Another Daniel Plan Detox

Good morning!

Kansas City has been hit with a heat wave and the girls and I have been taking advantage of it. We dusted off the BOBs and have gone on three walks/runs in the past three days. 

Man, it feels so good to get outside again and move around. I think everyone else agrees, because the sidewalks have been very crowded and last night the park was busier than I have ever seen, even on a nice summer day. Ina made an addition to her “best friend list” and I talked to someone over the age of 3, so it was an all around win. 

Tomorrow I am starting another round of The Daniel Plan Detox, (basically eat real food, lots of vegs, no sugar, gluten, dairy, bad fats, or alcohol) so planning my meals, grocery list, and snacks took a little extra effort. But first, pizza.

Here is my plan for the week:

Food

• Sunday: slow cooker cheeseburger soup with salad
• Monday: Asian crack slaw
• Tuesday: one pot Spanish chicken and potatoes with roasted broccolini 
• Wednesday: chicken and bean bake
• Thursday: one pan smashed potatoes, chicken sausage, and roasted broccoli 
• Friday: sun dried tomato turkey burgers with baked sweet potatoes and salad 
• Saturday: out to eat for my mom’s birthday
• Snacks: smoothies [my go-to recipe is 1/2 frozen banana, 2 handfuls of spinach, 1 TBS almond butter, and 11/2 C almond milk], hummus with carrots, hard boiled eggs, and almond joy energy bites
• Breakfasts: eggs in a basket and spaghetti squash quiche 

Today’s prep: make energy bites, shred brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes for breakfasts, make hummus, and hard boil eggs. 

Fitness: Week two of Winter Shape Up. 

  I hope you have a lovely week! 

<3

Thankful Thursday

Good morning! 

[Mustard chicken, roasted squash and beets, and salad greens]

In my mind I have plans to write here more than two days a week. I even have full paragraphs I want to say. However, life happens, so here I am, thankful that I have time set aside to jot down what I am thankful for. 

I am thankful for antibiotics. 

Ina woke up Tuesday morning with a double ear infection and double pink eye. 

She kept on telling me her ears didn’t hurt and that she wanted her eyes to stay pink because pink is her favorite color and that she was OK and to leave her alone! Obviously, she felt great. 

She is doing much better now, and, much to Ina’s dismay, her eyes are no longer pink. 

I am thankful that Dan had yesterday off work so he could stay home with our still-infectious kid. Being a working mom is hard in so many ways, but one of them is that I am absent a lot more now that I have kids. Yesterday was one of those days when I really needed to be at work, and I am thankful I was there.

I am thankful for Winter Shape Up! I have been following along with the workouts and have had fun mixing it up and having someone else plan what I do that day. 

Speaking of working out, I am thankful for my mom who stopped by the house for 15 minutes after I had been cooped up with the girls all day so that I could go on a run. Although it was “just 15 minutes” it felt glorious and I ran my frustrations right out of me. 

I am thankful for Miss Mikelea at Ina’s swim school. Yesterday was Ina’s first day of swim lessons and things didn’t go exactly as planned. However, Miss Mikelea swooped in with M&M’s and stories about Elsa’s castle to save the day and stop Ina from screaming, “DADDY I NEED YOU” at the top of her lungs while Dan was holding onto the bottom of his chair so he didn’t go in and save her. 

I am thankful for Cora and her playfulness.

Look at that face! The girl just wants to go places. However, her silly legs aren’t ready yet.  I really need to take advantage of the few weeks I have left when I can put her down and she will stay in one place. 

So many other things to be thankful for, but it is time to get ready for the day. I hope your’s is blessed! <3

Ina/Dan Survey + My FFP

Hi there!

Life has been super crazy and I don’t see a slow down in sight, but I can’t let too many days go by without stopping to say hi.

This weekend was great. Friday we had friends over for dinner, Saturday we went to a birthday party and had family over for dinner, and Sunday we went to church and I did laundry. Super fun times.

Also, just for fun, I thought I would give Ina and Dan’s answers to the survey that is going around Facebook. I asked them these questions. When Ina answered, “I don’t know” Dan was more than happy to give a response.

1. What is something I always say to you? Dan: You’re getting close to going through all your blow money.
2. What makes me happy? Ina: That I’m in a better mood.
3. What makes me sad? Dan: Me (<—stinker)
4. How do I make you laugh? Ina: Eat me (<—I act like I am eating her belly)
5. What was I like as a child? Dan: Relentless.
6. How old am I? Ina: Five
7. How tall am I? Ina: That tall (she spread her arms out and measured me, then Dan said, “5’9”” and Ina said, “I already measured her."
8. What is my favorite thing to do? Ina: play with me
9. What do I do when you're not around? Ina: work
10. What am I really good at? Ina: doing puzzles
11. What am I not very good at? Ina: doing hard puzzles
12. What do I do for a job? Ina: Make money for us
13. What is my favorite food? Ina: pizza 
14. What do you enjoy doing with me? Ina: puzzles

Here is my plan for the week:

Food:

• Monday: chicken, apple, sweet potato, and brussels sprout skillet
• Tuesday: spaghetti and salad
• Wednesday: Roasted whole chicken with root vegetables and a salad
• Thursday: buffalo chicken with roasted butternut squash and salad
• Friday: out to eat
• Saturday: leftovers or pizza

Fitness: For the next four weeks I am going to follow The Fitnessista’s Winter Shape Up. Here is the plan for Week 1. 

 

 

 Have a blessed week! <3

Thankful Thursday

Good morning!

I am blogging from my phone at my grandparents' house, so expect more typos than usual.

I am thankful for morning hair.

I am thankful for a mis-trial. 

I had jury duty yesterday and after 3 hours of questioning, the judge called a mis-trial. Even though I was happy to go back to work, I found the whole process very interesting and hope I get to do it again in another season of my life. Also, a friend from church was in the jury pool, which was so nice.

I am thankful for healthy children.

Due to an increase in Ina's fluid intake/output, I wanted her doctor to measure her blood sugar and thankfully, it was perfect. However, it really made me think about how different our lives would be if one of the girls wasn't healthy all the time and how thankful I am that all we have to worry about is the occasional stomach bug.

I am thankful for crack slaw. 

Dear Famiky, prepare to eat this once a week. 

I am thankful for shelter. Oh man has it been cold outside. I am even wearing a coat which is a pretty big deal. 

Have a great day!

What are you thankful for? 

Six Hours + My Food and Fitness Plan

Let’s all pause to look at this beautiful sight together.

Friday night Ina stayed the night with Granny and Papa and Cora decided to be generous and give me SIX straight hours of sleep. 

So, what’s a girl to do with six hours straight of sleep and only one kid (who can’t move and sleeps a lot) to take care of?

Let’s see: two loads of laundry, unloaded/loaded the dishwasher, called 4 patients, a yoga video, meal planned and grocery shopped online for the week, baked a batch of breakfast cookies, made 3 batches of baby food in the bullet (avocado, brown rice, and peas), plucked my eyebrows, made my bed, took a nice long shower, played with Cora, priced, hung, and organized half of the clothes we are selling on consignment, enjoyed breakfast and lunch sitting down at the table, and studied for my bible study, all before we left to pick Ina up at 1. 

Last night’s sleep was per usual with Ina-Cora-Dog-Dan waking me up for different reasons, but it didn’t seem to matter as much once I had a full night’s sleep. Let’s aim for that once a week family. 

Other things to note:

- My salad game has been on point lately. Evidence above, here, and here. Also strong - my chocolate and wine game.

- Ina is not ready to drop her nap. I thought she was, but poor girl broke down at my grandparents’ house yesterday and slept hard through the drive home, being carried inside, watching the Chiefs lose (wwaaahhh), the groceries being delivered, and Dan getting home from work. We eventually had to wake her up for dinner.

(Picture actually taken on Thursday when I told her we were going on a walk, but it couldn’t be to the park because the sun was going to set in 10 minutes. The horror.)

Here is my plan for the week. I am hoping to make it a good one!

Food:

• Sunday: lemon chicken stew [sub brown rice for orzo pasta] with salad
• Monday: pork roast with potatoes, carrots, and salad (I have a huge thing of spring mix in the fridge)
• Tuesday: crack slaw
• Wednesday: baked garlic parmesan chicken with roasted broccoli and baked sweet potato
• Thursday: salsa verde honey lime chicken and rice bake with salad
• Friday: out to eat with friends (!!!)
• Saturday: chicken tikka masala with rice and roasted broccoli 
• Snacks/breakfasts/prep: protein chia seed pudding, peanut butter oatmeal breakfast cookies, and smoothies

Fitness

• Sunday: rest
• Monday: Blast and Burn [cardio + strength]
• Tuesday: 3  mile run
• Wednesday: rest
• Thursday: Barre HIIT + Barre Total Body
• Friday: Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown
• Saturday: 3 mile run

I hope you have a lovely week! 

Thankful Thursday

Good morning! I hope you have had a fantastic week so far!

Mine has been mostly zombie like, BUT Cora gave me a solid 4.5 hour sleep stretch last night and I woke up this morning not feeling like I got hit by a bus. I am so thankful for that!

I am thankful that my Frozen manicure came off easily in the shower. So is Ina, because if it was up to her we would have a new manicure every day. 

Speaking of sleep, I am also thankful that Ina has slept in her own bed for two weeks now! She hasn’t gotten out once, with the exception of falling out a few times (sorry Ina). As you can see from the picture below, she still convinces one of us to lay with her until she falls asleep and sometimes we (and by we I mean Dan) fall asleep before she does.

I am thankful for having the wonderful guys at Water Way clean my car out. Oh man, those guys are quick! They cleaned my car inside and out in 20 minutes. This would easily have taken me two hours and I would have given up halfway through because I was cold, or Cora was crying, or Ina hurt herself in the garage. So thankful for a drama-free clean car. 

I am thankful for my new Keurig. My old Keurig had been broken for some time now (I had to bang on it every morning to get it to make coffee for almost a year), but it lasted a solid 4 years. I was given an Amazon gift card at work, and I immediately knew how I was going to spend it. Right when it was delivered, I told Ina I got a new toy and she has been so intrigued. She keeps asking me if she can make me coffee, which is so nice, but hard to explain to her that I don’t want coffee at 8 PM. 

I am thankful for my office gym. I haven’t been there in such a long time, but the other day I busted out this quick 30 minute circuit workout and it felt so good to be back on a treadmill. 

I am thankful for some delicious meals this week: Fajitas on Monday, copycat PF Chang’s Lettuce wraps on Tuesday,

and slow cooker cheeseburger soup + salad last night. I am not going to lie, last night was a bit stressful, trying to chop all the veggies, soothe Cora, and entertain Ina all at the same time. I may have freaked out a bit, but was able to reign the crazy in before Dan came home. 

I am thankful for Jesus.

I am thankful for you.

Have a good day! <3

Cora Eats Sweet Potatoes

Yesterday, as I was talking to my sister on the phone and trying to feed Cora, who was doing more clamping down than eating (ouch, ouch, ouch), I asked Jessie if she thought five and a half months was too early to start food. 

She pretty much responded saying that I could do whatever I wanted. That and one more clamp from Cora was all I needed to peel, chop, and steam a sweet potato, and then puree it with some water.

Ina and I (im)patiently waited for Dan to get home from work so he didn’t miss any of the action. We told Ina she could be the one to give Cora her first bite of food, so Ina shoveled up a heaping spoonful and gingerly pushed it towards Cora’s mouth.

Cora is pretty used to her sister shoving things in her face, so she really didn’t react much at first and kept on looking at Dan like, What’s going on Dad? 

Then, the reality of the taste in her mouth hit her and, as Ina says in the video below, she went to town. She ate the entire bowl in less than 5 minutes and whined if I didn’t get to spoon to her mouth fast enough. 

 

A video posted by Racheal (@runningwithrach) onJan 12, 2016 at 3:55am PST

I have to say that Ina’s first reaction to food was a little funnier (she literally took the bowl out of my hands), but from her first experience it appears Cora will join the rest of her family in being a huge fan of food. 

Cheers to that and have a wonderful Tuesday! <3

Losing my Mind + My Plan for the Week

Good morning!

When Ina was around 6 months old I distinctly remember reaching a point where the sleep deprivation started really getting to me. The same thing is happening this time around, now that we are transitioning the girls to their own beds.

The good news is that both Ina and Cora have slept in their own rooms and haven’t been in our bed at all for an entire week.

The bad news is that I am losing my mind and I haven’t spent all that much time in our bed either.

I could give you so many examples, but there are two that really stick out. A few nights ago I “woke up” in the hallway to hearing Cora screaming. I went to her room and Dan was in there changing her diaper. This is a big deal because Dan isn’t woken up easily. He asked where I was, because apparently I wasn’t in bed with him, and I honestly couldn’t answer him. The first memory I had was the hallway and I don’t know how I got there. 

Then, yesterday the girls in my small group celebrated two new babies joining our family. We went to this awesome restaurant which I knew had a gyro (my favorite food) because I had looked and the menu beforehand and was looking forward to eating it all week. While the other girls were looking over the menu I kept on talking about how I didn’t even need to look at the menu because I love gyros. 

So, imagine my surprise when the waiter brought out the food and put a ruben down in front of me. I politely told him I had ordered a gyro and everyone at the table said, “No, you ordered a ruben.” 

Sigh. The ruben was good too.

I feel like I should be allowed to wear a sign that says, “Sleep training: the thoughts in my head aren’t connected to what comes out of my mouth." 

Other weekend happenings:

- On Friday night we met with some other friends for dinner and really didn’t have a problem taking both girls to a restaurant.

- The Chiefs won their first playoff game since I can remember. This really is a fantastic time to be a KC sports fan.

- I shopped at Wal-Mart and didn’t lose my cool (this needs to be documented)

- I am *almost* done with T25

Today we are going to church and then I am going to attempt to shampoo our carpets. Fun times at The Kendrick House. 

Here is my plan for the week:

Food:

• Sunday: fajitas with cabbage slaw and Mexican brown rice
• Monday: copycat PF chang chicken lettuce wraps with veggie fried quinoa
• Tuesday: skillet chicken cordon bleu with roasted beets and broccoli 
• Wednesday: slow cooker cheeseburger soup with salad
• Thursday: buffalo chicken casserole with salad 
• Friday: out to eat
• Saturday: one pot chili mac with salad

Fitness: I am finishing up T25 and then I am going to wing it the rest of the week. Is it wrong when your plan is to wing it? Does that even count? 

Have a lovely week! <3

Thankful Thursday

Good morning! 

I am thankful for shelter and heat on this cold morning! I am also thankful for:

- New tires just in time for our winter weather. I know next to nothing about cars and their accessories, but apparently I was well past due for a new set of tires. Speaking of cars, I am also so thankful for online license plate renewal. Absolutely no waiting in line at the DMV. Amazing. 

- The Skimm - my kind of news breakdown. Check it out if you want to know what is happening in less than 5 minutes. 

- Alex Gordon is forever Royal! (!!!!)

- My office parking lot has recycling bins for plastic, cardboard, and glass. Our trash provider doesn’t collect recycling, so Dan hordes it in the garage and after Christmas it was horrible. I have a few more car loads of stuff to take, but I am hoping I will soon be able to walk in our garage without fear of something falling on me. 

- Super easy dinners. Chicken and bean bake - try it.

- My job. I am helping with fellowship interviews this week and talking to all these great candidates with such passion, intelligence, and experience always puts a little fire under me to step up my game.  

- These girls and their funny faces. 

I hope you have a lovely day! <3

Star Wars + Exciting January

Good morning!

The past few nights have looked like this:

1. Walk in the door

2. Cook dinner (looking for dinner inspiration? We loved these: skyline chili with sp and bs; rainbow fish nachos; pepperoni chicken)

3. Watch Star Wars

However, this exciting series of events is about to end because we only have one more movie left. Last night Dan asked if we could start all over again once we were finished. Ha! 

Other things to report:

(Cuddling on Sunday morning while watching cartoons. These girls already love each other so much!)

Cora and Ina have slept in their own rooms for FOUR nights in a row. FOUR! Now that we have made the room change, I can do a better job of sleep training Cora and not feeding her every 2 hours throughout the night. 

I am still trucking along with T25 Gamma. I am on my last week and I originally thought I would start the series over again, but I think I need to mix it up a little bit. I really miss running.

January is kind of blah because it is cold and dark most of the time, but I have a lot of things to look forward to this month:

- Having dinner with friends on Friday night

- A girls pampering day including lunch and massages (my back is super excited)

- The Chiefs playoff game(s!?!)

- Starting The Daniel Plan study at my church and our small group is studying Genesis

- Ina starting swim lessons

Are you doing anything to beat the winter/post-holiday blues?

Have a lovely day! <3

A New Year Food and Fitness Plan [1/3]

Hello there!

How has your weekend been? Ours has been pretty low key and relaxing - a great way to start the year. A few S words to sum it up:

- Star Wars. We (even Ina and Cora) spent Friday watching Episodes 4 to 6. 

- Sleep (or lack thereof). Last night both Ina and Cora stayed in their own rooms from 8:30 PM to 6 AM. Nobody slept much, which should make us all joys to be around today, but I feel like this is the first step of us getting to sleeping routine that works for me (i.e., nobody touching me).

- Sale:

(The picture I sent Dan when he asked me how things were going.)

Now that we are done using our baby stuff, my goal is to sell things as Cora grows out of them. There is a big consignment sale in KC next month, and I want to spend a few 30 minute chunks here and there getting ready now. 

-G (I know, not an S word).

My mom came over for a few hours yesterday to entertain the girls while I put away the 10 loads of laundry piled up on Ina’s bed. 

Here is my plan for the week: 

Food:

• Sunday: skyline chili with roasted brussels sprouts and baked sweet potato
• Monday: rainbow fish nachos
• Tuesday: dump and bake Italian chicken and rice with roasted broccoli and cauliflower
• Wednesday: leftovers or easy chicken and bean bake
• Thursday: chicken and broccoli quinoa casserole with roasted beets
• Friday: out to eat
• Saturday: chicken fajitas with spanish brown rice and salad

Breakfast: eggs in a basket or blueberry quinoa breakfast bars

Lunch: leftovers or lentils, kale, and quinoa with Mmmm sauce

Snacks: chopped veggies, fresh fruit, and chocolate peanut butter no bake energy bites, 

Fitness: The last week of T25 gamma. Although, unless I find another workout plan that works as well as T25, I will likely keep doing it until the weather is nice enough for me to run with the girls outside. 

Have a lovely first full week of the year! <3

2016 Word

Happy New Year! 

Our family rang in the new year sound asleep in bed after Dan and I hit up the town for 3 hours (our max).

New year’s resolutions don’t really work for me, although that typically doesn’t stop me from making them. It also doesn’t stop me from joining the other crazies at CostCo and buying all.the.vegetables. Seriously, you would have thought they were never going to sell vegetables again. 

Goals work for me, but when I thought of a goal for 2016 my brain became fuzzy. Goals are so concrete, have deadlines, and are measurable. My only goal over the next 6 months is to keep me and the girls fed, clean(ish), and out the door on time (give or take 15 minutes). 

So, I am going to settle for a word. One word. I think I can handle that. 

Less. 

Less time wasted scrolling through social media because that is all my tired brain can handle.

Less stuff. Dear God, please help me get rid of some of our stuff. 

Less crap in our bodies (I’m looking at the top shelf of our pantry where our Christmas treats have multiplied).

Less debt (our home loan is our next things to tackle and it is a doozy). 

Less worrying about things that are completely out of my control.

Less frowns (my default way too often these days). 

I am hoping that having less of the above will leave room for more of everything else. The good stuff. Vegetables (if CostCo still has some), space, savings, focused time, smiles, etc. 

If you could pick ONE word for 2016, what would it be?