Are you all into fancy coffees, smoothies, and drinks? Do you prefer Starbucks or Dunkin’? Or maybe you have a local hot spot that tickles your beverage fancy. I see lots of really good-looking drinks on social media from different cafes and coffee shops. The problem with me is that “most of it” is coffee-flavored. I absolutely love the smell of coffee. I prepare my husband’s coffee maker each day for the following morning, so it’s always ready for him.

Ya know I play that cute little magical house fairy so that each morning he can hit that start button over and over like it’s magically done. That’s the only magic ingredient in our coffee in the McElroy house. But I don’t drink coffee. I hate the taste of it.

Just a hint of it in a beverage, and I’m like, “Yuck.” I am a huge hot tea girl, though. It’s my comfort drink, for sure. My favorites are Tetley Original, Vanilla Chai, and Peppermint. Top it with two tablespoons of my Bliss natural vanilla creamer in one of my favorite mugs, and that’s about as fancy as I get. I do love a vanilla bean coolatta from Dunkin’, though, on a hot summer day. No coffee taste at all, so it’s my Dunkin’ summer go-to once in a while. And, of course, I make all my favorite protein smoothies.

Last summer, Kenzy and I were out and about for the day. Running errands like grocery shopping, nail appointment and to banks. Possibly even hitting up Dunkin’ to get our favorite vanilla bean coolatta!

“Momma, are we going out to lunch?” she asked.

“Yes, we will probably stop somewhere. It is just going to depend on what area of town we are at lunchtime,” I answered back.

Then she asked me something that I didn’t see coming.

“Can we go to the green lady’s place and eat?” she asked.

I giggled and asked, “What green lady, honey? I have no idea what you are talking about?”

She began to explain that we drive by it a lot, but when I asked her where it was, she couldn’t remember. All she knew was that it was a green lady, and we drove by it often.

I asked her if we would see it that day, and she thought we would.

I kept wracking my brain on the drive, thinking who this green lady was.

“Kenz, is it Wendy’s?” I pointed as we drove by.

She looked at me and shook her head no.

This is the girl who thought Diamond Square was Sam’s Club when she was about five years old because the sign reminded her of a diamond square. Then, one-night last year, we went to the Sticky Elbow for dinner. Before we got there, she asked where we were going for dinner, and we told her the Sticky Elbow. She replied, “Oh, the place with the sad face!” We were completely lost and had no idea what she was talking about until we pulled into the parking lot. On both signs, front and back of the building, was the look of a sad face. When we got to the table with our crew and told them, we all had a good laugh and thought it was so neat how she looks at things so differently. Check it out next time you eat at the Sticky Elbow. You’ll look at it differently now, too!

As we were driving that hot summer day, I was watching Kenz staring hard out the car window as we were driving by Wegmans up on the highway. She was focused and determined to find this green lady. It wasn’t two minutes until I heard her yell and point,

“There she is momma! There is the green lady!”

There she was along the highway, Starbucks!! A green lady right on the sign. She was right! It was the cutest thing. Kenzy has never been (nor have I) into any Starbucks, so it was not on my radar that it would ever be Starbucks!? I told her I didn’t think they even sold lunch stuff there and that they specialized in coffee and drinks. It still and will always be the “green lady” now and not Starbucks.

But isn’t it amazing how kids see things so differently than we can?

Walmart is also known as the sunshine store, per Kenzy, too, because the sign looks like a sun to her. I love looking through her eyes and seeing how she sees things.

I also wanted to apologize for last week’s recipe, “Fried Taters Sausage and Onions.”

It was supposed to be “Fried Taters PEPPERS and Onions.”

There is NO sausage in that recipe.

You one hundred percent could add a pound of loose sausage or even cut up link sausage. I have another recipe with pretty much everything in this recipe, but I also add eggs and sausage and call it THE MESS. It looks a mess but tastes so good! I am so sorry about that mistake. I’ll put that recipe in my column soon! They are very similar. But yes, it’s just a potato recipe—no added protein.

Banana Oatmeal Shake

Ingredients:
• 1 frozen banana
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup oats
• 1 tsp flax seed
• 1 scoop of your favorite protein powder – OR add a vanilla Fairlife Core Power drink

Directions:

Mix in a blender until smooth and creamy.

*Add ice for an even more frozen drink while mixing in a blender. *

Top with some whipped topping and sprinkle with cinnamon. Enjoy!