J. Crew chino shorts: red and blue

Last Wednesday, my mom and I went to the farmer's market to eat lunch and search for a plant like the one she had last year (seen here). I've looked a few times this summer, and we haven't been able to find one. 

We had an (always) delicious #notpaleo lunch at the NC Seafood Restaurant and picked up some peaches. 

Dan will eat anything. 

Ray-Ban Original Wayfarer Classic sunglasses // HMD earrings from Mom // Polo shirt // HMD scarf belt from Mom // J. Crew 3" chino shorts // Jack Rogers Napa Valley Navajo

blue smoothie

blue smoothie

1 banana

1 handful baby spinach (approximately 3/4 cup)

2 T oats

1 1/2 T peanut butter

1/2 c frozen blueberries (I buy these at the farmers market in the summer and freeze in small bags)

3 oz. nonfat plain Greek yogurt

3/4 c almond milk, or more as needed to blend

handful ice

Place in blender in order given and blend well. Makes two servings. 

simple green smoothie

After the holiday eating and being sick, I was eager to make smoothies with the strawberries and spinach that I'd picked up at the farmers market.

Simple Green Smoothie:

1 banana

2 handfuls baby spinach (approximately 3/4 cup packed baby spinach)

8 medium sized strawberries 

two handfuls of ice

3/4 cup orange juice

I typically start with the softest ingredients on the bottom and place the heavier, denser ingredients in the middle, with ice on the top, and liquid in last. 

This recipe made two servings. 

I went a little heavy on the orange juice. I usually throw in whatever I have on hand for smoothies; some of my other favorites ingredients are: blueberries, plain greek yogurt, almond milk, peanut butter, and oats.

I got this Tervis tumbler in my stocking. You can never have enough Tervis tumblers, and, well, we already had all of the other ECU designs. 

Do you drink smoothies? What are your favorite ingredients? 

winter farmers market

Off of work for a few days, I am mostly lounging around and fighting a cold, but I felt a little better yesterday. I talked my mom into going to the farmers market with me, hoping to find some citrus fruit for ice rings and punch. Instead, we had a fantastic fried shrimp lunch at the NC Seafood Restaurant and purchased apples, strawberries, and spinach. 

I have already snacked on an apple and used the berries and spinach in a smoothie. I plan to eat the spinach in salads, too.

I learned from my dad this summer that NC produces plenty of apples. In the winter time, the varieties available increase significantly. I tried Pink Lady apples first yesterday, then the farmer suggested this Cameo variety. They are great!

I was disappointed to have missed strawberry season this summer, but I was pleasantly surprised to find strawberries yesterday. These are "winter berries" from Lewis Nursery and Farms. According to this chart, I should be able to find NC grown strawberries all but three months of the year! What good news!

What are your favorite winter time farmers market finds?

farmers market this week

After my morning workout yesterday, I decided to head on over to the farmers market.  We were completely out of fresh fruits and vegetables, and I was craving more peaches.  What better to do when you're out and about in the morning and soaking up the last days of summer?!

North Carolina is not exactly known for our apples, and summer isn't what I think of as apple season, but I was really, really hoping that I would find apples.  I don't recall ever buying them at the farmers market before.  I was thrilled to find a farmer selling TWO types of apples, WITH SAMPLES.  I definitely ate one on the drive home.  Then I ate a peach after I got my haul inside.

Note: After reading this post, my dad informed me that NC is a big apple producer. During a winter time trip to the farmers market, I found many more varieties of apples. My new favorite variety is Cameo.

For lunch, I cooked a squash and the bell pepper with a little olive oil, salt, pepper, and a grated bulb of elephant garlic.  It was delicious with whole wheat spaghetti and some leftover tomato basil sauce (not pictured).  Even my food is hand me down.  

How do you make healthy eating enjoyable?  What is your latest farmers market thrill?

peaches and deer

The farmers market had plenty of peaches last week.  We ate lunch at the seafood restaurant while we were there, and it was great!  I will go there again and would recommend eating there to turn your produce buying trip into a real outing.

I enjoy eating a peach right by itself, but we had a few more than I could eat that way before they go bad.  My parents and grandparents go crazy over homemade ice cream in the summer, especially peach ice cream.  But of course I had to put a healthier twist on that.  I had seen some peach frozen yogurt recipes on Pinterest, so I looked up and adapted one of the recipes for the amount I wanted to make and the ingredients I had on hand.  

One fresh diced peach + Greek yogurt + sugar + milk + vanilla = peach frozen yogurt.

I spied some deer in the backyard while preparing the frozen yogurt.

After about 15 minutes in the ice cream maker, it was done.  

I think I'll be sticking to the froyo place down the road that I like . . . This frozen yogurt had nothing on real homemade peach ice cream.  Maybe the hand me down recipe is best after all.

Any good recipes for frozen yogurt?  Ideas for what to do with peaches?  

blueberry strawberry muffins

I picked up organic blueberries at the state farmer's market last week.  They are delicious in smoothies and salads, but I still had about a half pint left.  In an effort to eat healthier and use up a few things in the refrigerator, I made these muffins (see my pin); instead of 1 1/2 cups strawberries, I used about 1 cup of whole blueberries and 1/2 cup of diced strawberries.  And let's be honest, I bake with real sugar.  

Can you tell that I'm still enjoying patriotic color combinations?  I like almost anything blue and white (see: outfits), especially china.  My dad's mom loves china as well, and my mom's mom has a ton of Blue Canton on display in her house.  

What is your favorite muffin recipe?  Do you ever bake "healthy" foods?

Pinterest | Twitter | Instagram