Smoothie Recipes

2016 has been self-proclaimed as the year of me getting my mojo back. One of the things on the list was for me to become healthy and buildup my energy, and lose weight. March 18th I started my journey and as of right now I'm 24 pounds down. I have my good days and I have my not-so-good days but one thing that I have learned to do better is eat. I'm one of those people that doesn't eat much and because of that metabolism sucked. So I have learned to not leave the house without eating.  A big helper has been making smoothies. Below are some of the smoothies that I've been deliciously devouring lately.  Enjoy!!!!

Monkey Flip Recovery Smoothie

           

12 ounces of pure, unsweetened coconut water
1 banana
1 tablespoon Peanut/Almond butter
2 tablespoons plain nonfat Greek yogurt
Ice, to preference

Low-Calorie Chocolate Almond Smoothie

1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1/2 scoop chocolate protein powder (I used Vega Performance Protein)
8 raw almonds
3 ice cubes

Cinnamon Apple Smoothie

8 ounces coconut water
4 raw almonds
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup chopped apple (about 1 medium Granny Smith apple)
1/2 scoop unsweetened protein powder
1 tablespoon flaxseed meal (ground flaxseed)

Cinnamon Bun Smoothie

1 frozen banana, cut into four pieces
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pure maple syrup

Morning Workout Protein Smoothie

1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1/2 cup water
1/2 banana
Dash of cinnamon
1 scoop of vanilla protein powder (I used one packet of Tone It Up's vegan vanilla protein powder Perfect Fit)
Ice

Strawberry Lemonade Smoothie

1/2 cup pure coconut water
1 1/6 cup local, organic strawberries
1/4 medium-large local, organic lemon
1 handful of organic spinach
2 to 3 small pitted, local Deglet Noor dates (optional and can be used to sweeten according to taste)
2 scoops ice

 The lemon helps the body naturally cleanse, while the strawberries provide well over the daily recommended intake of vitamin C, which has been shown to help burn fat. And not only that, the added spinach helps regulate your digestive system.

PB&J Smoothie

2 cups fresh strawberries
1 frozen banana, chopped
2 teaspoons peanut butter
4 ounces fat-free plain Greek yogurt or fat-free milk
1/2 cup ice cubes

I'M A STUDENT!!!!

A couple of months ago I blogged about troubles, because I had received word that I once again was not accepted into a school that I applied for.  This was the 5th School!  I was really upset and I was sort of discouraged, but still determined to see if I can actually make my dream of becoming a therapist come true. Northwestern University was the closest school that I got to actually making it.  I made it to the final round. Out of 200 something applicants I was a part of the 70 something people that actually got an interview and I was proud of that. I was thinking,  what if this actually happens?  When it didn't happen my world was kind of turned upside down. I was thinking why would God put being a therapist on my heart for the last 10 years for it to not happen?  What is the lesson in this? That question was not settling with me so that's why I was determined to just keep going and see what happened. So I did my research and I found one more school that had my program.  I saw that it was an online program and I talked to God.  I said, "is this what you're telling me?  Are you telling me that I need to go to school online because my life is crazy right now?  I mean how would I actually be able to handle going to class in this life and studying?  Is this what you want me to do?  You want me to go to school online?  I imagined him saying,  "Go for it!" (Or maybe I heard him for real ;-)

So that's what I did and now I am happy to announce that I am now a graduate student of North Central University in the Master of Arts Marriage and Family Therapy Program. I was so excited to get that acceptance letter all I could do was get down on my knees and praise God literally. So far I'm in my first week of class and I've done three assignments and everything is smooth sailing (besides a hiccup with fingerprinting).  Financial aid has been all taken care of.  I've spoken to my advisor several times.  Communication is great, and I will meet my instructor via Skype tomorrow morning Everything is great!

You might say what is happening with an Enchanté?  I would say that's a great question.  Enchanté is not going anywhere.  The fact that I am becoming a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist will only add to the success of on Enchanté. Enchanté is all about empowering women to believe in themselves, know their worth, carry themselves with dignity and integrity, and demand for the world to worship them and be encouraged to take care of themselves within.  Being an MFT will help aid me with the work that I can do in the community that Enchanté will be affiliated with. I have so many ideas for on Enchanté and I am so excited to see it on unfold.

Relief

I'm standing here on the wonderful bike off of Lakeshore Drive doing my

stretches after finishing my 3 Mile walk and I decided to speak into my earpiece and talk to my people.

Sorry that I haven't let you inside my world

for so long as you may know by now I'm a very busy woman, lol. In an Enchanté update I feel relieved to finish my walk for the day and get a fresh start to my day but I am also relieved that I have successfully finished one prom dress out of three.

I absolutely love creating, and I love designing, but there is nothing like the relief you feel when you successfully finish a prom dress. There is nothing like the feeling you feel when you see the smile on a girl's face and it makes her dance in the mirror because she knows she looks good. I can't wait to finish the other two so that I can start potty training boot camp for my last and final child, :-).

In a self-care update I have been doing really well. I'm walking more thanks to my Just 4 Wives sister, Alice telling me about this wonderful It works supplement.

I have been making a point to pray daily. I have physically let go of some negative people in my life and mentally I'm in a really good place, and I'm so happy to be.

In a marriage update hubby and I went out with my Real Wives of Chicago / Just 4 Wives sisters and they were wonderful! 14 couples fighting hatd for their marriages and showing that marriage is not dead.

In a graduate school update I still haven't heard from them yet, but I have been told that no news is good news so I ask that you please continue to pray for me and my acceptance into the program, and that feeling of relief .

So cheers to a lot of more successful days What's been going on in your world?

FREE or am I?

So, its #freefrom5yearoldweekend, and I wake up this morning with the house quiet, my uninterrupted dreams settling, not a gigle, not a cartoon, not a repreminding stop, or running, or heavy walking from my husband, and I'm like what do I do?  At serene moments like this in the past, BKAH (Before kids and husband) I would write, so thats what I'm doing (WARNING: THIS WILL BE A LONG POST.).  My last post has been over a year and my have things changed, but some things have stayed the same.

For starters, my son is well adjusted in a new school, with a great patient teacher that I believe takes her time to listen to the kids.  I know he has his days when he's a bit much, but that expected from 4 - 5year olds.  My husband did loose his job, which has been a very challenging experience for us, but I have to feel that the end of this experience is drawing near, and did I tell you all that I'm expecting?  6 months, 1 week and 5 days, Oh yes the count down has begun!

My Mountain of a stomach at the bottom of the pic.  My son holding the Blue bumble bee and mirror.  He said the baby wants to listen to music and look at himself in the mirror, lol.

I have been so sick with this pregnancy with nausea, ER trips, smells, pelvic pains, etc, I swear once I have this baby (TéShawn, the pronunciation of my name Shawnté backwards :-)) out, no Doctor or Nurse will be able to stop me from doing car wheels down the hallways of the triage! Oh, and I can't wait to get that first glass of wine, or a Strawberry MARGARITA!!!!!!  Ok, moving on, The Isis Collections is still going strong, however I have shut down my website.  It was just to  hard trying to reconstruct it with everything that's going on. I just decided to save money, and start on it again when things are more settled.  However, I still have contact with customers via facebook, phone (773-988-5781), and email.

So I believe, I've caught you up, on with the present.  Yesterday, my son left for his first sleep over.  My wonderful SIL and BIL were courageous enough to take on the responsibility of adding one more crazy child to their 2, and I am lost with emptiness, but doing my happy dance at the same time. I so appreciate them, and wish them all the luck in  the world, LOL!

So, rather than sleep (which I should be doing) I'm trying to take advantage of the absolutely very rare occasion and take some much needed time with my hubby.  Last night we went to the Shrine,

to support a good friend of mind Adad (Rapper) aka Demetrius (cannot call him by his stage name, just doesn't sound right.  I mean we met working at Bloomingdale, lol.) who performed before Raekwon of the Wu tang.  Needless to say Demetruis was GREAT as usual (love) the socks), but Raekwon I did not see, because my entire back area started screaming out in pain, from standing up so long, and protecting my belly from all of the pushy people.  Yes, I know I should not have been their at the concert, but I had to go support, especially on a rare occasion of not having my child with me, not having to rush back to him, and actually having the means to go out somewhere!  Thanks again Demetrius for putting us on the list!  We ended the night by getting some Good ol' Harolds Chicken at 1am, and crashing.

I don't know if it was my hormones, or if it was the unfamiliarity of us going out on a date, or the whole I got you already, I don't need to do much more that made my husband not act like we was on a date, but tonight we're going to work on that when we finally go see Tempation.  Wish us luck Gods & Goddesses!  Have  a great weekend, cause I will. Its #freefrom5yearoldweekend!!!!!!!!!