Five on Friday!

Yay for the first 5 on Friday of the year! I can’t believe we have been hosting this link-up for more than 3 years now. I think this is my 158th Five on Friday post! I always look forward to writing these posts and I hope you still love them too! 

one. We recently added two perfect little plant stands to the corner of our dining room and I am obsessed. They were custom made locally by Sweet Southern Sawdust and stained to match our floor. I cannot believe how gorgeous they turned out. If you’re local, I highly recommend checking Kristen’s shop out (Facebook | Instagram)! She has so much more in her shop too. Also, I’d like to give myself a round of applause for keeping this fiddle leaf fig (gifted by my bestie Laura) alive!

 

Stands | Pots | Fiddle Leaf Fig

two. Matt and I took the kiddos to see their first movie — Coco! It was the best idea and the worst idea ever. Caroline was in absolute heaven. She was glued to the movie the entire time and LOVED every single minute. Thomas on the other hand was a disaster. He sat through one bag of popcorn and all the previews, but once the movie started and his popcorn ran out he was ALL over the place and had to be escorted out of the theater almost immediately. So yeah, Caroline and I had a blast while Thomas and Matt walked around South Park for two hours.

three. I found a life changing pair of leggings. I’ve been wanting a nice pair of Spanx leggings for awhile now but could never bring myself to splurge on a pair. And then something magical happened…Spanx came out with an Assets line that is sold at Target!!!! I bought a pair of tights and a pair of leggings. The leggings get an A+++++++ and are hands down the best leggings I’ve ever owned. They suck you in but are still comfortable and are extremely soft. The tights on the other hand were a fail for me but according to the reviews I’m in the minority.

four. Remember when we thought Caroline would never grow hair? Well girlfriend is now rocking one heck of a pony tail. She looks so much older and it KILLS me.

five A. Matt and I started Whole 30 Light this week. I’m calling it the “Light” version because we are following all the rules…but allowing alcohol on the weekends. I know that is completely against the entire point of the diet, but we are dieting for weight loss and not necessarily the reset cleanse. And although it’s only been a week we have seen tremendous results in our energy. I also haven’t missed any food because all of our meals have been RIDICULOUS so far. For example, my usual breakfast would be an egg sandwich, but on Whole 30 Light we’re eating THIS for breakfast…

This recipe is straight out of the Whole30 cookbook but I added tomatoes and avocado. 

 

Sweet Potato Breakfast Stacks

Ingredients

2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into ½” rounds (I buy the pre-diced potatoes)
sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste
4 slices of bacon
2 tsp rice wine vinegar
4 large eggs
2 cloves of garlic, minced
4 cups of baby spinach

1/2 cup diced cherry tomatoes

1 avocado

Instructions

1. Add the olive oil to a non stick skillet. Season the sweet potato rounds with salt and pepper and.cook them until they are fork tender – about 3-4 minutes on each side. Set aside and cover with foil while you prepare the toppings.
2. Place the bacon in a non stick skillet and cook until it is crispy.
3. Add the rice wine vinegar to a pot of boiling water. Break the eggs into a small bowl and gently add them to the boiling water. Remove from the heat and cover. 

4. While the eggs are cooking, remove most of the bacon grease from the pan and add the garlic and cook for about a minute. Add the tomatoes and cook for 3 minutes. Add spinach to the pan and allow it to wilt.
5. Place the sweet potatoes on serving plates and top with a slice of bacon, spinach, tomatoes, avocado and one soft boiled egg.

five B. I know a lot of you are also doing Whole30 so I thought I’d share our other meals from this week because I am obsessed with reading these types of posts right now. For breakfast each morning we’ve been eating a simplified version of the recipe above (sweet potatoes topped with scrambled eggs and bacon) — made in bulk and prepped for the entire week. Whole30 is a TON of cooking so I try to prep as much as possible at once. For lunch we eat leftovers from the previous night’s dinner.

week 1 dinners:
Monday: Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Chili
Tuesday: Baked Pesto Salmon with Kale Chips
Wednesday: Avocado Chicken Salad
Thursday: Ground Turkey Taco Bowls with Spanish Cauliflower Rice
Friday: Trader Joes Chili Lime Burgers with veggies