Day 18: Feeling Good!

Koichi and Noa are sleeping, but I got up to wash dishes before I go to bed. And since it`s so peaceful and quiet with both of them sleeping I thought I`d take the opportunity to go ahead and write about today, day 18.

I woke up with my alarm this morning at 7:00, hit snooze once and then actually got up the second time the alarm went off. Noa got up at the same time, even though she didn`t get to bed until late, and went to wake Koichi up. I made his breakfast and tea to take to work. Then I made Noa some breakfast and finally I got around to making my own breakfast.

We were out of eggs and I didn`t buy any yesterday because I knew I had 2 packs coming in my grocery delivery today, so this morning I had an egg-less breakfast. I put a couple tablespoons of coconut cream in a bowl and threw in some blueberries and a handful of mixed nuts. Then I chopped a banana and added it with some chia seeds on top. It was a nice change from my normal savory breakfasts and kept me pretty full for a few hours.

Noa must have gotten up too early because she asked me to hold her around 10:00 and fell asleep in my arms. I went to lay her down and she didn`t wake up until almost noon! I was able to get 3 days worth of blogs done in that time which was nice. After she got up I made her some lunch and then my own. Note: Noa took a nap, but I never laid down. I didn`t feel like I needed a nap today. Hoping this feeling continues!

I mixed some a can of tuna with olive oil with some Primal Kitchen chipotle lime mayo and some onion and spooned it into these mini bell pepper halves. The crunch of the pepper almost made it seem like I was having chips, which I kinda miss these days. I could go for some chips and salsa for sure! I also had a salad with homemade ranch, homemade pickles I made last week (I`d bought a seasoning pack a while back and just used it), and some Deleware grapes.I like how colorful this meal is!

Mondays are my day to stay home and relax a bit, put next week`s grocery order in, make a meal plan for the week`s dinners, straighten up the place after the weekend, and do a little meal prep while making dinner. We actually did leave the house once though because I had some things to mail. We rode the bike to the post office, then to a convenience store to pay a bill that came in the mail today, then to the grocery store. I bought Noa a pack of Anpanman gummy candies at the convenience store and when we got to the grocery store I bought myself an iced coffee and we sat down so she could eat her candy. Afterward we did a little shopping and headed home. We got here just in time for the grocery delivery. Once I got the groceries put away I made a list of meals to have this week.

Here`s the plan:

Monday: pulled pork with bbq sauce, potato salad, roasted broccoli

Tuesday: salmon, steamed veggies

Wednesday: Slow cooker Mexican chicken soup, salad

Thursday: garlic lemon shrimp, steamed veggies

Friday: sheet pan chicken fajitas

Actually, typing that out I realize that Koichi isn`t going to be home on Thursday so I may do the shrimp on Friday when he is home since he LOVES shrimp. I always joke that shrimp may just come higher than me on the list of things Koichi likes. Just joking, of course.

For the last couple of weeks I`ve taken dinner prep time on Monday as a chance to do some meal prep for the week. Tonight I did it again and made a jar of homemade mayo, homemade bbq sauce, and I baked chicken tenders to use in lunches this week while my broccoli was roasting.

 I had pulled pork leftover which means I can use it for breakfasts or lunches this week. It`s nice for breakfast and lunch to kind of already be made so I don`t have to think so much about those meals throughout the week. I have found that if I have some protein already prepared then it`s super easy to just add some veggies and healthy fat and Voila! I have a meal!

Dinner was pulled pork with homemade bbq sauce on top, roasted broccoli, and potato salad made with homemade mayo.This was a simple, but delicious meal. I love making pulled pork in my pressure cooker and just thought today that I should season it minimally then eat it several different ways over the course of a few days. Tomorrow I`ll crisp some up to go with my eggs for breakfast. One day I`ll probably add some taco seasoning and make a salad out of it, or wrap it in Romaine and eat it like a burrito maybe. The possibilities are endless.

I was still a little hungry after dinner so I had some blueberries, coconut cream, and dried pineapple. I`m thinking I didn`t eat enough at dinner because ideally I shouldn`t need to eat again after I finish my dinner. I will try to be more aware of if I am getting full or not from now on.

The other thing I think I need to be more mindful of these last 12 days is how much sleep I am getting. I am bad about staying up after Noa goes to sleep and just not sleeping enough in general. From tomorrow my goal will be to be in bed by 11:00!