Week #2

MONDAY- Ooops! I forgot it was "Meatless Monday" :(

• Breakfast - .75 c mixed berries + 1/2 c oatmeal with slivered almonds and a few raisins + 1 HB egg + 24 oz water
• Lunch -24 oz water + 12 oz rooibos tea + 3 oz Salmon + 1/2 cup cucumber tomato salad 
• Snacks - handful of nuts + 1 champagne mango + 1 chocolate smoothie when I returned home from work (coconut milk, cocoa powder, chocolate greens powder, 1/2 scoop spirutein protein powder, 1/2 banana and ice) + 16 oz Kombucha
• Dinner - Riced cauliflower, sweet potato, shredded chicken, diced tomato, and avocado.
• Dessert- Homemade triple berry crisp (grain-free)

This crisp was even delicious served cold

TUESDAY-

• Breakfast - 1/4 c oats, chia seeds, cocoa powder, almond butter, coconut milk, sliced banana + 24 oz water + 12 oz Good Earth Original tea
• Snack - 24 oz water + 12 oz Good Earth Original tea
• Lunch - Carrots, celery, and cherry tomatoes with 2 oz of Sabra classic hummus --> contains soy oil and natural flavoring, but they were free at work and I didn't wake up in time to make a lunch. Eating healthy takes proper planning and a little more time, which I did not have this morning after hitting the snooze button a few times. Oops! :) 24 oz water + 12 oz Rooibos tea
• Snack -Chocolate Smoothie (1/2 banana, frozen berries, coconut milk, water, cocoa powder, chocolate greens powder, and half scoop spirutein protein.
• Dinner: grass-fed beef tacos on lettuce wraps, topped with tomato and avocado. To stretch the beef, I added sautéed squash and bell peppers. I also served a side of watermelon.
• Exercise - 50 squats, leg lifts, and abs while the baby played :)

Taco lettuce wraps with fruit

WEDNESDAY-

• Breakfast - 1/3 c dry oats cooked with water, cinnamon, coconut milk, and vanilla. Topped with a homemade berry sauce (cooked and pureed -boysenberries, marionberries, vanilla, juice/zest of half a lemon, chia seeds, splash of balsamic, and raw honey) and a dollop of whipped coconut cream.
• Snack - handful of nuts + green juice (kale, cucumber, ginger, mint, watermelon, pineapple, and water)
• Lunch - Quinoa topped with vegetable green curry sauce  + 1/2 mango
• Snack - Craving something sweet so I made chocolate "fudge" (unsweetened cocoa powder, coconut oil, shredded coconut, and a drop of stevia) 
• Exercise - Went on a 2.5 mile hike with the little one in my front pack. My left knee started hurting about 20 minutes in. :( Stupid knee! We arrived back at the house about 5:20 and I was starved. I sucked down some water and ate a handful of nuts while I started on dinner. 
• Dinner - Grilled lemon-pepper Mahi Mahi with a zucchini salad (raw spiraled zucchini, kalamata olives, red onions, sun-dried tomatoes, lemon juice, olive oil, sea salt, pepper)
• Dessert- homemade coconut popsicle

This was my first time eating raw zucchini

THURSDAY -

• Breakfast - I am running low on groceries so I didn't bring anything from home this morning. I bought 1 cup of oatmeal, 1 tbsp slivered almonds, and 1 banana to have for breakfast with 20 oz water. 
• Treat - It was one of those days where I just needed something. I forgot my tea ball for my loose leaf so I went to the dreaded Starbucks and ordered a tall half-caff soy cappuccino. I chose soy, even though it was sweetened, because it was organic and non-gmo, while the cow's milk was non-organic.  20 oz water + 12 oz rooibos tea 
• Lunch - 20 oz water + salad from the salad bar (iceberg lettuce, baby spinach, shredded carrots, cherry tomatoes, sunflower seeds, olive oil, balsamic vinaigrette, garbanzo beans, and 1 oz hummus) + small orange
• Exercise - 20 minute walk with co-workers (my knee was bugging me the whole way!)
• Snack - 'Simply Nuts & Fruit' snack pack from Starbucks (the dried fruit did have sugar added but it was a better choice than the nut packs available in the cafeteria with high fructose corn syrup and a bunch of scary additives. 2 slices of organic, sulfite-free ham when I arrived home from work. 
• Exercise - 50 squats while I played outside with Finn and our pups before dinner. We also split the last popsicle so I could make a new batch of chocolate strawberry pops! 
• Dinner - Grilled wild-caught salmon seasoned with Penzey's Northwest blend (my fave!) + oven-roasted organic broccoli tossed in olive oil, sea salt, and pepper
• Dessert - Homemade chocolate strawberry popsicle

Sometimes simple is best

These yummy pops didn't last long at our house!

I spent Thursday evening creating a meal plan for the next two weeks. Here are a few of my meal ideas:

Breakfasts: 

Almond flour pumpkin muffins

HB eggs with fruit

Overnight Oats
Smoothies
Zucchini Apple Spice Muffin

Lunches: 

Tuna-stuffed HB eggs

Massaged kale salad

Broccoli salad

Leftovers
Cauliflower hummus w/ vegetables or wrapped in organic, sulfite-free sliced meat

Dinners: 

Very Green Lentil Soup

Zucchini Noodles with Meatballs & Marinara Sauce
Grilled fish and a spinach salad topped with homemade peach basil vinaigrette
Greek Chicken & Kale stew served over cauliflower rice
Vegetable Green Curry

I love having these $5 bouquets on my table 

I took the weekend off again. I ate mostly healthy, wholesome foods with the exceptions of the evening treats. Saturday, the hubby stayed with the little while he napped and I quickly scurried off to my favorite coffee shop. Next, with a steaming half-caff Americano in hand, I was off to explore the Farmers' Market. I spent an hour wandering the booths, stopping often to admire the produce and craftiness of the locals. That evening  the hubby and I sat around the fire pit, drank a few blueberry ales and made some bomb diggity s'mores. We used organic vanilla wafers, marshmallows, and salted dark chocolate for me and caramel-filled milk chocolate bar for the hubby. YUM!!!

Blueberries and marionberries

Fresh honey wheat bread, zucchini, and white onions

Sunday we spent most of the day catching up on things around the house, grocery shopping, etc. We also went for a walk where I talked the hubby into stopping in a grassy meadow to let the little one run while we did some exercises. We did jumping jacks, squats, push-ups, leg kicks, punches, and more jumping jacks. We even had Finn joining us during our squats! He started copying us half way through our session. SO cute! :) I just love him to pieces. Actually, I love both of my boys with all of my heart. I've been a little sappy this week as it is my last week breastfeeding Finn. We are continuing his evening feeds though Friday and will then be done. So bittersweet. <3

Week #1

I am proud to say that week one went quite smoothly. Well,  for me anyways. I can't say the same for the hubby. He did try, but he can't turn down free food (lunch at the office, happy hours with co-workers, or being fed at a golf tourney). Oh, and then there was that pesky beer that kept calling his name. :)

For me,  the first few days were kind of tough. Mostly, because I felt exhausted and was experiencing headaches. This combination did not leave me inspired to cook big meals. However, cooking is sort of a necessity when you can only eat whole foods. I worked through it though. You can check out what I ate below.

MONDAY:

• Breakfast - I forgot my hard-boiled eggs, so I only had herbal tea, 1 cup of watermelon, 1/2 avocado, and 1/2 organic beefsteak tomato. I also brewed some loose leaf coconut pouchong tea (my new favorite) to drink until lunch. 
• Lunch- 1 cup of Mexican casserole ("riced" cauliflower, shredded sweet potatoes, shredded chicken, diced garlic, spices) + 1/2 beefsteak tomato, 1/2 avocado, salsa.
• Dinner - 1.5 pieces homemade frittata (veggies + ham)  + 1.5 cups watermelon (Finn & I were munching on a bit before and during dinner.
• Snacks - When I arrived home from work I was starving and craving sugar something fierce. So I had a banana, almond butter, and a handful of nuts.  I also munched on a few pieces of ham while I was cooking dinner. 
• Total water- 40 oz plain water, 12 oz mint melange tea, and 12 oz coconut pouchong green tea.
• Exercise - 20 minute walk with co-workers

*Notes - I felt exhausted this evening and had a headache. I'm now wondering if it was related to sugar withdrawals because I had a slight one on Tuesday too, but felt great after that.

Mexican Casserole 

Frittata --> fancy word for baked eggs

TUESDAY:

• Breakfast - 1.5 slices leftover frittata
• Morning Snack- champagne mango + 1/4 c mixed, unsalted nuts
• Lunch - Ordering pizza at work so I ordered the broccolini appetizer (broccolini fire roasted in the oven with olive oil and sea salt) which turned out to be pretty small, so I cut up my snack of an apple + whole carrot
• Dinner- Spinach balsamic salad topped with roasted veggies and crispy bacon + one glass of Pinot Grigio
• Total water- 48 plain water and 24 oz Peachberry Jasmine Sutra green tea
• Exercise - 25 minute walk to and from park with Finn + abs and squats

WEDNESDAY-

• Breakfast- Grain-free almond coconut porridge (almond butter, shredded coconut, vanilla, honey, cinnamon, warm water)  - this kept me satisfied for over 4 hours, which is rare.
• Lunch- chocolate smoothie (1.5 Tbsp cocoa powder, 1 scoop chocolate greens powder, 1 banana, 1/3 c frozen organic berries, 1 c coconut milk, 1 c water)
• Afternoon snack- 1.5 cups organic grapes, 3 slices organic oven roasted turkey slices, 1/3 cucumber
• Dinner- 3 oz salmon, 1/2 cup riced cauliflower, 1 cup homemade vegetable green curry
• Sweet snack- 1/2 c watermelon
• Total water- I am horrible about drinking water when I'm at home. I think I only drank 4 or 5 cups of water. 
• Exercise - Welll...I guess I could count mopping the floors. I did work up a sweat. : ) But, otherwise nothing else. I've been terrible about working out!

Vegetable Green Curry over riced cauliflower

THURSDAY -

• Breakfast - 2 hard-boiled eggs + 1 white nectarine
• Lunch - 1/3 cup cauliflower rice with 1 cup leftover vegetable green curry + 3/4 cup watermelon balls 
• Snack - Handful of unsalted, roasted nuts + organic peach
• Dinner - 1/2 grilled salmon fillet and a green salad with apples, pecans, and homemade balsamic vinaigrette
• Sweet Snack - Homemade "fudge" (almond butter, coconut oil, cocoa powder, vanilla, raw honey) + watermelon
• Total water -  6 cups of plain water at work + two 12 oz cups of peachberry jasmine sutra green tea

FRIDAY-

• Breakfast - 2 blueberry lemon muffins (made with coconut flour) + fresh blueberries
• Snack - Handful of unsalted roasted nuts
• Lunch -  Massaged kale salad with two pieces organic ham slices
• Dinner - Grilled Mahi Mahi, spicy black beans, fresh guacamole, and cilantro

*I got a few days behind over the weekend so I'm writing from memory. I snack fairly often throughout the day, and can't remember everything I ate Fri, Sat, and Sun... but you get the idea. :)

SATURDAY -

• Breakfast - 1.5 blueberry lemon muffin + 1/2 champagne mango (Treated myself to a decaf americano with a little bit of cream)
• Snack - Small handful nuts
• Lunch - Massaged kale salad + bowl of blueberries and marionberries with a kombucha
• Dinner - A bowl of roasted veggies (parsnips, sweet potatoes, carrots, red pepper, and yams) + 1/2 avocado
• Snacks - 2 slices of organic, nitrate-free turkey + carrot sticks
• Dessert - Homemade grain-free mixed berry crisp (topping = almond flour, toasted coconut, chopped cashews, cinnamon, maple sugar, and coconut oil)

I'm in love!
Stay posted. I'm going to attempt my first
 batch of homemade kombucha soon. 

Triple lemon berry grain-free fruit crisp 

SUNDAY-

• Breakfast - organic, humane certified eggs with sauteed veggies and crumbled local bacon + small bowl of mixed, local berries
• Lunch* - Caesar salad, cheeseburger (no bun) with lettuce + tomato, beans, watermelon, and an Alaskan Amber beer + chocolate chip cookie for dessert
• Snack - Tootsie Pop sucker from our goodie bag + a single scoop of Northwestern berry ice cream on a small cone + lots of water
• Dinner - We went out for Italian on our way home and I had a few slices of bread, garden salad with vinaigrette on the side, salmon, cucumber salad, and roasted potatoes
• Snack - A few sweets from our goodie bag --> fruit roll up + Cracker Jack's 

*Dane's office hosted a company BBQ. I decided to just enjoy the day and not worry about any restrictions. It was at a farm/small theme park and we had so much fun! However, I did consume a lot of sugar and didn't feel so hot.

Eek!
 If you look closely you can see I was startled to find
 Finn & Pete the python having a stare down. 

Oh, just cuddling snakes. :) 

Checking out the tractor with his Papa.

Splashing in the water on his canoe ride. 

It was a bee-utiful day @ Remlinger Farms

Looking thrilled to be on his first pony ride with Bumbleberry. :) 

*Sorry, some of these pics may not be that great of quality. All were taken with my phone or Instagram. I don't carry around my nice camera that often.

Upcoming Cleanse

Hey food-loving friends!

I'm excited, but slightly hesitant, to announce that the hubby has finally agreed to do a whole foods "cleanse" with me. Every few months, I get to feeling a little sluggish and too dependent on sweets/carbs. Quite honestly, I wish I could simply press the restart button.  But, since this is real life and there is no reset button, a cleanse is the next best thing. It's challenging as I'm going through it, but it truly helps get me back on track. It also reminds me of how good I feel when I properly nourish my body.

Here are the rules for this month's "cleanse":

• No dairy
• No gluten-containing grains 
• No refined sugars 
• No refined vegetable oils (soy, canola, corn, etc.)
• No packaged or highly-processed foods 
• No white potatoes

What to eat:

• Lots of vegetables
• Two to three servings of fruit per day
• Grass-fed meat
• Wild seafood
• Eggs
• Nuts/Seeds
• Healthy oils (olive, coconut, avocado and flax)
• Limited amounts of raw honey
• Lots of water and tea (No soda, beer, juice, etc.)
• 1 glass of wine, up to 3 times/week - to help keep me sane :)

Another important park to kick-starting my health is to MOVE! Occasionally, I get in a slump and need a reminder of how awesome I feel when I regularly exercise. Not only is it great for muscle tone/fat loss, but it helps me sleep at night. The goal during these next two weeks will be to exercise for at least 30 minutes five days each week. 

Anyone want to join us?? We start Monday! :) 

Independence Day

We started Independence Day with a flight to Montana for my family reunion. I was a little nervous because Finn is such a mover and doesn't fancy being restrained to one spot. Yet, I am proud to report that he was absolutely perfect! After quickly moving through my bag of tricks, we provided him with two drink cups from the stewardess and a couple of baby wipes. This kept him busy the remainder of the trip. He stacked, stuffed, unstacked, and unstuffed, with the occasional break to munch on some snacks.

I was a little sad because my mom, siblings, and grandparents were unable to make it to the reunion. Since the majority of my mom's family members are still located in South Dakota, the trip to Montana is a fairly long one. However, we have a large family and six of the nine siblings were still able to attend, in addition to a few of my cousins. It was quite a bit smaller, and less rambunctious, than our usual crowd, but there was still plenty of fun to be had by all. My uncle has a fishing pond near the house that kept the kids busy, and led a few rafting trips on Friday. Of course, there was also plenty of beer drinking, wine tasting, gun shooting, card games, bean bag toss, hilarious stories, and belly laughs. Friday night Dane's parents drove to Billings and joined us around the fire for a bit before they headed back to their hotel room. Saturday we left my uncle's house around 4:00 to join Dane's parents, aunt, and uncle for dinner. Dane was one lucky guy and was served ribs (his favorite) twice on this trip. Other exciting news from the long weekend, Finn started walking!! This video is of his first steps the night before we left. By the time he returned he was cruising all over the place.

Finn was a little unsure when he first met the horses,
but it didn't take him long to reach out and pet their noses.

Grandma Anderson brought him his favorite car to cruise around the farm with. 

We had to join Finn in the dirt for our family picture to avoid a  meltdown.
He is such a boy and loves everything loud, destructive, and dirty. :)

Overall, we had a wonderful time with family. Although our time together always seems too short, I cherish every minute. I always leave bursting with gratitude and feeling ultra lucky. Family has always been important to me, but now that we have Finn it is more important than ever. I want him to always feel loved and adored and feel at ease knowing that our families will do a wonderful job helping us achieve that. Thank you everyone for all your love and support on our journey as new parents. We love you so much! <3

Hot & Sweaty

Did I get your attention?? Ok, so the title sounds a little ostentatious. But there's nothing crazy or inappropriate here, I promise, it's just a tad warm for us Seattle peeps. I've seen it happen the last few summers. As soon as the heat comes, everyone flocks to the store fighting over the last few fans on the shelves. It's not very often that it gets too terribly hot around here, so many homes/apartments do not have air conditioning. Luckily, my dad bought us a window A/C unit a few years ago when we lived in MT. (Thanks, Pops!) So, we dug it out of the garage and installed it today, since it was 80 degrees inside our house yesterday. The pups were not happy about that! They were panting and shedding heaps of hair at a time.   Today, they were much more content "chillin" inside until the sun started to set.

However, the little one and I were getting a bit stir crazy (the hubby went golfing with his buddies), so we ran to a few stores looking for a baby pool. Of course, everyone else had the same idea. The first store only had two pink Disney princess pools left. I almost bought one just so I didn't have to drive to another place, but I figured the hubby wouldn't be too thrilled about that. So, we checked out Target's inventory and I found the perfect blow up pool for $4.99. Score!!

Could I really get out of Target only spending $5?!? Ha ha! Yeah right! I then proceeded to browse the dishes section where I found these cute plates and place mats.

Then, I decided I needed a bottle of rum to make watermelon mojitos with the Costco watermelon I bought yesterday (best idea ever!). Oh, and some baby portabellas since the hubby wouldn't be home for dinner (silly guy hates mushrooms). Finn ate way too much watermelon as I was trying to keep him content while I fixed dinner. I melted some grass-fed butter and sautéed up the 'shrooms with garlic, thyme, and kale. When everything was nearly finished, I drizzled on a little homemade balsamic Dijon dressing and crumbled goat cheese over the top. It was superb! The little one must have agreed because he ate the majority of the dish. He is such a good eater. I know most toddlers go through a picky phase, but I am going to be truly devastated if/when this happens.

Sunday was another scorcher for us Seattle-ites, but we still spent almost the entire day outside and had sooo much fun! We stopped at Duke's Chowder House for a quick lunch. I had a salmon salad and the hubby had the scallop and bacon tacos. It was a little spendy, but everything was fresh and had tons of flavor. Then we were off to Greenlake where Finn played in the water for awhile before we were asked to leave if we didn't have a swim diaper, which we didn't. She told me I could ditch the diaper and just let him swim in his jean shorts. Really?!? I didn't feel like risking it, and we even managed to escape without a meltdown.

"Where are we goin' guys?" 

Playing in the water.

 We then made our way to a soft, grassy spot in the shade where we were entertained by people watching and our little guy's silly antics. Here are a few of my favorite photos from the park.  

I <3 his messy hair and dirty little face. 

I adore watching their relationship blossom.
Finn is becoming quite attached  to his daddy. 

Look at those yummy thighs!

Watching a group of frisbee-throwing hooligans

 Shortly after 4:00 that afternoon, we started walking to the zoo, since the concert doors opened at 5:00. As we slowly drudged along under the hot sun, it wasn't hard to convince the hubby to stop for ice cream. I chose one scoop of lemonade sorbet and one scoop of strawberry cheesecake ice cream. The hubby is a simple man and always gets vanilla, but apparently was feeling a bit wild this time and added a waffle cone. Finn was lucky enough to try all three kinds and, of course, we couldn't keep up with his demands. The concert lines were already lengthening considerably by the time we arrived to the zoo. However, my smart hubby grabbed his golf umbrella, so we got a nice reprieve from the sun's burning rays. Parker Millsap opened for Old Crow Medicine Show. The group has a bluesy, folksy vibe, but it's Millsap's gravelly voice that adds a unique richness to their melodies. Check out his song "Palisade" below:

 Old Crow Medicine Show took the stage around 6:45 and put on quite the show. Of course, they saved their most popular songs for their last few performances. Within the first couple notes of "Wagon Wheel" everyone was on their feet and soon the whole zoo was rockin' along. It was our first experience at Zoo Tunes, and it was such a positive one. Plus, it's kid friendly and was over by 9:00 - Important for us parents who have to wake up at 5:00 am the following morning. :)

The little one was such a trooper! He crawled around, threw popcorn, played with plastic cups, snacked, and drank lots of water. He loved dancing with us at the end of the concert, especially when Daddy started to throw him up in the air. His bedtime is typically between 8:00 and 8:30, but he was in such good spirits the entire show, and we nearly made it the whole way home before we heard any fussing. Such a good little guy. :)

Finn enjoying Zoo Tunes. 

These two cups kept him entertained for a long time. 

"Weee!" They love making Mama nervous. :) 

I hope everyone has a wonderful time celebrating Independence Day! We're off to MT for a family reunion. Wish us luck on our flight with a busy 13-month-old!