly, we can fly,” and having the kids act out that scene along with a few others was highly entertaining.

3. Gorgeous weather today. Unreal. Taiwan, I must say your winters can be delightful. Outside run!!!

Made Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Baked Oatmeal for breakfast. Gotta have my chocolate fix early. Ahh back to a yoga class after missing it all week because of Winter Camp. Great class. Absolutely beautiful out today. Sunny…75. I was made for this weather. Met up with my friend for lunch today at a Japanese restaurant. Had udon chicken curry noodles and rice cakes for dessert. Walked around and went to the library…and I was able to get a library card…so excited! I checked out The Giver. I had been wanting to reread it. Headed to Starbucks (a different one with a huge outdoor patio) to soak up some sun and read. I ended up finishing the book in a few hours as the sun was setting. Walked to the shuttle stop and had to cross this bridge that was decorated in lanterns for Chinese New Year.

Corner Italian Eatery