Meatloaf you'll love!

So I have a weird relationship with Meatloaf. I WANT to like it. I'm not sure why, but I just do. So I have tried probably a hundred recipes trying to find one I like. I actually have one I like: my Grandpa's meatloaf. Problem is I don't have the recipe and he passed away 20 years ago. But it's always in my mind as the standard for meatloaf and nothing really comes close to it. So I try a recipe, think "meh" and move on to the next one. Honestly I didn't have super high hopes for this one but I figured you can't really go wrong wrapping anything in bacon so I gave it a whirl.

Oh. My. YUM! It's not the same taste as my Grandpa's meatloaf but I really really liked it. WOOT! This recipe is getting saved and will make a return appearance. That has never happened with a meatloaf recipe before :)

I found this one on PaleOMG. I have liked everything I have tried from her. So, go check it out. Let me know if you love it too :)  Bacon Chorizo smothered meatloaf

YUMMMMMMM...Sometimes you just want dessert

Introducing a new obsession. Chia pudding. I kept hearing about chia pudding and chia seeds but I had never tried them. Partly because, honestly, I had NO idea where to find them. But this past Saturday I was in the grocery store buying toothpaste and there, in the toothpaste aisle, was a random bag of chia seeds! (sad thing about that is that I STILL have no idea where they should be in the store...) So I bought it. Then I came home and looked up how to make pudding. I read a lot of recipes and kind of came up with my own. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. Really, I'm swooning. It was SO easy and totally hit the sweet spot.

2 Tbsp Chia seeds
1 banana
dash of vanilla
1/4 cup almond milk

Blend it all up in your food processor, or blender, or immersion blender. Let it sit in the fridge a little while to firm up a bit. Enjoy! Really, how much easier can you get?

I'm looking forward to trying some other recipes and even making some chia pudding for breakfast....soon :)

Baked Salmon with poached eggs and hollandaise

That title up there? It's misleading. My hollandaise didn't turn out and the poached eggs were kind of sad. BUT the Salmon was delicious. I might give the hollandaise and eggs another try in the future but I might not. I've never been a huge fan of them anyway but was hoping to just try and see if I like it homemade. Oh well.

Baked Salmon
skinless (or you can skin it) salmon filet
S&P
1 Tbsp olive oil

Preheat your oven to 350. Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Salt and pepper both sides of the salmon and place it skinned side down in the skillet. Cook about 4 minutes. Flip it over and cook an additional couple of minutes. This is just to sear the outside. Transfer the salmon to a baking dish and cook in the over about 15 minutes, or until the salmon has the white "curd" protein on the sides and it flakes with a fork.


I served this over a bed or mixed greens and arugula. The hollandaise was decent...just really runny....so I ended up topping this with homemade chipotle ranch. Perfect!

Italian Frittata

I used to love quiche. Like love it. Even as a kid I would ask for quiche. Weird, right? But I avoid grains as much as possible due to a pretty bad gluten intolerance so that eliminates crust (which really really makes me sad because I have an unhealthy obsession with PIE) and no crust means no quiche. Enter: frittata.

People ask me what a frittata is. Basically it is a crustless, cheeseless quiche. Super easy and very versatile.

This is my Italian frittata. My *favorite* dinner recipe. Well, I eat it for breakfast or lunch too....so I guess you could say it's just my favorite frittata recipe.

Remember, I cook for a lot of people. If you're only cooking for one or two, or even 4 you could halve this and be good.

Italian Frittata
1 lb italian sausage (watch your ingredients if you're doing Whole30. A lot of them have added sugars. If needed, just buy 1 lbs of ground pork and add in 1 - 2 Tbsp of Italian Seasoning)
1/2 large red pepper, diced
1/2 large green pepper, diced
1/2 large onion, diced
14 eggs, beaten
2 Tbsp olive oil

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Heat oil in a large oven safe skillet over meduim-high heat (if it has a rubber handle be sure to wrap it in foil!). Once oil is heated, add in all your veggies. Cook until onions are translucent and peppers are fork tender. Remove veggies from the pan. Brown the sausage until no pink remains. Return the veggies to the skillet. Add the eggs. Shake the pan a little so the eggs go all through to the bottom. Cook on the stovetop until the eggs start to firm up around the edges. Transfer the skillet to the oven and cook for 15 - 17 minutes.

Transfer the frittata to a plate as soon as you take it out of the oven.   Serve warm, or let it cool. These are good no matter the temperature.

*This time I added in some chopped arugula because I had it on hand and it sounded good. It really added to the flavor!

Fear vs Faith

Ever heard that phrase before, or seen a similar picture made? Me too. I hear it all. the. time. And you know what sucks? Recently I've come to the realization that my fear is 100% bigger than my faith. And it sucks. Fear of what? Fear of failure. At everything. Because I truly feel that I pretty much suck at everything I try to do.

Mother? Ha! I am literally probably the worst mother I know, or that you know either. I yell. I struggle. Sometimes I want to run away and not come back. And sometimes I have this voice that says "why did you even want kids?" I suck. The kids know I suck. And I'm pretty sure most of the people who interact with us know I suck.

Business? Um. Ya. I have opened and failed at 3 businesses over the past 10 years. I'm working on #4 right now and it's not looking so good. Because I am terrified. Scared of hearing the "no," looking at all my inventory and thinking "I'll never be able to sell all that. What have I done?" It's not that I don't love the business. I do. I LOVE it. I want everybody to love it. But what if they don't? I can't seem to get past that to the "But what if they DO!?" thought that all the successful people have.

Exercise. Eating right. I try. And I think I do pretty well. But then I look in the mirror and all I see are flaws. I see the love handles. I see the saddlebags. I see my crappy scores on every single workout. I see my times and pace decreasing. And I'm afraid that no matter how hard I work I will always see the fat girl.

Friends. I feel like I have none. Because, honestly, who would want to be friends with me. I am negative. I am unkind. I am afraid of everything. And I can't seem to break out of this stupid funk which I have been stuck in for a very long time.

So there you have it. My fear is WAY bigger than my faith that this will all get better. So what now?

It's kinda nice that nobody even reads this blog. I can be honest and not worry about what you'll think. But maybe it's time to stop worrying about what people think anyway.

I have to get through this. Somehow. But how do you get through fear when you're afraid that no matter what you do it won't work anyway?

Seriously I am living the definition of stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Menu plans

The past few weeks have been super busy at my house. I briefly thought that Summer might be less hectic but then I remembered we have seven kids and I started laughing hysterically. So Busy.

My menus have kinda morphed into multiple week affair with a lot of leftovers and quickly prepared meals to eat on the run. I've stayed Whole30 and Paleo but it's not easy.

Here are my plans for this week. Hopefully it happens. My three older girls are gone this week so we're a little less drive-the-car-around busy so we'll see.

Monday - Italian fritttata with tomatoes (I laugh as I write this because, well, yesterday was Monday and this already didn't happen)
Tuesday - Salmon benedict with salad
Wednesday - grilled cheese and tomato soup for the kids, leftovers for me
Thursday - Chicken and apple hash
Friday - Bacon wrapped chipotle meatloaf with roasted veggies
Saturday - date night
Sunday - Braised brisket with mashed potatoes

Coconut Curry chicken with grilled veggies and pineapple

This coconut curry sauce was so good. SO GOOD! One of my daughter's thought it was a smoothie when I had it out on the counter, and I probably could have sucked it down with a straw. Mmmmmmm

I found the recipe in the Whole30 cookbook. Honestly, if you don't have it yet. Get it. And follow @whole30recipes on Instagram too. SO MANY IDEAS! Whole30 and Paleo eating does not have to be boring or bland.






THE SAUCE.  And, seriously I think that is what I will call it. THE SAUCE. Even while I was eating it I was trying to figure out what I can use it on tomorrow. I think a sausage and spinach fritatta needs this as a topping, at breakfast.

3 TBSP cooking fat (I used coconut oil, just to keep with the coconut theme)
1/2 onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 TBSP curry powder
1 Cup canned crushed tomatoes
1/2 Cup coconut cream (this is seriously EASY. Stick a can of full fat coconut milk in the fridge for a couple of hours. Open the can and scoop out the white stuff on top - that's the cream!)
S&P to taste

Heat up the oil, cook the onions until translucent. Add in the garlic and quickly cook - be sure not to burn the garlic. Stir in the curry powder. Once it's all incorporated, add the crushed tomatoes. Let it simmer for about 5 minutes until thickened.

Take it off the heat and use either a food processor or an immersion blender in a tall cup to blend it all up. After it's blended, stir in the coconut cream, salt & pepper.

Now it's ready to serve! I put some into a small bowl and brushed it on both sides of the chicken before grilling. I think it added a nice touch :)


We had this with grilled peppers, onions, and pineapple. If you have never grilled pineapple, you're missing out. Do it. Now. I'll wait. One of  THE BEST side dishes. I love it.