Category Archives: health

Sweet Potato, Guacamole, Chicken Sausage, Soft Boiled Egg…Breakfast for dinner?

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I know I’m not the only person that loves breakfast for dinner!  And, I also know that it’s kind of a repeat for me, but…it’s easy and DELICIOUS!  Who wouldn’t want that?!

I literally came up with this meal 30 minutes before I was supposed to make it, and it took me approximately 30 minutes to make.  Admittedly, because I ran inside while Maya was playing with our neighbors.  I turned on the oven, peeled and chopped the sweet potatoes, seasoned them, and turned on the pot for the eggs, in…less than 5 minutes.  Then…we played for a few more minutes.

THANK GOD FOR LITTLE DISTRACTIONS, NO?!!!

And, precooked chicken sausages are a godsend in our household.  I freeze them for later, and soak them in a warm water bath right before I need them!

Diced up for a pasta meal, or sliced in half for this!  SO easy, delicious, and healthy!

Blog Sweet Potato Guacamole Chicken Sausage Soft Boiled Egg Whole30 Paleo Gluten Free-1 Blog Sweet Potato Guacamole Chicken Sausage Soft Boiled Egg Whole30 Paleo Gluten Free-2 What you need…

  • One sweet potato (for 2-4 people)
  • Olive Oil
  • Sea salt
  • 3 Pre Cooked Chicken sausage (Depending on the amount of people you want to feed!  I did one per adult, and half for Maya) I love Aidell’s, but there are so many good ones!
  • Avocado (or pre-made guacamole-yes, I cheated on this one!)
  • Eggs (2 for me and the Huz, one for Maya)

What to do…

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  • Cut sweet potato in 1/2 inch slices
  • Lightly coat in olive oil (or oil of your choosing), and salt and pepper to taste
  • Start a pot of boiling water.  For me, it’s a LOT easier to soft boil eggs for more than two people.  If you want a runny egg and there’s more than 2, it’s way too much for me to manage on top of everything else!!!
  • Bake the sweet potatos in the oven for 20-25 minutes, flipping over half way through.
  • At the half way mark add chicken sausages that are cute in half.
  •  In that time, remove the eggs from the boiling water.  7 minutes = runny yolk, 8 minutes, less, so…I remove ours at 7, and then turn the heat off for Maya’s while ours then run under a cool water bath.
  • Once the sweet potatoes are crispy on the outside, take them and the chicken sausages out.
  • Layer everything and enjoy!dit-elle-Lauren

 

Wellness Remedy: Turmeric

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I’ve alluded to the “super powers” of Turmeric  on this blog before (see this general Wellness Post) and I recently wrote about Ginger as a wellness remedy (to ward off colds and aid in digestion)! Turmeric and Ginger are actually in the same family and both are known for their medicinal properties, specifically for their anti-inflammatory properties.

You will perhaps know turmeric best from Indian cuisine (it’s a common ingredient in curry, but does not taste or smell anything like curry), Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Asian cuisine. It is used for flavor (warm and slightly spicy) and as a natural color agent – creating a beautiful rich golden color in anything you add it to.

I learned about the medicinal properties of turmeric from an Indian colleague years ago. She would give a tiny pinch of turmeric in milk to her kids to help build a strong immune system. I was intrigued – having two little ones myself. But there’s more! There seems to be a lot of recent research on natural remedies and turmeric has other benefits including: fighting various types of cancer, supporting brain, liver and eye health, used as natural painkiller and anti-depressant, and used for better sleep! Further reading included in links below.

Anyway, I am preparing for some upcoming international travel and also fighting a bit of a spring cold which has been going around. So.. turmeric to the rescue. Icarry the dry powder with me when I travel and drink it in hot water with breakfast.

The only downside I’ve found is that it is very yellow – so brush your teeth or eat some crunchy food (like an apple) after eating turmeric.

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Ingredients

  • Fresh turmeric, rinsed and peeled
  • Turmeric powder (found in the spice aisle or bulk section)
  • Water or milk

Directions

  • Heat liquid and add desired amount of fresh or dry turmeric (I will use ~1 tsp of dry or 1 Tbsp of fresh in a cup of boiling water)

Further reading

Enjoy, stay well, and be happy!

dit-elle-Esther

Papaya and Lime

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Papaya is one of those super foods with all sorts of amazing nutrients in it including antioxidants, phytonutrients, vitamins, minerals and special digestive enzymes. When Papaya is in season I will cut it in half to make a ‘boat’, discard the seeds and eat the papaya straight out of the peel. As previously blogged, t’s the perfect Island Breakfast served with coconut milk. I was serving Papaya for brunch the other day though and wanted an easier way to present it, than a “Papaya boat”. Super simple. Cut in half, discard seeds, peel, and slice. Serve with lime wedges!

Enjoy!

dit-elle-Esther

Believe….I Can Do That.

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This has been ingrained in me ever since I was little.  It has helped me accomplish a lot of things in life, simply because…I believed I could do that.  Some of that was because I couldn’t afford to pay someone else to do what I wanted, but once you have that mindset, I truly believe anything is possible… It’s so important to me, that I actually have it tattooed on the inside of my arm.  What better message could I have Maya see on the daily?

I’ve been debating how personal I wanted to make this post.  I try and keep things pretty light and fun, mainly because I want Maya to look back on this, and have a reminder of how much fun we had.  Well…the last 6 months or so have not been light and fun.  It’s been one major thing after another stresswise.  I remember one night, my husband and I were sitting on the couch having a glass of wine and we started laughing at the absurdity of it all.  Like….is THIS it??!!  Have we turned the corner YET??  Well, on a few things, yes.  On some others, not quite yet.

ALL THAT TO SAY…I have not been as healthy as I normally like to be.  Some people don’t eat in times of stress, but that is NOT me!!  I still have been working out 4-5 days a week (hello, stress reliever!!), but if I wasn’t…I’d for sure be 15-20 lbs heavier vs only 5.  I’ve been eating a lot more junk, snacking way more than normal, and drinking more than I should…

Well, I’ve had it.  It’s not the weight so much, because really…I go up and down 5 lbs even when I’m not stressed 🙂  I’m so tired of being exhausted all the time, my stomach not feeling so great, and waking up puffy and bloated… I started thinking about doing a juice cleanse.  I’m not even sure I’d have the willpower to do a full cleanse, but I thought maybe I’d sub in some healthy juice for all the crappy snacking I was doing!  I looked into a few different companies, but started getting overwhelmed with options.

I kid you not.  A few weeks later I was contacted by Suja Juice!  They asked if I’d be interested in trying some of their juices!!  Um, hello universe!!  You sure do work in mysterious ways.  I couldn’t believe the timing!  They were ridiculously generous, and sent me a lot of YUMMY juices to try.  Previously, I’ve always been against drinking juice, because it seemed like empty calories.  I’d rather just eat the fruit!!  BUT…there are so many delicious fruits, vegetables, and nutrients packed into these, that I didn’t feel guilty at all.

SO…I’m determined.  I am going to get my diet and health back on track.  And I don’t mean I’m going on a diet.  I just want to feel good again!  I want to have energy!  I can totally do that!! 🙂

This one, Uber Greens has Uber Greens– cucumber, celery, grapefruit, green chard, green leaf lettuce, lemon, kale, spinach, parsley, peppermint tea & spearmint tea!!  And…it’s only 50 calories!  It was totally refreshing, and I felt great after drinking it. Blog Suja Juice Dit-Elle-1 This one was one of my favorites!!  Twilight Protein.  It’s more like yummy smoothie!!  The added protein is great if you work out, or even if you don’t! 😉Blog Suja Juice Dit-Elle-2I’m not going to list them all…  Truth be told, there was one “Greens” drink that I had to make myself choke down.  Hey…all in the name of honesty, right??  BUT…this Berry Goodness, was just that.  YUM! Blog Suja Juice Dit-Elle-3SO…. I thought I might hold myself more accountable if I put this out there.  I’m determined to get back on track, and I can’t thank Suja Juice enough for giving me some tools to make that happen!!  They didn’t ask me to write this post, and if all the juices had been horrible or gave me a stomach ache, I absolutely wouldn’t be singing their praise!!

I’m still totally new to working juices into my diet, so I’d love to hear from anyone who has done it successfully!!

(all pictures taken with a tripod and remote shutter release by me :))dit-elle-Lauren

Staying Fit as a Mom…

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Gosh…now, there’s a title!!

Before I became a mom, I heard and saw so many tales of things that frankly…scared the crap out of me!!

I’m going to gain a bunch of weight?  I’ll have a bunch of stretch marks?  I won’t have time or energy to work out afterwards?  I will live in yoga pants (but damnit they’ll be CUTE!! ;}) and yearn for the days of my youth when I dressed up, actually wore make up, and looked good everyday?!!!

YES!!!!  Those things are all true.  And….yet, NO, they don’t have to be!!!Sir John Lubbock QuoteGosh, this is so true for SO many things!!

For Me.  I don’t really make the time to do my hair, make up, or nails.  When I do, it’s a total luxury.  And, truth be told.  I wish I had time to cook amazing meals for my family every night.  Let’s be honest.  I could…if it was important to me.  BUT, I usually throw together the same 5 things on repeat, and only branch out now and then (and obviously blog about it when I do haha!).

Anywho…

Here’s my top 5 ways I stay healthy.

  1. Food.  I try and keep to an 80/20 rule.  Ok…70/30, but maaaaybe 60/40 sometimes. ;} Try to keep the healthy eating to a majority.  For me, if I go to too much of an extreme, I give up.  Then…I go off the deep end in the other direction.  I have MAD RESPECT for all of you that strictly stick to Whole30, any kind of cleanse, or other diets.  I think the most important thing is listening to YOUR body, and what’s best for YOU!  But, if you want it to be a way of life vs a diet, I strongly recommend some leeway for things here and there, unless of course it’s a health concern or allergy!
  1. Do not weigh yourself every day, BUT do weigh yourself once a week.  Yes, muscle weighs more than fat.  And yes, SALT can make the scale say you gained a &^%$ ton of weight!!  BUT…if you try and limit it to once a week.  You will have a gauge.  For me, I can talk myself into it being all good by squeezing into my favorite stretchy jeans, when I KNOW that it hasn’t.  So, I need to have a little check in to catch myself.  I try and give my self a 5 lb swing.  When I get over that 5 lbs, that’s when I know I have to button down the hatches and get back on track.  And to be real.  I go up and down those 5 lbs all the time.

3.  Join a gym that has FREE child care!!  I should have made this #1, because….DUH!!  FREE CHILD CARE!!!  We became members of the YMCA about a year ago, and it was the BEST THING WE’VE EVER DONE!!!  Ok, that might be a sliiiiiight exageration, BUT….FREE CHILD CARE!!  For…TWO HOURS!!  Where your kid runs around on amazing fun equipment, does CRAFTS!!!, and plays with kids their age….all the while, YOU get to work out, OR…shower (UNINTERUPTED!), OR…work on your laptop in the lobby, OR…just sit and stretch all the while coasting on social media, that you never have time for otherwise ;}  Have I totally given you a glimpse of my life??  YES I HAVE!  (If you don’t have the money for a gym membership, there are SO many at home videos or workouts on Pinterest that you can do from home)  Then, your kids can SEE you working out, and it shows them how important it is.

OR

4. When Maya was smaller, I wore her all the time.  My Ergo was my best friend.  I had a C-Section, so working out was a no go for a while.  So…I wore her, and I walked.  It was amazing.  I got out of the house-YAY!  I had her next to me-YAY!  She got fresh air-YAY!  And I burned a lot of calories while doing something that I loved, that wasn’t overly exerting.  It had me spending time with my daughter, oh and I usually went with my parents or friends.  More time spent with family and friends is a total win and a luxury when you’re a busy parent!

5.  Get some cute work out clothes.  Ok, that might just be me, but if you are looking at this blog, then it’s most likely you too!!  I swear when I have a cute outfit on, I feel better!  If that makes me shallow, then…well, there you go.  It’s no secret that I buy the majority of my clothing at thrift stores, on eBay, on ThredUP, or my local consignment stores.  You do NOT have to spend a ton of money on work out clothing.  And if it creeps you out.  Wash it on sanitize.  It’s NO different.  Get over it, and look cute!  On someone else’s dime 😉

Fitness and trying to stay healthy is important to both Esther and I.  We might start doing a few posts here and there about it.  Would that interest anyone?  We ABSOLUTELY welcome comments on how YOU fit everything in and stay healthy and fit as a mom!  Or, if you have any questions, fire away!!

For more fitness inspiration, check out Esther’s Post on how she went from not really “getting” yoga, to getting totally hooked on  Hot Yoga from yesterday!dit-elle-Lauren