The world of teacherdom

Teacherdom? Yes, I said "teacherdom." Is this really a word? I think not, but it works for me! Besides, it sounds less haute than saying, "academia." Who wants to read a blog post called, "The world of academia?"

Moving on...

When I became a teacher, there were a few surprises that just knocked me over the head. 

1. This is one of the hardest jobs I have ever done. Now, I wouldn't trade it for anything! I LOVE what I do and I love my kids. I was just stunned at how exhausted I was - especially in the beginning. 
2. I get along GREAT with 12-year-olds. I'm not quite sure what that one says about me... But I definitely find them quite entertaining, and I make them laugh... a lot. :)
3. Apparently there's a lot of gift-giving that goes on at Christmas. I was shocked when little gifts from my students started showing up on my desk. "Gift-giving" is one of my love languages, so this instantly filled my heart! To me, gift-giving doesn't have to be something big or ornate. I love cooking for people to show them I care. Sometimes just leaving someone a kind note, or letting them know you are thinking about them and praying for them can be an amazing gift to a person.

I'm going to share one of the gifts I received the other day from a family. I got the MOST amazing treat, and it was accompanied by a recipe! SCORE! These little things are INSANELY good! They definitely hit that sweet spot with the rich chocolate and almond butter. Oh, yeah. They are 100% clean, too. :)

Almond Power Bars

• 2 cups raw almonds
• 1/2 cup flax seed meal
• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
• 2 scoops flavored whey protein powder
• 1/2 cup raw almond butter
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• Stevia or xylitol to taste
• 1 TB pure vanilla extract
• 8 squares Ghirardelli chocolate

1. Place the first 7 ingredients in a food processor and pulse for about ten seconds.
2. Melt coconut oil, and add Xylitol and vanilla. Pour into the food processor while it is blending. 
3. Blend the mixture in to a course paste. 
4. Press mixture into an 8x8 in glass pan. Chill for one hour.
5. Melt chocolate and xylitol in a double boiler. 
6. Spread over the chilled almond mixture.
7. Cut into bars before placing the pan back into the refrigerator to chill.

Tips:

• Line the bottom of your pan with parchment paper for easy removal.
• Keep refrigerated.

Thanksgiving Recipes

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! Mine went relatively smooth. However, I did wake up panicked on Thursday morning because I realized I had forgot to set the turkey out to finish thawing. Thankfully (no pun intended), the turkey was able to thaw out in a few hours in cool water in the sink. If you recall, I had planned my "clean" Thanksgiving meal. I am excited to say it all turned out GREAT! Thanks to some other bloggers and my mom, I was able to provide an amazing dinner. Below are the recipes I used with my tweaks.

Clean Sweet Potato Casserole

Adapted from He and She Eat Clean

Ingredients:

• 5 large baked sweet potatoes
• 2/3 cup of unsweetened almond milk
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/5 cup pecans

Directions:

To help with cooking time on Thanksgiving day, I did this part the night before.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Wash sweet potatoes and place on a cookie sheet ( I used a pyrex )

2. Once oven is heated, place sweet potatoes in the oven and bake for 1 1/2 hours or until sweet potatoes are soft. 

3. Remove sweet potatoes and baking sheet from the oven. Let cool and store in the refrigerator overnight.

Thanksgiving Day:

4. Remove the sweet potatoes from the refrigerator and let them warm to room temperature. If you are in a rush, then you can microwave them for about 1 minute.

5. Place the sweet potatoes in an electric mixer (I used my Kitchenaid Stand mixer). Add milk, honey, cinnamon and nutmeg to bowl. 

6. Mix for about 3-5 minutes, until all ingredients are combined and potatoes are fluffy.

7. Place the sweet potato mixture in a shallow ceramic dish (I used a Pyrex). Top with pecans.

8. Bake at 350 degrees farenheit for 10 - 15minutes, or until it is golden brown on top.

Clean Green Bean Casserole

Adapted from The Gracious Pantry 

Ingredients

Topping

• 2 slices clean, toasted bread (I used homemade gluten free)
• 1/4 cup roasted almonds (no sugar added)
• 1 tablespoon onion powder

Casserole

• 28 oz (2 bags) frozen green beans
• 2 cups Clean Eating Cream Of Mushroom Soup, warmed and thickened with: 2 tablespoons gluten free all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch or tapioca starch

Directions 

 

1. Prepare Clean Eating Cream of Mushroom soup. (see below)
2. Cut bread in to manageable chunks.
3. Place bread, almonds and onion powder in to a food processor (I used the Magic Bullet).
4. Process (with Pulse) until the ingredients are mixed and have a rough crumb-like texture.
5. Set aside 
6. Place the frozen green beans in a large casserole dish and pour the soup on top. 
7. Sprinkle topping over the green beans. 
8. Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until the topping is golden. 
9. Cool and serve.

Clean Eating Cream of Mushroom Soup 

From the Gracious Pantry.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound mushrooms, sliced
• 4 cups chicken broth 
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup gluten free, all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 cups unsweetened original almond milk

Directions:

1. Saute the mushrooms in the oil. Stir frequently.
2. When the liquid comes out of the mushrooms, add the balsamic vinegar. Then, add the flour,
3. Add the chicken broth to a pot. Add mushrooms to the pot and combine with the broth.
4. Add milk.
5. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for approximately 10 minutes.
6. Allow to cool in the pot.

Clean Cranberry Sauce

Recipe adapted from The Gracious Pantry.

Ingredients:

• 12 ounce bag of fresh cranberries
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon 
• Zest of one large orange
• 1 cup water

Directions:

1. Add all of the ingredients to a pot at medium high heat.
2. Cook for 30-45 minutes. When much of the liquid has gone, turn the head down to low. 
3. Stir frequently.
4. Serve and enjoy! 

Mom's Old Fashioned Bread Stuffing

Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book

Ingredients

• 3 stalks chopped celery
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup butter (the recipe called for a 1/2 cup, but I used less. I bet you could get away with 2 TB. I didn't want to change it too much for my dad. :) )
• 1 tsp poultry seasoning
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 12 cups dry bread cubes (I used gluten free homemade bread)
• 2 cups chicken broth (if you like a drier stuffing, then you can use 1-1 1/4 cup)

Directions

1. In a large skillet, heat the butter. Cook the celery and onion in the melted butter until they are tender.
2. Remove the mixture from heat and stir in seasoning and pepper.
3. Add the bread cubes to a large bowl. Add the onion mixture to the bowl.
4. Drizzle chicken broth over the bread until it is moistened as desired. Toss lightly to coat.
5. Use this mixture to stuff the turkey and place any leftovers in a casserole for baking. Bake the unstuffed portion at 325 for 30-45 minutes. 

Mashed Potatoes

Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book

Ingredients

• 3 large potatoes (about 1 1/2 lbs)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tb butter
• 1/4 cup skim milk or unsweetened, original almond milk

Directions

1. Cut potatoes in to quarters and place in a pot of water. Add salt and boil for 20-25 minutes, or until tender.
2. Place cooked potatoes in a bowl and mash with a potato masher or whip with an electric mixture. Add butter and milk.
3. Continue beating until potatoes are light and fluffy. Serve.

A Clean Thanksgiving

I don't think I can say how much I love Pinterest enough. This is my second year with a gluten free Thanksgiving, and I am ALL kinds of prepared. I remember last year taking short cuts (hello, canned cranberry sauce) because I was so overwhelmed about what to cook and eat because of my diet changes. This year, I am totally prepared. How prepared am I? Enough to not wince at the thought of making cream of mushroom soup from scratch. Now that's impressive!

Here is a glimpse into what I'll be slaving away at on Thanksgiving, thanks to a few other clean bloggers!

• Turkey
• Clean Eating Cranberry Sauce from The Gracious Pantry. 
• Clean Eating Green Bean Casserole from The Gracious Pantry. 
• Mashed Sweet Potato Casserole from He and She Eat Clean
• Old-Fashioned Bread Stuffing from Better Homes and Gardens (My mom always used this recipe)
• Mashed Potatoes (my Dad loves them)

I might tweak these recipes, some. If so, I'll post them!

How I will stay on track this holiday season

 

Thanksgiving break has come, and as I plan our Thanksgiving Day menu I face the nutritional battle of the holiday season. Luckily, I've planned clean recipes for our dinner! With that being said, I know it is accountability that helps keep me on track. Like most people, I can't simply hold myself accountable. Self-accountability can only take you so far, unless you have super hero will power and strength. If that's you - consider yourself blessed and you can stop reading now. :) If that's NOT you, then you know just how important having some sort of accountability is. My son, my coaching, and my fellow Beach Body coaches help keep me accountable whether they know it or not! I love Challenge Groups, because you get that support form others who are working along with you. Also, it does exactly what it says - it CHALLENGES you. You have to WORK to get what you have and we all face challenges. When we go through challenges with others supporting us, then we are SO much stronger.

I invite you to join my newest challenge group that starts on December 2nd. Be healthy this holiday season, and join my 30-day Clean Eating and Shakeology challenge group. I'll help you stay on track and help you learn balance through out this season.

My Holiday POA (Plan of Action)

I must admit it. I love Christmas. I love Christmas SO much that my tree trees (ok yes, I have 2) were up the weekend after Halloween. My family thinks I'm nuts, but I just love it so much! But what I don't love about Christmas (and Thanksgiving) is knowing I have to battle so many temptations. I'm talking to YOU pumpkin fudge! Yes, I know a lot of these treats aren't clean foods but if you recall I stick by the 80/20 rule. Eat clean 80% of the time. I don't believe in setting yourself up for failure thinking you can eating "perfectly" 100% of the time. It's like pulling a rubber band back as far as it can go and finally you catapult yourself back. All of the emotions of "failure" come with it. If you're like me, then the emotions fuel your food choices.

All of that being said, I've been looking ahead at my plan of action (POA) for the holidays. Last year I successfully cooked a gluten free, healthy Thanksgiving meal. This year I plan to tackle the sweets and treats (especially at school). I'm SO excited that Shakeology not only has recipes for shakes, but also for legit treats and desserts. HEALTHY desserts. Here's one that I'm excited to try:

Gooey Shakeology Oatmeal Bar

4 servings Chocolate Shakeology
3 cups dry oatmeal
1 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 dash cinnamon
1 cup nonfat milk (I use unsweetened vanilla almond)
½ tsp. vanilla extract
½ cup natural peanut butter

Mix all dry ingredients together, then add nonfat milk and vanilla to blend flavors. Add peanut butter and mix together really well with hands. After it's all mixed, put mixture in an 8" x 8" pan. Place plastic wrap or wax paper on top of mixture and push evenly into pan to flatten. Refrigerate for 3 hours, then cut into squares. (Makes 9 bars.)Calories: 264

I know nothing beats eating whole foods, but we can't possibly get the mounds of nutrition our body needs by eating the foods. Aside from the amount of food with the right nutrients to fuel our bodies, we also have to take in to account the cost. I love organic foods and I love knowing I'm not putting my liver into overdrive by adding chemicals to my body. But, my wallet may not always agree. I love grocery shopping - I could easily empty my bank account at Whole Foods. Sad, but true. For info on my shopping on a budget tips, read my Living It Up: Coupon Cutter Style post.

What foods can you eat to match Shakeology's nutrient dense shake?

(USDA recommended 5-9 servings of fruit and veggies a day)

To get the nutrtional value of 1 serving of Shakeology, you would need to eat the following:

• 1 bowl of exotic fruit (like goji berries and acai)
• 4 cups raw broccoli
• 7 whole carrots
• 10 cups raw cauliflower
• 3 cups romaine lettuce
• 4 cups uncooked mushrooms
• 3 raw onions
• 4 red radishes
• 1 cup of peas
• 4 cups nonfat yogurt
• 1 shot wheat grass

Wow! If you're interested in trying Shakeology, or would like help getting your own POA ready to tackle the holidays then don't hesitate to contact me! Visit my Team Beach Body Coach page to sign up for a free membership. This makes me your official coach, and you'll have access to loads of information and tools.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas

I ussually begin my holiday decorating before Thanksgiving. I had my outside lights up before Thanksgiving, but my tree went up Thanksgiving night. I'm not really good with themed trees, because I want to be able to put whatever I want on my tree. I like to think I have a "jewel toned" theme for our family tree. That covers a LOT of ground!

 
The kiddo has a tree in his bedroom, too. He gets the fun stuff!

:::break time:::

Today began very early for me. I just had to get my daily caffeine infusion. I was off the caffeine wagon, but someone I got back on. Isn't getting on the wagon supposed to be a good thing? Maybe my analogy is backwards. :)

And with holiday gift wrapping, comes gift wrapping! I LOVE having the various wrapping paper designs under my tree. I bought 2 really pretty rolls over the weekend, but they are used up! I need to restock, ASAP.

I've got an itch to run another race pretty soon. I need to get a few more 5 k's in, and put a few halves on the books for 2013!

P90X - Plyo

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this workout! You know those work outs that have you moving very slowly the next day (or three). That's my relationship with plyo. It totally kicks my butt! :)

 
Breakfast
Oats topped with unsweetened cocoa, natural peanut butter, and a bit of honey for sweetness
a glass of Good Belly - I LOVE this stuff!

Lunch
Arbonne Vanilla Protein Shake blended with blueberries
my Udi's granola..mmmm

Dinner
An upside down day sounds pretty darn good! That's what we refer to as breakfast for supper. Eggs, toast, etc! :) Ketchup on my eggs, of course.

Snacks
Kind bar
Half an apple (thanks to a coworker)
Brussell sprouts (Call me crazy, but I LOVE these!!)

Turkey Day Festivities

I spent Wednesday night prepping everything for Thanksgiving, including  our Little Gobblers, mentioned previously. I wasn't able to make them gluten free, but we had fun! and they turned out pretty cute. The kid enjoyed them and took one to his teacher and other family members.

I had to start my morning with a big cup of hot coffee! We had a few items that didn't require much preparation (i <3 short cuts! )

My favorite recipe for Thanksgiving is my Mom's bread stuffing. This year, I made it gluten free thanks to Udi's. The bread held together perfectly. This is the only second time for me to cook this, and I was quite pleased with how it turned out.

All in all, we had a WONDERFUL holiday with a lot of leftovers. Now, its time to figure out what to do with all that turkey!

Udi's Product Review

As this is my first Thanksgiving sans gluten, I had been pretty nervous about how to approach the meal planning. Then, a couple weeks ago I got the best little package from Udi's. The company graciously sent a huge pack of full value coupons for me to review their products. Udi's opted to send the coupons in lieu of packing the foods (which need to be frozen) in dry ice, which is not so environmentally friendly. (Good call, Udi's!) I was then prepared to attack my holiday menu, and what is prepping without a little taste-testing?

There are several stores around my area that carry the brand, so the kiddo and I set out. All in all, we came back with pizza, cookies, bread, rolls, buns, and muffins. My freezer is packed - enough said. :)

We are a roll-loving kind of family, so when I saw that Udi's had some, I quickly snatched up the Whole Grain Seeded Dinner Rolls. These are loaded with chia, sunflower, and flax seeds. I added a shmear of butter, and the pure goodness just melted in my mouth. I knew these would be perfect for our holiday dinner!

My resident picky-eater is the Kid. He was quite skeptical when I made him a PBJ on Udi's Gluten Free Whole Grain Bread. We've tried a few gluten-free breads in the past that were very hard/brittle, and Udi's was soft, just like its gluten-full counterpart. I think I actually got an "oh my gosh!" after the his first bite. Out of the mouths of babes, right? That's when I decided the Whole Grain Bread needed to be used for our Thanksgiving dressing and stuffing. In our family, we are pretty serious about stuffing/dressing. (Dressing is cooked outside the turkey, stuffing is cooked inside the turkey.) We make both, because there's never enough! As long as I can remember, my mom always had a traditional recipe for her stuffing. Our family enjoyed this recipe year after year. I'm beyond happy that I can carry on this tradition, and I can actually eat the dressing! Thanks, Udi's!

Snickerdoodles are by far my favorite cookie. Admittedly, I was unsure about a frozen, gluten-free cookie; I've only had a gluten-free snickerdoodle from a local bakery. I was beyond pleased with Udi's cookie. Honestly, the package was opened with a few cookies missing before we even made it home. I cannot say whether I devoured cookies in the car, or not. I will say, I had to tell the kiddo to quit eating all my cookies. Yes, my cookies. :) Udi's Snickerdoodle Cookies are now a staple in the Piece, Love, and Peanut Butter household. Now, my plan is to use these cookies to make a crust for my cheesecake. Perfect!

We picked up a few other Udi's products, that clearly were not for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, and would not even have made it that long in my house. :) The Three Cheese Pizza was crispy, with melty-cheesy-goodness! I love a crispy crust and the box had topping suggestions to help personalize your pizza. Am I the only one who is enamored by companies that put little messages and suggestions on their packaging? Anyhow, through this I realized I had chicken breast strips in my freezer. Those immediately went on my half of the pizza (the Kid usually eats his plain). It was great and perfect for a lazy night.

I'm not usually a HUGE granola fan - I'll add it to yogurt, etc. A package usually lasts me quite a while. At Whole Foods, I picked up a bag of the Gluten Free Vanilla Granola. Holy moly! To be honest, I have been munching by the handfuls on this stuff. It doesn't even quite make it to a bowl of almond milk or yogurt. I've added it to my oats a few times, to give my breakfast a little crunch and kick. It was a perfect bowl of hot vanilla-y crunchy oats. :)

Udi's has a ton of products that would be perfect for holiday festivities or lazy days (perhaps to recover from holiday cooking?). Between the French Baguettes,  Cinnamon Rolls, and Classic French Dinner Rolls, there's plenty of choices for you and your guests for a gluten-free holiday season.

I bet your hungry reading this, because I am from just writing it! :)

Hiatus no more

I had a bit of a hiatus the past week, or so.  I had so much going on, when it came to writing a post my brain was just fried. But, I'm back!

I am beyond excited about Thanksgiving. I love all of the food and spending time with family. I am cooking the meal this year, so I picked up all/most of my stuff over the weekend. I still need to hit up Whole Foods to get some bread crumbs, but beyond that - all is right in the world! I planned out our menu (to the best of my ability) and tried to make it as close to what my mom would plan. I tweaked some, due to the inability to find some GF  products and for sheer convenience. I would be one worn-out girl if I made everything from scratch! Hello, shortcuts!?

Last night, the kiddo and I also made these Little Gobblers I found on Pinterest. Mine weren't near as cute, but they still turned out great. I sent him to school with one for his teacher, too. Fortunately/unfortunately (depending on how you'd like to look at it), I couldn't find a GF version of the Nutter Butter cookies. At least that will keep me from eating them. I may or may not have had some of the icing, though. I'll never tell. My menu brings me to a product review I have coming up! I am super excited about reviewing products for Udi's! The post will be up soon!

P90X - KenpoX - 65 minutes

Breakfast
Oats topped with almond butter, banana, and ground flax
Black coffee

Lunch
Arbonne Vanilla Protein Shake
Banana

Snack
Apple
Udi's Sweet and Crunchy Vanilla Granola

Dinner
Arbonne Chocolate Protein Shake mixed with peanut butter

I thought today was Friday...

The title says it all. I thought today was Friday. All day it felt like a Friday; even yesterday felt like Thursday. I can't imagine much worse than that. Oh, well. Tomorrow is Friday - the calendar says it's so. Thank goodness!

Since we are going to Dubai for Christmas, I feel even more pressure to make sure all of our shopping is done before December. I don't want to be running around like a mad woman in mad christmas crowds. Oh, I have to mention I am the "official personal shopper" for my family. Ever since my mom got sick, I took over holiday planning.  Yes, this does mean I pick my own gifts from my family. No, that does not mean that I rack up on amazingness. It is SO hard for me to pick out gifts for myself. This year, Christmas should be pretty simple.

Last year I heard about the 4 gift rule.

1. Something you want
2. Something you need
3. Something to wear
4. Something to read

 This concept was so awesome to me. Our Christmases tend to be retty excessive. Aside from minimizing my stress and costs, I thought the 4-gift rule would help us keep the meaning of Christmas in mind. My family also celebrates St. Nicholas Day (December 6) - this is when we do our stockings. Since my shopping excursions won't be a free-for-all, like in previous years, I decided I needed to plan my attack. My sister wanted to add another category, "something to eat." Why? Because she wanted me to bring some Zebra Cakes as she can't get them there. :) Then, I had the bright idea to add a 6th category, "Something from Mom." It won't actually be from Mom, but a Mom-type gift would be cool. My mom was known for being super sappy and sentimental.

Hello, Excel AKA my new best friend! Over the past few months I've discovered the endless possibilities with Excel. My most recent project consisted of charting our Christmas list. It's not a complicated thing, by any means, but organization was my goal. I have yet to decide on my gifts (from Dad), but there are a few things I have my eye on.

Food scale
The new pink Garmin
Running socks
Gu (How sad that I would be happy with Gu in my stocking!)
Whole foods gift card
Kindle or Nook
Gift cards to my favorite stores (Express, Target, Kohl's, etc.)

I plan to start shopping this weekend. I'll have to confer with Dad on gifts. As for gifts from me and the kid, I think I'm going to get crafty and make something! I won't mention much more, because my sister reads this. Again, she's pretty darn sneaky.

Do you have any special Christmas traditions?

P90X - KenpoX - 45 minutes

Breakfast

Oats topped with almond butter, cocoa, semi sweet chocolate chips, sliced banana, and ground flax.
Black coffee

Snack
Pear
Cranberry Almond Kind Bar
Kit Kat fun size and Milky Way mini  (Thank you, coworkers!)

Lunch
Arbonne chocolate protein shake blended with a banana.

Dinner
Salad with turkey, mushrooms, peppers, mozzarella, and olives.
Apple


I'm super excited about a product review that is coming up soon! It will be a yummy and we all know I take my food seriously. :)