I’ll start by talking about my new smoothie recipe which includes about 100 ingredients. I made one tonight and my husband thought it was so good asked me to make one for him as well (rare.)

The Insane Smoothie recipe
(I show amounts but I usually make it to taste)

• 2 oz. coconut milk
• 8 oz unsweetened soy or almond milk (I’ll use soy if I need to up my protein for the day)
• 1/3 c unsweetened shredded coconut
• 3/4 c frozen organic strawberries
• 4-5 frozen organic blackberries
• 4 T hemp protein powder (I think this is the best protein powder for vegans)
• 1 T raw cacao nibs
• 1 T organic maple syrup
• 1 t chia seeds
• 1 t almond butter
• handful of pecans
• a couple of dashes Himalayan salt
• greens icecube (see below)

A few notes… of course you can use fresh fruit but using frozen means you get a smoothie without adding ice which definitely makes for a better smoothie. For the greens icecube, Katie taught me to saute greens for about 3 minutes and then put them in a food processor with a tiny bit of water. I used kale and collards. Add the mixture to ice cube trays and you have a readily available greens icecubes whenever you want a smoothie – you don’t have to constantly keep fresh greens in your fridge and again, the frozen-ness of these makes for a better smoothie.

I also buy most everything in bulk: salt, nibs, coconut, nuts, maple syrup, etc. I need to find coconut oil in bulk.

I have to be creative with smoothies because I am allergic to bananas (we ended our relationship during the summer of ‘09) so coming up with ingredients that make for a smoothie without adding ice are a little tricky. The awesomeness of healthiness in this smoothie is insane. Add or subtract whatever to it. Sometimes I add coconut water and subtract a few ingredients. I just started adding the salt and OMG it makes this smoothie.

The Insane Smoothie (includes the kitchen sink)

Forget boredom with the eat local challenge, I started feeling like crap. It really started last Thursday and I blamed it on the constant Austin rain (weird, I know) but then after several days of no energy, complete exhaustion and not being able to concentrate on anything, I realized that my diet has been lacking. I wasn’t getting my normal nutrition and I definitely wasn’t eating enough. How could I be with a limited number of veggies, some olive oil and coffee every day? I decided during the day on Monday that I had to quit the challenge. I had a soccer game right after work and I played worse than I have in years. I came home and made tofu scramble and went to bed.

However, I don’t feel defeated. I definitely learned a lot and my weekly trip to the farmers market will continue. I will still buy local over non-local if available and will tailor my meals to include as much seasonal produce as possible. And I’ll keep you posted with my attempts to make homemade granola, pasta and pretty much anything else I would rather make from scratch than buying in a box.

I think the Eat Local Challenge is awesome though and would be lot healthier if I either wasn’t vegan or lived in an area that some of these proteins were grown locally.