What Inspires You?

It's been Halloween since we last spoke.  And the question that has been stirring in the minds of my followers, "Did she have Halloween candy? Did she allow her children to trick-or-treat? And worse, let them EAT the candy??"  Well, a little over dramatized, but to answer: no, yes, and yes.  I'm proud to say I didn't give in to any Halloween candy, treats or goodies.  My husband and children on the other hand? Splurge!! I don't mind splurges every once in a while, and Halloween is one of those times.  I did want to treat myself somehow, so I decided to get on Pinterest and find a Paleo approved recipe for cookies.  So I did, made up a batch, tweaked it a bit and had myself some Paleo chocolate chip cookies.  I realize there are a slew of recipes out there for paleo baked goods, but I haven't wanted to give in to them as I'm trying not to eat all the "comfort foods" even under disguise.  But, I figured those paleo cookies could be my Halloween splurge, and they were yummy! Did I take pictures? I thought so, but I can't find them.  But Thanksgiving is rapidly approaching and I'm sure I'll have to "splurge" again:)
Was it hard to turn down all the Halloween treats that came to the door? Definitely.  Especially those home made ones.  And we're just warming up for the Christmas ones yet to come!  So I need to remember what inspires and motivates me.  Once upon a time it was those girls in magazines, you know the ones.  The size 0 ones with the perfect shape.  Sad to say, I spent most of my teenage and young adult life thinking that's what health and happiness looked like.  And that's what I needed to look like.  Well, being 5'2" and pear shaped, no matter how hard I tried, I wouldn't make the magazine cut.  It has taken me time and some self reflecting to realize I can be happy, I can be healthy and I don't need to look a certain way to do so.  So what does inspire me?

We'll start with these cuties.  Delia, the one on the left, keeps me on my toes.  She's fascinated by her ability to climb and her own speed.  And Stella, the one on the right, she recently learned how to ride a bike.  I ran next to her up and down our street a hundred times as she was learning to balance.  On one particular ride, when it finally clicked,  I ran right next to her as she so proudly exclaimed, "I'm doing it! I'm doing it! I can do it and I'm good at it!"  I wouldn't trade that moment for all the chocolate in the world.

Then there's this guy.  My best friend.  My life mate.  The one that sees me, who has always seen me and has loved what he's seen.  We do everything together, we snowboard, we rock climb, we camp, fish and hike to name a few.  We appreciate being outside and everything available to us.  In this photo, we had just finished a 500 ft straight to the top hike with no switchbacks, carrying 50 lb bags on our backs so we could do this...

Fly fly fly.  We flew for an hour this night.  There is a certain feeling of awesomeness that I'm never able to explain.  All anyone sees is a fear of heights. All I see is quietness, freedom, and letting go of all the crazy down below.  I wouldn't trade these moments for all the bread in the world.  

 

So that's me, some of the things I think about in moments of weakness.  How I want to stay healthy to be around these angelic creatures for as long as possible and how I want them to be healthy so they can experience life's most fascinating gifts.  I sat in one of my favorite yoga classes last week and my instructor spoke of "appreciating your inner teacher"  This really struck me.  I have an inner teacher? And as I questioned who my inner teacher was, it was almost as though she knocked me upside the head and said, "Hey dummy, glad you finally recognized I was here!"  I'm learning to appreciate the inner desire I have to be better, and listening not to the world's jumbled jargon, but my inner self, my intuition, my promptings.  Because that's where inspiration comes from.    

Want to see pictures of food now??

Spaghetti Squash

 

Have you all enjoyed this season's veggie of choice?  Spaghetti squash is one of my ultimate go to favorites and it's so easy to prepare.  This is what I do, pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.  Cut the squash in half length wise and lay face down on a foil covered baking sheet.  I usually start jabbing it with a fork around 40 minutes to see if it's done, it usually is.  Let cool until you can handle it, flip it over and scrape out all of the seeds.  Then the magic happens, take that fork and start scraping away at the sides until the strings of spaghetti present themselves.  I serve it just like noodle spaghetti, pour prepared meat a spaghetti sauce over the top and voila! Easy dinner.  My family of four only uses half of the squash for one meal leaving the other half for another night of creativity.

Zucchini noodles with halved snap pea, broccoli slaw, shredded carrots and anything else I could find to use in the fridge.  I know I know, I way over do the peanut noodles, but we really do have them once a week.  Peanut sauce + fresh lime wedges + crunchy veggies and protein of choice?  It's never failed me.

Zucchini noodles with mushrooms chicken and Pesto sauce recipe from Well Fed.  

Kiddo Approved!

Handsome shaggy devil peering over pad thai delightfulness.