R.K.T. Class

I signed up for a new class at the gym that I have always been intrigued with. It is a Ropes/Kettlebells/TRX class that meets every Wednesday morning for 45 minutes at the gym I belong to. The best part is that my neighbor Jenny and my friend Terri both decided to try it out with me. We met this past Wednesday for our first class and it was awesome. I'm hooked. The instructor is amazing and there is only 4 of us total in the class so I feel like we get a lot of instruction personalized just for us. I'm hoping it gives me a little extra motivation to get to my workouts in and help me get those buff arms I have always dreamed of! ;)

Meal planning success!

My first week doing The Fresh 20 was a total success!!! I loved it. I loved not having to think about dinners and not having to go to the grocery store even once (well once for coffee). But seriously, it was like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders not having to think about what we would have for dinner. The biggest surprise from the week was that my entire family ate vegetarian all week (we signed up for the veg plan) and that the kids ATE ALL THE MEALS!!! It was like an adventure we were all part of. I prepared foods I have never prepared and even eaten and we were all part of this little food adventure team. Eating new foods together was fun. We all discovered that parsnips and portabella mushrooms are delicious and are excited to try more foods. All of the dinners were jam packed with veggies and felt very balanced. I liked it so much we signed up a 3 month subscription. I look forward to more healthy meals in my future without even thinking about it.

The Fresh 20 Night #1

So I heard about this meal planning service from my sister whose friend has been on it for many months now and really loves it. She claims that they have really started saving money on groceries, wasting less, and looking and feeling healthier. I looked it up and immediately became intrigued. It looks quite simply like the answer to my "I'm so sick of figuring out what is for dinner" prayers. And it looks pretty darn healthy and right on track with my wanting to eliminate as many processed foods as possible. Plus now with the addition of our Vitamix, anything seems possible. I know, I know, we are crazy. So before I commit to it fully, I decided to sign up for the free week and do it exactly as they plan it out and make my decision at the end of the week. I picked the vegetarian option as we eat mainly veggie in our household and the classic plan was way too meat heavy for us. Plus, I feel as a vegetarian (mostly) I need to venture out and prepare and eat more foods at home that I would never consider (parsnips). We need to break out of the stir-fry, pasta, pizza rut we are in. And it is 2014, a new year, why not?!?! So I gave it a go. I printed my week off, headed to the store on Sunday and got my week full of dinner ingredients.

Night #1 - Lemon, thyme, potato pancakes with homemade applesauce and plain greek yogurt, with sauteed brussel sprouts. It was easy to prepare, made from scratch and pretty darn good. I'm already ready to sign up for 3 months. I loved not having to think about what was for dinner, and it felt really balanced and healthy. The ingredients and flavors went together perfectly. And it was something I would never ever think about making. Miles ate the brussel sprouts and Tim cleaned his plate and had seconds. We also had some pancakes left over for lunch today.

Fresh 20 Meal #1

Christmas Recap and NYE

I am realizing lately that I am behind on my blog updates and have a harder time sitting down at the computer. We had a very sweet little Christmas at home with the kids. Santa came and spoiled them rotten, and by rotten I mean, they were little angels most of the day and then started suffering from the "I got too many presents" meltdowns that always seem to occur with little kids on holidays and their birthdays.

It was a pretty laid back day as I had been gone the days prior and wasn't around to meal plan or have the house in tip top condition. It was nice though. We just hung out in our jammies all day and played with the new toys. A very relaxing day overall.

Christmas was on a Wednesday this year and Tim had the whole week off. On Friday we loaded up the car to celebrate Christmas with Tim's family at the cabin. Grandma Sue and Papa Wayne had the cabin all decorated for Christmas with a fun all white Christmas tree dressed up as a snowman. The kids decorated cookies with Grandma Sue and we celebrated by opening lots and lots of presents and having a "French" meal. Tim's family does a different theme meal every Christmas and lots of planning go into the menu. It was quite a success this year I think. I'm kicking myself for not taking more pictures. Must get better at that!!! Another thing to add to my 2014 list.

Evie and Cousin Mara

Grandma Sue and the grandkids frosting cookies.

For New Year's Eve we rung in the new year with what is becoming a new little family tradition of ours and made our own pizza from scratch. I broke out the bread machine and made a fresh batch of dough, then we topped it with sauce, fresh mozzarella cheese, spinach, olives and mushrooms. It was pretty delicious. The kids helped with the toppings of course. We had movie night and watched Despicable Me 2 (which Miles LOVES right now). Kids were in bed by 8:30 and Tim and I were both lights out by 10:30. I love being old, married with kids. It is quite nice. 2104 is going to be a good year.

Ringing in 2014 with a home made pizza!

Vitamix, Vitamix, VITAMIX!!!

Love at first sight. Vitamix!!! I have always always always wanted a Vitamix. Ever since I can remember, but knew better because it is hard to spend so much money on what looks like a blender. Well, Santa was extra sweet this year because one showed up on my doorstep before I left on my big trip, and let me tell you, it is simply the best thing ever. Seriously!!! This thing made peanut butter in less than 2 minutes from a handful of peanuts. It also whips up a mean smoothie and grinds down my chia seeds into nothing in seconds.  Tim has even started using it (this is a really big deal).  When I was gone he was mixing all kinds of goodies for the kids. Guacamole, sorbet, smoothies, almond milk, the list goes on. A new favorite with the kids is something as simple as frozen berries and yogurt, blended up to be almost like an ice cream dessert. So good that Miles said he'd put it on a cone instead of ice cream. I made a smoothie with an entire apple, large carrot, an orange (peeled of course),  a ton of spinach and romaine lettuce and some frozen cherries. And guess what? My kids fought over it! They drank the entire pitcher and I had to make another batch for myself as I get one sip. We are loving this machine and wondering why we didn't get one sooner. Amazing. And the best part, this magical machine self cleans itself. Today kale and pear smoothie. Oh and did I mention the Christmas in a glass drink I mixed up? Apples, cinnamon, cranberries and ice. It doesn't get much better than that.