Sweatshirt that nicely sums up my feelings about this “aging” thing
In celebration of the fact that I am about to turn 35 and am kind of weirded out by that, here are a few of the many (oh, so many) ways that I know that I am old:
- I have to use toothpaste formulated for sensitive teeth because of my sad, sad gum situation (one that is, of course, entirely my fault).
- I am more excited about the fact that I have managed to grow a tomato plant in my backyard than makes sense.
- I take acid reflux pills, like an actual grandmother.
- Yesterday, I googled the words “mayonnaise substitute.”
- The other night, Kendrick mentioned that his neck has been hurting him when he wakes up in the morning, and we had a serious conversation about whether orthopedic pillows might a worthwhile investment.
- The music level in Abercrombie and Fitch makes me furious.
And, of course, there’s the fact that I’ve spent the past few months realizing that I need to start consciously putting things into my body that are good for it, rather than whatever’s in front of me and doesn’t require a fork (usually macaroni and cheese, which totally counts as finger food). This, as you might have guessed, doesn’t exactly come naturally, so what I’ve discovered is that it’s best if I do that put-good-stuff-in thing sometime around 8AM, when I still care.
So each and every morning – and this is not a sentence that I ever imagined myself writing – I make myself and Kendrick a smoothie. In this smoothie goes either frozen mango or frozen berries, a banana, either hemp seeds or chia seeds, a few leaves of spinach, a few leaves of kale (KALE. I can’t even) and some unsweetened almond milk. It is inexplicably delicious, makes me feel wildly virtuous, and, to my mind, totally negates the fact that I may or may not just go ahead and eat Ho-Hos for lunch.
Yesterday I went one step further.
I made parsley juice. (I know: ew. Stay with me.)
What happened was that I picked up a cookbook by the chef who catered the (spectacularly delicious) dinner at the Pier 1 event I went to a couple of weeks ago with the intention of finding something fun to make for dinner, but ended up opening the book to discover a page singing the praises of…parsley.
Which is not a thing I was aware was especially praise-worthy. I mean, I grow it in my garden, but only because I’m constantly taking photos that would benefit from the addition of some green sprigs.
One of the recipes on the page was for something called parsley juice, and I read it out of pure curiosity (my nose wrinkled all the while) before realizing that I had everything I needed to make the stuff either in my cupboards or in my garden. And then I remembered that my friend Alisa was coming over later that afternoon, and she is the kind of confusing person who makes things like parsley juice not because she feels like she “should,” but because she actually enjoys them.
So?
Parsley juice.
Please note how incomplete this photograph would feel without a random green sprig
It is not very good. But it is apparently very, very good for you. (Full disclosure: Alisa drank 90% of what you see here while I drank wine instead. She also told me she thought it was delicious, which means she is either a very good friend or that she has tastebuds that have been irreparably damaged by years of close contact with organic things.)
If you still want to make some after this ringing endorsement, here you go.
* * *
PARSLEY JUICE (from Hero Food by Seamus Mullen)*
What You Need:
- 1 bunch fresh parsley, stems and all
- 1 apple
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp grated peeled fresh ginger
What You Do:
- Rinse the parsley thoroughly.
- Core and quarter the apple.
- Combine all ingredients in a blender, add 1/4 cup water and a couple of ice cubes. Process until liquid and serve.
*Note: This isn’t technically a “juice” – it has more texture, since you make it in a blender and don’t strain out the fibrous bits. But you can totally make it in a Vitamix or juicer if you prefer a smoother blend. Taste-wise, that would probably be better since you wouldn’t end up sort of having to chew your juice, but you’d also lose some of the benefits, so….I mean, this is so not my thing, so I don’t know. Your call.
