Recipes

Mini’s Famous Anana Smoothie

Posted on October 9, 2013

smoothie

Yep, that’s right.  It’s a sneaky toddler smoothie.  As Miss Mini says..”ANANA SMOOTHIE PEEAASS MAMA”.  Translation into Enlish: Banana smoothie please mama.   She’s working on it 😉

I have such a tough time getting Mini to eat.  She eats when she wants, and while she isn’t really too picky, she has to be in the mood to eat..or nothing gets in there.  I try to sneak fruits and veggies in any way I can. as do many moms.

Quite honestly, I can definitely up my intake of fruits and veggies as well.  Sometimes an entire day will go by and I didn’t eat one vegetable.  Not good.   Especially now that I’m pregnant.  I don’t care so much about me, ha ha, but Baby J needs his vitamins.

Which brings me to my banana smoothie creation.  You may notice that it is green.  That is because it is full of spinach.  Mini has not yet questioned the color.  In fact, the kid watches me throw a cup of spinach in the blender and dances around the kitchen like I dropped in gummy bears.

The ingredients can easily be interchanged depending on what fruits and veggies are in season.  I always use spinach for my green, but feel free to get crazy.  Drinking spinach is as crazy as I’ll get.

Here’s how I do it:

1 Banana (Mine always have a banana.  It makes a nice creamy base)

1 cup of spinach

5oz greek yogurt (this can be changed for whatever yogurt you like, but again, it adds creaminess)

Frozen mango chunks (That is the fruit Mini picked for this particular smoothie.  We also favor fresh berries and apples)

1/4 cup OJ (If I do not have juice, I use water..It just needs liquid to get the blender going..)

There are a billion different combinations you can create to make delicious smoothies.  You can get crazy and add flax seed, chia pets(?)…whatever those health freaks are eating 😉  Me?  I’m just grateful that I got myself and my toddler to eat spinach before 10 am.

But remember, no matter how you make it..the name doesn’t change.   Say it with me…ANANA.  Say it like a minion.  A mini minion.

 

 

The Life

Gambino Family Fun Day

Posted on October 5, 2013

Last weekend the unimaginable happened.  Mike actually had a day off.  He usually works both Saturday and Sunday so Mini and I were excited to have him around!  I needed to make a plan for the day.  In this family, if there is no plan, well…at 1 pm everyone is still in their pajamas.  So I decided that we would all go to the zoo.

Mini and I had gone to the Naples Zoo before, but not with Mike.  We had a good time, besides the fact that Mike complained the entire time that it smelled like animal feces.   I’m not sure what he was expecting.  Roses?  Lavender?  I mean, it’s a zoo.  A hot, smelly, zoo.

I was a little bummed because this time Mini was scared to feed the giraffes.  Mike held her, but when they got up to the giraffe she didn’t want to feed him.  She did it last time with me and wasn’t afraid at all.  However, she is going through a “everything scare me” phase.  The dark, ants, birds, ducks, the moon.  Everything scares her.  I hope this passes quickly.

We made it around the zoo fairly quickly.  It isn’t a really big zoo and a lot of the animals were sleeping.  It’s so hot, they probably passed out from heat exhaustion.  Regardless, it was fun to walk around and Mini got to play at all the little play areas.

After the zoo we went out for brunch.  Poor Mini was sleepy already and decided to lay down in the booth.  I however, ate the most delicious sugar glazed bacon.  I am still thinking about it.  I think I need to learn how to make that.

Of course by the time we got home, Mini was over the idea of a nap.  Mommy and Daddy were not.  So we all laid in our bed and watched the Lion King.

The day was a success.  We only wish Daddy could play with us every weekend 🙂

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Dear Mini The Life

Dear Mini,

Posted on September 24, 2013

I have to be honest.  We haven’t had an easy couple of weeks.  I’ve been tired and cranky, and you’ve been..well you’ve been a 2 year old.  I sometimes struggle to keep up with your energy levels, mood swings and your newfound urge for independence.  You are a firecracker.  You keep me on my toes constantly.  You will eat pancakes one day and turn your nose up to them the next.  You keep me guessing.  You are not pleasant when you wake up from naptime.  It usually takes a popsicle to get you in a good mood.  Sometimes a popsicle doesn’t even do the trick, and you just want to whine for 20 minutes.  That’s ok.  Sometimes I need to whine for 20 minutes too.  That never really goes away.  Even though the past few weeks have been tough, you have still managed to amaze me, teach me, and most of all melt my heart.

Sometimes when I am having an exhausting day I take you up for an early bath.  I let you pick a movie to watch in our bed and you and I lay there in silence.  I lay my head on your little chest and you play with my hair while you watch Beauty and the Beast.  I hear the thump-thump of your little heart beating.  I still remember the first time I ever heard that sound.  I was only 7 weeks pregnant and I told Daddy not to come to the doctor.  It was just a blood test and he had to work.  It ended up not just being a blood test though, and I had an ultrasound.  I will never forget how I felt to hear the sound of your little heart beating.  The little thump-thump of your heart is sometimes all I need to hear.

I woke you up from a nap today and carried you into my room for some mama-mini snuggles.  You were still so sleepy and you curled up in the crook of my arm and you were so relaxed.  Your hair was sticking up like crazy and your cheeks were so warm.  I could feel you sighing as you started to wake up.  You wrapped your little hand around my finger and placed your other hand on top of mine.  We laid there listening to the rain for a long time.

You don’t just need me.  I need you.  Thank you for being such an amazing kid.

I love you,

Mommy

The Life

Say Cheese

Posted on September 19, 2013

For Mini’s 2nd birthday pictures we decided to do something a little different.  Out are the days of jeans and white tops.  I mean seriously out.  Like 1990’s out.  Beach photos are cute.  If you like messed up hair and sand in your eyes.  I wanted something more artistic.  Something out of the ordinary.  Something glamorous.  I think I nailed it.  Our photo session turned out even better than I had ever expected.

I picked the clothes and location.

Our photographer created magic.

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The Life

Wanna know where I’ve been?

Posted on September 18, 2013

I’ve been going to bed at 8pm.

Sitting on the couch most hours of the day to avoid feeling dizzy.

Eating english muffin after english muffin to ward off nausea.

Yep, you guess it.

We’re PREGNANT!!

And by we, I mean me.  No seriously.  I don’t see Mike sitting on the couch in his pajamas scarfing down english muffins.

Here’s what you’ve missed 🙂

I found out I was pregnant while Mike was out of town for work.  He was driving back late in the afternoon so I spent the entire day thinking of cute ways to share the news.  I ended up just tossing the stick at him and screaming, WE DID IT!!  Ha.  Mike is beyond excited.  If it were up to him, I would have already been pregnant with # 2 for a long time.  If it was up to me, he would carry our children in his uterus.

I am due March 21st, which makes me 13 weeks pregnant already.  Want to know the best part??

It’s a

BOY!

Yep, thanks to modern medicine and a simple genetic blood test, we found out the gender at just 12 weeks!  Pretty incredible.

It’s fairly safe to say I have been feeling a lot better in the past couple of weeks.  I definitely have more energy, and I found that if I just keep eating I don’t feel dizzy.  A dream come true.

Counting the days until March.  Can’t wait to meet our sweet boy.  Mini on the other hand.  Not so impressed with all the baby talk.

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