Smoothies!

Smoothies are a mom’s best friend! I’ve always loved breakfast smoothies for myself for many reasons: they are so easy, I never run out of the ingredients, they give me energy and fill me up without weighing my down at the start of the day, and did I mention they are easy – just to name a few!

When I became a mom to toddlers, my love for smoothies only increased. With our first little guy J, I couldn’t fill him up! He was constantly hungry and he had a problem with chewing which had my Heimlich maneuver on standby at all times – not to mention my nerves a wreck when he ate anything close to age appropriate bites. Snacks in particular were an issue because I couldn’t just give him a snack to eat; I’d need to be watching. Then with our second baby, JoJo, we had the opposite issue of her never wanting to eat. Bring on the patience, sister!

So anyways, I needed to get creative. I have to credit J for the idea because he’s the one that originally asked to taste my green smoothie and why I hadn’t thought to let him try it before is beyond me! HE LOVED IT!! So this is where our “smoothies for toddlers” got its start!

I wanted to share a few of our family’s favorite recipes with y’all. A few sweet friends have asked me recently to write a post on this so here goes:

** Note: We only drink coconut milk for our milk so that’s what I’m writing on these recipes, but any kind of milk is totally fine – it substitutes equally. I also will use coconut water. Regular water works to but I like the added benefits of the coconut milk/water.

Blend all ingredients in each recipe until smooth, add a fun straw, and ENJOY!

Just Peachy

8 – 10oz coconut milk

1C kale

1C spinach

1 banana

1/2C frozen peaches

Tropical Greens

8 – 10oz coconut water

2 C kale

1 banana

1 C frozen pineapple

big splash of orange juice

Berry Blast

8 – 10oz coconut milk

1 C kale

1 C spinach

1 ½ C frozen mixed berries

juice of half a lemon

Peanut Butter and Banana

8 – 10oz coconut milk

½ C spinach

2 frozen bananas

2 TBS peanut butter powder (our favorite is by Just Great Stuff)

Greek Goodness

8 oz coconut milk

¼ C (2oz) Greek yogurt

1 C spinach

1 C frozen berries

1 banana

1 TSP chia seeds

Peanut Butter & Jelly

8 – 10oz coconut milk

½ C spinach

2 TBSP peanut butter powder

1 C frozen berries

Mighty Green Toddler

8 – 10oz coconut water

½ cucumber

½ C spinach

1 green apple, cored

1 frozen banana

1 heaping TBSP hemp seeds

The best part about these recipes – you don’t need to measure exactly and you can make “smoothie packs.” These have saved me SO much time. Prep your portioned out fruits in zip lock bags and freeze (you can add the greens in, I just prefer to portion greens and refrigerate separately). Then you can grab two bags in the morning, add you milk or water and blend. Literally a 30 second meal or snack!

Fun goodies to add: hemp seeds, chia seeds, or honey are some of our favorites!

(If you have any different recipes that your kiddos, or you, love leave the ideas below! I’m always looking for easy and fun new recipes!)

Mexican Chicken Quinoa Skillet

Cooking is an act of love.

My mama used to tell me this all the time. She cooked every night and I carried this desire with me into my marriage… then kids came. It’s not that my desire changed. The task of cooking and preparing a meal just became more difficult. I eventually had a heart-to-heart with myself and decided I had to come up with a game plan to cook meals for my husband and family.

This happened in two steps:

1  menu planning & meal prep

2  one pot meals

Let’s be honest – getting to the grocery store, prepping the food, and then cooking the meal is half the battle. Clean up is the worst part! With one-pot meals, the cleanup is a breeze, and this really speaks to my heart. Not only do I get to serve my family by way of cooking them dinner, but I also get to spend all that “would-be clean up time” with them! Win-win in for the mama books!

I used a skillet to cook this dish. You just need a pot or pan deep enough to hold the liquids that will eventually be absorbed by the quinoa. I’ve also made this recipe in a Dutch oven – my go-to for all things one-pot.

To get the rest of the recipe click HERE

Sweet Kid-Friendly Treats

I started making these sweet treats when Ryan and I were first dating. They’ve evolved into one of our family favorites! Super easy and even fun to make with the kids!

I normally keep a bunch in the fridge and by the end of the week we’ll be ready to make more.

Butter Balls

(I don’t know why we call them this because

there is no butter in the recipe, but anyways….)

20 small marshmallows

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup honey

1 ½ - 2 cups dry milk

1 cup (or more) of topping for rolling

1.    Mix the peanut butter, honey, and dry milk in a bowl to create a dough-like mixture. The dough should be somewhat dry so when you roll it in your hands it should stick together to form a ball. If the dough is too moist, add more dry milk.

2.    Scoop a tablespoon of mix and flatten with your fingers. Place a marshmallow in the middle and roll the dough around the marshmallow.

3.    Roll the ball through your topping (we used crushed heath bar – see below for topping ideas)

4.    Line all the butter balls on a plate or in a container and refrigerator for 1 hour. They will last in the fridge for at least a week.

YUMMY TOPPING IDEAS// heath bar, crushed mini M&M’s, chopped peanuts, chopped cashews, cocoa nibs, cocoa powder, chocolate shavings

VARIATIONS// you can also use other nut butters, you just need to adjust the dry milk accordingly. The nut butter and honey should always remain proportional.

My Top 5 Kitchen Gadgets

I am obsessed with my kitchen! This is probably because I love to cook…

Over the last few years I’ve added to my kitchen collection of gadgets so I’m going to list my top 5 favorites for you!

1.    Teavana holds my heart. I love a great cup of tea and as far as I’m concerned they hit it on the head with two pieces I can’t live without (I know I said 5 things but these two go hand in hand!). I love their PerfectTea Maker (when making tea for myself only) and the Breville One Touch Tea Maker (when making a few cups at a time). These two pieces do essentially the same thing, just in different quantities. For the Perfect Tea Maker I can make a big glass of iced tea or a cup of hot tea for myself. The Breville maker makes a much larger quantity. The Breville also boils the water, whereas the Perfect Tea maker needs you to boil before hand. Both are amazing pieces I use regularly!

2.    My Le Crueset Dutch Oven. This was the first major thing my husband bought me when we were dating. It is still one of my most used pieces in my kitchen. I have since then invested in many different Le Crueset pieces but I use my dutch oven at least 3 times a week… and it’s a piece that will outlive me so it’s fun to think my babies will cook with it one day!

3.    Our juicer. When I first thought about investing in a juicer I did a ton of research! I talked to friends, searched the internet, and browsed William Sonoma and Sur la Table until I was confident I found one I liked. My mother in law bought a slow juicer and I knew I didn’t want one of those (see my reasoning why here) so I finally decided on the Breville Juice Fountain Duo. It was quite an investment but I’ve used it religiously for a few years now and it works like a champ! I’m so happy with this purchase!

4.    Our Le Creuset Grill Pan. Seriously ladies we all need this! I refuse to grill (if you do grill, I strive to be more like you!) but I love grilled food. I am a stay at home wife for the most part so I feel that it’s the least I can do to have both a clean home, and dinner prepared when my husband gets home. This means no grilled food for us… until I bought this piece. I cook everything from veggies to fish to meats on it and best of all it transfers from the stove to the oven so I don’t have to dirty any more dishes! This pan does it all and I have been so impressed at how much it will do for me.

5.    Our Stacking Bowls. My mother in law gave this collection to us at one of my bridal showers and it is the most useful bowl set ever! It literally has every size you’d ever need and because it’s a set it all fits together perfectly making storing the set a breeze! I think this is just a staple for all kitchens.