Chris and I are having an awesome quick to to Austin. Seeing those shows last night and experiencing this together was a bucket list for both of us.
On this trip food was an after thought, we had Snax on the plane and wings before the show but it was nice to plan a trip that was about the experience and spending time together and not worrying about what food we were going to eat. Plus we didn't feel terrible from eating carbs even though we didn't get much sleep. The show had a 2 drink minimum but we just got the canned waters. Today I feel amazing, I don't have a carb or alcohol hangover and I just am enjoying this special time with my best friend.
Special mention to my Mom who is having fun with the kids while we are gone. We are headed home now to just hang out and play games and have lots of family time until the New Year. Vacations and the holidays don't have to always revolve around food.
What are you looking forward to most in the next week?
I don't typically love cooking with cast iron, despite the excellent results they can bring. It's messy and smells up the house. Add to that, the one we have is super old and not very good. We were recently gifted a really good one from Lancaster Cast Iron so today I decided to give it a try. We have a side burner on our Weber so I could do it outside. I sous vide a steak, then seared it in tallow on the new pan. Man it was incredible. What a difference it made from our old one. Super easy clean up too. Below is the pan, of course I forgot to take a picture of the steak haha.
Do you love using cast iron? What are some favorites you make in them?
Yesterday we surprised the kids and brought home a puppy!! They have been begging for one for years and we felt like the time was right to bring one home.
Meet Angus 🐕 He's a Golden Retriever/King Charles Cavalier Spaniel mix. He's 11 weeks old and currently weighs about 8 pounds, he should be around 35 pounds fully grown. I know it will be an adjustment for a while as he gets potty trained etc but we are so excited. 😂 Wish us luck! 🤪
Cheese is good! I ate a block of chipotle oven baked cheese with lunch yesterday and it was divine. I love it, but know that it halts any progress I'm making, and will even trigger eating in excess to where I'll gain weight. It's sad but I have accepted it. If I eat it in small quantities with a meal, it's ok, but I really have to work to keep it in check.
What's your favorite cheese? How do you incorporate it? Do you see negative results when eating it?
Happy Halloween! Hope you are having some fun today. Passing out treats to anyone? The first picture is the costumes my kids have for this year. (Penelope's was just to help at Jiu-Jitsu).
Here are some my favorite costumes my kids have had over the years. Share below any costumes you have had from this year or previous years.
Happy Friday!! We are supposed to have a VERY rainy weekend here in Arizona, which is very rare for us. It might even mean that trick or treating is cancelled. 🎉😂 I always trade the kids for their candy anyway so fine by me if we don't even have to go out. Plus Penelope said she's too old for trick or treating and said she'll just skip it and take the money. 🤪😂
Other than that and church we have no plans this weekend, which I am excited about after a busy week. I might go get a day pass at a new gym that has a fancy steam room/sauna and cold plunge.
What are your plans for this weekend?
Happy Friday Evening Family!!
(Oh No! she's back!!) Sing some praises with me; the 2026 harvest is out of the field!! Farmer Hubby finished the corn today, the end in the rain. He ended up leaving a few rows in the field due to wet spots and steep new terraces; but the rest is out, including where the creek flooded and left logs/limbs. He got those picked up today.
You have no idea how grateful and relieved we are. This harvest kicked our behinds. We are getting older and the push and stress were something else. But now we're done. He'll clean up the combine and grain cart and truck and store them away for winter over the next few days/week. Then we'll concentrate on getting the cattle home and then winterizing what needs to be winterized.
Anywho... just wanted to report in that I'll be more "here."
Accountablility
Fresh air/sunshine/exercise/sleep
Not much/none (rain)/walking while doing errands/terrible with leg cramps for several hours.
Food
M1: Coffee and a chicken meat stick
M2: Carnivore...
