Prehistoric!

Good morning bloggy world!  So, The Hubs and I have been eating "Paleo" since, oh September. After much complaining, whining, craving, and general sorrow over the loss of dairy...we have decided it is not a crock of crap.

I am sure you have all seen the Paleo "craze" sweeping the nation, and laughed at your friends because who, in her right mind, gives up CHEESE??  I do. Nine months of only occasional dairy and sweet treats has rocked my body!  If you don't already know what this Paleo nonsense is, let me enlighten you: Veggies, Fruits, Meat, Nuts and Seeds, NO dairy, and NO sugar (processed people, you can have your honey.)!  Now, there are some more specific rules...like no legumes or beans, but that is just down right over board.

First, I dare you to look in your cabinets and fridge and read how much of your food has sugar in it...go on, I'll wait.

Ella is also waiting...I know not what for...

 ...Did you find your spaghetti sauce, your bacon, and even some of your canned veggies???  It's CUH-RAZY!  Sugar is bad....it tastes so good, but it's BAD....I say as I drink my Caramel Macciato from Starbucks and type!

The effects of eating this way have been amazing.  I have sinus issues out the wazoo, and since we changed how we eat they have gotten infinitely better.  No bloat people!  No bloat! Just in general we feel good, who knew bad food made you feel BAD?  I mean should be a solid DUH, right?

In learning the Paleo "ways" I have found some AWESOME, and some not so awesome, sites that have helped me figure this out and that have recipes that make this adjustment SO much easier.

These are the best of the best:

PaleOMG
NomNomPaleo
Paleo Cupboard

You cannot go wrong with the recipes on these three sites.  PaleOMG is very fun to read as well as Juli Bauer blogs with her recipes!  She is FANTASTIC!

This Paleo/Clean eating is not for the faint of heart, yet it is how we were intended to eat.  Give it a try, let me know how it goes!

Coming soon....I want to be Amy Poehler's best friend...

Testing Can Be Fun!

NOT!   I have been administering EOC exams all day and no matter how prepared I am it's still miserable!  I have also had the "privilege" of doing it 9 times in my short 5 years of teaching.  The students are whiny, I am tired because the students are whiny, the testing period is from Thurs- Tues (don't get me started on how much that annoys me!), the whole thing is just awful!  Get excited though because that is not what this blog is about!  Just had to air out my frustration!

Really, I wanted to discuss my favorite recipe of late!  It is on our menu almost weekly so I thought I would share!  Fiery Chicken Thighs with Persian Rice is the bomb!  Now, you can make the recipe as is and it's amazing...sadly we eat mostly Paleo these days so greek yogurt and rice are not on our menu, or in our kitchen! Instead I use a head of cauliflower and coconut milk (which can be used to replace SO many things! I love the coconut!)

Subbing the cauliflower for the rice is VERY easy!  Just get a head of cauliflower (the bigger, the better), cut it in chunks, and toss it in the food processor.  Voila, rice.  I like to double the spices that the recipe calls for in the rice...apparently I like turmeric. I use a 1:1 ratio of coconut milk to yogurt.  The only other change to the recipe is that the cauliflower only needs 20 TOTAL minutes to cook on the stove.  No need to pre-cook it: chop it, mix it, and cook it!

Another little change I like to make is using 2 tbls of Sambal Oelek and garlic instead of the prescribed 1 tbls...we like things to be very FIERY!  This is an easy weeknight recipe you really can't go wrong with unless you just aren't unto spicy things!  ...oh and yes we use the butter (grass fed), I said MOSTLY Paleo!

Consistency is Key

 The recipe for doing anything well is to be consistent.  As you can see from this blog, the last few years I have been INconsistent.  Who knows why I went from posting all the time to a grand total of a post a year?  Me either.  I do know that I had a nice little following and that my dearest friend misses my goings on!  So due to that inspiration, and the fact that I always (ALWAYS) have a lot to say: I AM BACK!

A lot has happened since my last post!  We moved!  We live in the "White House" now!  We moved from the suburbs of Memphis into the heart of Midtown!  Now we can acutally call ourselves "Memphians."  Along with the White House came a corner lot (I HAVE to do yard work now, that will make for interesting stories.), a fabulous patio, and lots of Midtown adventures!  Here is a preview!

 

I will add a Springtime picture in a blog to come!!  I will also add some pictures of the AWFUL cleaning we had to do when we moved in due to the smokers who previously owned the house...if I was a smoker that would have made me quit!

Another big change in our world is the addition of the ever debated, everyone thinks it's a cult: CrossFit!  I already broke the #1 rule of CrossFit which is: Talk about nothing before you mention CrossFit!  People can say what they will, but I could probably take down any and all of my friends now I am so strong (yes friends, that IS a challenge!).  I am in the process of becoming a Level1 Trainer and I am so excited!  So look forward to more...muahahaha!

I am still, begrudgingly some days, teaching, and rocking my MK side business!  My students are as eventful as ever and I am sure I will be sharing a story or two. 

So expect these topics from this good 'ol blog in the future: Midtown Adventures, Expeditions in Yard Work, You aren't fit until you are CrossFit, and Students...SMH.  

Consistency is key, even in blogging!

It's been a long time...

I never left though...I just apparently forgot that I love to blog!  I am seriously not quite sure where to begin...a whole year got lost!  Guess I had better just pick up with the present!

Presently..we are closing on house #2 this week!  Yea!  I was slightly nostalgic about the FIRST house...but then again, who isn't?  New house or The White House, as I have affectionately been calling it, is going to be fantastic.  Yes, it is white.  No, I do not think I am presidential.  This house has what people call "character," I believe this means that it is not a cookie cutter house and it has personality!  First House was totally cookie cutter but I loved it!  I am hoping with a fresh paint job and some fabulous window treatments, whipped up by yours truly, that The White House will be home in no time!

We made the great trek into the Midtown area of Memphis. It has been a treat.  It was not our original preference but when we got here and really saw the difference between the two areas we were looking in, this just seemed to fit!  We are fifteen minutes in any given direction from any where we could want to go.  Memphis seems to have great migrations, currently the migration is from the suburbs and into town.  I am SO excited to be a part of the renewal that seems to be going on IN the city.  There are new restaurants left and right (why of course I will blog some reviews for you!) and shops and people actually know their neighbors!  We didn't know our neighbors out in the 'burbs, I find that odd, but true.

In the midst of moving and closing and painting, I am also still running my Mary Kay business!  I just can't get over how much Mary Kay has done for me this past year and how much it will do!  I have gotten prizes and $$$ and been blessed to get to meet and build relationships with some truly spectacular women.

This business has also taught me a lot about fear.  Fear of change, of acceptance, of failure, of succeeding, who knew fear could be found in so many places??  It is sort of ironic as I have been cussed up one side and down the other by teenagers at the 'ol day job...you would think I don't have a fear bone in my body!  WRONG!  The thing about fear is, it can paralyze you or it can stretch you to a new place you never thought you could achieve.  Really, fear is like being comfortable...sometimes if you are too comfortable you miss out on opportunities because you aren't looking for them or you don't grow because in your comfort you aren't being stretched.  Same principle with fear...you are so scared to make a move you miss the boat or your are so scared  you never push yourself to be more!

Ha, that took a turn from an update to a speech!  Either way, I am back and have grand plans for keeping up with this like I did in the past!  

I hope you are all having a marvelous Monday!!

~B

The Beginning at the End

It's funny when beginnings and endings meet.  It is the end of yet another school year which means it is the beginning of nine weeks of writing and fun and freedom.  It is amazing in the "land of the free" how absolutely chained down we actually are...to our jobs, our schedules, our responsibilities...yet as a teacher I have a glorious set of nine weeks to shrug all of that off and enjoy whatever comes my way.  Sort of a random way to start back at my blogging but my lack of " freedom" has been on my mind...

Also on my mind is our impending trip to Hawaii!  We leave in a week and I cannot wait!  I am privileged in that I have been to Oahu, Hawaii many times, but this year in honor of my parent's 20th Anniversary we are headed to Maui!  Here is a little preview of what is to come:

We are going to Snuba (like scuba but we are attached to lines) at the Molokini crater with sea turtles and dolphins!

We are going to go zip lining through the rain forest....

We are going to go to a Hawaiian brewery, a Goat Dairy that specializes in truffles, a Kona Coffee roasting company....and somewhere in there we are going to just sip drinks out of coconuts and lay on the beach...

Get excited for the blog when we return and I have pictures of the hubs and myself actually undertaking all of this fun!

I have to sit at school today and tomorrow with no students so look out bloggy world you might get a couple of blogs a day!

Ma-halo and Aloha!!!

B

So a student walked into my class and said:

"I told my mom, 'I only want one thing for my birthday this year, nothing expensive.'  My mother replied, 'What son?'  'A diaper'  She gave me a funny look and I said, 'Don't you know mom....ever since I was born I have known I was Captain Underpants, why didn't you?!?!?!'"


And in tomorrow's episode......

Every teacher needs this site!

Teachers you want to click this link!!

www.teacherease.com

This site is the best resource for teachers that I have found to date!  You can keep a grade book and your attendance.  You can even keep behavior logs and have them available for parents to look at!

This is a resource I will continue to use for years to come!