Well if you saw my Instagram stories yesterday you know that today we are NOT going to Mexico as planned. If you didn't know, there was an escalation yesterday between the Mexican cartels and the police, specially in Puerto Vallarta, and the US is recommending not traveling to Mexico. Roads are being blocked and the airport in Guadalajara was attacked.
We were going to Cancun, which at this point has not been affected, however not knowing if things will continue to escalate around the country in the upcoming days, we decided it was safest to not travel to Mexico this week. As a pivot I was able to get a refund on our hotel and flights, and immediately rebooked us to go to Maui, Hawaii instead. 😂 So we still leave this morning for vacation, just do a different location. Sending lots of prayers to everyone in Mexico currently. 🙏🏼
I will check in when I can but honestly we plan to just really disconnect this week and spend time together as a family. I will resume morning posts on Saturday. I hope you have a wonderful week and am certain you will all continue to support each other this week in our absence. Have a wonderful rest of February!!
What is your non-negotiable for the 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?
We grabbed this copycat chipotle chicken from Costco the other day. It's very good and so easy to prepare. I use it as a side when I don't have one, or even make up a couple cheese shells and eat it that way. It has 3 carbs per serving and the ingredients aren't that great, but in life these days, you do what works and your body can work with. Pre cooked meats can be so convenient eating this way. I know some folks have to be more strict, but if it fits your goals and you can tolerate it, give it a try.
Are there any pre cooked meats you go to? Have you tried this chicken?
Happy Wednesday! Monday was Thanksgiving in Canada, so Happy Belated Thanksgiving to Veebs and all our other Canadian friends! 🦃🍗 We hope you had a wonderful Holiday spending time with friends and family.
For our American friends, how are you planning to spend our upcoming American Thanksgiving? Are you planning to be strict Carnivore, business as usual? Are you planning to be a bit more relaxed and maybe have some keto/low carb foods? Or just have carbs and all your same old traditional foods you usually have? No judgement, we all have to know what we can handle and what works for us. What's your plan?
