Hemp Seed, Take 2

I tried Hemp Seed in my smoothie again yesterday morning.

This smoothie was after a 6.38 mile run which started in the upper 70s and warmed up to 80s temps and 80+ % humidity. Yuck!

Anyway, this was kind of improvised, with my main intention being to add a little more hemp seed. As I mentioned in my previous hemp seed smoothie post, I wanted to add some yogurt so it would be more filling. So I added some 2% plain greek yogurt:


I had already drank coconut water immediately following my run, so I didn't put it in this smoothie. Instead, I threw in some OJ so that I had a little more liquid to work with while blending. As it was late morning when I made this, this sort of served as my lunch to tie me over until I had something light in the early afternoon.

Ingredients:

• 1 banana
• 5 strawberries
• ~3-4 ounces of Fage 2% Greek Yogurt
• 2 tbsp Hemp Seed
• a splash of Low Acid Tropicana Orange Juice (3 ounces?)
  
• 5 spoonfuls of frozen pomegranate seeds (Trader Joes)

I guess you can tell this one looks creamier than the one from earlier this week.
This was also good (I can't say I've had a bad one yet, I guess I've always tasted along the way and added something if it needed it). Couldn't necessarily pick out the hemp seed taste. Still getting used to pomegranate seeds too. You're supposed to be able to chew them, and it's kind of a weird consistency to get used to. I think my immersion blender broke them up a bit, but I still had some seeds to chew toward the end.

Here is the nutrition info:

Definitely more calories and fat than the last one. The main source of fat here would be the hemp seed and the 4 ounces of 2% greek yogurt. Fat free greek yogurt is also available. I may pick up some of the fat free to have on hand for smoothies - I like a little bit of fat in it when I am eating it on its own or with a little honey.

This smoothie has nearly 4x the amount of protein (thanks greek yogurt!) and a couple extra grams of fiber due to the pomegranate seeds.

Cucumbers

We have a 20 x 20 plot at the "community garden" in the town where we live. We have planted super sweet tomatoes, roma tomatoes, big boy tomoatoes, a "purple heirloom" tomato, banana peppers, bell peppers, cayenne peppers, baby romaine, cucumbers, pole beans, and mint (for mojitos, of course).


We planted the cucumbers as very small plants and they really took off right away. By mid June we had several good sized cucumbers growing.

At the end of June we had a decent little cucumber harvest... then didn't really know what to do with them all. Before this harvest we had two ripen individually - we snacked on one/used it in salads, and the other one we gave away. But now we had 5 all at the same time!

My husband found a recipe for Emeril Lagasse's Cold Cucumber Soup. Thanks to our handy dandy immersion blender (one of our best mini appliances!) he made this soup. The main modifications made to the recipe were that we used lowfat yogurt, light sour cream, and substituted a little more yogurt in place of some of the sour cream. Picked up a loaf of multigrain sourdough bread and voila- we had a meal.


In fact, I think this batch gave us 6 or 7 meal-sized bowls of soup. I haven't had cold soup very often (I think we made gazpacho once last summer), but I thought it was pretty good - had a bit of a kick to it too, thanks to the jalapeno and cayenne peppers.

Know any good cucumber recipes?

What I Wore to Spinning

I recently received the I Just Wanna Run Tech SL from Lululemon in Wish Blue. I gave this top a shot after trying the Run: Energy SL (with pleating in the back) and not loving the fit. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about the pleats along the front, but I really like them! I think they do a good job of disguising your mid section when you are in an unflattering position (i.e. bent over while riding your bike or in spin class).

Lululemon I Just Wanna Run Tech SL in Wish Blue;
Lululemon Empower Crop in Black

The crops I'm wearing are the Empower Crop, if I remember correctly (not the version currently available on the website; the pair I have is older). They're made of luxtreme which is a great lightweight, smooth, moisture-wicking fabric. I'm able to pedal quickly with no chafing and no riding up. There's mesh behind the knees to keep you cool. Also a small zip-pocket at the center back for a card or key. I don't know that these are the most flattering from the back-view, but I find that these crops don't reveal sweat in the bum-region which is a big plus.

This top is supposed to have a loose fit, but even so, I found I had to size down two sizes. My normal size was way too big. One size down sort of fit, but was kind of long in overall length and a little droopy in the arm hole openings in the back. There's a cinchable drawcord at the bottom and a hidden pocket at the bottom of the center back for a card or your house key.


This top is lightweight and breathable and has anti-stink and anti-static properties. In my limited use of the tank so far (an 8 mile run in 80 degree weather, and an hour long spin class) I have found that it doesn't cling, and it didn't smell bad after either.

People sometimes question how much different colors or fabrics will show sweat. I'll show you what I looked like after I drove home from my hour-long spin class (ew, gross, sweat).


Uh, so, yes. You can see sweat on this top. But, this tank is made for sweating in. I really like the fit and the fabric of this, and I would consider picking up a second one in another color if I came across my size.

New Food: Hemp Seed

Yesterday I went to a local "natural food" store that I have not yet been to, just to check it out. I went with the intention of buying something with protein in it that I can add to my fruity smoothies.

I had whey protein in mind, but the employee questioned why I was set on whey protein. I told her I wasn't; I was just looking for some protein. She tried to talk me into buying a pound of hemp seed, but I didn't want to commit to such a large quantity without being able to try it first, and it only came in a 16 ounce bag.

I instead came home with an 8 ounce bag of Shelled Hemp Seed, by Nutiva.

It was described to me as tasting kind of like sunflower seeds, I also read that it tastes like pine nuts. I'm not good at distinguishing specific flavors: I think it just tasted a little nutty.

One serving is 3 tbsp.
Those 3 tbsp contain 174 calories; 13.5g of fat (1g saturated fat, no trans fat); no cholesterol; no sodium; 2g of carbs, 1g fiber, 11g of protein; 16% of your iron + Omega 3 Fatty Acids, and some other vitamins that I don't normally pay attention to (see label below).

The whole Hemp seeds that the employee tried to talk me into would have had more fiber (5g per serving) because they had the shell on them still.

Here's what the shelled hemp seed looks like in the little container I use to make my smoothies:

Here's what I made my smoothie with:

• 5 medium-large strawberries
• one medium-large banana
• about half of this container of coconut water (6 ounces)
• 1 tbsp of hemp seed (Didn't want to overload in case I didn't like the flavor)
  

The instructions on the bag say to mix the 3 tbsp of hemp seed with 1 to 2 ounces of water "into a thick cream" before adding other smoothie ingredients. So I added a splash of water to the 1 tbsp of hemp seed and stirred it with a spoon. This is right around when my husband came in, noticed the bag of hemp seed, and said "What is this? Are you becoming a hippie?"

Can't say I got the mixture to be creamy, but close enough. I then added in my fruity ingredients and the coconut milk and used our fabulous Cuisinart Immersion Blender/Hand mixer. This thing totally beats our old blender. (Broken into two pieces so it can all fit in the picture).

And here is the finished product. 16 ounces of smoothie:

You can see the little whitish bits,
which is a combination of strawberry seeds and the hemp seed, I think.

All in all this was a success. It was thinner than I'm used to as I usually make mine with yogurt or kefir. If this were a post-workout smoothie, I probably would have added some for more protein; and I probably will the next time I make it so that it is more filling. I will probably try moving up to 2 tbsp of hemp seed next time too (baby steps).

Here's the nutritional info for this ~16 ounce smoothie:
(thanks to www.thedailyplate.com)