Power Word for 2019

With the start of the new year, people are in a tizzy trying to figure out the new them: new routines, new goals, new mindsets.

Something that I've seen growing in popularity is choosing a word to carry with you through the year, sort of like a mantra. The word is supposed to resonate with you personally and align with your goals for the year.

Some examples of words I've seen so far this year:

Inspired

Intentional

Action

Strength

Growth

Restore

Focus

Last year I had a soul coach choose one for me: Rise. It suited my situation perfectly, and the year started off fine enough. But I battled with mental blocks throughout the year, and I feel as though I didn't do my power word any justice.

This year I've had trouble coming up with a word of my own. I've spent the last few weeks looking to others for inspiration, and while I have found beautiful stories, none of them quite fit.

I'm happy to say that I have finally picked one: Move.

I feel like I spent most of 2018 being sedentary. In more ways than one. While I did pick up a couple of new projects, I never made any real moves to see them through to fruition. I let my business get stagnant, I ignored my household duties, I let myself get down.

2019 is the year for me to make moves. I have taken control of my mental health. I have made a solid business plan and am already making moves with that. I have invested in a habit tracker and picked a few things to start with for January, all of which are doable as long as I get up and MOVE.

from https://vibrancebyvictoria.com/product/habit-tracker-insert/

Have you chosen a word for 2019? If not, I encourage you to do so and write it somewhere you will see it every single day. Mine is written in dry erase marker on my bathroom mirror. It will help keep you focused and at the very least give you a little introspection on your life.

Keto Beef Strogranoff

One of my favorite meals to make is stroganoff. Not only is it super tasty, it's super easy. My kids love it. My husband... let me tell you about my husband.

For the longest time, every time I made stroganoff, he insisted he didn't like stroganoff, and he wished I wouldn't make it. Every. Time. But he only said it before I cooked it. Once dinner time rolled around, the man went back for seconds. Without fail, every time I make stroganoff, my husband gets seconds. Now it's just a running joke me saying, "I'm making stroganoff for dinner," and him replying with, "I don't like stroganoff."

This is our entertainment.

Another little backstory... the reason I make stroganoff so often is that I always have an abundance of sour cream. We get HelloFresh boxes, and whenever they send us sour cream to dollop on our food, I skip the dollop and put the package in the fridge. When I think I've collected enough, I make stroganoff. And I almost always have ground beef in the house, so it's one of those things I don't have to go grocery shopping to make.

Obviously, I've reached an overabundance of sour cream. However, I recently started the keto diet, so I had to make a few tweaks to the recipe to cut out some carbs.

It actually turned out a lot better than I thought. It tastes just as good as my traditional recipe. (Psst! If you're interested, you can see it here.)

Side note: getting all of the nutritional information for a homemade recipe is a pain in the butt. So... you're welcome.

What you'll need:

• 8oz sour cream
• 1 lb 85/15 ground beef
• 1 cube beef bouillon, crushed
• 1/2 cube chicken bouillon, crushed
• 3/4c half and half
• 1/4c water
• 2c sliced mushrooms
• 1/4c almond flour
• 1 medium head cauliflower
• salt and pepper to taste

What to do:

Cut the cauliflower up into florets. The smaller they are, the faster they cook. Put them in a pot of salted water and bring to a boil. Let boil for about 7 minutes, or until tender. Drain.

In a large skillet, cook the ground beef until brown, chopping up into bits as it cooks. Season with salt and pepper.

Make the cream of mushroom:

While the meat cooks, heat a drizzle of oil in the bottom of a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and cook until brown and fragrant, about 4-5 minutes. Quickly stir in almond flour for about 30 seconds. Add half and half, water, and chicken bouillon (instead of water and bouillon, you can also use 1/4c of chicken stock). Bring to a boil and let simmer until it's nice and thick. Season with salt and pepper.

Add sour cream and beef bouillon to the ground beef. Stir to combine.

Stir cauliflower into the beef mixture.

Pour the cream of mushroom into the skillet and stir everything together. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.

If you find your stroganoff is a little dry, or the sauce doesn't quite cover the food, just add a little water to thin it out a bit.

Yields about 4 servings.

Calories: 530
Fat: 36g
Protein: 31g
Net Carbs: 9

P.S. You might notice in my picture there doesn't seem to be enough meat. That's because I only had a 10oz package of ground beef in the house instead of my usual one pounder. The recipe and nutrition facts account for one pound of ground beef, so yours will be a little more beefed up. Literally.

Grain-Free Cereal

I recently started trying, dying, kicking and screaming doing the whole keto thing (I've been doing it for about a week now), and honestly, I thought it would be easy.

Okay, I don't mean super easy, but easyish. For one, my body has been craving more fats and proteins, and bread and pasta just haven't been doing it for me. I've been kind of been pushing away from those things anyway. So, it should be easy to not eat what you don't want, right?

Wrong.

The no bread and no pasta part is actually pretty easy. But going keto is so much more than that. I'm learning how to count my macros (up until a few days ago I had no idea what that even meant). So, I started logging everything into MyFitnessPal, and realized I still had to make some adjustments.

Mind you, these adjustments have not been major for me because I've been weaning myself off of sugar and bread products over the last month or so. Making dietary adjustments has to be done in small steps, or you will go crazy. But enough about that.

The moment I realized I might have a hard time with this lifestyle was when I had to sit and watch my husband eat macaroni and cheese. You guys, mac 'n cheese is my comfort food. I pride myself in making the most bomb mac 'n cheese ever. And now I've realized I can't eat it!! My whole world has turned upside down!

I resisted the urge to eat off his plate. It was hard, but I did it. Whew! Crisis averted.

Until later that evening.

When I wanted a bowl of cereal. Comfort food #2.

At this point, I was losing my mind. I cannot condone a lifestyle that does not allow mac 'n cheese or cereal! I love those things! I scoured the internet for low carb pasta and cereals. I didn't have much luck.

Then, I struck gold.

I found a recipe for grain-free cereal. Then I made my own. Net carbs: 7.1g per serving. Granted, that's not super low, but it sure as hell beats 39g. I didn't make it to eat every day, just for when that cereal craving strikes. And instead of milk (because carbs), I use 1/4 cup of half and half mixed with 1/4 cup of water, which is only 2g of carbs instead of the 8g that I'd get from using milk.

And even if you're not counting carbs, this is great for anyone who is just trying to cut out grains.

A little bit about the ingredients: you're supposed to use raw unsalted nuts/seeds, but I accidentally bought salted and roasted sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds. I don't think it really affected the flavor too terribly much, but the flavor was definitely noticeable. I would have used more had they been raw. (My husband suggested I just rinse them off. But I had already made the cereal.)

Totally forgot to include the flax seeds in this photo.

What you need:

• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 cup sliced almonds
• 1/2 cup pine nuts
• 1/2 cup brazil nuts, chopped
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1/4 cup flax seeds
• 2 cups unsweetened coconut flakes
• egg whites from 4 eggs
• 1 tsp stevia
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 3 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup organic cacao nibs (optional)

What to do:

Preheat oven to 220°F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whip TF out of the egg whites (I whipped them for about 5 minutes before I remembered I had a hand blender thingamajig.)

You want to whip them into a nice, thick cream.

Stir in the stevia and vanilla extract.

Add nuts, coconut flakes, and spices. Stir until thoroughly combined. Taste and add more stevia or spices to your preference.

Evenly spread the mixture over the cookie sheet.

Bake for 80 minutes, stirring every 20 minutes. After the last stir, turn off the oven. Return the mixture to the oven and let cool for about another hour to make sure it's nice and dry.

Optional: once it's cool, stir in cacao nibs. You can also choose to sprinkle them on top when you sit down to eat.

Store in an airtight container.

Yields about 6 cups. Assume a serving size is one cup.

Per serving you end up with 515 calories, 46.4g of fat, 7.1g of net carbs, and 14.7g of protein.

Beaten egg whites

All mixed up

Done baking

Does not include the cacao nibs

New Year's Soup v2.0

Who has two thumbs and made her New Year's dinner a day late? This girl.
We ended up having a dinner date with some friends on New Year's Day, so we had dinner out instead of cooking our traditional meal. And instead of going shopping for ingredients I didn't have (ham and black eyed peas), I decided to up my New Year's game.

Traditionally, I make a soup with all of the ingredients.  You can see my original recipe here.  Well, I made soup again, but I vamped it up a little bit. Instead of ham, I used reduced fat ground pork, and I subbed 15 bean soup in for the black eyed peas.

This go around I decided that the crock pot was the best way to go.  I got an early start to my day and was committed to housework, so I thought I would stay ahead of the game by starting dinner right after lunch.  This actually ended up backfiring on me, because I'm almost certain my crock pot is about to kick the bucket.

Nonetheless, the soup turned out fabulous, and my kids devoured it.  That's really all that matters.  It totally doesn't matter that we ate dinner two hours late....

What you'll need:

• 1 lb reduced fat ground pork
• 1/2 head of cabbage, medium to large, chopped
• 1 cup dried 15 bean soup, rinsed
• 4 cups low sodium chicken stock
• 1 can (15oz) tomato sauce
• 1 can (14.5oz) petite diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 cup dried minced onion
• 1/4 cup parsley
• 1 T basil
• 2 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp dill weed
• 2-3 dashes of Swampy's Bar-B-Q Rub (secret ingredient #1)
• 2-3 dashes of Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning (secret ingredient #2)

**This soup does NOT need salt**

What to do:

Heat a drizzle of oil in a large pan over medium-high heat.  Add pork and cook until no longer pink. Season with pepper to taste.

Combine all ingredients in the crockpot, and cook on high for 4-6 hours, or until beans are tender.

(I expect it will cook in about 4 hours if your crock pot works properly.  Mine, however, took over 6 hours because it needs to be thrown away.)

Serve with cornbread on the side.

Enjoy!

Prep time: About 10 minutes

Cook time: All day.

Serves: 6-7

Gift Ideas for Coffee Lovers

Are you having a hard time buying for certain people on your list this year? Who is it? Your mom? Your sister? The person whose name you drew for Secret Santa and know nothing about except that they are always drinking coffee? Maybe yourself?

Well, my friend, have I got just the thing for you!

I have searched high and low for some of the best gift ideas for that coffee lover on your list.  And the absolute best thing about every item on this list is that they are all from handmade shops.

What's that? You can now find the perfect gift AND support small businesses? You're welcome.

My favorite thing to do is make gift baskets out of several things. So maybe it would be awesome to do that with a few of these things!

What will you get?

1. These anti-cellulite products

by Keep It Clean

2. These adorable canisters

by Creativity Happens

3. This necklace

by MGD Casual Jewelry

4.  This beautiful ceramic mug

by ClassicClayWorks

5. Any mug by The Artsy Pumpkin

 The Artsy Pumpkin

6. This color changing spoon

by Gwynstone 

7. A tea towel dedicated to coffee

by WildDuckDesign

8. This coffee candle

by Lenore Cole

9. This body butter

by The Soap Hag

10. This cute card holder

by BOLDbyTina

11. This hand sculpted succulent mug

by Luna and Fauna

12. This knit coffee cup cozy

by Swell Knits

13. This adorable paper clip

by Green & Lyme

14. These coffee cozy crochet patterns for the DIYer

from Little Monkeys Design

15. These super cute peg stamps

by Rubber Stamp Tapestry

16. This coffee ground soap

by TheLatherCo

17. This cute tee

by Suzy Swede

18. This proverb

by CamelliaCottageDecor

19. This witty mug

by JessMeredithDesign

20. This printable poster

by MatchSetLove

21. This wooden sign

by PicklesPaintingCo

22. This greeting card

by newmoonpapergoods

23. This gorgeous yoga mug

by MarieKennedyPottery

24. This farmhouse sign

by WoodfairySigns

26. This beautiful art print

by Heather Sims Art

27. This clever printable

by grinvites

28. This snarky sign

by LibertybyDesign

29. This vinyl clock

by ShadowsOfTimeVinyl

Which are your favorites? Let me know in the comments!

One of a Kind Queen of Hearts Costume

A few weeks ago was my family's annual camping trip to the Texas Renaissance Festival. Now, I don't always dress up, but this particular weekend happened to be Heroes and Villains weekend, and I happened to have a Queen of Hearts costume.


But this was not just any Queen of Hearts costume. This costume was very carefully constructed, piece-by-piece, by picking out every element individually from different shops across Etsy.

If you are looking to do something similar, I have brought together all of the Etsy shops I purchased from in one place.

The only pieces not from Etsy were the crop top, which I got from Express; the skirts, which I've had for ages; the parasol, which I purchased from a shop in the festival; and the boots. You can find a black crop top almost anywhere.  The skirts were layered. A white lace skirt underneath, and a black frilly skirt on top.  I think for next year I will find a petty coat for a little more oomph.

Also, I wanted to do more with the makeup, but was afraid I'd sweat it off. I think if the weather is as nice next year I will do more with that as well.

All in all, the costume was a hit. I entered a costume contest at a Halloween party and won back the money I spent on it! I even had people stop me at the Renaissance Festival to take pictures.

Without further ado, here are the items that made up my one of a kind Queen of Hearts costume. Feel free to browse the shops and create your own look!

Mini Top Hat from The Wee Hatter:

Bolero Collar from Vilindery:

Earrings from RobinHoodCouture:

Necklace by ArtbyStarlaMoore:

Corset Belt from RedCurryDesigns:

White Lace Gloves by ZenAndCoffee:

Bustle by TheTutuStoreUK:

Flamingo Purse by EyeCandySugar:

If you decide to go this direction and build your own costume, there is an entire world of creators on Etsy. You don't have to make your own costume to have something truly unique.  You can, however, get pieces hand made by others, and you can be the hit at your next costume party!