Avocado Egg Salad

It's Lent, which means that on Fridays we don't eat meat. We're also doing a Macro Bell Curve in FASTer Way VIP, and Fridays are now low carb days. This wouldn't be that big of an issue if low carb just meant don't eat a lot of carbs, but when you eat low carb you need to make up those calories with fat. My go to protein/fat on low carb days is usually Aubrey at Kale Kouture's Dill Chicken Salad (if you like chicken salad, head to her blog and search for the recipe - it does not disappoint), but since I can't eat meat on Fridays right now, I needed to come up with something different. I decided to use most of the same ingredients and try to make egg salad with them. 

Ingredients:

• 1 whole egg
• 3 egg whites*
• 1 T celery
• 1/2 avocado (usually about 50 grams)**
• 1 T Hellmann's Light Mayo
• 1 tsp Plain Nonfat Greek Yogurt
• 1/4 tsp Dill Weed
• Salt & Pepper to taste

*You could definitely use the yolks of all of the eggs if you want to, but I was originally thinking that I'd be making this on a Regular Macro day (most of the time Fridays are Regular Macro), which means less fat, so I decided to use just the egg whites (high protein, almost no fat). When I realized that it was a Low Carb day I decided to stick with my original plan and just use the whites, but to add in avocado for added fat. Plus, I think it tastes better this way.

**If you wanted to make this lower in fat then you could omit the avocado. You might need to increase the mayo/yogurt just so it's not too dry, though.

Directions:

Hard boil the eggs. I do have one of those fancy Dash Egg Cookers (fancy because of how it cooks them, not because of the price - it's actually less than $20),  and I use it when I think about it, but most of the time I still revert back to boiling them on the stove. Once they're cooked, immediately transfer them to an ice bath. This helps stop the cooking process (I think) and it makes them easier to peel (the real reason I do it, but throwing out the "it stops the cooking process" just makes me sound more knowledgeable in the kitchen.😉

While the eggs cook, slice the avocado and discard the pit. This avocado knife is a great all-in-one tool, but you can definitely get by without it. Use slice up half of the avocado and put it in a bowl.

Peel the eggs and slice one of the eggs (yolk and white) into the bowl with the avocado. Cut the remaining eggs in half and separate the whites and yolks. Slice the whites and add them to the bowl.

Add remaining ingredients and mix. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

On a Low Carb day I eat it on Trader Joe's Gluten Free Crispbread, but you could totally have it on bread as well. Enjoy!

Amazon Kitchen Favorites

I don't know about you, but it seems like I'm getting a new package from Amazon every day. I'm not mad about it ~ who doesn't like getting happy mail? Amazon makes life so much easier. Last Monday my egg slicer broke, and by Tuesday I had a new one in my hand. Could I have just gone to Target to grab the same egg slicer? Probably. But then I'd have to get in my car and drive there, and I'd end up coming home with $100 worth of stuff that I didn't really need. Target has that effect on you. By shopping at Amazon, I'm totally saving money!😉

One of my favorite things to eat on low carb days, or any day, is avocado toast. My husband make the most amazing avocado mash, and on low carb days we eat it on Trader Joe's Gluten Free Crispbread. I'm always looking for a kitchen gadget that is going to make life easier, so when I found this avocado knife I immediately added to cart. It slices through the peel perfectly and it makes perfect little avocado slices. It took a few tries before I got the hang of using the pitter, but once I figured out that you have to twist the knife it was so easy! Could I get by without the avocado knife? Probably, but it's a definite time saver and it was less than $10, so it was totally worth it!

I love to have sliced up bananas mixed into my overnight oats, and one of my favorite "treats" is sliced strawberries and bananas with Almond Milk Whipped Cream. A butter knifes slices the banana fine, but I always end up with an odd piece at the end when I'm holding it in my hand, and I'd rather not get a cutting board dirty. When I saw this banana slicer I decided to give it a try. I love it! It makes slicing bananas a breeze, and there is never that odd piece left over because you just keep putting it back in the slicer. Totally worth the $7 I spent.

My son loves marinara sauce, my daughter hates it. One of Carter's favorite foods is lasagna, but because Sophia doesn't like red sauce we rarely make it (she still hasn't gotten past noodles and butter). Well, one day I decided to try making her lasagna without sauce. I needed something to add some moisture to it, so I subbed olive oil for the marinara sauce. She loved it! I started making it almost weekly, and each time I made it I used those disposable aluminum loaf pans. I wasn't thrilled about having to throw the pans away every week, so I went on a hunt for something else. When I found this lasagna trio pan and knew it would be perfect! Now I can make Carter and Sophia their own lasagna, and if Michael and I want to trick up our lasagna at all we can. It's only $20, and considering I was buying disposable pans every week I figure I'll be saving money soon.

We love to make smoothies - it's a great way to get in your fruits and veggies (carbs), and there are so many things you can add to easily get more fat and protein into your diet. It seems like we almost always add nut butter (we usually stick to almond butter or peanut butter) to our smoothies to make them creamier, and bonus: added fat and protein! I used to get frustrated when adding nut butter to our smoothies because it always gets stuck to the spoon, and when you finally get it off the spoon sometimes it ends up stuck on the side of the blender cup and doesn't always mix in completely. Then someone mentioned freezing your nut butters - not only does it eliminate the problem of it sticking to the spoon/cup, you don't have to add any ice to your smoothie because the nut butter is frozen. Genius! I ended up grabbing this silicone ice cube tray and it works great! I still have to deal with the frustration of the nut butter sticking to the spoon, but it's only once when I'm filling the tray, so I can deal. And each little hexagon holds about a teaspoon of nut butter, so I don't have to be too precise.

When I started tracking foods in MyFitnessPal I realized that a lot of the foods are listed by weight and that it's better to weigh your foods than to just choose something similar. For example, a medium banana is listed in MFP as having 30 carbs, but when I weighed what I'd call a medium banana and entered the weight into MFP it only had 21 carbs. Those extra 9 carbs are important! I wasn't sure what to buy, but when I found this digital food scale and it was a decent price. I also liked that you could change the unit of measurement (grams, ounces, fluid ounces, mL), so I went ahead an ordered it. I love that it's pretty small, and it's nice that it's stainless steel - I store it on the griddle cover on our stove and it blends in because the cover is also stainless.

*This post is not sponsored. However, it does contain affiliate links. If you click on the link and purchase it, I make a small commission off of your purchase*

Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding

On the list of foods that I never thought I'd try: Chia Seed Pudding. I'd seen it mentioned several times in FASTer Way Meal Plans, but I'd never had even had chia seeds before, so I was pretty sure Chia Seed Pudding would be out of my wheelhouse. Then we did a smoothie reset last summer in FASTer Way VIP, and a few of the smoothies had chia seeds as an ingredient. They're a good source of fat and protein, and only have 4 carbs (0 net carbs on low carb days), so I decided to give Chia Pudding a try. I scoured the internet and looked at a lot of different recipes, and finally settled on a combination of what I'd found. I started out making Vanilla Chia Seed Pudding, but then I ran out of my vanilla protein powder, so I switched to chocolate and have been making it that way ever since. Chia Seeds have no flavor, so the pudding will taste like whatever you add in (I have a snickerdoodle protein powder that I might try next).

Ingredients:

4 T Chia Seeds

3/4 cup Unsweetened Almond Milk

1 scoop Chocolate Protein Powder (I like the I Heart Macros Chocolate Milkshake Protein Isolate)

1/2 T Pure Organic Maple Syrup

Directions:

Whisk all ingredients together and let it sit for five minutes. Whisk again and refrigerate 2-3 hours or overnight. I've heard several people say that they struggle with the chia seeds clumping together, but double whisking seems to eliminate this problem. Top with fruit and nut butter (I used 1/4 mashed raspberries and 1.5-2 tsp peanut butter) and enjoy! 

Three Ingredient Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Breakfast in our house used to be so easy - Carter ALWAYs wanted a smoothie and Sophia ate mini glazed donuts. Unfortunately about a month ago Carter decided he wasn't a fan of having a smoothie for breakfast, and around the same time it started to become almost impossible to get Sophia's donuts - our local grocery store was either out of them or they were expired/about to expire. Thankfully it's fall, and that's the time when everyone wants pumpkin everything! When I say everyone there, I'm actually talking about the world at large, not inside my house.  My kids are two of the pickiest eaters - for Carter that mainly applies to breakfast foods, but for Sophia, it applies to all meals. They might not eat pumpkin everything, but they do eat these muffins, so they're pretty much a fall staple in our house (and might become a winter, spring, and summer staple - as long as they're eating them I'll be making them).

To make these muffins you literally only need three ingredients, and if you or your kids aren't into chocolate then you only need two.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Yield: 24 muffins

Ingredients:
Yellow Cake Mix
Pumpkin Pie Filling
Chocolate Chips (optional)

Directions:

• Mix the yellow cake mix and pumpkin pie filling together.

• Fold in chocolate chips. I usually use about half a bag.

• Scoop into muffin tins and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean (for me that's at 22 minutes). 

• They turn out moist and delicious, and even with the chocolate chips are fairly low calorie. I'm kind of curious to try them using chocolate cake mix or a different kind of chips, but haven't branched out yet. If it's not broke, don't fix it. You know?

If you try them, drop a comment below and tell me what you think!

18 of Me

I started this blog post for my 40th birthday last year, but I never published it because I couldn't think of anything past number 18. I guess I'm just not that interesting. Ha! Anyhow, I found this in my drafts folder and thought it'd be a fun way to get back into blogging. Tell me one interesting fact about you in the comments below!

1. I am one of those people who is extremely ticklish, but it doesn't just tickle, it HURTS! Luckily as I've gotten older there are less spots that are super sensitive, but still. Don't tickle me (and if you're tickling someone else and they say, "Stop," please do - I'm quite sensitive to this).

2. I attended six schools from Kindergarten to 6th grade, and during that time I attended one of the six schools for three and a half years. My dad was transferred from St. Paul, Minnesota to Overland Park, Kansas at the end of Kindergarten, so my parents enrolled me in Kinder at Tomahawk Elementary in KS for the last two weeks of school so I'd make friends. Unfortunately our house ended up being zoned to another school the following year, so it didn't do any good. For first grade through the middle of fourth grade I attended Walnut Grove Elementary. In fourth grade my dad was transferred back to Minnesota, so I finished out fourth grade at South Elementary in St. Cloud, MN. The following year they rezoned, so I ended up going to North Elementary and all of the friends I'd made at South stayed there. For my final year of elementary school (6th grade) they opened several new elementary schools, so I went to Oak Hill Elementary with some friends from South, but none from North. The funny thing is that South became a middle school, so I ended up going back there for 7th and 8th grade.

3. Michael and I didn't go to the same high school, but we did meet our senior year. We both got jobs at the new grocery store they were opening up near our houses: Tom Thumb. I was a checker and he was a sacker. He was actually my favorite sacker because he was one of the few that would sack groceries for me. Most of the other sackers knew that I didn't mind sacking, so they'd let me do it and then do the carry out so they could get tipped. Stinkers! Michael sacked for me, so I told him I loved him. I ended up inviting him to my 18th birthday party, but then my friend's mom (it was at her house) said boys weren't allowed so I had to uninvite him. Our first date ended up being the day after my birthday. We were supposed to go see a movie, but it was sold out, so we drove around and looked at Christmas lights and then went to a restaurant and shared a brownie. It was the perfect first date!

4. My big rebellion in college was getting my belly button pierced. My parents were not happy at first, and to this day my dad still doesn't want to talk about it. However, my mom decided that she thought it was really cute, so she paid for me to have it redone after the first one came out and I couldn't get it back in. Needless to say, my dad was even more unhappy the second time around, but at least my mom shared in the blame!

5. The first time I ever got drunk was when I was in college. We were at Side Street Bar in Austin and instead of getting my own drink, I just shared my friends' Long Island Iced Teas and Margaritas. It's never a good idea to mix a bunch of alcohols. The night ended with me getting sick at the bar and then Michael walking me to his car and me believing that I was hallucinating because I saw a cop on a horse (it wasn't a hallucination, they really have cops on horseback). Did I mention that I was underage? Michael was very anxious to get me away from the cops and home to my dorm.

6.  Toes freak me out. It's not the toes themselves, it's people who can spread apart and cross their toes that creep me out. Maybe it's because mine don't do that, I don't know. It's just yuck.

7. I don't like when my right side is exposed. What do I mean by exposed? I can't stand having open space to my right. When we go to restaurants all of my family and friends know that I can't be on the end with my right side open. As I'm sitting here typing this my right arm is beginning to feel weird.

8. Three weeks after Michael and I got married we moved to Stamford, CT, so he could do a rotation at the FASB. I ended up having to using a staffing agency to find a teaching job at a Catholic school in Stamford and had to pay them 7% of my $21,000 salary for getting me an interview. I taught PreK in the morning and 3rd and 4th grade Reading and Social Studies in the afternoon. It was an interesting job.

9. I do not do well around snot, vomit, or diarrhea. Luckily (knock on wood), Sophia and Carter haven't had tummy bugs that often, and when they have Michael has always been around to deal with it, because Mommy cannot handle it. That gag reflex is no joke y'all! 

10. I can't do a cartwheel or spin a hula hoop. Sophia amazes me because she taught herself how to do a cartwheel and is a rock star at the Hula Hoop competition on Field Day every year at school. Here's a video she made in 2015 to teach you how to do a cartwheel (sadly it hasn't helped me).

11. I love to play games! Card games, board games, you name it, I'll play it!

12. I'm allergic to platinum. Unfortunately it took 15 years for me to figure it out, but I am. After we got married and moved to CT I developed this weird red rash behind my legs and in the crooks of my elbows. I went to the doctor and they couldn't figure out what it was. They prescribed oral steroids and the rash cleared up. However, it continued to return off an on, just on a much smaller scale. When we moved back to Texas I went to see my doctor and described it to him (I wasn't having any issues when I saw him) and he thought it sounded like eczema. He prescribed a steroid cream and I used it whenever I had bumps show up. Fast forward to fall 2017 and I got a bad rash (closer to what I had the first time it happened in CT) right under my wedding ring. I stopped wearing my ring and put the steroid cream on and it slowly started to heal, but the minute I put my ring back on it flared back up. I did a little research and discovered that, while rare, you can have a platinum allergy. I went to my dermatologist and they taped those allergy test strips to my back. We eventually learned that I'm allergic to gold sodium thiosulfate and bacitracin (an ingredient in Neosporin). The doctor was also pretty certain I'm allergic to platinum (I guess there isn't a test for it?), so they advised I get a new wedding ring. Michael and I went to the jeweler right before Christmas and picked out the most beautiful rings to replace my originals. Merry Christmas to me! The new rings are white gold, and for some reason even though I have a gold sodium thiosulfate allergy these don't seem to bother me (knocking on wood again). I still have the original engagement ring and band in my jewelry box, so I can look at it whenever I want to, but I'm pretty glad I was "forced" to get an upgrade. 😍

13. One of my favorite snacks is a dill pickle wrapped in a cheese slice. Don't knock it until you've tried it! I also used to love mustard and cheese sandwiches...Sophia prefers mayo and cheese.

14. I can't stand black coffee. I do, however, love me a White Chocolate Mocha from Starbucks, but given the kids zebra hot chocolate is called a White Mocha on the receipt, I'm guessing there isn't that much coffee in my "coffee" drink. I have recently started drinking Starbucks Cold Brew coffee thanks to @themacrobarista on Instagram. I order a grande with three pumps NF SF Vanilla, one pump of caramel, and light cream (half and half) ~ it's pretty good. Maybe my taste buds are changing as I'm getting older, or maybe my "coffee" drinks still aren't really coffee.

15. I've been to half of the states: Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin. I've actually probably driven through a few more, but these are the ones I actually remember visiting.

16. I've been to 5 countries (6 if you count the one I live in): Canada, England, France, Mexico, and the Netherlands.

17. I LOVE Christmas, but then, who doesn't?!

18. We got a puppy our first Christmas as a married couple. Ever since then I've had these crazy weird dreams where I "wake up" and am convinced that whatever I'm dreaming about is really happening. The first time it happened Michael tried to convince me it was just a dream, so I slapped his arm and told him, "Don't patronize me!" It used to involve Bailey, our puppy, but once Sophia and Carter came into the picture they took over the dreams.

I hope that you enjoyed getting to know me a little better. I want to start posting again more regularly, so if there is something you want to see, drop it in the comments along with an interesting fact about you!

Why I Stopped Blogging

I have always loved writing. When I was younger, I used to dream about becoming a published author. Does this blog count? ;) After I stopped teaching three years ago (I can't believe it's already been three years!) I decided to start this blog as a way to explore some of my other passions: decorating, cooking, fashion, travel, and of course, writing.

I enjoyed producing content, but always felt embarrassed and uncomfortable about sharing it with anyone. There are so many amazing influencers (blogs and on Instagram) that I follow, and they make it look so easy. It comes naturally to them. Not for me. I guess I lack the self-confidence it takes to be able to put myself out there and say, "Come follow me! Look at how awesome I am! If you buy this you'll be awesome too!" That's not to say that any of the influencers that I follow are doing that. Every one of them seems real, not like they're just putting on a show to get you to go out and spend money. However, with that being said, it's hard to be an influencer and make money (it is a job) without looking like you're telling people to "buy all the things." It's hard to follow someone's blog or Instagram and see them sharing cute new clothes or decor all the time and not start to think you need to buy the clothes or decor too. I have a closet full of clothes that I really didn't need because I was sucked into believing I needed "all the things." But again, that's not the influencer's fault, it's mine for feeling like I needed to spend money to be happy/better.

I never planned on making my blog a career. It's not. I've never made money off of this blog (if you clicked a link I shared I would get 5 cents put into an account, but you only ever get paid once you hit a certain level and I never got there), and I'm totally fine with that. I did receive those PopSugar Must Have boxes for free in exchange for a review (it didn't have to be on the blog, just social media). In all honesty, I loved the boxes that I received, and still use many of the items that were included, but I haven't ever purchased a box, so it was disingenuous of me to tell you to go out and buy one. With that being said, if I hadn't received so many boxes free I may have tried it just once for fun. I have tried Birchbox and Stitch Fix and it was always fun opening "happy mail," but the point is that you didn't need it, so it wasn't fair of me to show it to you and say "Here's this offer code. Go spend money!" I don't want to be that person that tells you that you need to completely revamp your wardrobe or decorate your house to be enough. You don't. You are beautiful and your house is a home. And that's enough.

I do want to continue writing, but I don't really know what to write about. That's one of the big reasons I stopped blogging - I didn't want to always be sharing new things for you to go buy, but I didn't know what to write about if it wasn't that. And again, I don't necessarily feel 100% comfortable putting myself out there. I definitely have some insecurities I need to work on, and I need to stop looking at other bloggers and Instagrammers and comparing myself to them. I am enough. I think I actually wrote a blog post awhile back with that title. I guess I should probably go back and read it and see if what I said then can finally sink in. Read it. Definitely need to take what I said to heart.

If there is something that you would like to see on this blog, please share! I've got plenty of time, so if you want book reviews, vacation itineraries (I'm currently researching and planning for our trip to Park City in March, but I'd be happy to do some research on your vacation for you - it's seriously #sofun to research and plan out a vacation - even if I'm not the one taking it ;), meals, closet staples, etc. I want to write, but I really don't know what to write, so if you want to hear from me, please share your ideas/requests! I don't know, maybe I'll just use this as a journal, though journals are usually meant to be private. I don't know. I'm still trying to find my purpose (my #oneword for the year).

XOXO,

Heidi

Affordable Booties

I don't know about you, but I don't always want to spend a ton of money on shoes. Target is pretty much my favorite store to buy anything, and I have to say, when it comes to booties #targetdoesitagain! Here are some of my favorites.

1. Sock Booties 

2. Double Zipper Booties I got these last year in both the cognac and black (I did go up a half size). Even after wearing them all the time, they still look brand new! Highly recommend!

3. Laser Cutout 

4. Leopard Booties - I had been eyeing a much more expensive pair of leopard booties on the Nordstrom website, but couldn't quite justify spending the money since I wasn't sure how much I'd actually wear them. I am so glad I held off because I absolutely LOVE these and the price was so much better! These fit TTS.

5. Burgundy Suede Booties - I wear a lot of neutral tones, but I love the idea of adding interest to my outfit with my shoes (hello leopard booties!), and this burgundy color is perfect for fall!

6. Peep Toe Booties

7. Slouchy Booties 

I have done way too much shopping lately so I'm trying NOT to buy anything for awhile, but I'm afraid the sock booties and the burgundy booties may be calling my name! LOL! Which are your favorite?

XOXO,