Talk talk talk

I have a bunch of random thoughts I just wanted to share.

It’s official.  I’m smoothie obsessed.  I look forward to them the second I finish my morning workouts.  That’s a lie.  I look forward to them when I’m falling asleep at night and dreaming of what I’ll have for breakfast.  Yep, I do that.

I even splurged on some fancy raw vegan granola from Whole Foods this past weekend (it was on sale for 50% it’s normal price and I’m a sucker for a deal).

I will do a roundup of protein/green powders soon because I’ve been going through several samples and definitely am starting to taste some favorites.  I mean, none have been bad, but some (see above) are like dessert heaven (but, like, mega healthy).  It’s a total winning way to start the day.

I got this for free at Starbucks…I was ordering a chai tea (duh) and saw a chai flavored bar in front of my face and thought maybe I should try it.  Then the barista told me it was free.  Uh.  Ok.  Cool!  “You’ve been kinded” 🙂

This past weekend was picnic day!  We met friends on campus and saw cows and goats being milked, pet some sheep, and watched a horse polo match, but the most amazing part of the day was the battle of the bands.  There were marching bands from several colleges and they all alternated playing back to back to back and it was super fun and high energy and non-stop music.  Obviously this thrilled P to no end.  Maybe he will be a band geek like his mama.

I kinda miss the diary aspect of blogging that used to exist way back in the day.  I think everyone is so paranoid about being judged and receiving mean comments that all the personal stuff went by the wayside.  I have felt that (and responded in a similar way) so I get it, but I miss the raw behind the scenes unedited stuff that I used to read.  That said, it’s not fair to my babes to air their personal b’ness to strangers when they aren’t even old enough to object.  So many funny stories…so much bragging…so much mama pride…but I bite my tongue and know that the internet is forever.

Has anyone tried this stuff??  I saw it at Whole Foods and nearly bought it but decided that would most definitely NOT help my weak weak will power when I’m battling intense sugar cravings (as I previously mentioned).  But I’m still kinda thinking I want to get it.  Hmmm…what to do, what to do…

Earlier this week Kyle took a day off to help me out (because he worked a ton the previous week) and it was SO awesome.  Basically I took the time to treat myself.  I haven’t bought a single clothing item in a year (for real!!) so I finally splurged on some stuff.  I am not back to my pre-pregnancy body, but I’m close enough.

The spring wardrobe is all from Target – so much bang for your buck.  And the four pairs of workout pants on the left are from the gap fit line.  Not cheap but if there’s one thing I should spend money on it’s fitness gear.  Gap has such incredible stuff!  Why did I not know this until just now?  It’s not cheap, but it’s better than lululemon prices (what isn’t I guess…).

See my shopping partner?  She totally encouraged me to go crazy.  Bad influence.  [I texted pics of each pair of pants to Kyle to get his opinion because I was trying to narrow my choices down to two…buuuuuuut…I didn’t.  Got all four pairs.  Oops.]

I also got a bunch of stuff for the garden (planting needs to happen asap).  AND.  Probably the most indulgent thing of all.  I went out to lunch.

As soon as P went down for his nap I nursed V, prepped Pacman’s lunch and left Kyle in charge.  Off to Whole Foods!

Broccoli salad, shredded chicken, grapes and celery with too many rice chips.  I was so full and happy after this meal, I think that’s what prompted me to buy everything at Gap.  I usually have such buyers remorse but not this time.  I also had a gift card (from my birthday a million months ago), so that helped.

I don’t like thin yogurt and ever since I started adding chia and hemp seeds to P’s yogurt I realized it’s a way better way to eat yogurt.  I add a ton so it gets super thick.  Basically turning it into pudding.  Anyway, this yogurt was too tangy.  I feel like it was maybe bad?  I had a bite and wasn’t into it at all.  So I offered a bite to P (wasn’t that nice of me?) and he didn’t want it either.  Hmm.  Has anyone else tried it?  Did I get a weird one?  I like the So Delicious blueberry flavor, but can’t recall trying any others by that brand.  Maybe I’m just used to eating full fat yogurts and this one didn’t have enough fat to balance the flavors or something.  Dunno.  Not impressed.

Finally joined team La Croix.  I can tell this is going to be a bad bad thing because I’m already obsessed.  I’ve only tried the coconut flavor so far, but there are so many others that sound delicious.  What are your favorite flavors?  Cranberry raspberry?  Passionberry?  Or cherry lime?  They’ve all been close to jumping into my cart so let me know which I should try next.

I made something yummmmmmy.  Recipe coming.

Don’t worry about the date on the package of Beyond Meat (I bought a ton and shoved them in the freezer back when I was stocking it for my postpartum days).  Salads with coconut chips and avocado and soy based dressings are really doing it for me at the moment.

Lookin’ mighty fine if I do say so myself.  Salads for lunch are a given if the kids cooperate with their sleep schedules.  If not, I gotta go with a quicker and more portable (read: not fork and knife) meal.  So salads are my luxurious lunch option. Obviously this was a good one since I had time (and free hands) to photograph it too!  Happy dance.

This kale salad is INSANE!  I am usually SO QUICK to poo-poo a store bought salad, but I bought this on a whim when we were grocery shopping because I need quick lunch things for days that are crazy.  I almost put it back on the shelf because – hello – I can easily make this myself.  But Kyle encouraged me to buy it because the whole point is to make it easier on myself to eat well.  Duh.  He’s so smart.  So I paid for the overpriced individual portion and guess what?  It.  Is.  SO.  Good.  I immediately (as in, I hadn’t even finished the salad) googled a copycat recipe which I very much plan on prepping in advance this coming weekend.  That way I can have it every day for lunch next week and don’t have to pay for a million individual plastic wrappers.  The dressing needs to be bottled and sold everywhere because it’s the perfect combo of spicy and savvy and tangy and sweet.

Really dang good.  If you haven’t tried it, do so asap.  You will thank me.  Or just buy the ingredients and make one yourself.  All it is is kale, broccoli slaw, red onion (which I tossed), cabbage, sunflower seeds, dried cranberries, chicken, and the best dressing ever.  From what I can tell the dressing is pretty much mayo, mustard, honey, apple cider vinegar, salt and chili/cayenne powder.  The ratios are what I have to sort out.  Stay tuned?

I think I may want to make my on kombucha.  I’ve been toying with the idea for years but never committed.  But I think I might be ready.  Either that or I’ll start pickling every single spring produce I can get my hands on.  Which is an equally productive task.  Why am I acting like I have free time for this stuff???

Ok, that’s it.  I’m off to do some food prep.