What's Cookin?

It's no secret that I'm a yo-yo dieter. My weight has fluctuated SO much in the last 5 years or so.........from marriage to pregnancy to post-partum and on to another pregnancy. I'm not disappointed with where I am today, even if I'm not at an ideal weight. To get myself back to a comfortable weight, I've always turned to cutting calories, cutting carbs, and/or exercise. Lately, though, I've had some different convictions. I haven't felt an urgency to drop a ton of weight or run a triathlon.......what I'm wanting is to just be healthier. I've done only a very small amount of research on the foods my family typically eats, and what I've found is scary to say the least.

I know that I have lots more research to do, but as it stands, I've got plenty of lifestyle changes to make now before I worry about more. I've been making some changes over the last couple months to transform my eating habits, re-direct my tastes and cravings, and hopefully soon have an impact on the things that Elliott and Scott (and eventually Liam) eat, as well.

As of today, my typical diet looks like this: fresh vegetables, meat (not necessarily lean or organic, but no overly processed lunch meats or canned meats), eggs, full-fat dairy products (greek yogurt, sour cream, cheeses, etc. No low-fat or fat-free items or flavored yogurts), fruit, berries, nuts and oils. I've personally cut out grains, wheat, pasta, bread, rice, processed sugars, and most importantly, artificial sweeteners. It hasn't always been easy, and I feel like I've still got a long ways to go until my diet is "ideal". Perhaps I'll never get there, but I like the path I'm on. Scott and Ellie are a little slower to be convinced, so most meals start off as one, and we alter their meals by adding a starch or carbohydrate.

I'm hesitant to do any more reading or research at this point, because I'm afraid of what I will discover. I've been horrified by some of the things I've learned.........I have no trust in the FDA, Monsanto scares the bejeezus out of me, and I have no words for how angry color dyes, high fructose corn syrup, and GMOs make me. I wonder if I continue this search, how will I possibly feed my family? I certainly don't want to poison us any longer, but it's a scary, expensive, slippery slope.

I will continue with the progress we've made, though. I've already learned that I cannot give myself "cheat days", and really even just a "cheat meal" can ruin my entire outlook and set me back more steps than you can imagine.

My goal is to eat real food, and soon I hope that my whole family will be eating real food. On this blog, I will occasionally share what I've been cooking (and eating, duh) to serve as an inspiration for myself. I'm not the best cook to begin with, so expanding beyond boxes of pasta and microwave meals has been a challenge. But this challenge has also been so rewarding! It's fun so far, and the food just tastes good!

Some of my favorite meals so far:

 Not a meal, but my go-to snack! It sounds plain and boring, but fresh veggies with some home-made ranch is a daily occurrence for me.

Turkey patty, broiled and topped with bacon and cheese! So yum! I like to eat mine with a large serving of baby spinach and tomatoes.

Egg whites with whatever else I can find in the fridge! This has become one of my favorite breakfasts, and I've tried a few different variations. I think one whole egg plus two egg whites is the perfect size, and I sometimes sautee some of the veggies before adding the egg to cook it all together. This is good with baby spinach too (I swear, I eat that stuff with everything now), and I've even topped it with pico de gallo and/or avocado. This is one area that I consider "adventurous" for me and I've been pleasantly surprised!

Zuppa Toscana a la Olive Garden. This has been one of Scott's favorite meals for a while now, and I realized that if I stop serving it with a huge hunk of white bread on the side, it's really not so bad for us! The soup consists of potatoes, sausage (the spicier, the better!), kale, heavy cream, chicken broth, and red pepper flakes. So easy and so delicious!

See, I told you my "cooking" skills aren't much to brag about. But I'm proud of myself for branching out, trying new things, and just making it all work. I've had some really terrible days, and I've had other days that I stick to my guns even if I want so badly to give in..........I want this to be a real, lasting, lifestyle change, and I know that this won't happen overnight. Stick around and see what else we feed ourselves! What are some of your favorite healthy meals?

Coming Clean

 For the past 5 weeks or so I've been lazy. 

Lazy, tired, crabby and oh-so-unproductive. 

But I have a good excuse!

I'll let Ellie explain:

Yep! Ellie's going to be a big sister! She seems pretty excited about that, huh?

Probably because she has NO idea what she's in for! All she knows is that she likes babies........for now. We'll see how she feels when there's a baby who's here to stay! ;)

Slowly, as the all-day nausea wears off (half true, half wishful-thinking-crossing-my-fingers-and-toes), the shock is wearing off with it. Reality is setting in and we couldn't be more excited! 

The truth is, change is on the horizon. This little family has a bright future ahead of us, but at this point in time, we have no idea where that future will be or what it will look like. Our entire world will be turned around in about two months when Scott finishes school (and his paid internship). For now, all we know is that we will be facing life's blessing and challenges as a family of four! Eeeeek!!

Baby Pawlak #2 due 11/17/12 :)

Easter

So, hi! Do you know how long it's been since I've clicked the "new post" button?! Yeah, me neither. It's been awhile, that's for sure! I feel like I owe some sort of apology.....but then again I don't feel bad at all about my absence. Sure, mostly I've just been lazy for the past few weeks, but blogging is something that I enjoy. And if I were to force myself to do it when I really don't feel like it, I'm pretty sure that would suck all of the joy right out of it, don't you? The important thing is that I'm back in action. 

Well, at least I think I am. We'll see how it goes. 

The only thing I know for sure is that we had an amazing day today......we got to celebrate Easter with (almost) all of our family, on the most gorgeous day ever! I took a ton of pictures, and only captured a portion of the love, happiness, and pure joy that was shared today. 

Ellie played hard all day and skipped her nap. By the time we got home, we were all too exhausted to try and execute bathtime, so we skipped that, too. Ellie is currently asleep, snuggled in her bed, her belly full of sweet treats and her toes stained with grass and dirt. It was definitely a great day!

I hope you all had a blessed Easter! And, for the record, it's good to be back ;)

Easter Eggs

I may have mentioned a week or two ago that we started a new family tradition last year of painting ceramic Easter Eggs. It is by far one of my favorite traditions now, and we just completed year two! We have six eggs now in our little collection, and they make me smile every day. 

The best part of this tradition is the memories it creates. We headed to the same doughnut shop as we did last year, and fueled up before we began painting. 

 These doughnuts are SO tasty! They have all kinds of fun flavors like salted caramel (delish!) and PB&J.

 They have windows where you can watch them make the doughnuts.....Ellie was telling Scott all about how doughnuts are made.

After our sugar high was complete, we walked across the town center to the ceramics shop.

Last year, Elliott didn't really "get" it, and the shop owner ended up helping a lot with her egg (which turned out beautifully with a thumb-print bumble bee on it). This year, however, Ellie was all about the painting! She had a blast! And while Scott and I were concerned with the technicalities of painting our slippery pottery pieces (you have to layer your paints, you can only use a dark color over top of lighter ones, etc), Elliott was busy painting coat after beautiful coat onto her tiny little egg. 

 Why yes, Ellie even painted her hands! This paint is amazing and washes off so easily that I didn't even bother to tell her to stop.

 I'm grateful every day for my little family, and traditions like this make my blessing feel so real! The bowl full of eggs sitting on my kitchen counter prove to me that God is good, and he has truly blessed my family.