snow day and a little knitting

Sienna's first real snow day...and we've had fun tossing her in the air in her little green suit. We totally coordinated our snow gear :) Precious little bit.

Look at this one with her daddy. Oh my, sweetness. We've had such a fun day: played in the snow, ventured out for lunch and beers and got a lovely 2nd story view of the snow falling (again), dropped off homemade cookies at our friends' house, and snuggled up at home for naps, coffee and knitting. Chicken masala in the crockpot and wine chilling in the fridge for dinner tonight. I love you, snow days! (Only because we only have like 1 or 2 every year here!)

As for the knitting, I'm currently working on a Lacy Baktus scarf (finally!) using beautiful Freia Ombre yarn held with Malabrigo Lace weight in a browny gray. I'm having to adjust and cut the yarn so all of the ombre colors are represented, but it's turning out lovely so far. I will post more when it's done to show the effect of the color change.

Next up on the needles...Baby Surprise Jackets! Lots of babies are being born around here this year. Yay! They need knitting. I have at least 4 babies to knit for! I gotta get cracking. 

Gonna go for a snowy walk this weekend with a friend and her cute little gal, June. Should be fun! Knitting is also extra-fun when it's snowing outside. I'm looking forward to a snuggly couple of days! xo

great morning smoothie for a non-smoothie gal

I know a lot of people LOVE smoothies these days, but I just don't crave them. I rarely want to drink my breakfast and I rarely want fruit or something fruity sweet. 

BUT, what I do love, is second breakfast. :) 

While I was pregnant last year, I could indulge a bit in second breakfast. Now, I have to be a little more mindful of what I consume. Solution: a rich, healthy, FAST smoothie. 

Great Morning Smoothie

2 handfuls of organic kale, rinsed and chopped (I buy it pre-chopped at Trader Joe's sometimes-so fast)

1/2 cup organic frozen mango chunks

1/3 cup organic frozen blueberries

2 TBSP chia seeds, ground

1 TBSP flax oil

1/2 c. + organic almond milk, unsweetened

Optional: daily fish oil serving and daily probiotics serving. *I take liquid fish oil and powdered probiotics, recommended by my naturopath. I LOVE that I can just throw these in my smoothie now.

Put all of the above in the blender and blend until smooth, adding more almond milk (and shaking the heck out of your blender) as needed. We don't have a fancy blender (yet).

I think it's the flax oil and the almond milk that make this smoothie so rich. It's not too sweet/fruity, but, in my opinion, it doesn't taste too green either. Yum! Plus, you're getting a great serving of superfood kale, healthy oils, seeds and antioxidants from the berries. Mmmm. I've had this at least 5 times over the last week and a half. They keep me from eating that (second) bagel or bowl of cereal.

Bonus: Sienna loves mangos now! You can see her here mastering the art of the mesh feeder. We're still learning how not to paint the table top with it (why we switched from blueberries to mango).

I hope you enjoy one of these as much as I do! You can add in any powdered vitamins/supplements you may take. Some days I will add some hemp protein or other powdered protein. Wow. I sound way more healthy than I probably am, but this is a start, no?

yay!

What?! Surprised to be on my favorite blog today. Shana inspired me a while ago to try out these overalls (which I now adore). I returned the favor by sending her a couple of pics of the outfit I put together using some of her suggestions. What a great, fun opportunity to be on her wonderful blog. Thank you!!