Kale the hype

There's been hype around kale for a few years now & although it isn't necessarily the nutrient powerhouse everyone thinks it is it's still one of my favorite foods to cook with because its so sturdy & it always pairs with delicate quinoa & yams and I eat quinoa and or yams every day so my fridge is always packed with kale.

Made this with a pot of cooled quinoa, can do it woth leftovers, tastes best chilled. 

I cubed 1 yam & 2 golden beets

Tossed them in oil, salt, pepper, garlic, paprika, tumeric and baked it. (we are a tumeric home, the health benefits are unbelievable. Make yourself some Golden Milk.) 

Baked for 30-40 minutes then turned the oven off, covered them with kale and closed the oven. This makes the kale nice & crispy a la kale chips minus the fear of burning

Skinned and fried some almonds in olive oil

Folded it all in together and made a spicy tahini dressing

"Fast" slow food

I love food. Love. With all my heart. Being on such a restrictive diet was getting in the way of that but once I got a grasp on what I could & couldn't have things got much better and not only do I love food my body very much loves me for it. And so does my husband who this is really about. 

I've been lucky enough to not need to work & still be able to do everything that I want and that is because I married a perfect human. I've also always been lucky enough that I get to see him every day for lunch.  For a little bit after baby was born his lunch break would be spent holding our newborn while I would try to squeeze in a shower & scramble around doing whatever I needed to do while I was lucky enough to have two hands & if I worked it out right I might be able to make us some sandwiches. Big might. Fast forward a couple months to the ultra organized, streamlined human that I am today & lunchtime is not only made in 10 minutes or less so now he comes home to lunch already ready and we all get to spend that time together plus it's also way healthier than anything we could get on the go which is great for me when I know I'm gonna be out all day with Turtle & there aren't any places I can just grab a quick lunch at anymore ("what do you have that's dairy free, egg free, soy free, corn free, gluten free, nut free, coconut free, canola free, carageegan free, beef free, chicken free?")

Our food is 99% organic and I attribute the fact that none of us have gotten so much as the sniffles in the last 7 months to that.

I can't have bread so rice cakes have been a legit friend to me although I can't help but feel like a 90's mom dieting when I eat them.

But if I'm in a pinch for a quick picnic with my dudes before bathroom shopping they're great with just some lunch meat

Protein shakes keep me alive. 

Ever since we lived in Huntington Beach I've come to love and appreciate Asian so we stay stocked up on rice noodles & wrappers. These wrappers are brown rice & cassava and they're my absolute favorite. When our farm box comes I prep & slice alot of our food so things can be grabbed & eaten or thrown in a wrap real quick.

This is my Emergency meal because I am very anti-microwave. It is Costco's organic kale & quinoa and they come in little microwavable pouches. On days when I really don't have a second to spare I pop one of these bad boys in & I'm rollin. I also eat an obscene amount of bananas, apples & pickles.

Saturday joys

Boom

Baby Phat

Yesterday my baby turned 5 months old and I hopped on the scale and I am 3 pounds away from my wedding weight and the best part is I have only exercised a handful of times. I do do some squats and lunges here and there but it's usually just to make my little love laugh. I didn't think I'd see this number on the scale again let alone so soon after having a baby. I'm so excited to start working out again because Lord knows I need to pull things back into place. After seeing what my body has been through I have such a respect and appreciation for it. I really truly love my body.

Today's smoothie was hemp milk, oats, and apple, half a banana, spinach, kale, chard and agave. All organic, all bomb.

Broadcast

Log off & live starts tomorrow

Motherhood so far

I had a little coffee this evening so I'm overflowing with excitement and love asnd energy but it's 1am and I have nowhere to let it all out so I'm finishing posts in my draft folder and decided to compose this one.

My whole life the only thing I ever wanted to be was a mom. I had no career goals, no grand visions of riches, I just wanted to be a mom. And though it came with a great deal of heartache I got my wish and there is absolutely no feeling in the world like finally living your dream.  My baby is my dream. Not to say that he doesn't cry or scream or destroy diapers and cute onesies like all babies, because he does. But this little boy KNOWS me. Heart & soul, inside & out and as crazy as it sounds to say a newborn knows anything but but boobs and sleep, it's true.  Babies are all about energy, whatever you feel they'll magnify it and it's shaped me to be the best version of myself. Once I realized that he feels everything I made an effort to be more positive, more loving, more forgiving and it's made our little family so much better. My baby smiles more than he cries, he loves story time, he's king of snuggles. As I write this he's curled into my chest hugging me and it feels like all joyous parts of my pregnancy all over again. He wakes up in the morning laughing with his giant bright green-brown-gray-blue eyes and everything is right and perfect with the world.  I'm so blessed to live this life and to watch my husband step into the daddy role so effortlessly. God is good.