Mark Approved Healthy Recipes

Mark and I have been incorporating some healthy food choices into our daily lives. He has admired a few more than he ever thought he would. They are loaded with fresh veggies, lean meats and make your body feel sooo good! I hope you like them and feel free to comment or respond with any questions or suggestions you may have. Eating well has changed our whole outlook on fitness and healthy living. Enjoy!

Egg Cups

What You'll Need:

• eggs (as many as you'll eat in a few days we do 12)
• muffin tin
• spinach
• bacon
• red pepper flakes/cayenne 
• PAM or some other way to grease your muffin tin

What You Should Do:

• grease muffin tin
• set oven at 350
• crack all eggs in a bowl and add a splash of almond milk
• add spices and whip until light yellow and smooth
• place spinach leaves and bacon pieces in each muffin cavity
• pour mixture on top until 2/3 full
• bake for 12 mins or until firm

*you can add or subtract any additions to the egg mixture, what you like in an omelette works perfect in this

**you can line each muffin cavity with a piece of deli meat to help it stay together and add another layer of yummy protein

Homemade Chicken Broth

What You'll Need:

• whole chicken (preferably organic)
• 1/2 onion (Walla-Walla for me)
• jalapeno
• carrots (2 cups sliced)

What You Should Do:

• Roast whole chicken 
• break down and take meat off the bones
• put bones in crock pot with 6 cups of cold water
• add half an onion roughly chopped, handful of carrots and a jalapeno sliced lengthwise
• let simmer on low for 8-12 hours ( I left mine overnight)
• strain into large bowl, keep veggies/any meat left and discard bones

Paleo Friendly Zuppa Toscana

What You'll Need:

• homemade chicken stock (6 cups-ish)
• 2-3 cups kale leaves
• 1 lb spicy sausage (browned)
• 1 cup carrots (sliced)

What You Should Do:

• dump homemade chicken stock in crockpot
• turn on low and add carrots and browned spicy sausage
• add 2 cups/handfuls of kale and a pinch of salt
• add 1/3 cup almond milk (heavy cream if you ain't no Paleo Person)
• let all simmer for 3 hours or until carrots are al dente and kale is soft

Cauliflower Crust

What You'll Need:

• 1 head cauliflower
• assorted spices of choice
• 1 egg

What You Should Do:

• break down 1 head cauliflower and put in microwave safe bowl with 2 tbsp water
• cover tightly with saran wrap and microwave on high for 4 mins or until fork tender
• place steamed cauliflower in food processor with spices of choice (red pepper flakes, cayenne, italian seasoning blend, garlic, parsley, basil)
• pulse for a few seconds at a time so there is still a chunky ricey consistency
• remove from processor and back to bowl
• mix with one egg until well incorporated
• press mixture onto oiled pizza pan so it holds together
• pat dry with paper towels for added crispness

Tomato/Pizza Sauce

What You'll Need:

• 2 roma tomatoes sliced
• 1 can low sodium tomato paste
• garlic (4-5 cloves)
• 1 red pepper sliced 
• red pepper flakes and cayenne (if ya like it spice-ay)

What You Should Do:

• place all above ingredients in food processor 
• pulse until thick and as chunky as you like

Something to Say

Today I woke up before the sun. I had a pleasant morning with my husband shuffling around whispering over hot coffee with each other. I sent him off to work laden with Paleo approved breakfast, second breakfast, elevenses and lunch. We had a busy weekend with two birthday parties, a dual baptism and grandparent parade (extend out the syllables of that last one to make it sound like Prince's Raspberry Beret like I do). Not often do we Kidwell folk like to fill our entire weekend with out of the house things because we are homebodies at our finest. 

Finn and I made a Friday night appearance at a friend's soiree at her home. He had been feverish and clingy all week so I thought it would be better to take him with me rather than foisting him on to daddy, thereby ruining both of their evenings. When my babies are sick it is mommy or nobody. So, Finn came to party with the adults for a bit and ran rampant through their unchildproofed lovely home. He attacked the flat screen with every chance he got and ran circles around the stone fireplace. He stopped a few times to give hearty high fives to the birthday girl and only once to give a single finger touch to her husband's awaiting high five hand. We left early when Finn started chanting "nah, naht" to bid everyone goodnight as he was ready for bed.

Saturday brought the delivery of the Ariel cake and my cousin's daughter's 4th birthday party. I made the cake for her that was under the sea themed. It seemed to go over quite well. Lily and Finn both played nicely at the party and Mark got to keep an eye on the Penn State game.

By Sunday, we were all starting to feel the effects of being out of our little comfort zone home. We composed ourselves anyway and drove to a lovely church service with a dual baptism of my cousin's two children. Both kids were so well-behaved and though we left early, it was very nice to attend.

Grandparent parade took us to Woodbury just after the baptism where we visited with Mark's family for his dad's birthday. The highlight was the all-girl shopping trip that Lily, Grandma and I took. We loaded up at  Carter's. We sniffed and smelled at Bath and Body Works. Lily proclaimed some scents to have taken her by surprise and some she deemed heavenly.

Monday morning came with a quickness and several other factors led me to this realization and subsequent blog post. I was born to be a great mom. I know this may seem odd or inconsequential to some of you career minded humans browsing here now. But hear me out. Some moms I know have a difficult time staying home. They are better suited among other adults. Facts and figures, deadlines and working lunches suit them better than quelling tantrums and nursing sickies. I have literally no problem with that. I do, however, feel strongly that you should reciprocate the support and respect to those of us who stay home with our kids. 

My and my husband's decision for me to stay at home is not up for mockery, eye-rolling, debate or question. It isn't yours to deem one way or the other. I know I am a wonderful mom because of the way my children behave and the way they interact. I know deep down that this was what I was meant to do. I never succeeded so well at anything like I do at parenting. There are amazing working parents as well. That is not even remotely my point. Mark is a working dad and he is the greatest father I could ever ask for my children to have. 

Lately there has been a trend toward sneering at people who are proud parents. We are a nuisance. Our children bother you and our bags and strollers are cumbersome. Our photos and updates are too many and too invasive on your social media news feeds. Our minivans and playdates elicit sighs and snide looks.

It is my opinion that not everyone is cut out to do everything well. We all have a niche. My life is being a mom. And while you may not share the passion or the title, you should look deep within and consider what bothers you so much about that.

I will continue to be a stained clothes wearing, pony tailed, coffee guzzling, photo littering, status bombing, home cooking, goofy voiced, song singing, bag laden, stroller pushing, hand holding, laundry folding, cake baking, silly dancing, lunch packing, walk taking, park playing, full to the brim with love mommy. 

If you don't like it *click click* unfriend me, buddy. 

homebodies

Kidwell World

Hello to all of you!

Again, I must apologize for my inconsistent blogging habits. I get going on little tangents and forget to write about them. Now, to what all of you care about, the kids.

Lily is about a month into kindergarten and is thriving. She has behavior monitoring everyday because her classroom is run in a very strict organized manner. She starts her day on green and if she receives one warning about anything in particular that is not abiding by the rules she has to flip to yellow. If she has to be warned again, about anything, it is a red card and a mandatory 10 minute time out and sitting out for 10 minutes of recess. While the mama bear in me gets very annoyed that my daughter asking if her letter "t" is written correctly without waiting to be called on warrants a warning, the realist in me knows that she had better learn to follow rules regardless of how her mommy feels about them.

She is learning sight words and is sounding things out very well for someone so impatient with non-comprehension. Numbers come to her so easily that she never even has to take a moment before she has the exact answer. She is still ever so patient and kind to her younger brother even though he pushes every last good grace of hers to the very limit.

Finn is a monster. He is a darling. But, he is a monster. He is reckless, destructive, inquisitive, mischievous and stubborn as hell. He is also a fast learner, excitable, loving and so very happy. He smiles and waves while saying a very clear "hi!" to strangers. He waves and very sweetly sings "byeee!" when we leave their presence. His list of words is expanding daily and we are all so stunned when he picks up a new one. 

So far there is:
Puppy
Daddy 
Mommy
Papa
No
Nah-nah (night-night)
Issy (sissy)
Woo-woo (train)
Beep-beep (car)
Boh (boats)
Ishies (fishies)
Mowah (more)
Foo (food)
Bah-boh (bottle)
Bah-oh (ball)

He is obsessed with big trucks and tractors. He loves his daddy and his papa. And he gets incredibly excited when Lily comes home from school. He can climb anything, eat anything and will stay outdoors until you drag him kicking and screaming inside.

Mark and I are doing fine. :)
Thanks for reading.