Fun With Makeup (and Other Green Stuff) on St. Patrick's Day

I'm probably too old for the whole green beer thing on St. Patty's Day. Though truthfully, that was never my thing. But you never outgrow wanting to have fun! And fun with color has been my thing as of late.

Green eyeliner and nail polish - why not?

I don't normally pose for photos with my hand draped awkwardly about my neck, but I wanted to get all of my green in one photo. :) I'm going to work today, my in-person job (not the computer one), where I have to look like a grown-up and somewhat professional. So, the bright teal eyeshadow (yes, I do own that) isn't going to happen today, holiday or no. Instead, I pulled out the teal nail polish, and just a teensy bit of teal eyeliner, only on the bottom lash line. On top of my lid, I stuck with neutral black liner, silver shadows (lighter on the lid and darker in the crease), and a highlight of pale pink shadow below the brow. I think it works ok, and doesn't make me look cray-cray.

If you don't "covet" a colorful eyeliner, you should!

The liner I'm wearing is Urban Decay's 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Covet, which seems to be discontinued now, but you could still probably buy it online somewhere. Deep End appears to be very similar, and that's a color they still carry. Incidentally, Covet was the very eyeliner that got me all excited about makeup again, in a way I haven't been since my early teens. I can't believe I wasted so many years wearing brown eye makeup when there is a whole world of color out there! I encourage everyone to try a colorful eyeliner sometime.

Kiwi Bikini

I'm also wearing Sally Hansen's Xtreme Wear nail polish in Kiwi Bikini. It's good stuff, cheap drugstore polish that looks great and wears just fine. Just know that you'll need two coats to avoid streakiness. It also appears to be discontinued, but I only bought it last year so I'd imagine it's still kicking around somewhere. It's a nice line of polish, if you're looking to expand your nail polish collection inexpensively. I own a number of colors of Xtreme Wear and like them all.

Festive green breakfast

And how could I forget breakfast? Green pancakes for the kiddos (green food coloring) and a green smoothie for me. I followed my usual smoothie recipe, using pears (canned in 100% juice - no sugar or sweetener added) instead of berries. I really should have used green grapes, but red were what I had on hand (thus the weird red flecks). Still tasted totally delish, though.

But green isn't just for St. Patrick's Day, although I probably wouldn't do all the green at once if it weren't. And I don't dye my kids' pancakes every day, either. ;)

Do you do anything special, or green, on St. Patrick's Day?

Healthy and Delicious and Possibly Green Smoothie Recipe

I have struggled with my weight since high school. I love to eat, and I have a major sweet tooth. But lately, I have stopped struggling and just calmed down about the whole thing. I exercise, I eat a lot of healthy foods, and I still eat some not-so-healthy foods - a girl's gotta have her chocolate (every day). I try to follow two very basic premises: eat when you're hungry (and don't eat when you're not); and fuel your body primarily with real food. And my weight has settled in a comfortable place. Not skinny, not fat, but I am fitter than I was in my 20s. And I can live with that.

So I wanted to share a recipe I made up. It's nothing revolutionary, just a basic smoothie that can be whipped up in a few minutes for a quick and healthy meal or snack. I don't really measure the ingredients; I only did so for the purposes of writing it out here. Every ingredient can be changed to suit your tastes, but this is a good jumping off point if you're looking to get into smoothies.

This recipe makes a BIG smoothie, plenty enough to hold me until lunch. I drink it out of a 24 oz tumbler myself; it won't fit into anything smaller in one pour. I really don't count calories, but I did a rough count here and if you follow it as written originally, it'll be under 300 calories. And it tastes like a delicious, sweet treat.

Possibly Green Smoothie:
1/2 cup unflavored non-fat Greek yogurt (If you want it sweeter, use flavored yogurt of your choice. But try to stick to Greek; just a half cup has about 11 grams of protein. Use more yogurt if you want more protein or if you like a yogurt-y taste. At this amount, you can hardly tell there is yogurt in the smoothie.)
1/2 cup blueberries (Or literally any fruit you like. Blueberries and other dark berries make the smoothie purple. If you want your smoothie to be an attractive bright GREEN, then use a yellowish fruit, like pineapple, pear, peach, mango, apple, cantaloupe, honeydew, or mandarin oranges. Those little individual fruit cups they sell for kids' lunches are perfectly sized; I buy the no-added-sugar-or-sweetener kind and throw the whole cup in, juice and all.)
1/2 banana (Even if you're not a huge banana fan - I'm not - but half a banana is just enough to add sweetness and creaminess.)
1-2 cups fresh kale - (Do not pack it in. If you use frozen, which is already condensed, I'd use a lot less; maybe half a cup. You can also use any other sort of green: spinach, chard, or whatever floats your boat.)
1/2 cup seedless grapes (You may want to use red if your other fruit is a berry of some kind - they tend to be sweeter and offset the berries' tartness. You can use green grapes if you're going for a really green smoothie.)
1/2 cup ice and/or water (If you're using all frozen fruit, you can use little to no ice; if you're using fresh, then make it all ice.)
Have water (or milk/juice of your choice) handy to pour in if your smoothie is too thick.

Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend at high speed. I like my Vitamix but you certainly don't need such an expensive blender for a smoothie. I like that it totally pulverizes the ice, makes the kale invisible (I don't find green flecks appealing) and gives me a really smooth texture.

The green version, with mango instead of berries

Sorry, I'm not a food photographer - this does taste better than it looks!

I drink this for breakfast all year round, even in the winter. I alternate with sips of coffee (I know, I know - but it really does taste fine) to avoid getting chilled. Ha!
Enjoy!

Edited to add: A friend pointed out that the latest research indicates that eating too much raw kale may interfere with thyroid function. Just in case, I've stopped using raw kale every day. I generally either cook the kale first, or use another green like spinach.

Do you have any favorite, tried and true, healthy and totally delicious recipes?