cha-cha-cha-chia

Gosh this kid is so dang cute. I know I'm bias but he REALLY is. It's the facial expressions.... and the hair. 

This weekend was absolutely AMAZING......not! It was the absolute worst!!!! It was one of those weekends where you actually wish Monday would hurry up and rear its ugly head. Those are few and very far in-between. But when you're sick... that happens. I actually started crying from being so tired---- scary flashback from when Lincoln was first brought home. Although this time I had my husband and Lincoln staring at me like, 'why you so emotional woman?' I slept like crap all weekend, my throat was killing me, and allergies, and I wanted some junk food. Not a good time to withhold sweets. I might have popped those cough drops like candy because of the sugar in them. 

But now look, it's Monday, I'm feeling so much better, and now I'd like the weekend to come back. 

And now for an update: Can we get a WOOT! WOOT! ??

Cause we just finished our first week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ryan and I were talking about it yesterday. The good and bad of it all. Here's what we discussed. 

The bad: it is more work. OBVIOUSLY. There is a lot more preparation that goes into everything. If you are out of food, it's not a quick drive to the closest fast food place. It's required detailed grocery lists and meal planning, lots of cutting and preparing and cooking what I can in bulk to have throughout the week. This is the big drawback for me, since I'm the one doing all of it. 

So what's the biggest drawback for Ryan? Yesterday I made pizza-- with a gluten free pizza crust might I add. I asked him what could make it better and you know what he said? It wasn't the crust, he actually thought it tasted good, but the one critique he gave me... it needs meat.

And the good? Ryan has told me he hasn't felt so tired in the mornings. He believes it's from eliminating the soda and aspartame. The headaches he had during the first week have gone away as well. Caffeine withdrawal? We also agreed we haven't felt like complete CRAP from anything we've eaten. We haven't seen any improvement with his joints, but he says he feels really good overall which is a HUGE perk. 

Saturday called for some special pancakes to celebrate the ending of our first week. Delish. 

Why did I think pancakes from scratch were difficult? Because they're definitely not.

Coconut Carrot Pancakes
Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or unbleached all purpose)
1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1.5 tsp baking powder
1 cup almond milk
1/2 cup grated carrots
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbs coconut oil
2 tbs agave
1 tbs cinnamon
pinch of salt

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Add flour, baking powder, sea salt, cinnamon and half of the shredded coconut in a large bowl and whisk to combine. 
2. Pour almond milk into a large liquid measuring cup. Add oil, vanilla, and agave and whisk to combine. Add wet to dry and stir.
3. Stir in carrot and let batter rest for 5 minutes while preheating skillet to medium heat.
4. Once skillet is hot, lightly grease the surface with non-stick spray and spoon on 1/4 cup measurements of batter. 
5. Cook for another couple minutes on the other side. 
6. Serve with warm maple syrup or agave and sprinkle the other half of coconut on top. 

Adapted from Minimalistbaker