Lazy hazy crazy days

On a good day I’ve prepped and planned and we have a healthy yummy meal for dinner. On a bad day, it’s hola Taco John’s. Or bonjourno Papa Murphy’s. Or Ni hao China Tiger.

Ok so we don’t actually get take out that often, but still- from time to time we’re alllllll caught in the lazy/busy/haven’t-been-grocery-shopping-in-awhile trap. It can be super helpful to have frozen meals stockpiled in advance. These tend to have a bad rap, but really they can be done right! You may think of sodium when you think of frozen meals, and while these do have around 500-600 mg (about 25% of your daily needs), it's not like you would be doing these for every single meal every single day. Here are some of my fave pics.

Lean Cuisine Vermont White Cheddar Mac & Cheese

So this by itself is nutritionally not an all-star. It’s heavy on the carbs without any veggies at all. Buuuut, how easy is it to add some chunks of frozen pre-cooked chicken and a bag of frozen broccoli? Use the pasta as a foundation and add whatever proteins and veggies combo sounds good- shrimp ‘n’ peppers, tuna ‘n’ peas, lean ground beef ‘n’ canned tomatoes- the list goes on and on.

Lean Cuisine Paninins

At 330 calories, these are some of the higher calorie entrees that Lean Cuisine offers, but it’s still a reasonable meal- esp paired with a piece of fruit or side salad. The bread actually does seem toasted and the sandwich is pretty filling.

MorningStar Farms Meatless Burgers

Love love love these products. Pre cooked AND tasty. Each variety tends to be about 110 calories, so I’ll usually double up and put two patties on a whole grain sandwich thin (hint- these free well too!) and a slice of cheese for a super filling burger.

SmartOnes Chicken Enchilada Suiza

On it’s own it’s 290 calories. Add 1/3 cup canned black beans to the rice mix to really bump up the protein and fiber

SmartOnes Sesame Noodles with Vegetables

These tend to be pretty stingy with broccoli, so add a heap of frozen broccoli to bulk it up and add more fiber and nutrients.

You get the gist of it- feel free to keep these stashed in the freezer, but also think of easy add-ins that keep on the shelf or in the freezer as well. And ultimately- ditch the guilt about having a lazy or crazy night where you don't actually cook!

Floating on by

My work weeks have been flying by in half a second. Beats a job where time drags on I guess. Weekends are equally packed because it's the whole must-cram-in-as-much-fun-into-48-hours-as-we-can-before-it-starts-all-over-again.

Wait- I'm complaining about funtivity-packed weekends?

Husband and I went on a kid-free date night in Excelsior, a cute town on Lake Minnetonka.

Sitting on my butt for 40 hours sure feels like it burns a lot of calories. Errrrr...wait. Pico & guac packed burger (plus tots) was still worth it.

Being in such a hurry all day every day has been leaving me short in the breakfast department. Before Freddie, I would eat my nice bowl of cereal in front of the morning news. I've started doing overnight oats plus a quick scan of CNN on my phone instead. Good enough. 

Have you made overnight oats yet? Bonus if you're all Pinteresty and make them in a mason jar too. You combine oats and whatever you want, plus milk, and let it sit overnight. You can heat it up or eat it cold. I add ground flaxseed, Chia seeds, unsweetened almond milk, and a few drops of Trader Joe's liquid stevia. In the morning I stir in a few chopped walnuts and blueberries. Easy peasy, and holy healthy fats 'n' fiber!

I might have to start making this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And pause on the weekends for burgers, of course.

Captiva Scenes

I'm back at work this week after 12 weeks at home with both boys. Woof. I'm happy to reminisce about last week though.

Last summer, before Fred was even in the picture, my parents booked a trip down to Captiva Island in Florida for the entire family. Fortunately having a 3 month old crash the party was pretty much a non-issue, as you'll see...

First things first- stopping to have lunch at Cheeburger Cheeburger on the way to the rental house. Best shakes ever. 

 This was, ahem, split between 9 people. Bubble Room cake is amazing and worth the 8,352 calories. Chocolate fudge toffee, coconut cream, orange crunch, and Jamaican rum with chocolate mousse. 

We bought a fair amount of groceries so we could cook a few meals at home. We ordered fresh caught red snapper from the market and baked it. Soooo good. Finished off the meal with Queenie's Key Lime Pie ice cream...and a few Teddy Grahams.

Like an ice cream truck, but a boat. 

Morning fresh grapefruit juice on the balcony.

Reeling in a big snook.

He kept calling this seashell his "ice cream cone." 

Banana tree in our backyard

Missing these beautiful sunsets...and all the free babysitting from my family members, haha. Back to reality now!