I Love Pinterest, Do You Love Pinterest Too?

While my littlest Frank takes a nap mid-day in my arms I tend to browse Pinterest.  Who can blame me right? There are tips and tricks to be found such as these:

measurements

There are gorgeous and easy decorating ideas:

Picture Wall

There are fun and flirty styles to dream about:

Solar Dress

There are organizational ideas galore:

Wall Organizer

And of course amusing or sweet quotes and comics

Parenting Smart Kids

Love Story Pallet Art

But how many of you actually accomplish your pins? I know I have not done all that many yet, but I would love to start a weekly piece about the pins I have accomplished, some with tutorials but some will just be total brag fests, I admit it.

This photo inspired me (melted crayon art tutorial)

And here is what I made yesterday:

Now I admit it isn't exactly the same, but I am thoroughly pleased with how it looks in our newly painted girls room.  

What do you think? Should I get a little more melty action happening?

Green Smoothie Anybody?

Green Smoothie

This is my pre-workout breakfast this morning.  I used this handy How-to Guide and I will share my exact recipe with you:

1 cup coconut milk (no sugar)
2 cups Kale (I didn't even bother to trim the stems)
1 cup fresh fruit (Mango, Kiwi, apricots)
1TBS coconut oil
1TBS chia seeds
dash of pure stevia
and a small drizzle of honey (can you tell I love my smoothies sweet?)

I blended this until it was super smooth and it is so delicious.  I don't taste the kale at all, and it is full of healthy fat, super veggie, omega 3's, fiber, and energy.

Motivation

For motivation I love to hear stories or see photos.  And wow oh wow oh wow did I find the mother load of motivation photos.  My sister is doing Crossfit and I wish her the absolute best.  She seems to be enjoying it and has found a way to work it into her busy schedule so it must be truly worth it.  I went looking for Crossfit photos today, have you seen these? These women are ripped, hot, and sweaty.  There is nothing polished or glamorous about them, yet they exude some raw sexiness.  Now I can understand why my sister is so enthralled.  All of that hard work pays off with cut abs, chiseled thighs, and defined biceps.  These women are definitely elite athletes.

I will share with you the link I found today so you can go grab a little of this same motivation.  Here,

Please let me know what you think!

26th Annual Avocado Festival

One word: YUM!

My sister and her family joined us, my Dad drove out from Las Vegas, and we all walked at least 3 miles today. It was a gorgeous day in the mid 60's, clear blue skies, and a fresh breeze blowing.  Our very first stop was at Holy Guaca-moly, Inc for a big scoop of guacamole over chips.  It is the absolute best you can get, so if you run across it, buy it up (it freezes well according to my sister).

Navigating the festival with a 2 1/2 year old walking with us was interesting this year, but Squishy did very well... and my darling hubby carried her on his shoulders for quite a bit of the day.  I wore Frank up in our Ergo Baby carrier and she ended up taking a nice nap about the time I stopped for a second helping of Holy Guaca-moly (see, it's that good!).

We had some street tacos, 1 fish and one steak, the steak was by far the better tasting taco.  My husband had a strawberry lemonade that had at least 1/4 cup of sugar at the bottom, it looked delicious, but I stuck to water.

I may have taken a brief break from eating no grains today, but believe me tonight is back to no grains.  I am doing a great job of not craving them, not begging for them, and I have been finding healthy substitutes.  I am proud of myself.

I am hunting around Pinterest (Follow me here) for weight loss motivation.  Don't be surprised if I start printing things out and taping them up on the fridge to keep myself from snacking unnecessarily.  I am a highly visual person and I definitely love my snacks to be easy to grab and go.

I have been making homemade Lara Bars over the past few days... and I tried to tell myself AND my husband that they are for the kids, but I find myself reaching for them more and more.  They are scrumptious. I made a knockoff of the apple pie flavor and it is delicious!

For 12 small bars I used:

1.5 cups pureed dates and dried apples
1.5 cups roughly chopped nuts (almonds, cashews, and peanuts)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
3 tsp vanilla
and the tutorial link above will tell you how to make many other flavors, and of course how to assemble your Lara Bars.  These are great for quick energy, they are vegan, gluten free, dairy free, and yummy!

Mom, what's for dinner?

On our dinner table tonight:

Pulled Tri-Tip with lots of BBQ sauce (Sweet Baby Ray's)
Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Pumpkin Pie Spice
Stir Fried Broccoli with lemon pepper seasoning
Big glasses of unfiltered apple juice (such a rarity in our house)

So my husband added liquid smoke to the sauce for the tri-tip and cooked it in the crock pot all day.  It was delicious and almost definitely not Paleo or healthy.  The sweet potatoes I mashed with 1/2 a stick of butter, a little honey, stevia, and pumpkin pie spice.  I stir fry my broccoli in coconut oil with some seasoning at a pretty high heat until they are hot yet still crispy and bright green.

What are you serving tonight?