SOCIAL MEDIA

Meal Planning Monday

April 29, 2019

Anyone else hit a funk at the end of the school year? Suddenly I don't know what I want to eat, cook, think about, nada. Nothing! I need more time in the evening (I'm looking at you 6 month old) and some inspiration. Oh... and my old kitchen back. I get zero joy cooking in this squished up apartment.


Monday | Quesadillas with goat cheese, chicken, gala apple, spinach, and avocado with berries

Tuesday | Grilled Chicken and Zucchini

Wednesday | My favorite spaghetti recipe ever! 

Thursday | leftovers

Friday | Round Steak, Asparagus, Roasted Potatoes

Saturday | Country Ribs, Potato Salad, BBQ Beans

Sunday | leftovers

Breakfast | Macro Bar

Lunch | A Big Salad of Sorts of rotisserie chicken mixed with greek yogurt and hot sauce, spinach, pickles, carrots, celery, avocado, gluten free pretzels, and ranch

Snacks | Apple with Peanut Butter and Mini Dark Chocolate Chips
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Chocolate Peanut Butter Macro Protein Bar

April 24, 2019

Macro bars that are essentially meal replacements are all the rage this year. The only issue... the cost. I can not for the life of me stomach paying 2 bucks per bar. 

I needed something easy and on the go though. I just can't stand dragging a protein shake to church or on the go. Plus, my shake isn't quite as amazing once it's sat in my fridge at work all morning long. 


I recently got my hands on a Kize bar and after seeing the super simple ingredients thought that I could easily recreate it, and I did. 

Same texture. 
Same taste. 
Same calories and macros. 

You're welcome. 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Macro Protein Bar


Serves 1
Ingredients:
1 tbsp raw honey 
1 tbsp natural peanut butter (or other nut butter)
2 tbsp rolled oats
1/2 scoop Chocolate Vega One Protein & Greens
2 tbsp water

Directions:
Combine peanut butter and honey. Once mixed well, add oats, stir to combine again. Mix in protein powder. Stir well. Add in water, stir to form a dough like mixture. Pour the mixture out onto a piece of plastic wrap, form into a bar shape, and refrigerate until you're ready to eat it. 

Macro Breakdown: Carbs 29 | Fat 9 | Protein 15 | Fiber 3 | Total Calories 244
My Fitness Pal Macro Wheel Breakdown: Carbs 45% | Fat 31% | Protein 24 %

Notes: Depending on the protein powder you use, you might have to adjust the amount to get the right protein/macro breakdown. This could change the amount of water you need. Start with 1 tbsp of water and gradually add more until you get the desired consistency. Also, my macro goals are 45% Carb, 30% Fat, and 25% Protein. If yours are different then play around in MFP and customize this to meet your macros. 
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Meal Planning [Tuesday] & Our Easter Menu

April 23, 2019

I'm back after our little Easter camping getaway to Austin! Here's what's on the menu for the next few days...


Monday | Poppy Seed Chicken, Roasted Broccoli, Rice

Tuesday | leftovers

Wednesday | Breakfast Burritos (low carb tortilla, breakfast sausage, eggs, cheese)

Thursday | The Grillades I thought I had already used the meat for and found in the deep freezer. Go figure.

Friday | leftovers

Saturday | Smoked Sausage Skillet with Salad

Sunday | leftovers

Breakfast | I'll post it tomorrow... but I figured out how to make one of those perfect macro bars.

Lunch | Hawaiian BBQ Chicken Bowls (week 3 in a row of this. I'm in love)

Snacks | Tea, whatever is in my LAFMB swag bag. I'm not all that planned out this week

....................................................................................

Now for the best part, I cooked lunch for us on Easter this year. It's just hard to get out of town for every holiday. And honestly, with all of our Spring Break week's not matching up it was a better idea to go camping than to travel with everyone else not off work.

So here's what I made:

THE. BLACK. HAM. - it's heaven and the only ham I love people!
Fresh Green Bean Casserole - I am never looking back, this was a new recipe and is now the official holiday green bean recipe.  I can't stand a mush soup GB casserole, but this was a from scratch sauce that was super easy and the green beans weren't cooked to slime.
Rosemary Rolls - I started making these when we were first married and it's still our favorite dinner roll
Carrot Souffle - Not the exact recipe, I used one from my hometown's magazine. I made a few mistakes on this though and need a redo.
Nanny's Banana Pudding
Deviled Eggs - just traditional Southern like Jeremy likes them.
Mashed Potatoes with Gravy - Again, nothing special. I'm not a gravy person so I cheated and used the Louisiana brown gravy. 
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How a Hair Tie Saved My Sanity

April 17, 2019

I generally can’t remember anything. 
Especially something in the mundane task department. 
So you can probably imagine that motherhood is going great for me. 
Where did I put that? What time? Oh crap we forgot an appointment? How many ounces do you give a 4 month old baby? What’s for dinner? Where are his shoes? How much sleep did I actually get? 
Nothing, I maintain nothing. 

I recently shared how I broke up with my breastfeeding app, over on the Lafayette Mom’s Blog. I’d so love for you to head over there and read all about how I'm using a simple hair tie to remember things (and I'd love it if you left a comment) .
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Things I Bought & Liked | March

April 10, 2019

Here's another month of what I've been up to per Amazon. There are a few items that haven't been used yet... impending camping trip. But let's get into it anyway >>>

Revlon Teasing Brush | I've been needing an update and this looks like what my hairstylist uses... so I ordered one. I'm liking it for a less harsh tease. For a full on tease you'll need the old fashion comb for sure.

Molina Mexican Vanilla | This is my hands down favorite vanilla, only reason it is showing up here is that our store never has it in stock these days. After a few months of needing to replace it I just Primed that sucker. I even tried using a different brand, it just was not the same.

Kidco Go Pod Activity Station | One of the items we ditched in the downsize was our activity station. I got this for a three fold reason 1) perfect for camping 2) easily folds up and can be used around the house 3) since it's so portable we can take it to the park.

CampBro Sleeping Pad | Item #2 for camping is this lovely little camp pad. We aired it up and it really distributes weight well. This + a sleeping bag is what Harrison will be sleeping on now that Elliot is taking over the Pack n' Play when we go campaing.

Yogalicious High Waist Ultra Soft Leggings | I'm all bout a great review and the Yogalicious leggings have nearly 900 great reviews and touted at being a dupe for Lululemon... get you a pair. The MSRP on the tag said $88 and I paid $18. I'm dead serious when I say BEST. LEGGINGS. EVER.

La Pure Snail Regeneration Korean Face Mask |

Vital Protein Collagen Peptides | An oldie but goodie, I decided to order this again after just being sick of the lower quality brands. I use it to get a touch of protein in with my afternoon tea and cross all my fingers that the collagen is doing me some good. It has zero taste so it doesn't matter what you mix it with, and bonus points for dissolving with with little effort on my part.

Bucky 40 Blinks Sleep Mask | I have been using this mask for probably 8+ years now. It's a definite keeper if you are sensitive to light at night. Make sure it's the 40 Blinks though, I bought a different one at TJ Maxx and regretted the heck out of it, and was insanely happy when it finally fell apart and I could replace it. I tend to get a new one every 6 or so months. By then the lining is separating and the elastic has stretched out too much.

 Comotomo Silicone Baby Teether | Elliot loves this. The shape is better than every other baby teether we own, it allows him to hold it easily while still getting the nubs to his little gums.

Varied Shoes Ankle Strap Chunky Clog | We shall see how amazing they are when they show up... but until then I (uncharacteristically) jumped on this deal that I saw on IG. I've been looking for a pair of clogs like this and you can't beat paying $23.

New Balance Fresh Foam Cruz | Size up if you have a half size foot like myself. I could probably even wear a 10.5 instead of a 10 but I just can't bring myself to wear larger than a 10. The Rain color is a really nice light grey. They're honestly so comfy and cute that I wish I had an excuse to own multiple pairs of tennis shoes.

Monogrammed Jersey Lined Pullover | Back in the high school days the water girl crowd had the best wind-breaker material pullover. I wore that puppy to death and nearly into my 30s. Luckily this popped up on Jane and I couldn't be happier. If they sell out just request to be notified when it's back in stock, took about two weeks. I initially wanted it in Feb but had to wait. Then it took nearly a month for it to ship.


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Meal Planning Monday

April 9, 2019

Honestly, I thought I wrote this post already.

Blame Wonder Week 5 - I've been "mom sleeping" lately.


Monday | Ground Beef Stir Fry Skillet

Tuesday | Grilled Chicken and Roasted Cauliflower

Wednesday | Mississippi Roast & Carrots, Rice, Roasted Broccoli

Thursday | leftovers

Friday | Breakfast - Biscuits & Sausage Gravy, Eggs, Hash-browns

Saturday | Eating Out

Sunday | No idea lol

Breakfast | My favorite smoothie. 

Lunch | Hawaiian BBQ Chicken Bowls

Snacks | Banana Shake or Avocado Pudding
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· ·

Elliot | Month 5

April 5, 2019

This month's theme... rolls. We've got more rolls than a sushi restaurant.

Month 5 has brought hair growth, a resolution to the cradle cap, and lots of giggles.

Elliot's Current Stats:

❊ Age – 5 months old
❊ Weight & Height – I'll weigh him this weekend. 


 ❊ Eat – Nurses well but is easily distracted these days. What's on TV? Is that Harrison? Is Mama playing on her phone? So many things to look at while he eats... do doesn't eat. 
❊ Sleep – Thanks to a cold last month he has been in the Rock n' Play again. I think he is about to cut a tooth as well because he wakes up cranky around midnight. We are working to get back to just that 3am feed... but who am I kidding, that get's messed up every time it's perfect. 

 ❊ Recent Milestones – Rolling from front to back when his chubby body and mood allows. Can't no baby be rolling around in a funky mood. 
❊ Special Moments – Mama got 8 hours of sleep one night. This past 3 weeks have been a doozy. 
CHEWING ON HIS LIPS THESE DAYS

❊ Mama’s Experience – I got a solid hour and a half entirely alone with no other humans in the house yesterday. Ya'll just don't even know (unless you have a kid and then you do.). I just needed a moment entirely alone. I've been threatening to sleep in the car lately. WW Leap 4 mixed with sick kid was going to be the death of me. 
❊ Comparison – Round is a shape. 

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Currently April

April 3, 2019

Today I'm linking up with Ann over at In Residence for her monthly Currently series!


Experiencing || Right now we are clearly in the parental experience of what on earth does one do about PreK. I honestly always saw these parents crying over entering Kindergarten, but instead me (and many a friend folk) seem to be lamenting the struggle to place your kiddo into PreK. The main issue being that we are teachers, who teach out of our school zone. Most of us need a hardship to allow our kids to attend where we teach, but they supposedly aren't given for PreK. We need our kids to attend where we go simply because school lets in after we are at work and let's out before we are able to leave. You might suggest Student Care? Well, the school we are zone for doesn't have it. I started to leave H at the sitter for another year, but hearing that his friends are leaving means that he would be miserable as the absolute oldest. We might try this daycare in town that does a PreK class and see how it works out. In the event of openings I could possibly get him in where I teach, but we wouldn't know anything until closer to Labor Day and I can't risk not having a spot anywhere.

Appreciating || Jeremy - this guy never stops these days. He teaches Sunday School, spends most of the night working on seminary classes, has recently started working on his resume to submit to churches, and has worked his butt off on a sermon he is preaching the 7th. He doesn't get in bed until super late, and every time I look around he is reading yet another book for class. The past week he has even stayed up practicing his sermon. Not to mention he works full time as a school psych and that doesn't allow for any daytime moments to get these things done. I don't know how he does it all.

Wish-listing || I found a protein powder/shake that might finally work for me. People can say all they want but I swear the pea protein based shakes aren't my friend. I'm actually dreaming of running out of this tub of crap (Vega One at the moment, but Garden of Life caused the same problems) so I can move back to a grass-fed whey or beef protein. So the protein shake I'm wishlisting... Orgain Clean Protein. 

Posting || If you were to look at my IG you'd see a series of posts that run something like: baby, baby, coffee, baby, big kid, coffee, baby, baby. Lost of Elliot and coffee at the moment, but that's what the first year is for apparently.

Considering || With the camping trip to Austin about to happen I'm ironing out what we will eat. It's what I live for honestly. If you know of anything fun to do with kids in town drop it in the comments. I would love to take our double stroller but I'm afraid that once the car is packed with camping gear and that extra person we acquired in the fall I might not be able to take it. All the fingers crossed I can squeeze it in somehow.
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Meal Planning Monday

April 1, 2019

This week is a hard core clean out the pantry plan.

Rouses just opened in town (it's a South LA grocery chain) and they mailed out $10 coupons for $50 or more spent... so we are shopping there. To keep it cheap I am planning the meat/veg/side game and not planning elaborate meals. Less ingredients = cheaper meals.

With that said, I shopped the pantry this morning and noticed 2 packs of low carb tortillas, a steam pack of sweet potatoes, pasta salad, and we have a bunch of frozen green beans and a few pasta sides left.


Monday | Breakfast Tacos (low carb tortilla, egg, cheese, sausage, onions & peppers)

Tuesday | Quesadillas (low carb tortillas, rotisserie chicken, rotel, cheese)

Wednesday | BBQ Chicken, Birdseye Cheddar Lentil Pasta, Green Beans

Thursday | Whatever meat is a good price, Alfredo Lentil Pasta, Brussel Sprouts

Friday | Another meat option, whatever veggie makes me happy, and the steam pack of sweet potatoes

Saturday | Country Pork Ribs, Potato Salad, BBQ Beans

Sunday | leftovers/eating out

Breakfast | My favorite smoothie. 

Lunch | Hawaiian BBQ Chicken Bowls

Snacks | Banana Shake or Avocado Pudding
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