I'm Loving Mangoes

I am juuust about back to myself!   I’ve been taking it easy most of the day, and I gotta tell ya, it has been really nice to just relax.  And don’t worry, I haven’t taken one single minute of this relaxation for granted…I don’t get very much time to just “do nothing”, ya know?

Things are really heatin’ up around here today! Yikes! We’ve got all the fans on full blast, but it doesn’t feel like it’s doing much to cool things down.  Luckily, the heat doesn’t really bother me, but Jay is NOT good with it.  I’m guessing we’ll be making a trip out to look at air conditioners pretty soon.

With all the heat in the house, I knew a “heat free” lunch was in order – and since I have the luxury of being home for lunch today, a smoothie it was!  The main ingredient of today’s smoothie was this mango that I picked up from the store last week.  It was starting to look a little sad in the fruit bowl, so it was time to put it to good use.

Does anyone have any tips on how to cut a mango?  My goodness was that difficult!  Luckily, once I cubed destroyed it, I just threw it in the blender, and nobody could tell the difference.

Strawberry Mango Banana Smoothie

-1 yellow mango, cubed (if you can call it that)

-1 frozen, sliced banana

-1/2 cup light vanilla soy milk

-1/2 scoop strawberry whey protein powder

-1 ice cube

-1 strawberry (thrown in last minute)

The flavor of this smoothie was OUT OF THIS WORLD!  Perfect for a hot day like today.
I think the only thing I would do different next time would be to peel the mango.  The smoothie ended up having some chunks” from the skins, which I thought would have just blended in.  But other than that, this one is a keeper!

On the side, I also had a fresh, colorful veggie plate

And some Kashi crackers scooped with my yummy Maple PB   I’d say I had about a serving’s worth of crackers.

I’m feelin’ super happy & satisfied after today’s lunch

Here’s another question I got today, which is always a fun one…

Q: How did you and Jay (aka, “your hunk-o-man” – thanks, Julie!) meet?

A: Jay and I actually met “unofficially” a few times before “officially” meeting.  Back when I was a sophomore in high school, Jay was dating one of my good friends at the time, so I knew “of him”.  He went to a different high school, so I didn’t see him all the time, but whenever there were school dances or a party, he was usually there.  I actually have a picture from a high school dance where he is standing about 3 people away from me, and we had never really even spoken at that point!

I also knew Jay because we both bowled in the same Saturday morning bowling league.  I would always “watch him from a-far”, and definitely had a crush on him!  However, I was a little too shy to go up and talk to him, so we would really just smile and say “Hi” if we crossed paths.

One of the firs things I ever said to Jay was at a party, when he had just been “dumped” by the girl he was dating.  I knew it was a sticky situation, and I felt really bad.  So when I saw him standing by himself against a wall (the poor thing!) I decided to go up and just ask, “Are you ok?”.  The only response I got was a look up, and a “yeah, I’m fine”.  And that was it…BUT, the seal had been broken

Fast forward about a month, on the night of Thanksgiving, when another mutual friend of ours got us talking on AIM (do you guys remember that?!?).  We talked for HOURS that night, and were pretty much inseparable from that point on.  It was on December 5, 1999 that we became “official” – I was 15, he was 16.

And although we did have some rough patches and did take about a year apart right after I finished college, we still never lost touch.  We had a lot of growing up to do, and unfortunately, it wasn’t working when we were together.  BUT, we grew up, we worked things out, realized that we were totally right for each other, and have been going strong ever since.
Lucky me, I get to call him my “hubby” now

Haha, sorry Julie, you probably weren’t expecting such a long answer on that one!  But I always have so much fun with those questions

Tagged as: kashi, lunch, maple peanut butter, strawberry mango banana smoothie