My mom wanted to thank you all for your positivity + well wishes for her health. She was touched by all of the comments and is really motivated + ready to get back on track. I’ll keep you posted with things she tries and likes/dislikes. She also might be sending me some food photos, when she tries out some of the recipes! :) I also truly appreciated your enthusiasm for the new series. I heard from a lot of new commenters that are very excited to learn some kitchen/health basics, which got me so excited! More to come soon!

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Is it possible to ever catch up?

To ever cross everything off of your to-do list?

It seems that this will never be the case for me! One thing gets crossed off and 5 more get added.

Such is life.

One thing that is never on my to-do list is breakfast. It just happens. Everyday, like clock work. This morning I tried something new-ish. A few people suggested adding 1T coconut oil while cooking my oats to help hold me over longer. I’ve topped my oats with coconut butter, but never added oil. Well, this morning, I finally tried it!

I heated the oil over medium and then added in the oats, pretty much frying them in the oil! I cooked them for a few minutes, then added in masa harina and a little oat flour and then poured in the liquid [milk + water].

The end result was had a slight hint of coconut. I didn’t really notice a texture difference, but the flavor was lovely. I also stirred in fresh ground flax meal in the last 1min of cooking. It gives a little extra volume + a nice extra dose of fiber, protein + healthy fats.

For the toppings, I heated a little less than 1T peanut butter with about 1-2T almond milk + whisked until smooth. With a little glob of Crofters jelly, I was ready to chow. More oats [or oat mixture] and less toppings has seemed to work wonders for my satiation.

That wasn’t even all of the sauce! I added the 2nd half on top. All of that from 1T peanut butter!

today’s mix:

1/4c rolled oats
3T masa harina
1T oat flour
.5c Eden organic soymilk [gf]
3/4c water
1-2T fresh ground flax meal
1T coconut oil

I spent the majority of the day editing photos. I just finished up the maternity photos from the shoot with my sis-in-law + bro-in-law and will be showing them to you soon! Next up are the 1yr photos from Sunday’s shoot, which went really well! Thank you so much for all of your well wishes. They were appreciated more than you know!

While I worked, the dogs did absolutely nothing.

Best facial expression. Ever.

I biked back + forth to the gym [3m each way] and got in a killer workout. [leg lifting + HIIT cardio] As soon as I got home, I was back to my to-do’ing. Kelsey called me and invited me over for dinner and demanded that I bring nothing. Just show up!

Um, yes please!! She knows how busy I am and that I’ve had no time to go to the store. Delicious dinner to the rescue!

Margaritas too? She knows me too well.

Kelsey made a delicious chunky salsa, which I absolutely loved. She just threw this together and it was perfection.

Contents:

corn
cucumber
pepper
red onion
black beans
salt + pepper
a few scoops of jarred salsa
?? I forget the rest ?? :)

Quick. Fresh. Delicious. And cilantro-free!! weeeeeeeeee

Penny got a lot of blogging done, while we were all chowing down. She had a pretty busy day, just like Dakota + Kenna.

For dinner, Kels prepared tacos, with GF corn tortillas. She even made sure the chips she bought were GF. So lovely of her!

Toppings:

avocado
cheeeeeese
cabbage slaw with pepper + red onion…and ?? there goes my brain again!

The hostess with the mostess!

TJ’s salsa, smuggled from N. Carolina!

Dinner is served.

blue corn taco shells
black bean + chickpea + zucchini + seasonings, baked in the oven
cabbage + cheese
3 different salsas

I piled my plate high! Don’t worry, this was not my bowl of beans. That would be scary. For Chris!

If you didn’t notice, Kelsey has a love for pottery, particularly bowls. Hence her blog name, Bites and Bowls. A lot of the pieces are Kelsey originals, too! I was obsessing over them all night!

And the food kept coming out. Next up? Sliced champagne mango with Walrus [local!] cinnamon ice cream. It was my first time having their ice cream, which was 100% to-die-for. Perfectly smooth and creamy, with just the right amount of cinnamon.

Pure love.

For the ice cream…

And Kelsey!! It was so nice to not cook dinner, but still get a home cooked meal!

Now I’m home, writing to-do lists + packing lists for our trip this week. We leave early afternoon on Wednesday and have a lot to get done. Tomorrow will be a big shopping + food prep day.

If anyone has veg-friendly + GF ideas for breakfast + lunch, that are camp-friendly, send the ideas my way! We’re packing coolers, a dry-storage food bin, and a jet-boil [little pot + burner for cooking…oatmeal/coffee/etc].

Here is our food list so far for 5 days of camping: