Menu Plan Thursday!!

     I know a lot of people do "Menu Plan Monday" but mine will be on Thursday's because that is payday and I go grocery shopping on Thursday's. :-)
     So, I went grocery shopping earlier and I went waaaay over budget. I bought more snack-y stuff, than usual, for the hubby to take for his work lunches. Total was about $150. I budget $100 weekly. That budget includes groceries, household items, and eating out. I went over but some items I bought (like frozen chicken) we will use this week AND next week. So, next weeks groceries should be less.
     I also bought some makeup (for cheap!) and I found band-aids on clearance! I will be vlogging about that tonight which I will post a link to once its done!
    
     Ok, so here is this weeks menu:
 Breakfast- is usually fruit, cereal, or toast.
 Lunch- is usually peanut butter sandwiches with fruit.
 Snacks- fruit
 Dinner-
  Thursday: Pasta spirals with ground turkey and cheese (we ate this with corn tortillas)
  Friday: Homemade Pizza (pepperoni for the hubby and cheese and mushrooms for the kids and I)
  Saturday: Chicken Salad with homemade Cucumber dressing
  Sunday: Shrimp and feta salad with homemade Cucumber dressing
  Monday: Spaghetti with Texas Toast
  Tuesday: Baked Chicken Pesto with a side of green beans
  Wednesday: Tostadas (hard corn tortilla shells, refried beans, cheese, avocado, and tomatoes)

:-)

Link to first vlog (I hope it works):

http://youtu.be/hEeX4qwV_RU

Revamping the blog

Oh my!

     It seems I have neglected this blog!  Everyday I wake up and think to myself, "I WILL blog today!" and then life happens.
     Well, I decided to make it a goal to blog every week. If I blog more than once a week then great! I really do love blogging and writing and sharing recipes, ideas, and my life as a mommy to 3 kiddos. 
     I am hoping to revamp this blog and share themed posts.  I'm thinking of starting a vlog (video blog) on YouTube to compliment this blog.
     Hopefully, I'll post/vlog my weekly grocery hauls, weekly menus, yummy recipes, fitness ideas and workouts, and "day in the life" type posts/vlogs.
     I'm excited!
   
     I'll be back later to share my weekly grocery haul and weekly menu!

  Oh, I'd love to see comments of your favorite recipes and ideas for what I should blog or vlog about! ;-D

Dairy/Gluten Free Chocolate

   This recipe is super simple to make! All it is is 3 ingredients! Three! You wouldn't think to say that this chocolate is healthy but, actually, it is! Feel free to indulge ;-)

Ingredients:
• 1 tbsp. Honey
• 2 tbsp. Cocoa
• 2 tbsp. Coconut Oil

Directions:
   Mix all the ingredients well. Pour into cupcake liners or into a mold. Freeze to solidify. Then, enjoy!

Easy peasy and delicious!

Strawberry-Banana Oatmeal Smoothie

I was bored with my usual breakfast of Peanut Butter Toast and wasn't feeling any other breakfast foods. So, I thought I'd start making smoothies for breaskfast. I'm not a big fruit eater but I do love banana and strawberry banana snoothies! The banana smoothies I usually make are just bananas and milk. That's not filling at all. I've heard of people making oatmeal smoothies and I thought that sounded yummy! That's how this yummy, nutritious, and filling smoothie came together and here is the recipe for you to enjoy as well!

Ingredients: 

• 3/4 cup Oats

• 1 1/2 cup Coconut milk

• 1/2 cup plain yogurt

• 4 large strawberries

• 1 banana

How to make it:

   First, using a blender, grind your oats until powdery.

   Second, add the rest of the ingredients until smooth.

   That's it!

   This recipe is a little thick but I like it because it fills me up!

  If you want it less thick I suggest you add less oats and more milk. The beauty of this recipe is you can change it to your liking. You don't have to follow the recipe exactly the way it is.

    It makes about 20-25 oz.

   Cheers! Enjoy! ;-D

Yummy!: Super Simple Cucumber Salad Dressing

   Inspired by the awesome Cucumber Onion dressing I love from a local restaurant called The Blue Onion I decided to try and create a salad dressing similar to it.
   And I think I did a pretty decent job! It came out sooo yummy!
   Want to learn how to make it?
   Of course you do! ;-D

Ingredients:
 • 1/2 cucumber
 • 3/4 cup plain yogurt
 • 3 or 4 stalks (?) green onion
 • and a pinch (or two) of salt
This makes about a full mason jar

Directions:
   Put all the ingredients in a Ninja blender(I'm sure a regular blender is fine too) then mix it all up until wrll blended.

   That's it! I told you it was simple!
The best part is is that the WHOLE jar is probably only 100 calories! The yogurt I bought is 100 calories per cup. I only use a 3/4 cup, making it 75 cal. Add the rest of the ingredients, which has very little calories and you have a jar of salad dressing that is only 100 calories, is super yummy, and is healthy!

If you make it, let me know! I'd love to hear your thoughts on how delicious it was!

Not the best picture but it shows the ingredients I used.

Pour me a tall glass of patience, please.

   Today was rough. Motherhood is rough. It's not all rainbows and butterflies. I'm not going to lie. Sometimes I wish I could just run away.  Or, at least hide in a closet behind the clothes with a pillow over my head. Anything to take me away from the here and now. From the noise. From sticky little hands tugging me this way and that way. But, who said motherhood would be easy anyways, right?

   My precious, precious two year old definitely keeps me on my toes. If patience was offered in a perscription pill form I'd ask for the highest dosage. Some days I feel like all I'm doing is trying to avoid explosions. I do whatever it takes to keep the "bomb" from exploding. 

   He doesn't understand the word, "wait." It's now or never.

   If you mess with his trucks. Oh, boy.

   If he can't have this or that the world must be ending.

   This little boy has always been my strong willed child. As a baby, he'd cry for hours and only wanted me to hold him. I had a long list of songs I sang to him as I rocked him to sleep for nap times and for bed time he'd only fall asleep if some part of his body was touching mine. 

   

   Now, I know what you're thinking. I must be a horrible mother who doesn't dicipline her child. 

   Well, I never said I was perfect. 

   I'll admit, some days I just do what it takes to get through the day. Even if it means bribing with snacks. Some days I dicipline with extra cuddles and attention. Some days I do the "Time out" approach. I know consistency is key when diciplining but I also believe that some days this works and some days that works. 

   All I know is that I'm still learning. Motherhood isn't easy in my opinion.

   As I lay in bed thinking about all that went on today I have to remind myself that, yes, motherhood is rough but I'm not on this road alone. I have my husband and I have God. Instead of thinking, "I need to get away!", I should praise God that I even have children to call my own. Instead of getting overwhelmed with all that I 'need' to do I should be asking for help from my husband. I am not in this alone. I just need to learn to ask.
   And, maybe, I should eat a chocolate bar or two as my "therapy." ;-D

   Oh, PS, my two year old is not some horrible wild child. He has his bad days but he truly is the most silliest, cutest, sweetest little boy ever! I couldn't ask for a better two year old. <3

Craft: Clothespin Airplanes

Inspired by this Pinterest image:

   I thought this craft would be the perfect craft to do on a cold, windy, rainy day like
today.
   Last night I went to the local Dollar
General and got my supplies.
   Unfortunately, there were no popsicle sticks. So, instead, I got some sticky foam sheets and clothespins for a total of $2!
 
Here's how to make them,
Supplies:
• Clothespins
• Sticky Foam Sheets
• Pen (to trace out the wings)
• Glue gun (I used this as a reinforcement so my 2yo wouldn't rip off the wings)
• Scissors (I couldn't find my scissors so I had to use, clean, kitchen scissors)

I drew, as best as I could, an airplane wing on the back of a foam sheet then traced the first wing to make the rest. I cut two "wings" per plane and stuck them back to back and glued them to the clothespin.

My 2yo didn't really have any interest in decorating the airplanes. He drew a few lines then just wanted to play with them.

 

   My 3yo, however, loves coloring and decorating things so she loved this craft and colored her planes in her favorite colors. Pink and purple.

 

Of course, I couldn't let the kids have all the fun!

So, I decorated a couple planes as well.

;-)

 

 

All in all the kiddos had a blast. It was such a simple craft that it held the attention of my 2yo without any meltdowns and, as I previously mentioned, this was the perfect craft for a day when staying indoors is a must.

 

 

I hope you enjoyed this blog post! Keep checking back for more posts in the near future!

Have a great evening!

:-D