Merry Monday!
Yesterday being St. Patrick’s Day and all, I had Irish eats on my mind.
As if by leprechaun magic, delivered into my inbox was an email from my favorite Happy Herbivore, containing a slew of Irish-inspired recipes. I ended up making three of them. I couldn’t help myself.
Truth: I would have made more, but I didn’t have all the ingredients, and there are only so many hours in the day. That’s okay. I settled for eagerly anticipating another green feast in the very near future.
Vegan Irish Soda Bread
As you can see, the soda bread became part of my Irish supper, which consisted of water-sauteed potato, cabbage, and carrot – a one-skillet meal. The cabbage was vibrant green and white, and the carrots were a stunning orange, until I let them overcook a wee bit, then tried to correct it with a little more water. Oops.
The combination totally hit the spot. And I totally could have eaten another hunk of the bread, but I resisted – not only because it totally would have pushed my calorie count for the day way-way-way too far into the stratosphere, but also because I totally would have burst. You can totally be certain it’s on today’s menu. Totally.
Apple Jack Smoothie
While you might not find this smoothie as sweet as Apple Jack cereal, it hit all the right notes for me, in a delightfully green and fun way. It called for a date, which I chose to soak in a tiny bit of water to soften it up for blending. Of course, that tiny bit of date-sweetened water was dumped into the blender, too. Spinach provided mega nutrition and mega color. Nope, I couldn’t taste it.
By the way, that calendar page beside my smoothie features Louise Hay’s wisdom. Here’s what she had to say on St. Patrick’s Day:
“Unconditional love is the greatest gift I can give myself.” ~Louise L. Hay
Good stuff, right?
Green Gobblin’ Muffins
Oh, yum! How can you go wrong with banana and pineapple brightened by lemon zest? I mean, really. It’s spinach that makes it green, and no, you can’t taste it here, either.
Who knew eating green could be so tasty and fun? No food coloring in sight! The bonus: I lost 2.4 pounds this past week. Now, if you’ll excuse me, there’s Irish soda bread calling my name.
Did you eat or drink anything green yesterday in honor of St. Patrick’s Day?
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You go girl with that weight loss, those muffins look awesome. I had a pistachio one out and I bet it had a lot of calories
Love the recipe for your muffins Ellen.
Thanks, Lisa! I’m betting that pistachio muffin tasted great, and that you don’t have it every day. Treats are not a bad thing at all!
Hey Ellen,
Well the banana and pineapple brightened by lemon zest looked pretty good but I think I’ll keep my mouth closed about the rest. Thank goodness I’m not big on St. Patty’s Day. Heck, I didn’t even wear green. It’s SO not my color! LOL!!
Glad you lost the weight and if you enjoyed it then that’s all that really counts right Ellen?
You go girl…
~Adrienne
lol
I don’t blame you for keeping your mouth closed about the smoothie and the Irish soda bread – I used to do the same thing. “…if you enjoyed it then that’s all that counts” – Exactly right, Adrienne. That’s what it boils down to. Well, that and the weight loss. 
Thanks for reading and commenting! 
While I love my greens (I had sauteed kale and leeks at dinner), I’m not sure about green food that isn’t supposed to be green… I’ve been toying with the idea of adding greens to my morning smoothie, but I don’t want it to look – or taste! – green. Maybe I’ll take the plunge tomorrow…
I agree! I can honestly say, though, that I could not taste the spinach in that smoothie. The key, I think, is for it to be fresh. I’m not sure how kale would be in a smoothie, but now that I’ve tried the spinach, I’m more willing to give it a chance.
Dear Ms. Sexy Cheekbones,
You rock Xxx
lol
You are very good for my ego, Miss Kim. xoxo