Monday, April 7, 2014

I love food...Monday Made It....

YAY!  
It's time again to link up with my sweet friend, Tara,
for Monday Made It.


This Monday Made It is about my love affair with food.
I adore food.
I love the way food smells and tastes.
I love the way it makes me feel...full.
What I don't love is the way it makes me look.
Let's face it...muffin tops are not attractive and
I've been rockin' a muffin top this year...gross!
Enough is enough.
I made a decision to make some changes.
As much as it pained me to do it...I hit the grocery store.

Monday Made It #1: Nutribullet Smoothies/Juices
If you follow me on Instagram, you have seen
that I purchased a NutriBullet.
Thank you Veronica from Teaching With Giggles 
for the suggestion.
I went on Amazon and cracked up at one of
the reviews.  
After readin' it...I HAD to buy one!
I went to Walmart and forked over $89.
Not bad since it was advertised for $99.
You can pick them up at Target or on Amazon also.
I just didn't want to wait two days.
I'm impatient.
So far...I'm diggin' the Nutri Bullet.
Each time I use it I get to be creative.
It's fast, it's easy and the clean up can't be beat.

This is my version of "green" that I made all by myself.
Spinach, lemon, kiwi, banana.
It was yummy!

I even made hummus in the NutriBullet!
I didn't take a picture because I didn't know 
at the time that I would be usin' the Nutribullet as my MMI.
I have even been gettin' up earlier in the mornin' to 
make somethin' healthy instead of just stuffin' my face
with whatever I can scrounge up at school.

Monday Made It #2: No-Bake Energy Bites
I first heard about these from 
my friend A, at The Babbling Box.
She likes to make these, so I decided I would test it out too.
No Bake?  Sign me up!
I tried to embed the pin from Pinterest, but 
it's bein' wonky and I couldn't figure it out.
Did Pinterest change somethin'?
You can go to Gimme Some Oven
and find the recipe there.

These are SO good. 
I realized after the fact that you were supposed to 
grind the flax seeds.
Next time...

Monday Made It #3: Panfried Kale
My amazin' friend Courtney from Polka Dot Lesson Plans
introduced me to a lot of new food blogs.
Thanks, Court!
Although I have watched The Pioneer Woman's show,
I had never visited her website.
Hey...
remember I love food...
that means watchin' food shows...
even if I don't love cookin'.
Now I follow The Pioneer Woman on Bloglovin' and 
keep up to date on her 
newest creations.
I made myself go in that kitchen
and make this!
(Make sure you read this recipe's write-up...funny!)
The more I eat kale, the more I like it.
This took less than 5 minutes, and was yumm-o!

I didn't start any fires in the kitchen...so I'd say
I was successful in there.
I'm worn out though.
I think maybe it's not cookin' that I don't like...
it's definitely the clean up.
I don't think I'll aspire to be a gourmet chef any time soon.

Monday Made It #4: Testin' treats
One more week until we have two weeks of state testin'.
I can do this...I can do this.
If I keep sayin' it long enough...maybe I will believe this.
I have seen some cute ideas on Pinterest
to get the students pumped for this.
I was standin' in Dollar Tree yesterday without the 
help of Pinterest and came up with two of
my own ideas for "Dots", "Duds, & "Rings".
I actually impressed myself.
Anyways...
everyone makes cute lil' print-outs
and individual bags for each child, but
I didn't want to be pickin' that stuff up
off the floor each mornin'....I already know that's
where my cute printouts with colored ink would end up.
5th graders see only one thing...candy.
So...no need for me to go fancy schmancy.
I bought a clear bowl at the Dollar Tree to fill
with a different candy for each day of testin'.
I used foam stars from there too to write on.
I know it's not as cute as all the wonderful
things out there, but I think they will 
like the concept.

Day 1: Dots

Day 2: Pop Rocks

 Day 3: Smarties

 Day 4: Milk Duds

 Day 5: Blow Pops

 Day 6: Ring Pops

Check out last month's Monday Made It to see how 
I kept my kids on track before the big "test".

Don't forget to check out the rest of the awesome 
Monday Made Its on Tara's blog.

Happy Monday, friends!

15 comments :

  1. Wow! Look at all that wonderful food! I feel like SUCH a slacker! I have been eating too many Cadbury eggs and Pringles! :) I do "Smarties" and "Life Savers" for testing treats...GOOD LUCK!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love Cadbury eggs and Pringles................................yum!

      Delete
  2. Middle schoolers don't appreciate all the fancy-schmancy either so your idea is perfect for me! I'm still looking for healthy breakfast/energy foods that don't require chocolate - at least until after Easter!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your post makes me want to ditch the chicken quesadillas I was going to make for dinner and eat a salad instead....thanks! :) Love your testing treats!

    Jennifer
    Mrs. Laffin's Laughings

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm glad that you were able to eat a green smoothie because I just can't go there yet. I need to make the Energy Balls. They are on my Paleo Recipe board to do soon!

    Jennifer Smith-Sloane
    4mulaFun

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The green smoothies are the easiest ones to take down! I'm getting braver with my ingredients!

      Delete
  5. Your testing treats are adorable! You're inspiring me to make some changes in my eating too! Maybe we can make a teacher blogger support group??? Do I smell a linky party idea!?
    Erin
    Short and Sassy Teacher

    ReplyDelete
  6. Breakfast is an area I definitely need to improve on - but it is the getting up earlier to get in going that does me in after a few days. Thanks for all the healthy inspirations!!
    Funny how cute notes often end up on the floor but never the candy (wrappers yes, food no!). FYI my daughter loves muffin tops - well the ones you eat - she leaves the stump behind for her dad. Hope you had a great Monday : )

    ReplyDelete
  7. Good for you chica! I'd like to try a smoothie before I buy the bullet.. the idea of drinking my food makes my heart a little sad.. I love food, too! Those balls do look pretty darn delicious! Cute testing treats, too! :)

    Mandy
    The 4th Grade Journey

    ReplyDelete
  8. I've wanted to try the energy bites and since they've got your seal of approval I'll have to do it now!! I've looked at kale a lot, but not taken the plunge yet. No time like the present, right? If PW likes it then it must be good!! The testing rewards are perfect and very manageable at such a busy time!! Thanks for the shout out!
    Courtney

    ReplyDelete
  9. Okay - I still crack up every time I see the name of that thing - NutriBullet - Straight to the Stomach! You are doing awesome with the healthy eating!

    I love your ides for the testing motivation. Very clever. Thanks for sharing!

    Jane
    Learning in the Little Apple

    ReplyDelete
  10. Way to make awesome eating choices!! And I love that you simplified your testing treats! So gotta steal that idea!
    Rachel
    A Tall Drink of Water

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love your testing treats! We have testing in two weeks! Good luck to both classes!

    Enjoy the rest of the week!
    Mary
    Fit to be Fourth

    ReplyDelete
  12. How funny! I was just looking' at the Nutri Bullet on Amazon this past weekend. But $100 minimum???? No thanks! I have a blender. But seriously....is it just that it's easier to clean up?

    And I totally agree with you about the cute little tags and bags for the goodies for the kiddies. They're so cute and adorable, but the kids only see one thing---CANDY! All that work creating, printing out, and bagging it all up is totally a waste and lost on them. Bummer, 'cause I really like doing that stuff. Good idea, Ali!

    Ali
    Teaching Powered by Caffeine

    ReplyDelete
  13. Lots of healthy inspiration here! I've been thinking about the Nutribullet, but I'm not sure if it is better than the blender. Is it?

    ReplyDelete

I heart readin' your comments and replyin' to you. Please be sure to check to see that you aren't a "no-reply blogger" so I can comment to you via email. Happy readin'!