Kid Pleasers

Slightly frozen, dairy and milk- What's not to love? It's mid-summer and one thing I have noticed this season is the Smoothie Rage. McDonald's restaurants have them to go along with there new coffee drink line, the 7-Eleven gas chains have more choices than ever with frozen smoothie-like drinks, The Fresh Beat Band; (the preschool sitcom from Nick) seems to write the tasty smoothie drinks into their creative shows whenever possible, also when I went to Walmart to buy more frozen fruit; they sell a smoothie- frozen in a bag, and lastly, the King Arthur Blog had a post about homemade yogurt and making smoothies this week! They are everywhere this season!!!

My girls love the idea of homemade smoothies. We have these little juice glasses that remind me of the "cup" part of a cupcake. In fact, the first batch I whipped up with Oldest in the kitchen must have looked like cupcake batter. Since she said, "Mommy, is it my birthday?"

I answered, " Well it's Youngest's and yours 'Un-Birthday'. Do you know what that means? It's just a special day- a day to have Smoothies!!"

If made right, they are better for them than ice cream, and to tell you the truth- they are a whole lot less messy!

Strawberry-Banana Yogurt Smoothie

Here is the recipe:

• 1 1/2 cups chopped fresh strawberries
• 1 ripe banana
• 1 cup yogurt
• 3 T sugar
• splash of milk

-Combine in blender, food processor, or small chopper/mixer. Put in freezer for 30 min. Stir and enjoy!

I have been using this basic recipe with all the other fruit we have in the house this time of year. They all come out so delicious! Give them a try and you will be hooked!

Money Meals and Steals- #1

~Dinner at my house~

Finally! I’ve been meaning to start posting weekly dinner ideas of a long time. But here I goooooooo……..!

This week 5 homemade dishes (actually 4- since meatballs will be eaten with bread and later pasta) will get my family through the week with one day out, most likely on the weekend.

The dishes this week will be:

Marinated Pork Chops-served with rice
Panini BLTs- served with Peanut Butter Twist and Carrot Sticks
Meatballs and Crusty Bread
Meatballs and Spaghetti
Taco Meatballs with Fry Bread Tortillas

I will start personally reviewing and linking recipes as my blogging techniques improve. But in the mean time, if there is something I post and later do not review that you want to know more about, please let me know in the comment section of the blog and I will forward the details.

Enjoy every meal,
Julia

Yes, I'm Still Here!

June 23, 2010 is the birth date of this blog. So yes, I have neglected it a wee bit lately- I would explain in detail, but it’s complicated and I’m not ready to tell the whole world everything. No new postings have been made. In fact one posting was even deleted since I decided it wasn’t appropriate subject matter. This month, I’ve been brainstorming and reading other blogs, learning what blogging could really offer me! –In conclusion, I have a ton to learn and I’m getting hooked!

Now for the, My Big News Report:

The Couch to 5K is still happening. In an odd sort of way, I was “sick” and had to stop one week –maybe even a little into the next week. But with Patient First’s excellent medical care, I’m back! Surprised I was to find that I didn’t have to start back at the beginning of the program. But I’ve had trouble with remembering where I am in the program, so I wrote out this schedule:

Week	Monday	Wednesday	Friday
1	5 min. walk 60 sec. jog 90 sec. walk Total= 20 min.	5 min. walk 60 sec. jog 90 sec. walk Total= 20 min.	5 min. walk 60 sec. jog 90 sec. walk Total= 20 min.
2	5 min. walk 90 sec. jog 120 sec. walk Total= 20 min.	5 min. walk 90 sec. jog 120 sec. walk Total= 20 min.	5 min. walk 90 sec. jog 120 sec. walk Total= 20 min.
3	5 min. walk 90 sec. jog 90 sec. walk (all x2) 3 min. jog 3 min. walk	5 min. walk 90 sec. jog 90 sec. walk (all x2) 3 min. jog 3 min. walk	5 min. walk 90 sec. jog 90 sec. walk (all x2) 3 min. jog 3 min. walk
4	5 min. walk 3 min. jog 90 sec. walk 5 min. jog 2.5 min. walk 3 min. jog 90 sec. walk 5 min. jog Total= 30 min.	5 min. walk 3 min. jog 90 sec. walk 5 min. jog 2.5 min. walk 3 min. jog 90 sec. walk 5 min. jog Total= 30 min.	5 min. walk 3 min. jog 90 sec. walk 5 min. jog 2.5 min. walk 3 min. jog 90 sec. walk 5 min. jog Total= 30 min.
5	5 min. walk 5 min. jog 3 min. walk 5 min. jog 3 min. walk 5 min. jog Total: 30 min.	5 min. walk 8 min. jog 5 min. walk 8 min. jog	5 min. walk 20 min. jog (No Walking)

Since being ‘sick’, I’ve started back at Week 3 this week. I might even do this next week depending on how strong I feel. Also, I only posted up to week 5-Half way to the end of the program!

One of the beginner running pages' followers talk about setting a goal. As you know my first goal is to run a 5K in the blink-of-an-eye, but the next would be another 5K benefit race or possibly a longer one! At the YMCA I saw a posting on the bathroom stall for an 8K race in September. Maybe it’s a possibility, we’ll see.

The next piece of My Big News, is that Youngest is wearing real underwear these days! She’s loving it too! I do still buy Pull-Ups, but I think we might actually have purchased the last package we will ever buy. She’s still in Pull-Ups at night for “wet bed protection” though. Fact: Working Moms have no time for extra laundry.

And that’s a wrap of- My Big News.

Getting back to my self-education in blog culture, I’ve decided the best blog are ones that are VERY focused. I will stay on my first objectives: Running, Motherhood, and Scheduling.

Then, next to content, I need to address structure, visuals, and references. So these are the upcoming goals in my blogging adventure.

Take care all,

Julia