Coconut Lime Shrimp

This week, I made a new coconut lime shrimp dish that was divine! It started with a bag of frozen, raw, deveined shrimp which I thawed in a bowl of cold water for a few hours, and I then peeled and saved the shells to make the sauce.

1-2 lbs raw deveined shrimp with the shells removed
Shrimp shells from above
1 large onion
3-4 garlic cloves
1/2 Cup Coconut oil
2T Olive Oil
1 Cup white wine
Juice from 1 lime, or a few splashed from the bottled stuff
1-2 cups frozen or canned or fresh green peas
Cooked rice ~or~ cooked spaghetti squash

1) Place the shrimp shells AND your outer onion peels AND your garlic "papers" and peels into a sauce pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.

2) Slice the onion thinly and cook them in the olive oil and a little salt over medium heat for about 10 minutes, until they are soft, but not yet brown.

3) Mince the garlic and add to the onions. Stir them around in the oil and onions so they don't scorch.

4) Add the coconut oil to the pan and allow it to fully melt and get hot.

5) Turn the heat to medium hot and add the shrimp to the pan and stir to get them mixed.

6) Add the peas and stir.

7) Add the wine and the lime juice, and place a lid on the pan to allow the liquid to steam the peas and cook the shrimp through, no more than 3-4 minutes depending on the size of your shrimp.

8) Remove the lid, stir, check for doneness on both your shrimp and the broccoli. When it's almost done, use a strainer to strain the shrimp peels and onions skins from your sauce and add that strained both to the pan with the shrimp, onions, garlic, and peas. (Throw away the shrimp peels and onion skins, these are not part of the dish.)

9) Serve over steamed rice, or coconut lime rice, or over spaghetti squash. The whole family will think it's dreamy and it's easy to customize for personal taste on the plate.

My Honey's plate. Not as much sauce and over rice.

My plate. EXTRA sauce and extra peas over a bed of spaghetti squash.

GG's plate. Peas and rice only. Our little minimalist.

Boo's plate! I just needed to pick out the onions for him. Notice he received "The Red Plate" this night for making excellent choices at school and being a super good boy!

Easy Button

Awe, Snap, y'all.  Could it be? Could bacon once again be the answer to life, the universe, and everything? Or is that still 42? I think I'll let you decide.

Last night for supper, I borrowed another recipe from my girl Ree Drummond of The Pioneer Woman, and I roasted green beans in the oven with onion and bacon for our green-veggie side dish. Here's the link to the recipe from Food Network dot com. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/roasted-green-beans.html

I didn't have thin cut bacon, and I had frozen, not fresh green beans, but I still followed her guidelines for the most part. I did not add the olive oil, and I did not add the salt. Both of which I felt the bacon would impart on the beans in plenty, plus, my clan isn't hauling cattle, so we don't need the extra calories from the added oil.

But, today's post isn't about last night's supper as much as it's about this morning. Check it out.

So ... in using the bacon for the green beans, I cut the pound in half and used only half of the bacon last night, and saved the other half for breakfast today. 

I did a little test. 

At 6:57am, I put a pan on the stove, turned it to medium, and walked to the fridge. I got out the other half of the bacon, removed it from it's zipper bag, and put it fat side down in the pan. No, I didn't separate each slice. Wait for it...

As the heat of the pan starts to melt the bacon fat, it warms the slices, making it MUCH easier to peel apart. As it started to cook, I slowly pulled of the half pieces and laid them in the pan to cook. I turned them as needed, arranged them as they shrunk and made space for the others, and lovingly cooked them until they were ready to come out. 

At 7:06am, they were crispy, brown, and amazing, and draining on a paper towel. I turned off the pan, and headed upstairs to wake up the kids. Yes. You read that correctly. Less than TEN minutes, and a half pound of bacon was cooked beautifully and ready for my little morning monsters to gobble them up.

I opened their curtains to let the morning sun in, gently kissed their sweet heads and told them I made bacon. "Get up, brush your teeth, put on your clothes, and come on down for breakfast. I've made bacon and pancakes."

When I went into GG's room, I simply said, "Smell that? What is that? What's for breakfast?" and she sleepily looked up, then jumped up and yelled, "BACON!" 

Never have I seen those 2 move so fast.

I went into our room to get dressed, do my hair and face, and GG was downstairs, dressed, and sitting in her chair at the table before I got back downstairs.

The second (are we up to 2, or is it more than that, I've lost count) amazingly wonderful thing about this morning was the elimination of the, "But Mommy! I don't want to wear that!" fight that we've had every day of school so far. 

To eliminate this, I bought a hanging shelf doohickey that hangs from the closet bar and has 6 compartments. We have one for every day of the week for school, and one for our practice uniforms. The kids helped me pick out what they wanted to wear for the week, and in the morning they just grab the set from the next compartment, and they're done. No fight, no drama. 

The third amazingly awesome part of this morning was that I made the pancakes yesterday, put them in between layers of wax paper, inside a zipper bag in the fridge, so this morning I just nuked them and viola, instant awesome breakfast.

While the kids had breakfast I made and packed Conner's lunch. Morning crazy DONE.

We went into the living room to watch the news before going to the bus, and I looked at the clock. 7:45pm. I was amazed! 2 kids up, dressed, totally fed, lunch made, drama free, in only about 42 minutes.

I'm sure I'll have readers who think, "Oh yeah? So What? I do this every morning. And you don't churn your own butter, or gather your own eggs? And you call yourself a "Mom"." To you, my sweet reader, I'm proud of you and in awe. Being able to do this day after day is an amazing feet. I'm on day 6 of school mornings, and it has not been the sunshine and roses of "Leave It To Beaver" days of old. I'm new here. Bravo to those Mom's and Dad's who do this with grace and style each and every morning. Who makes a cooked breakfast for their kids every day and manages to leave the house with a swirl of butterflies, chirping robins, and bouncing baby bunnies following behind.

To the rest of us who are just really grateful that our kids are dressed in clean clothes, have seen a hair brush in the last week, and remembered to put on shoes, I raise my coffee mug to you too. This is hard work!  And don't get me started on the parents that do all of this and then go to an office/place of work outside of the house. Y'all aren't human.

So ... the answer to life, the universe, and everything could easily be bacon, or 42. As it took about 42 minutes from start to finish to have fresh bacon cooked, cooled, ready to eat, and 2 kids up, dressed, and not fighting before school.

What do you think?

Bacon, or 42?

Another Week

Here I find myself sitting at the computer able to write whatever I want, and I'm (almost) totally alone. Meaning, the humans in my life are all off doing their very important things, and the dogs, cat, fish, and I are here at home also doing very important things.

These very important things have been put on hold, however, because I am able to write. Write, Write, Write, Write, Write. All the beautiful words hiding in my fingers just waiting to come out. And no one is climbing on me, or needing a nose wiped, or another glass of water, or their brother/sister moved from "their spot" on the sofa. Just me and the computer, and it's blissful. The possibilities are endless, and yet I find myself looking at the clock and counting down the minutes I "really" have before I have to get back in the car and go get GG from preschool.

The idea that I'll be able to write on Wednesday is a fun fantasy, and I look forward to making it a reality. Along with all the other things that I have/had planned for my 3-hours, 3-times a week time-to-myself. 

I'm going to work out more.

I'm going to train for a 5-K.

I'm going to make the head-board out of pallet wood.

I'm going to prep all the meals for the week.

I'm going to prep breakfasts!

I'm going to get the kids rooms picked up and organized with pictures on their toy bins of what goes where.

I'm going to tend to the garden.

I'm going to design, build, and plant the raised bed in the front yard what will hold all the bulbs for next spring's flower garden.

I'm going to get dirt and fall plants for the flower pots out front and out back.

I'm going to get the suitcases back down to the basement.

And this is just the beginning of the lists and ideas that I have for these sacred 3-hour time-slots that I have each week. 

When in reality, on week 1, I came home and sat on the sofa and I think I watched TV, but I don't remember, because I was so kurfluxed as to what to do with myself. I think I bought a coffee at Starbucks too, but really, that was all I did.

On day 2, I shopped and got a pedicure. Which was also glorious, I'm not going to lie!

Today, however, today I went to Target to grab a few things I needed for packing Conner's lunches, I found some glorious "Dress Your Truth" jewelry on sale, and came home without spending a fortune. I then did laundry, which I had started last night, so by folding a dried load, and putting freshly washed load into dryer, and adding new load to washer made me feel like I had done 3 loads today. Then I hung up the kids closet organizers and put their clothes for each day of the week into the correct shelves. I wrote all of Genna's class activities on the family calendar, and I printed off Conner's school calendar so we know which days he needs to wear which color for spirit week next week.

I might get the hang of this Mom stuff here by the end of the school year.

Or like most other things, I'll jump in with 2 feet and then fizzle out. God, I hope not. One of the main reason's I'm home full time with them is so I can focus on them and their schooling. I do NOT want them to suffer the way I did with my ADHD, and as the Mom, I need to be on top of things, aware of what's going on, and not be caught off guard. 

Even though it was my kids first week of school, it was definitely me who felt the BACK to school jitters, excitement, and anxiety of a new year. A whole new generation of forgetting to do or return homework, forgetting it is picture day, forgetting to wear blue for peace day, forgetting lunch money or the lunch box. 

This Mom is trying desperatly to get her act together, get ahead of the train, and be on top of all these special and important parts of the kids lives.

Time to go get the girl ... 

wait ....

where is she again?

Easy Weekday Suppers For Crazy Weekdays

A friend of mine asked for ideas for quick weeknight suppers, so I sent her a few ideas. She then asked for recipes. Well, as we all know, there are only a handful of "recipes" I use, so I had to come up with directions on how to do what I was suggesting she do. I then took it one step further and added a prep list, and a shopping list.

Now, honestly, I 've gone over this so many times I'm blind. I'm sure there are things that I've missed and left out, so please leave comments on what you've found that I missed.

Hope you enjoy!

Busy Week Menu, How-To, and Shopping List

Saturday = Planning, Shopping, Prepping, and freezing

Shopping list: some of these are suggestions. Most of what I have listed is things that my family likes on/in taco’s, pizza, kabobs, stir-fry, and burgers. Pick and choose what your family likes. Things for specific recipes have been marked with an asterisk.

Proteins:

1-2 lbs (Depending on size of family) Ground Turkey or Beef for your Monday night burgers. You’re going for ¼ pound burgers, so 1 pound of ground meat will make 4 ¼ pound patties.

**If making Chicken Sandwiches or Pulled Pork Sandwiches, but chicken breasts or pork butt, and add BBQ sauce and or Ranch dressing to your canned/dried grocery list below.

1-2 lbs (Depending on size of family) Ground Turkey or Beef for your Taco’s on Tuesday.

1-2 lbs (Depending on size of family) Beef or Chicken for Kabobs on Wednesday

1-2 lbs (Depending on size of family) Beef, Chicken, Pork, Shrimp, or extra firm Tofu for Stir-fry on Thursday

1 Package peperoni and additional meats you would like on your pizza on Friday

Veggies:

Lettuce of your choice for your burgers and taco’s

Lettuce of your choice for salads to be sides for each night

2-3 large onions (for Burgers, Stir Fry, Kabobs)

2-3 Large Tomatoes (for Burgers, Taco’s, Pizza)

Pint of cherry or grape tomatoes (for Kabobs)

Pint of button or baby Portobello mushrooms (for Kabobs and Pizza)

Baby Carrots for stir fry, snacks, and lunches

Sugar Snap Beans for stir-fry, snacks, and lunches

Bean Sprouts for stir fry

Bok Choy Cabbage for stir-fry

1 bunch scallions

2-3 Bell peppers for kabobs and pizza, or more for snacks and lunches too

Jalapeño’s for taco’, stir fry, pizza, kabobs, and burgers if you like them as much as my husband does

Canned/Dried:

Rice or Rice Noodles for stir fry

Black Beans

Water chestnuts

Pizza Sauce

Olives for pizza

Condiments of choice for burgers = A-1, Heinz 57, Mayo, Mustard, BBQ sauce, etc.

Worcestershire Sauce

*Soy Sauce (or a jarred premade stir fry sauce)

*Hoisin Sauce (or a jarred premade stir fry sauce)

*Minced fresh ginger in a tube (or a jarred premade stir fry sauce)

Coconut Oil

*Italian Dressing

Salad dressing your family likes

*1 small can Tomato Paste

Taco Sauce (Unless you buy the boxed taco set with the sauce included. But if you’re like my family, the packet of sauce in the boxed set is never enough, so we always buy more)

Taco Seasoning (Unless you buy the taco boxed set with the seasoning included)

Refrigerated:

Shredded cheese of choice for Taco’s

Shredded cheese or sliced cheese of choice for Pizza’s

Sliced cheese of choice for Burger’s

Sour Cream or Greek Yogurt for Taco’s

Extra Firm Tofu (If using in place of animal protein for either stir fry or kabobs)

Gluten Free burger buns for Burgers (if your family is GF)

Gluten Free French Bread for Pizza’s (if your family is GF)

Minced Garlic

Inside Isles:

Buns for Burger’s

French Bread for Pizza’s

Flour or corn Tortilla’s for Taco’s

(Or buy the boxed set for taco’s which comes with shells, sauce, and spice mix)

Prep:

Wash and dry all fresh produce.

Cooking temps:

Visit this link.  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/articles/meat-and-poultry-temperature-guide.html

For Burger Night:

Make your burger patties. Using the ground beef or turkey, season the meat with salt, pepper, a teaspoon of minced garlic, and a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce to each pound of meat being used. Form the patties and use wax paper cut into 6 inch squares to separate the patties. Put them into a plastic zipper  bag and squeeze out the air to keep them fresh until Monday.

Slice onions and tomatoes for burger toppings, and place into zipper bags.

**If making the Chicken Sandwiches or Pulled Pork Sandwiches, you’ll want to put your chicken breasts or pork butt into the crock pot with chicken stock and herbs of your choice. Cook until it’s falling apart, shred and drain any extra liquid out. On Burger/Sandwich night, you’ll reheat your protein, toast your buns, and chow down.

For Taco Tuesday:

Cook your meat of choice with the seasoning packet per the box directions. Or, if not using the packaged stuff, add a little cumin, chili powder, and garlic powder to get the flavor you like. Or use the recommended amount of a premixed taco seasoning bought separately. Let the cooked meat mixture cool completely, then put in a sealable container in the ‘fridge. Grill a few of the scallions if you would like to add those to your tacos as well. You’ll need to keep just one table spoon for your stir fry sauce. If you want to add the rest of the scallions to your stir-fry or to your pizza, prep them for use in those dishes per instructions below.

Dice the tomato for your taco toppings. Don’t shred your lettuce just yet because it will turn brown before Tuesday.

For Kabobs Night:

Make the marinade:

                6oz Can of Tomato Paste

                2/3 cup of Italian dressing

                ¼ cup water

1 TBLS Worcestershire Sauce

Dice the meat or tofu and place in the marinade in a plastic zipper top bag. Smush around to be sure all the meat is coated then put in the freezer. Pull it out the night before you’re going to cook the Kabobs to thaw, and then keep in ‘fridge the day of.

Cut 1 or 2 bell pepper(s) into squares, and cut one onion in half from tip to root, then each half in half again the same direction, making 4 wedges, then each 4 in half to make a set of 8 triangular / pyramid shapes. Wash and rinse your cherry/grape tomatoes. Wipe your mushrooms with a wet paper towel to get dirt off. Prep and wash any other veggies that your family likes on kabobs. Put all prepped veggies into a plastic zipper top bag in the fridge. (If you want to wait until the day of to slice the onion, that’s smart too. They will make everything else taste and smell like onion if they’re in there too long. If you and your family likes onions a whole bunch and you’re going to be very pressed for time on kabob night, go ahead and prep them on Saturday and store them. You can also double bag them and or put them into another sealable container until you want to use them to keep them from stinking up the place.

Soak wooden skewers in water for at least 20 minutes, and then arrange veggies on skewers. Alternate slices of pepper, onion, mushroom, and tomato so you can get an even cook on each skewer. The night before Kabob night, you’ll skewer the meats, lay them on a cookie sheet, and cover the sheet with plastic wrap.

For Stir Fry Night:

Cut up your meat of choice into strips about the size of your index finger, then place in a plastic sealable baggie for freezing. Squish the air out, then arrange the meat pieces into a single layer flat in the bag. This makes it easier to thaw later.

Cut the baby carrots into pieces about the size of a 4-prong Lego. The other veggies are going to stay whole, or you’re going to cut them the night of stir fry. You’ll chop your cabbage the night of stir fry, to keep it from turning brow and getting yucky. As with the onions for Kabob night, you can either you’re your stir fry onions now and store them, or wait and duce them the night of stir-fry to keep them from stinking up the ‘fridge. Your snap peas, bean sprouts, and water chestnuts will be dumped in whole. You’ll need to drain the liquid from the water chestnuts before dumping them into the mix as well.

Make a pot of rice and freeze it. You can add a little water and microwave it the night of to have with your stir-fry. You can also use rice noodles, which cook very quickly, and can be made fresh the night of Stir-Fry.

Make your stir fry sauce and put into a glass jar with a lid, like a mason jar.

                1 cup water

                ¼ cup Hoisin Sauce

                1 Tablespoon Minced Fresh Ginger in the tube

                1 Tablespoon Minced Fresh Garlic from the jar

                1 Tablespoon chopped scallions

Place the lid on the jar, shake to mix, and keep in the ‘fridge until it’s time to cook stir-fry.

For French Bread Pizza Night:

Prep your toppings. Slice your peppers, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, etc. Whichever toppings your family wants on their individual pizza’s, go ahead and chop and slice them and package them in zipper top baggies. You can also add any leftovers from the weeks dinners as pizza toppings too. For instance, a taco pizza would be pretty tasty.

Sunday = Chill. Watch Football. Relax.  Make a big pot of chili and a big pot of vegetable soup to take to work for lunches. Make spaghetti for tonight.

Monday Night Cooking

Burgers, or Chicken Sandwiches, or Pulled Pork Sandwiches – Prepped on Saturday.

Pull patties out of ‘fridge, allow to come to room temp while you’re heating your gas grill, or inside grill pan, or “George Forman”, or oven broiler. Cook patties to your taste/temp preference, use a meat thermometer if you’re unsure of times and temps. Pull out your containers of burger fixings and toast buns if that’s your family’s preference.

Tuesday Night Cooking

Taco Tuesday – Prepped on Saturday

Don’t’ get stuck in a taco rut. You can use many different meats in tacos and they are all delicious. Shrimp, chicken, beef, pork, tofu, beans, fish, lobster, sausage, etc. The list is really endless.

Reheat taco meat in the microwave. Toast your shells in the toaster oven or regular oven. Grab your prepped toppings, and have a taco feast. Eat on paper plates so you can toss them and run out the door.

Pull out Kabobs to thaw. Once thawed, skewer, put on cookie sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and put in fridge for Wednesday night’s supper.

Wednesday Night Cooking

Kabobs – Prepped on Saturday and Tuesday. Pull everything out, cooktime should be around 15-20 minutes total.

Kabobs are as versatile as the tacos and sandwiches. Use whichever meat your family prefers. Chicken, beef, venison, shrimp, pork, or go meatless by using mushrooms or extra firm tofu in place of a meat.

Preheat your gas grill, or your inside grill pan on the stove, or your “George Foreman”, or your oven’s broiler. Depending on the cooking method, you’ll need to cook for 4-6 minutes per side, turning ¼ turns until all 4 sides are cooked through. Use a meat thermometer if you’re unsure of temps and times.

Thursday Night Cooking

Stir-Fry – Prepped on Saturday. Pull everything out, cook time should be less than 15-20 minutes total.

Again, your choice of meats and veggies are endless. Use what your family enjoys.

Preheat your wok or large sauté pan to medium high, add your coconut oil and let it get hot. Add onions and carrots to let them soften and begin to cook. Add meat of choice and cook through. Add remaining veggies, and cook no more than 2 minutes, stirring constantly just to warm them through. They’ll taste better the crunchier they are, and they’ll add texture that way so you’re not eating a bowl of mush. Add your sauce in the last minute, make sure it’s all hot, then spoon over rice.

Friday Night Cooking

French Bread Pizza’s

Nothing prepped for this ahead of time, all ingredients are in ‘fridge and ready to be opened, sliced, and put on pizza.

Preheat oven to 375, slice French bread lengthwise, add sauce of choice, cheese of choice, toppings of choice, and bake for 8-10 minutes until cheese is melted and bread is warm and crusty to your liking.

A Saucy week in review, early July 2014

Very interesting week here at The Saucy Dish homestead. My "Pump" challenge group is going very well! A friend has signed herself and me up for a 5K fun-run, and another friend is GIVING us for FREE a treadmill! Whoop Whoop! I lost 7 pounds during the prep for my colonoscopy, and I haven't gained it back! One day at a time. One second, one minute, one hour at a time is really all I can manage, but those minutes, hours, and days have been adding up, and I'm doing really well! I'm also really proud of myself for both my exercising and food choices. There have been moments of weakness, moments where I looked back and thought, "ugh, that was really dumb", but over all, this has been a stellar week.

Ok, I'll back up a little. 

Thursday of last week started with a beautiful surprise in the form of My Honey! He gave us the fabulous gift of his presence. His scheduled day off was Friday, but since that was a holiday, he needed to pick another day off as well and he chose Thursday, giving him a 5-day weekend home with US. It was great! I hadn't realized how much I'd been missing him. 

Friday (7/4) was our 7 year wedding anniversary. And, since it is also The Fourth Of July, we took the kids to see fireworks for the first time. Friends of ours invited us out to their house for supper and to go to a neighboring towns' fireworks display. It was a lot of fun. Easy to get into and out of. We put the girl child in her jammies and pull-up before heading home, and she was asleep before we hit the county line.  

However, we did receive the extremely sad news of the untimely passing of one of our other friends, and a coworker of Mr. Saucy. Understandably, the news put a quick and sad end to the evenings festivities. The news came in right as we were dropping off our friends back at their home.

Saturday was spent with Mr. Saucy spending the day with his friends, remembering the friend that passed. And to be honest, I really can't remember what the kids and I did on Saturday. I was worried about my Honey and his brothers and sisters who were mourning their loss.

Sunday was the prep-day for my colonoscopy on Monday. It involved a clear liquid diet for 2/3 of the day, then in the evening I started the flushing. Quite literally. It flushed me out, and I flushed the potty quite a bit. I spent the day upstairs in bed most of the day. Knowing I wouldn't get much sleep that night because there was another scheduled dose of flushing-meds at 1:30am, and a prescribed water-drinking regiment following that, I wanted to nap and rest as much as possible during the day on Sunday. I also wanted to stay away from the food in the house. Out of sight, out of mind, right? RIIIIIIGHT!

Monday was the scope, and all seems fairly clear. There was a 7mm polyp removed, and the results of the analysis of the tissue should be back within 2 weeks. Being a self proclaimed food addict, I had been thinking of what I wanted to eat as my first meal for about 32 hours, 47 minutes, and 19 seconds. Give or take. Totally thought I wanted a foot long sub from subway. Yes, I know, that's a whole lotta gluten on a fresh clean tummy. But, after the procedure, I decided I wanted a sit-down family lunch at a real restaurant that had menus. Menus brought to the table. And a person with a smiling face asking me what I want. Then a person bringing me said requested food. Then a person taking away the dirty dishes. My only action will be to decide what to eat. We chose a chain restaurant that has a fantastic children's menu and a salad bar. 

I still wasn't really sure what I wanted to eat. Am I going to take this opportunity to stay clean and fresh and healthy, or am I going to gunk up the innards back up with grease and crap? You know, the report COULD still come back in saying the dreaded "C" word on the tissue sample, which may result in a lot more tests, cleaning drugs, maybe even chemo, and I haven't eaten anything in a day and a half, so I can spare the calories to get junk. Right?!?

When the smiling face came to the table to say hi and introduce herself, she asked if we would like cheese fries as an appetizer. Without even a FLINCH, I yelled, "YES! Yes we would!" I then ordered a cheese burger with BBQ sauce and onion rings ON the burger. And the salad bar. Gotta admit, I was irritated when I got to the end of the salad bar and discovered they did not have honey mustard dressing. Grrrr. So, I chose blue cheese. The cheese fries came, and they were OK, but not great. Very greasy tasting to me. After my salad, I went back for a big plate of orange wedges and grapes for the kids. When lunch came, I cut my burger in half and started to eat. It, too, tasted like pure grease and salt! Not sure if the kitchen just really really needed to change out their fry-oil, or if my freshly disinfected body was uber sensitive to it, but everything just tasted like old fry grease. I didn't finish my burger.

By the time the check came, I WANTED TO GO HOME! When we got home, the greasy lunch came right back out. And I went back to bed to go to sleep. I didn't eat anything else for the rest of the night.

Tuesday, I woke up feeling pretty good! Mr. Saucy went to work and the kids and I had a fairly typical summer day. A little cartoons, some games, and some time at the pool. I registered both kids for the fall season of T-Ball. Mr. Saucy had a charity soccer game planned for that night, so the girl child and I took the boy to Whardo. We then went across the street to get a fancy iced coffee for me and a juice for her. I grabbed a free bag of used coffee grounds for my garden on the way out the door too.

We returned to the parking lot to wait for practice to be over. While we waited, we enjoyed our beverages, listened to the Frozen soundtrack, and I watched as a MASSIVE thunder-boomer came rolling in. When the top half of a tree in the parking lot snapped off, I called my Honey to see if he was REALLY going to play the game. I also told him I was fully expecting to see a witch on a bicycle fly past the window at any moment. We made it through the storm, came home, and within about 20 minutes, Mr. Saucy came through the door as well. The game was called off on account of the storm. 

I signed Mr. Saucy up to be a BeachBody coach under me, making me an Emerald level coach, giving him the discounts, and giving me the ability to receive free leads. I also made a decision... I had eaten only plants all day. I. Felt. Great. I felt light, energetic, bouncy, happy, and clean.

Wednesday morning I had to confess to my challenge group that I hadn't worked out since Saturday. I then had to get in 2 workouts to try to catch up. But would I have the energy to do a weightlifting workout routine after eating only grease on Monday, then only plants on Tuesday? 

YES. Not only did I have the energy, I felt great! Oh, don't get me wrong, the routines are still HARD, I still despise lunges and "hover's", but while I was sweating, I didn't feel like I was oozing. Everything just felt better, cleaner, and fresher. It's hard to describe, I just felt really GOOD.

Dinner last night was cod, sautéed in a garlic infused olive and coconut oil, then placed on a bed of yellow cherry tomatoes from the back yard, green peas, and a sauce of white wine, lime juice, and the garlic infused oil. It was FANTASTIC!

So... Wait... That's 2 days eating a diet of fish and plants only. Interesting. This feels "right" to me. This feels good. This makes since and makes me happy.

One second, then one minute, then one hour, building up to one day at a time. That's all I can muster. And that's all I can claim. How many times have I proclaimed something on this blog, or on Facebook, to only defy my own words mere moments later?

Today is Thursday, and it's beautiful outside. Nice breeze, the kids are playing nicely, and the boy child is even depooping the yard. A chore that HE chose to be his this week. My lunch today came mostly from the backyard garden. Canned tuna fish mixed with peeled, seeded, and diced cucumbers, a little vidalia onion, a little mayo, salt and pepper stuffed into big beautiful yellow tomatoes that I scooped out the seeds and guts to make little bowls. They were good!

I now have 3 packs of on-sale pork pieces in the slow cooker for Mr. Saucy and the kids. They all love shredded BBQ pork, so I'm making a big batch of just that so I can have it on hand to whip up family dinners and lunches quickly.  I'll sub out a fish on the days I feel the need for meat when I'm cooking something land-animal based for the crew, and we'll ALL eat more fish more often. 

In fact, I saw a recipe the other day for fish tostadas, and since Aunt Gumbdrop sent us a tortilla press as a gift, I can make fresh gluten free corn tortillas here at home. With the tomatoes, peppers, and herbs growing out back, I'll just need to add some store bought pineapple to the mix for a dreamy fresh summer salsa, and 3/4 of the Saucy family already loves beans, so a seafood tostada night sounds like it's definently in the works.

Well, that 'bout wraps up the goings on here. Dogs are still happy and healthy, which reminds me, we started giving Homer St. John's Wart, and it has done an amazing transformation on his anxiety. He use to howl and cry and leap into my lap when the fire trucks went by, but now he just lifts his head, looks at me, waits for them to pass, and puts his head back down. Unless he's outside. He still howls at them when he's outside. Kevin is still the neighborhood pigmy puma. He roams freely, visiting his other families for belly rubs and head scratches. But he always comes home to his Mommy and Daddy at night. Sleeping on one of us, purring loudly. And, I feel obligated to mention that the fish and snails are all doing well, as well. Well, mostly. I think Ceasar, our beta fish, has an aquatic ailment of sorts, but we'll let nature run it's course.

Until next time, stay hungry, play with your food, and get dirty!

-Carter Ann

Week in Review

As you noticed, I did not do a Tuesday Transformation this week. I have been so busy working on my first Team Challenge Group that I didn't remember to blog about my food and weigh loss struggles each day.

So, instead, I'll do a quick week in review. 

It's a crazy hot day here in VA today, so the kids and I are hanging out inside with the AC. Patrick has to work late tonight, so he went in late this morning so he could get the grass cut before work. My lord, I love that man! I did some weeding and then got out the weed killer and sprayed the buggers popping up between the cracks in the driveway, sidewalk, flower beds, and over taking the patio. I don't like to use the weed wacker along the fense line because it cuts into the wood, so I try to keep the grass etc dead along the fense line. The kids playground area also needed a good spray of growth killer, so since it was going to be an inside day for us, I went ahead and sprayed everything this morning. I harvested some of the yellow cherry tomatoes and a few green beans and I pulled back and supported some tomato plants.

Since you're undoubtedly wondering, "What is the Team Challenge Group" she mentioned, I'll tell you.

I'm leading a group of family and friends in a health and fitness challenge for the next 90 days. Some of us are using "Les Mills PUMP", which is a weight lifting program from BeachBody, the company that I'm a health and fitness coach for. This is a program that I absolutely ADORE! It's hard as all get-out, but totally customizable because you put the amount of weight you want onto your barbell. And, the set COMES WITH THE WEIGHTS! I bought an extra set so that Patrick and I could do them together. This was the class that I too at the gym when I was a member there, and I wished they had offered it every single day because I loved it so much. I would do spin class, then pump. Or I would do pump, then yoga. I spend 2 hours a day at the gym when the kids were little, and it was glorious!

We're in our first week, and not everyone is doing PUMP. Most members in my group are using the group as an accountability tool to keep them honest. Knowing they need to check in daily and report on their physical activity and eating is what they need.

Since I'm one of those honest salesmen, I wasn't going to keep anyone from being in my group because they couldn't buy the product. Ideally, yes, I need and want the sales, and the tools that come with the program are worth EVERY PENNY, but if I have friends and family in the group who will benefit by my help, by the groups help, and ultimately be healthier, stronger, and happier, then that's just as important to me.

It would be very difficult to do the challenge without being on Facebook, because that's how we communicate. I have set up a "group" in Facebook that allows me to post the information pertinent to each days activities and goals. It's a lot of fun for me to be the coach too. Remember that whole honest salesman thing...well, I can't and won't tell someone to do something that I, myself, wouldn't do. I was that way as a manager too. You'll see me right along beside my employees doing the grunt work too.

This past week consisted of me posting on my personal Facebook page about the upcoming group and looking to see if anyone was interesting in being a part of it. I got several people asking to join. 17 in total! Only 4 of us are doing the official PUMP program. My coach, my husband, a friend of ours, and myself. Everyone else in the group is using us as motivation and accountability, like I said before.

After reading the Transformation Tuesday posts, a friend of mine suggested I spend a day to prepare healthy food for the week. I've heard this as a suggestion several times before but didn't know what that REALLY meant. Was she cutting celery and carrot sticks and putting them in ziplocks in the fridge, was she cooking meals to freeze and nuke later, was she putting raw foods in marinades and cutting veggies for quick supper prep upon getting home at night? Well... Yeah. She was doing all of the above. But 2 of her suggestions really struck a chord with me, and I followed suit. 

She suggested taking a family pack of chicken or a pork butt and cooking it in the crock pot with mild herbs until it falls apart. Then, she has precooked shredded chicken or pork to use in recipes throughout the week. She can add it to sandwiches, salads, or use it in tacos or enchiladas, etc. She also passed along a recipe for a black bean and corn salad. She knows how much I love corn, and since it's summer and in season, she knew I'd love it. 

I did the chicken in the crockpot. I added dried rosemary, thyme, and bay leaves. We ate it hot that night for supper with rice and peas. Then put the leftovers in the fridge. Plus, we kept the broth, so I have chicken broth to use in other things for the week as well. Patrick cooked the rice in the broth that night, and it was dreamy.

For the black bean salad, I didn't follow her recipe because I'm in my pre-colonoscopy prep-week, and can't have corn as of today, so didn't want to waste what I didn't finish. I soaked the beans over night, then cooked them with bay leaves, dried thyme, and salt the next morning. We had left over grilled bell peppers that I chopped up and added to the cooked and cooled beans. I drizzled extra virgin olive oil all over, added more salt and black pepper, then added a touch of balsamic vinegar. Stir stir stir, taste taste taste. I love the crunch of fresh vegetables, and vidalia onions are in season too, so I diced up half of one into pretty small chunks and added that too. And, when it comes to my black bean refrigerator salads, as I call them, I can't have enough fresh herb, so out to the garden I went. A lot of flat leaf parsley, a little fresh rosemary, sage, oregano, and a good bit of basil and chives. Sort, chop, mix, stir, taste... YUM! Even Conner, at age 5 adores it. 

The next day, lunch was a spectacular collection of shredded chicken, bean salad, fresh beets, and grilled portobello mushrooms.

And, as an added bonus, I signed my first coach. This means that I get to teach her how to be an awesome BeachBody coach as well. If I get another coach under my wing, I'll be promoted to "Emerald" which means I'll receive sales from the customers who purchase BeachBody products from the TV infomercials. Everyone who signs up and/or purchases product either online or through the phone gets their own personal coach, and I'll be in the database to receive those customers and help them as well. BeachBody is NOT a pyramid scheme, as I don't get any money from my coaches sales. Their business is their business. My coach doesn't get any money from my sales either. We get points based on how well our team does, and those points add up to prizes etc, but it's not like Pampered Chef or Mary Kay in the realm of the more people you sign, the more money you build from their hard work. And there are no horrible parties! Ugh! I despise the direct sales home parties with a passion. The pressure, guilt, etc... It's brutal.

In addition to all the health and fitness joy, I had my first Etsy sale this week too! A friend of mine bought 2 pint glasses, and she should be getting them today. I'm looking forward to hearing from her. Want to be sure they got to her without breaking, and make sure she likes them.

I got a blow torch this week too and tried using it to melt the edges of the freshly cut glass to get that professional looking rolled edge. This didn't work very well. I ended up shattering more glass than smoothing edges. I'll practice more when it's not over 100 degrees outside. I need a vise grip that I can mount onto something stable to hold the pieces. For this first practice round, I put the pieces on a cookies sheet and placed the cookie sheet inside our outside grill. Some of them worked, some of them did not. Some wine bottles are MUCH thicker than others. I'm starting to learn by feel which ones will cut well and which ones will be a disaster. The same will hold true for melting them as well, I'm sure.

I cut several hurricanes to put in the Etsy shop this past week. I need to get more pint and rocks glasses cut as well. I think I'm out of pint glasses after giving the first set to FunnyGrandDaddy, and selling the other set this week.

I added wooden trays made from pallet wood to the inventory as well. I need to get the pictures together for them, get them posted in my shop, and get more cut and put together. They're beautiful!

The McClellands camped out in the back yard this past weekend too. It was fun. It really was. All 4 humans and 2 gigantic dogs slept in the tent. I bought a tent that could sleep 6, and I'm SO glad I did! It has enough room for the 2 queen air mattresses and room in between for us to play games and walk without stepping on the beds and sleeping bags. We chopped wood, had a nice fire in the fire pit, and grilled our fresh veggie supper on the grill. We ate outside by candle/tiki-torch light, then sang songs and ate dessert of fresh blueberries and grilled peaches drizzled with honey. It really was a great time.

In addition to the events already told of above, we went to the pool, played in the sprinkler, had a water balloon fight with the neighbor, I managed to read another few pages of a book without pictures, and we gave the house a deep clean. 

Oh yeah, and the girl-child flushed a bath toy down the upstairs potty, requiring us to enlist the help of our next door neighbor (a plumber) to auger, then pull the toilet to fish out the toy. Which, funny as it is, was a fish. Exactly like this one.

At least she picked a toy that we had a duplicate of, so I could easily let our neighbor-rescuer know what he was looking for.

Hope you all had a fun week yourselves, and hopefully ours will be ever so slightly less exciting next week.

Stay hungry, play with your food, get dirty, and have fun.