Chocolate Protein Pancakes

I've been searching for an easy protein paleo pancake recipe for a while now and think I've finally found one I can rock out! Baking delicious goods while trying to keep it clean is challenging and all too often expensive. Ain't nobody got time for that.

So I present to you my 3-Ingredient Chocolate & Almond Butter Paleo Friendly Protein Pancakes

-1/2 c almond flour, or 1/4 c coconut flour or if you aren't as concerned about grains...1/2 c oat flour

-1 scoop of chocolate protein powder (none of that highly processed protein junk-buy the good stuff)

-splash of coconut milk (add the milk in last & slowly...add just enough to moisten everything together. The batter should be thick like your thighs)

& your favorite nut butter to top it all off and of course some fruit and bacon on the side :) 

I poured the batter one spoonful at a time on to a medium heated skillet that's lubed with organic coconut oil. Two spoonfuls of batter per pancake. Pouring it one spoonful at a time and waiting 30 seconds to a minute in between creates a thick, fluffy pancake. It's all about the layering!

Once it was done, I smeared on almond butter and let it melt over the edges. Adding pancakes to the stack as I went. They were magical! & so so easy. 

You can jazz these up with all sorts of ingredients to make a different breakfast each time. I'll post more varieties as I create them! 

Crossfit Really Is Uncommon

As a newbie to Crossfit and Olympic weightlifting, participating in the Open seemed like a ludicrous thing to do. I've never been physically strong or skilled in my entire life. Some of the Open workouts have made me seriously question my sanity and abilities as a person and as a crossfitter. Despite all of my doubts, I force myself to jump into each workout head first because I know the box is counting on me & the commitment I made to represent. I go into each workout with my heart pounding out of my chest & enough nerves to serve the entire group, but I finish the workout simply amazed at what I just accomplished. I am never at the top of the leaderboards, but I'm still honored to even be rock bottom. There's been times that I haven't even got a single rep, but I'm still excited because it's forced me to try something that I wouldn't have dared to face otherwise. It's encouraged me to challenge myself mentally, physically and spiritually. Today, I set a PR of deadlifting 135#. During the warm up, I couldn't even come close to budging that weight, but I told my husband I'd still give it a try in the Open workout and give it all I had. Thanks to the amazing coaches guiding me along the way (and shouting words of encouragement & commands in my face, which I seriously love-thank you!), I was able to not only dead lift the 135# once, but NINE times-and could have done more if there was more time on the clock. Since joining Uncommon, I've had so many firsts. I was praying to God to help me deadlift that weight correctly & we nailed it!!! Woo hoo! 

So many people give me a hard time for the fact that I Crossfit. They (those people being people who haven't even ever tried Crossfit) tell me how I'm gonna get really hurt, how we do movements improperly to sacrifice for good time, etc. To which I tell them, come join us on a free community WOD and then feel free to judge me after that. Crossfit is so much more than what all of the negative skeptics say about it. A good box provides so much more than physical gains. They genuinely care about you as a person and the atmosphere in itself is often times more positive and uplifting than a good ol' Sunday church sermon. I watch my peers and cheer them on not with jealousy, but with sheer amazement at how strong they all are and with high hopes to someday be able to accomplish what they've worked so hard for.

I am PROUD to be a part of Uncommon and the community of people within it. Thanks to the coaches Crystal, Pete, Alec & Rod for the opportunity to participate & to my fellow members for inspiring me to never give up! 

Juicing Tips & Tricks

Juicing can be a blessing or a curse. I have had so many people message me lately about how wasteful juicing seems to be. I totally understand where you are coming from because I was in your shoes a couple years ago when I first began my juicing journey.

So with trial and error I have found ways to make it work. I am by no means an expert; I just am sharing what I have learned from my experiences. I hope you find this information helpful! 

• Juicing can be expensive if done without careful planning. If you are new to juicing, pick two or three simple recipes to start and make a shopping list for the ingredients. Don't overwhelm yourself by aimlessly grocery shopping and loading up on things you may or may not need.
• Choose produce that is high in water content. You will get more "bang for your buck" with these types of foods; such as cucumbers, watermelon, apples, carrots, oranges, grapefruit, etc. Any of these foods make excellent juicing bases. Always choose a base that will provide lots of juice. Our family favorite is carrots. Organic whole carrots are cheap and delicious.
• Foods such as berries and leafy greens (spinach & kale) are great antioxidant boosters but sometimes best to just eat raw. It takes a great amount of each to produce enough juice and they're also usually the priciest. 
• Add foods such as lemon, ginger, lime, wheatgrass, aloe vera, purple cabbage, & beets as "boosters" rather than bases. These are all strong in flavors and each have their own benefits when added to juice. For example, we love to juice ginger because it is excellent for stomach issues and is anti-inflammatory. It is also very spicy, so use a small amount.
• In the summer-fall seasons, ask your gardening neighbors or friends if they have any extra produce that they need taken off their hands. For instance, last fall our backyard's apple trees produced so many apples that I was practically begging people to come pick apples for me! It saved us hundreds of dollars by using the apples from our backyard for juicing, plus I know that our tree hasn't been treated with any chemicals whatsoever. 
• Check your local grocer's policy for what they do with produce that is either expired, about to expire, or blemished in some way. Many groceries offer this produce at super low prices and it is a great way to find some excellent steals.
• Consider growing your own garden. Now is a great time to get started. If you are new at it, like I am; start small. Don't go crazy or you will likely be unsuccessful. Choose 2-3 of your family's most consumed produce and try your go at growing those. 
• If after trying these tips & tricks and you still feel like you aren't getting much juice; consider a new juicer. From my experiences in juicing, you get what you pay for. We use the Omega juicer and absolutely love it. The Omega juicers website also has so many juicing recipes so be sure to check those out!
• Pulp. Many people see how much pulp juicing extracts and think how awful it is to let it go to waste. So don't let it go to waste! We save ours for our dogs sometimes and mix it in with their dinner, you can save vegetable pulp and make soups with it, you can feed some to your baby ;) or save it for compost for your garden. My mother in law saves hers to give to her neighbors to feed their chickens. There are so many ways to use the pulp! 

Here is a great cleansing vegetable juice that is easy and is sure to produce lots of juice!

-organic whole carrots (washed)

-organic celery stalks (washed)

Juice carrots until it provides 4 oz of juice; then juice the celery until it produces 4 oz of juice. Pour into a glass and chug it down! 

Good luck guys!

Washing Produce

I have had so many friends recently buy juicers, to those I say..CONGRATS!! Don't get discouraged if it's not all you've heard it is cracked up to be. I'll be posting my tips and tricks to juicing later this week!! 

Until then, I would like to stress how important it is to wash and prep your produce so that it provides the best flavors, removes as many pesticides as possible, and lasts longer. 

It makes me cringe when I see people just eat it straight from the grocery...I may be a germaphobe, but hear me out on this. It is worth the extra time it takes to wash it well for your eating enjoyment later ;) 

I typically come home and get out a large glass bowl and fill it with water and Bragg's apple cider vinegar (3:1 ratio, roughly...I don't actually measure) and let my produce soak for a good 5-10 minutes then proceed to strain the water out and let it all dry before storing back in the fridge. It's time consuming. For those who have kids, get your kids involved. They will love tossing the berries in the cleaning mixture and helping you! The ACV (apple cider vinegar) will kill mold spores and remove unwanted toxins from the produce thus providing a longer shelf life for the produce! 

For my local friends; My mom also recently invested in a Kangen Water System for her home which provides water at a pH of 11.5 which is meant to clean your produce and provide the proper pH for produce which seriously makes it taste AMAZING. It also removes unwanted toxins! It makes berries that are out of season taste like they're freshly picked in the middle of the summery season!! She so graciously offered to sell it to anyone who wants a gallon jug of it. The system is just connected to her tap; so you just bring a gallon jug and fill it up! 

These are the two ways I like to prepare my family's produce. I hope this helps you with your next grocery trip! Keep calm...it's almost farmers market season!!! :)

Feeding our ONE year old!

Our daughter turned ONE last month! Where does the time go? With that being said, we are currently working on some new steps. 

1. Weaning from a bottle 

2. Introducing fresh, new solid foods everyday 

3. Using her "pie-hole" (aka pacifier) as little as possible 

4. Reducing time at the breast 

I'm not ashamed to admit that she is still very much breastfed. Up until this point we nursed on demand (which was very frequently). I plan to let her nurse until she no longer shows interest, but on my terms as to how often she gets it from here on out. It is hands down THE BEST way to provide immunity. I'm all for that! She hasn't been sick yet (praise God!) and I hope to keep it that way as long as I can. We also put vitamin D drops in her sippy cup of H2O everyday which can help significantly improve your ability to fight sicknesses!

As far as eating solids go, she eats 100% clean. A lot of people think we are a crazy family that eats twigs and grass...which is totally ridiculous. We eat WELL! There's no magic diet, we simply eat clean & nutritious foods. Never processed or from a box. 

Fruit-check!

Vegetables-check!

High quality, grass-fed, hormone and antibiotic free meats...check! 

Water-check! 

We eat nothing more and nothing less than what you just read! And it's amazing! We consume tons of FRESH fruits, veggies, water, and meats. All of which our daughter gets to eat as well. We don't make her any special meals. She eats whatever we cook for ourselves & for the most part, loves it! 

A lot of parents tell me that their kids don't or won't eat vegetables or even fruit, to which I ask you, "Are you buying it fresh? How are you preparing it?" Those questions matter. If you buy "crap", it's definitely gonna taste like crap. Buy fresh produce and prepare them with high quality seasonings and oils. Never buy canned fruits or veggies. If your kids still won't eat them on their own, try making vegetable smoothies mixed with fruit. They don't have to know just how much kale you put in the smoothie ;) some children will force you to get creative! Take the challenge! I'd be happy to share some of my favorite smoothie recipes with anyone who has strong-willed kiddos! You can also freeze the smoothies into Popsicle molds and make healthy desserts for the entire family. 

If you have really young babies, now is the time to start good habits. Cook together, grocery shop together, and eat together! It's a great way to spend time as a family. Our best times are had in the kitchen! 

Feel free to share with me any fun foods you like to serve up for your little ones! 

Here is what my daughter and I had for lunch today :)