Memorial Day, Ribs and Ratatouille

Memorial Day....just another day off work? or something more? For me it's all about remembering our veterans and those who have served and died to make our country great. My family has had many service men, my grandfather, dad and uncle, my current husband and my ex, and hopefully soon my son. I'm proud of all of them, and remember the ones no longer with us fondly. 

Slept in quite late this morning. Felt good not to have to be anywhere. decided to take the kids out to lunch at one of the local BBQ places. They have amazing ribs and a couple of my daughters and I decided to split a full rack. We each had at least 3 ribs and still have some left over. It was fun having everyone together. Did a little shopping afterwards, DH needed new sandals as well as oldest DD. Successfully found them for both...lol 

Picked up a bike for my youngest daughter that the grandparents had sitting in their garage waiting for it to fit someone, she loves it and can't wait to try to ride it (still needs to learn how at age 10....has always been "bigger" and had a hard time balancing). 

But for dinner I wanted another healthy recipe so tried a ratatouille recipe I found a couple weeks ago. Did a couple of modifications, and it was delicious! 
Ratatouille Casserole Recipe
here's the link...I took out the peppers and put in sweet potato slices....needed to cook a bit longer, also added a bit of cheese on top in the end. 

Great day, good food, good memories! 

Long week, lost weight, got sick, made great recipes

This was a loooooong slooooowww week. Monday started off with a coworker having issues between her daycare and the state so she wasn't at work for about 2 1/2 days. Found out one of the babies at our daycare got chicken pox, so now all the parents are kinda freeking out, which intensifies our attention we give them looking for any tell-tale sign that another one has got it. 

Then wednesday I get really dizzy at work and they send me home. I go to bed freezing and pull like 3 blankets on top of my just to get to sleep....slept for like 2.5 hours and wake up so very sore, from my shoulders to my knees, and alternating between freezing and sweating so bad the sheets are damp, yet still dizzy with a slight stomach ache. Thursday so sore I can barely even get out of bed so stay home again and spent most of it either in bed or propped in a recliner with ice on my back. Today was back to work mostly normal, but our kid count was down so low I was shuffled between rooms all day long....wanted to pull my hair out. 

But tonight....tonight I had some gumption. I've been wanting to make a couple of staple recipes from some of my fav sites for paleo. Coconut milk Ranch dressing , and Bacon Jam. Both from scratch, both paleo, both delicious. (links below) 
blissfulbasil.com/2014/03/28/coconut
-milk-ranch-dressing/ 
realfoodliz.com/3-ingredient-bacon-j
am/ 

And I have all the ingredients on-hand to make maple pecan tartletts.www.thekoshercavegirl.com/2014/01/ma
ple-pecan-pie-tartlets-paleo.html 
I'm so excited....pecan pie is my absolute favorite!!! 

Also down in weight this week.  I'm finally OUT of the dreaded 270's....barely....but out of there!! And that's without any exercise and being sick. Now just have to behave over the long weekend and keep it off and more.

Graduation Weekend and then some

My little boy graduated high school today!! 1 down 4 to go...lol Lots of grad parties this weekend including his...5 total, barely any of the food was "allowable" for me to eat being Paleo, but that didn't really stop me...lol We enjoyed the weekend with good friends, family and all the kids we love. Mind you my stomach still hurts from eating the way I did, but it's one weekend every couple years...lol I'll survive and get back on track tomorrow. 

My ex-husband gave me a HUGE compliment today. While waiting for the graduation ceremony to start, he turned to me and said, "I'm want to compliment you on the way you're raising the kids, they seem very happy and are becoming really good kids." He's in another state and doesn't see them often so that was a huge deal for me. 

On a side note, I tested the Kombucha thursday and it tasted pretty good. Haven't gotten around to bottling it yet, but that's on the list for tomorrow night. Trying to decide what juices I want to add into it for flavor. Then it has to sit for another 7 days or so in capped bottles to create it's FIZZ. I'll keep you posted...lol 

Bike Rides and Sick Kids

So my youngest daughter was sick today. Spent last night throwing up despite my help...and was still not well this morning.  She stayed home from school, unfortunately it was a little late for me to "call in sick" kinda thing and I had to go to work leaving her home alone for a short while. (old enough to be alone for short periods but still don't like leaving sick ones home alone).  My bosses are great and worked it out staffing wise so that I could leave around 9:30 to come back home.  DD was just chilling on the couch, so I decided to lay back down "for just a bit" and fell asleep till like 2:30 in the afternoon...lol  I did have to be back at work before 3pm to do the school pick up runs.  DD was feeling much better by this time...YAY

Came home from doing the school run, and wanted to go on a bike ride.  Asked some of my other kids if they wanted to come and got a chorus of yeses. So we all hopped on our bikes and away we went.  I had tracked a decent route around the main streets by our house that came out to just over 2.5 miles.  Holy cow my knees were burning by the end.  Lets put it this way....I'm fat....currently about 272lbs (down 14lbs however from March and down over 30 from last christmas) and don't exercise much.  But I have a goal to ride my bike to work and back once school lets out...which is in 8 days...LOL  It's 2.75 miles to my work from my house (which is across town if that says anything about where I live...lol), and this ride today was less than that and I was hurting near the end.  I want to ride that route if not more everyday until then so that I'm ready when school's out and I don't have to drive kids anymore.  Plus it'll save on gas money as well...:-)

I'm set on my path...I'm excited to see where it takes me!

Thunderstorms & Mother's Day

I love thunderstorms....always have.  Even as a kid, they were scary but also beautiful and majestic. Now, I live in part of "Tornado Alley" being in the eastern part of Nebraska, and that is a new and scary aspect of thunderstorms.  I still love watching the lightening shows and feeling the thunder shake and rumble thru me and my world, but I've developed a bit of internal trepidation to always be alert.

Tonight the sky is that eerie gray/green color as a huge storm rolls in.  Tornado's are popping up to the south-southwest of us, but it looks like we're going to be at the top side of the storm and not in the lower or middle where the twisters are.  We made sure the cars are tucked in as close to the house as they can be (not having a garage stinks), and we're hoping for the best (please no hail...).  We also have friends over and we hope to keep everyone safe and sound.

This is the radar over our area...I'm near the top of the red

Mother's Day is both great and sucks at the same time.  It's great because I have 5 great kids and I love being their mom/step-mom. I have a wonderful MIL whose accepted me into her family very graciously, and my grandmother whom I hold very dear but is too far away to visit.  It sucks because I lost my own mother about 10 years ago, and I miss her very much.  She has missed some major changes in my life, including the birth of my last daughter (not even sure she knew I was pregnant...as she neared the end she wasn't very with us), my divorce, and then my marriage to my wonderful current husband.  Life has been hard not to have her to talk to. We were very close, and she is greatly missed.  Love you mom!!

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Eating Paleo....Succeeding mostly

So it's been about a month of eating Paleo.  Lost about 7lbs so far. Cheated way to often, or at least more than I probably should have.  Finding out the hard way the cost of eating raw/healthier.  Pasta and carbs are nice and cheap fillers, but when you're limited to the meats and fresh veges the cost can add up quickly.

I will have to say I'm feeling much better.  I have more energy, and I sleep better.  Now when I cheat, especially with carbs, I don't feel good, my stomach usually ends up hurting, and I get heartburn really bad (that was off my BK burger last week...lol)

Chicken fried steak with roasted sweet potatoes

But when you get to eat things like the chicken fried steak shown above it makes it all worth while.  I love experimenting with my foods now to see if I can "Paleo-ify" my favorites or find someone who has.  I've made some delicious fudge, chocolate chip cookie bars, and of course bacon and egg muffins all deliciously paleo and completely healthy.

My family on the other had are totally and completely addicted to their carbs, but I'm working on that.  One step at a time.