Menu Monday Vol. II

Linking up with my friend Rachel at In No Simple Language again today for Paleo Menu Monday Vol. II!

It's been 2 weeks since my last link up, so here's what Paleo dishes I've been making lately...

Marinated Sirloin Steak, Butternut Squash, & Roasted Asparagus

This was our Valentine's night meal!  I bought the steak from The Meat House and marinated it using a mixture of steak marinades I made from combining marinades 2 & 3 from this list off of Mark's Daily Apple.

I buy the pre-cut (easier!) butternut squash from the produce section, mix it with diced onion (about half of a large onion), then toss it in some EVOO, put it in a glass baking dish, add 3 cut up cloves of fresh garlic, and a few pads of butter.  Bake at 425 for about 45-50 mins & voila!  So yummy!

For the asparagus, I just drizzle some EVOO over the asparagus on a tinfoil covered cookie sheet, sprinkle with sea salt and roast at 400 for about 25-30 minutes to desired crunchiness.  We like it crunchy around here!

Of course Valentine's Day isn't complete without some chocolate!!  So I tried this Primal Fudge recipe I found on Pinterest.

We were big fans & I'll definitely be making this fudge again!  Because of the coconut oil, there is a hint of a coconut taste.  So if you don't like coconut, you might not like these.  But we loved them!

from site

Stuffed Spaghetti Squash from The Cavegirl Dish

I made this with Andrea for Bachelor Monday Night & it was a big hit!!  It was Andrea's first time to have spaghetti squash and she is now a fan!  Pretty easy, too!  I only sprinkled the top with a bit of parm to keep it as Paleo (no dairy!) as possible.  

If you've never cooked a spaghetti squash, you can read up on how to here.

from site

Crash Hot Sweet Potatoes

These are another Pinterest find!  I made them last night with some Cajun Chicken we picked up from The Meat House (can you tell we like that place!? ;))  and B and I both really liked them!

Disclaimer - they do have a little bit (tbsp and a half) of brown sugar, which is not Paleo, but I did include it.  It could have easily been left off & I think they would still be delish!!

from site

Dairy Free Almond Flour Pancakes

Another Pinterest success!!  We are big fans of breakfast for dinner around here!  The girls and I made these for Bachelor Monday Night & I made them again for dinner last night.  We made them sans blueberries & served them with some eggs & turkey bacon the first time!  Last night, I added the blueberries, same sides.  YUM!

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Alright, that's all I've got for ya today!  What's going on your menu!?

**You can read Paleo Menu Monday Vol. I here**

Counting Down

via pin from Words to Live By by Michelle

So, I know.  I know I need to live for today and enjoy life here and now and not get too hung up on the future.  I know these things....and I feel like I'm doing a pretty good job of that lately!

BUT.  There are a lot of exciting things coming up!!  So here's what I'm looking forward to and making my count down list...

Any day now - A new baby nephew!!  Official due date - Wed. Feb. 27th

1 week - March 2nd - My 26th Birthday!!  Bring it on!

1 month - March 23rd - My first Spartan Sprint!!  Bring it on!?  :/  Haha

5 weeks - March 30th - April 7th - Spring Break '13!  Woop woo!!!

6 weeks - April 6th - Cooper River Bridge Run & a long weekend in Charleston!

14 weeks - A new baby niece!!  Official due date - Fri. May 31st

15 weeks - aka 68 school days until - Summer, Summer, Summer, Summertime!!!

Yes, I'm officially counting down until summer.  Please don't judge me!  :)  But until summer gets here, I'll be sure not to wish away the days in between.  They're of great value, too! 

Hope you're all having a stellar weekend!

M.I.A

Missing. In. Action.

That is what I have been lately!  Sadly, most of the action hasn't really been too exciting, ha!  Just the regular old stuff.  Work, working out, playing with fur babies, cooking, cleaning....it's a glamourous life really ;)

Last week we celebrated Valentine's Day!  I am spoiled with somewhat of a romantic husband, and he definitely speaks my love languages!  I posted "The Story of Us" last year on Valentine's Day, so feel free to read up on us if you like :)

B & I cherish good quality time together, some in part due to the fact that Brandon travels 3 nights/4 days a week.  So for Valentine's Day this year, a nice dinner in, some wine, our sweats and Grey's Anatomy sounded like a perfect evening!

And perfect it was!

B spoiled me with flowers at school, in addition to the gifts he'd already given me!  (We're so bad at waiting to gift each other!!)  See...I told you, spoiled!

I got him a coupon book!  Yep, you read that right.  Haha, a coupon book!  A real one, too!  From the cutest website called Datevitation.com.  You should definitely check them out for a unique gift!

B now has 10 super fun dates that he can cash in whenever he likes (some require more planning than others) like breakfast in bed or visiting a nearby winery!  I'm so excited for him to use them up :)

We were super surprised to see some snow this past Saturday!  They were calling for us to get some, but we were skeptical.  We were sitting on the couch doing our taxes, looked up and the ground was almost completely covered from the down pour of snow that started!

B dog loved it!!  He was sprinting around the back yard!  Crazy dog.

We braved the roads that night and headed out for dinner to celebrate our friend Greg's birthday!  The roads weren't too bad and, per usual, good times were had by all :)

I was so thankful to have this past Monday off!I had a super productive day, if only every week could be 4 days!

I took a crack at the above workout I found on Pinterest on my day off!  Kicked my butt :) in the best way possible of course!  I dare you to try it!  And if you do, tell me your time!  I finished in 16:35.  I'll have to try and beat that again soon!

I'm so glad this was a short work week!!  Even so, it felt so. long.  Bless it!  Is it bad that I already feel like I'm in survival mode!?  Just trying to survive til spring break...til summer.  Yikes, it's probably too early for that :/

At least it's the weekend!!  Cheers to that!  

Happy weekend friends!!!

Menu Monday

So, ever since I started following a Paleo/eating clean food plan last fall, I had all these high hopes of posting my day to day meals or all these great recipes I'd tried, and then this little thing called LIFE made me the worst and most sporadic blogger ever.  Seriously!

So, my Paleo food posts never really happened!  Then finally, last night, a light bulb went off!  I was all like, "Omgee, Rachel does a Menu Monday link up every week!  I should totally do a Paleo Menu Monday post and link up!"

So here we are!  I'm linking up with Rachel for Menu Monday!

Thanks to Pinterest & the glorious internet, here are several Paleo recipes I have tried and not only do I approve, but these are all Brandon approved as well!  And that says a lot!

I didn't cook all of these last week, but since it's my 1st Menu Monday post, I have a lot of catching up to do!

Also, all photos are property of the websites they are linked to.  I need to get better about taking food pics :/

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These first few recipes are from Cavegirl Dish - a website I've grown very fond!

I previously mentioned their Garlic Lime Chicken, Slow Cooker Pork Chops and CocoNut Date Balls (but didn't link back specifically) here!

Skillet Taco Pie

I made this on a Bachelor Monday Night with Andrea & we both really liked it!  I thought the meat was a little dry so I might not cook it for quite the full 20 minutes when I make it again.  And the toppings are endless!

PaleOMG is another website I really like!

Buffalo Chicken Meatloaf

This recipe is amazing y'all!!  So, so good and so easy!  I made it for a Bachelor Monday Night and then another time for Brandon.  Yum!  She used coconut flour in her recipe, I used almond flour because it's what I had.  This recipe is heat hot & delicious!  Make it!

Elana's Pantry is another great website!  She has all sorts of gluten free recipes and then special diet pages with tons of recipes!

Chicken with Cherries & Kale

Another very tasty recipe!  And pretty easy to make, too!  I couldn't find frozen cherries to save my life so I made it with mixed berries, ha.  I won't lie, it wasn't that great as leftovers, but the night of, very good!

Homemade BBQ Sauce

I've used this BBQ sauce so many times now!  I'll probably never buy BBQ sauce again, if simply for the facts that this one is easy to make, I know exactly what's going in it, keeps well and it's delish!!  It can easily be adjusted to be spicier, sweeter, whatever you like.

I've used it for dipping, put it on chicken and baked it, and last night I doubled it, put it in the crockpot with a bunch of chicken and a little chicken broth and we had pulled BBQ chicken!  It's been good every way!

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Alright, that's my 1st Paleo Menu Monday post!  Let me know what you try out!

Lately

Worst blogger ever.  This girl.  Right here!  

I feel like I preach the same sad song whenever I get a chance to get on here and write a post...I'm so busy, I have no time, my poor blog is so neglected!  Wah, wahh, wahhh right!?  Haha

I'm still reading all y'all's blogs, though, trying to keep up & commenting as much as I can!  So now I'll attempt to play catch up.  Here's what's been going on here lately...

Loving - Bachelor Monday Nights!  My friends Andrea and Lisa have been coming over pretty consistently every Monday night to make a yummy Paleo meal, have some girl talk and watch a little trashy, awkward TV!  Good times :)

Watching - Bachelor!  I loved Sean last season which I think is probably the only reason I'm watching this season.  Well that, and an excuse to have a girls night!  Ha, but oh how I cringe as I watch him on some of these dates!!  They're so awkward.  I literally have to look away sometimes!

via

Looking forward to - My birthday!  I'll be 26 in about 3 weeks and even though I keep getting older, I still love my birthday and celebrating another year!  Talk to me in about 3 more years when I'm pushing 30, maybe my tune will change.  But so far, life keeps getting better!  I can't complain!!

Making me happy - This guy!

Seriously, being married to your best friend is the best thing in the world!  Cheesy sounding, but true! We have fun no matter what we're doing.  And he spoils me rotten!

Thursday, Brandon sent me this picture and said "Happy early Valentine's Day!  Sorry I'm such a tease!"  So I had to wait all day long to see what was in that bag!!

I opened the bag that night to find this pretty...

And, a new phone cover!  Mine had been on the outs!

via

See, spoiled!  I thought we were just doing a fun at home date night, ha.  Good thing I have something up my sleeve ;)

Celebrating - This sweet girl's 7th birthday!!

It's hard to believe the sweet little girl that made me an aunt is now 7!  Roen is so precious & I just love being her aunt!  We wrote on her card this year she was our favorite niece....she can continue to hold that title til niece number 2 gets here in May or June!

Loathing - All the paperwork I'm drowning in lately!  I'm trying to be super organized & schedule when I'm doing what paperwork.  It seems to be working!  This too shall pass, right!?

Browsing - Pinterest!  My love for pinterest has never wavered, but like blogging, I typically don't have a lot of time to aimlessly browse around!  But lately, I have been pinning lots of yummy Paleo recipes & butt kicking workouts!  I try to skip over all the deliciously-looking-terribly-bad-for-you-make-you-want-to-stuff-your-face-with-all-the-food pins.  I've been mildly successful :)

Oh, and you can follow me here.

Missing - My blog!!  My goal is at least a post a week, if only to journal what's going on in our lives! But I'm itching to get back to a more regular blogging life.  Maybe one day when life slows down, right?!

I'm off to cook, maybe watch the Grammy's & snuggle on the couch with my boys!  Hope y'all had a great weekend!

Happy Saturday!!

HAPPY SATURDAY Y'ALL!!!

WOD Junkie

Brandon & I started our Saturday morning with this workout!  It's a Crossfit workout that we did at our gym & it is no. joke.  I dare you to try it!!

We had to modify a bit because of what the gym had - I used 20 in box, did 25 pound push press, B used an 15 pound medicine ball and I used an 8 pounder.  We also had to do air squats instead of double unders because they had no jump ropes.

But still, it was a butt kicking good time!  I'm excited to try it again and try to beat my time today!

Welcome February!!

 If you recall, I was aiming for a booze free January and also decided for a Starbucks (and any other coffee) free January in an effort to boost my Paleo habits.  I made it til last weekend alcohol free!!  26 days....I think that's pretty impressive!  And I made it all month without coffee!

So you best believe I had a tall vanilla latte in hand yesterday morning :)  I'm going to keep it to a one latte a week minimum, though.  Better for the body & the wallet!

I'm also down 2 pounds since the beginning of the year!  Whoop whoop!!

That's less than I had hoped for, but I've really upped my weight training once again and can definitely see a difference.  Muscle weighs more than fat & I'm not going to obsess about a number.  It's so much more about how I feel, look, and how my clothes fit.

But - seeing those numbers go in the right direction sparked some more motivation for sure!!

Puxatony Phil predicted an early spring today & our back yard seems to agree!  Bring it on spring, I'll gladly kiss these cold temps goodbye!

Hope your weekend is shaping up nicely!  I'm going to paint my nails a fun bright color in honor of an early spring, meet some teacher friends for dinner & then head out with my man!

Cheers friends!