A few random happy pieces..

So the other day I was in the kitchen with Jyselle and I needed a recipe n I couldn't remember n then i thought hey i think i blogged it a while back so I looked it up n while doing so Jyselle was so excited to see pictures of herself helping me .. they were from last year and it was crazy to see how much she has grown! We ended up looking at older posts together and she happily listened to stories and looked in awe of pictures of our life.. it hit me that I am glad I have this little space of the Internet because life gets crazy n while I really want to scrapbook moments of our life to share with her I just cant find the time right now .. but a few minutes to jot a few thoughts n download some pictures? Totally up this mommies alley! So I started this blog with the intention to make a little extra money n document little pieces of my life and ended this blog because life got in the way and then restarted lol.. all i know is now I am just happy that I have a quick little way to document some things i think are special and can share with my little ones. =)

                   A special day / snack time!/ story time! / up! / smile! / he loves a good book /

A little rainy day fun..

Today was really gray and rainy.. the perfect excuse to be lazy and sit around all day.. Oh wait not really possible when you have two little ones running the show =) Back to reality.. It was the perfect setting to bake, make kitchen messes, read stories, and play every game one little girl could think of! I recently ordered these cookie cutters and have been excited to use them! Of course we baked graham crackers... chocolate graham crackers ! ( recipe of course from weelicious ) It was a fun tasty messy little day =)

A great start to the weekend

This last Saturday my sister invited me to go on an early morning run at one of our beautiful local parks, and it couldn't have made me happier! I mentioned before we have both completely changed to a healthier clean active lifestyle and it has been such a blast sharing it with her =) So we started at 6am n it was still pitch black out! thankfully the sun came through and we weren't eaten by creepy crawlers in the trees lol. We started out together n then ran at our own paces and then met up for a cool down, It was so energizing to run out in the open air and listen to music and not have to think about diapers or dinner lol. I challenged myself and burned about 400 calories in about an hour woo woo! Then we rewarded ourselves with her amazing cottage cheese peanut butter pancakes with fresh blackberries! yummmm, good times, good vibes, good food, good sister =) Being the great little sister that I am I returned the favor Monday night and showed up with this workout from Blogilates  .. We killed it! There were no pancakes at the end though lol we were just happy to be alive! Train insane! =)

Monday Mornings..

Monday mornings can be so blah... not with these two around =) Today they woke up at a decent time, I even got to enjoy my coffee in peace and quiet =) ..and then we were off ! Monday was in full swing! Through all the chaos two little ones can bring I look at these little pics I snapped during our "morning adventure " and my heart is full of joy and thankfulness that I get to spend my Monday mornings and every morning with these two little peeps. =) Happy Monday!

Mommy time : Pretty food

Sometimes when the Little's are napping I like to get in the kitchen and play with my food. For the last few months I've been more and more inspired by vegetarian meals and have even taken on a "flexitarian" approach in our life, trying to only eat lean meats Thursdays-Saturdays, surprisingly the hubby doesn't fight me too much ; ) Doing so has really motivated me to try  new meals and vegetables and other sources of proteins i wouldn't have in the past ( hello Pinterest!) and even has me thinking I could one day become a vegetarian ( with the exception of fish.. but anyway I digress. Pretty food on a pretty plate makes me happy. This time it was homemade kale pesto on my new love Ezekiel bread, topped with homemade pickled watermelon radish! with a side of homemade roasted eggplant (picked from our garden!) hummus! and freshly picked heirloom tomatoes and basil! Mommy time indeed! Who else likes to play with their food? In my house it is encouraged =)

A Quick and Easy little weeknight dinner....

Hello little online journal of mine and my readers if you re there, hello! Been awhile since Ive found a minute to sit and share but I'm happy to be here right now =) All is up and alive around here! two toddling toddlers 1 and 3! yeah  my days are full and colorful =) Ive been trying so many new ( and healthy!) recipes and experiments and I slowly but surely plan to document them here.. Ok so tonight I whipped up these delicious and nutritious veggie chicken patties. I basically grabbed a bunch of veggies from this weeks box and a little baby squash we picked this morning and sauteed them with onion and garlic and mixed em with ground chicken, some Bragg's liquid aminos and nutritional yeast and a little sweet chili sauce... and BAM dinner happened! I served it with a side of whole wheat couscous with feta and pistachios!  Give these a try with whatever veggies you have and hopefully you will be as happy as we were!

EASY Veggie Chicken Patties ( also you could serve on mini buns as sliders!)

1 pound ground chicken
veggies of choice ( i used chopped kale,  grated carrot, mini squash and a mini pepper)
garlic clove ( as much as little as you like)
half onion minced
teaspoon of sweet chili sauce
tablespoon of Bragg's liquid aminos ( or soy sauce)
tablespoon of nutritional yeast ( or Parmesan cheese)
cooking spray

SO.. you sautee the veggies in cooking spray  and then add the liquid aminos or soy sauce and stir a bit then add veggie mixture to the ground chicken  in a large bowl and add the rest of the ingredients  and mix together.. Then I use two sandwich bags to form the patties because I have two kiddos that i may need to break up n you dont want "chicken hands!" ... ok so form into 8 patties and spray a little more cooking spray and cook about 5 min each side, and serve with couscous, rice, on buns whatever floats your boat! Enjoy! Perfect for the whole family, little kids, and littler kids too (that can chew of course! )... or I suppose you can blend one of  these patties up in the baby bullet with a little water or veggie stalk n the teethless eaters can join in too!

Happy little snaps

hello! life is in full swing these days and I couldn't be happier! Chasing these little ones around is work! but its the best kind and I am grateful I get to spend my days with them. I have been trying all sorts of new recipes with my new favorite tool : the dehydrator! and will share them soon! Ive also officially lost all my baby weight! woo woo! Hubby and I have been getting back into our fitness and it feels great! Anyway here are some random pics of things that made me smile lately! most of which are of food lol! Happy Wednesday! =)

 My "happy shoes"/ garden pickings and an asian fusion veggie pizza/ tofu sticks for tofu tuesday/ peanut butter chocolate balls! insanely good!/ watermelon juice! hello summer!/ date night with my love/ Jyselles world

Jyselle's World : Gymnastics!

Lalalalalalalala Jyselle's world! ( singing in an Elmo voice of course =) ) These days its her world and I'm just in it lol! I don't mind at all because my little girl is growing up! Almost 3 and now is in her very own tumble tykes gymnastics class! Last Friday was her trial class and she did amazing! So she is officially our little gymnast! She had so much fun getting dressed in her leotard and had no problem saying bye bye  to me as she joined the other little ones and of course I was a proud mommy looking on through the window and snapping a ton of pics n videos! don't worry I wont share them all just a few =) Afterwards she ate her packed lunch (pb n banana sandwich, raspberries n her favorite muffin ) in the car and we strolled through target and she got an icee for being such a good listener and back home for nap time, which she declared she was very tired from all the jumping! YES! Only 3 more months and boy boy will be ready for the mommy and me classes! My new favorite Friday mornings! Happy Weekend!

The perfect summer afternoon mocktail ! PLUS a quick garden update!

Summer is here!  and We've been enjoying days and nights by the pool. I recently made my sister and I this little mocktail , its so delicious and refreshing and bonus its zero calories! I call it my sparkling mojito mocktail! 3 ingredients that's it! If you make it you will love it I promise! Feel free to add liquor for the real thing when life calls for it =)

P.S our new Georgia urban garden is in FULL swing! so much is growing and I cant wait to start harvesting even more! Can you believe this is all in front of our apartment garage! Hubby built the planters for me, some are in buckets, coffee cans , and plastic containers. This is a true testament that you CAN garden in any space! I'm hoping these little pictures (sorry not the best I'm still hoping for a new camera!) inspire you to start a garden of your own! Perfect for getting the kiddos involved too! So happy sipping and happy gardening!

Sparkling Mojito Mocktail

1 quart of your favorite flavored sparkling water (zero calorie)
Fresh mint and lime
* Muddle the mint and lime in a pitcher and add the sparkling water ! ice too if you like! ENJOY!

A healthy little snack : Homemade Hummus

Hummus. We love hummus. It makes us very happy. It was one of Jyselles first foods in fact she was called "the hummus baby" at our old farmers market lol she would eat  it by the spoonful. It looks like boy boy is following her lead too he loves hummus, not as much as he loves black beans but I digress. Hummus is super healthy and versatile so its a great thing to always have on hand. There are a handful of great store brands you can buy and I usually buy a tub a week but like I said we eat ALOT of hummus so its more budget friendly to whip up your own. Its fun too getting the little ones involved picking the flavors and watching it whirl around in the food processor ( Aaron loves that part ) and then sitting on the kitchen floor enjoying your creation together. =) Give it a try sitting on the kitchen floor isn't required =) I adapted the recipe from here and added some fresh herbs from our garden ( which I cant wait to share its coming along! )
 Happy snacking =)

Ingredients:

• 1 can no-salt-added chickpeas  rinsed and drained
• 2 garlic cloves ( or more if you like garlic )
•  2 tablespoons water
•   2 tablespoons tahini 
•   fresh lemon juice 
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 
•   salt, pepper, n a little bit of cumin
• fresh herbs (optional )
• Put everything in the food processor and give it a whirl until its nice n creamy, scape the sides n add more water if you need. Enjoy! 

Our Weekend

We got to take a little weekend getaway to the city this weekend for the Atlanta Jazz festival! It was our first time and we had a great time! With my sister and her family we stayed at a nearby hotel ( which Jyselle thought was the coolest thing in the whole wide world! ) and were able to walk to the festival each day, relaxing, eating, dancing, and having fun outside in big open green spaces! One morning I was able to sneak away and have the best dark chocolate latte at the cutest cafe and then the hubby n I did one of our new favorite workouts at the park before the festival started again and even jogged back! =) followed by more fun in the sun and then Monday we were back home sleeping in and spending the day at the pool. I loved every second! It was a very good weekend =)