What You'll Need For Food Prep

How A Hangry Grouchy Chunkamunk Survived Whole30

Last month, my husband and I completed the Whole30 (for the second time since October 2017). I did this for a variety of health reasons, with the primary one being that I was recently diagnosed with lupus and looking to reduce inflammation within my body. 30 days no sugar, no gluten, no dairy, no grains, no legumes. Which also means: no honey, no maple syrup, no fake sweeteners, no preservatives, no alcohol, no rice, no oatmeal. Which therefore means: every pseudo-healthy recipe people have ever given you is pretty much off the table. I was terrified. I cried a lot. I made a journal that reads like a prelude to a serial killer's log of kills and body locations. But we survived! And I lost 14 lbs and looked and felt better than I had in years. Here's some advice and ideas for how to effectively survive and thrive on the Whole30: 1. Eat the same things as much as you possibly can. This eliminates the need to be creative and cook 3-5x per day. My firs...

The Not Funny Stuff

It brings me so much joy to know I can make some of you smile with my motherhood disaster stories. I promise that I laugh every single day in spite of the craziness that is two kids one year apart. But I've also been given a teeny tiny platform and an even smaller soapbox to climb on occasionally and speak my truth from. I'm grateful for that opportunity because as scary as honesty may be, I want to share the not funny stuff. From NBC and onward, I learned that living openly had the power to touch more lives than slapping a smile on my face and answering "I'm doing great!" whenever people ask how I'm surviving. The truth is, as every parenting/mothering/toddlering/newborning blog will tell you, this time is not easy . It is really hard and lonely. It's squats and lunges for your character. People say unsolicited things to mothers with complete abandon and total disregard for how they might make a very fragile person feel. I'm guilty of this, t...

Happy Birthday, Thanksgiving Girl!

One year ago, I was clinging to the hope that I would become the mother I so desperately knew I already was. I didn't know what it felt like to have my arms ache so badly after a mere trip around the grocery store. I had never gone without sleep for longer than a few all-nighters during finals. I still held onto the notion that I could never love anyone the way I loved my dog. I was praying for strength for myself and my family. And at this time last year, I was also praying fervently for the first mother my daughter had. Then and now, I believed wholeheartedly in her ability to parent and raise this daughter of ours. I would step in and do my best if she called me, but I had hope for her, too. If she changed her mind, it wouldn't be a tragedy for that little girl. 48 hours after her birth, Amelia's first mother, who wrote OUR last name on the birth certificate, signed a paper saying we were her parents. Forever. She made the bravest choice and a loving decision for h...

Mama's Gotta Eat

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