In a world where each day feels like its own roller coaster where we are all supposed to somehow sit in this “both/and” mentality while still producing work, figuring out how to be a human, and trying to care for ourselves and others all while ingesting a constant cycle of news, headlines, and just plain meanness (no matter what your politics — this moment feels incredibly and unnecessarily mean-spirited and shameful), I have to grasp control wherever I can. Last week, I did not meal prep for the week (gasp!) and I will not be making that mistake again. Not in these turbulent times. Not with this much inflation. Not in these protein-counting peri-menopause streets. Last week, I was flailing: I begged colleagues for…
a food journey
Posts tagged “Skinnytaste”
If you read my post yesterday, you already know that I’m trying to start 2019 differently by incorporating personal goals in each day. You know, the things I want to accomplish for myself that have nothing to do with anything other than satisfying my own needs/goals/wants. This is new for me. Seems completely obvious that it shouldn’t be new, but it is.
So today I got up earlier than normal. I sat still with Mae Mae on the sofa without scrolling through my phone.
I finally finished the Ezra Klein podcast featuring Bryan Stevenson. This is an incredibly important podcast to listen to and I really hope all of you take some time to do so (thanks to my husband and Ann Laurel for sending it my way).
I cooked while listening to the podcast. How extraordinary is that? Well, minus the time when Mike walked in and had to turn off the garbage disposal that had to have been running for 15 minutes since I couldn’t hear it. But besides that (and maybe not hearing when the dog was play biting Mae or when Martin Everitt was trying to get my attention), it was awesome.
I made Collard Greens we picked at Jones Valley Teaching Farm in my Instant Pot.
I made Cheeseburger Soup without the burger part and extra potatoes, so not really Cheeseburger Soup at all but sure is tasty.
I made Fiesta Bean Salad for the week.
I made Brownies from the box.
I made Black-Eyed Peas.
I made Corn Muffins from the box.
I made boiled eggs in my Instant Pot for the week.
And I made a big breakfast to start our year off right complete with bacon, grits, toast, and eggs.
And I’m writing all of it to you on this blog, which is also a goal of mine.
I’m feeling really good about my own personal Day One. No, I’m not writing down my calories today or exercising. I’m starting simple, but I’m determined to get to all the other things eventually and am also feeling like this:
Happy New Year!
The last time I posted on this site, it was snowing. That should tell you everything you need to know about my life. Since it is impossible to recap the last 7 months, I’ll just stick with the last week to make it easy on all of us.
I’ve been battling a sinus infection for the last 6 days. Yes, 6 days. And I’ve had antibiotics, steroid shots, B12 shots, Sudafed, ibuprofen, hot tea, honey, Mucinex, hot showers, essential oils, oranges, and more hot tea. In the words of Jon Bon Jovi, I’ve also been living on a prayer. So instead of talking about my sinus infection (because honestly I’m fully aware that a sinus infection is not the end of the world), I thought I’d quickly post a few successful Instant Pot recipes.
If you’ve been wondering if the Instant Pot is worth all the hype, I can tell you that it absolutely is. So, there’s one question answered.
Here are three dishes that worked for me and I hope they work for you too!
First up, the Pioneer Woman’s Pork Carnitas. The only part that takes a little patience is the browning process. I suggest you open up some windows and air out your entire house before going to sleep (in other words, don’t make this too late at night or else you will wake up from your sinus infection throughout the night and feel confused when one of your nostrils briefly opens up to get a whiff of carnitas). Overall, it turned out really good. I’d probably add more salt next time and squeeze some lime in it because it came out a little sweet for me. Is it better than the Homesick Texan Houston-Style Carnitas that I’ve sworn by before in previous posts? Absolutely not. Is the process easier? I think so.
Next up: The perfect boiled egg
The Instant Pot is a great way to get perfectly boiled eggs. I just followed THIS recipe and you should too!
Finally, I needed some PAHSGHETTI for the little ones. As I was making it, they proudly said that they would NOT eat PAHSGHETTI, but they kind of have to now that it is made. I go by THIS Skinnytaste recipe and skip the onion and garlic part because my kids sniff out chunks of vegetables like dogs with a bone. Instead, I just doctor the meat with garlic powder and onion powder because I’m sneaky like that. The cool thing about this recipe is that pretty much everything cooks together and is one in like 15 minutes.
So there you have it! Three successful Instant Pot recipes. Now if I can only find an Instant Pot recipe to cure this sinus infection…
I know what you are thinking if you’ve been following my posts on Facebook. You think that I mean Whole30 is harder than I expected. Nope. Not that. I can at least control that part. You want to know what is harder than I expected? Finding 30 minutes to write on this blog. I tried yesterday and failed miserably (something about the meal prepping and laundry folding that seemed to never end).
I was super excited to get home tonight because I knew I had the kids by myself. I planned to get them in bed by 7:30 or 8 at the latest and here I am at 8:42 having just sat down. Neither one of them even had a bath (oops). At approximately 8:55, my 4-year-old resurfaced to tell me his pillows were weird. Mercy.
Between this:
And this:
Let’s just say Monday was…well, it was Monday.
That being said, I wanted to briefly explain why I decided to do Whole30. I had Baby2 on June 25th last year and throughout my pregnancy I suffered severe sinus infections (just ask my friends, family, and co-workers). After I had her, I continued to have them. I’ve been on at least 6 rounds of antibiotics in a year and nothing seems to be working. I realize that I’m bound to catch colds and and viruses from the 4-year-old, but I really don’t think I should be getting as sick as I’ve been. And after having to bail on so many work and friend events, I’m sure my friends and family would agree that it is way past time to figure what is going on.
Now there could be a million culprits: a) it could simply be the 4-year-old and all of the runny noses I see in his class; b) it could be my immune system never gaining back its strength after pregnancy; c) it could be life/work stress; d) it could be allergies (getting those tested next); e) it could be my home or the air (in general). It could be MANY things.
It could also very well be food. I mean it’s not like the sugar, processed foods, and adult beverages I’m consuming is doing me any favors. So I’m on a mission to eliminate sugar, grains, dairy, alcohol, beans, and peanuts from my diet. I need to hit the reset button to gain back control especially since I can’t seem to control much of anything else (see above photos).
I would be LYING if I said I wasn’t trying to lose a little weight in the process. I lost 30 pounds with Weight Watchers right before I got pregnant (funny how that happens, isn’t it?) and here I am gaining most of my weight back AFTER the pregnancy (not so funny how that happens).
So, let’s review shall we? I’m trying Whole30 to basically hit the reset button and figure out if certain types of food may be causing all of my terrible sinus and upper respiratory infections. The second reason I’m trying it is to lose a little weight in the process. I mean, if I’m cutting out dairy (RIP Half&Half), grains (goodbye sandwiches and pizza), sugar (au revoir handful of M&Ms before bed), and alcohol (so long vodka sodas and tasty adult beverages)…then I better at least THINK I lost some weight. I know this goes against the Whole30 philosophy and blahblahblahblah, but I’m just going to go ahead and tell the truth. Well, my truth at least.
I’ll talk later in the week about some of the things that have been hardest and I’ll try not to bore you to tears while talking about this particular 30-day stretch. I will also include fun work stuff and who knows what else just so those of you not interested in Whole30 will feel like I’m talking about something other than flavored waters, carrots, leafy greens, cauliflower rice, and potatoes (the only way I’m surviving this plan is because you can have potatoes).
My menu today (Day 8! Day 8! Day 8!) was:
Breakfast: two eggs scrambled with fruit and my coffee without cream.
Lunch: Soup (Whole30 approved), carrots, a tablespoon (or so) of almond butter with a banana. Oh, and a fancy La Croix carbonated water. I’m wild, I tell ya.
Dinner: I had the salad featured below. It is full of arugula, avocado, cucumbers, and a delicious semi-ranch dressing. Because you can’t eat anything processed (think ketchup, mayonnaise, and essentially… practically everything in the universe), I had to make my own mayo. I know, I know. Let me stop here and repeat what I just said: I had to make my own mayo. I added a bit of vinegar, salt, and pepper to the mayo and pretended it was ranch. I also pretended I was dipping fried pickles in the…oh, sorry. I got carried away. Anyway, it was delicious and filling and I paired it with some riced cauliflower (I used to make my own until I found the frozen version at Trader Joe’s) and Skinnytaste’s Crock-Pot Picadillo recipe.
I’m definitely learning as I go so please don’t look to me as a Whole30 expert. Oh, and please read this hilarious take on the Whole30 process. I have to admit that my “kill all the things” moment happened this weekend. You’ll understand when you read the link!
Glad to be back writing on Food Revival and appreciate all of your support as I try to get back in the swing of things.
Tagged: Skinnytaste
I’ve been keeping on track with my gestational diabetes journey. I’ve (pretty much) followed a strict diet and my numbers have definitely been MUCH better than last time ’round this block. I’ve found that soup/salad combo for lunches have helped keep my numbers stable. Of course, dark chocolate brownies are not part of the plan, but even just eating 1/8 of a small piece will do your heart good. I promise. Let’s get this party started, shall we? First up: Skinnytaste’s Buffalo Chicken Meatballs. There for a minute I kind of went Buffalo Chicken crazy. Remember? I posted about the Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken, which was a great success. Clearly, I was on a roll, so I decided to try Buffalo Chicken Meatballs. Here’s…
Categories: Recipes
Tagged: Low-Carb, Pioneer Woman, Skinnytaste
Back in the Weight Watchers days, I made this Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken recipe I found on Skinnytaste.com. Now that I am having to watch my carbs again thanks to gestational diabetes (who am I kidding? I will always have to watch those dang carbs given my history), I figured I might as well revisit some of my favorite Weight Watchers recipes. Look, if I can wrap something in a lettuce leaf, then I’m safe — both from the diabetes perspective AND from the undoing the damage I did in the first trimester perspective. I like this recipe for a number of reasons: 1) Cooking the chicken in the Crock Pot actually works for many recipes (chicken salads, bbq, etc) and in my opinion…
Tagged: Skinnytaste
Remember last weekend’s post? I talked about budgeting, planning for the week, and featured Cabbage Soup and Sloppy Joes? Those two meals (plus the rotisserie chicken I mentioned) kept us going almost all week. I didn’t even need to make the Beef, Quinoa, and Potato soup (see below), but I bought the ingredients so I went ahead and made it anyway. I also had some rotisserie chicken and bell peppers left over (to save money, I bought an entire bag of peppers that were on sale), so I made some stuffed peppers. This weekend’s post will be quick. Just wanted to highlight some of the recipes we ended up using later in the week. Oh, and guess what else? I have gestational diabetes again.…
Tagged: Leftovers, Low-Carb, Skinnytaste
I’m on a mission. I’m on a mission to do better when it comes to shopping for groceries and planning meals. I don’t know about you, but I tend to plan new meals each week and build my shopping list around those NEW meals. The truth is, I never look for sales in the weekly ads (yes, this horrifies my Mom). I don’t do coupons (I can’t even keep up with my keys much less remember coupons). I don’t eliminate new meals that call for a specific spices I’ve never heard of, which ultimately means I have to buy that new spice in addition to the other ingredients I probably don’t have on hand. I’m trying to change all of this, which I’m finding just…
I’m going to pretend that my pregnant self did NOT just inhale a plate of hot wings. Instead, I’m going to post THIS tasty and low-fat Baked Potato Soup recipe. It’s a win-win for all of us: I get to remain in denial and you get to make a low-fat recipe. See how that works? I’ve talked about Skinnytaste before, so it should be no surprise that Gina is at it again. She has taught me some really valuable tricks, but my favorite one (I think) is substituting cauliflower in recipes when I can. Cauliflower can provide great texture and will absorb most any flavor. So rather than loading your potato soup with TONS of evil white starchy potatoes, you can cut it in…
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: Comfort, family, Pregancy, recipes, Skinnytaste, Soup, Weight Watchers
There is a reason why I haven’t posted much in the last couple of weeks. In fact, I’m sure the title of this entry already gave my secret away. If you’ve wondered why I fell face first off of the Weight Watchers wagon and abandoned all talk about points or if you found me curled up in my office with my 3-year-old’s juice box or if you happened to see me dousing my wrists with lemon and peppermint essential oils or posting random photos of casseroles, grits, and anything that has to do with a white potato — then you probably already guessed that I might be pregnant. YOU, my friend, would be correct! Just got the news yesterday that I’m officially 13 weeks and we…
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