Friday Finds

I think about Friday Finds ALL. THE. TIME. Maybe its because every time I stumble across something, I immediately want to share it with you guys. I have all the thoughts in my head but I have been slow on posting my finds lately. Just life. No other excuse.

Do you guys read The Inspired Room blog? I have loved it for a long time, and Melissa just released a hardback coffee table book. This would make a great gift for the woman that loves to decorate.

I am loving podcasts these days. If you have an iPhone, you had a handy little podcast app–use it!! Check out Off Camera with Sam Jones – featuring Connie Britton and The latest episode of The Podcast with Knox & Jamie. It’s their Christmas episode and there is a specific part on December card newsletters that you will want to hear!

We all need a good laugh and I shared this with my buddies the other night: the shark’s house

This little combo has been my favorite outfit lately: gingham + fur

shirt: similar     fur vest: similar

This recipe of chicken and rice soup has been on my Pinterest board for years, and I finally got around to try it. It does not disappoint! Simple and easy ingredients. Perfect for cool winter days.

I loved reading about Flower Patch Farmgirl on how they do Christmas. This is such a refreshing view.

This fall, I experienced Jen Hatmaker’s 7 Bible study with a few girlfriends. And in it, I discovered the organization, Kiva, which is micro lending organization. Scott and I are in the middle of looking for someone to be our dream in our new endeavor so we said, “We should be apart of making someone else’s dream come true.” So, we are supporting a woman in Cambodia with her small business. This is a great way to empower women. Please check it out.

My friend, Emily, shared this video the other night and we all had tears and full hearts. I think I need to do this with my girls.

My besties got together the other night and did a little “favorite thing” gift exachange. The price limit was $5. I gave my favorite beauty find of 2015 which you can find here. One friend gave delicious dark chocolate infused with oranges. Another the cutest little “B” wine topper. And the other friend this adorable bitty bottle of champagne.

Merry Christmas!

*I’ve added amazon affiliate links. If you decide to purchase, please so so through my links. It’s an easy to support me. Thank you!*

Meal Plan August 17-22 (gluten free, dairy free)

You may be wondering why you haven't seen a meal plan post from me. It has been nearly 4 months since I posted one. Maybe you thought I was fasting that whole time--that I'm just super spiritual. Nope. Just no inspiration with food. Do you ever get like that? Like I wonder why my people always need to eat. I'm pretty sure I could survive each day without a real dinner. Popcorn makes a great dinner, right? I don't know what it is, but I would much rather eat the first two meals and skip the last one. Dinner mostly exhausts me. Things haven't changed much in our lives when it comes to our diet. The girls still need to be gluten free and dairy free. Scott still needs to be dairy free. If you have to cook around food issues, then you probably understand how food becomes exhausting really quickly. And well, me, who knows. I've been having weird issues with my hair especially--one side won't grow anymore.

crazy hair

Officially a weirdo. And since I am basically a doctor thanks to Google, I've self-diagosed that I probably have adrenal fatigue. To help my issues, I figured it was time to reset my body and go grain free and sugar free. So last Monday, my diet became more limited. It's okay, though. I keep telling myself that its just for a couple of weeks.

For the most part, my breakfasts have been eggs (with spinach and sometimes feta cheese), turkey bacon and berries. One morning I made a grain free "oatmeal" with some peanut butter on top. It was a pretty good substitute, however, it did use a banana which I am technically supposed to not eat right now. One morning, I ate leftover taco mixture on top of scrambled eggs. The girls generally eat a GF waffle, turkey bacon and fruit. They sometimes eat Gorilla Munch cereal with almond milk. They drink dark chocolate almond milk each morning for a calcium boost along with their probiotics.

IMG_0108

Lunch for me is generally either a granny smith apple with peanut butter or almond butter with shredded coconut or homemade chicken salad over greens or leftovers. One day, I had GF pepperoni and mozz cheese over greens with olive oil as a dressing. (I eat dairy free for the most part, but am the only one in the family who isn't required.) The girls tend to either eat nitrate-free turkey, hummus with crackers & carrots, peanut butter with GF pretzels, GF Annie's granola bars, leftovers or GF chicken nuggets. I also throw in fruit leathers, apple sauce pouches and various chips.

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Here is what we ate for dinner last week...

Monday - grilled chicken (marinate for 30 minutes olive oil, S&P, minced garlic and balsamic vinaigrette) and roasted broccoli (toss dry broccoli in olive oil and add Pink Himalayan Sea Salt. Bake for 30 minutes at 425, stirring halfway in cooking.)

Tuesday - GF corn noodles (for the kids) & Zucchini noodles (for me) with marinara sauce. I used a handy noodle spiraler that I picked up at TJMaxx. I sautéed the "noodles" in some olive oil and minced garlic for a few minutes and then topped with the sauce (Trader Joe's). Sinclair tried the zucchini noodles and liked them. Rory didn't try this time. Hopefully, next time she will. She is picky about her sauce--only wants her grandmothers. Traders Joe's jar sauce wasn't going to cut it.

zoodles

Wednesday - taco salad I used the Gracious Pantry's seasoning recipe. Simple is best for me. The girls and Scott put their taco mixture over corn chips. I put mine over greens (omitting the corn) and made guacamole as my dressing. The guacamole is simple--slice and mash up avocado(s), add chopped red onion, kosher salt and pepper to taste. Squeeze lemon juice and stir.

taco salad

Thursday - leftovers

Friday - hamburger patties (seasoned with salt & Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute mix), roasted fingerling potatoes (We omit the garlic and simply use kosher salt. This is Rory's favorite side dish), salad (I used guacamole as my dressing).

Saturday - leftovers

All in all, it was good week getting back in the swing of strict diet eating. Hope this helps y

Meal Plan (gluten free, dairy free) March 23-28

You guys, this past week was INSANE. Epic in a total get-under-the-covers kind of way. We returned from a long weekend getaway to Cozumel, Mexico on Sunday evening. I don't know about your kids but our kids love to ruin us for days if we travel. They enjoy torturing us with their actions and drama to ensure that we never even think about leaving them again. Are your crazy people like that, too? No joke, my oldest threw an epic meltdown Monday that lasted from 5-7:30 pm. You read that correctly. 2.5 hours worth of her screaming, throwing them, attempting to hit me over the head with an umbrella, chastising me with her vernacular and utterly laying on the floor in sheer protest of life. I hadn't been grocery shopping due to my lounging on the beach all weekend long, my plan was to take the girls to Whole Foods after their playdate to pick up dinner. The meltdown happened 1.25 minutes after leaving the playdate. By 3 minutes into the meltdown, the Holy Spirit in me counseled me to go straight home rather than attempt Whole Foods. I yielded to His leading. Monday - GF frozen chicken nuggets for the win + leftover rice + canned green beans. Not at all what I wanted to eat. The meltdown continued through dinner. At one point, my daughter questioned the cat: "Tippy! What?! Why are you looking at me like that?!" DRAMA.

Tuesday - my husband worked late so I took the girls to Taqueria Tsuanmi along with one of my besties and her beauties. Kids eat free there on Tuesdays!

Wednesday - I picked up a frozen bag of stir fry veggies from Trader Joe's + rice + apple slices

stir fry

Thursday - lettuce wraps with seasoned ground beef + guac

lettuce wraps

Friday - My mother-in-law turned 65 this day so we celebrated! I made Chicken Sausage Sweet Potato Hash along with a salad. I picked up a chocolate cake from Trader Joe's and made Rory's favorite PB banana muffins for her dessert. For her gift, we picked out things she loves--a purple flower from Trader Joe's (Rory insisted on purple), chocolate covered sea salt caramels, mocha cappuccino mix and a nice bottle of Chardonnay. You guys don't even know how much I scored when I married my husband. My in-laws are wonderful, God loving, others centered people. Loved being able to celebrate her.

Saturday - We had the joy of celebrating a good friend's job promotion at Seed in Marietta. Wow! This food was oh so good. I enjoyed the filet mignon with roasted brussel sprouts & cauliflower. God has blessed us beyond measure with relationships. Unbelievably thankful.

I hope this gives you some ideas for what to eat this week! Feel free to share your ideas. I am in a cooking rut.

Meal Plan (gluten free, dairy free) March 16-20

It is Monday again and I realized that I haven't posted our meal plans in a couple of weeks. Sometimes I feel like I am sprinting to catch up on life. Do you ever feel like that? Spring sprung and things became busy. The girls started soccer a couple of weeks ago. They are too cute in their attire. Sinclair is rather polite in the game and Rory has yet to play. She enjoys practice but completely refuses to play in the game. The weather has been glorious lately in Atlanta so we decided to have friends over for dinner after soccer.

soccer girls

Sunday - Grilled chicken (marinated in olive oil, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, glaric cloves, S&P, dash of paprika. I just estimated on everything.) + roasted sweet potatoes & onions + guacomole & chips & sweet peppers

Monday - leftovers with salad. Something about eating this salad on a fun paper plate made it feel more like summertime. I'm weird.

grilled chicken salad

Tuesday - BBQ chicken. I put a few chicken breasts (just over a pound) in the crockpot and poured BBQ sauce from Trader Joe's on top. After 4 hours on high, I just pulled the chicken apart with forks. We ate it on top of baked potatoes and a side of roasted broccoli (Rory's favorite these days).

BBQ chicken crockpot

Wednesday - leftovers

Thursday - Italian Chicken in Crockpot. Honestly, we didn't love this recipe. I think in theory it seems great but something about the smell and taste didn't sit well with me.

Friday - I was going to eat leftovers but just couldn't do it. So breakfast for dinner instead.

Saturday - I picked up a Rotisserie Chicken + green beans + rice from Whole Foods

I hope this gets your wheels turning for what to eat this week.

Meal Plan (gluten free, dairy free) Feb 22-28

I was reminded last night while chatting with a friend just how hard eating real food is. To me, its gets boring and redundant. I am a self-proclaimed non-cook and non-foodie and often say that if I could afford one luxury it would be a personal chef. Eating real food and cooking around food restrictions takes time, preparation and flexibility. I spend more time planning meals and going to the store. It forces me to think ahead for the week. And I have to be okay to try new things at the risk of throwing it all away in the trash. I get bored really easily with food. I won't lie, almost every week by Thursday I opt for popcorn rather than leftovers for dinner. That's a whole meal, right? Here is what we ate last week.

Sunday - Campfire Pouches (Publix recipe). I have been on a kick to clear out cluttered spaces and the first one was a glass cabinet in the kitchen that housed recipe books. I NEVER use recipe books. Pinterest and my iPad are my go-to's for recipes. Plus, most of the recipes that my recipe box contained were filled with gluten and dairy which no longer works for this tribe. However, I did find this tucked away and decided to give it a try. It was pretty good and Scott enjoyed the leftovers with rice and a fried egg on top.

Campfire Pouches

Monday - leftovers

Tuesday - Crockpot Chicken  (1 lb chicken breasts covered with Progresso chicken and wild rice soup. Cook for 4 hours on high) + sautéed green beans (cooked in skillet with some EVOO) + rice

Wednesday - leftovers

Thursday - Black Bean Soup + leftover rice + avocado. This is a super easy and fast dinner to pull together. Seriously. You need to add this to your meal plan.

Black Bean Soup

Friday - leftovers

Saturday - It was a beautiful day here in Atlanta so we grilled some chicken marinated in Trader Joe's BBQ sauce and served it up with hummus + Trader Joe's quinoa chips. Sometimes simple is perfect.

Since we had an unexpected few snow days (with really no snow), we had the chance to play with friends. On Thursday, we made PB cookies and PB Banana mini muffins for our guests. Both of these were devoured in minutes.

Maybe I should start playing the lottery to afford that personal chef. Things to ponder.