Making Life Easier

Hey y'all! I am exhausted this morning because I didn't get much sleep over the weekend and didn't have any down time really. I was super depressed last night because I ate too much over the weekend. When I weighed Wednesday, I was up a few ounces but I wasn't surprised or too bummed. I'm hoping it's not bad when I weigh in a couple days. I'm super defeated right now and I'm tired of being sore all the time, eating how I should most of the time then beating myself up all the time. Then the worst part is that I've been steadily gaining weight for 2 years. It's really hard. Today is really hard. I have been going through old posts because I'm working on this book and I realize that I've been whining about this for around 7 years. Even when I lost weight I still complained incessantly about the daily struggle and the way I looked. I'm just sitting around waiting on it to get easier. How's that for Monday morning motivation?! The good thing is, I realize my mentality is a problem and it's something I really do try to work on every day and I have a great appreciation for all the wonderful things I have in my life. If I could just figure this one major issue out.

On a lighter note, I wanted to share a couple clutch "go to" recipes I've been using lately. The first isn't really a recipe but it helps me through on my extremely busy Monday and Wednesdays. I was inspired by the pre-made salad kits I've found at Target and other grocery stores. Those are OK but I figured I could make the same thing at home. I found these adorable containers with built in forks at Wal-Mart and I've been using those. The night before my busy days, I fill them up with veggies and then I also pack the homemade skinny ranch dressing I make and a container that usually has a protein like bacon bits and/or almonds. All I have to do in the morning is grab them from the fridge and I'm ready to go. The containers are pretty big so I feel like I'm getting a nice-size salad.

So, cauliflower rice isn't new. I've shown you plenty of recipes with it. However, what I have found is that Target now carries bags of cauliflower that already come in crumbles. Y'all, this is revolutionary for me because I HATE making cauliflower rice. Now that I have a good food processor, it might not be as bad but I still don't think I'd do it much. Cauliflower is messy and who has the time to make it in to rice. Now that I can just pick it up in the store, I've been using it a lot again. I made "cauliflower rice" as a side to go with my pork chop and then one night I made a cauliflower rice bowl with a Mediterranean vibe. It had Greek olives, almonds, balsamic vinaigrette, mushrooms, squash, garlic and green onion. I roasted the fresh veggies for about 15-20 minutes and then tossed it all together with the other ingredients. It was filling and had good flavor. Cauliflower will never be an official replacement for a starch but it's nice to have on deck when you need to get in your vegetables.

Alabama has away games the next two weeks so I'm hoping to stay out of trouble and get some actual rest.

Have a great week, y'all!

Bye!