Get it together, people!

I’m feeling all snarky and holier than thou about food today. I’m not sure why, but just go with it.

Let me preface this by saying that I’m not against occasional indulgences. Let’s be real: I eat junk. My kid eats junk. My husband eats junk. A big giant HOWEVER is that we don’t do it often or in mass quantity. Is eating a bakery cupcake the end of the world? Nope. Sure isn’t. Is eating it every day or even two to three times a week ok? That’s a negative. Put the cupcake away. Eat something that will fuel your beautiful body and not something that destroys it. You deserve better. And your kids fo ‘sho deserve better since you’re their primary source of food decisions.

I know, I get it. It’s confusing and hard to know what’s good for you and what’s bad. I get that “scientist” are telling you low-fat is good, low-fat is bad, don’t ever eat carbs, you need tons of carbs! I totally get that drama. But! I think we can all agree on, regardless of which side of the fence you’re on, is that anything processed is bad. UmmmmmK? If it’s in a box, it’s a no-go. If it came from the middle aisle of the grocery store, it’s likely a no-go (obviously, there are a few exceptions to the rule). There is NO debate on processed foods, we all know that they are bad. Those Cheerios that you’re doling out? Bad. Those cute little Goldfish? YUCK! In fact, pretty much everything that’s marketed to children, is crap. Just straight manure. Graham crackers, Cheetos, chips, Doritos...we know these things are bad. Why do we give them to our kids? Why?! You shouldn’t be eating them yourself, but let you kid have a healthy start. Let them make the decision to eat crap when they’re older, don’t set them up for failure so young.

“But that’s the only thing(s) my kid will eat.” I get that too. My kid goes through picky stages. I think that’s just part of being a toddler. They don’t have a lot of ways to assert their independence, but food is one of them. They get to make the decision of whether they eat or not. YOU get to make the decision of what you offer. And it doesn’t have to be junk, my friends. Childhood obesity and juvenile diabetes is real, boys and girls. Our kids have asthma, eczema, allergies (to include seasonal - which is not normal), and a myriad of other health issues. Yet, we aren’t changing our food habits. We’re medicating, we’re ignoring and accepting, we’re basically doing anything but addressing the real issue. This applies to adults too. Being over weight, being lethargic and tired, having aches and pains constantly, and just being negative - guess what? All food related.

I say all of this stuff with love. It pains me that I have dear friends that either don’t care or don’t want to deal with the truth of how important food is in our lives. It breaks my heart that toddlers every where are getting junk food on a regular basis under the misconception that it’s healthy. Cans, tubs, boxes - it’s not healthy.
Why do we not want better for our kids?
*Does Big C get things like this? Yes. Maybe once a week. Mostly no.

Menu plan to follow in a day. :-) I’ve been really lax on those, as I generally am lax on all things in my life. Way less stressful. Haha!

Here we go again!

I’m trying desperately to stick to meal planning, for two main reasons: Steve gets back super soon and I need to start feeding another adult again. AND! Meal planning keeps me on track. I’m working my butt off trying to make sure I’m one hot mama when he gets back. Between T25, random workouts, and eating right, I’m making awesome strides. Never mind the brownies and cookies I ate this weekend. And pizza. And I’m drinking a beer. So...

I just bought a juicer. Like 30 seconds ago. I’m typically anti-juice, especially any sort of store bought crap. However, when drinking freshly pressed juice that hasn’t been pasteurized and a gallon of unnecessary ingredients added; I think it can have it’s benefits. I will NOT be using it as a meal replacement, as I firmly believe shakes/juices/smoothies shouldn’t be used as such, but I’ll use it as a little morning pick-me-up. So, I’ll include the juice recipes here too.

If anyone has any awesomely tasting juice recipes that they want to share, please hook it up!

*Snacks aren’t something that I necessarily eat. I just put it there as an idea of something to eat in case I get hungry. I also may not always use the meat that the recipe recommends and may sub out different types (ground buffalo or pork instead of beef, etc).

DAY 1
B: This is insane - breakfast lasagne
L: Tuna, grapes, pickles, avocado
D: Shrimp fried rice
S: Handful of berries and nuts
J: Morning juice

DAY 2
B: 2-3 egg omelet w/ greens, mushrooms, and random other veggies
L: Leftovers
D: Honey mustard chicken, roasted brussel kale, & sweet potatoes
S: Fried banana w/ leftover sausage
J: Mint & grapefruit

DAY 3
B: Oatmeal w/ berries and breakfast sausage
L: Leftovers
D: Pork with baked apples & kale 
S: Protein shake
J: Metabolism booster 

DAY 4
B: 2-3 egg omelet w/ veggies & meat
L: Tuna, grapes, pickles, avocado
D: Black bean enchilada skillet
S: 1/2 sweet potato w/ berries & walnuts
J: Green ginger ale

DAY 5
B: 2-3 egg omelet w/ veggies & meat (Yes, we eat a lot of eggs around here!)
L: Leftovers
D: Sausage bake w/ carrot/zucchini fries 
S: Protein shake
J: Green lemonade

DAY 6
B: Carrot cake pancakes w/ breakfast patties
L: Leftovers and/or AB&J sandwiches
D: Tomato and chicken crock pot crap (Make a few changes) w/ roasted asparagus
S: Yogurt cheese, berries
J: Green leprechaun

DAY 7
B: 2-3 egg omelet w/ veggies & meat
L: Primal pot pie
D: Sweet potato lasagna 
S: Protein shake
J: Strawberry lemonade (minus the agave!)

What am I eating this week?

This week’s menu…nothing exciting, just food for yo body!

Ignore typos. This is happening very late at night and the kid isn’t sleeping well. I’m a terrible mama and let him have ice cream before bed and his little belly isn’t pleased. :-/ Note to self: not worth it or fair to him. 

ALL meals will prepped and/or cooked the evening before. My goal is to make the next day as smooth as easy as possible. One extra hour at night = an easy peasy day the next day. AND I’ll actually get my workout, shower, and downtime in during nap time. Win and win! 

DAY 1

B: 2-3 scrambled eggs w/ greens & feta, 2 pieces of sausage, pineapple & berries

L: Tuna mixed with pickle, grapes, avocado, & yogurt, 1/2 a sweet potato

    (Chase will have a gluten free almond butter & jelly)

D: Crockpot coconut curry chicken & rice (use THIS seasoning, instead of chemically loaded store bought crap!!) 

S: Cucumber salad

DAY 2

B: Sweet potato & chicken sausage scramble with 2-3 eggs (sharing with Chase)

L: Turkey wraps with avocado & cheese, handful of berries and cukes

D: Crockpot balsamic glazed beef roast (see pic) add beets to the crockpot half way through, cheesy broccoli

S: Banana with almond butter

DAY 3

B: Blueberry oatmeal pancakes (minus the splenda. Be real. And use the whole egg, people!) w/ bacon

L: Leftovers

D: Southwestern style stuffed sweet potatoes & asparagus

S: THIS salad (I kind of want it like right now!)

DAY 4

B: Breakfast casserole (I’ll be using rando meat and veggies)

L: Corn tortilla (sprouted) quesadilla w/ turkey, avocado, & cheese - side of berries

D: Lamb burgers (ground lamb, feta, spinach) w/ acorn squash & brussels sprouts

S: Fried plantains w/ precooked meat and shredded cheese

DAY 5

B: Bacon butternut squash quiche

L: Leftovers

D: Crock pot apple chicken (minus the bacon), parsnip mash, green beans

S: Salad of choice

DAY 6

B: Gluten free frozen waffles and breakfast sausage (Judge away for the frozen waffles, but this mama 

    needs a break occasionally and it’s better than GOING out to breakfast. )

L:  Tuna mixed with pickle, grapes, avocado, & yogurt, 1/2 a sweet potato

     (Chase will have banana & almond butter w/ 1/2 sweet potato)

D: Salmon, riced cauliflower, honey roasted carrots

S: Guacamole deviled eggs

DAY 7

B: Bananas and cream (coconut cream) w/ bacon

L: CLEAN OUT FRIDGE DAY! Eat leftovers! 

D: Bourbon chicken over rice noodles w/ zucchini & cabbage 

S: Leftover guacamole deviled eggs

Rando recipe to try if I have time: Empanadas 

Another menu!

No excuses! You have a meal plan. Make a grocery list and go forth, my friends! Eat well and be happy.

Day 1

B: Zucchini, sweet potato frittata w/ sausage

L: Green salad w/ chicken thighs and homemade balsamic

D: Grilled garlic flank steak with peppers/onions, baked beets

Day 2

B: Leftovers

L: Canned tuna patties (as in NOTHING in the can except for tuna and maybe water/salt) mixed with probiotic pickles, onions, and tomato w/ homemade guac

D: Mini chicken pot pies w/ green beans

Day 3

B: Scrambled eggs with kale, bacon, berries

L: Left overs

D: Shrimp fried rice w/ asparagus 

*Use the recipe linked for fried rice as a guide. I’m subbing chicken for shrimp, coconut aminos for soy sauce, and sesame oil for coconut oil

Day 4

B: Pumpkin pancakes w/ sausage 

L: Ice tray "bento box" (one ice cube tray for Chase, one for me. Yes, I like being a kid too.)

D: Pepperoni pizza chicken w/ parsnips & carrot stir fry 

Day 5

B: Egg scramble with any left over veggies w/ breakfast sliders 

L: Fridge clean out! Eat any leftovers and anything that may be going bad

D: Sweet potato lasagne w/ broccoli 

A weekly plan

Yeah, yeah...You don't have to say it, I'm a failure. This is a reoccurring theme in my life. I've accepted it. Anywho...

This is a fairly selfish post. I need to meal plan and you guys get to reap the benefits of my parading about the internet for a week of ideas. You'll notice that some things are really simple or not linked to a particular recipe and that's because sometimes simple is better. Especially if you have a screaming, flailing baby standing underneath of you wanting to be picked up. You'll also notice that we eat a lot of eggs. Don't fear the egg. It's good for ya!

Day 1
B: Coconut banana pancakes w/ bacon and fruit
L: leftovers from day before/clear your fridge out!
D: Meatloaf, Brussels sprouts, rice cooked in bone broth

Day 2
B: Scrambled eggs w/ shredded kale (or whatever green you have) and cheese, fruit
L: Kale salad w/ any leftover meats & Cinnamon honey fried bananas
D: Apple and bacon rosemary burgers w/ asparagus and sweet potatoes

Day 3
B: Noatmeal and sausage
L: Frittata
D: Brushetta chicken w/ broccoli & butternut squash

Day 4
B: Eggs w/ shredded kale & fruit
L: Banana w/ almond butter & leftovers from the week
D: Pork tenderloin, maple acorn squash & green beans

Day 5
B: Pumpkin porridge (as seen in Practical Paleo) w/ bacon
L: Lettuce wraps w/ ground beef, avocado, etc.
D: Salmon cakes (as seen in Practical Paleo) w/ avocado, sweet potato, asparagus

Week 3 & Various other failures

If you know me (or have read ANY of my blogs), you know that I'm a notorious failure. Like I really. Really. Suck. It's no big deal and I've come to terms with it in a loving, self-conflicted sort of way.

I'm going to keep week 3 short and simple. If you have made week's 1 & 2 changes and you're staying strong, this should be an easy task for you. We're going to investigate labels in your kitchen again. We're just clearing that b out, aren't we? If you find anything that has sugar in it, it has to go. Yep. And I don't mean looking at the label and saying, "Nope. I don't see the word 'sugar' anywhere on this." Sugar is a deceptive little a-hole and you really have to know what you're looking for sometimes. Soooooo, if you look at your labels and you see any of the words below, so farewell junky food!

Instead of typing all the different forms out, here's a nifty little list for you: CLICK ME

With the exception of honey...you know what I'm going to say, right? It's gotta go. I'm sorry. We can cry over it together. Now, here's where I apply the, "I've gotta live my life" rule. I occasionally consume sugar. Not in the form of prepackaged, crappy middle aisle grocery store food...but from home made baked goods. But it's rare. I use organic Florida crystals pure cane sugar and brown sugar when I do. I would HIGHLY recommend doing a sugar detox for a couple of weeks, just to get the cravings to die down a bit and cleanse your system of all the crap you've been ingesting. I swear, I don't crave junk much anymore. And when I do eat, say a Krispy Kreme or DQ (I know, I know), I get sick. Like it's not pretty. Like my son who is normally underneath of me 24 hours a day won't even come near me. Haha!

On a semi-related, semi-unrelated note, I've decided to take on another challenge that I give myself a good week before I fail. Self fulling prophecy of failing much? What's the challenge, you ask? I have decided to not go to the grocery store anymore. Yep. No more. I used to love grocery shopping. Before the kid. Before I HAD to make three meals a day. When I had options like Whole Foods and Central Market. Big C is generally awesome at the grocery store, so that's not the issue. Give that kid a green smoothie and he's set for 30 minutes. I just feel like I'm spending way too much money on things that I could get for cheaper online and/or better quality.

So, this is my proposal to myself:
Meat will be ordered twice a month from US Wellness Meat
Veggies/Fruit/Dairy come weekly through Annie's
All additional items will be purchased through various online retailers such as Amazon, Vitacost, or Frontier.
Am I forgetting anything? Please remind me if I am!

I think it's feasible. But I've also had a couple of beers and when that happens I get super ambitious. Which is why I've made jello and a cauliflower pizza crust, while typing this out. I needed to meal plan to make sure all of my lovely fresh veggies that I picked up today don't go bad...but Downton Abbey is calling my name. I bid you good day. I SAY GOOD DAY!

Week Two - No more oil!!

Sorry I kind of missed week two. We've been on vacay to Niagara Falls and made a rule of limited technology. However, Steve is in the hotel lobby doing home work, Big C is napping, and I'm bored! Which means, you guys get a very late week two of paleo transition. It'll be late since I can't post until we get back home in a few days. 

Niagara Falls is quite the interesting group of people. Between the clash of the many different cultures and all the unnecessary spandex...yeah. It's also difficult to maintain a healthy way of eating and I was getting quite anxious about it. So, instead of stressing myself out, I'm just going with the flow and I'll detox when I get home. Steve is in pizza heaven, but his insides don't get turned inside out like mine do when he eats a shit ton of gluten. For the future, we'll be getting hotels with kitchens and preparing our food at the hotel. It sure beats the $100+ a day spent on crap food. Suck it, tourist trap crap food places!! 

This week's change/goal stays in line with last week's oil change. It's really simple, but you'll likely find it really frustrating too. All you have to do is completely get rid of crap oils. Last week, we knocked out condiments/cooking oils and this week, we'll finish it off. 

You thought you got rid of the oils already? You may have gotten rid of a significant portion, but the likelihood of you still having some lurking around is high. So, open your fridge/cabinets/pantry and take everything out (or just go through everything, whatever you prefer). I want you to read the ingredients on everything you have. Remember all those no-no oils we talked about last week? If you have anything with those oils in it, get rid of it. I bet you'll notice that it eliminates a lot of things (including bread, which is no bueno any way). That's it. That's all you have to do this week. You don't even have to buy anything! You should have gotten your coconut/olive/avocado oils, ghee, and REAL butter last week, so you're in the clear with cooking. 

Just make sure when you buy things at the store, you read the ingredients. You'll be incredibly surprised at the amount of shi-at in anything boxed. We'll get you out of the middle aisles soon enough though. Heck, I still go in the middle aisles occasionally - you need spices/seasoning, nuts, etc. It's all about knowing what you're putting in your belly. And if you have kids, what you're putting in their bellies to set them up for future success. 

Now if the Frenchie people next door would quit yelling, that would be great. It was quite strange being in the elevator with a French couple, a German couple, and an English family...awkward. Or maybe they're over it and I'm being the awkward one. Haha!

Want to order some paleo yummies? I like Wild Mtn paleo market. Everything is strictly paleo compliant, so no label reading (although I would still recommend doing so)! 

Now go get rid of some oils!! And floss your teeth!! 

No homework this week. Things will be getting real next week, so brace yourself. ;-)