Green smoothie a day

You already know that to eat better means to enjoy more vegetables and fruits in your diet, aiming for up to five servings a day!

How about a perfect way to sneak in a load of fresh greens in one simple delicious smoothie that will instantly boost your energy level and make your skin glow?

I recommend adding to your diet green smoothies as a perfect way to pump in a ton of nutrients and vitamins. Not only they taste amazing and low in calories, but also quick and easy in preparation.

Mainstays of green smoothies are greens: kale, chard, Romaine lettuce, spinach, collard...

 Greens are rich in vitamins A, C, K, B2, B6, magnesium, folic acid, iron, calcium, potassium, protein, phosphorus, zinc, omega-3 fatty acids and fiber. Think about the best source of micronutrients!

The formula for a green smoothie is simple:

GREENS + LIQUID+ FRUIT/BANANA/BERRIES ± ICE  ± EXTRAS

1.  Greens. The darker greens particularly taste a bit bitter, so if you are a novice in green smoothies and want to adjust to the taste first, start off with the spinach- it blends very well and you can barely taste it.

2. Liquid – can be anything you like: water, almond milk, regular milk, soymilk, juice, etc.). Usually 1⅓ - 1 ½ cup of liquid is enough.  The less liquid you add the thicker will be your smoothie. Creamier beverage like milk will produce creamier smoothie.

3. Frozen or fresh fruit (pineapple, mango, papaya, orange, banana, etc) or berries (strawberries, blueberries, etc).  You also can combine them according to your taste!  

4. Ice  - optional if you are not using frozen fruit or you want some extra coolness.

5. Extra ingredients can be added up according to your taste.  Example:  flax seeds for  omega- 3 fatty acids, scoop of protein powder to increase the protein content, peanut or other nut butter, etc.

Try this simple green smoothie: 

2 cups of spinach + 1 frozen or fresh banana+ 1 cup of frozen pineapple chunks + 1 ½ cups of liquid of your choice+ ice (optional)

Place all  ingredients into the blender starting with spinach first then add banana, fruits, and liquid.

Blend everything well.  Add ice and blend on the ice setting for some extra time. Pour into your favorite glass and enjoy. Be ready for an instant boost of energy!

Want more ideas for  green smoothies? Check out this site.  

Skylight one hanson

happy weekend everyone!


today we were off to brooklyn flea market located  at one hanson place, fort green. it was our first time there and we wanted to explore the place without any particular things we'd wanted to buy in mind. 


it was like a tour in museum as the flea featured hundreds of vendors of antique furniture, vintage clothing, collectibles, huge selection of jewelry, art and crafts by local artisans and designers. 


not to mention amazing skylight one hanson itself -an art deco and romanesque masterpiece with marble floors, carved teller stations, magnificent 63 foot vaulted ceiling and 40 foot mosaic,  located inside the world-famous former williamsburgh savings bank clocktower.


we definitely enjoyed...

new york half marathon recap

finally it happened and i ran my 13.1 miles on a sunday morning on march 18th.

the first ever race, for which i was training since the end of december 2011.

it was awesome despite the fact that i caught the cold three days before the race day, and even the night prior, wasn't sure whether i should run or not with still ongoing symptoms of cold.  i drank tons of tea with lemon, honey and raspberries and teraflu on occasion all those days and felt much better on the morning of the race (i really- really wanted to cross the finish line).

i had to blow my nose as i ran, but nevertheless the whole experience was great. i loved the energy of the race and enjoyed the amazing course through central park, times square and along hudson river.  i had the best support i could imagine- my mom, sister, and askhad. he was literally running the whole race with me,  taking the pictures  along the way (best running paparazzi, i can say). askhad did not officially participate in the race but jumped in and ran almost to the finish line - it was such a huge support  for me!



we started off central park - one loop equals 6 miles (i knew every inch of that route!!!)  and it's quite hilly.

the course then ran down seventh avenue through times square out to the west side highway and around the tip of manhattan to south street seaport - all flat surface.

 during my training i was not following any specific plan. working full time with one day off, i just tried to accommodate as many runs in central park as i could (usually 3-4 times per week) along with yoga classes - it meant 'no'  to almost all happy hours.
if it was raining (thankfully winter was amazingly warm this year)  i would skip the run in the favor of yoga.  it was a bit scary to even imagine to run 13 miles, especially when my longest run was about 9 miles.  i am sure- training in central park (which is definitely the hardest part of half marathon course) allowed me to tackle the distance without much problem.

i managed to accomplish my goal- to run the whole thing and  though did not care much about timing was very pleased with my finish time - 1:48. 

camera awesome or my family is finally here

i have some great news to share!

i can't even express how happy i am...

my mom and my youngest sister are here in new york! 

we haven't hugged each other in several years!!!(we've been talking on skype quite often though while apart).

it's quite awesome to have my family finally gathering together. 

as i and askhad running around new york in all our spare time showing the city to mom and sis, we take great amount of touristic pictures in places which are a "must see" for everyone visiting new york...  

i am going to upload our pictures soon;)

recently i've come across a nice application on the iphone -"camera awesome" which is partially free and here are some of the results:   

1001 nights

hope you had a great weekend and start of the week!
mine started with a busy day in the outpatient clinic where i had morning and evening sessions.  the whole day was spent in the medical office seeing patients and discussing cases with attending.

after work i went to yoga class at sonicyoga and it was awesome (recently i've been going there only once per week and by chance it is always monday).

since half marathon is around the corner, i try to get as much runs in central park as my schedule allows...and sacrifice my yoga (i surely lost almost all my flexibility and my hamstrings are as tight as they could ever be).

over the weekend we had a great meeting with our tatar friends. thanks to mansur, who organized the party  and gathered us together. this time we were pleasantly surprised that so many people from tristate area have showed up. it was awesome to see old friends and meet new in such a cozy place as 1001 nights located in brooklyn. we all agreed on that particular place since it offered  authentic middle eastern menu very close to tatar national cuisine (samsa, pilaf, lagman, manty) for a very reasonable price.

i want to share with some of the pictures taken that evening:

 the whole crew posing outside)

  beautiful liliya that we met the first time and right away became friends

 alsu and leysen - we were so lucky that day to meet such an interesting and talented people.

those two girls have such a nice sense of humour!

   leylochka and guzel both very charming and beautiful young ladies. 

 renat, leana and kamil - have the most beautiful smiles ever!!!

  askhad and rasikh. 

 me and liliya again

kamil and leana

 bulat and radik

 beautiful couple- rasikh and leysen

  finally, gentelman wearing the blue shirt is mansur (thanks again for gathering us)!!!!

 talhat and renat

belly dancing

ruslan was charmed by a belly dancer) 

renat

and yet another surprise-his name is also askhad!

tea drinking of course a hit! 

after party most of us went to dance in the nearby lounge.

i want to say thank you again for such a wonderful evening we all spent together!!!!