Randomness and Groceries

This might be the most random post ever. 

My beloved MacBook Pro is being sent to Apple.


It's amazing how much damage this cute face can cause...


For now I'm blogging from the hubs laptop which isn't as cool as mine.  It will do for now though!

Now where did I leave off?

Last night I stirred up some Thanksgiving meatballs.


This recipe uses such a small amount of celery.  Celery isn't something we eat regularly so when I plan on making this recipe we have a ton leftover.

I snacked while I cooked.


I also grabbed some butternut squash soup out of the freezer.  Dinner done in like 15 minutes!


I know I did a grocery post a little while ago but I figured I'd do another one since we went grocery shopping today.

On the list was stuff for the kids:

Local whole milk
Brown rice
Waffles
Boxed mac-n-cheese
Cereal bars (random thing thrown in the cart- for busy mornings)
Syrup
Cheese
Yogurt
Whole wheat pasta
Chicken nuggets
Cereal

Meat:  This lasts us two weeks. 

2lbs ground pork
1lb applegate deli turkey
1lb whole foods deli cajun turkey
Pork chops
2 grass fed steaks
2 bison steaks
2lbs ground turkey
3 packs of bacon
3lbs grass fed beef
Frozen chicken breasts
Pork shoulder

Paleo things:

Almond milk
Kombucha
Grass fed butter
Coconut milk
Almond flour
Eggs
Half and Half (the hubs uses it in his coffee)

Produce- We don't buy much produce at Whole Foods because it is a little expensive.  The main reason we shop at Whole Foods is for meat.  Obviously.

Strawberries
Carrots
Spinach
Red pepper
Asian pears
Spaghetti squash

Find anything interesting the last time you went grocery shopping?

Computer Dilemma

I’ve been freaking out all day.

Last night while I was bathing the kids, LB threw a cup of water in my direction splashing some on MacBook Pro... my semi-new MacBook Pro. It’s only a year old and is almost the love of my life. Second to my camera but before my Iphone. What can I say? We are an electronic obsessed family. What will we do when the world is ending?

Anyways, I woke up this morning and did what I do every morning. I powered up my Mac to do a little blog reading with breakfast. When I hit the power button nothing happened. The battery light said it was charged but my computer did nothing.

I’ve been frantically hitting the power button all day. I’ve googled everything. “MacBook Pro not turning on” “MacBook Pro not turning on after spilling water on it”. Everything I’ve read said it’s a critical situation when your two year old decides you get to play splash too. I also read it’s about $800 to fix a broken Mac. That’s not something we can afford right now especially with the holidays.

Thankfully I’m a pro at broken electronics. I’ve had three Iphones. Thank goodness for warranties and a sweet husband. One of those Iphones spent a day out in a rain storm. It’s the one I currently have! I stuck it in a bag of rice with a few silica gel packs I found in one of the kids shoe boxes. It was back to normal in a day.

I decided to give my laptop a day or so to dry out before I call Apple.  

Lesson one- Don’t leave your Iphone on the roof of your car in a rain storm.
Lesson two- Don’t blog while the kids get a bath. Wait till they go to bed.

Bone Broth

I was a little hesitant about making bone broth. After hearing it on the balanced bites podcasts multiple times I thought it would be worth a shot.

I went to Whole Foods and asked the butcher for grass fed beef soup bones.  He gave me about 8lbs of bones for $15.

I found a recipe over at Nom Nom Paleo.  I simmered about half the bones for 24 hours on low in the crockpot.  The bones I used were pretty fatty so I poured the broth in a bowl and put it in the fridge overnight.

The next morning I scooped off the fat.

And I was left with delicious beef jelly!


We had a cold dreary day here so I heated some up in a mug.  Instant comfort!

I wasn't sure about drinking bone broth but I can definitely see why people drink a mug a day.

Plus the dogs loved gnawing on the leftover bones!


Have you ever had bone broth?

Meal Plan #7

Last night we were out and about so we stopped by Whole Foods. I am only telling you this because the items in my cart were kind of funny…

Typical paleo.  Eggs... so many eggs, kombucha, and bones for bone broth!

Breakfast:

I have finally figured out something I want to eat in the morning.

1oz of almonds (I measured it), an apple, and coffee with almond milk.


I put it on the counter as soon as I got up so I just grabbed a little at a time while I got ready this morning.

Gym: Pilates

Lunch:

Leftover paleo Thanksgiving.

Smoked turkey, paleo gravy, brussels sprouts, green beans, and sweet potato mash.

Dinner:

For dinner I roasted some chicken quarters.  I made a mix of fresh minced garlic, salt, pepper, and olive oil and rubbed it on the chicken.  I put them in a 9x13 dish with 1/2 cup of chicken stock.  Baked at 425 for about 40 minutes.

Served with collards and leftover sweet potato mash.

Since I didn’t post yesterday here is my meal plan for the week:

Meal Plan #7

Monday- Roasted chicken quarters, collards, and sweet potato mash
Tuesday- Pulled pork and collard greens
Wednesday- Thanksgiving meatballs and butternut squash soup
Thursday- Leftovers
Friday- Breakfast- Sausage scrambler
Saturday- Out to dinner
Sunday-  Beef Roast Tacos

What is your favorite "to-go" meal?

Paleo Thanksgiving

Over Thanksgiving I realized how important the paleo diet is for me. First of all the last time I ran a 5K was in March. My time was 35:59 and I was dragging. My time on Thanksgiving was 30:35 and I didn't even push myself. I know exercise has helped that a lot but I'm sure the paleo diet has had something to do with it. I've been able to add weight easily when I lift and cardio is becoming easier and easier. I seem to have endless energy and my skin looks amazing.

Thanksgiving is the first time in about 3 months that I've really let myself eat whatever I want. Friday I woke up feeling sluggish and cranky. At first I thought maybe I was getting sick. Then I remembered something I saw on someone's blog. "Eat like crap, feel like crap". Yep, that was me.

Today I am back on track.

We spent most of the day hanging out at home decorating our tree.

This is a great year for Christmas.


Squirrel is 4 and LB is 2.  They are both in love with everything Christmas which makes me really excited.


We also spent part of the day preparing a paleo Thanksgiving.


The husband has always wanted to smoke a whole turkey on the grill so that's what he did.


I made sweet potato mash and...


Brussels sprouts.


The husband made his green beans.


Plus we made paleo gravy!

Everything was so good!

We also ate a piece of non-paleo pumpkin pie.

It's our favorite part of Thanksgiving so we couldn't skip it!

Now we have a movie date by the tree...


Thanksgiving was fun but bring on Christmas!

Thanksgiving 2012

My turkey day in pictures.























Did you have a good Thanksgiving?

A New Favorite

Breakfast:

Minimal has been key lately.  A mini lara bar and a honeycrisp.

Gym:  30 minutes on the stair climber and a dumb bell arm workout.  It sucked.  It was hard.

Lunch:

Leftover pad thai with a fried egg on top.  Genius!

Dinner: It was supposed to be spaghetti squash and meatballs. I wasn't feeling it.

While I was browsing blogs today I saw a recipe over at The Fit Daffy for Curried Beef Croquettes.

I had everything for these!  I made them exactly as the recipe said but I used 1T curry powder and used ghee for the fat.  1T was hot!

This is easily a new favorite dinner!  SO GOOD!!!

We also had a side salad which I dressed in non-paleo dressing.

I love that stuff!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!  Remember to unplug and enjoy your family.

Chicken Lovin'

How about a short and sweet post?  Yes please!

Breakfast:

The husband was home this morning so he made me eggs and bacon.

Gym:  OFF.  I hurt my knee yesterday.  Must have been those iso lunges.  Blah.

Snack:

Honeycrisp apple with sunflower seed butter.

Lunch:

Leftover meatloaf and sweet potato mash.

Dinner:

I did dinner prep while LB napped.  Dinner was ready at 2:00 today.  We just reheated it at dinner time.


Paleo pad thai!  This is my favorite paleo recipe because it never fails.  You can add whatever you want as the base.  I added chicken, red pepper, onion, green beans, carrots, and spaghetti squash.  The sunshine sauce is delicious.  I could drink it!

We did a lot of nothing all day.

Mostly hanging out with the chickens!








Have you ever been injured during exercise?