Berry Smoothie

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Okay, so I am back with a self-care Sunday post! The last two weeks have been hectic!

One of the ways I love to get my day started is with a healthy smoothie. I feel like I am caring for my body on a nutritional level, and it just tastes amazing. And I find that by getting my day started with having something healthy for breakfast, it kind of gets me into the right frame of mind to make additional healthy choices through out the rest of the day.

Today I’m sharing my berry smoothie recipe, but by all means, feel free to substitute the things that you enjoy in place of my ingredients. Let me know what kind of variations you like in yours in the comments section!

Berry Smoothie Recipe

Ingredients:

  • 1 whole banana
  • 1 frozen acai puree (I buy Sambazon Acai Original Blend Superfruit Frozen smoothie packs in the frozen section) – partially thawed
  • 1/2 to 3/4 cup of blueberries
  • 4 ounces of yogurt – I like Vanilla Activia or Siggi’s Vanilla
  • 8 ounces of orange juice OR brewed and chilled green tea. OR you can do 4 ounces of OJ and 4 ounces of the green tea
  • 1 serving of Vanilla Whey Protein Powder (I like Whole Food’s brand) 
  • 1 serving of psyllium husk (I use Whole Food’s brand because it has less sugar added)
  • 1/2 teaspoon-ish of matcha powder


Instructions:

Using a blender, blend all ingredients until they are in a smoothie like consistency. 

For today’s smoothie, I did 8 ounces of orange juice because I hadn’t brewed and chilled green tea in advance. On Saturdays, I will prep all the powders I use (the protein powder, psyllium husk and matcha powder) and store them in small glass jars. I will also brew green tea, let it cool and store it in a mason jar in the fridge to have it on hand for when I want to make a smoothie.

The matcha powder does give the smoothie a slight green tint and earthy taste, as opposed to a sweeter berry taste. So if you don’t like it, just leave it out and the smoothie will taste sweeter.

But here is the finished product! Let me know if you try it and what you think! If you have any recommendations, I would love to hear about them, too!

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Campfire Cones

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Happy Sunday! Today is Valentine’s Day, so it is already a day to splurge a little bit! But not only that, it is cold outside. It is snowing and a mere 10 degrees. Typically, our average weather here in February is around 60 degrees. So, it’s freezing, and I’m dreaming of warm nights near the campfire…

Since it’s Valentine’s Day and we are really missing summer today, I thought why not make campfire cones? What are campfire cones, you ask? They are a fun and less messy version of the classic campfire treat, s’mores. You can throw whatever you’d like into each cone to suit everyone’s unique tastes. Aside from graham crackers, chocolate and marshmallows, we’ll add candies and fruit. Oh, and the best part of this, is that you don’t need a campfire to make these! You can bake them right in your oven.

In addition to the traditional ingredients, I am using mini-m&ms, reese’s pieces, bananas and blueberries.

Ingredients:

  • Waffle cones
  • Marshmallows (we love the minis!)
  • Cut up Hershey chocolate pieces or chocolate chips
  • Graham crackers, broken into smaller pieces
  • Additional toppings (optional) – m&ms, reese’s pieces, peanut butter cups, broken up kit kat pieces, bananas, strawberries, blueberries…anything you love to add to ice cream works!
  • Non-stick foil

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
  3. Pick up waffle cone and wrap non-stick foil around the bottom of the cone.

4. Fill waffle cones with chocolate, graham cracker pieces, marshmallows and desired toppings. Gently pull and place onto baking sheet.

5. Bake in oven for 5 to 8 minutes.

Here is my s’mores cone with blueberries!

I like to bake mine a little light so that the chocolate has melted, the blueberries are warm and the marshmallows are still intact, but they have that nice hard crust on the outside and are gooey on the inside. The further into the cone, the more melted the toppings are. If you like your marshmallows and toppings more melted, bake for 7 to 8 minutes.

Let me know in the comments down below if you have tried this! What are your favorite toppings?

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Get Your Day Started with Gratitude

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Welcome to our first Self-Care Sunday post! I had been debating on what to feature for our first topic, but then I thought about a daily practice that I have that literally has become second nature to me. It’s just part of my routine, like brushing my teeth.

Get into the habit of spending just a few minutes every morning writing down things you are grateful for. When you start your day by thinking about all that you are grateful for, you come from a place of abundance, rather than lack. These can be simple things, like I am grateful for a warm bed to sleep in or for my family’s health. When you have an abundance mindset, you have a more accurate perspective on things when stress comes your way.

A couple of years ago, I discovered The Five-Minute Journal by accident, really, and was intrigued. You certainly don’t need this journal to do these exercises, as you can do them in a blank journal. But I found that the prompts in this one really helped keep me focused and I stayed motivated to write in it every day.

In the morning you write three things that you are grateful for, three things that would make your day great and daily affirmations. In the next section, you define three things that would make today great. And I love this because it helps me focus on the small things that I can do each day to nourish my soul.

The last section for the morning is writing a few daily affirmations for yourself for the day. I find this helpful for me because it reminds me to think about my strengths. And honestly, I’m not so sure I would think to do that without being prompted every morning. I do think that when I take the time to give myself quick daily affirmations, I also approach the day from a better space.

In the evening, you come back to write in the journal and there are two sections. The first is listing three amazing things that happened in your day. I find that this also gives me perspective, especially when I have had a really bad day. In the last section, you write a quick note about what would have made your day even better.

Let’s take a look at my entries from yesterday:

I am grateful for…

  1. my mom surviving her recent stroke and blood clot last month
  2. remaining cancer free (I was diagnosed in August of 2018 and treated for it)
  3. that my family has remained safe and healthy during covid

What would make today great?

  1. spend time meditating and reflecting
  2. making a nice, home cooked meal
  3. get to bed between 10 and 11pm

Daily affirmations. I am…

Capable, resilient, can accomplish anything I set my mind to, loved and here for a purpose.

3 Amazing things that happened today…

  1. made time to connect w/ my husband in a meaningful way
  2. spent time chatting w/ my brother
  3. felt confident and at peace

How could I have made today even better?

Had more to eat during the day so I wasn’t starving by dinner time, spent time outside in the sun.

I also love the quotes that are sprinkled throughout the journal, too! But like I said, this journal isn’t necessary to incorporate these daily rituals into your routine. A blank journal or notebook will be just fine. Every now and again, when I am going through a difficult time, I go back read through my older entries – which helps me see that what I am going through is just a bad day, not a bad life.

Do you practice gratitude each day? Do you have some other kind of daily writing ritual that you find helpful? If so, let us know in the comments!   

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