8 years

 A quick little love note to my husband...

8 years ago, today, I married my best friend and pledged to you the "loyalty of my life, the love of my heart, and the devotion of my soul." I promised you, "your faithful wife to ever be, until death we do part."

I remember how happy we were and how in love we were. But I can honestly say, even though we spent a good majority of this year apart, our relationship is the strongest it has ever been and I fall more and more in love with you every year. Every day I am amazed and thankful that I get to spend my life with you!

For our 8 year anniversary I thought I'd share just 8 of the many wonderful reasons I love you.

1 - You put God first. I always know you will make the right decision; it is so comforting! You encourage me and it has been so exciting to see you grow.
2 - You are the most unselfish person I know.You put me and others first and sacrifice daily. I need to learn a thing or two from you!
3 - You are so Patient. Mostly with me! :) Even when I make it difficult for someone to love me you are so patient and don't give up on me. Thank you!!
4 - You are incredibly Generous. I LOVE this quality about you. You are so giving and loving and willing to share whatever you have...your time, your money, your resources. I respect so much what you have done in the past and continue to do for our friends, family and acquaintances.
5 - You always have a Positive outlook. I know I will never hear you say something negative about another person. You always have a good outlook on life too. You look for the positive in everything, assume the best in everyone, and trust things will work out. You challenge me to do the same thing and help me to be a better person!
6 - You work so hard. You give 100% in whatever you do and have a great work ethic. That is so comforting and I am so proud of you.
7 - You are Encouraging and Supportive. I can always count on you to have my back...even with some of my crazy ideas! You do your best to support me in whatever I decide to tackle, or even when I fall short. You celebrate with me, let me cry on your shoulder and believe in me. Thank you!
8 - You make me feel like you adore me. I'm still not sure exactly why you fell in love with me many years ago. I wasn't looking...and it took me a little longer to be open to the idea of us but I'm so glad you were patient and persistent and saw something with us that you didn't give up on. You made me feel safe, special and were my friend, which eventually led to love. I still feel safe and special to this day! I love when you give me that little look that lets me know you think I am the most special person on this Earth to you! I think you are crazy...but I love you for it!

I'm so blessed that God brought you into my life. I'm very lucky that I found someone who knows what real love is...actions...not just words. You have made me a better person; I feel that this has been the best year yet and I am so excited for many more adventures to come...Lord willing!

I love you Mr.! Thanks for asking me to marry you! You have the "loyalty of my life, the love of my heart, and the devotion of my soul." I promise you, "your faithful wife to ever be, until death we do part." :) I'm so happy we made that promise to each other!

A quick note to you single ladies and young girls out there. DON'T SETTLE! Find a man that is unselfish, puts God first and you second...they are out there! Don't forget...God loves you and wants you to be happy!

Paleo and Vegan "Cakies"

 I LOVE these cookies/"cakies"!

1 - They are easy!
2 - They are tasty!
3 - They are Vegan as well as Paleo! I know a few people who are Vegan and it can be a little tricky trying to find something that is good that everyone can enjoy! But these do the trick!

They are called "Cakies" because they are much lighter and more fluffy in texture. I only had almond "meal" on hand for these. It is a little more coarse than almond flour. It tastes just the same...just makes the texture a little different.

Here is where I found the recipe: http://www.multiplydelicious.com/thefood/2011/09/paleo-banana-chocolate-chip-cakies/

Banana Chocolate Chip “Cakies”

1 cup mashed ripe bananas, about 1 large banana
2 tablespoons creamy almond butter
1 tablespoons apple butter (optional)* (Sometimes I just use Apple Sauce)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of Salt
1 ¼ cup almond flour
¼ cup Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips (gluten-free, dairy-free, and soy-free – delicious)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
With a hand mixer, blend together the banana, almond butter, apple butter, vanilla extract, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add in almond flour and chocolate chips and stir to combine.
Using a 1 ½” ice cream scoop, scoop dough into even scoops and place on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 11-14 minutes or until cookies are slightly golden on top. (I cooked mine quite a bit longer...hence the very golden on top!) Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before removing from pan. Again, these are soft so if you remove too soon you’ll have a soft cookie crumb mess.

Commit to be Fit

(Me and my beautiful spreadsheet....day 1...complete!
I look so bad in this picture! I had just finished working out.
It is black and white so you can't see how ridiculously red my face is!)

 Proverbs 31:17

She girds herself with strength,
And strengthens her arms.

Who knew the Proverbs 31 woman was buff! (Is that rude…I didn’t mean it to be rude!)

I have been putting this one off for a LONG time.  But we were able to get my health under control, our eating, our budget, the housework.  What could I tackle next?  Exercise.  I know one reason this one is a hard one for me.  I get quite obsessive about it.  If I say I’m going to do it every day…then I MUST do it every day.  It stresses me out if I don’t.  If I say I’m going to exercise 30 minutes…then I feel like I need to push it to 45.  If I’m going to jog 3 miles…I should push it to 3.5 or 4.  It just gets a little overwhelming. So I avoid it!

I'll exercise now and then but I haven't been doing anything consistent. I know there are so many benefits to consistency.  If Kyle wants to go on a 10 mile hike - I want to be able to keep up and not feel like I’m going to die! I need to build muscle. So many health benefits…so many excuses!

Like…"I need to make dinner when I get home."  "I don’t get off work consistently at the same time."  "I need to spend time with Kyle when I get off. " "I don’t want to get up earlier in the morning to work out, my face is red all day."  "I don’t want to do it when I get off…then I have to shower again. " …you get the idea…

I need to challenge myself and be a little more consistent with my exercise. 31 days...I can do it! (Putting it in bold makes me sound a little more confident than I actually am!)

I decided I needed to build in a little flexibility into this 31 day challenge.  That had worked really well with my cleaning project.

So here is what I came up with:

• 31 days (My lucky number)
• 30 minutes a day. (Don’t overdo it and over commit.  If I can do more…great!)
• Whatever activity I want. ( I’m not going to commit to Couch to 5K…P90X…Strength Traning…TurboFire.  I need to just start somewhere and start building some consistency that is maintainable.)
• FLEXIBILITY:  And this is the key!  If I do 31 days and 30 minutes a day that is 930 minutes.  So what if I just say that I need to complete 930 minutes in the month.  That way if I miss a day because something more important comes up I haven’t FAILED and it doesn’t stress me out and I can make it up another day.  Or, if I can only make 15 minutes on one day, but Kyle and I go for an hour hike on another day.  It all evens out.
• Accountability:  Well…I’m posting it here.  Even if no one reads it. Maybe I can recruit some others. I also created a spreadsheet. (You know I love my spreadsheets!)  It has my 31 days to cross off and my 930 minutes to highlight as I complete.  A good visual…and I get to check something off a list...FUN!

I had a couple "false starts" on this one...but I started over and I'm on Day 3 now! I’m looking forward to the benefits and building on it in the future.

I usually like to wait and post that I’ve succeeded at something.  But I think I need to put it out there at the beginning.  This one is going to be a tough one for me. So here it goes….

Hopefully I can give you an update soon that says I’ve completed another challenge.

What works for you?  What gets in your way?

If you need a buddy to help hold you accountable…let me know!

"Spaghetti" (sqaush) and Meatballs

The pictures didn't turn out so great on these because we were in a hurry and very hungry! :) Our kitchen smelled SO good. It turned out quite delicious. I would highly recommend it. I think this would be something great to try if you are trying to get your kids (or husbands!) to eat more vegetables.

I haven't had spaghetti squash in quite a while because a few years back I was eating it just about every day for breakfast and got really burnt out on it.

Spaghetti squash...I've missed you...and I look forward to rebuilding our relationship! :)

Paleo Spaghetti and Meatballs:

Meatballs: (approximate measurements)

• 1 lb ground chicken;
• Garlic powder
• 1 egg;
• Almond flour;
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce;
• 1 tsp paprika;
• 1 tsp onion powder;
• Italian seasoning
• Generous amounts of basil paste
• Juice and zest of 1 lemon;
• Coconut oil
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Mix all ingredients together (add enough almond meal to make the right meatball consistency…whatever that is?!)
2. Form into golf ball size balls
3. Heat Coconut oil up in frying pan
4. Fry meatballs up (3-5 minutes per side)
5. If you don’t move them around a lot they can get nice and crispy!

Spaghetti Sauce:

This was an experiment.  I’ll have to get measurements next time!

• 1 can of tomato sauce
• 1 small can of tomato paste
• Basil
• Lemon
• Onion powder
• Garlic powder
• Olive oil
• Italian seasoning
• Fresh tomatoes from the garden crushed up
• Chives from the garden

Spaghetti Squash:

Cut in half

Scrape out the seeds from the middle

Bake/Cook as directed (usually there is a sticker with instructions on the squash)

Scrape out “noodles”

Serve!


 

Flank Steak

Paleo Flank Steak:

I have never been a fan of red meat…but I’m trying to branch out a little more.  I like to do a flank steak once in a while because it seems to be a little cheaper of a cut.  Using a marinade seems to really help things out.  Get creative with your own but here is what I might do…(honestly…I just add a little of this and a little of that)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup coconut aminos
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• Juice of half a fresh lemon
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 Tbl of honey
• Garlic powder
• Fresh ginger
• Onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 pounds flank steak

Instructions:

1. Put all ingredients in a large Ziploc bag
2. Marinate overnight (or while at work)
3. Have your husband grill it up on the grill (About 5-7 minutes on each side…or more depending on your preference).
4. Let it rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing against the grain.

Tonight we served it up with some grilled zucchini and Mashed Cauliflower.

Paleo Chicken "Fettuccine Cauli-fredo"

 

Paleo Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo AKA: "Zuchi-ccine Cauli-fredo":

We had A LOT of zucchini from the secret garden. (What is the secret garden you ask? You’ll have to check back to this blog post.) Kyle previously made me some zucchini muffins and made some zucchini bread for himself, we used the rest for grilling (YUM!) and decided to try some Zucchini noodles.

Problem: I don’t have a mandoline. (Is that the right word? Great…now I’m going to end up with a musical instrument for Christmas!) You know what I’m talking about…right? Like a pampered chef slicing thing…yeah…I really want one! It would make this whole process A LOT easier! I had to use a peeler and peel the zucchini into strips and then cut it up into fettuccine size. It works…it just takes a while!

To cook your “noodles”: (Jessica dubbed them zuchi-ccine. I told her I didn’t think it would stick…but maybe?!)

Slice and sprinkle with salt – let rest to draw the moisture out. (About 20 minutes)

Rinse the salt off and now dry the noodles with a paper towel

Saute the noodles in some olive oil and season to taste.

Cauli-fredo:

Original recipe found here:  http://cupcakesomg.blogspot.com/2012/08/caulif-redo-sauce-aka-paleo-alfredo.html

I tweaked a little bit. My tweaks in italics

Ingredients:

• 1 head of cauliflower, cored and chopped into large chunks

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 shallot - Chives from Secret Garden only because I can’t have onion
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 3 Tbsp. shredded Parmesan – I added a little more
• 1/4 cup canned coconut milk
• salt/pepper to taste
• Garlic powder
• pinch of nutmeg

Instructions:

1. Steam cauliflower until fork-tender. 

2. While cauliflower steams, heat olive oil over medium low heat in a small pot and saute shallot. Add chicken broth and heat through. Add all other ingredients and heat through.

3. Add cauliflower, shallot/broth mixture, and remaining ingredients to a blender. Blend until smooth and creamy. Add more coconut milk if needed.

We served it with some leftover chicken.

It is one of those surprisingly yummy recipes. Who knew Cauliflower could be so good!J

Pumpkin Waffles

 

Paleo Pumpkin Waffles:

Fall is here people! 

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Fall! I love the crisp smell in the air. I love the beautiful fall leaves. I love the fog in the morning. I love the Fall fashion. I don’t love pumpkin. (No…that wasn’t a typo!)

 

Never been a big fan of pumpkin. I’ll try to eat pumpkin pie every year at Thanksgiving, but never with any big success.

But…I LOVE these pumpkin waffles! They may have just made a pumpkin lover out of me. I’ll post some pumpkin muffins that are pretty tasty too at some point! (Thanks for the recipe Jacob!)
 

Imagine it…What could be more yummy than curling up in your PJ’s with your family on a foggy, Fall Saturday morning to some delicious pumpkin waffles and a mug of tea (or coffee for you coffee lovers). 

Hint: NOTHING!  It is just so heartwarming and absolutely delicious!

Here is a link to the original recipe: http://paleomg.com/paleo-pumpkin-waffles/

I doubled it, made a couple little tweaks

Paleo Pumpkin Waffles

Ingredients

• 1 cup pureed pumpkin
• 1.5 cup almond flour
• 1/2 cup canned coconut milk
• 1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
• 4 tablespoon maple syrup (I used honey!)
• 4 eggs, whisked
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (I used a lot more!)
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger (I used fresh grated)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Sugar free/Dairy free chocolate chips

Instructions

1. In a medium sized bowl, mix together coconut milk, eggs, maple syrup, and vanilla.
2. Then add the rest of the dry ingredients and pumpkin and mix together. Add a bit more coconut milk, if needed.
3. Ladle into your waffle maker. Be careful, they expand a bit so they will be pour over if you get ladle happy.
4. Cook until done – mine took a little longer than a “normal” waffle

You can top with some coconut ice cream and fresh blackberries. Or some coconut butter and blackberry "syrup." Or whatever sounds good to you!

 

SOOOOO GOOOOOOD!!!!

Baked Chicken and Mashed Cauli

 

Paleo Baked Chicken:

Easy and delicious…what more do you need to know?

I didn't have pecans...so I had to use Almonds.

Original recipe found at:  http://everydaypaleo.com/2010/05/01/pecan-crusted-chicken/

Pecan Crusted Chicken
4 chicken breasts
1/2 cup organic spicy brown mustard
2 tbsp raw organic honey
1 cup pecans
sea salt
Instructions:
Pre heat oven to 350. In a medium sized mixing bowl blend together the mustard and honey.  Toss the pecans in a food processor and pulse until the nuts are finely chopped.  Pour the chopped pecans either on a plate or in a pie pan if you have one.  Using a paper towel, remove any excess moisture from the outside of your chicken breasts.  Taking one chicken breast at a time, first place the chicken into the mustard/honey mixture and coat on both sides.  Transfer chicken to the chopped pecans and again cover both sides.  Place coated chicken into a greased glass baking dish (I used a little olive oil spray to cover the bottom of the dish) and sprinkle each chicken breast with just a little sea salt.  Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until the chicken juices run clear.

We chose to serve it up with some Mashed Cauliflower.  I’m going to tell another of Kyle’s secrets…he has never been much of a Cauliflower person. Every time we are going to have it he has to tell me how cauliflower is actually a cabbage broccoli hybrid and not a real vegetable etc. (A lot of you are thinking…”that sounds like Kyle.”) He recently said though, “As much as it pains me to say this, I think you might have made a cauliflower convert out of me.”  Maybe you’ll be a Cauliflower convert too.  There are so many things you can do with it: Riced Cauliflower, pizza crust, “alfredo" sauce (coming soon!)  But for now...

Mashed Cauliflower:

Steam your cauliflower florets

Put in a food processor

Add some chicken stock

Season to taste (Worchestire sauce is good!)

Cooking

Proverbs 31: 15

She also rises while it is yet night,
And provides food for her household,
And a portion for her maidservants.

I’m going to tell on you honey.  So…one time (a few years back) Kyle made the comment that I wasn’t very domestic.  GASP!!  But I’m your wife?  He didn’t mean it in an ugly way at all.  But it hurt…it hurt because it was true! I’m sure if he knew it would have hurt my feelings he wouldn’t have said it. I was good at other things…but cooking and cleaning weren’t really my forte!

Fast forward a few years…I’m very pleased to announce Kyle more recently said I was a good cook! J  Thanks babe! That makes me very happy.

Eating Paleo has forced us to be a little more creative with our cooking.  I LOVE trying new things now.  I’m a little more confident in just going with things and not having to follow a recipe.

The key for me is to keep mixing things up and trying new things to keep it fresh and exciting. Before eating Paleo we were pretty much on a rotation of the same foods each week: Fajitas, Taco Salad, Spaghetti, Grill something, Pick up something at the store on the way home, take out…

Now we have a few staples that we keep on the rotation but we have been trying a lot of new things.  It is hard to plan ahead sometimes and sometimes it doesn’t turn out the best! :)  But it is always fun and a learning experience. It is also rewarding, empowering, AND HEALTHY!! J

Every week I plan out our menu (usually with some help from Kyle) and then go shopping for the week.  Now it is just part of our routine and helps our family function so much more efficiently!

Try it out…even for a week.  Plan a menu and start cooking!

What keeps you from making home cooked meals?

The “B” word…The Budget

Proverbs 31:20

She extends her hand to the poor,
Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy.

The amazing success of the Whole 30 sparked us to take on additional challenges in our life. One of the first challenges that Kyle and I tackled together was the scary “B” word…the BUDGET.  Kyle and I had tried to establish a budget in the past...with not a lot of success.  We talked about it and without a full proof plan quickly went back to our comfortable ways.  I should be straight with you.  Kyle and I both have full time jobs and are blessed to be able to make decent money and live very comfortably.  This blessing can also be a temptation to squander at times.  I’m embarrassed to tell you that we didn’t follow a budget until fairly recently.

A budget seemed so constrictive!  I think Kyle was scared to start because he “didn’t know what he was doing” and I was scared to start “because I didn’t want to do it unless we were going to do it right.”

Many things factored into finally biting the bullet and doing it. We have the goal of paying off my car.  We want to do better about saving for the future.  We like to be able to help people and I am so proud to say that my husband is a very generous man…but we want to be in a situation where we can give more freely and generously.  Also, Kyle started a new job this past year and we needed to watch our financials a little more closely.

Step 1:

We read Dave Ramsey’s book, The Total Money Makeover. I highly recommend it.  It provides a map to follow.  It is littered with great examples and results of people who were successful (and who were a lot worse off than us I might add).  It helped us to build the excitement, to see the light at the end of the tunnel and to go for it. 

Step 2:

Create the budget…and FOLLOW it! This was a little bit of a painful process. It isn't fun to talk about a budget. And two people are bound to have differing ideas of what to spend money on and what to budget for. BUT...we worked it out...and we are still speaking to each other. So that is a good sign, right? (sarcasm!) We decided the best route for us was to use cash.  Every Sunday we pull the cash out for the week.  Basically…If we don’t have the cash to buy something…we don’t get it.  That simple.

Panic starts to set in…what if there is a great sale!

(I’m my Grandfather’s grandchild…if something is on sale I feel compelled to buy it! I can remember going to the store with Grandpa and coming home would go a little something like this:

Grandma: “Why did you buy 500 cookies….No one even eats those cookies!” 

Grandpa: “It was only $2!” 

Grandma: SIGH! “It isn’t a good deal unless you are going to use it!” 

I blame Grandpa for the clothes in my closet with tags still on them. J Sorry Grandpa!)

What if I mess up? What if it doesn't work? What if we FAIL!  Breathe!  Just follow the plan! You were able to do it before with the Paleo and are reaping the amazing benefits of self-discipline.

We finally came to a point where we said …let’s just try it for the month of July. (Which happens to be 31 days!) If we need to tweak things we can.

I’m not going to lie…there were some challenges.  We were completely changing how we operated.  Before, if I wanted something…we got it.  If we wanted to go somewhere…we went.  Now we had to stop and think, do we have the cash for this.  How can we make this happen? Do we really want to do that…or is something else more important? It took a little adjusting to.

July went well and we have been following the budget ever since. It hasn’t been that long, but we are already seeing a lot of progress.  Kyle has been taking some extra shifts at work.  Anything extra we have goes toward the car.  I have cash in my wallet! WHAT?!  I find that I tend to save up more and think…is this something I really want. I have far less items in my closet with the tag on it that I bought and never wore because, “it was on sale!”

I’m not going to go on and on about how wonderful this has been for us or all the details of how the process works. I recommend getting the book and trying it for yourself!  It has done a lot of really great things for our relationship.  We’re telling our money where to go and in charge of our money.  It is very empowering. I feel like we are using God's blessings a little more wisely these days and putting ourselves in a better position to be able to help others.

If you haven't already...check out the book…hold yourself accountable…and TRY IT…even for just 31 days! J

Coconut Shrimp

I'm surprised I haven't posted this before!

 



This is a delicious, easy dinner option.  Kyle and I love having this for dinner. 

 

Paleo Coconut Shrimp:

Ingredients:

• Shrimp
• ¼ cup Coconut flour
• Cayenne pepper
• Garlic Powder
• Onion Powder
• 3 egg whites (beaten)
• Unsweetened Coconut flakes

Instructions:

1. Mix Coconut flour, cayenne, garlic and onion to your taste
2. Prepare shrimp and dry with a paper towel
3. Dredge shrimp in coconut flour mixture
4. Dip shrimp in egg
5. Dip in Coconut flakes
6. Put some coconut oil on baking sheet
7. Cook at 325 for 15-20 minutes flipping half way through

Serve with Salad or Asian Slaw



Do you know the muffin man?

Q. What is better than fresh baked muffins?
A. Muffins you don't have to bake yourself or clean up after!

Today we have 2 different muffin recipes (both equally delicious in different ways) made by 2 different guys.

First we have Kyle's Paleo Zucchini muffins featuring zucchini from "the Secret garden." Kyle made these for me a while back when I was at work. I came home to some delicious muffins and was able to enjoy them for breakfast the next few days.
Kyle gets bonus points for this one because it features vegetables he actually grew himself!

 

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 cup blanched almond flour
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 ripe banana
• 1 cup shredded zucchini
• 1/4 cup honey
• 
  

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Combine the dry ingredients in a small bowl.
Place the wet ingredients in the bowl then beat on medium for 1-2 minutes until frothy and fully combined. Add the zucchini and beat again just enough to incorporate.
Slowly add the dry ingredients with the mixer running, until all of the flour mixture has been incorporated.
Spoon the batter into muffin tins
Bake for 30-35 minutes
Enjoy!





Then we have Jacob's Paleo Pumpkin Spice muffins. I know Jacob from work. He has an infectious sense of humor and is super nice. He made some Paleo muffins and was nice enough to share and to share the recipe.
Jacob gets bonus points for the muffin tins...nice feature!

Ingredients:

• 1 /2 cups almond flour
• 3/4 cup canned pumpkin
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/8 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 tsp almond butter

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Coat muffin tins with coconut oil (or muffin cups)
3. Mix all ingredients
4. Bake for 25 minutes (He baked at 300 for around 28 minutes to avoid them drying out.)

Enjoy! I'm sure they will be delicious...but I can't promise they will taste quite as good if you have to bake them and clean up after yourself!

A Tale of Two Cobblers...

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...it was blackberry time!

Jessica and I went blackberry picking by our house last week on a beautiful sunny day. We weren't well prepared; we had flip flops and yoga pants on..not a good combination with thorns! We spent most of our time "unhooking" each other from the vines! To quote Jessica, "Why do blackberry bushes have thorns anyway?" Luckily, Kyle came and joined us and picked twice as much as the both of us did in about half the time. :)  Gotta love Kyle!

We decided to make a couple cobbler's for our family get together the next day. Our brother was supposed to be coming home from 2 months in Alaska and we were supposed to be celebrating. I say supposed to... the day before his return he decided to stay a couple more weeks. "It was time for Jordan to come home, it wasn't time for Jordan to come home." I'm happy for him...it sounded like a good opportunity.  It didn't stop us from getting together and eating...a little too much. 

After putting the finishing touches on my parent's beautiful deck. (It really does look nice and I look forward to enjoying it for many years to come!) We grilled and enjoyed a yummy dinner outside. We broke out Jordan's salmon from the freezer (Sorry Jordan!) and served it up with some baked yams, cole slaw, brisket...and then...Cobbler!  LOTS of cobbler!

We made 2 different types.  One with more of a crumble topping (using almond flour) and the other turned out a little more like bread pudding (using coconut flour).  Both were good. Mom preferred Cobbler 2...and enjoyed it for breakfast the next day as well.  I think everyone else preferred Cobbler 1. :)

Love you Jordan; wish you could have been there. Looking forward to seeing you in a few short days...it has been too long!

I love my family...and I love this time of year! :)

Cobbler 1: (Tweaked from original recipe found here)
http://everydaypaleo.com/2010/06/18/blackberry-cobbler/

Ingredients:

• 6 cups of fresh blackberries
• 3 cups almond meal (finely ground almonds)
• 2 eggs
• 4 tbsp coconut oil
• A drizzle of honey
• Cinnamon to taste
• Nutmeg to taste
• Sugar free apple sauce
• Unsweetened coconut flakes (1 cup?)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Pour the blackberries into an 8x12 pan and add a little Apple sauce. 
3. In a small bowl mix together the egg, almond meal, coconut flakes, and coconut oil, a drizzle of honey and shake in a bunch of cinnamon and a little nutmeg.  Stir well.  The mixture will be really thick and clumpy. 
4. Drizzle a bit of  honey on top of the blackberries. 
5. Crumble the almond meal mixture on top of the blackberries and bake in your pre-heated oven for 35 minutes. 

Enjoy! (You can put a little coconut milk or coconut ice cream on it.)

Cobbler 2: (Tweaked from original recipe found here)
http://www.grassfedgirl.com/grandmas-blackberry-cobbler/

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp coconut oil for greasing the pan
• 1 tbsp of honey
• 3-4 cups blackberries (enough to cover bottom of 8×8 baking dish)
• 3 eggs beaten
• 4 tbsp of honey
• 1/3 can coconut milk 
• Vanilla to taste
• Grated ginger to taste
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• Cinnamon to taste
• Nutmeg to taste
• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

Instructions:

1. Use an 8×8 glass baking dish that you have greased evenly with coconut oil. 
2. Cover the bottom of the pan with blackberries and drizel a tablespoon of honey over them.
3. Mix the wet ingredients together.
4. Mix the dry ingredients together. (Except coconut flakes)
5. Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until mixed together.
6. Pour over the blackberries until they are covered evenly.
7. Top with Coconut flakes.
8. Bake on 325 for 25-30 minutes until it is nicely browned and set.

Enjoy! (Top with coconut milk or ice cream if you'd like!)

Tackling the house

Proverbs 31:27:

She watches over the ways of her household,

And does not eat the bread of idleness.

I’ve never been a super CLEAN person.  (Oh great...Now everyone thinks I’m dirty.)  Let me clarify, in comparison.  I’m not like my mother or my cousin-in-law (you know who you are) that has the little voice inside of them that says, “I can’t go to sleep until all the dishes are done.”  My little voice typically says, “They’ll be there tomorrow.”  And then a few days later…oops!  Why can’t I have the OCD cleaning voice?! 

Here is my other REASON (okay fine…excuse) for not being as clean as I want. It plays into the obsessive thing.  If I’m going to start I want to do it “right.”  And then I don’t know when to stop and it all becomes so very overwhelming…so why start?!

I know it is something I need to be better at...and I want to be better at!  I just have to be so deliberate about it! I’ve put together a system that I have been trying that seems to work.  Well…it helps A LOT anyway!  It has been about 31 days and I’m ready to share…

So here is where I must confess.  Kyle did A LOT of our house cleaning in the past.  And sometimes even the majority of it!  While Kyle’s strength isn’t the details part (wiping down the kitchen cabinets, CLOSING THE CUPBOARD DOORS haha…love you honey!)  He really is amazing at doing things around the house and doesn’t really have a lazy bone in his body!  I AM SO BLESSED!! 

Before I started eating Paleo I didn’t “feel good” all the time…I felt guilty all the time.  I felt overwhelmed. I felt frustrated. I felt trapped. I felt like I wanted to change! Eating Paleo helped give me the energy to change!

Now I've found a system that works for me in regards to managing the home. Now our home is usually pretty clean. I don't have to scramble if we are going to have someone over. I feel empowered. I feel proud. I feel free to do other things. I feel at peace in our home!

So what you were waiting for…let’s get down to the “nitty-gritty”…

Here is what I like about the system:

• It has flexibility.  If something more important comes up and I'm not able to take care of things one day.  I can do them another day.
• It takes away the overwhelming feeling.  I know when you first look at it, it seems like so much to do.  But for me…this helps!
• It has lists!  I get to check things off...FUN!  And I feel like I'm really accomplishing something. 
• It keeps me on track!

The lists:

Daily list: (These are my daily things.  You can choose yours.  These are things that I want to do daily…but aren’t quite a habit for me.)

• Dishes
• Make the bed
• Clean the Stove
• Wipe the counter tops
• Put everything in it's place
• Choose clothes for next day



Every other day things: (The things you don’t quite have to do every day.)

Vacuum and sweep (we had a dog this is very important!!!)

Weekly: (This goes past tidying and into cleaning)

• Cleaning the bathrooms
• Dusting
• Cleaning out the fridge
• Grocery shopping
• Brushing the dog
• Mowing the lawn
• Mopping
• Changing the sheets
• Making the menu
• Etc., etc., etc.



And this is the BEAUTY of the whole thing.  If you have this list from the beginning of the week you can start checking things off as you go.  Maybe you are on the phone with someone...take a look at the list.  (I could dust real quick or clean the downstairs bathroom while I’m on the phone.)  Check a couple things off every day throughout the week on the list and then...VIOLA…you can ENJOY your Saturday! You don't have to feel like your Mother is telling you…”You can’t go outside and play until all your chores are done!” (Love you Mom…trust me…I’m very thankful that you taught me responsibility!)

Monthly things: (The things that you want to do but never really get around to.  The little finishing touches that bring it all together).

• Vacuuming the car
• The Office
• Laundry room
• Etc.

Bi-yearly things: (The bigger projects)

• Garage
• Oven
• Clean carpets
• Etc.
• Each room/closet/drawer and cabinet is also on this list. I plan to go through each and purge a couple times a year; which I have already started doing. (I've never been one to hang onto things and I don't have a lot of clutter around the house so this isn't that big of a project for me. I think it is good to deliberately go through each drawer/cabinet/closet and room in the house and see if there are things you need to part with like clothes, etc.)

Here is the thing...you can check them off throughout the YEAR!!  

This is very cool for 2 reasons:

1 – you don’t feel like you have to do them all at once and get overwhelmed.

2 – you actually DO them and it isn’t 5 years later and you’re still thinking…”I should really…”

Some of you are probably thinking this seems very complicated. It works for me…okay?  What can I say…maybe I’m broken. J

So again…another 31 day challenge accomplished and incorporated into my everyday life. I'll share a couple other with you soon.

What works for you?