Purple Power Breakfast Smoothie

Friday mornings are a perfect time for an all encompassing healthy smoothie. I have to admit that I do not eat the best on Fridays. We usually go out to dinner and I often eat lunch out as well. When I want to pack in lots of good stuff, I always turn to a green smoothie. Here's a little concoction I came up with this morning. I added the wheat germ and oatmeal to make it more hearty and to add some fiber and vitamins.

Purple Power Breakfast Smoothie
1/2 cup rolled oats (I used quick oats because it is all I had on hand)
2 tbsp wheat germ (good source of fiber, Vitamin E and Folic Acid)
1/2 cup plain yogurt (good source of calcium, phosphorus, riboflavin-vitamin B2 and iodine)
1/2 cup pomegranate juice (antioxidant and good source of Vitamin C, E, and Folic Acid)
1/2 cup orange juice (good source of Vitamin C, Folic Acid, and Potassium)
1 cup soy milk (I used Silk Omega 3 DHA)
1 handful baby spinach (good source of iron and calcium)
1 Acai Frozen Smoothie Pack (antioxidant)
1 cup frozen organic wild blueberries (rich in phytonutrients, antioxidants, as well as anti-inflammatories)

Makes 2 servings

Changing with the Seasons

Taken with my kit lens (18-55mm)

Since keeping this blog, it has become evident to me that I tend to function in cycles. I feel like I am starting to move out of my crafty, sewing phase and move into my food obsessive phase. I always have an underlying interest in food and healthy living as well as crafting, but it seems like only one takes center stage at any given time. I guess it makes sense that I would devote more of my time and energy to eating healthy and getting more exercise when the weather is nice and I will soon be forced to get into shorts and (gasp) a bathing suit.

Taken with my 50mm 1.8 lens

If I can get into a good workout routine, I think I would feel much better. I already eat pretty well (most of the time) and just have a couple of areas I need to improve. I don't know why, but I feel compelled to share what I eat in a typical day (or at least this week). I have been trying really hard the last couple of weeks.

Breakfast
cup of coffee with soy creamer (Silk French Vanilla)

oatmeal with blueberries, cinnamon, wheat germ, and a little bit of brown sugar

Mid-Morning Snack

carrot juice with a splash of OJ or a green smoothie

handful of raw almonds or a banana

cup of tea

Lunch

homemade soup or salad

slice of organic sprouted bread or whole wheat bread

Mid-Afternoon Snack

organic apple or yogurt with wheat germ and blueberry preserves

cup of tea

3 squares of fair trade dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa)

Dinner

this varies the most, but I usually try to have two vegetables or 1 vegetable & 1 grain plus some sort of protein, but here's an example of one of my dinners this week:

pinto beans (Eden Foods canned beans do not contain BPA) with salsa, brown rice, and steamed broccoli

glass of seltzer water with a splash of pomegranate juice (yummy you should try it)

Taken with my 50mm 1.8 lens

I know the intermittent photos are completely random, but I wanted to mix it up a bit. I thought it was interesting to see the different bokeh that I achieved with the different lenses.

Taken with my 50mm 1.8 lens

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Happy Friday.

The End

Stacy announced on Saturday that this will be the last week of Theme Thursday. I will definitely miss the weekly challenge, but I understand the time it takes to organize it each week. I thought the shot above was fitting for the theme this week, which is The End. When you look at the monkey bars you can't necessarily see the end, but you know it is there. Maybe it's not the end you see at all, but the beginning.

Thanks Stacy. You always inspire me.

Wordless Wednesday- Vibrant Colors of Spring

For more Wordless Wednesday visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

Getting Close

We are getting really close to planting our garden. The bed that will house my herb garden is all ready. My parsley survived the winter and I already have a cilantro plant in the ground. I have basil, thyme, chives, oregano, and lavender seeds to plant this year. My husband finished clearing out the bed that we will use for the vegetables. He already planted 4 strawberry plants that I purchased last week. Soon we will plant our vegetable seeds. This year we are going to try pole beans, spinach, tomatoes, and squash. This is the first time we have had a vegetable garden so it should be interesting to see what happens. My husband also got the rain barrel back out so that we can have water for our new seedlings.

We spent a good part of the weekend in the yard. My husband has really been working hard. He enlisted the kids to help with the weeds, which meant they were both armed with clippers. Eventhough they were very dull from lots of use and no sharpening, it made me more than a little nervous. They spent hours in the yard clipping plants and weeds. Miller did ask me to take his photo at one point, but I was too scared to leave him alone with the clippers long enough to run inside for the camera.

My husband hates dandelions with a passion. He has been plucking them up whenever he sees them. He missed these two somehow. I don't have anything against them personally. I like that the kids love them and they are only around for a short time.

One of the advantages of spending hours outside is the little creatures that you discover. The kids love finding ladybugs, worms, roly poly bugs, and of course caterpillars. Look at this little guy.

I took so many pictures of this caterpillar and this was the best one. He was a fast little guy.

I have been sewing away and promise I will have lots to share next week.

My Beautiful Baby Girl

We went to the park yesterday morning. The weather was perfect and the kids were excited to be able to run and play. Harper did stop for a few minutes to let me snap some photos of her. She has finally realized it is much easier to just let me take her picture. Plus she likes looking at herself on the computer. I loved how these photos came out. These photos reflect how I see my beautiful, independent, smart, and precious baby girl.

I think one of the main reasons I love photography is that it freezes these moments in time. When I look back at these photos, I know I will remember this morning at the park. I had a hard time choosing a favorite. I love the first one because it is SOOC, but I think I am going to have to go with that last one.

For more Best Shot Monday visit Tracey's blog.

History

The theme today over at Stacy's is History. If you missed it, I posted some old photos of the kids yesterday that shows a bit of their history. When Stacy announced this week's theme, I knew exactly what I wanted to photograph.

When we moved into our house almost 7 years ago, we painted every single wall in our house. One of the last areas we tackled was the hallway. After we painted it and scraped off the popcorn ceiling, we had to decide what to hang on the walls. We collected various frames that we painted and refurbished. Then we sifted through old photos to put in the frames. We made copies of the photos that we wanted to frame and hung them all on the wall. I never tire of these photos. To me, this little space is a constant reminder of our history.

Wasn't I cute? BTW-The real photo is not that green.

This is my grandmother and grandfather. I love this photo.

When we were cleaning out my grandmother's house many years ago, we stumbled across this flyer from World War II. We thought it was so cool. My grandfather took lots of photos during the war and we have a couple on each side of this flyer.


For a little more history, visit The Land of K.A.