What I learned in 3 days

When I posted my Max:30 results, I mentioned that I tagged on the 3-Day Refresh to the final days of the program. 

What is the refresh? 
It is a program designed to give you a break from poor eating habits while kick starting some healthy ones.  With Shakeology, two high protein refresh shakes, a fiber sweep, snacks and delicious vegetable dinner options, your body and mind have a chance to clear themselves from some vices. 

I chose to do this for a couple of reason.  One, I knew that doing this could help me shed a few pounds.  But more than that, I was not seeing the same results month 2 of Max:30 as I did month 1 and I KNEW the culprit--my nutrition.  We had my son's birthday, a weekend out of town, my son's party/mom's birthday and Valentine's Day all in month 2.  I ate great during the week, but those weekends were definitely more off track than I wanted.  And when you really think about it, weekends are a large chunk of a month. It accounts for almost 30% of February! So if you give yourself "a break" on weekends to eat whatever, you really aren't going to progress forward.  And I sure gave myself one to many breaks during some of those events. 

What I didn't realize before the refresh, were some ugly, bad habits creeping back into my lifestyle. 

On the refresh, there is no eating except what is outlined.  There is also no dairy, meat or starches. (Of course, the allowed fruit and vegetables on the program are carbs and the high protein shakes help satiate hunger).

Because of that, I caught myself--quite often, actually--in the midst of popping something into my mouth.  You know what I am talking about moms: a nibble of your kids snack as you prepare it, or their lunch.  Or maybe you finish off their lunch as you are scrambling to clean the mess up and get them ready for naps.  A snack out of boredom, or a sip of this or that.  

That mindless eating was catching up to me.  It was stalling my results just as much as an occasional treat would if not MORE! 

I had also really, REALLY become a slave to sugar again. You saw the list above.  Those are some sweet confection opportunities all bundled up together.  Because of that, I was craving sugar--ALL the time! And caving.

Doing the refresh, I had to have discipline.  I said I was going to follow the program.  That meant when I was making my kids mini pizzas one day for lunch, I couldn't just pop a pepperoni.  It meant not nibbling an M&M from the treat container.  It meant not snacking when watching HTGAWM (sidenote: PLEASE tell me you are obsessed with this show too??) 

What happened mentally was amazing.  I was breaking through some habits and barriers that I know can have a pretty strong grip on me.  My body started craving GOOD things.  I was texting my accountability partner through the refresh about eggs.  I wanted chicken and eggs.  She wanted a Greek yogurt.  Talk about a difference, right?? 

Did I get results? For sure, an inch of my waist and 4 pounds gone!!! But more than that, I gained control over my eating again.  I saw the roadblocks I had allowed to creep back into my life and consciously overcame them and now am so much more aware of them.  I reset my system, ridding it of the need for sugar.  IN JUST 3 DAYS!! How huge is that! 

This program is amazing and I am so grateful for what it taught me! 

Grain Free Recipe Reviews

Hey all!

Is it just me or is everyone going a million miles a minute? I love this time of year and we are doing so many fun things but it never seems to slow down!

My family is continuing on in our gluten free journey.  However, it appears that we are going more grain free than gluten free.  And after a friend shared some articles, I feel even more confident in this decision for our family.  {If you are interested in reading the articles, I posted the link to my Facebook page so you can check them out there}

Many dinners I make are already grain free.  And honestly, eating a grain free meal can be as simple as we want.  But I also know my family, and myself, like some variety, so I have been trying out some great recipes! In the midst of the busyness, I haven't been able to photograph them all but let's be honest, I don't take the best foodie pics anyway.  Instead, I am sharing with the link the original recipe and my family and I's opinions of the meal and if we changed the recipe at all!

Bacon-Wrapped Chicken Strips

I served this main dish with broccoli sprinkled with parmesan.  It was a busy Friday night.  My husband has been working out of town a lot and was getting in. I wanted to make a meal that he would love but to get dinner done with my three littles is not always easy.  This meal was SO SIMPLE to make! It took no time to prep and was on the table in about 35 minutes.  

We all ate this dinner up! It was delicious.  The flavor of the chicken was amazing.  Really juicy; had the yummy taste of bacon and the honey sauce brushed on was the perfect addition of sweetness.  I used {what little} leftover strips in a salad the next day for lunch and they reheated and were awesome on my salad.  

My husband said he could eat them every week. And that is coming from a man who likes variety! 

Italian Sausage and Potato Quick Skillet

This dinner! Just make it! Tonight!

Like I said above, my husband has been traveling.  Which means it is me solo against the world...or my three boys, whichever.  On Mondays, my oldest has soccer at five.  It's just a half-hour intro to soccer because, I mean, he's three.  But by the time it is over and we have bundled up and driven back across town, we are nearing six.  For us, that is past the dinner hour and Tuesdays are preschool days.  I have learned that dinner needs to be simple and quick.  

On this night, I did all the prep work before soccer.  It took me about 10 minutes or so to chop everything up.  When we got home from soccer, my mom {bless her} gave the little two a bath while Hudson got a quick shower.  I had time to dump it all in the skillet per the directions and had it done in about 15 minutes.  This meal was full of flavor and texture.  It was hearty and filling.  

It calls for 1/4 tsp of red pepper flakes.  I like spicy and so do my boys.  This meal was pretty spicy however.  If you are not a fan of spice, I would leave the red pepper flakes out or use less.  

Other nights we had really simple meals. I made chilli with 50/50 venison and ground beef.  We always have leftovers when I make chilli.  Another night was a simple meat/starch/veggie combo.  Sweet potatoes are generally are go to starch and are really versatile.  

Point is, if you have any issues associated with grains or gluten, or maybe you want to live a clean and healthy lifestyle, look into if grain free is a good choice for your family.  

Italian Meatballs and Marinara Sauce: Recipe and Review

When we began to seriously discuss and then go forward with becoming a gluten free (and according to my friend we have actually embraced more of a grain-free lifestyle) lifestyle, I began to immediately think of all the things I wasn't going to be able to have.  Why is it that we do that? It is like we are trying to make ourselves miserable.  We focus on the negative! 

While doing this, I thought of all the carb-y foods I just couldn't have.  Well, silly me! That is plain crazy and false! You really can have whatever you had before, it is just made in a different way, a cleaner, healthier way really.

So when I came across a recipe from homemade meatballs and marinara I was excited! I love pasta and my boy-filled family loves meatballs! Bonus- the recipe made enough for our family to have leftovers the next night! I LOVE when that happens!

Italian Meatballs and Marinara via
Meatballs
1.5 pounds beef
1 large onion diced small (set aside half)
4 cloves of minced garlic (set aside half)
1/3 cup almond flour
2 eggs, whisked
1/4 cup of fresh, chopped, flat-leaf parsley
pinch of red pepper flakes

Sauce
1- 28 oz can of San Marzano plum tomatoes with sauce
15 oz can of tomato sauce
other half of diced onion
other half of minced garlic
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
2 tbsp fresh chopped parsley
1/2 to 1 tsp salt
healthy pinch of red pepper flakes

1. Saute onion in 2 tbsp oil, 5-7 minutes
2. Season with a pinch of salt and add minced garlic. Cook for an additional minute.
3. Remove from heat.
4. Pour half of mixture into the crock pot and set aside the other half in a separate bowl.
5. Add the remaining ingredients for the sauce to your crock pot.  Break apart the tomatoes into smaller pieces.
6. Turn crock pot on low.
7. Add your meat to the  bowl of onions and garlic mix.
8. Add the rest of the ingredients for the meatballs to the bowl.
9. Gently mix the meat mixture together.
10. Preheat a large frying pan with 2-3 tablespoons coconut oil over medium heat.
11. With your  hands, shape golf ball sized meatballs.
12. Place meatballs into the pan.  Let them get a nice brown coating.  They won't cook all the way through. They will finish cooking in the slow cooker.
13. Transfer browned meatballs directly into the crock pot.
14. Cook on low 4-6 hours.

My husband is a hunter and just helped stock our freezer with some fresh venison. I used a 50/50 mix of grass fed beef and venison.  I wouldn't recommend using all venison since it is a leaner meat and the meatball might not stay together as well.  The mix stayed together perfectly.

I also used coconut oil whenever the directions called for any kind of oil.  It is super healthy and has such a light flavor that I use it for all cooking and baking needs.

I stirred my crock pot occasionally over the course of the day.  I will say that my house smelled amazing all day long.  I prepped the meatballs and sauce that morning and it was a really quick process; much less time consuming than I thought.

A bit before dinner, I boiled a pot of water and made some gluten free spaghetti to serve with our meatballs and marinara.  The meal was SO GOOD! My entire family ate it up! It was such a cold day when I served it that the  meal warmed us right up.  It was the perfect guilt-free comfort food.  And the leftovers heated up great the next night.  This is a meal I will definitely keep in our dinner rotation.

Chicken Soup: Recipe and a Review

As I mentioned earlier, my family is working on becoming gluten free.  I say working on because there are days I still don't get it exactly right but overall the transition has been pretty seamless. My kids don't notice and to be honest, I don't really notice either.  I haven't  noticed a ton of change in some of  my son's symptoms (which is what prompted this switch to actually take place versus just talking about it) but I know it is still early.  And, like I said, I haven't been perfect so there have been some slip-ups.

I am also learning to love cooking and baking again.  Don't get me wrong; I don't want to spend all day in the kitchen.  Who has time for that? But I do enjoy trying out new recipes, seeing my family's reaction, learning something new.  It has been really fun.  And I love that I know that in this process that I am enjoying, I am actually doing something so great for my family.

If your family is like mine, your lives are seasoned with busyness.  For that reason alone, I love to use our slow cooker.  It is by far one of the most used appliances in our kitchen.  It is definitely used weekly if not more.  So color me happy when I found some slow cooker gluten free recipes! To add to my excitement, they were super simple to prep! All the mamas are rejoicing with me right now! :)

Paleo Crock Pot Chicken Soup via
1 medium onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, diced
3 carrots, diced
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon herbs de Provence
2 chicken breasts, bone in
2 chicken thighs, bone in
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
3-4 c filtered water

1. Layer all the ingredients into your crockpot. Place the chicken bone side down.
2. Cook on low for 6-8 hours
3. Remove chicken. Allow it to cool slightly then remove the bones and shred. Place the shredded chicken back into the pot and stir.
4. Reheat and serve.

When I made this recipe, I had chicken breasts on hand. Boneless.  Little old me didn't know that when making soup from scratch, so much nutrients and richness to a broth comes from the BONES.  Broth is actually quite a popular trend right now.  You can read more about it here and here, That being said, the broth for my soup was REALLY watery,  Which made it lack in flavor quite a bit.

I will definitely be trying this recipe again knowing now how important it is to make sure I don't just use what I have on hand to see if that changes the flavor.  If you like a really strong broth (and I do) you may cut the water in half and add some stock to your soup.

I would love to hear if you try this and your thoughts!