Spinach... Smoothies, Eggs & Soup!

 Spinach...

I'm always amazed when I read that it is
difficult to overestimate the  
nutritional powerhouse that is in spinach!

This is a wonderful article of the amazing things that are in spinach...

 it is one of those foods that is 

at the TOP of most Super Food lists!

We are definitely a spinach loving family,

we enjoy it freshly steamed and served with salmon,

 it is a staple in our salads, we enjoy it in soups, 

 we love topping homemade tortillas  

with cream cheese, veggies and SPINACH leaves for a great lunch...

 our favorite way is blending it up into a GREEN Smoothie  

a few times a week. 

I LOVE that spinach is so easy to grow 

in the spring/summer time.   

We usually have more spinach than we know what to do with and so I will wash the Spinach and freeze it in 2 cup bags in our freezer to pull out in the winter months.

 During the winter months 
(when we have run out of our garden spinach)
 when we go on our weekly dates, 
we purchase a large one pound container of spinach from Sam's Club for $3.97

so that we can still make up our weekly GREEN Smoothies and have it to add to soups, salads and sandwiches.  

I also purchase one or two FRESH pineapples 

each week to cut up and add to our smoothies as well.

While we are a frugal family, 

we do believe in buying quality appliances  

and so each week whether it be grinding wheat, making bread or homemade treats, or blending up smoothies, making almond milk or bean puree, they all get used LOTS!  
  

If you don't have a good quality blender, 

I strongly suggest you save your pennies to invest in one...

 it is worth the money spent and makes it EASY to get your family eating more fruits and veggies in SMOOTHIE form.

There are SO many ways to get your kids and family eating more of this wonderful SUPER food of Spinach 

and I'm going to share with you our favorites that are tried, true, delicious and 

ALWAYS a hit each time they are served!

 GREEN SMOOTHIE

Here is the basic recipe...(it varies depending upon the season)

but it ALWAYS has the same ingredients

fresh pineapple (1-2 cups)

one stalk of celery

one slice of lime (with rind)

2-3 cups spinach

water/ice

the variable is this...

in winter time we add in one or two oranges

in the summer time we add in one or two large handfuls of grapes
(here for other smoothie options) 

In the summertime when the kids are out of school,  
we make some variation of a green smoothie almost every day for lunch.  

During the school year, we enjoy our green smoothies on the weekends and also once or twice during the week for either breakfast or to add to a light dinner.

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EGGS

(when I'm in charge of breakfast and the kids are asking for eggs) 

I always make up a yummy batch of eggs that has LOTS of veggies in them. 

I recently read about a lady that adds in spinach with her eggs in the blender and WOW is it ever good.  We are hooked and I'm going to add spinach to my veggie eggs from here on out.

Veggies and Eggs

2-3 large slices of onion finely chopped

1/2 bell pepper finely chopped

2 carrots finely chopped

1-2 Tbsp butter

(diced ham if you like)

Melt butter in frying pan and add in veggies (ham if you have it) and saute together until tender/crisp

(eggs)

8 eggs

2 Tbsp milk

1 large slice of onion

1 packed cup of fresh spinach

(mix altogether in the blender until spinach is finely chopped)

Pour egg mixture over sauteed veggies and let cook 2-3 minutes before you start stirring the eggs.    

Stir together and cook until eggs are done.  

Top with freshly grated cheese and tomatoes!   

Perfect served with homemade pancakes for a hearty, 

get you going weekend breakfast! 

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Minestrone Soup

SOUPS...truly one of our family's staples.

I love this Minestrone Soup because it seriously 

tastes like something you would get at a really nice restaurant 

AND I love all of the yummy veggies it has in it. 

Toasted Artisan Bread is the perfect accompaniment for this soup!

 It is a GREAT way to use  

cabbage and spinach/kale 

and is something that actually tastes better the next day.  

(great to take for lunches)

 Minestrone Soup
(pretty much a "vegetarian meal")
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 large diced onions
4 cloves minced garlic
1 cup sliced carrots
1 tsp basil
1 can Italian tomatoes (undrained)
3 beef bouillon cubes with 8 cups water (OR, pull a bag of leftover "roast drippings" from the freezer and add in enough water to make 8 cups)
2 cups finely chopped cabbage
1 can Great Northern Beans (undrained)
1-2 cups Spinach, OR, Kale (OR add in 1 cup chopped zucchini instead)

Cook onions, carrots, garlic and basil in olive oil for 5 minutes.
Add tomatoes, beef bouillon and cabbage.
Bring soup to boil and cook for 1 hour.
Add beans with liquid and spinach and cook another 20 minutes. 
Garnish bowls with freshly grated Parmesan cheese, OR, serve with a dollop of cottage cheese.  This tastes even better the 2nd day.

This is soup is definitely 
a favorite with my kids!

and it’s SO easy and healthy!!
Great served with homemade bread, breadsticks, 

or our favorite... (Artisan Bread)

I hope you enjoy the wonderful health benefits 

of Spinach in your family as well!
Yummy, delicious and most of all

economic and nutritious!

Mother & Son...Photography Fun!

I'm sad...time is just flying on by 

much faster than I'd like it to!

Jade just finished up his 2nd Trimester of his Junior Year in High School and I can honestly say I have never had more fun with my son,
than the trimester he took photography.

Each week we would load in the car
and drive around and find cool things to take photos of...

Such great times we had driving and talking about life, laughing, and trying to find the PERFECT things for the week's photography theme.

I learned SO many great things about photography
and best of all had the BEST time ever with Jade!

Jade  really does have a good eye for what looks good or cool for photos
(although his coordination is not the best and so I would have to help him get the camera stable and then back away and let him shoot the photos).

The weather wasn't always the best, 
but we made the best of what we had to work with.

Here are some of our favorites 
from the 100's of photos we took.

(these first few photos were photos  from the first photo shooting... Jade just came home and said  he had to have 14 photos of whatever. I can't believe what a good  job he did on these for his first time taking photos.

Simplicity Photos 

(this grouping of photos Jade came home at 4:30 and said he had photos due the next day and we only had 1 hour to take 14 photos to turn in

we just drove and snapped as quickly as we could)

Line Photos

(these were taken in Honeyville, Utah when we went down for my mom's Christmas Party...)

Curved Line Photos

Shape Photos

(these were taken near the green belt in Idaho Falls)

Pattern Photos

Texture Photos

(this photo was taken at my dad's pig pen...
I thought it apropos since I raised pigs and from age 8 until 17 and took one to the fair each year)

Abstract Photos

Point of View Photos 

(these photos were taken on a family Sunday drive... Tracy had to go and fix a network connection at one of the schools and so these were old buildings in St. Anthony and Ashton)

 This is the communication tower that connects the high school in Ashton with the rest of the school district's network.

I can't believe that Tracy has climbed this 100 ft. tower all the way to the top!

Reflection Photos

(these were hard photos to take as we didn't have much water and it was a rainy and drizzly day...many of them were just puddles on the road with reflections in them)

We had a LAKE in our front yard...but it was perfect for capturing a cool "reflection photo".

Cool Photos 
of things in your house

Love you Jade Marshall...
hoping that you have another FUN class that I can be your helper and by your siding learning and having FUN together again!