Five Favorites: My Turn!

Over the past few weeks, I have devoted a "Five Favorites" post to each member of the family. Today, it is my turn to share with you five things that I'm digging right now!

I am going to preface this list by saying that my family is always at the top of any list of favorites. I love them more than anything. I mean, I better love them - I normally have at least one family member clinging to me during the day. Normally, I look something like this:

Emma was having a particularly fussy day and refused to stay in the baby carrier. So I looked silly walking around holding my baby while sporting an empty baby carrier strapped to my waist. I am cool.

Anyway, onward with my list!

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1. Peanut Butter

I was never a big peanut butter fan. In fact, I pretty much hated it until I was nursing my newborn son and then I began craving it! My love for peanut butter has not subsided and I often turn to peanut butter loaded snacks to fuel both my daughter's long nursing parties and my cardio-intense workouts. Recently, this peanut butter smoothie recipe has been a favorite of mine in the morning. I usually split this into two servings, one for me and one for my little Matthew:

Peanut Butter Smoothie

2/3 cup milk (or almondmilk)
1 banana, frozen
1/4 cup quick oats
3 tablespoons peanut butter
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup ice

Put everything into a blender or food processor and let it do its thing until everything is smooth. Enjoy with a drizzle of chocolate syrup.

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2. Frozen Yogurt

Alright, I have to try my best not to make everything on this list all about food but I am loving how there are now little frozen yogurt shops everywhere. Due to my milk allergy, I have a very hard time enjoying ice cream during the summer. I still love it but can only enjoy it if I pop a pill and even then I still end up with some painful stomach cramps. However, frozen yogurt is much more gentle on my tummy (must be all those extra probiotics). I was so excited when a Menchie's frozen yogurt shop finally opened nearby last summer. Paul was not quite so excited since he thinks all those weigh-your-own-mix frozen yogurt shops that are fairly ubiquitous nowadays are a bit of a rip-off. He also tells me that they are very much a fad and will all disappear within about ten years. I hope he's wrong.

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3. Masterchef

Don't make fun of me. Watching this show every Wednesday night has been my secret guilty pleasure. I quickly rush putting the kids to bed and then Paul and I run downstairs, jump on the couch, and settle in to watch two hours of the most corny, obnoxious, and slightly-lame food competition ever. But we love it. The only bad thing about it is watching other people make and eat food always leaves us hungry and inevitably searching through the refrigerator and pantry for something to snack on. Even if we are not really hungry. We're all set for tonight, though. Paul made a Chicken-Liver Pâté and is planning on breaking it out while we watch the show. If this blog goes silent for a while, you'll know that I probably contracted food poisoning from that pâté.

4. Baby Girl Clothing

Dressing little boys is kind of boring. You stick them in a polo shirt paired with either jeans or khakis. Done! Little girls are so much different because their clothes are so much more FUN! I have so much fun getting Emma ready for the day and whenever she has a "blowout" I am almost ecstatic to have an excuse to change her into a completely different outfit! Paul watched the kiddos so I could do a little clothes shopping for myself last weekend and I spent 80% of my time happily perusing the baby girl clothing. And buying more outfits for little Emma was definitely not on my to-do list. Everything is just so cute, petite, frilly, and PINK! I am loving all the little sun dresses and ruffle skirts. It is so hard to resist buying more outfits because realistically Emma is constantly growing and won't be in a given size for very long!

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5. Frank's Red Hot

I began craving everything Buffalo Chicken while pregnant with Emma. But not Buffalo Wings. I really dislike those mainly because they are so messy to eat. I'm talking Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches, Buffalo Chicken Pizza, Buffalo Chicken Salad (making that for dinner tonight!), or just loads of Frank's Red Hot all over my eggs, sandwiches, toast, etc. (The Buffalo Chicken Pizza craving in particular was horrible when I was about 32 weeks pregnant. We received an ad from Papa John's with a ginormous picture of their specialty Buffalo Chicken Pizza on display and I would just stare at it, mouth watering, for a good while before Paul snatched it away and broke me from my trance). Paul shares my love of this stuff so we are forced to keep a huge gallon-sized bottle in our refrigerator because we go through it so quickly! I have no idea what it is about buffalo sauce that makes me long for it so but apparently this craving is here to stay!

Okay, so most of my Five Favorites were about food. Big surprise considering cooking is my hobby...

Check out Moxie Wife for more awesome Five Favorites posts!