Amazing Happy Hour Alert!

Earlier this week, I headed over to Clarendon, VA for some "girl time" over cocktails at Cava Mezze. Cava Mezze is a small chain of Greek restaurants located in the Metropolitan area of Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia - also known as the "The DMV". I've visited Cava for dinner and brunch and left extremely happy each time. I'm happy to say that the same rings true for their "Happy Hour". HH runs from 4pm until 7pm, on Mondays through Fridays, at both the Clarendon and Capitol Hill locations. During those three hours, patrons are treated to a large selection of Cava's signature cocktails - which are only $5 each - and a wonderful selection of what I'll call "small plates". These small plates include their hummus, harissa and Crazy Feta dips, plus delicious meatball sliders, fries and mini gyros. These run between $3 and $4 each. Crazy, right? Of course, the lovely folks at Cava haven't forgotten about the beer and wine drinkers out there - there's a pretty nice menu of beers on tap, sangria and house wines. My faves? The Spicy Stoli Mule, harissa and the mini gyro pita. Yummers!

Outside of the awesome refreshments, I absolutely loved the atmosphere and service, The bartender was attentive and SO nice! I couldn't have asked for a better time.

xo - Breezy

In an effort to stay on the right side of healthy this summer, I've been keeping up with Haylie Pomroy's weekly e-mails filled with clean meal suggestions and motivations. ("Sidebar": Haylie Pomroy is a celebrity nutritionist and health consultant - notable clientele includes Jennifer Lopez (!!!) and Reese Witherspoon - whose Fast Metabolism Diet (FMD) has been featured on nearly every daytime talk show within the past year. Read About the FMD Here.) Her latest e-mail featured a selection of smoothies that are perfect for the summer months. This was right up my alley as I've been obsessed with green smoothies since January. I was most drawn to this Blueberry-Almond Butter smoothie:

Blueberry-Almond Butter Smoothie

Use up those in-season blueberries, which are loaded with antioxidants, in this powerful metabolism-booster.

Phase 3
Serves 1
Prep time: 5 minutes
Total time: 5 minutes

1/2 cup lightly packed kale leaves, stems removed
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
1 tablespoon almond butter
3/4 cup almond milk
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
10 drops liquid stevia
1/2 cup ice cubes

Put all of the ingredients into a blender except for the ice. Pulse to blend. Add the ice and blend completely.

Breezy's Blueberry-Almond Butter Smoothie

I didn't follow this recipe to a "T" as I'm not really fond of stevia and didn't have any almond milk on hand. I skipped the stevia and used coconut milk instead of almond. I also used a bit more kale than recommended (like I said - I'm hooked on green!). My verdict? Loved it. While, my smoothie was, of course, greener than the photo of Haylie's version, I can't imagine that mine didn't have a similar taste. I liked that it was heavier than most of the smoothies I make. I don't use any kind of supplements so, my typical smoothies don't usually sustain as meal replacements. This smoothie was definitely up for that challenge. Try it!

xo - Breezy