Sleep is the Best Medication

My focus for this month is on some things I've really been needing to focus on for a while. I'm getting more sleep, increasing my meditation practice, cutting caffeine and really being kind to my body and mind.

In the past year I've been dealing with a nightmare custody battle with my ex, then suddenly found out that my son was the victim of a serious crime that tore our family apart and led to legal process and lots of trauma and therapy appointments. I'm a single working mom, I own a small business, I workout, volunteer, and sit on an executive board, as well as try to maintain a social life, date, and juggle family time. As a result, I can't remember the last time (before this month) when I got 8 or more hours of sleep on any regular basis. I've really been feeling it lately, and I've decided to finally focus on this aspect of my health. Below, I'll give you a quick summary of how our bodies handle stress, and how I plan to get my mellow back!

Natural Stress Response
When the body or mind is stressed, our adrenals (glands that sit atop the kidneys) produce a surge of hormones, including cortisol and adrenalin to help us push through. This "fight or flight" response is the body's survival instinct. Typically, these instances are short term and not a chronic state, but when we subject ourselves to chronic daily stress and run our bodies down, the entire system starts to crash and misfire. The result can be the overproduction of  hormones that signal immune system repression, high blood pressure and fat storage-particularly around the belly.

Cortisol
When cortisol is released into the bloodstream, the brain receives a charge in anticipation for some intense battle. The brain in turn signals the release of glucose into your bloodstream, increasing blood pressure. The immune system is suppressed in order to to save energy for physical activity. Cortisol consumes energy from the body’s muscle tissue to produce glucose for energy. Triglycerides are mobilized from fat tissues. It's all quite a beautiful symphony of stress management. During short term stress and cortisol release, you get a burst of energy, lessened pain sensitivity, and heightened memory functions. The problem with this, however, is the chain reaction these hormones cause- exhausting and damaging the body when overproduced over time.

Some symptoms of chronic stress and elevated cortisol levels are:

• Impaired cognitive performance
• Suppressed thyroid function
• Blood sugar imbalances such as hyperglycemia
• Decreased bone density
• Decrease in muscle tissue
• Higher blood pressure
• Lowered immunity and inflammatory responses in the body, slowed wound healing, and other health consequences
• Increased abdominal fat, which is associated with a greater amount of health problems than fat deposited in other areas of the body. Some of the health problems associated with increased stomach fat are heart attacks, strokes, the development of metabolic syndrome, higher levels of “bad” cholesterol (LDL) and lower levels of “good” cholesterol (HDL), which can lead to other health problems!

Adrenal Fatigue
 Although it's not widely recognized in the western medical community, Dr. James L. Wilson coined the term ‘adrenal fatigue’ in 1998 to identify a specific kind of chronic tiredness that many people experience. It can affect anyone who undergoes frequent, persistent or severe mental, emotional or physical stress. Adrenal function can also be an important factor in health issues ranging from allergies to obesity. This is the physical manifestation of misalignment of mental, physical and spiritual well being. Adrenal fatigue occurs when adrenal gland function becomes less than optimal—usually as a result of stress.

Some typical symptoms of Adrenal Fatigue include:

• Morning fatigue. You don’t really seem to wake up until 10 a.m., even if you’ve been awake since 7 a.m.
• Afternoon “low” (feelings of sleepiness or clouded thinking) from 2 to 4 p.m.
• A burst of energy at 6 p.m. when you finally feel better from your afternoon lull
• Sleepiness around 9p.m. to 10 p.m. However, you resist going to sleep
• A “second wind” at 11 p.m. that lasts until about 1 a.m., when you finally do go to sleep
• Cravings for foods high in salt and fats
• Chronic low blood pressure
• Sensitivity to cold and feeling chilled
• Increased PMS or menopausal symptoms
• Mild depression
• Mood swings
• Mental fog
• Memory problems
• Lack of energy and feeling rundown
• A decreased ability to handle stress
• A decreased ability to recover from illness
• Muscular weakness
• Increased food allergies
• Lightheadedness when getting up from a sitting or lying down position
• Decreased sex drive
• Frequent sighing
• Inability to handle foods high in potassium or carbohydrates unless they’re combined with fats and protein
• You crave sugar
• Not only are your energy levels affected. Your bodily organs and functions will also reflect diminished efficacy. Your heart and cardiovascular system will be compromised; so will your immune system in fighting off infections; and other systemic functions, as well. In all, adrenal fatigue is a systemic blow to your body. I have almost every symptom I've read about chronic high cortisol and moderate adrenal fatigue.

May goals
Here's my game plan to get my cortisol levels back on track, reduce the stress load on my body and form some new self care habits:

Diet
I'm eating a high protein breakfast within and hour of waking. In the past I've never been a fan of breakfast, and with my current paleo diet I could easily fast from dinner until lunch without ever feeling hungry. But certain foods (protein is one) signal the release of cortisol, and eating my biggest meals mid day and late evening were creating a backwards cortisol curve. Cortisol should be highest in the morning, giving us energy to get through the day, then tapering off as the day continues, allowing us to easily wind down and get rejuvenating sleep. A high protein breakfast is recommended to jump start cortisol levels in the morning.
I'm also replacing all coffee with a mild green tea, and no caffeine at all after noon.

Supplements
I'm really not a fan of popping pills, no matter how natural. But, I'm fortunate to have many friends in the naturopathic, nutrition and health fields, and after much research and consultation, I've decided to consistently take the following supplements: vitamin d, a good multivitamin, cod liver oil, calcium/magnesium and coconut water kefir for probiotics. I'm also going to try epsom salt foot baths. I've had some other recommendations that I'm still researching, so I won't post those yet. If you are following along at home, please see your naturopathic doctor or another professional to help you figure out what supplements are right for you. Mine are tailored to my symptoms, lifestyle and diet- yours should be to.

Sleep
This is the big one! All electronics and bright lights in my house will be off by 9pm, to signal my body it's time to shut down. I'm going to try to be in bed by 10pm most weeknights. This will be the hardest for me, and I'm not going to turn down social events because of my 9pm bedtime, but I'm sure going to try to get to bed sooner on weeknights! I've got a giant stack of books by my bed I'm looking forward to reading.

Exercise
I'm backing off of intense crossfit workouts to only 1-2 days per week, and focusing on more gentle exercise like walking or yoga for at least a month. Low impact, low intensity strength exercises might be included... depending on how I feel.

Meditation
I'll continue to meditate in the evenings. I've been incorporating some chakra balancing, which is feeling really great. I'm reading more, and trying some new practices. I've been so tired lately that I often fall asleep meditating, but as The Dalai Lama says "sleep is the best meditation"

So that's it. It feels monumental but it's been a week so far and I already feel more rested. When I eat a big protein breakfast I notice that I don't feel tired until the evening when it's time to start winding down. I'm still tired a lot, but getting to bed earlier is making a huge difference. I've already noticed an improvement in my skin tone and mental clarity. Can't wait to post results at the end of the month.

Cheers to our health, friends! Namaste.

Resources:

Here are a few of the sites that I've found helpful in my research:

The Cortisol Connection
http://cortisol.com/

Dr James Wilson's Adrenal Fatigue
http://www.adrenalfatigue.org/

Women to Women: Adrenal Health Library
http://www.womentowomen.com/healthtopics_adrenalhealth.aspx

And a HUGE shout out to Michael Roesslein over at Natural Evolution Health and Holistic Nutrition. He's been kind enough to share a domain name with me, answer my questions and be an awesome and inspiring friend. He's about to launch an amazing website for total health, and his new Amazon store is one stop shipping for all things healthy and holistic. Mad props to Michael, go show him some love on fb.

Building Habits

"You must do the thing you think you cannot" -Elinor Roosevelt(yeah, yeah, I know my form's not perfect in this pic...part of building a habit is learning ...and mancub took the picture before I got deep!  

Hi guys, I can't believe it’s already May! I've had so much fun for the month of April, it's great to know that things really do get easier with practice! I know now that I can do ANYTHING at all that I put my mind to, and that’s really nice feeling. It takes at LEAST 21 days to create a habit, and some studies say it’s as much as 60 days without fail for more complex tasks. It takes about four weeks to really see changes in your body from diet and exercise, so keep consistent and keep having fun. I’m seeing the biggest changes in my body with clean diet and meditation for stress reduction… More on that tomorrow when I unveil May’s goal! 

I overhauled my nutrition almost exactly a year ago. I went from eating processed junk and sugar daily to eating nothing but organic whole foods including meat, veggies, fruits, eggs, oils and nuts. It was hard at first, but it’s become habit now, and I don’t even think about eating clean most days, it’s just what I do. I know that I feel better when I take care of myself, and my attitudes and priorities have really changed in this year. Why would I feel lethargic and unfocused if I didn't have to? When I listen to my body it tells me exactly what I need and we are a great team.


In March I focused on growing my own food and I’m now in the habit of watering my plants daily and planning to plant more. (There were a few casualties in the process of creating that habit…oops). I can’t wait to see my grocery bills go down when I have organic produce growing in my backyard!

In April I've worked on meditating every night and exercising every day. These are both complex goals for me because they relate to a bigger goal of time management and learning to say “no”. I catch myself procrastinating, then feeling SO amazing after I do it. I have never once regretted being mindfully present, sitting in silence, or working myself hard. It’s an amazing way to relieve stress, and I’m planning to keep at these daily for as long as it takes to become habit.


One habit that I can say has stuck, is working small movements into my day. I raised my work space into a standing desk, and I do lunges and squats while I type. I do a minute or two of planks in the kitchen while my food is cooking. Triceps dips on the kitchen counter, and I can squeeze in 100 kettlebell swings while my coffee is brewing in the morning. I’m getting stronger every day and really enjoying feeling more grounded and strong. Although I've been meditating off and on for most of my adult life, it's really been a challenge this month. I've been going through some really tough things in my personal life, but staying in the present and feeling my own inner strength has been so freeing. My mental energy is on the rise, I'm sleeping better and just feeling at peace. I wish I could show you before-and-after pictures of my psyche and my chakras. Here’s a comparison shot of how my body has responded to new habits.

Before: May 2011, already down 10 lbs after one month eating clean paleo diet. After: April 2012, down 40lbs and maintained 6 months.

Thanks to everyone who is reading and following along with me at home. I love being part of a community that pushes each other to grow. Shout out to my friends in the International Paleo Movement Group on Facebook… without you guys none of these habits would be possible, and I wouldn't be striving for new challenges (brewing my own Kefir, making cosmetics, and all natural cleaning products!!)


Here's a few of my favorite sites for FREE workouts you can do at home, and meditation techniques for beginners. 

• HIIT workouts in under 20 mins with Zuzana Light (formerly of BodyRockTv)

• 16-Days of Beginner CrossFit Workouts You Can Do From Home

• Netflix also has tons of Crunch workouts on instant streaming. 

• 108 Meditation Techniques

• Basic Chakra Introductions and opening meditations

Mango Banana Coconut Pie

This was super easy to make and tasted great.  And with such minimal ingredients and no sugar, I’ll totally look the other way if you want to eat it for breakfast ;)  

Crust:

One bag (about two cups) sliced almonds

2 mejool dates (pitted)

¼ cup virgin coconut oil

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbs cinnamon

Place, almonds dates, vanilla and cinnamon in a food processor and grind until fine. Melt coconut oil by heating the jar in warm water. Mix coconut oil into the nut mixture. Press the mixture into a pie plate about for a  standard raw crust can be used for any kind of raw pie.  

Filling:

2 ripe mangos sliced

4 bananas

1 ½ cup unsweeted finely shredded coconut.

Place bananas and mango into the food processor or blender. Mix coconut flakes for a thicker consistency and pour into crust. Top with coconut shreds cover tightly to prevent the fruit from turning brown. Freeze one hour before serving, the fruit filling will set up a bit. It’s best to assemble and serve this quickly, because it will lose it’s gorgeous color. (my pictures show the not so beautiful result)

If desired, top with coconut milk whipping cream. 

5 Ways to Love Yourself Right Now

      

1. Stop Negative Self Talk

I want you to REALLY understand the power of your own self talk. Just hang for a few minutes in that space between your thoughts and listen. We all have this little voice in our heads that rambles incessantly. What’s yours saying? Your body can hear it at the most cellular level. When you work out to punish yourself because you don’t like what you see in the mirror, your body releases the stress hormone cortisol, which raises your blood pressure, inhibits your immune system, and tells your body to go ahead and hold onto that fat around your abdomen. When you obsess over some unrealistic perfect body image, you create a self fulfilling prophecy because you've already conceded defeat. Knock it off! When that incessant voice tells you your thighs are too lumpy, just smile and notice what’s happening. In our culture we are conditioned to constantly compare ourselves to others, even when we know we are each different and have diverse strengths. How silly of us.

2. Speak kindly to yourself.

When you love yourself unconditionally, just as you are in this moment, your brain immediately releases endorphins which boost your immune system, lower depression and send messages to all of your organs to do what they do best. Your thighs are powerful; work them because you know how good it feels to dance, hike and jump. Whatever you do, do it out of love for yourself. Strive for a goal because you know how great you’ll feel, not because you’re unsatisfied with the body you have today. It’s a small shift in consciousness that has immense ripples of effect throughout your body. It’s great to make progress towards goals, but be kind to yourself along the way.

3. Practice accepting others.

Try to remember that we are all human. We are all connected to each other and the earth, and the way we treat each other matters. We each wake up in the morning and do the best we know how to do. We all have vices, goals, ambitions and insecurities. Have you ever noticed how everything seems more possible with kind and supportive friends in our lives? Do someone a favor and give the gift of kind acceptance. It’s ok if you disagree with someone’s life choices, just accept them as a fellow human being on a journey. This small gift, practiced often will come back to you ten-fold. Empowering others is great for your heart and when you accept others, it’s easier to accept yourself.

4. See the media for what it is.

“You are perfect right now, just as you are” is a terrible sales slogan. Instead, advertisers make millions off of making people feel inferior. You’re almost perfect, but Red Bull will give you wings. You need the shake weight to tone those weak arms, creams to get rid of those wrinkles, new jeans might help you fit in with the hip crowd (You’d obviously never get invited to the party in those jeans you have on). It goes deeper than consumerism. American culture is so heavily steeped in patriarchy that both men and women are constantly objectified and reduced to simplified images of sexuality, masculinity, and function. You don’t have to watch media long to notice that human bodies are constantly being used to sell a product, cut down, criticized, photo shopped or worshiped. Every week some star is praised for losing weight, then slammed for losing too much weight. Our culture is one of materialism that drives many into a frenzied chase for the next best thing. Don’t get sucked in to the unrealistic ideas that are constantly crammed down your throat. You are much smarter than they give your credit for.

5. Don't wait for people to support you; inspire them to join you.

Whatever your goal is, there’s a reason why it’s yours. You’ve probably put some time and energy into getting fired up and moving. Your friends and family might not know, care, or understand your goals. If your husband doesn’t want to sell everything and live in a yurt somewhere so that you can live off the land- don’t be discouraged. Plant your garden with enthusiasm and show him how awesome it is to harvest food for dinner that you’ve grown. You have the passion and enthusiasm to support yourself in your dreams, and when you take the plunge and don’t let anyone stop you, it’s so inspiring that you just might be surprised at who jumps on the bandwagon with you.

Imagine your next office potluck or family gathering. You’ve got the choice to feel unsupported or inspiring.

You could refuse to eat any of their inferior food because it doesn’t meet your needs on this new “diet”. You could pick at the salad because it's got croutons, and pout or even complain that no one supports your new lifestyle. You could try to explain that fasting is perfectly healthy and you feel perfectly satisfied with that tea- to people who are becoming further concerned about your attitudes towards food. But just last year you were joining the fun and feeling fine, now this “whole new you” is a bit of a drag. They simply don't understand why you're acting like such a neurotic freak and you aren’t helping the matter by acting like a neurotic freak!

Or, you could glow as your walk through the door with your latest magnificent dish. You could offer up an amazing creative salad, some delish treats, fresh fruit or deviled eggs. You could be hearing "you've outdone yourself again" and “how do you do it?” Go ahead and gush about how great you feel, how satisfied you are and why you'll never go back to eating food that doesn't make you feel fantastic. Tell them about your garden. You are clearly happy, healthy and excited about life, and that enthusiasm is contagious.

If you're like me, the second party sounds way more fun for everyone! Don’t wait around for others to support your goals. Follow your dreams, be the change you want to see in the world, and just keep putting one foot in front of the other: you might really surprise yourself!

xoxox

We Don’t Stop Playing Because We Grow Old; We Grow Old Because We Stop Playing

When was the last time you ran as fast as you possibly could, arms waving wildly in the air, with an open mouth smile on your face? Played red light green light? Did a cartwheel?

My six year old is my guru in a lot of ways, but one of the most important lessons he’s taught me is this: All things worth doing can be fun with the right attitude.  If life’s not fun, you’re doing it wrong. Blood rushing to your head when you’re upside down makes you just a little high. Winning a race feels good, but playing for hours with your friends on a clear night until the street lights come on can’t be replaced by any ribbon or trophy.

Another plus: studies show that laughing boosts blood flow, immune systems, lowers blood sugar levels and helps you to sleep better!

April's goal is to move more, in fun ways without boredom, resentment or procrastination. Here’s a few fun ways to get our bodies moving, no gym fees necessary and no waiting in line for the never-ending cardio train. Have fun, and post pictures on the fb page if you doing something crazy! 

·            Hula hoop for as long as you can, then try to beat your time.

·            Jump on a small trampoline during TV commercials. Better yet turn off the TV and play! 

·            Go for a bike ride: as fast as you can, without hands, standing up.

·            Dance around the house: in heels.

·            Practice your handstand against a wall.

·            Have some wild sex! (don't post those pics on fb)

·            Jump rope.. but do it with a friend and sing rhymes like Miss Mary Mack.

·            Race with your kids, play tag in the backyard.

·            Play one on one or tag football in the park. 

·            Swing on the monkey bars, go knees to bar on the high bar, ride the zip line and jump hopscotch.      


        Go ahead: frolic, cavort and horse around....I dare you! 

"I run like I did when I was a kid, because that's the only way it's fun" -Pheobe

Pizza Face Off

We've been “afterschooling” lately-supplementing a not-so-great teacher’s kindergarten curriculum (AKA free daycare) with our own lessons. Tonight’s lesson combined reading, math, science, civics, photography, and writing, and ended with a delicious dinner. 

Left: cauliflower crust, right: meatza

I planned for pizza this week, but we needed a few last minute items, so we started at the grocery store where the man cub had a list of things to find and compare prices. The question of the night was: cauliflower crust pizza, or meatza? He was skeptical of meatza and oddly confident about of cauliflower crust so we decided to make both. We measured and cooked together, he took pictures and wrote our recipe tweaks for next time, then we ate and voted for the winner. 

Candidate #1 Cauliflower Crust Pizza:

We followed this recipe pretty closely for the crust, but topped with just mozzarella and pepperoni. I mixed an easy sauce with a small can of organic tomato paste, a can of water, 1 tsp minced garlic, 1 tsp each oregano and basil, and a dash of sea salt. 

The recipe says to use a cooking spray to grease the pan and then “spray crust with cooking spray”. Instead, we used coconut oil on the pan and took our chances with the crust. After 15 minutes of baking the edge was getting a little dark and the top wasn’t as golden as it could have been, but once the toppings were added and broiled, it was perfect.

Candidate #2 Meatza:

We started with this recipe as our base, but changed a few things out of necessity. We left out the cheese in the crust since I can’t tolerate it. We used fresh pressed garlic instead of powder, added an extra ½ tsp chili powder and skipped the cayenne since we didn't have any on hand. I diced up some shallots instead of using onion powder. Finally, we added some finely chopped basil to the crust mixture.

We topped it with the sauce mentioned above and made one with mozzarella and pepperoni, another with no cheese, just sauce, peppers, tomatoes, shallots, garlic and basil.  

Here are all of the crusts going into the oven

The verdict?

That's "best guess spelling" for "meatza is the winner"

Pizza is a lot like sex; 

even when it’s bad, it’s still pretty damn good!

I couldn’t try the cauliflower crust because it has cheese in it, but it smelled amazing and had a texture that was closer to traditional crust. Man Cub was sad to find out that “it tastes like cauliflower”. (Next lesson? Predictions)

Meatza was a clear winner for him. He was thrilled with himself, and ate about four pieces. Mine was good, but it’s not quite pizza without cheese or pepperoni (If anyone knows of a casein free pepperoni I’d be all over it). 

So there it is...give it a try and let me know what wins in YOUR house! 

Plan Ahead for Success

Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.
-Alexander Graham Bell

I'm a full time single mom and I work at least 40 hours a week. I take a 7pm CrossFit class three or four days a week. Between my son and I, we have two other appointments weekly after work. I sit on an executive board which meets monthly, and I try to keep up with friends and family somewhere in between all of this. I never thought I could cook real food with that schedule, but I found a way to do it, and you can too! The trick is planning ahead, and thinking like a prep cook.

Here’s my game plan:

One day a week I sit down for about 30 to 40 minutes and plan out two weeks of meals and a grocery shopping list. Yes, you read that right I plan two weeks every week. This means I'm always reviewing and revising one week and planning a fresh new week. I find that doing this helps me make the most of my leftovers and keep things from spoiling because I can take a look at what’s sitting in my fridge that needs to get eaten up before it spoils, and what’s in my pantry that I could use with a few more ingredients. (We eat mostly paleo in our house, but you can use the same methods to prepare clean and healthy vegetarian, vegan, or other kinds of foods.)


Here's a sample:

Breakfast	Lunches/snacks	Dinner	Sides	Other
egg muffins	date bars	herb roasted chicken	sautéed kale	potluck: Guacamole deviled eggs
bacon and eggs	fruits	carne asada fajitas	cauliflower “rice”	POW: sweet potatoes
avocado-coconut-milk smoothie	veggies with guacamole	chicken soup *Just sub chicken for turkey in that recipe	fruit Salad	lemons for water
coconut pancakes		bacon avocado burgers	sweet potato fries
cranberry walnut muffins*	boiled eggs	curry shrimp over spinach	cabbage “noodles”
sausage scramble	smoked salmon	“breaded” chicken (breaded with coconut four, spices, and pounded pork rinds)	sliced tomatoes and cucumbers drizzled with olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper
chia seed crackers* with almond butter	tuna	grain free pizza (or meatza)	salad greens
grain free zucchini bread*	avocado	steak and eggs	sweet potato hash
	turkey	stuffed peppers	salad greens
	hot dogs (Hempler’s all beef uncured no nitrates or additives)	Civilized Caveman’s Sweet Pulled Pork in an acorn squash
	meat cookies	lemon pepper baked Salmon	mashed Sweet Potatoes, Green Salad	girl’s night- dark chocolate bark and wine
	macadamia nuts	Big Tim’s Primal Chili
	olives	asian lettuce wraps
	applesauce	coconut shrimp and veggie skewers	Cauliflower “rice”
	dried fruit, coconut flakes	spaghetti Squash with meat sauce

*I can’t vouch for these recipes, I haven’t tried them yet. I’m beginning this month to prepare snack and breakfast for the man cub to eat at school instead of the cheerios and chocolate milk they offer- so these are some things I thought I’d try. Wish me luck!!!

Things to consider when planning:

• You’ll want to eat batch cooking early in each week (assuming you batch cook on weekends)
• You’ll want the freshest foods just after shopping, and more stable things later
• If you know you have got a busy evening a certain night- plan for something easy like leftovers or breakfast for dinner
• Use leftover ingredients from one meal in another soon! (leftover roast chicken can go in the soup)

Now for the prep:

1. Prepare all your veggies and snacks into the most portable containers they will stay fresh in. I chop up and individually bag celery and carrots sticks, cucumber and jicama. I wash apples and produce and put them in a giant fruit bowl on my dining table. Berries and grapes go into individual servings for lunches. Wash and prepare mixed salad greens in a big container.
2. Bag up some school sized trail mix snacks with dried fruit, nuts, coconut flakes, and a few dark chocolate chips
3. Throw a few lemon slices or mint into a large picture of water to keep in the refrigerator throughout the week.
4. Boil a dozen eggs 
5. Marinade a large roast of some sort in the crock pot insert. In the morning you can plug it in and it will be ready for dinner, with plenty of leftovers.

Now, I take a few hours to batch cook for the week. All of my recipes are simple and I can make everything listed below easily in 3-4 hours. I dance around my kitchen and do squats while I’m at it to get a little movement in.

1. Start a big pot of soup with whatever leftover veggies you have around. I like to start with a bone broth or chicken stock, then add my favorite meat and leftover vegetables.
2. Season and grill hamburger patties and package them two to a bag. I use my George Foreman grill for this but you could use any grill or a skillet. Rare is best, this allows you to re-heat them without overcooking. These are affectionately known in the Paleo world as “meat cookies”: perfect for a quick protein snack, or as part of a meal.
3. Throw a pack or two of bacon on a cookie sheet and cook ‘em up. They keep just fine in a paper bag in the fridge.
4. Make and cook about 20 grain free pancakes and freeze. 
5. Egg muffins! These don’t freeze well, but I make 12 and they last about a week in the fridge if I don’t eat them before then. Again, make them slightly underdone, to allow for reheating.
6. Date bars, similar to the Larabars you can buy for $1.50 at the store. My recipe is even more delicious and can be cut large or small and individually wrapped for lunches or PWOD

Now we’re ready for the week!

I can grab an egg muffin, a few strips of bacon and coffee to go, lunch for the man cub, and leftovers for me in the morning. Later, my roast will be done and I can toss some greens for the side.  

If I know I'm rushed the following day and I have extra time the night before, I'll cook as much of tomorrow's meal as I can and then all I have to do is reheat when I get home. This lets me spend the hour and a half between work and working out on sitting and eating with my son and finishing up homework, instead of cooking and doing a ton of dishes.


Enjoy!!!!


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Recipes: 

Egg Cupcakes

These can also be made with bacon <3

• 10 -12 eggs whisked well
• 1 green onion
• 3 big handfuls of spinach
• 2 organic nitrate free sausages cooked and cut up
• sea salt and black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 and grease one muffin pan. Whisk all your eggs in a big bowl. Dice sausage and vegetables. Add this mixture to your eggs.  Throw your spinach into the processor, finely chop and also add to your eggs. Mix the egg mixture well and using a 1/4 measuring cup, fill the muffin pan (any extra makes a great scramble, unless you can eat more than 12 egg muffins in a week). Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the eggs are set in the middle. 

Easy Almond Butter Pancakes

• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup almond butter
• 1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup mashed banana or blueberries

Mix all the ingredients together (use an electric mixer for best results). In a large skillet add a little coconut oil to the pan. Pour the batter in the pan, flip when tiny bubbles form. 

Easy Guacamole

• 2 avocados
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 ripe tomato, chopped
• 1 lime, juiced
• salt and pepper to taste
• ¼ cup fresh cilantro, minced

Peel and mash avocados in a medium serving bowl. Stir in onion, garlic, tomato, lime juice, cilantro, salt and pepper. Season with remaining lime juice and salt and pepper to taste. Chill for half an hour to blend flavors.

  

Coconut Shrimp Skewers (makes 4-5 skewers)

• 1 lb large shrimp (about 6 per skewer)
• 2 roma tomatoes, one medium onion, and one green pepper, each cut into 1 ½ inch pieces
• 1 cup pineapple, chopped into 1 inch pieces
• 6-8 whole white mushrooms

Dip deveined shrimp in coconut milk, then roll in fine (unsweetened flakes). 

Fry in coconut oil.

Stir fry mushrooms, tomato, onion, and green pepper with a dash of coconut aminos. Add pineapple and stir fry just until warm

Thread vegetables onto skewer between shrimp and serve over a bed of wilted spinach.

Guacamole Deviled Eggs/ Green Eggs and Ham

Guacamole Deviled Eggs 

• Guacamole (see recipe above, or use store bought with minimal ingredients and no preservatives or additives)
• 12 boiled eggs
• Pico de gallo (Store bought with minimal ingredients and no preservatives, or make it from this recipe)
• 4-5 slices bacon
• salt and pepper

Boil, cool and shell eggs the night before serving deviled eggs.

Less than two hours before serving, mix yolks with 2 cups guacamole, season with salt and pepper to taste.

Spoon mixture into egg whites, and top with bacon bits and pico de gallo.

WARNING: The guacamole turns brown after about an hour and a half, so these won’t be pretty prepared too far in advance of an event.

Green Eggs and Ham variation for a snack or a meal:

Chop boiled eggs, mix with guacamole to taste.

Hollow out a large tomato and stuff it with egg mixture, top with bacon bits

Chocolate Macadamia Bark

• 1 box of Bakers 100% dark chocolate
• 3 tbs of raw honey, to taste
• 2tbs coconut oil
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
• ½ cup macadamia nuts (whole or chopped)
• 1 tbs sea salt

Melt chocolate, coconut oil and honey in a double boiler.

Pour it into a shallow tray lined with wax paper.

Sprinkle with nuts, cranberries and coconut flakes evenly, sprinkle with sea salt.

Place in refrigerator or freezer to cool until hardened, then break into pieces