Planned Off-roading and a Redemption Run

First of all if you are not on a Whole30, go make this now! So, so, so good. I've tried several Paleo banana bread recipes and this is the one.

We were on the road for most of the day yesterday. I took along a cooler with drinks and breakfast. In my opinion finding primal breakfast on the go is the hardest. I had some planned indulgences. We were celebrating being done with the school year and so a trip to Five Guys and Bliss Cupcakes was in order.

At Five Guys I had a bacon cheeseburger with no bun topped with grilled onions, mushrooms, jalapenos and hot sauce. And I ate the fries. Of course I ate the fries. Wouldn't you? A family friend owns Bliss Cupcakes in Ft.Smith and they have some absolutely delectable GF cupcakes. I thought I was a chocolate devotee to the very end until I tried the GF Blueberry Cream Cheese cupcake. I will never eat another flavor again. Not that I need to be eating cupcakes more than once a year. I won't. I promise. Thanks to Kerri though I can do it without too much guilt and gastric distress. They also have a few varieties with all natural color and flavor so my kids get to have a treat too. After that we saw Maleficent. Which was................oh ma gah! Amazing! Great movie! Loved loved loved it!

Once back home I was quite exhausted and shamelessly threw Amy's frozen pizzas in the oven. Rice crust for Warren and I, regular cheese for the kids. It was one of those nights were we just wanted to kick back, eat pizza, and watch Star Wars. Any maybe drink some wine.

 

 

This morning I was up with the sun and at the track with my friend for a few miles and a few bleachers. It felt good to work all the gunk out of my body from yesterday. Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed my indulgences yesterday. I don't feel guilty because I planned to eat that stuff. It's not getting me down.



I polished off the last piece of banana bread after my run and the rest of my day will be clean.  Have a great weekend!

Eats Day 6 & Fall Garden Hopes

I have really noticed a major increase in energy over the past day or so. I put it to good use with a 3.5 mile run at 7 am, followed by working at our business for about 4 hours (our monthly organic delivery came!), did some major major grocery restocking, came home and proceeded to build a raised bed in the backyard.

We have lived in our home about 5 years and have had variable luck with gardening. One year we had more squash, zucchini, tomatoes, and jalapenos than we knew what to do with. This year, everything I planted was killed by a late frost, and everything I replanted became so overgrown with weeds that I gave up. Before I went on vacation I noticed a few squash plants holding on but by the time I got back they had succumbed to the heat.

I have been dreaming of a collection of raised beds for some time now and yesterday I got out the tools and scraps of wood from our shop and got to work. Hopefully I can get some stuff in the ground to have a small fall crop. Turnips, and kale, maybe acorn or butternut squash.

A few of my hens were hanging around watching me build the raised bed.
Chickens are actually really sweet.



Tired and glad I was able to construct a box without my husbands help, also very glad I didn't lose a finger to the saw.
Or break my wrist with the drill.



 

 

After the run, I was starved but had to rush to open the store. My sweet husband made us a big Sunday breakfast and called me to come home and eat. We live very close to our business so I was able to run right over and enjoy having someone else cook for a change. Funny thing was, he made Paleo pancakes and instead of using coconut flour he used shredded unsweetened coconut. They tasted fine but the consistency was off. He kept commenting on how they weren't cooking right and then I noticed what he had used. It was comical but he was very adamant about how I should start labeling my mason jars better since we have coconut in 7 different forms in our house. Shredded, flaked, fresh, flour, water, milk, and oil....all coconut!

 

Breakfast was still delicious. I topped my pancakes with a bit of organic blueberry jam and a splash of maple syrup.

 

 

 



For lunch I had some Wild Planet sardines in marinara sauce, with pickled asparagus, and a nectarine.

After this amazing lunch I pulled the dutch oven out of the well....the oven. It had been hard at work braising some ribeyes. Benefit of having a grocery store....lots of meat to eat!

I shredded it and nibbled on a little and then put it away for dinner later. I had a spoon full of Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut butter and a bottle of GT's Kombucha. I fixed dinner for the family but skipped it myself. I just wasn't hungry. Energy and not feeling hungry all the time? Well, its pretty awesome I have to say.

Giant platter of meat. Yum! We now have emergency protein for days.