Smoothies

I had a question regarding how to make smoothies so I will give you a peak into what I put in mine...

There are two kinds of smoothies, depending on if you have a powerful blender like a VitaMix. I don't own one, but the Nam's do so that's what we use around here right now. I found most smoothies work out fine with a regular blender, but you can't put raw fruits/vegetables in like you can with the VitaMix because the motors are not powerful enough.

Morning Smoothie

1 cup milk
1 scoop protein powder (we use the EAS brand from Costco which is a pretty decent nutrient profile minus the fact that it has some Splenda in it, but not enough for me to freak out)
1 cup frozen strawberries
1 cup other frozen fruit or one banana

---Blend it up.

Fruit and Vegetable Smoothie

1 cup fresh fruit
1 carrot
1 apple minus the core
1 cup frozen fruit
1 cup water

---Blend it up.

Enjoy!

Smoothie girl

My friend Becky told me that her kiddos drank smoothies with her. My daughter is always lunging for my smoothie, so finally I gave her one. Let's just say they're a major hit.

A Foodie in the Making...

What did we expect?
With all the visitors in town, we have been doing the "visitor circle"-- most of the time doing Last Chance, Nordstrom's discount store and then lunch at Postino's.
Kate has been there three time in the span of a month or so.
Today we took both grandmothers to lunch there.
We have bruschetta and she gets a gourmet piece of bread and a taste of cheese or beans.
Then she get admired by all.
What a life.

Happy Valentine's Day

Christmas in...February

A sort-of pre-Valentine's treat Kate got in the mail from her uncle, Peter.
He picked these out himself.... Oilily, nonetheless. (A Dutch company, Peter, not French, which gives you even more kuddos)
I had to put them on her now, because she's going to outgrow this pair before we have sufficient time and it gets too warm.

According to...

My dear friend, Ashley, told me this one:
Use a lint roller with the disposable sticky tape to clean your lampshades.
It works awesome.
Another fabulous cleaning hint I've learned this year.

Braids!

Look at this adorable girl :) She sat still long enough on Sunday to get her hair done.

There's nothing like...

...the smell of a clean bathroom.

Call me a "dutchie"-- ie. cleanliness is next to godliness... but, on Monday night, after a great day at work, I came home and was superwoman:
Laundry, check.
Vaccuum, check.
Dust, check.
Bathroom cleaned, check.

Ahhh....inhale.... you have to admit, the smell of a clean bathroom, scrubbed and clean, is good for the soul.

And for those of you who are germaphobes, my friend Rachel emailed me this:

I read in 'Home Comforts' last night *the 'Bible' of homemaking if you haven't heard of it but you probably have* that bleach is actually the safest cleanser to use in the kitchen b/c it breaks down to salt and water as it dries... leaving no chemical residue. But it does take a contact time of a couple of minutes to kill stuff. Go bleach.

I like Method cleaner so that I don't use toxic chemicals all the time, but, I mean, come on, doesn't every toliet and shower deserve bleach sometimes? If you have kids you understand. They might come out of the bathtub smelling all clean and beautiful, but they sure don't get into it clean :)

And in terms of cost, I don't have time to make all my cleaning products, so Method is affordable because a bottle last me more than 6 months for a bathroom/kitchen and it saves me valuable time.