Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Paleo Shmaleo and Painting Shmainting!

Hello there! Happy Tuesday night!

I hope the week has started off on a good note for y'all! Our week has started out good and busy again! Can't complain though, my OCD personality appreciates the busy-ness :)

We started the renovation in the Man Cave and boy let me tell you taping and painting is FOR. THE. BIRDS! I am not a fan. Thankfully though, thru the will of God we got thru it. One coat anyways, tomorrow will be part dos. (Si, I am speaking Spanish because I am deliriously tired and I think it's funny right now, lol)

Here are before and afters thus far....



We actually painted the room entirely I am just too tired to walk up the stairs and take another so this is just going to have to work for now :)

The color is "Night Flight" and it is perfect for all of Jess' memorabilia. We like how dark it is so it will make the room more "cave" like. Tomorrow we will paint again and then once we get back from Ennis/Kilgore we will peel off the tape and start decorating! That is my favorite part!!!!

Jess is still going strong with Paleo. He has lost 9 pounds in a week and a half. Our cheat days are on Saturdays and boy oh boy do we love those days! It is crazy though how crappy we feel on Sunday after we have eaten unhealthy for one day. 

I decided to document the meals I make Jess so if any of y'all were wanting to try Paleo y'all could get an idea of how and what he eats.

When he wakes up he has 2 pieces of bacon (chopped up) and 3 eggs.


 For lunch he has either leftovers from the night before or tuna, turkey, summer sausage with a mix of nuts and either grapes or plums. This is a can of tuna (dry, no condiment) a handful of pistachios, grapes and a salad with light balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

 This is dinner, Spaghetti Squash with homemade meatballs and half homemade sauce. The meatballs are just seasoned ground meat made into balls and the sauce is one can of tomato sauce (no salt added) and one small can of tomato paste (no salt added).

In between breakfast and lunch he will eat something at least once. Between lunch and dinner he will eat something 2 to 3 times and then after dinner he will eat something. These are just his main meals while the other times he is eating its a portion or serving of some kind of fruit, meat or nut.

The staples we have in our house are summer sausage, turkey, grilled chicken, tilapia, shrimp, bacon, sausage, cashews, almonds, pistachios, pickles, plums, oranges, apples (Jess doesn't eat those) cauliflower, zucchini, squash and carrots. Basically anything that can go bad is what we have in our kitchen and is what you should try and follow (eating wise) if wanting to achieve the Paleo diet.

If y'all want any of the recipes I am posting pics of just let me know! I would love to share!

I have got to hit the sack now, I am all out of gas!

I will be back soon to post pics of the man cave!

Goodnight!

Love,
E

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Busy Bee's!

Hey Y'all!

I hope this week is treating y'all well! I am super excited because the first official weekend of Fall is just a couple of days away! Yay for kettle corn, caramel apples and pumpkin spice lattes....better yet pumpkin EVERYTHING :D

I love the holiday season! I am hoping that Austin will treat us well this offseason and actually give us Fall and Winter verses just Fall or just Winter. Texas weather can be so unpredictable so I am keeping my fingers crossed for some nice cool nights.

Since we have been back we have not stopped working on the house. I feel like every day we are putting stuff away. Not cleaning, (while that needs to be done as well) but just simply putting things in their places. Yesterday I started putting out my Fall decor! Boy oh boy was I excited! My house now smells of pumpkin spice and cinnamon! I have my little pumpkins out and my gourds! I'm not finished though so stay tuned for the rest of the decorating pictures once it is complete.




If you like the Fall aroma find the nearest Bath and Body Works and get yourself some of their wonderful smelling candles. I stopped in one the other day and got myself a few along with some Pumpkin Spice kitchen soap. The candles are 2 for 20 or 3 for 30 and so on and so fourth.

Jess went to the deer lease this past weekend and my best friend and her boyfriend (who live here but work out of town during the week) came home and I stayed with them all weekend. It was her boyfriend's birthday so I went out with them to some of they're favorite places in Austin to eat and hangout.



Sunday morning I got up and headed to Ennis to pic up some things my parents had at they're house. When I got there me, my mom, sister and aunt went to this farmhouse that sits on some property Jess and I bought last year to see if there was any exciting pieces we could use in our houses. I found a little tin cup and a headboard type thing to put on one of our walls. Jess isn't too thrilled but once I paint it and give it a little face lift he will come around.



We are planning to Chevron our staircase wall in the coming days. I really want to do it but I know it is going to be be super-d-duper hard! I will keep y'all posted on that little BIG project. We have yet to start on the man cave because like I said, we have been putting things in their places every day we have been home.

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Love,
E

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

We are now Austinites!

Hey Guys!

How are ya? Me? I'm great! We have been in our NEW house for almost a week now and we have so much we want and need to do! My mind feels like it is going 90 to nothing all day. Once everything is in it's place I will feel better. I am OCD in that kind of way and hate having things out of order.

Jess kicked off his Paleo Diet on Monday and it has been an adjustment for the both of us. He will eat every 2-3 hours that will consist of some kind of lean meat, eggs, nuts or fruit. I think fruit is frowned upon but he cut out carbs and dairy completely so he has to have some kind of gray area where he can splurge a little. Cooking paleo has been quit the task, seasonings and dressings are very very VERY limited when preparing meat or fish. I did some research and found some spices I can use that will spice up our meats a little bit so that will help!

Last night's meal was very good! I recommend this recipe for everyone not just paleo diet followers. The best thing about it is that it is so easy to make and very little time is needed to make it. The dinner I prepared was Paleo Crock Pot Stuffed Peppers.



You can get the recipe from here. I used ground turkey instead of ground pork and only cooked them for 5 hours on high in the crock pot. They came out amazing and I accompanied them with these guys....


These of course were my fave! I am such a fat kid and love love love BACON! I got the recipe from here but literally did my own thing once I saw the temp and time to cook them at. I used 7 asparagus stalks and wrapped them in one piece of lean reduced sodium bacon, sprinkled some extra virgin olive oil and some sesame seeds and VOILA! They were so good!


Jess really liked the meal and I for see him requesting it again soon. This is a healthy meal and even people who aren't doing paleo will love it. Another good thing about it is that you have left overs for lunch the next day!

Other than trying to be a paleo chef, student and maid/new homeowner I have been just trying to enjoy Austin. Jess is going to the deer lease this weekend so I will be alone for a day or so until my friends get into town. Kind of having anxiety about that right now :/

I look forward to posting about all the things we have going on with the new place! I hope y'all are having a happy hump day!

Love,
E