Big (and small) news from the Middle of Nowhere

Wow. Wow. Wow.

We knew it was coming, but didn't know when. Last night we heard – and then saw, on the crawl – that Sylvia Mathews Burwell will be joining the Obama administration as Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Um, wow.

We spend every Christmas Eve at Sylvia's family's home. Her mother, the former mayor of our county seat, and I have worked together in Democratic politics for the past half-dozen years. We went to her wedding reception (the wedding was in Washington state, but they had two receptions so those of us who couldn't travel there for the ceremony could join in the celebration). We were at the christenings of both of her children.

You can Google to find out all about her experience and education and what she's been up to lately. Those of us who know her are just as proud as we can be. The next four Christmas Eves will be interesting, indeed. (She also served in the Clinton administration, and so were those Christmas Eves!)

The small news from the Middle of Nowhere is that it's Monday, and I weighed myself, and stayed the same. I'm not really surprised, although the calorie deficit this week suggested I might lose a little. But clearly that's not my pattern.

I've been drinking a great and easy green smoothie for breakfast the last couple days, which I plan to continue for a couple of reasons. First, it's delicious. Second, it makes a lot. And third, I can knock off four fruit and one vegetable servings in one meal.

Anyone with dentures will tell you that raw fruits and vegetables are difficult to manage. Except for bananas. I haven't had a vegetable salad since last summer, before the dental work began. Smoothies are an ideal way for me to consume raw food.

Here's the Pinterest description of this magical drink:

drink this daily and watch the pounds come off without fuss. The recipe is two handfuls of baby spinach, 1 apple, 1 banana, 1 cup of yogurt, 5 strawberries, 1/2 orange. Blend well and enjoy! This will give you tons of energy!

I can't say that it will help or hurt weight loss, and that's not why I'm adding it to my menu plan. When I saw it, I realized I had everything I needed to mix it up. And I was out of eggs. Heh. I used six strawberries, plain fat-free yogurt and a whole orange, and here are the numbers, according to LoseIt:

Calories: 363                    Carb: 80.4g
Fat: 1.1g                          Fiber 11.5g
Sat. Fat. 0.2g                   Sugars 58.4g
Cholest. 6.7mg                 Protein: 16.7g
Sodium: 210.3mg

If you haven't yet gotten on the green smoothie bandwagon, I highly recommend it. My husband looked askance at it, and wouldn't even have a taste. Contempt prior to investigation, and all that. But seriously? You have no idea you're drinking spinach. The "green" flavor is totally masked by the fruit, while you benefit from the nutrition. A win-win, if you ask me.

And if you're leery of drinking something green, serve it in an opaque vessel.

Or close your eyes.