I was away for a short trip to Bellevue. It was more of about shopping and spending time together rather than sight seeing.
Bellevue is a small beautiful town with quiet roads on east side of Seattle. Even the Bellevue square mall seemed hardly crowded. There were some unique shops in Bellevue square which I visited like TEAVANA, POTTERY & BARN, OIL& VINEGAR and VERA BRADLEY and did buy couple of things.
It was my daughter who was excited about shopping there but I found the mall, a slight upscale. What I loved the most about this place was that it was surrounded by many restaurants. We could pretty much walk every where. Red Robin, P.F Chang and Garlic Jim were the three restaurants where we ate. P.F Chang was awesome with a separate gluten free menu including desserts. I was so glad to have discovered gluten free pizza at Garlic Jim. I enjoyed excellent crisp crust pizza after a long time. I also found a couple of gluten free sweet snacks at Tully's coffee. I guess people in US are more aware of gluten sensitivity.
In all it was fun eating gluten free meals in different restaurants and spending time browsing a stylish mall.
Before heading on a trip I had to finish my berries and couple of kiwis that were sitting in the fridge from about a week. So smoothie was the best way to finish them. Strawberries add color and mix well with most fruits providing sweet flavor. I have not added any juice, milk or yogurt in the strawberry smoothie. The colour of the smoothie has not come vibrant because of my poor photography skills.
STRAWBERRY SMOOTHIE
Ingredients:
30 strawberries rinsed and hulled
few blue berries
half apple
1 &1/2 peeled kiwi
1tsp flax meal
Method:
Add everything to the blender. Turn it on speed 1 increase to speed 10. Then blend on high for 30 -45 sec or until smooth. Pour your smoothie into a glass. Garnish with left over sliced kiwi. Enjoy a great smoothie.
I added 2tblsp of orange juice in my glass when I found it to be too thick.The addition of flax meal is just to boost omega 3.
MARVELOUS MANGO SHAKE
When we came back we wanted something refreshing after a continuous 3 hour drive. There was apple and orange juice in my refrigerator. Mu daughter asked if we had any more left over fruit, because she wanted smoothie. I remembered I had frozen mangoes. I always freeze some mangoes in June for smoothies and sorbet. We do get mangoes till the end of august but they are not very sweet.
Ingredients:
2 cups frozen mangoes
2tbsp sugar
1-2 cup skim milk
1tsp ground green cardamom seeds,
few ice cubes
Method:
Place all ingredients into the vita mix container. Select variable1. Turn on the machine and quickly increase speed to variable 10, then to high. Blend for 1 minute using the tamper to press the ingredients into the blades.
Add more milk if it looks thick.
Sip the ice cold and creamy mango shake while listening to this lovely soft romantic song.
Bellevue is a small beautiful town with quiet roads on east side of Seattle. Even the Bellevue square mall seemed hardly crowded. There were some unique shops in Bellevue square which I visited like TEAVANA, POTTERY & BARN, OIL& VINEGAR and VERA BRADLEY and did buy couple of things.
It was my daughter who was excited about shopping there but I found the mall, a slight upscale. What I loved the most about this place was that it was surrounded by many restaurants. We could pretty much walk every where. Red Robin, P.F Chang and Garlic Jim were the three restaurants where we ate. P.F Chang was awesome with a separate gluten free menu including desserts. I was so glad to have discovered gluten free pizza at Garlic Jim. I enjoyed excellent crisp crust pizza after a long time. I also found a couple of gluten free sweet snacks at Tully's coffee. I guess people in US are more aware of gluten sensitivity.
In all it was fun eating gluten free meals in different restaurants and spending time browsing a stylish mall.
Before heading on a trip I had to finish my berries and couple of kiwis that were sitting in the fridge from about a week. So smoothie was the best way to finish them. Strawberries add color and mix well with most fruits providing sweet flavor. I have not added any juice, milk or yogurt in the strawberry smoothie. The colour of the smoothie has not come vibrant because of my poor photography skills.
STRAWBERRY SMOOTHIE
Ingredients:
30 strawberries rinsed and hulled
few blue berries
half apple
1 &1/2 peeled kiwi
1tsp flax meal
Method:
Add everything to the blender. Turn it on speed 1 increase to speed 10. Then blend on high for 30 -45 sec or until smooth. Pour your smoothie into a glass. Garnish with left over sliced kiwi. Enjoy a great smoothie.
I added 2tblsp of orange juice in my glass when I found it to be too thick.The addition of flax meal is just to boost omega 3.
MARVELOUS MANGO SHAKE
When we came back we wanted something refreshing after a continuous 3 hour drive. There was apple and orange juice in my refrigerator. Mu daughter asked if we had any more left over fruit, because she wanted smoothie. I remembered I had frozen mangoes. I always freeze some mangoes in June for smoothies and sorbet. We do get mangoes till the end of august but they are not very sweet.
Ingredients:
2 cups frozen mangoes
2tbsp sugar
1-2 cup skim milk
1tsp ground green cardamom seeds,
few ice cubes
Method:
Place all ingredients into the vita mix container. Select variable1. Turn on the machine and quickly increase speed to variable 10, then to high. Blend for 1 minute using the tamper to press the ingredients into the blades.
Add more milk if it looks thick.
Sip the ice cold and creamy mango shake while listening to this lovely soft romantic song.
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