Healthy Nutella Smoothie

I was craving some nutella pretty hardcore the other night and decided instead of just eating it by the spoonful, I figured would incoorporate it into one of my other favorite things....a smoothie!

Meet my trusty blender. This little guy is over 9 yrs old, has moved with me 3x and was only about $20-$30 at Walmart. There's a lot of starting and stopping and stirring, but he gets the job done. I'm not partial though. If he were to be replaced with a slightly higher end model (preferably green), I'd be one happy momma! CoughCoughMOTHER'SDAYCoughCough

Beyond knowing I wanted nutella in this smoothie, I really had no other ideas so I just randomly started throwing things in my blender and here's what I ended up with...
1 frozen banana
1/2 avocado
1 cup almond milk
2 Tb nutella - lick the spoon!
1 heaping Tb ground flax
2 Tb mini chocolate chips

Blend it all up and drink away!

Even though we're technically KSU fans, please note my nod to KU!

So awesome they're in the Final 4! Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

Although I do try very hard to keep the majority of food in our house safe for everyone, a girl needs her chocolate! Since the boys can't eat it anyway, Katie and I say nutella is just for girls! It's fun to have a special little treat that only the two of us share together.

Spring Break 2012

I am super blessed to have a boss that always allows me spring break at home with my kiddos. I was feeling pretty nervous when the week before was absolutely beautiful....80 degrees, in March! Sure enough, we had rain all. week. long!

We did not let that stop us from having fun though! Here's our spring break in pictures! Links to recipes at the bottom. :-)



























LINKS for our week of fun...
Orange Vinegar for cleaning
Kiwi, Avocado and Green Tea Smoothie
Spiced Applesauce Cake
Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Cookies
Slime! I made this with regular white glue and with clear glue. Only the batch with clear glue set up. I'll be stocking up during back to school sales!

Stuff for the freezer....
Blueberry Oatmeal Bread
Banana Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread
Cream of Chicken Soup

The premade mixes are just the dry ingredients of the following recipes I put in jars to save time next time I want to make them....
Corn Bread
Baked Donuts
Oatmeal Muffins

Thousand Words Thursday - The Princess Sleeps

Mimi made Katie princess jammies and a princess blanket for her birthday. These became a quick favorite, but there was one problem. Katie didn't think all was complete without a matching pillow. I think I've mentioned before that Katie has no problem verbalizing her requests......

So you guessed it...Mimi made her a pillow right away.
And the princess slept....

St Patrick's Day

Every year for as long as I can remember, a leprechaun visits our house the night before St. Patrick's Day and dyes our milk green.


This year, he made a little stop on his way out and forgot to flush!


He also left a few little goodies on the table for the kids.




A couple of months ago when I made mini baked donuts, I put a bunch in the freezer. I thought they'd be perfect to break out for breakfast, along with our soda bread, of course! I was excited to find some frosting that was safe for everyone. They had a great time decorating AND eating them!






Then we got dressed in our GREEN! Konnor had to be bribed with a donut to even semi-cooperate. Everyone failed to tell me that the more children you have, the stronger willed they are! :-)


The shirt Konny had on is the same one
Kelton wore St Patrick's Day 2006.

For dinner that night, we had shepherd's pie. I aways make more than enough to put at least one in the freezer for later!


That was just for the kids though. Eric and I went to dinner at the same Carlos O'Kelly's we ate at after our wedding 5 yrs ago. I remember people asked us if we were going to prom!! LOL
We definitely do not look that young anymore!


Finally today, I got around to making corned beef and cabbage. I did it in the slow cooker and it worked out great. Believe it or not, this was my first time making it, but I was super happy with how it came out. Kelton, Eric and I loved it.


Katie and Konnor had corn dog muffins since I didn't feel safe with the vague ingredients listed on the corned beef package. Plus I cooked it in beer, which contains gluten.


Only 363 more days until The Wearing of the Green 2013. My mom thinks we need to go to St Louis. I totally agree!

Irish Soda Bread - gluten, dairy and soy free!!

I cannot remember a time when I haven't made loaves and loaves of soda bread around St. Patrick's Day. One big bummer about family recipes is that they're not at all allergy friendly. Thankfully, taking a regular old recipe and making it safe for my family is a challenge I really enjoy!

This is my Nana's soda bread recipe. I'm sure it's similar to other soda bread recipes, but still....it's MY Nana's and that makes it very special.

2 cups flour
4 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp softened butter
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup raisins
1 Tbsp melted butter.

This was super easy to make safe for us. I used Namaste Perfect Flour Blend in place of the all purpose flour, Earth Balance soy and dairy free butter for the butter, and So Delicious Coconut Milk with a splash of white vinegar for the buttermilk.


Preheat oven to 375 and start by whisking the flour, sugar, baking powder, soda and salt together.


Cut in the butter until it appears fine and crumbly.


Add buttermilk and mix with fork until combined. Add raisins.


Now knead for about 1 min until smooth. I usually flour up my hands and knead in the bowl. And usually not for a whole min. If the dough is a little wet, just add some more flour. Then plop it out on your greased cookie sheet.


Flatten the ball into about a 7-8in circle, approx 1.5in thick. Use a floured knife to make a X on top of the dough.


Bake for 35-40 min until top is golden brown and loaf sounds hollow when tapped.


Cool (which will be difficult because the smell is amazing!) Brush top with melted butter and ENJOY!