Brussel Bacon Apple Salad

Brussel sprouts are back! The cool veggie to eat and there are so many delicious ways to prepare them! If I’m honest I’m your typical roasted veggie kinda girl so I hadn’t really branched out with them until his salad!

Ingredients
- 1lb or bag of Brussels, shredded
- 1/4 red onion sliced thin
- 1/2 apple (pink lady are my fave to use!)
- bacon (few slices chopped and cooked)
- walnuts chopped

Dressing ingredients
- mustard, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, garlic powder (I didn’t measure them out but just did added each till it tasted how I liked it)

Directions
1. In a mixing bowl placed sliced onion, shredded Brussels, cooked bacon pieces, aliced apple, and chopped walnuts (if you wish).
2. Mix together dressing ingredients in a separate bowl. Should be able to taste the mustard and apple from the vinegar :)
3. Pour dressing on salad when ready to serve!

The Joy and Pain of Mothers Day

Mother’s Day last year I was pregnant and didn’t even know it. I remember sitting in church and the Pastor was talking about the pain and joy of Mothers Day. I really didn’t think that much about the pain side but focused on the joy. I couldn’t wait till I got to experience the joy of motherhood. 

Little did I know a few weeks later we would experience the pain. No one really prepares you for that, the joy that gets stripped away from that instant the Dr says he has bad news and the constant reminder as your body does what it has to do for days and weeks to come. 

The pain is real and it consistently re-surfaces on days like Mothers Day where it creeps back in and seems as raw and real as the day it happened. Some women choose to still celebrate today because yes, you are a Mom to a baby in heaven. This day is as much yours and even though you don’t get to hold your child it doesn’t take away from the fact that you have a child, you are a Mom, and you carried that little soul even if it was just for a short while. 

The joy of Mothers Day over shadows the pain for me. I get to spend it with my rainbow baby E. I pray that those of you who have felt the pain of loss get to feel the joy of holding your sweet baby in your arms, even if it’s through other ways of expanding your family. I can’t describe the love that one feels hearing that cry and holding your child for the first time. I am so blessed and grateful that I have this sweet girl to celebrate Mother’s Day with this year!

I’m also reminded that being a Mom doesn’t just happen biologically. Unfortunately, we will not be having anymore biological children. E was our true gift from God and did not come easily. There were way too many times both of our lives were at risk. So not only do I think of the child I lost, embrace and snuggle the child I have, but I also pray for the child in my future and the mother that will carry him or her. 

Being a Mom is hard work. It’s full of joy and celebrating milestones and full of more love than you could ever imagine! But it is also full of pain and sorrow. It can be full of loss, full of fear, full of anxiety. It’s truly a life if so many emotions. 

Whether you are cuddling with your baby today, praying for the children that you long for, or missing the ones you have lost today is a day to celebrate you Moms. A day to celebrate your strength that no matter what this life has thrown at you, you have made it yet another day! 

Happy Mothers Day to every Mom, no matter what your story is you are seen, heard, and oh so loved! 

Crockpot Mongolian Beef

I love a good Chinese takeout meal! Here is a simple throw together and let it cook all day meal without the high salt content that you would get with take out! Make it even healthier and serve over cauliflower rice! 

Ingredients:

1 1/2lb Flank or Skirt Steak

Cornstarch

2 TBS sesame oil

1 TBS garlic minced

1 TBS minced ginger or 2 tsp ground ginger      

½ cup soy sauce

¼ cup brown sugar

½ cup water

½ cup green onions chopped

Directions:

1.       Coat steak in cornstarch and place in crockpot. You can choose to slice up steak now or later. I personally like to slice steak now and coat each individual piece but if you don’t have time do it later J

2.       Add all other ingredients to the crockpot.

3.       Cook on low 4-6 hours of high 3-4 hours

4.       Take out steak and slice into strips. Serve over cooked rice or cauliflower rice!

Crockpot Chicken Fajitas

Looking for a cheap and easy Mexican dish that will serve many people! This is it! Feel free to add any extras at the end! 

Ingredients:

1-2lb chicken tenderloins

1 can salsa

1 bag sliced frozen fajita peppers (TJ frozen section.)

       If you don’t have TJ then 1 green bell

       1 red bell pepper sliced

1 Onion sliced

1 tsp chili powder

½ tsp cumin

Salt

Pepper

Directions:

1.       Place chicken in crockpot with veggies

2.       Pour salsa over the top of the chicken and veggies

3.       Cook on low 4-6 hours of high 3-4 hours (or until you get home)

4.       Serve on tortillas! (check out homemade tortilla recipe if you have extra time)

5.       Serve with cheese, sour cream, Guac, cilantro, anything else your heart desires! 

Crockpot Garlic Parmesan Chicken

I love meals like this where I can put EVERYTHING in the pot! This allows you for the sides to get cooked with the main meal! All you have to do is come home and serve! 

Ingredients:

1-2lbs chicken thighs, breast, legs (whatever you prefer)

1 bag green beans

1lb small redskin potatoes

4 TB butter or coconut oil

3 cloves garlic diced

½ onion chopped

¼ cup chicken broth

Salt

Pepper

Garlic Powder

½ cup parm cheese

Directions:

1.       If you choose, brown chicken in oiled pan first

2.       Place chicken, potatoes, green beans in crockpot. Add chicken broth, cheese, butter, and seasoning.

3.       Cook on low 6-8 hours or high 3-4 hours (or until you get home).

4.       Before your serve, sprinkle with more parm cheese J

Crockpot Veggie and Meat Stew

This is a very easy and nutritious meal! The chicken broth makes it light in sodium and less calories than using a creamy base!

Ingredients:

1lb ground turkey (or beef if your prefer) or for lean meat use chicken shredded!

1 bag chopped butternut squash (find in frozen or near the salad section at most stores. If not 3 cups chopped)

3 Carrots sliced

3 stalks celery chopped

1 zucchini sliced

1 onion, chopped

1 box or 2 cans of chicken broth

1 can tomato paste

1 can diced tomatoes

Salt

Pepper

Garlic powder

Directions:

1.       Brown meat if desired (I always like to do this step first, but it doesn’t need to be fully cooked)

2.       Slice and chop the above veggies (you can buy them all pre sliced at most local grocery stores to save time!)

3.       Pour meat, veggies, broth, tomatoes, and tomato paste into crockpot.

4.       Cook on low for 6 hours of high 3-4 (or until you get home).

5.       Serve with some shredded cheese or sour cream J

Crockpot Sloppy Joes

This is such a great recipe when you are busy, need to make a lot of food, or want leftovers! My husband loves this! We often serve our sloppy joes over a potato but a bun is always a fan favorite! 

Ingredients:

2lb ground beef

Minced garlic

1/2 –whole onion chopped

½ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp pepper

½ cup water

3 TB Worcestershire

½ tsp mustard

3 TB brown sugar

1 ¼ cup ketchup (I like to buy the Heinz sweetened with honey)

Directions:

1.       If desired, brown the meat beforehand but don’t worry about it being cooked all the way through

2.       Mix all ingredients besides meat in a bowl

3.       Place meat in crockpot, pour sauce over top and stir. Cook on low for 4-6 hours or until you get home J

4.       Serve on whole grain bun or over potato! 

Crockpot Beer Braised Porkchop

This is a super yummy and easy meal to make for the whole fam! All you need are a few ingredients and a crockpot!

Ingredients
6 pork chops (bone in works best)
1 can of beer
1/2 cup ketchup (organic or sweetened with honey)
1/4 cup brown or coconut sugar
1/4 tsp garlic powder
Salt
Pepper

Directions
1. Place pork chops in crockpot
2. Mix the rest of the ingredients and pour over chops
3. Cook on low 6-8 hours or high 3-4
4. Enjoy!

What is HARD in life?

Sometimes life doesn’t go as planned. Sometimes dreams don’t happen. Sometimes what we want and how we want to get there looks vastly different than what we dreamed up.

My health and fitness has been a part of my life the past 4 years and I have truly enjoyed pouring myself into my business and helping others reach their goals. Meanwhile my husband and I prayed for and so desperately dreamed of being parents. 

After one miscarriage we were greatly surprised to see that positive sign light up the pregnancy test! With fear of the future we kept our little miracle to ourself....until we couldn’t anymore. 

At 6 weeks I was diagnosed with Hyperemesis Gravidarum, a pregnancy complication that includes severe vomiting, dehydration, weight loss, organ failure, and other complications. After 3 ER visits and my husband getting called away for work I moved back to Michigan to have my parents help take care of me. 

I continued to get worse, puking anywhere from 30-40 times a day. I lost 30 pounds in two weeks and ended up in the hospital due to kidney and liver failure. While in the hospital we tried every medication but I continued to wither away. Finally, I had a feeding tube placed down my nose to bypass my stomach and get nutrients to my intestines. 

Would I have ever guessed that having a baby would literally attempt to kill me? That I would be given an ultimatum that if this didn’t work I would have to choose my life or my babies? That I would be so sick I couldn’t funtion? That I would be pregnant and living away from my husband? 

No. This wasn’t part of the plan. The plan was to workout every day. The plan was to show you all how healthy I remained during my pregnancy. The plan was to post cute baby bump selfies in between sweat sessions: 

The plan looks vastly different than the reality. Here I am, 24 weeks later with baby girl thriving (thank God!) and my body continues to stuggle. Here I am couch bound, 2 IV hydration’s a day, a plethora of oral medications, a PICC line (that has already bled out once), and a daily at home nurse helping me fight to make it to 40 weeks. 

Some days suck more than others. Some days I think “this isn’t fair” or “why can’t I be like the majority of pregnant woman with their cute maternity clothes and baby bump pics?” Some days the greatest blessing of growing this little life inside me is darkened by the fact I can’t put any weight on or I am headed to the ER yet again. 

But when my Joy gets stolen I remember there is an ending to this all. There will come a time

In April where I get to hold this beautiful little girl in my arms, I get to join my husband back in our home, and I get to get back to inspiring and pouring into other peoples lives and remind them that there is hard and then there is HARD. 

This my friends is HARD. Waking up to workout at 6am no longer is. Eating healthy isn’t as hard as trying to eat when your body can keep anything down, lifting my head out of the toilet is hard e than lifting weights. I promise this, I will never take my health for granted! 

Until then sweat for me and baby girl! Eat your veggies on our behalf! Run that extra mile! If I could

I would and I will once this is all over :)