Mother's Day 2015- Last Minute Gift Ideas

Can you believe that Mother's Day is SUNDAY!?! This year I was a little late to get the gifts sent out to my mom and mother-in-law, sorry mom! Because the past few weeks just got away from me. But I feel like I am back in the game now and in control of what is going on.

I wanted to share some awesome gifts for any mom out there in case you were a little "behind" like I was!

~Breakfast in Bed: What better way to help mom feel super special to wake up early and fix her breakfast and bring it right to her bed! And the kids love to help with this. It doesn't matter if it is Lucky Charms cereal, or an extravagant omelet. Any mom is going to appreciate not having to make breakfast the day of.

~Homemade cards by the kiddos: Kids love to color. So dad's get them coloring! Let them draw a picture of their mommy and see what they do. Write a nice little letter and try to have them sign their name. Mom's can tuck this away to bring out and show future girlfriends so this is an awesome idea!

~Chocolate Covered Fruit: One of my favs! And super easy to do. Dad's just melt the chocolate in the microwave, 30 second then stir, and so forth until it is all melted. But chocolate covered strawberries, pineapple, apples or anything is YUMMY! (edible arrangements has them too if you want to go that route!)

~Flowers: Always a good choice. Try to go with something more fragrant so that every time she walks in the room she can smell the beautiful flowers. Or get a new flower that you can plant outside together so that when you see it for the rest of the season you can remember Mother's Day. That is a gift that keeps on giving right there!

~Clean house: My dream, waking up to the house that is clean so that I don't have to do it. Or better yet... House clean for the whole weekend. Saturday and Sunday. Give me 2 days off. No dishes, no vacuum, no tripped over dinosaurs. No having to clean. I am off duty for that. (without it just piling up so that I don't have to clean it all on Monday anyways.) Ah that would be nice!

To all of you Grandmothers, moms, moms to be, fur mommy's and future moms, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY. I hope each and every one of you have an amazing day filled with laughter and love. You are amazing. You are super. You are the best thing in this world. Know how important you are to your little ones (future little ones too). You are their example, their super hero. They look up to you and love you, because you are MOM no matter how old they are! What a beautiful blessing you are to them. I truly hope you have an amazing Mother's Day!

Thanks to my mom for being such an awesome friend and amazing mother to me. Your example and steadfastness in life has been such a great inspiration to me and I am so proud to call you my mom!

Check out this video on how amazing you are MOMS! Let me know what you think because I was crying just watching this. I can totally relate and I love being a MOM!

Day Or Night...Does It Really Matter?

When do you work out? Morning? Afternoon? Night time? Does it really matter?

The Huffington Post has an article on when the best time day to work out based on what you want to accomplish, but honestly, working out whenever you can is what is best. It beats not working out. Let's say you sleep in and miss your workout time you were scheduled for...um not like I did that on Wednesday morning when I slept in until 10am... Does that mean that I have to miss my workout completely? Some people do. OOPS! I missed my workout window. I guess I have to try again tomorrow! No, no, no my friends. But I don't have time to workout anymore. Have you thought about right before you go to bed. In those quiet times when the kids are first falling asleep and you get that moment of "AHHHH, time to relax."

Night time has been my time lately. I am personally trying to workout twice a day. Go to the gym in the morning for the kiddos and then during that relaxation time just after the kids go down. I am doing this because it helps keep me in better moods. Apparently I need the endorphins right now because they are working and keeping me from being super depressed. Thanks in part to the hormone drop I had after the miscarriage. So for me. I need it, twice a day. Have I been able to go to the gym everyday this week? Nope! (again I slept in on Wednesday) But at least I am getting my evening 30 minute workout in. I have been a lot more consistent with my evening than I have during the day! (weird for me)

Even if you have to break up your workout to 10 minute increments. Do what ever you can to get some exercise into your day and I promise you that you will feel better. Have more energy. Sleep better (oh yeah, I am sleeping like a rock!) Be happier. Might be a little sore, but that's ok! The point is. DO IT! JUST WORKOUT! Make that choice. FOR YOU! You are worth it!

Need a work out buddy? Or someone to keep you accountable. Maybe you need motivation? Send me an email to join my PRIVATE Facebook group! connectthedotsginger@gmail.com! Make that first choice. Take that first step to changing you. The hardest part is the beginning!

Full Body HIIT Workout

Need a good fast High Intensity Interval Training workout? Check this out! This will do the trick for you! 

Water Kefir

Have you ever heard of kefir? I am sure you have. There is a brand at the grocery store that is a dairy product. Have you ever tried it?

Did you know that you can make your own kefir at home? Yep. There is milk kefir, like the Lifeaway brand, and water kefir. I have tried both and don't really like the milk kefir. It is tolerable but the water was so much better! Water kefir tastes like a carbonated drink. And you can flavor it to whatever you want. So it is a healthy naturally carbonated drink that actually tastes good.

What is water kefir? Water kefir is fermented water. You use grains (not really grains but that is what they are referred to as) which are a live bacteria that you add to sugar water and let it ferment for 24-48 hours. The bacteria feed off of the sugar and replace it with natural fructose. The drink becomes sweet but not like normal sugar. You strain the grains before you drink it up and you can use them again in your next batch of kefir water. It is really quite cool! My friend has a jar of kefir fermenting, one in the fridge ready to drink and a new one just started. So she has some every single day.

So why would kefir be good for your body? You know that Activia commercial where they say that Activia will help with bloating, and irregularity. Well, the yogurt has live bacterias in it and they help keep your insides moving. Our bodies naturally have bacteria in our gut for this purpose, but sometimes we need a little extra push. So now instead of spending $4 for a pack of Activia or Lifeaway Kefir you can make your own. A packet of water kefir grains is $17 and they are reusable! (they can die so you do have to take care of them. Think of them as a new pet in a way!) You can get the grains here!

You also need a strainer and some mason jars, and coffee filters and a rubber band to keep the bugs out since it is sugar water, while it is fermenting. So start up isn't that bad and you won't have to buy Activia or other kefir like products again.

Check out this video on how easy it is to make and use. But this is one thing I am, and have been for a while, seriously thinking about starting.

QOTD: Would you ever make your own kefir water? 

Happy Cinco De Mayo

I LOVE Cinco De Mayo! It is my excuse that, I HAVE TO EAT MEXICAN FOOD! Why not! So I thought that I would share my skinny enchiladas with you! A couple of weeks ago I added a Green Enchilada Recipe. Well I made a red enchilada recipe and kind of did my own things with it and they turned out AMAZING! I had the chicken and salsa cooking while I was teaching and everyone who came in raved about how amazing my house smelled. When I just said it was chicken with a jar of salsa on it they were amazing at how good it smelled.

Skinny Red Enchiladas: 
1 lb chicken tenders -about 8 tenders
1- 12 ounce jar of red salsa. Not chunky - I like Trader Joe's variety
1/2 cup greek yogurt (I use 2%-22g protein per cup yogurt. It's thicker. Fage or TJ's.)
medium splash of chicken broth
8 small corn tortillas
1/4-1/2 cup cheddar cheese

In a crockpot add chicken and jar of salsa. Cook on high for 2.5-3 hours until the chicken is falling apart. If frozen chicken cook for 3 hours on high.

Remove chicken, leaving as much salsa in the crockpot as possible. Shred chicken. Set aside. Add greek yogurt directly to crock pot and add splash of chicken broth to help thin out the salsa. Stir together. (Don't need a blender just whisk together right in the crockpot.)

Grab a 9x13 inch pan and coat the bottom of the pan with some red salsa mixture. Warm up your corn tortillas in the microwave or steam for just a little while on the stove to soften them enough that they are pliable. Add 1-2 table spoons of chicken to tortilla and roll up. Place in your 9x13 pan. Continue until all tortillas are rolled up. Pour the remaining red salsa mixture over the enchiladas. Top with cheese. You don't need a lot of cheese.

Cook at 350 degrees for 20 minutes until cheese is bubbly and melted.

Side with Lime flavored rice and black beans.

Lime and Cilantro Flavored Rice: 
1 cup of rice (brown, jasmine whatever you eat. We like brown)
2 cups of water
1/4 tsp salt
2 - juice from 2 limes
2 Tablespoon or more of Chopped Cilantro (depending how much you want!)

Add all ingredients except for the juice of 1 lime to your rice cooker and cook. Or cook covered up on your stove until the liquid is gone.

Once cooked through, squeeze the juice of remaining lime over the top and fluff with a fork!

SO EASY! ENJOY and Happy Cinco De Mayo!

OUTTAKE: