Are you engaged yet?

As I stated in the beginning, many of my posts will be about healthy eating and working out. But the occasional life post will happen. This one is about (love). The word we all think about, strive for, fall into, dream of and always wish we had more of. Everyone wants to be loved. We all have a first love, some earlier in life and some later. Whether it's the love of a partner or unconditional love of a mother and father. We are all loved by someone. (even if on some days it only feels like it's our dog or cat)

My post is mainly about finding the one. How do you know if it's Mr/Mrs right? Is there any sure way of knowing? Does anyone really have a soul mate? Everyone has their own ideas and opinions.

The question that keeps coming up between The Gent and I is, are y'all engaged yet? (seriously everyone has asked us) Don't get me wrong, I'm flattered people think we are as meant for each other as we think we are. But this week will be 8 months of dating. For me that is too early. People get engaged earlier than that and much later as well, but for me it's just too early in our relationship. Maybe after a year or so, but I still feel like I'm getting to know him. I want time to experience life with him. :)

When did y'all get engaged? Do you feel like you have a set amount of time you want to date before you do get engaged? Or am I just an OCD weirdo? Haha.

There are always things that lets you know someone is different than the rest, that someone might just be your soul mate, Mr. Right...the one? (gasp) For me these are just some of those things:
- he deals with my crazy
- he calms me when I'm upset
- he gets my weird sense of humor
- he dances with me in the kitchen
- he loves my family as much as he loves me
- he takes my OOTD pictures and just smiles when I ask
- he respects me and my decisions
- he loves me on good days and bad
- he kisses my forehead
- he is dreamer with a great sense of reality
- he prays with me and for me

most of all, he loves me...all of me.

xoxo,

preppygator 

Fall Recipes...

Sorry for my lapse, I've been without internet and all over the place. Finally back home and working on some yummy things. These are some fall twists i've put on some simple paleo foods. Let me know what you think!

This is just a grilled flank steak, but I paired it with sliced sweet potatoes (a preppygator staple) and drizzled honey and cinnamon over it. Amazing and so simple!

This next recipe is something that anyone can do and it happens to me often where I have sweet potatoes and i'm unsure how long I've had them. haha truth. So I puncture them with a fork, wrap them with wax paper and microwave them for 5 minutes. Peel the skin and mash the potatoes into a glass baking pan. I added pumpkin, cinnamon and Trader Joes Pumpkin Butter before putting in the oven. No set time, just until warm. I paired it with simple hamburger patties, perfect dinner! Paleo is easy!

Lastly is breakfast, which seems like a weird order. But it's my favorite! Eggs with ham, pretty simple. Usually I add some fruit. Today I wanted something filling and fallish. I melted almond butter and mixed it with the Trader Joes Pumpkin Butter. OH MY GOSH! It was amazing. Sweet, filling and PALEO!

Obviously I'm obsessed with fall right now and loving Paleo, as per usual. Let me know if you have any fall ideas or yummy recipes. Tonight I have a pork loin in the crock pot with apple juice, a personal favorite for an easy dinner. Might have baked beans as a side, shhhhhh don't tell the paleo people! :) 

xoxo,

preppygator 

Fall Is Here...

and all over the house! So excited to finally share these. Since i'm a little all over the place, I decided to decorate The Gent's house for fall. We will be in this area for thanksgiving most likely and let's face it...his house REALLY needed some sprucing up. This is what I did:

First stop was the dollar store to collect lots of simple fall things to craft with, this is the table before. 

 During, with all my crafting supplies...

And after! Put all the items together in this fun centerpiece and gathered some simple placemats without being too gaudy. 

Centerpiece loving fall!

The outdoor section was a little tricky but after picking pumpkins at The Gent's family farm and "borrowing" some hay bales, this look came together quickly.

I added some fall colored artificial flowers to full the whole look together. I LOVE it.

My last DIY project of the day is my FAVORITE! I took mason jars left over from some fun moon filled nights, attached artificial leaves with raffia and popped in a tea light. So cute and simple as ever!

Look at them all lit up! They are perfect for fall evenings and look great with the colored leaves outside. 

As you can tell I'm beyond excited it's fall. What did you do to decorate for fall? Any DIY projects?

xoxo,

preppygator 

A Day At The (Home) Spa

Ok seriously, I'm pretty sure all of us could use a day at the spa. If you have a Pinterest it can not only be addicting, but also VERY helpful. I got both of these tricks from Pinterest because I was in the need of an oil treatment for my hair (insert homemade coconut oil treatment) and also a great facial (insert homemade miracle mask). I had some time one morning this week and decided to try both. 

The first was the coconut oil treatment, if you're paleo you use coconut oil everyday. So my mass quantities of it came in handy. Here is my natural, no product crazy morning hair. 

You need: coconut oil, shower cap and blowdryer.  

 Make sure you massage it into your hair, it will start out solid and melt in your hands as you use it. I typically have an oily scalp so I only used it on the ends of my hair.

 Then I wrapped it into a bun and clipped it! So easy.

This looks like torture, but it's actually the perfect solution. I propped the blow dryer up on the sink and sat underneath it with my shower cap on. (hot right?, no pun intended)

Set my iPhone timer and tweeted for 15 minutes while my hair heated up. PS You use heat to open the ends of your hair follicles up so the oil can heal your hair. If you're crazy busy or a mom with no time you can use no heat. Just leave it on your hair for 30 minutes instead while you get things done.

Wash your hair as normal, I washed mine twice and used a conditioner only on the ends of my hair. I dried my hair as usual but this picture is with no straightener.

Verdict: Total success! This was super easy and my hair looks and feels great! Super soft too!

Next up was my homemade facial. Note: THIS IS NOT FOR EVERYONE. It is cinnamon on your face and if your skin is super sensitive, don't even try it. The ingredients are simple honey, cinnamon and nutmeg. (yes i wanted to eat it) 2 tablespoons of each ingredient will give you enough for 2 masks. 

Mix the ingredients. This is where I would have already changed it, put it in the fridge for awhile. Make sure it thickens a little and gets really cool. The cinnamon will heat up your skin very quickly and also start to melt. This will def be the biggest step for me next time. Apply to your face evenly.

Haha see what I mean, it started to melt. DEF put in the fridge before and probably lay flat.

Verdict: It was interesting. It def started to burn a little towards the end of the 30 minute instructed time. I would probably do 15-20 next time. When I took it off my skin was a little red, like a normal facial and a little dry like a normal facial as well. The following couple days I used moisturizer like usually and my skin has been glowing. Def worth it.

What at home spa treatments do you use? Would you try either of these?

xoxo,
preppygator

Paleo Game Day...

My favorite time of the year...fall and football! Woohoo!! The hardest part of a football game is turning down all the yummy food and drinks. Despite my purchase of Summer Shandy, I wanted the rest of today's eats to be all Paleo. With that I present...Paleo Game Day! 

First up. Deviled eggs. Usually an okay dish minus the mayo. Instead I used the yolk, mustard, chopped dill pickles and some of the pickle juice as well. Piped it into the shells and added salt and pepper on top. Perfect and lots of protein! 

Next up is "ranch" dip. I've always heard of people using greek yogurt instead of sour cream for recipes. I have even used this myself, pre-paleo. Today I decided to go out on a limb and use a new product that I hadn't tried yet...coconut milk yogurt. I got the plain, hoping it would have a little sour taste. (like greek yogurt) WRONG! Yeesh. Ok so it wasn't THAT bad but it wasn't what I expected. I added the ranch seasoning anyways and sliced all my veggies. It didn't turn out as bad as I thought it might have, but I def need to play with this one a little bit. Maybe make it a sweet dip! :)

One of my favorites was this little guy. I had left over burgers that I had made the other night and a sweet potato. Perfect combo! I cut the sweet potato really small and sprinkled salt and cooked till tender. Cut up the burger into mini pieces and stabbed them both onto the same toothpick. It's all about using your resources and this was a HIT!

Brats Brats Brats. A gameday favorite. Not as American without the bun, but I worked really hard to make it yummy. I sliced the brat and laid them out. Then I mixed a majority mustard with some ketchup. Drizzled that over the brats and added the toothpicks. Voila! Super easy and lots of protein.

Hands down the favorite of the day! I made homemade almond flour chips. I miss chips and crackers so much! This was the perfect solution and not too hard. The recipe:
- 2 cups almond flour
- 2 egg whites
- 1/2t garlic powder
- 1/2t salt
- 1/2t cajun seasoning
Mix it all together, kneed a little, then place the dough between two pieces of parchment paper. Roll it thin and I mean THIN, cut however you would like and place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake on 325 for 10 min or until golden brown. Let cool fully before using with dip. I made a "guac" chopped onion, chopped avocado and garlic salsa. It was divine!! Perfect game day food!!

Here is the full spread! What a successful and healthy day of football. Such yummy paleo treats!

So tell me, what's your favorite game day treat? Paleo or not. :)

xoxo,
preppygator

blog delay

I have a serious issue with forgetting to post on blogs. So today I will share a few recipes from the vault.

This is a fun little treat I love to have after dinner. Use a magic bullet or food processor, throw in some cashews until they are ground. Add some coconut oil and keep grinding until it's smooth. Scrape out the butter and add dark chocolate chips. It seriously tastes like cookie dough! I like to eat it with sliced fresh peaches. Side note: it's even better the next morning after spending the night in the fridge.

This dish was super easy and VERY yummy. Whole Foods has my favorite fish, Tilapia fresh as fresh can be. They also have a Cajun seasoning right in front of the Seafood section. For the fish I put some coconut oil in the pan, cover the fish in the cajun rub and cook it evenly on both sides. The green beans are tossed in lemon juice and salt. The last side is a personal fav and at least one meal a week. Cut up a sweet potato, add cinnamon and bake until tender. The perfect clean meal after any day!

What are some of your favorite meals? 

xoxo,

preppygator

bad days always get better

I've been home sick the last two days, bummer! But the upside (if there is one) is that I have had time to do some cooking. This has always been a passion of mine, whether it's following a recipe that's already created or making up a new one. Today I took an idea i've been wanting to make FOREVER but haven't been able to because I haven't had a food processor. Homemade cashew butter! Nommmmm!! It was super simple and not the highlight of this post so simply put, I threw the following into a processor: cashews, coconut oil, vanilla and honey. It was ridic amazing, definitely a treat!

Now for the main event my new Paleo Mash! I'm all for using left overs to create new ideas, it saves money and allows you to be creative. Hopefully you have an understanding spouse that will try all your crazy concoctions. Tonight I made a pork tenderloin, something The Gent LOVES! I wanted to make a fall-ish side to go with it and had half of a sweet potato in the fridge. What the HECK was I going to do with half a sweet potato as the sole side for two people? Well this was my bright idea: 

I mashed the already cooked sweet potato: 

Then I added 1/2 cup of 100% pumpkin, 2 tablespoons of coconut milk, 2 tablespoons of honey, 2 tablespoons of almond meal, a couple dashes of cinnamon and mixed and mashed with a fork. I spread it into a greased glass dish. 

I then baked it when I baked the pork, maybe about 30 minutes. You will easily be able to tell if it's getting burnt. Keep in mind this was only enough for 2 people, I would probably double the recipe if I was making it on a normal night. It was SO yummy and I could have gone for seconds or thirds! 

That is my made up recipe of the evening, I'll call it Paleo Mash for now. Whatever I call it, it was amazing! Try it out and let me know what you think. 

xoxo,

preppygator