The Green Smoothie has not been on my daily menu as we have been traveling in Florida for the past 4-5 days and I did not bring my blender :)

The beach near Tampa Bay was incredible what with all the offshore weather and all; waves crashing, shells being washed upon the fine sandy beaches and dangerous marine life circling about...aaah!


Staying with family is great as they all know my eating habits as well as my daughter's; no more explaining why and what and how and all that.  We haven't had our daily dose of the green smoothie but have eaten well, for sure.  The most amazingly thoughtful person is my mother-in-law.  Bless her heart!  When we got to her house in Gainesville, FL she had 2 refrigerators loaded with vegan foods and fruit galore!  We must have eaten 50 lbs. of fruit in the first 3 days, but on day 4 I was in extreme need of GREENS!  This morning I went to the nearest market to purchase organic green stuff.  I said nearest as that is KEY to surviving driving in Gainesville as anyone who has been here or lives here knows the roads here are SO CONFUSING!  (NW 23rd LN, NW 23rd RD., NW 23rd St; 19th Way and none of them come together in any type of order what-so-ever!) Even our GPS got us lost as it desperately tried to sound convincing with it's well-educated British accent. 

I had wanted to find a particular store I had been told about, but it was across town and I saw no reason to mess with the roads, GPS, fuel, etc. when there was a place nearby that most likely had organics in their produce section.  SO I went to Fresh Market thinking it would probably have at least some organic kale!  Wow!  They had a great selection!  I must say there was not much that was local, but there was a great selection of organic fruit and greens as well as raw nuts, seeds, and dried fruits w/o additives. There was coco water, and plenty of gluten free products as well as vegan alternatives to the usual condiments.

This is some of what I came back with.  YAY!  I immediately made a lovely green smoothie, I will say THE green smoothie as I hadn't had one in what seemed like ages, with my mother-in-love's old Oster Blender.

Now, the Oster did just fine!  Mind you, if you are new to green smoothies, this may not float your boat as it is chunkier and thicker than what you get when using a heavy duty, high speed blender, but I was EXSTATIC and could not wait to indulge in my liquid green body fuel!

On another note I would like to talk about cooked vegan food:  The last time I was in these here parts was about 6 years ago.  back then I wasn't privy to the wealth of information pertaining to raw food, although I ate a good amount of raw greens and fruits.  I was a vegetarian, not vegan and there was really nowhere to eat outside of the home that provided adequate menu choices for the vegetarian or vegan!  Or maybe we just couldn't find what we needed back then. On this trip, however I was AMAZED at the plethora of restaurants boasting at least 1/2 of their menu to the vegan and vegetarian!  YAY!  We ate at a great Jamaican restaurant, The Reggae Shack.  Hoo-Boy!  It had been nearly 17 years since I had eaten Jamaican food! (aaah, Caribe!  Nestled on a corner somewhere in Greenwich Village in NYC, that we would always wander around to, we never KNEW where we were going..or where it was.  It was like that movie with the castle that disappeared and reappeared in some new place;  I think Tom Cruise was in it and maybe unicorns...or perhaps I am combining two movies from the 80's into one?

Well, Caribe was like that castle to me.  I could never remember how I got there or if it relocated just to make me crazy or what but I would wander for hours, it seemed until I found it; Usually by the spicy smell that wafted down the hot street of NYC in the summer. It cut right through all the rotten trash and said "nose hairs are for burning! Follow me if you want to pleasure your mouth" More specifically the Scotch Bonnet peppers said that. 


Anyhoo...  The Reggae Shack Cafe ROCKS!  If ever in Gainesville, check it out.  Cooked vegan goodness filled with much love.  The service was great, staff genuinely kind and caring and the place was clean.  Although the music was LOUD I didn't care much.  But add children to the acoustics of the place and it can really set your ears a ringin!  Don't let that keep you from trying it though.  Yummy food for sure.

Alright.  That is about it for today.
In peace and good health,
Kirsten, signing off
If you have never made one of any kind, here is a good recipe for the green smoothie.