Making a comeback??

Well, it's been awhile, 3 years actually. Lately, I've been having this urge of the brain and the fingers to write. Wouldn't it be cool to write a book? To have a famous blog?  To give more ideas? To share funny teacher stories (I'm a high school Spanish teacher)? To share fun toddler stories (I have a 2 and 3 year old, 14 months apart!!! YIKES!!)?  Tell my grandparents wonderfully romantic and timeless story?  If I don't write it, who will?

You see, I love words, I love typing, I love talking and I really love attention…let's get honest, I would say most bloggers do. Love attention that is, they must love attention or they wouldn't blog.  So wonder what to do next?  Do I even have time for all of this?  No, I don't but maybe it would be a good creative escape, a way to think out loud, if you will.

So let's see…anything today?  Well, yesterday there was a milestone in my life.  My three-year old boy, we will call him Buddy, during dinner and UNPROVOKED said to me, "Thank you, Mama, for cooking us dinner."  Uuuhhhh, what???  I look over at Papi, my husband, and we both nearly fell out of our seats.  My sweet, sweet little boy, after that he just kept laughing and raising both his eyebrows at me like we always do at dinner.  I don't know if you have ever seen a cuter little boy, nope, you haven't, no way, no where.

Hopefully, I'll be back soon…when the urge hits the brain and fingers again. Please forgive any typos, I'm also watching The Paradise (very good, check it out!) on Netflix and don't feel like proof-reading…I never feel like proof-reading actually.  Peace!

Green Breakfast Juice

After a more and more common aversion to meat (No, I'm not pregnant!), a desire of mine and my hubby to eat more veggies and lose weight and then seeing Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead, I am going to try out juicing.  I'm going to be posting some recipes so that you can see it but also for me to have a place to put my recipes.  This morning for breakfast I had this and made it for the hubs and I but next time I need to add more.

Breakfast:  (2 servings but should have been just one)
1/2 cucumber
1 gala apple
1 Kale leaf
1 1/2 cups (or so) of mixed frozen fruit
3 TBS (I think) of vanilla protein powder from HEB bulk section
about 1/4 cup chopped Nopalitos
water

Dinner: (2 servings)
1/2 cucumber
5-6 Kale leaves
1 avocado
1 Gala apple
1 banana
2 Ataulfo mangos (the little yellow guys)
about 1/2 cup of chopped Nopalitos
ice
water

Almond Milk
Soak 1 cup of almonds over night, rinse and drain
4 cups of water
   Blend and then strain in a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth
   Rinse the blender to get rid of the almond pulp

Pour milk back into blender.
Add 1 tsp. vanilla, 2 tsp agave nectar or honey, 1/8 tsp of kosher salt and blend just a tad.

I'm not a milk drinker but this, my friend, is GOOD!!!  It is sweet and I could just drink it straight.  I am going to use this in some juices and I just made some green tea in it! EXCELLENT (but I burned the @$%$#% out of my tongue...careful!!!)

Homemade Christmas Gifts

Some good ole family favorites....

I have been making these for years.  Everyone always loves them.

Cinnamon Ornaments
1/2 – 3/4 cups applesauce
1 cup cinnamon (buy in bulk)
1 Tbsp of each – ground cloves, nutmeg, allspice

Mix and roll dough out on cinnamon covered wax paper and rolling pin with cinnamon. Cut with Christmas cookie cutters and use an ice pick to poke a hole for a ribbon to hang them on. Let air dry about one week; turn them over a couple of times. These smell AAAAAMAZING for months! A friend of mine actually hung it from her rearview mirror and said her car smelled great.

NEXT!
Spice Bugs for really great apple cider
-Medium oranges – juice them (drink the yummy fresh juice and use a grapefruit spoon to scrape out all of the guts.
-Dry oranges for 8-12 hours at lowest oven setting.
-Fill with light brown sugar
Make a bug with Alll spice eyes, cinnamon stick for body, nutmeg head and whole cloves as legs. I think you can imagine it but it basically has a long skinny body with a HUGE head and tiny eyes and legs. He’s a really cute little guy.
-Wrap snuggly in saran wrap and tie off with a ribbon with this recipe attached:
Instructions: Simmer in 1 1/2 – 2 quarts of apple juice for 30 minutes. Serve hot.

Enjoy and Happy Holidays!

Silky Shea Sexiness

Unrefined Shea Butter

Thanks to my good buddy at work, "T" (I haven't asked permission to talk about her but she knows who she is), I have discovered the amazing product of shea butter.  She taught me to mix unrefined shea butter, just like in the above picture, with olive oil, and jojoba or sweet almond oil to make a lucious body lotion.  Now, I hear a few of the doubters out there saying, "Nope, not for my skin, I have ___________ skin and I need _______brand of lotion."  Hear me out!  Here's a few examples of people who I know that use and love this lotion!

T is a beautiful African-American who suffered from ashiness (sp?) and acne.  She started using shea butter from head to toe daily and no longer has either. 

I am a lily white girl covered in freckles and have somewhat sensitive skin and I am DRY!!!!  You would've think someone as white as I am could be ashy but I assure you that it is possible!  I used this on my face, excellent, and on my body it's lucsious.  I wear sandals 9 months out of the year and more if possible and have an issue where skin on my big toe peels back in huge chunks and it is incredibly painful.  I started putting shea butter on them at night and using a foot file once or twice a week and now they are soft and I have no peeling.  

My friend, S, gets red bumps from shaving her bikini zone and the heat chafing in the nether regions. I told her to apply shea butter and Shizam! no more red bumps!!

Friend, L, has a fiance with eczema and he used shea butter and guess what!!!!  No more itchies!!!  

I'm just going to let you check this out!!! for more information.

Ujamaa Essentials is a great site to buy your shea butter.  At your local grocery you can get a few ounces from $10 but on this website I ordered 2.5 lbs for $24.95 and actually received 3.2 lbs, a freezer ziploc bag full!!!  I also received a few sample items that are sold on Ujamaa.  

CHECK IT OUT!!!

Stanky Breath!

If you don't want teeth like funky dude (even though I secretly want to be his friend) up there then check this out!!!!

I have found this AWESOME coconut oil toothpaste recipe! My hubby says that it makes my breath smell good which is really saying something!  I'm not a fan of baking soda toothpastes but I got used to the flavor and I like it now. 

I have pretty sensitive teeth and  I've been using this for about a month and I haven't felt anymore sensitivity than I do while consistently using toothpaste for sensitivity.  When I use normal store bought toothpaste that isn't for sensitivity, my teeth are really sensitive.  Something to think about and I'm going to talk to my dentist about it also!

Next, I want to try the first one from passionatehomemaking.com since I can pump it out of a soap dispenser. 

Great way to save money, not buy so much stuff and get natural!

Mrs. Baird's Bargain Blow-Out!!!!!

Mrs. Baird's Bakery Outlets are incredible!!! I resisted going for awhile because we don't eat a ton of sliced bread and I just thought it didn't have anything to offer me....WRONG!!!! They have a wide assortment of things, tons of different kinds of sandwich bread from Rye to wheat to white, snacky things, cookies, Bob's Red Mill, a few condiments, and my favorite....BOBOLI.  Now if you don't know the wonder of Boboli you my friend are missing out.  It's this amazing pizza crust that I hadn't eaten in about 15 years because they cost about $5 a piece and it just wasn't something I was going to spend that much money on. 

At Mrs. Baird's Bakery Outlet they have what's left over from grocery stores and they need to get rid of to make room for the new shipments.  They aren't bad, they aren't expired, just things that need a new home for REALLY CHEAP!!!  As you can imagine, it depends on what the stores have extra of that dictates what Mrs. Baird's have and I think it must also depend on amount because prices vary too. 

Back to Boboli...I have found it for varying prices but it is anywhere from $0.79 to $1.50 each.  Also, for every $6 you spend you get one free thing, again depends on what they have.  And, for every dollar you spend they give you a stamp on your Mrs. Baird's card and every $30 you spend you get a free loaf of bread and one free snack. 

I bought 4 loaves of bread, 1 Boboli and a 3 pack of Boboli marinara sauce for $6.

Every time I go I leave feeling so proud of myself and like I've hit the jackpot! Check out this link to find the Mrs. Baird's Bakery Outlet closest to you!

Cheap Veggies

This isn't anything rocket science, just a cool thing that I did today.  Tito and I went to HEB to grab a couple of things this morning and asparagus was something like $1.47/lb.  It's usually well over $2 if not $3.  I bought 3 bunches!  I chopped off the bottom inch or so and then just broke them in half, washed them, layed them out and let them dry out on a paper towel.  Then I just put them back in the produce bags from the store and put a clip on the and popped them in the freezer...I know, I know I'm a genius....



Asparagus, trimmed, snapped in half and some in the bag



Bagged and clipped, ready for the freezer!

So, take advantage of sales, buy more than you need and freeze!!!  My husband is just going to love when I tell him that I need a deep freezer for the garage.  MUHAHAHAHA (evil laugh)