The Green Juice Challenge

I've been trying to incorporate more veggies into my diet, been trying to be very healthy and that's why sometimes during the week I make the green juice or smoothie and I love it! It's not only tasty but with full of vitamins, you can create any combination that you prefer. Take a look at some that I've made.

Left photo: 1 golden apple, 1 medium carrot, 3 strawberries, a handful of baby spinach and 1 1/2 cup orange juice. Put everything into the blender, blend into completely smooth.

Center photo: 1 green apple, 1 cup orange juice and a handful of baby spinach. Put everything into the blender, blend into completely smooth.

Right photo: 1 plum, 1 bosc pear, a handful of spinach and 1 1/2 cup orange juice. Put everything into the blender, blend into completely smooth.

I love the fact that the juice becomes sweet and you can't taste the spinach. My favorite is the one in the right photo, it tasted delicious with the plum. My challenge is to incorporate at least two-three times a week the juice, feel free to join me with this challenge and also share some recipes!

DIY Project: 6 Natural Beauty Recipes

Source: all4women.co.za via Suze on Pinterest

SPA treatments sometimes can be very expensive, even though they are a must. That's why I wanted to share these natural beauty recipes that can be made at home, they are super budget friendly and can be done in a snap. Take a look:

Rosewater + Coconut Milk = Relaxing Bath - To create a relaxing and soothing bath put a quarter cup of rosewater and quarter cup of coconut milk into your bath, soak away your stress.

Honey + Olive Oil = Face Mask - In a bowl, mix together 1 tablespoon of honey, 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 egg yolk until creamy. Place a warm washcloth to your face to open pores, apply to mask to the face and wait 20 minutes, rinse with warm water.

Honey + Brown Sugar = Facial/Body Scrub - In a bowl, using a spoon mix together 1 tablespoon of brown sugar with 3 tablespoons of honey. The consistency should be thick but not too runny, if you need more of either product, add it in until you reach the desired consistency.

Un-Petroleum Jelly + Raw Sugar = Lip Balm Scrub (for dry lips) - Mix a little of un-petroleum jelly with a little sugar, rub on your lips and rinse with a warm washcloth. Your lips be ready for the perfect lipstick.

Egg Yolk + Honey + Avocado = Face Mask (for dry skin) - Mash 1 ripe avocado with 1 egg yolk, 1 tablespoon of honey and 1 teaspoon of olive oil. Mix until smooth and creamy. Apply to a clean face and neck, wait 20 minutes. Rinse with warm water.

Strawberry + Baking Soda = Teeth Whitener - Smash one ripe strawberry and mix 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda, apply mixture to teeth with a toothbrush and let it set for 5 minutes; then brush teeth with regular toothpaste. Repeat once a week.

Tips To Feed Toddlers

Feeding toddlers can be quite a challenge sometimes, recently my daughter is going through a phase where she doesn't want to eat her vegetables. Trying to make her eat her lunch and dinner feels like a battle, and she always wins.

Although our doctor has assured us that it's just a phase and it should go away sometime, I still worry if my child is getting the right nutrients that she needs. Luckily, my daughter loves to eat fresh fruits, yogurt, cheese and milk but vegetables are another completely story. Before this phase she didn't have problems with vegetables, hopefully she'll be back to eating everything. Meanwhile, I've been trying to come up with new solutions in efforts to make her eat at least some vegetables.

So, here are some of the ideas that I've come up with:

1. The green juice: that's right! the green juice, it may sound weird but it works wonders. Here's what I do: In a blender, I put about a 1 1/2 cup of orange juice with about 1 cup of baby spinach and just blend until completely smooth. It can be made with different greens with you prefer. For right now, my daughter loves this juice and drinks every drop!

2. Hiding vegetables in the food: I personally don't like hiding things in food because I want my child to learn to love to eat her vegetable and to know exactly what she's eating. But since I believe it's for her own good and it won't be for too long, I don't see a problem. I try to incorporate vegetables into our normal food, example: if I make mac and cheese, I put some puree carrots or cauliflower and she doesn't know the difference. The same thing goes when I am baking a cake or cookies, just put some pureed veggies with the mix. Luckily, the web is filled with many great recipes, just give a try!

3. Make food fun: create fun and appetizing food for kids. I was browsing the web and come across these cute and fun ideas, take a look:

(these and more can be found at Lisa Storms)

I hope I've given some usable information. So, what tricks do you use to feed your kids some veggies? Please share! =]

Playing Dress Up: Feeling Tangerine

It's not a secret that the color trend obsession this Summer is: tangerine! or variations, such as: vibrant orange, coral or red-orange. And it's everywhere from tops to shoes, from jewelry to makeup. It's definitely a must have for Summer. Find some inspiration below and incorporate into your style, take a look:

Feeling Tangerine by sweetcarolinee1 

Love Sam cotton shirt
Chiffon top
Saint Tropez chiffon blouse
Cotton pants
Matthew Williamson cigarette pants 
Flat sandals
Coral jewelry
Orange jewelry
Blush
Bare Escentuals lip gloss
Christian Dior nail lacquer 
Essie nail polish
OPI nail polish

Operation Smile

Today I want to share with you information about an amazing charity called Operation Smile. Operation Smile is an international children's medical charity, their goal is to help and change children lives by giving every child a chance to smile.

Operation Smile performs effective reconstructive life changing cleft lip/palate surgeries on children whose families could not otherwise afford it. The improvement of the quality of life for the children that receive these surgeries is almost imaginable. It helps them to eat, speak, socialize and smile!

Such an amazing charity, right? That's why I've decided to become partners with CampusBookRentals.com because for every book rented starting now, they will donate a portion of the proceeds to Operation Smile with their sights set on meeting and exceeding their goal of 1,000 surgeries and lives changed. So, if you are looking for college books head over to CampusBookRentals.com and add that extra book to your cart!

For more information about Operation Smile and other ways to donate, be sure to check their site.

Strawberry-Banana Popsicles

The days have been extremely hot! Summer is here with full force. I decided to make a few popsicles to help cool down. It was a hit with Sophia, she absolutely loved it. Here's the recipe:

(makes 8 small popsicles)
Ingredients:
1 cup strawberries (stems removed and cut in half)
1 medium banana (cut into chucks)
1 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons sugar

Directions:
Put all the ingredients into the blender and blend until smooth. Pour mixture into popsicles mold, freeze until firm. Enjoy!

For more sweet cold treats, check out this recipe of homemade ice cream that I made a while ago.

Day at the Park

I'm very lucky to live by a great park.
Couple of weeks ago, we took the kids to the park

since it was a beautiful, hot, sunny day.

Sophia had a blast at the swing,

picking flowers and even rocks.

Ian as usual fell asleep and pretty

much slept during our walk through

the park.

Take a look:

♥ ♥ ♥

4th of July - Recipes and Ideas

I love checking the Disney's Family Fun Magazine website, it's filled with so many great ideas and recipes. I found so many quick and easy recipes that you can do in a couple of minutes, and kids can help too. Check it out:

Spangled Sandwich Pops

All you need to do is simply skewer a mini ice-cream sandwich onto a popsicle stick and then press the sides with patriotic sprinkles. Serve in colorful cupcake liners.

Revolutionary Berries

                                       Source: familyfun.go.com via Jacqueline on Pinterest

Dip strawberries into melted white chocolate and then into blue sugar or edible glitter.

Rocket Dogs

                                                 Source: familyfun.coverleaf.com via Misty on Pinterest

What you need: hot dogs, prepared breadstick dough (Pillsbury), skewers, cubed cheese and mustard.

What you need to do:  wrap hot dogs in prepared breadstick dough and insert a skewer, letting it protrude at the top. Bake the dogs according to the dough package's instructions. Add a triangle of cheese for a topper, tie on a tail made from ribbon or aluminum foil, and squirt on stripes of ketchup and mustard. Serve and enjoy.

Frosty Fireworks Drink

                                          Source: funfamilycrafts.com via Crispy on Pinterest

Fill an ice cube tray with a red or blue fruit-flavored beverage (Powerade, Gatorade, or Kool-Aid) and let the cubes freeze solid. Put three or four colored cubes into each glass, pour in flavored seltzer water or clear soda, and watch the special effects. As the cubes melt, colored bubbles will swirl through the seltzer.

Have a happy and fun 4th of July!