My usual Morning Breakfast: Green Smoothie

Hello!

I used to be one of those people who would often skip breakfast but after I gave birth to my first born. I could not afford to skip it. I needed those nutrients to breastfeed my son and have the energy to care for him. I learned that a smoothie is the best thing to drink for me when I do not feel like eating in the morning.

The Pros of drinking a smoothie:
1. It is packed full of nutrients
2. You feel the energy from it fast since the liquid digest quicker than eating whole fruit.
3. Guilt free!
4. You can do other things while drinking. I take my time sipping on it. I always set it down to take care of something else and go right back to it
5.  The best fast food! We got a ride to church one morning and I realized I forgot to eat so it took me 3 minutes to throw this smoothie together and put it in a big seal bottle to take with me

How I make my usual Green Smoothie:

I have a variety of frozen fruit to make what ever smoothie I feel like enjoying but this Green Smoothie is my favorite and what I drink most of the time. It has a little bit of sweetness to it and is very filling
1. Spinach ( this is the main ingredient so I pack it it)
2. Banana ( no more than 1 banana, break them up and freeze them once they are ripe)
3. Pineapple (frozen)
4. Ground Flax seed ( I like to use at least 2 tbsp)
5. Almond milk ( I use at least 2 cups,. It would taste like pina colada w/ coconut milk but we usually drink almond milk and it was not cost efficient for me to get both but that is an option)

I pour this smoothie into my mason jar (a re purposed spaghetti sauce jar) and enjoy.

What's your easy go to breakfast?  

My First Grocery Haul! and how I prepare my grocery list

Hello Ladies!

Here is a grocery haul video I decided to record. I'm hoping that this will give you all some healthy meal ideas and that you all can share your tips for grocery shopping and meal planning. I am new to this. I took my first real grocery shopping trip when my husband and I first got married so its been almost 2 years. My family is growing so with that comes more challenges so I really wanted to document this and look back on what I learned. For the most part I find grocery shopping fun! So I'm looking forward to those challenges!

Here is how I come up with what to buy

1. I think of what meals I want to eat. I consider Breakfast, lunch, dinner and 2-3 snacks during the day. I prefer not to cook all day so for breakfast and lunch I choose mostly foods that I do not have to cook.

2. I write down next to each meal all the ingredients it requires. I love meals with overlapping ingredients (an ingredient needed in one meal is also needed in another)

3. I  look in the pantry, freezer and refrigerator to see what I already have and decide what to cross off my list based on how much I need.

4. I write down things I need to restock my pantry based on shelf life and what I use a lot of like beans, veggie broth, salsa and pasta.

5. I write out my list under categories like "fresh produce" or "dairy" and put how much of that item I am going to get based on expiration and how much we eat.

6. I finalize my list by crossing out items I realize I can do w/o.

I give myself atleast a week to do this. My list is pretty organized and I find that by having it this organized I am not wasteful (which means I save money) and I eat healthier. I'm sure with time this will become easier.

Below are some pictures of my scratch work (click on image to enlarge)

pantry items and meals w/ ingredients

Completed Grocery List ( items are crossed off at store once I got what I needed)

I hope you find this helpful and that we can help each other eat healthier while being a good steward of our money.

Big Thanks to my good friend Chels. I picked her brain over and over trying to get better at this! You rock! =)

Veronica Boudreaux <3