Smoothie Freezer Packs

In an effort to streamline my mornings and make sure I get out the door with my mid-morning green smoothie, I made up some freezer packs last night. I didn't take pictures, but the idea came from Pinterest (big surprise).

In sandwich size zip top bags, I threw in a handful of spinach, a half a sliced banana, and some frozen fruit. I did several mixes...pineapple/blueberry, pineapple/mango, blueberry/strawberry. This morning, I just grabbed a pack, threw it in the Magic Bullet, added water and whirled away. That saved me the time from getting out all the different bags of fruit, the spinach and slicing a banana. Ok, so it doesn't sound that hard, but it was super easy this morning. No thinking invovled.

After making my smoothie this morning, I will say the frozen spinach leaves didn't blend as smoothly as the fresh leaves. I think next time, I might try blending the spinach with water first and freezing this mixture into ice cube trays. Then I'll just put a cube or two in each freezer pack.

I also threw together some smoothies for the kids' lunches. I've had these Ball brand plastic freezer containers for a while, purchased just for this reason, but I've yet to use them. It didn't take long at all last night, especially since I had all the fruit out making my packs.

For SB, I made a smoothie she really enjoyed last week as breakfast...banana, pineapple, blueberry, and milk. One totally full Magic Bullet's worth, made 3 almost-full containers. For Ryan, I have to keep his simple...banana, chocolate syrup and milk. I did add some flaxmeal to his to see if that helps his tummy issues.

I put the screwtop lids on and stuck the smoothies in the freezer. This morning, Chad just put those in with the rest of their lunches. I'm hoping by lunch they are thawed enough to drink/eat. My biggest worry is that they use Pack Its, and I'm not sure if they'll stay too cold to thaw.

If they like the way theirs turn out, I may try blending up my smoothies and freezing them as well. I'm guessing if I took them out of the freezer in the morning and set them on my desk, they'd be perfect by my conference period.

I also have dinner in the crockpot for tonight...terriyaki beef. I am planning on steaming a bag of Asian vegetables and making some fried rice or noodles. I love knowing I don't have to worry about dinner.

It's amazing how a little prep work and planning makes such a big difference.

Planning

“Failing to plan is planning to fail.”
― Benjamin Franklin

I've got to say, I'm learning this one the hard way again. You'd think I'd have learned it by now.  

I didn't plan my winter races well, and I missed out on a chance to do a full marathon in my hometown. Now, with this crazy season of our lives, training isn't really feasible. Lesson learned.  

I was eating super healthy during our fast (Daniel Fast for me), and it was all about planning. Once that ended, I quit planning my meals and snacks. While the number on the scale has stayed the same, the way my body has reacted has not. Lesson learned.  

School is crazy right now, mainly because I haven't done the planning necessary to take care of all the irons in the fire. And now I'm stressed and behind. Lesson learned.

So, I'm working on planning the things I can control...mainly workouts and food. The food thing seems to make the biggest difference in the way I feel (which carries over to all the other things I  have to do). I've found that if I plan our family meals, my breakfasts, lunches and snacks, I make much healthier choices overall. My mid-morning green smoothie has become something I look forward to...and it helps keep the rest of the day on track. I may have to add an afternoon smoothie!

We're also planning some remodel/redecorating projects. We're almost done painting the living/dining/kitchen spaces in our house. Along with that has come some new decorating ideas, like rugs, prints, etc. The next project is one I'm really excited about...and one that is going to take a lot of planning! We're finally going to turn the garage into a family play room...workout area, TV/game area, kids' area...so exciting! I can't wait!

Checking in

So, I'm a horrible blogger. I have all these plans to write. And I know that writing is therapeutic for me. But it just always ends up on the back burner.

My friend Chandra has been telling me about her goal-setting, and I love how she's doing it. She is starting with her priorities, what's most important to her and her family. Then she's making yearly goals based on those priorities. From there, she can make monthly and weekly goals that line up with those. She shared a link with me where one person set goals by category, and I really like that idea to help me focus.

I am just at the beginning of the process, but I'm going to use the three areas from my blog title to form some goals. These are, after all, the things that are most important to me, the things I'm constantly trying to balance.

My priorities
Home
-To have a happy, comfortable home where we all feel loved and nurtured
-To establish order and routines
Heart
-To have a strong relationship with Christ
-To build a strong marriage
-To raise confident, thoughtful children who learn and know God
-To enjoy the daily moments as well as the big experiences
Health
-To provide comforting, nutritious meals and snacks
-To stay (and encourage others to become) physically fit

It's a start. I feel a chart or notebook coming. I sure do love my binders :)