When you try new things

Everyone was talking about it, so we finally caved.

You can buy the product online in bulk, you can also buy them per pound or you can find a local store and purchase it for $10 almost a pound. At least where I am located. I am talking about IMPOSSIBLE plant based meat.

We caved and paid the $10 at local store and absolutely are hooked! It’s almost dangerous how delicious the burger really it. Here is a photo of how it turned out.

My husband made his famous homemade russet potato French fries in the air fryer and of course we enjoyed all the fixings!

Now as you know or may not know, my daughter is incredibly picky. When I say picky, I mean she will absolutely starve herself if she doesn’t like the food. It’s horrible!

For some reason ever since I switched her diet, implemented new flavors and color, she is changing. Her attitude, her energy, her focus, even her communication! I mean I know it sounds pretty crazy to think that within just days there could be actual effects, but there has been!

Now I won’t claim it is due to the diet, but it sure has perfect timing.

As we continue this journey together as a family and navigate creativity, the dinner time together has been really great. For instance the burger was last night and tonight we had a Crispy Parmesan seasoned tofu. It was delicious and baked to perfection! Gracie ate every bite and even devoured her asparagus.

Here is a snap from our crispy tofu.

My Personal favorite vegan ranch mashers, pan fried asparagus and this tasty tofu!

Looking forward to sharing more and hoping you stick around for my recipes to come!

I can’t believe it!

Almost four months is what is took to be taken more seriously.

If you aren’t up to date with what’s going on, let me share it in a nut shell.

I chose to practice a vegan/plant based diet in February of 2020 and just as of 3 days ago, my family has joined me. Now dont think I was capable of getting them to go cold turkey, but I would say 85% of their diet has switched to vegan/plant based.

Breakfast, lunch and dinners have all been cooked and prepared by me. I’ve worked very hard to try and accommodate their favorite meals and transform them with vegan/plant nutrition.

We started on night one with Spaghetti, night two was crispy teriyaki tofu bites and tonight being night three was Friday taco night.

Here are a few shot I got before devouring the meals. I promise to get better at sharing shots of finished product, as well as the process of cooking the meal. I plan to share the process and recipes with you all.

Night #1: Home made spaghetti sauce. I had no tomato paste, so I made a bean paste. It worked, but that is why the color is tad orange. I also made the artisan bread from scratch. The topping is a cashew parm.

Night #2: The process to this tofu wasn’t so bad. Baked and then stir fried. Turned out fantastic!

Tonight being night 3 and I failed to get another final product photo. I do have left overs though and I will be making some.

Thanks for reading and I’m looking forward to continuing to share. The recipes are coming and that is even more exciting!

Should I share more?

February 8th 2020 is when I made the cut. The cutting of meat out of my diet that is.

You see I have personally ALWAYS struggled with gut issues. Ever since my first visit to the Gastro specialist at 15 years old. 2 scopes later and came to the conclusion I had severe acid reflux or GERD.

I mean, eating refried beans would cripple me and put me to the ground in a ball if I ate it. Now, do my stomach issues have anything to do with the fact that my diet as a child consisted of probably what most of your diets consisted of. Such as meats, cheeses, processed snacks, deli meats and even things like the beloved ice cream.

Quiet possibly it could of been being 3 months old and the doctor telling my mom to feed me rice cereal at such a young age. All in order to help fill my stomach to sleep better. There are studies about eating rice cereal as a baby linking to gastro issues as you age. Don’t believe me, just do your own homework. For me, the real beauty to technology nowadays is the simplicity to learning and self educating.

Now I know my blog has revolved around lifestyle as a mom or writing fun tips and how to’s from my personal experiences, but that was then and this is now. Things change, interests shift and education can alter the way we think dramatically. Which is exactly why I am here writing about this now.

From here on out I still plan to share SOME of the same type of posts, but I plan to begin sharing with you what I learn and how I am changing my life as well as my families.

My husband is a big meat eater and as most people in the world I have fed my daughter the average American diet with a small smidgen of the diet I prefer. However after 3.5 strong months of sticking to becoming vegan, my husband is now seeing how serious I am. So much that he is now being open to trying to shift his own health and diet as well! You guys my heart is exploding with happiness just knowing that I have a team mate in this now. Knowing we will, TOGETHER be learning how to live better, healthier, happier and teach our daughter the same. I’m simply thrilled.

I was inspired today to share some of my meals over this last almost 4 months, because tonight is the FIRST night that I’ll be cooking a Vegan meal for all 3 of us and not just myself!

I will not be attaching the recipes, but soon I plan to share it all. For now just some photos and short explanations of what I’m sharing. Thank you for reading, thank you for being here and I look forward to sharing food conversation with you.

First Vegan Meal made. I had no idea what I was doing, but I made it happen and it turned out splendid!

Bean burger inspired and all
Homemade without book recipe!

I’ve cut white rice from my diet as of currently. My body does not digest it well and I prefer brown rice or quinoa.

Eggplant parm- homemade sauce with my favorite nutritional yeast sprinkled over vegan noodles.

Seaweed noodles. Let me just say they did not disappoint! SO GOOD! I found them at Fred Meyer!

Power salad!

While I was still eating white rice, this was one of the other meals I had made. It has the meatless crumble, which I prefer only eating soy 1-2 times a well max.

South Western taco Salad inspired and from scratch. I have a little secret on how I marinate those peas… 😉

It doesn’t look so pretty, but the taste is ON POINT!

I’m basically obsessed with Vegan ranch since I haven’t eaten dairy in FOREVER. Due to dairy allergies.

Also made my first homemade vegan artisan bread.

Thanks for scrolling ☺️

Sanity savior with Instacart and Being a stay at home Mom

Tisk’ task the list that will forever last.

As a full-time stay-at-home mom, personally I can feel like the to-do list is always in my face and never caught up. After talking to a large variety of different types of moms they all had one similar thing to say and it was, “There is never enough time in the day for all the things.”

Now the cool thing is that, as time progresses so does growth with options and things available.

When I first started using Instacart and learning about the flexibility it allowed me to have I was hooked. Who can argue the fact that I can now vacuum and grocery shop at the same time?

What about the idea of being able to play with your kiddo and get your grocery list together all at once.

I know all to well how toddlers are a lot of energy and it’s tough to keep up with them on top of daily tasks as a mother, wife and some ladies even run side hustles for income.

We haven’t even gotten to the fact that moms need time for themselves, but even then we are tending to other tasks. Christmas shopping for gifts, birthday picking, decoration ideas, the next event for a family gathering and I am sure there is much more.

Well now you can tend to a nice warm bath and some quiet time for you all while grocery shopping and having it delivered FOR FREE after you are all done. You don’t have to pick up the food, hassle with parking, dig through shelves or leave that nice warm bath.

Here are my top three favorite reasons why Instacart benefits me as a Stay-at-home Mom.

1. DELIVERY!

This is a saint solution and has saved me MULTIPLE tantrums in a grocery store. One thing in particular I love is how you can have your list made up first thing in the morning to be delivered later that afternoon. I had decided to make spaghetti for dinner that night and before my order was delivered I was able to still add my sauce to the order. If I would had gone to the store and shopped, I would of had to go back. Saved me time right there!Also what toddler wants to just look at food for an hour? Not mine kid! She is cool for about 20 minutes tops!

2. Buyer/Shopper chat option.

While your shopper is working on your list and gathering items, you can discuss with them any of your specifics or if you’d like them to change something. Then just be sure to tip them for their awesome customer service. Feedback for any company is so important.

3. Free Shipping over $35!

You guys who orders a load of groceries and doesn’t end up spending at least $30-40!? The average monthly food cost is roughly $400 and that is basic foods such as top ramen etc. Keep in mind that this average cost is evaluated in a bigger cities than where I reside, but still is a average overall.

Personally my family used to spend roughly $600 a month on food, which easily could increase to $700 with EXTRA impulse buys and small visits to the grocery store. Since using Instacart and being able to stick to a list and be intentional with purchases it has allowed me to not grab and go while wondering the isles. We are now spending around $400 a month for food. Which means we are roughly saving $200 a month! This opens doors to a treat of eating out as a family and still being able to add cash to savings. My family is so much more capable of budgeting and knowing the price at the end of shopping. Instacart makes it completely user friendly to know what you are spending and saving. It’s all right there on your app! So for FREE DELIVERY and a small tip to shop for things you need anyways, save money, have items delivered to your doorstep and still get some friendly engagement. Well that sounds like a super good deal and it’s exactly why I chose Instacart for my grocery needs.

If you are interested in learning more about Instacart you can click here and also earn some cash.

It’s free to sign up and if this isn’t for you, maybe consider thinking about date nights!

Being able to have fresh food delivered to your doorstep for a night in together is a great idea!

Thanks for reading!

Life with Waves

Imagining it flow back and fourth.

Imagining it crash or gently fall.

Imagining life compared to the water.

Imagine if we could just have it all.

A Big Bang or the Quiet collide.

Life can definitely give either.

So take the wheel and adjust your sail so you can guide yourself through the water.

As I go back and reminisce on when my daughter, Gracie was just about to turn one years old.

This photo came across the memories and it was her one year photo shoot I did at Diamond Lake WA.

Now, when I took this photo I merely was thinking how adorable and chunky she looked. When I look at it now I still see that but, I also simply see a little human gazing into the water.

Her thoughts? I have no idea.

Could she be thinking of simply swimming?

Could she be watching the waves as they slowly come to the shore and fall quietly?

Possibly she is thinking deeper than we will ever know or understand when they are this young.

Either way, this photo has become so much more beautiful to me than it even was before.

I now see something in this photo that allowed me to see some clarity almost 2 years later.

This photo inspired me to write what I wrote.

Have you ever pictured your feelings like a pulse? (Like waves) The up and down, up and down.

That, for some reason clicks with me in a way to write what I did.

It’s up to us when we want to smooth things out in life, (water) create peace in our environments and we allow what we want. It’s our choice.

We can not change the size of the waves or how the water falls. But, we can learn to ride and we can learn to get back up. Becoming stronger swimmers.

God gave us everything we need to succeed in this life with what we want.

Don’t let a hard crash keep you from all the gentle but, life-changing falls you will get to experience and don’t be afraid of the hard crashes. They will shape us all in the end because, most hard lessons do.

Embrace your journey and LIVE your life the way YOU intend to WANT to live.

Thank you.