DairyFree Detox

Over the past 2 weeks or so I've been feeling kind of... blech. Not sick, just not well. Those with food intolerances or allergies probably understand that feeling. I normally eat all organic and natural foods, I seldom eat processed anything since most of it contains dairy. Occasionally I will find a treat that has no dairy in it, like Oreos, Sweet Spicy Chili Doritos, or some coffee creamers. But after a couple of days of eating that treat I will start to not feel well. I've had a headache for 2 weeks (those are always fun) and it is apparent that something in my diet is not agreeing with me too. I am pretty sure I have narrowed it down to my coffee creamer. I was so excited that I found Dairy free creamer in flavors I love. Even though they are lactose free, there is obviously something in them that my body does not like. So I am going to have to toss them and go back to my organic soy and almond milk in my coffee.

In order to get back on track I am eating those foods that make me feel good- oatmeal, avocados, eggs, and lots of veggies. And water- lots of water. It's a way that I kind of detox myself after eating something that I should not.

Breakfast looked like this:

Organic multi-grain raisin spice oatmeal with banana, almond milk, and ground flax seed. Instead of coffee I opted for a cup of rooibos tea (rooibos is good for everything- digestion, allergies, it is anti-inflammatory, and promotes overall health. It is also a lot easier on the stomach than green tea.)


It was so good!

For lunch I had a white bean and veggie open faced sandwich with a side of organic baby carrots.
I made a quick and easy white bean spread. I didn't follow a recipe- I looked in my spice cabinet and picked out what I thought would tasted good.

1 can white kidney beans
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
juice of half a lemon juice
2tablespoons or more of olive oil

Here's what I did:
Drain and rinse the beans. Put them in a small sauce pan, add the cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and cumin (About a 1/2 teaspoon of each- more if you want a lot of flavor). Let the beans heat through, stirring often so they don't burn to the bottom of the pan.
When they are hot, put them in a food processor (I used my small Kitchen Aid for this). Add Olive oil and juice of half a lemon. Puree them until you get a smooth consistency. You may have to add more olive oil as you go. Once it is to the consistency and flavor you want, you're done.

To make my sandwich I toasted up two slices of bread, spread the beans on them, added some organic baby spinach, a little red onion (it was leftover from the previous night's salad), sliced avocado, and then sprinkled it with salt and pepper. This sandwich with a side a baby carrots, a little more of the bean spread/dip, and a huge glass of water was so good for lunch.



I skipped my smoothie for the day-I had a few cups of my rooibos tea instead.

Dinner was simple- just plain scrambled eggs and toast. I followed it up later with a Cliff Bar and a glass of water for a snack.

I also went to bed early- after watching the Season Premiere of One Tree Hill, of course!

It is amazing how much better I feel today than I did yesterday. My headache is still there, although not nearly as bad as yesterday. And part of that is most likely allergies. My energy is back and my mood is better (I get cranky when I don't feel well). I don't eat poorly often, but when I do boy does it make me feel gross. Hopefully this sort of detox will get me back where I need to be.

Meeting My Goals-1 Week In

We are now officially 1 week into the new year, and by this point a lot resolutions have probably been forgotten about or already giving up on. At least, that is usually how it is for me. This year I changed my resolutions and instead made them more like goals for myself in an effort to ensure that I actually stick to them. I wanted to write an update as to how well I am doing with them so far. Don't worry, I don't plan on doing weekly updates on these (that would be quite boring I am sure!).

Date Night: This month's date night is going to be to a Masquerade Ball for my husband's company. We'll have a night away, and we will be attending the event with friends. A little more extravagant than what I plan to do each month, but this is going to be fun and I am looking forward to a fancy night out.

Practice a more clean eating diet: So far so good! We are not doing this diet to lose weight, but rather to ensure that we follow a healthier lifestyle. My husband and I find the practice of clean eating to make sense to us. The only thing I have left to eliminate is my coffee creamer, and I have found a few recipes to try out. Either that, or I'll just go back to using almond milk or soy milk. All of our meals have been homemade, and there are no more boxed food items (in our case chicken tenders) in my freezer.


Read More: I have really been enjoying the book I am currently reading- "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". Next up: "Hunger Games".


Run a 5K: Obviously I have not actually run the 5K yet, but I have started my training for it. I decided to do Couch 2 5k so I would have a schedule to follow and a set training plan. I went out running twice this week, once by myself and once with my husband and 2 of my daughters. My legs are sore, but I feel great! I have also picked out the 5K I want to do and will be registering for it this coming week.
My running buddies:



Knit more regularly: I found the blanket I was working on for my middle daughter and got back to work on it yesterday.(I had tucked it away in the art closet in order to keep my little ones from using the yarn for art projects) She is so excited that I am finally going to finish it. (and so am I!)

Start my day with a smoothie: This week we have had smoothies every day. I bought a Kitchen Ninja at the beginning of the week and I absolutely LOVE it! The best part- my girls and my husband love them too, so not only am I getting more of what I need, so are they! I even put spinach and flax seed meal in the girls' smoothies.


The goals I still have to work on:

Coffee Nights: My friend and I are still working the coffee night into our schedule.

Sewing: I do have a few sewing projects in mind, but will be probably be waiting a little while to get started on one of them. My Mom will be the one teaching me, and she has been out of town. But I do have this all set up and ready to go:

It's a hand-me-down, but what better to learn on than a free machine?

Find a Church: We have one we want to go to, we just need to clear out our Sunday mornings to go. This is going to sound so selfish, but Sundays are our only down days of the entire week, so we all (including the Littlest One) like to sleep in or hang out in our jammies for a while. We just need to break that habit, but it is going to be hard to do.

So far, I am feeling really good about meeting my personal goals. I have one more, but it's a secret and you'll just have to wait a few more days to see what it is;-)

Did you set goals or resolutions for yourself this year? If so, how are you doing keeping up with them?

An Old Family Recipe~Party Mix

For as long as I can remember my Mom has been making this party mix around the Christmas Holiday. This year I convinced her to share the recipe with me (probably because every time I was over there I ate quite a bit of hers!) I actually made this on Dec. 23rd, but with all chaos surrounding Christmas and New Years I am just now getting around to posting it. It's not that I haven't sat down to write this post, I just keep getting sidetracked (that tends to happen a lot with 3 kids!)

Although this is generally a Christmas treat for us, it is good all year long. And the best part- you can make a couple batches and freeze it! I still have a bag in my freezer and I plan to make another batch to get us through the winter months.

The original recipe is called Scramble and comes from the New Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook which was in it's 4th printing in 1971.

Party Mix~ AKA Scramble:

2lbs mixed salted nuts
11ounces spoon size shredded wheat
10 & 1/2 ounces Cheerios
6 ounces crispex or crisp rice squares
7 ounces small pretzel twists
5 & 3/4 ounces slim pretzel sticks



2 cups Canola oil
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 Tablespoon Garlic Salt
1 Tablespoon Seasoned Salt


These are the original measurements from the recipe. I basically eyeballed it. For example: I believe the shredded wheat comes in a 16 oz package, so use about 3/4 of the bag and so on with the rest of the ingredients.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 250F.

Evenly distribute the cereal and nut mixture between two large baking pans. If you try to do it all in one pan it will not cook evenly.





Mix up your oil mixture. I do mine in a shaker to ensure it all gets mixed very well. Pour the mixture evenly over the cereal and nut mixture.

Bake at 250F for 2 hours, stirring every 15 minutes. Let cool completely before putting into either storage bags or containers. It will fill roughly 3 gallon storage bags. You can freeze the bags you are not going to eat right away.


This is such a good snack mix, especially if you find the premade kind too salty, or do not like sweet snack mixes, like me.

*This recipe is from my Mom and adapted from the New Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, c1971.

Enjoy!

Back to the Grind~Weekly Meal Plan

For two glorious weeks we were on a break from reality. The girls had a break from school and my husband either had time off or worked from home. I did follow a menu plan, but not like we do on our normal schedule. But now holidays are officially over. The girls are back to school, activities have started up, and events are quickly filling up the calendar. That means I must get back into the habit of writing out our bi-weekly menu or else no one eats dinner. I am also going to get back in the habit of sharing our meal plan. (Or at least try to!)
Our normal weekly routine is going to be changing for a while because my two oldest daughters are in a musical production with their Performing Arts school. We will have rehearsals several times a week, including Saturdays, from now until the end March. So for our first 2 weeks back into reality here's what I have come up with.

Breakfasts:
Smoothies ( I got a new Ninja- so much fun!)
Cereal (Cherrios or Rice Krispies- no sugary cereal)
Overnight oats
Scrambled eggs and toast

Lunches:
PB&J's for the kids
Grilled "Cheese" Bites for the Little One (She eats Veggie Shreds cheese slices)
White Bean, avocado, carrot, and cuke sandwiches
Leftovers
Baked potato with salsa
Chicken sandwiches (all made up and in the freezer)

Dinners:
Wednesday: Beef Stew with crusty bread ( I need to share this recipe)
Thursday: Vegan Pad Thai
Friday: Clean Eating Minestrone Soup (it's already in the freezer)
Saturday: Slow Cooker Stout Chicken Stew (New recipe)
Sunday: Homemade Chicken Tacquitos
Monday: Easy Italian Chicken
Tuesday: Slow-cooker Swedish Split Pea Soup (New Recipe)
Wednesday: Beef and Black Bean Enchiladas
Thursday: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and veggies
Friday: Stromboli (homemade pizza sauce in the freezer)
Saturday: Moroccan Stuffed Peppers

Snacks:
Homemade Party Mix (Recipe to come today)
Apples and peanut butter
Pretzels
Fruit- bananas, tangerines, oranges
Nuts
Popcorn with Olive Oil

Emergency Meals:
My freezer is stocked with homemade soups, stews, and sauces for those nights we need to deviate from our planned meal.
Chili
Spaghetti with meat sauce
Vegan Moroccan Stew
Beef Stew
Minestrone Soup
Kale Pesto (Makes a great EASY meal when served over pasta)

Most of my meals are either done in the slow cooker, can be made in the morning and heated at dinner, or put on the stove early in the day and left to simmer for a couple hours. I also made sure to include a couple of meatless meals per week.

Now I am off to enjoy my Very Berry smoothie:-) If you like smoothies check out the recipes for the Green Monster, Soothing Blueberry Banana, or Cat's Purple People Eater

Do you do a weekly meal plan to help keep your week more organized and to help save on your grocery bill?