James Family Photo Shoot

For so long, I've been wanting my family to take professional photos. And I don't mean inside of a photo studio with a basic backdrop at Portrait Innovations. I mean with a photographer following you around and capturing such candid moments. I wanted photos that represented my family and captured the stage we're at in our life. 

We chose to do our photoshoot through Kelly Miles Photography. She's located here in the Charleston area and was recommended in a mommy group on Facebook. 

After checking out her portfolio and reading through her reviews, I felt absolutely certain I wanted to book our session with her. She was super friendly, timely, and did such an amazing job working with Liam. I was initially concerned that our photoshoot could go to the left due to Liam getting antsy. We booked her services for an hour, and asking a two-year-old to keep still for an hour to take photos can be quite trying. But, she was able to capture such awesome photos of Liam even in moments where he was becoming jittery. 

We took our photos at the Riverfront Park in Charleston. It's a very nice area and has a lot of scenic backgrounds that worked perfectly for our shoot. 

Her pricing is quite fair as well. I was worried that by choosing to book a session with a photographer outside of a studio could be costly, but it was perfectly within budget. Her pricing changes based upon the location of your shoot and the length of your session. 

These, of course, aren't all of the photos we received from our session. But, I definitely wanted to share my favorites. 

Cold Busting Mango Smoothie

There's only a few times a year that I find myself getting sick, and that's generally when the weather is transitioning from winter to spring. Although the weather in Charleston can get pretty warm, sometimes it fluctuates and my body gets confused on what to do. That's when I need to pull out the big guns and have a shot of my Vitamin C with this Mango Smoothie.

Although oranges are what you know to be rich in Vitamin C, mangoes are pretty high up there with this immune boosting vitamin. And to top it off, I added a good kick of ginger.

Ginger isn't everyone's favorite spice because it can be...well, spicy. But I love ginger. And after blending these two together I felt much better going into the next.

And this doesn't have to be a cold busting smoothie. If you want to just have a regular smoothie, you can do that too!

Cold Busting Mango Smoothie

This mango smoothie is not only a perfect meal replacement, but amazing when you need a boost to your immune system.
Prep Time: 2 mins | Total Time: 2 mins
Course: Breakfast, Snack | Cuisine: American
Keyword: Smoothies, Smoothies, Mango, Smoothie Challenge, Mango Smoothie, Ginger
Servings: 1 serving

Ingredients
1 cup frozen mango cubes
1 banana
1 tsp ground ginger (or .5 inch of ginger root)
1 cup almond milk

Instructions
1. Add ingredients into blender
2. Blend for approximately 45 second or until everything is evenly blended
3. Pour into a glass and enjoy

Vegetarian Buffalo Chicken Salad

I have a confession. I’ve never been one to eat a salad without meat in it. I needed meat. I needed chicken strips, ham chunks, bacon bits. I needed it! If it didn’t have meat in it, I needed croutons or something else to bulk it up. But boy oh boy…I have come a long way.

I’ve sampled a few of the plant based meat options before on salads, and nothing seemed to stick until I got the Morning Star Farm’s Buffalo Chik Patties. Ok. These are originally designed for a “chicken-like” sandwich, but I liked the taste and flavor of it so much that I found myself chopping it up into little cubes and adding it to my salad.

This salad was so amazing you guys! It is probably my favorite salad mixture. The best part is that I only used four ingredients, not including the dressing. The chik patty is the perfect topping to this salad because it gives the salad that spicy buffalo kick that I love so much.

A salad is literally what you make it. It doesn’t always have to be the usual lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers. You can add nuts. You can add fruit. You can add seeds. Good salads are usually the ones that are insanely colorful. But, I can’t lie….I still need something that has a meaty texture.

A Buffalo Chicken Salad doesn’t exactly stand out as the healthiest option for a salad, but I like to think that as long as I’m getting a ton of leafy greens it works. If you want more bulk, you can add some crumbled bleu cheese or a boiled egg. You can add cucumbers, carrots, or whatever else tickles your fancy. Have fun with this!

Vegetarian Buffalo Chicken Salad

Turn up the heat with this spicy meatless buffalo chicken salad
Prep Time: 5 mins | Cook Time: 3 mins | Total Time: 8 mins
Servings: 1 person

Ingredients
1 Morning Star Farm Buffalo Chik Patty
1 large handful Organic Spring Salad Mix
4 Grape Tomatoes
1 tbsp Red’s Hot Buffalo Sauce

Instructions
1. Take one of the Morning Star Farm’s Buffalo Chik patty and follow heating instructions as stated on the package
2. Once patty is heated, take a tablespoon of the hot sauce and apply to both sides of the patty
3. Cut patty into small chunks
4. In a large bowl or plate, take one large handful of your salad mix
5. Dice up your grape tomatoes and add over salad bed
6. Add your buffalo chik patty chunks to your salad and any dressing of your choice

Notes
There is no right or wrong measurement for this recipe. You can add as much or as little to your liking