Intentional Living

Bike-Black-and-White

 

Travis has been gone for about a week and I’ve found myself hunkering down and staying home with the kiddos. And because I’m an analytic person and I had more time to think, I started to ask myself why I didn’t make fun plans during the days.

There’s the easy answers of laziness or the fact I’m an introvert and alone time makes my heart sing.

But I had the feeling I hadn’t dug deep enough. So I took some time and came to realize I was reacting to life’s busy schedule and not being intentional with my days. The word, ‘intentional’ has a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth but being objective and trying to see my schedule through different lenses allowed me to see my growth areas. I was going with the flow of our schedule. Not bad but who’s in charge? Me or my schedule? I was seeing the areas that were busy and so I became focused on forcing ‘rest time’ for my family.

We don’t need rest. We are well rested. In fact my kids receive so much rest that they’re bouncing off the walls when they’re at home! 🙂

I began to ask myself how I would change my days if I wanted to actually see people, get out of my neighborhood and be intentional with my time. It started with hanging with friends. Going to the Center of Krakow more alone. And practice my Polish!!!

So I hung out with a friend a couple days ago (Hi!) and went to Krakow’s main Rynek. Beautiful day (33C!) and I loved being out exploring the town, cementing neighborhoods and streets in my mind. Here are some pictures 🙂

11391140_10152959284602379_7610026125033614859_n

(I’m going to do a review of this cafe. Incredible)

1908145_10152931481897379_4112460266886160951_n(typical horse drawn carriage through town)

10542882_10152931481922379_9038189907792838321_n

 

Surround yourself with Beauty

IMG_20150604_171359

I’ve found that if I have pretty things around me then it’s not so easy for me to fall into a negative attitude. There have been days where I feel like penning my own, ‘Not so good very bad day’ book’, and the odd thing is typing that feels like, ‘well, duh. Of course it would help.’ But I’ve found changing one’s attitude is so hard to do!

Discovering this small and easy idea has really helped with not only my attitude but also with my focus on eating/exercising. And flowers in particular make me smile. In some weird way they give me the to motivation keep pushing forward.

So Keeping fresh flowers in our home is a norm now. Try it! 🙂

Poppies

IMG_20150518_150625-2

We live in a small neighborhood about 20 min outside Krakow and there are red poppies everywhere. It was such a wonderful surprise after moving here to see them popping up almost every where. They are the most delicate and vibrant flower, making me smile every time I see them.

 

Messy Chicken

Messychicken

 

I was looking through Pinterest and saw some meal ideas for making ahead and I looked in my fridge to see what I cold make in bulk to eat and freeze. And came up with this. No surprise it’s Mexican. My favorite. 🙂

Messychicken2

I can see different variations depending on what’s in the kitchen but this batch is made of:

1/2 Red Bell Pepper

1/2 Green Bell Pepper

1/2 Yellow Bell Pepper

2 Sm. Yellow Onions

5 coves of Garlic (Yes, I love garlic)

2C Shredded Chicken

1-2C Cooked Rice

1/2 Package of Taco Seasoning

I think next time I’ll substitute black beans for the rice. Enjoy!

Rejection on a tram

This post is more for myself to look back in 6 months. Hopefully by then progress will have happened to make read this, smile and thank God I’ve grown.

1002537_10152499419937379_2629429429678379844_n

I was sitting on the tram today coming back from a doctors appointment for my middle child. The tram was packed with college students heading my same way to the satellite University campus that’s right by us. A pair of girlfriends caught my eye standing off to my left. They were looking at people, whispering then giggling at each other. I instantly assessed what I was wearing, how I must have looked, did I look American?, was my child behaving, etc. And then it hit me. Who cares?!

I live in a city that’s large enough that I probably won’t see them again. And although that comforted me, the thought came: ‘What if they are making fun of you?! Why is it bothering you so much?!’

I had to answer myself, ‘Um, because I don’t want to be…rejected…by strangers on a tram. Yeah. OK point made.’

Ugh. I have a whole lot of growing up to do…

I couldn’t believe I was giving them power over my thoughts. Second guessing how I was standing, my clothes and even my child?! I felt like I was back in 2nd or 3rd grade at a new school just wanting others to accept me. The good thing out of this is that not only was I aware of my crazy thinking, but I was able to actively work against the fear and find my acceptance in God. I can remember hearing that growing up and not having a clue as to what it meant. As an adult, I find comfort in knowing that if He likes and loves me then that’s enough. I accept the fact that not everyone will like or accept me. I don’t like everyone. Why should everyone like me?

 

Anyways, I ended the tram ride and walked home thanking God for this insight. Personally, it’s too easy for me to go about my life and think I’m in ‘a good place’. When really I’m walking around wounded and need healing, but I’m too busy and prideful to stop my life and look inside at who I am and where I am in my journey with Jesus.

When was the last time you stopped and assessed where you are inside? Who you are as of November 2014? Do you like what you see in the mirror? What do you hear when you’re left to your thoughts?

Homemade Honey Granola

granola

I know this might not go on some of your guys’ list of healthy foods but for this household it does. It’s what I would consider a ‘clean’ breakfast. Yes it’s sweetened with honey and has dried fruit  so it’s not ‘sugar free’, but natural sugars like honey and fruits are acceptable in my household. The only ingredients are steel cut oats, dried fruit and honey. So I guess it’s gluten free too. I plan on putting it on yogurt, hot oatmeal (for crunch), as a topping on applesauce, makes a great shortcut for fruit cobbler, eat as cereal and also munching on it as a snack on the tram. For 9zl for a huge bag of muesli I would consider this a great deal. Buying granola is so expensive and if I can make it to my liking and for cheaper then you bet I’ll make it! Besides, it’s fun.

honey1

I honestly just emptied a bag of muesli into a mixing bowl and poured in a small jar of honey. I promise I’ll do better with marking down the amounts in the next recipe. 🙂 My mom taught me how to cook baste of how things feel in the bowls while mixing.  ( too dry, too thick, looking for the right weight when stirring, etc)

uncookedgranola

 

I baked it at 170’C (350’F) for roughly 20 min then took it out, mixed it so it would cook evenly and put it in again for roughly 20 min. I let it cool so it would get hard then I broke it up with a knife. It got any aggression out of my system. 😉 I made it without any spices because, honestly, my family like plain things. BORING I know. Some pumpkin spice or heck even some cinnamon would be great on granola. Enjoy!

granola

Winter Vegetable Soup

vegetable soup

It’s been cozy here. Meaning chilly and feeling like winter is around the corner. Plus, our house has been fighting sickness which means no school. Boo. So what could be better than a hot bowl of soup?! Am I right?!

This would be great with meat thrown in for added protein. 🙂 Just a super simple recipe with simple ingredients.

Vegetable Soup

5 potatoes

2 large carrots

2 yellow onions

1 can of diced tomatoes in water

6C beef broth (guessing with the amount, you can choose depending on your love for broth)

16oz peas

Instructions: Mix together cut veggies and cook on low heat for 3-4 hours. Just remember to have all the vegetables cut the same size.

Breakfast Cookies

 

breakfastcookies2

I actually made these with the hope that the girls will wake up in the morning, eat these and will watch Netflix together giving me an extra 30 min-1hr extra so I can ‘sleep in’ to 7:30am. I wonder how ridiculous that hope is…we’ll see.

PicsArt_1416595163849

This is another recipe that I thought I could make in advance, girls would like it and I could make it as healthy as I want. Perfect. Turns out I didn’t have any bananas so I just winged my own recipe, making up the measurements as I went. And surprisingly they turned out great. Not dense, a bit more cake like and not too sweet which is nice.

breakfastcookies3

I was lazy and just wrote down the measurements and took a picture. 🙂

IMG_20141121_190103~2

Ham & Cheese Fritata

10325509_10152511235252379_5709341501811487799_nEating food has become super stressful for me. Or at least I’ve allowed it to become that. I have so many friends that swear by their special food plans. Paleo, no carb, eating clean, raw diet, lactose free, corn free, sugar free, nut free and countless others. Plus I’m nursing, so my food has to include certain elements to  maintain and boost my milk supply. Sigh. It’s not the eating plans themselves that stress me out but the ‘you have to eat this way or you’re killing your body’ mentality. They can’t ALL be right. Right? So I talked with Jesus to see what my answer should be. Because it’s mainly just His advice that matters. And in the end I came to the conclusion that we all have different bodies that can’t handle different things. Yes, be smart in eating. Not a lot of sugars (have them come mostly from fruit), I’m nursing so whole grains are OK. Milk in moderation. And no processed foods. But the main breakthrough was the fear factor. So many plans use fear as they give you information. And I, personally, was allowing that fear to take root. So after dealing and uprooting those things, I chose rethink what we eat.

And it’s not a huge change. We eat mostly clean with a sweet treat to end the day with. However, breakfasts have been mostly sweet carbs. Cereal, pancakes or toast. See, we have only 20 minutes max for us to eat in the mornings. Couple that with two super slow eaters and a time consuming healthy breakfast is way out the window. I went to Pinterest and saw many great ideas. This being the first: Fritatas. I made it a couple days ago and all I have to do is heat it up! We’ve been eating it for breakfast or lunch for days and it’s great. It allows me to have something healthy for myself and eventually for the girls that’s fast for school mornings. That’s the kill zone I was aiming for. Plus it’s made breakfast different, and different is good.

This fritata in particular is a ham and cheese, along with bell peppers, red onion and fresh basil. It turned out so great!!! Travis and I loved LOVED it however the girls wouldn’t eat it because so much of it was green- a mindset we’re fighting these days. At least they tried it. Baby steps. But I’m happy to make a broccoli and ham/cheese which the girls should be able to choke down. :/

I didn’t follow any recipe but threw it together so this recipe will be totally based off me guessing the amounts. So if you like more cheese, no milk or whatever-please feel free to tweak it to your liking, it’s a forgiving recipe.

Ham & Cheese Fritatas

8 eggs

1 small package of pre-shredded cheese (or about 1C. I used mozzarella cause that’s just what I had)

1 med. red bell pepper

1 med. green pepper

1 small red onion (I used it for color but a yellow would work great too. Adds the sweetness)

2-3 cloves of garlic ( I actually used garlic powder but real cloves would be way better)

dash of pepper and salt

1/3 C milk

Handful of fresh basil leaves cut julienne style

Ham ( I used ham sliced by our ‘behind the meat counter person’ and used 4-5 slices. Cut julienne style)

Greased pan ( I used coconut oil but Olive oil would work great too)

Instructions: Stir fry onion and garlic until soft. Cut meat and vegetables to similar sizes. Put onion and garlic in large bowl and mix all ingredients together. Poor mixture in greased pan. Cook at 155’C for about 20-30 min or until top is cooked and slightly browned. Hope you enjoy this! It’s fast, crazy easy and healthy. Perfect! 

Confession #1

 

154527_10152468040007379_4085014997737318334_n

I have a confession to tell you, reader. It’s a silly lighthearted confession but still, it’s important none the less. OK…here it goes…

 

 

I’m a goop fan.

 

 

As in Gweneth Paltrow’s goop. I sorta have a fan crush on her. Well, one of a handful. If you’ve never heard of it google it. They have different subjects they write articles on. Crazy healthy recipes, pretty girly, crazy expensive items you could buy, crazy ideas of things to do in large cities, etc. You get the picture. But it’s mostly just fun reading. Looking at things I would never ever spend that much money on. Look at her creative recipes and wow, the pictures are amazing. And pretty.

 

So that’s it. Goop. Look it up and judge how ridiculous I am. 🙂