It feels deliciously good to wake up and get my day started. Why then, do I find myself sleeping as long as my child allows me?
Must be a mommy thing.
Anyways, Paleo update. The Hubbs and I did it for 7 days. I loved it. I found myself enjoying my time in the kitchen, and I was excited to do normally mundane tasks like grocery shop and preparing food for the week, even making Brock's lunches was sort of a good time. Only sort of. Then we went on vacation. We found ourselves splitting meals and eating good snacks and for the most part we kept our water consumption up. I even drank a little gluten free Alcohol. Its hard cider, not beer, and I'm okay with that.
Yesterday I picked up the first farmers market basket I've gotten in awhile. I was proud as pie when I had all of our good, healthy food lined up on the counter. I have12 meals planned that are fast, and Paleo friendly. I am stoked.
And its not a great post without a Hunter bug update. The kid is on the move. Last Thursday night he took off and hasn't stopped. He is crawling, and standing up on things and is just the cutest most proud little thing you've ever seen. Where has the time gone? Today while attempting to do a little Pilates with a baby crawling on me, I realized just how much he can get into. Which led to me crawling all over the floor during nap time to see just what needed to be fixed. Needless to say we are going to busy baby proofing the next week or so.
What has changed in your life this week?
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Are We Ready?
So some of my closest friends and family know that the hubs and I thought we were pregnant. Then, after about a ton of wishful thinking and 4 negative pregnancy tests it hit me I wasn't.
To clarify, we weren't trying but we had talked about it a lot. At first I wasn't sure I was even ready again. But then I was picking out names and looking at Jenny Lind style cribs. It hit me all over again how bad I want a baby again. Reality hit today that's for sure. I had to take a step back and think abut not just what we wanted but what our family needed and I think I am back on track now.
For starters, are we ready? Brock has an amazing job and we have enough love for a village. Is that enough? Then there is the questions of Hunter. Is he ready for a baby brother or sister and does that even really matter in the scheme of things? As he rapidly approaches one I think maybe he is. I think maybe we are. But...
What I have decided is that I don't care, not in the way I thought I did anyways. There are a thousand reasons why we should or should not. I could a couple pro/con lists and come to a conclusion just to change my mind he next day. Not only that, this disappointment showed me I am not strong enough or in the mind frame to be that hopeful every month. We have decided to leave it up t fate for now and see how things go. I am not entirely sure I can stop looking at my calendar and trying to control the situation but I am going to do my best. If in April, when Hunter turns the big ONE we still haven't gotten that answer we are looking for then we will begin trying in earnest. I am totally scared of having to do that but prepared to do what it takes to start growing our family again.
Stick with us, and see what the future holds!
Monday, January 14, 2013
Fridays Letters on a Monday
Go figure.
That is the way life goes right now. Have to get with it I guess.
Dear Husband turned Bed Warmer, you make it feel like July in January. How does one person put off so much heat? It is un-natural to be sure. However, not having to use layers of blankets in the winter and still being able to run the fan, pretty awesome if you ask this girl. Dear Aunt Flow, way to disappoint. I didn't want to get to the point where we were trying. Now I feel lost, and a little selfish. The battle between what we want and what we should do begins. Dear Tennessee, you are calling our names. I cant wait to load up, with a pretty good playlist, a bunch of yummy Paleo snacks and hit the road. Here's to three days away from real life. Dear Brock Hayden, I love your name. So sexy. Can I say that on the the WWW? Cause I totally just did. Thank you for cleaning the kitchen and living room the other night. Coming home to that was better than any vase of flowers or box of chocolates. You will never know how much I appreciate when you do simple things like that! This girls loves you, don't forget it!
Sunday, January 6, 2013
We've Gone Primal!
Okay so it's day three, and I don't know if it's my mind or the lifestyle change but I am down in weight and feeling good! Want to know what we have been eating? Some of the freshest, tastiest meals I have ever put in my mouth! & most of them with little effort.
Not once did I feel unsatisfied or deprived. Okay maybe once when I ran across some Christmas candy and maybe one other time when it was checking out at Publix and saw a bag of hot chips, and thought about buying them, devouring them on the way home and then stashing them so Brock wouldn't know. But really, life has been smooth, webhave good snacks in the fridge and tons of bottled water and I munch on cocoa almonds when I need a little sweetness in my life.
Anyways, here is what we have eaten this weekend. And if we can do this kind of good old fashioned cave man eating on the weekend than ANYONE can do it anytime. Pinky promise.
Friday
Breakfast: Breakfast Burrito (thick sliced deli ham rolled around 1 scrambled egg)
Lunch: 1/2 cup sliced Strawberries, 1 cup fresh steamed green beans (no, not paleo, but leftover and I wanted to eat them up!) about 5 cherry tomatoes, and homemade chicken salad. (see recipe below)
Dinner- Seasoned turkey patty topped with sautéed onions. Green beans, sweet potato mash. (see recipe below)
Snacks- Cocoa roasted almonds.
Saturday
Breakfast- Coconut pancakes with sliced strawberries and banana. We used Cary's sugar free syrup but Agave nectar would have been a better Paleo approach.
Lunch- Chicken salad, cherry tomatoes and cucumber drizzled with apple cider vinegar.
Dinner- Chicken Fajita Salad ( essentially red bell pepper, onion and mushroom for the Mr sautéed with chicken and served over lettuce) You can add avocado, tomato, or salsa. We used a homemade vinaigrette of lemon juice, vinegar, oil, salt and pepper.
Snacks- Vegetable chips and guacamole, egg salad lettuce wraps.
Sunday
Breakfast- Turkey Sausage links, scrambled egg with salsa, and 1/2 naval orange
Lunch- Leftover turkey patty with sautéed onions, hard boiled egg, side salad with vinaigrette.
Dinner- Honey Mustard Chops, Butternut Squash Fries, and Citrus Glazed Carrots (recipes below)
BEST DINNER EVER
I was skeptical about the fries and even when I pulled them out of the oven I thought, this will be bad. I heaped them on our plates with a little bit of sugar free ketchup and warned Brock not to expect much. He literally took a bite and turned right around to head back into the kitchen to pile more on his plate. I had to tell him to sit down and remember to leave some for his lunch tomorrow. He liked them that much. My husband, the fry snob.
I am a proud woman tonight.
And he is right, they rock. Like, can't even tell its squash kind of awesome. We are in love.
Anyways, here are the recipes. Some I found on Pinterest, some, like the pork chips are my creations! Enjoy!
Chicken Salad
(this recipe is to the best of my knowledge. I don't use a recipe, I just do the durn thing :)
2 chicken breasts, boiled
1/2-1 cup mayonnaise (I used light, but you can use a Paleo recipe)
1 cup diced apple or sliced grapes
1/2-1 tbsp honey
1 tsp thyme
Sea salt and pepper to taste
Boil your chicken and chop or use food processor. I prefer the food processor method. Gives a sturdier texture. Mix in rest of ingredients and there you go! A delicious and fairly healthy snack!
Coconut Pancakes
4 eggs, room temperature
1 cup coconut milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon coconut nectar (coconut sap) (we used agave nectar)
1/2 cup coconut flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
coconut oil for frying
Preheat pan or griddle over medium-low heat. Beat eggs in a stand mixer until frothy. Mix in milk, vanilla, and coconut nectar.
In a small bowl combine coconut flour, baking soda, sea salt and cinnamon and whisk together.
Combine dry mixture with wet in the stand mixer and beat on medium speed for about 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl then mix on medium to medium-high for another minute or two or until the coconut flour is completely mixed into the batter.
Grease pan with coconut oil. Pour batter to create pancakes that are about 3 inches in diameter. If the batter seems too thin you may need to add a small amout of coconut flour to achieve the desired consistency.
Cook for approximately 3 minutes, flip and cook an additional 2-3 minutes.
Serve hot with coconut oil, coconut nectar, agave nectar, honey, syrup or fruit.
Citrus-Glazed Carrots
2 teaspoon olive oil
3 to 4 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch wide and 2-inch long matchsticks
1 orange, juiced and zested
In a medium nonstick skillet, heat oil on medium heat for 1 minute. Add carrots and saute, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. Stir in orange juice and 1 teaspoon orange zest. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 8 minutes, until carrots are slightly softened. Remove from heat and keep covered.
**Note- I actually don't have anything that zests worth a crap, so I stuck half the orange in the pan and let it simmer along with the carrots and pulled it out at the end. Worked just fine.
Butternut Squash Fries
One 2lb squash
2 tbsp olive oil
Sea salt
Pepper
Herbs de Provence
Preheat oven to 400 F. Peel and cut squash into fry shapes (roughly 1/3 in thick). Place in bowl and toss with hands to coat evenly with olive oil. Place on wire rack with a sheet pan user neath. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and herbs de Provence. Bake for 40 minutes, turning them halfway. You can re season a this point as well. Enjoy alone or with ketchup.
Honey-Mustard Pork Chops
This is one of my creations. No specific recipe but I will do my best. We used 4 thinly sliced pork chops.
Mix equal parts yellow mustard, and honey. Add in a dash of red pepper flakes, and 1-1 1/2 tsp dill. (fresh is best but I used dried tonight and it was still delish). You can marinate the pork in this mixture of brush it on as it cooks. Heat up some olive oil in a pan and cook the chips. Basting will the honey mustard mixture as often as necessary.
So yummy, you won't regret this dish!
Enjoy!
Not once did I feel unsatisfied or deprived. Okay maybe once when I ran across some Christmas candy and maybe one other time when it was checking out at Publix and saw a bag of hot chips, and thought about buying them, devouring them on the way home and then stashing them so Brock wouldn't know. But really, life has been smooth, webhave good snacks in the fridge and tons of bottled water and I munch on cocoa almonds when I need a little sweetness in my life.
Anyways, here is what we have eaten this weekend. And if we can do this kind of good old fashioned cave man eating on the weekend than ANYONE can do it anytime. Pinky promise.
Friday
Breakfast: Breakfast Burrito (thick sliced deli ham rolled around 1 scrambled egg)
Lunch: 1/2 cup sliced Strawberries, 1 cup fresh steamed green beans (no, not paleo, but leftover and I wanted to eat them up!) about 5 cherry tomatoes, and homemade chicken salad. (see recipe below)
Dinner- Seasoned turkey patty topped with sautéed onions. Green beans, sweet potato mash. (see recipe below)
Snacks- Cocoa roasted almonds.
Saturday
Breakfast- Coconut pancakes with sliced strawberries and banana. We used Cary's sugar free syrup but Agave nectar would have been a better Paleo approach.
Lunch- Chicken salad, cherry tomatoes and cucumber drizzled with apple cider vinegar.
Dinner- Chicken Fajita Salad ( essentially red bell pepper, onion and mushroom for the Mr sautéed with chicken and served over lettuce) You can add avocado, tomato, or salsa. We used a homemade vinaigrette of lemon juice, vinegar, oil, salt and pepper.
Snacks- Vegetable chips and guacamole, egg salad lettuce wraps.
Sunday
Breakfast- Turkey Sausage links, scrambled egg with salsa, and 1/2 naval orange
Lunch- Leftover turkey patty with sautéed onions, hard boiled egg, side salad with vinaigrette.
Dinner- Honey Mustard Chops, Butternut Squash Fries, and Citrus Glazed Carrots (recipes below)
BEST DINNER EVER
I was skeptical about the fries and even when I pulled them out of the oven I thought, this will be bad. I heaped them on our plates with a little bit of sugar free ketchup and warned Brock not to expect much. He literally took a bite and turned right around to head back into the kitchen to pile more on his plate. I had to tell him to sit down and remember to leave some for his lunch tomorrow. He liked them that much. My husband, the fry snob.
I am a proud woman tonight.
And he is right, they rock. Like, can't even tell its squash kind of awesome. We are in love.
Anyways, here are the recipes. Some I found on Pinterest, some, like the pork chips are my creations! Enjoy!
Chicken Salad
(this recipe is to the best of my knowledge. I don't use a recipe, I just do the durn thing :)
2 chicken breasts, boiled
1/2-1 cup mayonnaise (I used light, but you can use a Paleo recipe)
1 cup diced apple or sliced grapes
1/2-1 tbsp honey
1 tsp thyme
Sea salt and pepper to taste
Boil your chicken and chop or use food processor. I prefer the food processor method. Gives a sturdier texture. Mix in rest of ingredients and there you go! A delicious and fairly healthy snack!
Coconut Pancakes
4 eggs, room temperature
1 cup coconut milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon coconut nectar (coconut sap) (we used agave nectar)
1/2 cup coconut flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
coconut oil for frying
Preheat pan or griddle over medium-low heat. Beat eggs in a stand mixer until frothy. Mix in milk, vanilla, and coconut nectar.
In a small bowl combine coconut flour, baking soda, sea salt and cinnamon and whisk together.
Combine dry mixture with wet in the stand mixer and beat on medium speed for about 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl then mix on medium to medium-high for another minute or two or until the coconut flour is completely mixed into the batter.
Grease pan with coconut oil. Pour batter to create pancakes that are about 3 inches in diameter. If the batter seems too thin you may need to add a small amout of coconut flour to achieve the desired consistency.
Cook for approximately 3 minutes, flip and cook an additional 2-3 minutes.
Serve hot with coconut oil, coconut nectar, agave nectar, honey, syrup or fruit.
Citrus-Glazed Carrots
2 teaspoon olive oil
3 to 4 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch wide and 2-inch long matchsticks
1 orange, juiced and zested
In a medium nonstick skillet, heat oil on medium heat for 1 minute. Add carrots and saute, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. Stir in orange juice and 1 teaspoon orange zest. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 8 minutes, until carrots are slightly softened. Remove from heat and keep covered.
**Note- I actually don't have anything that zests worth a crap, so I stuck half the orange in the pan and let it simmer along with the carrots and pulled it out at the end. Worked just fine.
Butternut Squash Fries
One 2lb squash
2 tbsp olive oil
Sea salt
Pepper
Herbs de Provence
Preheat oven to 400 F. Peel and cut squash into fry shapes (roughly 1/3 in thick). Place in bowl and toss with hands to coat evenly with olive oil. Place on wire rack with a sheet pan user neath. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and herbs de Provence. Bake for 40 minutes, turning them halfway. You can re season a this point as well. Enjoy alone or with ketchup.
Honey-Mustard Pork Chops
This is one of my creations. No specific recipe but I will do my best. We used 4 thinly sliced pork chops.
Mix equal parts yellow mustard, and honey. Add in a dash of red pepper flakes, and 1-1 1/2 tsp dill. (fresh is best but I used dried tonight and it was still delish). You can marinate the pork in this mixture of brush it on as it cooks. Heat up some olive oil in a pan and cook the chips. Basting will the honey mustard mixture as often as necessary.
So yummy, you won't regret this dish!
Enjoy!
Friday, January 4, 2013
Our Paleo Parenting Journey
So anyone who has read into the last yet might have seen our clean eating post. Want to know what happened with that? We bombed. Big time. I wasn't prepared, my mindset was off, and we didn't fully make the change. I kept all the things I shouldn't keep, and they stared at me from the pantry until I succumbed to the deliciousness of it all.
Recently however, the Mr and I have just really felt convicted to change our diet and lifestyle. I want to introduce Hunter to food that's fuel, rather than emphasize frivolous snacking on low-nutrient foods! If my baby is only supposed to have a cup of food a day in addition to milk I want it to be as packed with the good stuff as possible! We tried a local program that emphasized a 2-3 hour eating schedule, and eating the proper combinations of things. It worked but we felt deprived. Personally, I wanted to eat when I was hungry and eat rich, delicious foods. Doesn't sound like a "diet" does it? Well, it's not.
Paleo is a lifestyle. It's a primal set of eating habits that reflects hunter gatherer techniques. High protein, low carb. No sugar, no processed foods. Water only. Tons of veggies and fruit that's on the low end of the glycemic scale.
We are baby paleo eaters. I have done a ton of research but we are no where close to where we need to be. I am dedicated to taking baby steps, sticking the pantry with the essentials and getting rid of the temptation. Eating out and with our family will be the hardest part. At this point I have as our a week and a half of paleo friendly meals and we will reevaluate at the end of that and hopefully continue on this 20 day challenge that will hopefully turn into a lifestyle change. Stick with me, y'all!
Recently however, the Mr and I have just really felt convicted to change our diet and lifestyle. I want to introduce Hunter to food that's fuel, rather than emphasize frivolous snacking on low-nutrient foods! If my baby is only supposed to have a cup of food a day in addition to milk I want it to be as packed with the good stuff as possible! We tried a local program that emphasized a 2-3 hour eating schedule, and eating the proper combinations of things. It worked but we felt deprived. Personally, I wanted to eat when I was hungry and eat rich, delicious foods. Doesn't sound like a "diet" does it? Well, it's not.
Paleo is a lifestyle. It's a primal set of eating habits that reflects hunter gatherer techniques. High protein, low carb. No sugar, no processed foods. Water only. Tons of veggies and fruit that's on the low end of the glycemic scale.
We are baby paleo eaters. I have done a ton of research but we are no where close to where we need to be. I am dedicated to taking baby steps, sticking the pantry with the essentials and getting rid of the temptation. Eating out and with our family will be the hardest part. At this point I have as our a week and a half of paleo friendly meals and we will reevaluate at the end of that and hopefully continue on this 20 day challenge that will hopefully turn into a lifestyle change. Stick with me, y'all!
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Reflections
This past year we
- Celebrated one year of marriage with Mr. Watkins. Secretly rejoiced that I haven't strangled him over, over cooked spaghetti by now.
- Went on our first vacation without Bug. Missed him every second.
- Began the re-haul on most rooms in the house, finished only a few.
- Welcomed the sweetest little man into our lives. Learned how thrilling it is to manage to take a shower and look decent, to get through a shopping trip, and to not drop the baby.
-Found out that no matter how much you sweep, the baby will always find something to put in his mouth.
- Managed to get Hunter sleeping through the night! Whoop whoop!
- Watched our family fall into the groove of just being a family of three. Let the dynamic change, and loved every second of it.
- Started talking about baby #2. Cause we are crazy, and crazy about growing our family.
- Celebrated our first Christmas, all together. Marveled over the beauty we have found in one another and tried our best not to run ourselves ragged.
- My business did not let down. I had some amazing clients.
You know, looking back I can't really say how we got here. But we did! Now I am planning a first birthday and so many other plans and projects.
I said I wouldn't have any resolution and I don't. I posted that I would just leave my heart wide open to whatever will happen this year. We are beginning a 30 day Paleo challenge but even with that I want to give myself the freedom to live!
Here to the new year, y'all!
- Celebrated one year of marriage with Mr. Watkins. Secretly rejoiced that I haven't strangled him over, over cooked spaghetti by now.
- Went on our first vacation without Bug. Missed him every second.
- Began the re-haul on most rooms in the house, finished only a few.
- Welcomed the sweetest little man into our lives. Learned how thrilling it is to manage to take a shower and look decent, to get through a shopping trip, and to not drop the baby.
-Found out that no matter how much you sweep, the baby will always find something to put in his mouth.
- Managed to get Hunter sleeping through the night! Whoop whoop!
- Watched our family fall into the groove of just being a family of three. Let the dynamic change, and loved every second of it.
- Started talking about baby #2. Cause we are crazy, and crazy about growing our family.
- Celebrated our first Christmas, all together. Marveled over the beauty we have found in one another and tried our best not to run ourselves ragged.
- My business did not let down. I had some amazing clients.
You know, looking back I can't really say how we got here. But we did! Now I am planning a first birthday and so many other plans and projects.
I said I wouldn't have any resolution and I don't. I posted that I would just leave my heart wide open to whatever will happen this year. We are beginning a 30 day Paleo challenge but even with that I want to give myself the freedom to live!
Here to the new year, y'all!
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