Is That Normal?

Linking up with Allyce at Chalk in the Rain for Is That Normal? Such a great idea! Seriously, how often do we wonder how normal it is to do something, especially when it's not something we'd ask!

1. Is it normal to drive 5 mph over the speed limit?  10 mph?
5 on the road and 10 on the highways for sure!
2. Is it normal to pick a wedgie in public?
I would have to say this is NOT normal or okay. Go to the bathroom or something in an emergency!
3. Is it normal to put makeup on even if you aren't planning on leaving the house?
For a lot of people probably, I've never been a huge makeup person so I wouldn't. Of course, there are a lot of days that I don't put on makeup when I do go out!
4. Is it normal to go skinny dipping?
Way too out of my comfort zone for me, but I'm sure a lot of people do it.
5. Is it normal to use the restroom while on the phone?
Depending on who it is, yes. I wouldn't with most people, but when I talked to my husband on the phone for hours every night during our long distance relationship you better believe I did!
6. Is it normal to check yourself out when passing by a window/mirror?
I would say yes, for sure!
7. Is it normal to keep folded laundry in the basket instead of putting it away?
You actually folded it first? Through out dorm life I'm pretty sure my clean clothes just sat in the basket for awhile almost every time. Now I always put the laundry away immediately.
8. Is it normal to turn & walk the opposite direction when seeing someone you know in a store?
I'm sure everyone is guilty of doing this at one time or another. I definitely have before. Sorry!!

9. Is it normal to drink coffee/soda from a straw?
Umm..YES! I drink everything through a straw!
10. Is it normal to hover the toilet in a public restroom?

Of course, my mom always taught me not to touch the toilet seat!

Homemade Loaf Bread

So far, we are really pleased with the Keto/Paleo lifestyle change that we made. However, we've been trying to decide how we would like to continue after Kyle reaches his goal weight. We want to keep eating healthy, yet not quite as restrictive. One thing that I decided was that I was going to start making our bread when we did have it. For my first attempt, I tried a basic loaf bread. It wasn't quite as flavorful as I would have liked, but it was so easy and perfect for sandwich bread! I'll have to try out more once I'm not the only person eating bread around here!

 

 Seriously, how pretty!

Since Kyle and I have been married I have been trying to plan out our meals on a weekly basis. This helps me not only know exactly what I'm making, but I only buy the ingredients that I need at the store. Now that I've combined my meal planning with freezer cooking I'm planning even better. I currently have the next two weeks of food planned and 8 meals ready to go in the freezer for that time!

High Five For Friday

Great things from this past week.

1. I've finally started packing up some boxes so we can bring them down when we go see our families next month.

 2. Even though we found a place we loved a few months back, we never signed a lease. The county I'm looking for a job in is huge and I was worried about being really far north and potentially having over an hour commute both ways. Since we weren't going to know where I'll be working till after a lease needs to be signed it was a little nerve wracking. Since then, some things have changed and we decided to look closer to our families. I'm super excited to hopefully be living right between our families, about 15 minutes either way!

3. We also decided to look at condos instead of just apartments, so we're getting a realtor! We can't wait to find someplace and actually make it our own. This apartment has been such an in between place for us.

4. I cut my hair! I never liked the style I had after I donated my hair even though it was exactly what I asked for. Since it's finally grown out I went and got the wedge evened out and added side bangs.

5. I've been really enjoying this summer trying to come up with cute ways to wear clothes that I already own. Almost everyday this week I've worn an old outfit in a new way.

 Linking up with Lauren: From My Grey Desk

Freezer Cooking Update

We've tried all of the recipes that I did in my freezer cooking batch a few weeks ago so I wanted to update on how they all turned out.

Teriyaki Chicken
We really liked the taste of the chicken, but we weren't a fan of the rest of the dish after it had been in the crock pot the whole day. It probably would be better on rice, but we're not eating it right now. Next time I'll put a side with it and only eat the chicken.

Meatloaf
Surprisingly, this is Kyle's favorite meal so far! He was never a huge meatloaf fan before, but without the oats it's much thicker. Kyle says it reminds him of a hamburger steak. In fact, we're having it again tonight! I also made steamed broccoli with melted cheddar cheese that was a huge hit as well.

Honey Chicken
This one was perfect! It tasted exactly like it does when I make it right away! I need to play with the recipe to make it more keto friendly now.

Chicken Stir Fry
I would have to say that this was the most disappointing of the freezer meals. Kyle's super picky about his vegetables and isn't a huge fan of stir fry to begin with. On top of that, I used a different mixed bag of vegetables because they were out of the ones I typically buy. So lots of vegetables we didn't like plus no rice equaled not so good. As Kyle put it, "I don't like picking through my food." I'm going to try it again but use my own vegetables instead of a bag to make sure there's only things we'll eat in it.

Grilled Chicken
I was thrilled with how the chicken turned out. It's been wonderful to have chicken that I can put in a salad or Kyle can pop in the microwave without having to go through the work of cooking it. I bought another bag to make this week.

I also ended up making a cheese steak freezer meal that I adapted from here, which I found on pinterest! I cut up the steak into thin strips and added onion and mushrooms to the bag to freeze. Then I dumped it in a skillet to cook. Once cooked I sprinkled with shredded mozzarella cheese and heated in the oven till melted. This was another big hit! I also made cheesy cauliflower mash, which was okay but more pudding consistency than I was hoping.

I'm really loving freezer cooking! I just need to find some more keto/paleo friendly recipes to try!

Keto and Paleo and Diets, Oh My!

 A few weeks ago, Kyle mentioned that he had been reading about this diet called the Keto diet and it was something that he really wanted to try. In all the years that I've known Kyle he's never seriously talked about losing weight, so I knew that this was a big deal. However, since I'm the one who does all the cooking I wanted to spend sometime researching it before we jumped in. So for the past few weeks that's what I've been doing, researching. I also came across the paleo diet which is very similar, and personally I like it a little better than keto. Therefore, Kyle and I are doing a mixture of the two of them. He's strictly keto and I'm leaning more towards paleo.

What I really like about these concepts is that it's more of a lifestyle change than a diet. Basically the goal is to eat healthier by only eating foods that can be found in nature, nothing processed, no carbs. We started on Monday and are planning on trying it out for the whole month of June, we're going on vacation the beginning of July, and will decide from there how it's working out for us.

I'll be posting updates on how it's going and what types of food we're having as we go along. Kyle says I can't post about his weight gain/loss unless there's a decent amount of difference!

I will admit that I cheat a little bit. I still have yogurt and homemade granola, and creamer and sugar in my coffee! Some things are just harder to replace.

What we're eating this week:
Meatloaf with steamed broccoli (freezer meal)
Teriyaki chicken (freezer meal)
Cheese steak in a bowl with mashed cauliflower (freezer meal)
Chicken stir fry (freezer meal)
Balsamic Onion pot roast

For breakfast/lunches we've been having eggs, bacon, grilled chicken lettuce wraps, and salads

Mason Jar Salads

I had been seeing mason jar salads on pinterest, but since I didn't own any Mason jars I hadn't had a chance to make them! This weekend I went out and bought them just so I could try this. Apparently as long as the dressing doesn't touch the lettuce then it won't wither.

Ingredients
Caesar dressing
Matchstick carrots
Red onion
Cucumber
Lettuce
Parmesan cheese

Hopefully these will last through out the week so I'll have quick, healthy lunches!

Rainy Days

Tropical Storm Beryl + Summer in Gainesville = Lots of rain! 

So Kyle and I have been as lazy as possible.
We snuggled.
Tried out HuluPlus, 
While still keeping Netflix.
Went to McDonald's for ice cream in a mini flood. 
Watched lots of TV
And movies.
Laid on the couch under lots of blankets.
Played video games
And read books.
Cleared out the pantry.
Went to work.
Wore my cute rain boots.