Shrimp, Pink Eye, Toilets

Here's some randomness for y'all...

I pin on pinterest a lot more than I actually follow through with my "pins".

I'm sure I'm not the only one guilty of this.

I pin all these GREAT ideas, recipes, and crafts, and that's really all that happens to them...

They just get pinned.

This weekend, however, I actually followed through, and tried out a recipe I found on pinterest!

It's a shrimp and asparagus dish with a lemon soy sauce.

It's asian inspired, and I must say...

It was NOT a pinterest fail!

It was a pinterest win!!!!

And these two...

We went to a local wing joint for lunch, and of course the boys in the family were fixated on the basketball game on TV...lol

I asked him to make a "kissy face" for a selfie, and this is what I got!

Here's a better one...

my sweet sweet son....

Dannika woke up with pink eye this morning....

Luckily, we caught it early, got her to see her pediatrician today (hooray for being open on Sundays!), got her some drops, and she'll be good to go for school tomorrow!

This is why her one eye is all wonky in this mother/kids selfie...

My son got caught playing in the toilet again today.......

This is his look of shame...again....

He has toilet water all over him...and his face...

 

 And this is his rotten little face...post toilet water incident...

SO ROTTEN.

And yet, he's so dang cute....

The struggle is real, folks...

I am now sitting here watching the Oscars with my husband....

Realizing that we don't watch movies anymore....

Because we have kids....

Have a great week, y'all!

Cauli-fried rice

I've been on the "cauliflower train" for a while now.

I feel like I've liked cauliflower before it became "trendy".

Thanks to Pinterest, I've seen an explosion of recipes replacing carbs with cauliflower.

I think people get the misconception though that just because there are "no carbs" in a recipe, it makes it healthy.

For instance...

The "cauli-crust" pizza (so popular lately) in theory sounds pretty healthy, but then I see the amount of cheese you have to put into it to make it bind.

Not so healthy.

Sometimes, it's just better to stick with the original, in my humble non-expert opinion.

I don't believe in dieting.

I spent a better part of my twenties dieting, and frankly, dieting is not fun.

It sucks.

In those years of yo yo diets and fad diets, I did learn quite a bit about my body, and what makes me gain weight like a balloon.

So today, as a thirty year old mother of two, I make MOSTLY healthy choices when I eat.

One thing I know about my body (notice I said MY body...not yours), breads and pastas (whole wheat or white) makes me gain unnecessary weight.

That doesn't mean I don't eat them!

But I choose to eat them earlier in my day (breakfast & lunch), and try and avoid it for dinner.

And going out to eat is always an exception.....

Who can resist the free bread/tortilla chips they give you at restaurants!?

ANYWAY,

One of my favorite foods is fried rice.

It's delicious, but the main ingredient in that dish is...RICE! (DUN DUN DUN).

Instead of rice, I use cauliflower.

Nick took it to class, and the guys could not believe it wasn't rice!

It's absolutely delicious too!

I could eat it every day!

So I'm going to share my recipe with you!

Ingredients:

1 head of caulflower (chopped into florets)

2-3 Cups of frozen mixed vegetables  

1/2 of an onion chopped

2 cloves of garlic (minced)

2tsps of ginger (minced)

2-3 tbsp sesame seed oil

soy sauce

1tbsp of full fat REAL butter (yes...butter in moderation isn't horrible for you!)

salt

pepper

Directions:

1. In a food processor, pulse 1/2 the cauliflower at a time. You don't want to pulse it for TOO long because your cauliflower gets mushy, and it's important to do it in two batches (otherwise you'll end up over processing it, and it'll look like mush instead of a "rice like" consistency).

2. Heat your sesame seed oil and butter in a wok (or a pan if you don't have a wok). Once the butter melts add your garlic, onion, and ginger and let it get fragrant (just about a minute or two). 

3. Add the cauliflower and frozen veggies to the pan and let the cauliflower cook for a few minutes. Add your soy sauce, salt and pepper based on your preference. Remember soy sauce is pretty salty on its own, so you don't need a ton of salt!

4. If you don't like the taste of cauliflower, then let it cook longer, and let the flavors absorb into it. I personally like the taste of it, so I tend to pull it off the heat when it's still has a little bit of a "crunch" to it. 

Super easy, and super delicious!

My kids love it, and my husband loves it, so it's a winning dish at my house! 

Enjoy!

Skinny Cheeseburger Casserole

One of my favorite things to do is to take a fattening, hearty dish and make it healthy.

I like to scroll through recipes and figure out ways to make it healthier without losing its deliciousness.

I found an awesome recipe for cheeseburger casserole on foodnetwork.com (I believe it was Bobby Dean's recipe), but it was loaded with fat.

It used ground beef, rotini pasta noodles, butter, cheese....

I'm salivating thinking about all these delicious fatty ingredients, but like I always say...

Nothing tastes better than being healthy!

I replaced the pasta with sweet potato cubes (Nick and I don't eat refined carbs of any sort after lunch time), I replaced the ground beef with extra lean ground turkey, I replaced the canned tomatoes with fresh tomatoes, I replaced the butter with olive oil, and I used a cheddar cheese made with skim milk instead of full fat cheese.

I also halved the amount of cheese the original recipe called for.

I tweaked the recipe and made it healthier, and made it my own.

Ingredients (in absolutely no particular order):

1 1/3 lbs of extra lean ground turkey (I used Jennie O's extra lean)

3 medium sized sweet potatoes (peeled and cubed)

1/2 a head of chopped iceburg lettuce

1/2 of an onion (finely chopped)

3 roma tomatoes diced (save the juice!)

1 can of low sodium cream of mushroom soup (I prefer low sodium over fat free because frankly, we all need to cut down on salt, and fat free just means a lot of other crap is in it that we don't need in our bodies.)

4 cloves of garlic (finely minced) <---I'm a garlic addict...feel free to use less

salt

black pepper

2 tbsp tomato paste

2tbsp dijon mustard 

1/2 cup of skim milk cheddar shredded cheese

1 cup of dill pickles (finely chopped)

chopped scallions for garnish

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Take a 9x12 baking dish/casserole dish and spray with non stick spray (I use Pam olive oil).

2. Get a pot of water on the stove and bring to a boil. Once boiling, throw your sweet potatoes in just until they get tender. Don't let them overcook, or they'll be mushy and turn more into a mash in your casserole! Once they are done, drain them, and put them aside...they should not be mushy!

3. In a large skillet, heat your olive oil over medium-low heat, and add the onions. Cook until soft. Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Stir in the ground turkey and cook until browned; season with salt and pepper (I just throw in a big pinch!). Stir in the tomato paste and cream of mushroom soup, then add the diced tomatoes and mustard. Let the mixture get bubbly and thicken (just a couple minutes).

4. Gently stir the sweet potatoes into the skillet with the ground turkey, and transfer it to your casserole dish. Top with shredded cheese and diced pickles. Put in the oven for about 20 minutes.

5. To serve, just spoon onto a plate and add iceberg lettuce on top!

My family loved it!

My husband took it to work as leftovers the next day, and couldn't stop talking about how good it was!

I'll try and start posting more recipes soon!

It's been so long since I have, and I have an arsenal of super delicious and healthy recipes that I cook daily for my family!

Back To Routine (And recipes and stuff)

Today was my first day back in "mama mode".

The husband went back to work, and once again, I found myself chugging my coffee this morning while juggling the breakfasts of two kids.

It was a welcome change though after 5 days of being waited on hand and foot by my wonderful husband.

I crave routine in my days, and the past 5 days have been nothing close to a routine.

First thing getting back into a routine...

On Sunday nights, I make my husband breakfast for the week.

It's something I started doing for him because I realized the man never eats breakfast in the morning.

Recipe:

18 egg whites

1 Cup of almond milk (unsweetened)

3 Cups of chopped spinach

1 Cup of chopped baby bella mushrooms

1/2 Cup of cooked uncured bacon (chopped)

salt & pepper

(Preheat oven to 375 degrees)

1. Beat egg whites with almond milk

2. Toss in veggies and bacon

3. Dash of salt and pepper

4. Pour into a greased casserole dish

5. Put in oven for about 30-35 minutes (until eggs are cooked through)

I cut them it into squares, put them in zip lock bags, and throw them in the freezer.

My husband grabs a bag on his way out the door, and heats them up at work after PT for breakfast.

You can add whatever you really want to the recipe.

I like to keep it healthy.

Even the bacon is uncured, and I only put in half a cup for the entire casserole.

Out of the 5 days, I only worked out once, so I was really excited to get back into the swing today.

My 4 year old took this awesome picture of me doing my planks.

I had such an AMAZING work out today.

I forget how much your body needs a recharge (aka TIME OFF) from working out every once in a while.

Today was a nice reminder of that.

My son had his 6 month well check today.

Apparently, he's getting plenty of "nutrition".

Old boy weights a whopping 19lbs 8ozs and is 26.25inches long.

My daughter weighed 18lbs when she was 12 months old!!

Rolls. For. DAYS. 

One of my favorite things about having my husband home is cooking for him.

I live on chicken breasts and spinach salad when he's away (because it's so convenient), so it's nice to cook real home cooked meals again for him.

Nick and I don't eat bread, pasta, or starchy foods (potatoes, rice, etc.) unless we go out to eat (our cheat meals). 

 This recipe is an awesome alternative to mashed potatoes and one of my family's fave dishes...mashed "fauxtatoes"!

It's cauliflowers made like mashed potatoes.

None of the carbs, and delicious.

Recipe:

1 Head of cauliflower

1/4 Cup non fat Greek yogurt

4-5 roasted garlic cloves (I buy the roasted garlic cloves from the olive bar at Whole Foods)

3 Tbspns of goat cheese

Dash of Dried Oregano

Salt & Pepper

1. Clean and cut your cauliflower into florets.

2. Steam them until tender (roughly 10 minutes).

3. Pat dry the cauliflower on paper towels (this is important or they'll be watery!)

4. Toss in food processor with rest of the ingredients and puree.

5. Taste and add more salt/pepper/oregano to taste.

Hope y'all are having a great start of the week!

Another Happy Update

I've been up since 530 am, and it's a Saturday.

I'm not up because of the baby.

My husband has to work today, and usually, he takes over "parental duties" on Saturday mornings.

It's a day I look forward to ALL week long, but since he's not here, I figured I'd get my butt out of bed early, make some coffee, have some breakfast, and just enjoy the peacefulness of the house before the kids are awake.

I am almost 9 weeks post partum, and I am ridiculously giddy with my post pregnancy weight loss progress.

I bought a ball dress yesterday in a size 4....yes...a size 4!!!!

My normal pre pregnancy size is usually a 2 in ball gowns and a 4 in jeans.

I wrote an earlier blog post (that I can't seem to find right now to link to) that my goal was to be in a size 4 ball gown for the Marine Corps Ball this year.

I also said that I didn't think that was a realistic goal, but I am happy to say that I comfortably fit into a 4!!!!!!

I still have a long ways to go as far as toning up some of my loose skin on my belly, and losing about 10 more pounds to be exactly where I was at, but I'm really excited that all my hard work is paying off!

 

As y'all know already, after I had my daughter, it took me nearly a year to lose the baby weight.

So after I had this baby, I was determined to make sure it did not take me as long.

Just like most women, I used pregnancy as an excuse to indulge a little more than I normally would.

Although I was a LOT more mindful about indulging during this pregnancy than my first, it doesn't mean that I made great choices all the time when it came to my sweet cravings.

I gained a ridiculous amount of unnecessary weight with my first pregnancy.

I didn't gain nearly as much with baby 2, but I still did gain a little more than I would have liked. 

So here are two things that have been working for me (in case y'all are wondering)...

1) NUTRITION...DUH!

My husband and I don't eat pasta, bread or rice...NONE (unless we are doing a cheat meal or out to eat at a restaurant)! Our lunches and dinners are packed with protein and vegetables. I hate the idea that people think that we HAVE to have a starch with meals. NO YOU DON'T! I'll add quinoa to a meal if I'm really missing having that starch with a meal. Our meals are packed with protein and vegetables. Also, since I'm breastfeeding, for breakfast, I eat a bowl of oatmeal to help with my milk supply. My diet really didn't change much from before or during pregnancy, but I cut out all the "pregnancy cravings" that I gave in to during pregnancy. Healthy eating is really just a way of life. It's not something you can just do to lose weight, then go back to nasty eating habits.

I also enjoy a cup of coffee every morning :-)

My favorite K-Cup right now is Donut Shop's "coconut mocha" flavor.

People also get the wrong idea when I say that my husband and I eat super healthy and clean.

They think our meals are bland, tasteless, etc.

So not true!!

I usually take any recipe I find online, and swap out ingredients for healthier ones.

For instance, I made this stuffed acorn squash from Marshall's Abroad.

Instead of using chorizo (which can be really high in fat), I replaced it with chicken sausage (they also make chicken chorizo at Whole Foods).

I also replaced the gorgonzola cheese for a light feta cheese.

It was delicious!

My husband LOVED it, and when he took leftovers to work the next day, his coworkers were all jealous.

 

My husband NEVER eats breakfast.

Usually because he is rushing out the door to go to work at some ridiculous hour in the morning (4am-5am).

I am a strong believer that if you don't eat breakfast, you're setting yourself up for failure for the rest of the day.

I found this cool recipe on pinterest where you put eggs in a muffin tin, bake them, and you have mini omelets!

I scrambled a dozen eggs, poured them in a greased muffin tin, put a little handful of chopped spinach and mushrooms in each tin, and topped each one with some goat cheese. 

I popped them in the oven for 10 minutes at 425 degrees.

I put them in individual ziplock bags and put them in the freezer.

Every morning, my husband makes his coffee, grabs a mini omelet from the freezer and goes to work.

Once he gets to work, he can microwave his breakfast and eat!

 

Also, I bought some really nice and expensive non stick pans.

It's so worth the money because I use half the olive oil (or whatever oil) I used to use (with my old pans) when sauteing or cooking different foods.

Olive oil is a super healthy fat to add to your dishes, but at the end of the day, it's still extra fat that you're adding. 

You can still have it in your dish for the healthy aspect (and so that your food doesn't stick to your pan), but it's even better in moderation!

Most people tend to add so much oil to their food when cooking because their food keeps sticking to their pans.

Invest in a good non stick pan!

2) Work Out Routine

I work out everyday. I know a lot of people tell me I need a day of rest, and I totally agree. I choose to do an active rest day. Usually that means I either go on a really slow and short jog. My hour or two each day that I make for myself to work out is my stress reliever. It's the time of day when I can clear my thoughts and get a work out in at the same time which is why I don't have a "day off". I run, spin, and Crossfit. I'm looking forward to joining a box when my son can be put in childcare at the gym.

I'm also blessed to have a husband who is as passionate about fitness as I am, and it makes it a lot more fun when we can motivate each other. 

"A family that runs together, stays together."

If you enjoy running, you can't live without a BOB jogging stroller. Seriously.

This stroller is God's gift to mommies and daddies who love to run.

I have the BOB Duallie Revolution.

All of these things have really been working for me as far as post pregnancy weight loss.

I also feel that breastfeeding has helped a TON.

A couple of my friends said that breastfeeding made them keep some of the pounds on, but it's been completely untrue for me. 

I hope this helps anyone who's having some trouble getting the baby weight off!

I'd love to hear about what you're doing that's working for you! 

And of course, I can't let you go without sharing some pics of my little family :-)

Seriously though....

I don't know what I'm gonna do with her...

 Or him...

Or those cheeks...

So in love...

Spinach, Corn, & Tomato Salad

I love a great salad in the summer.

It's also a really quick dinner I can whip up when I don't feel like cooking.

Actually, at this stage of my pregnancy, I wish we could eat out every night!

It's so easy to throw a salad together and add a chicken breast (or something) for a delicious meal! 

Last night, we had a spinach, corn, and tomato salad.

(baby spinach leaves, 1 can of corn drained, 1 tomato chopped)

 Topped with avocado.

I usually like to make my own salad dressing, but as I stated earlier, this prego has not been feeling much like Ina Garten lately. 

I'm always on the lookout for delicious salad dressings that are HEALTHY with no preservatives.

So when I found this dressing at our local grocery store, I was beyond excited!

It's a yogurt based dressing, and there are absolutely no preservatives!

Did I mention how tasty it is?! 

They also make a delicious ranch dressing that I think is my favorite!

I topped my salad off with an oven baked chicken breast for some protein, and that's what we had for dinner!

My family has pretty much cut carbs out of our diet a while ago, and my husband mentioned last night that he felt a lot better physically since we did that!
It doesn't mean we don't EVER have carbs.
We probably have a wrap on a whole wheat tortilla or whole wheat pasta once every few weeks, or when we go out to eat we tend to indulge a little.
And...we do have natural carbs...like the kind in fruit. 
But we've all noticed a big difference in how our bodies responded (in a positive way) when we restricted our carb intake as far as bread and pasta goes.

For a healthy dessert, my family's been really enjoying this Greek yogurt concoction I've been making.

It's 2 1/2 cups of plain nonfat Greek yogurt, 2 packets of stevia, a few squirts of agave syrup (to your tasting), 1 banana chopped, 2 large strawberries chopped, and topped with coconut chips.

It's a great light dessert that is easy on the waistline!

Tomato Avocado Salad

We've been experiencing a bit of a heat wave the past few days in New England!

When temperatures hit above 85, I find myself always craving a cool salad.

Especially with my hubby being gone, I think I could live on just salad.

The last few days, I have eaten this delicious tomato and avocado salad every night for dinner!

It's very "summery", healthy, and SO FREAKING DELICIOUS!

I can't wait to make it for my husband and serve it as a side with dinner!

I figured I'd share my recipe with all of you!

I used to have a food blog, but I stopped blogging in it because it wasn't something I wanted to commit to.

I think I'll just start posting recipes every once in a while on this blog when I feel it's worth sharing!

I am OBSESSED with this olive oil that I bought at Whole Foods!

It is SO delicious!

It's a little bit pricey, but in my opinion well worth the splurge!

Ingredients (serves just 1...me!)

1 avocado

1 vine ripened tomato

1/2 of a lemon

1/2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1/2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

fresh ground sea salt

fresh ground black pepper

*1/4 cup frozen shelled edamame (optional)

Directions

1. SEED YOUR TOMATOES! (I hate when people don't seed tomatoes in a salad because it makes the entire salad really watery).

2. Dice your tomato and avocado into chunks.

3. If you want to add edamame to your salad, I like to just add a handful of frozen shelled edamame to my bowl first. I let them thaw out in the salad.

4. Add your tomatoes and avocado chunks into the bowl with the edamame.

5. Drizzle your balsamic vinegar and olive oil over your salad.

6. Squeeze the lemon on top

7. Season to taste with fresh ground sea salt and fresh ground pepper.

8. Toss and refrigerate for an hour!

9. ENJOY!