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Episode 009- A Beginner’s Guide to Whole30 – My Experience

April 18, 2019 by Laura

In this episode, I do a deep dive into my thoughts and learnings from completing Whole30 in March 2019. If you are contemplating starting Whole30 yourself or know a friend who is, this episode will be a nice perspective to listen to (especially if you’re looking from a point of view from a non-fitness guru, like myself).

Unfortunately, eating well and exercising is not a passion for me nor is it something that I easily make time for in my life. So, attempting to do Whole30 was a HUGE stretch for me. I may have become a beast of a woman at times because I was hungry for stuff I wanted and couldn’t have, but I did see some benefits.

I hope you enjoy listening! If you think it was informative and helpful, consider sharing it with a friend!

Show Notes
This post contains affiliate links. You don’t pay any extra, and I earn a small commission. I’d also like to call attention that if prices I mentioned in this episode were prices I paid at the current time and may not reflect the prices you would pay at the time of reading or listening to this.

Melissa Hartwig- Whole30
The Purpose Show- Allie Casazza
Real Plans

Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Program That Works (book): by Evelyn Tribole and Eleyse Resch


Top Products/Food Items I loved during Whole30:
Sparkling Water (made from my Soda Stream)
Grapefruit
Cierro Prosciutto
Sweet potatoes
Primal Kitchen BBQ Sauce & Steak Sauce

Primal Kitchen Salad Dressings

Primal Kitchen Ketchup, Mustard & Mayo
Nonstick skillet for eggs

“Tea” Parties With My Girls….the Love and Not So Love

February 2, 2018 by Laura

One of the things I love and, if I can be honest, sometimes equally dread, are tea parties with my two girls. I haven’t gone out of my way to try to raise “girly girl” girls, but I think that’s exactly what is happening. 😃 Tea parties with my grandmas, sisters and mom are treasured memories, so of course, I’m going to try to recreate that with my daughters, who are five and four years old right now.

The actual attendance of these tea parties is quite delightful. Full of random conversations, laughing, occasional sibling bickering, and repeated yelling at Rusty (our dog) to stay away from our pridefully selected treats. However, the preparation (which can truly take hours) and the clean up can be grueling for the lack of patience I’ve sadly developed in motherhood. So, those parts are not exactly my cup of tea. (see what I did there?! 😃 )

Dress Attire
If the girls know it’s a tea-party-kind-of-Saturday, they’ll wake up and start picking out the perfect dress up attire. It never fails one wants the blue tiara and the other wants their light up dress shoes, but we don’t know where the blue tiara is and we can only find one shoe! So, the hunt begins and because of my disorderly housekeeping skills, we spend way too much time getting all of this together.

Setting the Ambiance
The perfect music needs to be on, which is the Frozen soundtrack. Where the oldest is covering her ears to the songs about Anna saying she only loves Elsa and my youngest is singing along only to the Anna songs because she loves Anna and knows it bothers her sister.

Food/Drink Preparation
Here’s a fun fact for you, the girls don’t even like tea! So, they get their own tea-pot with water in it and I get my own tea pot with actual tea. And, it can never be just “tea”…I’ve tried! Crackers, cheese, cookies, and strawberries are a must at the table and have to be displayed with colorful dishes. On my last grocery trip to Trader Joes, I saw these mini heart cookies that screamed “My girls will love these!”. They are dark chocolate covered short bread cookies with a touch of pink and white sparkles….the perfect Valentine’s Day and tea party treat. They taste amazing! I couldn’t find the product on Trader Joes site, but just know, they sell at an actual store for $2.99 USD a box. So, go get a box before their seasonal Valentine’s Day selection goes away!

Clean Up
Once everything is gobbled up and everyone is done taking turns pouring “tea” out of the pot, I’m usually worn out by now. I know the right thing is to teach them to clean up after themselves and share the cleaning burden, but wow, that is easier said then done. It’s so much faster to just do it myself. It’ll be something on I work on in the future. Until then, I always mentally say “next tea party” and move on. 😃

Well there you have it….the official recap of our “tea” parties.  If you’d be interested in learning the history behind actual real tea parties and not the make-shift tea parties I put together, go check out this post at CulinaryTrace. Ermi is a Chef who loves sharing the history behind food. It’s pretty fascinating. Look for her on instagram as well (@culinarytrace).

 

What are some of the love-kinda hate things you get to cherish with your kids? It’s ok. This is a safe place to share. 😃

SUMMARY:
Product: Trader Joes Dark Chocolate Mini Heart Cookies
(Included amazon link so you could see exact product details.)
Purchased at: Trader Joes local store
Price: $2.99 USD
This post contains affiliate links. You don’t pay any extra, and I earn a small commission. 

My Favorite Not-So-Good-For-You Treat

January 25, 2018 by Laura

Everyone has their little odd facts about them. One of mine for sure is my favorite candy treat. I have a serious problem with how much I LOVE Sour Punch Straws (especially the strawberry flavor) and pair it with a 20 ounce bottle of COLD Dr. Pepper where you drink the soda through one of the sour punch straws. OH MY GOODNESS! I LOVE it!

Sour Punch 2 Ounce Strawberry Sour Straws, 24 Count

Dr Pepper Group Shot

It’s a shame that my favorite go to road trip and movie watching snack isn’t kale chips with some dried fruit. Nope. Good ol’ processed, chemically induced, sour sweet goodness for me. Now, it’s possible since I only save this combo for the most special occasions that I still love it so much. Or the fact that it reminds me of my first freedom as a child of walking down the street to the corner gas station to get it or the long, fun road trips from college back to my home town with my best friend.

Regardless, people love what they love. I love that we’re all unique and have these hidden little gems of surprise in us. My husband still looks at me like I’m a crazy seven-year old in a mid-thirties woman body sipping on a Dr. Pepper through a candy straw, but after ten years of marriage, he has to know….my quirks are here to stay!

What’s your favorite not-so-good-for-you treat? Or something your family/friends see you eating/drinking and have that look of “what in the world are you doing?!” I would LOVE to know!
SUMMARY
Product(s) :
Sour Punch Straws
Dr Pepper
Purchase at: Local gas station, grocery store, or get them on Amazon in bulk if you don’t have them near you
Price:Both are under $2.00 USD at a gas station

This post contains affiliate links. You don’t pay any extra, and I earn a small commission.

Hi, I'm Laura! I absolutely love sharing all the things I LOVE with anyone who can benefit from hearing. So, whether you're in the mood to learn about a product/service or just want a little randomness thrown into your life, you've come to the right place! Read More…

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