Neglect

Oh hi...remember me? Yeah I know, I am hanging my head in shame because I have neglected this blog for *cough* 2 weeks *cough*.

I am really sorry but I have been oh so busy the last 2 weeks and have neglected just about everything. Yup everything. I haven't worked out, I haven't cooked, I have hardly cleaned, I haven't done much of anything. I have even neglected pinterest until tonight which is actually the reason for this blog post. I got on the website was re-inspired. Pinterest has its ways of doing that...

Why have I been so busy that I couldn't do anything else you ask?

We decided to start a business.

Yup we are in the process of starting up what will someday be an outfitting business...at least that is the dream.

We purchased six stand-up paddleboards and a trailer and are going to start renting them out soon! If you have never tried paddleboarding, you should. It is fun and easy to do and a great workout.

Alright, enough of the business promotion...but seriously, if you or anyone you know wants to rent paddleboards let me know...

Ok so that my friends is why I have been too busy to blog. Starting a business is very time consuming.

I promise to blog more.

What? A Healthy Lunch?

I set my alarm clock for 6am. Exactly 1 hour before I need to be at work. When I factor in the 20 minute drive, that leaves me 40 minutes to shower, put on makeup, eat breakfast, and dry/straighten my hair. My tight schedule unfortunately doesn't include time to prepare a healthy lunch to eat at work.

Why don't I just wake up 10 minutes earlier you ask? Because then my alarm clock would say 5 something and that is not an acceptable time to wake up. It doesn't matter if it says 5:59. I don't wake up at 5.

As a result of me not taking the time to make a lunch  in the morning, I usually just go out. I spend an average of $5 a day. That adds up. I get tired of fast food and am usually craving something fresh and healthy. Unfortunately fresh and healthy = more money which I don't have a lot of.

Today I had an idea (ok I've had this idea 100 times before, but I have never actually done it...the phrase should more accurately state...today I acted on an idea)

Why not buy all of the ingredients for a yummy salad, make a yummy homemade dressing and divide the salad into Tuperwares that can easily be taken out of the fridge on my way out the door. Healthy, delicious lunch that takes no time out of my morning routine.

I found a recipe for a creamy balsamic dressing click here to go to the original blog

Creamy Balsamic Dressing:
4 cloves garlic, grated
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons Morton's Nature's Seasoning
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup extra light olive oil


(a hint...Morton's Nature's Seasoning can be found by the spices in your grocery store)

The dressing can be expensive up front, but once you have all of the ingredients you can make it again for little or no cost. I put all of the ingredients in my blender to mix them.

For the salad
Romaine lettuce
Cucumber
Red onion
Cherry Tomatoes
Cilantro
Gorgonzola cheese
Bacon
Mushrooms
(add any other ingredients you like in a salad)

I spent 30 minutes preparing the dressing and chopping the veggies. I prepared 3 Tupperware containers of salad and 3 containers of dressing. Lunch for the next 3 days. Amazing.

Bacon, bacon, bacon

I love eating bacon. I HATE cooking it. It is one of my least favorite things to cook.

I recently came across a brilliant beyond brilliant idea on pinterest. It is from the genius mind of Martha Stewart and can be found here.

It is literally so easy, mess free, and is totally genius. I don't know why I've never done this

1. Place tin foil on a baking sheet
2. Place the bacon on the foil
3. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes

I like really crunchy almost burned bacon, so I cooked it for about 30 minutes...AMAZING

Missed the Memo

For real though...I am a full time working mom and you know what? 

Some days I just don't have the time.

Or the energy.

No washboard abs for me...

Feeding a toddler

Feeding my one year old has proved to be a very difficult if not impossible task. The child won't eat anything. She gave up baby food the minute she got enough teeth to chew. She also gave up anything that she can't feed herself because she is one independent little missy.

Until she was one, I felt OK about her not wanting to eat because she was at least getting bottles with formula which had plenty of nutrition. And lets be honest, the child is definitely NOT starving. Now that she is drinking whole milk instead of formula and really only has that at nap time, I have had to find real food items that she will eat.

The first thing I discovered was that the more she snacked, the less she wanted to sit down and eat an actual meal. Over the course of a few weeks, I slowly got her to stop snacking and start eating 3 meals a day. I also discovered that if I sit her in her highchair and turn on Curious George, she will sit and eat without really paying attention to the food and she eats a lot more (desperate times people).

For those of you who find yourself in the same predicament, here are some of the foods I have tried that have worked.

Breakfast
scrambled eggs (I make sure that they taste good...add cheese and salt like I would for myself)
canned peaches and pears
frozen blueberries (i thaw them out in a bowl of hot water)
dry cereal (not her favorite)

She is just starting to learn to eat with a spoon. Today I made her some oatmeal and put blueberries in it.  I set it on her tray with a spoon. She ate some of it with the spoon and some with her fingers but she got a lot of it down! A whole new world of possibilities may have just opened up.

Lunch
string cheese
lunch meat
cut up pb&j
cut up fruit

Dinner
I usually just give her whatever we are eating

Lets be honest. It isn't always practical to make a delicious homemade healthy meal for the toddler. Especially on nights when I don't cook for myself. On days like this, I have a few things that I like to have on hand.

Gerber Graduates meals for toddlers. These are AWESOME! They take 30 seconds to heat up and Allie LOVES them. I just scoop the contents onto her highchair and she will eat almost the entire thing. They always include a vegetable and are a great alternative to a homemade meal. 

 Frozen chicken nuggets...I usually try to buy the ones that are more chicken breast and less chicken paste...I know it isn't 100% healthy, but she loves them and I can pair it with some frozen veggies.

When all else fails and I am out an about in a hurry and don't have time to sit and feed her...

Chicken Quesadillas

I know, I know...my post last Sunday promised more posting this week. I can't help  it if the week flies by before I realize it! Just in case you were wondering, I did NOT sit on the couch and do nothing all week. That is actually the main reason for not blogging. Turns out working full time and having a one year old keeps you kinda busy. That and Allie yells at me every time I try to get on the computer. The other day she literally pulled me off the couch (with all of the baby might she could muster) and dragged me across the room to the front door because she wanted me to take her to see the chickens.

Anyway, you will be happy to know that I made dinner most nights this week. OK I made dinner 3 nights. But that is better than none. I want to post my favorite go to recipe for a busy night. Chicken quesadillas. Nick loves them, they are quick to make, and usually I have the ingredients on hand. (I am going to apologize in advance for being a terrible recipe writer...I will do my best)

Chicken Quesadillas

Makes 4 servings

8 small flour tortillas
2-3 chicken breasts
1 package taco seasoning
Ranch dressing (I believe Hidden Valley is the only way to go when it comes to ranch)
Cheddar cheese

Cut up chicken into small cubes
Heat up frying pan (If there is one thing I have learned about cooking anything it's that the pan needs to be hot before you throw the food into it)
Put chicken into pan with taco seasoning and ranch (I don't always use the whole packet of taco seasoning, it depends on how much chicken you have. Use your judgment. I also don't have a measurement for the ranch. Again, use your judgment...enough to coat the chicken, but not so much that it is drowning) (In my defense, I warned you that I'm no good at recipe writing)
Cook chicken for 3-5 minutes or until it is cooked all the way through
Heat up another frying pan (or use the same one if you prefer)
Spread some butter on the outside of the tortillas
Place the tortilla butter side down in the hot pan. 
Put desired amount of chicken, cheese and more ranch on tortilla and cover with a second one. (haha wow I'm really terrible at explaining this but you get the idea...you've had a quesadilla before)
Flip quesadilla to brown tortilla on other side. Cook until cheese is melted.   

So there you go. My terrible explanation for making a delicious meal. Seriously though, we eat these once a week.

In other news, I had to call poison control for the first time in my life today because Allie decided to snack on some sunscreen. Apparently sunscreen isn't dangerous unless consumed in large quantities...at least now I know...

Reset

This last week has been a little discouraging.


I started my Monday coming off of a weekend with a sick baby and not nearly enough sleep. It's hard starting the week off tired. The week was long and exhausting. I went to bed too late, ate too much, didn't exercise at all, and didn't accomplish anything.Also, Allie didn't sleep through the night once last week. I literally came home from work everyday and just sat on the couch unable to move. I felt like I never really got my feet under me. As a result, I had nothing to blog about.


I feel like this kind of thing happens a lot and it happens to all of us. We have a couple of really great weeks where we are accomplishing goals, working hard, eating right, being great parents/spouses and then BAM exhaustion hits and it all goes downhill.

I also feel like this is completely normal.


When this happens, I like to push the reset button.


This weekend, I had some time to breathe. Nick and I went to my friend Bonnie's cabin and just relaxed. It was a nice way to clear my head, get out of life for a few hours, and reset. We were able to get Allie back onto some kind of schedule and last night she finally slept through the night again. I cleaned my house, did the laundry, and caught up on some things that needed to be done. I have the rest of the day today to just relax and get ready for the week ahead. Sometimes I just need this kind of weekend. I got to spend some quality time with Nick and Allie and I feel like I am getting back on track.

Moral of the story? Life isn't easy. Parenthood isn't easy. Having a full time job and coming home to a one year old and an antsy husband who has been stuck inside all day isn't easy. Supporting a husband through school isn't easy. It's 100% exhausting. Sometimes we have bad days/weeks/months but instead of sulking into despair about how hard it all is, take a few minutes (or in my case a few days) figure out what's important and MOVE ON! The only way we are going to get any better is to keep truckin' through.


So there you have it. My inspirational speech for the day.


This week will be a better blogging week. I promise.