"...you've got to go through it, to get to the end of it." -Greasy Sae

YES...that quote above was taken from CATCHING FIRE by Suzanne Collins. The second book of her Trilogy the HUNGER GAMES. It's a really entertaining read. Although, the last book was really for a mature audience more so than the first 2 because of the war violence.

While reading this quote by a character in the book called Greasy Sae I was moved by the simplicity and undeniable truth behind such a powerful little tidbit from this book. So many times people just want to find a shortcut, dodge, ignore, avoid certain lessons life brings us so that we can spare ourselves the growing pains these challenges give us. In all reality when we try to dodge the bullet all we are really doing is tricking ourselves into thinking that we are at the end when in fact we are still smack dab right in the middle of it! Then, how does one know when one is at the end of a certain trial or hardship in life? Everyone has their own very personal way of knowing. As for me, I know that I am at the end when I no longer have bad/negative thoughts about that particular life lesson anymore. When I feel my inner peace, glowing bright, strong, steady, blessing me with feelings of safety and calm, again, that's when I know I have made it through to the end. Now, that I know that I can return to that peace, I look at old challenges in my life and see them from a different perspective than I have ever seen them before. This new perspective really helps me through some really mucky moments in life. For this comfort and knowledge, I am extremely grateful.

I am also very happy and thankful for books that are so good that they become MOVIES!! YAY!!!

I am really excited for the movie! It's going to be so fun to see how they translate the books to the BIG screen!!:) It's definitely a book that you can't put down until the very end. If you haven't read it make sure someone's watching your kids for you as you get lost in the world of Panem.

Enjoy the video...

May the odds be ever in your favor...

I tried this recipe with a bit of applesauce...

I make banana chocolate chip mini muffins every time my bananas say that I need to. So, I baked some more again today, but cut the oil measurements in half with applesauce. My family couldn't even tell!  I LOVED it! Organic applesauce is cheaper than coconut or olive oil, so I am one very happy baker. They are still moist and a tad bit fluffier. And I nix the nuts, because they are EXPENSIVE and not really missed. Not like the chocolate chips. (Btw the choco. chips make this recipe not very paleo...*sigh* baby steps) I am really getting the hang of this Paleo baking, and I LIKE IT!

 Ingredients:

- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 6 eggs
- 1/4 cup raw honey
- 3 bananas
- 1/4 cup coconut oil (or olive oil) (or half the oil with applesauce)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup walnut pieces

On another note, we are starting to phase out the dairy in our home. Not only because it has been tampered with, or because consuming 20% or more dairy in your diet increases your chances for  heart disease, but simply because we don't really eat it that much anymore. The string cheese has been lingering longer than usual. Same story with the milk. It's not as difficult as the wheat phase out was, which is interesting to observe. But we will see for sure when we don't have dairy in the fridge. And NO...EGGS ARE NOT DAIRY!!!

My husband made one of our family's new favorite dinners! It was inspired by my sister's Square Foot Garden harvest of organic tomatoes, zucchini, green onion, squash, and basil. My mother-in-law made it for us the night we brought everything home and we have been in love with this amazing creation ever since.  It's like a lazy cousin kind of dish of ratatouille. You just throw all those ingredients in and add garlic, salt and pepper to taste, and presto...you have a delicious soup like dish, with yummy hunks of veggies that your body just thanks you for! It seriously like a hug for the inside of your body!! Since we don't have our Sq Ft garden set up yet, we have been able to buy organic tomatoes from Costco.  Those work out beautifully!  It's a super easy, fast, and healthy meal that's perfect for this time of year. Try it out and let me know how your creations turn out;) If you need measurements for the ingredients let me know, and I will ask the chefs.  Good luck!

What a difference grains make...

This has how I have felt for sometime. now. Like this smiley face, barely keeping it together. Having to bite my lip so that a flood of emotions and tears don't come pouring out. at any given moment. I have been dealing with a LOT of new changes in my life. For the most part I am LOVING my changes. But no matter how good the change is...change is HARD!

So, I was having a chocolate craving day, and thought I would make some no-bake cookies! Oatmeal is NOT as bad as wheat, but come to find out its the number 2 worst grain to eat. I didn't want to accept this fact to be true for myself, so I made a batch of those delicious cookies, anyway. Now,  I see that when I eat oats/grains I get very weepy!! I have NOT been eating grains for a long while now and I have been able to keep it together through some pretty trying times lately. But then, throw in the grains, just a little, back into my diet and BOOM...I am BACK on the emotional roller coaster of my before-paleo-life! That roller coaster ride of fluctuating extreme emotions, although taxing and annoying after a while, was what used to consider to be my norm. Of course,  I NEVER would let anyone else know about it, because I have NEVER heard of anyone else (besides my family) having that constant battle with extreme emotions. I truly understand and know how people can actually be peaceful and patient. And NOT be faking those emotions ALL of the time! I struggled for SO LONG trying to gain that inner peace and patience for myself. I am still on my journey with it, but I can see the many blessings that have been put in my path this past year to help me sincerely feel the peace and patience towards myself that I have been longing to have since I can remember. The best part is that after feeling it truly, I have been learning how to maintain it. Everyone's way in achieving those 2 simple qualities in life is so very unique and very personal. For me, it is all about what I take in. Physically (eating, breathing, seeing, etc), emotionally (people's positive or negative energy, music, etc) and spiritually (inspiration, promptings, meditating, etc). I have to come to appreciate and love the fact that I am a sensitive being. My body has food sensitivities that I never realized/understood that I had, until I started eating the Paleo way. My emotions have become increasingly sensitive with every passing year. My spirituality is ever growing. To maintain my sanity, I have come to realize that it's as simple as what I eat that determines a LOT on how sane and grounded I feel.

I loved grains (breads, pastas, oatmeal, cereal, casseroles, etc) and beans and dairy, so very, very much. But now I see THAT love was pretty much a one-way street.

*sigh*

Well, at least I know, now;)

For C & C!! & I'm not talkin' 'bout the Music Factory!

I LOVE eating PALEO!!

It has TOTALLY ROCKED my WORLD (to a MUCH BETTER place:) I can't help but share with people why I love it so. In fact, at my little nephews preschool open house I was sharing my testimony of it to one of my nephews sweet preschool teachers!! She was so kind to listen to my facts and food experiments:)

So, I was having a really different day on Monday. I had a lovely day with my sister, my girls and my Mother-In-Law, but still had a bit of a tough day with other things. I decided I would let the girls and I cheat and eat WHEAT! I have been craving pizza for a LONG time now and was really excited to finally enjoy my slice or 3 of Papa Murphy's Mediterranean pizza. Well, after I scarfed down like 7 chocolate covered macadamia nut clusters I went for the pizza. I KNOW that wheat affects me in a negative way, so I was eating the pizza slices as fast as I could before the negative physical reminders reared their ugly heads;) I only got through 1 1/2 slices before my body said, "We're done!" But my mind convinced me to just keep going and eat the rest of the second slice. So, I did. I was drinking water to try and dilute the wheat that I'd just eaten. It didn't really work. About 10-15min. After my first bite of pizza I felt this stabbing pain in my back part of the left side of my head. And then, the white noise in my brain was blaring full force, followed with a fogginess and heavy eyes and head kind of feeling. I am blogging about this today, so that I don't forget how wheat affects me. Wheat is a toxic thing for me to eat. And I have only realized this recently. Crazy that it has taken me this long to figure it out! But at least I know:) Now I have to wait 2 weeks before the wheat is completely out of my system again. UGh...

Anyway, like usual, tonight we ate a lovely Paleo dinner with my sister's family. We followed that up quickly with Paleo German Chocolate Cake and Paleo Berry Ice Cream!! IT WAS DIVINE!! My sister was worried that the cake didn't turn out as well as she'd hoped. (Oh those Type A personalities...) I KNEW, with every fiber in my being, that it was going to be DELICIOUS!! So, when I saw her creation on the cake stand, I found myself salivating in anticipation to try this deliciousness:D ELANA's PANTRY is a WONDERFUL, almost magical place for all of us transitioning into the Paleo/Primal lifestyle that still need a baked good every now and again! My sister followed Elana's German Chocolate Cake recipe and it was RIDICULOUS!! FIRST of all, you couldn't even TELL that it was Paleo!! :) And SECONDLY, it was WAY BETTER than any other cake that I EVER had in the USA before. I love Paleo baking because it calls or 2 times or 3 times more eggs than traditional recipes. So, when you are eating a dessert you get a good amount of protein with every delicious bite! As well as, a tummy that says, "Thank you for not filling me up with sponge/foam-like-wanna-be-yummy-kind-of-cake." My stomach is super picky!;)

I hope my sister will post a photo of her Cake Creation and Ice Cream on her blog The Woman Who Did Everything and Nothing All At Once, eventually. She's a busy lady! So, be patient.

Life has afforded me time to blog again. YAY!! But that's all for today. Til next time...

Chores, Chores, and MORE CHORES!!

It was all about the chores today. I was painting while the kids did yard work and the husband cleaned up one of the 2 catch-all rooms our house! Wow...what a day. I took a nap and am STILL tired! Luckily, we are all gathering in the TV room to enjoy watching the movie, "Soul Surfer". YAY!! What a nice relaxing way to end such a busy day!

*sigh* Tomorrow I get to tackle the other catch all room in the house as well as MORE painting.

Old Bananas mean Smoothies and Banana Nut Muffins!!

I was woken up today with a lovely smoothie!! It was banana/milo mix...YUMMY!! We loved them so much we had another round of them this afternoon! I am not strictly Paleo, yet. So, you'll notice that some of the food we consume is still in transition mode:) After the second round of banana/milo smoothies, the other 3 bananas were sitting there. Staring at me with their shriveled old banana-selves. Waiting for me to use them in a delicious recipe. So, I DID!!

Here's the site of the recipe I used...

http://www.p3crossfit.com/2010/12/paleo-banana-nut-muffins/

Ingredients:

- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 6 eggs
- 1/4 cup raw honey
- 3 bananas
- 1/4 cup coconut oil (or olive oil)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup walnut pieces

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a small bowl, combine coconut flour, salt and baking soda.
3. In a blender, puree the 3 bananas
4. In a large bowl mix the eggs, honey, bananas, coconut oil and vanilla until well blended. Mix dry ingredients into the wet, blending with a hand mixer or by hand. Gently fold in walnut pieces.
5. Place batter in non-stick muffin tins OR oil small individual glass bowls and pour batter in about 1/2 – 3/4 full.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 12-14 minutes. I used the smaller muffins trays, so if you are using the standard muffin size you will definitely need to bake them for a longer period of time.

Thanks to Liz for the recipe.

Here are the Dry Ingredients I used...
And here are the Wet Ingredients I used...

Here's what they looked like before I baked them...
The Final RESULT!!
THESE were DELICIOUS!! They were definitely a hit with the kids and husband!! I added chocolate chips, I know, not so Paleo. My kids and husband insist that I use them. I have to say I liked the regular Banana Nut Muffin, but I LOVED the ones with the chocolate chips! My kid said that it didn't taste any different than the wheat ones I used to make before. YAY!! This recipe delivered a WONDERFUL result!! It's a definite keeper!

I was SOOO happy that everyone loved it! Especially, after last nights disappointment. Now, my old bananas can be used once again in an old family treat!! Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe, Liz from Crossfit!!

Craving PIZZA!! So we are trying this Paleo Pizza crust!

BEFORE I MADE THE PIZZA :

I have been craving pizza on and off for a week now. Today is the day I eat my pizza!! I am going to try this recipe that I got from this site

http://cavemanstrong.com/2011/01/paleo-pizza-crust .

I'll let you know how it turns out. I am super excited to try it tonight with the kids. Off to the store I go, to get some organic coconut milk, mozzarella, parchment paper and pepperoni.

Oh MY GOODNESS!! I have FRESH SWEET BASIL picked fresh today from my Sisters garden to add to my version of Papa Murphy's "Mediterranean" !! YAY!! I am EVEN MORE excited for dinner now!!





AFTER I MADE THE PIZZA:

The house smelled divine!! Everyone was excited and anticipating home-made PIZZA. Who cares if it was Paleo we were excited to eat it! I gave us fresh carrots as a quick side dish. Well, we each took a bite of our pizza and "YUCK!" The kids opted to have more carrots instead of the pizza! It was Paleo alright. The pizza looks delicious enough, but the coconut crust was still a little on the sweet side, and was crumbly and cake like. I am going to use this dough recipe again, but for cobbler, or pies, or something else dessert like. I really like the recipe!! Just NOT for pizza. The person who put this recipe us also suggested a "nut cracker" recipe for people who like the crunchier pizza. I will definitely be trying this nut cracker recipe

http://thelabelsayspaleo.com/2010/04/18/all-purpose-primal-crackers/

next time I crave and attempt a PALEO pizza.

Do not worry, we did not waste the delicious toppings. We picked them off and ate them:)