Unleashing the Beast: The Debut of my Green Monster

Today was a VERY good eating day. I had a completely delicious dinner and had my first ever Green Monster (inspired by Oh She Glows and Strawberry Shortstuff).

Let's start with breakfast . . .

I went to work armed with fruit and a protein shake. I was about to start noshing on my breakie when one of my co-workers said "You should eat one of the treats we have in the office!" Knowing that treats likely meant something high-sugar/high-fat I politely declined. I asked who baked the scones (those were the treats) and I was informed that they had been bought at a local store. Assuming I would not insult anyone I declined again. Oh boy was that a mistake. It turned out they had been brought in by the lady who is retiring tomorrow. And I could tell I had insulted her by declining the treats. So I cut half and partook in the goodies.

In the end my breakie ended up being a banana, water, and half of a very large cranberry scone.


I was so busy I didn't have time to be hungry. At lunch I headed home and busted open my shiny new red Oster. I was excited to finally make my very first Green Monster. But before I move on to that let's take a moment to admire my blender . . .


Purdy isn't it? To be honest it's not nearly as heavy as my previous one and so I was worried it wouldn't be up to the task. Boy was I wrong! I gathered my ingredients and came up with a small fat free strawberry yogurt (about 1/3 of a cup), a heaping handful of spinach, a small handful of kale, one cup of Almond Breeze, about 1/4 of a cup of lightly thawed frozen berries, and one banana. At the last minute I also added a sprinkling of flax seeds.


In went everything to my blender!


And out came my very first Green Monster in all it's glory! :o)


And the results? Pretty awesome! Based on other bloggies experiences I thought this combo would come out tasting like strawberry-banana yogurt. I was wrong! It kind of tasted really really fresh. Kind of like cucumbers. I don't really know how else to describe it. It was SUPER refreshing! Even the boy liked it! :o) I think we have a winner here boys and girls! I'll be having one of these everyday.

Because this was my very first Green Monster experience I had some pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries, and almonds as "dessert." This was mostly because I feared I would be hungry having only drank my lunch.


I was SUPER impressed in the afternoon when I discovered two other fantastic benefits to Green Monsters! First I didn't feel bloated and over-full at all. Usually, after I lunch I feel weighed down even when I try to eat light. There was no such heaviness associated with the Green Monster. I honestly just felt energetic.

The second benefit was the one that just blew me away! Usually, I hit a wall at about 3pm in the afternoon. I get somewhat irritable and low in energy. That's when I know it's time to fuel my body again. This afternoon I was in my office and thought to myself "Oh, I wonder when it will be 3pm. I guess I'll have to find something to snack on." When lo and behold it was 3:45pm!!!!!!!!!!! I was stunned! I was totally full of energy and never hit my wall. Amazing I tell you!

And then there was tonight's dinner - another hit. This past weekend I found some beautiful ahi tuna at Costco in the States. It only cost me about $10 (USD) but I knew I could get many rolls out of it. So tonight was spicy tuna roll in the Toronto Girl out West household. We paired it with some Yogi green tea and miso soup. Although I have to admit I was full from the tea and the sushi so I didn't have my miso.

Yummm spicy tuna roll - my favourite:



My $10 of ahi tuna went really far! Both the boy and I had a good serving of sushi and there was still enough left over for me to make some extra rolls for the boy to have for lunch tomorrow. As for me I'll be heading to a local buffet restaurant for a retirement dinner. And I'll be bringing my camera with me!

Nighty night . . . .