Paleo Sloppy Joes

This Paleo Sloppy Joes recipe is chock full of veggies and is a staple in our house. This is a great dish to make in a large batch and freeze in portions!Blog paleosloppyjoes

Ingredients

  • Garlic
  • 1/2 Onion
  • 1-2 Red bell peppers
  • 2-3 shredded carrots
  • Large can of diced tomatoes
  • Small can of tomato sauce
  • 1 lb. ground beef or turkey
  • Salt/pepper to taste

Directions

  • Chop onion and place in a large sauce pan with meat
  • Brown meat with onion
  • Add garlic, chopped bell peppers, carrots, stir and cook for another minute
  • Add in diced tomatoes and tomato sauce
  • Bring back to a simmer and cook for another few minutes

Serve with steamed broccoli or other green veggies, and call it a meal! 🙂

Super Mom Tip: Use the chopper blade on your food processor for the onions, garlic, bell peppers, and the grater blade for the carrots! Takes <1 minute!

dit-elle-Esther

 

Having fun with plaid…

Or…just having fun 🙂

Plaid is everywhere now.  It reminds me of the early 90’s when I was slightly obsessed with Eddie Vedder 🙂  Well, instead of just pulling out my old flannel shirts (I know I stored them away somewhere!), I thought I’d try and different twist on the trend…Blog Plaid Patterson Kincaid Joes Jeggings-1 Blog Plaid Patterson Kincaid Joes Jeggings-2 Blog Plaid Patterson Kincaid Joes Jeggings-3Maya wasn’t feeling the “self timer game” so much this day… 🙂 Blog Plaid Patterson Kincaid Joes Jeggings-4 Blog Plaid Patterson Kincaid Joes Jeggings-5 Blog Plaid Patterson Kincaid Joes Jeggings-6

On me…

Long Sleeve Shirt- Target Tissue Tee
Jeans- Joe’s Jeans (sold out)  Similar and less expensive here)
Boots- Report (sold out).  Similar here.
On Maya…
Top- C&C California (thrifted)
Sweater- Gap (thrifted)
Shoes- Zulily

dit-elle-Lauren

You don’t have to spend a ton of money on a cool leather jacket…

I got this vintage leather jacket at Funky Janes for $25!!  I LOVE IT!  It totally looks like a $500 jacket, yet I know that nobody else is wearing it 🙂Blog Vintage Leather Jacket Black Blank Denim Frye Boots-1 Blog Vintage Leather Jacket Black Blank Denim Frye Boots-2 Blog Vintage Leather Jacket Black Blank Denim Frye Boots-3 Blog Vintage Leather Jacket Black Blank Denim Frye Boots-4Then when I got home from the shoot a few hours later, it was SUNNY!  It was a little chilly, so I kept the scarf on that I had thrown on (but forgot to photograph!) as I left. Blog Vintage Leather Jacket Black Blank Denim Frye Boots-5 Blog Vintage Leather Jacket Black Blank Denim Frye Boots-6Since I forgot to photograph the before outfit with the scarf, here it is 🙂 Blog Vintage Leather Jacket Black Blank Denim Frye Boots-7 Blog Vintage Leather Jacket Black Blank Denim Frye Boots-8Maya’s outfit was all about “This might be the last sunny day we have, I’m going to put the things I love that she’s growing out of on” haha

Am I the only one that gets sad every time their kid moves up a size?  It’s quickly replaced by excitement over the new bigger sized clothes, but still…a little mourning goes on 🙂1Maya104 weeks Janie Jack Old Navy

On me…

Leather Jacket- Vintage (similar here and less expensive faux leather here)
Jeans- Blank NYC
Top- H&M (on sale!)
Boots- Frye (less expensive version here)
On Maya…
Jeans- Old Navy (Scored from ThredUp, but same here)
Top- Janie and Jack (thrifted, but similar in different color here)
Shoes- Kids Korner (thrifted, but these are super cute and on sale for $6! :))
Super Mom Tip-
I could talk all day long about my love of thrifting.  The thrill of the hunt.  The excitement over finding things at 90-95% off!  You do NOT have to spend a kazillion dollars to look good or even wear designer items.  If you get overwhelmed at Thrift stores like Value Village/Goodwill or don’t have the patience for eBay, find a local consignment store.  Or not so local.  It might be worth a drive to score a vintage leather jacket for $25 🙂  PLUS, if you drop your clothes off there, you get $$ back which means the jacket could be FREE!!   ThredUp is also a great online source for both gently used clothing for children and women!  Their customer service is amazing, and the quality of clothing is outstanding.
dit-elle-Lauren

Paleo Chocolate Cupcakes with Coconut Cream Pumpkin Spice Frosting

These are amazing!blog pumpkinchococupcake1

Ingredients
For the Paleo Pumpkin Spice Frosting
  • 1 cup canned coconut cream/milk, full fat, refrigerated overnight (I used 1 can)
  • ¼ heaping cup canned pumpkin or pulp from roasted pumpkin
  • 3 Tbsp pure maple syrup
  • 1 tsps vanilla
  • ½ tsps apple cider vinegar
  • pinch sea salt
  • a few dashes of cinnamon to taste and some to sprinkle on the cupcakes
  • a few dashes of pumpkin pie spice to taste
  • a few dashes of cloves to taste
  • Coconut palm sugar to sprinkle on the cupcakes
For the Paleo Chocolate Cupcakes
  • 1 cup of blanched almond flour, sifted
  • 1 tablespoon of coconut palm sugar
  • ½ teaspoon of baking soda
  • pinch sea salt
  • a few dashes of cinnamon
  • 1 cup of enjoy life mini chocolate chips
  • ½ cup of full fat canned coconut milk, room temperature
  • ¼ cup of organic palm shortening or coconut oil, melted
  • ½ tsp vanilla
  • 2 eggs, whisked
Instructions
  1. To make the frosting: In a tall cup or bowl, put the hardened layer of coconut cream/milk from the refrigerated cans, equaling about a cup, along with the rest of the ingredients.
  2. Use an immersion blender or hand mixer to combine and whip the ingredients together. Add more spices if needed to preferred taste. Put in the refrigerator uncovered to thicken for 30 minutes or longer while you make your cupcakes.
  3. To make the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a cupcake pan with liners
  4. In a medium sized bowl combine your dry ingredients, almond flour, coconut palm sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, stir together with a fork and set aside.
  5. In another medium sized bowl combine chocolate chips and coconut milk and melt using the double boiler method. Stir consistently until completely melted. Remove from heat.
  6. Stir in the melted organic palm shortening or coconut oil, vanilla and eggs into the melted chocolate and coconut milk mixture.
  7. Now fold your dry ingredients into the melted chocolate mixture until completely combined.
  8. Pour batter into the cupcake liners or pan and fill about ⅔ full, they will rise slightly when baking.
  9. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  10. Let completely cool before frosting. To frost, transfer the frosting to a decorating bag and use desired tip. Garnish with a sprinkling of cinnamon and coconut palm sugar and enjoy!

Source and inspired by PaleOMG.com

dit-elle-Esther

Fringe sweater + Cowboy boots

Yup, sweater, jeans, and boots again.  Sorry, you will be seeing a lot of this combo over the winter months!  I wore this on a photo shoot, so forgive the totally scuffed boots.  I never know when I’m going to be traipsing through fields, and these are one of my favorite pairs (I bought them at a vintage store about 20 years ago!) Blog Jamison Fringe Sweater J Brand Skinny Cowboy Boots-1LOVING this top I got from H&M!!  It works for all body types, and would be the perfect top to hide a not yet disclosed baby bump (NO, I don’t have one!!), or even those months right after you had a baby!  Ok, or NOW! 🙂 Blog Jamison Fringe Sweater J Brand Skinny Cowboy Boots-2 Blog Jamison Fringe Sweater J Brand Skinny Cowboy Boots-3 Blog Jamison Fringe Sweater J Brand Skinny Cowboy Boots-4This isn’t fringe or boots, but omg, I love this picture from this summer…. Blog Jamison Fringe Sweater J Brand Skinny Cowboy Boots-6

On me…

Jeans- J Brand
Top- H&M
Sweater- Jamison (sold out, but similar here)

Boots- Tony Lama (old, but similar here and less expensive here)

On Maya…
Jeans-Gap. (old, but similar on sale here ).
Top- Crewcuts (thrifted)
Shoes- Zulily (search for Mariposa)
dit-elle-Lauren

Look who’s on StyleMint?! {kind of}

I know StyleMint publishes a lot of Instagram images on their website.  That said, I know they don’t publish all the images that get their hashtag, because I’ve done more that didn’t get picked haha.

Pretty excited to see two of my outfits on the front page-yay!!BlogDit-Elle-StyleMintPagedit-elle-Lauren

Mixing masculine with feminine…

Today was a bit of a rough day.  I had to take Maya to yet another urologist, and she’s gotten to the point now where the minute they call her name to go back she starts crying hysterically.  Not without good reason considering they had to do another catheter-ugh.  Needless to say, we were both in tears by the end of the visit…

Am I the only one that dresses in bright colors on crappy days, in the effort to cheer up? Blog StyleMint Top Boyfriend Jeans Miss Sixty Oxfords-1 Blog StyleMint Top Boyfriend Jeans Miss Sixty Oxfords-2 Blog StyleMint Top Boyfriend Jeans Miss Sixty Oxfords-3It got pretty sunny again yesterday…love it! Blog StyleMint Top Boyfriend Jeans Miss Sixty Oxfords-4 Blog StyleMint Top Boyfriend Jeans Miss Sixty Oxfords-5 Blog StyleMint Top Boyfriend Jeans Miss Sixty Oxfords-6 Blog StyleMint Top Boyfriend Jeans Miss Sixty Oxfords-7 Blog StyleMint Top Boyfriend Jeans Miss Sixty Oxfords-8Love this kid so much.  You’d never even know she was sick or had a crummy start to her day. Blog StyleMint Top Boyfriend Jeans Miss Sixty Oxfords-9 Blog StyleMint Top Boyfriend Jeans Miss Sixty Oxfords-10 Blog StyleMint Top Boyfriend Jeans Miss Sixty Oxfords-11Spinning! Blog StyleMint Top Boyfriend Jeans Miss Sixty Oxfords-12

On me…

Top- StylMint (on sale!)
Jeans- Rich & Skinny (old, but similar here and less expensive here)
Shoes- Miss Sixty “Marlene” oxford (sold out, but you can still find them on eBay!)  Similar here.
Leather Jacket- Vintage purchased from Funky Janes (similar here and less expensive faux leather here)

On Maya…

Dress- Gap (Old, but this is cute, and if $ were no option HAHAHA here)
Jeggings- Jeggings- 77 kids (thrifted, but similar here)
Shoes- Converse
Super Mom Tip:
  I posted one of the pics of Maya and me on my facebook page and a friend commented on my hair.  I laughed, because it was my “I didn’t take a shower and was sick of my usual messy bun” look.  Pretty easy to do.  Just start twisting one side (fix with bobby pin).  Twist other side, then gather both into a ponytail.  Then wrap into a bun.  Turns curly out of control bedhead into something a little put together 🙂dit-elle-Lauren

Curry Cashew Chicken Salad

So yummy! A great variation to basic chicken salad.currychixsalad2

Ingredients

  • 2 cups cooked and diced chicken
  • 3 stalks celery
  • Handful of frozen peas (optional)
  • Handful of cashews, chopped (toasted, optional)
  • Handful of raisins, chopped dates and/or grapes

Dressing

  • 1/2 cup mayo
  • Juice from 1/2 lemon
  • 1 tsp curry powder
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed

Directions

  • Toss salad ingredients in a large bowl
  • Whisk dressing ingredients in a separate bowl
  • Toss salad with dressing
  • Serve warm or chilledcurrychixsalad1dit-elle-Esther

Are we sick of leopard flats? I’m not… :)

I may have already worn these flats a few times, but I love how they add fun to a pretty simple outfit.  Blog Ivory 360 Cashmere Dylan George Coated Leopard Flats-1And…”super mom tip gone bad”  I mentioned before my dislike of taking things to the drycleaner (who has time?!), and my frequent tossing of “dry clean only” items in the wash.  Well, this sweater is 100% cashmere.  I’d washed it on gentle before and it came out great!  Then…it accidentally went into the dryer.  Wah wah wah 😦  I’m actually ok with the length, but am totally bummed that it’s more of a traditional turtleneck than the cowl neck it was before… Oh, well.  I got it on the cheap off eBay (about 90% off!), so I guess I can’t cry over it too much…

All that said.  I layered a little boho tank underneath so it wasn’t too short with these very tight skinny jeans.Blog Ivory 360 Cashmere Dylan George Coated Leopard Flats-2 Blog Ivory 360 Cashmere Dylan George Coated Leopard Flats-3I am SO buying the size up on these when Maya finally grows out of them!!  For $6, I LOVE THEM! Blog Ivory 360 Cashmere Dylan George Coated Leopard Flats-4

On me…

Jeans- Dylan George (sold out at Nordstrom but a few sizes available here Less expensive here)
Tank Top- Target old (similar here and here)
Sweater- 360 Cashmere (in grey here, otherwise similar here and less expensive here)

Shoes- (thrifted) but similar here and cheaper here.

On Maya…
Jeans- Old Navy Similar (purchased mine via ThredUp)
Top- Genuine Kids by OshKosh (purchased on sale at Target similar here.
Sweater- Janie and Jack (thrifted, but similar here )
Shoes- Zulily (enter Mariposa)
Super Mom tip *edited*
For the most part, I wash my cashmere sweaters in the wash on “wool delicate”, but make sure you keep an eagle eye out for when the load is done.  Someone might help and throw it in the dryer 😉  This does NOT work well with regular wool or cashmere blends.  That will fit your child when you are done, which I guess could be a super mom tip on how to find sweaters for you child 🙂

dit-elle-Lauren

What to wear for family pictures?

This is family picture season.  I’m in the thick of it at work, and families always ask…

“What should we wear??”

My answer is always, first and foremost, wear what you feel good in!  It doesn’t matter if you are wearing the latest trend, all look good together, etc… If you don’t feel good-you won’t like the pictures!  Now, that aside, here are some tips-

*Wear complimentary colors, but try not to be too matchy matchy.  I love when a kid/children wear a print and then older siblings and parents pick up a solid color in that print.  Or, you can have everyone wear neutral colors (creams, browns, grays) and then have a pop of color here and there (scarf, shoes, hair accessories, ties, belts) that match.

*Try to stay away from large logo’s or pictures on clothing.  It tends to draw the focus away from the most important thing….you and your family!

*Don’t wear all black.  Yes, we all feel good in black.  However, when you are all cuddling together (those are my favorite pics!), you will look like a big blog of black with floating heads.

*When in doubt, do a dress rehearsal really quick one night and snap a pic with your phone.  You will see if it all meshes well or clashes 🙂

Here’s what we wore last Mother’s Day.  Every year, that’s what I ask for as a present.  My parents take the pictures 🙂  We don’t have the boys for Mother’s Day (obviously), so this just gives you an idea for a smaller family…

I started off with Maya’s print top…Blog What to Wear for Family Pictures-1Then I picked up a color in her top with my solid top. Blog What to Wear for Family Pictures-2 Blog What to Wear for Family Pictures-3Same with my husband. Blog What to Wear for Family Pictures-4I made sure his shirt picked up another color and also went well with my top.  That’s usually not a problem if you chose different colors in your child’s top. The colors usually are meant to go together 🙂 Blog What to Wear for Family Pictures-5Then for Father’s Day, I did a little shoot with all the kids and made a book with the images. Blog What to Wear for Family Pictures-6Blog What to Wear for Family Pictures-7 On me…

Jeans- Genentic Denim (on sale here! )
Top- Sanctuary (Sold out, but similar color here)

Shoes- (thrifted) but similar here and cheaper here.

On Maya…
Jeans- Gap.
Top- Gap (thrifted, loving this long sleeve one here)
Boots- Children’s Place (Thrifted, but similar here.
and
Jeans- Old Navy (from ThredUp, but same on sale here)
Top- Gap (from ThredUp, but similar here)

Shoes- Zulily

Super Mom Tip-

You do NOT have to break the bank and go crazy buying clothes for pictures.  Having a color scheme in mind is the best time to hit the thrift stores!  Both boys are wearing thrifted Ralph Lauren Polo shirts- $5 each 😉  You can pick up a fun colored scarf for $1.50 or a pair of fun shoes for $10 that will MAKE your outfit!  Also, check out Pinterest!  There’s a TON of ideas on there.  Here’s a board I started with a few more ideas.

dit-elle-Lauren