Anytime I get a chance to walk my dogs leash free I love to see the excitement in their faces.

It's always a mix of "Woohoo!" and "Are you really trusting us not to run away?" The funny thing is they have two different personalities when the leash comes unsnapped.

Rutledge stays right by my side constantly looking at me making sure that I am right there, seeking praise for not running off from me. He is older, content with his life, and has no desire to run ahead of me at all, he is simply happy to be walking by my side and sniffing bushes as we go ( smiling the whole time.)

Amos on the other hand is younger, still figuring out all the world has to offer him. He is more curious and needs explorations and new smells to satisfy him. He thrives on running full speed (literally, he can run as fast as 33 mph) and feeling like he has a little bit of freedom away from me. So when the leash is off, he takes off fast and furious with his ears flopping in the wind. You would think he was never coming back. But then, once he doesn't feel my presence anymore he stops and turns around to look for me and waits until I get closer. He needs the reassurance that he is still going in the right direction.

I had never really thought about the correlation between what Amos does on his walk and what I do in my own life with God until my mom and I had a conversation about a week ago.

PostedFebruary 25, 2014

AuthorLeigh Ann Chatagnier

CategoriesLife

Tagslife, trust, reassurance

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I've been dreaming of summer for a while now. Warm sun on my skin, sandals and pretty painted toes, tank tops and sundresses, long walks in the evening as the sun sets, porch swing sittin' with a glass of crisp white wine, and food at its peak, full of freshness.

And I just couldn't bring myself to make another winter meal. I am over it, the coldness in the air and the heaviness of the meals. So as I dreamt of being somewhere tropical, this recipe was born.

It's the same components as a normal tostada, but with a Caribbean twist! It was a breath of fresh air in every way! The colors scream summer and freshness. The pork is tender, sweet, spicy, and juicy, piled on top of fresh lettuce and black beans topped with creamy avocado and fresh pineapple pico to bring it all home...good golly miss Molly it's delicious!

And my mouth is watering again...

You are going to have to make this. It will seriously cure those winter blues you are having! Plus the hard part is done in the crock pot, so it's great for any weeknight! I'm going to stop blabbering about it, because I'm pretty sure you get the point and are ready for the recipe! So here you go!

PostedFebruary 20, 2014

AuthorLeigh Ann Chatagnier

CategoriesDinner

TagsJerk, Pulled Pork, Tostadas, Cleaneats, Healthy

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Maybe I've been under a rock or maybe it's a fairly new food to be introduced, but either way black rice is news to me.

I just recently saw it popping up here and there and decided I would give it a try for myself to see if I liked it. I did some research and turns out black rice is an up in coming superfood that we should be incorporating in our diets on a regular basis. Hmmm...tasty and nutritious...sign me up.

Just in case you didn't know, because I sure didn't know, black rice contains the same antioxidant found in blueberries, blackberries, and other purple foods. It actually contains more of the antioxidants if you were to compare spoonful to spoonful, but with added fiber, lower sugar, and more vitamin E! Whaat?? That's crazy, and really cool in my book because we cook rice in my house pretty frequently. It's name forbidden rice comes from the fact that in ancient China, only emperors and nobles were allowed to eat it and it was forbidden to any commoners. As you can see, I learned A LOT!

But anyway, on the recipe. I thought it would pretty delicious to make a salad out of it for lunches or to serve with a piece of fish for dinner. So I did just that. This salad is packed full of good for you stuff including all kinds of veggies, healthy oils, and herbs.

I'm going to go ahead and call it. Black rice and I have a lot more experimenting to do! Apparently it's great for rice puddings and other desserts as well due to it's slightly sweet and nutty flavor. Who knows maybe I'll try that next! For now, I'm going to stick to adding it in throughout the week when I need a good side dish!

It was delicious, had great texture, and with all the veggies added it really was loaded with tons of extra nutrients.

PostedFebruary 17, 2014

AuthorLeigh Ann Chatagnier

CategoriesSide Dishes

Tagsblack rice, salad, healthy, cleaneats, gluten free

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Does this sound familiar?

It's Monday morning and you are supposed to be starting your week off right. Problem is you are in a hurry and ended up eating a granola bar that only stayed with you for 30 minutes and has led to eating 2 more snacks before lunch. I have been there plenty of times!

Not a great start to your "plan" for the week. But don't fret over one mishap in your week, just make these Huevos Rancheros ahead of time and your breakfast for the rest of the week will be covered keeping you full until lunch time rolls around!

Huevos Rancheros happens to be one of my favorite breakfasts, however I tend to not make it very often, especially during the week because it requires several assembly and prep steps. So I thought why not make these ahead of time, and all the work will be done and I'll get to have a healthy and satisfying breakfast every day that's ready when I am!

It's really the perfect breakfast because it's the complete balance of carbs, protein, and veggies all in one leaving you feeling full of energy and ready to tackle any morning.

After all breakfast is the most important meal of the day, why not make it special?

PostedFebruary 14, 2014

AuthorLeigh Ann Chatagnier

CategoriesBreakfast

Tagshuevos rancheros, healthy, clean eats, breakfast

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So listen, I can resist brownies. I can resist cake. I can resist pie. I can resist all of these if I am being really healthy. But let me tell you what I cannot resist no matter how hard I try...SHORTBREAD COOKIES!!

I become a crazy person around these cookies. I lose all discipline and sanity when these cookies are around. I suddenly forget any goals I had for the week and don't care how many calories these cookies have, I will eat them anyway! Multiples even.

I may or may not have eaten four of them the first day and maybe then again on the second day that these cookies hung around my house. And then I may have had to give the rest to the neighbors because if I didn't get them out of my sight, I was pretty close to pulling a Miranda from Sex and the City when she put the chocolate cake in the trash and then got it back out and ate it anyway! Oh yeah, that is where I was headed...

Why then you might ask would I make these addicting cookies when I knew I was headed into temporary insanity ? Well...that's a good question. One that I asked myself during the whole time I was baking them. I was actually trying to talk myself out of making them even as I was getting the ingredients together.

But...nevertheless I made them and ate them, and you know what? Turns out I don't regret it at all because every slightly sweet, buttery, flaky bite was totally worth it!

PostedFebruary 11, 2014

AuthorLeigh Ann Chatagnier

CategoriesDessert

Tagscookies, shortbread, valentines day, sex and the city

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Valentine's Day.

A single day where we are supposed to tell and show the person we love how much they mean to us.

An unexpected gesture, a gift, a night out at a fancy restaurant...I guess all of this shows someone that you love them?

Personally for me, I use Valentine's Day as an excuse to eat as much chocolate as I want and I like to pretend the calories don't count. That IS how it works you know. Holidays cancel out calories.

I don't really need an extravagant gift, an overpriced dinner, or any more affirmation of how much Canean loves me for this one day just because it is Valentine's Day. He tells me everyday that he loves me and does sweet things to show me how much I mean to him. I hope that I in return also show him on a daily basis how much I love him and what his love means to me.

Don't get me wrong it is still nice to have a little Valentine's surprise or a sweet little note left for me in the morning, but that's all I really need. The point I am trying to make is we should all be showing our significant others how much they mean to us every day, not just because a holiday tells us to or reminds us that we should.

PostedFebruary 10, 2014

AuthorLeigh Ann Chatagnier

CategoriesLife

TagsValentine's Day, love, chocolate

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