That’s ENOUGH!

Living in Minnesota has it’s challenges and it’s rewards. The spring and fall are usually really pretty and the summers and winters can be pretty brutal. But this all depends on how bad the winter was, then the spring will be nice and the summer will be hot and humid and the other way around as well. If the winter wasn’t that bad then the spring will be alright and summer will be bearable. 

Although I’m usually not a winter person when it comes to the temperature this year has been particularly bad. Maybe it’s because we were so spoiled with the weather last year. Around this time it was 80 degrees and I was in shorts. Now, however, it is 9 degrees and I’m in my parka. The last bit of snow was nice but not needed. Now I want to plant my flowers, my vegetables and see my dogs not look miserable when they have to go outside. 

All I’m saying here is that I’d like mother nature to stop dumping snow on the Midwest and grace us with some warmth and sunshine that other parts of the country have been feeling. 

Parsley/Lemon Hummus

Today I was hungry for some hummus but low and behold I didn’t have any in the fridge. But I did however have garbanzo beans in the cupboard. I decided to throw together my own kind of hummus.

The recipe I put together is this:

1 can of [organic] garbanzo beans – Drained and rinsed

1 handfull of parsley – roughly chopped

1 1/2 lemons – squeezed just for their juice

3 cloves garlic (you can add more or less, I just really like garlic)

1/4 cucumber – cubed and peeled

1 tsp pickle juice

Add all of this into the blender and let it become nice and smooth and enjoy! I ate mine with the rest of the cucumber. You can always tweak this to make it your own. Some recipes suggest adding tahini or olive oil.

Juicing

Recently I saw a documentary entitled Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead. This documentary follows Joe Cross as he embarks on a 60 day juice fast in America. It shows how he is able to reboot his body and create a healthier life for himself while inspiring others. After watching this I was inspired. I try to eat as healthy as possible, buying organic and rarely eating sweets (even though I have a serious sweet tooth). I drink as much water as I can and have primarily quit drinking any soda.

So where does this leave me in all of this? Well I figured I wouldn’t be able to just do a straight on juice fast for 60 days like Joe did. First off it’s really expensive to buy that much fruits and vegetables for just one day, let alone 60 days. So my next best effort is that I have decided to replace at least one meal a day with a juice meal. I’ve been getting recipes off of Joe Cross’ Website and other sites off of Pinterst.

Yesterday I made a carrot, ginger and apple juice. There were about 8 carrots, 2 green apples and 1 piece of 1” ginger. Cleaning each item and slicing the tops off of the carrots and coring the apple. My juicer is a little bit older then most so I did take the skins off of the apples since they were jamming up the juicer.

The second juice I made was for dinner. I really like beets and lemons so I figured I would try a beet, lemon and apple juice. I used 1 large red beet, 2 small lemons (removed the rind), and 2 red apples with the skins removed. The beet I took the skin off and cut into small pieces so the juicer would process it faster.

Throughout the day I also drank about 64+ ounces of water. It’s always important to stay hydrated. I did have a few snacks including sliced cucumber, almonds, and a small bit of chicken. Hopefully I am able to continue drinking at least one juice a day.

Saturday Morning

It’s another Saturday morning and the weather is absolutely dreadful outside. Cold and rainy. I’m really just ready for spring to happen. Minnesota winters are not always the easiest but this year has been particularly brutal. Which, in turn makes me wonder if the summer will be that much more unbearable as well.

For those out there that say Global Warming doesn’t exist, I’d like to beg to differ. Our winters have colder and windier and summers have gotten hotter and a lot more humid (the evidence of that can be seen in my hair). So everyone please hope that winter is almost done. I’m ready to plant some beautiful flowers and let the dogs run around the grassy yard. 

Let me introduce myself…

Let me introduce myself. My name is Nicole Michelle Friedman and I am a photographer, DIYer and a home-cook. I have two wonderful dogs with my boyfriend, Pat, and a devilish little hamster. We live in the Southern Suburbs of Minneapolis. Although I’m not a fan of the suburbs, I’m getting used to it slowly but surely. 

One of the many things I do like about living in such a large house is that I am able to do my many DIY projects and create new and exciting things for our home. Sometimes I will be posting the DIY projects that I do. Along with this I will be posting the new food that I have been making. 

To sum everything up this blog will include some of my photography work, the DIY projects I am doing and the food I am making. This and many other things will be posted on here along with random photos and updates about what I’ve been doing.