Category Archives: Simply Delightful.

Just a little something pleasant…

Life Hack: Food & making more time.

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This winter life felt like one big ‘ol to do list. No matter what the line items were, even the good things, they felt like moments I had to get through just so I could move on to the next. It sounds so depressing when I say that, but in a way it really was. Week nights felt bogged down and packed full and the weekends were just as bad. The worst part was I didn’t know how to fix it and there wasn’t an end in sight.

Plus, when you add on goals and intentions for the year it became really easy to get overwhelmed. One of the areas that seemed to take up a lot of space was meals – what we were buying, prepping and eating throughout the week. Making sure most of the food that made its way into our mouths was healthy became a huge task and one that just didn’t feel like it could be tamed. I started dreading our weekly trip to the super market on Sundays and knew that my afternoon would be shot trying to get everything ready for the week ahead. This may sound a touch dramatic, but I promise it was how I felt. And, if you could have seen me thawing, washing, chopping, mixing, roasting and organizing I’m pretty sure you would have joined in with your own enthusiastic sigh.

By the start of May, Christian and I had committed to doing the 24 Day Challenge through Advocare (see note below) and the rules of eating got a little stricter than usual around our house, but in some ways it got easier. We had meal shakes every morning and leftovers at lunch. At least breakfast was taken care of, right? This is when I read a tip from Nicole over at a Life Less BS about her formula for healthy eating…

[I know this is a really long-winded way to get to the hack, but I think how we got there is what makes it so great]

Each day you aim to have one smoothie and one salad (the kitchen sink of meals, as she says, because just about anything can go in them). This may sound rudimentary, but just having the decision making taken out of two meals a day gives me an immense sense of relief. SERIOUSLY. I felt so much relief that I implemented it the next week.

But, it gets better. Instead of packing leftovers for lunch, we ate them for dinner either the next night or later in the week. I was now getting 2-3 meals out of each dinner I actually cooked. It was amazing.

Here’s what a typical meal plan looks like at our house right now:

Weekly Meal Plan

On Sundays, I’ll usually grill or roast a bunch of chicken for salads and chop up a couple of cucumbers & peppers to toss in salads as the week goes on. Other than that, there’s not much that goes into it.

So, for us, the hack is this: 

Smoothie for breakfast
+ Salad for lunch
+ Make dinner stretch for 2-3 meals during the week
———————————————————————-
= More hours in your day & a mostly healthy diet

It may not be rocket science, but it makes such a huge difference in how I feel about planning, prepping, making and eating. Give it a whirl, I promise you’ll love it just as much as we do. Unless, you’re one of those people who doesn’t eat leftovers… then, you’re on your own.

 

*Disclaimer: Since I’m all about being 100% real, after falling in love with Advocare’s 24 day challenge (amongst a plethora of other products) we’ve decided to become Advocare distributors. From here on out, links to Advocare will take you directly to our microsite. If you have any questions please feel free to shoot me an email. Thanks! 

Find your bliss.

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So, guess what? I’m doing something very exciting this year… very exciting. I’m going to…

Blissdom logo

in Dallas, in March, with Jessica. The night I bought my ticket I had to pinch myself and cross my legs to keep from peeing with excitement. I’ve wanted to go to a blogging conference for years and have just never done it. Well, 2013  is my year and here’s one big burst of joy to start it off right.

I’m already certain that I’ll be torn on what sessions to attend and hope that I don’t miss anything amazing. Next up, booking my flight and trying to contain the jazz hand, booty shakin’, jump around feeling I get each and every time I think about it.

Will you be at Blissdom?

Hello 2013, you look lovely.

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It’s 2013. Today. Thank the Lord above. While there were some notable moments in 2012, my overwhelming sentiment is that I’m so very thankful I never have to do that again. Between what seemed to be never-ending, country-wide violence, wading through the sads, and adjusting to a whole new way of life — I am, frankly, ready for a new year.

And, today, that’s what we all get! Hooray, wahoo… [jumps up and down while waving arms wildly through the air].

Part of that whole post on feeling happy has had to do with the hope I have for 2013, the hope for a better, happier, more fulfilling year living my life. The key here is “living my life”. This past year felt more like going through the motions, wading through each day and praying that the next day would be different. Which, is lame and depressing and not how I want to experience all that goes on around me. So, with the dawning of 2013 I am ready to live — deliberately.

I’ve done some work, er, some personal work. That makes me sound even crazier. I don’t know what you call it… but I’ve done some evaluating of 2012 – the things that went well, the things that didn’t. Made some resolutions/goals/intentions/desired feelings of what I want and would like to achieve in 2013. Set up  values, a theme and an action plan to take me through the new year. (All of this thanks to the wonderful Molly Mahar and her Holiday Council over at Stratejoy)

So here’s where it gets good… here’s what 2013 is about for me:

  • Health/Wellness

  • Intention

  • Joy

  • Determination

  • Bravery

And that theme, the guide through this coming year is….

My 2013 Theme: Authentically Inspired.

With each year gone by I’ve never felt the sense of relief or sheer joy for what lay ahead. But, 2013 is different. I’m excited, I’m inspired and I’m ready to do what it takes to make it great. Cheers to a brand spankin’ new year!

Our Christmas Card!

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I finally tucked away and widdled down all the Christmas card site and options that were striking my fancy. Which, for the record, happens to be about a million sites with about 4 billion options. It helped to have only one photo (ahem, the only one where we both look semi-presentable, without our eyes closed or some other ridiculous expression on our faces) so that I could eliminate all the layouts for multiple photos. Phew, saved myself hours upon hours of perusing and testing.

Which means… with a little help from Christian (didn’t want something *too* girly), we’ve ordered, addressed and sent our Christmas cards. So without further ado… Here it is! Tada! Our very first Christmas card as a married couple.

(p.s. Christmas Card Swooning)

Tis The Season.

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There is something magical about Christmas. The whole season makes walking into Target feel like something wonderful is about to happen. The chill in the air and the twinkly lights makes me giddy with joy. The faith that goes into that one day a year makes me feel heavy with anticipation on Sunday mornings.

So, here I am 6 days out from Halloween and I can’t stop thinking about Christmas cards. Since I’m a full-blown grown-up this year — with a house, husband, dogs… it’s probably time that I send out Christmas cards of my own. Not that I have a picture picked out or any real plans to take one. Isn’t that the point of Christmas card shopping? It’s with the best, most true intentions – beautiful natural backdrop, perfect happy smiles… then it gets down to the wire, you pick the photo of your family wearing Mickey Mouse ears at Disney World and call it a day.

Obviously I’m still in the beautiful intentions portion of this time-table. And, here’s what I’m dreaming over… I’ve narrowed it down from 44 to 6. If that tells you anything about my 1.) love of pretty designs and 2.) love of Christmas.

I’ll be spending the next couple weeks widdling 6 down to 1 — so stay tuned for the final pick! Do you send holiday cards? What’s your current favorite?

Life Listin’ – Update.

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I was meandering through my life list recently – after the launch of Go Mighty – when I realized that I’ve checked a few of those bad boys off over the past year. Here’s an update:

#24: Explore a shipwreck: In Turks and Caicos, for our honeymoon we went on a snorkel tour and ended up at a ship wreck. It was by no means the Titanic, but cool to see, nonetheless. Weathered boards jutting up from the sand, schools with millions of fish wandering in spirals and a barracuda leering from the underside of the deck. I’d say that pretty much covers the “explore a shipwreck” goal. Since, I’m currently thinking that scuba would be a poor decision for me (stuck under a bazillion gallons of water with only a little air tank? No thanks)… that’s about as good as it’s going to get.

#26: Attend at least 1 Canvas and Cocktails: Painting and cocktail classes are popping up everywhere these days and I so very badly wanted to do one. Last winter my friend Jacqui and our Mom’s did a girls day with lunch, cocktails and paintings. Then, this summer, I went again for my sister’s bachelorette party. Can’t say I’m an excellent artist, my OCD need to have it look exactly like the sample left me a little disappointed with my effort. Fun nonetheless!

#30: Go on a cruise: Last February, Christian and I… and his sister and her family and his parents (whew all 8 of us) took a 10 day cruise through the Caribbean. The weather wasn’t the best, but the Lobster was amazing. The rash I got all over my body itched real bad, but the beaches were beautiful. The stomach (death) flu I had on one of our only real beach days sucked something awful, but spending that vacation with family was worth it. To say it was an up and down trip would probably do it justice. We had so much fun, but there were some rough patches — including a moment of insanity when I felt like I’d been trapped indoors for days due to the crazy rocking of the boat and inability to even walk the decks. Ahem, where was I going with this? Oh yes. I checked it off — it was fun — I would do it again – maybe not in February.

#36: Try Yoga, both normal and Bikram: You can see the post I wrote on trying yoga out (both kinds) for the first time, here. I loved it and can’t figure out what took me so long!

#43: Get married and have a family: Well I’m half way there… I got married on October 8, 2011. The post I wrote for that day is brief, but here. It’s on my proverbial “to-do” list to get the rest of the wedding details up, but I haven’t had the energy to sort through approximately a million photos. I’ll get there someday, I promise! As far as a family… not there yet!

#54: Live Alone: I only did this for a short six months… but I loved it. If I had known how wonderful it was, I might have even done it sooner. But, then again, living with all my roommates over the years warranted some ridiculous stories that I wouldn’t give up for anything. If I had stayed single/un-married for longer I would live alone all the way. Trust me, it was amazeballs.

Hopefully 2013 holds even more excitement and even more check marks. I love check marks and doing cool things.

For the love of hand-lettering.

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There’s something about handcrafted things that just makes my heart crumble and my arms reach out to touch it. Knowing it was made with careful attention to detail and love that only things made from the heart have. Just glancing at these hand lettered prints by Lisa Congdon, I would absolutely adore having one to hang in the entry, or our bedroom, or the kitchen… or just about anywhere that I’ll see it regularly.

Maybe it’s because, after a year, I’m finally working on that whole making the house a home thing, but I can’t get enough of her work. I also can’t pick a favorite. Can you?

You can see the full collection and much more of her work on her website or check out some of the prints for sale in her Etsy shop.

 

P.S. I have absolutely no affiliation with the artist, just love her work. 

Something [excitedly] new.

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“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” – Confuscious

It’s been a little over six months since I up and quit my job. With the 1.5 hour daily commute, totaling my car in a snow storm and just general readiness to have a job that was semi-accessible from home, it was totally time. These past six months have harbored a spectrum of feelings I didn’t even know I had… trying to figure out this whole “being a wife” thing, exploring my next step in the corporate world, and just sort of figuring out how things work after the crazy, wonderful mess that was 2011.

Last Tuesday, I got the call. The call I’ve waited a couple of years to receive and more fervently waited these past few months. And hearing the words “We’d like to offer you the position” couldn’t have sounded better if I had dreamed them up on my own. But, there they were. There they joyously were. So, just like any school girl with a crush, I mumbled out a giddy “I accept” and went on to talk details. People, I have a job. A real job, not just a “stay at home dog mom” kind of job. There’s all kinds of opportunity and room for a good challenge – so wish me luck with a hefty “hell yeah” as I head back off into the world of black pants and blouses starting tomorrow.

 

Welcome to Life, Love & Garlic!

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Welcome to my new home here at Life, Love & Garlic – I’m so happy that you took a minute to stop by! It was definitely time for a change seeing as I’m not longer Megan A. Stout (and haven’t been for over eight months) and meganastecker.com just didn’t feel the same. Ya know?

Why Life, Love & Garlic, you’re wondering? The reason is pretty simple, I write about my life, the things I love and in case you haven’t been here before… I have a mild obsession with food. Garlic being one of my absolute favorites. The major change you’ll notice here at Live, Love & Garlic is the addition of my favorite recipes, what I’m currently cooking and a few more food related posts along with everything else going on in life.

If you want more of Life, Love & Garlic you can follow me on Twitter (@meganstecker) or check out my Instagram posts at @meganstecker. I’m also at Followgram if you don’t have Instagram on your phone!

Feel free to take a look around, everything from Meganastout.com is still here. In fact, if you subscribed to meganastout.com or added the old site to your RSS reader, if you would please take a minute to add my new site I’d be grateful! Simply click the RSS link to the right or manually add the URL (http://lifeloveandgarlic.com). Again, welcome!