No News = Good News?

Let me start straight out of the gate by saying no news doesn't necessarily mean good news today. I've failed. Epically. This does not surprise me, but it thoroughly disappoints me like you wouldn't believe! My whole food focus was going strong leading up to LO's 5th birthday party, but it slowly started slipping before plummeting out of control. Why does this have to be so hard??

Truly, it's very simple:

Eat healthy, whole, real foods, and don't eat processed ones. 

Yet it's such a struggle for me! The worst part of this is that I noticed an incredible, almost immediate difference in LO's behavior when I eliminated processed foods completely from the kids' diets. And yet I allowed myself to FAIL at maintaining something so positive for myself, my kids, and my husband.

Grrrr. I guess I can tell myself that there has been some good to come from where I am in this journey. Now I know I can at least recognize RIGHT and WRONG choices when it comes to food. But having the right motivation and the necessary commitment to make those right choices is a major area of opportunity for me. Recognizing that is part of the battle, right?

Whatevs. At least it hasn't been a total fail. I'm still making homemade food for my family rather than frequently dining out. And I'm sure to include fruits and veggies with every meal I make. And I'm still not allowing any processed snacks for the kids. Little wins, right?

Let me share a little photo trio of some delicious healthy cooking that I have managed to do (I won't share pics of the delicious not-so-healthy cooking...).

The other night I made a double-batch of Lisa's whole-wheat tortillas from 100DaysofRealFood.com. Oh my heavens, people. These were SO EASY and so quick to make now that I invested in this tortilla press. Seriously, this heavy little gadget has forever changed my life!!! And the recipe, which I've used a zillion times, is to die for! Only 4 ingredients and oh so delicious!

A few days later, during a playdate at my house, my friend and I wanted to make some veggie quesadillas. We diced up squash, zucchini, onion, mushrooms, and red and orange peppers, which I sautéed with some olive oil and Mrs. Dash (salt-free). Then we threw the quesadillas together with a little cheddar and mozzarella. They were amazing! I've made these before and have posted about them before as well (I think), so this is just me saying again how fabulous these veggie quesadillas are! And very filling, too! I literally only ate a quarter of mine!

After we finished with the quesadillas, I had a good bit of sautéed vegetables left over, so I saved 'em for dinner the following night. Here's what I did:

I made some spaghetti noodles. Nothing fancy. Just spaghetti. Not even whole-wheat because I didn't have any on hand.

Then I pan-seared two boneless chicken breasts in olive oil with a little salt & pepper and Mrs. Dash. Just before they were fully cooked, I removed them from the pan and wrapped them in foil and set them aside to rest and finish cooking through.

I deglazed the same sauté pan with about a 1/2 cup of white wine, then added minced garlic and about 4 Tbsp. of lemon juice. I would've preferred a freshly juiced lemon as well as some lemon peel, but didn't have one handy. I let the sauce reduce slightly (may have added about 1/4 cup of chicken stock as well), then tossed in the leftover sautéed vegetables until heated through.

Finally, I tossed the drained spaghetti into the pan and tossed slightly, sliced the chicken and served! It was fabulous! Hubs really enjoyed it and I definitely loved it as leftovers the following day for lunch.

So while I've had a few several epic fails when it comes to eating right over the past two weeks, I've also made some good, healthy food that my family and I have enjoyed.

Yay for little wins!

Oh, and I'm super excited about my home gym that is slowly beginning to take shape (haha! pun wasn't intended!)... more on that soon! :))