90/10

Scott starts school on Friday. Nate starts school the next Friday. Why a Friday? I have no idea. It seems weird. School starting always leaves me with mixed emotions. On one hand, I hate it. I want an eternal summer of lazy days. I want my babies to stay right where they are…forever. On the other hand, I am excited for their new adventure. They are super excited and I am so thankful for that. I mean really, what more could I ask for? I decided I need my own new adventure/challenge/distraction. I am joining a fb challenge group called 90/10 that my ex next door neighbor Heidi in Edmond is starting. It consists of eating 90% of your food from the top two Tiers of Michi’s Ladder and 10% of your food can come from Tiers 3 and 4 and nothing from Tier 5. It is a 60 day challenge that I am excited for! What I LOVE about it is that is isn’t anti carb. I know some people love the Paleo diet but I just can’t handle that. Way to strict for me and to be honest I feel like it is too restrictive to be healthy (TOTALLY my opinion). I tried the low carb/no carb thing for a little while to test out the affects on some health things and gained 4 lbs! Yes, I am the only person in the world that has gained weight while eating no carbs. What the what?!

I know 4 lbs isn’t that big of a deal. I honestly just want a challenge and something to work towards. I am also trying to make certain time on the Tulsa Run this year (that I missed by 56 seconds last year… I’m not bitter, not at all.) I also watched the Olympics and am feeling like if I focus I might have a shot at Rio 2016. I hope I still feel like this after not eating sugar for 20 days and knowing I still have 40 more to go.

And all of that was leading up to me telling you to check out Heidi’s blog for some healthy easy dinner recipes. AND if you are interested in learning more about the 90/10 thing let me know! The more the merrier! (It is based on Shakeology/Beach Body. I am trying out Shakeology for a month, but you DON’T have to in order to do the 90/10 group.)

The group officially starts on Friday, Aug 17th, but I am easing into this week…. And if you see me on Thursday night shoveling a double dip brownie fudge sundae into my mouth, don’t judge. You can laugh…. quietly.

food

monday- BBQ Chicken w/ grilled veggies

tuesday- French Toast (made with Ezekiel bread) with scrambled eggs and berries

wednesday- blackened salmon with brown rice and veggies

thursday- mexican bowls (brown rice, black beans, salsa, cheese and leftover bbq chicken)

friday- buffalo burgers and sweet potato fries (does Ezekiel make burger buns? To be continued….)

saturday- date night

sunday- homemade pizza night (I am going to try to attempt this recipe for my pizza… Thoughts? Or I might just split a whole pita pocket in half… We will see how daring I feel…)

PS I know there have been several issues with commenting… Sorry! I am working on it.

PPS Actually Mike is working on it. I am going to be setting up the blog on a different site. OH and by “I am setting up…” I mean he is.

Green with envy

I am really obsessed with green smoothies. We (Scott included!) have one about five times a week for breakfast. It is a perfect way to get practically all your fruits and veggies in for the day before it even starts. I feel like the days I don’t have a smoothie, I can tell a difference in my energy levels and my mood. They also ease that mommy guilt of wondering whether or not the kids are eating enough fruits and veggies (or in my case, knowing they aren’t…) AND seriously, how are you supposed to just EAT all those recommended servings every day??? The fun part is, you totally create your own as long as you have a good green base going on!

For ours, I start with 1/4-1/2 cup of plain yogurt, some coconut milk*(add plain water as needed) and then add the spinach. It depends on if you are using fresh or frozen spinach on the amount. I add at least 3 cups of fresh and about 2 handfuls if it is frozen and a small bunch of fresh parsley. Then I bring on the good stuff! I pretty much throw in whatever frozen berries I feel like that day. ALWAYS add pineapple and a banana it will sweeten it up so much you won’t even know it is good for you. (side note if you have, ahem, constipation issues, skip the banana). We use mango, strawberries, cherries, blueberries…. whatever we have! I have an ulcer issue and have found that if I add mango to mine it really aggravates it, that might be a personal problem, but just FYI.

Tips: Always blend the spinach by itself with the base liquids you are using and it will blend completely smooth. Fresh spinach blends better but is more expensive than frozen. (I just bought fresh organic spinach and it was $5.99 for 16 oz compared to frozen organic at $1.99 for 16 oz). If your family is freaked out by the color, add blueberries and it will turn an appetizing purple color. Also, call it a shake…kids like that. You might want to start off with less spinach and add more as the fam gets more used it, I just went all out and forced them to drink it (I’m an all or nothing kinda girl) and they are used to it now!

Try it… you’ll like it.

* Coconut Milk

1 can organic Coconut milk (not the lite)

2 1/4 cup water

Mix and store in fridge.

I also mix coconut milk with baby food, eat it on cereal, etc, etc….