I started the Advocare 24-Day Challenge last week. If you're not familiar with the program, it's a twenty-four day comprehensive supplementation and nutrition program designed to give your body the jump start it needs to help you reach your goals (weight loss, energy, and/or overall wellness). It starts with a ten-day cleanse eating whole foods and grains while eliminating dairy, coffee, sugar, and processed carbs. (Don't be scared off by the no coffee part. They offer a great Spark drink.) The second phase continues the same eating plan while adding in a small amount of dairy and whole grain carbs. My husband lost 18 pounds last month on the Challenge Keep Reading
What’s for dinner? This week’s whole foods menu plan (4/8)
What’s for dinner? This week’s vegetarian menu plan (4/1)
We will be eating crackers and peanut butter all week long. Ok, not really, but with weather like this it is so tempting! I just want to stay outside playing in the dirt all day. Suddenly my little tribe is hungry, and they're all looking at me. So, in the interest of keeping everyone fed and happy, I will try really hard to take off my gloves and lay down my shovel before five o'clock... and stick with this menu plan. Here's what's for dinner at my house this week: Monday -- French Onion Tart, Raw Tuscan Kale Salad Tuesday -- Black Beans & Rice, salsa & guacamole, fresh pineapple Wednesday -- Quinoa Patties, roasted butternut squash, Keep Reading
Review of the 2013 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport
This is a review on the Mitsubishi Outlander Sport by my husband, Will. The 2013 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport is one from that androgynous breed where you can’t quite figure… Is it a car? Is it a SUV, a mini-van? No, that doesn’t make sense. After I pulled a U-turn barreling over the road-dividing, curb-style median that separates traffic, I figured out that this is at very least an SUV and quite possibly a time machine. At the touch of a button, I roll back the giant moon roof that extends over the front and back seats… oooh. Another button illuminates the strand of blue LED lights around the perimeter of the moon roof… aaah. This must be the Keep Reading
Broccoli Gribiche recipe + how do you boil hard-boiled eggs?
Broccoli Gribiche The week before Easter brings to mind happy childhood memories of brightly dyed eggs. The week after Easter, however, reminds me of opening my lunchbox to find egg salad sandwiches in strange shades of blue or pink. As a kid, I viewed hard-boiled eggs as a fun tradition before Easter and an unfortunate problem afterward. Well, times have changed. In the All About Eggs post, I mentioned how much my family likes eggs, a cheap and versatile protein. I like keeping hard boiled eggs in the refrigerator to use as a portable snack or topping for salads. Originally, I'd planned to title this post "How to Make Perfect Hard Boiled Keep Reading
What’s for dinner? This week’s vegetarian menu plan (3/25)
We have a busy week ahead of us. Having a menu plan (and actually creating a shopping list around that plan) helps keep me on track. For those of you who create weekly (or monthly!) menu plans, you know how simple and brilliant it is. I’ve been doing it for several years now, and I stick with it for several reasons: It cuts down, if not completely eliminates, that 5 o’clock my-family-is-starving-and-I-don’t-have-a-clue-what-to-make-for-dinner panic. It also helps with prep work. Don’t you hate forgetting to pull out the crock pot or defrost meat until it’s too late for dinner? It streamlines grocery shopping. With store ads and coupons on one Keep Reading
Great Value Refrigerated Crescent Roll Dough: Party Time! #GreatValue
Last week, I shared two spring recipes, an Asparagus Cheese Tart and Crescent Roll Pinwheels, using Great Value refrigerated crescent roll dough. I brought both dishes to our church mom's group where I take care of providing the morning brunch for everyone. Each month I spend a late night and early morning preparing all the food. I love doing it, but it requires quite a bit of time and timing. Adding some recipes using refrigerated dough was a definite time saver to my normal scratch-cooking mode. It even allowed me to do fancy stuff, like brush my hair and make sure my daughter had changed out of her pajamas before we raced out the door. When I Keep Reading
What’s for dinner? This week’s menu plan (3/18)
I can't even tell you how excited I am that Spring is moving into town. I feel like I am coming out of a long winter hibernation, and it feels so good to hear the birds singing and watch the trees changing. If you are needing a little more inspiration in the menu planning department, check out this past post, Local Produce: What is in season and how to prepare it. It was written for June, but many of the vegetables still apply to this time of year. Here's what's for dinner at my house this week: Monday -- Breakfast for Dinner: Waffles, scrambled eggs, oranges Tuesday -- Black Bean Quesadillas, chips with guacamole & salsa Wednesday -- Keep Reading