A week of recipes!

Meals for this week

Here's what I've prepped this week (these recipes are not mine, just ones that I'm trying out. Bolded means they're a favorite, regular fond means I'm testing them out this week and I'll keep you posted!)

• Sunday - Filet Mignon on the cast iron skillet, steamed broccoli, baby peas, and Caesar salad. For this one, I preheat the oven to 450 degrees and warm the skillet up to high or one notch below (electric stovetop, sorry!) and while it's coming up to sizzling - pat the steaks dry on both sides, rub with olive oil, and apply kosher salt and ground pepper liberally to both sides.  As we're medium rare folks in this casa, we get some thick filets (3-4") and brown them for 2-3 minutes on each side. Grab a potholder and transfer the entire pan into the oven. I generally do this for about 4-5 minutes. When it's been that long, pull them out, remove the steaks from the skillet to a plate, and cover them with tinfoil for five minutes to let the juices redistribute and the steaks rest. Trust me, worth it. For our Caesar salads, I take one heart of romaine, chop it up, add a dash of salt and pepper and some grated Parmesan, and toss it all together with this amazing Caesar dressing. Yep, it's bottled. No, it's not healthy. It's Caesar dressing, not a rice cake. Own it or leave it.

So, I am a big fan of marinade. Big. Huge. Think Beatle-mania but for marinating things. I've got a toddler, and a serious lack of free time. A win is shaving my legs two or three times a week - I don't have time to mess around - especially during the week. So, I prep things on Sunday. I cut up veggies for bagged veggies during the week (celery, bell peppers, baby carrots, etc.), sometimes I make tuna salad to bring to work 1-2 days a week for lunch, sometimes I hardboil eggs - generally, I do things that I can do at the same time. Today, I cooked bacon in the oven, hardboiled eggs on the stove, and mixed up three marinades at the same time. Yes, I'm freaking amazing but no, that's not why. It's all in the name of making my life easier during the week. So, when I'm referencing a marinade in one of these recipes - I probably made it Sunday, and likely marinated the meat longer than they recommended in the name of making my life easier. Back to the game plan.

• Monday - I'm making Unbelievable Chicken. It's a new one in my repartee but it's a riff on one that I've made before and really enjoyed - this one. I don't use dry mustard. I pull out the bottle of French's and use that instead. It works and I don't have to run to the store for a spice that I don't have. I've ever swapped out plain white vinegar for the apple cider when I didn't have it. I've used bottled lemon juice. See where I'm going here? Ina Garten would be horrified - but it gets the food on the table and it's been GOOD. Yes, I've already made the marinade and the chicken is hanging out in it in my fridge as I type. Bonus - I make 2x the marinade and save some for next time = less prep for me. I also put in 4 chicken breasts or more so I've got leftovers.

• Tuesday - Tuesday is a newbie! I'm excited to try Kung Pao Chicken at home. Listen, I love chicken. Love it. Don't get tired of it, but the Mr. does - and therefore I'm spicing it up in the kitchen. Nuff said. I'll keep you posted. Again, the marinade is already in the fridge, kickin' with the chicken. (Sorry.) I've even got everything for the sauce ready and pre-mixed in the fridge. It's a lot of the same ingredients as the marinade so my house is only destroyed once (well, at least for that...)

• Wednesday - It's FAJITA TIME! I take my Mexican food seriously - and after being betrayed by marinades before - I've committed to this one. We're pretty serious. I've used this with chicken, beef skirt steak - it's amazing with both. I'm not a huge fan of jalapenos in my fajitas, so I just cut up a few bell peppers (red and green) and a sweet onion into strips. Split the marinade into baggies with the chicken and the veggies I separate them because... ew.) and let them hang out in the fridge.

• Thursday - Salmon for Aaron, and chicken leftovers for this salmon hater. I'll probably chop up a few peppers, squash, zucchini and toss it together with a little olive oil, garlic salt and pepper and maybe bust out a frozen vegetable steamer package. Again, I'm down for simple. This one's one of my favorite salmon recipes - bonus? You may have already cut up a lemon, some bell peppers, and an onion for the earlier recipes. Score. Foil packet = no cleanup. Eeeexcellent.

• Friday - Leftovers for both of us - fajita salad? Likely. Fajita bowl? Sure. I've made the food - we're eating it.

It may seem strange that we're rocking leftovers two days in a row but there's a few really simple reasons. #1 - I do grocery shopping on Sundays. By Friday - I wouldn't want to eat any uncooked meat hanging out in my fridge. In fact, I may even switch that Salmon for Aaron to a different day because seriously, who wants stinky salmon in the fridge? But #2 - I've made the food - we're eating it. Most importantly, my schedule can shift around, and I'm prepared to shift with it with some meal prep. Usually there's another simple night in there - a kielbasa and some veggies, or something relatively simple. Roast chicken. Something in the slow cooker. It balances out my steak night and makes my life... well, you know..

It's a...uh...

Well, it's happened. I am having a baby. Affectionately referred to as 'nugget' when I'm in a good mood, and cheekily called 'dreamkiller' when I'm craving sushi, or missing my old food habits. Needless to say, most of my time at the moment is spent sleeping - and very little blogging is happening, but mostly because my body is in a state of complete and utter rejection of the healthy paleo eating that I had been doing up to this point. Want me to prove it? Here are my pregnancy cravings so far.

Weeks 4-6: Mint and Chip Ice Cream which up to this point in my life, I had never liked and eaten maybe twice.

Week 6-7: Out with Mint and Chip and up with sourdough (morning sickness hello!) and PBnJ sandwiches.

Week 7: Coca-cola slurpees (this one is still a little ongoing but I've got it mostly in check)

Week 8: Cinnabon. Seriously.

Week 9: Nestle Drumsticks.

Week 10: Chicken fingers (and I can finally eat eggs again!)

Food Aversions:

Coffee (all kinds, all the time)

Soda (no desire at all for any)

Chicken that is not in chicken finger form

Beef Jerky and Turkey jerky :(

Steak (seriously!)

Eggs up until Week 10

Chocolate (unless it's ice cream!)

You see how this might be a little limiting to paleo, yes? Hope to be back on the wagon soon.

Me vs. Myself

This morning's workout was BRUTAL, especially for those of us who are not a huge fan of putting one foot in front of the other, quickly (AKA running...).

Michael (scaled):
3 rounds
800 meter run
50 GHD situps
50 Hip Extensions

After getting less than 6 hours of sleep (thanks hubs! ;) ) - It was certainly not a workout I wanted to contemplate.

My alarm went off, I cracked open one eyeball - and the negative Nan voice totally kicked in. It went a little something like this:

Nan: Get up? Already? But you're so tired... you'll never be able to do that workout when you're so tired. Go back to bed...


Me: that sounds awesome. Bed. Yes. NO. NO. WAKE UP.

Nan: No, it's totally okay to sleep in and miss your workout. It's running. You hate running. And you're so very tired....

I'll spare you the rest - but I won. :) So there I was, up and at 'em at 5:30am and heading to Crossfit. This will now be referred to as the workout where I beat Nan. I made it through two rounds without walking or stopping to gasp for air on my run, which was amazing! Then came another test... my coach called out that there were 90 seconds left - not enough time to run my last 800 meters. This is where I usually cave. I sit. I relax. Maybe I'll even stretch a little - but I won't submit myself to another run when it won't count.... except today.

Today, I hopped up from my hip extensions - and ran a 400 meter instead. I told Nan to shut it when she was howling with fury, denied the chance to sit and slack instead of running when both legs felt like they had 100lbs attached to them and didn't want to move. Not only did I run - I ran it as fast as I could. It may not have counted on the white board - but it certainly counted inside.

CAN.

"Do not wish to be anything except what you are." - St. Francis de Sales

I spend a lot of my life wishing to be things. Skinnier. Faster. Stronger. Maybe it's time to stop and savor the victories - big or small, the things that I already am.

I am faster. Today, for exactly the second time in my life - I ran a full mile without stopping. Some people can do this in their sleep - for me, I always joke that I should be voted 'most likely to be eaten by a bear' because I'd be the easiest to catch. It's always been a minor (and petty) frustration of mine that my husband can go out and run a mile after not even trying for months or years. He just hits the track and keeps going. Maybe that's the part I'm missing - the part that cheers myself on and points out that if I just put one foot in front of the other consistently, I will make it. Maybe it's time to shut the voice up that whispers so loudly "you're making a fool out of yourself" or "you can't do this". I can. I've done it twice in two weeks. I absolutely can.

I am skinnier. I may not be skinny but I'd rather be strong. I'd rather have legs that can run a mile, arms that can swing that 16kg or 20kg kettlebell like it's a piece of me. I'd rather be happy that I can deadlift my body weight - and I hope that I've surrounded myself with people who support me in all that and love me for it. Just like I gave up the elliptical for Crossfit, I hope I can give up that whispery negativity for a louder voice that says "Keep it up!" and "You're almost there!". I say this consistently every week to the women who sweat beside me at Crossfit - maybe it's time to start saying it to myself.

A Love Affair...

Italy. Just the word inspires visions of relaxation, red wine, open countryside, and more culture than you can shake a stick at. I love Italy. While it might be more appropriate to say that I love Rome (the only spot in Italy I've ever been) - I have high hopes to love the rest of it as well.

A meandering two weeks, through Rome, Florence, Venice, Bari, Brindisi, Lecce, and then back to Rome for a final beautiful night before we leave. I cannot wait.

See you April 11! :)

Grateful - Be it!

Of everything I am - I am fortunate. Sometimes in the darker times, I throw my hands up to the sky, curse the fates, and ask why. But, I am still fortunate.

I hope that whatever it said of me - it will never be said that I am ungrateful. I am so very grateful to my friends - and to my husband's friends. They are the mortar to our bricks - the very thing that holds us together when we alone would fall apart. I am grateful for my family - without them, I would be a mere shell of what I was meant to be. I am rarely as divinely happy as I am in Costa Mesa at Plums, chatting over a cup of coffee with my mom. I am rarely as carefree as I am on those perfect Austin days, with the sunroof open, the windows down, and my music turned way up. I am rarely as relaxed as I am on my neighbor Kate-E's couch, with a glass of wine, discussing the night away. I am rarely as perfectly me, as I am when I'm with my best friend, Deb. I rarely feel as loved or as cherished as I am when I'm with my husband - one of the few people in the world who truly, truly get what makes me - me.

I was having one of those perfect-Austin-weather, carefree sunroof days today. And when I came over a crest on the highway, I felt like I could see forever - and it was beautiful. I wished for my best friend in the passenger seat, like old times so that I could share it with her. I hope one day soon I can. Then I thought of Ben, and felt like of all days perhaps he was the one in the passenger seat with me instead, and I could almost hear him in his supremely Ben way, saying that he loved this time of year in Texas. Ben, with the permanent tan. :) I am supremely grateful for him. To never have been his friend, or his neighbor would have been a greater loss for me.

So, if you read this blog - I'm quite likely thankful for you in some way as well. I am a sarcastic person - but always a grateful one. So I leave you with one of my favorite songs of the moment, and a chorus that literally has me throw my hands up in the air with the beautiful praise of it.

Love that will not betray you,

dismay or enslave you,

it will set you free,

be more like the man,

you were made to be.

Add a little love to your day, whether it's thankfulness for a beautiful day in general - or a little bit of appreciation for those who know and love you best.

Sunshine, Here I Come!

Sorry so silent lately! Another injury (strained Achilles and two ankle-supporting ligaments) as the result of an unexpected business trip (literally and figuratively) and here we are.

I'm ready for the weekend. Mr. Travis is ready for the weekend - are you ready for it? Supposed to be beautiful here in Austin! Can't wait to spend some time outside, soaking up the sunshine.