Nothing like a green smoothie to start off the day! Mazen LOVES smoothies, and while this time of year they aren’t my first choice of breakfast due to their temperature, I do appreciate how quick, easy, and healthy they are. I always add some milk, some frozen fruit (a berry mix, tropical mix or a banana), a banana (either fresh or frozen), oats (for that great texture) and some Vega powder. I prefer the Coconut Almond or Vanilla flavor, but the boys both love the Chocolate!
Do you love my new photo backdrop?! I bought this board over the holidays to use for posts. It’s reversible and so pretty! (You can look forward to it appearing in a lot of posts this year.)
Lunch by the fire was greens, leftover black beans, leftover chicken, cheese, a little rice, yogurt, and hot sauce. SO GOOD for lunch! (Why does my thumb look so weird?!)
VIDEOS
Did you know my mom has taken up painting? She takes after my grandmother, who was a fabulous painter, and they have similar styles of using bright colors and funky animals and people. She’s been painting dinosaurs and whimsical animals in front of local landmarks that have been popular, and also paints children’s toys! Here is a painting of two of Mazen’s toys, Turk and Spikey, that she gave him for Christmas. Check out her website if you’d like to order a painting for your child or as a baby gift.
BLECH. Seriously, would any of you eat these?!!?
Winter soccer has started! I love the fast pace and higher goal count. I scored the first one for our co-ed team – got us off on the right foot – bwahahaha! But, then we lost like 20-4 – ack! I’m playing indoor women’s league too, which I like even more. We have a great group this semester! My workouts these days are a mix of the sauna (because that totally counts, right?), hot yoga, soccer, and a few strength classes or Stairmasters thrown in there. I wish I could run outside, but I just can’t when it’s below 40 degrees or so.
And finally, we had this orange chicken two nights in a row. It wasn’t as good as the author’s version, but it was pretty good!
Hope you’re having a good week so far!
Yeah, I agree, smoothies just don’t sound as appealing in winter. But hey, they’re still quick and healthy so that’s always a bonus! 🙂
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
I go through smoothie phases, even in the winter! Your mom’s artwork is beautiful!
Thank you so much!
For a moment when you mentioned board I thought of PINTEREST for some reason, haha. You always select the best photo backdrops. How many photos to you generally take of 1 item to determine the perfect photo?
I love that drop back! So cute! I have been looking for a new one recently they can just be so expensive!
Totally agree with you on the onion things! Not for me, and garlic, why are those two spices in everything!
I would try the onion chips, haha. I love Onion Rings and those crunchy onions that are on top of green bean casserole so I’d give these a shot!
Your orange chicken looks good! How was it different from the other recipe?
We just weren’t as successful at getting that crispy outer breading just right. Tricky stuff!
Before you mentioned purchasing the board as a backdrop, I was going to tell you how much I LOVE it!! it reminds me a little of my blogger header, which even though I’ve had it for 2.5 years (Crazy!), I still love it. One day I may want to do a baby update to my site. 🙂 Lovely meals!
I love your header!
Thanks so much!
Kath, where did you see those onion chips? My onion loving 4 year old would go crazy over those!
Wegmans!
It’s a shame you don’t like onions as they are in so many things! I hate melon, I really want to like it and keep trying it, but I just can’t stand it!
I am Luke warm on melon. It’s good but far from my favorite so I can see why someone wouldn’t like it.
the sauna tooootally counts as a workout! i wish we had one at my gym (that was sanitary enough to go in…). and i feel very fortunate to live in a place where i can drink smoothies all year round – they’re a lifesaver for fitting in extra greens + goods!
Your “right foot” pun cracked me up! I also love that board!
That’s really neat that your mom has taken up painting. Something like that is much more meaningful than a piece of artwork that is purchased 🙂 Soooooo I actually got a bag of those same onion chips and I thought they were really good! You have to actually like onions to like them, obviously 😉
Haha!!
Thank you. I’m having tons of fun!
I would totally eat those onion chips! My husband and I are both crazy for onions – raw, cooked, however we can get them 🙂
No matter what is going on outside, smoothies are my always favorite drink. Though I avoid frozen fruit and snow in the winter. And, I love onion chips as well.