GREEN!

Happy St. Patrick's Day, fellow people of Irish descent!  Being half-Irish myself, I'm celebrating the holiday with a SUPERGREEN smoothie.  I know, I know, I only ever post about smoothies.  Right after this I'll tell you about an exciting *buckwheat* treat I had recently.  (You know you're a foodie when buckwheat is exciting.)

Spinach, mango, avocado smoothie.

St. Patty's Day GREEN EXPLOSION!

• 1 mango, peeled and chopped
• 4 cups spinach (I'm usin' local!)
• 1/2 an avocado
• handful of ice
• stevia to taste (optional)

And just blend it up!  So simple, so creamy, so sweet, so healthayyyy.  And so festive!  The picture above is just the empty jar after I finished the smoothie.  It was devoured before I even thought about grabbing my camera.  Oh, well!  I think the green-ness comes through.

Now for the promised buckwheat.  I've posted about my obsession with 'buckmeal' before, and now I am THRILLED to announce that I've improved upon my last recipe.  I was craving it real bad one day, and I didn't want to wait to sprout the buckwheat, so I came up with this version.

OBSERVE.

Maple Buckmeal with nuts, seeds and berries 

• 1 cup buckwheat groats, soaked for 1 hour and thoroughly rinsed
• 2 tsp. coconut oil
• 2 tsp. tahini
• hot water as needed

Blend all that up in a food processor, then add:

• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. salt

 and blend again.  Top with:

• sunflower seeds
• chopped walnuts
• hemp seeds
• maple syrup (LOTS!)
• blueberries
• diced apple

This is a little much for my stomach some days, what with all the not-so-smooth food combinations, but MAN is it delicious.  Certainly a worthy treat.

In other news, I had my first day back at work yesterday!  I work on an organic/biodynamic vegetable farm, and had time off for the winter starting in mid-December.  I'm so happy to be back!  I spent the day harvesting from an ocean of spinach, washing salad greens and transplanting the most beautiful little red chard plants.  Mmm.  My next workday is Monday, and it's supposed to be a gorgeous day.  Very, VERY exciting!

Other recent events:

A new painting of mine.  I'm calling it "Chakra" for now.

Beautiful sister o'mine all dressed up for a gala!

Me (also in gala attire) and that girlfriend character.

The aforementioned gala was this one, a gala to raise awareness for suicide, and to celebrate the life of our friend Jordan Porco, who took his own life in February 2011.  It was a beautiful event with Jordan-esque touches all over the place!  To find out more about the Jordan Matthew Porco Memorial Foundation, go here.  It's an amazing cause.

In love, gratitude and Spring excitement-
Mada