Tuesday, January 12, 2016

How to Have the Best Year Ever

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #StartWithJifPowder #CollectiveBias

It might be a good bit into January, but today I am talking all about New Year's goals, thoughts on what my family would like to accomplish this year, and my new favorite treat (even it it's good for you, when it tastes this yummy, its totally considered a treat, right?) to help me get one step closer to my achieving my planned goal. So better late than never - here are my thoughts on the start to 2016...




Over the last few weeks Carrie Beth has shared her goals for 2016, as well as her children's goals for the upcoming year. I've spent a lot of time thinking as the New Year approached, and as these first few weeks have come and gone, about what I want to accomplish this year and what I want my within my family. Our little family of four is about to become a very full family of five, and the reality is things are about to get a little chaotic. 

I have so many things I would love to strive for this year, but I know that my goal for the year should just be survival. I am about to be a stay at home mom to three small children, with a husband who travels close to 75% of the time. 3v1 doesn't sound like the best of odds. 

So as I pondered this new adventure 2016 is about to bring, I decided my number one goal is focusing on my family's total well being. That doesn't mean just fitness, that means making sure we are happy in every aspect of our life, both inside and out. I want us to look back on 2016 and think, "That was the best year ever!". 



I've come up with a daily well-being chart to keep us accountable. We sat down as a family and brainstormed on what we felt like would affect our well-being and overall total happiness for each day.

I love what my little family came up with. It also showed me Cute is thinking way more about larger ideas around him than just what happened in the most recent episode of Wild Kratts or playing ninjas with his friends. 



The idea each day is to at least check off three things out of the categories each day. You can do more, and they don't have to be the same each day, but to at least try to do something to cover three of the categories. It will be interesting to see what each person in our family will decide to accomplish daily over the course of the year. For Mr. Cute, I know that "20 Active Minutes" will be at the top of his list considering fitness is his personal main focus this year, where that "Nutritious Snack" category is staring me down. 

Eating better is actually one of the few things I have had on my goal list for a few years running. I am a HUGE snacker, and within our busy lives often don't take the time to eat in the most nutritious of manners. Unfortunately sometimes I have passed off my habits to the kids, but so far in 2016 I have made a conscience effort to do better. 



One of my absolute favorite go-to nutritious snacks is a smoothie. I could have five smoothies a day without even thinking about it. Most recently I have become obsessed about is this Peanut Butter Chocolate one. 





I was inspired when I was walking through Walmart grocery shopping and saw this new Jif Peanut Powder on display.



I typically make smoothies that are more fruit based, but seeing these two flavors and the suggestion of adding them to smoothies inspired me. We are already a pretty peanut butter obsessed family, so it seemed like this might be the perfect way to add an additional smoothie into our rotation, so I grabbed a bag to give it a try, and it is was such a good decision! 



The smoothie is super easy to make, and tastes just like liquid peanut butter cups. Mmm...



Ingredients
- 1/2 cup of plain greek yogurt
- 1 cup of chocolate milk (or almond/rice milk if you desire a milk alternative. Upon testing they taste the same.)
- 2 to 3 tbsp. of Jif Peanut Powder
- 1/2 cup of ice cubes



Instructions
1: Place ice cubs, milk, Jif Peanut Powder, and yogurt into blender
2: Blend until texture is smooth and all ice has been crushed.
3: Drink & enjoy! 



The Cutes absolutely love this smoothie too, and sometimes call it their milkshake. 




Sometimes we have it the morning as part of breakfast, and sometimes as part of our afternoon snack together. I love that it is packed with nutritious ingredients and filling ingredients, rather than the empty calories of most snack options I tend to gravitate towards. It's is low in sugar, and packed with protein - which is an all around win. And I mentioned taste right? It is seriously THAT GOOD!  



A friend at drop off for school noticed my smoothie drinking one morning, and said she enjoyed making smoothies as well. She suggested adding one frozen banana, a half a cup of strawberries, or spinach to the smoothie with a teaspoon of honey for some added nutrition. I have yet to try it, but it sounds like a great way to sneak in some additional daily vitamins and minerals. Bring on the tasty peanut buttery goodness any day of the week!



I love that our little family is excited about the goal we have come up with and know that we are most definitely looking forward to having the best year ever in 2016! 




Cheers! 



Grab your peanut butter powder, make a smoothie, print a chart, and tell us...
How do you plan on having the best year ever? 

 photo jensig.png


Follow us on Pinterest HERE.
Follow us on Instagram HERE.
Follow us on Facebook HERE
Follow us on Twitter HERE







1 comment:

  1. I love the goal of looking back and thinking this was the best year ever! We had 3 kids in 4 years, so I totally get "surviving" the year, too. Your smoothie recipe sounds (and looks) delicious... I will have to give that a try! {client}

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...