Thursday afternoon and I completely hit the wall.
Everyone thinks working four days is some plum gig. The reality is you wind up working longer hours to balance out that missing day.
And then there's the people who call and say: "Hey, I know it's your day off, but..."
I'd love to call them on a Sunday morning and say the same thing.
Anyway, back to Thursday afternoon. I'm pooped. I need to power up. Matt's working in the evening, and I need some pep in my step pronto.
I made myself a smoothie using the KitchenAid blender (best thing ever). I know it sounds lame, but I just didn't have the energy to do much prep, so this is how it played out:
1 cup frozen mixed berries
a big, generous handful of fresh mint. Because I love mint.
2 teaspoons of Vital Greens*
1 tablespoon chia seeds
2 cups water
Blitz in the KitchenAid blender, et voila. Instant power up gamers!
***
Onto Vital Greens. I read about it first over at Checks & Spots. For anyone living a busy life, who might be worried about missing out on vital nutrients, Vital Greens is packed full of goodness to help you get that balance you yearn for. Well I yearn for it anyway.
* I am a massive fan of KitchenAid, and have been lent some of their products to try. They are ace. Totally ace. And the blender matches my pink KitchenAid mixer. It must be love.
I've been messing about with smoothie recipes over the last couple of months to find what my smalls like, and what works best. I wouldn't call it a science, I'd call it - what's in the fridge, and what appeals to kids. I can recommend it for getting rid of some slightly overripe fruits, and sneaking a bit of extra nutrition into your kids day.
Take this one for example. Not groundbreaking, but really delicious - and the smalls woofed it down. Or is it wolfed it? Either way, they were into it.
PMM's Raspberry & Banana Ripple
1 cup of frozen raspberries
1 ripe banana (go for frozen, it makes smoothies creamier)
1 cup almond milk
1 tablespoon chia seeds (any colour)
1 tablespoon honey (not pictured)
Toss all ingredients into your blender, pulse for 1 minute or until smoothie is at a consistency that makes you happy, pour into two glasses. Straws. Smiles. BOOM!
Another alternative to this? I love this one. It's fresh, and delicious.
PMM's Minty Raspberry Slushie
1 cup of frozen berries (choose whatever you like)
around 7-8 frozen cubes of natural apple juice*
a handful of mint leaves
1 tablespoon of chia
1 slurp of water
I throw everything into the blender, the water helps loosen up the mixture so it's not so thick. Blitz for 1 minute and serve in two glasses, with a straw and a spoon.
This is a good alternative to a normal smoothie, as my kids really like that it's more a slushie than a smoothie.
* by freezing apple juice (I put them into ice cube trays) means the smoothies take on a slushie consistency, which my kids are mad for.
KitchenAid lent me some attachments to try out, and I've loved using them. This is not a sponsored post. The blender is so great, easy to use, and I wanted to share.
So I skipped Bikram last night. Which yes, I know, was incredibly naughty. Scandalous!
Something's got to give, and dinner didn't really satisfy, but instead of going for a chocolate fix after dinner, I made Matt and I a quick and healthy smoothie.
It's filling, it gives us two serves of fruit, plus the added bonus of chia, the Omega-3 and protein from almond milk and it was sweet - satiating that thing in my brain saying: gimme, gimme!
This is what you need:
1 generous cup of frozen raspberries (or you could use fresh if you have them)
1 small ripe banana
1 cup of almond milk
2 tablespoons of chia
I tossed everything into the Kitchenaid blender - 30 seconds later - yeah baby, fresh, cold, tasty.
And totally worth skipping Bikram for, right?!
* I am a massive fan of KitchenAid, and have been lent some of their products to try. They are ace. Totally ace. And the blender matches my pink KitchenAid mixer. It must be love.
On Saturday the smalls were given some chocolate by a well-meaning friend. We're by no means perfect and pure, but I have been trying to remove refined sugars, colours and so on from our pantry - not in a nutty way - just in a 'we don't need this crap in our diet' way - and replace it with more and more wholefood.
All afternoon the kids had been in a slow decline, naturally becoming tireder towards the end of the day. (Halleluljah!)
And then they ate the chocolate.
Literally within minutes Tiny was bouncing off the walls. She was back on. I felt so defeated. Deflated. Meanwhile, she was a helium balloon. Up, up and away.
Fast-forward to this afternoon when I thought, I am going to gazump those little kittehs, whip up a knock-out Vitamix smoothie that they love to love.
I chucked in the following for a delicious smoothie that the Doctor rated as the highlight of his day (high-five!). Just wait 'til you see what I snuck in there:
1 x banana
1 x cup mixed berries (frozen)
2 apples
1 tablespoon of honey
1 small handful of kale. YES KALE!
Blitz. Serve to two small children - and they will never know the kale is in there. Scout's honour.
I was so stoked to find kale at my fruit and veg today. The lady at the shop I think was a little bewildered by my excitement - I've been trawling all the local shops looking for it. It's in season now folks, and is super duper good for you. Get into it!
