Health and Healing Through Food Part 1

 Good morning friends! I hope you all had a nice week. This was our first week back after spring break and it's funny to me how my kids reacted very differently to going back. Lily Grace couldn't get out the door fast enough to go see her teachers and her friends. She told me multiple times over spring break that she "didn't like breaks, I love school!" Liam on the other hand... also loves school, but is quite the homebody. Liam is the kid that loves school once he's there, but getting him out the door can be an ordeal. 😅 

Berry Kiwi Smoothie Bowl

 Good morning friends! I was on a big smoothie kick there for awhile and was making different ones for breakfast each morning. This is one I made a few weeks back but never got around to posting. Enjoy!!

Tropical Smoothie Bowl

Good morning friends! We have been on a big smoothie bowl kick lately for breakfast. They are something that just never gets old to me! And it's always good to start the day with a big bowl full of fruits and veggies. Here is one our recent recipes:

Caprese Zoodle Salad with Pesto

 Good morning friends! Today I am sharing a recipe my sister and I whipped up while Dev and the kids were at the beach a couple weeks ago. Devin is super allergic to shrimp so we don't ever eat it when he's home, but when he goes out of town it's the first thing I make! This recipe is super healthy and delicious. Let me know if you make it! I'd love to hear what you think.

Roasted Broccoli & Cauliflower with Lemon and Pine Nuts

Good morning friends! I have been on a big veggie kick lately, trying to get in as many various vitamins and nutrients that I can. One of our favorite veggies around here is broccoli. Both of my kiddos eat broccoli without complaint every time, so it's a staple around here! I am always looking for some new ways to mix it up and keep it interesting and this is a new way I tried over the weekend. I hope you enjoy!

Cucumber Tomato Corn Salad with Lemon Dressing

Hi there friends! This past weekend we had one of those situations where some of our veggies were on the last day of being good before they started to get questionable. Rather than eat them individually, I decided to chop them up and make a simple summer salad out of them. It was super easy, healthy, and tasty! A win by all measures. It's so simple I even feel a little ridiculous writing it down, but I know some of you out there are looking for easy and healthy too-- so why not??

Kale and Arugula Salad with Pine Nuts

 Good morning friends! Here is another super healthy salad we whipped up one day this week. I used to be that girl who only liked salads if they were doused in Ranch dressing, but I have learned to love a simple lemon-olive oil dressing. This is so much healthier for you, so I'm hoping this new taste preference sticks!

My Favorite Breakfast-- With a Twist

 Good morning friends! About a year and a half ago I shared with you my favorite healthy breakfast idea. I still eat this breakfast probably 1-2 times a week, but mix it up a bit to keep it from getting boring. Here's one of the ways I like to change it:

Honey Sriracha Salmon Salads

 Good morning friends! Okay have any of you been watching "Down to Earth" on Netflix? Well you may or may not know that I used to be fascinated by Blue Zones and the Mediterranean diet, but over time kind of fell off that wagon. Well, after watching Zac and Darin go to Sardinia and learn more about centenarians and the Blue Zones, I am back to my obsession with Blue Zones! 

Today I am sharing a salad I made for Devin and I last week that had the perfect blend of sweet and spicy. It also had some greens, some protein and some carbs all mixed into one meal. If you like sweet and spicy, give this one a try!

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday! Today I am linking up with Andrea to share some of my favorite things.

My Favorite Healthy Breakfast

Today I am posting about hands down my favorite breakfast. This is sooo delicious and filling at the same time. This is much more filling than my typical breakfast smoothie. 

I mean doesn't that look delicious?

Mediterranean Diet: Salmon Cakes and Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Last week I shared with you that we were going to start implementing the Mediterranean Diet in our house. So far we are finding this to be really easy and have enjoyed trying out some new recipes. Devin has been making a less healthy version of these salmon cakes for years, so I asked him to try to find a more "Mediterranean Diet" type way of making them. Luckily he was up to the challenge and the only effort I had to put into this was making the brussel sprouts and being the official taste tester.  #mykindofmeal

And So We Begin... The Mediterranean Diet

Good Morning! Today I am talking about something our family is going to be trying to implement more of in 2019... the Mediterranean Diet. 

Let's be real.. they had me at one glass of wine daily 😉

I'm sure you've all heard about the various fad diets going around right now (if not, this article was fascinating) and maybe you've stumbled across the Mediterranean Diet as one of them, but I have a feeling this one is here to stay. I first read a little bit about this after Bali when I was reading the National Geographic special magazine about Blue Zones (areas of the world where people regularly live to be over 100 years old). 

The magazine showed a fascinating look into several people's lives and what these people were doing that helped them to live such long and healthy lives. For some of these people, particularly the ones who lived near the Mediterranean, it talked a lot about what foods these people were eating and how the foods helped them to live a healthier lifestyle. 

Now obviously we are not going 100% all in here... we are still going to stop at Chick-fil-A once in awhile and if I don't have Mexican food every now and again I may lose my mind. The point is that maybe instead of pizza for dinner on Fridays we make a salad with cucumbers and Feta cheese. Maybe instead of cheeseburgers on the grill in May, we grill some salmon and vegetables. Maybe instead of dumping 4+ tablespoons of CoffeeMate into my coffee, I start weaning myself off of it and eventually go to black. I have read several articles/books on this and feel like I enough information and still feel comfortable with trying something new. This is not always the case, we did a LOT of research on keto after watching the documentary on Netflix and realized it wasn't for us. 

So stay tuned for some super easy Mediterranean Diet recipes on the blog. I'm going to see what I can find out there and find a way to make these as easy as possible for busy working mamas. If there was a "Mediterranean Diet in the Crock Pot" cookbook out there you'd better believe I'd have that one already Amazon Primed.