All natural shake powder

Ok don’t get me wrong, I like the taste of slimfast after I add fruits, and sometimes veggies to it, but I don’t absolutely love the ingredients list on the back of the can.

I like knowing what is going into my meals and where that food came from. Sadly slimfast had been the only meal replacement drink that had agreed with me of all the ones I had tried. I tried quite a few natural ones. I think they had too many added vitamins or something because I would always feel really horrible after drinking them.

So I went on a quest to make my own. I did a bunch of research and found I had everything but the chia seeds.

My slimfast shakes were normally around 150 calories because I would use less fruit and lower calorie nut milk like unsweetened vanilla almond or almond coconut milk.

I did not want to up the calorie intake from shakes due to the fact that I usually eat something small every 2 hours in addition to a shake/smoothie in the morning and one at night before bed.

Slimfast, the powder alone, is 110 calories. I decided I would throw everything together and then hope it came out to that or less, so I might add more fresh fruits to the mix.

Now I did not want to add powdered fruit, as I already put fruit in my shakes, I felt it would take away from the texture if everything was powder. I did however, really like the idea of getting more veggies into my shakes. Lately it has just been a handful or two of spinach when it fits the flavor.

So here is what I came up with:


The mix I concocted includes oats, chia seeds, beets, yams, pumpkin, carrot, a green goodness powder mixture (there are like 9+ ingredients in it and I can’t find the list. You can get it at the Herb Pantry though)
I made 13 servings worth of this mix. Each scoop is 2tbsp and is approx. 21 calories (yes, you heard me)

Now this does mean each serving is also only .75g of protein, but I am ok with that, since once I add a banana to the mix, that bumps up the protein to about 2g, which is what slimfast has.

I really like this mix because it is really versatile.
I could add carob or chocolate powder.
I could add nut butters for added protein. (I don’t want the extra protein unless I need it at the time)
I could add spices like cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, nutmeg, etc..
I could add powdered honey
I could add green tea powder, other tea powders, flax seeds, etc.. The possibilities are really endless.

Now they have this pbx powder stuff that looks interesting, but since peanuts are the worst nuts for you comparably, I decided not to get any of it.

Almond flour would be good to add if you do not already use almond milk in your shake.

I made my shake today with a whole banana instead of half, blueberries, yogurt, and almond coconut milk. It ended up being about the same amount of calories as my slimfast shakes would have been, but with more goodness.

Now the texture is going to be different of course, but I honestly did not mind it at all. Anyone who has put powdered oats in their shake will know what I am talking about. The flavor is great and did not taste like leafy greens at all really. You don’t taste the beets, only the light sweetness.

I am honestly quite happy with how this little experiment turned out. Now I just need to come up with a neat name for it instead of just calling it my shake mix.

I would like to note that I did opt out of adding a soy, whey, or hemp protein powder intentionally. While I could easily get my hands on any one of those, after reading up on the pros and cons of them, I felt it best to leave them out. Now pea protein is one that was interesting to me after reading about it, and I might try that one in the future (probably from sprouting, dehydrating, and powdering my own peas) I will update you on that if I do decide to try it.

For those who wish to try making this mix, here is the recipe I used:


Oats I used 1/2c of the normal quick one min oats. Powdered it came out to 14Tbsp.
Chai seeds I used 1/8c which came out to 6Tbsp + 1tsp.
Green powder mix I used 1Tbsp + 1tsp
Pumpkin powder 1Tbsp
Yam (about 1/8 of a yam) powder 1Tbsp
Carrot powder 1Tbsp (I cannot recall how many carrots this was dehydrated, but not many, like 1-3)
Beet powder 2Tbsp (about 1 beet)

I did dehydrate all the veggies myself except for the green powder. Eventually once my garden is growing again, I will be dehydrating more greens to make my own green powder mix.

I also want to mention how inexpensive this is to make 13 servings compared to spending $7 per 14 servings for slimfast. If you use the $15+ mixes, this will be an even greater savings. I have not yet done the price breakdown, but you can see from the above, it does not take much.
The bag of chia seeds I got for like $6 I could make like 18 batches of the above with, and it is the smaller bag… Oats are cheap to buy, as is everything else on the list. Just something you might want to know is all.

Let me know if you try it and your thoughts on it. I want to know what awesome things you add to your shakes!

How yoga has helped me

I have gone through a lot of changes recently with my nutrition plan and overall made healthier life choices.

In addition to eating a healthier diet, which has helped me to lose weight (10 lbs so far since December 3rd) I have also been doing stretches and yoga.

I have not been going to any special classes. I just looked around youtube until I found a channel I liked and have been following the videos at home. Psychetruth yoga for energy is one of my favorite videos, and I love this channel in general.

I have done yoga before, but not consistently. This is the first time I have stuck to doing a yoga routine.

I try to do 1-2 videos of my choice 1-2x daily. I have been doing this for almost 2 months now I would say. I have noticed improvement in my flexibility and my breathing.
I noticed just how much this helped when I hit the gym last. I have not been to a gym in awhile as I prefer to workout at home or in nature. It is too cold to be outside so I went to the gym with my sister. I have not been able to do more than 12m (and one random 16m session) on the elliptical since I was about 18? Partially this is due to having minor asthma, another part  is due to not having been very active.
This last time I went to the gym, due to the benefits the yoga and healthy eating, I was able to do a 40m elliptical, 50 leg presses, 15 arm presses (need to work on that more), and still  had a ton of energy left to go. This was like an hour workout total.
Previously my workouts would strain to be 30-45m.

I never used to understand the whole “enjoy the burn!” thing people always talked about who go to gyms often. This was because before, for me, the burn hurt a lot. Minimal effort would feel like a mountain. The effort, exhaustion, and pain would cause nausea instead of energy and happiness. I think this is the first time I have actually gotten it. I have not felt sick to my stomach from going to the gym. (I had trainers before and it was still like that, so it was not from lack of doing things properly either) I really do believe that because of the yoga, my body can do a lot more than it used to be able to. I can do a good workout and not overwork myself. I can work through a tiny bit of discomfort vs a lot of horrible exhausting pain.

Did I mention I absolutely loved this! This was something completely unexpected that I did not think I would be able to do so soon. It is a really good motivator to realize I have gotten farther in my endurance, flexibility, and breathing strength sooner than expected.

I need to ramp up my workouts to help with muscle tone and strength, so knowing it won’t hurt like it used to is really encouraging. I did not feel ache the next day either like I used to. Before it would be a couple of days where it would hurt bad afterwards, even with stretching, but this just blows my mind.

This has always been a really frustrating area for me, since I did not have asthma until I moved to this state. We believe it is due to all the sagebrush pollen in the air, which I am allergic to. Still, I love the area.

It can be really tough knowing that you used to be able to do almost anything, and then because of your weakened lungs, couldn’t hardly do anything.

I was actually at the doctors every day for weeks when this first started happening.

I think my body has adjusted enough now, that if I can build up my lung strength, I can get back to a normal state. That does not mean I won’t still have asthma attacks, it just means I will not be able to use asthma as an excuse for staying healthy. The less I am active, the weaker my lungs are, and the more prone I am to attacks.

I will still get asthma attacks from anxiety, but that trigger is completely different, and one I am also working on.

I am enjoying my after yoga stretching highs I get. I can’t wait to see where this leads me physically, mentally, and spiritually.

Tending to the garden

We all know gardening is both a joy and hard work. One thing that I have struggled with lately is getting my garden watered properly while I have been sick with a cold.
My husband will help me water it from time to time, but not always.

Since the hose burst, it has to be done by hand, which means many trips to the spigot. It is a bit harder on my body while I am not feeling well than using a hose would be. Being so close to the end of the season, I had decided not to buy a new hose until next year.

I am still watering my garden, just not as often as I would like. I had hoped the rainy days would continue but of course during this time the temperature decided to heat back up again.

I would have put wine bottles into the ground but the water would have dried up within a day I am sure, and I would not have been able to refill them so easily without the bottom being cut off. Usually it is a battle of spraying the dirt out of the neck before refilling. Seems like more of a hassle to refill bottles that are not cut, than watering the garden by hand.

Sadly I do not have a self watering system in place for my current garden, but I do hope to implement one next year if possible. Doing so with a larger garden would make things a lot easier. Even if only part of it  is self watering through watering wells, pots, etc, it would help take off the load.

I have a sprinkler system in my back yard, though it does not reach the slope. I do not see a drip system being possible for next years plans so I am coming up with other ideas like wicking beds and such.

Some of the tomato plants look a little wilted but are otherwise fine. I see a little acorn squash growing, though no others for pumpkin or butternut yet. The zucchinis are doing great. Most of the beets are growing wonderfully. Peas/beans are flowering.
All in all my garden is doing just fine despite lack of the proper watering.

I have still been able to water my indoor plants. My ginger is really taking off. Lettuce seems a bit hard to grow indoors. I wonder if the temperatures fluctuate too much for the little lettuce heads. Either the heads die off or start to bolt. I think it just gets too warm and our AC unit has problems keeping the place cool even with the fans going.

Watercress has died off but I do believe I was able to get a few seeds that will hopefully germinate later.

I started a mushroom growing experiment. I took the stems of two types of mushrooms, button and the brown topped ones I can never remember the names of, and put them in some moist soil. I have them in my crafting room on the windowsill in 2 liter plastic bottles with a big hole in them.

They appear to be decomposing, which I am not sure if that is part of the re-growing process or if this is a failed experiment. I read somewhere that you could grow them that way but I am not so sure as of yet.
I wanted to try growing shiitake mushrooms but those are hard wood mushrooms I believe, which means they grow on decomposing logs, not in soil.

In any rate if it does not work I will most likely get a mushroom growing kit in the future.

As for the outdoor garden area, I will give it lots of love via coffee, tea, and other yummy things as a thanks for their patience with me while I am ill. I have already put a little coffee out there for the squash.

Whenever I make coffee I make just a little extra that goes into a cup that I put into my garden later. I also save the grounds as well as you already know.

Thankfully even with as bad as I have felt with this cold, I can tell it will not last as long as others have. A testament to what good herbal remedies can do for ones body.

Yearly groceries and planning

I have been reading a lot of homesteading blogs today. I enjoy passing the time reading others adventures.

One particular subject I have been meaning to get on a little more is grocery shopping, the larder, food pantry, freezer, etc plans.

This subject is a bit of a chore for me because it means I have to do a lot of tracking, and find a way to do it where the other two in my family don’t throw me off my numbers. I am still thinking of a good method for this… The best I have so far is keeping a list, and then adding a tally (with an amount) for each time I buy a product during the year. At the end I look through the house to see what I have left and subtract that amount if it is anything substantial (as I like to over estimate rather than underestimate what I will need)

Out of that very long list of items I will also list what I can grow of those, how much of it I will need to grow, and how many cans/bags I would need to produce from said crop per person.

Each year I will put down what I have growing and if it is under, over, or right at what it needs to be for preserving.

Of course this list will change each year as our tastes do. I am sure what we eat in fruits and veggies now will greatly grow once we can have it fresh on the table during the harvest seasons.

We may eat more of something in the future because I can grow it, than we would if we were to buy it in a fruit stand or store. Artichoke is a good example of one veggie we all love but never really buy due to increasing prices.
I absolutely love steamed artichoke with Italian dressing to dip the leaves and heart in. I also hate the canned stuff because it is not usually cooked quite to my liking and doesn’t come out right.
Growing my own will solve that.

Everyone is going to use different things and different amounts. When someone thinks of a larder, or prepping for a year of food, one usually thinks of beans, rice, etc… And while we eat those things, we normally do not base our whole diet off of those. You need to base your pantry goods off of what you actually use, not just that but also how much you actually use. No need to buy 50lbs of beans if your family only uses 10lbs or less a year… That is just a random number for an example. I see people that buy a LOT of rice, when they only need maybe a small few bags a year.

The idea for me is that I will need to go through a multi-step process that may take a few years to get down. One at the very least.
First step is to go through my pantry and write down everything I have just to start the “what do we use” list
   Each time we go shopping I mark down new items with amounts, or add amounts to items already on the list.
   I would also like to add how much those items were so I can get a yearly grocery expense ballpark.
   I will then have my “currently growing” and “To grow” list. Based on the grocery list I can at least have a guess on how much of something I will need to grow and adjust accordingly.

Also I would like to make a “Thinks we would like to use, but don’t use much of, or do not presently use” list to see how I can incorporate new food items in the mix.

I may not go this particular route as I do not go shopping once a week, but something like what this blogger has posted about is a brilliant idea.  Click the link below to see how another blogger created their food pantry.
Food storage for people who don't hate food

There are some great charts on that site that give you a good idea on how to create your own list.

I keep seeing these “Eat from the larder challenge” Where basically for a month you are not allowed to eat anything except from what is already in your pantry/fridge/freezer.
People tend to eat out or shop so often that they end up with things in their pantry that they do not even remember when they bought it at times. I think the reason is that they end up with random cans of pumpkin, or boxes of noodles they don’t know what to do with. Random ingredients that are missing others to make something.
I think by building up your food storage, you have a well rounded pantry, freezer, fridge, and will be better able to cook more meals, and get creative with ingredients without it being an awkward mix.

What I mean is it is fun to experiment with random recipes whenever your heart fancies. It is not always fun when you have to try and throw random things together that are only passible by the taste buds as being ok for a one time meal.

I also think that if one was to do something like this they might bake more, eat healthier *depending on items they stocked up on of course* and can have more food groups to their diet.

I remember as a kid we literally had all the food groups at every meal like a good old fashioned home cooked meal would be imagined. You had your potatoes, your roll, your peaches, meat, veggie… It was much too large of a serving size back then, but people didn’t really know as much about portioning as they do now.

Nowadays I notice people are lucky if they have more than two food groups a day even, let alone a meal. That is not to say I think all food groups need to be there in every meal, but you should be getting enough servings of each food group for your bodies needs.

My problem with people today is laziness. People would rather pop a hot pocket in the microwave than cook something.
My brother and I have this argument all the time actually. He argues that he loves to cook, but all I ever see him do is use the microwave, yet he cooks at his friends houses all the time. I have been trying to get him to eat healthier meals and cook more here for ages. Heck, I have made healthier food accessible that is not even time intensive, or pre-prepared for him. Usually he only eats it if I make dinner for everyone.
  He finally told me it was because some of his friends families had a LOT of really random fresh ingredients which provided a better variety. He doesn’t really like to cook normal foods… He likes to play master chef and create new yummy food concoctions, some of which I love, others you couldn’t pay me to try haha.

While I admire his ambition and love for experiments, I doubt that he will do much more than basic cooking here. This is another reason why my freezer meal idea will be awesome once I can implement it further *As in fix the chest freezer* When I froze big batches of my home made chicken veggie soup he absolutely loved that. I will have to do that again soon as the weather cools.

What he said made sense to me, though I still frowned at him due to having things to cook, just not quite the variety that a Mex-Asian family who is traditional on both sides would have. Food is a very big part of both of those cultures.  I have been amazed at some of the meals he has told me he has had over there. I don’t usually shop for some of the more exotic ingredients they use.

I do think getting a rice cooker and a bread maker will entice my brother a bit though. He has mentioned those being handy on more than a few occasions.

At least I don’t have to force him to eat veggies.

My husband on the other hand is really picky about what veggies need to be cooked to what texture… He will not eat anything but raw when it comes to carrots. If they are cooked he won’t eat them. A few other veggies are like that for him. These things I have to take into consideration when cooking.

Considering what you eat raw, cooked, dried, fresh, frozen, the meals you like, how you like them prepared *baked, fried, etc* and doing a little meal planning in addition to just knowing how much of something you use might be useful when building up your larder. 

For me having options is both good and bad. Like loving ice cream but then going into baskin-robins and not knowing which of the 31 flavors you want so you sit on the floor for hours not sure what to pick. Well, for me it is the floor of the kitchen with my fridge door open every couple of minutes in hopes of deciding. I can be very indecisive.

Another great thing about doing this is you aren’t just doing it for quick meals, but also for cooking. For instance, I could put down that we can eat up to 4 granola bars during working days *20 days a month* for the year, equaling out to 80 bars a month or 960 a year (Yes that sounds like a hell of a lot of bars, but we really love them, and they make great work snacks) OR I could put down how much oats I need, honey, and all the other random ingredients I would need to make my own batches of granola bars.
  Not only would they be fun to make, it would save money, and be another way I could utilize the list.
    I don’t think we really eat quite that many, but for me I usually eat 1-2 a day. I only assume the same goes for the hubby for my estimation.
   Now if I make my own bars I have to take into account what kinds I will be making. I also think there is a great benefit in knowing what goes into making your food, as well as there are so many bars I go “You know I wish they would have added X to this bar… or why can’t I find a bar that tastes like X when I am craving it” So cooking has many benefits to it really.

I won’t go into the whole long rant about how most of our newer generation doesn’t know or care to know how to cook. That is an overgeneralization based on my own experiences and the ones I hear from others. I feel cooking is an essential skill everyone should know and I will leave it at that.

For now I am making a list (Not close enough to Christmas to make that joke)
It may take awhile to get the hang of it but I think it will be worth the effort later, especially since making a list on the fly or during breaks at work is not exactly easy.

I think the next challenge will be to add shelving for more canned and dried food storage.

Plans for a healthier lifestyle

In the beginning of this project I had so much energy and drive. Now I just feel tired all the time and lack motivation to get some projects finished.
I honestly think part of it is my eating habits. With the renovation it is so much harder to eat healthier when you aren’t really shopping much for the month before the move. We eat out probably more than we should. I am honestly excited to get my healthy lifestyle back on track. All this high calorie not so good for you food is making me feel sluggish. Not to mention we probably shouldn’t be spending the money on it.

On the bright side, while I have been drinking more pop, I have also been drinking more water. I am sure I will be phasing off the pop here soon. I am mostly drinking it for the caffeine. Yes, I do know I should be drinking tea instead. I did have some sweet tea today ^_^

It will be so much easier to stick to healthier eating once my garden is all planted and mature. I loved when we had a fresh fruit stand right at the corner of the house we will be leaving. The fruit stand did not come back this year though. They seriously had the best peaches ever. I can only hope my peach tree I will eventually put in will be as flavorful.

I am hunting around trying to learn about the nurseries close to our new place. I have been told I may want to go out to Fruitland to find my dwarf fruit trees. The problem with that is they do not deliver, and I do not own a truck… Nor can I think of anyone off hand who has one, and would go with me when the time comes. I will have to figure something out for that if I do end up needing to go out there.

For the time being at least, I think I need to get a few more healthy snacks, and more of my protein shake mix, so I am not tempted to run out for things that are not healthy for me. Some of it is healthy, just to high of calories for my bodies needs.
Not to mention I think I need to cut milk out again. I have been drinking more of it and noticing the difference in the way I feel. Luckily I actually like the taste of soy, and almond milks, as well as other alternative milks.

I cannot wait to be moved in and have the larger kitchen that I can cook again in. Not to mention have the availability to make my own healthy snacks. The kitchen in the place we are renting is not super tiny, but it is not large either. The kitchen here also does not have pantry space, whereas the new house does, so I can actually have a place to put things now, and not just pile up dried goods under the breakfast bar as we have been.

Our urban homestead will most certainly promote healthy living. Plus I get a good workout in the garden, as well as a new neighborhood to walk around and explore.