Tis the Season....

For Shamrock Shakes!

While I have no reason to put a single item of "food" from McDonalds to my lips, I am intrigued and inspired by their seasonal delight,

The Shamrock Shake.

Of course since I'm unable to have dairy (among several other things), I'm left only with an option to

VEGANIZE IT!

No, it's not nearly as green as the artificially colored McDonald's version, but it sure is alot healthier :)

You could always add some food coloring if you need that visual stimulant.

I find the avocado induced color works fine.

Above, are the ingredients for my veganized version.

I used 1/3 c coconut milk, half the avocado, 6 cubes of frozen almond milk, and about a teaspoon of mint extract. To sweeten I used Stevia.
It was all thrown into the blender for about 30 seconds. That's it!

There are MANY variations on making this dessert.

You can use any combination of mint extract, sweetener, avocado, spinach, non-dairy milk, non-dairy yogurt, or even non-dairy ice cream. 
I just used what I had on hand.
I think I'll definitely add some spinach next time :)

What I'm Reading

So I finished up my last library book The 100 Thing Challenge. I sincerely recommend it. The author is not against buying things or having nice things. What he's against is mindlessly buying things just to have things, and how doing so can distract you from TRULY living an enjoyable life. 

The phrase he repeats many times over, to reiterate his perspective of mindless purchases, is "American style consumerism."

He scaled down his personal possessions to 100 items (counting some things in groups, i.e. socks. he didn't count each sock or even his pairs of socks as an item. He counted his "collection" of socks as one item. He also DIDN'T count shared family items, i.e. couch, kitchen table, etc.)

I was also reminded by Katie, about a book by Judith Levine called "Not Buying It. My Year Without Shopping." Ouch. I can see that being even more of a challenge. I'm only 7 pages into it, but her disclaimer is this: "....will purchase only necessities for sustenance, health, and business, groceries, insulin for our diabetic cat, toilet paper, internet access."

I'm in the reading/narcolepsy chair. It's where we all go to read, but where I inevitably fall asleep drooling and snoring.

I also found another book at the library called "Why Gender Matters". I love this topic, so I'm super excited to start this one. I get so frustrated with the mindset that boys and girls are essentially the same apart from genitalia, so we should treat them the same. Uh. No, we're not. We're different physically, so it only makes sense we'd be made different emotionally and mentally as well. Therefore, we respond differently to situations and experiences.

The third book I had waiting for me at the library was For Women Only: what you  need to know about the inner lives of men.

This topic is also sort of along the same lines as Why Gender Matters. I've only skimmed the Table of Contents, but I can see the wealth of information already!

Having been raised by my dad, I can attest to the reality and relevance of Chapter 2: Why Your respect means more to him than even your affection.

Growing up, I remember my dad CONSTANTLY touting his desire to be respected and its importance. I'm constantly praying about and trying to find ways to be a better wife, so hopefully this will help :)

Sorry it's hard to read the cover. But, a shot of my crazy cat on a catnip-fueled rampage should make up for it, no?

 There ya have it. Hopefully I'll be able to finish these before they're due.

What kind of thought-provoking, non-work or school related books are you reading?

A Great Site I've recently found is called YOUR NEXT READ. It gives you recommendations based on other books you've read. Really cool.

Music Monday

 Ever hear a musical artist and are just simply blown away at the sheer God-given talent? You know that they truly  have the "pipes" and don't need a lot of over-producing or distracting props, gimmicks, or costumes.

Adele is one such artist. Her voice is crazy good.

Frugal Fashion and Food

 I've been purging and donating some faded, stretched out, ill-fitting clothes recently, so I treated myself to a few new (to me) items. 

 I can't stand too much stuff, so If I plan on buying something, I HAVE to get rid of something else first. It's how I'm wired. (I may or may not have been known to do this with other people's things as well.) I'm sorry, but if the Princess is gonna be getting 3 new stuffed animals....3 "old" ones are gonna be "relocated" or "misplaced." Whatever you wanna call it, I refuse to be overtaken by stuff and things. It makes me feel.....claustrophobic.

So, behold my new favorite Tshirt for $2.99!!

pay no mind to my giraffe like neck. people think i'm joking when i say i get a majority of my height from my neck. i'm not kidding. i'd only be 5 feet tall instead of 5'3" if i had a normal length neck. :)

When I headed to Value Village yesterday to drop off my used stuff, and look for some new used stuff, I stumbled upon the above pictured Tshirt. I also found 3 more long sleeved Tees and this super cute sweater.

So, in honor of my new favorite Tshirt, I present you with some......

KALE!

Salt and Vinegar Kale Chips. Inhaled in about 5 minutes.

Why Kale? Why not? Yeah, I agree it's kind of random and many people have never even heard of kale.

Let's explore kale a bit shall we?

It makes an uber awesome healthy crispy crunchy snack when dehydrated or baked. 

It is FULL of

calcium

fiber 

Vitamin A

Carotenoids (disease fighting antioxidants)

Potassium 

Vitamin C

Magnesium

And those are just a few beneficial things about kale.

 

Two questions: 

Do you like kale?

Have you found any good thrift store items lately?

photo dump

I have some  photos on the camera that I had intended to use in specific blog posts, but....I think I'd rather just present a short synopsis instead of wordy posts.

Photos are more fun anyway, huh?

Prepare for randomness galore.

By the way-DAD: I'm still waiting for those jump shots of the Princess :)

This is actually one I found on the internet.

 another recent jump shot

 recent favorite food finds

 another internet find-on a Starbucks cup

 the Princess and Boomer in the reading chair

Ooooh! Some Peanut Butter and Jelly I won from Ashley!!

 Library Book for hubby. It's so good! This would make a great gift for a special man in your life.

 Second book by Brian Welch I've read. He used to be in KORN. Now he lives for God.

 Truly inspirational book about downsizing "stuff" and increasing your funds,time,and energy to help others. Basically-not allowing the stuff you own, own you. When you have too much, that's what happens :)

That's my photo dump for today...whew. I feel better now. I can erase those photos from the camera and computer. 

Any serious randomness, books, or fun photos in your life recently?