If I’m being totally honest, meal planning (mostly suppers) is a challenge for me. Especially now that we have kids.  Finding healthy, clean recipes that the twins will also eat is no easy task. Sometimes we modify meals for them which I’m totally fine with. For example, I might make some pasta or potatoes to go with their salmon instead of the giant Kale salad Ron and I are eating. Or mini homemade pizza’s with the same toppings that we’ll have in our stuffed peppers. The boys are pretty good with trying new things but sometimes not as excited as I hoped they would be about that awesome new casserole I was so eager to make. Anyone relate?!

Our family eats oatmeal on repeat for breakfast every day day with the exception of waffles or a bagel with fruit a couple times a week for the twins to switch it up. We normally eat different versions of salad’s for lunch and the twins currently rotate between grilled cheese, and peanut butter sandwiches 😛 with a side of fruit or veggies! The most important thing we keep in mind with our planning is that everyone is having healthy balanced meals with the correct servings of veggies, fruit and protein. It’s definitely not always perfect but we try!

Since my goal this past weekend was to find a few fun new supper recipes for the fall that are delicious yet still healthy, I thought it might be fun to share this weeks meals with you!

Monday:

Stuffed Pepper Caserole

Tuesday

Salmon and Autumn Kale Apple and Quinoa Salad

Wednesday

Chicken Fajita Sweet Potatoes

Thursday

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Friday

Healthy Turkey Chilli

Thanks for reading! To grab one of these awesome menu planner notepads, with a tear off grocery list (my FAV part of it!!)  head over to Jack and Ella Paper and use discount code NATALIE20 for 20% off your order from now until Monday Oct. 31st! I just LOVE this planner so much as it makes meal planning more fun but it also pays off huge to be organized and prepared for the week ahead!

Fun traditions that we started in the boys first year keep getting more and more fun as the years go on. While we were at the orchard picking apples on Monday, we were laughing about how we lugged our 1 month old twins there 3 years back. Ya we were completely crazy. They screamed for most of it and we had to change two poops in the back seat of our car.  But we were so excited to finally have a family to do fun things like this with so we made it happen! This year, the boys were talking about apple picking for about 3 weeks leading up to it. Maybe because I kept reminding them that fall is the BEST SEASON EVER and talking about all the fun things we would be doing or maybe it’s because they actually think it’s so much fun! Either way, we’ll be dragging them to the orchard even when they’re teenagers because we’re awesome parents like that. 😉

We met Ron over his lunch hour and it didn’t take long to fill a bag! The twins ran from tree to tree asking to be lifted for the perfect ones they found that were sooooo high! They both got a kick out of the second last picture below of Ron holding Sky up in the tree because “it looks like he lost his head in the tree” they said.

So far we’ve been eating apples for breakfast lunch and dinner and we’ve made one apple crisp! The twins are determined to make a pie this weekend so we may try that! Lot’s more baking is going to take place in order to get through this big bag of apples!

Happy Thanksgiving weekend! xoxox 

Happy Birthday my 3 year olds. The two little souls that are responsible for making me a mama. I can’t believe how the years are just flying. Yesterday I was getting so emotional looking back at your newborn photos but even though I keep not wanting each stage to end, truly every new stage is better than the one before.  It seems to get more and more fun as you get older and become two little people with unique personalities. You’re both such joyful little boys and make people smile wherever we go.

I love that you’re my little buddies now and we can have conversations about the world while we’re driving in the car. You’re both so observant and inquisitive. Both of you love sports like your daddy.  Golfing is your favourite. You currently ask to go mini-golfing about two times a day and apparently you both want to be pro-golfers as a profession? Ok, we’ll see about that.

The bond you share with each other is the best part of who you are. The gift of being twins is such a special thing and you are so close and loved by the other in such a unique and special way. It’s the coolest thing to watch.

Even though you both agree now that you’ll stay with me and snuggle me forever, I know that one day I’ll have to let you go. That you’ll spread your wings and fly and whether you’re near or far, I’ll be standing on the sidelines cheering you on.  But for right now, I will cherish these special moments the Lord has given me to be a vital part of your lives. To love you, to guide you and to enjoy each moment and stage of life with you.

As I tell you each night before “covering you in” as you both call it, I love you to the moooooon and back! So so excited to celebrate you both today Skyler and Bryson. Happy 3rd Birthday. xoxoxox

Outfits: Leggings – Os and Oaks,  shirts – Whistle and Flute,  Denim shirt – Carters

When I was at the market last Sat with my friend Stace, she mentioned this amazing zuccini ravioli she’s made a few times. We eat a lot of zuccini in our home so I grabbed a couple and attempted it first chance I had! It was amazing. The recipe is from Delish and I found it really helpful to follow the directions on the video when it came to slicing and wrapping the ravioli!

Here’s what it’s made of:

3 medium zucchini

2 c. riccotta

1/2 finely grated parmesan, plus more for garnish.

1 /2 c of shredded mozzerella

1 1/2 c marinara sauce

1 egg lightly beaten

1/4 garlic clove, minced

1/4 cup of thinly sliced basil

kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a large baking dish with olive oil.
2. Make the Noodles: Slice two sides of each zucchini lengthwise to create two flat sides. Using a vegetable peeler, slice each zucchini into thin flat strips, peeling until you reach the center. These are your “noodles.”
3. Make the Filling: Combine ricotta, parmesan, egg, and 2 tablespoons basil in a medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Assemble the Ravioli: Lay two strips of zucchini noodles so that they overlap lengthwise. Lay two more noodles on top, perpendicular to the first strips. You should end up with a “T” shape. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of filling in the center of the zucchini. Bring the ends of the strips together to fold over the center, working one side at a time. Turn the ravioli over and place in the baking dish seam-side down. Pour marinara sauce around the zucchini. Top ravioli with mozzarella. Bake until the zucchini noodles are “al dente” and the cheese is melted and starting to brown on top; 20 to 30 minutes.
5. Top with more basil and parmesan and serve.

From Delish.

My best friend Britt was telling me last week about how she had recently been going through her house and getting rid of A LOT! I told her I had been doing the same, trying to tidy and get rid of some things as fall approached. But she said that she was REALLY scaling back and wanting to live a real minimalist lifestyle, getting rid of so many of the kids toys and things that she had been hanging onto “in case”.

Well shoot. I have way too many “in case” bins in my basement so this sounded so intriguing. I HATE clutter, like despise it. But for some reason I can never seem to get away from it. It follows me everywhere, in every area of my life. My closet, my inbox, our SUV, the twins playroom, our kitchen (probably the worst!), our front closet, my computer desktop etc., etc., etc.,  Clutter. Everywhere. I’m one of those people who can’t think and my creativity is stunted when I’m surrounded by clutter so what do I do? I hide it. I shove it in drawers and folders and pack it away in closets to deal with later. Our house doesn’t look cluttered from the outside. In fact it almost always looks tidy and minimal. But don’t open any cupboards or drawers because I never actually get rid of most of it. :S :S :S

So earlier this week, I was sorting through the twins fall wardrobe, taking out what didn’t fit them anymore and ordering some new items online. I went down to the basement with a pile of clothing to add to the “2 year old bin” and I impulsively dumped about 80% of all the clothes I was hanging onto out of the bins and brought them to the local Good Will. I set aside one box for consignment and picked out my absolute fav items in case we have another baby boy some day but everything else GONE. I was nervous at first as I handed the bins over to the man in the unloading garage. This isn’t new for me. I often make trips to good will with “small” bags of things but nothing this drastic. :S And let me tell you, I drove out of the parking lot feeling SO good, so much lighter, like I had dropped a bunch of weight.

SO I decided I need to do more of this. A LOT more of it. I’m dedicating the month of September to de-cluttering my life. Literally every area of it….my closet,  the toy room, my kitchen cupboards, my computer, and yes even my calendar. I want less clutter in all areas of our lives and more doing life with intention. For some reason September has always felt more like the start of a new year to me than January anyway so I always love using this month to get organized and prepared for the seasons ahead. So who’s with me?  I’ve created a 20 day checklist that I’ll be starting today, yes on a Friday because there is no better time to start then now right?! Just one thing a day to keep me going with what I have started. Some days will take a minute, some maybe an hour. If you want to join me, download my 20 day minimalist challenge HERE! !

Happy minimalizing! xo