Another Fruit & Veggie Smoothie

For breakfast yesterday morning, I made another fruit and vegetable smoothie. I kind of made up the recipe!

• 1/2 cup blueberries
• 1/2 cup strawberries
• 1/2 cup chopped up carrot (half of a big one!)
• 1/2 cup yougurt
• 1/4 cup milk

I threw it in the freezer because it was a little too runny for me. If you try this, you may want to leave the milk out. After slushing up a little, it wasn't that bad!

Just another way I'm trying to get in my fruits & veggies! Do you have any creative ways to get yours in? If so, comment and let me know!

Until my next post.....

More Healthiness!

It's been a while since my last post... I have been kinda busy and have had a lot going on! I wanted to take a few minutes to quickly share with you another healthy recipe I tried. Enjoy!



Here is another smoothie I tried. It was actually pretty good! To make this smoothie, blend:

1/2 cup diced strawberries

1/2 cup blueberries

1/2 cup (maybe a little less) chopped carrots

I cut off the tops of a some broccoli to get the little green things in there

1 cup cranberry juice

 After I tried marinating zucchini in Italian and stir frying it, someone told me to try it with terryaki sauce (like they use at Little Tokyo). I tried it this way and I liked it a WHOLE lot better! Like I told other people, I think if I forced myself to eat it a few times, I could get used to the taste and texture. Please excuse my large portion of macaroni and cheese. No, I did not eat it all! :) And yes, that is chicken-just like the kind from Little Tokyo!

Until my next post...

More Healthiness

Since I'm on my little health kick, I am trying new things--mainly vegetables. So, last night I decided to make chicken stir fry style on the stove. I marinated it like normal- in italian dressing and added some seasoning....and a little butter :) I made garlic and cheese biscuits (we can't go ALL healthy!)

 and... drum roll please..................................................................

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ZUCCHINI!

I know, you're proud of me!

People, I am so uneducated when it comes to vegetables that I had to Google a picture of zucchini on my phone while I was in the grocery store looking for it to know what color/shape to look for. I know, you don't know whether to laugh or have pity on me! Honestly I thought it was yellow, so I'm glad I did Google it or I probably would've been looking for a while. I guess I can thank my mama for my lack of knowledge in this department- Thank You, Mama! So, I washed the zucchini, cut it up, let it marinate in italian dressing and threw it in a frying pan. I also added a little butter, S & P. Now, I was not a huge fan (shocker, I know!) but I think it's one of those things I could MAKE myself eat and adapt my tastebuds to like it. As mentioned in my last healthy post, I am a texture girl, so I didn't like the fact that when I bit a piece, juice squirted all in my mouth. Ew. Someone told me to cook it in terrayaki sauce, so that is what we are going to try tonight! More to come on that tomorrow :)

Until my next post!

Finally... some news!

I am reporting to you this morning to let you in on some exciting news I have received! This morning I received a call from a local elementary school offering me a long term subbing position in kindergarten!!!!

It will be for at least 30 days, but it could be longer. I am so excited just to be in a school, teaching kids, and in the education setting! I'm sure there will be more exciting posts to come. I guess I should start adjusting my sleep schedule.... and practice waking up early! :) Stayed tuned- this afternoon I am posting another new healthy habit I tried out!

Until my next post! 

Health Kick

I've recently got on my own little "health kick". I am trying to eat more fruits and vegetables! I like a lot of fruits, but am not a fan of vegetables. In fact, the only "vegetables" I eat are fried okra and ...potatoes-if those are even vegetables. I think they are considered a starch! Anyways, I went to the store yesterday and bought a lot of different fruits and vegetables because I had found some smoothie recipes online that I wanted to try. Apparently you can add veggies into a smoothie with fruit and you can't even taste it. So, I wanted to give it a try!



Carrots, broccoli, cucumbers, apples, bananas, strawberries, blueberries,
applesauce, yogurt, apple juice & cranberry juice

So the first smoothie recipe I tried was:

• 1 cup apple juice
• 1 cup of sliced apple (sweet tasting apples are better)
• 1/4 cup applesauce
• 1/2 cup sliced carrots
• 1/2 cup of cucumber (peeled and sliced)
• 2 cups of ice
• a dash of nutmeg or cinnamon (optional)   recipe can be found here



The above ingredients + a blender = .........





Ta Da!! "Sweet Veggie Smoothie"


This smoothie wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great. I could make myself drink it to get in my servings of fruits and veggies each day. But, I am a texture kind of girl and the texture of this "smoothie" wasn't very smooth. What I mean is it felt like I was drinking applesauce. It made enough for two glasses, so I poured one glass (yesterday) and stuck the rest in the freezer. This afternoon I took out the frozen leftovers to thaw out and when I got home from the gym it was really good because it was cold and icy! Other than that, I pretty much forced myself to drink the glass yesterday.... only because of the texture! The taste was fine. It was very apple-ly! I will probably end up making another one, like I said, just to get in my fruits and veggies. More to come on new things I am trying!

Until my next post!

2 Days, 3 Nights

Hello Blog World!
Hope you all are having a great weekend! Although every day feels like it's the weekend to me, my weekend officially started Thursday afternoon. Because that's the day....my hubby left me. Yep, left me! He flew out to Ohio to visit some of his family on his dad's side. I just stuck around here because, well let's just says planes are not my best friend. Thursday afternoon and night I tried to keep myself busy, so I packed the schedule out-- at 5:30 I went to Body Combat at the gym to work on my fitness a little..... and after that I went out to eat with my Mama and Carlie (my little bro's gf) tagged along. Curlz stayed with me Thursday night and ended up being lucky enough to stay with me every night-ha :) Will came over and we watched the Lincoln Lawyer, which is VERY good! Friday I woke up.... and the day...... lasted...... forrrr---evvv---errrrr (imagine the quote from the Sandlot) It was such a dreary day and all I did was lay around-bored as could be!!! I couldn't wait to go out with my good friends, Kaylin & Jamie Lynn. As always, we talked and laughed the night away-it got deep, just take my word on it! Friday night Curlz stayed with me and kept me company, again! This morning we got up, went to Chick-Fil-A for breakfast, which I hadn't had in a WHILE! We stopped to get a newspaper so I could check out the coupon situation for this weekend, and rented Blue Crush 2, don't waste your $$$$! It was okay, but not as good as the original! We waited for Will to get off of work because we were gonna go back to his place and pull him on the wakeboard. Well, I decided to get brave and try to wakeboard myself! After a few tries and some good coaching from my little brother, I finally got up.... and I screamed my head off! I don't know why, all I could do was scream! It was kinda scary, but fun at the same time. I just want to note one special little moment I had today---when I finally made it up, Will said, "I am SO proud of you!" Told yall--he's a sweet thing! After some encouragment, I finally got Carlie to try wakeboarding again. Apparently last time she didn't have any luck, but she finally got up too ;) I told her she just needed a little female coaching! After I got up, I tried to explain to her how I did it... as opposed to my little brother & it worked! So we did that for about 3 hours, then got ready and went to Jackson's for karaoke for a little while. None of us got brave enough to sing, except my Daddy---gotta love him! I don't know if wakeboarding tired me out or what, but I am about worthless at this point! I'm gonna stay at Willy P's tonight, go to church tomorrow and wait for my lovie to get back home! I can't wait to see him... 2 days and 3 nights has been toooo long for me!

Until my next post....

TA DA!!! BLOG BUTTON!

WHEW! After hours and hours of trying to figure this thing out, I have finally figured out how to make a "Blog Button" yay me! Yes people, it took all afternoon and night to make that little button you see in the upper left hand corner. So, now you *should* be able to copy the link below my button and put it on your page! I don't really know what else you do with it, but I was proud of myself for learning a new blog "trick". If anyone is an experienced blogger and knows  what blog buttons are all about, please fill me in! Hopefully the link works. You can add it through a "gadget" on your design page of your blog. Let me know if you try it and if it works/doesn't work! Try to make your own blog button and link it up so I can check it out!

Until my next post....

Couponing Again!

Hello Blog World! Long time, no post. Partly because I haven't had a laptop and I don't prefer to use our home computer which is VERY slow. So let's catch up for a minute-- Will's first gig at Jackson's went GREAT! He was amazing.. they even asked him to stay an extra hour- yeah, he's that good! They are talking about having him back maybe once a month or so. Other than that, things have been the same ole same ole-eat, sleep, watch tv, repeat and throw in some productivity somewhere in there! So last week and this week, Kroger has had some pretty decent sales going on. I have posted two pictures from a shopping trip that I made last week and this week! Please keep in mind, most of my shopping trips are to stock up our food pantry so they do not paint a very realistic picture of an average shopping trip I would make when shopping for Adam and myself! From this trip, only the toothpaste, pasta, and D.O was for the pantry.

Shopping trip I made today!

 Above you see:
(63) Colgate toothpaste .99
used: .50/1 Colgate toothpaste, makes it free, from 7/10 SS
(16) Pasta Roni .49 each--no coupons, just a good deal!
(7) Nivea Bodywash $2.99
used: (7) $2/1 Nivea Bodywash, makes it .99 cent each
(8) Brut D.O 5/$5 ($1 each)
used: (8) $1/1 Brut Product, makes it free
(1) Domino sugar- $4.19
used: (1) .50/1 domino sugar 4lb or 5 lb bag, makes it $3.19
(2) Johnson & Johnson Body Wash $2.49
used: (2) .50/1 J&J Baby product, makes it $1.49 each 
(2) Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder $2.49
used: (2) $1/1 J&J Baby Powder, makes it $1.49 each
(1) Pillsbury icing closeout @ $1.37
used: .55/1 Pillsbury icing, brownie or cookie mix, makes it .82
(2) Garnier conditioner- 2/$5
used: (2) $1/1 Garnier product, makes it $1.50 each
(2) Mac & cheese
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OOP: $37.44
Saved: $248.00 (88%)

He always watches me when I set out the groceries and take pictures... he probably thinks I'm crazy!

Shopping trip from last week. Not sure why the picture quality is so bad! All of this is for the pantry!

What you see above:
(4) Big Canned collard greens $1 each
(4) Canned vegetables .75 each
(2) Totinos Pizzas .89 each
(18) Chef Boyardee .69 each
used: $1/3 Chef Boyardee Rolling Printable, makes it .36 each
(20) Banquet Entree .69 each
used: .50/2 Banquet Entrees Rolling Printable, makes it .19 each
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
OOP: $21.08
Saved: $35.84 (64%)

I enjoy couponing so much, I don't think I will ever stop. I'm glad I have learned while I have all of this spare time and time to practice & get good at it. This way, when my schedule does get crazy, I will already be a pro at it! :)

Until my next post...

Little Brother

 My very talented little brother has his first "real" gig this Satureday night at Jackson's--the old Choby's (8pm you should be there). He will be playing guitar and singing a lot of good songs! I'm very proud of him and can't wait to hear him play Saturday. So this afternoon I went to what is now his and used to be my little apartment/suite to practice our song. Oh! I forgot to mention he gave me the privilege of singing a song with him :) Hello?! I am his sister... We only grew up singing together and playing guitar in the floor of my room! He used to only play guitar. I give myself full credit for convincing him to start singing along with me. He better remember me when he gets famous one day! Anyways---listening to him sing some of the other songs he plans to do, I realized something--1.) I am very blessed to have a relationship like I do with him. 2.) I am going to miss him when he leaves for UGA!

Growing up, we didn't always have the kind of relationship we do now, but music has always been something we've had in common and he has always been my sweet little Willy P! I will never forget being so upset about something, sitting on my bed in my room, crying, and little Will comes up, hugs his sister who is 3 years older and says, "It's gonna be okay Cason!" he has always been a sweetheart! Of course we fought back and forth like normal siblings. We argued, called each other silly names, and even physically fought every now and then. It wasn't until I turned 16, got a car, and started driving him to school each day that we began to talk and really bond with each other. I guess because he was forced to sit in the car with me for almost 15 mins every morning (which can be a long time for a 13 yr old boy to ride with his 16 yr old sister), we had no choice but to talk and or sing together. I guess it is partially my fault that he is sort of a Taylor Swift fan. It was pretty much his only choice to sing to in the car! I think it was during those times that we really started to talk and tell each other stuff that we maybe didn't want to tell to our parents. He talked to me about his girl problems and I would tell him about my boy problems. We talked about any and every thing. Getting so close throughout my time in high school, it was kind of hard for me to not be able to go home and just play and sing with him whenever I wanted and I really missed that when I went off to college and then got married. We still get together every now and then at my daddy's and he will play guitar and we will sing, but it's not exactly the same as when we were younger. I guess these days I just appreciate what time we do have together! I have to be a very blessed girl because I know some siblings who don't get along and some that don't even talk to or want to see each other. How sad! Then I know others who have lost their sibling in some way or another and they have no choice. Both circumstances are very sad.

All I know is I love my little brother and he is the best little brother a girl could ask for. Sometimes I think we could be twins because we can read each others minds, but I think that comes from knowing him so well. We know what makes the other one laugh, we have this weird voice that we talk in when we are around each other.. He is honestly probably one of my best friends.

I love you, Willy P!

Wow! 1,000!

Hello everyone!
So I noticed last Saturday that I was up to 1,009 views! That is so exciting to me! I don't who is reading or why they are reading or if they even care about what they are reading, but it is nice to know someone IS reading and actually sees what I take time to write. In the future, I am also excited to celebrate:
*My 100th post
*Having 10 followers (so if you like what you read or "follow" my blog, please become a follower! down on the right side!)
*Having 5,000 views
Those are some short terms goals I hope to reach quickly! Visit my blog each day to check for new posts and help me reach my blogging goals :)

Until my next post...

KARAOKE!

HAPPY WEEKEND READERS!
I wanted to try to get a quick post in about Thursday night before too much happens! My laptop is still messing up and the convenience of blogging from the couch is no longer a luxary for me. Needless to say, I have been too lazy to get up and come into Adam's office to write a post. Pretty sorry, right?! Anways--As previously mentioned, I did go karaoke the other night with some good friends! We all had a great time with each other, however the actual karaoke was very lame. In fact, if we wouldn't have been there to sing, all they would have played would have been old, slow, boring songs. It was fun to sit there and listen to old men with deep, raspy voices (caused by years and years of smoking) sing really old songs way off beat, but at the same time I think we were hoping for some more modern, upbeat music! The group included: Ashley L (who also has a blog you should check out), Ashley D.? (I met her that night, I think her last name starts with a D!), JL, Ryan, Kaylin, and myself! Jamie Lynn got the night started off with her classic Britney Spears impersonation and sang "Hit Me Baby One More Time", which was AMAZING & HILARIOUS. For those of you who may not know, JL has the best Britney impersonation out of anyone I've ever heard....actually she's the only one I've ever heard, but she is really good and sounds just like her! :) The crowd loved her! And of course karaoke isn't karaoke unless you throw a little Taylor Swift in the mix. So A Lamb and myself  sang "Picture to Burn". I was a little nervous because I hadn't heard this song in forever and couldn't really remember the words! I was tripping out the whole time because as I was reading the words on the screen, I was realizing that I had replaced the correct lyrics with some of my own and hadn't been singing the right words in some parts of the song. C'mon, we have all done that. I thought it was hilarious! We put our names down to sing Justin Beiber, but he never called us back up... I don't think he was a fan. If it wasn't slow, old country, he didn't want to play it! As always, the night included many other interesting and funny stories that we will just keep to ourselves for now..... but, next time we are DEFINITELY trying a different place to karaoke!

Oh Bay-Bah Bay-Bah

                                        

Until my next post... Have a Happy 4th of July! :)