hollycarotenuto: heart courage & brain

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

life lately.

summer is around the corner.
tessa just hit 8 months!
still home with my babies.
happy days with lots of laughs!

Thursday, May 16, 2013

have you jumped on the smoothie bandwagon yet?
seems like they're everywhere right now.
santino & i are daily smoothie drinkers.
i'm happy he's getting his vitamins
& it's the perfect morning or afternoon snack to keep me away from cookies.

here's a few we've been loving

green smoothies are great because
1. you are tricking yourself into loving veggies
2. you are getting a ton of nutrients
* be careful you're not over doing the fruit and/or dairy in your smoothie and losing the nutrition!

this green smoothie is adapted from this post i found on pinterest

i bought a box of quart size freezer bags
& stocked up on ingredients at the produce outlet
santino & i split one of these smoothies each day for the two weeks before hawaii

3/4 cup kale (stems removed & roughly chopped)
1/4 cup parsley roughly chopped
1/2 banana cut
1/2 apple cored, peeled and cut

place these ingredients in bags & freeze
when ready to make smoothie,
dump bag into blender
add 1tbsp of flax seed
& 1 scoop of organic whey protein powder
1-2 cups water (or coconut water)
blend until desired consistency

parsley? YES! google health benefits & give it a try,
seriously tastes super fresh & yummy.
recently i've been cutting out the apple & adding more kale..
soo good!

I made this pink smoothie on mother's day
& have made it each day since.
we even let tessa eat some of the steamed BEETS (yes BEETS).
this was my first time:
1. purchasing fresh beets (i always eat & love canned..)
2. purchasing & using almond milk

based on this recipe!
1 banana cut & froze
1 cup cut & frozen strawberries
1/2 peeled & steamed beet (steaming beets is time consuming, cut into slices pre steaming)
1 cup almond milk
1tbsp flax seed

& BLEND!

this was such a sweet surprise!

what are your favorite smoothies (with veggies please!?!)

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

terrible twos?

last week our santino turned two.
two is a wonderful age.
terrible? it has it's moments.

but the majority of time it's amazing.
i'm not rushing him to grow up.
every time i pick him up
i remember i won't be able to do this forever.

we're keeping him in a crib until it becomes an issue.
there are many early mornings where he ends up in our bed.
he won't always fit in our bed,
and will definitely not always want to be there.

everyday he comes up with a new word,
yesterday it was snake.
everything makes him laugh,
especially other people laughing.

he's a little rough with his sister,
but she doesn't mind much,
the look on her face when she sees him is priceless.
he still calls her 'baby',
& part of me hopes it might always be that way.

we through him a buzz lightyear party with his cousins,
he spends much of his time flying buzz around,
screaming.. more like screeching..
and laughing..
it's a loud & fast paced life he lives,
& we love it.

Monday, May 6, 2013

judging myself & moving forward.

everyday as a parent i compare myself to others,
i'm sure this is something most parents do.

but we most likely judge ourselves the hardest.

santino doesn't eat enough vegetables.
tessa is still nursing through the night.
i spend way too much time in yoga pants.
i do way too little yoga (or any working out).
i feel like i should be working.
i feel guilty for wanting to work.
i turn on cartoons in the am until i finish my coffee.
the kindle is used to avoid meltdowns in public.
santino enjoys mcdonalds fries & dunkin donuts.
putting all my emotion into my kids.

all things i think about way too much,
& judge myself for.

my goal for myself is to stop stressing about them,
try & make small improvements where i can,
& let the rest go!

what do you judge yourself for
& can you let it go..