Show Me Your Smile

I am a 40 something Mom and one thing I have in common with most other Moms my age is that we all had braces.  Braces hurt. Braces were ugly. Braces for me lasted 8 years.  Braces were AWFUL!  And even after wearing braces for 1/5 of my life, my teeth do not look great now.  What the heck, braces?
My two oldest sons have had regular braces.  My oldest son was promised a 2 year plan and we are well into year 4.  I have been looking into other possibilities for my middle son and Invisalign is really appealing to me for a number of reasons.

I was recently invited to attend a brunch in Baltimore with other Mom bloggers to learn more about two important things.  The first thing was to learn about how to take better photographs.  The second thing was to learn about a painless way to straighten our teeth.  I was so disappointed when two of my kids woke up sick that morning. I was so looking forward to this event sponsored by Invisalign.  My morning consisted of a doctors visit and cuddles on the couch instead.

First Impressions are everything.  Do you like your smile?  A smile can make you feel more confident.  A smile shows the world how you feel.  If you are not happy with how you look when you smile, you are probably not as happy as you could be.  You are often judged by your first impression.  Do you feel happy when meeting someone new? Do you feel confident in new situations?  Invisalign might be the answer for you.  No metal mouth with Invisalign.  Your smile will look better in no time.






Would you like to win $1500 to put towards an Invisalign treatment plan? Please visit Mom it Forward and enter here.

 This post was sponsored by Invisalign.  The survey results and infographic were supplied by Invisalign but the thoughts and opinions are my own.

When it's hot hot hot

you need to make a smoothie!!
On hot days there is nothing more refreshing or healthy than a yummy smoothie.

We love fruit in our house, but sometimes the fruit goes bad before we can eat it all.  If the fruit begins to look blah, I cut it up and put it in my smoothie bag which I keep in the freezer.
Your smoothie can be a power packed protein meal.  My kids love them. I usually make them when they are not watching so I can sneak in some hidden health powerhouses.  I usually start with
*Almond Breeze Almond/Coconut Milk in the bottom of my vitamix
or you can use any type of milk or juice that you have in your fridge.
Next put in your fruits and veggies. If you are freezing them, cut them into fairly small pieces so they are easier to blend.
*orange
*banana
*kiwi
*pineapple
*apple
*grapes
*berries of all kinds
*spinach, kale, any kind of greens
The best part of smoothies is that the kids do not really notice the greens in the smoothie.  My daughter thinks it is cooler when the smoothie looks green!
Finally, you can add in some protein
*hemp seeds
*protein powders
*flax seed oils
The main thing with making a smoothie is to get creative!!
The smoothie tastes even better with a nice glass straw.  I love the strawsome straws.
Cool off, get healthy, and eat your fruits and veggies!

10,000

Wow, today is a big milestone for my little blog.
Today I hit 10,000 views.
When I started this blog long ago I never thought many people would read it. Sure, my friends and family might occasionally read a post here and there. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine a number as big as 10,000.  Thank you to each and every one of my readers. I feel like I write the most random things, yet I have subscribers, and I have readers, and I have people telling me that they enjoy what I write.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I have some awesome recipes that we have been cooking up in our kitchen and I hope to share them with you soon.  I also have some funny stories to share.

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there!
And Happy 10,000 to me!

Joey.

Whenever a friend has a baby my favorite thing to tell her is, enjoy every minute.  Time goes by so fast.  You have to stop to enjoy each stage of your child's life.  I wish someone had told me this 16 years ago.  I feel like the past 16 years, since I became a Mom , have literally flown by me.  I do not remember much.  My oldest is 16 but my youngest is only 4.  I should remember her as a baby.  I should remember each child being born.  My mind feels too full from all that has happened in my life.  Memories are unclear.  But I can tell you one thing.  It is a bumpy but wonderful ride.  My oldest turned 16 a few weeks ago.  16 seems so old.  It doesn't hurt that he is 6'3" tall and looks like a man already.  It feels like he was my only child just minutes ago.  His grandmother Diane rushed to the hospital to meet him, grabbed him out of my arms, and rocked him in a rocking chair while singing you are my sunshine over and over again.  I remember this moment and I hope I never forget it.

I wanted to post some cute pictures of my oldest kid on his birthday.  But that would require
A. finding a picture
B. scanning a picture (no digital cameras back then.)
C. my son said, and I quote, "You better not post any embarrassing pictures of me on Facebook today"
D. I was too busy keeping my head above water to remember to do it!

Moms and Dads, please cherish every moment. Soak it all in. Take a mental picture.  Before you know it your baby will be taller than you and driving you to the store.
Happy Birthday Joey!

Quinoa Loaf

Quinoa is one of my favorite foods.  It is my favorite because it is very good for you. You often find quinoa on a list of superfoods.  I also love quinoa because it tastes great in every recipe I have ever made.  I make my quinoa in my rice cooker. It does not take long and it comes out perfectly. I make extra so that I can eat it for breakfast or have some on hand to make this loaf or my other casserole I posted a few weeks ago.
Todays recipe is very diverse.
You can sub in and greens you have on hand, spinach, chard, or kale.
If you have sundried tomatoes, those go great in this too.
Do not be afraid to experiment with what you have in your fridge. This is a perfect, use up the leftover veggies kind of meal!
Quinoa Loaf
PAm or 1 TB evoo
one package of mushrooms
1 onion chopped fine
1 can organic chickpeas, rinsed off
3/4 cup rolled oats
2 cups cooked quinoa
1 cup peas, or frozen mixed veggies
spices to taste: minced onion, parsley, thyme, salt and pepper
Saute mushrooms and onion in saute pan with PAM or evoo.
Preheat oven to 350 and grease 8 inch loaf pan.
Add in spices to the mushrooms mixture after a few minutes. Then add in whatever greens you have.  Today I added in some fresh kale, about 5 huge leaves, chopped up small.  Cook down all the veggies till well cooked about 5-8 minutes. Set aside.
In your food processor mix up til smooth the chickpeas, the oats and 1/2 cup water.
In a large bowl mix all the ingredients together, the sauteed veggies, the chickpea mixture, the peas, the sundried tomatoes, and whatever else looks good.  Press into a loaf pan and bake for one hour.  Let rest 10 minutes and then slice and serve.
If you want to try something quicker, press mixture in to a small rectangular pan and cook at 400 degrees for 30 minutes instead.
Enjoy!

Fresh Basil Hummus

So with last week's basket we got a beautiful bag of fresh basil. It smelled incredible. I wish I had a way for you to scratch and sniff this page, but I don't.  Trust me it was so good.  I almost did not want to make anything with it so I could just have it smelling so delicious in my refrigerator.
This hummus recipe is super easy.
I threw all the ingredients into my food processor and Diane pushed ON a few times.
Serve it warm, it tastes best that way.
And also, try not to eat it all in one serving.

Fresh Basil Hummus
1 can chickpeas, organic preferred, rinsed off
2 cloves of garlic
2 T. lemon juice
2 T. Tahini
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup fresh basil, packed
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp parsley
1/4 cup water
Serve with crackers, pretzel crisps, or fresh toasted bread.

Some products live up to the hype and some don't

I follow a lot of food blogs and I love to try new snacks that are healthy. Since the members of this house have very varied diets, it is nice to find foods that are vegan but still taste great.  Therefore, the vegans in the house enjoy it, while the non-vegans don't mind eating it either.
Desserts and snacks seem to be the easiest category to make everyone happy.
I have heard about Sweet and Sara's goodies for a long time.  They are an all vegan natural company that is kosher too!  I follow them on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sweet-Sara/122809066462 and you should too!  The owner, Sara,  has devoted her life to making vegan marshmallows and recently she has expanded to other goodies.  She runs her business with her parents, and she is dedicated to making our life more delicious one marshmallow at a time.

Yesterday I went to the grand opening of our Mom's Organic Market. It is a wonderful store, with so many unique items you cannot find anywhere else.  I was thrilled to find many of the Sweet and Sara products yesterday.  We have had the plain marshmallows, the coconut covered marshmallows, and the rice krispy treats.  The smores are out of this world.  But yesterday we tried the graham crackers for the first time.

I wanted to include on this post a picture of how cute the graham crackers were, but 12 hours later they are all gone.  The container came packaged with 2 individually wrapped groups of grahams.  The grahams were so crunchy, slightly sweet, and addictive.  They did not really taste much like the regular grahams you are used to. They were so much better.  You try a small bite and there is something in the graham that makes you need to eat more, and more, and more until the container is as empty as mine.
I did not plan to go back to Mom's so soon, but now another trip is in order.
I can't wait to make a 7 layer bar with these grahams, it will be sooooo good.
If you have not tried Sweet and Sara's give them a try!