A New Space

Creating this space these past few months have given me so much: access and friendships with people in the primal/paleo community, knowledge and research, a place to share my recipes, a space to share my success and try and inspire and motivate others.

Many of you know I also have a "mommy blog" where I talk about my family and the antics of my demon seed children. But for a while now, keeping up with two separate blogs has been wearing on me. I've felt I've had to keep the parts of me separate.

So I've created a new space where I feel I can carve out a really great space that encompasses all of me: my life, my recipes, my story.

I hope you'll all follow me - update blogrolls, comment, mention my change of site in one of your posts -  as I portion myself out to you.

Life: As A Plate.

My take on Strong Is the New Skinny

There's a movement underway mostly geared towards women that I heard recently in the Crossfit/Paleo community. Based on this original blog post, the Facebook page for the movement has close to 6,000 members:


Strong is the New Skinny

Though I am for empowering women, especially young girls, to eschew the ideal of skinny over being strong and fit, I think this tag-line is still perpetuating the concept of "skinny."

Why can't Strong be the New Strong? Why can't we focus on raising girls to love their  bodies, no matter their shape, and help them learn to be strong, both physically and mentally? Why does "strong" have to be in lieu of skinny or instead of? Why can't it just be?

I may also be digging far too deep into this and what the original writers and the movement was calling for was for media and specifically, models, to embrace being strong as sexy rather than skinny. To find healthy, strong women more visually appealing than their "skinny" counterparts. The author also wrote an addendum.

Maybe to me it's the idealization of the term "skinny" or even the negative connotation of it. Some people are just skinny, genetically and it's who they are. Can't they be strong too?

Again, I may be over-sensitive and over-analyzing a movement meant to empower. And I'm  not trying to dig at the creators or the authors of that blog post because I think they are well-intentioned.

I an a tough, strong woman. I an prouid of that for what it is. And I will raise a tough, strong daughter. To be proud of herself and her body, for what it is, not for what it isn’t.

I just wish more women, especially our daughters just wanted to be.

Be strong.
Be fit.
Be happy.

What's your take?

Photo Journey

So, I finally broke that plateau and this morning weighed in at 201 - a weight I haven't seen since my honeymoon.

From around 300 pounds at 21 years old:

I started my weight loss journey on my own. I hired a trainer and went to a nutritionist (who now I realize was an idiot but whatever) Shortly after, around 240 or so, I met Mike.



Over the next couple of years, the weight came off. I worked out almost every day, sometimes twice. I ate very little and low fat. I followed Weight Watchers off and on. (Again, if I only I could go back and punch myself in the mommy buttons.)

I had hit my lowest adult weight at 184 the week before my wedding:

I gained a few pounds between the rehearsal dinner (in the pic above), bachelorette party, etc. and on the morning of my wedding I weight in at 189. I remember the number as clear as day.

Then a few days after our wedding, we went to Hawaii for our honeymoon:

where we ate and drank all we wanted for 10 glorious days. I came back at 203. Also? Pregnant.

I had Charlotte and came home around 265:

It took a little over a year but I lost all of that weight and got back down to 203 exactly to be in a friend's wedding:

And that weekend? Got pregnant again:

And came home with this guy at 277.

Sawyer turned 2 in July and even though it's taken two years, I am now at 201.

This is a weight I haven't seen in more than five years. And I've gotten here in a way so different than before: no cardio for hours at the gym, no starvation. I am leaner at this 201 than I ever have been before. I run and lift weights heavier than my own body. I eat a lot of real, healthy food.

And I feel like a new person. I feel like I've got a second chance at being a better version of myself.

And by the gods, I WILL see 199 by my 30th birthday in a couple of weeks.

30 is not the new 20. It is the new me. Bring it.

Grain-Free Flourless Apple Spice Bread With Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

"I really want a cinnamon roll," says my sick husband on the couch. The same husband who has a positive Celiac antibody test.

"No, you don't. Now shush and watch the game." Miami is losing to Green Bay at this point and I think any whining is bad juju.

"Fine, then I want an apple turnover."

"How about if you're quiet, during halftime I finagle some kind of apple cinnamon bread to hit your cravings without having you fall off the grain-free wagon face first into a pile of nutiritonally useless calories?

"Fine. It better be good," he snarks and blows his nose.

And thus, this was born. And LAWDY jeebus, let me tell you this:  It's like apple CAKE! Moist, delicious, perfect for a fall morning's breakfast (not that I'd know since I'm shunning baked goods for a few weeks till I beat this plateau). But the bite I had was amazing and I can actually hear the cake right now, calling me from the kitchen. Jerky cake.

The best part? This is ridiculously simple and easy and you should have all of the ingredients already.


Grain-Free Flourless Apple Spice Bread With Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

What you need:

• 2 apples, peeled and diced
• 2 tbsp orange juice
• 1 cinnamon stick (optional but YUM)
• 2 c. almond butter (unsweetened)
• 1/4 c. maple syrup
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg.

What you do:

• In a saucepan, combine apples, vanilla, orange juice and a cinnamon stick. If you don't have one,  use a dash of cinnamon. Simmer on low until apples are soft and only a small amount of juice (around 1 tbsp) remains.

• In a food processor, blend the almond butter, eggs, baking soda, maple syrup, cinnamon and nutmeg. Chances are it will form a giant ball like this:

• That's okay because now you add the apples and pulse it a few times until it looks like this.

• Pour into a baking dish and bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes or until passes the toothpick test.

• For the frosting, simply mix 1/4 c. cream cheese, 1/4 c. greek yogurt, 1 tbsp maple syrup and spread on top. Garnish with a walnut.

Crab-Stuffed Salmon Pinwheels With a Garlic Dill Cream Sauce

This recipe is a lot easier than it sounds. Seriously. I put it together in less than 10 minutes. You will need a large fillet of salmon though for this and if it's too thick, you'll need to skim some off the top (save and freeze for a quick lunch!).

I also like to use pureed pine nuts as a binder with seafood because they're moist and offer a neutral, slightly nutty flavor. Simply put them in your food processor to make a "paste."

You also want to make sure you use a proper sized baking dish and that these pinwheels are "wedged" inside. If, like me, you were using your square baking dish for something else and need to put it in a larger dish, roll up some foil and push it up against the salmon. This prevents them from unrolling and keeps the cream sauce on top.

Crab-Stuffed Salmon Pinwheels With a Garlic Dill Cream Sauce



What you need:
For the filling:

• 2 can white premium crab
• 1 tbsp scallions
• 1 tsp old bay seasoning
• 1 tbsp cream cheese 
• 1/3 c. pureed pine nuts

For the sauce:

• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 garlic cloves, finely diced
• 1 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
• 1/3 c. heavy cream
• 1 tbsp white wine (optional)

What you do:

• Mix all the filling ingredients together.

• Skin a large salmon fillet. If too thick, slice some off the top.

• Spread the filling in a layer over the top of the salmon.

• Roll up and slice with a very sharp knife.

The extra water is because this salmon was previously frozen.

• Use a spatula to transfer the pinwheels a baking dish.

• To make the sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan, add garlic and dill and cook on low for 2 minutes.

• Add cream and bring to a simmer.

• Pour sauce over pinwheels.

• Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Vitamin D

I know a lot of you who read me here also read my other "mommy" blog, but I have a post up that will likely interest you all as well. I look forward to you comments!

Helping Her Fight: Vitamin D Levels and Childhood Asthma.

The Plunge

After reading my blogs and seeing the progress both my husband and I have had following this primal lifestyle, a lot of my friends have either made the switch or at least made changes for the better. That humbles me in a way I didn't think possible.

That you guys make my recipes, find inspiration in my stories, or take control of your health because of these words I write makes me feel a sense of pride unlike any other.

All that sappy stuff aside, I do get a lot of emails or questions regarding starting eating primally. More specifically, how did I feel? People want to know what to expect.

Well, there's good news and bad news. The good news is this: if you're already a fairly clean eater and you're just moving to remove grains from your diet, you will likely experience little or no negative effects; only the good ones! However, if you're like me and sustained yourself on wings, lean cuisines, and beer during a stressful cross-country move for a period of weeks, the switch will be harder.

And here's where I'm going to be blatantly honest with you: if you are coming from a lifestyle of crap/processed food, the first few days will suck. Hard.

I literally felt sick, like I had the flu. I had a headache and was exhausted. I was uneasy and dizzy and just felt plain awful. The dishes and laundry piled up, the kids played under my lifeless body on the couch, and I didn't care. I didn't care that my work deadlines were approaching. I didn't care that there was a family of marmosets living off the petrified eggs on the dishes in the sink. I didn't care that I was wearing the same clothes three days in a row.

I felt that bad.

Motrin didn't touch the headache. Coffee didn't help the exhaustion.

But I stuck with it. I tried to focus on the bad feelings as all of the poison and toxins I had poured into my body slowly leaving them. My muscle fatigue and headaches were my body letting go off all the bad stuff.

I drank lots of water and green tea (which, I still think tastes like moose testicles). I napped when I could. And on day five, I woke up a new person. My body felt clean. I felt light and happy.

And I've pretty much felt that great ever since (with the exception of a too-far indulgence hangover). I Crossfit almost daily and try and fast a few mornings a week to let my body focus on ridding the extra toxins. And I haven't been sick once despite my poor kids getting cold after cold as their little bodies adjust to living in a new area with new germs. It makes me wish it was easier to raise kids this way (a post and rant for another day).

Friends who made the decision to go primal would text me and be like "WHEN DOES THIS END? I WANT TO DIE!" and I'd like them to comment here and assure people on the fence, that yes, it gets better. It DOES end.

And I guarantee once you get through it and feel how your body is supposed to work and feel how your meant to feel, you'll likely never go back down that road again.