Pizza Cravings are Under Control

I was having the biggest pizza craving ever a few weeks ago. I toyed with the idea of ordering a pizza and then flashed back the stomach cramps that come along with greasy, preservative filled pizza. And then I remembered this wonderful recipe that curbs the cravings and tastes just like junk food!

Pita Pizza
1 whole wheat pita
1/4 cup grated cheese (I used low fat cheddar)
1/4 bell pepper, sliced
1 green onion, chopped
1/2 chicken breast, cooked & sliced
2 Tbsp organic spaghetti sauce

1) Heat oven to 375 degrees.
2) Put pita in oven right on rack for about 4 mins.
3) Take pita out and place on baking sheet. Top with sauce, chicken, veggies and cheese.
4) Bake for 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted and pita edges are brown.
5) Enjoy!

Sleep and Sugar

Since we had our meeting with the sleep consultant and put a plan into place, our four year old's sleep has improved quite a bit! It has been a week now and she now sleeps 10 hours at night and has about an hour long nap in the afternoon, that is far more sleep than she has ever had! She is generally in a better mood and is much easier to deal with. The tantrums she was having before were starting to make me crazy. The worst tantrum she has had in a week was last night before bed and that was because she was overtired (we put her to bed too late). She had a screaming fit and was using every excuse in the book to get us back into her room! I did what we were told to do, take her back to her room without speaking to her. She was very angry with me, even this morning but she eventually calmed down last night and went to sleep on her own.

I have made the decision that we will keep this schedule as long as she needs this amount of sleep. If there is a birthday party or event (as long as it's not a family member or close friend) during nap/quiet time, we will be missing it. When she goes to the birthday parties and events and misses out on the quiet time or a nap that is needed, she is sleep deprived for days and then Matt's and my nerves are shot and we end up being grouchy with each other and the kids. In the end, it's not fair to anyone. So from here on in, any acquaintances birthday party is NOT more important than my children's sleep and our sanity.

Speaking of sanity, since we have committed to clean eating, I have been experimenting with sugar and our children. I have found food coloring, white sugar, fructose, etc really affects them. It makes them absolutely crazy! And surprise, surprise it also affects their sleep! I know that I can't ban sugar completely because there will always be sugar at birthday parties and school, but I am really trying to avoid the nasty sugars around our house unless it's a special occasion. I have a few friends who limit their children's sugar intake so it should be easy enough to keep up. Our biggest problem will be people we know who give their children a constant supply of slurpees, suckers and gummy bears and Ceili and Abbey will see that and wonder "why can't I have that?".

The picture in this post is Ceili playing outside in her clover crown after a good nap. We were really enjoying out time together because we were both well rested and in a great mood!

Sleep Help Day 1

We had a difficult day today and it made me even more anxious because I knew we were starting the new sleep plan for Ceili, our 5 year old daughter today.

The sleep consultant told me to watch for when she was tired and put her for a nap then (yes, she still naps for around an hour a day which is surprisingly normal!). She was acting tired at around 12:30 pm after we had lunch so I put both girls for a nap. Abbey, our 17 month old was out like a light. Ceili on the other hand was acting crazy in her bad, saying she couldn't sleep. I went in to check on her at one point and she had changed her clothes, taken every bow she owns down off of her bow holder and had played with a bunch of toys in her room. Needless to say there was no nap for her and she ended up having a meltdown afterwards saying she was "sooo tired".

When Matt came home at 4:30 pm she was eating an apple for a snack and we had to keep her awake because she was nodding off and spilling apple slices everywhere! She got her second wind, thankfully and ate supper fine. I gave them both a bath right after bed and got them into pj's. They had a snack and Ceili brushed her teeth and went potty then we read a couple of books to them. She was excited because she got a sticker on her chart for doing those things.

Then the nighttime routine began. It was Matt's turn to put her to bed so she got to choose a "dream card". I put them together by finding photos from magazines and gluing them onto heavy paper. The photos are of things like a field of flowers, mountains, a lake with geese, etc. Matt and Ceili talked about the picture before bed and helped her to visualize what could be happening in the picture to help her be calm and have sweet dreams. He also did the usual routine of telling her a story and singing a song. He said she was pretty crazy and not calm at all though.

She came out of her room once and went potty again then tried to argue about her slippers because she couldn't find them. Matt reminded her of the rules and she went back to bed and was asleep by 8pm! What a change! I am hoping that she sleeps through the night and feels rested in the morning.

Mirror, Mirror

It has been just over a month since we started eating clean and it is now starting to feel like second nature. I don't even think twice while I'm walking through the mall and smell the greasy foods in the food court. I have been planning our meals at the beginning of the week and the new recipes have been a hit in our house! Ceili calls the sprouted rice we eat "bird food" but she loves her bird food, haha!

I have lost 17 lbs to date and I actually like what I see when I look in the mirror now! I feel great about myself and biking has become my new favorite activity. I can't wait until I lose 20 lbs so I can post progress pictures! I haven't liked looking at myself in the mirror for a long time, so I know I am making progress.

In other news, we have a sleep specialist coming to help us out with Ceili because she is struggling to fall asleep and stay asleep long enough in the night. I never thought I would be paying someone $500 to help us get our kid to sleep! She has never been a good sleeper, but it is just getting worse so we know we have to do something. We have tried all natural sleep aids for kids, new routines, earlier bedtime, pretty much everything and we're at our wits end! I'm anxious to see what she says.

It`s way later than I thought and I need my beauty sleep, so I will sign off for now!

A New Lease on Life!

Clean eating is still going great! We eat as much as possible organic and are making pretty much everything from scratch. I have now lost 15lbs and feel like a new person. I haven't weighed this little and felt this good in over 5 years.

Yesterday we put together the bike trailer and went for a little ride and today I packed the girls up and went on a longer ride. When I got home I was sweating and thirsty but man did I feel great!

I have a friend who started eating clean about a week before us and she is feeling the same way. More energy and loving the healthy grub.

I thought I would put together a little blog post sharing my favorite clean and healthy recipes for those of you who would like to try some. I have a few friends asking what my favorites are, so here it goes!

Breakfast:

Breakfast Pita

Apple Cinnamon Quinoa Muffins

Lunch & Dinner:

Chicken Gyros, so juicy and delicious!

Southwestern Chicken Chopped Salad

Asian Noodle Bowl, this is amazing! We eat it once a week in our house.

Greek Salad with Baked Pita. Filling and delicious!

Quinoa Chicken Fried Rice. Matt says this tastes like "junk food" but it's not!

Cilantro Lime Shrimp, tastes just like buttery shrimp from a restaurant but with no butter

Snacks & Desserts

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Apple Sandwiches, great after exercise!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream, this is a real favorite around here

Chewy Granola Bars, so yummy

The longer I do this eating clean thing, the more I look at a lot of the recipes on Pinterest and shake my head in disgust. They are so full of artificial ingredients like color, flavor, and refined suger and flour. I can't believe that I used to eat that stuff. Now if I eat anything that contains refined sugar or is processed I get severe stomach cramps. Tells you something, doesn't it?!

Getting Easier Every Day

We are still doing great with our clean eating! I have reduced the amount of carbohydrates we are eating as well and it's working great. Matt has lost 12 lbs and I have lost 11 lbs. My pants are already starting to get loose and the ones that were too tight are actually feeling comfortable now!

I have tried a bunch of great new recipes like Asian noodle bowls, Greek salad with chickpeas and all kinds of delicious salad rolls. I also made homemade clean granola last night and homemade nutella spread today and both are huge hits with the kids!

I feel so much better inside and out since we have started clean eating. I didn't expect to feel so good and I honestly didn't know if I had the willpower to do it. I thought that when I made the kids a snack, I wouldn't be able to resist having a cracker or taste of what they were having. Now I make the snack and give it to them without even batting an eye. Joe Cross is right, you need to eat mindfully. I always have to remember that and it makes it so much easier. If I don't feel hungry, I don't eat. But if I am hungry, I eat mindfully and eat something healthy and something that I know will make me feel full.

I find that it does take a lot more chopping and prep work to eat clean. I have to remember to soak the beans the night before, take the time to chop the veggies for dinner, etc. but it is totally worth it!

I have had a few people saying to me "what diet are you on?" I make sure to mention that it is not a diet, it is a change of lifestyle. I look forward to continuing eating this way because I am enjoying all of the homemade, natural foods and feeling well. I don't plan on going back to my old way of eating ever!

Quinoa Salad Rolls

We have been eating clean for almost a week now (including our juice reboot) and so far so good. Our fridge is stocked with lots of fruits and veggies and I'm having a lot of fun experimenting and creating new recipes! I have also tried a few off of Pinterest, most of them totally delicious. I find myself appreciating flavours so much more since we did the juice cleanse and I feel great. I haven't had to take an Advil for my aches and pains in over a week!

I bought some rice paper wrappers at the Asian grocery store and wanted to do something different with them. I was thinking salad rolls but wanted to add something to them. White rice isn't such a good idea, but quinoa is! Here is my recipe for my new recipe that I can't get enough of. I have made these a couple of times and changed up the ingredients.

Yields about 8 spring rolls, depending how much fill them!

Ingredients:
1 cup Quinoa, dry
2 cups Low Sodium Organic chicken broth
1 tsp Sesame oil
1 tsp Organic soy sauce
1 tsp Rice Vinegar
Rice Paper Wraps
1 lg. Cucumber cut into sticks
Bean Sprouts
1 carrot, peeled & shredded
3 Green onions chopped (I found if cut lengthwise they were too hard to bite)
1/4 Cup unsalted chopped peanuts

1) Cook quinoa as per package directions using the chicken stock and add the sesame oil and soy sauce. Once cooked add the rice vinegar. Allow to cool before using.
2) Wet rice paper wrappers and lay out on a flat surface. Layer quinoa, veggies and peanuts on the wrappers.

3) Roll up and enjoy!

I also made this dressing as a dip for our salad rolls and it was great!