Smooth Operator

Y’all have all heard it said before…breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  As a teacher, you’d think I’d practice what I preach.  Truth be told, breakfast is not my most favorite.  I’m usually lucky if I get to pack a lunch let alone make breakfast.  I’m better with quick…preferably healthy things I can whip up and take with me when I go.  Hence, the Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie.

  A few months ago I was on a big kick to make sure my boys were eating healthier.  My oldest is the PICKIEST human being alive {my fault, hands down.}  I had this genius idea to start making him “green” smoothies, but he didn’t take the bait.  The color didn’t bother him at all…he tried it like a champ.  But it was the taste.  As he said, “Momma…this isn’t my favorite flavor”…and proceeded to pour his smoothie into the sink.  *Sigh*.  He had NO idea what I put inside of it until he read my Writer’s Workshop that I wrote for my kinder babies the next day.  When he walked into my room after school and read my story about tricking him with a spinach smoothie he about died.  Joke was on me…that little stinker won’t take anything in a smoothie form any more.  Fail.  Fine by me…because if I’m being totally honest, I really don’t wanna share this smoothie with ANYONE!

PEANUT BUTTER & BANANA SMOOTHIE

via Chocolate & Carrots

1 banana

1 TBSP. peanut butter {I use Skippy Natural PB}

1/2 cup quick cooking oats

3/4 cups Almond Milk {I use Silk Vanilla Almond Milk}

This is my go-to breakfast on the daily.  It’s just SO dang good I seriously can’t get enough!  And it keeps me full ‘til lunch!!! 

In a blender, combine banana {I break it into big chunks first}, oats, peanut butter, and almond milk.  Blend until desired consistency.  I like mine a little runny.  Sometimes I add a *little more* milk.  If you’ve got texture issues, this might not be your favorite thing to drink.  It’s a little on the thick side.  And if you don’t blend long enough, you’ll definitely be able to “feel” the oats.  None of that bothers me at all, so this is pretty much the most amazing breakfast ever.  Not to mention…the peanut butter/banana combo is my absolute FAVORITE.  Heaven in a cup.

If you want something a little creamier, add a couple tablespoons of Greek vanilla yogurt.  That just takes it to a whole new level.  For real.  I seriously can’t tell you how much I ADORE this smoothie!!!  I have one after every morning workout and it never gets old!  I’ve even got Mr. Spouse drinking them, too!  And he loves it **almost** as much as I do ;)

A Soup for Busy Moms

If you haven’t figured it out by now, I love soup.  Especially when it’s cold outside.  I pinned this little soup from Rachel Ray a while back and I’ve been dying to try it.  So, I went to pull it up and realized it required a few more steps than I was prepared to handle.  I love Rachel Ray and all, but I’m pretty sure she doesn’t teach 6 & 7 year olds all day and then come home to two VERY overactive boys under the age of 5.  By 6:00, easy is the name of the game.  Unless I’m trying to escape crying and screaming…which is pretty much a nightly occurrence…and then I *might* enjoy being in the kitchen longer than normal.  All that to be said, I took Ms. Ray’s recipe and tweaked it to fit this busy momma’s schedule.  And ohmiword…couldn’t have been easier…or tastier!!!

THE BUSY MOM’S CHICKEN & RICE SOUP

adapted from Rachel Ray

1 rotisserie chicken {I used ALL the meat}

1 box {32 oz.} chicken broth

1/4 cup lime juice {2 limes}

1 cup salsa {I used Joe T. Garcia’s, mild}

1 can diced tomatoes with onion

1 cup frozen corn {or more if you like corn!}

1 cup frozen chopped veggies {celery, green pepper, and onion}

2 tbsp. chopped cilantro

1/3 cup Mexican cheese

1-2 boil-in-a bag bags of rice {this is the only way I can cook it :)}

 

Here it is, in all it’s EASY glory.

Shredding the chicken was the most time consuming part of this whole recipe.  Praise the Lord.

First up, bring chicken broth, lime juice, and salsa to a boil.

Add in the diced tomatoes, frozen corn, and frozen chopped veggies.  I definitely let the frozen items thaw out before I tossed ‘em in.  Cook on medium high heat for about 10-12 minutes, reduce to low and add the shredded chicken.  Cover and let simmer for about 20-30 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook your rice.  I’m a cheater and I always use the boil-in-a-bag version.  I boiled 2 bags for this recipe.  Drain and return to pot.  Now take a spoonful{ish} of rice and dump it into your bowl.

Spoon a very generous helping of the soup mix on top of the rice.  The more rice you add, the thicker your soup will be, so proceed with caution :) 

Y’all.  This *might* be my new favorite soup.  Just sayin’.  As you can see, my soup is a little on the thick side here.  I added a little more rice than I probably should have, but ohmiword.  SO good!!!  And filling as all get out, too!!!  You might want to have an extra quart of chicken broth on hand.  You can always add more to the soup mix if you need to.  Infact, I ate this for lunch the very next day and there was a bit of reduction in the “soupiness”, so I added some chicken broth to the mix before I heated it up and it was perfect!!! 

I dressed her up with some avocado, mexican cheese, and sour cream and I could hear the mariachi bands start to sing. ¡Esto es la gloria! Seriously.  And you can’t tell me this doesn’t look easy.  Sure, it’s not ready in 5 minutes, but 5 minutes is about all it takes to prep :)  This is the kinda soup this busy momma LOVES!!!!

My House Smells Tasty

Oh how I love this time of year…mostly for the yummy smells I associate with it.  The smell of fresh pine {or pine scented candles in my case :)}, nutmeg, cinnamon, peppermint…Mmmmm.  I’m not tryin’ to brag or anything, but my house smells dang tasty right now.  I’m burning the most AMAZING candle.  Please tell me you’ve heard about Circle E candles.  Because basically, that’s all I burn in this house.  These candles are nothing short of amazing.  I got my first Circle E about 7 years ago and now that’s all I’ll burn.  Truly.  My current favorite scent for this holiday season is…

Apple Strudel.  In all honesty though, I’ll burn this bad boy all year long.  It’s THAT good.  These candles will smell up your ENTIRE house and they last FOREVER.  I seriously can’t get enough.  If Apple Strudel isn’t your thing {so sad for you}, then you MUST check out their best seller, Birds of Paradise.  OMG…TO DIE FOR.  I will challenge anyone who says there’s a better candle out there.  I’m like a ninja candle warrior, so don’t test me ;)  You should seriously give ‘em a try and DEFINITELY give them as gifts…they’re the gift that keeps on giving :)  And your gift recipients will kiss you for sure. 

CRASH! Let This Be A Lesson...

That would be the sound you might've heard when my sweet little laptop DIED last week. Apparently, my sweet little man was playing "Cars" on our keyboard while I was at work and Daddy was on the phone. I guess all of his racin' KILLED it. I was in a panic. My ENTIRE LIFE is on that thing! And we've only had her less than a year!!! And it's a really good laptop! Needless to say, I was NOT happy :( The techies told us everything could be saved (fingers crossed) and I'm praying the online storage system I invested in over a month ago backed everything up for us. Even though Mr. Spouse bought a 3-year warranty should ANYTHING happen to her, apparently this problem isn't covered. What a shocker. SO...$300 later and they say she's better than new...minus EVERYTHING I ever purchased for download. BOO.

SO let this be a lesson, friends. DON'T leave your laptop in arms (or cars) reach of the littles and for the love of all that is holy, BACK.EVERYTHING.UP!!!!!!



I'll be back in a few days with some recipes that are SURE to get your tail in the kitchen!!

Oh Heavens.

SO…I just realized that I’ve been neglecting my sweet little blog. Sadly, she’s taken a backseat to the INSANE amount of preparation it takes to get ready for a new school year! Don’t ever tell a teacher she/he doesn’t work enough because I PROMISE you that they{we} make up for every single “break” in the time we put in after school…with the things we bring home…after school functions…weekends…and back-to-school preparation!!! There were many a late night I spent getting my classroom ready in the weeks before school started…like, midnight kinda nights. But seriously, I love it, so I can’t complain :)

I promise I’ll be back in a few days with some VERY heavenly dishes. Shockingly, I still have time to cook…but the cleaning part, well, not so much ;) I made the yummiest Fettucine Alfredo with broccoli last week {sauce from scratch} and a DElicious Layered Fiesta Taco Bake. OMG…SO YUM!!!! I have about 8 other dishes I’m dying to share, but heck if I didn’t accidentally delete the pictures off my hard drive before realizing what I did! Dangit! New school year means lots of meal planning and I can’t wait to get back in a routine and share some new recipes!!

In the meantime, I’ll leave you with a few little pictures of my new “Sassy Hollywood Glam” classroom. I’m teaching First Grade this year and I absolutely ADORE my sweet kids. They.are.PRECIOUS!

OH Avon, How I Love You

So I’m just recently discovering Avon. Not just hearing about it, but finally taking the time to look through a catalog…and falling in love. My mom recently started selling it because she’s all sortsa cute like that. She introduced me to the greatness that is Avon. I guess I thought Avon was strictly make-up & face wash. WRONG. There’s a little something for everyone! Look at the FUN measuring spoons/cups I just ordered…

Are you in love?! They’re collapsible! LOVE IT!!! Do you know how much drawer space is consumed by my bulky measuring cups?! And let’s not talk about my measuring spoons. They’re a MESS!!!! I am SO EXCITED about these!!!! And for $16.99, I sorta couldn’t pass ‘em up!

And look at these…

Sorta genius if you ask me. MUST HAVE these for taco salad night!!!

Speaking of genius, that’s how I feel about these…

And 2 for $7.99 makes my heart smile :)

And I’m gonna go ahead and say that I’m sorta in love with this purse…

DAR.LING.

And they’ve got hooded towels out the wazoo! I know you can get these anywhere, but I just think this one is dang precious. Pretty sure my itties would be stinkin’ cute snuggled up in this one after bathtime.

I could go on and on because there were lots of goodies I scoped out…even a precious little Toy Story alarm clock for the kiddos in their Outlet section! But I’ll let you take a look for yourself. My cute lil’ momma has her own online store and you can browse through the products HERE. My favorite thing about her little store is that you can shop ONLINE and not through a catalog. I {big puffy} heart online shopping. And right now, if you spend $30, you get FREE shipping!

So tell me…if you’re a seasoned Avon shopper, what should I purchase next?!

Triple Header

Thank the Lord for long naps because that means this Momma can get caught up on a few little things…like posting these YUM recipes! House cleaning and laundry can wait, right?! Here are a couple of fun & frivolous drink recipes and a DELICIOUS Garlic Shrimp dinner to boot. Happy eating…and drinking, too ;)

Pina Colada Slush

Twisted Arnold Palmer

Garlic Shrimp with Coconut, Tomato, & Cilantro

Swoon.

As I was browsing through Blogland this week, I found some things that made me swoon…*sigh*.

This vintage sideboard/buffet from A Life of Blue made my heart swell. I want.

These MUST.HAVE hallway signs at A Place For Us are on my to do list. Loves.

I’d LOVE this family tree art from Bugaboo’s Creations…it would go PERFECT in our bedroom!

This DARLING beyond darling “Tee Time” party from A Small Snippet of Our Life makes me wanna host one just like it! PRESH!

I MUST copy this plate wall from Cottage & Vine. I big puffy heart LOVE it!!!!

I’m takin’ out the Silhouette & scrapbook paper this weekend to make these signs because I have the WORST luck when it comes to ringing doorbells & sleeping babies! How Does She?! has the BEST ideas!!!!!

And I found this a few weeks ago at Imperfectly Beautiful , but I keep going back to it because I REALLY wanna make this for my guest bedroom! TOO cute!

I can already tell it’s gonna be a BUSY summer!!! 14 more days ‘til summer break! WOO HOO!!!!

How To Welcome New Neighbors To The ‘Hood

When we moved into the neighborhood a few years ago, our sweet neighbors brought over the obligatory “welcome to the neighborhood” brownies. Score. Recently it was our turn to pay it forward. Have I told you that we just got brand new neighbors...right next door?! I am SO excited! This sweet little family is from Michigan and they have TWO BOYS...just like us! The kicker is that the two boys are the EXACT same age as my two littles! LOVE IT! To welcome them to the neighborhood, I put together a few little treats so that we'd rank as their favorite neighbors. I can already see a gazillion cookouts, playdates, pool trips, happy hours on the patio in our future ;)

Can't go wrong with a plate of brownies and chocolate chip cookies. Ummmm...Mr. Spouse might have stolen half the batch of cookies, so I had to bake brownies to cover the giant plate! I found the plate/platter at Target a few months back for a whopping $1!!! I bought a few of them with the intention of giving them away at some point...SO glad I finally got to!

The basket has a few little things...NOTHING big.

Of course, my boys wanted to give their boys a little something special, so sidewalk chalk and bubbles won out.

And a little somethin' for momma...a YUM Tyler candle...warm sugar cookies. Unpacking isn't fun, but if the house smells good, who cares?!

And take out menus! Being new to the area, it's important to have these on hand at ALL TIMES. Who wants to cook while you’re unpacking?! NO thank you!!!!

I hope we didn’t come on too strong ;)

How do you welcome new neighbors into your neighborhood?!?!?!