Healthier Mud Pies / gluten and dairy free

I bought some Glutino oreo's for the boys. They love these cookies! I thought it would be fun to make them some mud pies with the cookies crumbled on top and a couple gummy worms. My mom sent them Albanese gummy worms. 

I found a chocolate chia pudding recipe on Pinterest. It was super easy to make. 

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 cup dairy free milk - I used almond milk

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 cup chia seeds

1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix it all together and chill for 4-6 hours in the fridge. 

I crumbled up the cookies, sprinkled them over the top and put 2 worms in each bowl. George thought they were super cute and delicious. Cash would only eat the worms. lol

George ended up thinking it was a cute idea, but only ate about 3 bites. George isn't a chocolate fan. Cash loves all sweets, so I am not sure why he wouldn't even try them. Cash just kept yelling he wanted more worms. Next time I will just try to see if he will eat the pudding without worms. 

Air Fryer Eggs!

We eat A LOT of eggs in our home! We go through 4-5 dozen eggs every 2 weeks. I sent eggs to work with Art every day for breakfast. Some times it's just scrambled and some times I do an egg bake. 

One of my friends Caryl posted on IG that she bought these OXO silicone air fryer molds to make over easy eggs. She said she makes an over easy egg in about 10 minutes in her air fryer. WHAT!!!! Well like any good influenced person does I ordered the OXO molds from Amazon for $4. I made some over easy eggs a couple times. Then I decided to try other type of eggs.

I cut up some red onion and jalapenos to add to the bottom of the cups. I whisk 6 eggs and 1/4 cup of salsa in a bowl. I pour the whisked eggs over the onion and jalapenos. I place them in the air fryer at 400 for 10-12 minutes. They easily come right out of the cups without any oil. 

Ready to go into the air fryer

ALL DONE! 

I have been eating the eggs over a slice of turkey and a slice of Daiya cheddar cheese with some Franks Red Hot over the top! This is my favorite breakfast right now! 

Cash has been eating these eggs without jalapenos. He was on an egg strike for awhile. He ate one the other day and was yelling for more. 

The combinations for eggs you can make are endless! Let me know if you try these and what you think! 

Molds found HERE 

Gut Health and why it's so important!

I learned about gut health around 4 years ago. My natural doctor and Dr. Wahl's talk about a leaky gut and gut health a lot. I was rather confused what in the world a leaky gut was until it was explained to me. What is a leaky gut? Leaky gut, also known as increased intestinal permeability, is a digestive condition in which bacteria and toxins are able to "leak" through the intestinal wall. The sad thing is mainstream medical doctors do not recognize leaky gut as a real condition. 

Symptoms of a leaky gut are:

• chronic diarrhea, constipation or bloating
• nutritional deficiencies
• fatigue
• headaches
• confusion
• difficulty concentrating
• skin problems, such as acne, rashes, or eczema
• joint pain
• widespread inflammation

I wrote a blog post on sugar HERE a couple weeks ago. Sugar is one way to cause a leaky gut and destroy good gut health. Avoid eating refined sugars, processed foods, refined oils and minimize your alcohol intake to help your gut health. 

Breakfast I try to have a smoothie with spinach, berries, coconut or almond milk, collagen peptides and chia seeds. We do eat a lot of eggs. I will either fry an egg in coconut oil until they are crispy which is my favorite way to eat them or I like to scramble them with some onions, jalapenos, and spinach. My boys love to eat scrambled eggs with salt. They need salt on their eggs or they won't eat them. I use pink Himalayan salt. 

Lunch I make a large salad. I use all different kinds of lettuce - romaine, arugula, spring mix. Whatever type of lettuce I feel like that week. I try to mix it up, so I don't get sick of the same thing. Then I add in the toppings - shredded carrots, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, grilled chicken, sauerkraut, some nuts if I have them, and Whole 30 ranch. I think it was the Doctors on tv who were talking about how a really good salad has to be mixed really well. It's so true! Once you get everything into your salad it needs to be mixed well! It just makes the salad that much better! 

I started added sauerkraut or kimchi to my salads in the past year. Fermented foods are really great for gut health. Please read the ingredients on the fermented foods you are eating. Make sure there aren't colors, sugars etc added to it. If you are eating fermented foods with additives it pretty much defeats the whole purpose of adding them to your diet. 

A typical lunch for me. 

By having a smoothie and eating a large salad for lunch this pretty much will get 6-9 cups of veggies into my diet for the day. At dinner I might have some paleo tortillas for tacos, baked potato, paleo chicken pot pie or some other type of paleo starch to my dinner. 

Bone broth, sauerkraut, kombucha, are my go to items for helping my gut health besides eating a paleo diet and lots of veggies! I can't say enough of how great bone broth is for you! Not just for your gut health, but also your joints. Getting the collagen for your joints is so important! If you struggle with an autoimmune disease or inflammation add some bone broth into your diet. If you are buying bone broth please pay attention to the ingredients. 

Chris Freytag one of my favorite trainers always says fruit will not make you fat. This is such a good reminder for me. There are times when I want something sweet. Grabbing watermelon, berries, a banana with almond butter is so much better for you than grabbing a Reese's peanut butter cup. Here is what is in a Reese's peanut butter cup - milk chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, chocolate, nonfat milk, milk fat, lactose, soy lecithin, pgpr, emulsifier), peanuts, sugar, dextrose, salt, tbhq (preservative), citric acid (to maintain freshness). 

When you are grabbing a banana with simple almond butter you are eating 2 natural items. You are not worrying about dextrose, citric acid and who knows what else being added to it. I feel fruit has been given a bad rap over the years. It has too much sugar, too many carbs, it's not good to eat it all the time - all lies! It's a natural thing that your body can easily process! If you have a leaky gut you may need to consider limiting the amount of fruit you eat until you get your gut health in a good place. 

Have you ever heard of gut health or a leaky gut? What are things you do to keep a healthy gut?

Refined sugars and your body!

When I started my weight loss journey almost 10 years ago sugar was one thing that really was eye opening. When I was doing the HCG diet I really had to pay attention to ingredients in things. Then when I started eating paleo again back to the sugar watching. 

Have you ever looked at the grams of sugar in that Starbucks drink? What about in the ketchup, crackers, lunch meat, or the processed foods you are eating? Start looking at ingredients on the things you are eating and see how many of them have sugar added to them. 

Here is a list of refined sugar. 

• white flour.
• evaporated cane juice.
• instant starches.
• corn syrup.
• high fructose corn syrup.
• brown sugar (made by adding molasses back into refined white sugar)
• fructose.
• processed artificial sweeteners

Here is what the Cancer Center had to stay in 2016:

"The body breaks down refined sugar rapidly, causing insulin and blood sugar levels to skyrocket. Because refined sugar is digested quickly, you don't feel full after you're done eating, no matter how many calories you consumed. The fiber in fruit slows down metabolism, as fruit in the gut expands to make you feel full".

Refined sugars may increase your risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease. They're also linked to a higher likelihood of depression, dementia, liver disease, and certain types of cancer.

In the brain, excess sugar impairs both our cognitive skills and our self-control. For many people, having a little sugar stimulates a craving for more. Sugar has drug-like effects in the reward center of the brain. Scientists have proposed that sweet foods—along with salty and fatty foods—can produce addiction-like effects in the human brain, driving the loss of self-control, overeating, and subsequent weight gain.

The NIH did a study in mice modeling autoimmune issues gave them sugary water and saw the diseases worsen by activating inflammatory immune cells. The findings suggest that a low-sugar diet may help prevent or treat autoimmune diseases such as Crohn's disease and multiple sclerosis.

Sugar stimulates the production of free fatty acids in the liver. When the body digests these free fatty acids, the resulting compounds can trigger inflammatory processes. Different kinds of sugar may contribute more or less to inflammation.

If you have any type of autoimmune diseases sugar is not your friend whatsoever! I can really tell a difference when I eliminate sugar from my diet. My inflammation really seems to decrease and my I don't crave sugar either. When I am eating sugar on a daily basis my craving for sugar is insane! I also feel my entire body become inflamed in a short amount of time. 

It blows my mind how people do not pay attention to the amount of sugar they are putting in their bodies every single day. I keep seeing all these people making coffees on social media adding tablespoons upon tablespoons of sugar to their coffee. People do you know what this is doing to your body? You are poisoning your body on a daily basis adding all that sugar. 

If I am going to use sugar or give my kids sugar I like to use maple syrup or honey. They are a natural sugar that your body can process. I would like to challenge you to pay attention to the amount of refined sugars you are consuming on a daily basis. Try cutting them out and see how you feel. Also think about what your kids are eating and how much refined sugars they are eating. Mamas we need to consider what our kids tiny bodies are consuming and setting them up for a healthy adults. Our world is consumed with autoimmune diseases, cancers, heart disease, high cholesterol and so much more. Refined sugars are related to so many of these diseases!

I really feel I need to share more about living healthy, multiple sclerosis and easy ways to help people live a healthier lifestyle. I feel this is part of my calling as a person and mother. I can only control what my children eat, but I can help other mothers make better choices for their kids if they want the help. 

Gluten & Dairy Free One Pot Hamburger Helper

As a busy mom aren't we always looking for easy meals we can make for dinner?  I decided to remake The Defined Dish one pot hamburger helper for my family. I feed Cash dairy and gluten free foods. I also try to limit gluten for G. When I saw this recipe I thought it looked and sounded so yummy! This would be a great meal for a busy night too. 

This is one of Cashy's favorite meals. He will gobble this up! I love that I only have to get one pot dirty for a filling meal. It also makes enough that we have plenty of leftovers for 2-3 lunches. Art or the kids will eat it the next day. 

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 onion, chopped finely
1 pound ground beef or turkey - I use whatever I have on hand
1 teaspoon salt
2 garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon tomato paste 
1-2 cups of spinach
1/2 cup of shredded carrots
1 package of gluten free pasta (usually around 8 oz)
2 cups bone broth 
2 cups of coconut milk
2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast

Instructions:

- heat your pot over medium heat

- melt the coconut oil

- saute your chopped onions and minced garlic cloves for 20-30 seconds

- brown your ground meat with the onion and garlic

- once the meat is almost all browned, add in the salt, paprika, nutritional yeast, spinach and tomato paste. Stir to combine in your meat.

- add the bone broth and milk to your browned meat. Bring the liquid to a boil. 

- add in your pasta and cook for the time amount on the package. It's usually around 8 minutes for 8 oz package. 

Serve and Enjoy!

I like adding spinach and shredded carrots to get some veggies in the meal. If I don't have spinach or carrots to add I will serve a side salad on the side or some cut up raw veggies. 

My tip to adding Liver to your Diet!

I started adding organ meat to our diet about 4 years ago. Growing up my mom use to make liver and onions. I loved it as a kid with some ketchup.

Liver is high in vitamin A, folic acid, iron and zinc. Liver is one of the most nutrient dense organ meat with a powerful source of vitamin A. Vitamin A is extremely beneficial for reducing diseases that cause inflammation like multiple sclerosis, arthritis and Alzheimer's along with great benefits for eye health. I am always looking for ways to reduce inflammation, since I struggle with it so bad from my multiple sclerosis. 

I have fried it with bacon grease and onions, but I struggle with the texture of it. I got an idea one day to buy some liver from a local organic natural market Victoria's Natural Market in Tomball, TX. I love going to Victoria's to get my chicken bones to make bone broth, liver, local honey and various other organic local items. 

I bought some liver and took it home to grind it up. I decided to add it to meatballs the first time. No one even knew it was in there and you couldn't taste it at all! I took the remaining ground up liver and put it in little baggies to freeze. When I make anything with ground meat I will add beef or chicken liver to it. I have found beef liver really gives ground turkey a lot of flavor! 

Ground up liver in my freezer

My family has no clue they are eating liver, but they are getting all the amazing benefits from the liver! I most likely wouldn't sit down to eat a plate of fried liver these days, so I can't expect my kids to eat it. I normally do not hide foods to get my family to eat them. I serve them the item and they decide if they want to eat it or not. To me adding the liver to ground meat is like adding in some extra vitamins. We all need to take vitamins, so let's add a little to what we are going to be eating.
Do you like liver? Have you ever ground it up to eat it? 

Bentology Bento Box Review

George is really into having a lunch box and he wants to start eating at school with the other kids. He goes to preschool 2 half days a week. I pick him up before lunch, so he usually eats lunch in the car. The kid is starving when I pick him up. I learned very quickly he needs a full lunch to eat on the way home. Otherwise he was asking for 100 snacks. A pouch just wasn't cutting it. I think he burns a lot of energy at school and even though he has a snack there is isn't enough. 

When Bentology gave us the opportunity to review one of their bento boxes I jumped at the chance! George likes to have different things for lunch, so little containers are perfect! Also when he starts going to a full day of preschool this will be a great way to pack his lunch for him.

The bento box comes in a cloth container with emoji's. 

There are different designs you can pick from here. 

I like the plastic containers. These can easily be put in the dishwasher or you can wash them out quickly. The box holds 4 containers. It comes with 5 containers. One of the containers is very small, so it's great for putting a gummy snack or dip for veggies. On the side you can put some silverware, yogurt packet, or a string cheese. 

Here is what I was able to all fit in the box. 

1 mini cucumber - I could have easily added another one or added some baby carrots.

1/2 cup of yogurt 

1 cup of pasta - he only ate about half of this with all the other food.

1 cutie

small amount of homemade gummy snacks! We recently made these with kombucha and vital proteins. I don't care if G eats a ton of these because there is no artificial anything or sugar in them. 

He LOVED this set up! He had me show him a couple times how to open the box. It can be a little tricky for a 3 year old to open, but he got it after I showed him about 3 times. 

I really like that there are separate containers. I was able to put the lid back on the pasta and put it in the fridge for later. The other stuff he ate all of it right away. I easily washed the containers when I washed my pots & pans after making dinner. 

If you would like to win your very own Bentology Bento Box I am giving one away on my Instagram account! Go check out the giveaway for your change to win! 

If you would like to order your’s you can do so here: bentology.com and use code: ihelp25 for a 25% off discount between 1/15/18-1/22/18

*I received this product for free in exchange for my honest opinion.

Menu August 20

I barely did any cooking while I was at my parents compared to my weekly routine when I am home. I cook 3 meals a day when I am home. We go out to eat maybe 3-4 times a month. I will say it was really nice to have a break from meal planning and cooking, but man is it hard to get back into it. At my parents we ate at least one meal a day at the my mom's restaurant when it was open. She is a seasonal business, so she is only open Wednesday through Sunday. 

I will say I ate more hamburgers in the month I was in ND than I eat in probably a full year. Hamburgers are something that are easy to get that are paleo approved. I just have to ask for a hamburger, no bun, tomato, lettuce and no cheese when I was there. Can you believe they don't bring tomato and lettuce with every burger? I found that so crazy! Hamburgers, steak and some salads I could make a few exceptions for to stick to paleo. The rest of the foods seemed to have some type of breading on them. 

A few days before I came home I ordered some food from Amazon Fresh to be delivered to the house. Art needed some food, so I added extra stuff that I knew I would like when I got home. The first day I was home I made a menu and grocery list. I ate a lot of fried tator tots. My mom had some gluten free ones. They were so yummy and just went so well with hamburgers!!! It was time to get back on track once we were home! I had joked we were going to need to detox once we were home. G ate so much junk. There were some things I would say he couldn't have, but I tried to just take a deep breath and let my family give him some treats. It isn't every day he eats these things. Once in awhile it will be ok. 

Here is the menu I put together for this week. 

Main Dishes:

Cracklin Chicken

Salmon

Zucchini Spaghetti

Beef & Broccoli

Breakfast

Taco Salad

Sausages

We have a TON of tomatoes right now. My mom made this really good tomato salad for her salad bar. I just had to take out the cheese. 

slice cherry tomatoes in 4's

dice an avocado 

drizzle olive oil over the top of them

mince 3 cloves of garlic 

mince fresh basil

mix all together, put in fridge for a few hours and serve cold

My mom added these little mozzarella cheeses to the salad. 

Sides:

Roasted broccoli

Baked potatoes

Coleslaw

BLT salad

Tomato salad - see above

Greek salad

Roasted veggies - zucchini, carrots, tomatoes, onions, peppers

Costco Shopping

I snapped this picture of half the items I bought at Costco recently. I seem to purchase most of the same things each week. Please note the twinkies are NOT mine. lol There was a divider right behind those. I love that Costco sells the big bottles of Suja juice. They had it on sale for $6.99. That is the cost of like 2 little ones. I try to drink some each day. It is a great way to get in extra greens. It is also much easier to buy Suja juice instead of juicing your own veggies. G also loves the green juice. I water is down for him otherwise I think it is too strong for him. 

This is a pretty typical shopping trip for me. Mostly fruits and veggies. I get almond milk, eggs and rotisserie chickens too. Those were in the cart. Spinach, cherry tomatoes, kale salad, bananas are staples. I will let G pick some fruits he would like. Lately he has been on a cutie phase, so we buy a big bag of those. G loves to eat cherry tomatoes too. I will cut them in half for him. He just pops them in his mouth like candy. I can't wait for our cherry tomatoes in our garden to be ready to eat. He is going to love those!

Do you have staples you buy each week? 

Pizza Boy!

I told G after we eat dinner we are going to head to Costco. He said no eat, Costco peecee (pizza). He refused to eat dinner and wanted to wait for a slice of pizza from Costco. He hadn't ever had Costco pizza up until this point. Usually he wants a hot dog. When we go done with our shopping he told me peecee when we got to the register. 

I ordered him a slice of pepperoni pizza. I had to tear it into pieces, so he could eat it. He ate half the piece on our drive home. He then handed it to me and said ok momma hot dog. The kid wanted to eat a hot dog next. I just had to laugh at him. He didn't get a hot dog. 

Here are some pictures of him enjoying his peecee on the way home! 

Disclaimer: All thoughts and opinions are my own. The post Pizza Boy appeared first on Because Chocolate Can't Get You Pregnant.

Toddler Meals & Foods

I am always looking for things to feed G. I like to see what other moms feed their kids on social media or I ask other moms what is on their kids menu. I am always concerned he is eating enough veggies. Up until he was about 2.5 he would eat ANYTHING and EVERYTHING! Whatever I put on his plate he would eat. Now....oh boy....he tells me things are yucky, spits them out, or just refuses to even try them. 

Dinner time I put on his plate what we are having. Even if I know he won't eat it I still put it on there. I am hoping one day he will try it. At least different things will become familiar to him.  He doesn't eat a lot for dinner these days. He will eat a little then he is all done. 

This boy wakes up hungry for breakfast. There are some days he wakes up and tells me momma breakfast! He usually likes eggs, pancakes, yogurt or some fruit. He eats very good at breakfast. It's rare that he won't eat. 

Lunch I have been bringing him food to school. When he gets out he is so hungry and tired. Usually he falls asleep on the way home. He had been asking for butter and jelly sandwiches almost every single day. All of a sudden he has decided he doesn't like the crust of the bread too. No idea where that came from or why. He eats all around the crust then hands me the leftovers. 

I have been trying to come up with some new ideas for lunch time. I don't just want him eating a sandwich every day. He needs some veggies in his meal too. I decided to make these little bento style boxes for his lunch. I have a sandwich container that rarely gets used. I put 4 cupcakes liners in the sandwich container. I put cashews, tomatoes, meatball and some mini Larabars. He loved this!!! 

These are the best pictures, but I was trying to snap some before the food was all gone. You can get the concept of what I did. It's a great way to give him a variety of foods. He LOVES nuts! He is only allergic to peanuts, so he can eat almonds and cashews. The nuts were the first thing that disappeared. He also loves cherry tomatoes. I slice them in halfs or thirds, so he doesn't choke on them. 

I bought some ground meat from Sprout's recently to make a bunch of meatballs. We need some quick things to grab that are healthy. I make up a pound of little meatballs that I keep in a Pyrex container in the fridge. I can pop them in the microwave for 15-20 seconds and they are ready to eat. I actually made these really quickly while I was cooking dinner one evening. As my dinner was cooking I formed the meatballs and fried them in a pan. 

Kids are so crazy with their appetites and foods they decide they like. One day they will love bananas and the next day they hate them. I try to keep offering things to G that I feel are healthy. He won't eat spinach, but if I put it in a smoothie he drinks it right down. He also likes raw veggies with the Whole 30 Ranch Dressing I make. He likes to be able to dip things. 

I honestly don't make G a bunch of "toddler friendly foods". I make him what we eat. I was giving him the almond butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch because I eat the same thing almost every day for lunch. I have a kale and chicken salad. He will take a few bites of a salad. I will give him chicken, but he needs something else. I just don't feel a 2 year old is going to sit and eat a full salad right now. Maybe when he is a little bigger. I am a creature of habit and eat pretty much the same things for breakfast and lunch each day. 

What do you like to feed your kids? 

What are your easy to go to meals for kids? 

Weekly Menu July 2

One of my favorite things about holidays is the food! Summer time holiday's are all about bbq's! Grilled hamburgers, steak, potato salad, cold watermelon, chips! I am looking forward to bbq this week on the 4th of July! Almost every year we have the same tradition. We go to the inlaws to bbq and shoot off fireworks. Last year G was a little into the fireworks. I think he will be a lot more into it this year! I love sparklers! That is all I care about! Give me a box of sparklers and that is 4th of July to me!

Main Dishes:

Hamburgers
Sausages
Buffalo Chicken Casserole
Pizza
Fish
Steaks

I will make some roasted broccoli, BLT salad, honey garlic cauliflower, baked potatoes, raw veggies with paleo ranch, and coleslaw to go with our main dishes. Easier menu this week since there is a holiday in the middle of the week and G's last week of school! 

Disclaimer: All thoughts and opinions are my own. The post Weekly Menu - Paleo appeared first on Because Chocolate Can't Get You Pregnant.  

Monday Thrive June 26

1) Holy bazooka we had one of the hottest weeks ever last week! It was AWFUL! We had days of high 90's to 100. We have a portable AC unit that we normally set up in our family room. Honestly we usually need this in August-October for a day here and there. We rarely run the thing. Well this year it was pulled out of storage in June! We decided to set it up in our bedroom this year. I am so glad we did! I would usually turn it on around nap time and leave it on until morning. It has kept our room cool. We have been able to sleep through this awful weather.

People in my area of Nor Cal don't handle the heat. We act like we are dying! People in the south roll their eyes at us whining. We don't have humidity or I might have packed my bags for Alaska. lol I spent most evenings in my room soaking in the AC. On a few occasions during this heat wave I brought different toys into our room to play with G. We also watched some movies from the Ipad. We also spent a lot of time in the pool. I have a nice tan which I am not complaining about. 

G had a great time dressing up his little guy in a knight, fireman, police man and other outfits. I was laughing to myself thinking G you probably won't ever understand the paper dolls I use to have. You had to fold the little tabs behind the doll with all the different outfits. Now they have magnetic ones where the outfits stay put. 

Magnetic Dress Up

2) We bought this little car for Kaleb when he was about 9 months old about 4 years ago. He was starting to walk around furniture, so we thought he would like to push and ride on a car. This is the most used toy we have bought. Any kid that comes over has to drive it. Well Kaleb and G decided to drive it together the other day. Crazy kids! We bought it at Walmart for about $20. We've kept it as an inside toy. I would highly recommend this toy for anyone. It was well worth the $20 we spent! 

Target Version & Amazon Version

3) Did you see my skin care routine post that I posted last week? I shared the products I use for morning and evening skin care routine. I just ran out of my moisturizers a couple days after my post. I had them over 8 months! You don't have to switch over to everything all at one time. You can slowly add one product at a time as you run out of things. You can make the foaming face wash and buy the day cream to start. Your body and health deserve the very best! Do research to make sure you are using the safest things for your skin! Beauty products effect our health! 

4) Oh I found a Paleo pancake recipe that we all love!!! Thank you Pinterest!!! A couple weeks ago I decided I was going to try a new recipe every day until I found one that everyone would eat. I only had to try 2 recipes before I found one we all loved. Target had our favorite paleo pancake mix on sale, so I grabbed 2 of them to take to ND. I love this mix because all you need is water. This will work great for my sisters and parents house. I also thought about mixing all the dry ingredients in a baggy to take with us to ND of the recipe above. 

I have all the ingredients in the recipe on hand all the time. Arrowroot powder is a staple in my house along with coconut flour. These are not staples in peoples homes who do not eat paleo. lol I will grab a couple more packages of the premixed pancake mix for when we go on vacation later this year. Easy to throw in a suitcase to have for breakfast! We usually stay in a condo with a full kitchen. I end up cooking breakfast the majority of the time. 

5) I have been enjoying my 3 hours a day while G spent the past 2 weeks in school. It's amazing how much you can get accomplished in 3 hours alone. 

• I have been going to hot yoga. I was concerned I wouldn't like it because the room is too hot. I actually LOVE it!!! When you come into the room it is a normal temperature. They heat the room slowly as you work out. I am planning a blog post on the different type of yoga classes I have tried. I have been so much more relaxed since I started doing yoga.

• Painted all the trim in our hallway and caulk the trim. It looks sooooo much better! I need to work on the kitchen next. I am hoping to have this all completed before we leave for ND. 

• I can run all my errands, grocery shop, doctor appointments, exercise all within 3 hours. It's amazing to me what I all get done. lol

I do feel every day preschool is too much for G. I am glad this fall he will go 2 days a week for 3 hours. I think that will be the perfect amount for him at this age. Mornings are also not his thing. The afternoon class will be perfect for him too. He doesn't like to wake up and go in the AM.

He is always so happy when I pick him up from school. He has been learning so much too! The other day Art went with us to drop him off. He was so proud to take his dad to his class. I will try to work it out next year for us to go to ND maybe the middle of June through July, so he can take 1 summer session of preschool late in July. We are all learning what works best with a growing little boy! 

Hope you have a fabulous week!

Disclaimer: All thoughts and opinions are my own. The post Monday Thrive appeared first on Because Chocolate Can't Get You Pregnant.  

Weekly Menu June 25

I am looking forward to having a cooler week where I can actually cook this week. Last week I don't think I turned the oven on at all. If I needed to cook something it was stove top, on the grill, crock pot or we ate cold things. I was very tempted on one of the hottest days to take a walk through Costco's refrigerated section for the rest of the evening. I figured I could go sample things, walk around, go outside, back inside to the fridge, and continue this cycle until they closed. lol

Main Dishes:

It was waaaay too hot last week, so I didn't end up making the Buffalo Chicken Soup. I am going to make that this week. 

Korean Beef with Broccoli 

Pork Loin

Breakfast

Fajitas 

Spaghetti - I use spaghetti squash for the "noodles" and I make this sauce to put over the top. I love to make meatballs with italian sausage. Cook the meatballs in the sauce while it is cooking. I usually have plenty of leftovers for at least 2 lunches. If I don't have enough squash leftover I will put the sauce over a large bowl of spinach. While you warm it all in the microwave the spinach will cook. This is really delicious! 

I should have enough leftovers that we will have one night of random leftover dinner. Everyone can have their favorite leftover from the week! 

What is on your menu this week?


Disclaimer: All thoughts and opinions are my own. The post Weekly Menu - Paleo appeared first on Because Chocolate Can't Get You Pregnant. 

Weekly Menu - Paleo Friendly

I mainly use coconut oil or ghee for cooking. I buy both of them at Costco in bulk. The container of coconut oil lasts me a couple months and runs about $20. I use this to cook, take my make up off, lotion, bullet proof coffee and whatever else I might need to use an oil. It does take some getting use too. Art isn't a big fan when the coconut oil flavor is prominent. I have noticed if I use salt it helps to mask the flavor a lot. I honestly don't even notice it anymore. When other people use other types of oils to cook with I don't really like them now. I can taste the difference, but the coconut flavor doesn't other me. I love chicken fried in ghee! That is just the best taste to me.

Main Dishes:

Hamburgers - I love hamburgers on the grill. I bought some butter lettuce to wrap burgers in this week.

Shepherds pie - I will try to share the recipe I use for this. I buy some frozen veggies, make my own gravy, make some mash potatoes and throw it all in my cast iron skillet in the oven.

Cracklin Chicken - if you haven't tried Nom Nom Paleo's cracklin chicken you need too!!!!!!!!!!! It's the BEST!!!! Use some ghee to fry this chicken. Ok I am craving this now!

Buffalo Chicken Soup - this is a new recipe I want to try.

Chicken Curry - I haven't made curry in ages. I usually just throw in whatever veggies we have and put it over cauliflower rice.

Sausage - This is an easy meal. Throw some sausage on the grill!

Happy Menu Planning!

Weekly Menu - Paleo

Our menu this week is nothing fancy. Some weeks I just need something simple, easy and quick. It also depends on my mood when I am making my grocery list. If I am feeling lazy then the easy stuff gets put on the list. Apparently I was feeling extra lazy when I made this list.

Main Dishes:

Breakfast - I usually do eggs, bacon and my own version of breakfast potatoes. I will cut up potatoes and roast them. I have a paleo sausage gravy recipe to put over the potatoes I would like to try.

Pork loin - I buy these at Costco. I use my grandma's recipe for roast that is just amazing! I will have to share the recipe on here sometime in the near future.

Hot Dogs - these are my favorite hot dogs. I buy them from Amazon Fresh for $1-2 less than the price at Sprout's. These are really good flavor plus they don't have any garbage in them.

Fish - I make it different ways all the time. I will fry it with almond flour or bake it with lemons.

Pizza - I love to make this because we have lots of leftovers. It makes a big cookie sheet. There is plenty for dinner, Art's lunch, G lunch and some for the freezer. I love to have this in the freezer to grab if I need something for mine or G's lunch.

Taco Salads - I use whatever we have for this. Ground meat, cherry tomatoes, avocados, lettuce, Daiya cheese. It all depends what we have on hand and feel like eating on our taco salad. Gone are the days when Doritos use to be on top. lol I did find some plantain chips with a taco seasoning at Sprout's recently that were really good on top of the salad. I can't remember the brand of the chips. I will have to see if I can find them again.

What is on your menu this week?

Weekly Menu - Paleo

I try to only go grocery shopping once every two weeks. I make a list for Costco and one for the grocery store. Lately I have been using Amazon Fresh. The things I can't get at Costco I have Amazon Fresh deliver to me. Amazon Fresh does have a service charge they charge you on a monthly basis. I have been debating if I should continue with the service or not. I love that I can order $40 worth of groceries for a free delivery fee and pick when I want them delivered. I can get things from them cheaper than going to the store. Sometimes I feel I have to go to numerous stores to get things. There are certain things Sprout's carries that my regular store doesn't carry. I can get things cheaper at the regular store then Sprout's. Amazon Fresh just helps me eliminate running to 2-3 stores. You can get some great deals from Amazon Fresh too. Sometimes they offer $.25 or $1.00 items. 

I buy most of my veggies at Costco. They will last us two weeks. Things like celery, potatoes, onions, and carrots last us a lot longer. I go through usually two packs of the kale salad, cherry tomatoes, 5 heads of romaine lettuce, and cauliflower each week. There are a lot of other things I go through on a weekly basis, but those veggies are always on the list. 

Main Dishes:

Cobb Salads 
Beef & Broccoli
Tilapia Fish
Chick Fil A Chicken Nuggets
Meatballs
Enchiladas

We will have similar side dishes from last week. I have also been putting a bowl of raw veggies on the table with homemade paleo ranch dressing. G likes to dip, so this is a hit. It's also a way to get everyone to eat more veggies. If I need a crunchy snack I will grab a bowl of carrots and broccoli with ranch. 

What's on your menu for this week?