Sunday, May 24, 2015

I Can See The Finish Line!!


Day 22: It’s SPA DAY, People!!!

Last year, my amazing, generous and dear Aunt Lisa gave Hubby and I one of my favorite gifts ever for our 10th anniversary… a couple’s package at the Spa!! This woman is one of the most incredible people you could ever meet… she is smart and funny and thoughtful and has IMPECCABLE taste. She somehow always knows what would bless you the most and delights in surprising you with it. She’s the best.

Lucky for me, Hubby has a totally irrational fear of lotions and oils of any kind (truly. I have to threaten him with death to get him to put on sunscreen). SO, that meant I got to do a full day of spa-amazingness TWICE! I did it right before Squish was born when I was 38 weeks pregnant, hoping the pedicure would put me into labor. It didn’t work.
Anyway, today was the day to redeem the second half of the package, so I couldn’t wait to get there. I made myself a quick smoothie and rushed out the door.

I spent the morning getting a massage, pedicure, facial and hydro-massage. It was absolutely as incredible as it sounds. Everything smells good. Everything feels soft. All of the technicians whisper when they talk to you. It's quiet and serene and fabulous. All of you are jealous and I have lost all credibility as a regular mom. I know this.

Lunch: Part of my spa package was a “light lunch” provided by their chef, so I was treated to zucchini noodles tossed in a yummy turkey-meat sauce. It was very, very good. I need to know how they made these noodle things. I want to eat them every day.

I headed home after lunch and back to my real little life. I was so grateful to be pampered and treated like a goddess, but you can only take those things for so long. I missed my rug-rats. I missed the spit-up on my jeans and my ponytail pulled out by my little pirate-cowboy. I was ready to do this mommy thing again- only this time, with pretty toes.

Dinner: Hubby and I went out on an anniversary date tonight! I KNOW! What a day!! We headed to this amazing old theater in Waco where you can eat and watch a movie at the same time. It was so much fun. I ordered a burger without the bun with a fried egg on top. I need to try this at home. DELICOUS.
Our actual anniversary is later this week, but it was wonderful to take advantage of Mia being in town to love on the boys while we got some much-needed couple time.

Day 23
Breakfast: Mia was headed out this morning and we had a play-date planned with some of our favorite people, so I threw together a quick omelet with some left-over rotisserie chicken and mushrooms. It’s so nice to have things already chopped and ready in the fridge for busy mornings like this!

 
 
Lunch: After a morning at the zoo (which felt more like an hour-and-a-half session in a sauna, thankyouverymuch 88 degrees and 100% humidity in May), I brought the boys home and fed them a quick lunch. I had a TON of left-over Tuscan Chicken Soup so I scooped myself a bowl and added an avocado and some lime juice. It was even better today!
Dinner: I will admit, I was not much of a branch-out person before this Whole 30 thing. But this has forced me to try all kinds of new produce and I’m so excited to say almost everything we’ve had has been delicious! Case in point: this taco-stuffed acorn squash dish I found! I have never had acorn squash before. It was a tiny bit nutty and savory and yummy, especially when it was stuffed with this taco meat and crunchy colored peppers. I added the peppers because I didn’t have something that the recipe called for, but it turned out great.
 


Day 24: Ok, people. The time has come. I MUST EXERCISE. I am not giving myself any more time to “catch up on rest” or “recover from this new baby” thing. My arms are flabby and I’m pretty sure I can’t blame this lovely tummy on the baby in the next room anymore. So here we go. I am committed to 4 days a week minimum of a quick run and some light weight training. A girl’s gotta start somewhere, ok?

I ate a scrambled egg and a piece of watermelon this morning while I fed Buggie his breakfast, and then, in my awesome Super Mom style, put him in front of an episode of Jake and the Neverland Pirates while Squish napped and I pounded the treadmill for 30 minutes. And I do mean pounded. It wasn’t pretty.

After my “run” and some quick arm-toning, I cleaned up my blood-red face and threw on some clothes for our play date. I made half a smoothie because, well, clearly I earned it.
 
Lunch: My last bowl of Tuscan Soup! It was a lot of work to make that first day, but hey, it fed me for 4 days!

Dinner: Tonight I made a super-delicious “quiche”! Ok, it wasn’t quite a quiche because it didn’t have a crust, but it was seriously good. What wouldn’t be delicious with bacon, mushrooms and chicken breast? This was a success, people.

 

Day 25:
I sent Buggie off to school this morning and guess what??? I actually ran again! Ok, “ran” may be a bit of an exaggeration, but I did “jog”. I’m a jogger for now, ok?

After my workout I was starved, so I threw some of the left-over taco meat from the acorn squash night in the microwave and added an egg on top. I enjoyed it with my new obsession, plantain chips! Have you guys tried these? The only ingredients are plantains, vegetable oil and salt. They are great when you want to eat a chip but you can’t.

 
Lunch: We ran some errands and picked Buggie up from school, and then while the boys napped I ate some left-over quiche and took a long, hot shower. Total. Bliss.

Dinner: Ok, guys! Cue the music! Cue the lights! This recipe wins the BEST CHICKEN EVER award!!! You must make this immediately. It was flavorful and juicy and sooooo good. I served it with a sweet potato and a big salad. Here’s the recipe for Artichoke and Roasted Garlic Stuffed Chicken!


Day 26: It’s Saturday again, which is my favorite day for so many reasons, but today was especially great because one of the gymnastic places in town did an “open gym” day for kids. Hubby fed Buggie some breakfast and had him out the door at 8:15. Did I mention I love this man? After the gym, they headed to the zoo and didn’t come home until lunch time. I had almost 4 hours of time to myself! I spent almost all of it in the kitchen. I made myself a quick smoothie so I could drink it while I folded an embarrassing amount of laundry and made beds and tidied the nest and cooked up a storm.

I made a “breakfast meatloaf” that will be my breakfasts for the next few days. Recipe to come tomorrow! I also made Buggie these zucchini, carrot and apple muffins. They turned out colorful and they smelled great! I couldn’t try one because…well, they’re muffins…but Buggie devoured his when he got home.
Here's the recipe in case you want it:
http://www.theleangreenbean.com/zucchini-carrot-apple-muffins/
 
 
Lunch: I made lunch for the boys and then I raided the fridge and ate some left-over artichoke chicken and half a sweet potato from last night. It was fast and yummy and I was satisfied!

Dinner: Listen, people. I spent the entire day in the kitchen (ok, not the WHOLE day but a lot of the day, ok?) so I was not in the mood to make what I had planned. We fed Buggie some frozen chicken nuggets (again with the Super Mom) and while I snuggled him to sleep, Hubby ran out to grab my favorite salad from Newks. I omitted the cheese and added my own dressing and it tasted just as delicious as always! Some of these trades are just no big deal at all. Other things, like grapes for dessert instead of a cookie, are a little harder on the ol’ will power.

Day 27: Yesterday I made this Breakfast Meatloaf in the crock pot. The recipe says it’s best the day after you make it, so I sliced some up this morning, threw it on the skillet to “toast” it, and added some eggs. It was delicious! And super fast and fun. I highly recommend this recipe.


Lunch: We are running low on supplies over here (how do we run out of food so fast???) so I threw together a salad with some romaine and spinach, and added some tuna, grapes, almonds and dried cranberries. The salad is the new sandwich, guys!
 

Dinner: We are eating a lot of “stuffed” things this week- stuffed acorn squash, stuffed chicken breasts, and tonight, stuffed pork chops with bacon and apples. Of course it sounds good. It has bacon in it! It did not disappoint. TOTALLY DELICOUS.  But I made a few changes to the recipe:
 
1. I added half the amount of bacon it calls for. Don't get me wrong, I love bacon, but 10 strips is a little much...
2. I do not have "lard" at my house. So I used coconut oil.
3. Cooking these in the oven for 35 minutes AFTER you brown them is crazy-talk. I browned them for about 7 minutes on each side and that was plenty of cooking time. I almost over cooked them. If I had baked them we would have had bricks for dinner!!
I served it over sautéed kale with apple cider vinegar. WINNER!!!
 

 


 
I can’t believe I only have a few days left! This has been relatively easy and so much fun. I plan to continue eating like this for the most part, with the obvious exception of my coffee creamer and the occasional treat. I will deserve it with all the running I plan to do. Ha!

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