Food things

So here is some of the food ive eaten lately.... i love food so much.

So this was a quick stew for after work. I dislike cooking after working 12 hours so thus was easy, plus cornbread is amazing. 

Whipped sweet potatoes, bnq chicken, and brussels sprouts and bacon. My amazing friend Darien suggested tbe paring of bbq and sweet potatoes and its SO good. 

Salmon cakes from Well Fed 2, steames broccoli, and candied sweet potatoes

Paleo chilli over zuchinni noodles, asparagus and broccoli, and boiled egg. This chilli is also from Well Fed 2 and was sweater than i like my chilli. 

This is a horrible picture but i love starbucks banana walnut bread and i finally found a recipe that is VERY close in taste and consistancy. 

oh elusive sleep...

my son will be 17 months old in 5 days. He has never, not even once, slept all night. We have tried EVERYTHING.... i think my body hates me now. i never appreciated sleep until now. i never realized how important it really is... i'm tired all the time, have very little energy thoughout the day, i cant remember the simplest things (like how to spell simplest- seriously that was a task) it's just been rough, lately especially. i'm gaining weight, i'm not getting the house chores done, i dont feel like playing with the kids. i try to remain in good spirits about it.... i know my little man gets bigger every single day and i will miss his sweet love and cuddles, but i feel like i am getting really close to my breaking point. i dont mean to complain really, i'm just saying that if you see me and i look like a zombie dont be alarmed... i wont eat you...

it's shortly after 8 am and i have a mile long grocery list to tackle at the store with a child who kept me up all night... this should be fun!

some people ask me why we dont just let him cry... i know some people do that and they are ok with it, but i am not one of those people. i believe that babies cry for a reason. Even if that reason is simply protesting change. when our kids cry they are communicating to us in the only way they are able. i cannot ignore this. Especially at night because when he wakes up i know exactly what he wants- mama snuggles. sweet mama snuggles is all my boy wants, and  while it's so sweet it's exhausting.

Last night i tried... i tried to keep him in his bed, go to him an reassure him without picking him up, telling him its ok. ya know, the Dr. Sears method... or whoever's method it is. OH MY GAWWWWDDDD i mean maybe owen is just more stubborn than some kids but this child never settled, never even semi fell asleep. it was only crying, screaming, jumping up and down. trowing the stuffed animals etc. several times, one time for well over an hour. How to people stay consistent with that?? i dont get it.

i say all of that to say this....

my kid wont sleep
it sucks
i'm tired
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Back to fitness

The last time i posted about starting a new fitness goal i announced my pregnancy very shortly after. Well this time that isn't the case. I honestly have done very little exercise since my pregnancy began and now my little man will be turning 1 year old tomorrow. At first, breastfeeding kept me slim- making milk burns calories!! But now that my little man is eating more and more solid food and relying on mama milk less, the weight is coming back.  i weigh about 10 pounds more now than i did when i went back to work at 6 weeks postpartum. I'm not overweight per se, i'm just not as healthy or fit as i would like to be. fitness has always been important to me, and once i get motivated and back in the swing of things. i usually find it pretty easy to maintain.  I started back at the gym last week. I've been going around 5am which is early, but i'm finding that  my day seems easier and i feel less tired throughout my day. I've been doing mostly cardio to get my endurance up, and then i will add some weights as i progress. I've worked ab's and inner and outer thighs. I've been doing the Jacob's ladder everyday and staying on as long as i can stand- which isnt long because that machine is a BEAST.

Today we step it up a notch. fist with crossfit. i love the idea of crossfit. it's probably the easiest, yet most challenging way to lose weight and get fit. I'm beginning a two week beginner challenge that i found on a really cool Australian blog. They arent full WOD's (a work out of the day/full crossfit workout) but they are 15 minute ish challenges designed to get you ready for crossfit and to build endurance. What i love about them is that they are short, require no weights or equipment, and most can be done in the living room with the exception of the few running challenges. I will also be following this guys suggest diet regimine.

I'm not a fan of "diets" they just dont work.... anything that says you cant eat this or that just doesnt cut it in my book because we as humans tend to want what we cant have. if you tell me i cant have cake i'll be ok for a few days..... then i'll start thinking about cake.... then i will engulf the next one i see... sound familiar???

Well this diet regimine isnt exactly like that. its a mostly paleo type of diet, but not as many stipulations....

1. no white grains or starches- this means no white potatoes, no white bread, no white rice. BUT you can have whole wheat bread, sweet potatoes, and brown rice.
2. no soda or juice that has been sweetened with sugar or artificially- this wont be too hard for me personally because we dont buy soda at home. Brookshires carries a few unsweetened juices. There's an apple juice in a glass jar that i LOVE.
3. drink LOTS of water
4. eat meats and vegetables that are high in protein like these meats  and vegetables
5. all food should be consumed within 8 hours- that's the kicker for me, but supposedly if the correct amount of protein is consumed you shouldn't feel hungry at all. Skip breakfast completely.
6. any whole fruits are ok, no canned or jarred or otherwise processed fruit.

and thats it!! In addition to this you are supposed to sleep 8 hours, cold soak for 10 minutes each day, and walk around every 20 minutes if you have a desk or otherwise not physically active job.

I'm excited to try this and see what my results will be. this guy swears results in 2 weeks just by following the guidlines- but doesnt everyone!!

Anyway, i'm pretty darn excited to be back in the gym and taking care of my body. We eat pretty healthy, but my physical fitness is severely lacking at the moment lol! My goal isnt to lose weight necessarily- though i hope i do, its just to get optimal physical fitness whatever number the scale reads at that point will be great :)

What's cookin lately

I realize i havent posted in a while. Owen is teething and is restless and i'm usually exhausted by the time i get "me" time. I wanted to re-cap some of the things i've been making lately. I can finally proudly say that i have been finding ways to use up my bountiful baskets each week. Its easy to get lazy and not cook, prep, or freeze everything and i always feel so bad about throwing it out. I dont have time to spend hours in the kitchen, and i dont like fussy, fancy, delicate food. I like simple, quick, easy to make and REAL food. My pantry stays almost completely bare of canned, processed, and packaged food with a few exceptions. I'm looking for an alternative to cereal that we can all enjoy, and of course i buy dry pasta and rice and bread etc. dont get me wrong, i freakin love me some oreo's, but we have decided that foods like that will be had only as treats on outings or special times.


 Here are a few of jesse's work meals:

I made this pasta salad today. We all love it! Noodles, olive oil, lemon juice, a touch of ranch, olives, cucumber, red bell pepper, and spinach. This is also great with chicken and onion added in! I made a stir fry of bell peppers, onions, and chicken and added some diced tomato at the end to accompany this salad. 

I made this a while ago and meant to post the recipe and i completely forgot. i made this up one day when i was needing to cook a HUGE napa cabbage. I cooked the cabbage, bell pepper, carrots, onion, and beef in sesame oil, and soy sauce. Then i added sliced mushrooms and a bit more soy sauce and some chilli sauce to add some heat. Served over rice and it was so good!! It was a ground beef version of twice cooked pork. 

on lazy days i sent jesse to work with a few sandwiches, some fresh veggies, and ranch and home made peanut butter. He eats the protein bar about an hour before his work out session. 

We got a crap ton of asparagus. This was another "oh crap gotta hurry" meal. Brookshires has these herb crusted tilapia filets and they're delicious!! Served with lemony herb rice and baked asparagus. I squirted a little lemon juice on everything. 

More baked asparagus, a couple of pieces of chicken breast, and  baked zucchini gratin-recipe to come! Jesse LOVED the gratin-recipe to come!

nine whole months

Today makes 9 months since Owen's birth. I cant believe how fast the time is soaring by. 

He is such a sweet,  loving, and high maintenance little boy. Within the past 2 weeks he has had 3 teeth poke through. First he got the top right front tooth, a few days ago the bottom left front came in, and this morning i noticed the bottom front right one making its appearance. He has been a cranky little butt, but i cant blame him. We have reached 9 whole months of exclusively breastfeeding!!! 

i feel like throwing a party to celebrate-seriously... 

one thing i can say about my breastfeeding journey is that it has been a challenge. While it has been wonderful and rewarding it has also been tough at times. The important thing and the best advise i could offer to any mother is to keep trying. Don't let the trials overwhelm you. Dont let anyone pressure you into stopping. Mastitis is a beast i learned, but i continued letting Owen nurse even tho my doctor said women often stop because of the pain. After mastitis i had seriously lower supply but tredged forward anyway. My supply still isnt what it once was, but we are working on it day by day. 

Abigale and owen are the best of friends already. She adores him and loves spending time with him. She is an amazing big sister. 

He tucks his big sister into bed every night. 

yesterday we spent a little time at the park while the sun was out. My sister, ella, the kids, and i had a great time. They love playing together. Ella just loves owen too. 

abigale saw a girl from school and they just had to swing together. I love seeing her making friends. She is growing so fast as well. She is such a sweet child. 

It seems like i just had my little bubba and now so quickly he is wanting to walk and sprouting teeth! He is such a handsome little thing :) 

i cant say it enough...

i love bountiful baskets. LOVE it. it's been such an awesome thing for our family and i always get soooo excited waiting to see what we will get. I recently read a blog post that was pretty negative about BB and it honestly made me feel personally offended! it was like they were stabbing me instead of BB. I dont work for them, and have honestly never even volunteered to help because i have to work on pick up day. I think this last weeks basket is my favorite ever

from left to right (kind of) lemongrass, mint, cilantro, mushrooms, green onions, coconut, napa cabbage, lemons, garlic, red onion, some strange fruits, limes, dried red chillis, carrots, bell peppers, bok choy, ginger, radishes, strawberries, asparagus, celery, bananas, and leaf lettuce. 

WHOA! i think thats a lot of produce for $23 bucks! 

today i cooked the bok choy to send to work with Jesse in his lunch. I made my Rosemary and Lemon Pepper Chicken and green beans(his favorite) and the bok choy. i like to sautee it on the stove. 

first melt a few TBS of butter and a couple cloves of garlic in a pan over medium high heat

then add clean. chopped bok choy and stir it around for a few minutes.
I season with salt and pepper and a smidge of the minced dried chilli
cook for about 5 minutes or so until the white parts are tender and the leaves are wilted.
you dont want to over cook it, thats just not nice.

Yes, i forgot to take a pic of the stuff when it was done....sorry!

Now lets talk about butter. If you buy margarine i command you to go to your fridge right now and throw that crap in the garbage where it belongs! Stay far, far away! Ok, now that you are back here is an alternative to margarine that i LOVE. i know real butter is fattening, but the ingredient list in margarine is straight up scary.... I challenge you to give Challenge Butter a try, i promise you'll thank me! It's real butter made spreadable with canola oil. Check out the ingredient lis (below the pic) 

Ingredients: Pasteurized cream(made from milk), canola oil, salt,  vitamin A, beta  carotene, DHA  algal oil. 

I've taken owen to the park a few times recently and today he tried to eat a leaf.... no worries, i got it before he ate it...

 and when i took it away this is the face he made.... that poor tooth coming in is giving him hell and my sweet, happy, loving boy has turned into a severe whiny baby.

I am learning to be more frugal and i love it! Now  i just need to unlike all the WAHM pages on facebook  and tell all my friends not to advise me of sales... i set up a budget and worked on it all weekend then i come home, get on facebook, and now i have purchased, wool yarn, lip balm making stuff, knee wraps for jesse, baby legs for owen, tea from teavana..... OMG!!! AND i'm getting a new blender!! So much for budgeting!!

Think outside the box!

Abigale love's boxed mac n cheese and so do I! I stopped buying it maybe 2 years or so ago and i havent really had much mac since. i am always looking forward to christmas and thanksgiving because my cousin always makes awesome baked mac n cheese to bring to our family gathering. 

i decided it was about dang time to make some mac n cheese from scratch. Being from the south you would think it would be common practice in my home but i have honestly never made it before today! After talking to Darien i decided i had to use the recipe from iowa girl eats and  i am sooooo glad i did!! 

Talk about yummy!! Abigale actually thought it was from a box!! 

We had not box mac n cheese, fresh (not frozen) green beans, and BBQ chicken tenders! 

If you have never made your own BBQ sauce you should! It's not hard, and it'll be yummy!! 

On a completely different subject. I hate beer, like really hate beer but i need to drink/use it. Anyone have any tried n true recipes to use beer in? Or is there a beer out there for people who dont like beer?? Hmmmm.......

Also, i have discovered refrigerator oatmeal!! And while most people that i know who like hot oatmeal do not like the cold stuff, i love it because i HATE oatmeal. 

oatmeal and beer are both supposed to help breastmilk production and i need the help at the moment unfortunately :( 

8 months today

he wants to be standing at all times! The kid is gonna walk before he crawls!

his first bite of a french fry... it didnt end well at all. 

hi there!

he loves that little fish 

haha, Abigale was trying to scare him

crawling all over and up the couch! 

sleepy bubba

i just love his little hands 

and sweet little feet 

i just want to keep him so small and sweet.

two things i love!

Know what i love?? Tacos! Know what else i love?? Bountiful baskets!! Put them together and you get dinner!!

I'm a pretty simple gal. i like simple easy GOOD food. i love to cook, but i love to cook simple things. You wont find me making meals that take hours to prepare (unless its in a crock pot!) Tacos are my favorite for so many reasons! They are easy to make, easy to clean up, dont require utensils, and you can put just about anything in them!! 

if i use hamburger meat i do usually use that good ole packet seasoning, but i buy one that contains natural spices, no MSG, and no artificial flavors or colors (crazy that you actually have to TRY to avoid those)

Here are a few of my favorite preparations! 

Pictured: 

BB flour tortillas, ground beef with taco seasoning, mozzarella cheese, green bell pepper, onion, and lettuce 

*corn tortilla, chicken fajita meat, shredded colby cheese, black beans, corn, onion, and tomato

*corn tortilla, beef skirt steak, cilantro, queso fresco, tomato, and onion

*flour tortilla, fajita meat, spinach, bell pepper, onion, tomato, cilantro, and lime juice  

DROOL.... TEETH!!

It occurred to me the other day at Abigale's birthday party that my son is 8 months old (will be tomorrow) and still has zero teeth. He was playing with the adorable little miss Piper who is a few weeks older than him. She has 3 teeth, he has none. It's nothing to be concerned with as far as development goes. Some children get their teeth later, and actually from what i have read late blooming seems to be a good thing. BUT Owen has been teething, drooling, and fussing for MONTHS! He wakes up with his teeth hurting in the middle of the night, and teething tablets are a joke! He wont chew frozen teethers, or frozen rags, or frozen anything for that matter. When i have some, he likes chewing on celery and thick pieces of cucumber. He also likes chewing on my purse handle, but it's sad. He just whines while he chews. I feel bad for him. His teeth are beginning to make their way to the surface, i can see them under his gums. I see several teeth in there actually, and now i'm so afraid that they are all gonna poke through at once. The past few days he has been in super drool mode, and super whine mode. Unless he is being fed he is whining (or thats how it feels anyway. Unfortunately it looks like he could potentially have 8 teeth coming in at the same time!! OMGGGGGGG I'm trying to keep my sanity and think that if they all do happen to come in at the same time i will at least get it over with!!!

George Jones

George Jones is playing a farewell tour and just so happens to be coming to greenville to play downtown. i wish Mamaw were still here to see him. She loved George Jones. I have all of her old records and she had a TON of his albums and they're all signed. i wish they weren't in storage so that i could post a picture. I've never necessarily been a fan of his, but now that he is coming and mamaw is gone i keeping feeling like i want to go just for her. i miss mamaw. I miss dinner at her house, black eyed pea cornbread, mashed potatoes, and meat loaf would be so good right now. So many things remind me of her, and of the times we spent together. i know everyone has a time, and she lived a long and hopefully happy life, but it's hard not to be sad sometimes. She was such an amazing grandmother to my sister and I. i hope i am half the grandmother she was to us. 

chocolate chip cookies for one please

Ever since i got pregnant with Owen i've had a sweet tooth. I've always liked sweets in moderation but now its like GIVE ME THAT COOKIE!! If i am wanting something sweet i will literally eat everything in my path in attempt to satisfy the craving. We dont keep many sweets in the house so for me a craving for sweets usually means i have to bake something. My loverly husband gets upset when he comes home to tons of cookies or cake because he has zero self control and will eat them all up ruining his hard work at the gym. SO to in an attempt to satisfy my sweet tooth AND keep a happy husband I have finally after a few attempts created a recipe for chocolate chip cookies that makes a perfect dozen!! I'm also lazy and hate washing dishes after baking so i have managed to create these cookies using only 5 items that need to be washed :) 

i use unbleached flour so they look slightly darker than golden 

The perfect dozen

1/4 cup room temp butter (i buy the cute half sticks) 

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla 

1/2 cup+2T flour

1/4t salt 

1/4t baking soda

1/2 cup chocolate chips (or whatever yumminess you want to add to the batter)

1/2 egg*

*i know, i know... how to get half an egg?? I have used the white of one egg and it works great! or, if you are crafty enough crack the egg and only allow half of it to ooze into the bowl. 

Preheat oven to 375

1. in a bowl combine butter and sugars 

        *i use a spoon and press the mix against the side of the bowl until it forms a consistent buttery dough 

2. add vanilla and egg and stir with spoon until incorporated 

3. in a second bowl combine flour, salt, and baking soda

4. slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir until dough is formed

       * if the dough looks too thin add a touch more flour

5. add chocolate chips and stir to combine

6. scoop spoon fulls onto cookie sheet and bake about 10 minutes until golden and delicious!!! 

so total i used 2 bowls, 1 spoon, a cookie sheet, and a 1/4 cup measuring cup. For all of the tsp ingredients i eyeball it :) 

These are so dang good! i always eat a few, then store the others in a ziploc bag and hide them in the pantry!!! YUMMMYYY 

i bought a juicer!!

Look what i made!! 

i bought a juicer today and i am so excited!! i made this juice for abigale and i as a snack 

2 apples

1/2 lime

a piece of a beet 

a big handful of spinach 

sounds interesting enough right? i was afraid it would be really gross, but it was lovely! Abigale liked it and even said she would drink it every day if i made it for her!! I've been wanting to make juices or green smoothies and now i have the means to do so!!