Organinka Cacao Powder Review

Cacao Powder is amazing!

It has a chocolate taste, but it's not super strong. It's just right to fit into any smoothie, and it can be added to many recipes. I think it's a great add on for breads and desserts.

About Cacao Powder:

• It’s Raw
• It's Organic
• It's Non-GMO
• It's a Superfood
• It's a herbaceous plant native to the high Andean Mountains of Peru, mainly in the regions of Junin and Pasco
• It stabilizes and controls blood pressure
• Known to relieve insomnia
• Helps reduce stress and tiredness
• It provides energy and mental clarity

Today's Smoothie: 

• Spinach Leaves
• Frozen Bananas
• 2 Probiotics
• 2 Scoops of Protein Powder
• Unsweetened Almond Milk
• Mint
• Cacao Powder

You can get 16 ounces of Organinka Cacao Powder on Amazon for $12.99 on Prime! http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076DCRQDY

A little bit goes a long way! I do have to say that I wish the bag was smaller. The amount of powder is way less than the bag size. I like as little packaging as possible.

The taste is wonderful! What would you use Organinka Cacao Powder for?

Disclaimer: We got this product in exchange for our opinion on them. The company in no way told me what to write, or influenced me in any way.

Organinka Maca Powder Review

I love breakfast time! It's my favorite meal of the day! 

I try to make it semi healthy. We always have something green on our plates, some form of protein, a carb, and a smoothie with more greens, more protein, and fruit.

I put Maca Powder in our chocolate chip waffles this morning. It has more calcium than milk does. It's nice to know that this meal will fill up our boy's bellies. Isaak has basketball games on Saturdays, so he needs more protein added to his diet.

Waffles:

• 2 Cups of Whole Wheat, All Purpose, or Bread Flour

• 1 Tablespoon Cinnamon

• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt

• 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder

• 1 Tablespoon Maca Powder

• 2 Tablespoons Coconut Sugar or Brown Sugar

• 2 Mashed Bananas

• 1 1/2 Teaspoons Vanilla

• 6 Tablespoons Coconut Oil (Melted)

• 1 2/3 Cup Unsweetened Almond Milk, Cashew Milk, or Cow's Milk

• 2 Large Eggs

• 1/2 Cup Dark Chocolate Chips

The waffles were so good! Actually the whole meal was great! I was only bummed that I had to wait to eat because I needed to take pictures and a video. ;)

About Organinka Maca Powder:

• It's organic!
• It's non GMO!
• It's a superfood!
• It's from a herbaceous plant native to the high Andean Mountains of Peru.
• Because it's from a plant I was expecting it to be green, but the powder is actually a tan color.
• It's comes with 16 ounces in the bag. I do wish the bag was a bit smaller to reduce packaging. The bag is bigger than the powder it holds. 
• It's $12.99, which is a great price.
• It's versatile! You can add it to any bread product, smoothie,  hot or cold cereal, and many desserts. 
• It's on Amazon Prime, so if you're a Prime Member you get free shipping: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076B2NY6M.

Have you tried Maca Powder before?

Disclaimer: We got this product in exchange for our opinion on them. The company in no way told me what to write, or influenced me in any way.

Random Tid Bits

1. It's been an odd few weeks. I'm still so tired from different people in my family getting sick. This back and forth weather doesn't help. Classes started up again a few weeks ago, my first year students actually do much more work than expected, so I've pumped up my lectures more.


2. It has been rough with emotions. I found out that a student tried to commit suicide. This student is so nice, so in tuned with what I'm teaching, empathetic towards others, and I've been worried about her. It's not about school, it's the fact that she lives with an ex. Don't let teens live with their boyfriends. I've seen over and over again break-ups happen, and then disaster strikes. 


3. Yesterday I thought we were triple booked. Nope! Mica's school had an Open House. I was excited to see what he's been up to. We got there, and one of Mica's teacher's said, "Hi! You guys look familiar. Mica congrats on the award you got! So you guys just looking at this middle school for your other one?" I said, "Yes." Then I understood that it was a recruiting Open House, not an Open House to see the classrooms. I asked Isaak if he wants a tour. He didn't, so we left. Off to a library to wait for basketball practice to start, since it too is in the same part of town. 


4. At the library I spotted a book one of my friends wrote and illustrated. Kind of cool! It's the Time Shifters one.





5. I also saw that one of my past students did this hilarious video. Note it's much funnier with the sound up! Yes there's butts in it, so if you're not ok with that then don't watch it. It got so many hits, that someone wrote about it here. I was laughing so hard with the boys when we watched it! Are you just as immature as me, and think this video is funny?

WW: Light {Linky}

We went to the KANEKO Light exhibit a few weeks back. I may go again because their mirror room was being repaired. I wanted to see that so bad.

I kept wondering why I only took phone photos. Then it dawned on me that they mentioned that's all I could take. Kind of odd considering that the new Apple phone is supposed to take excellent shots. I don't have the newest, and greatest. I still like the photos I got.

Their big light board that reminded me of Lite-Brite:

 A light fort:

Light Bars:

Have you ever been to a light exhibit?

Pinkeye, Pinkeye, Influenza, Influenza

Mica got sick with a virus shortly after he had surgery. It was right after New Years. It turned into pinkeye. Thank goodness for an on call nurse at the pediatrician's office. They called in drops for Mica's eyes. We didn't need to make the trip into the germ infested Urgent Care, where we would also bring germs to. His pinkeye went away in 2 days.

5 days later I got sick. I started feeling better, and stopped by an art opening. My Mom said, "Your eyes are pink!" I had just looked in the mirror right before I left. Sure enough I got pinkeye too. That night I couldn't even open my eyes up. I looked like a stoned boxer that was in a fight. No matter how many times I'd clean my eyes they'd goop right up again.

One thing I learned from Mica's nurse was to clean pinkeyes with wet cotton balls. Then you can just throw them out. I had to do a few hot washcloths to take the swelling down.

It was course the weekend again! My doctor's office doesn't have an on call nurse. So I did what I wasn't supposed to do; I used Mica's drops for my eyes. It worked, but it took me 4 days to get over my pinkeye. My eyes were still still sore for a few days after that.

On Wednesday Travis came down with something. I thought for sure it was the virus leading in to pinkeye too. He never got pinkeye. He's been dead to the world though. I'm pretty sure he had Influenza. More than likely a small strain. Travis never got a fever. 

Now Mica's been sneezing, snotting, has a headache, and body aches. I think he has what Travis had. He slept almost all day. He doesn't have a fever either.

So far it's skipped Isaak. *Figures crossed he doesn't get it!

I've been cleaning and doing laundry like mad! Since it was warmer today I opened the house up. 

Has anyone in your family been sick?

Adjustable Tablet Stand, Phone Stand Review

Do you ever want to watch a video on your phone, Kindle or a tablet?

At times I show the boys YouTube videos on my phone. Other times the boys watch Minecraft videos on their Kindles. It's kind of annoying that my phone or their Kindles won't stand up on their own to watch a video. I wouldn't expect them to, but would like them to.

I recently just got an adjustable tablet or phone stand. There's actually 2 in a pack! One for me, and one for the boys to share. You can get them here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071XCW67R for $8.99.

They came in a tiny box. A few things that are great about these stands is that they don't take up a lot of room, they fold up, and they are super light weight!

In Use:

I used them for my phone and Isaak's Kindle. One problem: I had to take them out of their cases to use it. 

What I thought:

They were easy to use. There really isn't very much setting up to do. They are made of a thick plastic, but have metal screws. I tend to think plastic is cheap, and doesn't hold up well. Because they are so thick, I think they'll be fine. About the only thing that's annoying is taking the devices out of their cases. I could see my boys doing this, and dropping their device in the process.

I thought it was great that it came with 2 stands. I have to be honest that I didn't really read the description all that closely when I got them. It was a surprise (in a good way) when I got 2. It's nice that 1 is black and 1 is white.

It's great that you can use the same stands for different sized devices. The stands condense down, and expand as well.

I think the overall price of $8.99 is great.

Do you watch very many videos?

Disclaimer: We got this product in exchange for our opinion on them. The company in no way told me what to write, or influenced me in any way.

Random Tid Bits

1. Classes started back up this week. My students and my kids had a snow day. They called it the day before it snowed.
   
   Some were like, "It's great schools called it. Those kids shouldn't be walking to their bus stops with ice and snow on the ground."
   
   Others said, "There's no sign of snow yet, and they already called it?"
   
   It ended up icy, but barely snowing.
   
   

   

   What it looked like this morning. It snowed afterwards, but not a lot.

   
   I had a mix of thoughts. It is hard as a teacher to change my syllabus. It's like planning everything all over again. At Mica's school they were to have a Science Fair. They are still having it, but parents won't be invited to view everything. I was looking forward to that. 


2. My Mom was all worried that I went in to work. Again there wasn't a lot of snow! I don't live that far from a main street, and I don't have a big hill to go up or down. She hates the snow, but also hates the summer heat.  I thought, Geez my mom is talking to me like I'm 16. I think I know how to drive in the snow at 41 years old!


3. Did anyone watch the Tonya Harding special? What were your thoughts on it? Do you believe her? Do you think there's more lies that she's hiding? Travis doesn't believe her. I have more empathy with the abuse she's gone through. I don't know how or why she'd lie about more.


4. I never got a full blown cold. I just got a bit stuffy, but man I've been tired! 


5. I sinned and bought some Keebler cookies. I caved from Mica's begging. They went untouched until their day off. I found out the boys ate all the cookies, except for 2. I That's 16 cookies they ate. If they split them than 8 cookies each! 

Source

Messing With the Weather Man

Our weather man Bill Randby loves to say the word, "Spectacular!" Someone from a radio station wrote in to say that he says the word too much. The next day I wrote on facebook live, "Bill you look spectacular!" He read it, and giggled.

Later on he said it was sunny. I wrote, "I've got that sunshine in my pocket." He read it out loud, and giggled again.

I like him, maybe that's why I mess with him. I don't do it out of spite. No I don't have the hots for him either.

Here was one of his recent posts:

I wrote all these. I think the fact that he reads my comments live makes it all that more funny to me.

I get my humor from my Dad. My kids have a good sense of humor as well. I love those moments where I laugh so hard I cry. Are you a silly person?

WW: Monica {Linky}

Isaak plays this a lot. He calls it his, "Monica". It's actually his harmonica. 

Queen Shirt

Mica's obsessed with the band Queen. I'm not sure how he became obsessed with the bad. I like Queen, but it's never been a band I listen to over and over again.

Kids in his grade make fun of him because he likes old bands.

I decided to make Mica a Queen shirt. 

Picking out colors can be hard, or easy. The shirt was grey, so I decided Freddy Mercury's face would be purple. I chose black for the text.

I went with an iron on vinyl. I don't find vinyl to always be super permanent. I've had some edges come up in the past. If that happens I just re iron it down. Kid's obsessions change. I didn't want to spend a lot on a t-shirt.

I cut out Mercury's face.

It was simple I just ironed it on.

Then I found one of Mica's favorite lyrics, typed it on my computer, put the t-shirt over the screen of my laptop, and used the laptop as a light box to fabric paint in the words.

It's not perfect, but Mica loved it!

If you could choose any band to have on a t-shirt what band would it be?