It's been a while...

I haven't written a blog page for over a year, and it has been quite a busy one! I am now completely gluten-dairy-meat-free (although I am a pescatarian and maybe I will eat eggs again)...My son is almost 8 years old, and we did have a time where we were hoping for a second. I had a miscarriage last Spring, which was very hard to deal with and back then I wasn't ready to be open about it.  Oh! I began teaching Kindergarten!

So.....with that said, there has been a lot going on! Science has been my challenge as far as teaching goes, I want the kids to have fun, learn and be inspired by the world around them. We did a unit on the rock cycle which led to soil, which led to planting...Here's what we did:

First, I had a variety of rocks out for children to independently explore

Then, thanks to https://littlebinsforlittlehands.com I found a great way to use Legos to create the rock layers

Here is my student's version. It was a group effort during class rotations...
(Notice the books and magazine in the background? There's always room to incorporate literacy!!)

Lastly, we made edible rock layers with Oreos & tried to plant (those $5 plant kits don't work, FYI)

I can say with confidence that my students all know the rock cycle and eagerly announce what type of rock they find while on the playground. Or examine them with heated discussion to determine the rock type :) #success

Gravy, Marinara, Pasta Sauce, Spaghetti Sauce....whatever you want to call it....here it is...HOMEMADE

Apron wearing, wine drinking, sauce making kinda night...

Sometimes my boys help me make the sauce, but tonight I was solo with my 90's Destiny's Child Pandora station. Which I then had to change to Frank Sinatra, because, well, duh!!!

There is a debate in my family about who makes the better gravy and what EXACT technique used creates the better gravy, even though I think we ALL use the SAME ingredients...haha

This recipe is my grandmother's who is not Italian, but learned from her Italian sister-in-law, she had to make sure to get it right for Grandpa. This was taught to me at 10, which I was just in charge of chopping the fresh basil and garlic. This is KEY. FRESH basil and garlic. According to my mom, the more basil the better, according to my aunt, the more garlic the better. Catch my drift?!?

Anyways, actually my first responsibility was at 4 years old, was to stir the sauce. Do not let the sauce burn (stick to the bottom of the pot). You have to stir the sauce often, the longer the sauce simmers the better. That's A LOT of stirring...

Here are the ingredients:

First cut Italian sausage, sweet, spicy or both. And bake.

Once that's done, gently blot with paper towels and set aside. Don't blot too much, we discovered the more grease the better :)

While the sausage is baking, finely chop an entire container of fresh basil and open cans

In order:

Cover the bottom of the pot with olive oil

Finely Chop 2-3 cloves of fresh garlic and add to olive oil. 

Finely Chop a shallot and add. Once they bubble add:

2 cans of SAN MARZANO whole plum tomatoes and smash with a potato smasher

Add 2 cans of crushed tomatoes 

2 cans of Contadina tomato paste. Once emptied, fill cans with water and pour in

Stir

Add enough oregano to cover top of pot, add salt (to taste?!?)

Add 2 bay leaves broken in half

Add basil

Stir

Add sausage

Set to simmer for at least 2 hours...STIRRING OFTEN. 

You can serve it, or you can wait a day and let the flavors marinate, the house smells amazing, and it's total torture but well worth the wait. 

SO this sauce feeds a lot. For example, I hosted dinner and served 7 adults and 1 kid. With left over sauce.

Next, my hubby wants to add some half and half, sun dried tomatoes and mushrooms to go on pasta with chicken. Or shrimp...

Pictures of that to come. 

Or, it can go on homemade pizza, or make a sausage sandwich, or freeze. It should be eaten within a few days if you chose to not freeze it :)

Mangia Mangia

favorite dessert

apple slices, peanut butter and tea

eliminates the carb/sugar craving by having good sources of carbs and sugar (and some protein) keeps your tummy full, and is a great way to wind down...I swear by it, even on a hot night...

Hearty, Gluten-Free Protein Salad

On a hot summer night, when I am eating dinner solo, I whip up a protein packed salad with ingredients I have already prepped.

I cook rainbow quinoa in a rice cooker and have that with sautéed veggies and seasoned black beans as a mid-week dinner, or add it cold to a salad.

I always have a container packed with raw veggies for snacking, perfect for my son and me!

And, I always have a container of drained beans, usually garbanzo or black beans to add to any salad.

So the amount of time it took to prepare my dinner was under 5 minutes, I just chopped some spinach and cut my raw veggies smaller. Oh, and I whisked a light and clean lemon dressing.

Light & Clean Lemon Dressing

1/2 fresh lemon squeezed

1 tbsp olive oil (mine is infused with garlic :) )

1 tbsp of Italian herd seasoning mix, mine is the grinder kind from TJ's

Whisk together and drizzle on top!

Ok, so excuse the tacky plastic container, but I love to use these, I stole the idea from my hubby who likes a well-dressed salad. Cuz' when you attach a lid to your bowl, you can really blend the dressing onto all of your ingredients!

Also, I am trying to eliminate dairy, but I still had feta in the fridge and CAN"T let it go to waste!! So here's my protein packed salad, plus some lightly salted nuts on the side, (instead of having crackers...and getting more protein in)

All in all my salad was 16.75 grams of protein, and the mixed nuts were an additional 7 grams.

Please note the sparkling water instead of wine :)

I'm trying!!

Hard Work

So I have been away from my blog for a while, it was constant baseball mania at our house. 

My mellow moments were for sleeping, not for thinking or typing...

But, seriously, I did not make my busy schedule an excuse to NOT go to the gym. I did, 5 days a week.

There were moments I ate too many snacks, drank too much wine...

But, I tried to maintain consistent workouts.

It is HARD WORK.

Now, I am focusing recording my workouts and slowly eliminating dairy from my diet. And huge reducing the amount of sea food I eat. This is thanks to a documentary that basically promotes Veganism. 


Monday:
Breakfast: Organic pink lady apple w/2 tbsp all-natural peanut butter
Lunch: Salad -romain lettuce, broccoli, cucumber, carrots, cherry tomatoes and garbanzo beans w/ a homemade lemon vinaigrette.
Snack: 1/4 cup raw almonds
Dinner: Rainbow quinoa with roasted bell peppers, zucchini & onions and cooked black beans. Dressing was a 1/2 tsp of teriyaki sauce and some siracha.

I pretty much ate that simian combo for 2 weeks. Minus, my cheat night last Friday that was Trader Joes gluten-free pizza and wine. Or my veggie burger (sans bun) on Saturday while at a BBQ.

I have felt leaner, fuller, and overall great, so I'm feeling like this is a good plan for a while. I think the key is to find a rhythm but to not feel pressured that it is the end all be all.

Oh, and my workouts varied:
Monday: 2 mile outdoor run, 50 air squats, 30 push-ups, 50 lunges
Tuesday:Interval run on the treadmill, the key is to get your heart rate to max, mine is 160, that's when you burn the most calories...100 bar squats, 50 deadlifts with 50lb, 30 lunges with 25 lb dumb bell
Wednesday: YOGA...always
Thursday:Repeat monday
Friday:Repeat tuesday
Saturday: I had to head out early to visit family, but I did pilates with my theraband. Check out resistant band workouts, you won't feel sore, but you feel great as you're doing it. It sometimes that is all that matters

This schedule was last week, and it seemed to work, so I am on repeat. The biggest difference, though is me trying REALLY HARD to NOT drink WINE during the work week. I gave in tonight, I admit, and I had to brush my teeth and tell myself that I was fine and didn't need to snack, because it is HARD WORK to not snack. And when I drink, I want to snack.

My thought is chances are, if I am thinking about this, and experiencing this, then someone else is. So here I am sharing my new plan. When I began this plan I weighed 106. 

let me remind you that I am 5 feet. So being 106 is completely realistic, I am not too skinny, or too heavy. I am comfortable, however I want to be leaner, stronger and firmer. 

Healthy and Easy Snack!

When life gives you 2 EXTREMELY RIPE bananas, make muffins!

My mom has made super healthy 5 banana muffins for years, but we don't usually have 5 super ripe bananas, so what to do with 2? I found this great recipe on Pinterest, here's the bloggers link:

https://www.sweetashoney.co/whole-wheat-banana-muffins-an-easy-snacks-for-kids/

My sneaky trick is to coat each muffin space with coconut oil, giving the muffins a slightly crispy texture on the outside, but they remain moist and soft on the inside ;)

update: staff love

feels good to be loved :)