Menu Plan Monday: 7/25-7/31

It is the last week of July! You know what that means... the summer is cooling down and back to school preparations are heating up! We haven't even begun school shopping yet but we are going to enjoy this last bit of Summer for as long as possible. This week we have several special liturgical feasts and we are celebrating Christmas in July. No link up this week but writing out a weekly menu is one of several ways I keep myself accountable in my diet. If you check out how we celebrate the liturgical year you will see there is always a custom, tradition or play on words for the recipes and crafts we do. Well here is the game plan for the week.

Monday: Feast of Saint James
Breakfast: Peanut Butter Overnight Oats
Lunch: Garden Salad
Dinner: Gazpacho Pasta Salad

Tuesday: Feast of Saint Anne
Breakfast: Watermelon Strawberry Smoothie

Lunch:Three Bean Salad
Dinner: Chicken Nuggets and Fries (kids) Garden Salad for me!

Wednesday:
Breakfast: Peanut Butter Overnight Oats
Lunch: Three Bean Salad
Dinner: Red Beans and Rice

Thursday:
Breakfast: Peanut Butter Overnight Oats
Lunch: Three Bean Salad
Dinner: Soup and Salad

Friday: Feast of Saint Martha
Breakfast: Egg, Sausage and Hash brown Casserole

Lunch: Garden Salad
Dinner: Crockpot Chicken Tarragon
*** I will be making a similar version to this recipe but making it a little healthier so it follows my Clean eating diet a little better***

Saturday: 
Breakfast:Leftovers
Lunch: Deli Meat Sandwich
Dinner: Leftovers

Sunday: Christmas in July Celebration
Breakfast: Gingerbread Pancakes
Lunch: Spiral Ham, baked sweet potato and green beans
Dinner: Leftover Spiral Ham, baked sweet potato and green beans

Gazpacho Pasta Salad:

1 lb Rotini Pasta

3 Medium Ripe Tomatoes (diced)

1 Large Cucumber (diced)

1 Green Bell Pepper (minced)

2 Green Onions (chopped)

6 Fl oz Canned Tomato Juice

2 Cloves Garlic (chopped)

1/4 Cup Parsley

3 Tbsp Lime Juice

1 Tsp Tarragon

1 Tsp Basil

1 Tsp Cracked Black Pepper

Bring pot of water to boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente. Drain and put aside. Combine the pasta and the rest of the ingredients together and mix well. Chill for at least 2 hours and toss again prior to serving.

***If you wanted to make traditional Gazpacho you would mix all the ingredient together except the pasta and increase the tomato juice to 4 cups. Place ingredients into a food processor and blend until it is a think soup consistency. Chill for 2 hours and serve with croutons***

Gingerbread Pancakes:

2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour

2 Cups Almond Milk (Vanilla)

2 Eggs

1/8 Cup Brown Sugar

1/8 Cup Molasses (Unsulphured)

1 Tbsp Baking Powder

1 Tbsp All Spice

1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract

3 Tsp Ginger

Pinch of salt

Preheat griddle or pan to medium heat. Combine ingredients in a large bowl together and mix well. Ladle batter onto the griddle or pan. Wait for the batter to bubble and flip. Serve with butter and syrup.

Transform Your Life Thursday Challenge

Normally on Thursdays I participate in an amazing linkup called {pretty, happy, funny, real}. I learned today that the linkup may be discontinued, which makes me a little sad but I understand the importance of having a balance within your life and I am sure that hosting linkups on a weekly basis can take up a lot of time. I loved having a day to sit and contemplate the blessings I received everyday through my friends, family and experiences. The realization that there may not be anymore {pretty, happy, funny, real} made me rethink what I wanted to share today. 

I am a planner. I like to have my workouts, meals, prayer time and anything else important written down so I am accountable and don't make the mistake of overbooking my day. I honestly believe that you have to plan to succeed, otherwise you are planning to fail. Let's make us all accountable for our goals. I am challenging myself and anyone else who would like to join me in a Transform Your Life Thursday Challenge. I might even turn this into a linkup if I have enough interest. I am working on some printable now. For now let's discuss the rules so that this can be used as a tool for you to reach the life you want.

Rules for Transform Your Life Thursday:

1. Set Short Term Goals

Pick one area of your life you would like to transform. I suggest picking one because you do not want to overwhelm yourself and as time progresses you can make other goals. Here are a few suggestions:

Faith: Weekly/Daily Mass, Prayer Journal, Daily Prayers, Etc.

Family: Daily Dinner, Weekly Outings, Game Nights, Etc. 

Fitness: Meals, Completing Workouts, Measurements, Before/After Pictures Etc.

Financial: Savings Plan, Credit Card/ Bill Repayment, Vacation Fund Etc.

**You don't have to share these unless you want to; Goals are important but can be very personal.**

2. Create A Plan

What are you changing in your everyday life to make progress?

How are you going to bridge the gap between meeting goals?

How will you keep yourself accountable?

What do you need to succeed?

Do you need help?

3. Follow Through Each Week

Stick to your Faith, Family, Fitness, Financial Plans.

Do not be discouraged if you have a bad day or don't reach your goals right away. 

Everyday is a new day and a fresh start! If you keep trying, you will reach your goals.

If part of your process isn't working, try something else until you find what works for you.

4. Start Your Plan This Upcoming Monday

Planning for the future gives you time to gather what you need to be successful: prayer journal, planner, healthy recipes, a piggy bank or whatever you need to succeed and you have the entire weekend to be productive and get ready!

Write everything down in your planner, journal or in a place that you can reference often.

It has been proven that if you keep your goals within eyesight, it will help you overcome obstacles that can slow your progress. 

5. Celebrate Your Success

You deserve a reward when you reach a goal! Find something to reward yourself with at the end of your challenge and be accountable; if you don't stay consistent, wait on rewarding yourself.

My goal for this Transform Your Life Thursday Challenge is to be consistent with my workouts. 

I will go to the gym at least 4 times this upcoming week.

I will weight lift each visit to the gym.

I will run at least 2 miles each workout and must be added to Nike Plus.

I will take pictures at the end of each workout to hold myself accountable.

When I reach my goal, my reward will be a yummy dessert of my choosing!

Next week I will post about my progress and whether I succeeded in reaching my goal. If I was unsuccessful I will repeat my same goal. I will choose another goal next week (only if I am successful) and follow the same process. I would suggest picking a new goal from a different aspect of your life. I know this process will create a healthy routine and help me transform my life one Thursday at a time. I would really love some feedback and see who wants to be a part of Transform Your Life Thursday Challenge. If you want to share your goals or anything please add them in the comments and I will see about a linkup!

God Bless!

This is for the Let's Get Real Party 

Rising Strong: Book Review

I have to thank my friend Amber, who suggested reading this book several months ago. I decided to include this book as part of my Mid Year 2016 Reading Challenge. I love to read and I especially love books that find a way to touch me in my life, experiences or heart. Rising Strong did all of this and more. I have shared my thoughts on this book as I read it with my husband and he is eager to read it, as I hope you will be too. Please be aware This post contains sponsored links from Amazon.

Rising Strong by Brené Brown is an amazing book that will make you question every significant event in your life. Her understanding of emotion is astounding and her ability to communicate her research to readers is direct and easy to comprehend. There is an exploration of shame, anger and fear that is prominent in our failings through life and her rising strong teaching and process can help you study and understand more thoroughly how to grow and recover from failing more quickly. Failing is something that every person can relate to and makes the topics discussed within this book more important to understand how to be better productive within our relationships and our daily lives.

I will warn you that the colorful Brené Brown does sometimes use strong language to get her point across. I did not find the language to be vulgar though, rather she used it as an exclamation point to highlight her important research. I also find that her presentation made her feel more relatable. I love that there is a direct conversation between Brené Brown and the reader. She does not hide her true ideals or intentions.

Another aspect that makes this book unique is that although Brené Brown is a researcher, she allows the discussion of faith and spirituality to be important in her research. She includes research and quotes from religious people. One of my favorite moments within the book is during a discussion where Brené Brown states, "I experienced a collection of holy and unholy moments that would eventually bring me face-to-face with one of my greatest fears and, in the process, teach me exactly what Saint Teresa of Avila meant when she said,"There are more tears shed over answered prayers than over unanswered prayers."" If only we could all have revelations that bring us to a closer connection to God.

I have not had the pleasure to read her book Daring Greatly yet but I can promise it is now on my book list. There are several references to it within Rising Strong and I think that the best understanding of both books would come from reading both. Daring Greatly discusses concepts of vulnerability and scarcity and pairs well with the overall topic of overcoming adversity in Rising Strong.

I will end this with another one of the great topics that is discussed throughout the entire book; "The irony is that we attempt to disown our difficult stories to appear more whole or more acceptable, but our wholeness, even our wholeheartedness, actually depends on the integration of all of our experiences, including the falls." This particular quote is written on the back cover of the book. Rising Strong is truly an amazing book and I hope you take the opportunity to read it.

I know I have several friends reading this book right now and I would love your opinions as well! I am sharing this at The Book Nook At Create With Joy. 

Menu Plan Monday: 7/18-7/24

Unfortunately, there will be no link up to Menu Plan Monday for the next two weeks... but I wanted to share my menu with everyone anyway and start this week on a good healthy foot! That being said I had TONS of chili leftover from our Feast of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha. I had to find some ways to use it and I chose some super yummy ideas that aren't so healthy but it's ok to have a cheat day here and there! I would love to hear about what is on your menu this week in the comments. Here is our menu for this week.

Monday:
Breakfast: Honey Vanilla Pineapple Overnight Oats
Lunch: Chili-Mac
Dinner: Chili fries

Tuesday:
Breakfast: Honey Vanilla Pineapple Overnight Oats
Lunch: Garden Salad
Dinner: Ratatouille

Wednesday:
Breakfast: Honey Vanilla Pineapple Oats
Lunch: Garden Salad
Dinner: Barbecue Crockpot Chicken

Thursday:
Breakfast: Honey Vanilla Pineapple Oats
Lunch:Three Bean Salad
Dinner: Leftover/ Sandwich Night

Friday: Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene
Breakfast: Egg Sandwich
Lunch: Three Bean Salad
Dinner: "Mary"land crab cakes with Grilled Vegetables

Saturday: Feast of Saint Bridget of Sweden
Breakfast: Protein Pancakes
Lunch: Out For Lunch
Dinner: Healthy Swedish Meatballs with Cauliflower Rice

** I have never tried this recipe before and I am not shy to say that I am nervous but excited to try this healthy spin on an authentic Swedish recipe. I also have no experience making cauliflower rice so send me some prayers that I don't end up creating mashed cauliflower instead! I will update everyone with modifications of other ideas I have on this dish once we try it. Do you know any authentic Swedish dinner ideas?**

Sunday: 
Breakfast: Breakfast Bowl: Scrambled eggs, potatoes, peppers and onions with cheese
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Garlic Shrimp Pasta

Honey Vanilla Pineapple Overnight Oats:

These overnight oats taste like pineapple upside down cake! You could probably add some cherry to enhance that yummy last too! I have posted about overnight oats in my previous Vegan for a Week Challenge but I decided to try out a new flavor combination this week. As you can tell, I am partial to Peanut Butter Banana Oats most of the time. Here is the recipe I used to make these delicious morning oats!

1/2 Cup Old Fashioned Oats (Do not use steel cut or quick oats)

1/2 Cup Almond milk

1/4 Cup Greek Yogurt 

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1/2 Cup Crushed Pineapple

If you are interested in a vegan style you can omit the greek yogurt, honey and vanilla extract and replace it with a dairy free vanilla/ honey yogurt.

Add all the ingredients into a mason jar or container with lid of your choosing. Place the lid on tight and shake for 30-45 sec and put in the refrigerator overnight! Super easy and you have a quick grab and go meal for work or just something easy to eat with less mess to start your day

***This is for the weekly linkup called Menu Plan Monday on I'm an Organizing Junkie and also for Let's Get Real Friday Party at Juggling Real Food and Real Life***

Feast of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha

Saint Kateri Tekakwitha is the patron saint of environment and ecology and was just recently canonized in October 2012. She is also the patroness of Native Americans and people in exile. She is known as the Lily of the Mohawks. She was the first Native American to be recognized as a saint in the Catholic Church. She was orphaned as a child because her mother, father and younger brother were killed during a smallpox outbreak. Saint Kateri was scarred horribly but survived the outbreak. She did many outdoor devotions by forming crosses with sticks to pray the Stations of the Cross and creating rosaries out of rocks and praying with them. These unique and special outdoor devotions are the reason she is the patron saint of ecology and environment. She died at a very young age of 24 and all of her scars disappeared from her face.

The simplistic beauty of this saint make her a perfect example for children. In the Book of Saints Part 2 there is a nice little biography about Saint Kateri Tekakwitha too. There are many different ways for you to introduce your family to her as well. I would suggest trying out a few of the suggestions below:

Holy Heroes Glory Stories: Saint Kateri Tekakwitha

National Saint Kateri Tekakwitha Shrine in New York

Catholic Icing: Headband Craft

Catholic Playground: Coloring Page

Pinot Noir and Prayers: Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha 

Pinot Noir and Prayers: Saint Kateri Tekakwitha

Catholic Mom: Catholic Dream Catcher

This year I really wanted to go on a nature walk, unfortunately the weather did not hold up today. Severe thunderstorms rolled in during the afternoon and I was quite busy with an IEP/ kindergarten transitional meeting for Goalie. I will discuss that later though.

Since my nature walk and picnic were rained out, I decided it was best to stay inside and have an indoor picnic instead for dinner. I made Chili and Cornbread and placed our picnic blanket in the living room to enjoy dinner. We opened up our screen door so we could enjoy the peaceful sound of the rain falling and the gentle roar of thunder. We will do a nature walk tomorrow or Sunday if the weather clears up.

I have plans to watch In Her Footsteps: The Story of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha with my husband when he gets home from work this weekend. I would love to hear how your families celebrated today!

Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, pray for us!

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life 

Every Thursday Like Mother Like Daughter ~

I have really come to LOVE this linkup, although today there is no link up I still wanted to share me post. I am one of those mom's that takes pictures of everything! I love having a souvenir to remember all of our family adventures and let's be honest, you never know when something amazing will happen. Having a day set aside that I get to go threw all the pictures I have taken the past week and be thankful for all the blessings, big and small, that I have each and every day.  This week has really been the pinnacle of fun and relaxation and I enjoyed going through all my pictures to share with you. We have an extra exciting week because Feast of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha is today, Saint Bonaventure and Saint Swithin are tomorrow and the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is Saturday! I will be sharing all of those pictures later! You can always get a sneak peak on Instagram too. 

{pretty}

The weather has been amazing this week. Blue skies, bright sun, warm breezes through the trees. I have been making sure my boys have been able to enjoy it with me at the pool and parks. We are still acclimating to the weather here and I am not use to the lack of humidity and the dry heat is very different but I am loving it. As much as I am enjoying the bright, hot sun, I am excited for the cool breezes of autumn to start within the next few months. Hopefully we can get more of our Summer Time Bucket List completed.

{happy)

There are many moments in my life that I am happy with my family but I really have a good time working out with my husband. This past week I started getting back into my workout regimen and today was leg day. My husband is an avid weightlifter and obviously is much stronger than me but we always have a blast together. He makes me giggle because he calls us "swolemates". We get our adult time and are teaching our boys the importance of living a healthy lifestyle. I want my boys to be well rounded. I want them to have a deep and meaningful connection to their faith, always do their best in their studies and know the importance of taking care of their physical bodies with good wellness and nutrition. 

I just joined a new accountability group to share recipes, workouts and fitness information. I am super excited to be apart of a group and it makes me feel much more motivated to complete my workouts and stick to my weekly menus. I share those on Mondays as part of Menu Plan Monday at another fun linkup! You can check out my latest menu here, there will be no link ups the next few weeks but I will still share my menu ideas each week. 

{funny}

Watching my boys run around at a nearby waterpark was the most hilarious thing I saw all week. At first, both boys were upset with me because they wanted to go to our neighborhood pool but I wanted to try something different. When we arrived I was told that "this place will not be as fun as the pool". Five minutes into our visit I received hugs, kisses and apologies because they were having a blast. It was quite amusing because I know as these boys grow older I won't hear about how I was right quite as often.

{real}

I am a lover of books. I have been my entire life. I was introduced to the book I am reading now, Rising Strong: The Reckoning. The Rumble. The Revolution. by Brené Brown, by a good friend I met shortly after moving. There is nothing better than getting to relax poolside and hearing the laughter of my children while I can enjoy a good book. This particular book has really been eye-opening and I highly suggest it to anyone willing to give it a chance. My husband has even shown some interest in the book just because of a few quotes I throw out to him here and there. Here are some quotes that really stood out to me. 

"The most dangerous stories we make up are the narratives that diminish our inherent worthiness. We must reclaim the truth about our lovability, divinity, and creativity."

"Regret is a tough but fair teacher. To live without regret is to believe you have nothing to learn, no amends to make, and no opportunity to be braver with your life."

What do you think? She makes some good points that should make you think and question experiences. I am doing a Mid Year Reading Challenge and I would love for you to join me!

Mid Year 2016 Reading Challenge

I came across this amazing a blog about books called Modern Mrs. Darcy. In one of her posts she shares a Reading Challenge for the year, however, it is not the beginning of the year anymore. However, I believe avid book lovers could finish this challenge in 6 months. I would love to have some friends, family and fellow bloggers join me in this Reading Challenge for the rest of the year. You can download a copy of the Reading Challenge at the link above.

Here are the books I plan to read (listed in order of the Reading Challenge):

This post contains sponsored links from Amazon.

The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins

The Crucible by Arthur Miller

Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee

Ghost by Alan Lightman

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Rising Strong: The Reckoning. The Rumble. The Revolution. by Brené Brown

Illusions of Love by Cynthia Freeman

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

I hope you decide to join me and if you do please comment with the books you are reading. I am always looking for good books and I would love to hear about your book suggestions. If you need help creating a list, you are welcome to use some of my suggestions or you can checkout the ones Modern Mrs. Darcy suggests. Cloud Atlas and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings in my list came from hers!

I am linking this to Booknificent Thursdays at Mommynificent