Green Smoothies

My mom got a Vitamix for Christmas because she really enjoys making green smoothies. I was extremely turned off by these smoothies for awhile because they have all kinds of weird ingredients in them. However, she got me to start trying them, and I quickly realized that once you get past the weird ingredients they are actually quite yummy!

Now I make them for myself everyday, and I LOVE them! I can't get enough. Sometimes I will replace a couple of my meals with them. I normally have 1 for breakfast and after I workout. Sometimes I also have them as a mid-morning or afternoon snack. If I didn't eat healthy for lunch I will have on instead of dinner.

These can be made in a blender, but the vitamix does a much better job of grinding up the 'gross' stuff. It's a lot stronger too so it can handle larger items that aren't cut in tiny pieces.

INGREDIENTS

Remember: all ingredients are optional and you don't have to use all these things in every smoothie. It's fun to alternate things and come up with yummy recipes!

In all of my shakes I always put:
Almond milk
Coconut water
Protein Powder (I use MusclePharm)
Quick Oats
Flax seed or oil
Greek Yogurt (I only use this sometimes, and a very little amount)

Greens:
Spinach
Kale
Avocado
Cucumber
Celery
Lime
Mixed Greens

Fruits:
Grapefruit
Oranges
Blueberries
Banana
Peaches
Pineapple
Kiwi
Strawberries
Apple

Check out some more recipes and ideas here.

Enjoy!

Leah

DIY Jewelry Holder

I realized that I had a lot of necklaces, bracelets and other accessories, but I had no way to organize them. I never wore half of them because I couldn't see what all I had. I had seen a lot of great ideas on Pinterest for jewelry holders, and finally one caught my eye. I decided to take what i'd seen and make my own jewelry holder. It has worked out wonderfully! I wear all my jewelry a lot more often, and it looks cute hanging in my room too!

What I Bought:
2 silverware organizers

30 Symmetry Screw Hooks (I just guessed how many I would need based on the amount of jewelry I had, but you can get as many or as few as you need)

Paint and finisher

Paint Brush

White ribbon

Hot Glue Sticks for my glue gun

2 Wall hooks

I bought all of my supplies from Walmart. Below are photos of the drawer organizers and the symmetry screw hooks that I used.

Symmetry Hooks (Walmart)



Bamboo Silverware Drawer Organizer

 

 



To Get Started:

I painted both drawer organizers in a pretty green color, and let that dry. Then I began trying to screw in the hooks along the bottom of the organizer. I quickly realized that it was going to take me forever to screw all of them in. Thankfully my gracious fiance rescued me with his drill and drilled pilot holes for me. Once he did that screwing the hooks in was much easier. You have to be careful not to screw them to close to the edge because it will split the wood.

Here's how I arranged my hooks:

I actually added about 15 hooks on the bottom of each organizer, and I alternated them kind of in a zig zag instead of straight across. I thought this would be easier to hang and see my necklaces.

After getting all of the hooks in I needed to add ribbon so that I could hang them on my wall.

I bought ribbon that was just smaller than the width of the sides of the organizers. I started at the bottom on one side and hot glued the ribbon all the way up one side. Then I measured how much 'extra' ribbon I would need at the top to hang. Then I laid the ribbon on the opposite side and glued it down leaving the extra ribbon on top connecting the two sides. (This will make more sense when you see the finished product).

At this point I was almost done! I hung my two wall hooks where I wanted my jewelry organizer to hang. I let the hot glue under the ribbon dry over night. The next day I was ready to hang them and add all of my jewelry!

They turned out so cute, and I LOVE how organized my jewelry is!! I use the hooks in the top section for rings, the middle section I use for bracelets and/or short necklaces, and the bottom hooks I use for all of my necklaces. I also have bangles that won't fit in the middle section so I hang those on the top big wall hooks.

Enjoy!

- Leah