Strawberry Spinach Pina Colada

Thank god, I was just starting to get sick of green smoothies when I found this one. This one actually tastes delicious, and without avocado! I think drinking an avocado a day was really starting to accumulate.

Recipe:
2 cups frozen spinach
1 cup coconut water
1 banana
1 cup fresh strawberries with their tops
1 cup frozen pineapple or frozen tropical fruit
1 tablespoon unsweetened coconut flakes
1 tablespoon flax seeds

The one with all the fat and protein

This one has everything. The avocado gives it a very smooth texture, and then I just threw in all the extras supplements at the end, total free for all.

Recipe
1 banana
1 orange
3/4 cup almond milk
1 tablespoon hemp protein
1/2 tsp Spirulina
1/2 an avocado
1 tablespoon flax seeds

Boy, there is a lot of food in this, isn't there?

Pear Citrus Blaster

Juice is more exciting when it's given a name like a superhero.

The Pear Citrus Blaster was ridiculously delicious and kinda intense. It's good for an afternoon pickup, and to get a random dose of spinach into your day.

Recipe
Two giant handfulls of spinach
1 grapefruit
1 sweet pear

When god gives you lemons

....YOU FIND A NEW GOD!

Really, power thirst is so funny. For people like me who have uncomfortable amounts of energy.

Anyway, put lemons in your water, just do it. You'll drink a lot more water, citrus makes your skin pretty, and it's good for digestion. Like, somehow.

Are you kidding me Kale Chips again?

Perhaps the world's most unphotogenic food

Fucking hell, just what the internet needs, another something about Kale Chips, but I'm doing it anyway, I'M GOING ROGUE.

Some nut job at Whole Foods told me a year ago to crank my oven as high as it could get, which was a terrible idea. I've now learned a few things about making kale chips and now I will tell you those things:

Toss the raw kale pieces with olive oil in a bowl, don't try and sprinkle the olive oil over the kale once its in the pan, unless you have some sort of olive oil sprinkling device that I don't have. Set the oven at a reasonable 350 and put the pan on the top shelf. I didn't time it. Ten minutes maybe? I don't know. Take them out when they're crispy, before they burn, I'm sure you can figure it out.

Sprinkle them with nutritional yeast and powdered garlic, everybody knows that, but here's my big secret: drizzle them with truffle infused olive oil right before you pop the whole team into the oven.  Truffle infused anything looks really expensive, but you only need a tiny bit and it lasts forever, that is unless you're me, I could drink that stuff straight.

Recipe:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast (or as much as you damn well like, you're an adult.)
A whole bunch of kale ripped up
Powdered garlic, pepper, salt, anything you'd like you're an adult
2 tsps of truffle infused olive oil

They're really good. I wonder though if I'm eating too much olive oil? Maybe there's a way to switch to coconut oil. Hmm....I'm losing interest.

Almond Butter Cup Smoothie

This is a good one! I was looking for something different than cold spinach and chia whirred up because I was sick of drinking green stuff. I won. This isn't green. It may not even be that great for you, I'm not really sure. I don't care.

I wanted something cocoa-like, so I went looking for cacao powder, but instead came back with cacao nibs, I'm not really sure if there's a difference besides texture. Last night I walked around Green Lake with my friend Katie, who is a naturopathic dietitian and eating disorder therapist, and she told me to think about cacao just like any other additional protein. It's nutty tasting, full of anti-oxidants and not sweet at all....yet somehow sort of chocolatey.

I also bought some hella expensive powdered peanut butter, because once I was invited to this lavish 12 course meal at a fancy hotel that Oprah stays in, and one of the desserts was powdered peanut butter and chocolate pop rocks. (That was the night I accidentally ingested my former power animal.) Unfortunately, this stuff I bought tastes nothing like that fancy dessert....it's bitter and weird and I'm scared to use it. There's 8 bucks I'll never see again.

Recipe: 

1 cup almond milk
1 banana
2 tbs hemp protein
1 tbs cacao nibs (or however much you want)
Ice
1 giant spoonful of almond butter

You can skip the ice if you freeze your banana ahead of time, but some of us don't always think 24 hours ahead, okay?

The Flavor of Staying in Touch

This is sponsored content from BlogHer and Coffee-mate.

I turned 25 the other day, and it was a shock. I am no longer in my early twenties! How did this happen? One day I was running wild through a cherry blossom campus, writing short stories and drinking bright green Midori sours. Then I was dropping off waterfalls in South America, sleeping by the river. And now here I am with rent to pay, insurance to grapple with, a fledgling career and a Subaru, in my mid-twenties. So, this is what reality feels like, huh!

I’ll be honest with you- I don’t have any money. I pay the bills and I’m not in any debt, so that’s nice. But I do not have any money for the little things that spice up the daily grind. In my experience, money is the easiest way to add flavor to your life, as it makes a lot of fantastic things possible. I’d love to add pieces to a funky wardrobe, or fill up the gas tank and hit the road each weekend. But right now, those things- and many other things- are not possible.

Thankfully, growing up in the absolute middle of nowheresville, Vermont, taught me innovation and creativity. I’ve discovered a way to infuse my life with the flavors of joy, delight, and connection, all with the help of a small square of paper, worth 42 cents exactly. That’s right- I use the oldest, most archaic of systems: the post office.

I have always loved to give things, to browse through colorful shelves for pick-me-ups and just-becauses for my friends. I go overboard at birthdays and holidays, sinking as much money into the fancy wrapping as I do for the gift. I’ve always thought that if I won the lottery, I would make a full time job out of buying little things and flinging them around the country to all the people I love.

Eventually, I started to rethink this idea. People don’t actually need the things that I want to send them. And if they’re anything like me, constantly in transition, the last thing they need is clutter building up. Most importantly, the environment just cannot handle unnecessary consumption, even the most frilly, fun- filled, best intentioned kind of consumption that I love so much.

And so, when this concept merged with my pitiful monthly bank statement, I changed my habits. I started to send letters. I filled an old cardboard box with stamps, pens and a velvet-bound address book, so that everything I need to send a letter is right in one place. I can write a quick hello while I wait for the kettle to boil, or while my computer is doing yet another 3- minute security update. Filling those odd moments with something so personal and worthwhile makes me feel crafty, like a little genius.

I create my own stationary from the back of tea boxes, pictures and magazines. I include all sorts of things into my letters- quotations, lyrics, clippings of lovely things I find in magazines. Tossing a thick stack of letters into the mail, all bound for different corners of the US, is the most satisfying feeling.

I am happy to spend an evening listening to the radio and drinking cinnamon tea as I go at magazines with scissors and glue. Knowing that my words and thoughts are zooming across the sky, heading towards their respective mailboxes, always makes my not so glamorous everyday life seem a little more fun.

The week directly after I mail a stack of letters is studded with email and phone messages. Apparently, I’m not the only one who is having trouble adjusting to the constraints of adulthood. “Your letter arrived at exactly the right time,” is a sentiment I hear over and over. “I was having a tough morning….I was having a long workweek….your letter really cheered me up.” Knowing that I am not alone in my mid-twenty anxieties makes them that much easier to bear.

The best by far are the letters that come back, letters heavy with clippings and photos and words of their own. I put them on my fridge so that I see them every day. They are daily reminders of all the wonderful things that are in my life right now. And they’re free. Every time I stand in my kitchen, I feel rich. And I cherish that feeling.

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How do you add flavor to your own life? Leave a comment for a chance to win a $100 visa gift card from BlogHer and Coffee-Mate! Remember to leave your email address so we can find you if you win!!

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And as always, thanks for reading the wild pages, and be sure to check out The Wilder Coast!