What We Ate and Why My Husband is A Weirdo

Mckinley and I LOVED our new recipe tonight. Daddy, not so much. I honestly thought he would like it except for the brussel sprouts which we were all trying for the first time, but I was completely wrong and misjudged my husbands adventurous taste buds. Thankfully my child loves food like her Mama and gobbled hers up. I pray she always eats like a champ and still eat fruit like candy 

Since I am trying to eat clean these days I wanted to shake things up and try something new. I was determined to try something with brussel sprouts and I picked up a few at the store last week and every time I open the fridge they just stared back at me begging to be cooked. I couldn't bare to let them go bad so I had Brent pick me up some fresh chicken last night from Fresh Market so I could make this
Chicken, Sweet Potato, and Apple Skillet

I am now in love with brussel sprouts and will be roasting some next week for a side dish instead of my usual broccoli, asparagus, or squash. They kind of taste like tiny cabbages with a crispier texture. I highly recommend this recipe because it was very easy to make and very easy to clean up since I only used 1 pan. I will definitely make it again for the girl and I when daddy works late.

I am planning on starting my bi weekly meal planning starting tomorrow because I miss being prepared ahead of time and not having to scramble to make something delicious and nutritious  I am slowly working on a little kitchen cooking and cleaning command center and hopefully when  I finish I will have somewhere to keep up with everything and I won't feel overwhelmed.

Now, if only I could get these 2 giant stacks of papers filed away and my office/dog room organized I would be able to feel like I can breath. Can someone loan me a maid for a day?? It would probably only take her an hour or two to clean our tiny little house.

Mind Dump

I am typing as I enjoy my second glass of Big House Unchained Naked Chardonnay boxed wine. It has 4 bottles of wine in it's funny looking box!! 4 bottles people! As a college Franzia connoisseur I know a little about boxed wines and this my friends is a keeper at $19.99. I spent a long hard half day of work hanging out with my precious babies and a few parents after some Parent Teacher Conferences. I might have also done some clothes returning and purchasing things I didn't really need, but this dietary change is really working and I just wanted a few new pieces to revamp my wardrobe.  I am such a sucker for anything with polka dots and anything in a mint seafoamy green blue. The house is almost too quiet now that my mom and dad both stopped in to visit and  my dear sweet sweet in laws have picked up the Kitten for a slumber party. I think I will just sit here in the quiet for a minute and enjoy the quiet.

It was so nice driving around today and just having a little quiet me time. I am so lucky to have this amazing job and they will never be able to get rid of me! I can truly say I LOVE what I do and the people I work with and not many people will ever get a chance to say that. I am so blessed to be living this life.
 While driving around I passed one of our many private schools in town and yes I know I work at a private school, but this one is a little different or I guess I could say ours is different because it is a little smaller and closer to my everyday reality. I can honestly say I know nothing about this other school other then the visual affect the people and their babies have on me and just on the surface they are even more upper class then my homies. First off it costs your first born child to attend in and then you have to sell an organ on the black market every year just to pay for it. I was actually offered a job at this school way back in the day, but I couldn't accept the position because of the low amount of pay. It was only for an assistant position that could have turned into a teaching position, but I just couldn't swing it at that time. I know it was for a reason because I am absolutely 100% where I am supposed to be in my life, but it is always interesting to look into this world and think about how life would be different if I had jumped at my first opportunity. Would I have fit in? Would I say I loved waking up and going to work every day? As I sat and watched the moms coming and going picking up their own precious angels in their cute little work out outfits and realized how different their lives must be. It blows my mind to think that people can actually make that much money that they can actually send their precious babies to this school. I mean we aren't destitute, but we are definitely on the lower end of the middle class around these parts and I guess when you have it you just don't realize how different your life is or maybe it isn't any different. I guess the moral of my story is I love watching people and  wondering what their lives are like behind all of the stuff and give me a few glasses of wine and I can take things deep people. 

Now I am just sitting her waiting for my lovah to return home after a long day of work to enjoy a date night in with a pizza and a movie. We may not have celebrated Valentine's Day, but this was my month to plan date night and I think I have done a pretty good job. I wanted  to do a movie date night in so I picked up a natural cheese pizza (Lent and kind of diet friendly) and I rented Pitch Perfect from the Red Box.
Side note since this post has taken me 3 days to write Brent was kind of skeptical of my choice, but gave me mad props after the movie was over because it was Aca-larious! I knew he would like it also because it had one of the guys from workaholics in it.

SPeaking of not celebrating Valentine's Day, I thought I could escape all of the candy and junk. That was until my sweet babies so kindly gifted me with all kinds of delicious treats. I am thinking now about doing a cleanse starting this weekend after The Valentine's Day Chocolate Bender of 2013!!! After eating clean for a few weeks and then going off the deep end with 1 bunch of chocolate covered strawberries (at least they had fruit), 4 small boxes of heart shaped chocolates, and a laffy taffy or two, I am now fully committed to a life of healthy eating (with occasional trysts into the world of  carbs and sugar). I have finally discovered the loveliness of Agave Nectar and I will never go back. I enjoy eating clean, exercising, being healthy, and feeling good and hopefully I can bring the hubby over to the dark side of my world.

Now that Brent has confirmation from his Dr. that he needs to drastically change his lifestyle I am going to do whatever it takes to help him get healthy. We have already started with a few small changes for him like no fast food, a salad with dinner to help cut portion sizes, more healthy fish, lean protein, and veggies, and more water. I am also going to start a new routine for both of us. On the nights he gets home early I am going to already have a work out dvd all set up and ready to go and I am going to have all of his work out clothes ready to go and on nice nights the stroller and baby will be ready to roll. I might also try waking him early (I am kind of scared to poke the bear, but we will try it and see how it goes) to go ahead and get his workout over with and then he can't say he is to tired or just wants to destress before exercising and then not doing it. I know he isn't going to do it on his own so maybe if I push him a little he will start enjoying it. I also think this will play a major roll in combating his level of stress. What's better than getting fit and healthy with the person you plan on spending the rest of your life with. I know I will out live him, but I can hopefully keep him around for a little while longer because I kind of like him just a little.

We don't have school Monday and I think I already have my entire day all planned out. I am thinking a trip to the gym, a cloth diapering lesson, a trip to the park with a picnic depending on the weather. I know you are jealous I get to spend a whole extra day with my Little Lady. She is pretty fabulous!

This and That

I had a whole long post written out about how awful yesterday was and how I just can't do it all some days, but then I woke up this morning and it was a new day and no one pooped on the floor. 

It is amazing what a new day can bring and the new perspective it can bring.

I am allowed to have off days and I am glad yesterday is gone and I am ready to move on and celebrate good ole Valentine's Day. I don't actually celebrate Valentine's Day because I don't need candy and flowers are a waste to me so there will not be any grand Valentine's posts from this little lady. We will be having date night Friday because this month is my date month. We each plan a date night each month and mine just so happens to be February and Brent gets March our Anniversary month. I am thinking we will do a night in at the movies with pizza, popcorn, and booze.

 Before I forget someone turned 18 months 2 weeks ago. Weighing in at 23 lbs. and 29 3/4 inches is our wild child. She gets into everything, climbs on everything, eats everything, throws fits, wants me to hold her at all times, loves taking baths and brushing her teeth, makes huge messes, loves going night night so she can get her paci, loves Elmo, loves cooking with her metal mixing bowl and spatula, kind of sort of potties on the potty, lives for broccoli and beans, talks to much and is really loud, but likes to whisper when you ask her to say a word, loves being outside and gets really pissed when she can't go outside (come on spring!), throws a ball like a pro directly at your face, loves wearing things around her neck like necklaces, my id badge, and monkey leashes, has a weird obsession with bubbles, will stop whatever she is doing and start dancing for no reason with absolutely no music, loves her aunt Jen Jen, Car Car, Nonni, Grandpa, and Ya Ya even if she won't say Nonni's name, loves her babysitter Julie and some days she won't leave and go home with me, waits for her daddy to come home so she can take his lunch box from him and makes everyday a little more exciting because you never know what she is going to hide in my house shoes. 

Life is crazier and a million times better because this Little Lady is in it. 

It doesn't get any better than this!

How Roxanne Got Her Groove Back

I feel like I am getting my groove back. Not completely, but I am almost there. 

I thrive on schedule and preparation, but I have been slacking lately and I am learning that when I slack it makes life suck. Tonight I gave myself a swift kick in the behind and got my stuff together. I sucked it up and  not only made dinner, but I started dinner for tomorrow night, made all of Mckinley's lunches for the rest of the week, made my lunch for tomorrow, and set up my coffee for the morning. I also finally put away the rest of my clean clothes and the rest of Mckinley's clothes. Putting away clothes might not sound like a big deal, but around here clean clothes can sit in a basket for quite some time.

I am starting my meal planning again and I have already made a few recipes I have been planning. Tonight I made This  Spicy Baked Shrimp. It was spicy and delicious! The Lady and I ate ours with roasted asparagus and asparagus (roasted in the oven with EVOO, salt, pepper, and garlic salt), home made sweet potato fries, and lima beans. 

Tomorrow night we will be having one of my all time favorite meals Stuffed Zucchini. This isn't the exact recipe (we use saltine crackers and we don't add the egg), but it is pretty close. I have all of the ingredients prepared and ready to cook tomorrow.

Wednesday I am thinking some tilapia, quinoa, and veggies sounds just right.

And Thursday I am thinking about throwing some of This  together.

I'm back and life feels right! Nothing a Giant Elmo can't fix!

Pretty Good

Besides being a little under the weather I am feeling pretty good these days. I am thinking my clean eating habits and hitting the gym more are the cause of this. I am still not sure why it has taken me so long to get back to being myself, but I will never blame it on being too busy or being a mommy again. 

As for my dietary changes I decided to stop saying I was on the Paleo diet because so many people look at me funny. Instead I have chosen to say I am choosing to be healthier. My main food intake these days is fruits and veggies (fresh, cooked, and in smoothies), lean meats, nuts, and beans. Basically anything you can find around the edges of the grocery store I am eating it. I have had a few "treats" after eating clean for 2 weeks and I can honestly say I did not enjoy anything I ate. I have had some pizza (wasn't too bad) a doughnut, some California sushi rolls,  a few veggie straws, and a 2 slices of bread with my spicy black bean burger and I can honestly say I felt yucky after eating every single one of these items. Needless to say this Super Bowl Sunday should be interesting. I am not sure if it will be worth it to eat some of the things I was looking forward to eating and I am thinking I am going to change what I was going to bring as my offering (Buffalo Chicken Dip) and instead bring some 7 Layer Dip.

I have started working on my February Monthly Meal Calendar and I am excited about some new simple recipes I found on Pinterest shock and surprise. I will be shopping bi-weekly this time around instead of monthly because I was finding I had too many leftovers which isn't a bad thing, but it was starting to overflow and I absolutely HATE wasting food so this will work out better for our little fam.
I am excited to try some new recipes and I am even more excited to have my meals planned out again. After taking a month off of planning I missed knowing what we would be eating instead of scrambling around for something healthy to eat or not having all of the ingredients I needed.

This next 2 things i am about to pots have absolutely nothing to do with meal planning or clean eating, but they were so funny and actually made me laugh out loud and I just had to share.

Happy Saturday and I am looking forward to going to church tomorrow morning. We will be taking Mckinley to the nursery for the first time. We haven't been going because it was just too much of a hassle to get up and go with her, but I feel like I am missing something in my life and I think this is just the ticket.