How my love of cooking and exercise started and evolved and what we eat for breakfast!

I started to love cooking in college.  It was never anything healthy...manicotti, stir fry (not the healthy kind), lots of grilling, etc.  I have always loved trying new recipes.  When the twins were born, we were not eating great.  Lots of eating out or ordering in.  We didn't exercise except for pushing twins in a giant double jogger!  I did nurse all 3 boys for a year, so that definitely helped with losing the baby weight but our diet wasn't great.  When our 3rd son was born and the twins were 2, we decided we need to get a hold on our health.  We joined Cooper Aerobics, the founding father of Aerobics.  We joined mainly because they had awesome childcare and when you have 3 kids under 3, you need awesome childcare.  I started going to the gym on a regular bases mainly because it meant I had an hour to myself!  I immediately got addicted to working out.  Over the last 9 years I have been a consistent exerciser.  My workouts have changed over the years.  I have done zumba, spin, aerobic classes, personal trainers, and bootcamps.  About a year and half ago I decided to leave Cooper and started Crossfit and loved it!  I am still at Crossfit FXTX but I do a cross between Crossfit and Bikini fitness.  I feel more comfortable in my own skin than I have ever before!

Ok, back to food.  When we started eating healthier, I cooked out of Cooking Light cookbooks a lot!  We counted our calories, eating about 1700 calories a day, at times I was down to 1200 calories!  Not enough..  I was always thin but muscle tone was not there.  Plus I was hungry!  I was eating a lot of empty calories that did not keep me full.  When we joined Crossfit I learned a lot about eating!  I was not open to eating Paleo, but after researching more and more we decided to give it a try.  We have become a Paleo family and the kids do great with it!  I'm eating more than I have ever had and I am hardly ever hungry.  We eat whole foods with lots of protein and fats.  They are not perfect but who is!  I can go more into how to feed kids at another time.  Food and exercise is a large part of our families conversation.  Our kids know the importance of being healthy.  God says: Do you know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?  You are not your own; you were brought at a price.  Therefore honor God with your bodies.  1 Corinthians 6:19-20.

On to what we have for breakfast.  We eat a lot of eggs!  When I need something that doesn't require thinking, its usually eggs, some kind meat, and a veggie.  For meats, it could be ham, sausage, chorizo (a family favorite), or....Bacon!!! Yes we eat bacon!  For veggies, we usually have leftovers from dinner or I cook up something.  Spinach is good morning vegetable if you don't have anything already cooked because it cooks in about 3 minutes.  Spinach tip:  If you have never sautéed spinach, put a spray of coconut oil in a pan and add a lot of fresh spinach.  It cooks down a lot!  Please do not overcook your spinach so it looks like it just came out of a can!  Yuck!  Just cook it enough that it has wilted.  Add some salt, and your done!

Today I made sweet potato pancakes.  Sweet potatoes have more fiber, vitamin A, lower in carbohydrate, lower on the glycemic index, and are a strong anti-inflammatory.

So here's the recipe for the pancakes. I tripled our recipe.  We have 3 boys that eat a lot and I like to have leftovers.  This recipe is from 

Practical Paleo. I take no credit for this recipe... just sharing what I found!

2 cups shredded sweet potatoes.  I used my food processor and it was super quick.   I did this the night before.

3 eggs

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1/4 salt

2 teaspoons coconut flour

Mix everything but the sweet potatoes in a bowl. Then add in the sweet potatoes.  Heat a pan at medium high heat, just like if you are making pancakes.  Add a couple of tablespoons of coconut oil to the pan.  Scoop about a 1/4-1/3 cup of sweet potato mixture and form into a pancake with your hands.  Cook on both sides until brown.  I like them crispy so I leave them on a little longer, plus they hold together better if you leave them on longer.  

The boys ate there's with butter and syrup.  

Y'all have a blessed day!