Some Tips for Health this Holiday Season!

Halloween is TOMORROW guys!!! Ahhhh! My favorite time of year is just around the corner! I love the coziness of fall/beginning of winter. I hope you all are having a great, happy, and healthy season so far! I just wanted to share with you some good tips for staying healthy this Holiday season and maybe speeding up your recoveries if you DO get sick. ❤ A friend of mine has said “If we approach the season with a growth mindset decided on what we pre-define as success then it is totally possible to ENJOY the season and some of it’s indulgences AND ALSO feel great because of habits we decide on ahead of time that will make it simple to make healthy choices.” And I totally agree!

So how do we go for success in this area? I want to share with you what some extremely health-wise friends have shared with me.

1. Make up your mind. Decide in advance what you will enjoy and how much. This time of year, candy is out the WAZOO. Pre-commit to only a certain reasonable amount of treats each week. One mini-snickers each day is not going to derail your health over a short period of time, but grabbing one every-other time you walk by it DEFINITELY will.
   If you have children that trick or treat talk to them ahead of time about what they hope they get during their outings and that when they get home they can pick 10-20 total pieces of their favorite candy to keep. (And no fair eating it yourself! 😉 )
2. Donate. One candy donation program that is available in most areas is Halloween Candy Buy Back, which donates candy to military overseas in care packages. This candy is also often used to give to kids in villages that the military has a presence in to promote good-will and create relationships based on kindness and giving. This is especially close to my heart being a former military family. However, whether you donate or discard the excess treats just be sure to get it out of the house! Why create the temptation to chip away at the stash until it’s down to Double Bubble and hard candy and you finally throw it away?! (talking to myself here too!)
3. Notice how good it feels to be healthy. Think about how good it feels to NOT get that sugar crash. The short term benefits from sugar are most certainly addicting, but the sugar crash that comes with it creates brain fog, headaches, reduced immunity and lethargy. Be intentional to make the mental connection to the sense of accomplishment and clear-mindedness that occurs when you make healthy decisions to not partake or consume beyond what you committed to.
4. Don’t beat yourself up. If in the course of festivities you over-do it and eat five too many reese’s peanut butter cups, chalk it up to the short term enjoyment you get out of it, but re-commit to your plan and begin to replenish your body by hydrating well and supplementing with the vitamins and nutrients that sugar depletes.
   Health Nut Tidbit: When your body metabolizes a carbohydrate, (sugar is a carb), it uses vitamin B, Zinc and magnesium to process it all, among others. When we are depleted of these things, it sends the body into an imbalance, which often leaves us craving a quick burst of energy and we ironically go to sugar for that, which is what has cause the depletion in the first place.
   Stop the cycle by going to the root of what is needed to bring back balance instead of throw fuel on the fire.

   Don’t think its too silly to write down something like the number of treats you’ll allow yourself weekly, but when you write it down you increase your success rate ten-fold!

 

Heres a Bonus Recipe for a Healthier version of Resees Peanut Butter Cups! Enjoy!Healthy Resees Peanut Butter Cups  

Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer

I’m sorry I haven’t posted in a while! School started, and that has been a huge adjustment for us. 

Oh! Also! I completed training for a 5k last week! It was fantastic! I’ve never been a runner, and this time around, it was so much easier. And enjoyable! I think I’m a runner guys!! I’m gonna jump into increasing my speed next week! 😊 I’m so pumped!!! 
Anyway, I found a fantastic pumpkin spice creamer recipe guys. Like non-dairy based. Like healthy. And I actually enjoy it! I still have to be convinced that there’s a good alternate pumpkin pie recipe, but this one sold me! 
Ingredients: 

• 1 can Coconut cream (5.4 oz) 
• 2/3 cup of pumpkin purée(NOT pumpkin pie filling!) 
• 2 tbsp real maple syrup
• 2 tbsp pure vanilla extract 
• 1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice 
• 1/4 tsp salt 

You dump that all in a good blender and blend for a minute or until combined. Refrigerate any leftover. 😊 

Happy Fall Y’all! ❤️

The BLAT

Introducing…the BLAT. 😂 Bacon, Lettuce, Avocado and Tomato!

This one pretty much speaks for itself, but I’ll share what we did.

• One leaf of romaine lettuce
• Two strips of bacon
• A couple slices of tomato
• A couple slices of avocado
• You could even add some healthy version of mayo if that’s your thing!

We are affectionaly calling it a BLAT thanks to my hubby. 😂

Yummy!!! Enjoy! ❤️

Dairy-free Cauliflower Soup

This is another Brooke Thomas recipe and I am a HUGE fan of most of her recipes!! It’s amazing how GOOD she makes healthy taste. I’ll admit this guys…I ate the whole thing. All the soup. By myself. 🤣 So good. Mine was just topped with cilantro and pepper! I can also see adding avocado or something like that. 

Ingredients:

– 1 head of cauliflower (about 1 1/2 lbs broken into florets) 

– 1 medium onion thinly sliced 

– 3-4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped (if you’re like me and hate to chop garlic, there are loads of kitchen tools that can easily do the chopping for you!) 

– 3 tablespoons of olive oil 

– salt to taste 

– 5 1/2 cups water 
Directions: 

– Warm the olive oil in a soup pot or large pan. Add the onion and cook on low for about 15 mins. 

– Add cauliflower, garlic, onion, salt to taste and 1/2 cup of water. Increase heat to medium-low. Cover the pot and stew the cauliflower for 15-18 minutes, or until tender. 

Add another 4 1/2 cups of hot water, bring to a low simmer and cook uncovered for 20 minutes. 

– Purée the soup in batches in a blender to a very smooth, creamy consistency. Pour back into pot and let it rest for 20 minutes to get a thick consistency.

– Thin the soup with 1/2 cup hot water. Reheat the soup. Top with croutons (whole wheat and homemade if possible), a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, cilantro and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Enjoy!! 

Protein Oatmeal

My kids love this. I was always an instant oatmeal packet girl as a kid, and this is a pretty darned good replacement for all the sugar and extra yuckies you can find in those packets. WHY DOES EATING HEALTHY HAVE TO BE SO HARD?!?! *insert long sigh* Ok rant over. But seriously. Its been one of those weeks. Like whats the point?? I just want to go eat a frozen pizza and binge out on ice cream. Not because I’m craving it! But because my emotional stress has been THROUGH. The. Roof. Its crazy. I stress eat. I used to stress eat ALL the time. So I’m getting better at that. But this week…phew. And please excuse my messy dining room table in the picture. I snapped it as soon as I could so I could share it with you all.

Anyway! Heres the recipe!

Ingredients: 

• 2 cups of old fashioned oats
• 3 1/4 cups of almond milk
• 3 scoops of protein powder (We use Plain and Simple Life Shake, we love how it doesn’t change the flavor of anything like most protein powders. This link will bring you to the Life Shake: bit.ly/Plainandsimple )
• 1 banana
• 1 cup of strawberries
• 1/4 cup of honey
• a little vanilla extract
• mini chocolate chips (optional)

Instructions: 

1. Heat up the Almond Milk until bubbly
2. Add the oats
3. Slice up the banana and add it to the oatmeal
4. Add the honey and vanilla
5. When it reaches your desired consistency, turn off the stove.
6. Cut up some strawberries and sprinkle on top! We added a tiny bit of chocolate chips for garnish and for fun. My kids flipped, they were so excited.

 

Health and happiness!

Healthy Chicken Parmesan

So my husband had an absolute stroke of brilliance !!! I always run my mouth about my passion for eating healthy, but I totally underestimated him! He was listening ladies. It is possible!! I credit the book/journal “30 Days of Encouraging Your Husband” By Nancy Leigh DeMoss. It is fantastic. Its not for the faint of heart, but it is a GREAT resource to build and grow your family.

Anyways! Recipe! (Food processor needed)

Ingredients: 

• 4 chicken breasts, fat trimmed and sliced in half to make 8.
• Almonds
• Old Fashioned Oats
• 1/4 Cup grated Parmesan Cheese
• 2 Tbsp. Olive Oil (We use extra virgin.)
• 3/4 cup Mozzarella Cheese (We use antibiotic, hormone, preservative free. Organic if possible. But its not always possible.)
• 1 Cup Tomato sauce (We use organic from Costco. It comes in bulk and our girls love it with their healthy spaghetti!)

Directions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 450. Lightly grease a large baking sheet. (We used more olive oil)
2. In a food processor, use half almonds and half old fashioned oats and make a almond/oat flour (I eyeball this. You want about 3/4 cup of almond/oat flour). Combine the parmesan cheese with the flour.
3. Brush the olive oil onto the chicken, then dip the chicken into the flour/cheese mixture. Place on baking sheet and repeat with the rest of the chicken.
4. Brush a little more olive oil on top and bake for 25 minutes.
5. Remove from oven and spoon 1 tbsp of sauce over each piece of chicken and top with 1 1/2 tbsp of shredded mozzarella cheese.
6. Bake 5 more minutes or until cheese is melted.

We ate it with steamed broccoli and mashed potatoes. The potatoes were made with butter and almond milk. The veggies were lacking a bit because I like to be able to fill half my plate with veggies right now to make sure I’m getting my veggies in on the Shaklee 180 diet, but it was an incredible meal! I begged my husband to make it for me on a romantic night sometime soon! YUM!!! Enjoy!

Bell Pepper Pizzas

I found this on pinterest. This is a fun one to make with your kiddos! They will also be much more inclined to actually eat it if they help out. 😉 Keep striving for those veggies!! The health benefits are SO worth it.

Ingredients:
1 large bell pepper
1/4 cup pizza or spaghetti sauce
1/4 cup grated cheese
a pinch of red pepper flakes
a pinch of basil or parsley
toppings (I love adding broccoli to mine.)

Instructions
1. Pre-heat your oven or toaster to 350.
2. Slice off each of the four sides of your pepper and lay flat on a baking sheet.
3. Top with sauce, then cheese, followed by any veggie!
4. Bake for 10 minutes, turning your oven to broil towards the end.
5. Add a pinch of red pepper flakes and basil/parsley.
6. YUM!

So you’re thinking about having kids…

(Disclaimer: If you’re not a Christian, stop reading, you’re not going to want to read this. My faith is my lifeline and I talk very much about it in this blog post.)
My husband always jokes around and tells everyone not to have kids. And believe me, I get that. I just stepped away from typing up this blog post about ten times after finishing two sentences. No joke! And I argued with my 2 year old that the pepper pizza we ate for lunch is hot. Not cold.
It was a full-blown debate.
Think mind blown from stupidity.
I then went on to start World War III with a stare down when I told my 3 year old she needs to eat this pepper crusted pizza before she can play. I’m holding an 8 month old while I type.
My 4 year old also likes to touch…a lot. She never stops talking. So if she’s not talking, she’s making someone else make a whole lot of noise. I could go on and on about what it looks like in our little home right now, but I think you get the picture. You might be thinking “I could never do that.” Or maybe “WHY would you do that?! What sane human being inflicts themselves with that kind of crazy and still wants more kids?” Or “how the heck are you blogging? Why would you even try to blog?”

The answer to the last question is this: If I don’t, who will? Who will tell you that it may look crazy and legitimately be crazy and messy to have children but that the bible calls children blessings? Who will tell you that the reality is no matter how long you wait, you’re never going to be ready for kids? Who will tell you that kids are one of the biggest tools God uses to shape you into the person He wants you to become? Who will tell you that when God gives you kids in any way, shape or form, it is one of the highest, most precious callings? Who will encourage you to tell the next generation what you know? I wish that someone had told me things about having kids and consistently checked up on me and encouraged me.

So I blog. I blog to tell you that its ok to have crazy and messy. God loves you anyway. I blog to encourage you because God knows I find myself in places I am in dire, dire need of encouragement too. I blog to inspire you to be the best you can be. I blog to tell you that God is with you. That He’s proud of you for raising those children and that it isn’t crazy and messy forever. I’m blogging to help remind my future self of the truth too.

The truth is this: keep pushing forward! Never stop learning. Strive to grow in your spiritual walk even though you’re tired…I know you’re tired or will be tired…like not a full night’s sleep in 5 years tired. I get that 100%. I get feeling lonely and like nobody understands.
I’m learning the hard way that we need to strive to train our minds to remember the truth. I cannot emphasize how crucial this is. Look to the Bible even if it doesn’t make sense. Even if all the words blur on the pages no matter how many cups of coffee you’ve had. Keep leading your heart and mind to the truth that God loves you and God is with you. Always. He desires to teach you. He desires to train you. He desires to still your mind and give you peace if you just let Him. Relax. Let Him.

Fertility…Pregnancy…Postpartum…Breastfeeding…Do you have questions?

For some, childbearing comes easily. It’s normal to think of married life with children in the picture somewhere along the road and all the sweet baby giggles and baby things.

But for some others, this is a source of constant pain. The reminder that there isn’t a little one to hold and love. My goal in hosting this event is to encourage you!

There are still other moms who are just struggling with pregnancy or postpartum depression. You’re confused because you know that your baby is the best thing to ever happen to you, but you just don’t feel it! You’re sad or anxious but don’t want to tell anyone because the typical response is something like “cherish them while you have them!”
I am for you too mama.

This journey is hard!! Sometimes we just need to know that someone is in our corner, cheering us on. That is the purpose of this event, to extend support and encouragement! Join us! We’d love to have you!

Healthy Shepherd’s Pie

I will have to add a picture later, as we ate the end product SO fast I forgot to take a picture.

This recipe is from Brooke Thomas and it is SO. GOOD.

My hubby was pleasantly surprised at how good this was. Especially since I replaced his beloved mashed potatoes for cauliflower. I’m still working with my kiddos on eating veggies…sometimes it seems like they have a veggie radar! Ugh! At least I get veggies into them with the Life Shakes. They can’t even tell in those!

Anywho! Yummy recipe below! You will need a food processor or a blender.

Ingredients:

• 1lb of grass fed meat. (Ground beef, chicken, turkey, pork…almost any ground meat will work)
• 1 Onion, diced.
• 1 Teaspoon of minced garlic or garlic powder.
• 2 Carrots, chopped.
• 1 Cup of frozen peas.
• 1 Tablespoon each of rosemary, sage and thyme
• 1 Head of cauliflower, chopped and boiled in water until soft.
• 2 Tablespoons of raw butter.
• Salt & Pepper

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a deep-sided, oven safe saute pan, add the ground beef and saute on medium heat until browned. Drain any excess fat/grease and return the beef to the pan. Add the onions, garlic, carrots and peas and cook until softened. Turn the heat off and toss in the herbs along with the salt and pepper.
3. In a blender or food processor, add cauliflower, butter and salt to taste and blend until smooth. Spoon the mixture on top of the meat and press into an even layer with your spatula.
4. Bake in the oven, on the middle rack, for 20 minutes. Let it sit a few minutes before serving.

 

Yum! Enjoy!!