I get so happy when Sunday rolls around because it's my farmers market day.  But while I was running around preparing to leave for Detroit to shoot Vamps (by the way thank you to Wendy Kirchoff, Claire and Cheryl Koots for the great restaurant suggestions in Detroit), I didn't feel like doing anything, and when I went to make breakfast for myself, I just didn't feel like it!!  So I had some almonds.  Oh my gosh, almonds can be so delicious!  They're like candy!  I have to be careful with almonds though because once I start I can't stop (I sound like my mother... she always says that about nuts!)!  But I had less than a cup, 'cause let's face it - too many almonds is no bueno.  Then I made a smoothie and put it in a bowl and I was eating it with a spoon. Breakfast dessert!!! Sooo not superhero but I was happy with it at that moment.  

I feel like sharing this with you all to show how delicious something so simple can be. Also, if you are having PMS or feeling naughty sometimes a smoothie can do the trick! So instead of reaching for ice cream next time or something else with nastier ingredients, reach for something much healthier like fruit! It makes me feel like I'm getting away with something naughty while not going too crazy!

Smoothies are easy and fun -  so I went on a hunt through my kitchen to find what ingredients we had lying around...and there wasn’t much. I looked in the freezer, and discovered some Beverly Hills Juice Club Sunflower ice cream! My husband must have bought a bunch. Beverly Hills Juice Club makes a sunflower seed or almond, dairy-free "ice-cream" in tubs – and it makes a great smoothie base. So I used that...I also used strawberries from our garden, a cinnamon stick (I love the crunch and flavor!), three drops of Stevia, and rice milk vanilla flavor (no sugar). And it was the best smoothie! Like I said before, definitely not superhero but it tasted great and served its purpose. I was left feeling a little tired and spacey which is perfectly fine for a lazy Sunday.

After my delicious smoothie, I felt I needed to balance myself out for the rest of the day, so for lunch I made a big soup using lots of ingredients from our garden.  We didn't have much food in the house so I just worked with what I had.  I started with celery and leek from our garden. The leek was so sweet and yummy.  Then I added the following:

• leftover kabocha
• frozen corn and peas
• some leftover onion
• a little garlic
• a little miso (both dark and lite)
• little organic shoyu (had a packet from M Cafe I wanted to use up)
• ginger juice squeezed from fresh ginger
• a little veg stock...I used a little cube

Along with some rice, that fed me for the rest of the day!  It completely balanced out the smoothie effects, and it made for a very happy Sunday. After some lunch we went on a walk with our dog The Pig (pictured), then I did some dancing to prep for Vamps... and did some other work - all thanks to the soup and rice that fueled me for the day!  

So, see how easy it is to throw some quick, tasty meals together using what little ingredients you have sitting around the kitchen or garden!  What meals do you throw together like this?  

PS – This got me wondering...why are too many nuts no bueno? Let’s see...they throw the body out of balance. For me, personally, I notice that they make my skin break out if I have too many of them. They are great, and an important part of my superhero diet when they are used as flavoring tools, but when I make them the main attraction (i.e., more than one cup), I usually notice some weird reaction. The thing about nuts is not that they are not in any way unhealthy, but the fat and calories can be problematic if eaten in excess.

Almonds have powerful cancer fighting compounds in them and are valuable to us in maintaining daily robust health, but it seems that if you eat more than a cup in a sitting, which is a lot, then the body struggles to assimilate the protein, fiber and fat in that volume. That would be true of all nuts, not just almonds. On the other hand, our digestion is made to handle nuts in any quantity, so feel free to enjoy them; the volume depends on our individual digestive capacity and ability to assimilate fats and protein.  

I remember back in my raw food days I ate so many nuts, and it kept me a bit chubbier than I like, and my skin was fully broken out all the time. Since nuts are calorically dense, they can keep us chubbier than we like to be...but they are an important source of fat and protein and so need to be enjoyed...you just have to figure their calories into your daily intake. If nuts make you break out, like me, well that could be one of 3 things: poor digestion of the protein, which turned to fat and discharged as pimples, or poor digestion of the fat – or if you have too many nuts in one sitting it could make for poor digestion of the fat AND protein. A sort of rule of thumb is to only have 12-15 almonds or other nuts in one sitting (but who can do that? once I start I can't stop! Yum!) and that can be daily, but that amount seems to go without reaction in people.

So except for my fun nut splurges...I try to use them as enhancers to dishes and as ingredients in a dish...that keeps me superhero. And I try not to dig my hands into the bag. But hey, every once in a while, you gotta do what you gotta do! So don't fear nuts. Just be wise about where they fit and how they feel to you!