Green Juice, Tea, & Coffee Time, French Press Tutorial, Apple Crumble, Memories

Wow, it's already Thursday afternoon...well that's a good thing because it means just one more day til the weekend!  Yay for warmer weather and weekends, a match made in heaven!  Did anyone do anything for Saint Paddy's Day yesterday or last night?  Did you chug a Green Beer? 

I dusted off the ole Breville juicer and chugged a Green Juice

Green Juice Recipe:
*1/2 head romaine
*3 huge kale stalks
*1.5 cukes
*3 carrots
*2 apples
*1 scant inch of ginger

This is my idea of a Green St. Paddy's Day Beverage now.  My Green Jello Shot days are long gone!

Just to follow up on my Questions Yesterday about Formspring and OpenSky.  First, just to reiterate and as I had mentioned in the post, I think it's awesome so many of you are trying your hand at these things and I wish you nothing but phenomenal success and positive experiences! 

For me, I simply don't have the time to devote to opening an OpenSky shop and I don't believe the margins involved, given the time invested, make sense for me personally, given my very busy and full life.  It sounds like many of you were a little confused about the value & benefit of OpenSky, too.  Glad to know I was not the only one who was a bit baffled by it.

But, as my awesome Hippie Friend Elise said in the Comments:
"mostly its fun. i agree that theres no point in buying things that you can get anywhere, which is why the idea of the shop is to have unique products that you love that you cant get elsewhere...at least thats the case with mine. im certainly not going to put larabars in my shop because that would be ridiculous. but the measure up bowls are hard to find and thus, my shop is a place for others to get them."Well said, Elise!  Point Taken!

And as for Formspring, thanks for chiming in about that, too.  I still fundamentally disagree with anonymous questions because those tend to:
1. get way off track of what the blog is about, and 
2. are generally rude or mean-spirited. 
3. And if a reader is too "shy" to ask the question in the comment field but he/she still feels the need to ask the blog author about something, then email the author.  
Sounds like many of you feel the same as I do about anonymous questions and Formspring, but that some of you have tried out Formspring.  Hey, whatever works for you...I admit, I am a little alot chicken because I don't have a thick skin, at all, and mean questions make me sad and really hurt my feelings!  In that sense, I am a very hippy dippy happy yogi, peace love and harmony and can't we all just get along, and I just don't want to open any Pandora's Formspring Boxes!


Oh and yes, the Raw Bakery Treat was so good.  I unabashedly admit I savored every bite!

In today's mail there was Tea and Goodies from Tazo!

 And this cool metal tea bag holder!

An insulated carrying bag

And Tazo Sent me a French Press! 
You all know how I love my Kitchen Appliances
Especially Ones That Have to Do With Coffee-Making...
Coffee Maker
Espresso Maker

And I love my caffeinated Beverages

But I Put the New French Press to Use moments after I broke into the box.

I admit to being totally clueless about how a French Press worked before today so this tutorial may help for those of you who are in the Dark with a French Press...

Add 2 Scoops of Coffee to the Bottom
Boil Water
Add Water to the Loose Grounds
Cover it with the Plunger in the Up Position and let it brew for 4 Minutes
Push The Plunger Down and the coffee grounds get trapped down below
Twist the lid so you can Pour the coffee out
And Enjoy your French Pressed Coffee!
Verdict:  Awesome Cup 'o Joe!  I could have added either a little more loose coffee grounds or brewed it for another minute just for a little extra va-va-voom strong coffee because I love strong coffee, but no complaints and I chugged sipped this cup down lickity-split!  Thanks, Tazo!

Green Food was Zuke Wedges, Cukes, Brussles, Carrots, Orange & Yellow Peppers, Tomatoes, and I Dressed It with my Holiday Orange Spice Vinaigrette
Something about the warmer weather inspired me to make a Fresh Batch of Raw Vegan Apple Crumble 

The Raw Vegan Apple Crumble "Juice" is Cinnamon & Vanilla Extract infused Agave.  I like to drink the juice in shot glasses.  Kidding...but I totally could!
I ate this Raw Vegan Apple Crumble dessert tons over the fall when apples were in season, and haven't made it much in the past few months, but it was time to break it out again!
Of course, I always have room for a few nibbles of Raw Vegan Coconut Oil Chocolate


Yoga Today is Astavakrasana (8 Angle Pose)


Tip of the Day:  I announced The Winner of my Raw Vegan Cookbook Give Away earlier Today! 



Questions
1. The French Press.  Do you have one?  Do you want one?  Will you admit that you have no idea how they work?  Hopefully my tutorial helped de-mystify it for those of you who had no idea because prior to today, neither did I!

2. Today I pulled a summer shirt out of the bottom of Skylar's drawer and she asked me where I got it.  She always asks me where I buy her things, it's that habitual rapid-fire series of questions like a parrot thing that small children do.  Anyway I said I got it in San Diego.  She said where?  I said Fashion Valley Mall.  She said, oh where we used to ride escalators? It's an open-air outdoor mall with very large escalators that we used to ride just for fun.  I know, tons-o-fun but hey, these are the things you do with your kid.

I said, yes, you remember that?!!  And she totally did and then proceeded to tell me we used to go smell things.  Yes, we did go sniff and sample body sprays from Bath & Body Works all the time, too.  The last time she and I were at Fashion Valley Mall was July 2009.  Eight months later, she remembers it and she just turned 3.  So she's 37 months but remembers things from a long time ago.  She also remembers holidays from the year before.  From ages 2 to 3 she remembered Halloween, what she wore; Christmas and what we did, so clearly her little brain remembers a lot. 

Who ever said that kids don't remember things doesn't live at my house!  Plus, I have very vivid memories of when I was 2-3 years old and in preschool.  I remember many details of the house we lived in then, what my days at my preschool were like, I remember places we used to go, friends I had at that age; I remember plenty.  
What are your earliest memories?  What age are they from?  Any random early memories you want to share?  My undergrad degree and master's work is in Psychology so this is super intriguing for me!

3. Did You Do Anything For St. Paddy's Day?
Me = nothing special.  I live vicariously through you guys!

Stay Tuned For Chocolate Treats and a Give Away...