Heal ~ Change ~ Grow - Part One

I've briefly mentioned the book Changes That Heal in my blogs over the last year, and I just can't get over how differently I relate to people now, how I've been able to let go of so much of my anxiousness, my attempt at control over situations, the world, and people.  And as I see through healed eyes I now see so much more clearly the pain of those around me.  There is no doubt this book has changed my life!

I've recommended these books to so many people, but there are a few close people who don't have time or inclination to read books like these so I've been spending some of my time trying to summarize the most key principles and blog about them so that some of them, or even just one of them, may be able to start applying these healing principles to their own life.

First of all, here are some key indicators, if they are consistent or prolonged, that something in your life needs healing, that something you are struggling with is out of control that you alone cannot change:
~Feelings of guilt                   ~Broken Relationships
~Anger/Resentment              ~Eating/Substance Issues
~Sadness                              ~Judgementalness/Highly Intolerant
~Aimlessness/Emptiness        ~Excessive Care-giving
~Panic/Anxiety                      ~Feeling Obligated
~Indirect Resistance               ~Blaming

These are just a few of the indicators, the ones I've felt personally.

So, to start I'll summarize by saying that just about every issue we have boils down to relationships; our relationship with God, with ourselves, and with others.  Not being in a healthy relationship with any of those will result in some brokenness. But what does it take to make those relationships right?

There are 2 integral ingredients, both for personal health~change~growth, and consequently healthy relationships:

Truth
God's truth - it is truth that God created the world with order and structure, laws of nature and moral law. God knew that even his original design, flawless as it was, needed guidance, needed one point of obedience, Adam & Eve had one law, not to eat the fruit of the tree of good and evil. He's given us his written truth, he became living, breathing truth, and he gave us a universe full of the truths he created.

Our truth - there is reality and then there is our reality. When we live outside of healthy relationship with God and others we can create our own reality, our own truth, because we have no 3 dimensional perspective.  Only by opening ourselves to being completely honest about everything; who we are, what we've been through, what we've done, etc., can we begin to see the world as it really is and then act on that reality, instead of making choices based on the reality we created, and live alone in. Disowning our truth, our feelings (good or bad), is to ignore our responsibility for them, we can't act on what we deny, and that is one of the most destructive things we can do to ourselves and others.

Relational truth - we were created to be relational. God is a relational being, three in one, and we were created in his image...we have a built in need to have relationships because we are just 'one in one'.  And deep relationships, with truth and accountability are the kind of relationships we crave, because accountability will keep us from drifting back into hiding and hypotheticals, they will remind you of the truth you desire but forget. Only in complete relational truth will vulnerability and humility flourish.

Grace
God's grace - we are safe from condemnation with God's grace.  He doesn't want us to feel condemned  or judged, he has something to teach us but he wants to teach us in love, to give us freedom, and to give us healthy relationships, and he gives us mercy in abundance when we mess up.
In John 8:2-11, Jesus tells the adulterous woman, "Neither do I condemn you (grace). Go now and leave your life of sin (truth)."
And God knows that he who is forgiven much loves much. Luke 7:40-43, "Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them do you suppose will love him more?"

Our grace - if anyone's theology will not allow them to help someone who is hurting then their theology is not big enough to hold the love of God. Some Christians label all problems as sinful, but being sinful isn't actions or results, it is a state of being we are all in constantly. Labelling other people as sinful is trying to create a community of 'only perfect people allowed', we all know that no one is perfect or ever will be, pretending otherwise is denial. So realizing this we need to give everyone the grace we hope people will give us. Only being a grace-full person will make you a 'safe' person for other people to trust, and without trust their can be no real intimacy.
Micah 6:8, "And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

Relational grace - we hide within ourselves not only because of truth but we hide because we've have emotional baggage we haven't experienced grace in. We either have been injured by others or we have injured others ourselves, and both of those cause guilt/shame. But there is grace in admitting that pain, exposing it to the light of day.  Humility became a virtue because of the founder of Christianity - Jesus, but now it can be hard to find a Christian community that welcomes a spirit of humility that includes openness about struggles with painful issues. But remember, 'blessed are the poor in spirit', those who can admit they don't have it 'all together spiritually' will find grace in relationships, because other people are drawn to vulnerability and humility. People are drawn to the truly humble because in their presence they feel grace for their own pain is possible and they feel like they are with someone who is honest and trustworthy.

The combination
Grace (safe from condemnation) + Truth (reality, true intimacy) = acceptance of your true self (good and bad) ->  leads to healthy relationships with yourself, others, and God.  And when you are in healthy relationships it is much easier to grow and change in the areas of your life you know you need to, because you are surrounded by grace-full and honest support.

There is a third ingredient but, I'll save that for another post....this was quite enough to chew on :)

Right Now

Buried up to my eyeballs in month end accounting paperwork. Yes this is my actual office right now, I used an 'archive' effect on my photo :)

What's on the Table Tuesday

Weekly posting of my meal plan has been a little bit of an ordeal lately, so I think I'm going to keep it at every other week to add some manageability to this undertaking. I think I'm almost done listing my meal plans, but it's already lasted me much longer than I thought because various things, like bigger portions than needed, sickness, and other stuff interrupting cooking at home, but now I'm also adding to the mix a vegetarian meal once per week, so my original meat breakdown of 90 meals is going to stretch even farther into December. 

Also, meats are a going to continue being a little mixed up, not exactly the original 'one type per week', since things have been thrown out of balance a little, so I'm just going to list all meals from my plan per two week period, rather than a day by day account.  This two week period won't have ten meals, as I was sick for a good chunk of last week, plus we had a few dinner plans outside the house this week.

Tropical Chicken  - the details I already wrote about here.

Teryaki Basa Fillets Stirfry - I was going to try a black bean sauce I bought, since we tried it with fish at a Chinese restaurant and loved it, but the sauce went bad so I replaced it with Teryaki sauce. Once again, fried the veggies in my Actifry.

Sweet Chili Chicken - substituted ground turkey for chicken, mixed chili powder in with my homemade tomato soup, eliminated onion soup mix, and pureed canned apricots instead of jam. Served over sweet potatoes fried in my Actifry.

Steak - grilled steak to perfection in my Cuisinart grill, fried up some Sweet Potato Fries in my Actifry. Can you tell I love it yet :)

Sundried Tomato & Bacon Risotto - this is going to be my vegetarian meal, I'll leave the bacon in for Sean and then pick it out for me (and give it to him, which he'll LOVE me for :).  I'm going to give it a bit more substance by adding roasted red peppers and zucchini (grilled on my grill), and I think I'll try baking most of it instead of pan frying.

Beef Taco Salad - fry up some beef tenderloin strips in taco seasoning and broth, add some left over brown rice, serve on top of a bed of lettuce and jalapeno & cheddar Doritos, topped with chopped tomatoes, red & green peppers, black olives, and lots of cheese, with salsa and plain Greek yogurt on the side (instead of sour cream).

Here is the host blog of Titus 2sdays, a great place for house-wifery and godly woman(wife)hood!

Forgotten Foto Friday

So there is a new blog-post inspiration making it's way around my bloggy friends, and I like it! I need an easy post idea these days :)
The premise is to dig through some old pics you may have forgotten about, on old memory cards or hard drives, maybe pictures that stayed digital - never were printed (which is almost all of mine!).  Since I don't keep mine on memory cards, always download them monthly if not sooner, so I just picked the year 2006 to go through because it was before I was on blogger and facebook, and likely some people haven't seen them :)

First, our pictures to Louisiana, we drove down to the Gulf of Mexico where it still looked like this one year after Hurricane Katrina.

I bought a really nice new camera that year and it had a timer so I did my own 'photo shoot' :)

And these are our Christmas photos that year...Sean not wanting to cooperate as usual, so I put the kitty on his lap to get a smile, at least I didn't get a scowl.



Wellness Wednesday

For many reasons, as well as lame excuses, my determination to get healthy again was undermined and derailed by life. BUT, the important thing is I keep getting back up, dusting myself off, re-evaluating and starting all over again with new determination.

My plan back in the summer, from all my inciteful reading, came down to "I now know that being physically healthy is also part of being healthy mentally and spiritually as well. AND I don't have to deprive myself, just discipline myself." I was building self-control, so I'm building on that, cutting back unhealthy things I won't miss, and finding really tasty food that is healthy to have instead of my default sugar and salt.  Also, to get back into being more active. I mentioned I did lose about 3-4 lbs and luckily stayed there through the crazy fall I've had, but starting again I knew I wanted to start off with a bang.  Even though counting calories worked for me at first, it just isn't cutting it anymore. And, I'd love to not have to count calories the rest of my life.  I hope with forming a habit of self-control and discipline I can stop.

Many reliable weight loss programs start off with a detox/cleanse of sorts, and Dr. Oz recommends if you have a hard time cutting back on carbs (a carb addiction) you should abstain for at least a week to kick the habit. So I created my own detox/elimination meal plan based on the Maker's Diet book I read. In addition to that info I found a challenge for 21 days on Pinterest that I just knew I had to take up.

Source: weheartit.com via Lori on Pinterest

And no Starbucks! I have a whole album of motivation there on Pinterest now....like 'Love my body, not my image', and 'My stomach is not a wastebasket'....there's lots of great nuggets that push my self-control buttons!

But anyway, back to my detox/cleanse/elimination meal plan.  For 21 days I eliminated a bunch of foods that have some ties to weight problems, health problems, and mess up your body with toxins, unbalanced hormones, insulin levels, etc., and to start from a 'clean slate' so to speak.  No starchy or gluten carbs, no dairy, no processed sugar, no soy, and eating 'clean' foods in general. Reduced pork and bottom-feeding seafood. Seems like I've cut out just about everything but you'd be surprised how much I have enjoyed food and been filled over the last few weeks.

Here's a few glimpses of what I've enjoyed eating over the last few weeks.




Breakfast I did a protein shake with coconut milk and water only, but the protein powder is vanilla flavored and it tastes like yummy milk basically.  I'd also add a fried egg in coconut oil, what a delish combination. I heard a weight loss tip that promotes eating a lot of protein in the morning and so that's why I chose this.

For lunches I mostly had turkey in my own dressing (roasted red peppers pureed with a little mayo) or tuna with red curry and mayo, over spinach.

Then in between meals I'd munch on celery with Almond Butter, that I made myself!

And a lot of yummy fruits.

Suppers I had a lot of food I normally have, just no potato, pasta or rice on the side. And I love my bullet, because making my own sauces/dressings in it were so simple, no preservatives or unwanted ingredients to worry about but still a yummy and simple sauce. I posted my supper recipes here, but here are some photos.

Lemon Dill Chicken

Creamy Pesto Fish

Skillet Rosemary Chicken (Basil substitute)

Curry Seafood Steamer

 For night snacks I ate frozen grapes...wow, where have those been all my life....and a variety of unsalted, unroasted nuts other than peanuts.

The third week I could add in sweet potatoes, so I made my safeway-rip off Hearty Homemade Tomato Soup for lunches, minus the dairy.

However I got the flu and ended up eating mostly nothing for 2 suppers, I had left over hamburger soup from last week, but finally felt up to cooking on Thursday, when we had this for supper, I love my grill and Acti-fry! The sauce on both the chicken and veggies was pureed apricot, balsalmic vinegar, honey, and just a bit of mango chipotle kraft dressing for kick. All fried in a little coconut oil...it's my own version of Tropical Chicken. Yum!  I've come to realize I can alter a lot of my fav recipes.

And, what do I have to show for all this? Well, it sure motivated me to make the most of my activeness, why waste all that hard work just to grow fat cells on the couch, so I started waking up early again doing weight lifting and pilates, and getting in some good prayer time in between sets. Also increased my walks on the treadmill again - which I am really loving again as well.  I took greater care of my body in general, valuing other ways to take care of my body externally and internally, better sleep, vitamins, skin care, etc. I actually received a couple of months worth of U-Weightloss vitamins from a friend who can't take them afterall and didn't want them to go to waste! Weightloss plan pills for free, yes please!

I also hardly crave the junky food anymore. Honestly you wouldn't believe what I've had to face since Nov. 1st! I forgot I'm in a cookie of the month club (fundraiser) so 2 batches of homemade delicious cookies in the house. And my sense of smell has miraculously turned off, because I was able to crunch on my celery and apple happily while my whole office ate pizza under my nose. Then more fantastic baking at the Wednesday night financial course (every participant at each table takes turns bringing something). The Christmas lattes are back at Starbucks now (they are a particular weakness). It's funny, I gave up sugar for lent 2 years ago and mid-way through I was going crazy but I guess different motives = different results, because I really haven't been all that tempted. 

And what about weight loss? Well, there was a bit of that too :)  I lost 7-8 lbs. I'm floored that's how much I lost actually, never thought it would have been that significant.  I'm not going to rest on my laurels though, I know some of that weight may come back on, the pendulum swung far because of how different my actions have been, but it will swing back a little once I am not eating that way 100% of the time.  But this whole experience has fuelled me not to fall back into the same old bad habits. I've said that before, but I never focused on the majority of my diet being healthy, it was all about low calories and burning calories so I could eat more calories. This time I think I'm going to keep up this meal plan 2 days per week, and also have a vegetarian meal once per week, but even though I'm allowed to eat anything I want the other 4 days of the week I'll still be disciplined about choosing healthier options and everything in moderation. I'm determined to remember how good healthy food has tasted, how good having strength and energy feels, how I haven't felt deprived and so I don't need to turn to food and laziness for rest or reward. I am at my lowest weight since about 2001 now...by 1 lb :) But I am taking every victory and running with it!

Right Now

Looking at my fav artists.

Dreaming of art for my walls.

Dreaming of making my own art.

Stewardship Sunday

Well, it's been several months since I updated my stewardship/ 'hope-to-accomplish' list (NOT my 'to-do' list :), after updating it in July, life just got swamped but I'm thankful I've still made progress without it being at the forefront of my mind! Maybe it's just ingrained in me now :)

Stewardship of My Finances
As of October I started Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University every Wednesday evening at Church, until January. WOW! I thought I was hyper-anal-retentive when it came to my finances but my eyes have been opened! With many more tools at my disposal I have done an overhaul on our finances, re-prioritized with hubby, and we're back on track. 
We had some huge paradigm shifts from his speaking and realize some bad choices we made that we didn't think were as dumb as they were, but taking into consideration Sean is on a wage freeze going on 3 years and if he quits he likely will be going down in wage, we weren't making the smartest decisions over the last year.  But I'm excited to see progress on fixing those already!

Stewardship of My Home
5. Schedule a small Fly Lady tactic every day
I'm still at the point I could step this up a little, but I still haven't had to tidy my living room or clean off my dining room table in about 6 months! So I'm still happy! And I've been de-cluttering like crazy, we're selling and giving away stuff weekly it seems, lol. Partly to fix our finances, selling stuff has/will help pay off some debts, but even giving stuff away has felt SO good! Less to worry about, less to clean/tidy, and making other people happy.  I love it!
 6.Establish a list of at least 60 staple recipes and rotate in a 12 month menu
My meal plans have kept me right on track, they haven't failed me yet, I've stuck to it every week...and blogged a "What's on the Table Tuesday" to track my weekly meal plans.  It's great because I can pick the easiest meals that week to make for our busy Mondays and Fridays and we haven't had to eat out unnecessarily at all, not once! Awesome, hey?!
7. Make as much food from scratch as possible to avoid unnecessary preservatives & packaging
Food I have made from scratch in the last few months....I can't remember if I've mentioned this here or not but I've roasted my own red peppers a few times now. I've just made my own almond butter for the detox/cleanse I am on.  I've been using homemade broth instead of boullion for a few months. Oregano flavoured olive oil and vodka, and dried oregano...with my own grown oregano.  Tomato sauce from canned tomatoes blended with raw veggies and spices - all with no additives.
I have two recipes I'm going to try soon, one a replacement for condensed soups made from all natural (no chemical or preservatives) dry ingredients that you can just mix with water/milk when you need, the second an all natural replacement for onion soup mix.

Stewardship of My Body
We don't have the puppy anymore so my all the exercise I was getting walking him now had to be done on my own motivation and will power. BUT, I finally got un-busy enough on our vacation in October to start on the treadmill again, minimum once a week, and I'm really enjoying it again! YAY! I'm also waking up early at 6 am again to alternate days with weights and pilates.
I am also on a detox/cleanse/elimination meal plan...refocusing my idea of health, what I'm putting into my body, how much, how I'm sustaining my body or hurting it, etc. I have a more indepth post about the health of my body that I am working on....I'm waiting until I'm done this 'kick start' program of 3 weeks so I can post about the results too, so that ends on Nov. 21st...I should have a post done shortly after.

Stewardship of My Earth
15. Grow my own vegetables.
Well, the garden is dead and frozen now.  I didn't get quite as much out of it as I had hoped...no peppers at all.  But, live and learn and try again next year with some new information!  Most of the Farmer's Markets are closed now but I hope to make a special trip to a few 'local food' markets that are year round, hopefully at least once a month. 
16. Have a 100 mile meal once a month.
I did have a 100 mile meal once in July, August and October.  My September is a blur due to the start up of my volunteer job but that's mostly settled down now and so I hope to start this again...as long as I can take the time to go to those local markets.
17. Use organic/natural herbicides
Never did have the weather or time to use the organic spray, but I did ALL weed pulling by hand! If that isn't organic and natural, don't know what is :)
18. Find 3 more ‘One Million Acts of Green’ I can try
I've been successful at shutting down the computer every night, unplugging appliances not in use, still saving up compost, even through the winter, in the garage.  I've been less consious of my water use lately, I want to get back to conserving it better. And now that it's winter, probably won't be airdrying clothes, but I am making sure I have full loads and still using cold water.  I'm also getting more into repurposing items rather than throwing/giving them away, so that I don't have to buy other things.  I am hoping to clear out space in my craft room (selling stuff) for a second hand sewing machine so I can repurpose clothes rather than buying new clothes, etc.

Stewardship of My Talents/Purpose
Well, this has flourished in abundance since my last post.  June 28th I heard officially for the first time about a recovery program at Church that I knew I wanted to be involved in, I just wasn't sure in what capacity.  My leader from the book study facilitating I did contacted me, did an informal meeting/interview and then offered me a LEADERSHIP position for the whole program! Not just a table leader, the Administration/Promotions leader. YIKES! I told her I had to think about it, but the 'job description' fit right into my talents and strengths, and I'd still get to facilitate a group of people who've been through some/most of the same struggles as myself.  I didn't think I was entirely capable but she proved me wrong and I've proved myself wrong :) I've excelled at this job, even though it's exhausted me some weeks, and I love it! I feel I am doing almost everything that I do best AND blessing other people who are in pain and hurting. It's win win.

Stewardship of My Communities
25. Volunteer to help someone with something they can’t do for themselves
Other than what I've previously mentioned, not much new on this task.
26. Babysit one or some of my nieces/nephew(s)
In Steinbach right now babysitting my two neices and my nephew at their home, Saturday to Sunday, while their parents are off on a vacation trip for the long weekend.
27. Organize/host at least one gathering of friends every other month
Now over the year have had 8 outings/gatherings with friends that I've either instigated or hosted, 6 more outings with friends that I didn't even instigate. And no, it wasn't all the same friends :)

Stewardship of My Growth
35. Keep up prayer journal and bible study blog
Still haven't been keeping up with the actual documentation part of praying and reading my Bible, but I have still been praying and spending time in scripture more consistently. I've finished the whole New Testament on CD except Revelation.  I'm listening to that one sparingly because I want to make sure it has my full attention so I can really learn from it, since I'm not as familiar with it. 
I've also got prayer reminders on my phone, a whole list of everyone I'm keeping in my prayers, and I rotate through them in the mornings in between my workouts and getting ready.  And I also have a prayer reminder in our car because we were challenged to pray for people we could bring to Church in the next 2 years. After praying and thinking about it, Sean and I came up with the number 7 (combined) that we wanted to be able to bring to Church in the next 24 months, so this reminder is there so I can concentrate on praying for those 7 people every time we're in the car.

Stewardship of Living My Life
38. Go to at least one Folklorama pavilion
Done, and I posted pictures back in August after I went with my sisters and my mom.
39. Go out on the town by myself
When I go out by myself I tend to shop....I have to stop that (for several reasons) but I still have a mani-pedi I intend to get before my Groupon for it expires in December.  I still would love to hit the art gallery, there was even a show by one of my fav photographers, Jason Poturica, but I think I missed it.  Life has just been too busy unfortunately.

So yeah, I'm just living life and I'm glad my core values are shining through without me having to 'work at' them for the sake of making them a priority, I just am working at them because they are valued parts of my life.  Love it!

If you don't know me by now

So, one of my first rebellions against getting 'old' was getting a tattoo and another one I've been contemplating since is some pink hair.  Well, I finally went for it!

That was actually in August, but I've been tempted to try even more dramatic pink since...maybe.  I have this side of me that itches to be wildly spontaneous and care-free with an equally itchy side of insecure and calculated detail-obsession.

Recently I stumbled across a blog of a woman who I at first observed as a heavily tattoo'd free spirit, and then came across her scrapbooking section. Huh? Only for a second was I befuddled before I realized I am a tattoo'd scrapbooker! LOL.  I sometimes have this view of myself, of this mousy wall flower, especially when I say I like scrapbooking and crocheting....if you google renowned scrapbookers you would see they are typically not ladies you would suspect have tattoos.

That got me thinking about other things in my life that seem a little unreconcileable to those who might label me based on one aspect of my life. Some of my personalities may overlap but you could see one side and then be completely blind-sided by one of my others. Of course, I don't have multiple personality, I'm just well rounded ;)

The Nerd                            The Bohemian                
Accountant/Admin                       Nomadic - love travelling                          
Author wanna-be                         Love whimsical clothing      
Hyper-organized - color coding     Tattoo'd                             
5-page budget spreadsheets          99% cosmetic-free             
Love a nice pant suit                    Eclectic creativity               
Sci-fi shows/movies fan                Musicality                         
Crime or Medical drama fan         Frugal - minimilist wannabe
Know my techy stuff                    Motto: Love & Be Loved   
Read-a-holic (fiction & non)         Dream: Live off the land
Librarian childhood aspirations      Create things from scratch
Addicted to iPhone & laptop         Care for God's creations                
Video game player                       Passion for justice ministries

The Country Girl Next Door     The Girly Girl
Most comfy in jeans & a T                Pink! (well all colours of the rainbow really)
Country music has most heart            Shoes - high heels
Love to cook & bake                         Sparkles & Glitter
Animal lover                                     Dream: magazine worthy house
Nature lover/outdoorsy                      #1 gift - spa & pampering
Hometown spirit/loyalty                     Art Galleries & Museums
Love time with family                        Painted fingers & toes
Goes to football games                       Shop-a-holic
Hangs out with hubby's buddys           Prefer a glass of sweet white wine
Wears an apron                                 Sunset roses my fav flower
Scrapbooks & crochets                      Love me some sundresses & skirts
Not afraid to get dirty                         No less than 5 purses in the closet       

           
Does anyone else feel they are sometimes several people inhabiting one body, am I an enigma (haha) or are all women crazy like this :)

What's on the Table Tuesday

Well, for some reason my last week's Table Tuesday didn't post, and disappeared all together! So, I'll do two weeks at once.  These two weeks are a little different anyway, I'm on an elimination cleanse/detox meal plan to kick start my new health plan. No starchy or gluten carbs, no dairy, and no sugar, no soy, and eating 'clean' foods in general. It hasn't been as bad as it sounds :) I actually have a seperate post about how easy it actually was....and more about health in general.

So, without further ado, here are this week's 5 meals, any side dishes were for my hubby who doesn't need to follow this detox :) Meats are a little mixed up, not exactly the original 'one type per week' I originally started with but these were the recipes that worked with my detox.....and as usual with some additional notes to add to what I've already mentioned in my meat breakdown:

Week One

Monday - Turkey
This was an easy one, I threw roasted turkey leftovers into a yummy salad Sensational But Simple Salad , minus the dressing. I put on a mango chipotle dressing instead, which was fabulous.

Tuesday - Seafood
Curry Seafood Steamer is a yummy meal chalk full of veggies to fill me up instead of carbs. I didn't eat the potatoes, and eliminated the scallops as 'bottom feeding' seafood is also recommended in the book I'm basing most of my detox on, but I just can't live without shrimp!! :) And curry is a great flavor to add so I don't miss sauces like soy sauce, hoisin, teryaki in my stirfry.

Wednesday - Beef
Spanish Rice with Beef is also an easy recipe to change up just a little to make work. I used beef tenderloin strips to eliminate fat, I took out the corn as it's a very starchy veggie, and I replaced it with red peppers.  For hubby I served with brown rice but I added it to cooked lentils for me and I actually loved it! My first time having lentils and I'm sold.
Thursday - Chicken
Lemon Dill Chicken doesn't get any easier than this, especially since the same sauce ingredients are awesome to bake potatoes and asparagus in.  I of course skipped the taters but was really happy with my chicken and asparagus, barely even missed them.

Friday - Seafood
Yes, we're having fish again, because I've ditched pork (mostly) during this detox as well. I found this Creamy Pesto Fish  recipe in a Kraft magazine and have been itching to use it, now's a great time because mayo isn't dairy!! Me loves the pesto sauce. I served this over rice for hubby and then served us a side of some green peas.

Week Two

Monday - Chicken
Skillet Rosemary Chicken because I'm in love with how organic the picture looked in the magazine :) It was just as pretty when I made it last night, and delish! I subbed fresh rosemary for basil, still a great combo. For more substance I added asparagus again.  I'm really into the lemon, potato, asparagus combo, can you tell?

Tuesday - Seafood
Tuna Cakes were a bit of a treat, the panko in it is technically 'illegal' but it's made with rice flour and so I count it as gluten free :) And I don't add the full 2 cups. But the counter balance is all the protein! Tuna and eggs...and again I throw in some curry to avoid sauces, and ate it with some left over peas while hubs served it over some rice as well.

Wednesday - Beef
Hearty Hamburger Soup  is on the menu tonight, going to stew in the crockpot all day because we've got like 20 minutes to eat tonight! No potatoes in this one, but mom sometimes added pasta/rice instead, I've got leftovers of both (since I can't seem to get used to cooking in proportion for one) so I'm going to add some to Sean's bowl but not mine.

Thursday - Turkey
I found a recipe that I actually haven't made digital yet, but it's a turkey breast crusted with nuts...I think I'll use cashews instead of the hazelnuts it calls for, and then it's baked on lemon slices. I think I'll bake potatoes and asparagus on the lemon slices while I'm at it.
Friday - Pork
My one little pork cheat, bacon! Doing a simple bacon and eggs meal tonight.
Here is the host blog of Titus 2sdays, a great place for house-wifery and godly woman(wife)hood!

Good Monday Morning Mr. Winter

Miss You

I keep talking about these posts I have just waiting to be written, but once again blogging is on the back burner so that life doesn't get too overwhelming. I started a course at Church on Wednesdays, David Ramsey's Financial Peace University, and so not only do I have that evening booked, but homework during the week, and then pre-Friday night recovery prep work and then the actual Friday nights. I'm not overwhelmed yet but this is just about it as much brain power that I can add to my life right now on top of a full time job.
I do miss being here more though. Especially being here 'in mind'...I feel like I'm not here intellectually like I was. I miss the time I had sitting here, hammering out my thoughts, having entries that serve as a diving board for searching God's word, and then the cool feedback that would just get me thinking more. At one time I thought there was a part of my blog life that would become a bigger part of my purpose, I still get these great ideas for a post to write, but just can't seem to squeeze the extra energy or time out of my life to bring them to fruition.

But there is a season for everything. I'm talking with my co-leaders tonight about a recovery blog. Maybe this is where I was being led. Maybe not. Only time will tell.
But I just wanted to say...I do miss being here.