FFF #273 - Eats and Amazon Favorites

Part of blogging is being vulnerable online, and with that sometimes comes challenges behind the scenes. Recently, I received a disturbing comment involving my children. I won’t share details because I refuse to give negativity any power. I’ve always been careful with what personal details I share online, and now further actions will be taken behind the scenes. It was definitely a rough start to the week, and I’m not sure yet what that will look like going forward. I started this blog over 10 years ago, and I don’t want to lose the personal aspect of it, but some decisions will need to be made going forward. But like I said, I’ve always shared healthy recipes and nutrition in the context of real family life — whether that’s meal prep tips, quick weeknight dinners, or donuts on Sunday after church.

So, like I said, I'm re-evaluating where my (and my husband's and honestly other family members who have weighed in) comfort level is now, but in the meantime, life moves on, and we’ve got a full weekend ahead! Last night we had some friends over and I made my Slow Cooker Turkey Meatball Subs — and they were a huge hit. It worked out perfectly because I prepped everything around 9 am (right before a client call), started the slow cooker at 10, and then went about my day. By 4:30, after wrapping up work, I was able to do a quick clean-up and pull everything together for the subs. It ended up being such a low-maintenance, stress-free meal to serve on a weeknight, and I highly suggest giving it a try!

This weekend we have a barbecue to go to, and the boys have basketball.  They get to play on the same team this session, which is so fun! That probably won't happen for like two years, if it happens again at all.  

Also, how cute is this shirt my friend got off Shien!

Recent Meals

I turned my barbecue pork lettuce wraps into a bowl.  I'd like to say we ate it with my healthy mac salad, but that's just store-bought.  But it is my healthy coleslaw! Can't make everything from scratch during the week.  We literally ate this for dinner Sunday-Wednesday last week.  Then, we had eggs for dinner Thursday and Friday (yesterday) I made the meatball subs! 

Mr. Hungry's perfect breakfast he made me last weekend!

Last week I didn't get a chance to share, but I made my healthy tuna patties! So good, I didn't have any tartar sauce, so I used Primal Kitchen cilantro lime from Costco, it hit the spot!

Amazon 

First up is this vertical mouse. I’ve been dealing with some finger pain for a while, and I noticed it flares up more after long stretches on my computer — especially scrolling on my MacBook mousepad. So I went a little crazy and ordered 15 different mice to try out (yes, 15!). In the end, I kept two: a budget-friendly vertical mouse and a fancier Logitech mouse with a thumb trackpad.

The Logitech one feels the best on my finger, but the thumb trackpad can get annoying after a while, so I switch back and forth depending on the day. Either way, rotating between the two has helped so much — I hardly notice any pain now unless one of the kids twists my finger in some weird way.

And of course, every time I reorder this laundry soap, I have to tell you how much I love it.  Yes, it's expensive, but it WORKS, which is rare for a natural cleaning product!  You can find a whole list of the household cleaning products I use that actually work here.  Unlike the natural dish tabs I bought at Costco, I had high hopes for those.... but alas, we had to go back to Cascade. 

Also, buggy bands!  These things last FOREVER and are so effective without having to spray yourself down with deet.  I mean, I don't know about how effective they are in the backwoods, some place with a swamp, but for walking around the neighborhood, they are great! And they are reusable! 

Other things we ordered this month:

• This camera is still my go-to for birthday party presents.  We get invited to a birthday party, and this is what I order. I also ordered one for my four-year-old because he keeps stealing my phone to take pictures. 
• I put these arch inserts in all my flat shoes, because I'm old now.  These ones stick the best and provide the most comfort.  Also, speaking of shoe support, I ordered a new pair of Brooks Glycerins. 
• Cheap sunglasses, because I can't get expensive ones until I don't know when.  Because my brain power is spent keeping track of my daughter's triplet baby dolls and associated bottles/pacifiers.  
• These dog toys as a present for my best friend's new puppy!
• Hand soap, because Costco decided it doesn't need to sell hand soap.  
• If you've been following for a while, you know that we order these Go Hydrate packets monthly.  
• Restock of honest wipes, now that we have no one in diapers (OMG that's crazy to say) except for naps and bedtime, I'm not using water wipes anymore.  Also ordered goodnights in boy and girl versions now!
• These socks for the boys, how come no matter how many socks we order, they still disappear?  Where do they all go? WHERE!?!
• Frog and the Toad book to help our first grader keep practicing reading at home. 
• Chocolate chip made good balls since the kids don't eat the fruit ones that come in the Costco pack.  And Froot by the Foot, since Costco got the kids hooked and then stopped selling them.  
• A new water bottle because we left ours at basketball.  Why does each kid have two water bottles, and we can never find any of them? 

Fitness

Apparently, I didn't take one workout picture, but things have been going well.  I'm ramping back up slowly, working on increasing my flexion tolerance. Funny story, I actually asked ChatGPT to write me a year-long progressive overload program for core strength, giving it inputs with the exercises my chiropractor is having me do now and building on them. Since I have a personal training background, I was able to tweak and modify by refining the inputs I gave ChatGPT.  While I don't think ChatGPT is a replacement for a personal trainer, I do think it can be a helpful tool for designing nutrition and fitness programs.  Just be careful if you don't have a background in these things. I'm still planning to show the plan to my chiropractor for feedback.   And I'm currently modifying even this, but still kind of a cool tool!

Here is what the first four weeks look like: 

Friday Favorites

Single Serving High Protein Pumpkin Pancake

Healthy Beef and Broccoli (20-minute meal)