Healthier Shamrock Shake Recipe

Do you love McDonald's Shamrock Shakes?  Here's a lower fat, lower calorie homemade version of your favorite mint flavored shake. Forget Pottery Barn, today I'm knocking off McDonalds!  Next week, Chik-Fil-A!  Just kidding.

You know the first sign of spring isn't a robin.

It's that first tortuous tweet or Facebook update saying: "Woo-hoo! Shamrock Shakes are back!

You try to ignore the seed that's now been planted, but it continues to grow until you JUST HAVE TO HAVE ONE RIGHT NOW.

{or maybe that's just me}

The amazing thing?  As I take my first sip of that coveted McDonald's shake, I have dual feelings of: 'this really doesn't taste as good as I thought it would' and 'if I drink this, it will kill me.'

Now, I'm not claiming my version is good for you, or can be labeled "healthy."  But it IS healthier, and made at home so you know exactly what's in it.  Because what's in the McDonald's Shamrock Shake was pretty eye opening:

a 16 oz McDonald's Shamrock Shake has 560 calories, 13 grams of fat, and is 12.5 Weight Watcher points

The 32 oz size?  24.5 Weight watcher points (1110 calories alone).  If you've never done WW, to put this in perspective I was allowed to have 21 points a day when I was on the plan.  Yup, the 32 ounce version is 3.5 points over my maximum daily allowance.

Now onto the good stuff.  The healthy (er) version cuts those points in more than half, and if you use skim milk and/or frozen yogurt it's even less.

How 'bout them Shamrocks?

Homemade Shamrock Shake Recipe

1 C. Low-Fat Vanilla Ice Cream (or frozen yogurt)
1/2 c. reduced fat milk
2 TB Fat Free Vanilla Non-Dairy Creamer (I used Coffeemate)
1/8 tsp. mint extract
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
pinch of Kosher salt
few drops of green food coloring

1.  Gather ingredients.

2.  Blend.  I used a Magic Bullet, but of course a regular blender would work great too.

3.  Drink.

As you can see, I enjoyed figuring this one out.  I might need to try it again.  Like, right now.

There's always some extra room for a faux Shamrock Shake.  Then I'm retiring the blender until spring actually arrives.

Which is soon, right?

Because forget the robins.  Here come the Shakes!
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Totful Tuesday: I'm Exhausted.

How's that for a Totful Tuesday topic? 

Exhaustion.  

You know you're in trouble when it's Tuesday and it feels like a Friday.

Blame it on my little Hulk.  So sweet, yet so strong.

In light of the fact I'm going to go crawl into bed and {hopefully} snooze, I thought I'd let this week's topic simply convey that I recently guest posted on Look Who Found the Marbles.   It's about what I thought I had, until I lost everything and had to start over.

You might as well learn something when you go through such a difficult journey, because otherwise the question of "why" is too hard to face.

I'll be honest, it was hard to write.  But possibly one of my favorite posts ever.  I hope you'll read it, and let me know what resonates with you... or, what lessons you'd add.

On that note, have a wonderful Tuesday and thank you for your votes on the Top 25 Creative Moms blog list over at Circle of Moms.  You guys are sweet.  Now, I'm off to bed.  With perhaps a stop for a hot bath first.  XOXO! 
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Ready to Donate our Winter Emergency Kit!

This summer, those of us on the East Coast braced for Hurricane Irene.  We had about a week to get ready for her, but even still I found myself among the thousands of people at local stores scouting out last minute supplies like water and batteries-- to no avail.  As the storm hit her peak, tornado warnings started coming out for my little township.  We were in the direct path of a tornado.  It was terrifying.  Yes, I freaked out.

Thankfully the tornado didn't produce much damage, and my kids slept through the storm.  But it was a huge wake-up call.  Devoid of supplies is NOT a place you want to be should disaster strike... especially in winter, where it can take days to dig out from under snow and if power goes out you are left in the cold.  Irene left people without power for days, if not weeks in some parts.  That made me think: it's hard enough to face that with two young kids, but what if you had an infant... and one with special medical needs like our Noodle had?

I was thrilled to be a part of the Energizer Champions for Kids Simple Service project, where we are mobilizing people to put together kits for winter emergencies.  At first I thought about donating it to my former school, but in the end I put the money into a really good kit for a family being discharged from the Jefferson Hospital NICU as part of our work through the Team Abby Foundation.

 

Here's what we put in the kit:

This Energizer WeatherReady flashlight is awesome.  We have one in our hallway.  It plugs into an outlet and when the power goes out it goes on automatically.  You can unplug it and it's charged and ready to go!

No hot water and a medically fragile baby?  You'd better have boatloads of hand sanitizer to keep them safe and germ free.

Ditto for the Clorox wipes and Wet Wipes.  I keep thinking about how Noodle had a feeding tube, and what we'd do with no hot water to sanitize our hands before changing it or tube feeding her. 

Energizer Recharger and Batteries-- while more costly up front, definitely a wise investment and will save so much money in the long run.

I know most babies don't use cereal until at least 4 months of age, but this could really come in handy once they hit that milestone.  I made sure to get a box with a long expiration date, so it's good until next year.  It will mix with cold water in a pinch, which could keep a baby's belly full in an emergency.

This lantern can sit on the floor or table and has a 360 degree lighted area.  PLUS it takes either AA or size D batteries-- do you know how hard it is to find a D battery in the days leading up to a hurricane?!  Impossible.

No Heat + Infant = Very Bad News.  This emergency blanket could be a lifesaver.

Plus a few more items, including tissues and Energizer Lithium batteries.

If you know a family facing a similar situation, I bet they could use these supplies.  It's hard enough to take care of kids in an emergency situation, but for a baby with special medical needs it could be the difference between life and death.

My kids were a little young to understand why we were putting the kit together, but they had fun nonetheless.  We hope to drop it off together at the NICU in the next week so they can make the connection of what it means to help others.  It feels great to support families that are just starting their NICU journey, since we were helped by so many during ours.

I've been so heartened by those of you also donating winter emergency kits.  Please know how much it means to me!  You can do this economically by picking up one supply each time you visit the store, and in a few weeks you'll have a full kit.  Plus, don't forget to use coupons!

  Where would YOU donate your kit?  Which agencies could use this type of donation?  What else could I add to the kit?

Want to see the thought process that went into choosing each item at Walmart? Then check out my Google+ story for the whole she-bang.  If you are interesting in seeing more service projects, please follow Champions for Kids on Twitter and Facebook (or the #EnergizerCFK hashtag). Read about these Energizer products and more on their website. 

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias.  Many thanks to #Cbias and Energizer for giving us this opportunity to give back to others! #EnergizerCFK
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Orange Pomegranate Smoothie Recipe

Oh. My. Gravy.

Or maybe I should say "Oh. My. Smoothie."

I've always been a fan of smoothies, but never knew just how delicious they could be when made at home.  In an effort to boost our vitamin C intake, I decided to make smoothies for breakfast one morning.  Yes, I realize it's the middle of winter but that seemed like even more reason to give it a try with cold and flu season still lingering.

After our shopping trip to Genuardi's to stock up on supplies, the kids and I gathered around the table to create a smoothie recipe.  As usual, I was nervous I wouldn't get it right but our first attempt was a success!  Guess it's pretty hard to screw up a smoothie.  If I had more time, I wanted to try one with fresh ginger minced and added in but the troops were hungry.

You can see the smoothie verdict here:

Evidence A (with bedhead):

Evidence B:

We're still working on cup skills with that guy.

It tasted too good to be true, so I figured out the calorie and fat content.  Amazingly, it had ZERO fat and was under 200 calories... for a grand total of 4 Weight Watcher points*, even better than I thought it'd be.

Looks like we've found a new way to start our day.  You can't beat seeing smiles like that at 8AM!

Orange Pomegranate Smoothie Recipe

1/4 c. 100% Florida Orange Juice
1/4 c. POM (pomegranate juice)
1/2 c. frozen strawberries
1/2 c. greek yogurt (I used Chobani Strawberry)
1 tsp. honey

1.  Gather ingredients.  We used strawberries previously cut into pieces and frozen, but I'm sure the bagged variety would work fine.  We also used Chobani Strawberry yogurt in the big carton, but I'm sure any brand or flavor of Greek yogurt would work well.  I'm just a Chobani addict.

2.  Place ingredients in a blender or Magic Bullet and whrrrrrrrrrr!

3.  Top it off with an orange, if you are so inclined.  Ah, yummy.  Enjoy.

I think I might have a new favorite breakfast treat.

Okay.  I KNOW I might have a new favorite breakfast treat!

Are you a smoothie fan?  Do you reserve them for summer or drink them all year long?  What are your favorite smoothie ingredients?

If you'd like to see other orange juice smoothie recipes, be sure to follow the #FloridaOJ hashtag on Twitter and see what other bloggers are putting together.  In addition, Safeway stores have active and responsive Twitter and Facebook pages.  For great recipes and other tips, "like" the Florida OJ Council's Facebook page as well.

*Nutritional Information (approximate): 200 calories, 0 fat, 1 gram fiber.  I used the old WW formula to calculate points; I understand it has changed, so the points may be a bit off.  Also, 1/2 c. of strawberries is 25 calories but I only counted it as 20 because there was a lot of "air" between the frozen berries so I'm not sure it was a full 1/2 cup.

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study by Collective Bias. Many thanks to #CBias and The Florida OJ Council (#FloridaOJ) for giving me great content to write about!  As always, opinions expressed are 100% my own and I was not compensated to publish positive comments.
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Refresh Your Nest Friday #22

First of all, holy smokes ya'll, I was nominated for Top 25 Creative Moms 2012 by Circle of Moms! Thank you to whomever nominated me, I try not to ever get caught up in these things but it does mean the world to me.  If you are so inclined, you can vote for Making Lemonade once a day but really and truly, it's an honor just to be nominated among those super blogs!

 

Next up, the Making Lemonade week in review: 

• There were some fantastic comments on the If You Eat It, It'll Kill You post.  Definite food for thought (ha, ha) and great suggestions. Probably it deserves a whole other post!

• Our Cold and Flu Survival Kit, plus some crazy curly Noodle post-nap hair.

• Thanks for the advice about the spawn of Hulk and She-ra.  Joanna, I think you might have hit the nail on the head and I'm going to look into it.  The other suggestions were great as well, and wouldn't you know the little guy has not given me trouble once since the moment I hit "publish!"  It also occurred to me that it might only be my fellow 1980s friends that know who She-ra was.  Boy did you miss out.  :: wink ::

• The consensus seems to be a "yes" for the peacocks so far.  What's your two cents?

Drumroll, please, for the Fab Five Features this week...

{though you all know you are fabulous, right?!} 

Fabulous Five Features

As a former librarian, could I really not feature a post all about decorating with books from Laughter and Grace?

We're approaching birthday season in our house.  Inspired by Family Mag has 5 Tips for Beautiful Budget Friendly Birthday Parties.

Pinwheel wreath from Loopy Loop Creations.  Spring IS coming!

Why spend a fortune on fancy spice jars when Defrump Me shows you how to make your own?

I asked Noodle what she wanted her 4th birthday party theme to be, and she first told me "PINK!" and then "firetrucks."  Maybe by July she'll change her mind to an Alice in Wonderland party and I can use these great ideas from Cupcakes Kisses 'n' Crumbs.

Are you ready to party?  You know the rules: link to your post, visit a few others, link back to the party so others can join, yada yada yada.

Have a beautiful weekend, friends.  Methinks there will be some nest refreshing up in here over the next few days...

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A Few Fun {Thrifty} Finds

I'm up to my old ways again.  Thanks to my ever-growing hoard of things to fix up, this fall I put a hold on thrift store browsing.  Especially since I can't spray paint things until the weather warms up, and my 'to-be-spraypainted' pile is getting a tad too big for my taste.

With that being said, when my Mom visits I know I'm going to get a little taste of the thrifting life.  We ventured into New Hope for some shopping, and stopped at an antique store on the way home where I found these... interesting? fabulous? totally tacky? ... metal peacock wall pieces:

At first sight, I thought: 1960's wall art?  I'll pass.

But then I circled around again.  You know, peacocks are kinda hot right now.  They're the new owls or something.

By the third circle of the store, they had me won over.  The price was right, and peacocks ARE trendy at the moment so if I didn't use them I could resell them on Etsy.  Where, by the way, they are selling for quite a bit more than I paid and labeled "Hollywood Regency" style.  Well, hello.

And what do you know?  Once they found a home in my bookcases a strange feeling came over me: I kinda fell in love with them!  This was a quick pic (um, toys in the photo and all!), but you can see the general idea:

I'll post more later when they are styled properly.

Unfortunately that was all we found worth buying, antique-wise, in New Hope.  Turns out the antique stores in New Hope are a bit rich for our blood.  By the time we left,  we were itching for some thrifty treasures.

Okay, maybe itching isn't a good word when it comes to thrift stores so let's say we were craving a good deal.  We made a quick stop to the local thrift store.

I found two things worth buying.  The first was this pretty white teapot for $3.  Whenever I see white pottery in good condition I tend to snap it up, plus a teapot was on my list of things to buy.  Isn't it cute?!

After a nice soapy bath it found it's home on my kitchen shelf where's it's playing second fiddle to my honey in this shot:

Please don't just this book by it's cover:

Trays are always a great thing to buy when you see them because they are extremely easy to makeover into something fabulous.  Plus, they are useful.  Everything looks neater on a tray.  If you turn it sideways, squint a little, and imagine it in a fab high-gloss paint color or with a trendy fabric pattern on the top I bet you can see where I'm going with this!

Until then, it's sitting in my 'to-be-spray-painted' pile.  Spring, I know you are right around the corner.  I'll meet you in a month with my spray paint cans and a tarp!

What have you scored lately?  I'm always on the lookout for new ideas.  And am I crazy for liking those peacocks?  I can handle the truth... sort of.  ;-)
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If Hulk and She-Ra Had A Baby

... I'm pretty sure he'd be my Bee.  Before I start, let me state for the record that my son is one of the sweetest little guys on the planet.  He's full of "I love yous" and hugs and kisses, always says "thank you mommy!", and has one of the best senses of humor I've ever witnessed.  His sister is his best friend and he'll do anything to make her smile.  He's such a lover.  Plus, have you seen him?  Those eyes will melt your heart.  He's a DOLL, unless... well...

I'm not sure if it's a boy thing, or a second child thing, or just a Bee thing, but I'm pretty sure my son is a reincarnated Sumo wrestler.  He has more strength than any child I've seen; even the Hulk would be impressed.  We're talking "we've already decided he'll be a linebacker" type moves here, folks.
  

nine months old, taking down Noodle

Now, you might be thinking: Carrie, Noodle was diagnosed as hypotonic (low muscle tone) so anyone will feel strong compared to a child who's condition was also called 'rag doll syndrome'.

{okay, maybe you weren't thinking that. just nod your heads and say, "yes, Carrie, you are a mind reader!"}

That's true, Noodle has low tone as a baby.  But here's the thing.  My entire family comments on his strength.  Everyone who's held him says, "wow, he's all muscle!"  When even his doctor admits he's got quite a bit of strength, you can't ignore it anymore.  Thankfully he assured me he's not 'stiff' or 'high-tone' as I worried, just that he's a strong little bugger.  The funniest part is that he's only in the 10th percentile, so we have no idea where this brute strength actually comes from!  Small but mighty.

Why does this matter?  Am I bragging my son could have helped the Patriots win the Superbowl they so sadly lost?  Is "professional wrestler" somehow a desirable thing to have on a toddler's resume?

NO.  I need help.  Desperately.  Not only is Bee strong in body, but he's strong in will.  Case in point: getting him in his carseat.  Anyone not within earshot of his giggles and my clenched teeth pleas of: PLEASE. SIT. IN. YOUR. SEAT. NOW. HONEY. might consider calling Child Protective Services just by viewing the acrobatics required to settle him in there.  Yesterday it took, and I'm NOT exaggerating, five minutes to get him in his carseat.  God Bless the woman waiting to get into the car next to us who not only didn't call CPS but actually smiled and told me Noodle has cute hair.

Had she not been next to us, she might have thought I was being mugged.

calm, cool, and cooking in the kitchen

My husband has told me, in all seriousness, that he now purposely parks away from other cars so as not to cause a scene.  I laugh only because it's true.

irony.

Diaper changes.

Getting him into pajamas.

Putting on his jacket.

He alternately pushes, kicks, and goes boneless to make these tasks impossible.

Yesterday, I think he might have purposely even pinched me.

Bee being the sweetie he is and hugging his cousin

I'm physically exhausted.  Please help me.  Is this normal?  Does this happen to you?  Did I create the spawn of The Hulk here?  In the off chance I'm not alone, what tips and tricks do you use to help a small-but-mighty boy get dressed or even just to sit in his carseat?

Gosh I love these two.

Because if this is what he's capable at 20 months, then in a few years I'm screwed.  Perhaps I should start hitting the weights at the gym just in case?

I adore my little bundle {of brute strength}!

HELP, oh wise ones!
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