Archive | August, 2013

{a week of vitamix smoothies – day five : strawberries, blueberries, mangos, vanilla ice cream}

30 Aug

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it’s magenta!

this one should be like, the official “food and foto” smoothie… right?! 😉

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– fresh strawberries

– frozen blueberries

– frozen mango

– apple juice

– splash of grape juice

– squeeze of honey

– vanilla {coconut} ice cream

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i decided to try the ice cream since it was in my freezer anyway, and i had run out of regular coconut milk. i try to limit my dairy intake overall… i admit it’s tough because i LOVE cheese!!!!!  so i substitute where i can in other ways.  like with this smoothie, i used coconut milk ice cream 🙂

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this was SUPER good… and was more rich than other smoothies i’ve made, probably because of the ice cream.  it’s good to mix it up sometimes, yanno?!  variety is the spice of life, right?!

drink the rainbow!

😉

{a week of vitamix smoothies – day four : blueberries, spinach, dates, orange juice}

29 Aug

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this one was definitely green… albeit an odd shade…

tasted great, though!

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– frozen blueberries

– frozen raspberries

– fresh spinach

– 2 pitted dates {could substitute honey or agave}

– lots of orange juice

– few splashes almond milk

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i usually use more “milk” than juice, but i wanted to switch it up this time….

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i bought a TON of blueberries on a one-day sale and froze them. when they are in season, they still taste great, but the freezing process zaps some of the sweetness.  the dates really help sweeten without overpowering.

drink the rainbow! 😀

{a week of vitamix smoothies – day three : bananas, blueberries, flax seeds, coconut milk}

28 Aug

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yep…

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– frozen blueberries

– frozen banana chunks

– flax seeds

– coconut milk

– 1 pitted date or teaspoon honey to sweeten {optional}

…that’s it.

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kept this one SUPER SIMPLE.

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and what a lovely colour, i must say!

drink the rainbow! 😀

{a week of vitamix smoothies – day two : mangos, blueberries, spinach, flaxseeds, almond milk}

27 Aug

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yet another colourful creation… and although this one is definitely “green”… it’s not at all green.

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– frozen blueberries

– fresh spinach

– 2 pitted dates

– whole flax seeds

– apple juice

– almond milk

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as i’ve mentioned before, i’m not big on measuring – i just ‘eyeball it’ usually… i’d say the basic ratio is roughly 1 cup solids to 1 cup liquids, generally speaking…

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adjust consistency to your liking, adding more liquid or fruit as necessary… easy peasy.

DRINK THE RAINBOW!

😀

{a week of vitamix smoothies — day one : blueberries, pineapple, coconut milk}

26 Aug

the kids are up early and back in school, the leaves are slowly beginning to change their colours, the air just smells different, and the produce section is starting to feature those fall harvests we look forward to…

and i figured since the seasons are about to change, i would honour the idea of cleansing with the seasons.  so, this week i will feature 5 different vitamix smoothie recipes – each creation will also feature seasonal blueberries… mmmmm…

so here’s the first one :

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this mix created such a pretty colour!  it’s always a surprise when one experiments with smoothie concoctions in the vitamix… but it’s also {obviously} half the fun! 😉

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– blueberries

– pineapple

– black grapes

– teaspoon local honey

– mango juice

– coconut milk

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{foto friday : gorgeous Golden-based portrait photography}

23 Aug

some favourite fotos from a recent portrait session right here in gorgeous golden, colorado…

you’ll be seeing more of this handsome gent in the future, on food & foto… we’re working on making him super-best friends with the camera 😉

it’s pretty obvious the camera already loves him.

meet joseph…

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plus, he’s a gemini – and you know how much i love fotographing geminis – they give us the most ‘looks’ 😉 Continue reading

{thirsty thursday – new stuff i love : the life factory water bottle and kishu charcoal water filter}

22 Aug

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and here we have ’em in action…

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first : the kishu active charcoal water filter.

have you spotted these anywhere yet?!  they’re somewhat new to the market, but i imagine you’ll start to see them pop up in a lot of places.

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the kishu water filter is just basic active charcoal that’s undergone the carbonization process… making it like a rock.

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and this filter helps rid basic tap water of any lead, mercury, and chlorine… to name a few.

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second : this super cool glass water bottle from life factory. Continue reading

{whatever wednesday – some colourful and random fotos from my second home, NYC}

21 Aug

New York City

typical me – hiding behind the lense…

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cool colourful door in the lower east side…

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hilarious air-conditioner art…

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cool colourful and practical! Continue reading

{righteous rambutan}

20 Aug

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have you ever seen this crazy interesting fruit?!

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it’s called rambutan.  and it is by far the most bizarre-looking food i’ve eaten so far. Continue reading

{stunning and scrumptious squash blossoms}

19 Aug

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i mean, these are just gorgeous… right?!

i’ve always wanted to make something with squash blossoms, but due to the fact that they are hard to find and have a small window of availability, i often miss my opportunity…

…but not this time 🙂

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goat cheese stuffed squash blossoms… stunning and scrumptious.

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i could’ve had full-on foto shoot with them, but i got hungry… so this will have to suffice…

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…for now 😉 Continue reading

Voice Tunnel by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer

17 Aug

I SO WISH I WAS DOING THIS RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!

{beautiful bouquet of herbs}

16 Aug

i’m thankful i have a dear friend who has a lovely garden in her back yard…

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she occasionally gives me bunches of beautiful herbs, among other things like fresh farm eggs and summer squash… delicious!

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and chives, parsley, cilantro, mint…

and lavender…

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mmm, can you just smell it…?! !!

{once upon a time in my neighbourhood…}

13 Aug

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…i met a super sweet kitty who rolled around and played with me…

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…i saw some gorgeous tomatoes at the market…

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…i ate this chocolate lava cake….

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… i found this old polaroid lying on the ground… talk about speaking a thousand words! 😉 Continue reading

{foto friday – one stellar sunset!}

9 Aug

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 sloans lake park.  denver, colorado

© audrey michelle 2013

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{thirsty thursday : tunacado toasts w/ a little good karma!}

8 Aug

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i’ve written about this combination before…

it seems to be a big hit!  i mixed it up a little this time, but as usual, simple ingredients here : Continue reading

{some random favourite fotos from new york city}

7 Aug

will i always miss new york this much?!?!!

sigh. i’m reminiscing now through fotos…

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diggin’ the contrast here… in a few senses of the word…

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just love this one. Continue reading

{specialty produce – passionfruit}

6 Aug

definitely one of the more interesting and bizarre-looking fruits i’ve eaten…

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have you ever had a passionfruit?!  i bet you’ve had something with the flavour of passionfruit in it, like a drink or something… they are an interesting fruit. as they ripen, they begin to look like this foto – kind of wrinkly and you may even think it’s gone bad… but no no no! it’s just right…

when you first cut into a passionfruit, you may take a look inside and be like, “what in the world…?!”

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{meatless mondays : my very first “official” product review : hilary’s eat well veggie burgers

5 Aug

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hey gang, i hope you enjoyed the weekend.

lots of fun things happening around here at food and foto!  for starters, i gained my 600th {+} follower last week!  i am always so humbled and grateful when anyone subscribes to the blog.  please allow me to take this moment to thank those of you who take time to read and follow and comment and engage… i just really appreciate it!  this blog wouldn’t be the same if it weren’t for you!

also, i received an email from a lovely rep at Hilary’s Eat Well a few weeks ago, asking if i would be interested in trying and giving feedback on some of their products.  i was familiar with hilary’s eat well, but had never actually had the pleasure of eating any of their products… so i was super excited for the opportunity to not only try them, but to write about it on my blog!  my first official review 😀

once i read up on the company, i was even more excited for the experience. Continue reading

{sometimes ya just want comfort food…}

3 Aug

i love to embrace my southern side with some good ‘ol down-home comfort food cookin’…

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like smoked chicken drumsticks, mac and cheese, a brownie, and the best rootbeer ever.

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or a big bowl of chili and side of cornbread with some ginger ale…

what are some of your favourite go-to comfort foods?!

{my kitty, callee – doin’ some pretty cute cat stuff}

2 Aug

my kitty, callee, is incredibly adorable… like, really!  the fotos don’t really do her much justice… and unfortunately she’s too timid to show off her cuteness around many people other than myself… i’m blessed and grateful that she chose me… she’s so ridiculous and wonderful and funny and – ADORABLE!

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hiding behind the blinds… super spy kitty.

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literally wearing my swim suit after i was sunbathing one day… weirdo.

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doing the quintessential cat-in-the-box thing… friggin ridiculous.