Alright, its been a while. So here we go:
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​Breakfast - detox smoothie made of parsley, cucumber, ginger, and pineapple, its so yummy and refreshing! I also had a large cup of water and a few almonds.

Lunch - leftover taco salad from last night: spinach, guacamole, chicken, cherry tomatoes, yellow bell pepper, cilantro, purple onion, cucumber, and hemp seeds.

​Snack - grapes and cherries.

My afternoon pick me up was something I had never made before, an iced matcha green tea latte.
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For my milk base I used 1 cup unsweetened toasted coconut almond milk, 1 tsp maple syrup, and 1/4 tsp vanilla.

For the tea part I used 2 tsp matcha powder, and 2 tbsp hot water.

To prevent it from clumping I mixed the matcha with the water using a frother from ikea, and then used the frother to froth the milk as well (duh). I poured the tea over ice and poured the milk on top.

The verdict?

It was alright. There were a few things that were off. First, it had a very chalky taste. Second, the coconut milk was too over powering, next time I will try using cashew milk. And third, it needed to be a little bit more sweeter.

I also wanted to add that I started a new job not too long ago, and I looked like a total kook making this drink and taking pictures in the lunch room.

I was STARVING when I got home from work!!! So I prepared a little snack.  Lettuce with guacamole and hemp seeds sprinkled on top, rolled into a taquito. SO GOOD!!!!!!

For dinner I just grabbed a bunch of stuff out of the fridge and mixed it together in a skillet.

Dinner - Ground bison, 1/2 onion diced, 8 cloves garlic minced, 1/2 kombucha squash diced, 1/2 red bell pepper diced, a pack of sliced mushrooms, 1 zuchinni sliced, balsamic vinegar,  and garden gems seasoning, and masa de malageta (chili pepper paste). Served with olives, jalapeños, and diced avocado and a drizzle of avocado.

Snacks - A few macadamia nuts. I also tried eating a papaya... Let me explain, I don't like papaya but a lot of the youtube people I watch seem to love the stuff, so I decided to give it another try. AND I still think its gross, it smells weird and leaves this nasty after taste of stinky feet in my mouth. Bleh!

Dear Cauliflower,
I secretly hated your guts for many years. And this recipe has helped open my eyes. Please accept my apology for neglecting you and thinking of you as the most disgusting veggie on a veggie platter.
Love
Monica
 
I L.O.V.E this recipe. The secret is to make sure you break the cauliflower into really small pieces (large pieces of cooked cauliflower are gross). The maple syrup balances out the spiciness from the sriracha, and the sesame oil lends a nice Asian flair.
 
 
Sriracha Roasted Cauliflower
Recipe courtesy of my co-worker
 
Ingredients
 
•   1 bag of cauliflower or 1 small head of cauliflower
 
•   2 tsp. sriracha
 
•   1/2 tsp. maple syrup
 
•   1/2 tsp. sesame oil
 
•   2 tsp. garlic powder
 
•   4 tbsp. avocado oil
 
•   Salt and pepper to taste
 
 
1 Preheat oven to 425°
 
2 Break or cut the cauliflower into small pieces
 
3 In a bowl add the cauliflower along with all the other ingredients and mix with a spoon. Since the cauliflower absorbs a lot of liquid make sure that there is enough oil so that it does not dry up while roasting.
 
4 On a parchment lined baking sheet evenly spread out the cauliflower.
 
5 Bake the cauliflower for 20 minutes. Halfway through roasting be sure to move it around with a spoon to keep it from burning.
 
Remove from the oven and serve immediately.

March
Daylight savings happened in March and that made me very happy. Something about getting out of work and it still being daylight makes me a little less depressed that I just spent all day at a desk. It also gives me tons of energy to cook and clean. I also started using my recipe binder again this month, it helped me plan out each meal for the week and have a very specific grocery-shopping list so no food would go to waste.

April
We went camping this month at Big Sur state park. I lOVE Big Sur. Its one of my favorite places in California, besides Disneyland of course. This was also the first camping trip that Ruben and I went on by ourselves. We had a great time eating and playing cards. Being fancy drinking wine and eating cheese and crackers.

June
To follow up on our bad eating habits in New York we decided to do the Whole30. I only lasted 2 weeks this time but Ruben did the full month. But since I have already done the Whole30 3 times before I was fine with that.

July
The most exciting thing to happen this month would be me getting a vitamix. Haha :) 

Alright now your all caught up. 

What happened is exactly what I am trying to figure out. It’s been such a long time since my last post that it’s actually quite pathetic. I meant to post, but than something always got in the way or I was too tired. I know I know, excuses excuses. But to make up for it I have written a "little" summary of where i have been. 

November
In November Ruben planned a mini getaway for us to San Francisco, even though we only live an hour away from the city, it was nice to be able to spend the whole weekend there and to walk everywhere. Driving in the city can be such of a headache. The best part about this getaway was that it was in every way imaginable a foodie weekend ( Warning - most of the food pictured is not paleo, but in my defense I was on vacation). On Friday when we arrived to our hotel we made our way out to grab a quick bite before dinner. We split a "burrito" at Sushirito. The burrito was a bit bland and would have been better if there was a sauce to go along with it. For dinner Ruben had managed to get us reservations at Gary Danko. I will be honest and say that I had never heard of Gary Danko before, but Ruben has always talked about going there since before we were married, so I knew he was really excited. Gary Danko was a great experience; we each chose a 4-course meal. My favorite dish was Rubens Pork belly, it was amazing! And I really enjoyed my dessert; it was some sort of apple muffin thing.

December
My mom began feeling sharp pains in her stomach and had the flu for a few days. She made an appointment with her doctor and when she went in they told her that her gall bladder was infected and she had to have an emergency surgery to remove it right away. She called me while I was at work and was frantic because she wasn’t expecting that they were going to have to operate on her. Long story short, she had the surgery done and that weekend I went over to watch movies with her and paint her nails.

The following week she received a phone call from her doctor notifying her that they had made a mistake and that instead of taking removing her gal bladder they removed a piece of fat. Meaning that her gall bladder was still inside of her. When we found out, we were beyond confused. I couldn't understand, I still don't get it. She went back to the doctors a few more times but they told her that her gall bladder seemed like it was no longer inflamed and that there was no point in trying to remove it. That was my December


January / February
Our bedroom has been the same since we got married. Brown curtains, brown carpet, beige bedspread. It was way overdue for a remodel. So on new years day I began building what would be our new bedside tables. They were the ikea Rast drawers, they were cheap and since they were raw wood it allowed me to paint them whatever color I desired. I built them in one day, but than took a month just to pick what color I wanted to paint them. I finally decided on yellow. It was fun doing the remodel, but I am definitely not a decorator, I get too frustrated and can never stick to just one project or idea. I end up with too many patterns and colors and before you know it I am crying under the covers because I am so confused. Ugh, I can be so dramatic. 

I also decided to do the Whole30 in January. Since so many of our friends were also doing the Whole30 we hosted a Whole30 dinner party and I asked each couple to bring their favorite Whole30 side dish. It was a lot of fun.

We hopped onto the juicing bandwagon back when Fat Sick and Nearly Dead had come out. Ruben had just been diagnosed with MS a few months back, and after watching the documentary we felt so inspired that we decided to give it a try. And so we purchased our first juicer as a married couple, and Ruben began his juice fast. The juice fast lasted for 3 weeks and he lost about 20 pounds in the process. The first few days he said were the hardest, but after his body had adapted he did fine. I however need to eat food, so I would drink juice in the morning for breakfast with him and had an occasional juice for dinner. Eventually though, like all fads, the juicing came to a halt and we retired our juicer to where all unused appliances go, to our pantry. It sat there for quite some time, but recently my coworker began bringing in juice for me in the morning, and that urged me to whip our juicer out and see what good stuff I could come up with. I don’t know what it is, but there is something so satisfying about going to the farmers market and bringing home fresh produce at the peak of its season to make freshly pressed juice with.

I have been juicing in the morning, but Ruben does not partake in consuming these juices with me. I believe it has to do with the fact that while he was doing his juice fast, he tried to juice a red bell pepper. He said the taste was so awful that he can still taste it until this day. I don’t blame him, but hopefully he comes around soon and we can be juicing buddies again. In the meantime though I have been splitting my juice with my coworker, even the most potent juices she has guzzled down with me (while simultaneously eating her peanut butter and jelly sandwich to mask the awful taste. Haha) She is such a good friend. 

This juice is not potent at all, it’s actually a bit on the sweet side because of the watermelon. So if sweet is not your thing, I suggest adding another kale leaf to counter balance it.  

Beet Juice

Yields: 2 cups

Ingredients

• 1/2 a large beet
• 1/2 an apple
• 1/2 an orange
• 3 beet leaves or 3 kale leaves
• 2 cups diced watermelon
• Optional: 5 mint leaves

1. Juice all your ingredients.
2. Strain juice. (If you don’t mind the pulp you can skip this step)
3. Toss the mint leaves into a cup and pour your juice over the top.
4. Enjoy!

I prefer my juice cold, so I toss in a few ice cubes. To change up the recipe I may add some fresh ginger next time.

On a side not, I really love our juicer. It is an Omega Juicer, and I love it for 3 reasons:

1.  It’s not loud like most juicers because it’s whats called a masticating juicer. Instead of pulverizing your ingredients, it slowly squeezes them to make juice.
2. Because it slowly squeezes out your juice, it will not heat it up like most juicers, and in turn preserves the enzymes and vitamins in the juice.
3. I think it’s fairly easy to clean (compared to other juicers that are so big and seem to have a lot going on) 
   

What kind of juicer do you use?