Green Day

No, not the band! Today’s eats were just very green today.

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I kicked things off with another matcha green tea experiment for breakfast.

Yesterday, I made matcha oatmeal. Today, I made matcha muffins! Matcha banana nut muffins, that is. 😉

Ooh and before I forget…a couple of you have asked me where I found the matcha green tea. Well, I tried finding some locally for the last year or so (obviously not searching hard, but hoping I’d stumble upon it), but I never did find it. So, I sucked it up and bought it online at amazon. Here’s a direct link to the exact same tea I bought (not sure if it’s the same vendor as there could be a couple).

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I really wanted to make the recipe I originally had in mind – Individual Raspberry Matcha Breakfast Cakes, but that will have to wait till next time. I had two old bananas that were begging to be baked, so I decided on banana nut muffins instead.

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I just love the vibrant green of the tea!

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As for the muffins, they were fab. You could just barely taste the matcha in them, but they added a nice new flavor. Just something that makes you say, “hmm…something different is here.”

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I’ll be sharing the recipe tomorrow morning/afternoon. Check back for the recipe!

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After brunch, I took Bailey on a walkie.

I meant to tell you guys the funny story that happened yesterday. I was walking Bailey, enjoying the warm weather and blue skies, when I heard Michael Jackson songs blaring from a radio. As I started to pass a house, I noticed 2 young boys dancing around and singing. Not only were they fabulous dancers, cutting spins, and all kinds of iconic MJ moves, but they were wearing slacks, black loafers, and white socks – total MJ-style! One of the boys saw I was watching and really started putting on a show. It was so awesome! I like to think he’ll win some sort of dance contest one day. You never know. Where’s Star Search when you need it?! Especially since I heard Live to Dance isn’t coming back.

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The premature spring weather has me thinking about what to do outside. I find thinking about the whole backyard completely overwhelming, but I’ve started brainstorming for my herb and vegetable garden.

I’m planning on incorporating some lessons learned from last year’s first attempt at a garden this year.

In this space next to the house, I plan on continuing to grow herbs, like I did last year (the previous homeowners grew oregano and rosemary here, which still live to this day!). The herbs didn’t spread as much as I thought they would last year, so I’m planning on planting more than last time. I also completely underestimated my use of parsley. Gosh, I think I could use a fresh bunch every day! Last year, I only had 1 flat leaf parsley plant and 1 curly-leaved parsley. This year, I plan on keeping the curly-leaved plants around 2, but I think I’m honestly going to plant more like 5 or 6 of the flat leaf.

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As for the vegetable garden (which looks terrible right now since I never removed the dead plants from last year…oops), I’m planning on doing more watering. I think my veggies didn’t grow as much as they could have because I didn’t add enough water. I also learned that when the people at the garden store don’t recommend a certain plant, then just because you want to grow cool heirloom tomatoes, doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t listen to their advice. I really liked the 100 cherry tomatoes and green zebras. Nom!

I’m also hoping to build another raised bed, but a long rectangle, so I can grow squash and zucchini! I could eat those all summer!

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I made another quick noodle stir fry for lunch today. I did a play on this recipe using more fresh kale from my garden. The green was from the kale and edamame. Ooh la yum!

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I had a late afternoon meeting with my Zumba company to go over procedures.

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Luckily, after the long meeting, hubby had dinner ready. I was so anxious to eat, I just snapped a quick photo. Hubby made grilled chicken with lots of herbs, grilled asparagus, and saffron rice. Yum!

Btw, did you see my photos from the Brazilian Carnival experience yet? Click here to view!

Are you planning to grow anything this spring or summer? What are you thinking about planting?

13 thoughts on “Green Day”

  1. The muffins look so yummy! I’m very excited for the recipe. I’ve only heard a little about Matcha Tea so I’m loving your posts involving it 🙂

    I’m jealous of your garden! At my apartment we aren’t allowed to have them because of animals but my parent’s have one and grow hot peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini. I really wish summer would show up just for the fresh produce.

    I loved your pics from the festival. Is there a way for you to post a video of you teaching Zumba on here? I take a few classes here in Michigan and it would be fun to see different teaching styles 🙂

    Reply
    • Hey Elle! I’m planning on recording some of my choreo as exclusive videos for my Facebook friends. I’m not sure if I can get a video of me teaching class since it sometimes makes the participants feel uncomfortable, but if the opportunity strikes, I’m there! 🙂

      Reply
    • That’s why I just started with a square foot garden! It seemed more manageable. 🙂 You could also try just growing potted herbs first? Or a small bowl with salad greens.

      Reply
  2. Now that I work at home, I think maintaining a garden will be a lot easier. Last year I had too much going on at the time you’re supposed to plant the warm weather stuff, so I missed out on growing my own tomatoes.

    I agree on the parsley- you always need more than you think. Flat leaf is my fave! I’m not quite sure what I’m planting yet, but I have plenty of seed catalogs to look through. I just hope this is the year that I have success with carrots!

    Reply

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