Going Green and Having Balance

Lately I've been feeling like I need to start eating healthier again. On the wide pendulum of healthy eating versus terrible eating I probably fall somewhere in the middle. I rarely eat fast food or soda. I love cookies and brownies. I try to eat a fruit or vegetable at every meal, but I also eat more bread and pasta than some would recommend. If I try to eat only according to one diet plan (such as Paleo or South Beach or whatever) I will probably give up as soon as I break the rules. On the other hand, if I tell myself to make healthier choices and make a plan for doing that I'm actually pretty good at sticking to it. I'm decently smart, I know what choices are better for me than others.

My take on exercise is pretty much the same. I feel like I am fairly active and I workout a couple of times a week. If I told myself that I had to work out five times a week I would be overwhelmed and give up after the first few times I missed a workout, but having the perspective of just being more active and working out when I can keeps me more on track and motivated. When it comes to eating right and exercising and just being healthier overall I find the best approach for me is just balance.

In the past 10 years, I'd say the healthiest I've ever been was when I was making baby food or offering new table foods to Eva. Since she didn't eat very much I wanted to make sure that all of the foods I gave her counted. I didn't offer her things that were processed or sugary because I knew she would fill up on those and not want the healthier options. I also wanted to be a good example so I mostly ate the same foods I offered her. Lots of fruits and vegetables.  A little bit of lean meats. Some dairy like yogurt or cheese. Whole grains.  I felt so good and energized! Then as she got bigger I got more relaxed with letting her have some other treats and on the go snacks...which led to overall less healthy eating in our home. Not terrible, but not great.

So with all that, today I made my first attempt at making the ever popular green smoothie. Our blender is always out and active because smoothies are one of the most popular foods with Eva. I can change up the type of yogurt and fruit I throw in and there are several healthy options that she will actually eat. I added a few extra fruits to my grocery list this morning and even bought a bag of "super greens" (spinach, kale, etc) at the store so I could jump right into this. This was my guide that I used.

Okay, it may sound gross, but here were the ingredients I used today. Stay with me....

1 cup milk (I used real milk because that's what we buy and I'm fine with that)

1 large handful of super greens

4 strawberries, 1/4 banana, 6 pieces of frozen melon

1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1 tbsp honey, and too much ginger (oops!)

2 ice cubes

It was actually good. Not like chocolate cake good, but way better than I expected. I couldn't taste the spinach at all. And here is the real test.....my toddler even liked it. She asked for a sip and made such a funny face at first. I think she expected it to be like her smoothie. But when I left it sitting on the table she kept going back and taking sips of it. I was proud of myself for eating more spinach than I have this entire year and I felt healthy :) I think I'll try it again tomorrow.

Creamy Chicken and Gnocchi {Crockpot Recipe}

Okay super busy moms (and dads!) out there wondering what to make for dinner tonight! I have a great new recipe you should try. Back when my husband worked for Olive Garden one of my favorite dishes was their chicken and gnocchi. Since dinners out at Olive Garden are pretty infrequent for our family now (because we don't want to be that family with the crazy toddler) I decided to create my own version. If you are not familiar with gnocchi, it is an Italian style dumpling made from flour. I found mine at Super Target (I haven't seen it at our local Walmart). I am a huge fan of crockpot cooking since I would rather throw together a meal during nap time than in the hour before dinner when everybody is hungry and more easily frustrated. Plus it makes the house smell amazing when my husband gets home from work :) Here is my recipe for Crockpot Chicken and Gnocchi.

 

Ingredients: 

1 lbs of uncooked chicken breasts cut into small strips

1 bag of gnocchi

1 cup of chicken broth

1 cup of half and half

1 white onion

5 green onions

1 TBSP garlic salt

2 TBSP butter

Ground pepper (as desired to top off)

Parmesan cheese (as desired top off)

Directions:

1. Place thawed chicken breasts in crockpot.

2. Cover with gnocchi.

3. Pour in chicken broth and half and half.

4. Chop white and green onions. Add onion and garlic salt. Stir slightly. Add butter in slices on top). 

5. Cook on low 4-6 hours.

6. Mix around so that chicken pieces are towards the top. Shred slightly with a fork. 

7.. Top off with ground pepper and cheese when serving. 

This recipe is easy and delicious! My husband and toddler really liked it. I served it with a side of glazed carrots for a simple weekday dinner. Enjoy :)

What a {LOVE}ly week

 

As we wrap up this week of love I wanted to share a few photos, starting with the ones above which are the "Behind the Scenes," of our Valentine's Day photo shoot. Behind every sweet photo of a child, like the one I posted yesterday, is the hard work of a mama (or professional) who is trying to get that child to look cute. When I took the photo for the Valentine's card we sent Eva's grandparents I snuck outside while Ryan kept her entertained. I find that it's best to have everything ready to go before trying to take a photo. We got her to ignore the bright sun and smile big, and then I rewarded her with some sidewalk chalk fun! In the photo above on the left, she is actually running away and hiding from me behind a wall, and her face ended completely covered in pink and purple chalk.

 

Earlier this week Eva did some finger painting with purple, pink, and red paints. This was my first time to open the Crayola finger paints that we have and I liked how they painted and dried, but they have a funny odor. Has anyone else noticed that? I'm just thankful that they are washable because when we do finger painting the paint ends up all over the place.

 

On Valentine's Day we had a few friends over to decorate cookies. Eva's friend Ellie helped her put gobs of frosting and sprinkles on the cookies. The more sugar the better, right? I was hoping Eva would use her hand to spread the pink icing on the cookies, but after dipping her hand in it she put all that icing right into her mouth (we set aside her cookies just for her). I don't give Eva sugar very much but it's fun to bend the rule on holidays :) While the girls played I got to hold baby Reese for a minute. I love this little guy so much! And then we took some cookies down to the people at the office (share the love, share the calories).

 

After a much needed nap time Eva and I went to the park to burn off some of those cookies we ate. She decided to try going down the slide on her tummy and had a blast. Also while we were there another little girl and boy were playing with her. The four year old boy went up and gave her a hug and said, "You're so cute. I love you." And so it begins....

 

Finally Ryan came home just in time for dinner. I surprised him by picking up pizza from Italian Bistro, his favorite pizza place. I called ahead a few hours early and asked them to place the pepperoni's in a heart shape. They laughed but it turned out great! And last, our family Valentine's: Ryan got me the movie The Blindside, Eva made Ryan a card at the library this week, Eva ended up getting 3 new animals for her Little People Zoo; and I surprised Ryan with these cards and notes of encouragement. Check out my friend Rebekah's blog for the Free Printable of these fun cards. I used all 8 and hid them places for Ryan to find throughout the day, including while he was at a conference.

Remember when it was right after Thanksgiving?

More blogging catch up! We had a blessed Thanksgiving with our families. Starting with the day before when we headed to Ryan's parents house to spend the night.

Showing off those Bradley genes. Football runs in their blood. Eva's Papa was a football coach for 35 years, her uncle used to be an athletic trainer before becoming an pricipal, and her Daddy was a high school football stud (and pretty darn good at flag football in college).

Getting a few pointers from Daddy.  She's wearing the correct costume for football practice, right?

Or she could be a basketball star like Ryan's sister. Seriously, there whole family was so athletic. While they were at sports practices and games I was busy singing and dancing around the house. Different upbringings :) 

Thanksgiving Day we enjoyed lunch and family time over at Ryan's aunt's house. The weather was gorgeous so the cousins got to run around and play outside. I love it every time these beautiful girls are all together.

 

Thursday night we returned home and got our house ready to host a big meal for my family the next day. My family decided a few years ago to make Friday our official Thanksgiving gathering so there are less conflicts. 

I was so proud of my center piece! Granted, I had to put two card tables together, which were not quite the same height, so I had to use two separate cake stands instead of stacking them like I had hoped, but it still turned out great. Thanks, Pinterest. You are worth the time I spend pinning ideas.

I made my Grammie's traditional zucchini squares. I still miss her so much around the holidays and making these is a sweet way to honor our memory of her. When we stepped into her home, she would always have a warm plate of zucchini squares to offer. 

A new dish! I used this sweet potato casserole recipe for the first time this year and it was delicious. 

And for dessert? S'mores cupcakes! 

On Friday Eva wore this dress that used to be mine! I wore it for my one year portraits many years ago and my mom had saved it all this time. Eva was supposed to be sitting in her rocking chair like a little lady for this photo but she was so excited to have all her family around that sitting still was not a choice. Still cute!

Always a Bridesmaid

 

This weekend I helped to host a bridal shower for one of my best friends, Ashley! Our amazing, rock star friend is getting married next month so Saturday afternoon was all about her.

We planned a menu full of some of Ashley's favorite foods - spinach artichocke dips, fresh fruit and veggies, key lime pie, and cake balls. I made lots of tiny pies in cupcake wrappers so that guests could have a small taste of everything (or go back for lots more cake balls!).

The gifts. Let's be honest, it's fun to open presents at a shower that is in your honor. I'm glad that Ashley could be so spoiled by the people that love her.

We played Wedding Scategories and I pretty much rocked this game. I didn't win but I was the first one finished. This is a fun and easy shower game and could be used at a baby shower as well.

My friend Marianne made this awesome wreath and we pinned well wishes to it. I like that Ashley can hang it up with our cards on it for a while and then use the wreath somewhere else in her new home.

Marianne's home was the perfect place for the shower. I love the look of this room full of people that love Ashley.

 Bridesmaids! It's always an honor to be in a wedding for a great friend. Ashley and I have been friends for probably forever, or at least the past 8 or 9 years.

 The lone male. Pudge was crashing our party of girls but he didn't mind.

And Lola was as friendly as ever! Erica loved this sweet doggie. We all love little Lola.

 Some more great friends :)

 Ashley's family. Thanks to everyone who came out to shower Ashley with love!

Pumpkin Day

Fall is here! Well, on the calendar at least...the weather forecast hasn't quite received the memo yet. I'm so ready for jeans and boots and stomping through piles of leaves. To celebrate fall's arrival our family celebrated by having a PUMPKIN DAY on Friday. What is a pumpkin day, you ask?

It started with a pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks, the first of the season. We all went to Starbucks and sat outside enjoying our breakfast.

Next stop: pumpkin picking! As in picking up a pumpkin from the pile at Tom Thumb. We picked a perfect pumpkin. We sat it out on the front porch when we got home and Eva was fascinated by it. (Side note: I am in love with her orange fall dress. She will wear it many times in the next 2 months.)

Then it was time for pumpkin painting! I kept it simple here and just had her paint a print out of a pumpkin rather than an actual pumpkin. We'll save that for next year.

 

Such an artist. I used this homemade paint recipe and put it in a squeeze bottle. I thought the squeezing part would be fun but she mostly wanted me to squeeze the paint on the paper and she'd smear it around. And eat it.

To end our pumpkin fun I made some candy pumpkins for Ryan and I to enjoy. My friend Kim gave me this recipe for peanut butter pumpkins. They are supposed to be bright orange but mine are much more of a harvest brown. I'm pretty sure that this happened because I used a mixture of peanut butter and milk chocolate chips instead of just peanut butter chips. Oh well, what they lack in color they make up for in deliciousness.

Happy Pumpkin-ing to my fellow lovers of fall!

1st Birthday Party: Setting the Stage

Eva turned one year old yesterday and we celebrated by throwing her a Pretty in Pink first birthday party! I have tons of photos that I want to post so I decided to break it up into pieces. Today's piece is setting the stage. Here are photos of all the fun decorations that we set up for her party. Almost all of them were handmade by me, and a lot of the materials were items that I dug out of my craft box. There was plenty of shades of pink, pretty flowers, polka dotted balloons, and glitter galore!

Featured above - The Birthday Banner:  I started working on this about a month ago because I knew it would take time to cut out, glue, and dazzle up each letter.

 The smash cake: Vanilla cake with pretty pink icing. Perfect for tiny hands.

Cupcake stand: Vanilla cupcakes with buttercream icing. I piped flowers on top complete with sparkly jewels.

Cakeballs: Double chocolate with pink and white candy coating piping. 

The Dessert Bar: Take your pick of tasty treats!  I had fun baking up all of these desserts.

Entry way: I wrapped the banister in pink crate paper. This was a last minute thing and I like how it turned out. Way easy.

Watch Me Grow: I have taken monthly photos of her in the same spot. I made glittery numbers to match each month. I love this so much. It's so fun to see her grow.
 

Flower Garlands: Tissue paper flowers on hot pink and light pink ribbons. These took so long to put together! But I really like the finished look.

Upclose of a tissue flower: These were some of the first decorations to start going up a week ago and Eva loved looking at what we had added each morning when she woke up.

Table Settings: I kept things pretty and simple here. Pink table clothes, pink plates, polka dotted napkins, girly balloons and a little bit of sparkly bling down the center of the table.

The Food: Fajita bar! It was easy to serve. Since we kept the guest list small we were able to do catering for the meal. Good decision.

Birthday Girl's Chair: Ready for some cake! I made the tutu skirt out of some extra satin ribbon and hot pink tulle. I also made her birthday hat, which she didn't end up wanting to wear, so it sat behind her.

That's it! I did put a lot of time into decorating everything because I wanted it to be special for Eva and for us. (You only celebrate your first year of being parents once!) I saved a lot of money by making things myself, and while it was definitely a lot of work, it was worth it. All the planning and pinning and creating came together exactly like I pictured it. More party photos to come!