Hawaii is 2 weeks away!! AND it’s our first trip without Landon. I have never been away from him overnight. At first, as the trip got closer and closer I was having SO much anxiety about leaving him. Mostly just because I’m such a control freak and he and I are with each other ALL THE TIME so I know what all his little gibberish and hand signals mean.
He is in that crazy stage of toddlerhood where he really wants and tries to communicate but doesn’t have to vocabulary to get his point across. I think my bigger fear is that he’ll wake up in the middle of the night and I won’t be the one to comfort him and that’s when he’ll lose it. I know he’ll be fine, and maybe his first night will be tough but he will settle in, he’ll forget about it and he will have a GREAT time with his Nana, Papa and Aunties. Mom guilt, man! It’s the worst!
I have to say though, this morning, he woke up at 6:30am and all I could think was, “I CAN’T WAIT to sleep in for a week straight!” Hahaha! I know I’m going to miss him like crazy but I am ready for this vacation 🙂
And…Hawaii means bathing suits…(queue the scary music!) I haven’t put on a bathing suit since before I was pregnant and a few months ago, I was NOT excited about it. But, I’ve been working my butt off the last few months in regards to food & exercise. I’m still not 100% where I’d like to be but, what are you gonna do, I grew a child darn it! And that last little bit of fat in the mom tummy might never go away, no matter how many ab exercises I do. I will say, food makes a HUGE difference. I’ve been working out consistently for a few months but really paying attention to the food I eat for about a month now, and that’s when I started to see a big change in muscle tone. I’m focusing mostly on fruits, veggies and lean protein and if I do eat carbs, I make sure it is whole grains. And I’ve cut out dairy completely, except for the occasional piece of string cheese I steal from my toddlers plate 🙂 Oh, and sugar. This one is hard because there is sugar in E-VE-RY-THING! The only thing I haven’t given up that has sugar is my coffee creamer. I’ve tried so many and the one I use now is my favorite so I just threw up my hands on that one. You gotta live a little and to me, coffee is LIFE! Am I right?!?!
So, this salad! I’ve been making protein salads for lunch most days and this Steak Fajita salad is a favorite. It has super simple ingredients and fills you up to get you through the afternoon. Now, my hubby is allergic to avocado, otherwise I would absolutely put avocado on this salad, and I highly recommend that you do. That’s actually why I put cucumber on it, to replace that avocado, because let’s be honest, who puts cucumber on fajitas? Anyone???
Steak Fajita Salad
2 cups spinach
3 ozs cooked steak (I used flank steak)
1/2 red pepper, cut into strips
2 Tbsp chopped red onion
1/2 avocado, cut into chunks (I subbed cucumber for allergies)
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in halves
2 Tbsp raw pumpkin seeds
3 Tbsp Annie’s Green Garlic dressing
If you are prepping to take this with you for lunch, I typically chop all the veggies and toss them together in a Tupperware bowl, cook and chop the steak and place it in a Ziploc bag and pour some dressing into a small container and add it to the salad just before eating to keep things crisp and fresh.
If you guys like this, let me know! I have about 20 different protein salads that I make and would be happy to share them here 🙂
Enjoy!