Getting my ducks in a row...

Today marks day 30 since my decision to get back on a paleo/primal type way of eating.
I feel so much better today than I did the day I started.
It was my original plan to have a sort of "cheat" day when I hit day 30 -
but that's not going to happen.
There are a couple of reasons for this.
1. I don't really feel like I am dying for anything "bad" right now.
2. I started the Primal Blueprint 21 Day challenge with my husband last week,
so this is day 8 of that challenge and I don't want to mess it up.
3. If I'm going to indulge in anything not on our "diet", I'd rather be able to enjoy
it with my guy.
So I am waiting and if we feel we need it -
we will celebrate our 21 days with something at the end of that, which will be October 6th. =)

Instead of having a cheat day, I decided to celebrate day 30 with a nice primal nature walk.
I actually wish I lived closer to the ocean, 'cause that is how I would really choose to celebrate anything.
Good old Fairmount Park here in Riverside would have to do!
I guess the park got really run down at one time and was getting a pretty bad rap.
Thankfully, the city has done much to improve it and clean it up and it's a popular and beautiful
place for everyone to enjoy now!  These pictures were taken with my phone, but hopefully you can see the beauty that I got to experience this morning as I walked and thought about all the blessings in my life.

 This was my view as I got out of the car and started walking...

 Lots of people are posting photos of their autumn skies - well here's mine. I call it summerfall. ;)

There's a nice rose garden here at this park and I took some time to sit on a bench and meditate in front of this fountain. Beautiful!

 As I continued my walk - I accidentally stepped on this little guy. Whoops! Sorry!

 Did I say 'little guy'?  Here he is in comparison to my thumb nail! Eeks. Moving on!

 Sitting in front of the pond/"lake" is really the best part of this place.  So beautiful... Lots of thoughts, ideas and gratitude running through my head as I take it all in.

 Quack! Quack!!

Here's the other side. Beautiful, right?
On this walk, I made sure that I did a few sprints. Yes, I really did.  I did lots of jumps up onto a short wall. I made sure I was breathing deeply and any time a negative or fearful thought would pop into my head - I said, "NO!"  I said it right out loud.  Luckily, I didn't get any strange looks from anybody, but I wasn't being obnoxious about it either. haha!  I am a worrier.  I over-think things.  I don't want to do that anymore - so I am kicking it to the curb!

I have not been doing so hot on getting to bed as early as I'd like, so that still needs a lot of work!

I have a doctor appointment this Thursday and I am actually looking forward to seeing if there is any difference in weight since I don't weigh myself at home.
Also trying a coconut macaroon recipe for the first time.  I will let you know how it turns out.  =)

How are you doing on your health/fitness goals?  What has been easy for you? What is hardest for you?

Spaghetti Squash and Paleo Meatballs

This meal was Aaaaahhh-mazing!!  I really felt like I was eating a plate of comforting pasta!
It was also my first time roasting a spaghetti squash. So easy.  This is what I did...

Preheat oven to 375*

Cut squash in half

Scrape seeds out of middle and discard seeds and "pulp"

Brush or rub a little olive oil on the cut side of the squash

and season with a little sea salt and garlic powder.

Add about a half inch of water to a roasting pan and

place squash cut side down.

Roast for about 45 minutes or until water is evaporated and

"meat" of squash pulls easily away from the skin.

Run a fork across the meat of the squash and watch as it magically

shreds. =) So exciting. You can scrape all of it from the skin

virtually leaving an empty shell.

And now for the meatballs! 

1 lb. of lean ground beef

1 lb. of ground pork

1/2 cup almond flour

3 large eggs beaten

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

garlic powder

sea salt 

italian seasoning (I used McCormick's Italian Herb GRINDER)

Mix all ingredients and form small meatballs and 

place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Add them to the oven with the squash on a different rack,

but only for about 20 minutes.

not pretty, but sooo good! 

The Sauce

I chose to use Classico Mushroom and Ripe Olive Italian Sauce because I had it on hand.

From this point on however, I will be buying fresh ingredients to make my own sauce.

Once the meatballs are done, add them to the sauce and simmer for another 20 - 25 minutes.

Top your shredded spaghetti squash with some sauce and meatballs and then grate some fresh parmesan cheese on top and enjoy!  Even my daughter Naomi gave it a thumbs up and she is my picky eater!

Have you ever cooked spaghetti squash? Did you do anything different that you'd recommend? Let me know in the comments!

Hello again!

Well, I had quite the blog break for the month of August and most of the summer to be honest.
Truth of the matter is that I have had a lot going on - not just because I had a daughter graduate high school and start college, a new high schooler that is now playing volleyball and water polo, or the fact that I have two little ones that I needed to keep busy and entertained all summer - but because I have had a lot going on myself.  Emotional, spiritual, mental - dig way down deep kind of stuff - has been going on and I like it!
It hasn't necessarily been easy or pretty, but it's been good.  The timing is right and I am glad for it.

I can't wait to come back and share.  I think my blogging style will be changing up too.   I may even have to start a whole new blog altogether. I dunno.   I'm not going to stress over it - that's one thing I am really working on.

In the mean time, I will just share this yummy picture with you.  I am on my 9th day of Paleo/Primal eating.  Hoping I can stick with it long enough for it to just become the norm for me.  I truly believe it's the best way to eat.  I know that it helps me lose weight (I am waaaay over right now), but more importantly it helps me to feel better.
Like many of you, I enjoyed my Labor Day with family and friends.  They hosted a BBQ poolside for our family.  My friend knew that I had already started eating this way and they had plenty of appropriate offerings for me to choose from and it made it so much easier for me to "be good".

Here's what I brought.  It's Creamy Seafood Salad that I adapted from a couple different recipes on Pinterest.
I rarely measure ingredients - I just eyeball and taste as I go - so you may want to adjust it to your tastes.

Creamy Seafood Salad
1 bag of cooked, peeled, jumbo shrimp (chopped)
1 can of good quality white lump crab meat
1 large hard boiled egg (grated)
1 large cucumber peeled and diced (remove seeds)
1 whole green onion (minced)
1/2 cup of cilantro (diced)
2 tsp dried dill
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp celery seed
1/4 tsp sea salt
4 Tbs good quality mayonnaise
3 Tbs sour cream
Paprika (optional) to taste
Directions: Mix all ingredients until creamy and well blended and chill for at least an hour.
I ate this as a side, but it would make a great lunch on its own or as an appetizer on cucumber slices.

*please note that on a very strict Paleo diet dairy is usually not consumed. It is a gray area that is ultimately up to you to research and decide what works or makes sense for you. You can read all about Paleo eating right here.


I'm glad to be back.  Looking forward to the rest! xo

hello monday|seventeen

hello triple digit temperatures! Looks like the warm weather is here to stay. Got over 100* this weekend.  My husband promised the kids he'd "hose them off" and he kept true to his word. They had a blast.  We sure do miss having a pool.  It's been a couple years, but we still talk about how awesome it was while we had it.

hello first time dentist visit - this would be for my little guy. We are hoping he gets a good report.
hello birthday dinner - We are looking forward to a birthday dinner for my father-in-law this Friday. I have been blessed with wonderful in-laws and love getting together with them when we can.
hello senior pictures - We are headed to the beach this weekend for Hannah's Senior pictures. The family is looking forward to playing and enjoying the beach while she gets her picture taken. It means that announcements will be sent out shortly after!

hello family fitness - We've made a decision to really get moving this summer.  Hannah will be attending school nearby and it will start this summer. She will also be playing summer water polo for the college. The two youngers will be attending swim camp and Taryn will hopefully be playing some volleyball.  We plan on getting out more and MOVING and being ACTIVE.  I am excited about this and really hope we can stick to it!!

hello paleo eating- It's high time we start meeting up again! I was doing so well until sometime around November.  I let "life" and stress dictate what and how I ate and it's time I reclaim that control. It may be slow getting started, but once I'm in - I know I can do it.

hello RLS - why do you have to haunt me?  Hoping the improvement on my eating and exercise will help relieve some stress and in turn relieve some of the RLS.   

hello monday mugshots.   This is how I've got my washi tape and baker's twine sorted.  I got these lovely dishes from a friend in Pennsylvania.  I love them and use them for all sorts of things!  In my mug today is Lipton's Vanilla Caramel Truffle tea.  It's one of my favorites.

So there you go. hello monday and new beginnings.

Inspired by my friend, Lee at Embrace Life, Hello Monday provides a peek into the coming week - in all its glory. Join us and Lisa for the Hello Monday fun.

“If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.”  ~~Jim Rohn

Mexican Style Shrimp Cocktail

This is a perfect summer snack that can even be a meal!  I sometimes add imitation crab meat and serve it on tostada shells.  My husband and I have been watching our carbs and eating something like this sure helps us feel like we are not being deprived of anything yummy!  

We eat it right out of the glass like this since we are not eating tostadas, crackers or chips right now.  It is very refreshing, easy and healthy!

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 lb. cooked jumbo shrimp- peeled, de-veined and chopped... A few can be left whole for presentation. ;)

1 Large Roma Tomato diced

1/2 cup peeled and chopped cucumber

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

1/4 cup of tomato/clam or tomato/shrimp juice cocktail such as Clamato

2 stalks of green onion chopped

1 large avocado peeled, pitted and diced

Salt to taste

Tapatio or other hot sauce to taste.

Combine all ingredients. Chill for about one hour (if you can stand to wait - haha!) and serve in glass dish with saltine crackers, tortilla chips or crunch tostada shells on the side. 

 I prefer Roma Tomatoes for cooking. 

Limes for lime juice... 

This is the tool I use to squeeze my limes. =) 

 Make sure your avocado is just right!

 Chop your cilantro making sure to not leave leaves or stems too large.

Dump all ingredients in a non-reactive bowl, combine, chill and serve. 

Enjoy!!

Fried Eggplant from the community garden!

I shared a picture of some beautiful veggies my husband got from a local community garden. I went to meet the person in charge of it today to learn more about how it works. I came home with another eggplant and another zucchini! I decided to bread and fry the white and purple eggplant. Seasoned flour, 2 eggs beaten, and panko bread crumbs. The family loved it!!

Cauliflower mash instead of potato

Beautiful grilled pork chops from Costco

Well, that's what's on the table in our house today. We sure have been doing a lot of grilling. Only a few weeks of summer before school starts up again. I don't think we are ready for that at all. =) What are you serving up these days?

Tomato Bites...

On Tuesday, it will be 5 weeks since I got back to eating a paleo or primal type diet. Of course, I should technically put an asterisk there by those words because I am still enjoying some dairy products like cheese and I do indulge in sugar-free flavored creamer in my coffee in the morning... Anyway, I'm not doing that bad. I feel energetic and strong. I haven't really had any moments where I thought I'd have a "breakdown" and I've lost about 16 lbs. so far.

Fast forward to this afternoon when I got to talking with a friend about how I'm getting a pizza craving. Then my kids start saying that they would really like it if dad would pick up some Little Caesar's for them. Oh, no...I'm getting weak. Even $5 pizza sounds good. I start getting panicky.

I had to think quick. I called my oldest over and asked if she felt like throwing something together for me. She's more than happy to oblige (I just love her!).

In just a few minutes she presented me with these beauties. They were sooo good. Not the same as pizza, but I got the taste that I was looking for and I ate enough of them to feel full. They are now going to be a regular staple!! Try it out for yourself.

Here's what she used:

Amorosa tomatoes on the vine from Trader Joe's (little larger than cherry tomatoes)

Oven roasted turkey breast from TJ's

Shredded monterey jack and cheddar cheese

Mrs. Dash seasoning

Tapatio hot sauce.

Just slice the tomatoes, put a bit of turkey on top, cheese, and seasoning. Put it under the broiler for about 5 minutes - more if you want to cook down the tomato - just watch that the cheese doesn't burn up too bad. Add hot sauce if you want. ENJOY!! So satisfying. =) Another day, another victory.

You've got to move it, move it!!

I woke up with the feeling to create something this morning. However, when I walked into my studio, it wasn't very inviting. It was a mess. I'm not talking about an "I've been creating all kinds of beautiful art so things are all over" mess. It was just a mess. My tables have become the 'catch all' for the other things that need to go upstairs and my daughter and her friend were working on their art journals, so things were just out of place.

This is my work table (the one without a cover). What a mess!

See? Things are really looking crazy!

I started to straighten up...and the next thing you know - I am moving furniture around!!

I got to dusting off the shelves and throwing stuff away. I wanted my sentimental things to be displayed properly!

I wanted my paints and stamps to be within arms reach.

Everything looks and feels so much better. It may still look crowded to you, but I know where everything is - so that's what counts. I will be giving you a close up look at some of the stuff in a later post.

After that project was done I got busy on dinner. I kept it simple - baked chicken thighs, zucchini, and a green salad. Also got about 4 loads of laundry done while my girls helped by folding them. Over-all it was a really productive day! I'm getting ready to head out to church. We have prayer meeting during our mid-week service and I will especially be thinking of my friends, Kim and Tracie and their family. Their mother has been battling cancer for some time now and I know that these final days are precious to them. My heart goes out to them.

For the better...

Way back in January, I chose the word JOURNEY for my One Little Word. I wanted to be more aware - more present - on this journey of life. I wanted to see and experience more. I have to constantly fight the urge of worrying about the destination - the outcome - because I miss the actual events that take place along the journey. I wanted to make better choices. I wanted to speak out more for myself. I never have a problem speaking up for my friends or family, but when it comes to standing up for myself - I just don't really care...that much. BUT, I need to care. I don't need to stuff feelings down or put them aside just because I don't want the other person to feel bad.

So, I've been doing it. It hasn't been easy. I am making better choices for me. I am trying to slow down and look around. Telling myself to simmer down when I feel the need to start panicking about something... lol

I've started eating a Paleo Diet again and I hope I can just make it a part of my lifestyle. It takes planning and lots of will power. It's not the cheapest option either...but it's so worth it. I feel great and I've been losing weight consistently.
I'm making better choices about who I share my heart with...it's not always easy to reel myself in. I have a tendency to trust so easily. I am learning that I really need to guard my heart and be more careful who I allow to hold parts of it...
Naomi and Lily have such a sweet and innocent relationship. I wish that's how it will always be... Here they are sneaking a little sweet snack under the umbrella at the beach. =)
Here's a breakfast I made recently. It's a bacon and egg cup. I added asparagus to them too. The Bruce family was here for this so I made some that had bread and cheese for them, but I made a few without bread and cheese for me. =) Better choices, right?

Here's the easy recipe:

Grease a muffin tin ( I used butter)

Partially cook some bacon (enough slices to have one for each muffin cup)

Prepare your asparagus however you prefer. Mine is just sauteed in coconut oil and seasoned.

Line each cup with a slice of bacon and drop an egg into it. I break up the yoke with a fork. Then add the pieces of asparagus and salt and pepper. You could even use mushrooms, broccoli, etc.

Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes or when the eggs are cooked to the firmness you like.

***Optional: From a slice of bread, cut out circles with a cookie cutter to fit the bottom of each muffin cup. Put the circle of bread in the cup, then the bacon, then some shredded cheese and then the egg and veggies. Bake the same way.

Anyway, if we aren't doing things for the better, then what are we doing?

Are you surrounding yourself with people who are making you better? Do they bring out the best in you and you in them?

Are you surrounding yourself with things in your home that make you truly happy? I'm not talking about things that are expensive and untouchable. Things that make you smile, remember good things, inspire you...

Are you consuming food and drink that is making you better? Healthy food can be satisfying food. It can be tasty and colorful and exotic...even comforting!

Are you moving your body? Are you running, jumping, stretching, lifting, throwing...?

Are you listening to great music, reading great books, being creative in some way?

It's your choice. What do you choose?

Who can say if I've been
Changed for the better?
I do believe I have been
Changed for the better
And because I knew you...
Because I knew you...
Because I knew you...
I have been changed for good.

(For Good~ Wicked Soundtrack)

Not so "St. Patty's Day" dinner...

I LOVE berries and grapes in my salad.

Sauteed mushrooms...just butter and herbs

Asparagus!!

Thick cut pork chops on the grill - my favorite way to cook them...

Simple. Fresh. Clean. Paleo. Yum.