Success vs survival during the holidays and beyond!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! As always it seems, 2013 has flown by. Reflecting on it, how much has changed for the better and where have I grown this year? Of course this is the time when everyone starts talking resolutions. I am not a fan of resolutions because they tend to be something fairly far fetched that people strive to follow, fail after a few days or weeks, then give up. I so prefer goals for the year. Brad and I have been talking about doing a vision board. I would love to start that for our family and for he and I personally. But, I will get to all that soon.

December…EPIC FAIL! Perfect example is this…I have been wanting to sit down and blog since my last post on DECEMBER 2! Seriously? How is it already the 27th? Actually, I can tell you how. I crammed way to much into and already over crammed month. So, yes, I give myself a very low grade on my success this month. However, I bet if you asked my kids my grade, it would be much higher than I give myself and that is definitely worth something. But, do we want to succeed in our kids eyes at the expense of our sanity? I spent most of the month feeling like a top spinning out of control or a volcano about to erupt. Some of our dear friends got to experience one particularly bad day. Super pleasant. Sitting and enjoying time with friends and all I can do it try everything not to start balling my eyes out at the table. This is just not ok. This cannot continue and I definitely do not want to repeat it in the 2014 holiday season. So, how do I change it and what things do I focus on? This year is going to be particularly interesting as I plan to go to school during the 2014-2015 school year.

You all saw the organizational system we started. That has been an awesome 1st step but we have a long way to go. So back to the beginning of this blog. Vision boards…what the heck do we even dream of for the year? Why do we do what we do? What do we want to accomplish in 2014 individually, career wise, as a family? I am prepared to spend some time with my peeps working on this over the next week. The holidays add a whole list of things to already full to do lists so how to make it better? If you are like me and insist on cards then how about getting the pictures all done and picked out in the summer or early fall so you can just plop them in once shutterfly or costco has the cards then have them ready to go early November. We are FINALLY going to get addresses into a spreadsheet so we only need to print labels vs me handwriting every address. This year I would like to start my Christmas shopping during the summer. Both for time and budget! Plenty of things can be purchased and packed away. Have a bin or special spot you put everything in so you don't forget where it is! A huge thing for me in 2014 is the goal of adding the help of somebody cleaning our house every 2 weeks. Our kids do tons of chores and we keep the house pretty clean most of the time but it would be a HUGE stress off of me to have the scrubbing off my plate. I would some much rather be having quality time with my family vs quality time with the toilets. Planning a menu for the month. This is a big one. We are going from a week at a time to a month. The good news is with all the AMAZING cookbooks I got for Christmas, this should be pretty fun! Basically we will come up with 30-35 meals. Some are repeats like tacos once a week. Then we will pick 5-6 each week and make the grocery list. Thankfully Brad does most of the grocery shopping so he will get the items and then we both work not he prep. Another idea I think might help is prepping everything that needs chopping, etc and put it in the fridge labeled in a mason jar. All those veggies we put into egg white scrambles could be chopped and in a jar ready to dump in the eggs. My goal is efficient time savers. How can I better use my limited time to be more efficient and less stressed?

This is definitely a work in process! As you can see, I have a few ideas but would love to know some of yours. What are the things you do to make your holiday season less stressful and more fun for you? Where are you struggling to be more successful? What ideas can you share for time saving tips? I would love to hear from you! We are each on our own journey and can use each other's help as we Journey to Wellness together. Happy New Year!

Veggie Challenge!

Wow, can you believe it is December? I had the best of intentions to be on top of things for the holidays and here I am way behind. Well, time to get organized! It has been a super exciting month and I cannot wait to share it with you. I have been working on a big project and it is finally ready to share. Journey to Wellness is partnering with Bend Boot Camp to build a formalized nutrition program. We are working to get everything ready to launch January 1 . . just in time for a new year, new you program! So, keep your eyes peeled for our launch.

The challenge for all the Bend Boot Campers this month is to add veggies, veggies and more veggies! There are so many reasons to add veggies to your diet…weight loss, health, digestion, overall well being, etc! This is the perfect month for a challenge like this because we are all going to holiday gatherings where healthy is just not the focus. I want to extend this challenge to all of you. This week add 1 veggie to your diet, next week 2 veggies, week 3 is 3 veggies and the last week is 4+ veggies. I know . . this can be tough but with some planning and a little effort, you can make it happen. Plus, it will help you to feel better through the holiday craziness.

We all know about the basics . . .carrots (add some hummus..yumm!), celery, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber, peppers, etc. My challenge this month is to help you be creative and add those veggies . . which means I am adding them too! Tonight I am going to throw out a couple of ideas for you. First, Acorn Squash. Above is a picture of our Thanksgiving squash. I used the recipe from Against All Grain Thanksgiving. Tonight I made it very similarly. Cut the squash into slices as you see below. Use a baking sheet and spread out in single layer. Drizzle with olive oil, fresh sage, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Cook at 350 for 30 minutes turning each one over at the 15 minute mark. You can eat it plain or add to the soup below! Acorn squash is full of vitamins, antioxidants, fiber and more. Technically it is a fruit since it has seeds but I am going to let it qualify for a new veggie.

The second veggie I want everyone to consider is a blend. Trader joe's calls it Power to the Greens. Last week we found the above bag at Costco! It is a blend of Spinach, Chard and Kale. This is truly a superfood. The more of this you can get in your body, the better. These are just absolutely fantastic greens for you. I STUFF my blender full of them when making my green protein shake. It is a great way to get a lot of veggies without even tasting them. Tonight I made a turkey soup. I know, the thought of another turkey meal is less than appealing but this was good, healthy and light! I cooked the turkey carcass yesterday with various spices (marjoram, basil, thyme, beau monde). Today I strained out all he fat and bones. After cooling the fat is solid and easy to remove. I put the strained liquid in a big pot and started dumping! I literally cleaned out my fridge . .. celery, carrots, cauliflower, a sweet potato, handfuls of the power greens, and turkey. Let it simmer until the veggies are tender. My daughter put the acorn squash in her soup. My husband added Sriracha sauce (a staple for him :) ). I almost never use salt and did need to add some to this. I love that I needed to actually. Shows how little sodium was in this meal. This was an incredibly healthy dinner and everyone in my family inhaled it. After a couple of major cheat meals over the weekend (think sharing multiple desserts the other night .. .but it was so good!), I needed to cleanse my body a bit today and feel so much better! Everyone I talked with said the over did it with Thanksgiving meals. Veggies are the best way to regroup and re-energize.

So, who is going to take on the challenge? What will be your new veggie of choice this week? Share your ideas in the comments or on our Journey to Wellness Facebook page. While you are there, give us a quick "Like"! I will keep brainstorming fantastic veggie ideas to share and I can't wait to hear from you as we all Journey to Wellness together!