Organic, Natural, Raw

Today's key point from Amazing Grass talks about raw, natural, and organic foods.  In our house we try to keep our food in one of those categories.  Almost everything in our cupboard is natural.  We keep as many raw foods as we can but feeding babies and toddlers raw food is hard.  My kids eat little raw veggies and nuts because they just don't have the mouth muscle to chew it.  Choking hazard!

We recently ditched red meat and only eat it on occasion.  Since we've saved on not buying hardly any red meat we've been able to afford organic chicken.  This fact was in that Amazing Grass article:

"Most people would be surprised to know that while 10% of the pesticides ingested in our country come from produce, 90% are found in animal products. Produce is treated with pesticides a set number of times during its growth, while factory farm animals are fed pesticide-laden crops regularly. The pesticides eaten daily by the animals are absorbed into their tissues and stored there. When you eat these animals or the milk products they produce, you are consuming concentrated doses in uncontrolled combinations of many of the most deadly chemicals ever known."


I did not know that at all.  Thankfully, we buy anything related to animals organic.  Milk, butter, yogurt, eggs...  Organic is expensive.  Period.  Like really expensive.  For produce we buy the dirty dozen organic.  For the rest I see if it's on the clean fifteen list and if it's not then hopefully it's on sale. If not I don't buy it organic.  It's hard because we just don't have the money to buy everything organic and not many people do but we try to make it work.  I think it's all about priorities.  Bottle of wine or organic broccoli?  Hmmm.

Last night's dinner was leftover pizza from Friday with some leftover avocado.

I seriously need to go grocery shopping.

I had a little before bed snack of vanilla yogurt with unsweetened coconut, blueberries, and flaxseed.


This morning I really wanted some loaded yogurt.

I got these guys on sale for .90 a piece.


I dumped the yogurt in a bowl with blueberries and Kashi go lean crisp cereal.  Then I drizzled the honey over it.


Plus coffee.


I got my sister to watch my sick babies so I could get to the gym.  My trainer was sick so I ended up doing the same workout we normally do just alone.  It's much harder alone.  I pushed myself but not as hard as he does.  I also did 30 minutes of cardio.

I snacked on some carrots on the way home...


And I had an Amazing Grass shooter (unpictured) while I made lunch....

Lentils, white beans, and kale all cooked in veggie broth with plain greek yogurt on top.  I did the lentils last night.  My kids really eat anything but for a meal like this I usually make them something separate.  I made them grilled cheese sandwiches and neither one of them ate any of it.  I'd forgotten how much they both like lentils!  They devoured what I had left over in the pan.

I'm headed to make my iced coffee!  It's 3:00 here.  COFFEE TIME.  Whoo hoo!

What do you buy organic?  If you don't then what are your reasonings for not?  

Mishmosh

About a month ago Teri Jo over at Amazing Grass asked me to be a part of their two week challenge. I thought it would be perfect to jumpstart my weightloss.  I've always been a fan of Amazing Grass super foods so I couldn't wait to try this.

What is the challenge? It's a 14 day long program that promotes amazing health and amazing energy.  It guides you in the right direction for two weeks so by that third week you are on the right path.  You purchase a tub of the Amazing Meal and have one serving a day plus focus on eating whole organic foods. Each day Amazing Grass sends you a link to an article that pertains to healthy living.

Today I started day one. Today's topics were:

- Transforming your belief system as it relates to food
- Replacing old habits with new practices
- It takes 21 days to create a new habit

So what I took out of all of that for me is focus. Decide what you want and focus.  The article also mentioned something about always being prepared.  That's my number one advice for anyone trying to eat healthy.  Do I follow it all the time?  No... Sometimes I'm unprepared but normally I'm on top of things.  Have snacks and meals planned and prepped ahead of time.  Easy and it really works to keep you on track!

I started the morning off with a smoothie made with Amazing Meal.  Not sure if I'll share with you every green drink but I'll at least share the key points of the day.

The gym spells it "smoothee"... Should I correct them?

Amazing Meal has 10g of protein plus you get all of the nutrients from the fruits and veggies.


In to the blender went my favorite green smoothee smoothie.

1/2c soymilk
1/2c water
3c spinach (all I had)
1 mushy banana
1 scoop of Amazing Meal
1T almond butter
And a couple ice cubes.

Looking at it now I forgot the chia seeds this morning.  Dang.


I took it to go because I had to take the kids to the doctor.


I had an interesting weekend with sick kids and a sick husband which is why there wasn't a post from yesterday.  Turns out both kids have ear infections.

I forgot a snack (see I'm not always prepared!) so we had lunch a little early.

Lunch was a mishmosh of all sorts.  My favorite kind of thing!  We are runnin' low in the fridge.  Seriously.

Sweet potatoes cooked low and slow- Cut thick (1/2in), 30 mins at 350 and 20 mins at 425.


With left over pasta salad, greens...


a small chunk of leftover cornbread, and a sneaky cinnamon stuffed date (my new favorite thing in the entire world).


I just finished walking outside for an hour.  Sick kids=no gym.  I probably walked slower than I do on the treadmill but I got a lot accomplished.  I got a bunch of meal planning done and thought up some new recipes.

Do you like a mishmosh on your plate?  I think my lunch would drive my husband crazy.  He's pretty particular with his food.

Some Alone Time

Let me tell you something I learned yesterday. I learned how to actually wash broccoli. The other day I quickly rinsed some broccoli and steamed it. It was so gritty and gross I had to throw it out. I figured I didn't wash it well so I googled how to do it.

Almost all the google results said to soak it in salt water. When I did it for last night's dinner it wasn't too bad... Lots of little particles and pieces of broccoli.


But then there was this little guy floating in the bottom.

Thats a bug.... and that is disgusting.

Squeaky clean broccoli for dinner!


Pizza Friday!

Whole wheat pizza crust with olive oil and minced garlic as the sauce.  Plus baked chicken, bug-free-broccoli, part skim mozzarella, and parmesan.  It was SO good!  I'm loving the sauceless pizza.

I was munchy later last night so I raided my tea shelf.  My tea has it's own shelf.


I'll admit it.  I have a tea problem.  I have 27 boxes of tea.  I counted.


If you've been reading awhile you've probably noticed I don't drink tea.  Well not enough to go through 27 boxes.  All of the tea comes from my addiction to coffee.  When I try to give up coffee I buy a box of tea.  Tea isn't as good as coffee.

Out of all the boxes of teas I have I picked a random Tazo Calm that I think we got from our hotel room in Charleston.

1 out of 300+ tea bags gone.

We had a long night with the kids last night.  Well I did.  They both have a cold and were really restless.  Between the two of them they were up every hour.  At 5am I decided to give up.  I put them both in my bed with the husband and snuck downstairs.

I thought of doing something productive but instead I parked myself on the couch with a cup of tea coffee and The Help.  I thought I'd enjoy the alone time since I don't get it very often.

Have you seen The Help?  I loved it.  This is the second time I've seen it.  I read blogs, watched my movie, and drank an obscene amount of coffee.

I also made breakfast.

3 egg whites, spinach, feta, a little minced garlic all on a toasted sandwich thin.

The husband and I did some crossfit workout and then made lunch.  10 sit ups, 10 pushups, 10 squats x 10.  It was boring.  I don't like crossfit for this reason.  

Lunch was something I'm lovin'.

Hummus and 2% cheddar on a wrap grilled . Plus kale chips with ketchup.

I love these things!


What do you do when you have time to yourself?  Watch movies?  Read food blogs?

Recipe: My Favorite Baked Chicken

*This recipe does use 3 kitchen tools you may not have.  They are inexpensive and so useful.

All I do is smash four organic chicken breasts with a meat mallet until they are about 1/2in thick. Really as thin as they'll go.

*I use the meat mallet on chicken breasts all the time because I hate a big chunk of chicken.  The day I bring the chicken home from the store, I smash it, and put it in freezer bags.

Then I let them marinate overnight in 1 cup of light italian dressing.




When I'm ready to make dinner I mix together 1/2c italian seasoned breadcrumbs, 1/2c whole wheat panko breadcrumbs (you can use regular panko), and 1/4c-1/2c parmesan cheese (really how ever much I end up grating).



There isn't any need for liquid because of the italian dressing so I just coat the chicken in the breadcrumbs and put them on cooling racks over a foiled cookie sheet.  Make sure to spray the racks with non-stick spray.

*Those cooling racks were $2 a piece and I use them ALL the time.  For baking purposes- these let everything get crispy all the way around (homemade chicken nuggets, pork, bacon).  For cooling- cookies and cakes.  For icing- these let all the icing drip onto a paper towel underneath.

Bake at 350* for 30 minutes flipping half way...


or until the meat thermometer says 175* or above.

*Every kitchen should have a digital meat thermometer.  I bought this at Walmart for $10.  I follow cooking times in recipes but a lot of times they are off.  I use the meat thermometer and everything is cooked perfectly every time!



We love this chicken over salads, with rice, dipped in ranch, rolled in wraps, on pizza... Anything!

What I'm Lovin' Friday

I love this concept. I love blogging for many reasons. Recipes, products, techniques, meal planning... This hits all of those so I love reading what other people are lovin! I'm not sure who started it, what day I'm supposed to share it, or how many "what I'm lovins" I'm supposed to share. I figured I'd do it on Friday just to break up the monotony breakfast, lunch, dinner posts. So here we go.

1. Iced coffee at home.  I really look forward to these every afternoon.  Gives me the extra boost I need to get through the afternoon.

(Starbucks regular iced via, 4oz soymilk, 12oz water- shaken in a shaker and poured over coffee ice cubes)

2. Etsy Prints. I bought these two prints and frames for under $40. They are so unique and you can customize your colors!  I got the frames at Michaels for $4 a piece.

I got the bird and utensil print here. The eat print here.

3. Pandora (free!) radio "90s Pop Radio". This is keeping me sane during my hour of cardio every other day. I love listening to music from my teenage years. Nsync, Alanis Morrisette, Spice Girls, TLC... I know every single song!  My kids and I also love the toddler station on Pandora.

4. Reading blogs on the stationary bike. I use Byline (free too!) on my iPhone and just browse everyone's blogs and comment while I pedal. I actually look forward to those 30 minutes of cardio!

5. Grown up grilled cheese. Hummus and cheese grilled on a sandwich thin.  Forget the turkey!  I've actually been craving it.

In a Hurry

The husband had a night flight last night so we ate at nana's house for dinner.

About 2 scrambled eggs with ketchup, 2 small slices of toasted sourdough with butter, and a piece of bacon.

My alarm didn't go off this morning. I had an appointment with my trainer early. I hate it when that happens.

Everything changes when you have kids. You can't just get up and go anymore. I could have easily thrown on some clothes, grabbed a banana, and been out the door. However, I had two more people to get dressed and those people needed a full breakfast before the gym. Those two little people weren't happy about being abruptly removed from their nice warm beds and rushed out the door.

My kids hate being rushed and when they are rushed they shut down completely.

From now on my alarm is on everyday. If I hadn't had the trainer appointment it would have been ok. I don't want to make a bad impression on him so we all had to suffer a little today.

Breakfast for example:

Coffee and a protein shake.  Hey now I always have time for  coffee.  It made this morning almost bearable.

The kids breakfast's were a little better.  A banana, a kids clif z bar, and a cup of milk.  Worst mom of the year here.  I figured it was just one morning and the minute we were home from the gym they got the most nutritious snack ever.

I spent 30 minutes at the gym getting my butt kicked.  I love this trainer because I can't really tell you what we did.  Maybe 15 different exercises?  This included running up and down stairs, weight machines, free weights, and real sit ups.  REAL SIT UPS.  The worst thing ever.  Not crunches... Like ground to your knees sit ups.  Doing 15 real sit ups sucks and my trainer knows I hate it... so he makes me do them a lot.

Then I did 30 minutes of cardio.

I was tired from my workout when I got home but mostly I was hungry.

I had overnight oats in the fridge from last night.    


1/3c rolled oats, 1/3c vanilla greek yogurt, 1/4c soymilk, 1T chias, and blackberries.  Plus a sprinkle of granola this morning.  I cut back the soymilk and it makes it so much better.  Really doughy!

Lunch was my new favorite:

A grilled turkey, cheddar, and hummus sandwich.  Plus greens, grape tomatoes, .5oz blue cheese, and a drizzle of balsamic.

The sandwich was- 4 slices of turkey, 1oz 2% cheddar, and 1T Sabra hummus on an arnold sandwich thin- all heated in a pan like a grilled cheese sandwich minus the butter on the outside.


What do you eat when you are in a hurry?  I bet it's better than my protein shake and coffee!

Feels Like Summer

I love your responses about the calorie counting. I guess I should have explained my calorie counting flaws. I am knowledgable about how many calories are in things so I am aware of about how many calories I am consuming. I hate math so adding up all the nutrition facts are annoying and I am terrible at actually recording it. I do measure out high calorie foods like cheese, nut butter, syrup, honey. The rest of it I estimate.

Last night I did bison burger meatballs with spaghetti and broccoli sprinkled with garlic gold.

The meatballs were incredible! I love bison burger!

Since I ate a bunch of pasta last night I decided on egg whites this morning.


3 leftover egg whites (from that chocolate mousse), mama pea's salsa from her book, spinach, and 1T of feta.


Today was one hour of cardio at the gym.  30 minutes on the dreadmill (it's really becoming that) and 30 minutes on the bike.

I drank a protein shake on the way to the gym and snacked on carrots on the way home.

Remember yesterday's weather?  It was over 70* yesterday.  We had a similar day today so lunch was summer inspired.

Mama Pea's thai veggie burgers+pineapple (I had these frozen) and BBQ sauce on a sandwich thin.  Plus some Alexia sweet potato fries and puffs (3 ounces to be exact) and ketchup.

I also had one of these:

I love the regular LaCroix sparkling waters and I found these awhile ago.  They are so summery that I was having a hard time drinking them.  Today was a perfect day for one!

What's your favorite summer food?

My Favorite Things

I just thought I'd share with you some of my favorite products that are staples in our house.  I also have a kid-friendly product post here.

Oikos vanilla greek yogurt


Light french onion laughing cow cheese


Starbucks sumatra- the only coffee we ever buy.


Bertolli organic tomato and basil- great on pasta and pizza.


Earth balance spread- I use it in baking or as a spread. Even the husband likes it.


Kashi 7-grain waffles- The kids eat these all the time and they really are delicious.


Amy's veggie burgers


Silk dark chocolate almond milk- I use this as chocolate syrup. Just a splash of this and skim milk makes the best chocolate milk!


Garlic gold- I sprinkle this everywhere!


Trader Joes almond butter & Smuckers natural peanut butter- My two favorite nut butters!


Tiger Sauce- sweet and hot at the same time. My favorite hot sauce!


Sabra hummus-  even the kiddos like this hummus.


Lacroix seltzer water- when I get tired of just drinking water.


Kodiak Cakes pancake mix and syrups- so light and fluffy you won't even know its whole grain.


What are your favorite must have food products?