This might not sound good to you. I don’t know if it would have sounded good to me a few months ago… during the stage of my life before I had my Vita-Mix. Everything has changed now.

Why has everything changed? Because now I grind up a ton of veggies to drink for lunch. I had been living on peanut butter or almond butter sandwiches for lunch for almost the entire 5 years I’d been living in Colorado. This past January I spent my birthday money (plus some of my own) on a Vita-Mix, and it has changed my life. If you have one, you’ll likely understand. If you don’t, you might find me weird. Either way, here is one of my healthy lunch smoothies.

Ingredients:

• 1 apple
• 2 kiwis
• 1/4 golden beet
• 1 stalk celery
• 1 handful parsley
• 2 carrots
• 3/4 cup snow peas
• 1/2 cup frozen strawberries
• ginger (as much fresh ginger as you like- I used 1 tsp)
• 1-2 cups water (add more if you like it thinner… or should I say, less thick)

This turned out to be a labor intensive dinner, but definitely worth the effort.

I served Sweet and Sour BBQ Tuna (which is tuna steak that has been smothered in my Sweet and Sour BBQ Sauce and grilled), Sesame Soy Avocado Salad, Simple Mango Chutney, Sesame-Lime Snow Peas, grilled yellow pepper, and wild rice. I serve this with extra Sweet and Sour BBQ sauce and some of the extra pineapple onion mixture left over from making that BBQ sauce.

Definitely worth the effort.

Here are some chopped snow peas tossed in a little toasted sesame oil, juice from 1/2 lime, a splash of soy sauce, and chopped green onion.

I love preparing Asian-inspired meals. Here is a simple stir-fry.

While the frozen shrimp thaw in cold water, prep the rest of this dish. The key to a good stir fry is having everything prepped and ready to be thrown in the wok so the meal cooks quickly.

Slice the green pepper and chop the ends off of the pea pods. Chop the green onion. Coarsely chop the garlic, grate the ginger, and then mash them together in a mortar and pestle. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, mince the garlic. Have a pot with water ready to boil for the noodles.

When the shrimp are thawed, start to boil the water. Heat the wok to medium high and add the peanut oil. When it is hot, add the dried chili peppers. Let them cook for a minute and then add the green peppers, pea pods, and soy sauce. After a couple minutes, add the ginger and garlic. Keep this moving on the heat.

Meanwhile, the water should be boiling for the noodles. Cook them according to their direction, drain, and be ready to add them to the wok.

When the noodles are done, add the shrimp, wine, and lemon juice. Mix this well and allow it to cook a few minutes before adding the noodles. Make sure it is all evenly heated, shrimp nice and pink, and serve.

Enjoy. I ate my dish with chopsticks, which is always fun.