Life After I "Dew"

I didn't talk about it much on here but if you follow me on IG you know this whole house {minus James} has been battling some sort of sickness since the beginning of February. It's been a fun month, let me tell you.

It started with me getting some gross puking bug {that I thought was the Chipotle flu} and five days later Jimmy was lucky enough to catch it.  Somehow our kids managed to avoid it which is a miracle seeing as everyone we are close to had it at some point that month.  Following the stomach bug, a little over a week later I was diagnosed with strep for the first time in 33 years.  I was prescribed penicillin even after I told the doctor that I don't usually respond to it. Nine days into the prescription I called them back to let them know that all of my symptoms had returned and I was feeling the exact same.  At that time they informed me that my strep test was negative...hmm...okay...so I don't know what I had/have {my ears are still plugged} but I do know that about two weeks later Kendall did test positive for strep.

Whew...

So we have all passed germs around and somehow James has been the only one to avoid it which blows my mind.  But now, it seems, we are all on the mend.  Everyone has finished their prescriptions and all is "normal" again.  FINALLY.

The thing that sucks the most is my diet.  Up until I got sick I had been counting macros and loving it.  I was eating more food than ever before {1700 calories vs 1200} and I felt great.  The scale got to a number I have never seen as an adult and while that wasn't the goal it was nice to see, I can't lie.  I was cooking a lot more, eating healthier than ever and I was loving it.

Once I got sick all I wanted was carbs.  Gimme all the toast, bagels, noodle soups, french fries, and ice cream.  Seriously I think I logged into MFP one day and my macros were like 95% carbs.  It was insane.  I chalked it up to being sick and if my body was craving those things then that was what it needed to "heal".  How do you like that logic?

Needless to say I gained almost 10lbs in a month thanks to that nonsense.  Insane, right?  It's not just the scale that's driving me nuts but I feel like crap too.  Sluggish, no energy, tired easily, clothes are fitting weird, the whole thing is just bad.  I'm mad that things got so out of control but what can you do?  You hop back on the wagon and don't give up.

Last week was when I really noticed things were "bad" and I decided to get back to a more paleo style diet.  I say paleo style because I am not committing to 100% paleo again.  I love counting the macros because I don't feel deprived of anything yet still feel in control too.  If that makes any sense.  BUT since I'd been living on a carb-filled diet for the month I decided I should probably try to cut those for a minute.  So that's what I've been doing, combined with counting my macros and it's been great.  I've been eating lots of yummy, healthy, pretty foods again.  I got my cooking mojo back, woo!  And I'm starting to feel better too, double woo!

Also, since November I've just been feeling "blah" in the workout department.  Call it the winter blues, call it SADD, call it what you will but doing anything worthy of breaking a sweat or leaving me sore for days did not sound appealing.  I wanted something "easy", something I could do in the mornings, something that wouldn't make me drip with sweat but something that would still feel like I was doing something.  That's when I discovered and fell in love with Yoga With Adriene.  From November-February I strictly practiced yoga as my workout. I completed two 30 day challenges and found a love for my body that I wish I'd had all along.  It was a great physical change but it was an even greater mental one.  I truly appreciate and love yoga in a whole new way now.

I also came out of it feeling reenergized.  Like I was ready to sweat again and it was time for something more challenging.  Then my T25 journey {the beginning} started showing up on my Timehop since it's been two years since I started it the first time. I started to feel re-inspired to start the program that changed everything for me all over again.  So I'm officially ending week two of T25 alpha today and it feels amazing.

It's completely different this time around though.  I remember the first time I did the entire program I felt like I had to keep up with Shaun T.  I didn't want to modify anything and sometimes that was a great big disadvantage to me because I would fizzle out and just stop or I'd take more breaks because I couldn't keep up.  This time I'm letting myself modify where I need to and I'm OK with it because it allows me to keep going. I was also pleasantly surprised that I hadn't lost all of my stamina over the past couple of months.  T25 is very different from yoga and I thought that I was going to be on the floor about to pass out at the first day of cardio but surprisingly I made it though and didn't feel like I was going to die!

I think coupling T25 with the macros is going to leave me with an amazing transformation.  I'm super excited about it.  I never take measurements because I'm too lazy but I did this time!  I took measurements, weight, and before pics so that I have a FULL testimony this time.  I can't wait.  Two weeks down, eight to go.


Stay tuned.

*Disclaimer:  While I don't follow a strictly paleo diet/lifestyle but I do find a lot of delicious paleo recipes that I like to incorporate into our rotation every once in a while.  

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day.  I love everything breakfast related.  Coffee, pancakes, bacon, eggs, toast, sausage, cereal, bagels, you name it, I love it.  Once for my birthday I even did a breakfast theme and it was glorious {must remember that again this year}.

I don't make waffles very often because, honestly, I hate to get out the waffle maker.  It's so hard to clean, I always overfill it causing the waffle to spill over the edges, it's just a mess.  Jimmy doesn't really care for sweet breakfasts, he much prefers something hearty like sausage gravy & biscuits, and the kids can't ever finish a whole waffle between the two of them.  So when we have waffles I go all out.

Which brings me to these apple & sweet potato paleo waffles.



I didn't know what I was doing.  I had eggs, too many sweet potatoes and more apples than I knew what to do with so I figured I could make something happen. I've made paleo pancakes with a smashed banana and egg before so I figured this would be the same concept.

Ingredients:
1 sweet potato
1 large apple {any kind would work}
2 whole eggs
Dash of cinnamon
Grade A maple syrup

Shred the sweet potato, you could pulse it in a food processor but I just used a vegetable peeler, and dice the apple. Mix together with eggs and a dash of cinnamon.  Pour into your waffle maker and wait until the eggs cook all the way through.  Remove, drizzle with syrup {or you could use honey}and enjoy!

Super easy, super delicious!

It's been a while since we've done a Dinner with the Dews and since I've been back to cooking again I thought I should share some of my recent, yummy discoveries.  I was really craving comfort foods this week, I blame the fall weather, so I whipped up lots of soups and chili {I will be sharing this amazing paleo chili recipe later}. I posted this pic to IG last night and y'all went nuts.  I can't say I blame you because it looks as good as it tastes.

Ingredients
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 to 1.5 pounds)
1/2 teaspoons sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
24 oz frozen vegetables (red bell pepper, zucchini, squash, carrots)
1 1/2 cups butternut squash, cut into small cubes (or sweet potato)
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 – 15 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 – 15 ounce can crushed tomatoes
3 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth
6 tablespoons tomato paste
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1/3 cup fresh basil, chopped

That hashtag should actually just be singular,#paleodew, because I'm the only one in the house on board {for now}.

dress c/o Amaranth Collection

Good morning pizza lovers.  I swear, pizza is THE ONE thing I could eat morning, noon, and night and never get sick of it.  I have never had bad pizza either.  I love it all.  Even the nasty frozen Totino's pizza that they serve in elementary school cafeterias.  Are you with me?

So when I decided to go Paleo {you know, two weeks ago} I knew that pizza would be hard for me to give up.  I searched and searched and found a Paleo pizza recipe {meatza} and I was immediately skeptical.  Meat crust?  I wasn't sure if I even liked sun-dried tomatoes.  I knew I loved spinach and artichoke dip but didn't know how I felt about straight artichoke.  But I added this to our weekly menu/meal plan and decided to try it.

You guys!  Words cannot even describe the flavor in this meal!  I do like sun-dried tomatoes and artichokes are just fine even when they aren't covered in grease and cheese!  The meat crust?  Ah-ma-zing.  So much flavor.  Now I wouldn't go calling this a replacement for pizza because it's not.  It's nothing like pizza that I know and love.  The only similarity between this and pizza is the tomato sauce.  And I ate it with a fork.  BUT this will be a staple recipe in the Dew house and I'll be mixing it up with different toppings each time {even though this combination was bomb.com}.

• 1 lb. lean ground beef {I used venison}
• 2 Tablespoons mixed dried herbs {I used Tastefully Simple Rustic Herb Seasoning}
• 1 Tablespoon fresh basil chopped (or 1 teaspoon dried dill)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• Tomato sauce
• Red bell pepper, sliced
• Sundried tomatoes, sliced
• Artichoke hearts (canned or packed in oil), chopped
• Olives, any kind, sliced
• Arugula leaves 
• Fresh basil for garnish

1. Preheat the oven to 400F.
2. In a large bowl, mix the crust ingredients – ground beef, dried herbs, basil, garlic, salt and pepper.
3. Divide the meat in half. Press half the meat into an 8″ round pie pan. Repeat with the other half.
4. Bake for 10-15 min or until cooked through. Remove from the oven and drain off any liquid in the pan.
5. Now it’s time to do the toppings. I added the tomato sauce and red pepper first, then popped it back in for another 5 minutes to soften those up. Then, I took out the crust, added the rest of the toppings – arugula leaves, sundried tomatoes, artichokes {and olives for Jimmy}.