Why I love almond milk

I have always been a huge milk fan. Loved it as a child and still love it as much today. The more serious I got about eating healthy the more I realized I really didn't have room in my clean eat diet (noun) to drink my calories away.  Enter almond milk. 

So what and how do I use almond milk?  Except for the very occasional batch of homemade ice cream I have completely replaced cows milk with almond milk.

 I use the unsweetened milk to add to whole grain cereal, oatmeal, in any cooking or baking I do (even cake).

I use the vanilla almond milk as a creamer for my coffee.  At 90 calories per cup it is a great alternative to all the flavored creamers you find in the grocery store and it doesn't have all the unpronounceable junk that those creamers have either.  Nor does it have the fat or calories. If I were to drink a glass of milk I would drink the unsweetened with a splash of the vanilla. 

Now to the delectable dark chocolate almond milk.  In all honesty I have actually only drank this once.  This is just not where I want my calories to go.  My kids, however, are a completely different story.  At just 120 calories, it is a much healthier alternative to other chocolate milk choices.  And you have to be careful at that because one day we came home with something called chocolate drink.  WHAT?!?!  My oldest daughter drinks 6-8 ounces every day.  with my youngest two I mix theirs with equal parts dark chocolate almond milk or and the unsweetened almond milk. Probably about 5 ounces total.  I've tasted it and it tastes more like regular chocolate milk, rather than than the succulent dark chocolate. Occasionally my oldest son will drink a glass as well.  The rule is they can only have one glass a day and I only buy one carton a week. 

Another thing I love about this milk:  the expiration date.  I have never, ever had to throw out an ounce of this milk.  Away from the house unexpectedly for a few days?  You don't come home to a soured carton of milk.  We are not big milk drinkers here, but we go through a carton of each of these milks a week. 

If you or someone you know has been sitting on the fence about this milk just give it a try.  I noticed as i got the image for this post that they have a coupon link on their website.

*i have not been compensated in any way for this post.  I just wanted to share about a great product. 

Feeling a little discombobulated

Since we moved at the beginning of August I have had the worst time getting back on a schedule. So much of my life is the same, yet so much is completely different.

First, is our home. It is the same and when I mean the same, I mean EXACTLY the same. We have a mobile home and we had it relocated to our own land in East Texas. So it was so easy to unpack because I knew where everything went. It had to have been a record breaking speed. But here is the discombobulating thing about this. I can't begin to tell you how odd it is to walk out of your house and suddenly the scenery is different. Now I know how Dorothy felt. She went to sleep in Kansas but the next time she wakes up she is in Oz. It isn't just me either. It has really thrown a couple of the kids off as well.

Second, and this is a biggie. Our old church had Sunday morning service, youth on Wednesday and children's church from late September to early May. Now Suddenly our entire family is at church three times a week. Don't get me wrong we are loving it, but it has been a big change and I haven't done a great job of managing this change into our schedule.

Third, we are back to private in home speech therapy again. For the last three years we have been going to a hospital about 15 minutes away and doing speech there. Now I have a therapist coming to the house 2-3 times per week. Gotta say, on the one hand I am loving it. It is so convenient. I don't have to take anyone anywhere and I save money on gas. The downside... I worked out at that hospital and was able to kill two birds with one stone. Now I am having to find different times to workout and honestly that hasn't been working out too well for me, but it is getting better. The thing I love about the therapist coming here is that I am using that time to have my one on one sit down work with the other child. So I am still killing two birds with one stone, they are just different birds now.

Finally, Since moving I have been completely dedicated to getting up early and having my quiet time. Not being a morning person was just an excuse. I don't need excuses, I need God. Excuses is what landed me more than 100 lbs over weight. Excuses are what destroy families because they are too busy to deal with things. Simply put I am tired of excuses. I have found that you can do exactly what you WANT to do. I WANT to make God my priority and for me personally the only way that is going to happen is if I get up before everyone else and have my quiet time with God. So yes, I am getting up earlier- much earlier. Yes, I am having an amazing time with God, but boy am also having an amazingly difficult time getting my badonkadonk in bed on time! No excuses, I just like the quiet at night too. But it simply isn't going to work. I am not as productive at night and God is more important to me than late night solitude.

I am going to have some time this weekend to work on a schedule and I am hoping that will really make a difference. I have started decluttering and I am hoping to get it finished tomorrow and do a quick post. I am also hoping that our storage barn will be delivered tomorrow and I will be able to get some things out of the house that I have been storing in here. I am going to be very selective and careful about what goes in the barn because I don't want to end up having to declutter it when this is all over.