The “dreary” is upon us in Colorado today!  I am so grateful that we had a beautiful day yesterday because I really did get outside to enjoy it and store up some extra Vitamin D. ;) It may be a number of days before I see sunshine again!  33 degrees and rainy out now, no blue to be seen anywhere – only gray!

But the good news is:  It’s FRIDAY-EVE!!  And it will be great weather for ‘must see TV’ night on NBC.  It’s the big wedding on The Office tonight – Jim and Pam!  Think it will actually happen, or will something stand in their way yet again?  :)

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Today I wanted to share with you another of my favorite kitchen ‘tools’:  my FridgeSmart Tupperware containers.  (And no I’m not a Tupperware lady – so I’m not trying to sell you anything!)  ;)  

These containers have paid for themselves many times over (I’ve had them for about 7 years.)  Since I am essentially the only one in my household that eats a large amount of veggies regularly, I need a way to make my produce last long enough for me to eat it – especially when buying things in bulk saves money.

The containers have ridges on the bottom to keep allow the moisture to collect and keep the produce lifted away from that moisture. 

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They also have little air buttons on the front that you can adjust for high/medium/low moisture.

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This chart that comes with it shows which produce needs which buttons opened for maximum freshness. 

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I don’t think you want to know how long I’ve been able to keep spinach, celery and broccoli ‘alive’ in these containers before.  It might gross you out.  :) (Sometimes 3+ weeks!) I realize that the longer I keep my produce, the less nutritional value they have.  But when we are all shopping on tight budgets, I have to make the money I do spend on produce stretch as much as possible.  Having to throw out bad produce on trash day just kills me. 

Do you have any special tricks or tools that you use to prolong your produce?  Please share in the comments section so we can learn from each others’ experiences.

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On to Wednesday feats and eats…

My Wednesday smoothie was extra-green tasting!  I guess I didn’t get as much fruit in there as usual.  Plus I added a new-to-me sprout.  This mix had:  mung bean sprouts, alfalfa sprouts, cucumber, celery, spinach, 10 pineapple chunks and half a banana.  It smelled like fresh-cut grass, which was fitting since Wednesday is my YARDIO day!

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I’ll be out of my wrap-rut for a bit because I am out of tortillas… so instead I used whole wheat “sandwich thins” (which are kind of like a ‘thin crust hamburger bun’) with Tofutti spread, pepitas, mung bean sprouts, spicy mustard, tomato, cucumber with a sprinkle of pepper:

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On the side, I ate leftovers from Tuesday night’s Pesto Gnocchi w/ Veggies.  I ate it cold like a pasta salad and it was even better than it was WARM!  I think I’ve found a new dish!

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Shortly after lunch, I decided to go get in a mini-hike.  Just a quick 30 minutes in the area they consider “the backcountry” by my house.  Just look at the sky!  So blue.  It was breezy and around 70.  Perfect! 

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And to make it an even MORE perfect afternoon, I added a tall soy chai latte to the mix…

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 With a side of Larabar…. the one that tastes like a brownie to me.  Can healthy eating get any yummier?  I think not!  :)

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Dinner was random.  In my continued quest to eat ‘new-to-me’ veggies, I purchased some golden beets.  But I just could not make up my mind what to eat them with.  So I just roasted them and ate them with a side of green beans.  Having only ever had pickled beets before, I must say I do like beets this way too! 

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Beets-n-beans alone weren’t enough to fill me for the night, so later I had “dessert” which was a decaf coffee and 1/2 of a Jocalat Larabar (Chocolate Orange flavor).  This bar has some INTENSE orange flavor, like an orange peel or maybe an orange liqueur.  A little of this bar goes a long way.  I cut the half-bar into pieces & put it on a wasabi dish… we eat with our eyes!!  If it looks fancy, it will taste fancy, right?  

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Movement for the day was the aforementioned yardio and hiking, along with a Lower Body weight training session full of lunges and squats.  :)   I think a rest day may be on tap for this cold Thursday – we’ll see!

Have a TERRIFIC Thursday!  See you again soon!

–Shari B. =)

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