Day Three. Journey to Freedom

This little number below made today ALL better.

But let me back up a tad.

It was a ROUGH start to the third day!

Might have involved wanting to throw the blender across the kitchen.

Might have involved just plain 'ole irritation extraordinaire.

Might have involved a few tiny tears.

I attempted to make a creamy blueberry coconut shake.

ATTEMPTED is the key word in that sentence.

 Here's the thing.
I've never really used a blender before.
Don't laugh or make fun. 
'Kay?

We don't make milkshakes around these here parts.

We don't make slushies.

I just have never really needed a blender is all.

Jack uses our big-daddy Vita Mix for his 
green smoothies that he has faithfully made for years.

We got a blender as a wedding gift almost 14 years ago 

and it has collected dust in a small kitchen cabinet ever since.
I guess someone told me that every good kitchen must have a blender.
I bought into the lie.

I think I had grand plans of blending when I was first married, 
but it just never happened.

And so, I'm finding that I have a love-hate relationship with the darn thing.

More hate than love if you really must know.

I just want it to blend. 
Am I asking too much?

Ingredients in.

Press button.

BLEND.

Done.

Eat.

 Move on.

 

But apparently there's a secret in the blending world that I didn't know about.
I'll fill you in in case you're as clueless as I.

 There must be a decent amount of liquid included in the recipe or it won't blend.

And it'll squeak and sqwauk and make you lose your mind.

Course I didn't know this until AFTER I made quite a raucous.

I think the kids were looking on in horror as I pounded and muttered and 

WISHED UPON A STAR that the darn thing would BLEND.

I guess I made so much noise that Jack left his cozy upstairs office to race down

to find out what was happening in his kitchen.

 [ I KNOW, I HAVE ISSUES. I'm working on it. Leave me alone. ]

And so after him coming to rescue his damsel in distress,

[ and believe-you-me she WAS distressed ]

he added a little of this and that and voila,

a purple blob of goo was formed.
Relatively tasty. Not my fave.

 By this time I was running late for bringing the kids to school,

and since the shake was luke warm, I popped it in the freezer.

 Had to make changes to my original schedule because of this snafu,
[ and was irritated by this ] 

but I was proud of myself because I didn't sneak over to Panera Bread and

have their whole wheat bagel with honey walnut cream cheese.

NOT gonna lie -- 
this little incident
 ABOUT THREW ME RIGHT BACK INTO THE ARMS OF GLUTEN.

So I came unglued.

Over a stupid blender.

Really?

Yep. Really.

Beat myself up over it the whole way to school.

Prayed with the kids in the car.

Thanked them for their love, 
even when Mommy is impatient with things like a blender.

Gave Jackson a kiss 
(Maddie's not into that when I drop her off at school anymore -- 
something about 'not cool, Mom.')

And as I drove away from school

[ through the non-plowed streets I might add ]

I was thankful for the verse that says,

"God's mercies are new every morning. And they never come to an end."

So I gave myself permission for a do-over.
Glad God's big into do-overs.
This little lady needs LOTS of them. 

ANYHOO ...

 I, myself, did not like the purple shake but Jack loved it.

Goes to show you taste buds differ.

Fortunately, he had fixed himself the 
Mango Pineapple Shake
 this morning and I tasted a sip and 

LOVED it ...

Yes, I balanced my drink on a pillow and didn't spill a drop. 
Yes, I know that wasn't a good choice. 
Yes, I will TRY not to do that sort of thing again. 
Maybe.
I'm willing to take a risk for photo variety. 
I get bored very easily. 

Anyway, I was saying.
Ahh, yes. I gave him my purple goo and I made myself a brand spankin' new 
Mango Pineapple Shake.

And, the mango pineapple shake had a fair bit of liquid included in it.

So guess what?

IT BLENDED.

[ Not without some prompting from a spatula, however. But it did eventually blend.]

Lunch was good. Just did leftovers. Nothin' new to show ya.

This afternoon, however....

 HOLD ONTO YOUR KEYBOARD.
I am now shouting from the rooftops that I found an
AMAZING recipe ... 
And by amazing, it tasted HEAVENLY. 
Think delicious dessert tasty.
Think, "How quickly can I get this goodness in me?" tasty.

So here's what I did.
I took the mango pineapple recipe above and swapped out raspberries for pineapple.

NICE MOVE, ALYSA.

Raspberries are, perhaps, my very favorite fruit. 
[ And as we all know, one of only a few that I actually like.]
So I said to myself this afternoon, 
"Alysa, why don't you throw caution to the wind and flip flop pineapple for raspberries."
Have a second liquid. Why not?

AND THIS, my friends, will be my new bff.
Forever.

LOVELY.

So then there was supper.

Another smashing success.
Jackson exclaimed, "This is my FAVORITE clean meal!" 
He's catching on quickly.
He really liked the zucchini.
SHOCKER.

Stir Fry Veggies and Chicken and Wild Rice
Not rocket science but it felt so light and fresh and tasty.
Would absolutely do this one again.

Lots of dishes. And lots of mess. But the end result is worth it. And if you look in the top right corner you can see Jackson in the mirror. He does this little ritual where he races from the back door to the front windows of the house. And back and forth and back and forth. Loudly. It about puts me over the edge.

So here we are with the finished product.
I feel a bit like Rachel Ray these days.
Except my recipes have like 22 fresh ingredients instead of 4. 
Shes got nothin' on me.

Wild Rice

Chicken that has been marinated in a delicious mixture.

And the veggies, complete with bok choy, which I've never purchased, let alone cooked with. It was tasty. I had to google how to actually cook it though. What did our mamas do without Google?

Stay tuned for tomorrow.
BIG DAY.
Breakfast and supper will both be liquid form.
Lunch will be the only meal.
For 21 days.
BRING IT.

AND .... if you find me passed out on the curb,
could you simply make sure my hair looks okay,
and if my mascara is smudged, just wipe it up a bit,
and then roll me into a flattering position.
Otherwise I'll be fine.
I can do anything for 21 days.

Small price to pay for freedom!