Sunday, January 30, 2011

Two Days Worth...


How these scrumptiously healthy green juices finally came to be is a lengthy and complicated tale that stretches all the way back to Saturday morning, when Alex and I began a long postponed DIY project.

To be clear, this wasn't your typical home craft project involving glue guns and glitter (if only it were that simple and marginally toxic)...

No, this one involved harsh chemicals, an electric sander and good old fashioned elbow grease.






Our fascination with redoing unloved furniture came about several months ago when Alex found this big, sturdy table on craigslist for DIRT CHEAP:


After some solicited advice from knowledgeable strangers, numerous trips to Home Depot and living in a sawdust-filled home for around 2 weeks, we were table to turn it into this:


Now anytime we spot cheapish furniture in need of some tlc, we can't really turn down the challenge.

That's why yesterday, with our beach plans scrapped due to the waning daylight and insurmountable traffic, we decided to put the warm sunlight to good use in our own back "yard" and get started on our latest project:


the book shelf we found at a yard sale for a measly $10 and the secondhand dresser you might remember from this post.


I've got big (one might even say unique) plans for the insides of these shelves which will be revealed, along with the completed final product, in the coming days.

All this arduous work did a number on our grumbling tummies, since our pre-noon strictly-liquid caloric intake was wearing thin.

I opened the crisper draw to find it completely empty- without a shopping moment to spare!


That's when animal products came to the rescue.

I grabbed my new gluten free bagels,


some TJ's goat cheese slices (a mini-miracle),


eggs and onions, and got to work on a much-desired and appreciated hearty lunch.


The bagels were impress.ive. Couldn't really tell them from the real thing and they've got 7g of protein + 3g of fiber taboot!

With our bellies comfortably full, we got back to the grind 'til the sun left us




... and hunger set in once again.


We showered and headed to a west side movie theatre to catch what we thought would be The King's Speech. On the way, we stopped by The Vegan Joint...


and took a little longer than expected on our respective dinners-


mine a lentil loaf with brown rice and veggies,


his a [decidedly boring] veggie wrap- made with corn tortilla.

Seeing as our chances of making the 7pm showing were nearing impossible, we decided to see The Fighter 20 minutes later but arrived at the theatre on time only to discover they were completely sold out!

Since we'd driven all that way and I was in the mood for a movie, we headed to the Borders nearby to knock out some productive reading in the meantime.




Of course, no trip to the bookstore would be complete without a stop in this section.


After two and a half hours of reading about everything Prague has to offer and more, we made our way back to the 10:20 pm showing of The Fighter.

3 hours past dinner and I was hungry once again... Going against every fiber in my being that was screaming for a cookie, I opted for a $6 salad. At the movie theatre! I was grateful for the option...


The film was fantastic- I'm not a huge fan of boxing movies, but this one was above and beyond my expectations. Christian Bale: you amaze me!

We finally got home around 1:30 am and stayed up talking for another 2 hours (despite our intentions to hit up the Hollywood farmers market early the next morning).

9 am came around and, needless to say, neither of us budged when the iPhone church bells went off.

Knowing I had a meeting at noon and would definitely need some fuel beforehand, I pushed the warm covers off around 10:30, only to be greeted with a supremely sorry sight.


After weeks of 70 degree temps and sun, it was RAINING!

AND our furniture project that required a dry outdoor setting was only halfway done!

Ah well, I suppose it's all part of Mother Nature's plan.

The crisper drawer problem had yet to be solved and I needed breakfast! All I wanted was to mix up a batch of banana pecan pancakes and call it a day. But self control was called upon in the end and I managed to mix up my cayenne pepper and lemon tonic to get me through.

Original plans to hit up the farmers market were scratched- call me a wimp but I had no desire to walk about in the cold rain this morning on an empty stomach.

We headed out to hit up 3- yes, 3- different grocery stores to remedy our empty kitchen situation.

(gah, didn't I JUST buy a ton of groceries?!)

First stop, Trader Joe's, next was Gelson's for some kale, and when we didn't find a worthy gluten free veggie patty for Alex, we made our way to my favorite Whole Foods of all time and were greeted with a little corner of heaven.


A completely gluten-free section!


Obviously, this has been one of the toughest battles to fight during the cleanse- finding good food SANS gluten.

Before leaving, I grabbed a couple munchies for the road home:


a little cup of lentil soup


and a chocolate crunch gluten free cookie I shared with the boy.

Both were delish and held us over 'til we were able to unload the groceries and get our green juice on. Finally!


Now it's well past 2 pm and time for lunch. Today's adventures in the kitch will consist of a frozen veggie patty competition.


The results of which will be posted on the 'morrow.

See ya then!

3 comments:

  1. Wow what a busy 48 hours! I love that you two are restoring old furniture to make it look new and fabulous! I would love to do the same if I had more time!
    By the way- how do you make those green juices? What do you put in them? I would love to learn how!

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  2. hey cait, green juice is a snap! the only requirement is an at home juicer, which can be a tad pricey but worth every penny if you ask me. you can find the juicer i have here at amazon:

    http://www.amazon.com/Breville-JE900-Fountain-Professional-Extractor/dp/B00008ZCKV/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1296513252&sr=8-1

    if you make the purchase, all you need is veggies/fruit of your choosing and bam- you're on! my fav is kale, cucumber, green apple and lemon, but the options are practically endless

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  3. Wow, I'm SO impressed by that table! Did you just use regular paint to cover it? It looks amazing! I'm horrible at seeing the "potential" in things like that and end up just keeping crappy stuff to save money!

    ReplyDelete