Marketday = Joyday!

What a week it has been!  Every day was go go go seemingly without an end in sight.  Lucky for me…Friday is here and my favourite day of the week is tomorrow.  Marketday.  Otherwise known to the general population as Saturday. 

 

I love Marketday.  On a day that we could sleep in with the dogs…we instead get up early and go to the market.  We go in the same way every week and hit the local organic coffee café – 1 decaf almond milk latte please and thank you.   I used to be a die hard coffee drinker...the coffee was brewing first thing in the morning by necessity.  I only normally had a cup per day but I HAD to have that cup.  Fast forward through the last couple months and I have completely nixed the caffeine habit…with the exception of my weekly decaf almond milk latte at the market.  First thing I do once it’s in my grubby little mittens is to inhale the aroma of my weekly treat.  Joy in a cup!  Now, in order to get to the fruits and veggies we have to go downstairs.  Halfway down the stairs I stop…likely driving anyone behind me crazy, namely my husband…I need to look at the hustle and bustle; take in all the colours; listen to the sounds of the market.  It’s about 8:30 a.m. and once I have had my fill of the sights and sounds and with my coffee in hand, I go down the stairs and start our weekly ritual of chatting with the vendors and finding just the right veggies and fruit for our meals.   This is living and the only thing that will be better is when I am harvesting veggies from my garden this summer!  That's another blog tho...watch for it...Urban Farmer Gals Unite!

 

Why do I shop at the market you ask...I mean besides the latte?  For a couple really great reasons.  1.) I believe in supporting our local farmers and trying to ensure that our produce is bought as close to home as possible.  This time of year I will admit it is more difficult but we do try.  2.) It's cheaper!!!  WAY cheaper!  Nuff said.  

 

Once we leave the market, it's off to the local health food store to stock up on pantry items.  Again...I could get the things I need at the larger grocery store in town and yes I could save a couple bucks on my Earth Balance etc...but the folks at Full Circle are knowledgeable and friendly...and a small local business instead of a large conglomerate.  So they get my extra bucks... 

Now, by this time of the week the pickings in the fridge are getting pretty slim…I don’t want to buy at the grocery store when I know I am a day or two away from Marketday.  So breakfast becomes a creative exercise…today was no exception!  Breakfast is often fresh juice or a smoothie.  Today it was a smoothie…and although it wasn’t the loveliest color…it was fabulous!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mango Kale Smoothie

Makes 1 serving

Put the ingredients in the blender in the order they appear - this keeps the kale close to the blades and keeps the seeds from flying all over the place.

½ cup fresh strawberries

5 kale leaves (I ripped them up a bit to give my poor blender a break but if your blender is strong you may not need to do this.)  
1.5 tbsp ground flax seeds
1 tbsp chia (soaked or unsoaked)
1 cup of frozen mango chunks
1 ¼ cups of coconut water (not from concentrate)

Blend, pour, enjoy!