I’ve never had a Shamrock Shake.
Out of curiosity I want to try one of the “healthy” Shamrock Shakes everyone has been posting… but I really don’t like mint desserts.
This time 2 years ago I was in Ireland! Time flies… I was there on St. Patrick’s Day by accident. When I booked the trip that happened to be the week I had free. It wasn’t until we were leaving that I realized it was St. Patrick’s! Only me.
Check out my Top 5 Things to Do in Ireland and the souper spinach-asparagus soup pictured below by clicking here.
Since I don’t post on weekends, it seemed that today is the perfect time for an Irish shout out because it’s a green-themed What I Ate Wednesday.
Green is my favorite food-color; however, I managed to fail a little at eating food that was colored green. It was all plant-based though!
Breakfast:
Surprise, surprise… I had a smoothie! Thank god it’s getting warmer because my smoothie addiction is only growing as I find more and more things I can thrown into the Vitamix.
I’ll be drinking all of my smoothies this week from my trusty Guinness pint glass. 🙂
In my smoothie:
- Spinach
- Raw beet
- Carrot
- Cucumber
- Celery
- Flax meal
- Ginger
- Maca
- Vanilla protein powder
- Unsweetened almond milk
- Almond extract
- Stevia
- Ice + water
Lunch:
Salad box! This is such a convenient way to travel – I toss veggies and dressing in a half-eaten container of greens to take to work. Easy and there are no dishes to clean up!
In my box:
- Broccoli sprouts
- Broccoli and carrot slaw
- Cabbage
- Celery leaves
- Celery
- Spinach
- Asparagus
- Spicy Peanut Flour Dressing
Snacks:
I was bad about picture-taking with all my snacks. Un-pictured was a kombucha, a sweet potato with nooch, and a handful of almonds. My Piñata apple did make it (barely)!
A new (to me) waffle was scarfed down as well. I normally buy the Kashi brand, but I liked this Nature’s Path waffle even more!
The actual waffle didn’t make it to the camera, but I assure you it was delicious with protein sauce (protein powder, almond milk, cinnamon, and stevia).
Dinner:
Parsnip rice finally happened. I think I like it even better than parsnip fries! I enjoyed it with roasted veggies and a cashew-curry sauce that will be posted tomorrow!
***
Doesn’t it feel like it should be Friday already?
Vote-begging time! I was honored with a nomination as a “Best Healthy Eating Blog” for the 2012 Fitterati Blog Awards on FitnessMagazine.com. Not to sound desperate (I’m never going to reach the 400+vote mark, I know), but pretty please click here and vote for me. 🙂
How are you celebrating St. Patrick’s Day this year?
Have you ever traveled to a city/country specifically to celebrate a holiday there (other than to grandma’s house for Christmas 🙂 )?
Tonight was my first time trying parsnip fries, and I am already in love! Can’t wait to try your rice idea!
Laura- You deeeelicious, healthy meals inspire me… And they look all kinds of crazy-delicious!
Thanks Jenny! Good to hear from you. How have you been?!
Yay, parsnip rice is the best!
I had a Shamrock Shake as a kid, and trust me, you aren’t missing a thing. Blech.
Ireland sounds amazing! Is it crazy fun over there on St. Patrick’s Day? The only thing that doesn’t excite me about Ireland though is the food. Was it as bad as I think it would be for a health-conscious vegetarian?
Parsnip rice sounds awesome, especially doused in cashew-curry sauce!
Good to know! 🙂
It was fun, but not as big of a deal as it is here. What was more of a party was some huge rugby game taking place the following day.
Food wasn’t too hard to find. I think they get a bad wrap – one of the best meals I’ve ever had was at a restaurant over there!
Ha, that’s so funny about Ireland. It’s definitely on my bucket list. Hopefully I’ll get over there next year, but we’ll see.
The eats look great. I <3 broccoli slaw.
You MUST go. I don’t know if you’d come home though. 🙂
I’m not much of a shake person but I’m thinking St. Patrick’s Day is the perfect excuse to indulge in some mint choc chip ice cream ;)! Parsnip rice sounds interesting- never tried it although I am a fan of cauliflower rice! Especially when you got a good sauce on it, it is such a great substitute for the real deal!
I’ve never tried cauliflower rice. I love it roasted so much that I never think to rice it. Next time!
I have never tried parsnip in any shape or form… that needs to change! I would love to go to Ireland one day, definitely on my bucket list!
If you like root veggies, you’ll love them. Great way to add some crunch to a meal. 🙂
I haven’t seen any of these healthy Shamrock Shakes (maybe because I’m so bad about blog reading lately) but I say, when it’s St. Patrick’s Day, just take the plunge and have a “real” one. 🙂 [Assuming of course you aren’t lactose intolerant….]
I have also made a note NOT to make Thin Mint Brownies to bring to you at Blend.
Awwww! I’m sure I would love anything you create!!
I’ve never had a shamrock shake (healthy or not) either. I like mint though.
I am celebrating St. Patrick’s Day by going to the race expo. Festive, I know.
I’ve always wanted to go to Ireland. I sent my Mom twice and she Loved it! Maybe someday but it will be without my hubby as he won’t fly. 🙁
Leave him home! 😉
I havent seen the healthy Shamrock Shakes either, altho… like Sarah I have been busy and my blog reading hasn’t been up to it’s normal standards. I am going to have to go and find some of those!
I’m in the same boat… I feel so guilty that I haven’t been commenting like I normally do.
Just dropped in a vote for you. Hope you win, your blog deserves it!
Thank you, Lindsay! I just don’t want to be last – LOL!
oh gosh, parsnips are just not my fav….but that smoothie just might be!
Dude… your “shamrock shake” and Guinness glass. Let’s just say that great minds were thinking alike for our posts today! 🙂
I had intentions of making an “Italian” inspired tofu recipe for dinner last night, but just ended up making your spicy peanut marinade again (which is currently soaking in the fridge). I’ll be original some other time. 😉
Going to vote for you now!
It’s addicting! You did get me thinking on the variations… I’m thinking something lemon-pepper is in order.
Pretend-Guinness cheers to great minds! 😉
We were in France on Bastille Day – unfortunately it was just after 9/11 and the French were less than friendly. 😉
Definitely checking out your soup recipe (and I already voted for you)!
Ohhhh… that could have been awesome. What a rough time to be in Europe!
Thank you so much for the vote. 🙂
I don’t really like mint desserts either! I was beginning to think I was the only one!
It sounds like there’s a small group of us! 🙂
I’ve never had one of those Shamrock shakes either.. We dont have them here in Germany. Actually, St. Patricks isnt even celebrated here :/
Those Natures Path waffles sound awesome!
No St. Patrick’s Day?! Actually, it was funny in Ireland – people “celebrate” more in the U.S. than they do over there. Not that people weren’t out drinking, but it wasn’t the thrown down you see in the States.
I was pleasantly surprised with parsnip rice too – tasty, even if it still doesn’t *sound* good to me. 🙂 And YES, I wish it was already Friday. My weekend of races is calling my name!
It took me so long to try because it didn’t sound wonderful. I really liked the nuttiness of it!
You are a machine. Good luck with the races -can’t wait to see everyone!
Wow where do I start!! I need to make parsnip rice… awesome idea!
Love those Nature’s path waffles!
I had to look at your dinner again because it looks amazing =)
I love parsnip fries, but I’ve never made parsnip rice before! How did you make it? 🙂
I’ll post that whole recipe tomorrow! The rice was really simple – put a parsnip in the food processor and blend until it’s broken up in to smaller pieces.
I tried making parsnip fries once but they did not turn out well. Maybe I roasted them wrong or just got a weird tasting batch. I need to try again. Are they supposed to taste like slightly bitter carrots?
You can get some that are more bitter or tougher than others, but they definitely aren’t as sweet as carrots. To get around that I like to add some good herbs to roast them in. Here’s how I do mine: https://www.sprint2thetable.com/2010/11/cleanse-fries/
I cannot believe you accidentally booked a trip to Ireland over St. Patty’s Day! That is too funny!
On another note, I’m very jealous of your Vitamix. We have a lot of smoothies and I’m always shaking the living daylights out of the blender to get it to blend correctly. This smoothie looks great – we usually use whole milk, but almond milk sounds great!
For St. Patty’s Day we will be skiing all day (although I doubt the skiing will be great because its raining today!). Jackson Hole has a fun little outdoor party with live music at the base of the mountain.
That Vitamix is life-changing. I’m so in love with it. 🙂
Lucky you going skiing! I hear Jackson Hole is great, but haven’t made it out there yet.
Haha I love someecards, they’re always so hilarious. What a perfect one for this post. I’ve actually never tried the shamrock shake…but not sure if I’m very tempted to taste it. 😉 Love your smoothie in the Guinness glass, ha!
Whoever came up with these cards deserves a medal. 🙂
I really need to try adding beets to our smoothies, it sounds (and looks) delicious! Not really celebrating St Patrick’s day at all… other than hopefully remembering to make a few extra fun green things for L. 🙂
You should! My favorite is orange and beet, but I really liked it with avocado too. Just make sure you add some stevia or sweetener for the kids to balance the earthiness.
I’m a purist….I can only open birthday gifts on my bday, only open Xmas gifts on Xmas, only have St. Patty’s food ON St. Pattys Day!! I guess I love the anticipation of that ONE day to enjoy! Food wise, though, I know something will slip in before the actual day, but on that day it seems everyone claims to be Irish!!
You have a lot of self-control! I’m impressed. 🙂
That is SO neat that you were in Ireland for St Patty’s day!! And… you don’t like minty desserts? That is the one thing I can’t get enough of right now! I need to figure out how to kick the craving. I’ve never had a shamrock shake either… and I don’t plan on it unless it is one of the healthy ones you mentioned.
there is one exception – I really love frozen Thin Mints. 🙂
I HATE mint flavored things – even gum! My toothpaste is “fennel” flavored – all-natural because I’m weird like that!
But I love Thin Mints too – and that’s all!
Mine is the Arm & Hammer – I mush prefer baking soda to mint! 🙂
I completely lost my ability to focus once you said you had been to Ireland. I am completely jealous of your world travels (I haven’t done any of that in so long) and Ireland is one place I have not been and am dying to go to.
I do indeed wish it was Friday and I hope you have a great day!
You should! The only thing I would have done differently is spend more time in the countryside than in Dublin. It was breath-takingly beautiful.
I will have to try this parsnip rice you speak of 🙂
Thanks for “reviewing” those waffles! I have been interested in them
Looking forward to the parsnip rice with the cashew curry sauce. I have been a vegetrian for 40 years and have never eaten a parsnip, I’ve eaten rutabaga though. Healthy meals you have going on here.
It’s up today! Actually, I’m eating the last of the leftovers right now. 🙂
If I didn’t like the color purple (oops did I say that out loud?) I say that the color in a Guinness glass is sacrilegious.
You have my vote for the the fittest blogger I know and I hope your work week is calming down.
Thank Glut! Don’t worry – I immediately thought you must like purple for some sports team-related reason. 😉
Purple is the color of Royalty…hence why I wear it. 🙂
I haven’t, though I did travel to see Dropkick Murphys perform in Boston on St. Patricks Day one year, haha!
That would be amazing! I bet the crowd was on fire.
my dream is to go to ireland! i’ve never been, but it looks beauitful.
You should! I think backpacking is the way to go (had I to do it again).
I bet that is the most nutritious thing every drank out of a Guinness pint glass:) During my freshman year of college I studied abroad in Ecuador and was there over New Years. It was definitely a cultural experience. Everyone makes scarecrows of political icons and other famous people and burns them at midnight!
That sounds like so much fun! I’m surprised we don’t make scarecrows out of political figures… 😉
I was ALMOST in Ireland on St. Patrick’s Day in 2007! I went ot London and Dublin.. and our original plan was to be fly from London to Dublin around that day.. but the airports were closed! So we were there til like.. the 14th or 15th I think!
Ha! Gotta love the Irish. Did they celebrate in London?
What beautiful eats! I love the way that you’ve managed to sneak lots of green veggies into your breakfast smoothie… and turn it into a beautiful purple colour. I’ve dared myself to try a green monster for next week’s WIAW. I wonder if it’s okay to cheat a little and turn the green monster purple? It’s still got greens in it, right?
Thank you! I can’t wait to see your green monster. I’d recommend starting with spinach (vs. kale) – you really can’t taste it. Green purple monsters definitely count too! If you like beets, the beet-citrus one I post on 2/14 was my fav so far.:)
I’ve never had a Shamrock Shake either. And never been to Ireland…but that one I care more about doing someday!
Wellll… I caved to the Shamrock this morning. Posting tomorrow, but the homemade wasn’t half bad!
whoa parsnip rice is a new concept. sounds great!
It is awesome! You can flavor it any way you want. Mine is posted today! 🙂