June 2010 Archives

     A few years ago I went to visit my family in Tennessee and while I was there I tried to squeeze in as much fun stuff as I could. I went all over Nashville and found some really cool clothing boutiques, record shops, vintage furniture stores and last but not least... The Country Western Wax Museum.
     If you ever find yourself wondering where to go for a fun vacation... Nashville is the place. There are so many amazing bars downtown where there is always someone playing the blues no matter what time of day and the people down south are so very friendly. You can walk down any street and people will actually say hello to you as they pass. It's quite refreshing actually.
     While I never actually had time to venture out further, you aren't too terribly far from Memphis and that's where you'll find Graceland. I've heard it's awesome. Dollywood is not too far either and who doesn't love Dolly Parton!? There's also the Jack Daniels Distillery which was fun even if you don't drink. You get a tour and a pretty interesting history lesson.You could stay for a week and never have a dull moment.
     I'm attaching some photos I took from the wax museum. Some of the wax models are pretty frightening but it was well worth the thirteen dollars we paid for admission. Attached to the wax museum is the Dukes Of Hazzard Museum so it's a win, win.

   

 Seeing as this is my first blog and I've never written one before... I decided to just start small. I've been hot and cranky so I've been obsessing about cooling down and drinking cold drinks has always made me feel better if only for a little while.
     With summer in full force and this unbearable heat upon us, I have been in the mood for smoothies. Lots and lots of cold delicious smoothies. I seem to have become addicted to Robeks but the smoothies are so expensive and I can make them myself for a fraction of the cost. I thought I would share one of my favorite smoothie recipes to make at home. Today was too hot to even breathe and the first thing I did when I got home from work was decide which kind of smoothie I was going to make for me and the kids. It's easy and there's no turning on the oven or stove and no fussing over preparing something to eat. You can throw everything into a blender and in less than a minute you have a yummy treat.
     It's a good idea to splurge on a nice blender. Cheap blenders don't really do the job when you're trying to blend frozen ingredients together for a smoothie or anything else for that matter. I bought an Osterizer Classic with a glass pitcher for a little over one hundred dollars... I think. I know it was around that price but it's been quite a while since I bought it. You can buy even nicer blenders for about four or five hundred dollars but the one I have is perfect for what I use it for.  All I'm saying is just don't be cheap when you buy one.


                                                          Raspberry Peach Smoothies

1 frozen banana
1 cup frozen peaches
1/2 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup coconut milk (or any other milk... soy, almond, ect...)
1 Tablespoon ground flax seeds (optional)

Blend all ingredients together until smooth. Enjoy.

*Tip* Buy bananas and peel them, cut into quarters and put them in a freezer bag to freeze. I also really like to use the So Delicious brand of coconut milk which is in the cold fridge next to the soy milk at Whole Foods.