Welcome to the Sunday Skim your weekly recap of all things style, home, entertaining, family, community, travel, and midlife.
Changes. I am going to be making some changes to the Sunday Skim. I am taking this week to really think about the format but I feel like it is time to change it up. Based on the feedback on my IG poll last night it’s time to do something new. So to start I am posting this tonight rather than in the morning to see what everyone thinks about that. This week I am also going to respond to a few of the questions I got when y’all answered, “is there anything you want to see included that isn’t currently?”
I miss your menu planning, I know that isn’t a topic anymore.
I stopped writing about food and my menu because it wasn’t a highly read post. I had a few steady readers for it but it wasn’t heavily trafficked post so I decided to save the creative energy and skip writing it. But I still love food and cooking so I wanted to share somethings we have been doing.
I still meal plan weekly. It saves me time and money and also a lot of arguments with the kids. Each person in the family gets to pick one meal a week and this gives the kids input on what we are eating as well as eliminating the , I don’t like this, complaining at the dinner table. It also gets the kids excited about looking up recipes and trying new things. We use Mealime for a lot of the recipes that we have been making recently. Their recipes are simple and I can switch out ingredients if I need to.
I thought I would share this weeks meal plan with you…
Quesadillas: This was Paxton’s request. Usually when they want something like this I make Justin and I enchiladas or some type of burrito in a bowl. Taco Nights are easy because I can make just about anything for anyone with just a few ingredients. This week the plan is to use rotisserie chicken for the protein. I will add things like black beans, corn, chilis, cheese and salsa verde to the offerings. They can have anything from a quesadilla to tacos and we can make salads.
Meatballs: Porter’s request. Another easy one that I love to do. I typically make my meatballs, bake them and then throw them into the crock pot. I add a few cans of crushed tomatoes and some Italian seasoning and put it on for about 4 hours on low. As for how we serve it. Well I have been loving the Trader Joes lentil pastas. The kids think it is the same as regular pasta and no complaints. Justin and I usually eat out meatballs over roasted broccoli that I make in the air fryer. I am still working on the recipe because the last time I brunt it to a crisp and had to start over. When I make it in the oven I do 450 degrees for 20 minutes. I top the broccoli with olive oil, granulated garlic and red pepper.
Mac and Cheese: This was a Peyton request and kind of random because he doesn’t usually like Mac and Cheese. Again they get input but the final meal is up to me. I really like letting them top the mac and cheese with items we have so they get a little extra protein and veggies. My favorite combination is shredded chicken and peas. I let them add it and again limits the arguing. They do a good job of adding the right amount.
Steak: No shocker this was Justin’s request. I am thinking about doing a big flank steak and marinating it for a few days beforehand. This is my favorite marinade recipe for steak. Steak is something the boys are still not real fond of so I usually make sure to have chicken or another protein for them too. They will usually eat a little of the steak and then some chicken or whatever else I make. I didn’t like steak a lot as a kid so I know it takes practice trying it and I am hoping they will like it more at some point.
Updates on specific projects like FWTFL and skin treatments.
I got this question a few times last night so I am going to break them up and answer them.
FWTFL. If you weren’t following in the spring I was working with Whitney Abraham from Faster Way to Fat Loss. I have been wanting to write about this for a while but was struggling with what I wanted to say but here it goes.
Gaining my weight back after I lost almost a hundred pounds was devastating to me. It is hard to put into words the failure and shame I felt. This translated into me shaming my own body. The only thing I was focused on was losing weight and this led me to feel like I was constantly failing myself when it wasn’t happening. I have a whole post I am working on to share more of what was going on in this time so I am trying to give you the abridged version for now.
In January I decided to stop. Stop shaming myself. Stop valuing myself for my weight. Stop only feeling like my week had been successful when the scale dropped. I learned a lot about the fact that being mentally well is more important than the number on the scale. This is actually when I first met Whitney. I ignored her calls for a while because I was not interested in doing another diet. I finally gave her a chance and told her on the phone that I was not interested in what she was doing if I had to weigh in weekly. She assured me that this was something that I could do without having to weight in (although a lot of her clients do weight in weekly).
I liked being on FWTFL and still use a lot of their system today. There was a learning curve the first week but after that I felt very capable of staying up with the daily macros. I like that it was designed to help with weight loss but overall was just a healthy way to maintain your daily food intake. Like a lot of people I struggle with eating too much some days and not enough others. FWTFL gave me a daily goal so I was able to make sure I was eating more consistently and not only fueling my body but my brain too. It was kind of amazing how I even felt more patient and calm when I was making sure to eat on a schedule.
I personally chose to not look at this as a way to lose weight which made it harder to discuss with you. I think that most people are looking for a way to lose weight and for me I was focused on eating healthier, whole foods and maintaining a consistent eating schedule. I didn’t really weight the entire time I worked with Whitney. People have messaged me and asked what I thought about the program and how much weight did I lose. I don’t know and I didn’t care. Whitney was the first person I ever met that didn’t make me look at food like it was an enemy and because of that statement alone I feel like my journey with her was a success.
NUR Medical Spa. I started working with NUR Medical Spa in March of this year. Our original plan included IPL, Hydrafacials, Laser Hair Removal, VelaShape and Botox. Over the six months we made a lot of changes to the original plan and I will tell you a little bit about all of it.
IPL. I did four sessions on my face and two on my shoulders. I saw a distinct different on my face but my shoulders were incredible. I have almost zero sun spots and freckles remaining on them.
The facial procedures were almost zero pain and discomfort. However the shoulders were a much different story. It was a lot of pain the first session. I had a lot more sun spots than I think I realized. There was a lot of initial pain in the procedure and then some afterwards too. I had about 3 to 4 weeks of healing time also. Both shoulders were pretty unsightly while they were peeling and healing. The second procedure was much less painful than the first and the peeling and healing time was not bad at all. Maybe a week and I was back to normal.
ZO Skin Care. This was not part of the original plan but I am so glad that we added it in. The ZO skincare line I am using is their most aggressive but I have had amazing results with it. Not only do I see a difference in my overall skin texture but I have this glow about me now too. It really has been such a benefit to my overall skin care process.
You need to do a recap of the Emmy’s Fashion.
I had been thinking about doing this but last week was so crazy with NOLA Fashion Week that I didn’t get around to it until today. I loved so many things I saw but the one I wanted to talk about was the pink and red trend that so many people were wearing.
Pink and red is such an easy and fun combination to wear and I personally love it for the holidays. I mean obviously because I chose those colors for my birthday photo shoot last year.
So who were my favorites…
I loved these three looks because they were feminine, breathtaking and personality fitting. I could tell who was wearing the dress before they said the name because they went with these women so well. I love that they chose different fabrics and the way the dresses are each unique in their own way.
In Closing.
I love change. I love responding to what you are asking for too. I have some ideas for how I am going to work this post going foreword and will let you all who are reading this know next week. If you have any thoughts or opinions please feel free to email me wefivekingsblog@gmail.com.