Sunday, April 6, 2014

Avocado in your smoothie

Have you tried using avocado as a substitute for oil or eggs or bananas in recipes?  I thought it was kind of weird in thought. I mean, avocado?? It's green and used in guacamole. Who puts it in a drink?


Well I do now!   I love it in smoothies. It adds a whole level of creaminess that not even bananas can create. This is my new favorite smoothie combination. 

Chocolate Protein Raspberry - Strawberry - Blueberry Green Smoothie

1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/2 ripe avocado
2 spinach ice cubes or 1 cup fresh spinach and 1 cup ice
1 cup almond milk or 1 chopped up apple
1 cup frozen berries (raspberry - strawberry - blueberry any combination)
1 scoop chocolate protein

I put the frozen ingredients at the bottom and pour the milk over the top and blend until smooth. 

If it is too thick, add a little more liquid. If it's not cold enough or thick enough, add more ice. 

It is amazing!  It has the consistency of frozen yogurt and makes for a delicious breakfast - snack - dessert.  And it is ridiculously filling. It makes about 16 oz of smoothie and works perfectly for two servings. 

To share or freeze for later :)

Oh and if you haven't made spinach ice cubes yet, you should definitely do it!  I buy a big bag of fresh spinach when it's on sale and dump the whole thing in my Vitamix and add just about a cup of water so I can blend the spinach until it's completely liquid. Then I pour the liquid into my ice cube trays and freeze them. Once frozen, I pop them out of the trays and put them in a ziploc bag and save them to throw a couple in a smoothie every day. Easiest way to make a tasty green smoothie and add some vitamins! 

Saturday, April 5, 2014

GF peanut butter chocolate chip pecan cookies



Flour free, sugar free peanut butter chocolate chip pecan cookies 

2 cups peanut butter
2/3 cup honey
2 eggs
2 tablespoons vanilla
2 tsp baking soda
2/3 cup chocolate chips
2/3 cup pecans 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Mix together PB, honey, vanilla until completely combined. Whip in your eggs in a separate bowl and then fold into the PB mixture. Lightly mix in the baking soda and then add in the chocolate chips and pecans. 

Scoop out tablespoon size balls and roll between your hands firmly to pack it together. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Let cool completely before eating or else they might crumble. 

Makes about 16.

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Easter baskets, eggs and everything in between (literally)

I am always trying to stay away from extra candy during holidays. Of course then you are left with buying toys or trinkets that generally are cheap and break easily. Or you end up spending $20-30 on each basket (not feasible for us).  And frankly, my kids have plenty (too much, in my opinion) and really don't need any extra clutter for the sake of having a basket-filler. 

So where does that leave you when the Easter Bunny comes around?  And then you also have to fill eggs.  What, other than candy, can go in there?

My Grandma used to fill Easter eggs with change. It was always exciting to see if you got a quarter or a dime or a penny. When we were done, we pooled the money together and divided it evenly so everyone got $5. It seemed like so much!  $5!  Now, I feel like $5 doesn't get you very much at all. 

We have done candy in past years, but it's always a struggle for me to left them eat it afterwards. Like with Halloween, they are only allowed a little at a time and I end up throwing the majority of it away. So what's the point of that?  I don't want that candy sitting in a bag for endless days, but I also don't want kids gorged out on sugar. 

Yesterday, I got basket-fillings while local stores had some good sales.
ignore the upside down Larabar
Each kid is getting a spiral notebook and a new pack of metallic crayons.  We found LED mini flashlights at the Dollar Tree that will be fun for playing outside in the summer.  The peanut butter chocolate chip organic granola bars and organic fruit strips were on sale, so I am going to divide those up. And Larabars (peanut butter chocolate chip) were on sale too, the kids will be super excited for those.  As their one piece of actual candy, I bought the Reese's pieces filled carrots because we all love chocolate and peanut butter (in case you couldn't tell).  As their knick-knacky toy, I got the boys carrot shaped darts to throw at each other and Calla a new sparkly nail polish (She will die). 

Otherwise, I am kind of stuck. We have a million other art supplies and chalk and bubbles galore.  I feel like this is the same conundrum I get into with Christmas stockings. I want them to appreciate what they have rather than get "stuff" just for the sake of "stuff". 

My kids REALLY want for nothing. 

Which is good.

Right?

What are you filling your Easter eggs with this year?  What holiday traditions do you have?  Has any one tried stuffing stickers in those dang plastic eggs?  Also, what's your opinion on the Easter basket grass (personally, it's not allowed at our house. Same goes for tinsel).  

Monday, March 31, 2014

Nerf Wars Birthday party

We have been planning this birthday party for awhile.  

I am crazy like that, where I get an idea in my head and have to figure it all out before it drives me crazy.  I don't really remember how I got the idea for a Nerf Wars themed birthday party, but as soon as the idea came I began researching (Pinterest) how others had done their party and slowly a plan began to take shape.

Bonkers4Bottlecaps
I ordered the birthday invitations from an Etsy.com store called Bonkers4Bottlecaps.  It is awesome.  Basically it's a printable layout that you can customize with Photoshop to put in your child's name and birthday info.  There are also ones that you can order and have the shop edit for you if you don't have Photoshop.  You get an email when the file is created and can customize it immediately.  Ours cost $3 for the file and then I had them printed on 4x6 photo paper (so two fit per page) at a local Rite Aid photo center.  Very cheap to do, but they look awesome!

Then the birthday party came.


Everyone got a bandana, sunglasses and a pack of 10 darts.  At first, we thought about doing colored bandanas for "teams" but we ended up deciding to go with random colors in case any one was upset about not being on a team with another friend.  (Ordered a 12 pack of bandanas from Amazon)

Originally we thought the sunglasses would just look cool, like super cool Army guys or something, but the boys ended up really needing eye protection (what with all the random darts flying every where) so I am glad they all wore them! (Sunglasses are from Party City - $1 a pair)

When all the parents called to RSVP, I suggested that they leave their darts from home at home because they would probably get lost.  I bulk bought darts on ebay.com and got them incredibly cheap - 200 darts for $16.  If you are looking at hosting a Nerf party, I would definitely look into sellers on ebay.   Make sure you give yourself enough time to get them, since most sellers are overseas.

After making sure that none of the boys coming had skin allergies, we ordered camouflage face paint.  At the party, the boys grabbed their gear bags and we quickly put on camo paint so they could load their guns and listen to the "safety briefing".  I opted to buy a more expensive face paint stick (Camo Face Paint stick from Amazon) rather than the traditional costume paint because it was so easy to apply.  All we did was draw a line under each of the boys' eyes and smug it a little with a cotton ball.  

During the "safety briefing", we went over the rules of Nerf Wars.

No shooting above the shoulders or pointing a gun at someone's face.
No shooting an unarmed or unloaded person (if you ran out of darts you had to put your hands up).
Make sure to listen and respect every one.


We had different target practice games planned as team events.  Since we had twelve boys and five adults, we split them in four groups of three for the team shooting relay, the balloon and Army guy shooting match.


The house was decked out for Nerf War battle.  I knew my boys would be pumped shooting darts in the house and I didn't want anything to get broken or damaged.  I took down all the picture frames and family mementos and replaced them with targets, plastic toys and balloons.  I didn't want to spend a ton on decorations or things that would get shot and possibly broken, so these are the decorations I came up with.

1)  We set up Army guys on every ledge we could think of.  These were super hard targets and only one boy was able to hit them.  I liked how they took up decoration space and made for a fun challenge to hit.  We already had a collection of plastic Army guys, so this didn't cost us any money.  I have seen them on sale at Dollar Tree and other grocery stores for $1-3.

2) I got yellow and orange paper plates on clearance at a local grocery store and they worked perfectly for targets to tape on the walls.  We ended up having enough left over to use as plates for the party too.  Although it took a little time to draw the circles on the plates, it was worth the $2 for paper plates rather than buying pre-made paper targets.

3) This picture isn't great, but I saved up plastic milk and juice jugs and spray painted them desert camo colored and painted targets on them.  We had between 8-10 on ledges around the house and they were also a fun challenge, but a little easier to hit.  They make a nice "thunk" sound when you hit them.  Since I already had the spray paint left over from Gabe's pine wood derby car, this cost us $0!  If you don't have paint, don't worry!  You can always draw or print out targets and tape them on to empty containers.

4)  Balloons.  In typical fashion, I put balloons everywhere.  What is a birthday without big colorful balloons every where anyway?  We didn't splurge on helium balloons that much this year and instead opted to get the regular latex balloons and taped them to the walls and doorways.  The boys thought it was AWESOME to shoot the balloons off the walls and see if they could knock them down.  When they were all knocked down, we did a "skeet" challenge where an adult threw the balloon in the air and the boys took turns trying to shoot it in the air.  I stuck with the yellow, orange, blue color scheme and got three packs of 15 balloons.  Each pack cost me about $1.50 at Target.

There are so many different target shooting challenges you can do and the boys really loved having the teams and having to shoot as fast as they could!  Even though not all the boys knew each other, some were school friends and some from Cub Scouts, all the boys on each team banded together.

After the games, it was time to eat.


I really wanted to stick with healthy options but also wanted them to have fun (allergy-free) choices.  We had pepperoni pizzas, oranges, carrots, bananas, crackers, cheese balls, string cheese sticks and squeezable applesauce.  I got Gatorade (gasp!) in blue, yellow and orange.  All the boys got to fill their own plates and I was pleasantly surprised when I saw bananas, oranges and apple sauces going on plates.  After eating their fill, we moved on to sing Happy Birthday and gorge ourselves on the Nerf dart cupcakes and ice cream.


First can I just say - I MADE THESE!  I USED FONDANT AND MADE THESE FROM SCRATCH!

Sorry about that.

This was the first time I made and used fondant and can I also say, What the heck?  It is so easy to make fondant and so easy to use (link below), I am completely disappointed I haven't tried to do it before.  The night before I rolled out the fondant darts and dipped them in chocolate and put them in the freezer to stay hard.  Right before eating, I got them out of the freezer and put them on top of the cupcakes.  All the boys were surprised that they weren't real darts and that they could eat them!  Although they aren't as super cool as some of the other cakes and cupcakes I have seen at other Nerf parties, I am pretty happy that I went out of my decorating comfort zone and made these.

In the end, we put together teams and had an all out Nerf War, taking no prisoners and shooting and ambushing every one in sight.  When the doorbell rang and parents came to pick up the boys, every one seemed disappointed to leave (a sign of a good party) and the parents looked at me like I was a little crazy (running around shooting darts at the other adults).

It was a great birthday party.  A great turn out.  And honestly, a great relief!  Last year, Gabe's Lego birthday party didn't go so well (out of 7 RSVP's, one boy came) and we were all holding our breath that this year would be different.  And it was.

14 boys.
5 adults.
200 darts.
Too much fun.

Try it out!


Here are some more links to other parties I found while researching (Pinterest):

Inspiration for my cupcakes
Thought about doing this if the weather was nice.
Used these in the living room as targets
From Oriental Trading Company
An awesome idea for an inside nerf war

Sunday, March 2, 2014

12 week HIIT Cardio and Lifting program (weeks 5-8)

I have been noticeably absent from the blog world.  I apologize.  Our daily schedule has gotten pretty crazy with me doing this daily work out and all the other activities the kids have started in on, but I have been striving to make the best of every work out, making sure I get enough protein with each meal and resting on off days.


I have just finished the first four weeks of the bodybuilding.com Women's Training Bible and have decided to add on a little to the next set of four weeks to help me target areas (like my legs and abs) that I found I need to work on more.  That's the best part of working out, customizing it to the way you need.


So here are my next four weeks worth of daily workouts.

12 WEEK HIIT CARDIO AND LIFTING WORKOUT

WEEK FIVE AND SIX

MONDAY

LIFTING
Barbell curls 12-15 reps
Bent over barbell rows 15-20 reps
Barbell shoulder press 12-15 reps
Barbell bench press 15-20 reps
Barbell Tricep extensions 12-15 reps
Repeat 2x

TUESDAY

LIFTING
Barbell squats 15-20 reps
Dead lifts 15-20 reps
Barbell lunges 15-20 reps (each leg)
Standing calf raises with barbell 15-20 reps
In and out crunches 15-20 reps
Lying leg raises 15-20 reps
Bicycle crunches 35-40 reps
Raised leg crunches 35-40 reps
Repeat 2x

WEDNESDAY - OFF

THURSDAY

LIFTING
Tricep dips 15-20 reps
Barbell curls 12-15 reps
Lateral raises with barbell 12-15 reps
Barbell pull downs 12-15 reps
Barbell Tricep extensions 12-15 reps
Repeat 2x

FRIDAY

LIFTING
Barbell squats 15-20 reps
Dead lifts 15-20 reps
Barbell lunges 15-20 reps (each leg)
Standing calf raises with barbell 15-20 reps
Barbell shrugs 15-20 reps
In and out crunches 15-20 reps
Lying leg raises 15-20 reps
Supermans 15-20 reps
Bicycle crunches 35-40 reps
Raised leg crunches 35-40 reps
Repeat 2x

SATURDAY - OFF
SUNDAY - OFF

WEEKS SEVEN AND EIGHT

MONDAY

LIFTING
Barbell curls 12-15 reps
Bent over barbell rows 15-20 reps
Barbell shoulder press 12-15 reps
Barbell bench press 15-20 reps
Barbell Tricep extensions 12-15 reps
Repeat 2x

TUESDAY
only doing one rep instead of the four
LIFTING
Barbell squats 15-20 reps
Dead lifts 15-20 reps
Barbell lunges 15-20 reps (each leg)
Standing calf raises with barbell 15-20 reps
In and out crunches 15-20 reps
Lying leg raises 15-20 reps
Bicycle crunches 35-40 reps
Raised leg crunches 35-40 reps
Repeat 2x
WEDNESDAY - OFF

THURSDAY

LIFTING
Tricep dips 15-20 reps
Barbell curls 12-15 reps
Lateral raises with barbell 12-15 reps
Barbell pull downs 12-15 reps
Barbell Tricep extensions 12-15 reps
Repeat 2x

FRIDAY
only doing one rep instead of four
LIFTING
Barbell squats 15-20 reps
Dead lifts 15-20 reps
Barbell lunges 15-20 reps (each leg)
Standing calf raises with barbell 15-20 reps
Barbell shrugs 15-20 reps
In and out crunches 15-20 reps
Lying leg raises 15-20 reps
Supermans 15-20 reps
Bicycle crunches 35-40 reps
Raised leg crunches 35-40 reps
Repeat 2x


I (mistakenly) forgot to measure myself until the second week so I am not sure how many inches I have changed since starting, but I can definitely feel a difference in my muscles and the make up of my body.  And (even though I am super insecure about this) I am starting to get ABS!  CAN YOU SEE THE SHADOWS WHERE THEY ARE STARTING TO COME IN??

ignore the mess
Even though my progress isn't huge yet, I am getting there and every workout is a step in the right direction!  I am looking forward to checking my measurements in a month and taking another picture to see how much more muscles I have gained and fat I have lost! 


Wednesday, February 5, 2014

12 week HIIT cardio and weight training work-out program (Weeks 1-4)

As I mentioned in my latest work out post - Strong is the new skinny - I am starting a new "challenge" of sorts. Women's Training Bible on bodybuilding.com has great tips on work outs and training tips and I found the majority of this program from here.  The difference between this and any of the ones I have done before is this one is 12 weeks long (as opposed to 30 days) and combines a lifting regime with a 15-20 minute HIIT (High intensity interval training) cardio workout.

 I am not a great fan of cardio. It's all the breathing. It gets hard.


When I first looked at the daily guide and estimated it would only take about 35-40 minutes a day, I thought "Eh, it can't be that bad."

I forgot how much I dislike cardio.

In the couple days since I started, I am having a more difficult time than I originally thought and attribute it to doing the HIIT cardio before I do the lifting.  In getting my heart rate up and my muscles moving quickly, I notice that I am straining more when lifting the same amount of weight as I did in the Operation Zombie Challenge when I wasn't doing cardio.

This is good.  It means I am kicking butt.


Anyway, I compiled the two different workouts into a daily list so I would know exactly what I was doing every day and I wanted to share it with you, for now or for the future.  I have only included the first two weeks this time because of the length of the post.  And also I need to research more HIIT cardio work outs (I get bored easily).  I will post the next two weeks work outs next week.

It looks a little unorganized because of the picture files for the HIIT part, so if you have any questions about the lifting movements, please refer to the Women's Training Bible page where there are detailed break downs of each step.

12 WEEK HIIT CARDIO AND LIFTING WORKOUT

WEEK ONE AND TWO

MONDAY
Cardio
I do this one time

Lifting (all 4-6 reps)
Bench press
Bent over barbell rows
Dumbbell shoulder press
Skull crushers
Barbell curls
Repeat 3 times

TUESDAY
Cardio
I do this three times

Lifting (all 8-12 reps)
Barbell squats
Stiff leg dead lifts
Leg extensions
Dumbbell lunges
Standing calf raises
Lying leg raises
Exercise ball crunches
Repeat 3 times

WEDNESDAY - REST DAY

THURSDAY
Cardio
I do this one time

Lifting (all 8-12 reps)
Tricep dips
Pull ups
Lateral raises
Tricep pull downs
Bicep curls
Repeat 3 times

FRIDAY
Cardio
I do this three times
Lifting
Dead lift (8-12 reps)
Leg extensions (8-12 reps)
Dumbbell lunges (8-12 reps)
Standing calf raises (8-12 reps)
Dumbbell shrugs (8-12 reps)
Decline crunches (10-15 reps)
Back Hyper extensions (10-15 reps)
Repeat 3 times

An apology to my husband's truck


Let me preface this by saying, I haven't always liked you.

When gas was up around $4 a gallon, it almost bankrupt us to fill your 25 gallon tank.

Your back seat BARELY fits all three car seats and makes for an interesting time trying to find the buckles.

We took you to South Korea with us (what is that about hindsight being 20/20?).  Trying to go anywhere was like a driving a bull in a China shop, walking on eggshells and all those other anxiety-filled cliches.

Because you are the size you are (huge), and don't fit in the garage, our driveway has become parking Tetris. I have to move you every which way every night  so every one gets all their vehicles off the road and in our driveway. Then in the morning, we "dance" again so that everyone can get leave.

Once you were paid off, I wanted to get rid of you.  Sell you.  Buy a new vehicle when Matt gets home.

But I was wrong (are you listening, dear Matthew?).

I had forgotten about winters in Michigan.  Forgotten about driving (or skating) on icy  and snow covered Michigan roads.  So dark blue Chevy Silverado sitting in my driveway, I am writing to tell you how much I have come to love you these past couple weeks during our snowpocalypse.

While your back seat is small, I appreciate its size when it is 8 am and I am warming you up to drive Gabe to school.  It only takes about 7 minutes for the inside of your cab to reach nice and toasty and your windshield to be defrosted.  Despite being in such close quarters, the kids like taking long trips sitting in your back seat as they can all snuggle up to each other.

Your four wheel drive has been heaven in this crazy weather.  While off-roading (aka trying to make it up the driveway), I drop your gear into 4 high and can make it over the extra 8 inches Mr. Snow Plow decided to dump where the road and driveway meet.

Sitting in your seat, so high above the road and other cars, I like the wide berth I am given.  Other (smaller) vehicles give you a little more space in parking lots, a little more room on the road, a little less tailgating.

Most of all, I love the way driving you makes me feel.  And in that way, you remind me of your real owner, my husband. 

You make me feel safe and protected.

I feel like if I got into an accident, that I would be okay.  That the kids would be okay.  That you could take the brunt of the hit without being badly damaged.

When I am driving you, I think of all the times Matt drove you across the country by himself.  Either leaving us for work or coming home after a long time gone.  And when I am alone I feel like a little bit of him is in the seat with me.  And I am comforted.

You are a standard model, with no bells and whistles.  You don't need any.  You serve your purpose and provide transportation safely and efficiently with no distractions.  Like my husband, you do the job you are born for (to serve and protect others) to the best of your ability.

Even though you just turned seven years old, you are still in perfect working order. Besides a few scratches and nicks, you have no cosmetic flaws and have had no parts replaced.  I am reassured knowing I can depend on you.  That you will not fail me.

I realize that this all sounds a little bizarre, attaching human emotions to an inanimate object, drawing comparisons between my husband and a vehicle, but I am also one of those people that feel like if you speak nicely to something, it helps you get your desired results.

Like when I say, "Come on truck, you can do it!  We are almost to the gas station!  I promise I will never run you so low again.  You will have plenty to drink from now on if you just get us to the Speedway!"  

(I have yet to run out.)

I digress.

What I am eluding to is that I am sorry Mr. Silverado (and Matt) for wanting to get rid of you.  The more I dwell on this, I realize what a mistake it would be, how much you mean to us, how you have helped shape our family. I see now how much I depend on you for more than just transportation but also for the daily reminder of my husband.  Not only in the memories of him driving you but...

How you are his way of protecting us when he is not able. 

I love you.  

And I am thankful for you and your small cab but giant frame. I am thankful for your four wheel drive to tackle the icy tundra that our neighborhood has become.  I am thankful you keep our family safe.

I am looking forward to spending much more time driving you in the years to follow (Gabe has already claimed you when he gets his license - sorry about that).  Mostly, I am waiting patiently for your real owner to come back so that he can drive and I can sit back and relax and let you boys handle the road. 

But until then

I will take care of you.  

And make sure you never run out of gas.

Your new (and slightly temporary) owner

PS - Minivan, if you want to be driven at all this winter, you need to figure out how to stop fishtailing, getting stuck on snow and sliding every which way. You are garaged until... at least until the driveway melts.  Which could be April. 


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