Pumpkin Spice Protein Balls
The kids are back to school and everyone is settling into the Fall routine. Days are getting shorter and mornings are cooler. The local coffee shops are all offering their version of a “Pumpkin Spice Latte”, so we decided to jump on the band wagon and make some Pumpkin Spice Protein Balls. Before we know it, the leaves will be turning and it will be pumpkins, pumpkins everywhere!!! So here is a way to get your pumpkin “fix” without compromising your healthy habits.
Ingredients
½ cup peanut butter or almond butter (use a no sugar added version-our favorite is Trader Joe’s)
¼ cup oats (I blended my a bit in my Vitamix)
1 Tablespoon flax meal
½ cup pumpkin flavored protein powder (we use the Isagenix pumpkin spice protein powder, but you can use any vanilla protein powder and add 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp ginger and ½ tsp cloves)
1 teaspoon cinnamon (add 2 teaspoons if using vanilla protein powder)
3 Tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ cup mini chocolate chips, raisins or other dried fruit chopped fine (optional)
Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl until blended. Roll into 1 inch balls. Refrigerate and stop in a tupperware for up to 2 weeks. Believe me…they will not last 2 weeks because they are so YUMMY!!!
This batch is made with peanut butter, some have mini chocolate chips as well.
Peanut butter, pumpkin spice protein balls.
This batch was made with crunchy almond butter and looks a bit heartier because I did not pulse the oats quite as fine and the peanut butter batch.
- ½ cup peanut butter or almond butter (use a no sugar added version-our favorite is Trader Joe's)
Chicken Chickpea Moroccan Crockpot Stew
1 (15-ounce) can garbanzo beans drained and rinsed
1 bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and sliced
Lemon Blueberry Superfoods Shake
You know our family LOVES our superfoods shakes, and this recipe will take meal or snack time to a WHOLE NEW LEVEL!!!
We start with our protein and nutrient packed dairy free shake powder and harness the power of citrus and berries to bump up the flavor and health benefits.
Combining the immune health powers of lemon ESSENCE essential oil with the heart boosting properties of blueberries for a seriously delicious meal.
Ingredients
6-8 oz Water
1-2 drops Lemon ESSENCE essential oil
1/2 cup Frozen Blueberries
1/2-1 tsp Cinnamon
Ice as needed
1 packet Dairy Free IsaLean Vanilla Chai protein powder.
To make, fill your blender with 6-8 ounces of water depending on how thick you like your shake. I LOVE the consistency of our dairy free shakes, but you do have to be careful with the amounts of water and ice. Just play around to find what you like. Next, add 1 or 2 drops of the lemon essential oil using a dropper or carefully pouring. Add the protein powder followed by the cinnamon and blueberries. Start to blend. Add ice until you get your desired consistency. Enjoy with a straw or try what I did today: make it a little thicker, pour in a bowl, and top with your favorite grain-free granola!!
Enjoy!…
Read MoreBack to School Health Tips
School is back in session for our family which means less kids at home (YEAH!!), but more germs and yuck too (BOO!).
Here are my top 5 Back to School Health Tips:
- Snack Smarter
- Have easy grab and go snacks prepared. Try a few of our favorites!!
- Cinnamon Vanilla Protein Bites Dairy Free and delicious
- WOW your kids with our Sweet and Spicy Chex Mix
2. Use Essential Oils
We love Essential Oils and we are thrilled to share that the health + wellness company we’ve chosen to partner with has launched their own oils as the ideal compliment to our superfood nutrition!! With a vision to impact world health, expanding the product line just make sense. They’ve kept it simple with 6 single oils and 4 blends to support the nutritional rebalancing system and food our families eat EVERY DAY.
Oils are a great “tool” to keep in your healthy living toolkit because it is such a simple way to enhance the solutions we already get from our incredible food!! We’ve already been learning new simple ways to add oils to our routine. I’ve posted a few recipes below and keep a look out for more to come!
3. Boost Immunity
As a mom, I worry about protecting my kids’ immune health when they are back at school. Luckily, our nutrition makes it easy to give our immune system a boost and empowers me by making me feel like I am having a positive impact on their health. Every day, the girls get a scoop of immune boost in their shake, I spray their mouths with Isamune with zinc spray, and I diffuse lemon essential oil (with peppermint).
4. Get good sleep
We know getting a good night’s sleep is important and I do feel like school is …
Read MoreGogo Grandmothers at VBS-the UNBELIEVABLE Happened
Last week, I experienced one of the highlights of my life!!!!!
For me, it was a miracle of generosity…..
A few months ago, I was invited to meet with the director of a Vacation Bible School (VBS) that takes place at the main campus of our church for one week every summer. She and her staff were thinking of trying something new this summer and wondered if I was interested in being the “guest speaker” for the missionary aspect of the VBS. Part of the program engages the children in joining in to raise money for a special project. The VBS planning staff wanted a tangible project that would motivate the children to take part and make a lasting impact. I was invited to share about Gogo Grandmothers and and the possibility of raising enough money to build a preschool for the orphans in Malawi, Africa. Over the course of the 5 days, my two Gogo Grandmother teammates and I shared stories, photos and videos with the children to teach them about the ministry of Gogo grandmothers. We taught them some words and phases in Chichewa, the language used in the villages of Malawi. We showed the kids personalized videos of some of the preschool children in Malawi sending a greeting to our cornerstone kids and then we made a personalized video in Chichewa to send back to them.
We taught the VBS kids how to say “Jesus Rescues”-Yesu a Mapulumutsa.
We taught the VBS kids how to say “Good Morning Malawi”-Mudibangi Malawi
The VBS theme was Jesus Rescues…the lonely, suffering, hurting….so this preschool building project made sense to the VBS kids. Our VBS kids could be the hands and feet of Jesus by raising money to help build a preschool where kids in Malawi would get …
Read MoreChocolate Chip Banana Bread
Sweet snacks in the summer are a real treat. When you have little ones that are eager to bake and even more eager to EAT a SWEET TREAT…why not make a healthy snack for all to enjoy. The Spoelhof girls and I tried this recipe over the weekend and it was a HIT!!!
HERE ARE THE INGREDIENTS AND DIRECTIONS….
4 medium sized VERY RIPE bananas
2 eggs
1 ½ teaspoon vanilla
¼ cup coconut oil
¾ cup whole wheat flour
½ cup all purpose flour or TJ’s white wheat flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
½ cup brown sugar firmly packed
If you feel creative and want to increase the nutritional value of your bread, substitute ½ cup of cauliflower puree for ½ cup of the banana puree.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, mix all the wet ingredients; banana puree, eggs, vanilla and oil. In another medium bowl, mix all the dry ingredients; flour, sugar, baking soda and baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until combined but DO NOT OVERMIX! Fold in the chocolate chips. Pour into a well greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pan and bake in a preheated oven for 50 minutes. Test with a toothpick to make sure it is done in the middle. Remove from oven and let cool for about 30-45 minutes. Turn out onto a platter and cut slices. It is delicious warm. You can store the leftovers if there are any leftovers wrapped in foil or saran and store in refrigerator for up to 1 week.
A perfect ending to a perfect day including pizza night and a movie!!!
S’mores at the End of a Sunny Summer Day
Lots of sun and swimming and even a nice walk to the neighborhood park. all in a fun summer day. It seems like a perfect night to have S’mores for dessert. If you have the supplies on hand and an outdoor fire pit it is easy to roast some marshmallows and make a batch of s’mores. But what if you do not have a fire pit?…..Here is a fun and easy way to provide that campground dessert experience for you kids or grandkids by making pocket s’mores.
What you need:
aluminum foil
1 bag of large marshmallows
1 box of graham crackers
one milk chocolate bar for each 2 pouches of s’mores (Hershey’s works well because the bars are thin)
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Or if you have a BBQ going for your dinner prep you can have your pouches ready and put the pouches directly on the BBQ.
For each pouch of s’mores you need a large piece of foil (about 12 x 16 inches). Give each person
1 large graham cracker and 2 marshmallows and ½ of a milk chocolate bar for each pouch of s’mores. Break up the graham crackers into medium pieces and place in the middle of your foil. Place the two marshmallows on top of the graham crackers. Break up the chocolate bar into small pieces and scatter over the graham cracker and marshmallow mixture. Wrap the foil around the ingredients you have placed on the middle and make a little pouch that looks like a Hersheys Kiss-twisting in the middle. Make sure there are no spaces where melted chocolate or marshmallows can drip out. Place pouches onto a cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until marshmallows and chocolate are melted. Open up the pouch and enjoy!!!
YUMMY in the TUMMY!!! WE had …
Sock Puppets
How many of us wonder why we have so many orphaned socks throughout the years, as we do our laundry? I seem to loose one sock of a pair (usually my new favorite pair) on a regular basis? So for years when the girls where at home and younger, I would use the orphaned socks to curl their hair-in old school ringlets. Now that they are grown and gone and at this point all but one of my grand daughters has curly hair, I needed another option for “what to do with the orphaned socks???”…VIOLA, SOCK PUPPETS!!!!! It is easy and fun to do when your grandkids come for a visit. We made some this last week when Rachel and her husband and daughters were visiting. The girls got to design their own puppets and Gammie did the sewing. You can actually let the kids do some of the sewing if you have more time and the kids are a bit older.
Supplies needed
1. old socks
2. felt in assorted colors
3. colorful buttons for eyes
4. fabric scissors
5. fabrics scraps
6. thread
Take each sock and cut a slit at the end of the toe box, big enough for a mouth. We cut our slits in the adult women’s white tube socks about 2-3 inches on each side from the middle point of the toe box. Lay the open mouth on top of the color of felt that each child picks and trace an oval shape that will be he mouth. Cut about 1/4 inch larger on all sides than the oval you traced. Turn the sock inside out and pin the oval right sides together inside the mouth cut so that edges of oval meet edges of the cut in the sock. Sew on the machine …
Read MoreIt’s OK to Be Uncomfortable
IT’S OK TO BE UNCOMFORTABLE!
We are so focused on being “comfortable” we forget that change requires CHANGE! Growth requires change.
So yes, it might be uncomfortable in the beginning. But when you are WILLING to make a change, when you believe in the work you are doing, you might just find those “uncomfortable” things are just small tiny parts of BIG CHANGE on your journey.
No matter what you are working on or building towards, remember that many things in life start hard. Heck, even seem impossible. Keep trying. Keep doing. Even when it is uncomfortable.
Sometimes the hardest things, the most uncomfortable changes, are the best things.
What is something you working on right now?
…
God Bless America
We had an amazing and fun 4th of July. There is nothing better than family, community, and good food!!
A highlight of ours is going to the Danville 4th of July parade. Mostly it is so fun to be out with the community, but also we love the freebies and candy!!
One of our favorite traditions is making homemade ice cream (post coming soon). We also love to swim as a family and this year was extra special because Gammie and Poppa heated their pool for the first time EVER!!!!!!!
We feel truly blessed to live in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave this year and every year. We want to extend and extra special thank you to all the men and women that serve and have served our country, and to our first responders!
Thank you!…
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