spring break in our rear view mirror

We all survived spring break. It was a pretty low key non-event around here. But we managed to squeeze in a little fun. : )

My girl turned 18. She had a small get together with her besties.

I made cupcakes. And there was no licking involved on my part. For the first time. Ever. And I didn’t eat one either. These aren’t the prettiest cupcakes but they are a recipe of my mom’s that this bunch seems to enjoy. So instead of a bundt cake, I made cupcakes. And I sent the leftovers home with everybody so they weren’t staring at me. Crisis averted. : )

One of the girls made her this pretty bookmark. This girl is a reader herself so it makes me smile that she gave my girl a bookmark for her birthday. It’s very pretty. Good job!

She could use it in Pride and Prejudice. She was having to read that for school. And this sort of book is not her thing really. (even though she finished reading it last night and ended up liking the ending, so it’s all good) But the girls also gave her this…

…which I think is a hoot. The light is awful because the flash is so obnoxious that I shot a lot of pics without it. : / But the book on the left is P&P and the book on the right is P&P and Zombies. Cracked us up! A fun little gift while she was trudging her way through the real thing. : )

They also did some things you can do now that you’re 18 kinda stuff. One of the things they did was a mock-wedding. This is the ‘bouquet’ being tossed. The girls made tissue paper flowers for fun and used these in their ‘wedding’. It was a hoot!

The party was fun. She had a great time getting together with the girls and I had fun planning it and listening to them laugh. : )

Also during spring break, my girl went for her driving test. Well, nerves got the best of her and she drove into a parking lot instead of making a right turn. And got so flustered, she didn’t do well on the rest of the test. She did not pass. (she went again a few days later and passed with flying colors, justsoyaknow) She was crushed and a little embarrassed but handled the situation with grace. I was thankful for her attitude and it was a learning time for her…even though she was disappointed at the time.

We drove to a podunk town near us to order her a class ring. It is one of the things about school she was missing and really wanted one. So we found a company that could make that happen even though she home schools. So that was a fun little outing.

On a funny note…we have had trouble with our potty flapper for ages. I can’t tell you how many we’ve gone through. But his time the hubs came home with something different.

Isn’t it cute? It’s kinda like being at a bed and breakfast every time I flush. Or not. ; )

My garden seems to be taking off. I have baby strawberries.

And the kale is getting bigger. And everything is really doing well and growing. And the squirrels are doing their best to dig it all up. Will be making a fence’y kinda deal pronto!

I had to take the cat to the vet Monday. She had a weird tummy. Come to find out she had lost THREE POUNDS. Gah. So the vet did a bunch of blood work on her and she’s got high thyroid. So we’re doing meds for that. She’s acting better but not eating as much now. I may end up trying to find something herbal for her if she doesn’t start eating soon. She is on antibiotics also which can cause her not to want to eat. The thyroid med doesn’t taste bad and it’s not hard to get it down her. But the antibiotic tastes bitter and she foams at the mouth with every dose. Which is gross, in case you didn’t know. ha. So it will be a long week or so til that’s over. Ugh. Poor kitty. Aaaand in a strange move I still don’t understand, she slug slobber onto my lip last night. Poor me. : p

Well I think that about covers all the major activities of spring break and beyond. Hope you are all doing well, my friends. : )

oatmeal chia breakfast

I have seen variations of what I’m about to show you all over the internet and on Pinterest. But I tweaked and changed and lowered the sugar (to zero) and I think it’s just about my favorite thing ever.

Are you ready?

(pretend I am showing you oatmeal, chia seeds, stevia, cocoa powder and almond milk)

(I totally forgot that until I was loading the pics and I deemed it too late since I didn’t want to start the process all over. Forgive me.)

Ok…back to the recipe…you start with 1/3 of a cup of old fashioned oatmeal…not the quick 5 minute stuff.

And then add about 2 teaspoons of cocoa powder.

And 1/8 of a teaspoon of stevia.

This is the kind of stevia I’m using right now.

And stir it all around til it looks sort of combined.

Then add 3/4 of a cup of unsweetened almond milk. (or the milk of your choice)

And 2 tablespoons of chia seeds. (follow the link and go read about this little super food dynamo!)

And stir it all up. Also add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and stir that in too. I forgot to picture it. Pioneer Woman I am not.

That spoon is good for licking right about this point. Just sayin’. : ) And the bowl now goes in the frig for 15 to 30 minutes. I usually grab it closer to 15 minutes and everything is ok.

While the chia seeds work their magic and soak up some of the chocolate milk, it’s time to make the topping.

The cast of characters…cocoa powder…I buy mine at the health food store…it is dutch process and I think it dissolves easier, vanilla extract, a riper banana (or baby food banana if you don’t have a real banana on hand), flax oil, stevia and cottage cheese. Pretend my cottage cheese is organic..it usually is.

Anyway, combine 1 tablespoon of the flax oil with about a 1/4 of a cup of the cottage cheese in a bullet style blender. Also add about 1/2 the jar of baby food banana, or about half a banana, 1/8 teaspoon of stevia, 2 teaspoons cocoa and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Put the spurs to it!

Basically what you’ve got now is something that tastes exactly like chocolate pudding, but it’s super healthy!

Pull out your oatmeal concoction when you deem it settled enough. It will look sort of crusted over on the top. I always stir it some to mix it well and give the chia something else to soak up if they still want to.

Pour the pudding on top. And enjoy!

Y’all this is just about the most delicious breakfast ever. I took all the equipment on vacation to have this every morning for breakfast. I just love it. And if you get tired of the chocolate, you can just leave it out altogether and make the entire thing vanilla flavored. Both are equally delish!

And super healthy…love love YUM!

strawberries

The other day when I went to Home Depot the nursery to pick out my plants for the garden, I ran into a friend that works there. She has worked there for what seems like forever, but I never run into her because I usually go to ‘the other’ Hope Depot in my neighborhood. (closer, less traffic etc) But on this day, I needed a big ole honkin’ bag of vermiculite and ‘my’ store was out. So we made the trek over to the other store to pick up my soil amendment and get some plants.

The instant I saw Mrs K, we both just locked eyes and I immediately made my way to her and we hugged in the longest hug I’ve shared in a very long time. We go way back. She kept both of my kids in mothers day out and we used to go to the same church. She also used to baby sit my little guy for me while he was sick so I could grocery shop, since I couldn’t take him with me. And she had my girl in MDO when she got the tip of her finger slammed in a door (another little kid closed it on her..no negligence on the school’s part) and it cut off her finger print. I frantically arrived at the school to find Mrs K holding my screaming, flailing girl with her blood all over the both of them. I reminded her of that the other day…good times. : )

But anyway, as we got ‘caught up’ chatting among the plants, we quickly discovered  that we are both on a journey to remain healthy. She has stayed the course for a long time and at 62 is proud to say that she doesn’t take any medications. Because of her healthy lifestyle choices. And since I am a slow learner, I am navigating this world AFTER a major illness, unlike her. But we both excitedly chatted about what we do, what we eat, how much we enjoy it…and how much we wish others could see what their toxic choices are doing to them.

She later commented on my basket of transplants and said I should have lots of good food. Among other things, I got 2 varieties of strawberries, two plants each. And it has nagged me ever since. So a couple of days ago, I went back to the store (to her store..and chatted with her some more) and got two more strawberry plants (yet another variety) and planted them too.

Yesterday I went to a farmers market she told me about and they had early strawberries so I grabbed a small basket. I told the girl about them and instructed her to eat SOME of them for lunch while I went to the gym. When I got home, she told me she ate all “the big ones”.

Gee thanks, kid.

Makes me glad I got those extra two plants. ; )

Maybe a need a couple more.