Food and Fat Tuesday.

I slept 10 hours last night. I think I'm dying. I don't understand why I am so tired all the time! I used to think it was a side effect of my depression, but I've been doing really well the past six weeks; eating right and working out consistently has definitely helped improve my mood, but I still sleep like a hibernating bear.

I keep hoping that maybe it's because I'm doing a lot more than I used to (I'm cooking at least two full meals a day now, in addition to doing three or four 10 minute workouts through-out the day, along with my normal housewife & pet-mom duties) and that after a while it'll balance out, but it seems like after six weeks my body should be used to it by now...right? I really don't want to have to go to the doctor, but I know that it could also be something like a thyroid problem, which would also explain why, despite the incredibly dedicated way I've been eating/working out, weight loss has been slow. Ughh. Why can't I just be normal?

Oh well, not going to dwell on that now.

 Goal update: still doing really well, on all of them! Food logging, calorie-counting, working out, and not buying anything - all in check. Man, I'm awesome.

Since today is Mardi Gras, I'm making jambalaya in the crock-pot! I've been doing amazing on my goal of planning out meals. Usually we plan for a couple of days at a time, and we never buy meat too far in advance, because we never bother to put it in the freezer. Anyway, on Thursday of last week I planned out meals for everyday this week, made a huge grocery list, and we went and bought everything. Then, when I got home, I immediately portioned out the beef and chicken into ziplocs with one pound each, and threw them in the freezer. I also cleared some space on the fridge and put the menu up there, so now everyday I see what's on the menu for the next day and pull that meat down to the fridge to thaw! We try not to have the same meat two days in a row: this week we're have two days of beef, two of chicken, one pork, one fish, and as usual, Sunday is soup day. (AKA leftover day, or Mandi-doesn't-cook-so-fend-for-yourself day)

I'm also having fun finding new recipes that are gluten-free, healthy, and that we both really like. So far my new favorite is beef, black bean, and brown rice stuffed bell peppers. So amazing. Coming in at a close second was this shrimp fried rice. Another one that surprised both of us with how well a bunch of random things tasted together was the quinoa-chicken-sweet potato stir fry. I was so worried about that one, that initially I didn't even tell Josh everything that was in it, because I was afraid he wouldn't even try it: but he did, and we both liked it!

One that we haven't tried yet (because I just found it this weekend) is this one for beef carnitas made in the crock-pot...definitely putting that on next weeks menu! Delicious looking, and I love things made in the crock-pot. So easy. (All of these are on my food board on pinterest, fyi.)

I even made my own delicious recipe for almond crusted cod, using the leftover almond bits after I made almond milk. It was so good that I'm making it again this week (I have lots of almond leftover - I used two pounds of them and made a whole jug of almond milk.) Maybe I'll measure stuff and document my recipe...

Well thanks, internet, I have officially made myself hungry. I'm going to go find something to eat while I wait for my jambalaya to finish up...oh, and I think it's about time I started cooking the rice that's going to go in it, too!

Weekend pt 1

We finally made it to Restore to donate all those old clothes! The guest bed is empty (and clean!), and I am slowly getting everything else in order back there. Unfortunately, as I'm sure you've all guessed, I couldn't just drop stuff off without a little walk-through...which led to buying something. I found this really awesome two-piece outfit...it's a long skirt and a button down shirt, but I'm thinking of putting it altogether and making a romper...or just making shorts out of the skirt, and making the top sleeveless. I don't know yet, it's very exciting. The fabric is gorgeous, it's black with big blue, green, pink, and orange flowers and leaves on it. I'm in the process of washing it right now, so I'll take a picture tomorrow.

Yesterday we went out because Josh and I both kind of felt like going somewhere, but neither of us had any idea of where to go, so we ended up at TJ Maxx. I found this really awesome aromatherapy set, and the smell reminded me of this lotion I used to have from Victoria's Secret, so today after Restore we stopped at the mall and got some of that. (Very proud of myself for going in through Dillard's but not getting distracted!)

Oh, remember how I couldn't resist that Marc Jacobs watch the other day? Well, last night I was might have ordered a bracelet so it wouldn't be lonely on my arm. I can't help it, everything Marc Jacobs does is perfection. Anyway, I told Josh that those two things can be my Valentine's Day gift. Mostly just so I'd have an excuse for having bought them, we normally don't celebrate Valentine's Day.

I discovered the magic of cooking with quinoa this past week. I made some with apples and cinnamon for breakfast the other day, and tonight I made fajitas and replaced the rice with quinoa cooked just like Mexican rice...so good! (I found both of those on Pinterest.)

Well, it's kind of early for me, we slept till 2:30 today (isn't it awful? I wish I could flip my schedule back to normal.) so I'll be up for a while, and I really want to go empty my cabinet space under the counter, and toss all the food that's expired or we're not planning on eating. I'll try to get the craft room clean, too, I have a project that needs to get done pretty soon so I really want to get stuff organized in there so I can get it done!

Here's a picture of an awesome car we spotted while on the way to Restore today. (It's a 1961 Studebaker Hawk, if you're curious.)