Spinach Breakfast Smoothie

I have found a new Spinach Smoothie via my friend, Marie Landis! It is SSOO good. And so quick and easy!! I cut the recipe down to one pint jar and used Greek yogurt. 

I use...

 One handful Spinach

1 frozen (or fresh) banana

1/2 cup Pineapple

1/2 cup Greek Yogurt

1/2 cup water or ice cubes

Blend well and enjoy.

I make my own Yogurt. I didn't have fresh pineapple so I found a can my mom had given to me. The banana is frozen and the Spinach is store bought.

I stuff it all in a pint mason jar.

And I use my regular blender as a bullet. 

Shiny is very seriously drinking her smoothie! :) She LOVES it!!!

She is always asking for one! LOL

This is a fast and easy breakfast for Shiny and I but my men can't seem to get past the color!! 

 Blessings to you all!

Blog link here! :)

These are some great recipes!! Please, go check it out!! 

Our Wellness Journey #4

 Saturday, my little girl was drinking water when she choked. Like really, really choked. She must have swallowed most of the mouth full of water down the wrong side! As I tried to help her I was flashed back to several yrs ago when this happened to me almost every day! The look of panic in her eyes, her inability to cry, the out pouring of water as she coughed; it was all so familiar! I found my self reflecting on the change between now and then and thanking God I more longer have that problem. Shiny was OK but had a rattling cough for a while after. Wow, it was scary!!!
 I remember thinking when I choked so often, that there surely was a reason this was happening to me. So we started searching for answers and discovered that at least one of the reasons was High Fructose Corn Syrup found in most sodas, juices, and sweets; including Oreo cookies. :(  HFCS became my biggest enemy! I just quit using it. Period. But then something else happened! I began feeling that I was being punished for being sick. It caused a lot of emotional issues which would cause me to binge on... homemade chocolate cake, for instance.
 Since, tho I have learned quite a lot. I figured out if I have an Oreo Cookie or two (never more) along with protein (like jerky,which I also love) and a lot of water, it doesn't affect me. Portion packs work great for me too! And I no longer feel like I can't have it!
 That goes for donuts, and a lot of other yummy stuff. SMALL amounts of soda, and sweet tea are also doable for me. And I no longer feel as if I don't have a choice. Which, suddenly, makes the right choice a lot easier to make and I don't feel deprived. :p
 In thinking back, I believe the main part in this whole lose weight and regain my health thing, was the mental change. If done in baby steps it is easy and much quicker then one thinks! :) After my mind got on board a lot of things are falling into place.
 I like setting teeny tiny goals (instead of huge, long distant goals) and then rewarding myself for those. (Not with food!!! More on rewarding later.) I only weigh myself once in a blue moon; never, ever every day. As soon as I weigh myself every day I get stressed out and lose my focus. I am not doing this lifestyle change just to lose weight but to regain my health. A healthy body that is eating the right foods in the right amounts and exercising daily will not be overweight. (I don't know if there are exceptions to the rule or not) As I go along I will be adding more and more healthy choices. This will help the weight loss. But I have to be on board or I won't do it. So, for me, slowly and consistently is the key.
 I have been asked how much I have lost. 40 lbs.  I've got about 40 lbs to go, yet! :) Only halfway...

 As I have said, easy is what works for me... So on Monday I precook most of our breakfast and lunch meats...

Sausage links about to go in the oven. I love this method because I can put it in the oven and do something else for 30 minutes. Then get it out and bingo!! Cooked links! 

I put these in an old  Folgers Coffee container and put them in the freezer. 

I pile the bacon in little patties so they can be handled quickly and easily without breaking. Fast, fast!! :)

After they are baked 30 minutes they are ready to drain and freeze right along with the sausage.

 Sausage patties. Since these are all I did, I cooked them via stove top.

 I flash freeze my smoothie bananas before putting them into a bag. That way they don't stick together. When I am ready for them I get them out, let them rest a little and then peel and use like normal. The flesh stays nice and white but the skin turns black!! I found a new smoothie recipe via a friend of mine that I will be sharing soon.

It is so cold here right now! Crazy Missouri weather. So I am all bundled up for my walk!! This coat was a gift from my mother in law. When she gave it to me I could not zip it up. It's zipped now and I even got some 'wiggle' in there! :)

Blessings! 

Link up here! :)

 

Our Wellness Journey #3

 I wanted to start out with thanking everyone who has given me ideas and recommended books, etc!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you and please keep them coming! :)
 That being said; a huge thing for our family on this wellness journey is the need to be able to 'live healthy' in a 'normal' world! I have heard of and even tried lots of lifestyles but knew that we could never stay consistent. We believe that staying consistent is the key to a lifestyle change. With sugar being our first and greatest challenge, at this point, we have decided to start there and move on as we feel lead. So, my friends, thank you again. I will read and listen and learn and we will adapt changes into our lifestyle as we move along!
 We are eating a lot less bread but are definitely NOT on a gluten free diet, (yet)! :) That may come but right now it is enough for us to just cut back.
 I do bake goodies but my self control trick while baking is; for every 'lick', I drink 4 oz of water. And before I start with the baking/licking I eat a protein. That is the protein that will help keep my blood sugar from soaring. The water keeps me from 'licking' very often since licking involves a lot more now then it used to! After the cookies, bars, cakes, breads (yes, breads! They are carbs, you know), etc, are cooled, I portion them into baggies or containers and freeze them! RIGHT AWAY! It's a lot more of a pain to eat frozen stuff!! Putting frozen portions out for lunches etc, is ultra easy tho and can be done while fixing breakfast. Planning ahead is important and sure doesn't hurt me! :)

This pan of bars has about 6,180 calories! 

I cut them into 60 bars. This makes them about the size of a 'fun size' candy bar and about 100 to 105 calories per bar.

That way I can eat a cheese stick, a bar, and some almonds and it's about 250 calories.

Usually I put them in snack baggies to freeze them but this time I was out. So I used an ice cream bucket with waxed paper between the layers. No excuses!! These buddies are going in the freezer!!

Yay! No 'picking' at the bars for me now!! :)

(Steve was very sad to discover they were already in the freezer! LOL)

With frozen things in the freezer, I have something on hand when I need it most (think unannounced visitors).

 I have also learned to precook bacon, sausage, hamburgers in the right portions and freeze them, as well. Its pretty easy to throw them in the skillet or microwave to thaw and reheat as you prepare the remaining meal and the food is all portioned. It's awesome!! :)
 We do keep bacon at a minimum since it is relatively high in calories and is loaded with fat! The same with sausage! Plus, both are pork and isn't really all that good for you in the first place....
 Measure, measure, measure is my goal! And I make it easy by having measuring cups on hand just for that! One is often surprised at how much we really are overeating!
 We use the slow cooker a lot!! Almost everyday, certainly several times a week! It's SO easy to throw everything into the pot and forget about it till Dinner!
 Mondays is our 'cook for the week' day because that is what fits into our schedule. It doesn't usually take long and since we are doing bulk in everything there are less dishes, etc, to contend with. I just start dinner an hour or so earlier by doing the precooking and baking for the week right along with the evening meal!
 Monday is also our clean the children's bedroom day. Cleaning, washing and vacuuming are all done, bed sheets changed, bookshelves straightened and toys put away. Fly lady taught me that! :) I divide the rooms  of my house into the days of the week (Mon - Fri) and clean whatever I need to, so Friday isn't overwhelming for me. When one has low energy, one has to get rather creative! Lol
 Oh, and BTW, Steve has lost 15 lbs since we began this lifestyle change in Jan!! I am so happy for him since he is very excited about it!

Compromising the Immune System, A Wellness Journey #2

Wow! What a time of it, we have had around here!! My husbands family had a reunion over the weekend so we planned to go down for it. On Wednesday we got the chance to send the children ahead and since they don't see their grandma very much I thought that would be a good idea! Plus that meant Steve and I could have valentines day to ourselves! <3
 During flu season?? Yep, bad call! But I didn't think about it and sent them on their way. They had a GREAT time but dropped everything we've been learning! (Of course they did, they're CHILDREN!) LOL

Steve (in the black) and his siblings! :) 

 Wednesday night my children didn't get to sleep before midnight, Thursday night they didn't either and they were eating more sugar and processed foods those two days then they had probably had in months at our house! Whee!!! I got there Friday evening and tried to rein them in with no success whatsoever! :(  It happened to be a very stressful weekend for me simply because I am just now learning the value of this wellness journey and I did not know how to handle direct conflict in front of my children over the decisions I was making. As a result I let them do as all the other kids were doing (like if they didn't wanna eat their protein they could just have cake instead) and warned them over and over that they are gonna get this cold/flu that is going around! Shiny especially was a handful! And she was really the one I was most worried about. Sure enough! She got sick! SO, so sick!! Sunday evening she had a sore throat and Monday morning a fever. She never got a really high one so I gave her no Tylenol, trying to let the fever do it's job.
 All week she had a headache and fever and I instructed her on the whys and how's and explained the best I could what sugar really does to the body. She seemed to understand and even asked questions. (A first from her! She LOVES sweets and breads.)
 She ran a fever and was miserable til Thursday when she seemed a little better with no fever but still very listless. Then Friday evening her fever came back and Saturday morning she woke me early and she was hot!!! I checked and she had 103 fever. I wasn't overly worried although slightly alarmed. But a little while later it was up some more so I gave her Tylenol. She threw it up. She just kept getting worse all day and I was getting more and more afraid. When she coughed blood up tho, I panicked!! I was SSSOOO scared!! We gathered around her as a family and laid our hands on her and prayed! While we were praying she broke out in a sweat and by the time we were finished she was cool to the touch with no fever! She has been on the mend since! Praise God!!!

 Several yrs ago (after the Red 40 fiasco with my son) when I started trying to not eat to many store bought things and make a lot more of my own stuff, I noticed that we were suddenly healthier. Plus I started taking Monavie (wellness juice) and giving it to my children about the same time. Since then I can count on one hand how often we have been even slightly sick! Most times if we did get a 'bug' of some kind it didn't make us nearly as sick as everyone around us.
 That got the wheels in my head turning!! Less sugar/additives, less flu... More antibodies, less everything bad... Hummmm....
 And if Red 40 can make a child as smart as my son into a zombie, WHAT else are we eating that is killing us in a slow and painful death!?!?!?!?
 So I started searching for answers. I never really felt like I had quite got it tho until I was at a talk given by a nutritionist , Mark McDonald. He explained how sleep is SO important to your body healing itself and balancing your blood sugar.  He also talked about how you should eat in threes, six times a day to keep your blood sugar stable. As long as your blood sugar is out of balance, you can't successfully lose weight. Since I struggle a lot with low blood sugar 'crashes', it just made perfect sense to me!!
 Eating sugar, especially refined sugar, can compromise your immune system for up to 5 hrs! For someone with a bad immune system already, that is a really bad problem! Huge!!!
 I already have one autoimmune issue, Vitiligo. I certainly don't need anymore!! Plus, I have learned that most of the health problems I have can be handed down to my children! Not cool!! Not cool, AT ALL!!! :( No way, I wanna have them go through what I have! That is why I am so dead set on there being a better way then the average American lives!!
 In the recent months I went from using 2 five pound bags of sugar a WEEK, to 1 or 2 a month! That was huge for me since we love, love, love our southern sweet tea.... *snif* But this was one spot where I could decide to let it or leave it. We chose to leave it. I have a feeling that might happen more as we go along but don't really know... :)
 This is also why it will be huge for me to stop using the refined sugar altogether! But since sugar is what was making me gain weight then I don't want it! :D
 I do have a praise report on Shiny. I have often tried to convince her that honey was good but she refused to eat it, wanting sugar or no food at all. But since her sickness she has happily eaten honey and has refused white/brown sugar on anything. She did drink some sweet tea but had milk right after "to balance out the sugar"!I thought that was terribly cute and let her do it! *tears* I am so thrilled with this change in her!!!
 There is more to come in this story! Thank you to all who have commented, shared and emailed me! It is a huge encouragement to me! :)
 Blessings to all! :)