Inside my stomach

This afternoon calls for some down time. After traveling two days in a row I feel like a lost puppy not sure what all I need to get done for the rest of the week. Monday's has been my food haul day but due to Derrek being in the hospital this week, and this up coming Monday I have a viewing to go too with my mom I am now trying to debate when the next best time would be to go grocery shopping! I will get that all worked out, but what I really can't wait for is a date with Cain!

Today Cain say "Let's go out on a date" Of course I said "Yes!" We haven't been out on a real "date" since I took Cain to Chicago for his birthday in December! So just some time spent alone at dinner or something would be so nice. I love going out with my man, he is such a joy to hang out with. Honestly I couldn't ask for a better friend.

So I've said before that I would like to start posting on here the foods I eat. I often show you what I make for my dearest Cain but a lot of time I don't eat what I make him. Which is a reason I'm always so nervous if it's going to taste good because I don't taste test!

My diet it filled with vegetables and fruit! I do eat organic meat but come summer time I won't eat as much meat, if any. Because there are so many more vegetables to choose from that I can get straight from the garden or farmers market.

Today before picking up Graci at preschool I started thinking that there were only enough left overs at the house for one person and I wanted my mom to have it, so I got creative and thought buffalo sounded really good.

My mom asked if I could stop in at Kroger before coming home and pick up something we needed for our dinner tonight. I asked if she minded if I picked up a couple veggies. A mom can't say no to that! I picked up the Cauliflower, green pepper, cucumber and a bag of onions.


And with that I baked my cauliflower buffalo bites with onions!


As you can see I also have the sliced cucumber and peppers on the plate too! I try and eat as many RAW vegetables in a day as I can. It's not easy in the winter when all you want is warm comfort food but if you set your mind doing something, it will be done. Promise.

Here are the Chocolate covered strawberries Graci helped make yesterday for the ladies bible study I go with my mom too. They were the BOMB haha. Did I just say bomb? That's new.


Breakfast is always the same. If I am craving something special and have time I do make other things but eggs are easy and eggs are good. Not just in taste but in health. I top them with cinnamon sometimes. Yes you read that right, cinnamon. Have you tried that yet? It's so yummy.


Let's talk smoothies. I have been out of spinach the last couple of weeks (And when I say out it means I buy it for Cain but I don't buy it for myself here at my parents house. When my mom buys it I eat it, but I can't afford to buy two of everything, every week!) But normally I layer my smoothies with Spinach, fruit (Mostly berries) , filtered water, protein powder and sometimes Flax seed or Chia seeds.


This yellow heaven looking one was fresh Mango! And wow, wow.

Just cut and peel your mango to get the goodness out, add an cup of ice or more with some filtered water and you have a amazing desert!


Bananas are my treat. Banana's are soooo good for you. They really are. But they do have a lot of sugar that comes with them, now listen .... it's the good sugar. Natural. But even natural fruit sugar needs to be eaten in moderation. When summer comes and I am walking everyday, running more miles and just doing more activity I will most likely eat more Banana's. But because I'm not doing that much activity to burn those lovely sugars I try and eat one once a week! 

I also LOVE almond butter! It might have a lot to do with it being close to Peanut Butter. I was always a huge fan of Peanut Butter until learning that they were NOT a nut but a bean also called an Legume. Legumes contain lectins, specific proteins known to cause damage in the gut lining. Now I'm not saying I will never have peanut butter again or beans. I just try and not put them in my everyday diet. But when the time calls for it. I will. 

So back to the Almond Butter. I do love it, but again everything in moderation. Almonds are wonderful for you for a lot of reasons but so much of it isn't always a good thing. So for every 3 miles I run I enjoy a serving of Almond butter! 

The two together is... well... try it. Taste heaven!


I posted this picture from last Saturday night when making Cain his Bison steak for dinner. On this plate you have a choice of either Green or Red Peppers, Red onion, Yellow squash, Carrots or Zucchini! We both ate everything on the plate. 


Here is a Veggie Plate I had for lunch this week. I've got Green beans, a Carrot, whole Avocado with raw almonds inside! Graci was trying to tell me I couldn't finish it all and I should give her the green beans... this is after she already finished a plate of her own green beans! I said, I think I can finish it all... she smiled and said... "I don't think so" Well I almost finished it all but then decided I would share the last few bites :)


Fruit is my favorite thing of all time. Right next to chocolate though. Any fruit I love. This is a organge, strawberries and left over chocolate from the chocolate strawberries I made! 


 Now you see what I do eat! Here is something I DON'T eat!

For the past year once a month while I seat in the drive up line waiting on Graci to get our of preschool a lady will pull up with her SUV and open the back up and is a huge load of grocery for what I'm guessing is for the kids at the preschool. I am also the first one in line at the drive up so when she pulls up she is right in front of me. So a year ago this happened for the first time and it was snowy out and here she is loading all these groceries into a cart to take into the church. I right away got out and started helping her. It only takes 1 minute for us to load it onto the cart and then she takes everything inside and I get back into my car.

This has gone on for now a year. We don't say much, just something about the food or the weather. But today after everything was on the cart and she pulled her SUV into the parking lot like normal but this time she came up to my window and handed me a Reese's Peanut Butter Egg (Guessing for Easter coming up?) She said "I know it's not much but thanks for aways helping me" I smiled and said "No problem" And she walked away. It really is not problem. What am I going to do, sit in my car nice and warm and watch a nice young lady load a ton of groceries into a cart in the freezing cold?! But still, I thought it so sweet of her to want to do something small to just say "Thanks"

Now I think you know where I'm going to end with this though. I choice not to eat processed food so of course I didn't eat the Reese's Peanut Butter Egg. I did wonder though right away what the ingredients were in them so I flipped it over and here is what I saw...


So let's start with PEANUT: Not the end of the world but unless organic not great. MILK CHOCOLATE: Not so great either, get 70% or more cocoa when choosing chocolate. SUGAR: This is not the sugar from the banana I was talking about. It should not be eaten in motivation, it should NEVER be eaten. COCOA BUTTER: Ok. NON FAT MILK: No go. Full fat organic Milk is the only dairy to drink/eat. SOY: So bad for you. Look up the affects of Soy sometime you will be surprised. VEGETABLE OIL: The worse of it all! This is a oil you should never eat again. The SUNFLOWER and/or SAFFLOWER oil is also oils I stay away from. Choose either Olive Oil or Coconut Oil. Not sure what the next few are, which isn't a good thing. You should KNOW what EVERYTHING is before eating it. And last ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR: Beaver Butt. Don't believe me? Check THIS VIDEO out HERE <

Now again, I thought that is was extremely sweet that the lady wanted to be kind by giving me something as a token of thanks! And I'm not trying to call her out as a horrible person for eating this. Because, honestly she might not eat it and was trying to get rid of it! I've been guilty of that before!

But it just reminds me that when I do give food I wouldn't eat to others (Unless its a real food) that I'm hurting their bodies by doing so. So note to self: Treat others with what you would want to be treated with.

Thanks for reading,

Lanette

Another weekend, but not a normal one

What a very long weekend it was! I want to do a quick catch up before really heading into this upcoming week! So here it goes... 
Thursday I made homemade Lara bars for Cain to take to drill. It was a apple pie one and it turned out amazing! Cain love them which I was really happy about! Super easy recipe to!


Friday Cain had the day off which was much needed! Getting to relax all day with him and Nova was  a joy!

I swear can they get any cuter?!


So check this out. This is where the Wedding will take place in 97 days. Think things will clear up by then? Haha I sure hope so! Right now it's flooded with mixture of ice, snow and water. I would like to take a picture come May 30th and see green grass, flowers and leafs!


Cain moving the trampoline so that the grass doesn't die there!


Saturday Cain was at drill all morning and afternoon. I was babysitting until 3:00pm then went straight to Fort Wayne afterwards to shop for Cain's food. I got him a Bison steak to have once he was home from drill! Aren't I a great future wife ;)


Here is a the grilled veggie plate I made! SO GOOD! Will do this again and again and again!


Look what we hung up Saturday night!!! I just LOVE this picture and the moment I saw in back in July I knew I would hang it in my kitchen one day, and look there it is!!! I need to put some kind of matting behind it but I was to excited to wait for that!!! I was doing a little happy go crazy dance! 



So if we back track to Friday for a minute I will tell you about what happened to Derrek (Cain's brother) over the weekend. We got a txt Friday afternoon saying that while Derrek was at drill he was having stomach pain and come to find out he need his appendix taken out. We were going to drive to Connersville to see him after his surgery but decided not knowing he would be out the next day and that Cain had drill early Saturday. He was out of surgery Friday and on the way to recovery! Come Saturday late afternoon is when we got the news that they how realized there was internal bleeding and they were going in to do a second surgery. Yet again we wanted to go see him but Cain wasn't even out of drill yet and he needed to be at Drill Sunday morning early again. So the 2 hours drive is what stopped us. Now looking back we wish we would of just drove there because the second surgery was a fail, an epic fail. So a THIRD surgery needed to take place. 

Once out of the third surgery Derrek was in ICU and not doing good. So Sunday morning Cain went to his Sergeant and asked to leave due to his brother being in ICU. They let him off thank goodness! Cain came straight to me and we were on our way to Connersville by 7:30am! Thanks to the melting snow we had to take 3 detours to get to the hospital! But we did finally make it. He had a rough Sunday and Monday but now seems to be up the up swing!


Playing games.
Derrek was in and out of sleep all day. We watched tv and waited for when he needed something from us!
While Derrek slept Cain also slept. 
 I had a wonderful time with Christine and Cat, I have some great sister in laws that I love dearly.

Today was like every other Tuseday. While I walk down the stairs to leave the house to pick up Graci Nova is right behind me following me. She knows when Tuesday comes she gets to go pick up Graci from the shop.


On our way home we seen the flood going on at the green way.



Graci helped me make chocolate covered strawberries today for tonight's ladies bible study! There was some extra chocolate left over so of course we wanted to eat it. First we sliced an apple to dip them in the chocolate... then we just took the spoon and finished it off! 


This is the chocolate I use if I don't have time to get dark chocolate (70% or more cocoa)


If you are going to eat chocolate (which I know you will, who doesn't!) Please get it without SOY! Dairy is one thing (of course if it's from whole milk) But Soy is not good!

I got our photo book in from SnapFish today! It looked amazing! It will be at our His and Her shower in 2 weeks!!!

This was my mom's favorite page. So therefore, it's mine too.



 Leaving to go to the bible study! See ya :)

Lanette

Brush down

Friday's have become a real treat for the Stringer house hold. Cain spends the weekends here at the house and whenever he is around I am so happy! And I know my dad loves the help around the house. He saves all the hard work for the weekends now so that Cain can be there! After my run this morning I came down to Cain making my eggs for me! Yummy! ... the eggs of course ;)


Haha seeing right away that I have my camera in hand he has to make a joke out of the picture! 
Gotta love him.



Today turned out to be brushing day for Nova. Anyone with a husky or long haired dog knows about this! Cain takes her outsides and gives her a brush down! Nova actually seems to enjoy it. But she could hear us making fun of her long hair and husky butt I think.... 

"Lorri, tell them to stop making fun of me! I can't help it that I have all this hair...." haha 

 Right here. Nail between her back legs, ears lobsided and those eyes talking to us... that's Nova Blu.

This week we don't get to enjoy Cain being around due to it being Drill weekend. But seeing how I have to work all day tomorrow it worked out that I will be busy! If I get off work soon enough though I might try and get to the apartment and make Cain supper for when he gets back from Drill Saturday night! Hope so at least!

Good night from here,
Lanette






First walk of the year... sore feet

Nova looks forward to Wednesday just as much as I do! We get to wait in line (we are always first) to pick Graci up from preschool! Once Gracie is in the car Nova is right up in her face giving kisses and normally sits beside her. But yesterday was nice enough to roll the windows down. As you can see, Graci was really enjoying the ride haha...





My lunch! Salmon, Asparagus,  Peppers, Cucumber and mashed avocado!


After I dropped Gracie off at Grandma June's I decided to take a walk! It was 35 degrees outside and it felt amazing compared to what we have been used to! I thought it would be best to wear the hiking boots Cain got me over last summer because of the snow still on the ground. But I didn't think to wear high socks. So half way down the road the back of my heel were in pain! 


I was so mad! I walk or run almost everyday so if I got blusters that wouldn't work our well for tomorrows walk. So I thought... hmm... no shoes would be better then a bluster! So yes, I took the boots off... and walked the rest of the mile and back with just socks. My feet weren't cold, but once I was home I realized the bottom of my feet were sore! Can a girl catch a break here?! It was a lose, lose. But I was still excited about my first walk outside of the new year! Many more will follow!


I got some goodies in the mail! My favorite Almond Butter!!! I love eating it with a banana!!!


And my reusable bags! A total of 10 all in different colors. I thought plain colors would be nice so that Cain could help me carry them and could pick a more "Manly" color :)


Well this is short and sweet. Cain got cut hours again this week so he is on his way to my parents home now. Happy to have him home, but hate his work at the moment! Oh well, God will provide!

Lanette

The Rules of Communication

I always knew how lucky I was to have my father also be my pastor. But it's even more of a blessing to have him be the one to marry me and Cain. It's been very rewarding to have him around both of us for the past year, we get premarital counsel at random times and tips on making the right choices as a couple. We are both open to learn how to be better for each other and my dad is the only one I trust with marriage counsel. I have seen first hand the amazing relationship my parents have kept through out their marriage. Cain and I wish the same on our marriage so love when we get one on one time with him.

So the other night my dad sat down with us at the island in our kitchen and went over the Four Rules of Communication. We went through it pretty fast but there were so many things that we were able to easily understand. It's so simple, anyone in any kind of relationship should be able to grasp this.

Here are the four rules taken from Ephesians 4:25-32

1. Be Honest

What this means is, don't say you're fine when you aren't. It's so easy to say, "No I'm fine" and walk away wanting the other person to know that you are not "fine" but this is not a mind reading relationship. Because to be frank, guys aren't good at reading our minds! So, be honest. Say, "That hurt my feelings" Open up so that things can be fixed right away.

2. Stay Current

How often do we want to bring up the past? When really it only adds to the problem you have at hand already. Also this means don't let todays argument be tomorrow's problem. We've all heard it before, "Don't let the sun go down upon your wrath" (verse 27) Deal with the problem at hand, don't bring up the past. Be able to forgive and stay current with your feelings. Matthew 6:34 says "Tomorrow will have problems of its own" So stay on topic, don't bring up the past and remember to speak your words in love.

3. Attack the Problem not the Person

If you asked your loved one if they could pay the phone bill last week and you find out today that they forgot. Instead of attacking them as a person and calling them names that will bring them down to show that they messed up, such as...  "Wow, that was real smart of you to forget to pay the phone bill, don't be stupid!" (Words hurt, choice them wisely) Focus on the actual problem, the phone bill needs paid. So many times we start attacking the person so fast that before you know it 10 minutes have gone by and you have to go back to the beginning of the argument to remember what made you upset in the first place!

Note: this can also apply to your self! Let's say its YOU that forgot to pay the bill and you bring self-guilt and blame to yourself. That's not right either. Be able to forgive yourself when you might make a mistake.

We need to forgive. Simple as that you have to give up your right or claim to revenge, hold a grudge or get even. Give it up. And do it in love.

4. Act don't react

Everyone has a different way they react. Some will have a outbursts of anger, use words to hurt the other person, you might also not let them know they hurt you and give them the silent treatment, you might seek revenge by doing the "slow burn" or have a desire to harm the person... make them suffer!

None of those are very pleasing to Lord. But we all have done one of those, if not all. No matter how irresponsible the other person is, you must act biblically. You can't control the other person, but you can control how you resound to them.

This can apply to all kinds of relationships not just between a husband and wife.

I wanted to remember these 4 rules that way if Cain and I had a problem to fix that we could easily go to this and make sure we treat the problem and person correctly and in love.

So I made this! I'm going to be hanging it up in the apartment here soon! Feel free to also use it in your own homes. Even if you already apply these things it could be an eye opener to someone else!





Lanette

Monday calls for food.

Can this snow be done already?! Last night on my way home from Waynedale it started snowing really hard and fast! I laughed thinking "it's going to be snowing still in May I bet!" That would be really funny, right? Wrong! Ha I'd like it to be at least 50 out!

Yesterday was food haul day! And prep day for Cain's week! Nova spent the night at Cain's Sunday because I would be there Monday morning. When I got there Monday Nova greeted me with lots of kisses. Not that she doesn't love Cain, but hey... I'm her mom she misses me more ;)


I decided to make pancakes for breakfast! It was a new recipe using Flax meal




I also fried up some bacon for the my Mr.


As they were cooking I went to go get the Maple Syrup out because Cain just can't eat his pancakes without some kind of syrup!


But I couldn't find it, I swear I bought some the first day we went to the store to get food for the apartment. For the life of me I don't know what happened to it. So Cain braved the pancakes without syrup... and he liked it! Haha!

I made my grocery list out for the week and was off to food land. And there I made sure to pick up Cain's Maple Syrup!


Here is all the I got from Kroger's... 
Green grapes
Strawberries
Pineapple 
Celery 
Onion
Diced Tomato
Maple Syrup
Frank's Hot sauce
Olive Oil Potato Chips
Ground Turkey
Chicken Breast
And the Ezekiel tortillas were already out on the table thawing out.  They last longer if you freeze them and seeing how Cain only eats about two a week I have to let them thaw out every week!


So while I prepare the food, they play. And I stop and adore the sight :)






These two, melt my heart. 

So for lunch I decided on Buffalo Meat Loaf. Using ground turkey! 


Buffalo Meat Loaf:

1 lb Turkey
3 stalks of Celery 
1 Egg
Half of a small Onion
3 T Almond flour
3 T Franks hot sauce
1 t Garlic powder
1/2 t cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste!




 And it turned out great! Cain had peas on the side. Yuck. You'd think with all the veggies I eat that I would like peas too... but I don't! And NEVER have. It's the one veggie I can't bring myself to eating. I like avocados raw, I like spinach and kale... but can't do peas. 


 I made this calendar for our apartment over the weekend! It's a countdown to the Wedding! We have 100 days starting tomorrow! Wow, can't wait! Cain will get to mark each day off. But every Monday or any other day I'm there I get to do the marking off!


 I realized I didn't post these pictures from last week, but thought I would now..

Graci and I waiting in line at Walmart. Always so much fun.... not!





Not that you guys care. But I do sometimes take pictures of my food. I don't normally post them though because don't see the point. But I thought how I post Cain's food for the week, but never mine. And I didn't think that was fair :p So here is some stuff I enjoyed last week!

Here is a salad with chicken, cherry tomatoes, avocodo and pecans!


Here is a salad with one salmon patties whole and a half of one chopped on top. There is peppers, tomatoes and avocado mixed in!


This is a greet smoothie I had for a snack! But to be honest I can't remember what I put in it! I will do another this week and tell you!


Salad with tomatoes, 2 boiled eggs, strawberries and apple!


 Well that was fun! Hope you enjoy looking at my favorite things to eat!

 Ruthie sent me this picture of us from Saturday at Derrek and Cat's wedding! Thought I'd share!


This week is looking to be not so busy, I hope I can get a lot done!

And blog more!

Lanette