Meal Plan Week #1 and Simplifying Life

Wow what a week and it's only Tuesday! We are loving every minute of this sunshine we have in Boise. The meal plan this week features three grilled dinners - delish! Below is our meal plan for the week It is loosely based on our bountiful basket we got on Friday! :)

Monday:

Veggie Frittata

Chicken Lettuce Wrap w/ Grapes

Sweet Potato Hash

Tuesday:

Veggie Frittata

Cobb Salad

Crockpot Chili

Wednesday:

Banana Bread

Chicken Lettuce Wrap w/ Grapes

Grilled Burgers w/ Salsa and Guac

Thursday:

Freezer Waffles

Cobb Salad

Grilled Bacon Wrapped Chicken w/ Sweet Potato Fries

Friday: 

Freezer Waffles

Leftovers!

Grilled Steak w/ Sauteed Veggies

Our Bountiful Basket. Ain't she a beaut?!

Last night I made the sweet potato hash and my sister-in-law and best friend came over right after I made it. They both took a bite and asked for more and more! They couldn't believe it was Paleo. It was awesome and definitely one of my favorites so far.

I'll be honest. I reaaallllyyy dreaded meal planning and making a grocery list for all of this! But once I started I realized it wasn't so bad at all. I keep telling myself that I CAN do this and it's not easy in the beginning.

 I absolutely adore The Duplooy Duo! I get a lot of my Paleo meal planning inspiration from them plus Emily writes reviews for awesome natural products that I am now hooked on. Check them out!

So far I have had a few cheats :( Today when I was working, one of the sweet little boys I nanny wanted to share some of his sandwich with me during our lunch! It was so cute and so hard to resist his kind gesture. I totally ate it and felt guilty at first. But he thought it was great we shared a sandwich! So it doesn't really count as a cheat. :) Other times have been TOTAL accidents! I have felt pretty groggy and wiped out this week but that's to be expected. I keep reminding myself how good I'm going to feel once I get the hang of things! A little discipline goes a long way. :) 

Book review time! Yippee! I'm going to try and read one book a week and post what I think about it here.

Last week's book was The Simplicity Project by Corie Clark and OH MY WORD IT'S AMAZING! If you're a scatterbrained, unorganized, always late, always frazzled, stressed, no idea how you made it this far in life person like me, this book is going to become your best friend.

You can get a free download of it here. 

I adored how she went through every part of life and just plain helps simplify it and prioritize it. No gimmicks, no guilt trips, no weird tricks. Just simplifying life! I have become so much more productive and relaxed since implementing her tips. She gives a list of resources at the end of each chapter to help with the advice she's given as well. This book has been a huge blessing!

Well that is all for now! Leave any comments, reviews and feedback you have in the comments section. I want to make this blog the best it can be! Be back soon! 

Paleo Shmaleo

Hey friends! It's been a while since I've blogged! I plan to be a lot more active around here, so stick around to see what's in store. :)

Our blog is going to be taking a different direction from what it has been over the course of the past year. We want to document the coming days and weeks here so we can look back and see all the fun times we've had and the progress we've made from where we are today. We're also hoping to connect with some others out there who are living a similar lifestyle to the one we've chosen. (So blessed to be in circumstances where we get to choose that lifestyle and our circumstances don't force us otherwise! Anyway. . . )

Recently I (Lorna) have decided to try the Paleo diet again. Why? To be honest it's because I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. To be clear though, here are some reasons I am NOT going Paleo:

1. To lose weight
2. To be trendy
3. To be righteous towards others

I have been in a slump with my health ever since the start of my junior year. I've been suffering from depression, moodiness, lack of energy, poor sleep, fatigue and a foggy mind for a while now. I slur my words, don't have the energy I normally have had and don't have the positive outlook I have had on life. It's really lame! Here are some reasons I AM going Paleo:

1. Gain my energy back
2. Increase my exercise levels
3. Cook more for our household
4. A clearer mind
5. Better sleep
6. Support local farmers as much as I can
7. Overall better health and well being

I am an absolute firm believer that what you put into your body and how you take care of it is how it will treat you! I've chosen the Paleo diet not because I think it's what is best for everyone, but because I think it will be what's best for me. The Lord has given me talents, tasks and abilities and I need a body that is well taken care of to carry out these responsibilities to the best of my ability.

I am not going strict Paleo but I'm going to stick to it the best I can! I mean, holy Hannah, I LOVE cheese! If I fail, well I'm going to get right back up and keep going. I won't remember that as a fail but instead give myself a pat on the back for trying! I'm not going strict Paleo because occasionally food is what brings my friends and family together. I don't want to make a big deal out of it and make others uncomfortable about it by not eating with them. Plus a "cheat" every now and then will be nice!

I also need accountability to not become self righteous about it. Sometimes it's really frustrating to see friends post on Facebook about how they're always sick and not feeling well. Yet, as you scroll down the rest of their they willingly document their all nighters, Taco Bell runs and mass amounts of pizza consumption. Um, HELLO! Can you not compute?! You CHOOSE what you put into your body, your sleep patterns and exercise levels! Allllll those decisions are things I never took seriously until this last year though, so I cannot preach too much about it! So if you ever catch me shoving this down someone's throat, please catch me and tell me.

I will hopefully be posting our meal plans and grocery list on here every week and I'm going to try and plan them around the wonderful produce program of Bountiful Baskets. Look it up! It's amazing! See if there's one in your area! You can thank me later. :) I'll be doing some freezer meals and slow cooker meals as well for those ridiculously busy days that sometimes pop up in our schedule. I ADORE Bountiful Baskets because it's so inexpensive (price checked what the $20 produce was that I got one week - I would have paid $63 for it at Winco!), the people/volunteers are awesome and they stick with the smaller, family run farms instead of supporting the conglomerate growers. As someone whose both sides of the family are farmers that's a heck yes in my book!

So with all that being said I am really excited about this and I feel empowered now that I have my life somewhat back under control. I have been doing a slight Paleo diet this past week and already can tell a difference! If you have any questions or resources you feel would be helpful shoot me a message!

Love to you all,

W & L