Monday: Kale & Wild Rice Bowl
One of our favorites from Iowa Girl Eats, we've had this one a million and one times since she's shared this recipe. Bonus: It made enough leftovers for lunches a couple days last week!
Leave it to social media to inspire not one, but TWO meals this week (see Friday as well😉). I saw this float through my Facebook feed and knew immediately I had to try it. 3 steps & one slow cooker pot to clean? Sign me up😉
Wednesday: Zucchini noodles with meatballs + salad
Thursday: Leftover calzone + salad
It was kinda sad how excited I was to finish off my leftover calzone from last week😉 Not only was it DELICIOUS, BUT any time we finish things off in the fridge and it doesn't go to waste? = 😍 Not wasting food is my happy place😉
Friday: Cauliflower crust pizza
Yet another one inspired from Facebook (thanks, Lori!). I was in charge of the crust and I left Scott in charge of the cheese. Who, as you could imagine, was SUPEREXCITED to be eating cauliflower pizza to begin with (😉, he's a good sport) So I cracked up when I took the pizza out of the oven and it was nearly end to end covered in cheese😉 Can't blame the man...and he ended up liking it to boot😉
Saturday: 2 quesadillas + rice from Cancun
Getting our taxes done over the bridge in PA led us to dinner at this VERY fun & yummy place. I already can't wait to take Katie back there because I know she'll LOVE it. That dueling quesadilla smothered in their fabulous cheese sauce was certainly a decadent option...but holy moly was it just delicious. Super fun. (I mean, anything's a step up from that cauliflower pizza, AMIRIGHT?😉)
Sunday: Cheesy Hash Brown Chili
While the chili + hash brown sounds like a no brainer on the 'yum' scale, we actually were surprised just HOW good this really was. Great for a cozy, drizzly Sunday night.
Other treats this week:
From a cold, drizzly Sunday, rewinding to Friday night where the weather cracked, um 60...and immediately made me crave ice cream (hold me). And since I told you I am obsessed with ALLTHEMINTOREOTHINGS, that's exactly what I (& Katie!) got...
...in a mini size😉
Sunday morning:
So remember I told you how I can become FASCINATED with recipes in cookbooks?? So I think a Dutch Pancake was one of the very FIRST recipes I found fascinating in my old Kids Cookbook from the 80's😉 I still remember thinking all the 'HOW'S' with this one😉 And after alllllllll those years? I finally got around to making one on Sunday morning...ironically, the recipe was again from Chrissy Teigan's cookbook and it was just sublime😍 (made in my Grandmom's old cast-iron skillet to boot!)
Sunday night:
So after the Dutch pancake & Cheesy chili, this is how we rounded off our Sunday (thankfully "lunch" for me on Sunday was just a handful of almonds in between yoga classes😉) My plan was to make the "Truffle Brownies" on the back of my bag of new coffee flour....only to realize the 'recipe' was a box of brownine mix + 3 tablespoons of flour. HUH??? That's not very exciting.
So I ended up using a small box of leftover brownie mix from the cabinet and used about a tablespoon of flour to the mix. OK, so the brownie WAS very good...but is that really that hard of a task?? I gotta figure out something WAY more creative to do with the ENTIRE rest of that bag of flour before it becomes a cabinet fixture for the next...ummmm...400 years😉
But I DID go back to Trader Joe's and ended up getting that Kona cookie ice cream I mentioned in the video and oooooooooooooooooooohhh was THAT good! Coffee ice cream is not my 1st pick, but this one was EXCELLENT. PLUS COOKIE PIECES...weeeeeeeeeeeee!
OTHER recipes this week:
So despite those few treats this week, I managed to focus a LOT on healthy items this week. I even started taking some extra vitamin supplements (calcium, magnesium, zinc, iron & vitamin C to be exact) and feel REALLY good. MUCH more mindful this week and MUCH more prepared for a healthy week ahead from doing a bit of prep work on Sunday. I even kept a running list of items in the fridge (ON the fridge😉) to have for healthier breakfasts & lunches this week:
...so then it was right in my face and knew I could have a healthy, quick meal in moments. Which REALLLLLLLY helps keep you mindful.
Eaten, um, in the car on the way to teach😉
Born out of the facts that:
B.- Lunch had become SUCH a pitfall for me the past few months that, if I didn't pack a snack to have during all my morning driving arounds, I would come home FAMISHED. So I NEEDED to recognize that I HAVE to have quick & healthy options ready to go so I can just heat & eat.
These little babies? I made a batch on Sunday and they reheat in ONE MINUTE in the microwave. In that time, I would throw a quick salad together and have lunch in under 90 seconds. Done & done.
I always forget how much I actually REALLYREALLY like this stuff and all you need to do is google 'Golden milk' to find out ALL of the benefits of this turmeric tea. I also added a teaspoon of coconut oil & a dash of black pepper. The coconut oil is for, um, every reason Google will tell you that coconut oil is good😉, and the black pepper helps with the absorption of the effective ingredient in turmeric. I'm trying to have a cup of this a day...normally in the mid afternoon time frame when I'm CRAVING warmth but want to skip an extra cup of coffee.
Add to all of this, plus making sure to have at least one salad a day, but more often two. Also paying more attention to meal planning and staggering the meals. As in: one day we have an EXTRA healthy meal (salad/zucchini noodles), in between 'normal meals' (enchilada casserole/chili.) And being EXTRA mindful for alllll the other breakfast/lunches/snacks through the weeks will help balance out all those extra decadent meals throughout the week.
At least we try our best😉
And on the exercise front, I had to unfortunately cool it a bit last week after pulling my back a bit at the beginning of the week. Doing what??? OVERDOING in yoga on Tuesday.
AND WHAT DO I PREACH IN EVERY SINGLE ONE OF MY CLASSES????
NOT OVERDOING
I told some of my classes this week with that old 'parenting' adage: 'do as I say, not as I do.'😉
Exercise:
Tuesday: Taught gentle & vinyasa yoga + took gentle yoga (where I pulled my back in a SIMPLE FORWARD FOLD...oy!)
Wednesday: Taught gentle yoga
Thursday: Taught 2 Hatha classes & 1 gentle class
Friday: Taught gentle
Saturday: Taught Hatha yoga + took Body Jam class
Sunday: Taught vinyasa & Power yoga
So not too much balance on the exercise front but hoping to toss in a few more walks this week now that my back is feeling better. + my teaching schedule is extra hectic this week, so that'll help get me up & movin.
And on yet ANOTHER front, Scott & I have been EXTRA mindful the past few weekends about really being present & enjoying our time together and the result has been feeling VERY happy and refreshed when Sunday night rolled around. So many times we all just kinda go through the motions of the day and not pay too much attention or being present. So we've been making extra effort to just BE MINDFUL of time together and it's been refreshing to the soul. Now THAT is my happiest of happy places, for sure.
It's just always worth taking a sec to realize where you feel like you're falling short or not paying enough attention and to just give those areas of your life a little extra focus.
And I write all of that as much of a reminder to MYSELF as well that it's a simple change of focus to bring more presence to your life vs. just going through the motions...yaknowwhatImean??
OK...I'll shut up now😉
Hope you guys have a great week!
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As always...thanks for reading!
