My Birthday Present

I got THE BEST birthday present from Evan this year, but you’ll have to keep reading…[or skip the food and come back to it later!]

Breakfast this morning was a comfy bowl of oats made with:

• 1/3 cup each: oats, water, almond milk
• cinnamon
• agave nectar
• walnuts
• raisins
• unsweetened shredded coconut

And a Strawberry GoodBelly shot

For lunch I feasted on some leftover israeli couscous topped with black beans and mango salsa. I squeezed some lime juice into the mix and served it with a few blue corn chips. I would have loved to eat this over a bed of romaine or spinach, but sadly, we’re fresh out.

Today has been all about relaxation. I haven’t done too much and it’s almost 4 o’clock! I am extremely sore from my first day back at yoga yesterday after about a month off. Ouch. A good ouch.

Okay, here we go….

Evan won best boyfriend award this year with a completely shocking birthday present. I knew about it a few days before my birthday, but when he first said what he was getting me, I was floored. We’d talked about getting one eventually, but I didn’t realize he had it on the radar so soon!

Introducing, my new Vita-Mix 5200!

I’m either completely speechless about this blender or flowing with nonstop excited words. It’s just…amazing. More amazing than I thought it would be. I was expecting a great blender that could do a lot for me, but I was not expecting such a power house! And I was not expecting that I would be able to use it so much.

So far I’ve made a few green smoothies with whole apples or pears in them (seeds and all). It pulverizes the spinach, kale (with the thick stem), fruit and ice in about 15 seconds. And comes out ice cold. Our old blender would need 1-2 minutes and would come out warm from being blended for so long. You don’t know what you’re missing until you experience the power of a high speed blender. Wow, wow, wow.

I also made fresh cashew butter in just a couple of minutes to be included in the raw chocolate cheesecake I made over the weekend. The chocolate filling for the cheesecake was also created in the Vita-Mix in no time flat. I’ve chopped onions (my most hated cooking procedure) in 2 seconds. I have many, many more plans for the Vita-Mix and plan to put it to work for a long time! Thank you so much Evan for giving me (us!) a gift that will help us keep improving the way we eat. I love you!

I’ll introduce Evan’s birthday present soon! Stay tuned.

Do you have a Vita-Mix or Blendtec blender? Which one is on your wish list if you don’t have one (if you want one at all, of course)? Evan chose the Vita-Mix after comparing the two and reading reviews. Honestly, they’re both very similar blenders and I know we would have been happy with either one. Ultimately, the Vita-Mix company has been around a lot longer and we liked that there were different dry and wet blades on the Vita-Mix, versus the Blendtec which uses the same blade for both functions.

Tagged as: couscous, Evan, Goodbelly, oatmeal, Vita-Mix