~ A Giveaway From "Sanctus Simplicitus"

HOP ON OVER TO SANCTUS SIMPLICITUS FOR A GREAT GIVEAWAY!!

Today is the feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel! Sanctus Simplicitus is giving away 3 copies of Mary in Her Scapular Promise in honor of this feast, and Crusaders-for-Christ has a coloring page to download for your kiddo's!!  

Go NOW :)

http://www.sanctussimplicitus.com/1/post/2013/07/keeping-it-catholic-monday-our-lady-of-mt-carmel-give-a-way.html

~ Our morning at the library!

Yesterday morning, we headed out to the library!  The library  we visit most often is amazing.  It has one of the best children's area's that I have ever seen.  Granted, I haven't seen a "ton" of children's libraries... but this one is wonderful :) Here are some pictures from our morning:

~ Paleo Challenge, Days 7 & 8

~ Day 7~

Breakfast ~ For breakfast I had 2 cups of coffee with full fat coconut milk, a boiled egg and banana.

Lunch ~ For lunch I had tuna salad with mini sweet peppers, tomato slices and almonds.

Supper ~ For supper I had a Jalapeno turkey burger with sliced tomato and onions (no bun of course :), sauteed mini peppers, zucchini and yellow squash and leftover coin carrots.

~ Day 8 ~

Breakfast ~ For breakfast I had 2 cups of coffee with full fat coconut milk, boiled egg and a banana.  I also had the yolk from one of our kiddo's fried egg. 

Lunch ~ For lunch I made the kiddo's and me, turkey, bacon and tomato roll-ups, cherries, and carrots. For the roll-ups, I placed tomato slices and preservative, nitrate and nitrite free bacon on slices of preservative, nitrate and nitrite free turkey slices and rolled them up.  

Supper ~ For supper we had cilantro-lime chicken, sauteed zucchini and yellow squash, steamed broccoli and water.

I have noticed that I don't feel the need to eat "all day long" any more.  Great feeling!  I'm also noticing, that I am no longer needing as much coffee as I was drinking before.  I always had 2 cups in the morning, and 2 cups in the afternoon, with rice milk and 2 teaspoons of sugar.  At bedtime, I would absolutely be craving another cup of coffee.  I used to look forward to being able to wake up and have another cup of coffee.  I think it was the sugar rush that my body was looking for!  I now have no desire to sweeten my coffee.  I'm good with the unsweetened, full fat coconut milk.  I actually like it!  I didn't need the second cup this morning, but got a cup anyway.  But, I only drank a couple of sips :)  I also only had one cup this afternoon.

Moving on to day 9!  :)

~ Paleo Challenge, Day's 5 & 6

Day's 5 & 6 went really good!  Something new I noticed this evening, after supper, is that I had more energy after eating.  Typically after eating supper, I would be so exhausted that I would just sit on the couch and relax/dose on and off, while the kids all did their chores.  Tonight, I picked up the family room, vacuumed, and swept the kitchen and dining room before sitting down at the computer.  Yay for me!!!

I didn't photograph all of my meals these last 2 days, only 3 of them :)  So here's how my meals went:

~ Day 5 ~
Breakfast ~  I had 2 eggs with onions fried in coconut oil.  Of course I also had my 2 cups of coffee.  I made a different homemade creamer this morning.  I used the French Vanilla recipe found here. It was very yummy.  I strained it once, but next time I'll strain it a second time or use a juicing mesh bag to strain it.  By the time I got to the end of my cup of coffee, I was drinking teeny, tiny bits of date.

Lunch ~ For lunch, I had leftovers.  Hamburger with tomato slices, cauliflower, Paleo friendly cucumber salad and water.

  Supper ~ For supper I had spaghetti.  For my noodles I used a baked spaghetti squash, the sauce was a jar of Classico Spaghetti sauce.  It's all natural, no preservatives, gluten and dairy free. I had extra spaghetti squash without the sauce.

~ Day 6 ~
Breakfast ~ For breakfast this morning I had 2 eggs with diced green and red pepper, and onions.  I also had 3 tomato slices and my 2 cups of coffee.

Lunch ~ I had Al Fresco Chicken Sausage (country style breakfast links) sliced and sauteed with red and green peppers, as well as onions.  I also had watermelon and water.

Supper ~ I had baked chicken, sauteed zucchini, yellow squash and onions, coin carrots and water.

My snacks over the last couple of days have been fruit and almonds.  I haven't really been needing to snack, or at least not as often as before (which was all the time!).

Feeling great heading into day 7!! 

~ July 4th Fun!! ~

We decided to have a bonfire for our 4th of July celebration this year.  S'more's, sparklers, "fireworks"... you get the picture :)  We had sooo much fun, that we have decided to make family bonfire's a regular occurrence throughout the summer!!  The fireflies seemed to be the main attraction after the bonfire fun slowed down. Our neighbors had some true fireworks ~ the kind that create a big boom and beautiful colors in the sky.  Most of our beauties didn't like the noise and they ended up going in early. Here are some pictures of our night:

L was "helping" E feed and water her turkey's

L just chillin' by the fire pit

L enjoying his s'more :)

E looking up after I said "E, I can't see you" :)

J and S enjoying their s'mores

She's always so happy!

Sparkler fun!!

"Cheeeese"

Smile

So sweet!

Preparing to light a "firework"

 Mmmmm...

(I was so thankful when I found gluten free graham crackers :)

Hope you had a wonderful 4th of July!!

~ Paleo Challenge, Day 4 ~

Happy 4th of July!!  Today is also day 4 of the Paleo Challenge I'm participating in. You can jump in anytime, just visit Jenn's RAQ for all the details.

I am feeling so much better already!  I stepped on the scales this morning and I'm down 4 pounds already!!  Woo Hoo!!  I have more energy and I've noticed I'm not falling asleep mid afternoon ~ big plus with all of my sweet kiddo's and my grandson running around.  Here is what my day looked like today:

Breakfast ~ I truly meant to take a picture of my breakfast this morning, but I was out and about early.  So, I mixed everything together and M cooked it for me.  By the time I got back home, it was after 11 AM and I was too hungry to take the time to snap a photo :)  Anywhoo...  back to breakfast!  I had my usual 2 cups of coffee with homemade creamer.  I also had 3 of Jenn's Paleo Pancakes and 3 homemade turkey sausage patties.

Lunch ~ The kids had nitrate/nitrite free ham roll-ups~ either plain or with tomatoes in them.  They also had sliced cucumbers, tomato wedges, grapes and water.

I had a layered ham "sandwich".  Again, it was nitrate, nitrite and preservative free ham.  The layering went like this... ham, tomato, onions, lettuce, pickles and mustard and lastly more ham.  I also had tomato wedges, cucumbers, grapes and water.  Now, being new to the Paleo way of eating, I have no idea if pickles and mustard are "Paleo".  I didn't even think of that until AFTER I had eaten my dinner! I'll research that today

Our 4th of July supper included grilled hamburgers (my bun was 2 lettuce leaves), paleo friendly cucumber salad, watermelon and cantaloupe, roasted sweet potato and turnip cubes...

... and E made this yummy dessert following this recipe from paleomg!!

It was a great day 4!  Moving on to day 5 :)  Happy 4th of July!!

~ Paleo Challenge, Day 3 ~

Yes, I'm a day off... :)

Day 3 went very, very good!  Here's what I had for my meals:

Breakfast ~ 2 cups of coffee with my homemade creamer.  Two eggs (pulled from the chicken coop this morning :)) with green onions and red pepper, fried in coconut oil.

Snack ~ Wasn't hungry for a snack.

Lunch ~ All natural, nitrate and nitrite free, Angus beef hot-dog (no bun), cantaloupe, raw almonds and water.

Snack ~ cantaloupe and raw almonds. Coffee with homemade creamer.

Dinner ~ boneless pork chops with homemade lemon pepper, steamed cauliflower and water.  I was actually quite full after supper. The pork chops were thick, and I had a large serving of cauliflower.

I did have a small snack before bed ~ sliced banana and a slice of cantaloupe.

Today the cravings were less.  I also noticed when I stepped on the scale that the weight is beginning to drop off, and I wasn't sleepy all day.  Great day!

On to day 4... hopefully with pictures ;)

~ Paleo Challenge, Day 2 ~

Okay, day 2 done!  No pictures this time (I forgot), but a list of what I had and how my day was :)

Breakfast ~ This morning, as usual, I had my 2 cups of coffee.  But, new this morning was my homemade coffee creamer!  I didn't measure anything, I just mixed to taste.  It was a can of coconut milk, vanilla and honey.  It was yummy!  It gave my coffee somewhat of a hazelnut flavor.  Very good.  With my second cup, I enjoyed 2 eggs fried in coconut oil with chopped green peppers and onions, and a half of a banana.

Snack ~ I wasn't hungry between breakfast and lunch. 

Lunch ~ For lunch, I finished off the beef strips/carrots leftovers.  I also had 2 celery stalks stuffed with guacamole and water.

Snack ~ The cravings hit really hard this afternoon!!  I would have done anything for a hand full of the gluten free pretzels in my cupboard!  Instead, I munched on green peppers with garlic salt.  I also, as usual, made a second pot of coffee this afternoon.

Supper ~ For supper I had turkey nuggets, steamed broccoli and Cole slaw.  The turkey nuggets were coated with Almond Meal and Italian seasoning.  They were delicious!

Snack ~ I once again, had a terrible desire to snack this evening!  Remember, I enjoy snacks....  so I grabbed the small bag of leftover steamed broccoli, as well as 2 celery sticks with garlic salt.  It solved the problem :)

All day I drank water.  I try to consume 2 quarts of water daily due to the fact that I'm still nursing.

Overall it's been a good day!  No headaches, dizzy spells, etc.  Moving on to day 3!!

~ Paleo Challenge, Day 1 ~

First full day of my paleo challenge!!  Other than this morning when I had coffee with rice milk and sugar, and forgetting that corn is out, I did very good!!  Here's what I had today:

Breakfast ~ Apple Bumpkin Breakfast Bake

Lunch ~  This was leftover's from last night.  Lettuce wraps with beef strips, carrot sticks, fresh cucumber sticks and some cubed watermelon.  It was just as good for lunch as it was for supper last night :)

Supper ~ For supper, I made Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken.  This is where I forgot that corn is out :)  But, that's okay.  I'm not going to beat myself up over it!  Lesson learned :)

I did get hungry throughout the day.  I knew this would happen.  I like to snack, and I remember the initial hunger and cravings from my journey through gestational diabetes.  So, when I got hungry, I ate.  But, instead of grabbing chips, crackers or pretzels, I grabbed some fruit or raw veggies.  Problem solved!

Day 1 done... moving on to day 2!! 

~ Paleo Challenge! ~

We try to eat healthy as a family.  It's actually not too difficult for us because of all the allergies in our family! I have been reading up lately on the Paleo Diet.  I have to say that it makes complete and total sense to me.  Eating whole, unprocessed foods ~ the way they were created, just. makes. sense!!  So, this morning I came across a Paleo Challenge at Jenn's RAQ, and I'm jumping in!!  I'm so excited about this.

While I was pregnant with L, I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes at 28 weeks. Thankfully, I was able to control it with diet and exercise.  However, I was honestly only able to eat meat, vegies and a minimal amount of fruit.  If I ate flour based foods, legumes, starchy potatoes, etc... my blood sugar would skyrocket and I'd have to walk an EXTRA 20 minutes to bring it back down.  When I first started eating that way, I felt horrible!  Headaches, nausea, dizzy spells ~ just YUCK!  I definitely had terrible withdrawal symptoms.  Once all of that passed, I felt amazing!  After he was born, I went right back to eating a typical diet. I gained weight and I feel tired all the time!

I'm ready to feel "amazing" again!  Today is day 1 of the challenge.  I have had 2 cups of coffee, a piece of Apple Bumpkin Breakfast Bake and a 1/4 of a banana (I ate the remainder of one sliced for one of our children's cereal).  Other than the 2 teaspoons of sugar (total) in my coffee, and the rice milk I used for creamer, I'm off to a good start :)

Here we go...