What I'm Loving Wednesday

1) My SodaStream. Those of you who are Facebook friends probably never thought you'd hear me say that. I never thought I'd say that... Maybe one day if I can think back about the experience without my blood boiling, I may share it. Anyways, once I got the stupid machine I didn't want to like it. I left it unopened on the kitchen table for three days before I finally gave in. Once I did, I was hooked. This thing is awesome. It's only a tiny bit cheaper than store bought sodas, but I really am enjoying it. We've made our way through most of the samples they sent. My favorite (so far) is the diet grapefruit. Graham's is the diet Dr. Pete. My CO2 tank ran out last week, and today I finally made my way to Bed, Bath & Beyond to replace it, and I was surprised by how much I had missed being able to use it.

2) The healthysELF challenge! This challenge was started by Lindsay over at The Lean Green Bean & Elle over at Nutritionella. The purpose of the challenge is to make healthier choices for ourselves year round, and to create a community of support. I am LOVING this so far! I've already met some fantastic people, I've gotten some delicious sounding & healthy recipes, and I'm going to be doing things I wouldn't typically do (like a 100 burpees on Thursday... oh dear God...)

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3) This pink grapefruit smoothie I found over at Crafty Little Gnome. I made it this morning for breakfast and found it was the perfect combination of tart & sweet. It's made with a ruby read grapefruit, a chopped, frozen banana, a cup of chopped strawberries (also frozen) and a cup of orange juice. I can't wait to have another one of these tomorrow!

4) These shoes from Target. SO CUTE!!! And of course I notice them right when I'm actually trying to stick to a budget! However, right now Target does have their shoes 'buy one, get one half off'. So.... ;)

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 5) This quote came to me at the perfect time. I worry a lot. I stress out a lot. And I'm less stressed out and anxious when I'm thinking positive. It's so easy to get bogged down with the little things that bother you or when you're not getting your way. We just need to stop and focus on what is good in our lives.

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Green Smoothie Week

Jen over at Peanut Butter Runner is co-hosting a seven day green smoothie challenge. I LOVE green smoothies. Love them. I saw them all over the blog world last year, but was doubtful. I mean, there are two cups of spinach/kale/whatever in them. How could they possibly taste good? Um, they do. They are delicious.

I finally caved and decided to try one when my mom bought me a blender for my bridal shower. The first one I tired didn't wow me, but it used milk. I'm not a milk person. Never have been. I use it for cereal and cooking, and that's it. The smoothie wasn't as sweet as I like, but everyone was right. You could not taste the spinach.

So, I then started making them with pineapple juice. Delicious. And high in calories. A little can of pineapple juice has about 100 calories.

My next experiment was with cold green tea. And I had a winner. There are so many delicious, fruity types of green tea out there that the flavor options are limitless. I do tend to use the cheaper teas for my smoothies (Lipton, Celestial Seasonings, etc.) instead of the expensive, loose stuff from Teavana. I sweeten it while it's hot with a pack of Truvia, and then let it hang out in the fridge overnight, so it's ready for me in the morning.

I've made three different smoothies this week, all three have been tasty, and I'm going to have to stop and pick up more spinach to get me through the rest of the week! That is definitely a HUGE plus about making smoothies at home. They are so much more budget friendly than getting one at a smoothie shop. I stocked up on supplies over the weekend.

Budget breakdown:

• $2.99 for frozen pineapple from Whole Foods
• $2.99 for frozen mango from Whole Foods
• $2.99 for baby spinach from the commissary
• $1.50 for 3 pears from the commissary

I have one pear left, tons of pineapple & mango left and enough spinach for two more smoothies. Not bad for about $10.50, when one smoothie at Tropical Smoothie Cafe usually ends up costing me over $4.00.

Day 1:
2 cups of spinach
1/2 c. of frozen pineapple from Whole Foods
1/2 c. of frozen mango from Whole Foods
1/2 of a frozen banana
4 ice cubes
8 ounces of Lipton Orange, Passionfruit & Jasmine Green Tea
153 Calories

Day 2:
2 c. of baby spinach
1/2 c. of frozen pineapple from Whole Foods
1 bartlett pear, peeled
6 ice cubes
8 ounces of Lipton Orange, Passionfruit & Jasmine Green Tea
150 Calories

Day 3:
2 c. of baby spinach
1 bartlet pear, peeled
1/2 c. of frozen mango from Whole Foods
3 strawberries
6 ice cubes
8 ounces of Lipton White Tea with Island Mango & Peach
178 Calories



So far day two has been my favorite. I'm not big on bananas, and the pear added a much tastier flavor. Day three has been the least favorite. You can't tell from the picture, but the berries gave this a brownish color and took away from the bright green I LOVE. Also, the peach flavor in the tea overpowered everything else.