Saving a Surplus of Spinach

Wednesday was a big food day for us. It was the first day of our CSA, we were hosting Supper Club (a gathering of four couples, well, now three couples and one guy, who get together once a month to geek out over home-cooked food), and when my friend Kristina showed up, she brought us two big bunches of organic spinach that needed to be consumed or composted ASAP.

Confession: Before I started this project, I was always throwing out produce (save for the summer I spent eating on $50 a week). I would buy it with the best of intentions, but when I'd come home from work hungry and tired, and was faced with the choice of cooking versus carryout, I bet you can guess which way I would go.

But I wasn't about to let this spinach go bad, or at least get any closer to decay than it already was. So, I separated out the bad leaves, rinsed the good ones and put them in the food processor with a little water. Then, I scooped my spinach sludge into Dixie cups and put them in the freezer.

Now I have 20 servings of frozen spinach for my morning smoothies. I have to tear the cup or run a just a little bit of warm water over the top to loosen the spinach, but it's great to have another frozen element to go along with the berries, especially since summer is about to sneak up on us.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

My Morning Smoothie

When it comes down to it, this blog is really just a wordy attempt at getting my shit together. While it starts with a strict commitment to financial responsibility, my hope is that it will encourage me to be more deliberate about all aspects of my life. In fact, I don't really see how I can separate frugality from living deliberately, because gone are the days of grabbing takeout when I haven't planned dinner, or spending $12 on my daily salad (that's $240 a month and the first time I've ever done that math).

This morning, after a quick outdoor run/walk that made me realize just how out of shape I am, and how much work I have to do if I am going to get my ass across the finish line of the October half marathon I signed up for last month (on the half-price registration day, of course) I spent half an hour in the kitchen. Yes, I'm terrible at mornings, but I made the time… and was only 10 minutes late to work today.

Anyway, I made myself some lime water in mason jars and put them in the fridge for the next few mornings, I made a salad with lettuce from my garden, and I made myself a beautiful pink smoothie.

Even before I started this frugality project, I was pretty good about making myself a morning smoothie, at least a few days a week. Now that I'm not making it rain every time I need to eat lunch, it's much more important to eat (or drink) breakfast.

Though the color varies a bit every day depending on the type and quantity of berries I use, this smoothie is my favorite because it's full of nutrients but tastes, well, not like one of those disgusting smoothies that's full of nutrients. I think I'm being a bit more generous with my berries lately since my last berry haul came from Aldi. They're not organic, so I'm probably ingesting some pesticides, but they're affordable and they taste great.

Here's what I put in my morning smoothie (including the pesticide berries):

• 3 kale leaves (with stems) or a handful of spinach (you can freeze your own)
• One apple (with skin), cut into about 8 pieces
• About a half-cup of frozen berries (you can also use fresh berries, but the frozen ones make the smoothie cold) 
• A heaping teaspoon of whatever nut butter you have on hand 
• A cup or so of unsweetened almond milk (I did find organic almond milk at Aldi!) or coconut milk

I blend my morning smoothie in the NutriBullet. (I may or may not have purchased it at target.com last year after seeing the infomercial while lounging on the couch with a bottle of wine around 2 am. It should be noted that unlike the people in the infomercial, the NutriBullet hasn't caused me to lose a bunch of weight or spend more time with my grandchildren, but it pulverizes frozen berries, so I'm happy.) It's great if you're making one or two smoothies, and compared to a VitaMix, the NutriBullet's $99 price tag doesn't seem so bad. It's much better than the $16 individual blender I bought at Target the previous year, and it's super easy to clean.

Maybe NutriBullet should hire me to do its next infomercial. Then I can go back to my organic berries.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin