Are you better off now than you were one year ago?

I've been watching Parks and Recreation with Jason. It's a great show. One of the episodes has the main character asking her town if they are better off now than you were one year ago. I realize this is a campaign question used frequently about the past four years. But thinking about that is as bad as being asked in an interview "Where do you see yourself in five years?"

This episode came up at a perfect time - I'm about to hit my one year anniversary at my job. So my past year has changed a lot. 

A year ago I was on vacation. I'm also currently on vacation. :) 

This is my current view (minus the Liam - he's napping right now.) 

Am I better off now than I was one year ago? Yes. And it's mostly because I am working. This vacation has made me very grateful of being able to send Liam to daycare and my ability to work at a job I love. Mostly love, like 90% of the time I love it. The other 10% is due to Monday mornings and lack of naps. I'm still grateful of the time I was able to be home with Liam, and that I didn't have to rush to get back to work and earn income. This vacation I'm on has me even more grateful that I when I go back home I can return to work. And I know in a year I'll be able to take another vacation. 

This past year has had a lot of changes. Jason and I had to learn how to be working parents. How to juggle Liam and daycare drop off/pick ups when one of us had a longer day, was out of town, or was sick (usually me.) We also had to juggle if Liam was sick. Parenting = juggling. 

Going to Time for Dinner has made a huge difference, along with meal planning, and creating a shopping list every. single. time. I had to adjust how to do meals since I don't get home until 5pm. We had to adjust with Liam and his bedtime and bathtime. We've had to adjust our laundry doing, folding clothes, everything. 

Liam has been sleeping and napping like a champ, even on vacation! I'm very grateful we visited the Sleep Lady. I can't imagine how crazy this vacation would have been without the proper bedtime routine.

I wrote the above a few days ago while on vacation. 

And now I'm back to our normal routine. I'm grateful for daycare and my job. And a freezer full of food. Liam is back in routine and eating normally, including decent food (not just white bread and applesauce pouches.)

I don't know if I'm better off, but I feel like I'm in a better place than I was one year ago. I've excelled at work, I enjoy my work, I wasn't even dreading going back to work. That's a huge difference than most people who return to work after vacation.

Liam has grown so much -- and learned a lot -- I'm always amazed at what Daycare teaches him. He amazes us which what he knows. While we were at Animal Kingdom we learned that he knows what a Gorilla says! And he's repeating any word we ask. He tries at least. He's an amazing little human.

So here's to the next 365 days. Oh, 366! I hope in one year I can say that I am better than I was a year ago. 

Turkey Tacos - 21 Day Fix Approved

This comes a little late for Cinco de Mayo, and we actually had them the week before that. I am pretty apathetic for most "holidays" that revolve around food. We actually had leftover steak & salmon, sweet potatoes, and green veggies on the 5th. We had spent the week before eating tacos, so eh, why again? 

Other holidays I don't care about making it all about the meal - Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, New Year Eve, Memorial/4th of July/Labor Day BBQs, I can take them or leave them. 

Holidays that should be about the meal - Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, my Birthday. 

I found this recipe for Turkey Taco's from Skinny Taste. The website has been around for a couple years and she has some amazing recipes. I really like this taco recipe because it calls for tomato sauce to help thicken the meat a little. I edited the recipe a little. I buy ground Turkey in bulk at Sam's Club and it comes in a 2-pack of 2.5 pounds each. 

Also, we bought the "made from TV" Taco Bowl makers. It seems silly, but it actually works well. It's not the crispy fried ones we get at the Mexican recipe, but it works well and satisfies the craving for Tacos and taco salads and the tortilla. There are other ways to dress these -- using lettuce is a big one to avoid the carb of a shell. You can use corn tortillas too. Or just skip both and make a Taco Salad. 

Turkey Tacos

Ingredients:

• 2.5 lbs 99% lean ground turkey
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 small onion, minced
• 1 small bell pepper, minced
• 8 oz can tomato sauce
• water - 1/2 cup - optional

Directions:

1. Brown turkey in a large skillet breaking it into smaller pieces as it cooks. When no longer pink, drain, and place back on heat. 
2. Add the minced onion, pepper, and dry seasonings. Cook additional 10 minutes. 
3. Add the tomato sauce and let simmer. If it's too thick, add some water, up to 1/2 cup. 

Measure out a red container to count as 1 protein. We (measured and) added refried beans, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, and either sour cream or greek yogurt to top them. I can't wait to have these on the menu again! 

How The Sleep Lady of St. Louis saved my life.....

Still fast asleep at 6 AM (April 1)

When Liam stopped sleeping through the night (STTN) near the end of February, my life kinda ended. His lack of sleep, and his middle of the night (MOTN) wakings were affecting my eating habits, work out habits, sleep, my health, my marriage, my sanity, and my job.

We dealt with some horrible nights for about a month. I was very sleep deprived and could barely function. I was a Mombie -- a Zombie Mom. 

Liam's bedtime had shifted to 8pm sometime after his first birthday (it'd been 7 before that.) Probably about the time he weened himself. He'd been STTN for over a month, I'm not sure when he started, but he'd wake by himself around 5:45-6:00am or some mornings we'd have to go wake him. But all of the sudden something shifted. It would only take 5-10 minutes of rocking to go to sleep, but he'd start waking every 2 hours. And he wouldn't want to go back into his crib. He'd want to be held. Or get out of the nursery. Sometimes he needed a drink or a snack. Or we'd watch TV. And he was waking at 5:30 and he'd be up until his first nap. Sleeping in the nursery recliner with a hot potato, or squirmy monkey, was not good for either Mom or Dad. Mostly Dad. Liam didn't want me most of the time and I didn't have the patience to put up with what he wanted to do. I wanted him to go back in his crib and sleep. He wanted to watch TV or look for Monday. Or Dad. 

My friend suggested we go to a Sleep Therapist. The initial thought was what? I've googled it, it's just a sleep regression, probably from a growth spurt. Then I did some more research, and came to the conclusion that "SLEEP REGRESSION" is just a term some parent made up to make themselves feel better about their kid not sleeping. Dad was really skeptical. But if our insurance covered it (sans a $75 Specialist Fee), I was ready to do anything. If it cost us $500 to get the kid sleeping again, I'd pay it. 

So on a Tuesday morning I managed to snag an appointment with Nancy Birkenmeier, BSN, RN for the SAME WEEK! She normally has a one-two month waiting period. And when someone cancels they start calling people to bump them up. No one wanted this Friday 2pm appointment. It was like God really was looking out for me. 

That same week I got ill. A nasty stomach bug infected my body. For four days! I missed three days of work. Including the Friday our appointment fell on. I was very zombie-like Friday for our appointment, and it wasn't sleep deprivation, it was the stomach bug. I have never had the stomach bug that bad. I blame the sleep deprivation for making it worse. 

Friday night, April 3

We met with Nancy on Friday March 27. We were given a Two-Step plan to last approximately 2-weeks. She listens (and probably totally judges you) on your child's bedtime routine, his sleep habits, the amount he's sleeping, how he falls asleep (rocking/car ride), and you decide what you want most. Our main priority was to get Liam STTN. But in order to do that, we had to start with getting him to fall asleep on his own - no more rocking.  

Nancy has different Steps geared to different ages and different sleep problems. She has up to a 12-step program. We were going to do a modified cry it out (CIO) method. She said he'd probably cry for 45-50 minutes the first night, 15 minutes the second night, and be fine after that. 

We started Sleep Training on Sunday night, March 29. I had to leave the house for two hours before bedtime began, and couldn't return until Liam was asleep - or we had reached the maximum CIO time of 90 minutes. Jason started bedtime at 8:19 and by 9:04 Liam was asleep. I stayed at Lola's watching the Walking Dead (my first time) until it was over. Thanks Lola! Hooked on this show now!

Night two - I had to leave the house an hour before bedtime. And Liam only cried for 10 minutes when Jason put him down! The third night I only had to be out of sight for 45 minutes before bedtime. Liam cried for half a second when he was put down. The rest of the week went amazing! And every night Liam STTN! We also were bumping up his bedtime, one of the goals was to move his bedtime up to 7:15.

Tuesday April 7 - Still asleep at 6 AM!

Originally Liam was schedule to spend three nights at Grandma's since my mom had Maundy Thursday and Good Friday off. Nancy said he could only go for one night. She promised it wouldn't mess up the sleep training we had already done. So my mom picked up Liam on Thursday evening and he went to Grandma and Grandpa's. He went willingly to bed at 8:30pm and slept until 8am! He's never done that, usually my mom has to sleep in the same bed with him to get him to sleep and stay asleep. Mom said he woke around 1AM and just needed his blanket. So that was amazing! Mom and dad brought him back over Friday evening and we got Liam to bed a little late, around 8pm. But he went to bed easily and STTN! It was glorious!

We've had so many peaceful nights sleep! He's been STTN except for Sunday night this past week. He woke three times, Dad did a quick 20-second visit to reassure him it was ok, it was still bedtime, and he went back to bed easily. We've mastered naptimes at home too - he cries a few extra seconds, but he goes down easily. He's always been a good napper at daycare. His teachers say he's the leader of the pack with napping. And now that he's well rested, he's napping longer at daycare.

I feel like a new woman! I feel like I have my life back. I'm able to work out and concentrate on the things that matter -- like catching up with the DVR. I hope that it keeps up, the past 10 days have been amazing.

If you're interested in making an appointment with Nancy Birkenmeier, she currently practices out of St. Lukes Sleep Unit. There's a bunch of informative files available on the website. And she offers some free informational classes too! She has one upcoming on April 16.

RockCrok Sausage & Cheese Tortellini

This is quite the indulgence meal on 21-Day Fix. Though I don't think it's any worse then what you might find eating out though. We planned to have this for Valentine's Day dinner this year, but we both weren't feeling well so we had a few days later. Serve it with a nice french loaf bread.

I made it in the RockCrok but you could also alter it to make it in a sauce pan on the stove or maybe the crock pot. 

Sausage & Cheese Tortellini

Ingredients

• 1 package of chicken broth (32 oz)
• 1 package of your favorite tortellini (20 oz, we used three cheese)
• 1 lb spicy italian sausage
• 2 Cans Diced Tomatoes (seasoned with basil, garlic & oregano), not drained
• 8 oz. Cream Cheese (try low fat).
• Grated Parmesan Cheese for toppings

Directions

1. Take your cream cheese out of the fridge, and let it sit while you brown your sausage in your RockCrok.
2. Add tortellini, tomatoes, and broth to the RockCrok and stir. Cook for 12 minutes in the microwave. 
3. Dice the cream cheese into small cubes. 
4. Remove from microwave, add the cream cheese, put lid back on. Let sit 5-minutes. Stir and serve!

If making in a crockpot: 

1. Take your cream cheese out of the fridge, and let it sit while you brown your sausage. 
2. Add the sausage, tortellini, tomatoes, and broth to your crock pot and stir. 
3. Dice the cream cheese into small cubes and place on top. 
4. Cook on LOW for a total of 4 1/2 hours. Stir at 2 hours, and again at 4 hours, removing the lid for the last 30 minutes of cooking. This will give the sauce some time to thicken up.

Banana-Strawberry "Ice Cream" (21 Day Fix Approved)

Have I mentioned yet this week how much I love my food processor? If I had more counter space it would be a permanent fixture. I use it for so much! Everyone should get one. Getting married? Put it on the registry. Having a baby? Put it on the registry (you'll use it to make baby food, so it's a need.) Birthday coming up? Ask for this. I have the 14-cup Cuisinart. My mom and grandma gave it to me at my Bridal Shower. (I remember things like that.) 

4 Ingredient "Ice Cream"

Ingredients

• 2 bananas, cut into 1-inch slices(frozen)
• ½ cup frozen strawberries, sliced
• 2 Tbsp Almond Milk
• ½ tsp vanilla

Instructions

1. Place banana slices on a plate, separating each slice. Place slices in freezer for 2 hours (overnight is best!).

2. Remove strawberries and bananas from freezer and place in food processor, blend until they are the consistency of soft serve ice cream.

3. Add almond milk(more or less for desired texture)and vanilla and blend until smooth and well-mixed.

4. Transfer ice cream to a freezer container and freeze until solid. (You don't have to wait if fruit is frozen, it is like soft serve ice cream)

5. Scoop with ice cream scoop and serve.

One CUP of this counts as a purple container on the 21 Day Fix! 

You can really use any frozen fruit to make this. I might add some cocoa powder next time and peanut butter to make Chocolate PB. And brownie pieces. (Just kidding!) My husband doesn't like bananas, but I bet I could get him to eat some of this ice cream. 

CrockPot (RockCrok) Buffalo Chicken Chili

This is one of my new favorite soups. I shared the recipe with a coworker and he raved about it. Additionally, it was requested at our work potluck. I'm trying to dig up a picture, but it's orange. The wing sauce turns it orange.  

The original recipe can be found here. I've added a few extra things and noted my actual measurements. Additionally, while you can do it in the crock pot, I made it in the RockCrok!! 

Buffalo Chicken Chili

Ingredients

• 1 pound of ground chicken
• 1 can white navy beans, drained and rinsed
• 14.5 oz can fire roasted tomatoes, drained
• 4 cups chicken broth
• ¼ - ½ cup buffalo wing sauce (start with ¼ cup and add more at end if needed)
• 1 package ranch dressing mix
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon celery salt
• ½ teaspoon dried cilantro
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 8 oz cream cheese
• Blue cheese crumbles (optional)

Crockpot Instructions

• Brown ground chicken until fully cooked, place in crockpot (or brown ahead of time and store in fridge until ready to assemble)
• Add remaining ingredients except for cream cheese and blue cheese and stir to combine
• Add block of cream cheese on the top and cover
• Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8
• Stir to incorporate cream cheese and add additional wing sauce as desired
• Top individual bowls with blue cheese crumbles if desired

RockCrok Instructions

• Brown ground chicken until fully cooked (or brown ahead of time and store in fridge until ready to assemble)
• Add remaining ingredients except for cream cheese and blue cheese and stir to combine
• Cook in the microwave (with LID) for 13 minutes. 
• Add the block of cream cheese on the top and cover
• Stir to incorporate cream cheese and add additional wing sauce as desired
• Top individual bowls with blue cheese crumbles if desired

Greek Turkey Burgers

This is one of my favorite recipes. I haven't made them recently and I plan to make them again soon! I served them up on Pita bread with the homemade Tzatziki sauce. They are delicious!!!

Greek Turkey Burgers
Ingredients

• 1 package (.7 oz.) Italian dressing mix
• 1 1/4 pound ground turkey (93% lean)
• 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1 egg , lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1/4 cup crumbled Feta cheese

• Pita Bread
• Optional Topping: Dice up 2 Roma Tomatoes and 1/2 a cucumber, more feta cheese

Directions

1. Mix the burger ingredients together. Measure out 1/2 cup portions and form into patties (should form 5 patties.
2. Grill up the hamburgers 
3. Shove in a pita (I had to cut them in half!) with Tzatziki sauce and the tom/cuc mixture. ENJOY!

If you're counting this on the 21 Day Fix, I'd count it as 1 Red, 1/2 Yellow, and 1/2 Blue (if you add more cheese.) 

Zucchini Cakes (21 Day Fix)

Did you ever eat potato pancakes growing up? I sure miss those!! I found a kinda similar, not really at all, recipe in the form of Zucchini Cakes! They were very good and very filling. 

Ingredients

• 3 medium zucchini
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 green onions, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, smushed/pressed
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup almond flour (or any flour)
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• coconut oil

Directions

1. Grate your zucchini. I used the food processor. EASY. 
2. Place zucchini in a bowl with the 1 tsp salt and allow to sit for 10 minutes. Then, extract all the water from the zucchini. You can place it in a cheese cloth and squeeze. You can also place it in a colander and press the water out. You want to remove as much water as possible so the cakes form and stick together. 
3. In a large bowl, mix together the zucchini and remaining ingredients (except the coconut oil)
4. Melt 2 tablespoons of coconut oil in a large pan.
5. Use a 1/4 cup to scoop out the zucchini mixture. Place in pan and "press" down to form a small cake. 
6. Cook 3-4 minutes, flip over and cook another 3-4 minutes. Cakes should have a golden brown crust. 

You can eat 4 of these to count as 1 Green and 1/4 Yellow (the flour -- if you are being super serious.) You've also got some Teaspoons in there from the Oil. 

Zucchini Cakes & Spaghetti Squash

Grilled London Broil

(This blog post is from April 2014. It's been saved as a draft for a long time. I think I was waiting to post a picture. I want to post it so it's out of my draft file!)

London Broil is a tough cut of meat that requires marinating for more than an hour. So plan ahead! 

Grilled London Broil Marinade

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 8 ounces Apple Juice

Mix the ingredients in a gallon sized ziplock bag. Add 1 or 2 London Broil "steak cuts". Marinate over 4 hours. 12-24 hours is ideal. 

Grill to desired temperature. We use a meat thermometer while grilling in order to make sure my steak is a wonderful medium-rare and the husband's is a medium. 

Beef and Broccoli (21 Day Fix)

How delicious is Chinese food? And how BAD is it? Very. Very very very bad. I found this recipe on Team Beachbody and decided to change it up a little bit. I find the hardest part of making a good beef and broccoli recipe is the chosen beef. I think it's not so much which type of beef you use - but how you marinate it. It's usually recommended to use Flank Steak - and I agree. However, in "Use what you have", I chose a sirloins steak for this dish. I like this recipe because it incorporates peppers, and I added some extra veggies. It is very filling too!

Healthier Beef and Broccoli
Note - You must marinate the steak 4+ hours. Prepare wisely!
Ingredients

• 1 pound flank steak, cut into strips
• 1 tsp. coconut oil
• 4 cups broccoli florets
• 3 medium bell peppers, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 cups snap peas (optional)
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp (dry) Ginger

Marinade Ingredients

• ¼ cup reduced-sodium soy sauce 
• 2 TBSP Rice Vinegar
• 1 tsp Seseme Oil
• 2 TBSP Honey
• 2 Garlic Cloves
• 1/2 tsp (dry) Ginger or 1 tsp Fresh Grated Ginger
• 1/2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes

Sauce Ingredients

• 1/2 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce 
• 8 TBSP Water
• 2 TBSP Corn Starch
• 2 TBSP Honey
• 1 garlic clove

Directions

1. Combine the Marinade Ingredients in a ziplock bag. Add the sliced steak to the marinade and place in fridge for 4+ hours. 
2. Combine the Sauce Ingredients and set aside.
3. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat.
4. Add beef; cook, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes, or until cooked through and no longer pink. Remove from skillet, keep warm.
5. Add broccoli, bell pepper, snap peas, garlic, and ginger to skillet; cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Remove broccoli mixture from heat. 
6. Add Sauce mixture to skillet; cook, stirring constantly, over medium-high heat for 30 seconds, or until thickened.
7. Return beef and broccoli mixture to skillet; cook, for 1 to 2 minutes, or until well mixed and heated. 

Measure out the meat - 1 red container worth, and two cups of broccoli & peppers, and 1/2 cup of snap peas for 1 yellow. The soy sauce mixture counts as 1/2 yellow. Serve with 1/2 cup of cooked brown rice. 

Total count: 2 Greens, 1 Red, 2.5 Yellows. This dish was VERY filling. I was able to get 4 servings out of it. 

If you need less yellows, leave out the snap peas and reduce the rice. You can throw in some shredded carrots to bulk the dish up a little more.