After school treat

I told you that my minis went back to school on Wednesday.  I was a tad nervous to pick them up after their first day and hear how things went.  This is the feedback I got......

Oldest Mini:  It felt really good to be back playing football at recess.
Middle Mini:  I love school so much that I didn't want to come home.  The only reason I came home was because I missed Lola.  (I chose not to be hurt over this comment, and celebrate the fact that my boy really loves his puppy.)
Tiny Mini:  I had so much fun with my new friend Chelsea.  (To which, I commented that I didn't know she had a girl named Chelsea in her class.  To which my tiny mini replied, "I don't have a Chelsea in my class.  I forgot her name, so I called her Chelsea in my head.")

Sounds like a successful day to me!

On the 2nd day of school, as I was driving my minis to school I asked my middle mini what he was most looking forward to at school that day.  He replied, "mom, can you be quiet for a second?  I am watching the movie Rio in my head and the best part is coming up."

And that's when I realized my middle mini is weird.  But in a good way.  Quirky, we call it.

 (And, yes, I realize these pictures of my middle mini on the beach have nothing to do with my story, but he's such a doll, I couldn't resist posting them.)

So anyway.....I wanted to have a special treat for my minis to enjoy when they came home from school.  My minis LOVE chocolate milk and I rarely let them have any because the ingredients on the label are a little shocking to me.  So, I found a recipe for homemade chocolate milk and I whipped up a batch for them.  

First you need to make the chocolate syrup.

• 1/4 cup cocoa 
• 1/2 cup water
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar 
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract 

1.  Add the water and cocoa to a small saucepan.  Stir and heat over medium heat until the cocoa is dissolved.

2.  Add the sugar and stir until dissolved.

3.  Heat to boiling and stir for 3 minutes while boiling.

4.  Remove from heat and add vanilla extract.

5.  Chill in fridge and add one tablespoon to one cup milk.

Mix your cocoa and water.

Dissolve cocoa and then add sugar.

Dissolve sugar and then heat to boiling.

Boil and stir for 3 minutes.

Store in a glass jar in the fridge.

Once you've made and cooled your chocolate syrup, add 1 tbsp of chocolate syrup to one cup cold milk.  Stir.  Chug.

This recipe got rave reviews from my minis.  This is probably the most popular unprocessed item that has left my kitchen in 8 months.  They LOVED this chocolate milk.  I mean, look how happy they are.

OK, so maybe we didn't enjoy our chocolate milk ocean-side.  And maybe I am the one playing movies in my head.

Fancy Water

Are we all out happily shopping for new wardrobes, thanks to all the weight we've dropped from drinking sassy water?  OK, so my suspicions were correct....sassy water doesn't actually help you to lose weight.  But it does make you feel sassy, sophisticated, and hydrated.

Something else I have started drinking is called Fancy Water.  Fancy water is basically a homemade raspberry-flavored water.  It's super easy to put together.  And it's very tasty.  And it's super fancy, so the next time your fancy friends come over, pour them a glass.

Fancy water

• fresh raspberries
• water
• mint leaves

1.  Pour a container of raspberries into a glass pitcher.

2.  Add a bunch of mint leaves.

3.  Fill pitcher with water.

4.  Let sit over-night and start your morning off feeling fancy the following day.

Milk?!?!?

Does anyone else hear the term almond milk and have one of these moments?

I don't know.  I was always under the impression that in order for something to produce milk, it needed to have....errr.....milkers.  

Apparently that is not the case.  Due to many people discovering they are lactose-intolerant, there has been a recent surge in cow-milk alternatives.....soy, coconut, rice, hemp, and almond.  And, if you notice, none of these have...errr....milkers.

Almond milk is basically made by soaking almonds in water, blending the almond/water mixture, and then straining the remaining almond pieces.  According to this website, almond milk is a good source of magnesium, manganese, selenium, and Vitamin E.  That means it's good for your bones, immunity, cell membranes, and thyroid function.  Almond milk is a source of unsaturated fat, protein, flavanoids, and potassium.  

The great thing about almond milk is that we can make our own.  A while back, I followed this tutorial and made a batch of almond milk that lasted a whopping 5 minutes in my house. So, I am being completely honest here.....I have been cheating and buying my almond milk.  And lately, I have been really bad and buying flavored almond milk (dark chocolate AND vanilla).  

My minis love almond milk (especially dark chcolate) and my minis love smoothies.  So, I guess it would make sense that they use almond milk in nearly all their smoothies.  Here are the ones I have shared so far:

1.  Chocolate Shake Smoothie

2.  Pumped up and Buff smoothie

3.  Peanut butter and spinach smoothie

And, remember chia Pudding?  You need almond milk for that too.

So make some almond milk.  Or cheat and buy some.  A friend of mine shared this recipe with me yesterday and you should use your almond milk to whip up a batch.  It's totally delish.

Monkey Maddness Smoothie

• kiwi
• mango
• ginger
• strawberries
• kefir (he suggests peach, I would use plain homemade yogurt or plain keifer and add 1/2 of a fresh peach)
• cinnamon
• dark chocolate or vanilla almond milk 

 1.  Blend and enjoy!

Remember my friend Deb?  Deb told me the other day that her minis do not drink smoothies.  I was stunned and speechless (I mean, really, her minis do not drink smoothies?!?!?)  Then I remembered that once I made a smoothie that my minis turned their noses up at, and then I tricked them into eating it by pouring it into popsicle molds.  It worked!  So ever since then, whenever I have leftover smoothie, I make them into a popsicle.  And then I win best-mommy-ever award when I offer the minis popsicles for breakfast!  And that cancels out the worst-mommy-ever award when I make them eat chia seeds for breakfast.