Family Fun and Creative Living since 2006
This super easy to make green smoothie is also super yummy.
Ingredients:
1 cup vanilla almond milk
1 cup 2% plain Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons flax seed powder
1 banana
1 cup kale
2/3 cup frozen mixed berries
Add all ingredients to blender, blend, and enjoy!
The Dr. Oz Berry Weight-loss Berry Breakfast Smoothie is my go-to favorite for shedding pounds, losing weight, and feeling healthier. It’s easy to make, tastes great, and satisfies. Check out my tips that make this recipe even easier!
(Editor’s Note–November 2019-Since the original posting of this, I have since made this smoothie a million times. It’s become one of my favorite go-to recipes. I’ve also added more WEIGHT-LOSS related articles, including a brand new FREE DR. OZ INSPIRED COOKBOOK, after the recipe so be sure to keep reading!)
Disclosure: This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a small commission which goes to support my website. There is no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support.
This week I’ve been trying to do the Dr. Oz “2-Week Rapid Weight Loss” diet just to feel healthier and maybe lose some weight. It’s pretty easy. You just eat a smoothie for breakfast, salads, veggies, lean protein, and a detox soup.
I really liked the smoothie. I’m calling it the “Dr. Oz Weight Loss Berry Breakfast Smoothie” since he doesn’t have a name listed on his website. It’s basically a berry/banana smoothie, but what I really liked was that it included protein powder. It fills you up and gives a nice protein punch!
Dr. Oz suggests rice protein, but you can substitute any kind you like. I personally like the whey protein the best (mixes seamlessly within the smoothies so you can’t even taste it), but there are also a lot of great plant-based options out there as well.
The best part about this smoothie (besides the taste), is that it’s designed for the proper portion so you don’t overdo it on the fruit, or add too much liquid.
Everything in here is measured perfectly!
In fact, you can measure out all of the ingredients ahead of time to make for MUCH faster mornings. Read my article on TIME SAVING SMOOTHIE TIPS here.
2 tablespoons protein powder
2 tablespoons ground flaxseeds
1/4 cup frozen berries
1/2 banana*
1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
(Keep scrolling to the end of this post for a printable recipe card.)
I’ve found that if you add your liquid first, then the powder, then and finally the solid fruit, the smoothie will blend much more smoothly. You’ll have less powder sticking to the sides of the blender, etc.
If you forget and add the ingredients in a different order, don’t stress. It will still be fine. I’ve just found that it blends more efficiently if you add it in the order I’ve listed below.
TIPs: Freeze the other half of banana and save it for the next day.
My other favorite go-to weight-loss or weight-control trick is drinking Apple Cider Vinegar with lemon water. I’ve included my full recipe here. It’s packed with health boosting properties that really truly help with weight-loss, digestion, and anti-inflammation.
I swear, every time I drink it consistently I feel so much better. The Apple Cider Vinegar helps decrease hunger and BOOST your metabolism. Again, here’s a link to my Apple Cider Vinegar Detox Drink. You must try it! I also include a SUPER EASY Apple Cider Vinegar salad dressing recipe that goes great with all of Dr. Oz’s weight-loss plans.
SIDE NOTE: My Favorite Cardio Hack for WEIGHT-LOSS is my Mega Motivational Fitness Vision Board Book–check it out for tons of motivational quotes!.
I also love making this Dr. Oz Veggie Drink. Sometimes I add protein powder to it for a more satisfying snack.
Looking for a power food packed salad that can be made in minutes with no chopping??
Check out my FAVORITE super easy to make Quick and Easy Power Salad.
Or my NEW (as of summer 2020) FAVORITE Summer salad. It’s packed with nutrients and power veggies.
Be sure to check out my list of Go-To cardio songs when I need a big cardio boost or my Top 5 Must-have songs for your cardio playlist (this post includes an inspirational printable).
Check out my new Mega Motivational Fitness Vision Board Book. I created one last year when I was training for the Disney Half Marathon and it worked so well that I made another. I’ve also included a FREE printable with over 15 Motivational Quote Stickers! YOU’RE GONNA LOVE IT!
Don’t forget to Pin this so you can make it again later!
3 Ingredient Watermelon Tomato Salad
My favorite new go-to party show-stopper is the DIY photo booth!
They are super easy to set up, and they create a great conversation starter for all parties. All you need is a camera-enabled laptop and a printer. Really. That’s it!
They’re becoming quite popular, and it’s easy to see why. If you want to get fancy, you can even get photo booth props now at Party City and even Target. They’re fun, super easy and great way to create memory keepsakes for your guests.
I first experienced a DIY photo booth at my cousin’s big 50th birthday bash. People were lined up all night, waiting to take their photo with different friends. It was a great way to mingle with old friends and meet new friends. We had so much fun.
Above is a photo booth picture from my cousin’s bash. We designed an NYC themed template using Photofunia (photofunia.com) and just uploaded it to the photo booth program. We’re big fans of GlitzyCam.com. It’s easy to use and has great customer service.
There are a lot of programs out there, but here’s what I like about GlitzyCam:
1) It saves all the photos to your hard drive so you get a copy of all the fun.
2) You can select automatic upload to your favorite social media sites.
3) It’s very easy to use and you can manipulate the templates to create all kinds of different configurations. I also liked how it prints 4X6, but you can also manipulate it to do photo-strip style too.
I created a simple template for my daughter’s birthday party in minutes.
If you read my recent post How to Over-think a Two Year Old’s Birthday Party, then you’ll remember the photo booth was a BIG hit. The 2 year olds liked it but the 3-4 year olds really went crazy. Everyone had fun counting down the numbers until the camera went off. 5-4-3-2-1 click! And they especially loved seeing their picture appear on the screen. I had a last minute technical issue with my printer so unfortunately, I wasn’t able to successfully print the pictures for my guests, but since it’s saved on my hard drive, I’m going to upload them to a file sharing site so everyone can see them, and I’ll print one good copy for everyone to go with their Mickey/Minnie Mouse goody bag magnet frame.
The DIY photo booth has now become a party staple, and I’m ready to hear more “Cheese!” directed at my lap top instead of the hors d’oeuvre table.
As parents, it’s common to feel pressure to throw the best birthday party ever, even when they’re small like for a two year old’s birthday party. But as I learned, sometimes simplest parties are the sweetest.
My younger daughter just turned two, so since we’re back in our old house with plenty of room for entertaining, we decided to keep things simple and just have a cute little Minnie Mouse themed birthday party at home.
We’d invite her friends from school, have cake and games and an all-around good time.
Sounds simple enough, right?
So how did it balloon out of control faster than you can say cake and ice cream?
Well, I think it all started when I was talking to a friend on the phone.
“You’re having it at home? Not at a play gym?” My friend was shocked.
Me: “Yes, she’s only two.”
Friend: “Well, that’s true. So, are you going to have The Balloon Man? Or the Party Bus? Who’s going to do the entertainment?”
Uhh, I had never heard of these things and was surprised that they were apparently the new necessities by which a “successful” birthday party is judged.
So I tried to put on my hipster hat and just replied, “Well, we’re just gonna rock it old school and have cute games like Pin the Bow on Minnie Mouse and musical chairs and freeze dance and maybe some crafty activity.”
Friend: “Ohhh old school. Yeah, that’s cool. That should work.”
Relief—did not realize “old school” was actually an acceptable theme but glad it worked. And thus began my overthinking and over-planning of my two year old’s birthday party….
Now I just had to make sure I had the coolest, most fun, “old school” style party ever! No pressure! After all, people would be driving out to our house and this would be our first party since arriving back in town. We’d have new friends from my daughter’s school and old friends-but it had to be good!
So I spent hours combing through Pinterest and Mom blogs looking for amazing kid party ideas. And quite frankly, I didn’t really see anything over the moon. Then, I remembered my cousin’s 50th birthday bash which featured an easy DIY photo-booth from Glitzycam.com. You just download the program onto your camera-enabled laptop and voila-you’re in business. Couple that with super cute Mickey and Minnie magnet frames at the dollar store and I had a great, interactive activity and goody-bag keepsake!
But I still wanted to do something educational/stimulating, like a fun craft, so I decided to do a Make Your Own Mickey/Minnie Mouse Puppet station.
Supplies: brown paper bags, construction paper ears-that the kids would glue. I could draw the eyes/nose/mouth, and then I’d make Minnie bows for the girls or Mickey bow-ties for the bows.
1) Games: Pin the Bow on Minnie Mouse, Freeze dance to Disney songs, Hokey Pokey, Musical Chairs
2) Photo booth Station
3) Craft time: Make Mickey/Minnie paper bag puppets
4) Pizza and Cake
5) Success! Best Old School party of the season! And most importantly, happiest little daughter in the world.
I forgot 3 important things that little kids love.
1) Kids love just playing with toys, especially toys at their friends’ houses because they’re different and it’s like being at a toy store.
2) Kids love tents, especially ones that look like tree houses with windows and doors (which we have in the play area).
3) Kids really love wild animals like wolves and lions but they’ll also go crazy over your typical domesticated dog and cat, especially if said pets are hiding behind the basement door only visible via the open cat door (window)—it creates an instant zoo-like effect.
When the kids arrived, they immediately started playing nicely with my daughters’ toys, the tree tent, and the birthday balloons that were scattered around. Then, many of the children noticed our pets hiding behind the basement door.
Uproarious laughter and squeals of joy ensued as they peaked their little heads through the open cat door to see our mini zoo.
To the untrained eye, this looked like mass chaos-no set agenda, no orderly activities!
I started stressing out. How were we going to get all of my important Old School style events done on time?
I voiced my concern to one of my old friends, who’s son was having a blast in the tree house.
“Shana,” she said. “Look around—everyone is playing so nicely. No crying, no pushing, no arguing. Just laughter and fun. Even the parents are having fun! This is a two year old birthday party. It’s basically an open play date- a chance for us parents to just relax and enjoy each other’s company while the kids have a good time. It’s a gift to everyone. Now you just need to relax and have fun.” And she handed me a mimosa.
As took a sip, I looked around. She was right. The dads were drinking beer and talking sports. The moms were drinking mimosas and relaxing. Everyone was having a great time.
I didn’t need to have set activities.
I didn’t need structured games.
All we needed was friends, and fun, and laughter, and isn’t that what Old School is all about anyway?
Finding joy in the simple things in life, surrounded by friends and loved ones. So I guess “Rockin’ it Old School” is really just the Gen X way of saying “let’s unplug and enjoy the moment” which is what birthdays are all about.
[bctt tweet=””Rockin’ it Old School” is really just the Gen X way of saying “let’s unplug and enjoy the moment” ” username=”Technotini”]
Post script:
We never did get to the old school games, or crafts. So I saved the supplies for a rainy day play date. We did however, do the photo booth, which was a huge success, and I know will now become a trademark of all our future parties.
Keeping New Years Resolutions can be tricky. Try these 3 simple tips this year for Fail Safe resolutions that won’t let you down! Trust me, I use them myself and they help me stay focused, balanced and happy instead of resentful and deprived
This past year, for the first time ever, I actually kept my resolutions. I wasn’t always perfect. There were definitely times in which I slacked off, but over all, I actually kept them and I feel I had a better year because of it. When I sat down last January 1 to write my resolutions, I was determined to come up with simple goals to help create a more fulfilling year, and in doing so, I came up with 3 simple tenets to guide the process.
Here are three rules that I came up to help me create easy to keep resolutions:
Don’t make a resolution you can’t keep, and don’t make a resolution that will deprive you of something that makes you happy. (This directly relates to item #3).
For example, if you love eating cheese but have high cholesterol, try a resolution where you eat less cheese and more avocado and healthy fats. This way, you are still eating cheese which is realistic, but you are just eating less.
Share your resolutions with friends, tweet your progress, share it on Facebook. Or you could just hold yourself personally accountable by creating an old tried and true chart/reward system.
That doesn’t mean you can’t make challenging goals (ex: lose 20 lbs), but make those goals because achieving them will make you healthier and thus happier. Or do it in a fun way. I like to make goals related to athletic events because in doing so, I exercise more in training for the event and usually end up losing weight or gaining muscle in the process.
Remember to keep your resolutions simple. The goal is to KEEP your resolutions and have a happy more fulfilling year, not set yourself up to failure.
When I create my resolutions, I like to create one for each area of the Mind/Body/Soul connection. I feel this helps encourage balance in my life.
And in the spirit of accountability, I will now share my resolutions with you:
Mind: Continue working on my blog.
Body: Start running consistently again and train for a 5K then Half Marathon.
Soul: Do more yoga and meditation, and use my Massage Envy membership more consistently. haha
Good luck with your resolutions. May they serve as great tools in a year full of success, good health, and happiness!
