Recipe of the week: Post workout smoothie

I love smoothies and tried this combo a couple of weeks ago when I had finished a monster leg workout at the gym followed by a Bodyrock.tv workout. Research suggests that chocolate milk is a better post workout drink than almost anything else. Last year when I was trying to help my son put on some weight for football every night after practice I made him something like this minus the nut butter and he gained 20lbs of muscle and 2 inches in about 8 weeks. Let me know what you think, I think this one tastes like everyone’s favorite candy…peanut butter cups. (I usually use almond milk but you can also use coconut milk, when I make them for my son I use 2% milk).

8 oz milk
1 scoop protein powder (whatever your favorite is)
1 Tbsp unsweetened dark cocoa powder
1 Tbsp peanut butter (or almond butter)
a hand full of ice

Blend in the blender until its frothy and enjoy!

St. Patrick's Breastplate

In honor of St. Patrick's day I thought I post St. Patrick's Breastplate.  Enjoy your day!

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness
Of the Creator of creation.
I arise today
Through the strength of Christ’s birth with his baptism,
Through the strength of his crucifixion with his burial,
Through the strength of his resurrection with his ascension,
Through the strength of his descent for the judgment of Doom.
I arise today
Through the strength of the love of Cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In the service of archangels,
In hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In prayers of patriarchs,
In predictions of prophets,
In preaching of apostles,
In faith of confessors,
In innocence of holy virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.
I arise today
Through God’s strength to pilot me:
God’s might to uphold me,
God’s wisdom to guide me,
God’s eye to look before me,
God’s ear to hear me,
God’s word to speak for me,
God’s hand to guard me,
God’s way to lie before me,
God’s shield to protect me,
God’s host to save me
From snares of devils,
From temptations of vices,
From everyone who shall wish me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone and in multitude.
I summon today all these powers between me and those evils,
Against every cruel merciless power that may oppose my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom,
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man’s body and soul.
Christ to shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that there may come to me abundance of reward.
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness,
Of the Creator of Creation.

Recipe of the week: Vegetable Zinger

Nothing packs a nutritional punch like vegetable juice.  Fresh vegetable juice, not the kind you get at the store.  I like to add a 1/2 a piece of fruit to mine just to sweeten it up a bit.  I really like pear in this combo but I didn't have any ripe ones so I used 1/2 an apple instead.  I call this vegetable zinger because the lemon and the ginger give it a kick.  If you don't like ginger then don't use it, ginger is very good for your digestive system .  If you don't have any kale you could try using spinach.  Let me know what you think.  A Votre Sante!

What you'll need:
A juicer and organic produce

3 stalks of celery
2 carrots
1 beet
5 leaves of curly kale
1 lemon
1 1 inch piece of ginger
1/2 an apple

Drink within 30 minutes of juicing for maximum benefit.

Sixth Grade Research

1. Ancient Egypt was inhabited by mummies and they all wrote in

hydraulics. They lived in the Sarah Dessert. The climate of

the Sarah is such that the inhabitants have to live elsewhere.


2. Moses led the Hebrew slaves to the Red Sea where they made

unleavened bread which is bread made without any ingredients.

Moses went up on Mount Cyanide to get the ten commandments.

He died before he ever reached Canada.


3. Solomom had three hundred wives and seven hundred porcupines.


4. The Greeks were a highly sculptured people and without them

we wouldn’t have history. The Greeks also had myths. A myth is

a female moth.


5. Socrates was a famous Greek teacher who went around giving

people advice. They killed him. Socrates died from an overdose

of wedlock. After his death, his career suffered a dramatic

decline.


6. In the Olympic games, Greeks ran races, jumped, hurled

biscuits, and threw the java.


7. Julius Caesar extinguished himself on the battlefields of

Gaul. The Ides of March murdered him because they thought he

was going to be made king. Dying, he gasped out: “Tee hee,

Brutus.”


8. Joan of Arc was burnt to a steak and was cannonized by

Bernard Shaw.


9. Queen Elizabeth was the “Virgin Queen.” As a queen she was a

success. When she exposed herself before her troops they all

shouted “hurrah.”


10. It was an age of great inventions and discoveries.

Gutenberg invented removable type and the Bible.

Another important invention was the circulation of blood.

Sir Walter Raleigh is a historical figure because he invented

cigarettes and started smoking. Sir Fransis Drake circumcised

the world with a 100-foot clipper.


11. The greatest writer of the Renaissance was William

Shakespeare. He was born in the year 1564, supposedly on his

birthday. He never made much money and is famous only because

of his plays. He wrote tragedies, comedies, and hysterectomies,

all in Islamic pentameter. Romeo and Juliet is an example of a

heroic couple. Romeo’s last wish was to be laid by Juliet.


12. Writing at the same time as Shakespeare was Miguel

Cervantes. He wrote “Donkey Hote.” The next great author was

John Milton. Milton wrote “Paradise Lost.” Then his wife died

and he wrote “Paradise Regained.”


13. Delegates from the original 13 states formed the Contented

Congress. Thomas Jefferson, a Virgin, and Benjamin Franklin

were two singers of the Declaration of Independence.

Franklin discovered electricity by rubbing two cats backwards

and declared, “A horse divided against itself cannot stand.”

Franklin died in 1790 and is still dead.


14. Abraham Lincoln became America’s greatest Precedent.

Lincoln’s mother died in infancy, and he was born in a log cabin

which he built with his own hands. Abraham Lincoln freed the

slaves by signing the Emasculation Proclamation. On the night

of April 14, 1865, Lincoln went to the theater and got shot in

his seat by one of the actors in a moving picture show.

They believe the assinator was John Wilkes Booth, a supposingly

insane actor. This ruined Booth’s career.


15. Johann Bach wrote a great many musical compositions and had

a large number of children. In between he practiced on an old

spinster which he kept up in his attic. Bach died from 1750 to

the present. Bach was the most famous composer in the world and

so was Handel. Handel was half German, half Italian and half

English. He was very large.


16. Beethoven wrote music even though he was deaf. He was so

deaf he wrote loud music. He took long walks in the forest even

when everyone was calling for him. Beethoven expired in 1827

and later died for this.


17. The nineteenth century was a time of a great many thoughts

and inventions. People stopped reproducing by hand and started

reproducing by machine. The invention of the steamboat caused a

network of rivers to spring up. Cyrus McCormick invented the

McCormick raper, which did the work of a hundred men.

Louis Pasteur discovered a cure for rabbis. Charles Darwin was

a naturalist who wrote the Organ of the Species. Madman Curie

discovered radio.

And Karl Marx became one of the Marx Brothers.

"Evil prevails when good men do nothing"

"Evil prevails when good men do nothing" Edmund Burke

Child soldiers and human trafficking are both issues that I feel passionately about.  I've said in the past that if I didn't have children at home, I would make my life about stopping these things.  There are many organizations out there fighting to free the 27 million slaves in the world today.  There are more slaves right now than at any other time in human history, and we call ourselves civilized.   

If you haven't watched this video about Joseph Kony yet, take the 27 minutes to do so.  It will break your heart, or at least open your eyes.  http://vimeo.com/37119711.  In the two weeks it's been posted it has over 30 million views (in my opinion it should be way more considering the guy who shot his daughter's lap top had 11 million in one day).  Then share the video, on facebook,  Twitter, Tumblr, your blog, send it to your family in emails....get the word out there. 

In the past 48 hours these people have shared it on Twitter:

Zooey Deschanel

Ryan Seacrest
Perez Hilton

Anderson Cooper

Jason Bateman

Felicity Huffman

Sara Groves

E! News
Rihanna
Kristen Bell
Katie Couric
Khloé Kardashian Odom
Kelly Bensimon
Sean Diddy Combs
Bethany Hamilton
La La Vazquez Anthony

Caroline Manzo

Oprah Winfrey

Lil Wayne

Cindy McCain

Tim Tebow

Ellen DeGeneres

Steve Carrell

Charlize Theron

Justin Bieber

Kourtney Kardashian

George Clooney said "I'd like indicted war criminals to enjoy the same level of celebrity as me".  Let's help him to that.

Until next time,

Ciao

Recipe of the week: Spinach Frittata

I'm a big fan of breakfast for dinner.  Pancakes, omelettes, waffles, frittatas, vegetable egg bake, you name it we'll eat it for dinner.  Tonight I was short on time and only have one kid at home so I whipped up a frittata.  I'm a big fan of using whatever you have in the frig so along with the spinach and tomato I threw in a few mushrooms  and the last bit of Gorgonzola I had and viola in less than 30 minutes.  You can use just about anything you have on hand.  A Votre Sante!

3 cups spinach
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp chopped garlic or 1 clove chopped
1-2 roma tomatoes chopped
4-5 chopped mushrooms
3 eggs
3 egg whites
1/2 cup shredded cheese (I used Monterey jack)
1 Tbsp Gorgonzola
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In an oven proof pan (mine is cast iron), saute garlic and spinach in the olive oil for about 2 minutes.  Add the tomato and mushroom, saute for another minute.  Set aside.  Crack and beat eggs and egg whites, add a little bit of salt and pepper.

Pour the egg mixture over the vegetables and top with cheese.

Bake for about 13-15 minutes or until the eggs are set and the cheese is bubbly.  Enjoy.

Life’s Truths for Adults

Life’s Truths for Adults


1. I think part of a best friend’s job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

2. There is nothing worse than that moment during an argument when you realize you’re wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn’t want to nap when I was younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. Really, how ARE you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on #5. I’m pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

9. I can’t remember the last time I wasn’t at least kind of tired.

10. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren’t going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don’t want to have to restart my collection …again.

13. I’m always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to.

14. “Do not machine wash or tumble dry” means I will never wash this – ever.

15. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Shoot!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voice mail. What did you do after I didn’t answer? Drop the phone and run away?

16. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

17. I keep some people’s phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

18. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

19. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.

20. I wish Google Maps had an “Avoid Ghetto” routing option.

21. Sometimes, I’ll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what was going on when I first saw it.

22. I would rather try to carry ten over-loaded plastic bags in each hand than take two trips to bring my groceries in.

23. The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to finish a text.

24. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

25. How many times is it appropriate to say “What?” before you just nod and smile because you still didn’t hear or understand a word they said?

26. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!

27. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

28. Is it just me, or do high school kids get dumber and dumber every year?

29. There’s no worse feeling than that millisecond you’re sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

30. Sometimes I’ll look down at my watch three consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

31. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating
their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey – but I’ll bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from three feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time!