Freezer Smoothies

We absolutely love smoothies in our house!  They are an easy way to pack in great nutrition, and they are very kid-friendly.

We like a variety of smoothies, but this summer our recent favorites were:
1. Whole apple, frozen banana, strawberry, chia seeds.
2. Strawberry, frozen banana, chia seeds, whole milk plain yogurt with a dash of homemade vanilla.
3.  Peaches or blueberries, frozen banana, chia seeds, and whole milk plain yogurt with a dash of homemade vanilla.

I was able to use a lot of local produce that we picked ourselves or bought from the farmer's market.

I almost always use frozen bananas because they give the smoothies an added creaminess. I buy a lot of bananas when they are on sale. When they get brown, soft, and mushy, I throw them in a Ziplock bag and freeze them. 

I also like to make green smoothies by adding veges like spinach, peas, or carrots.  For the frozen smoothies, I stuck to fruit because I have a feeling they would be a dull gray color after I defrosted them.  I am not sure dull gray smoothies would be attractive to my young kids!

I love these BPA free Ball brand freezer cups.  I use them to make freezer jam and to portion and store grab-and-go snacks. I have seen them at Wal Mart and Target.  They are also the perfect size for freezer smoothies!

Today, I made a triple batch of smoothies and froze them.  As the school year starts, I will pull them out the night before to use for breakfast or snack!

What are your favorite smoothie concoctions?

 

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Homemade Citrus Counter Top Spray

Have you ever wanted to make your own homemade cleaning products and save money?  Here is a super simple way to make an all-purpose counter top spray.  When you have leftover citrus rinds (I like a combo of lemon, lime,and oranges), place them in a mason jar and fill with white vinegar.  I had some rinds to use after making my Herbed Lemon Parmesan Pasta.  Let the jars sit on your counter a minimum of three weeks.  I had this batch sitting on my counter for a few months.  The longer the better!

When you are ready to make your spray, run the liquid through a strainer placed over a large bowl.

You can multi-task if you choose.  I made waffles and my spray at the same time :)

Fill a reusable spray bottle halfway with the vinegar solution.  Fill the rest of the bottle with water.

That's it!  A "green" counter top spray using two ingredients you already have in your kitchen!

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Creating Summer Memories

We have just a few short weeks before school begins.  As we continue to create some great memories this summer, we stopped into our favorite ice cream parlor.  And this place is truly an  ice cream parlor.

 My favorite dessert is the chocolate ice cream soda with vanilla whipped cream!

 I grabbed some candy for the road . . .

 Our little guy tried to grab some but he was caught in the act.

 

How are you savoring these last days of summer?

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Links I Like, #7

I have been slacking off on posting lately.  We have a toddler with erratic sleep patterns.  I am hoping to get back to a regular posting and sleeping routine soon!  Here are some great links:

Banana split breakfast sundaes by Lunches Fit for a Kid.  I am always looking for new breakfast ideas!

Remember I proclaimed how much we love fruit shrub?  Here is a recipe for blueberry ginger shrub!

This is a friend's blog that has some cute and easy bento lunchbox ideas for kids.  School starts in a few weeks.  Get inspired by these lunches!



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Links I Like This Week, #6

Homemade Coconut Oil Deodorant

DIY Catholic Children's Daily Planner by Sanctus Simplisitus

Homemade cloth wipes and wipes solution by Simple Homemade

NFP: 19 Year Later from In the Heart of My Home.  Elizabeth has posted great articles all week in honor of NFP Week.  I highly recommend them all :)

Homemade Chocolate Chips by Traditional Foods

I have A LOT of basil and needed some inspiration - I got it here.


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7 Quick Takes, #4

1.  I like to think of myself as a glass-half-full kinda girl.  When stuff happens, I usually remain calm and know that it will all work out in the end.  My husband, on the other hand, is the complete opposite.  That is why we make a great pair :)  Anyway, we have had a series of unfortunate things happen lately.  Let's just say that it is a good thing that I don't panic very easily . . . . We had our debit card number stolen and about $600 was taken before it was caught.  Not a huge deal because I just file a claim with the bank and eventually the money is returned.  Crossing my fingers it is back in our account before bills are due.  Thankfully, we always have "just enough!"

2.  We had torrential rains in our area last weekend and our basement flooded.  With a shop vac, dehumidifier, a fan, and lots of elbow grease, we got it cleaned up.  Thankfully, we completely cleaned out the basement and decluttered the week before . . . or the mess after the flood would have been muuuuuucccchhh worse.

3.  I was stung by a bee for the-first-time-ever.  It made me realize that I could have been much more sympathetic when my oldest was stung in the hand and my husband was stung in the ear just a few days before.  I'll know better for next time.
4.  Our 16 year old chihuahua is getting old quickly.  She moves slowly and  her eye site and hearing is worsening.  And she constantly pees in the kitchen.  I mop and wash the carpets sometime 2-3 times a day.  And I complain about it a lot.  Well, she got out of the house yesterday, and at about 10:00 p.m., we realized she was not in her bed.  She had been out in a terrible thunderstorm.  While this may not be a big deal for other animals, she is a very old house dog that acts like a cat.  She does NOT like to leave the house.  After a furious search of the neighborhood for about  1 1/2 hours, I found her coming out of the dark from back of our yard.  Needless to say, we are very thankful she is home.  I will continue to clean up pee and I will not complain.

5.  On a lighter note, we finished up swim lessons this week.  I'm very happy to have stronger, more confident swimmers in my house.

This one may have hurt a little:

6.  After praying the Novena to Saint Anne for nine days, we celebrated with a tea party in her honor. It was a wonderful way to celebrate the liturgical year in our home!

You can see all the fun we had here.

This is our St. Anne and St. Mary:

7.  One of my favorite real food blogs is GNOWFGLINS.  I tested a wonderful blueberry lemon muffin recipe for Wardeh.  I was tickled pink to see our our family highlighted in the blog post.  Check it out :)

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This post is linked with 7 Quick Takes which is hosted by Conversion Diary.

A Tea for St. Anne

Happy Feast of St. Anne!   St. Anne, the mother of Mary and the grandmother of Jesus is celebrated in the Catholic Church on July 26th.  She is the patron saint of homemakers, mothers, pregnant women, and women in labor.  Her husband, St. Joachim, also celebrated today, intervenes for fathers, grandfathers, grandparents.

After praying the Novena of St. Anne over the past nine days, it seemed fitting to celebrate dear St. Anne with a tea planned and orchestrated by my girls.

This is our own St. Anne and St. Mary:

 We decorated in red, pink and green which are colors usually associated with St. Anne.

 Pink floating rose candles:

 Watermelon  . . .

 Watermelon lime water . . .

 Strawberry cream puffs . . .

 Cucumber cream cheese tea sandwiches . . .

 St. Anne prayer cards to decorate the table . . .

 The girls made pink and green hair bows . . . .

 And paper chains . . . .

 Our girls worked on St. Anne coloring sheets and word searches . . .

The also made some Christmas decorations using St. Anne holy cards.

A lovely time was had by all.!  I would love to take credit for all these ideas but many came from these posts by Sanctus Simplicitus and In the Heart of My Home - both beautiful Catholic blogs that I love to read.  I also came across this Pinterest board dedicated to St. Anne. 

 As we strive to live the liturgical year in our domestic church, we hope to do more activities like this  to enrich our understanding of the Saints and of our Catholic faith.

Prayer to St. Anne
Good St. Anne, you were especially favored by God to be the mother of the most holy Virgin Mary, the Mother of our Savior. By your power with your most pure daughter and with her divine Son, kindly obtain for us the grace and the favor we now seek. Please secure for us also forgiveness of our past sins, the strength to perform faithfully our daily duties and the help we need to persevere in the love of Jesus and Mary. Amen.


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This post in linked to Crafolic's Tea With St. Anne Faith-centered Home Link-Up!