3 is a magic number!

This morning I was thinking about how significant this digit is in my life as Sophia asked if she could get on the scale and said "Momma am I still three?" Yes Sophia the scale says you are still three and Momma has far exceed the life expectancy of humans according to the scale! ( I didn't actually say this out loud) I love the innocence of having a 3 year old. I hope I never forget how fun this stage is!

This week I finished my first full week of school where I teach third grade! Third graders are So fun! I am so blessed to have a job that I truly enjoy!

We are a little family of 3 and oh how we are enjoying our days as a threesome!(we need a new family picture, Sophia still has her baby look in this photo)

I have officially entered the BIG 3O (OK 31) and I feel like I am finally coming into myself and really figuring out who I am and what I am passionate about!

I am reading an amazing book Eat, Pray, Love.  3 things that are so important in my life. Anyone else reading this before you go see the movie? My mom actually got me this book 2 Christmases ago and I am just now getting around to reading it! I am actually the third person to read this book because both my mom and my husband read my gift before me! Thank you mom. This is the perfect time in my life to be reading this and I am loving it!

Speaking of 3...Here are 3 things I enjoyed for dinner the other night. A 3 egg omelet, a spinach salad, and a glass of Riesling!

Thank you 3, you are truly a magic number and I am so enjoying you in my life right now!
I will leave you with 3 words as always!

Peace, love, & 3!

~A

I've been looking everywhere for you!

Hello Blog friends! Yesterday after picking up Sophia from school we stopped at a sketchy little grocery that I don't love to frequent. She was starving though and I had no snacks in the car. To my surprise I found these little lovelies on the shelf!

These are 3 of the 4 new flavors by LaraBar! I LOVE the new polka dot packages! The only one missing is carrot cake! But I did find Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Chocolate Chip Brownie, and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip. I have been looking everywhere for these bad boys so you can imagine my surprise that the sketchy little grocery had them!

So far I have only tasted the Cookie Dough and it was pretty good, although I must admit I am a big fan of the fruity flavors. I thought these chocolaty flavors would be good  for sticking in your purse when you go see a movie or for when you just need a chocolate fix!

For those of you who have never tried Lara Bars, what makes them different than most "bars" on the market is the very small ingredients list on the back. They only have a handful of ingredients and I promise you will be able to pronounce and recognize them all because they are 100% real food! They make a perfect on the go snack and taste delicious! (I sound like a commercial, I promise they are not paying me)

My favorite flavors are Apple Pie, Coconut, Key Lime Pie, and Lemon and I can't wait to get my hands on the new carrot cake! I usually buy my LaraBars at Meijer or Kroger. Also any health food store will sell them too!

Let me know if try any of these out, and let me know if you see the carrot cake flavor anywhere!

Peace, love, and polka dot packages!

~A

Clean House, Clean Food, Clean Week

Hello blog friends! This weekend has been exhausting, but I did get a lot done. Now it's back to work again! This working stuff is for the birds!  Today was spent prepping for the week. Cleaning the house, grocery shopping, and then prepping food for the week.

Last week was a bit chaotic, so the goal for this week is to stay on top of things and have everything organized including food.  I ordered Sophia the coolest new lunch box system so that we can pack a waste free lunch everyday. I will blog on it when it arrives.

So Saturday morning I had some cleansing to do because of the Taco Bell and drugs I ingested on Friday! So here is how I started my day...a Green Monster! This consisted of 2 cups spinach, handful ice, one cup almond milk, 1 tablespoon chocolate peanut butter, 1 scoop chia seeds,1 banana, 1 scoop Chocolate Amazing Grass! It was just what I needed! So delicious!

I spent most of the day at school getting things ready for this week since I left early Friday. For dinner I made nachos with Trader Joe's Blue Corn Chips, Eden Black Beans, Soy crumbles, avocado, onions, tomatoes, and Annie's Ranch Dressing. Here is the adult version.

And here is the Sophia version.

Here are my "bags of juice" Each bag is what will go into my morning juice. This way all of the produce is washed, cut, and ready, so that all I have to do in the morning is run it through the juicer. And clean the juicer! Blah! Each bag has 1 cucumber, 1 apple, 1 grapefruit, 3 kale leaves, and 3 celery stalks...aka "The Green Greyhound"

I also prepared all of Sophia's lunches, a few salads for me, and these sandwiches for Matt. They are cucumber, tomato, spinach, hummus, and Gouda cheese on rosemary and olive oil flat bread.

I also juiced and froze a bunch of "Green Lemonade" for a mid morning juice each day this week.

This juice is 1 lemon, 1 granny smith, 1 cucumber, 2 stalks of celery, and kale.

The whole middle row is juice! I buy ball jars and plastic lids to freeze my juice in.

I love having a clean house and clean food for the week. It makes me feel so prepared and ready to go!

Now I'm going to rest before that alarm goes off at 5:00 A.M.  YIKES!

~A

This is us on Drugs!

Hello blog friends! I hope everyone had a great week! This was my families first week back to school and guess what...? We are SICK! Well 2 of us are. Sophia went back to "school" and immediately "the daycare drip" began. I know you working moms know what I'm talking about. It's like as soon as your kids go to daycare they have a constant snotty nose.

I had to leave work early to go get her. Anytime she gets a cold her asthma kicks in and it is a battle. Apparently she got me sick too. Although I have been a juicing maniac my immune system must of been down from being away from all my third graders over summer break.

So Miss Sophia and I had a drug filled afternoon that looked something like this.

Yes, that Taco Bell is a drug too! I needed something fast and easy and Taco Bell is on the way home. I had a bean burrito and Sophia had a cheese roll-up. Oh, and in the cup is Dr. Pepper!!!!  WHAT???  My throat hurt so bad and I wanted the bubbles on my throat. It was pure Ecstasy!That is the first pop I have had in months! I got regular because I read that at least with the regular pop your body knows what to do with the sugar. With the diet pop your body has no idea what the artificial sweetener is and doesn't know what to do with it. Don't get me wrong, I am a firm believer that all pop is EVIL! (but oh so good)

This is Us on Drugs!

Nice, huh?

And here is our endless pile of tissues!

I am hoping that next week will be much better and that we got our fill of germs to keep us healthy for the rest of the year! (wishful thinking) Looking forward to a big green monster in the morning to fight off the Taco Bell and Dr. Pepper!

Peace, love, and drugs (legal ones, of course)

~A

Give me salad, or else lady!

Hello Blog friends! It is official, I am now a working woman again. It was great to get back to work and now kiddos will come on Wednesday. Am I prepared you ask? NOPE, but I'll get there. Tomorrow is Sophia's first day at her big girl pre-school so right now that is my first hurdle. It is SO hard to send her now that she is bigger! I thought this working mommy thing was suppose to get easier! I am so blessed though to get the time with her in the summer, and for that I am SO thankful!

So staying on the topic of Sophia let's take a look at tonight's dinner! Usually at dinner I will substitute things for Sophia (things I know she'll eat) but tonight this girl was ALL about the salad! She wanted exactly what I was having.(ok, minus the wine)

So here is mine: a large salad with red and yellow tomatoes, onions, and goat cheese with a piece of salmon and a glass of Riesling!

Here is Sophia's with her substitution. Cottage cheese rather than salad. (and water instead of wine)

"No thank you, Mommy. I want salad!" Can't argue with that!

Salad it is Kiddo!

And boy did she enjoy it!

Three salads later, I had a happy kid! (yes, I said 3)

And after one of these, she had a happy mommy too! (yes, I said 1 but really meant 2) They are So good! I love you Trader Joe's!

Peace, love, & messy salads!

~A

The Black Box

Yes, it is a Box-o-wine, BUT it's Riesling and I don't discriminate when it comes to Riesling! I found this little treasure at Meijer! The way I look at wine is if I do everything else right through the day (eating wise) then a glass or two  at night is deserved!

Have a great day everyone!
~A

A Tale of 2 Greyhounds!

As most of you know I have a brown pony Greyhound. He is the sweetest thing ever! We are So in love with him! This is my favorite picture of him! Sad thing is his whole face is gray now! This pic was taken back in '05.

I recently discovered a different Greyhound that I am also in love with! This is called The Green Greyhound and I found it on another blog I follow.  Here is what went in the juicer!

1 grapefruit

1 apple

1 cucumber

3 stalks of celery

3 kale leaves

And here is what came out!

The Green Greyhound! Pure Bliss! This may be my new favorite juice! I try not to juice to much fruit but grapefruit and granny smith's are both very low sugar.











Have a great Thursday! Talk to you all tomorrow!
~A