The Grocery Store Showdown And Why I Love Aldi

Today was my "grocery day." Almost every Monday, I go over to Litchfield (about 10 miles from our house) to get groceries at Walmart and Aldi. Now, if you are from Western Kansas you are probably asking "What the heck is Aldi?" Aldi is a grocery store that only stocks it's own brand of groceries (It's also the parent company of Trader Joes. I sooooo wish we had a TJ's closer then St. Louis because I would be shopping there weekly!). There is no kraft, general mills, pillsbury.....you get the picture. Only Aldi's own brand of food/household products. This isn't the only thing that sets Aldi apart from other grocery stores. You also have to put a quarter in to access the grocery cart (the theory is that you will return the cart to get your quarter back and they won't have a whole parking lot full of stray carts) and you are in charge of bagging your own groceries. Say what? They make you bag your own groceries? It's a lot less work than what it sounds. I actually enjoy this aspect of shopping at Aldi because I can control what goes in what bag and it makes for much easier unpacking when I get home. They have re-usable canvas tote bags you can buy (I have had mine for three years or longer), you can bring your own from home, or you can buy paper bags for like 6 cents a piece. On occasion, they don't have a product that I'm needing, so I just get that at WalMart, no big deal! The thing that I love most about Aldi is it saves me a TON of money! I know, I know, you are thinking "cheap food equals gross food," yeah, that's what I thought before I shopped there too. The first time I stepped foot in an Aldi I will admit, I was a little skeptical. There were none of the brands I was familiar with and I had never tried Adli brand products. Boy, am I glad I gave them a chance! I will say, I don't buy any of their pre-packaged foods like mac and cheese, hamburger helper, canned soups, frozen dinners, etc. (we try and eat "clean," so I cook about 95% of our meals from scratch) so I don't know how they compare with national brands but everything that I do buy, I love! Their produce section is my absolute favorite! This is where I see the most savings in my grocery budget. I saved ten dollars this week alone by buying Aldi produce as compared to WalMart. Even if you are a person who buys all name brand groceries, you can still save up to forty dollars a month by just buying produce at Aldi! When I'm shopping at WalMart sometimes I want to scream at people "You can get this for half price at Aldi...a bag of carrots is a bag of carrots!' I refrain for fear of being asked to never come back to WalMart again, and if I didn't have to buy toilet paper and baby wipes, this wouldn't bother me one bit!  I'm not sure if every Aldi has awesome produce like ours, so if you go to an Aldi and their produce isn't the best, I'm sorry, but the produce at our Aldi kicks WalMart's produce section in the rear! The quality and price absolutely can not be beat! If you have an Aldi close by and have been skeptical to try it, I encourage you to take a trip and check it out for yourself. They have an awesome new line called "Simply Nature," which is their all natural/organic line of food. I love these products! They have also began to carry organic baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, bananas, and apples. Generally, their organic products cost about the same as their conventional counterparts at WalMart. Now to see how much you can really save here are a few examples from my grocery trip today. The first price is from Adli, the second (and sometimes third) is from WalMart.

                                                                                               
Milk         $2.68(non hormome treated cows)  $2.88 (store brand) $4.87(name brand-no hormone)

Butter                                  $1.79                               $3.48 (store brand)
Pineapple                               99 cents each                   $2.78 each
Frozen Fruit                        $1.99/ 1lb bag                  $2. 25/ 1lb bag (store brand)
Baby Carrots                               49 cents/bag                    $1.68/bag
Baby Spinach                               $2.49 organic                    $2.98 non-organic
Halo Clementines(exact same            $3.69                                 $5.81
                 brand and bag size)
Natural Peanut Butter                   $1.69                   $1.98(store brand) $2.78( Jif)
Bag of Apples                   $2.99/ 3lbs            $5.97 (forgot to look how many lbs)
8 oz cheese block                         $1.99                                $2.44 (store brand)
Strawberries 1 pound box            $1.29                                $1.98
Cottage Cheese                         $2.29                                $2.84 (store brand)

These are just a few examples of the savings you can get when shopping at Aldi. I checked prices for my whole list at WalMart and if I would have bought everything there just buying Great Value products my total would have been around $99.00. If I would have bought all name brand groceries it would have probably been in the $105-$110 range. Now, remember, a large portion of my grocery budget is devoted to fresh fruits and veggies so I wouldn't have bought a whole lot of store/name brand products anyway. My total today at Aldi was $84.78! I saved fifteen bucks buying my groceries at Aldi instead of WalMart. If I were a name brand buyer I could have saved $20-$25! That's a whole day or two worth of meals around here, or one trip out to our movie theater ($14 for two people, pop and popcorn included!) If you add it up for the month that's anywhere from $60-$100! I know we are all trying to stretch our grocery budget to get more food or trying to find more money in the budget to do more fun things with. If all you have to do is switch where you are shopping, why not try it!

Here's all the groceries! Included are 2 gallons of milk, a whole chicken, 3 pineapples, 2 bags frozen blueberries, 2 bags frozen peaches, 1 bag of apples, 2 boxes organic baby spinach, 3 jars organic pasta sauce, 100% fruit/vegetable juice, 1 bag baby carrots, 2 bunches bananas, 3 tubs cottage cheese, 4 cartons strawberries(I will freeze some), 1 carton fresh green beans, 1 stalk celery, 2 boxes of butter, colby/jack sliced cheese, 3 8oz cheese blocks, brown sugar, mandarin oranges, 1 carton eggs, 2 boxes organic toasted oats cereal, sugar, 1 box shredded wheat cereal, and 1 jar natural peanut butter.


I also love to meal plan for the week. It makes grocery shopping so much simpler! On Sunday, I set down and make a menu and grocery list for the week. There are certain things that remain the same every week like smoothie ingredients (spinach, frozen fruit, almond milk, Greek yogurt), fresh fruits and veggies, milk,  and then I just add on whatever we are out of in the pantry and any items I need to complete the recipes I have planned for the week. I first look in my fridge, freezer, and pantry and take inventory of what I have and try to use recipes for the food items I already have on hand. This helps to keep my grocery budget in check. This week I was really lucky and hardly had to buy any extra ingredients for meals. I had some carry over meals that I had planned for last week but we ended up eating left overs and didn't need those meals so I could use them this week! Another great idea is to plan meals that can use some of the same ingredients through out the week. This ensures there is no wasted food. Don't just buy celery and use it in one recipe and let the rest rot in the fridge. Try incorporating it into another recipe later in the week! I love meal planning because it ensures that I have everything I need already in my kitchen to cook a wholesome nutritious meal for my family and I'm not worrying about what I will fix for supper and having to run to the grocery store. I feel like if I don't have something planned, I would resort to convenience foods (frozen foods, pre packaged meals) much more often because it's easy. Yes, the meals I cook do require more preparation than just opening something and sticking it in the oven  but I feel like if I have everything on hand and prepare as much of it ahead of time that I can then it makes for an easier time preparing dinner every night. I probably do spend more time in the kitchen than some people want to but you can adapt your meal plan to suit your family's needs. Use your crock-pot to have something cooking while you are are at work or prepare some freezer friendly meals on a Saturday. There are so many healthy dishes that don't have to take a ton of time! Sometimes I have a hard time trying to think up menu ideas so I thought I would share what's on the menu at the Dyas house this week.

Monday- Salmon patties, homemade mac and cheese, and peas (meal I had planned last week but didn't use)
Tuesday- Stuffed Shells, green beans, homemade bread
Wednesday- Ham and bean soup, cornbread (Ham was in the freezer, beans in pantry, cornbread ingredients in pantry)
Thursday- Fajitas,  Chips and Salsa/Guacamole (meal from last week, I cut up the peppers and froze them when I knew I wouldn't need this meal last week)
Friday- Grilled cheese sandwiches (make bread in bread machine), homemade tomato soup, fresh fruit (Rem will be at track this night so I wanted something easy for the boys!)
Saturday- Burrito Bowls (the only thing extra I had to pick up was some cilantro and lime to flavor the quinoa and cheese to sprinkle on the top, everything else was already in my pantry/fridge)
Sunday-Balsamic shredded beef, mashed red potatoes, cooked carrots

For breakfast we usually eat oatmeal, plain greek yogurt with berries/granola, or smoothies. Sometimes we will also do eggs and toast, and Gav loves his organic honey nut toasted oats cereal. Lunch is usually left overs from the night before or a simple sandwich like chicken salad. Popular snacks are fruit, yogurt with berries, celery/apples and peanut butter, cottage cheese, veggies/pita and hummus, or nuts and dried fruit (we love cashews and pistachios).

I know cooking everything from scratch is absolutely impossible for some because of time restraints but I encourage you to make whatever you can/have time for from scratch. When you make something yourself you can control the amount of sugar, salt, and other additives that go into your food, not to mention there are no weird ingredients you can't pronounce. Have you ever looked on the side of the can of cream of chicken soup? Kinda scary all the strange things that are in there! A homemade version has about three main ingredients and some spices for flavor and it's a ton cheaper too!

I really enjoy cooking and providing nourishing meals for my family and want to inspire others to make the most healthy choices that they can make in regards to eating. I'm not going to sit here and say that I'm a nutritionist or that I always make the most healthy eating choices (I ate an entire box of butterfinger bites at the movies tonight...HELLO!) but I do believe that we should make the most nutritious choices we can when we have the chance. Instead of eating a donut for breakfast thats packed full of sugar (that's basically it) why not try a bowl of oatmeal with fresh berries, or a yogurt parfait you make at home. Both of these things literally take no more than five minutes. I think if you have time to make a stop by the donut shop in the morning then you definitely have time to make yourself a nutritious breakfast! You will feel so much better throughout the day and have LASTING energy, not just energy for an hour before the sugar high wears off. Ok, I'm off my soapbox but I think the way that most of America eats is horrific and needs to change!

So I just realized that this went from a post about how to save money on groceries to one about healthy food choices so I guess I hit two birds with one stone! I'm passionate about healthy food choices and saving money on the food I buy so I guess they go together. I hope that if you have never tried shopping at Aldi you will give it a chance and that if you are wanting to make a change in the way you eat to head toward a more healthy lifestyle you will begin that journey soon! Happy and Healthy Grocery Shopping!

Goodbye Sweet Golden Girl

For the past couple of years, every time I go home, I always think to myself, "Will this be the last time I see our Golden Girl?" Quite obviously, dog's life spans are not very long and after Goldie hit the 10 year mark, you could tell her age was catching up with her. Her face began to gray and she had a hard time getting her back legs steady. She seemed quite content to just rest during the day and if she would get a burst of energy, she would wrestle around with the little dogs for a while in the evening. When we were home a few weeks ago, it was pretty obvious that this would indeed be the last time we were going to see her. I'm honestly surprised we didn't lose her then. Time caught up with her, and this evening, during supper, mom called to tell us that Goldie had passed away. I wasn't surprised but it still breaks my heart. We have had her since I was in sixth grade. For thirteen years, she has been a part of our family. I know, some will say, "It's just a dog, what's the big deal." No, she never said a word, but made it very obvious through her actions, that she loved our family and would protect us until the end. There were many of my friends who were afraid to come into our house with out me there because Goldie scared them. When I was in high school, Dad took G out for a run and when he came back, someone was breaking into our shed. Goldie took off after them and as they jumped the fence, she ripped their shoe right off of their foot. I guarantee they were lucky, that they were halfway over the fence when they were. As protective as she was, she would never so much as flench around little kids. They could pull her tail and crawl all over her and she would just sit there and let them. It always amazed me that she could tell who was a threat and who wasn't. She had all of our hearts, but most certainly she had Kyler's. For some reason, he attached to her like she was "his dog," even though she was the family dog. He even had some of his senior pictures taken with her! Even when her health began to decline, he almost wouldn't (or didn't want to) believe it. He always said "But the vet says she has the teeth of a two year old." Yes, the teeth, but not the body! As her body really began to fail her, when we were home in March, she would need help getting out of the house to go outside to go to the bathroom. Dad would carry her out, down the garage steps, and out into the backyard, and when she was finished, he would carry her back into the house again. It's pretty obvious that she was well loved! It's going to be so different when we go home to not have G dog there to greet us, but it was her time and unfortunately we couldn't keep her forever. The saying goes "all dogs go to heaven." Is it true? Who knows, but I like to think they do. Maybe, just maybe, we'll see our sweet girl again someday!

A Little Bit of a Lot of Things

This week has gone by really fast! I can't believe tomorrow is already Friday! I haven't seemed to find time to blog anytime this week as we have been busy pretty much every evening. On Monday we went to Springfield to go shopping. Gavin got some cute new spring/summer clothes at Old Navy with some of his birthday money. I'm sure if it were up to him, he would have much rather bought some new toys but we have SO MANY already and he had only a handful of short sleeve shirts that fit and about three pairs of shorts, so new clothes it was! Rem has been interested in "barefoot" running lately and so he got some funky new running shoes and Owen also got a new pair of tennis shoes for his birthday. On Tuesday, Addie came over to play while her mom and dad went to a meeting in Greenville. Gavin loves when he gets to play with his cousin! I'm not sure the feelings are reciprocated quite yet. Poor Addie just gets beat up on by her big cousin. I'm sure in a few years, when she gets bigger, she'll give Gav a run for his money. Yesterday, I made chicken noodle soup and cookies for our Lent soup supper at our church and we spent the evening over at the church eating and doing a bible study. Gav loves when we get to go to church functions because his little buddies are there and they all have a blast together. They are pretty ornery sometimes but after all, they are little boys. Today, it has been rainy all day and we haven't done much of anything.  I gave Rem and Gav hair cuts and made vegetable beef soup for supper. We haven't done anything overly exciting this week, so I don't have much to write about but I have taken a few pictures over the past few days that I thought I would share.

 Owen making a mess at breakfast with his oatmeal.

 Addie watching big cousin Gavin jump off the couch.

 Nothing like getting a choke hold hug from your cousin.

 Gav always has to be making silly faces.

 There we go with a big smile!

 He's just looking more like a toddler and less like a baby.....

 Sweet baby Addie.

 Of course he's playing with something that is not meant to be a toy.

 Gav playing "drums"

 He's always gotta be chewing on something.

Cutie pie with a fresh haircut.

Rem has a track meet this Saturday so the boys and I will be home alone. These are the days when I really wish we lived closer to home. I know nana and papa do too! I usually do ok with being so far away until it comes to being here by myself for extended periods of time (hence why I always come home when Rem has to be gone for a trip). If you are lucky enough to live in the same town as your parents, or heck, within a few hours even, count your blessings. I would give anything to have my parents close to help out when Rem is busy. Guess we just have to count our blessings here and not dwell on what we can't change right now. Here's hoping we have some nice weather on Saturday and aren't stuck inside all day! 

We Like to Party

Gavin was lucky enough this year to get TWO birthday parties. He must have been a really really good boy this past year! The first one was at nana and papa's house on March 12th and the second one was today at home with all of Gav's friends. I hadn't yet posted any pictures of G's pirate party at nana and papa's so I thought that I would share some photo's of that party. He was the cutest little pirate I've ever seen!

 BIG cheesy grin! Showing mommy his pirate party plates.

 "But, mom, I want it now!"

 Adorable cake by Dedra McKinney

 Captain Gavin

 He loved his cake!

 Cool reusable sticker pad. Thanks nana and papa!

 Owen even got some gifts too!

 Owen and Great Grammie Roxie

Both boys with GG

Today we got to enjoy lunch with some of our friends and their kiddos to celebrate Gav's birthday. I made chicken salad, fruit salad, veggies and spinach dip, and chips (ok...I bought these! lol). We have been so blessed to meet some awesome families who have kids right around our boys age! I absolutely love our group of friends. The mom's all stay at home with their kids and we share many of the same values. I enjoy getting to spend time with my friends while Gav gets to enjoy spending time with his friends. It's a win-win situation! Gavin had a great time at his Lightening McQueen party and is exhausted tonight. I think he partied too hard! Here are some photos from his party today.

 Lightning McQueen was the star of the show today.

 My McQueen masterpiece.

 Owen and Phoebe being best buds!

 Gav got a little shy when everyone was singing to him.

 "Come on daddy, help me out!"

 I love these two boys!

 Gav enjoying his cake with his friends.

Present time!

 Look at all those cute kiddos!

Gav and his buddy Judah.

Well we are all partied out for a while and I think we will have a little boy who sleeps well tonight....at least I hope he will! Tomorrow we will head to church and get to come home and relax for a while before Rem has youth group. I guess by "relax" I mean clean up the mess from the birthday party. We "accidentally" watched a movie with CJ and Steph after the party instead of cleaning the house. Oh well, I would much rather enjoy time with our family then clean anyway! There is always tomorrow......

How a Mom Can Change the World

/http://www.thebettermom.com/2014/02/19/stay-home-mom-change-world/

I believe the title of this woman's blog post should leave out the words "stay at home" and just say "mom". The things she writes about aren't exclusive to being a stay at home mom (well besides not getting dressed until three in the afternoon......I'm guilty), but pertain to just being a mom in general. I didn't write this but I couldn't have said it better myself. This is beautifully written and I think every mom, stay at home or not, needs to read this. I think that the role of "mom" is hugely overlooked in our society. Sometimes I feel as though people think that I (or any SAHM for that matter) have the easiest,think-less  job in the world. I had another mom once tell me that she has to work outside of the home because she has to have her brain "doing something" during the day. Right, because I sit on my couch staring at the television all day in a comatose state, day in and day out. No, I don't crunch numbers, heal sick people, teach other peoples children, (insert job here)....but I do think what I'm doing in the lives of my boys is pretty darned important. Truth be told, I don't think there is another "job"/calling that rivals that of being a mother (and this is just my personal opinion, not trying to start an argument here). Whether you are a mom who stays at home all day, works from home along with caring for your own children, or works outside the home, above all else, you are a MOTHER. And that's a pretty big job in and of itself. I think that ALL moms have a very important job and we need to do a better job of supporting each other. Being a stay at home mom isn't right for everyone and being a working mom isn't either. At the end of the day we are all just moms trying to do what we believe is best for our families. Being a mom matters, no matter what form it comes in! So here I am saying "Working moms, you rock." I couldn't do what you do everyday. Waking up before dawn to get yourself ready, then getting your kids ready and out the door by a certain time, only to work all day and then come home to still be a wife and mother. I was a working mom for a total of six weeks, all of which I came home a bawled every night that I didn't want to go back to work. I was not made to be a working mom and our family has been incredibly blessed so that I don't have to be (I understand that this is not always the case). Stay-at-home moms, you also rock. I DO do what you do everyday. It's tough, but in a different way. You don't get a break from your "job". If your kids are having a bad day, guess what?, you get to listen to it ALL DAY LONG, and trust me, it does get old after about the first hour of whining. Sometimes it's hard to have another identity apart from your children. I don't have another title that I'm known by. It's "mom" and that's it. I honestly don't mind that, but I know it's hard for some women to not feel like they are anything besides "mom." I really think that there are hard things about each kind of mom and we all need to be better about showing some respect to moms of all kinds! At the end of the day when we are tucking our kids into bed, we are all just "mom" and what a special job that is! We are making a difference in the lives of some pretty special people!

Car Seat Safety....What Are The Rules Exactly?

I think as parents, we have a strong desire to protect our children. One way we can protect our precious kiddos is to properly follow car seat safety guidelines. I know, they are a pain in the butt sometimes and it takes way more time to take off your child's coat, hook them into a five point harness, and make sure it is tight enough and the chest clip is sitting high enough. But, heaven forbid, if you end up in a crash, those extra few minutes could save their life. There are times that I'm in the grocery store or out in public and I see a sweet baby buckled up in their seat, with their coat on and their chest clip is well.......not on their chest. I of course get concerned for their safety but for fear of looking like a rude know it all, I keep my mouth shut. I'm not sure what the correct way to go about saying "Excuse me, but your baby isn't buckled in correctly," is. I know if I didn't know the car seat safety rules, I would appreciate someone letting me know how to keep my child more safe but I also know that I could really tick someone off by making them feel like they are not a good parent. So I'm hoping that this post can help to inform parents, who are not aware of the guidelines, what the guidelines really are, and not offend too many people in the process!

 I would have never thought about a coat not being safe to wear in a car seat if I had not seen a video explaining how, on impact, the coat can decompress and the straps you thought were tight, really aren't, and your child can be thrown from their car seat. Now, to me, knowing that information makes me absolutely not care about the time I'm saving by leaving my child in their coat and buckling them into their seat. If you are worried about them getting cold, just buckle them in, then cover them with a blanket (what I do with Owen since he's little) or put their coat on them backwards after they are buckled in (what I do with Gavin). Here's a video explaining why you should not buckle up your kids with their coat still on. Uhttp://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LRKi8nUlM4U. She does an awesome job explaining everything and even hits on my next point.

The other big deal when it comes to actually buckling your child in is making sure the straps are tight enough (you can't pinch any slack between your pointer finger and thumb) and in the correct position in relation to your child's shoulders (below shoulders for rear facing and at or above for forward facing) and the chest clip is in the right position (armpit level). Here's a video about why its important for the chest clip to be positioned right across the chest. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QRbNSWVVUm8.

I think it's also super important to make sure your child is in the correct seat for their height/weight. The AAP now recommends that your child should stay rear facing until at LEAST two or until they outgrow the height/weight recommendations of your car seat (which should be in the owners manual or the car seat manufacturers website). Once they outgrow the height/weight recommendations for rear facing they should be moved to a forward facing five point harness car seat. Once they outgrow those recommendations (usually not until at LEAST four) they can be moved to a booster seat/seatbelt combination.  The five point harness is still the safest for them and they should stay in that car seat until they have outgrown it (ours goes up to 65 pounds). I know it's so much easier to strap them into their car seat with the seatbelt but once again, is the few seconds it takes to latch that five point harness worth saving your child's life? I think YES! Here's a great illustration of all this information in one place. http://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/images/child_passenger_safety/VS_cps_image_fullsize.jpg

All of this really doesn't matter if your car seat isn't installed correctly into your car so make sure you either take it somewhere that is certified to install car seats (police station) or you watch a video and read all the guidelines on how to properly install a car seat. I am also very aware of anyone who takes my kids in the car (which isn't too often without me) knowing the car seat rules. I'm forever telling my parents "push that chest clip higher." I would feel absolutely terrible and never be able to forgive myself if something happened to one of my boys, knowing that it could have been prevented by following the simple guidelines of proper car seat safety. I hope that if you didn't know or forgot some or all of these rules before, you can now implement them and keep your babies safer in their seat! There are so many videos on you tube you can reference if you are still wondering about the proper way to buckle your kiddo in or you can google the AAP guidelines for car seats.

How Do You Get Your Kid To Eat Spinach and Kale.....You Don't...You Get Them To Drink It!

Have you ever tried to serve your child spinach or kale? I have.......It doesn't go so well. I'm always trying to make sure G is being exposed to different types of fruits and veggies all the time. Besides the obvious reason of nutrition, I want him to be an adventurous eater. I was a picky eater growing up (I made my mom cook my food separately without the additions that I deemed "uneatable") and I just don't want my kids to grow up saying "I hate this" or "Make me something different." I have since outgrown my pickiness and enjoy eating new foods. I serve G exactly what we are eating and he has to at least try it before he says that he doesn't like it. I hope that if we start young eating all different kinds of foods, it will help in the picky eater stage that most kids hit. I'm not saying that he won't probably go through a picky eater phase but I hope that he can learn to love most foods before he gets old enough to think "healthy food is gross." He loves carrots and celery, quinoa, cottage cheese, and fruits of all kinds. Most things I would think a three year old would run away from (besides the fruit....most kids do like fruit) he eats right up. Now I'm not saying he doesn't love his fair share of chocolate and fruit snacks, but for the most part, I like to think he's a pretty healthy eater for being three. In an effort to get more greens into our family's diet, I started making "green smoothies" about a year ago. When I first started seeing these on Pinterest I thought, "There is absolutely no way that I am going to add spinach, kale, etc. to a smoothie......that's just NASTY!" I kept hearing people say "You can't even taste the greens" so I decided it was worth a try. We mixed up a batch of "green smoothies," took a taste, and have been drinking them ever since. They are DELICIOUS (unless you add a bunch of weird stuff like my husband sometimes does, right CJ). You really can't even taste the greens. If it tasted like you were drinking a salad, I don't think G would ask for one almost every morning. If you are looking for a way to get your kids (or yourself) to eat more fruits and veggies, why not try a green smoothie. If they hate it, they hate it and you can go on about life, but I'm guessing they will think it tastes pretty darn good! My little man does! Here are two of our favorite green smoothies.

 My personal favorite has spinach, banana, frozen peaches, and fresh pineapple. I also about two tablespoons of ground flax seeds.

 Next I add unsweetened original almond milk.

Thanks almond milk, you saved me. I almost stopped nursing and started using almond milk as formula but your warning saved me!

 Blend that baby up!

 I also add plain greek yogurt (you can use flavored but I buy plain to cut out added sugar) and a little more ice because I like mine pretty icy.

 Let it go for another spin.

 Stick a straw in it and drink it up! Yes, this one is VERY green but tastes amazing!

He loves his smoothie!

 Another favorite in the Dyas house has kale, banana, strawberry, and blueberry. Flax seeds and greek yogurt have also been added. Almond milk is the liquid of choice again.

 Some notes about what I have learned in experimenting with smoothies. 

1.ALWAYS use a banana (at least in our house). The banana gives the smoothie the sweetness it needs. We have run out of bananas before and tried to make our smoothie without it and the smoothie does not taste nearly as good. 

2. Keep it simple. Rem thought that he would make his smoothie "extra" healthy one morning and decided to add tomato, peas, celery, apple, spinach, banana, strawberries, blueberries, yogurt........you get the picture. It tasted awful. If something doesn't taste good, you won't drink it. Who cares if it has 10 different vegetables in it if it tastes so awful you won't drink it.

3.Keep trying until you find a flavor you love. We have tried many different combinations of fruits and veggies and the two I have posted about have turned out to be our favorites. Maybe they won't be YOUR favorites so experiment with fruit flavors you already love. Don't like yogurt- don't add it. These smoothies are super customizable.

A favorite breakfast of mine. Homemade oatmeal with blueberries and a smoothie. I actually eat this pretty much every single morning. I know, how boring! But, I love it and why fix something that's not broken. The other half of my smoothie usually goes to G.

And because who really cares about pictures of smoothies and oatmeal, here are some shots of my two cuties playing this morning.

Our day will more than likely consist of playing inside (kids) and trying to get this house in order (me). Can I switch with my kids? Rem has been busy this morning helping out at the Paden's farm (they go to our church and Rem has been helping them this past few years) and he will have FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes, he's the leader) right after school and following that he will have track practice. Think he's done? Nope, after track practice he will head to LIFT, which is a once a month community youth group, held up at our local teen center. The boys and I miss him when he's gone all day but we are so thankful that he is such a hard worker and is making a difference in so many people's lives. This evening the boys and I will probably go to our church's Lent soup supper. Gav loves seeing his little friends there and I don't have to cook! It's now nearing noon and I have accomplished about zero percent of what needs done around here and my kids are still in their pajamas so I suppose I should probably try to go make it look like I have been doing something so when my husband comes home for lunch he's super impressed with me ;). Oh wait......he's probably going to read this so my cover is blown! I guess it needs done anyway so off I go!