hot mamas - chimmie chat

yahhooooooeeeeeee, another hot mama is in the mullies today.  i met laura four years ago - a meet cute at gymboree.   i kept looking for her each week, but she wouldn't turn up again...i even went up excitedly to another girl (who looked the same from the back) and that was awkward.  i had one last make up class and poof, there she was at her last make up class...it was fate.  i was a month pregnant with tommy and she was about a day pregnant with that little lady above. 

it's now a long distance relationship...she moved three hours away but that doesn't stop the lovefest.  

and get this - my chimmie (or simply "lg") holds a degree in nutrition, so this lady has some sweet stuff to share.  you could say i just recently (about 150 days ago) caught up to her line of thinking about food;)

i don't have any cereal in the house right now, but if i ever need any, i'll be getting this one foh shoh.  i just found this great blog post comparing it to kellog's corn puffs.  it's a perfect example of how you can find great replacements out there for the fake stuff in your pantry.  

her fav drink right now.  i found a great review of all of the flavors...there are a ton!  her hot hubby freaked out at the $$ (mine would have too) and she replied, "if you can get a beer for $8+... i can can get a drink too!".  nicely put, i never thought about it like that...  she makes a homemade smoothie similar to this glowing green smoothie which i am going to try making soon.  nina and iz - that link was for you!

i'll let her take over with a few more pieces of real food inspo for my weekend grocery run.

***

Ginger is really great for your immunity and digestion.  It seems to be working great on my sensitive tummy:)

Dr. Oz's Ginger Tea
check out his flat belly & ginger tea article.

3 bags ginger tea
1 c fresh juice of 1 lemon
2 c water
2 c ice
a few mint leaves (I even eat them when I'm done drinking...so yummy!)

Here is a recipe for an alternative to oatmeal.  A must try.  Kids and husband approved (he actually stole the whole batch and brought it to work...I could have killed him).

nutty hot cereal

And you must try these balls...

nutty strawberry protein balls & nutty blueberry protein balls.

***

nuts.

we definitely have that in common.

can't wait for you to come around here for another chimmie chat:)

ps

hey bunny...how'd we do?

secret tomato sauce and a new smoothie

motherhood is always a good time, isn't it?  hardy har har.  play it.

it's always a good time when your kids go to the orthodontist.  abbie got her permanent retainer/expander yesterday.  good morning and good night.

so for the next few days i'll be cooking & preparing softer food for my dearie abbie.  this is fun as long as you wake up on the right side of the bed.  abbie's teeth are super crazy crowded (she inherited spectacular orthodontic genes from us...I had the same issues and am missing 8 permanent teeth to fit them all in...please just call me pretty horse-face).  her upper jaw is too small to fit them all and her lower jaw also juts out too far from her upper = a crazy under/over bite snaggle-tooth mouth.  we had to move with treatment immediately because her bite was such that she could have chipped her front permanent teeth.  no no no.  that would not be a good time.

so, in about a month she'll be wearing a head gear at home and getting some upper brackets.   whoop whoop, it's gonna be alright.  i know, it's crazy that she is only 6!!!  but the earlier the kids are, the easier it is to move the jaw bones...later in life you have to break em to adjust em...i'll take a pass on that one!!!!  mac will be next, but he gets a removable expander...i'll stop writing now about teeth. 

i feel like i dropped my phone in the pool again and that's always a good time.

i made pasta last night and i came up with a super sauce hoping that i wouldn't even have to try and ask the kids to eat it.  what what?  is that tuna in the picture!?  that's right, i accomplished a major super spy trick last night.  check out my new saucy sauce.

it's always a good time tomato sauce/soup/dippy

inspired & adapted from nutrient rich dippies for kids

1 can tuna (or salmon/sardines/anchovies/chicken...whatever you have on hand)

2 cloves garlic

3/4 c organic evoo

1 T organic flaxseed oil

1 T organic lemon juice 

1 T apple cider vinegar

1/2 jar of tomato sauce

s&p to taste

get your magic bullet/vitamix/blender out and mix it all up!  since i have a smaller magic bullet, i mixed everything up except the tomato sauce first.  i poured the tuna mix and the sauce together in a sauce pan and heated it through.  added the s&p and boy oh boy ...my dad said, "this tastes like portillos a la vodka sauce"...oh sweet scoreage.  

hahahahaha, chris i know you're reading this - you just ate tuna last night and loved it sucker.  it's always a good time when i can trick you and the kids.  hahahahahahhaa, i didn't even have to try!!!

we poured this over brown rice noodles and the kids loved it.  it was abbie's first night with the retainer, and she is having trouble chewing, poor thing.  for lunch this morning, i heated it up, put the sauce in a thermos and wa-laaaaaaa, soup!  i can't wait to hear how it went when she gets home.  

hopefully, it was a good time.

and here's my latest and greatest smoothie:

good times berry protein blast

frozen strawberries

frozen berry blend

fruitables apple harvest juice

plant fusion vanilla bean protein powder

tommy took a header into the carpet a few days ago...nice face kid.

"thisch isch my schmoothie, tommy"  say it with a uber schloshy lischp pleasche.

genius girl. find a random water bottle lid for a "tea-cup" she says.

this is a really good smoothie mom.  thanks for making breakfast such a good time, whoooooooo!

happy friday!

go have a good time in your kitchen this weekend.  xoxo

snacks snacks snacks - and a new smoothie & ice cream recipe

my pantry was completely stripped of snacks when we went clean for abbie.

my kids were devastated about the snack change more than anything else.  i didn't realize how much junk was easily accessible to the kids and how much they were sneaking!!!  abbie was the worse of the bunch.  i would actually find wrappers on the ground under the shelves:)

have i mentioned that i used to have an entire target grocery cart full of boxes of various snacks? crackers, fruit snacks, cookies, breakfast bars, 100 calorie snack packs, gummy bears...you name it, i bought it.  all boxed, all processed.

now, before you get your panties in a bunch and think that i don't buy anything in a box, i still do...i am just v.e.r.y particular in what i buy.  here is what i have been buying/rotating in the pantry as of late:

granola bars:
kind bars (target, trader joes)
kid z cliff bars (target, trader joes)
bunny bars (costco)
homemade 4 ingredient oat bars

fruit, veggies and such:
fresh fruit (as much as possible!)
dried fruit pouches - apple/apple cinnamon/strawberry banana (costco)
go go squeeze apple sauce pouches (target, costco and trader joe's has a brand too)
carrots and organicville's non-dairy & gf ranch (target sells the dressing now!)
apples/celery and peanut butter (sometimes with raisins)

randoms:
skinny popcorn and angie's delightfully different kettle corn (costco)
organic & gmo brown rice cakes (trader joes) w/ peanut butter
homemade muffins, cookies and such
homemade icecream (da bomb)
applegate farms salametti slices (target)


there are so many more options for snacks...this is simply the mullies current go-to list we've been using and I wanted to share it with you.  i'd love to hear about your clean snacks!

here is the link that got me thinking about writing this post:

snacking the unprocessed, clean way

and now for the smoothie and ice cream goodness!!!  we all really needed a calcium magnesium supplement and here's my sneaky method of getting into our little bods:

cal-mag banana berry smoothie

(i split this serving between my 3 kiddos)

in your nutri-blender (or whatevs you have) add:

1 broken up banana

handful of frozen strawberries

handful of mixed frozen berries (blue, raz and black)

6 country life cal-mag tablet powder (each kid should be taking two tablets twice a day)

organic agave nectar (i squirt in about a tablespoon)

some ice

organic rice milk to the fill line + a little water

BAM!  

...i have to say i feel like a dealer every time i break open a capful...

my rule is they have to finish their breakfast smoothie first...works like a charm:)

vegan vanilla chocolate chip icecream

find the insp here!

1/2 c hemp seed

1 c water

1 can trader joe's light coconut milk

1/3 c organic agave nectar or honey

1 T vanilla

1 T coconut oil (melted)

1/4 c enjoy life semi-sweet mini chips

below is hemp seed.  i add this to my nutri-blender with the milling blade and it pulverizes even the smallest of seeds...sweetness.

see what i mean...it looks like milk...it is!  hemp milk!!!

1.  mill the hemp seed for 30 sec.

2.  add the milk, agave, vanilla and melted oil (add chips here if you want them pulverized).

3.  pour into ice cream maker and add chips here if you want them whole.

4.  process for 25 minutes in ice cream maker.  

5.  transfer to freezer safe container and just TRY and keep it in your fridge for more than a few days...

btw, last night, i mixed in another serving of cal-mag to it and got in their twice a day requirement!  

ps

been thinking about how to deal with the holiday crap overload coming...and here's a lovely post to help us with that!!!

how to help your kids deal with holiday snacks & sweets overload

a working grocery list and our favorite smoothie recipe

i have had a few friend requests for my new grocery list items.  sorry it has taken me so long!

i have been using this "working" list and it will be nice to continue making adjustments here without the scribble scrabble.

I tried to only include items that are "new" to our pantry.  i will continue to come back to this list and update it.  i have been able to find everything between target, mariano's, cosco, trader joe's and all ways healthy.  i am trying to be careful with how much soy products i give mac & tommy, trying to avoid too much estrogen in their little bodies:)

next step, compare prices and shop smarter...

baking/cooking items
sucanat brown sugar
molasses
stevia
nutritional yeast
regular yeast
almond flour
coconut flour
flaxseed meal
brown rice flour
bob's red mill gluten free all purpose baking flour
honey
himalayan salt (found it at tjmax!)
trader joe's organic coconut oil

smoothie ingredients
raw hemp seeds
goji berries
trader joe's vanilla hemp powder (haven't used yet)
chia seeds
cascadian farms organic frozen berries (cosco)
frozen strawberries
bananas
pb2 powdered peanut butter
sweetleaf liquid stevia sweet drops berry flavor

snacks
cliff bars
simply bars
gogo squeeze apple sauce
veggie chips
lays potato chips
dried fruit snack packs from cosco
lundberg brown rice cakes (great w/ peanut butter on top)
annie's organic bunny fruit snacks (these are a rare treat)
coconut icecream

beverages
fruitables juice boxes
trader joes canned light coconut milk
rice milk
regular almond milk and dark chocolate almond milk
homemade walnut milk
simply orange juice

meats
bare chicken
thousand hills 100% grass fed nitrite free beef products
applegate farms bacon, turkey (by the lb at target!), gluten free nuggets/corndogs & breakfast sausage

condiments & sauces
vegenaise sandwich spread and horseradish sauce
organic ketchup
organic pickles
earth's balance natural buttery spread (soy free)
skippy natural peanut butter & justin's honey peanut butter (just bought it, we'll see!)
welch's concord grape spread
trader joe's organic midnight moo chocolate syrup
trader joe's bolognese tomato sauce
trader joe's organic mustard
tofutti sour cream & cream cheese (on my list to get when i need them...thanks tiffany!)

whole grains
udi's white bread
quinoa & quinoa pasta
brown rice & brown rice pasta (kids say tinkyada brand IS the best - thanks t!)
trader joe's organic country white bread (yes, we keep some gluten bread for the hubby)

cheese
daiya mozzarella and cheddar style shredded cheese

produce
large box of organic fruits and veggies from all ways healthy.

here is my recipe for the family favorite smoothie right now.  the only difference between the two kids' smoothies?  mac likes a banana added and abbie prefers no banana, a frozen berry mix added, plus two drops of the stevia sweet drops (she drinks more if it's sweeter!).

strawberry power smoothie with the nutribullet

frozen strawberries

frozen berries

banana

vanilla coconut milk

3 T raw hemp seeds

1-2 drops of sweetleaf stevia drops berry flavor

they drink about half of the smoothie for breakfast and i save the rest for a snack when they get home from school.

have i told you how much i love this little blender?

happy friday!  i have a big dinner planned tonight, can't wait:)

day 17

i think the kids are up to my shenanigans with the smoothies...i add a little too much chard this morning.  the raw hemp seeds are working out just fine, but i was on the search today for a protein powder and here's what i found:

i'm thinking this could be yummy and since the younger two has texture issues, this will make a very smooth smoothie indeed.