Counting Friends

Everybody needs friends.

I truly believe that one person cannot possibly have more than 5 friends.

And I mean REAL friends.

And yes, I just pulled the number "5" out of thin air. It's my own personal statistic from my own personal research.

Maybe I'm wrong, but. . .

Think about it, real relationships require you to spend time with other people in order for them to grow. Quality time. How can one person possibly spend quality time with 6 or more people on a regular basis? Ain't nobody got time for that!

I hold the personal belief that one person is super blessed if they can count their true friends on one hand.

So that makes me super blessed.

One of my one-hand-counting friends sent me the sweetest bouquet of flowers yesterday to thank me for, well, being a friend. Made my day.

Actually, when I looked outside to see who had rung my doorbell and caused my dog to hyperventilate, I saw these gorgeous flowers through the window and sitting on my porch. I then thought, "Oh, no. The florist delivered these flowers to the wrong house. Let me put on my not-too-hideous-to-be-seen-in-public clothing so that I can get them to their owner."

So you can imagine my surprise when I saw my name on the card.

Pretty, eh?

So, what do YOU think about how many true friends one can have? Are you a count-on-one-hand believer about friends, or do you think one person can be truly close with more than 5?

Holy Enchilada!

It's no secret, so I'm just gonna say it.

I am not a cook.

Baking has always been more my thing. I've just never been able to release my inner Rachel Ray.

But maybe she's emerging.

I'm constantly looking for recipes that are both good AND healthy. I mean, who wants to eat grilled chicken and veggies every. single. night?

Enter Pinterest.

Anyone who knows me is aware of my Pinterest addiction. I'm sure I'm not alone here, right?

I came across this recipe that looked interesting. And yummy. And healthy. (Insert fist pump here).

So I tried it. And loved it. And the hubs loved it too.

The original recipe came from Emily Bites, a great blog that you must check out. Like, for real. Here's the link to the recipe.

And here's a pic of my version:

I pretty much went by the Emily Bites recipe, I just omitted the corn (didn't have it on hand) and I used raw spinach instead of the frozen. Nothing earth-shattering.

So I made these little amazing rolls of goodness. And loved them. And ate them for leftovers.

About a week later, the hubs and I went on a cruise. One night our dining room was serving this dish that sounded like it would be a party for my taste buds, so I tried it. And guess what? I swear to you, the cruise ship chef must read the Emily Bites blog, 'cause the dish tasted just like the ones I made. But, what made the egg rolls (they called theirs enchiladas even though they were made with egg roll wrappers) even better than mine was that they were smothered with enchilada sauce. Oh, glory.

So, when I got home, I was on a mission to make homemade enchilada sauce to go over my veggie egg rolls. Pinterest to the rescue! I pinned a great enchilada sauce recipe from Cookie Monster that is both easy and good for you!

So, put these two recipes together to make one amazing dish!

By the way, you can freeze both the rolls and the sauce for those nights you just don't feel like cooking. If you have any leftovers, that is.

Happy enchilada making!

Baby Steps. . .

Ever have those "face palm" moments?

You're going about your day, thinkin' you've got it together, and then BAM! You realize you forgot to do something? You then "face palm" by smacking your forehead with your palm. It's a thing.

And it happened to me today.

I got up early and put together my grocery list, which was largely Pinterest inspired. Pinterest shout out! I loaded up my car with my reusable grocery bags and lovely DIY produce bag, 'cause that's how I am trying so hard to roll. I busted a few moves a Zumba and then headed to my grocery store.

I had gotten through about half of my grocery list when the "face palm moment" hit. Quite literally. I left my reusable bags in the car. Oh, holy snap.

Okay, no need to fret. I'll make do. And I did. I just had royal gala apples and a head of cabbage rolling around in my cart. No worries, though. I wasn't wasting a gazillion plastic produce bags, so a little produce "rollage" is okay with me.

There's always next time. Baby steps, right?

I did have the bag boy put my grub in paper bags, which I have already put in the recycle bin (and put a couple aside to use again). See, I am a little "green." Maybe not leaf green, but maybe a little minty?

You'll have to wait until next week's shopping trip to see if I remember my "green" bags. I know you probably can't stand the suspense.

Until then, enjoy this random video that always makes tears run down my leg:

 

 

 

Doggone Adorbs!

I flippin' love this! Happy Monday, everyone!

 

 

 

Smoothie My Badonkadonk!

We all have those days.

You know, the I'm-about-to-rip-your-face-off-if-I-don't-get-some-sugar-in-my-bloodstream-like-yesterday kind of day.

Been there?

Yeah, I thought so.

I mean, it's crazy. You're "good" all week, eating healthy, exercising, doing squats and tricep dips in the kitchen while your coffee is brewing. . . then, BAM! You have a moment (or two) of weakness and know that, for the love of everything that is good and sacred, you must bust down the door at DQ like the Kool-Aid Man. Ohhhh Yeaaaaaaah!!!

Somebody is gonna get hurt.

But what if there was some sort of wonderful, heavenly snack that would curb those ridonkulous cravings? One that wouldn't contribute to the size of my "badonkadonk"? One that maybe, just maybe, might even SMOOTH it. What the what??

Enter the "Bestest Smoothie Ever". Okay, this may be an exaggeration, but hear me out. . .

Yes, I realize that my smoothie slightly resembles wet cement. Get over it. It won't fossilize your internal organs and it will make your taste buds be like, "hecks to the yeah"! The reason for my delightful concoction's grayish tone is actually my secret weapon. But more about that later.

Let's get it done. You will need this:

So, I'm assuming that you own a blender of some sort. I mean, if you want to jump into this whole I'm-all-healthy-and-into-fitness thing full force, you need one. Am I right? I'm pretty sure all of the trainers on "The Biggest Loser" have one.

I actually have a Ninja blender, which I highly recommend. I bought mine shortly after an early smoothie-making attempt that resulted in mutilated fruit, almond milk-soaked walls, and a smoke-filled kitchen. Let's just say the blender now resides at the big kitchen in the sky. R.I.P

I love the Ninja for a couple of reasons. 1. It works and chops up stuff like nobody's business. 2.The fact that the blender is a "Ninja" makes me feel all hard core and stealth. Like I could totally bust through a concrete block with my hand and sneak up on Chuck Norris.

For this smoothie, I'm using frozen blueberries, but you can pretty much use any frozen fruit you want.

Look, these little berries are healthy, fun, and firm--like me! Well, maybe not the firm part. Still workin' on that one. Don't judge.

A word about the almond milk: be sure to get unsweetened. The other stuff can be loaded with sugar. If you are going to ingest all of that sweet stuff, you might as well go to DQ.

Alright, let's whip up a smoothie. Mmmmkay?

Here's what you do:

Put 1 cup of frozen fruit, 1 cup of unsweetened almond milk, 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder (two if you like your smoothie thick), and a few drops of liquid stevia (powdered works too). Now blend, blend, blend.

Okay, remember that secret weapon I told you about earlier? You know, the stuff that makes you smoothie look a little like paper mache?

Well, it's spinach!

Yep, I love raw spinach, but I get tired of eating it after a while as my spinach salads tend to "grow". Anybody with me on this one?

Anyway, I found out that I can get sooooo much more raw spinach down the hatch if I put it in my smoothies. It doesn't change the taste of my drink and it's so good for you! I normally put 1 - 2 cups of raw spinach on top of the other smoothie ingredients before I blend them all together.

Btw, you can use this smoothie "base" to create all sorts of different flavors and combos. Just change out the fruit, protein powder flavor, etc.

If you find that your smoothie is too thick, just add a little water.

These smoothies really do help to curb my intense sugar cravings. Who knows, maybe they'll help to "smoothie" out my badonkadonk too!

Bottoms up!


UPDATE: Spell check does not like the word "badonkadonk".