Hello and Happy Monday!

You know what’s hard?  Balance.  Not just the standing in an upright position and not falling, although that can be a struggle sometimes, but life balance.  Making sure I have enough of everything and that everything I want to do gets accomplished.

Especially right now. 

I am making some BIG changes in my life.  It’s like I hit 2018 and decided, “Hey, let’s make everything you’re used to totally different.  That will be fun, right?”  And you know what, for the most part, it is.  I’m excited, ready, and thrilled to be making those changes.  But I would be lying if I said it was all easy.

Sure, I could post all the happy Instagram photo’s of beautiful meals and pretend that life is just chugging along fine.  Make you believe that I handle everything with grace and dignity and immense zen.

But that’s a lie.

I’m stretching my boundaries, adding things to my life, and taking things away and it’s HARD. The equilibrium I’ve had for the past five or so years has been turned on its head and I’m still searching for the right balance of everything.

I know this post is just a big brain dump of the things that I’m feeling, but honestly?  I think we all feel this way from time to time.  It can be hard to look at social media and see all these people just happily living their lives and feel at a total loss because your life is anything but perfectly curated.  But remember, that’s what a lot of social media is, curated.

It’s ok to feel off-kilter, it’s ok to not have balance, it’s ok to feel like everything is hitting you at a mile a minute, and it’s ok if you are the one who initiated it all.  I’m trusting that I will find my groove again, that I will find the balance in my everyday life, and things will get to a new normal that I can appreciate.

You will too.

One thing that I have really tried to keep constant among all my changes is preparing for the week.  That means spending some time on the weekend meal prepping so that no matter what life throws my way during the week, I can eat.  Because that’s all that matters.

I mentioned I’m changing the way I eat a few posts back and my meal preps have changed a little to reflect that.  While I don’t have many of these recipes on my blog just yet, they will be there soon.  So here’s what made it out of my kitchen this week:

• Cut broccoli, bell peppers, brussels sprouts and celery
• Alllll the greens (arugula, romaine, kale, spinach, and an herb salad mix from Trader Joe’s)
• Roasted poblano peppers for salad toppings
• Roasted artichokes for salad toppings
• Baked Oatmeal for the hubby’s breakfasts (recipe coming on Wednesday!)
• Marinated Olives (so easy to do and great for salad toppings)
• Macadamia Cream Cheese with Chives (this is a redo of my Cashew Cream Cheese and I might like it even better.  The updated recipe will hit the blog soon!)
• Ground meat hash (I used this to throw together quick power bowl dinners along with vegetables and all the sauces/condiments)
• Chia pudding for mid-morning snacks (I used a different recipe than the ones I have on the blog, but both the cranberry and pumpkin ones are delicious)
• Fat bombs (my first attempt at these things, but they are a little similar to my Gingerbread Candies just less sugar)
  

  Baked oatmeal, marinated olives, macadamia nut cream cheese, roasted poblano peppers, chia pudding, and hard boiled eggs.

I also created a rough menu for the week so I don’t have to think about what dinner will be each night.  I can just look at my list and get all the prepped ingredients together.

Monday: Ground meat hash bowls with roasted brussels sprouts

Tuesday: Chicken Sausage & Peppers

Wednesday: Pan-Fried Crispy Chicken Thighs with roasted broccoli

Thursday: Seared Ahi Tuna with stir-fry vegetables

Friday: We’ll see what’s left in my fridge and what I feel like making!

Taking care of my food, even if it’s different than what I’m used to, is a simple way I can anchor my day.  Having everything I need to make a meal ready to go is just one less thing I have to worry about.  Hopefully seeing this helped give you a better idea of how to organize your food this week or gave you some ideas on what to eat!

Now, go out there and make the most of your day and I’ll see you on Wednesday!