Simply Strawberry Protein Smoothie

I love breakfast and rarely go without it, let’s be honest I rarely skip a meal, but I was getting tired of my oatmeal every morning.  As the weather heats up the last thing I want is something hot for breakfast.  I love smoothies but they take usually so much time to put together in the morning.  Plus, I am practically starving half way to recess! Now that I’m on Summer Break I can eat whenever I want, but I still want something that will fill me up.

Here is a smoothie that fits my requirements for a quick & health breakfast: 

Simply Strawberry Protein Smoothie

1 cup milk (I use 1%)

2 scoops Shaklee 180 Smoothee Mix vanilla (strawberry would be extra tasty) 

or try the whey version

2/3 cup frozen strawberries (I usually don’t measure I just fill it to the fill line on my personal sized blender)

Blend until smooth and enjoy!

It literally takes less than 3 minutes from start to finish to make!  This is my kind of quick and healthy breakfast!

 calories - 350, fat – 5.5g, protein – 26g, and fiber – 8g

Ready for the best part?  I’ve been drinking one of these almost every morning for the past month.  I don’t get hungry until after 10:15 (recess time) when I usually have a snack.  Some days I don’t need a snack and this puppy fills me up until lunch!  This smoothie packs a whopping 26 grams of protein!  That is what keeps me feeling full for so long.  I also feel like I have more energy and am less crabby in the morning – a win-win for everyone!  And I’ve lost some weight! 

Pair a protein smoothie with exercise and of course a healthy lunch and dinner and that’s a recipe for healthy weight loss.  Now that it is summer I will be having one for breakfast and one for lunch.  Yum yum!    

What is YOUR favorite breakfast? 

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End of School … Start of Summer

Last week was the end of school for us and this week has been the start of summer break.  This year the last day of school was especially bitter sweet.  It would have been dad’s birthday.  It is crazy to think back on the school year and see how much has happened.  This year has been the craziest school year of my life!

Here’s why:

- I accepted a new teaching position the same day I started working at my old school.  Then spent the first day of school in my old classroom and started training at my new school the next day – I’ve never had two first days of school only a week apart before!  This has been huge!  I can’t express how grateful I am to be at my current school.  They have been so supportive of this crazy year I have had.  I’ve never felt like an amazing teacher until I started working here – that alone has been worth the change and all the adjusting that comes with it!  Teaching is difficult and stressful but when you work at an amazing school it is all worth it! 

- Dad died.  We had his memorial and everything else that comes with losing a loved one … I don’t know how I got through some of the heartache that has come with this but I guess you never know how strong you are until being strong is your only option. 

- Michael asked me to marry him and I finally said yes! We waited for some of the dust to settle to announce our engagement to our family and friends.  Then there were all the fun things that come with being engaged.  

- We got married! Then had our reception.  I am so thankful to be married to Michael – he is such an amazing man and I am a very lucky girl! 

- I started a business!  I am so excited to get healthier and help other live a healthy and happy life!  I’ve always loved helping people and this business will allow me to do just that.  

I’ll be honest – I’ve felt a little bipolar this year.  There have been incredible highs and horrible lows.  One day I am happy as happy can be and the next I am sad as sad can be.  But, that’s life!

What are the best and worst things that have happened to you this school year?

Our Wedding Reception …

Before I tell you about our reception, I just want to say that I am always taking pictures of everything but failed the day of our reception.  I could give you an excuse like, “The wind threw me off.” But, I won’t.  I didn’t take very many pictures, so here is what I have:

We had the reception in my sister’s backyard.  She has a beautiful yard and home and it was the perfect place for a BBQ style celebration. 

The wind was horrible all day, so we had to do the best we could and change A LOT, but it was still just beautiful! We tied the table cloths at the end so they wouldn’t blow away. It was my MIL’s idea. She is pretty smart and it looked cute too!

We tucked the burlap runners into the knot and place the mason jars on top. We had to fill them with water so they wouldn’t get blown down and I LOVE how it turned out.  So simple yet so beautiful!

When it got dark my MIL put candles floating on the water – it was absolutely beautiful!

The next day the wind was gone and it was perfect outside, so I set up the napkin and note like I had planned on doing.  It would have looked lovely!

We hung burlap bunting along the fence here and there.  It was hardly noticeable since the wind was so strong, but I still love it!

Since there was no wedding to witness we wanted to provide something to entertain our guests.  So, we decided on yard games!  Didn’t take pictures of them all, but I’m glad I caught the sign. 

We made a big tic-tac-toe board, giant dice, and giant jenga.

Here is the giant jenga.  It was a hit!  Our next project is to make a box to transport it in and that will serve as a stand when it is in use.

We also made all of the signs for the games out of old fence boards.

There was also a kid’s area with a slide, climbing structure, and plenty of tractors to play with.  We added an activity book, crayons, pencils, and bubbles.  I had to stuff it all in this bucket instead of placing the basket on the table so the activity books wouldn’t blow away.   

The activity book I made – found the idea on pinterest and took a few hours to create it.  It was fun and the kids seemed to enjoy having something they could do.

Food was one of the most important things for me – I love to eat and I think good food makes or breaks a party.

LOVE this menu chalkboard and me it out of an old empty frame we found in my dad’s attic – it had my mom’s maiden name on the back.  During the reception before the food was served, a gust of wind knocked it over and it shattered.  At least I got a picture before it broke!  

Michael’s dad marinated the Tri Tip and Pork Loins which were then cooked in a barrel.  It was fantastic!

We put together a simple green salad with romaine and spinach and topped with cheese, bacon, carrots, and grape tomatoes.  Ranch or Italian to top it off – yum!

I made (with some help of course) my sister’s famous loaded potato salad which was a huge hit!  It is amazing and includes bacon and ranch mix.  Seriously the best potato salad ever!

Michael’s mom got lots of fruit from Costco (which by the way has some pretty tasty fruit – I was VERY impressed), cut it all up and it was a both colorful and tasty side.

His mom also made her famous potato croissant rolls which are always good.  I tried to make them once and failed, so I’m glad she was willing to make them. 

We had a drink station set up (this picture was taken the next morning so picture mason jars in the middle) with lemonade and ice tea on one side and margaritas and long island iced tea on the other.  Then we had juice boxes for the kids, water, ice for the drinks, and beer in the ice chests below.  I really liked the set up around the wine barrel bar table.

 

I got the two blue mason jar style drink dispensers from Cost Plus World Market – when the clear is restocked I will be picking up two of those also.  LOVE them – so pretty!

For the alcoholic drinks, I wanted a different container – so there was a clear distinction between the two.  I bought two gallon jars (which I’ve always wanted but never, and still don’t, have a place for) and some punch servers.

Notice the labels?  Bought them at Michael’s for 30 cents each and painted them with chalkboard paint.  We labeled all of the food too.  Now we have labels we can reuse all the time!

I REALLY wanted s’mores but since it was so windy I knew we wouldn’t be able to light the fire.  Nothing you can do about the wind!  But, then there was a mini shower (yes, it was really windy AND it rained at our reception) and the wind died down.  Or was that before the shower?  I can’t remember, but it turned into the perfect weather for s’mores! 

My handsome nephew and his daddy roasting a marshmallow. 

Despite all we had to change and the weather, it was a beautiful BBQ and I’m so glad Michael and I got to celebrate with the ones we love! 

Enough about our reception – I want to hear about yours!  Please tell me what the best part of your wedding or reception was.  Or what the best part of the last wedding or reception you went to was. 

Introducing Shaklee …

My dad’s death in October was a wake-up call for me. I knew I needed to be as healthy as possible as Michael and I started our married life together. We’ve had love and now have a marriage … as the song says next comes a baby in a baby carriage. I knew I wanted to be healthy for our future family. No, I’m not pregnant – but someday I hope to tell you I am.

I know my food is the healthiest it can be.  I buy conventional produce from the grocery store and farmer’s markets.  I know that family farmers all over the country work hard to provide the best possible produce for me.  We eat lots of fruits and vegetables year round and also eat plenty of lean meat.  I admit I have a problem with bread and sweets – I eat way too much of both.  But, my food choices are healthy so I think I get a pass for that. I wanted to make the switch to natural cleaners.  I tried using vinegar and that works fine for dog grime on the wall, but doesn’t leave my floors or counters very clean.  I also tried other natural cleaners but they seemed to work like colored water … if I was going to clean with water I didn’t want to pay $6 a bottle for it. 

I found Shaklee about 2 years ago but hadn’t tried their products until a couple months ago. I like to do lots and lots of research on companies before I buy their products. I was impressed by everything I found. I wish I would have tried them sooner! They are an all natural company who prides themselves on providing the best and safest products to families all over the country. I LOVE the cleaning products – the best part about them is that they don’t give me a headache from the fumes. Now I’m not getting a headache while cleaning AND I am saving money using super concentrated Basic H instead of buying tons of bottles of various cleaners.

I fell so much in love with the products I decided to partner with them! I am just launching my business and I would love you to join me!

Visit my website now!

What are your favorite Shaklee products?  How do you keep your family as healthy as possible?

Wedding Details–all the little things

I am so excited to start sharing some wedding and reception details and pictures with you! 

Since we got married in Tahoe in February, I wanted my bouquet to pop against the white snow.  Red is my favorite color too, so that worked out perfectly!

I was a little worried about finding flowers the day of, but it all worked out!

We got the flowers the morning of our wedding and put the bouquet together with some floral tape and topped that with a strip of burlap which we pinned with straight pins.  Very simple to make and cost less than $20!

Michael is a hunter and my plan was to wrap a strip of his camo (Advantage Max 4 HD in case you are wondering) around the burlap.  A little touch of camo just for him. 

My sister in law surprised me (and made be bawl) with a gift the day before our wedding of something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue.  The something blue was a blue ribbon with a charm with dad’s picture attached and a note that I can’t retype because I am crying like a baby right now. Dad died just four months before our wedding, so having the charm meant a lot to me. 

The blue stood out too much, so we replaced it with a camo piece of fabric.  Dad was a camo junky meaning he wore it every chance he got – he wasn’t picky about the type of camo either – he loved it all.  It was perfect!

Speaking of something blue, I saw the idea on Pinterest to sew a blue heart onto your wedding dress.  My dad was a huge NRA supporter – he bought us all lifetime memberships for Christmas last year.  I still have his collection of NRA shirts – I don’t know what to do with them but I don’t want to throw them away.  So, I took a blue shirt, used a cookie cutter to trace a heart and sewed it right inside my dress. It is a nice representation of my dad and my something blue at the same time.

I am a very sentimental person, so I made sure I had something from my family to wear on our wedding day.  We didn’t have any family – just two close friends at our wedding (I’ll explain why in a later post) so I wanted to honor those who weren’t there. 

Pearl necklace – my mom gave this to me for my 21st birthday.  She also gave my sister a set for her birthday, so I felt like the necklace was a tie to both my mom and my sister.

Pearl drop earrings – this was the only non-sentimental piece of jewelry. I love them though and they worked our just fine!

 Wedding Ring – I might go into more detail in a future post, but my wedding ring is special not only because it is a symbol of our marriage and love for each other but the diamond was my grandma’s (mom’s mom).  It was put on a new band but is still a symbol of my grandparent’s love for each other and that means a lot to me. 

Heart bracelet – My grandpa (mom’s dad) bought this for me for my high school graduation.  It was the first gift he ever bought after my grandma passed away.  I LOVE this bracelet! 

Sparkly bracelet – this was borrowed from my SIL and was in the box I mentioned above. 

Something old – my grandma’s diamond (they were married 70 years ago)

Something new – my dress and my wedding band

Something borrowed – sparkly bracelet from SIL

Something blue – NRA heart from dad’s shirt sewn into dress

So, there are some of the details from our wedding!  I will be sharing more each Wednesday! 

What were your old, new, borrowed, and blue items?

If you are on Facebook, head on over to The House that Ag Built’s page and give it a like to see what I post over there!

Mother’s Day Lunch

Hello all! I hope you had an amazing Mother’s Day!  We had both our mothers over for a nice simple lunch.

I found the pink gingham in my fabric stash and used our new green placemats.  I need to get some other colored linens, but I have plenty of green!

I used some candle holders full of branches from the backyard for a low and simple centerpiece. 

Our pretty new glasses look fantastic with a strawberry and some lemonade.

My mother in law bought these chargers for her daughter’s birthday and stopped on the way over to get a few more.  I LOVE them!!  They add that perfect touch to the table!  As I was getting some last minute groceries I spotted the Ghirardelli Raspberry Squares and I think they add a perfect little touch to the place setting. 

On to the food – I love to eat.  Pretty much my favorite thing to do.  I thought a while about what to serve, Mother’s Day always seems to go with brunch but brunch can be so heavy and it has been hot lately, so I wanted something light.  I finally decided on a salad bar.  Think this might be a new Mother’s Day traditional because I loved it (and I think my ma and MIL did too)!

Red leaf lettuce, tomatoes, egg, cheese, avocado, snap peas, carrots, cucumbers, mushrooms …

kidney beans, bacon, sunflower seeds, raisins (in the back), chicken, croutons, and croissants

It was a great lunch and nice to spend some quality time with our moms!

They are amazing and I am thankful to have them both around. 

What did you do for Mother’s Day?

Remodeled Entryway!

Since we moved into our house I have wanted to get rid of the tile in our entry way.  

I didn’t like the ugly blue flowers at all. 

After we took out the carpet and put in laminate, the urge to change the tile intensified.

 

So, one weekend we tore out the tile.  It required some muscle, but came up pretty easily. In some spots they must have used super dooper mortar so they were time consuming to get up, but it was all worth it. 

Then the clean up began. 

After I swept and vacuumed and mopped the concrete floor we left it until the next weekend.  Then, I painted the floor with RedGard which prevents cracks and waterproofs the floor.

We probably didn’t NEED this, but it was recommended to us when we tiled the entry way in the duplex and we have used it on all our tiling since (which has been only a few times, but still) and we haven’t had any problems.  I think it is worth the $50 investment.  We’ll use the rest of the can on the bathrooms and in the laundry room.

It goes on pink then dries red. 

Once the RedGard dried, I placed the tiles out to see what we need to cut and how it will look.  It worked out perfect – we only had to cut 3 tiles in half! 

I really like the offset look – I think it looks so much better than lining up all the corners.  It is worth the little bit of extra effort!

We mixed up the thin set and set the tiles.   

We let that dry and put in the grout. 

The grout is still a little wet in this picture, so you can see it a little better.  

I LOVE it!!

I also LOVE before and after pictures, so here is one:

We still need to put up the molding and the transition strip between the tile and the laminate, but I am happy, happy, happy!

And … the best part?  This cost less than $150!  Worth every penny! 

I can’t wait to see what it will look like with molding and maybe even a painted front door! 

  

What do you think?  Have you done any projects around your house?

I’d love to hear about them!