Happy Mother's Day!!

I know that for many people, Mother's Day brings a mix of emotions. There are people who don't have relationships with their mothers, people who have lost their mothers, mothers who have lost their children, and those who are struggling to become mothers.

My heart aches for those of you who have had to walk one of these paths and on days like today it isn't lost on me just how lucky I am.

I have not just one, but two amazing mothers, I had grandmothers who played a maj

 

or role in my life and I am the lucky mother of three boys and step-mother to an amazing daughter who, even though they are all handfuls in their own ways, make my life infinitely better.

So, it's safe to say I know a thing or two about mom's.

I also know, that biology doesn't spell the entire story, so if you are a nurturer, a caregiver, and teacher, or you fill any other role that kids (and adults) need in their lives, then Happy Mother's Day to you as well!

I found the quote below SO applicable to the Mother's that I've had the pleasure of knowing. 

We always see the good in our babies. Even when they are driving us crazy, even when we are stumbling over legos that were left in the hallway floor (again), even when we are exhausted from being kept up all night, or our feet hurt from standing by a hospital bed for hours on end.

Mom's always see the good.

Mother's are the picture of optimism and unconditional love. No matter what we would go through all the hard work, stresses and anxiety 100 times over before we would give up on our kids.

So, with all that said, I hope that all the mothers out there know how much they are appreciated. Think of how dark of a place the world would be if we didn't have all that positivity floating around?

This week I got to enjoy one of the many perks of motherhood, watching my middle son Trenton perform in his school play. He killed it of course 🙂

If you read my menu post last week, I told you that we would likely be busy and probably wouldn't stick to the menu too closely. That was totally true.

We ended up having spaghetti a few nights and a couple of rotisserie chickens with steam in bag veggies.

I AM super proud to say that even though we didn't stick to the meal plan I had set, we also didn't fall victim to the draw of the drive through. So all in all I am pretty dang happy with last week.

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This coming week brings a new challenge for me as I am covering a co-workers vacation and have agreed to work 5 days vs. my normal 2.

I know, I know - most of you probably wonder what I'm whining about since 5 days a week is pretty standard. But I'm not used to it, and to be fair - I also run this blog which is a full-time job in and of itself. Plus 2 of those 5 days will be 12+ hour days (I cried just typing this).

So if you can find it in your heart to say a little prayer that I survive the next week without a mental breakdown, I would so appreciate it 🙂

 

With my sanity in mind, I have again planned some pretty simple meals and I am even doing a little bit of meal prep today to make things easier.

 

I have an Upside Down Pizza Casserole in the Freezer, so I figured that it would be a great time to use it up. After it thaws, it will only take a little while for it to cook and be ready to eat. Plus the kids all like it, so I won't have to deal with their whining 🙂

Yesterday I made a triple batch of my super easy Homemade marinara sauce, so we will be having it with ground beef and zoodles for a simple spaghetti night meal. I am going to go ahead and spiralize the zucchini tonight so that it's ready to go later this week.

Some other highlights of the week and the butter chicken that we didn't get to last week. It goes into the instant pot, so it's super easy and I am prepping the cauliflower rice tonight as well.

The Korean Ground beef is something that I am working on for the blog - so hopefully I will be able to share it with you guys soon! And, the loaded cauliflower casserole is a family favorite.

Some other things I am prepping for breakfasts, lunches and snacks this week are:

• Homemade Keto McGriddles
• Deviled and Hard Boiled Eggs
• Cinnamon Roasted Almonds 

As always, you can find all the recipes that I am using this week my checking out my "Weekly Menu" pinterest board. Find it HERE

I change the pins out on that board every week, so if you can't find what you are looking for on that board, then just search my pinterest profile. If you can't find it - then it probably wasn't a keeper 🙂

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Before I go put my feet up to enjoy the rest of my Mother's Day, I wanted to touch on the 52 Lists for Happiness project that I'm undertaking.

Read that post HERE.

Several of you contacted me that you were also up for the challenge, and I am SO happy to have you along for the ride.

I still haven't set into stone exactly how I am going to be sharing this experience, but it will likely be something that changes week to week based upon the topic and how comfortable I am sharing. For now, my plan is to just continue sharing my experience here in my weekly menu posts, since they have evolved into kind of a weekly summary.

If you are following the challenge, feel free to use the comments section of these posts to share and connect with each other.

I am SO looking forward to this 🙂