Donuts, bagels, toast, pancakes, waffles, croissants, cereal, breakfast bars. These are the things we hear about when it comes to breakfast.
But here’s the problem.
Carbs for breakfast lead to a blood sugar crash followed by cravings throughout the day - setting yourself up for one bad choice after another.
Carbs for breakfast are typically the easiest choices, but not the best way to start our day.
And I get it. The carbs are comfort food.
But we need to get in the habit of loving foods that love us back - and not in the toxic cycle of eating bad foods for comfort or convenience and then wondering why we feel less than our best.
Planning ahead is so key. And I know this can be tough, especially on a busy schedule.
My favorite solution for a high PROTEIN breakfast is an egg bake. And it’s actually good enough to have for dinner if you really wanted to!
We’re currently still in farmers market season which is great for a lot of different reasons.
Local, organic & in-season foods are the most nutritious for us. And the farmers market is the perfect place to find these!
You also know you’re getting the freshest produce possible, and you’re supporting a small business rather than giving your money to the large corporations.
The most time consuming part of making an egg bake is simply the vegetable prep. The washing and chopping.
If you absolutely need to (depending on the day, the week, or just your season of life) you can purchase pre-washed, pre-chopped veggies from the store.
Here are some of my favorites to use.
- Spinach
- Sweet peppers
- Broccoli
- Tomatoes
- Mushrooms
Going to the farmers market also gives you a chance to try something you’ve maybe never heard of before!
I typically choose about 3 different kinds of vegetables, and then I choose a meat. Either bacon or mild Italian sausage.
I pre-cook the meat in a skillet on the cooktop, then I add in my veggies and sauté. Once that’s done, I whisk up a dozen eggs and combine it all in a 9x12 glass pan & bake at 400F for 35 minutes.
It’s so yummy! And so easy to grab and go!! It can be eaten hot or cold, and it’s soooo much better for you than your “typical” breakfast choices.
Plus it’s a super easy way to get vegetables in at the most difficult time of day to get your veggies in and like it.
We’ve all had a rough couple years from plans being cancelled, traditions being broken & loved ones afraid to be within 6 feet of each other.
Everyone’s mental health took a hit in one way or another. Things are finally starting to feel somewhat normal again, and now the “‘ber months” are here!
Some people — myself included :) — get REALLY excited for Halloween-time, fall, pumpkin spice & Christmastime.
*enter the haters who remind us "it’s still summer so stop talking about fall", or "we haven’t had Thanksgiving yet so stop talking about Christmas"*
Just let us have our excitement! Let us be happy! Don’t rain on our parade just because you’re not excited for summer to be over.
We are fully aware it’s still summer (we can’t wear our sweaters & Mocs comfortably yet), and we are more than aware Thanksgiving hasn’t happened yet.
But guess what — the earlier we start celebrating the holidays, the longer the holiday spirit and cheer lasts. And that’s good for the soul <3
If you ask me, getting in the holiday spirit early is a form of self care -- if that floats your boat.
Actual fall lasts all of about two seconds, and one month is not long enough to get all our spook-tacular clothes, movies & decorations out of our system. We’ve been waiting all year for this!
And then once Halloween is over, you’re telling me I have to wait almost another MONTH to show my excitement for Christmas?? Absolutely not! There are too many cookies to bake, sweaters to wear, movies to watch, songs to listen to & decorations to see!
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not putting my pumpkins away the moment Halloween is over, but mind your business if you hear me listening to Christmas music on November 1 while my house is still decorated for fall :)
What does this have to do with eczema, digestive health & a healthy lifestyle? Mind-body connection! If YOU are happy, every cell in your body knows it.
If you liked this article, please share it! And if you have any questions or comments, leave them below - I’d love to hear from you.
Whether you’re trying to ditch toxins in your household products or you’re battling eczema and need to find a clean option for hand soap, it can be very difficult to find a budget friendly and truly clean option.
When I first started trying new products that wouldn’t irritate my eczema, I was using Method hand soap. Come to find out, every single one of their options has fragrance in it. That’s your #1 red flag to put it back on the shelf.
Next I was using Seventh Generation Free & Clear. I was able to find it on store shelves, and it seemed to meet my standards. The issue was:
(1) Seventh Generation has been known to “greenwash” which means they make their products appear more clean than they actually are. I do still use Seventh Generation at times but try to find better options where available.
(2) The Free & Clear hand soap doesn’t come in a refill. This isn’t great for sustainability as far as plastic goes, but it also costs more to be buying the smaller size all the time.
I started buying Thieves Foaming Hand Soap which is still my absolute favorite, but we were going through it way too quickly for that to fit into our budget.
“There has to be a way for me to make my own hand soap,” I thought. So I did some research and this is what we’ve been using for going on a year with absolutely no problems:
2 Ingredient DIY Hand Soap
(This is the dispenser I use)
- 2 parts unscented Castile soap (Yes, UNSCENTED matters. This is the cleanest option.) Using the dispenser above I fill to 2 ounces.
- 10 parts water (Using the dispenser above I fill the rest to 12 ounces)
Shake it all up and that’s it! You can also add essential oils for fun, but I’ve found I prefer to leave the oils out and save those for my diffuser.
Give it a try and let me know what you think!
Okay so first let me say that a lot of my morning ritual has completely gone out the window since having a baby and that’s something I need to be okay with right now.
Health is a journey and we do our best in each season of life.
Right now my season of life requires late night and early morning feeding/pumping sessions. Now in order for me to keep my baby safe & not spill breast milk everywhere, I need to stay awake for those sessions.
This has resulted in coffee before protein in the morning and screens up until moments before I go to sleep — things I preach against for the sake of gut health.
Let me tell you from personal experience: your brain does not function properly on insufficient sleep. And your brain and your gut are connected by the vagus nerve which is vital to things like mood, digestion & immunity.
Yesterday morning I drowsily asked my husband to make coffee while I fed the baby. He reluctantly rolled out of bed and stumbled into the kitchen.
A few minutes later, he comes in to ask me “what vehicle” I wanted.
Excuse me, what?
I look at him like he’s crazy.
He looks at me like “how on EARTH do you not understand what I’m saying right now.”
“Um… if you mean what VEHICLE would I like my coffee in.. a mug please?”
Then he stomps away saying something about how I asked him to make breakfast and that’s what he was trying to do.
“No, darling. I just asked you to make coffee. I didn’t ask you to make breakfast. You’re not making any sense right now. Can I please just have a cup of coffee?” (Me- desperate for caffeine)
Later that day I reminded him of this silly question he asked me and he was like “yeah I don’t know what that was supposed to mean or where that came from.”
He also proceeded to tell me that when he went out to the kitchen, he got out a platter and some kind of supplement capsule. Which supplement? He had no idea.
Then this morning - after being woken up (too) early by a crying baby - I asked him, “can I have more phone?”
What was I trying to say? Two things: can I have my phone, and can I have more water.
The moral of the story is sleep is important. Your brain CANNOT function properly without it. So get your 8 hours if and when you can, and if you can’t - naps are your friend.
If you liked this article, please share it! And if you have any questions or comments, leave them below! I’d love to hear from you.
My favorite way to store fruits and veggies is in large glass mason jars. They are space-efficient, sustainable, chemical-free & aesthetically pleasing. You really can’t go wrong!
It also reminds you that you have fruits and veggies in the fridge to eat because they’re staring at you right in the face!
When it comes to things that take up more space like lettuce, you could still stick with the mason jar method (chop it up and toss it in there), but you’ll end up using several mason jars.
This might be a good thing for you because you already have pre-portioned salads at your fingertips! You could also just use a big glass bowl and store it all in one container.
If I’m crunched for time, I’ll admit I will just wash the lettuce leaves and throw them whole in a plastic storage bag with a paper towel (if it’s too wet in there, it will go bad more easily). I’ve tried the reusable storage bags, but they just didn’t work for me.
While it’s best to buy produce that is in season, I do have my favorites that I like to keep in the house.
- Lemon slices for my morning water (or fish dishes - yum!)
- Pineapple chunks for my morning smoothie and to put in my yogurt for a yummy snack!
- Celery to eat plain, dip into nut butter or veggie dip
- Carrots to eat plain, dip into veggie dip (or hummus, if you’re into that)
- Slices of cucumber I’ll sometimes eat like a cracker with cheese! (But also, sliced cucumber is a really easy veggie to add into a meal)
- Raw green beans that I always eat plain because they’re so yummy on their own!
- Honeydew melon or cantaloupe when I crave a sweet treat!
Unfortunately, sometimes these fruits/veggies just look plain sad (because they’re not in season) BUT the good thing about this is that variety is the spice of life (and a variety in diet makes for a healthier gut) so this forces me to find something else to hold me over for the week (or sometimes the season).
I am so glad farmers market season is coming up soon because that’s always where you’ll find the yummiest IN-SEASON fruits and veggies. If you can find an organic stand, that a double win.
Also, if you’re like me and get a little overzealous at the farmers market sometimes by overestimating how much you’ll actually eat during the week - throw your produce in the freezer instead of watching it go bad. That way you can either toss it in your smoothie, or throw it in the skillet while you cook dinner!
If you loved this blog post, there's more where that came from in my free Facebook group here. You'll want to get in there now because that's where I'll be launching a 5 Day Eczema Relief Training very soon!
Want to get a head start? You can also grab my new guide on 5 Steps to Taming an Eczema Flare Up here!
