Memorial Day Weekend

I am home sick today which I can only assume came from a lack of sleep this past weekend and flights filled with toddlers, so it's the perfect time to write about Memorial Day Weekend. The whole Sullivan family got together to celebrate Sean's grandparents 60th wedding anniversary. The weather was unfortunately not great, but we had Jack and mustaches to keep us entertained. It was great to see everyone and get some fresh Michigan air. We returned to 90 degrees, humid, and smelly in New York. Summer is officially upon us!

Oberon and Cherry Pie

Sean and I spent this weekend in Michigan and were very fortunate to enjoy our fill of Oberon and cherry pie (both homemade and from Grand Traverse Pie Co. who did the pies for our wedding) and spend lots of time with family. We were officially there for the Susan G. Komen Race in Kalamazoo on Monday to walk with my step-mom, Nancy, who is having her last chemo treatment this week. Getting to visit a few of our favorite places in Kalamazoo was icing on the cake, or the orange slice in the Oberon as my Dad said.

Saturday Morning cartoons

Bell's Beer Garden, easily one of my favorite places in Michigan

Relaxing on the front porch

Nothing like a brisk walk on a 90 degree day

Cutting up the post-race cherry pie

Pure Michigan

If anything could make me miss Michigan, it's the sound of Tim Allen's voice.

Luckily, I'm about to spend the next two weekends there. A size-able dose of Pure Michigan.

Green Smoothie Perfected

Sean and I used to have a great green smoothie recipe that went something like this: one banana, one organic yogurt (strawberry usually), Simply Orange juice, a spoonful of peanut butter, 4-5 ice cubes, and several handfuls of spinach. It was always a very pretty bright green and delicious.

Enter the infamous Elimination Diet. Bananas, yogurt, orange juice, and peanut butter were all out. We had to completely overhaul our smoothie recipe, and the diet started with a smoothie fast! It was not pretty. Most of our creations tasted pretty bad. However, after many attempts, we slowly learned how to use frozen fruit to our advantage and make smoothies that were drinkable. So here is our new and improved green smoothie (for two) recipe. It's not an exact science and you can take or leave most of the ingredients, but the key seems to be lots of berries. It might not turn out green, but we know there are lots of greens in there!

Green smoothie for two
1 banana (frozen or fresh)
2-3 handfuls of spinach (kale or swiss chard are also good)
3 cups or so of frozen berries (blueberries, strawberries, raspberries)
warm water

Add all ingredients to the blender, with spinach weighed down by some of the fruit. Add about half a cup of warm water. Blend, adding more water as needed if your blender gets stuck on the frozen fruit like ours does. Pour into a tall (preferably pint) glass and enjoy!

I also like to add mango instead of all berries, but Sean is not a huge fan. Another good addition is coconut or almond milk.

We make these at least once a week and every weekend. It's a great way to start your day, especially when the weather heats up.