adoption updates

-It's been 9 weeks home since leaving the red dirt and leaving one behind, again. I was shocked that we'd have to make a third trip but I am comforted knowing that the Lord goes before me and knows what is best, and that we are not alone in this. We are banned together with many other families in the fight to get our children home. I am so thankful that for now she is being well cared for and loved on.

-I took Riley with me this trip and it was the best decision ever. She loved Uganda as much as I do and was brave and adventurous. She was so kind and compassionate to her new sister and I pray it will help their bond once she is home. Bring your kids with you if you can! 

-Home is good. There is nothing that will make you appreciate vacuuming and bathing your babies and cooking dinner and wiping noses then spending a long amount of time away from everyone and everything that you hold closely. I seriously spent my first 3 days home constantly thanking the Lord for all of it. Holding my babies, being home. It is so good and home is indeed where this mama belongs. (and I have absolutely no idea how I got through 5 weeks away during our adoption process in 2013, no idea!) 

-Recovering from Ugandan things like...injured tailbones from boda rides...makes me a legit experienced Ugandan visitor person. I'm just missing the nose ring ;-)

-I don't consider myself a super big "homeschooling is the best thing in the world and the best option for every child" kind of person, at all. But I do so love the flexibility we have. If we did not homeschool I have no idea how we would have made these past two trips happen. Constantly thanking the Lord for paving the way for this to be a real option for our family that we all benefit from.

-This past week has consisted of lots of cuddles, cooking, reading books and playing outside. Again, home is so good.

-It has been months and months since I have seen any progress in my body. I am sure raspberry cheesecake gelato has nothing to contribute to this fact. So this morning I woke at 4:30 (yes, four stinking thirty AM) and dragged myself to Crossfit and joined. Running is just not cutting it for me anymore, obvs! - and my friend reminded me of my long lost love for Crossfit that needed to be rekindled. I agree, it had been almost a full year without it and this morning I loved every single second of it- legs wobbly by the end and all! Snatches and rows and boxes and meter runs and sweat and sore bodies, bring it on.

-My current favorite dinner (that happens to also be whole30 approved) thanks to stalking JH on IG:
grill up onion, green pepper, jalapeño, whatever veggies you have on hand that you like grilled in a cast iron.
add 2 cans of diced tomatoes (I used fire roasted) and let simmer a little bit
make 4 shallow pits in the "sauce" and crack an egg in each
cover and let the egg cook through, you can break the yolk if thats how you like or leave it
once the egg is cooked through- sprinkle with salt/papper/parmesan cheese
feeds two people, adjust as needed

Gahhhhhh the egg comes out perfectly and it's so weirdly good. Like you are eating breakfast for dinner but kind of not. You're welcome.

-I should probably turn in when my eyes are so tired they are watering- 4:30am comes quickly. Thank you all for continuing to pray our girl home- we are overwhelmed at the outpouring of genuine love and concern and the desire to help that our community has shown us. We have good people, thankful to the Lord for each of you!

     (Mattresses on a boda)

*In the last 9 weeks since having to come home, we've had to hire an immigration attorney to help us obtain a visa for Olive. Up until this point, our adoption was fully funded, including the 3rd trip. But we've since had to use our travel money for the third trip ($5,000) to pay for the unexpected attorney fees, now leaving us short. We don't expect to travel until late May, and we are continuing to pray that the Lord will continue to provide for this last leg of the process! If you feel led, all donations made through this paypal link go directly into a separate adoption account where 100% goes towards our third trip to bring her home. *

Isa this, Isa that.

I know I am not the only one who's social media feeds are bursting at the seams with post's about Isagenix. I'm not the only one who has considered taking the dive and actually using it, either.

At the start of this journey I decided that I was not going to do any of that stuff. Because there is so much out there, and everyone knows that the only thing that really lasts is hard work. Not to mention, hundreds of bucks to lose a "possible" fifteen pounds, yikes.

So I have not given in. And sometimes it just plain stinks, friends. To see posts from friends about how they lost 14 pounds in a week sitting on their behind when it takes me two months to lose that weight working six days a week. Not. Fun. And then I remind myself that I am not in this for a quick loss.

I recently hit a big wall in my loss. I stayed the same weight for three long weeks, the longest I have gone since the start without seeing any progress scale wise. It's going to happen. It is. But that doesn't mean it's not discouraging. It is! So I'm sitting here at this weight and running and lifting and I hear "isa this, isa that" all over.

I dug for information, and Isagenix is not a horrible product, it's not. It's actually good protein (although it does have synthetics if that is a concern for you).  But again, those crazy numbers ($300!) just to get past this wall. It's two shakes a day, with two snacks and a sensible meal. Easy enough, I chose to see if I could make my own shakes for two of my meals a day (using whole 30 approved ingredients and a really good plant based protein) to see if I could kick this wall down.

I'm only on Day 3 of doing this, and I got past the wall having lost 2 pounds the first two days. Using healthy whole foods and protein that was already in my house, costing me nothing extra. Now, I know my Isa friends would be all over this "well it's not as high quality", "it doesn't have this special ingredient" blah blah.  It's not Isagenix. But you don't need Isa to see similar results without starving yourself.

This is what I use:

Garden of Life's Raw Fit  I typically put 1.5 scoops in to boost the calories.
1/2 Cup almond milk or coconut milk, your personal preference.
Veggies, whatever I have on hand. Lately it has been spinach, carrots and broccoli.
Fruits, whatever I have on hand. Lately it has been strawberries and blueberries. An occasional banana if I'm up for the sugar and carbs.
Chia seeds.
Occasionally I will add a teaspoon of almond butter in it.

Blend. 

The calorie content is going to vary on what you put in it, my breakfast shake this morning turned out being 396 calories. My lunch was 385, so there are plenty of calories, carbs, fats and a lot of protein to make this a good meal replacement option. If you are on the verge of ordering a meal replacement plan, I challenge you to try the same thing first and see what your results are. Here is an example of a what a day of eating for me looks like:

Breakfast: Homemade shake with a high quality protein
Snack: Hummus and celery
Lunch: Homemade shake with a high quality protein
Snack: Green apple (less sugar) with almond butter
Dinner: Anything healthy! Chicken, sweet potatoes, veggies, wild caught fish, turkey tacos, tons of healthy and whole options out there!

Because I am only on Day 3 of doing this myself,  I will post my end results once I finish. I plan to do this throughout the weekday and eat real whole foods on the weekend to change it up for my body. This is something Isagenix does not do, so if you want to go all out continue eating like this for a month.

Whole 30 Challenge Week 2

My goal for this week of the challenge is to eat more vegetables than fruit, and to cut back on snacks as much as possible. I am use to the "eat something small every 2-3 hours diet", along with working out and nursing, so my goal is to go from twice daily to once. The Whole30 says you are only allowed a pre/post snack if you are working out. I am, therefore snacks are compliant for me. If you are not working out, you should be trying to eat three good sized whole meals a day, no snacks.

Day 8
B- Banana Pancakes with almond butter and strawberries
L- Spinach salad with boiled eggs, raw veggies, EVOO and balsamic
S- Homemade lara bars, recipes here.
D- Baked salmon over lime cauliflower rice, mashed sweet potato and cantaloupe.

Day 9
B- Sweet potato crusted quiche
2med sweet potatoes shredded
1package chopped mushrooms
1package frozen spinach, thawed and dried well
1onion sliced
1dozen eggs
2T coconut milk
S&P to taste
Coconut oil
1c brothSauté onions and mushrooms in coconut oil until browned and start to soften, add broth and simmer until tender and pan is dry. Set aside. Fry sweet potatoes until browned and crisp in coconut oil, pat into baking dish like a crust. Beat eggs, coconut milk and add seasoning, onions, mushrooms and dried spinach. Pour over crust. Bake 400 for 20-25 min until eggs are set. Allow to cool, slice into individual servings and refrigerate. Grab your container on the way out the door, microwave for about 90 sec. 
L- Grilled chicken, cauliflower rice, steamed broccoli (grill extra chicken for dinner, or leave out/ready)
S- Almonds and Cashews
D- Spaghetti squash, complaint tomato sauce/marinara, mushrooms and left over chicken from lunch.

Day 10
B- Vegetable and Egg muffins
L-  Turkey avocado wraps, hard boiled egg.
Avocado and carrot shreds wrapped in compliant deli Turkey. Can dip in homemade mayo or other complaint sauce/dressing. 
S- Carrots, celery with almond butter
D- Sweet potato noodles and citrus ginger meatballs. Recipe here. I used turkey vs bison. Save some meatballs for lunch tomorrow

Day 11
B- Veggie Omelete
L- Leftover meatballs on top of a spinach salad with veggies
S- Baked cinnamon apples (microwaved peeled apples in cinnamon)
D- Buffalo ranch stuffed peppers

Day 12
B- "Banana pudding" with blueberries. See meal plan from Week 1 with recipe
L- Turkey Burger with steamed veggies and a sweet potato
S- Hand full of almonds, raw broccoli and carrots
D- Salmon with Avocado salsa and mashed cauliflower

Day 13-
B- Scrambled eggs with spinach and tomato, compliant bacon
L- Spinach salad with berries, chicken, EVOO and balsamic
S- Small apple with almond butter
D- Slow cooker chipotle pork with pineapple slaw and baked sweet potato, recipe here.
Save some meat for lunch tomorrow

Day 14-
B- Fruit and Spinach/Carrot smoothie
L- Left over pork and avocado with steamed veggies.
S- Hard boiled eggs
D- Chicken thighs baked with sweet potato, squash, zucchini, onions, peppers, EVOO.

Whole 30 Day Challenge Week 1

I have started the whole 30 challenge and often get asked "what are you eating?". I think the hardest part is figuring out what to eat! I'm going to be posting weekly menu plans as I finish them, I had a friend do this and it helped me tremendously with meal planning! Don't forget to check out whole30.com for in depth details of the whole 30 diet.

Day 1- 

B- veggie and egg scramble

L- spinach salad with berries, almonds and balsamic 

D- crock pot carnitas on cauliflower lime rice topped with tomatoes & avocados Recipe can be found at:  http://popularpaleo.com/2013/01/07/crock-pot-carnitas/

S- apple with almond butter, carrots

Day 2- 

B-banana "pudding" w/blueberries (really good!)

1-2 over-ripe banana(s)
1/2 c coconut milk
Combine and blend in food processor

Add 1/4 c. chia seeds and refrigerate for about an hour to let seeds plump

L- avocado, bacon, and egg salad

D-Tuna cakes made w/sweet potatoes & black olives. Recipe: http://meatified.com/tuna-cakes-green-olives/ 

S- apple and grapes, greek yogurt/plain (greek yogurt is not whole 30 approved but this is something I will not cut out as it still has health benefits and a lot of protein! ) 

Day 3- 

B- strawberries, blueberries, bananas, and chopped pecans w/coconut milk 

L- spinach salad with leftover tuna cakes, tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, & EVOO

D- pork chops w/baked apples & onions. recipe: http://nomnompaleo.com/…/…/bacon-apple-smothered-pork-chops/ roasted zucchini & onions w/balsamic vinegar & EVOO, & grapes

S- banana with almond butter 

Day 4-

B-egg (over-easy), sweet potato hash w/pecans, sliced apple

L- leftover pork chops w/apples, onions, & bacon; side of steamed broccoli & carrots, warmed pear & blueberries w/cinnamon

D- lettuce wraps w/leftover pork chops w/apples, onions, & bacon (stretched to 3 meals), tomatoes, & avocados

S- broccoli dipped in balsamic, tangerine 

Day 5-

B- scrambled eggs with bacon bits, side of strawberries

L- homemade cobb salad: spinach, bacon bits, grilled chicken, boiled egg, tomato, cucumber, balsamic vinegar and EVOO. 

D- Turkey meatballs with tomato sauce, green beans, pears, & raspberries

S- Greek yogurt with almond butter stirred in, fresh fruit 

Day 6- 

B- Banana pancakes topped with almond butter, strawberries and raspberries, side of orange slices

L- Leftover turkey meatballs on top of a spinach salad 

D-Taco salad with a side of kiwi

S- berries and almonds 

Day 7-

B- Veggie Omelette 

L- Tuna salad lettuce wraps 

D- Baked chicken with roasted sweet and red potatoes. 

S- banana with almond butter