Happy Halloween! How many of you are planning on dressing up and/or getting festive today??
Well, I’ll be attempting to dress both of the boys up a couple of times today so we’ll have to see how that pans out. I’ve got a couple of backup costumes for Lucas, just in case he refuses his Paw Patrol costume once again.
Lucas has a Halloween party at his daycare today, so I offered to sign up for a couple of (attempted) fun and festive snacks.
Nothing fancy but, hey, the kids should like ‘em, right??
That’s about as festive as we’ve gotten this year (outside of decorating the house) and I’m okay with it. There’s always next year to carve a pumpkin, right?
As for the rest of the weekend, it was pretty much the same as they have been lately (spent at home), but it was good. I did my best to stay away from social media for as much as I could, to avoid feeling the need to be out doing all. things. Halloween., especially since we still had a sick babe on our hands.
Thankfully, he actually slept fairly well on Saturday night so we all awoke on Sunday feeling a bit more refreshed (it was NEEDED!). So we celebrated with coffee and cinnamon buns because, why not?
I also swept the kitchen floor and underneath a lot of stuff I usually avoid in my “quick sweeps” and the results were both rewarding and absolutely disgusting.
Lucas and I also had a date at the grocery store and he was quite the big helper. Usually I like my grocery shopping time as my quiet time, but I was feeling like we needed some 1 on 1 time, since I’ve been having to devote a lot of attention to little brother lately.
Thankfully, he doesn’t hold it against him too much. <3
And when mommy is busy taking care of Alex, daddy comes in and saves the day with a makeshift, cardboard car ramp.
Hey, who needs toys when you have cardboard, right? HA!
Dinner was also absolutely DELICIOUS on Sunday evening, thanks to these delicious steak, pear, and cranberry salads.
I got the idea for the recipe from HERE, which is one of the amazing recipes that is part of The Beef Checkoff and their 30 Day Protein Challenge.
**The following portion of this post is sponsored by The Beef Checkoff and The Motherhood!**
And speaking of…about a month ago, you may remember that I decided to take part in the 30 Day Protein Challenge from The Beef Checkoff.
I knew that my protein intake could use some help, especially on busy days when I usually just want to reach for a quick snack of carbs. So I tried to focus on getting in a decent amount of protein not only at each of my 3 meals everyday, but also for my daily snacks, too.
What Have I Been Eating?
Some of my favorite snacks these days? When I’m home, I’ll often cook up an egg and top with some salsa. I’ve also been obsessed with almonds lately, too.
Nut butters have also been huge on the snack list (then again, when are they NOT)? I’ll usually pair them with apples, bananas, rice cakes, graham crackers, celery…chocolate chips, a spoon. Basically, anything.
And then there’s the Lenny & Larry’s Pumpkin Spice Cookies that I’ve become obsessed with, too. Are they cleanest, healthiest choice I could be eating? No. But I could certainly be doing worse! And they taste delicious, so there’s that.
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Breakfasts have typically included either eggs, oatmeal, or toast with peanut butter and bananas. I say “typically” because, well, you saw my Sunday morning breakfast up there. 
Lunches are all over the place. I made chili a couple of weeks ago, other days I try to make use of dinner leftovers. Whatever it is, I just try my best to make sure that the protein is there.
Dinner is probably the easiest meal for me to get my protein in, and as you can see, we’ve enjoyed quite a few delicious meals that incorporate healthy, lean beef.
Slow Cooker Beef and Beans Chili
Burrito Bowls made with lean ground beef
Cheeseburgers made with 90% lean ground sirloin
Grilled marinated sirloin steak
How Do I Feel After the 30 Days?
Well first things first…this challenge was in no way a means to try and lose weight, or diet, or anything like that. My biggest goal was to try and see where I could improve my intake of protein and to see how adding protein steadily throughout the day would have an effect on me.
One big thing I noticed? On the days where I start out with sugary foods, those tend to be the foods that I wind up craving more throughout the day. But when I start my day with something like eggs or oatmeal topped with peanut butter, I found that I’m definitely more likely to reach for healthier choices throughout the day.
I also noticed that on the days where I was getting enough protein, it was keeping me feel MUCH better and I wasn’t finding myself thinking about food all that much in between meals (which is very odd for me…food is high on the priority list over here).
So What Now?
Now that my 30 days are technically up, I still fully intend on keeping up with the protein intake and trying to come up with more yummy ways to incorporate it throughout my day. If you’re also look for ideas, The Beef Checkoff has a great list of resources for adding protein to your meals, as well as a great protein cheat sheet to see just how much protein is in an average serving of many foods. There are so many benefits of protein!
How Can You Join The 30 Day Protein Challenge?
The 30 Day Protein Challenge (developed by The Beef Checkoff!) is a fun, step-by-step 30-day plan to help you get a balanced amount of protein at each meal. You keep track of your food, hunger and moods to see how simple diet changes can make a difference in your overall health and wellness for 30 days and beyond.
Joining is easy! Click here to join the Protein Challenge! When you join, you’ll receive goals, tips, and inspiration to keep you on track, and you can even share your progress and engage with other Protein Challenge participants on social media using #ProteinChallenge.
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Alright my friends, that about wraps it up for me today! Be sure you’re following along on Instagram since I’ll (hopefully!) be sharing some pics of the boys all dressed up! <3
Disclosure: This post is brought to you by The Beef Checkoff and The Motherhood. All opinions are my own.
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