TGIF! Another busy week down and I’m feeling pretty good after 5 straight days of spinach-loaded smoothie breakfasts, it’s amazing how satisfying a smoothie is for breakfast, making it to lunch has not been a problem. Also, energy has been plentiful this week with only one cup of coffee in the morning instead of my usual two, I’m not trying to completely quite caffeine, but it’s nice not having to pee as much in the morning.

Shifting gears to not-so-healthy grub, this is a pretty interesting article, some shocking surprises calorie-wise, I hate seeing salads that are worse calorie-wise than burgers because I usually order salads with dressing on the side when stuck at a non-raw friendly restaurant. Another interesting article on junk food that hit home with me because I’m really trying to notice the mental effects of a high-percentage raw/plant-based diet. In the last month I’ve noticed just feeling more mellow, less-moody and not even tempted by junk food waved under my nose. I especially notice it while driving, hardly bothered when someone cuts me off and by careless drivers in general.

As you’ve probably noticed, I’m obsessed with raw soups lately, especially as I compare different recipes and try them in a Vita-Mix when I can. I like the idea of condensing so many veggies in a tasty bowl that’s easy on the digestive system. And I’m still determined to find a raw broccoli soup recipe I really like. I tried this one (top recipe) for lunch in a Vita-Mix:

And it was just okay, it really lacked kick to me and the broccoli flavor was too strong, it needed more cumin and garlic I think. On the plus side, it was much smoother than the last broccoli soup I tried in my KitchenAid blender. I have a ton more broccoli in my fridge, maybe I’ll try again over the weekend.

Typically we like to eat out on Friday nights, but decided to stay in and cook tonight, it was super nice and relaxing after a busy week and gave us a chance to catch up with the Netflix pile. I also decided to try a splurge and prayed my KitchenAid blender would not die in the process. But, I was in the mood for ice cream and had all the ingredients for this simple Almond Banana Date Ice Cream, but ended up changing it. The finished product looked a lot like ice cream:

And it was a satisfying treat for hubby and I to share in front of the TV. It tasted like creamy, super-sweet, banana ice cream with nut and date chunks and very much like it was loaded with cream and sugar even though it was not , I’m very impressed with how easy and tasty this was and impressed that my blender handled it like a champ, I only had to stop, push-down and stir 3 times.