Posts

Showing posts from March, 2018

Keto Earl Grey Collagen Fat Bombs

I Went From Having an Invisible Illness, Being Overweight, Depressed and Tired To Enjoying Robust Health!

Things I’m Afraid To Tell You 2.0

Image
This was one of my most popular posts last year, and I’m filled with nervous excitement to list a few things that I’m afraid to tell you again. I am challenging myself to be  vulnerable! // I am constantly worried that my income stream is going to end. This blog – and, naturally, you guys – have been so, so good to me. I am honestly quite shocked it is all still going! I have always imagined that a career as a blogger would look like a bell curve: climbing slowly year after year, peaking, and then declining slowly over time until the income stream dries up. For me, each year has been better than my last (financially speaking) and 2017 was amazing, my best year to date. But every January when budgets reset, I’m afraid and have a mild panic attack and wonder: “Will this be my first year on the downside?” Six years ago, blog income was nearly all ad based. These days it’s about 20% ads and 80% sponsored/everything else. This is good because the potential to earn is higher, but it’s a

What I Ate Thursday – Including a Fun Happy Hour

Image
Hi, guys! I love a good “ what I ate in a day ” blog post because I love seeing what other people eat because it gives me ideas for my own meals and snacks. Truthfully, today wasn’t my most “perfect” day of eating, but that’s totally okay. Everyday doesn’t need to be perfectly curated and calculated to be healthy! With that, here’s a recap of my eats! Post-workout : Iced coffee protein shake made with SFH Churro , collagen , and chocolate peanut milk . Mmm… it was so darn delicious! Breakfast : Mango + Gold Milk Chia Parfait from Daily Harvest. Snack : Two cookies, which were “recipe fails.” They were dry and crumbly, but they definitely tasted delicious! Lunch : Shredded chicken thighs + butternut squash <— not the prettiest, but I threw this together in 2 minutes before I left the house this morning! Happy hour : Wine + house potato chips with onion dip + an epic cheese plate! Outfit details: Stripped sweatshirt just $34! // best jeans ever just $64!  Dinner : L

Thrift Meats That Can Match Expensive Cuts (and How to Cook Them)

Home Neat Home: Habits of Tidy People

Image
Are you a tidy person with a dusty house? Are you a clean freak with a cluttered house? Or maybe your house is both messy and dirty – eek! It happens to us all sometimes. Generally, I am a very tidy person who is only somewhat of a clean freak. I will tidy my heart out and not sit down until my house looks put together, but I get tired before I get to the dust in the corners or footprints across the kitchen floor and let those go. They don’t bother my brain like clutter does. And the dirt just. never. stops. coming. I feel like I can’t keep up with it as well as I can with clutter. I came across this article online the other week and wanted to share to inspire some discussion:  5 Things People With Tidy Homes Don’t Do . (Sidebar: The Nesting Place kitchen – gaaahhhh! Love!) Here are three of The Nester’s observations that I can totally relate to: “Tidy people are in a constant state of low-grade tidying, I don’t even think they realize it.” This made me laugh out loud. I am a s

How To Cook Chickpeas In An Instant Pot

Image
Ever wonder how to cook chickpeas in an Instant Pot? Many of you out there have jumped onto the Instant Pot bandwagon, and for good reason!! These fabulous contraptions make cooking so much easier… Read more → from The Gracious Pantry https://ift.tt/2GTeZH2

Cholesterol and Keto

My Meal Prep Rules of Thumb + Giveaway

Image
Meal prep can feel like a super overwhelming and daunting task if it means spending all day in the kitchen. The last thing I want to have happen is my meal prep take over my entire Sunday! That’s supposed to be a relaxing day, right? Or better yet a “Sunday Funday”! All I know is that I do NOT want to waste my weekend cooking and stressing over weekday prep. I’ve had plenty of practice over the years finding the best ways to be effective and efficient in my weekly meal prep. Really, truly, it’s totally do-able and can even be fun! So, over the next week, in honor of the CNC Nutrition Spring Nutrition Challenge Giveaway , I will be sharing a couple of posts outlining my favorite meal prep “rules of thumb” that help me whiz through my weekly prep. Try them out, and share which ones you personally love the most! Tip #1: For roasted veggies, I use 2 tablespoons of oil/melted butter or ghee per tray (and as many veggies as will fit on it). Sometimes, I use my measuring spoons, but oth

Submit a Comment on the USDA Dietary Guidelines

New Finds

Image
^^One of the prettiest Birchboxes to date! I am obsessed with this Love Beauty & Planet shampoo and conditioner they sent me. The smell! That long-lasting lipstick is pretty awesome too. I stumbled upon this website advertising a new feminine product, which is one of my new finds this week. It’s kind of like a cross between the Diva Cup and the Nuvaring. I have  loved using the Diva Cup, but there are a few drawbacks, such as the mess of re-using the cup and having to sanitize it. I like that Flex is tossable after use, but you can still wear it for a long time so you don’t need many per period. Has anyone tried this? I am planning to order a box! Mazen loves his new bunny from Nona. He named him Frosty because he’s white like a snowman. Ours came from Personal Creations , and you can find similar ones all over Etsy . Just in time for Easter. MY OTHER RECIPES Speaking of Etsy, my mom has started selling her art there ! You can see some her collection for sale, and

Slow Cooker Honey Chipotle Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Image
This recipe for the Slow Cooker Honey Chipotle Chicken Lettuce Wraps is a favorite in our house. The sweet and savory flavor combination of honey, marinara sauce, and chili powder is pure perfection—and when wrapped in lettuce and paired with fresh cilantro and avocado, it can’t be beat. These lettuce wraps are perfect for a quick lunch, dinner, or snack! And, bonus, the chicken is so simple to make. It’s cooked in a crockpot (or instant pot ) and the marinade only requires three ingredients that you likely already have in your kitchen. It’s so easy to whip up a batch at the beginning of the week to use in lettuce wraps easily packed in storage containers for quick meals on the go. Makes 4 servings Ingredients: 1/2 cup marinara sauce 1/4 cup honey 1 tsp. chili powder 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast 2 heads of Bibb or Boston lettuce (8-10 leaves) 1 T chopped fresh cilantro 1 small ripe avocado, pitted and cut into small chunks Directions: Combine marinar

5 Studies I’d Like to See

Carrot Cake Muffins

Image
These carrot cake muffins make a fun breakfast or snack on the go, but you can also frost them like cupcakes to make a festive Easter treat! They’re gluten-free and have no added refined sugar, but are super moist and delicious. I can’t wait to bake another batch… they don’t last long in my house!  These Carrot Cake Muffins are a great replacement for those heavily processed carrot cakes found in supermarket bakeries, which are loaded with sugar and additives. For example, this is what you’ll find in the Carrot Cake from Walmart’s bakery… Sugar , Carrots, Cream Cheese (Pasteurized Milk And Cream, Cheese Culture, Salt, Carob Bean Gum), Bleached Enriched Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Soybean Oil, Vegetable Shortening (Palm Oil, Soybean Oil, Mono- And Diglycerides, Polysorbate 60, TBHQ and Citric Acid, Eggs, Pineapple, Pecans, Raisins, Semi-Sweet Chocolate ( Sugar , Chocolate Liquor, Cocoa Butter, Butter Oil, Soy Lecithin, Vanil

Murphy’s Pug Couch

Image
Hi, guys! Happy Tuesday! I hope your week is off to a wonderful start! 🙂 This morning started bright and early at 4:45 AM. Instead of hitting the gym, I broke out my laptop and immediately got to work. Monday totally got away from me, so I attempted to make up for lost time. Holy inbox madness! Quinn actually “slept in” until 6:45 AM, so I managed to sneak in a solid 2 hours of work before he woke up. Not too shabby! Once he was awake, I got us ready for the day, which, of course, always includes some sort of shenanigans. Please note his new favorite way to go down the basement stairs – hopping off the side! 🙂 I planned to go to CrossFit after dropping Quinn at school, so I made a blueberry waffle and topped it with some peanut butter so I had a little something in my stomach. CrossFit was fun this morning. We started with Clean + Jerks. I worked my way up to #115 for the set of 5, and it surprisingly didn’t feel terrible. After messing up my back in December, I’ve taken i

Episode 388 – Cavin Balaster – Severe TBI Recovery

Lemon Cream Hummus

Image
This is the lemon cream hummus of your dreams. Bright, lemony, creamy, and a touch sweet. The star ingredients are lots of lemon, a few tablespoons of cream cheese, and honey! I like my hummus heavy on the lemon and tahini. That combination of flavors reminds of me the best lemon tahini salad dressing they used to serve at Lu-e-g’s in my hometown when I was in high school. I gotta think of a way to replicate that dressing. Bring on all the lemons! This is my trick for zesting and juicing. I use a wide microplane and zest on one side, then flip it over and juice through the other, catching all the seeds. ( Here’s the new generation of the one I have.) It’s wide enough to catch all the seeds, so you don’t have to fish them out of the lemon cream hummus or a bowl. If you enjoy having raw garlic breath, feel  fre e to use a clove or two of crushed raw garlic here. I prefer to use garlic powder because my breath stays nice and fresh. The cream cheese is somewhat optional, bu