Let's Eat!

Since we are fairly new to the Paleo Lifestyle*, I thought I would give you a peak into our new world :)

Here is this past weeks dinner Menu~

Monday:
Paleo Crockpot Meatballs over Spaghetti Squash with a side salad

Tuesday:
Crockpot Roasted Chicken & Gravy with mashed cauliflower & honey coconut carrots on the side. *Also had mashed potatoes for our dinner guest.

And broiled fresh pineapple topped with mini chocolate chips & toasted coconut, drizzled with honey with an allergen free brownie on the side :)

Wednesday:
Homemade chicken nuggets with roasted lemon Garlic Broccoli and apple sauce

Thursday:
Pork Chops topped with Spiced Apples & Pears, seamed spinach & a salad on the side

Friday:
Salmon with roasted zucchini & honey coconut carrots on the side

Saturday:

Marinated Char-grilled Steak topped with Butter Garlic Mushrooms, with mini zucchinis & Garlic Roasted Sweet Potatoes on the side

 

Sunday:
Easter Dinner(s) with our families :)
{We followed the 'diet' & ate only the meats & vegetables offered that were fresh/not processed.}




*We do not follow the Paleo Lifestyle 100%, yet. But we follow it about 95%. If we are in a situation where there is not appropriate food available, we will make do with what is offered. Also, we often make Allergen Free Brownies for 'J' when we go to a Birthday Party so he can join in the cake & ice cream fun, and usually end up eating them as well.

Friday Fun Fact

Friday FUN Fact:

I was born on my Grandmothers Birthday.

 She is one of my Favorite people in my life. And although I enjoy sharing 'Our Special Day'**, she always apologizes to me for it. Haha. She said I should get my OWN special day. But I wouldn't have it any other way.

**Extra Fact: 'Our Special Day' is...Devils Night :) The day before Halloween.

Baby BOOM

When 'J' was born we were given the opportunity to join a 'Baby Group'. It was set up by the hospital & compiled of 12 (including us) Families. All the babies were born within a month or two of each other, some even days apart, & we all live in the same general area. As first time parents, it gave us the opportunity to share the journey with others that could relate, step by step, with what we were experiencing.

The hospital set us up with a volunteer 'group leader' that ran the who/what/where/when/why of it. Starting around when 'J' was 3 months old, we met every other week for 6 months. At each meet-up we not only got the opportunity to socialize, but the hospital provided us with a 'specialist' to answer our questions & broaden our knowledge, topics ranged from sleep patterns to safety, photography to sign language & much more. Not only did we add tools to our 'Mommy Box' (is it just me or does that sound dirty? Eh...moving on...) but we built friendships, with both the other mothers AND the babies too.

As time passed several members slowly faded into the backdrop. Coming to fewer functions, disappearing altogether. But about half of us are still truckin' on. The meet-ups may be smaller, and less often (way less often), but the friendships are still there.

And as they say 'History has a way of repeating itself', we did again. Had babies together, very close together. It was not planned, nor was it even talked about, but one by one we all started announcing our 'good news' to the group. Five pregnant 'together', two just on their heels & one non-preggo. Well as fate would have it.... the 1st two in the lead had their little boys at the same hospital...on the same day! Fast forward to a month later...& we welcomed Little 'A' to the world while across town our good friends added another little girl to their bunch the same day! Two weeks later, another boy joined our growing group.

Before Little 'A' arrived, I planned on making gifts for all the new arrivals. Bought the yarn, marked the patterns, & got started. Then 'A' arrived two weeks early, & crochet took a backseat to being a Mummy of Two. Now two months have passed, & the gifts that were finished have surely been outgrown. Because they all arrived in the midst of Cold & Flu season there was no big meet-up, no introductions, no giant play-date. And here the presents sat, getting smaller & smaller for growing babies.

Which brings us to the present. The Here & Now. A new beginning.

I started back up last night with a gift for our 'Birthday Buddy'. After several months off, I got back on the needle (yikes, that sounds worse than 'Mother Box'!!).

I whipped up a sweet, soft white hat. And while 'J' ate lunch today I decided to make her Big Sister something as well, a matching headband.

Round Two is going to be different. I won't sit around this time waiting for a gathering or invitation, this time I will do the inviting. I may even decide to leave a surprise gift on the doorstep :)

A hat for our sweet 'Birthday Buddy'

Little Sister/Big Sister Set- Done

Only 3 boy gifts left to make & 2 for the members still on the way

Ugh....

Very displeased with the way today is going. And when I say today, I mean that starting from 12:01 a.m. today. Which is when I fell asleep. 'Husband' had to work again last night, I finally got little 'A' settled for the night at midnight, went to bed, & was woken up just after 1am by BOTH boys...at the same time.

#1. Don't let the closed eyes fool ya', they are both awake.
#2. The time I finally call 'Hubs' to see when he will be home. Little 'A' dozed off shortly after.
#3. When I finally got 'J' back to bed.
#4. The time that Little 'A' woke back up...
and so on and so forth it continued.

I think it goes without saying...I'm a little tired...and irritable...and desperately ready for nap-time.

ONE HUNDO

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(points thumbs towards self)


This Girl!

Now the real question is...who is reading this? Anyone? Anyone?.... Cause word on the streets is that I only have 1 'follower'...& I happen to know that he lives in my house & is contractually obligated to do so because it was part of our vows. Well, not word for word, but it was implied....in the fine print...

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Where is Tall Man?..

In case you were wondering... My finger is still attached since the 'Carved up my finger with a Serrated Knife' incident last night.

Here's a quick pic to prove it...

...or should I say... 'Carved up my bird with a Serrated Knife'. Ha! Nice one.

In Case of Emergency...

...Eat your dessert First.

{Chicken Veggie Meatballs with Zucchini Pesto "Noodles"}

{missing: Allergen-Free Double Chocolate Brownie...YUM}

This morning was going good, I was finally getting some tasks marked off a tragically LONG To-Do list...and then Lunch/Nap Time hit. Toddler Tantrums mixed with unhappy baby equals a recipe for chaos. I managed to get dinner in the Crock-Pot (Paleo Meatballs!) & then everything came to a halt. 

*Knock-Knock-Knock*

My Mum & Niece came to rally the troops & lend a hand. Hurray! 

While my niece took care of the kiddos my mum & I were able to do SO MUCH! I have to admit, things were gettin' pretty bad 'round these parts. I actually used to have a bit of an OCD "issue" with cleaning. And then we had 'J' & being a new mummy took over EVERYTHING. Kinda got back into a little bit of a groove (not much) & then we added little 'A' to the crew. Then all hell broke loose. It was getting SO bad that I started having mini anxiety attacks. 

And every weekend we would say "OK, we need to take care of this! Let's DO THIS!!" Then look at the calendar & see that we are 'fully booked' with family stuff. AGHHH! By the time we would get home Sunday night the house would be worse than it was all week!

After I had a mini Nervous Breakdown caught Spring Cleaning Fever, I knew something had to be done. It also doesn't help that we have been remodeling our kitchen for...oh... about a year. Yeah. A year. And it STILL isn't finished. But it's a lot closer than it was before. That combined with the rest of the house was just too much to take. So I bribed my mum with free hair services & cashed in an IOU from the niece & took the bull by the horns!

Man, by 4 o'clock things had really turned around. It's true what they say, "What a difference a Day makes"!

.....After my mum left I confidently went into the kitchen to prepare the spaghetti squash, was using a serrated knife to cut it...aaaaaand (I'm sure you can see where this is going...) sliced right into my middle finger. "Mother Hubbard!" (Yes, that's actually what I yelled). Took a little while to control the bleeding, then wrapped the crap out of it, took a deep breath, & went back to finish the stupid squash. The situation would have been 10x worse if my niece wasn't still helping at the house. 

Now it may be the blood-loss talking, or the confidence from a solid day of task ass-kickin', but I am most definitely having TWO brownies with my dinner tonight :)