Eating to Live: Smoothie Nirvana

Beet smoothie photo initially published on Facebook.

Since eating well is a key to feeling well, smoothies have long been in my morning repertoire. Back in the 1960s I didn’t feel like eating breakfast prior to leaving for elementary school in the morning. And my mom didn't want me to start my day on an empty stomach, so she came up with what she called a protein shake for me in the morning. I’ve been drinking protein shakes, now called smoothies, off and on ever since. I don’t need fancy-dancy juicers to eat whole vegetables and fruit. I’ve been there, tried that, and decided if I ran a blender long enough on the liquefy setting, I could create smooth and delicious blends of goodness without the cleanup of a fancy-dancy juicer.

Here’s my absolutely delicious beet smoothie recipe...
Roast beets: Simply wash and scrub beets (no need to mess with peeling them), remove beet green tops leaving a couple inches of stems, trim root, and rub beets with olive oil. Place beets in foil and seal up. Bake 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and allow beets to continue to steam in foil. Remove foil, pop off stem tops, cool, and refrigerate until ready to enjoy. Roasting beets in this way allows the natural sugars to release for maximum sweetness. If you're in a hurry, microwave a beet as you would cook a whole potato. 

1. ½ medium cooked beet
2. ½-1 banana (I use this as the basis for most smoothies as it acts as a thickener)
3. 6-8 oz. yogurt (fruit flavored or plain)
4. 1 c. carrot juice
5. 1 kale leaf rib removed (these days I always add kale or a handful of spinach in all my smoothies, and no you don’t taste whatever green goodness you tossed in)
6. 3 strawberries (any berries or no berries necessary in this concoction)
7. Cinnamon (I use cinnamon whenever I can but you decide how much)
8. 1 slice orange rind (I freeze orange, lemon, and lime rinds in 1/2 inch slices to use in beverages, and the intense flavors are wonderful in a smoothie)
9. Mint leaves or basil or both
10. After blending, stir in ground flax meal if you feel you would like more fiber
11. Sit down, put your feet up, and enjoy smoothie nirvana!

You can throw almost anything you love to eat into a smoothie. Just toss in whatever you have on hand. You don’t need a recipe. You can concoct your own delicious goodness in a glass like a mad scientist and reap the rewards of good health and nutrition. So, what does this beet smoothie taste like? First of all, it doesn't taste like beets or kale, as a matter of fact it tastes like I had thrown in heaps of raspberries and strawberries. Let's just say I deemed it the best smoothie ever! Yum!

Michelle

Beet smoothie photo courtesy of damclark's family photos

The Old Swing

My Grandpa Leo hung a rope swing from an old walnut tree in his yard when I was a little tyke. He hand-cut the wooden seat and extended the long ropes high up onto a large branch. Over the years I spent a lot of time swinging in that old tree. I would pump my legs back and forth going higher and higher until I could feel the point where the ropes would slacken slightly. It would scare me momentarily, but I knew I had reached the highest limits. That I had pushed myself and attained my own personal goal.

My home was a three hour drive from my grandparents, so my tree swinging was limited to our visits. My swing hung always ready for me to plop my behind down and start pumping my legs back and forth whenever I was available. I remember running to my swing as soon as my parent’s car stopped in the driveway when we arrived for a visit. And when my parents began packing up to leave, I always tried to get in one last swing, as if saying goodbye to my friends the swing and the walnut tree. My swing was always there for me whether I was happy or sad. When sad, I knew testing the limits of my swinging ability helped me out of my sorrowful, pitiful self. The fact is - it's hard to swing high into the tree limbs without invoking a smile or heartfelt giggle.

Recently, my husband, Dennis, and I were in Yakima, sharing time with my family. While there, we were able to visit my grandparents home where my cousin’s young family now resides. It had been over 25 years since I last walked into the home that holds many of my childhood memories. It was fun to see the renovations recently made to the old homestead. This home is now over 100 years old and has been lovingly updated by my cousin and his wife. If Grandma Mary and Grandpa Leo could see their old place now, they would agree it is well loved and is now preserved for future generations. It was a fun evening of good food, sharing memories, and sitting out under the old walnut tree.

Later, I got to thinking about the old swing in the walnut tree - a swing my sister, brother, and generations of cousins have enjoyed over the years. And now a new swing hangs ready for a new generation to share, to learn how to test their own limits, and help them move from sad to a heartfelt giggle.

Michelle

Swing photo courtesy of Denis Dervisevic

Subtle Magic

For as long as I can remember, I have loved curtains swaying in a breeze. They are mesmerizing, and a meditative experience if you allow them to be. They remind me of a slow breath moving in and out in a graceful dance. In 2014 when my husband, Dennis, and I were in St. Rémy, France touring the Saint Paul Asylum (once occupied by Vincent Van Gogh), Dennis captured the essence of simplicity - sheers swaying in the breeze in an outdoor corridor. Watching the gentle sway was intoxicating, and I must say very calming. While Dennis has taken a lot of amazing photos, this is one of my favorites because it speaks to me. I can feel the air move in and out in what was an extremely relaxing moment in time. It reminds me to slow down and just breathe.

Over the years I can look back and remember curtains swaying in the breeze in my Grandma Mary’s home, in the home we just sold, and in the home we rented in Sedona, AZ. Whenever I see a breeze tickling curtains it causes me to stop and consider peace within myself and gives me a subtle sense of joy, a subtle sense of magic. I’m sure this all has a deeper meaning, but all you need to know is I have decided, in a year of change, that this photo will now be representative of this website as well as my Facebook page. I may not have a home of my own, but I am making my home wherever I am in the world - and if I have swaying curtains, all the better!

While I enjoyed having the dandelion seeds floating in the breeze with endless wishes representing, It Is What It Is, I have grown, and one may say sprouted, in different directions in my life. These swaying curtains in the breeze of St. Rémy represent who I am right now as Dennis and I travel about the globe in a somewhat houseless manner. I hope you enjoy the look of the new and improved It Is What It Is. Let me know what you think. I’d love to hear from you.

Michelle

Curtains in St. Rémy, France courtesy of damclark's family photos

Snapshot - Brazilian National Swim Team

As I walked up to the recently opened community pool in Sedona, Arizona to swim laps, I found that the Brazilian National Swim Team was using the facility. It seems they were training in Flagstaff and it was too cool so they were here for the rest of the week. When I was at the pool a few days before, half of the pool was open for lap swimmers and the other half for a water aerobics class. There were only three lap swimmers so I had a lane to myself. That swim was a lovely experience with the Sedona red rocks as a backdrop to a beautiful outdoor pool. Expecting a similar swim experience as I head over a few days later, I wasn’t really excited about sharing a pool with a swim team. But I thought, Oh well, I’m here so I’ll check in and see if I can catch my laps.

The lifeguards were more than willing to make sure I was able to swim during the scheduled community swim time. They even set me up with a lane all to myself. As I was talking with one of the lifeguards, she explained why the Brazilian team was in the pool and that’s when I connected what they had been telling me previously to Olympic team! Okay then, I’ll just slip in and do my thing, I told the guard I would do my best to represent the United States (being the only lap swimmer in the pool other than the Brazilian team).

I did more than catch my laps that day. I caught a lifetime snapshot experience I won’t ever forget. While I’m no Olympic caliber swimmer, I’m a very good swimmer and didn’t feel self-conscious in any way, so I just went about doing my normal workout. I couldn’t help thinking about a little girl at summer camp some fifty years ago who was bullied because she didn't know how to swim. Ha, thanks for that you mean girls! Look at me now! In case you are new to It Is What It Is, you might be interested in the article I previously posted on Summer Camp 1965.

When I finished my laps, I got out of the pool and walked over to one of the four team coaches. I told him how much it meant to me to have been in the pool swimming laps with his Olympic team. Once they finished their workout, he and a few of the team members were gracious enough to snap a shot of a memorable moment for me. I smiled like a fool the rest of the day, and the energy I was emanating must have filled the entire red rock area of Sedona with more happiness than usual.

You never know how your day is going to play out. If I had been self-conscious I could have simply walked away from this unsuspecting personal high. We all have doubts but the key is learning to trust ourselves and push doubt and fear away. It's our choice. I know this is one of many lifetime snapshot experiences I didn’t push away, and I look forward to many more as I head on down the road.

Michelle

Brazilian Swim Team photo courtesy of damclark's family photos

The Edge of Miraculous

That's me on the edge of West Sedona, AZ on a hike around Chimney Rock.

“We live at the edge of miraculous.”

Henry Miller

With this post, we celebrate my 200th posting! Since 2010 I’ve enjoyed sharing my ups, my downs, and my all arounds in an attempt to inspire you to consider the best within yourself, to guide you into forward thinking, and to learn from the circumstances of your life. I reflect on these things every day and have found them to be powerful influences in my life. I am making it a point to consider every day as living at the edge of miraculous.

With that in mind:

• Even though I have been blogging for a number of years, I have never stepped into the social media scene until the last few days. I can now be found on Facebook as well as Instagram and the new travel website my husband, Dennis, and I collaborate on www.damclark.com. While I will continue to post weekly on both sites, it will be fun to share my thoughts on any given day via Facebook, and photos of where I am and what I am doing on Instagram. Other than these hyperlinks noted, you may also find links in the Follow Me section of the sidebar. This is a big change for me personally, and I am looking at the social media scene as if I were standing on the edge of miraculous.
• I would also like to share with you an exciting change in the future of It Is What It Is. Once again it’s time to update the look and feel of this website and will do so in the upcoming months. Change, my word for 2016, is guiding me to the edge of miraculous time and time again this year, so it seems appropriate that this website follow suit.

I do believe we all live at the edge of something. Try considering and making whatever it is miraculous. This type of forward thinking will change your life. Celebrate with me as I embrace my 200th post with miraculous. And if you are allowing fear to slow forward thinking and miraculous days ahead, just know I am with you and I am holding your hand!

Living at the edge of miraculous in Sedona, AZ courtesy of our Clark family photos