Protein Shake/Smoothie

I had been thinking about replacing one meal a day with a protein shake/smoothie, but never really took the plunge.  I thought ice was a must for any good shake/smoothie concoction and I don't have an ice maker.  I think freezing ice cubes each day is cumbersome.  But, I learned ice isn't a must.  I had talked to several people that said they freeze bananas and use them in protein drinks and decided to give it a try. I have yet to make a shake without frozen bananas.  All you have to do is peel the banana, cut or break it into smaller pieces, and put it in a freezer safe container.  Super easy!

Kale is super popular right now because of all of the health benefits, so I add it to my smoothies as well.  I actually did a bit of research about Kale and how best to handle it because I had never eaten it.  I learned it is best to remove the center stem because it is much tougher than the leaves.  I also freeze my kale.  I clean it and put it in a gallon sized freezer bag whole, then freeze.  After it is frozen you can actually crush it, much easier to add to smoothies that way.

It took me a few times to get it right.  I played with different types of ingredients to find what I like best.  Some things I learned:

1. Flax seed is best used in oil form rather than ground (which is what I tried first)
2. Ground nuts do not blend up enough (I'm extremely picky about textures when it comes to food-chunky drinks, not my thing.)
3. Raspberries and other berries of the like have LOTS of seeds and I don't enjoy drinking them.

I may change some of the add-ins, but the basics stay the same protein powder, flax oil, banana, and kale.  The other fruit I add changes depending on what I have.  Don't forget you need to have liquid of some sort or you will probably burn up your blender.  My liquid changes I may use juice, milk, or water.  What you add depends on your taste.  I have been thinking about trying Almond Milk, but haven't bought any yet.  I have also started adding local honey because I have seasonal allergies and I heard that might help.

I recently won some Barlean's Flax oil from a Twitter party; it couldn't have come at a better time either.  You can buy it at Whole Foods in several different forms and flavors.  As far as the protein powder the one I am using right now is pictured.  I prefer chocolate when I just mix with milk, so that is what I started with.  I am almost out of it and looking for a different flavor.  So, I decided to buy individual packets of different types, brands, and flavors because I don't want to spend money on a whole can of it if I won't like it.

The result might not look very appetizing, but I truly enjoy drinking my protein shakes; which if you knew me you might be surprised about.  I'm very picky.  

What kind of shakes are you drinking?  Never had one, are you inspired to try it now?

  

I Love Menthol!

I get sinus infections and sinus headaches somewhat often.  So, every night before bed I put menthol around my nostrils; just inside.  Why?  It helps keep my sinuses open-plus I just love the smell of menthol.  Also, when my sinus headaches get really painful I rub the menthol around my eyes and forehead.  I'm very careful to not get it in my eyes.  Sinuses take up so much of our heads and my pain often goes into my teeth as well.  Putting menthol on the outside of my sinuses really helps, especially at bed time.  The brand I generally use is J.R. Watkins Apothecary Menthol Camphor Medicated Cough Suppressant Rub.  Even though I use it all the time it seems to last forever.

Last week my husband came home from Whole Foods with a new menthol product.  It is the Botanique by Himalaya i.e. balm.  My husband bought it because it isn't just a menthol product it also has holly basil, which he thought I might like.  He was right, I do!  The holly basil adds another layer to a scent I already love.

Both of these products are made from all natural ingredients.  The i.e. balm doesn't even have petroleum in it, which is nice.  It has essential oils in it.  That is unless you have been blowing your nose a lot and it is sore, then the i.e. balm burns, really badly.  However, the J.R. Watkins rub doesn't, it almost feels like a protective layer when my nose is sore from being sick.  This rub doesn't state specifically if there is petroleum in it, but it's logical that it does.

I also use both of these on my finger.  Why, you might ask.  It's because I broke my finger about six and half years ago (when I was pregnant with my youngest) and had to have screws put in.  Then about two years ago I had surgery again to have the two screws removed, unfortunately, one of them broke.  That means it is still in my finger, it gets pretty painful sometimes; so I slather it with one of my menthol rubs.  Just be careful not to get it in your eyes!

Sometimes I layer both of them, I might very well be addicted to menthol.  Do you have a special use for menthol?

Making Healthier Sweets From Scratch-Cake and Frosting

I'm trying to get more healthy with the sweets we eat by making them myself with healthier ingredients.  I have made brownies from scratch a couple of times before, my family loved them.  So, I thought I would branch out to cake and frosting.  

My oldest daughter's 16th birthday was in January.  I wanted to make her a special cake; since she is obsessed with Dr. Who, I made her a Tardis cake.  I used a boxed cake and my husband made his specialty (cream cheese frosting,) he prefers that to any of the pre-made frostings.  But, he has said that he can't get any other frostings to come out right.  Then I put fondant on it.

  This is the result of about three hours of work, after it was baked.

You might be wondering what the cake above has to do with anything.  Well, after seeing this cake; my 5 year old daughter decided to tell me what type of cake she wants for her birthday-in May.  Not really unusual for her since she starts talking about her next birthday as soon as her current birthday is over.  Anyway, this is what she wants- a six layer chocolate cake, with the bottom layer being red velvet for her big sister.  Then she wants purple frosting with decorations (this detail keeps changing to match whichever theme she is loving at the moment.)  This prompted my desire to make a few frostings and see which one my youngest likes the best.  More difficult than you might think because she is super picky and only recently started liking cake-last year her birthday "cake" was brownies.  

Since I was making frosting from scratch I decided to make cake from scratch as well.  The cake recipe I got from a google search.  It was just a basic butter cake recipe, I added cocoa powder to it but it only has a very slight chocolate flavor.  The frosting recipe I got from one of my friends-it's called Egg Yolk Frosting, I made a few changes though.  Here is the original recipe:

Egg Yolk Frosting
4 Tbs soft shortening (I use half butter) 
1.5 tsp vanilla, 
1 large egg yolk, beat till smooth.. 
Add 1.5 Tablespoons milk and 
About 2 cups powered sugar beat until smooth..

(add extra powered sugar till I get the consistency you like)

Instead of the shortening and butter I used a product called Melt, which I just learned about last week and a tiny bit of coconut oil and I also used a pasteurized egg yolk because I'm worried about consuming raw eggs and getting sick.

Something to keep in mind is to mix everything very well.  The more you mix it the better the texture will be.

The Melt Spread that I used is the Rich and Creamy and it's organic, contains great healthy fats, and GMO free!  A much healthier alternative to butter or shortening.  After my husband tasted the frosting he said it needed a little more fat, that is why I added a tiny bit of coconut oil, probably 1/4 teaspoon.  That did the trick to make the frosting have the "right amount of body" as my husband said.

The recipe above was only enough to frost the 9x13 cake (still in the pan) so when I make it again I will double it.  Why would I need more than just the right amount of frosting?  A couple of reasons.  First my 5 year old loved the frosting, much more than the cake and after eating the top of her piece she wanted me to give her more frosting to eat the rest of her cake.  And two I used foil to cover the cake when I put it in the fridge and some of the frosting stuck to the foil.  Bummed about that.  So, my advice is to have extra.    

I poured the frosting on while the cake was still warm and poked holes in the cake so the frosting would go into them.

This is the finished product.

The family liked it a lot and even though my youngest really liked this frosting I am going to try a couple more.  Just to be sure I use the right one on her 6th birthday cake.

Melt Spread comes in three different flavors, the Rich and Creamy, Honey Melt, and Chocolate Melt. I could only find the Rich and Creamy at my local Whole Foods; but am hopeful that I will be able to find them soon! 

Happy December!

I can't believe it is already December 1st!  Where has the year gone?  Confession: I have been listening to Christmas music for the last two weeks.  We have a local station that plays only Christmas music during the holidays, this year they started right after Halloween.  I think that might have been a bit early.  What do you think?

We got our tree yesterday, it's a tradition for us to get it the weekend after Thanksgiving.  We have a Whole Foods close to where we live and noticed they had trees, wreaths, and garland last week.  The price for a tree is $49.99 at our local store, but they are having a special and we got the tree, wreath, and garland for $59.99.  Usually we go someplace like Lowes, Home Depot, and even sometimes Walmart to get it.  We always go as a family to look at all the trees and pick one that meets everyone's idea of the perfect tree.  This year we did something a little different.  We picked a tree that was still wrapped up, so we had no idea how full it was or if there were any bare spots.  Adventurous and bold, if I do say so myself.  It turns out the tree is quite a bit more full than we usually have.

I put the lights on it last night and we decorated it today, it's always a family affair.  Then, when I tried moving it back towards the wall a little bit; it fell on me.  I guess our stand wasn't meant to have such a large tree in it.  My husband had to rush out to the living room to "save me."  It was pretty funny.  So my husband, genius that he is, decided to tie some twine onto the tree and anchor it, so hopefully it won't fall again.  We had to rehang several ornaments, but none were broken.

Another tradition that started when I was a child is that each person gets a new ornament at Christmas time.  This year I bought my kids' ornaments at Whole Foods also because they had pandas (that's my son's favorite animal.)  My daughters each picked out an ornament for me from Target when they were shopping with their dad.  My youngest got me the biggest ornament they had, a sparkly star.  And my oldest got me a glass balloon animal, it reminded her of Animal Crossing since I have all the balloon furniture.

Do you have any family traditions that you have been doing since you were a child?  Have you started any new ones?