Search Results for: journey to clean eating

Our Journey to Clean Eating

December 8, 2017

Our Journey to Clean Eating

Since I quit working outside the home and made it my life’s mission to be a good little housewife and SAHM, I was bombarded with the realization that so much of the “food” I was feeding my family wasn’t actually nutritious. No, I wasn’t trying to be perfect, nor was I driving through McDonald’s or buying Twinkies. But, growing up in the 80s and 90s (the peak of the convenience-food generation), I was just never conditioned to think much about what I was putting into my body. Clean eating wasn’t really on my radar.

I’m not sure what put me into overdrive, but I discovered Lisa Leake’s 100 Days of Real Food blog and was instantly hooked. I stalked her blog then ordered her cookbooks and could hardly put them down. I pored over the chapters she dedicated to educating her readers on untruths and misconceptions we are led to believe about food. By Lisa’s recommendation, I snagged Michael Pollan’s book, Food Rules, at a Half-Price Books for about six bucks and read it in one sitting. Literally. (It really is a quick and easy read.) I have been on one mission ever since: REAL FOOD ONLY. VIEW POST

Pizza, Please!

January 10, 2019

If you’ve been following me for long, you know Friday nights are for PIZZA at the Cates’ house. This is a very strict policy. Nothing else will do. If we’re not home all day or have something crazy going on, we’re not adamantly opposed to take-out, but our one, true love is homemade pizza. Paired with our bouts of Friday Family Fun (for weekly ideas, follow me on Instagram!), Fridays are highly anticipated around here.

I started making pizza from scratch a few years ago when I went on a journey to clean eating. Ever since, when we make the choice to pick up a pizza or buy a frozen one, the fact that I don’t know exactly what I’m eating nags me to my core (ahem, but apparently not enough to deter me from consuming it). Read more about what I’ve learned about clean eating on this post.

Making pizza from scratch is way too easy to not be doing it. My recipe is nothing special or out of the ordinary, but I’ve had some people ask, so I’m sharing!

Like me, you’ll soon have this recipe memorized if you use the three, two, one, rule: three cups of flour (you can use whole wheat flour, but I just don’t love the taste when used for pizza dough); two tablespoons of olive oil; one cup of warm water, one teaspoon of salt, and one packet of fast-rising yeast. (Okay, so it’s the three, two, one, one, one rule.)

I put one cup of warm water in my glass measuring cup and whisk in the yeast. You’re supposed to let it bubble up, but I never do. (I’m not a chef, people. Plus, I’m really excited about eating pizza.) I add the olive oil and salt to the yeast/water mixture and whisk it together.

I put the flour into my stand mixer. (Before I had a stand mixer, I mixed the dough by hand like some sort of pilgrim. It works just the same either way.)

I then pour the water mixture over the flour and mix away with the dough hook until it becomes a ball of dough. (If it’s sticky, dust some more flour in there. If it’s too dry to stick together, add a few drops of water.)

When I plan in advance, I let it rise. When I’m making it at the last minute, I don’t. If you have time, lightly oil a large bowl and place the dough inside. cover it with plastic wrap or a hand towel and let it rise for a few hours. If you want pizza like now, go ahead and roll it out. It’s definitely easier to roll once it’s risen, and the dough also cooks with a much more airy, less dense consistency, but again – I sometimes skip this step and get down to business. Nobody likes a hangry mom!

I live for thin crust, so I split this one recipe into two crusts. If you want a thicker crust, use this recipe for one or double it for two. Fold over the sides if you have enough dough left to do so. Our pizzas usually end up having some portions folded over and some not.

Once it’s rolled out (I never get a perfect circle or rectangle…and I don’t care), I put the sauce on. I either use simple canned tomato sauce or some spaghetti sauce I have on hand. If it’s simple tomato sauce, I sprinkle a very light dusting of garlic powder or garlic salt onto the sauce.

If I’m making cheese pizza, I add the mozzarella, plenty of parmesan, and parsley.

If I’m making pepperoni pizza, I put a heavy layer of pepperonis directly onto the sauce, then add mozzarella, more pepperonis, parmesan, and parsley. Add whatever toppings you want! I also love adding sausage or ground beef. We don’t get too crazy around here. Well, with pizza toppings, anyway.

Cook your pizzas one at a time on the middle rack in the oven for ten minutes at 500 degrees. I try to finish cleaning the kitchen while the pizza is cooking. Then, my reward is getting to eat it! Make sure the cheese is brown and bubbling before you take it out.

Enjoy your homemade pizza knowing you are eating real, fresh, ingredients made with your very own hands!

Tips to make it even easier:

I use this Kitchen-Aid stand mixer.

My food processor grates cheese! I usually grate it in large batches. It takes seconds!

Printable recipe here: Homemade Pizza Download

How to Be a Better Mom

February 5, 2019

We’re all better moms than some, right? I like to place myself somewhere between crack-addict and June Cleaver. (I vary on the spectrum depending on what day it is.)

In all seriousness, I think most of us are just striving to be better moms, wives, friends, and women. Not better than any one person, but better today than we were yesterday. In a Pinterest-perfect society, measuring up is an all-too-daunting task. No, an impossible task. And an unnecessary one, at that.

The minute I get my pantry looking like a square out of @cottonstem’s IG, I realize my kids are eating old goldfish out of the couch for lunch (that means I now don’t have to make anything else to eat, right?). The second I get my hair, makeup, and outfit so perfect I might be mistaken for @thesisterstudioig, I find my 3-year-old naked on the kitchen counter wielding a knife (You think I’m joking, don’t you?). One step forward means two steps back errrr day. Let’s just get real. We don’t have to look that cute, be that talented, or serve responsibly sourced salmon atop a bed of organic mixed greens to our well-mannered, grateful children every blessed night in order to be good moms. We’re good, girl. Let’s decide to simply be better versions of ourselves than we were yesterday. Let’s love our children, husbands, friends, and neighbors well. Chances are, our kids won’t actually grow up to be unclothed knife bearers in the end.

1. Love others well. Kids learn to be good and decent humans by watching us be loving, respectful, gracious, and kind. I CRINGE when I see adults with children in tow telling off the cashier, flipping off the car next to them, or being disrespectful to their spouse. Will we be perfect examples? Pshhhhh! Heck no! But, we can try to do the right thing, even when it’s hard. After all, we expect the same thing from our kids, right? When we blow it in front of our kids, we should tell them we messed up and apologize for our actions. That’s a double-whammy of a lesson for our little mini-me’s. 1. No one is perfect. 2. We should apologize when we do the wrong thing. This makes you a better mom.

2. Take a genuine interest in your kids. Let’s one up the “How was your day?” routine. In my experience, that question produces little more than a shoulder-shrug. I get it. Between work, dinner, chauffering back and forth to practices, bathtimes, and bedtimes, stuff gets real dadgum busy and your brain is honestly too tired for words. But, if we miss these everyday opportunities to listen to the uneventful and mundane, we’ll inevitably miss the significant, life-changing conversations, too. Ask what made them laugh, if anything made them sad, and who they sat with at lunch. Ask if they felt good about themselves that day, how they served someone, and what they would do over again if they could change something about the day. Talk to them about video games, sports, friends, dreams, grades, and goals. Relationship has to precede rules, or none of it really matters. It’s worth it, mama. This makes you a better mom.

3. When you want to punch them, hug them instead. Or something like that. No one can drive us more batty than our very own offspring. WHY IS IT SO? This is coming from the mom whose oldest is but a pre-teen, so stay tuned. The punching may still ensue. (I’M JOKING!) Really, though, I’ve learned that the calmer I remain, the better this whole thing turns out. When their attitudes collide with my own (I have no idea where they get it), they treat me more like a peer. When I stay calm (read: act like the adult), I am in control and they can’t steal my chill. This is oh so much easier said than done, but I’ve found that when I think this through in advance and then remind myself at the time to stick with what I know to be right, I really can do it. Less frustration, less yelling, less apologizing, and less feeling like a crappy mom. Win-win! This makes you a better mom.

4. Share your burdens. Nothing makes me feel better than having dinner and a glass of wine with friends I trust and talking through the difficulties of motherhood. It’s literally therapy, people. We definitely laugh, might even cry, and certainly go home feeling 100% better about this stage of life we’re in. Relating to others is everything. Talk to your mom, talk to your sister, or talk to a counselor. I’ve been there and done it all, friends. When my husband was deployed for 9 months, I found that I didn’t want to share the complex burdens with those closest to me for 9 months straight, so I saw a therapist. It was all so helpful. We’re not meant to take this journey alone! God created us to first need Him, second one another. This makes you a better mom.

5. Delegate! I know I’m not alone when I say a messy or cluttered house = grouchy mom en mi casa. The state of my home is like a mirror into my brain. If the house is clean and tidy, I can take whatever life throws at me. I work from home and constantly have to refrain from taking time out of my workday to clean and tidy up. Here’s the fact of the matter: My work only I can do. However, I married a man (THANK GOD FOR HIM) and birthed three able-bodied boys who can (and do) help with the rest. I’m not above justifying this to my kids. “If you can do these chores well, this will help you as you grow older, and it will help Mommy now.” Their knowing I can be much more present with them once we’ve all done our part is almost always enough motivation to do their part. (That, and serious personal threats.) This makes you a better mom.

6. Expect chaos. When you have a newborn, you’re not surprised that you’re up all night for feedings, cradling a crying baby, and changing 312 diapers a day. It’s exhausting, but probably exactly what you expected. In the same way, expect extreme chaos while having kids at home. There’s no other way. From babyhood to the teenage years, these kids be cray. They’re going to be too loud, make massive messes, produce ridiculous amounts of laundry, be terrible at chores, not do their homework, eat all your food, and drive you nuts. You’re going to get thrown up on and peed on. They’ll poop on the floor, stain your sofa, break your things, and ruin your carpet. They’ll get sick right before vacation and you’ll have to cancel your trip. They’ll make the team and monopolize your entire summer. They’ll not make the team and break your whole heart. They’ll demand more when you have nothing left to give. They’ll be bratty and precious and awful and hilarious and so smart and so dumb and you just have to embrace it all. You’ll say things like, “Don’t smell your brother’s butt,” and “Stop feeding bananas to your dinosaur,” and “Please get your penis off the table.” (All these things have actually come out of my mouth.) It somehow makes it easier when you fully expect the ups and downs, the highs and lows. This makes you a better mom.

Laugh when you feel like crying. Have a good cry, too. They say we’ll miss the mayhem one day, and I bet they’re right. You are a better mom.