What's the draw of almond milk?

Last night I stopped by Trader Joe's on the way home (which is rare because the closest one to my house is 45 min) and saw that almond milk was only $1.99 AND I had a $1 coupon so I decided to try it. I see a lot of weight loss/food bloggers eating this stuff so I thought I'd try it.

I don't get it. I mean, it's okay. It tastes pretty similar to vanilla soy milk if you ask me. It was much better in my oats this morning than drinking it out of a glass, but still. I like oats just fine plain with a little splenda so I don't know why I'd add the extra calories just to have some almondy-ness in my oats.

So if any of you out there just LOVE almond milk, please tell me why. Are you allergic to something that prevents you from drinking regular milk? Lactose intolerant maybe? Let me know.

lacking motivation

We are going on vacation soon and I'm finding it hard to stay on track before we go. The fridge is getting bare of perishable items, meaning less of my favorite fruits and veggies, more frozen/canned junk. It means more cereal for dinner to use up the milk.

Work is getting insane with things that need to get done before we leave, and I know the million-bajillion emails waiting for me when I return will be even worse.

How do you balance summer vacation and motivation?

Flavored Vodka

Making things at home, without preservatives, also applies to adult beverages in my household.

Here, we have some orange flavored vodka my hubs is "cooking" right now. He made pineapple a few years ago and this weekend decided to try a new flavor. He loves pineapple orange juice, so his goal is to make pineapple orange vodka eventually, but he wanted to try plain orange first.

If any of you out there want to try this at home, just cut up your favorite fruit and throw it in a jar with some vodka for a week or so in the chill chest. Then strain it through some cheesecloth and voila!

I broke up with WW today.

The hubs and I have been looking for ways to shred the fat in our budget lately and I finally decided that spending a monthly fee for me to input my food online is one thing we can cut. I've been using the online tools for a year and half now, with minimal results. I haven't really been using all of the tools for a while now. I just put in my foods and don't even need to look up the points. I know what I'm eating. I know how many points I go over, and I know why that is reflected on the scale. The best way for me to get results is to get off my butt. Let's be honest, no web site is going to make me do that. I have to want it on my own.

So I broke up with WW today. They said they'd take me back if I call them.

This is B-A-N-A-N-A-S

The other day, I saw on some foodie blog a recipe for ice cream that was literally just a banana and a splash of milk. THIS I had to try. I love bananas. I love milk. I love ice cream. Basically you wait until said banana turns super brown. Peel it and put it in the freezer. When you are craving some ice cream, pull it out, chop it and throw it in the food processor. Add a splash of milk. Process.

It turns out very like the consistency of ice cream. It does have a very strong banana flavor, so I put a bit of chocolate syrup on mine, it was delish!! Definitely worth the 2points a banana is alone. I didn't add enough milk to make it more than 2 points, but the chocolate sauce is extra.

How to make spaghetti sauce from scratch

I waited until my 'maters were fully ripened before trying this. I promised I wouldn't make this a recipe blog, but you know I love photos, so how about a photo-recipe?

Grab some tomatoes, an onion and some garlic. Score and chop.

I browned ground turkey breast, but you could use any other meat of your liking.

Boil the tomatoes.

Give them an ice bath.

Throw some EVOO, and the chopped onions in a hot pot.

Add the tomatoes after their bath and chopped.

Blend with a stick blender. We call it the motorboat blender.

Add the meat and simmer for a while. Throw in some herbs and sugar.

Enjoy!!!

This was my first ever attempt at making spaghetti sauce, from either can-scratch or real-scratch. I also bought my first onion ever for this recipe. That's how often we eat onions. This was even better the next day too, so make sure you have enough for leftovers. The hubs gave my first try as a 7 out of 10. I'll take it!

Our first trip to the ER as parents

Last night was a scary night for the hubs and me. We came home to find our dog-child bloated and wimpering in pain and he shivered when we touched his belly. We rushed him to the vet ER where he was poked and prodded and x-rayed. He was a little bloated too, but the x-ray said not enough to be concerned about.

It turns out that our baby is becoming an old man (he'll be 6 in December) and has a slipped disk in his back.

So he has some pain meds and steriods to help, but the real struggle will be the 6 weeks of no jumping or running... How do you tell a dog he can't play?