Morning Boost Smoothie!

For starters...I won't be doing a '5 on Friday' tomorrow. :( I will be in Arizona with Kevin picking up his grandpa to bring him back to Texas!  Please pray for our long drive back!

I've been drinking smoothies for breakfast for about 3 or 4 years now and I LOVE it!  I don't have a super fancy blender, but I've always been fine with what I have.  I started with a really cheap one in college and then an Oster that my dad bought me and honestly, it was great!  Now I have the Ninja NJ600 Professional Blender and it's been great!  I just wish it'd clean itself like a Vitamix!  I'm not sure I'll ever spend that much money on a blender though!

Here's the deal...I cannot drink the same smoothie every morning.  I need to change it up often so I've experimented with many recipes.  When I'm in a hurry, I just make an Advocare meal replacement shake.  I have the berry, vanilla, chocolate and chocolate mocha ones.  They're pretty filling and taste great, but I prefer to not spend that much money so I don't have one every day.

Today I'm sharing one of my favorite smoothie receipes with you!  It wakes me up and gives my body a ton of nutrients!

Morning Boost Smoothie

 

 

1/2 frozen banana

1/2 cup frozen grapes

1/2 avocado (peeled and seeded)

1 handful of fresh spinach

1 handful of fresh kale (remove stems)

2 tablespoons chia seeds or ground flax seed

1 1/2 cups chilled green tea (photo shown with almond milk instead)

1/2 lemon, juiced

agave nectar, if needed

ice, if you like a thicker smoothie

 

Blend all of the ingredients together in a blender to your preferred consistency.

 

Recipe adapted from Skinny Ms

 

This smoothie really does wake me up and gets me through the morning.  Let me know if you try it!  I hope you enjoy it!

 

And just for fun...here are my kale chips I had last night with shrimp for dinner...

 

 

I just cooked those on 300 degrees for 15 mins with a little extra virgin olive oil, kosher salt and pepper.

 

Have a great weekend!





5 on Friday!

It's time for 5 on Friday!!  I look forward to this every week!

#1

Last weekend I did a wine tasting with my small group girlfriends in downtown Grapevine at D'Vine Wine.  We had such a blast!  I just love these girls and feel so blessed that God has brought them into my life.  We missed the three that weren't able to make it and love them too!  They are such an answer to prayer!

(sorry for the zombie eyes!!)

On that day, 50% of the proceeds from wine tastings went to support Golden Retriever Rescue of North Texas.  This is the organization through which Kevin got our sweet little (but big!) Riley....or as we call her "Riley Cakes".  Isn't she adorable?!



#2

This week, my sister, Lauren, sent me this adorable photo of my 3.5 month old niece, Kassidy.  Isn't she so stinking adorable???  I just had to share it with you all!

#3

I don't normally brag but I'm going to for a second.  Ok maybe I did in #2 about my niece already. Ha!  Before Kevin left for Arizona, he bought me flowers!  Aren't they so pretty?  I'm a lucky girl!  And I'm posting a photo of him looking mighty handsome along with it.

#4

This week I made Cilantro Lime Chicken Tacos using my Crockpot!  I used this recipe from Six Sisters' Stuff, bought some corn tortillas, shredded a little cheese, cut up an avocado and we made them into tacos!  You may have to scroll down that post a bit to get to the Cilantro Lime Chicken with Corn and Black Beans.  We also added a little of the awesome Fuzzy's Taco Sauce.  They were delicious!

#5

Caroline over at In Due Time had a really great post this week about "taking captive" your negative thoughts.  She was talking about Philippians 4:8 and the thoughts that the Lord does want us to have.

The Lord really convicted me while reading this post.  This is so hard for me.  I mean, how often does a negative thought come across your mind?  And more so...how often do you verbalize that negative thought?  I know it happens for me in the form of complaining.  I've really started praying and asking God to take those thoughts captive (2 Corinthians 10:5).  I'm really trying to be aware of when these thoughts come through my mind and ask God to take them away.

Have a wonderful weekend, folks!!!













5 on Friday!

I'm linking up with April, Natasha, Christina, and Darci again for 5 on Friday!

#1

This weekend I'm getting both alone time and girl time!  My husband is on a trip to Arizona with his grandpa so I'll be catching up on cleaning and reading at home AND enjoying some wine with my small group girlfriends and hanging out with my friend, Jennifer.  I'm pretty pumped!  Please pray for Kevin and Grandpa Bill - they're on a 17 hour roadtrip and then Kevin flies back on Monday.  I'm sure going to miss him!

 

 

#2

 

I recently found this amazing recipe for Crockpot Honey Sesame Chicken!  Kevin and I LOVED it!  It kind of tastes like chinese food from the mall food court but waaaay better and you know what's in it!  No MSG, not fried, no extra hormones.  We served it with white rice.

 



(photo by Table for Two)


#3

This one is about food too!  Even better....DESSERT!  For Valentine's Day, I made stuffed chicken breasts, jalapeno cheddar mashed potatoes, asparagus AND red velvet molten lava cake for dessert.  It was delicious!

(photo by Chelsey's Messy Apron)


 

#4

 

I want to share a little about an organization that I love and support!  Crystal, the executive director, is one of the most compassionate, go-get-em, driven people I know.  She worked with the International Justice Mission in the Philippines before helping run My Refuge House, a ministry that helps provide a safe home to empower and restore survivors of commercial sexual expoitation and abuse.  Kim, my friend and fellow IBCer (Irving Bible Church) just became MRH's Director of Engagements as well!  Congrats Kim! 

 

Visit the website!  Pray for the work they are doing!  I will share more about this in another post someday!

 

 

 

#5

 

Just so you know...it's almost baseball season!!!!  Woo hoo!!!  Kevin gets to go to a Spring Training Rangers game this weekend and I'm jealous.  We're ready for the season to start!  GO RANGERS!!

 

 



5 on Friday!

 

Today I'm linking up with a. liz adventures, carolina charm, hello! happiness and the good life blog!

 

I get to share 5 random fun things!  Here we go!

 

ONE

 

It snowed in north Texas yesterday!!  Actual snow...not the normal ice that we get when precipitation falls from the sky.  You're probably making fun of it if you're from the north, but it was kind of fun.  Too bad it wasn't Christmas, because it totally fit the holiday feel.  I did watch some of the neighborhood kids throw snowballs at each other...well, the small amount they could gather off of the ground.

 

photo by Sydney Pham

 



 

TWO

 

Speaking of snow...last weekend, my husband and I went to Oklahoma to see his grandfather....the sweetest man on earth.  Here we are dancing at my wedding:

 

 

It's always a hoot going to visit Grandpa Bill.  He loves going to country dances at the senior centers around the area.  Normally we go to one on Saturday night, but this weekend we went to two!  One was an hour away on Friday night and one in town on Saturday night.  I was exhausted!  There are 86-year-olds not taking a single break when I have to sit down every chance I get...haha.  It's definitely motivation to stay active and healthy so I can do stuff like that when I'm that age.

 

So we heard there might be snow on our drive home that Sunday, but didn't expect it to be nearly as bad as it was.  Our 5 hour drive home turned into 7 hours in the car with 2 anxious doggies.  It was definitely icy.  We saw probably 30 wrecks, overturned cars and semis.  It was pretty scary. 

 

See that long extension of the ice/snow storm, yeah, that was our entire drive from Grove to Dallas!  It somehow knew exactly where we'd be driving!

 



 

It went from this:

 

 

To this:

 

 

To this:

 

 

Thankfully, we made it home safely!

 

THREE

 

My husband and I love hot chocolate!  We always use the little store-bought packets, but they aren't wonderful and you never know exactly what they're sweetened with.  I found this amazing recipe for Double Chocolate Hot Cocoa through Jen's blog at Whimsy At Heart that originally came from The Nourishing Gourmet.

 

[source]



 

Since we are both lactose-intolerant, we don't drink normal milk so I made Kevin's with Lactaid and mine with unsweetened almond milk.  I also didn't have those sugar replacements so I used Stevia because I had some in my pantry.

 

FOUR

 

We pretty much finished our guest rooms and we're ready to have some guests stay with us!  Here is the big room where we've decorated mostly with items I've purchased while traveling and some bird-themed decor.  Once I've finished all of the walls, I'll post a photo from every angle.

 

 

And here is the other guest room:

 

 

And don't judge!  I don't have candles in the candle holders yet!  Thank you to the Guilbeau's for donating the bed decor.  I love it!  The framed 'B' and green clock were also gifts from our sweet friends, Wally/Monica and Tracy.  And bless my husband's heart...I initially wanted this room to be painted an olive green so we spent a whole day painting it.  Then, months later, I decided I wanted it to be grey so we re-painted it. 

 

FIVE

 

So my husband and I love watching shows like Treehouse Masters, Shark Tank and American Restoration, but we've started a new evening activity.  I especially like it because I get to interact with Kevin more and it challenges my brain.  We sit on the floor together and play Rummikub.  He ALWAYS beats me, but for the record, I beat him for the first time last night. ;-)

 



















most amazing chicken corn chowder?

Hey folks!  I'm back with a report on the lentil soup!

Crockpot Lentil Soup

 

My husband and I liked the lentil soup, but didn't love it.  I probably liked it more than him.  My only variations: I didn't include the tomatoes (I have bad acid reflux...boo) and I used normal green chard instead of swiss chard.  I had to add a little water since it didn't have the juice from the tomatoes.  I thought it tasted great!  It's pretty hearty...I told my husband it tasted earthy though I'm not really sure what that means.  The chard has a pretty strong flavor.  I'd recommend it if you're looking to cook something vegetarian that's healthy and pretty filling.

 

 

 

Chicken Corn Chowder

OMG!  This is one of my favorite soups I've ever made!  My husband loved it too!  I got it from the Six Sisters Stuff blog.  My variations: since both of us are lactose-intolerant, I used Lactaid milk instead of regular milk and I used leftover chicken breasts from another meal.  I would suggest using actual shredded chicken cooked for this purpose.  The broth is delicious!  I don't know what it is but with all of these flavors coming together, it makes the best chowder I've ever had!


I'm just going simple tonight!  I'm making a shrimp stir-fry with items I already have in my fridge/freezer.  We'll be eating out for most dinners this week so I'm not sure what else I'll be cooking, but these tacos from Mix and Match Mama sure sound good!

BBQ Baked Chicken Tacos

 

 

If you ever try any of these recipes, let me know!  I'd love to know what you thought!!

 



what's for dinner?

So...

I've obviously not been a good blogger.  I recently got married, was SUPER crazy busy and honestly thought "do I really have anything to say that's that interesting??"

Well...I LOVE reading random blogs.  I thought "what do I love to read?" I am not a super domestic woman, however, I love to cook.  I see each meal as a project and hope those that consume the meal are pleased (eek...see previous post about my approval addiction..workin' on it!).  I love finding recipes on random blogs.  I also love DIY projects and learning a little more about fashion...that's definitely not my forte.

So when I'm not blogging about something profound that the Lord has told me, I'm going to share recipes and DIY projects I found on other blogs/pinterest/etc and tried.  I'll say what I did wrong/right and what I'd do differently next time.  Pinterest never gives you that much info ;-)  How do you think your grandma got to be such a good cook?!  Trial and error starting in her 20's/30's!

I'll start out by sharing with you the blogs that I love to read lately (just to name a few):

Mix and Match Family Blog
Pinterest Told Me To
Six Sisters Stuff
I Hate Green Beans
Joyful Homemaking
The Larson Lingo

Here are some recipes that I tried recently and I've included the outcome as well!

Strawberry Green Smoothie

If you know me, you know I love smoothies for breakfast!  I always love a new healthy smoothie recipe.  I got this one from Pinterest and it turned out GREAT!  It tastes just like strawberries.  Don't let the spinach freak you out.  My husband hates (or thinks he hates) anything with greens in it, like this.  But he tasted this one and actually liked it, because he couldn't taste the spinach.  My variations:

1) I added about a tablespoon of agave nectar to make it sweeter.

2) I used a whole banana and didn't freeze it.

3) I added a few cubes of ice.

4) I added about 1/2 cup of water. (Mine wasn't blending well without it)

Pan-Roasted Chicken with Lemon-Garlic Green Beans

This recipe had so much potential to be amazing!  BUT wow...it calls for WAY too much lemon.  The green beans and potatoes were so tart that my husband and I couldn't finish them.  I'm going to make it again sometime and either use 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and not put the lemons on the bottom OR substitute the lemon juice for white cooking wine, tarragon vinegar, or just plain olive oil.  I think it'll be amazing next time!

Chili Pot Roast

This chili pot roast was a success!  My only variation was using a 3 lb roast instead of a 2 lb one, but it turned out the same.  I'd probably add some salt next time, but I tend to like saltier food.  My husband prefers it the way it was and it's probably better for you that way.

Pumpkin Crunch Cake

Holy moley, this dessert is awesome!  My husband and I loved it!  I love pumpkin recipes, but he doesn't and we BOTH loved it.  I prepared it exactly the way she says to.  I'd like to try spice cake instead of yellow cake next time though.

This lentil soup is in the Crockpot right now!  Assuming it's not destroyed and we eat it for dinner tonight, I'll let you know how it is!

Crockpot Lentil Soup