Protein Pancakes!

So, as a mom of 2 boys I'm always trying to find healthy versions and alternatives to our everyday food.

You know, like trying to sneak veggies into their spaghetti or making turkey burgers instead of hamburgers.

But out of all the meals I've experimented with, this one has been an all ALL TIME HIT.

You would never think throwing together these 3 ingredients would still make pancakes taste like pancakes... But they do.

My family has these at least 2-3x a week, and I don't feel guilty about that.

Here are the ingredients...

8 egg whites
2 heaping tablespoons of cottage cheese
1/2 cup oats
*Vanilla or cinnamon optional

Mix all ingredients in a blender (putting egg whites in first).

Pour onto skillet.

Topped best with PB, banana, and 100% maple syrup.

YUM!!

Leave me a message & let me know how you liked it!

xoxo, Jessica

Costco grocery list & shopping tips

So, on my way to Costco this past time, I realized that we honestly get the same exact things every time we go. I don't usually bring a list anymore because we stick with the basics and we know what works the best for us. 

AND, so many of y'all ask what we eat all the time! It's really simple! But here is some pictures to help you! 

Now, we don't get every thing on each picture every time we go. Most of the stuff can last us a good long while. But we do choose at least 2 or 3 to have in the house all the time. 

We are on the go a lot, so for K1, these are snacks that we keep handy and can grab quickly on the way to church or out for the day. 

Veggie Straws

Organic Z bars

Organic Variety Pack Snacks

Organic Animal Crackers

Personally, I feel that Costco has more organic snacks than any other place. Plus, buying in bulk always saves you money IF you eat it quite a bit.

Here is the protein we always get.

10 lb bag of Chicken

Turkey Burgers

Salmon Burgers (we go between that and Tilapia)

Ground Turkey

This lasts us a GOOD WHILE, so we do not buy meat but about once a month IF that. 

Here is the list of dairy items we always have on hand. (technically almond milk is not dairy.)

Cottage Cheese 

(we like to add fruit to it & make protein bowls which is egg whites, PB and cottage cheese)

Greek Yogurt

Eggs (we buy 7 1/2 dozen)

Organic butter

Almond Milk

One other one to add would be mozzarella. 

Then here are all the vegetables/beans we stock up on. 

Asparagus

Organic Mixed Vegetables

Organic Baby Spinach

Peppers (the small or big kind)

Black beans

Organic broccoli

Cucumbers

These are the carbs we buy.

Sweet Potatoes

WW tortillas (you can also do WW bread or WW english muffins)

Almonds

PB (try and get natural- less sugar)

Quinoa

Salsa

Brown Rice

Olive Oil

And LAST thing we always pic up is two or three from this list. You can pick any kind of fruit but these are our favorite!

(Avocado should have been on the good fat list, haha)

Few tips for buying in BULK:

1. It only helps to buy in bulk IF you know you are going to eat it all. Otherwise, you will have a lot of food that will go bad. 

2. If you know something will go bad QUICK, eat THAT first. We've paid the consequence for this a few times. Don't put it in a drawer of a fridge otherwise you'll forget it's there! aka peppers, haha!

3. Plan your list before you get in there. Otherwise you might go a little crazy... just speaking from experience. Look in your cabinets before you go & plan out your meals for the week.

4. Don't be afraid of buying meat and produce there. It used to be scary to buy those items there but now it's one of the best and most popular places to buy meat and produce. And costco has a LARGE variety of organic and grass fed meat. They also call your cell phone if there is ever a recall on ANYTHING. We've been members there for a long time and they have only called us one time. 

5. Take a calculator to keep track of what you are spending!! Even though it's a warehouse where you can get a lot of items for a discounted price, it doesn't mean that it's rock bottom prices. Things can add up quickly, so just like I said before, make sure you only go in there to get what you NEED so you don't overspend. 

6. CLEAN OUT your fridge and freezer BEFORE you head out. Get rid of all old leftovers and food that is about to go bad. You will need room to put all your groceries in and you definitely don't want to have to come home and rearrange the entire fridge. 

4 weeks of CLEAN EATING ONLY

I'm really excited about sharing with you my journey back to my pre-pregnancy weight. 

The good, the bad, AND the ugly.

I gained a little over 50 lbs with this baby (my 2nd) and I have 20 lbs left to lose to get back to 115, which is where I originally started. 

Unlike my first, I worked out almost every single day AND ate as clean as I could (minus the first few weeks due to EXTREME morning sickness.) And even at that I STILL gained over 50 lbs! (60 with the first). 

For those of you that have ever taken before pictures before, you know that it can be sickening. All these things start flooding in your mind and can get you discouraged before you even start. 

I felt that exact same way here. ^^^

I had to be REALLY careful not to let that affect my mood or my attitude. But I TOTALLY understand why some people feel like they are "too far gone" to even try... and I empathize with you. 

But in the forefront of my mind I kept telling myself, "Jess, you KNOW the tools in order to lose the weight. You just have to WANT it bad enough and the EXCUSES will have to go."

So, before I got the OK to workout again, I decided I would start with Day 1 with my challengers, and eat CLEAN for 4 straight weeks until I was cleared. 

What made it TEN TIMES easier was that I had friends in this group that I was doing this with. I felt their pain and we PUSHED through together. Instead of just coaching them.. they were coaching me... and the accountability and support are the ONLY reasons I didn't give up. 

So, here i am. I followed the 21DayFIX meal plan to a T because it's the best meal plan structure I have found and is FOOL PROOF. 

I planned out my meals a week in advance and I made sure I had everything in my house that I needed and everything OUT that was going to tempt me. 

Thank goodness my scale was broke, so I had to rely mainly on how my clothes fit. 

After 4 weeks I felt pretty great with my progress! 

I am now on week 3 of Insanity now and can't wait to continue showing you my progress!! 

This past weekend I marked a HUGE goal off my list and got Insanity certified!!! 

My husband told me today that he would see my top abs!!!!!!!!! 

Staying LASER focused!!!!

The Pain behind the Smiles

I read a blog yesterday that had me relive one of the HARDEST times in my life thus far. For the past 5 years I wondered if anyone has ever felt the pain I did after having a miscarriage. And not just that pain of losing the baby, but the PAIN I endured ever.single.time I found out I was pregnant AGAIN.

I have talked about it with some, but I have an ENTIRE journal dedicated to that time in my life where I have literally screamed, cried & probably threw that journal across the room. 

It's a common problem, but for someone to TRULY understand that feeling- you must of had to walk in the shoes of a woman who has miscarried. 

It's been 4 years since we lost our first baby. 

I remember it like it was YESTERDAY. About 3 years after we were married, I was going in to get my wisdom teeth taken out. The Dr. told me that the antibiotic would counteract my birth control, so I need to make sure we are "careful". 

Matt and I had talked about having a family WAY before we were even married, so without even thinking twice about it, I thought let's just stop birth control altogether, and go ahead and start trying to have that family we have ALWAYS dreamed about.

Every month we waited to see a POSITIVE pregnancy test-- & each month felt like 100 years. Some of y'all might know what I'm talking about. And then to be disappointed every time it was negative just made the desire to be a mom more and more magnified.  

When I saw that positive sign come up, almost 2 years later, I might have screamed. I know that I BALLED. And I RAN into the bedroom and woke Matt up. We cried together and IMMEDIATELY thanked God for this blessing he had given us to be parents. 

We couldn't hold it in though. We told our family, our best friends and then the world. 

But everything changed a few short weeks later. 

I was at work one day when I started cramping pretty bad. I had cramped all along, but these cramps were familiar, and made me very nervous. 

As I walked into the bathroom I remember praying and asking God for everything to be ok.... but it wasn't. I tried really hard to get myself together, but I couldn't. I called Matt and a few minutes later we were on our way to the Dr. 

As they did the ultrasound, I had really no idea what they were looking at. I obviously saw there was a placenta, but the nurse kept pushing these buttons that made these colors show up on the screen. She didn't talk for a while, which made me think something was wrong. 

She looked at us and told us that the colors we saw on the screen was blood flowing, but there was no blood going to the placenta, which meant there was no heartbeat there. 

I felt like I had just died. 

I can't tell you much about what happened after that other than Matt just held me. He was so strong for me that day- but the hardest part was I knew he was not ok.  

We found out before we left that I needed to have surgery to remove everything. We drove home practically in silence. 

When we got home, Matt asked if I was ok, and asked if he could go back to the room for a little bit. A few minutes later I heard him sobbing. He had been strong for me- but now he needed to mourn.

The most beautiful thing that came out of that day was the song "Lullaby" that Matt wrote just trying to get his feelings out somehow. (You can find it on iTunes if you search for Matt Laughter- Glorify.) Share it with someone if you know it could help. 

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We ended up having 2 more miscarriages back to back after that one. 

And then nothing for a long time....

Then one day, I was 5 days late. 

I took another test for what felt like the bazillionth time, and before I opened my eyes I prayed over and over and over again.... God, if you are going to allow me to be pregnant, will you PLEASE allow me to keep this baby? And if you decide to take this baby away from me, will you PLEASE restore my joy in knowing this is the path that you have Matt and I on?  

Psalm 51:12 came to mind that day. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Losing 3 babies was difficult, but seeing a positive pregnancy test again was surprisingly much harder that day.

I had become SCARED out of my mind. 

Pregnancy should be a time of EXCITEMENT and JOY for what the future holds. For me, it was a daily reminder that there is nothing about this pregnancy that is in my control. 

I dreaded EVERY single Dr's visit.

I dreaded every single time I went to the bathroom.

I dreaded lifting anything that weighed more than a sheet of paper.

I dreaded having my heart beat raise just a little higher from climbing stairs. 

It was a very lonely time for me. 

People would ask "OH, when are y'all trying again", which that question never bothered me, but the FEAR of having to UN-tell them again is what made me sick to my stomach. 

And the one thing I can relate to most with the girl from the blog, is that I just LONGED for morning sickness.  I knew if I was sick then everything was "normal". When I told people I was nauseous they would say, "well, that's a good thing!" And to me, that would solidify that things were going like they should. 

But the second I stopped feeling nauseous, my mind started to remind me on how much I have no control over what is going on inside of me. 

It was a vicious cycle that took the joy out of the act of being pregnant. I was jealous of all my friends getting pregnant, throwing parties with not a care in the world, and here I was, afraid to move the wrong way for the mere fact that I may do something to cause me to lose the baby-- it was a heavy burden to bare. And it continued for 9 months. 

I am so beyond BLESSED that God's plan for Matt and I was to be parents to 2 very HEALTHY, beautiful, baby boys after those 3 miscarriages...

But it doesn't help the fact that I relive those days all over again when I hear of a friend's miscarriage. 

And there are STILL so many people who are just dying to be parents and still haven't had their miracle happen yet. I grieve with you. 

I'm so thankful for the people I had in my life who had been there to walk with us down that long road. I pray that I can do that and more to anyone who is going through that now, and know that you are NOT alone in this very long, scary, sometimes lonely journey. 

What to eat BEFORE & AFTER a workout

I remember the day I tried out for college cheerleading like it was yesterday. Even though I had cheered 12 years prior to that, there is nothing like standing in front of a bunch of people being judged on how well you can act SUPER happy (even though you want to crawl in a hole) or how well you can do a standing tuck.

In all-star cheerleading, all we had to do was learn a few 8 counts of a dance, show how great our toe-touch was, and ran a few passes of tumbling. But college cheer was much different. 

It was an all day event, and little did I know that at the END of tryouts, after we were good and EXHAUSTED from stunting and tumbling all day, we had to run a timed mile. 

So...a mile. No big deal. I've ran a few miles before... I can do this. So, right before we were about to hit the pavement I ran to my bag, grabbed my lunchbox full of fruit and downed a few handfuls. I was getting hungry so I thought, fruit will be perfect for my little run across campus. 

The mile went great. Felt good to have one of the fastest times among the girls and I felt like I ended tryouts with a bang. 

About 30 minutes later my stomach started KILLING me. And not just oh, I need to go to the bathroom real quick, but the worst cramping I had ever had in my life. One that I thought, I wonder if someone realizes I've been in the bathroom for over 30 minutes. It just wouldn't stop. 

Well, fast forward a few years, I kept getting stomach cramps after I would do a lot of intense workouts. I kept trying to figure out what was causing it because sometimes I never got them and then sometimes I did. It was the craziest thing!! 

So then I was determined to figure out WHAT in the world was causing them. I started changing up what I was eating before and after workouts... and IMMEDIATELY it changed things for me. 

Before an intense workout, I would eat a TON of fruit. I thought, fruit is healthy and great for you! It shouldn't be a problem! But then I started researching what you should and shouldn't eat before and after workouts and it totally made sense to me. 

I was eating the wrong thing before I worked out. dun dun dun

Timing is Everything. 

If you eat a large meal before you workout, most likely, you can feel very sluggish or have cramping. That is true. Your body CAN digest food while it is being active----> but not AS well. The blood in your body now has 2 jobs to do. Both jobs will get done, but you will probably have side effects from it. 

On the other hand, if you don't eat before a workout, most likely you will feel lightheaded and dizzy because of low blood sugar!

So what do you do? And what was wrong with me? 

You have to find balance, but here are some tips that have worked for me. (FINALLY)

1. The RIGHT Carbs are NEEDED before a workout. This is what happened to me... I grabbed a carb HIGH in fiber and therefore caused me MAJOR cramping and a long time in the bathroom. (TMI, I know.) SKIP bran cereals, beans, lintels, and fruit BEFORE a workout. You might have an episode like I did which is SO not cool when you are hitting the gym with friends. 

2. Eat a full breakfast. This is only if you will be working out 3-4 hours later. If you will be working out right away, eat something smaller and give yourself some time before you jump in. If you don't like eating before a workout, drink your carbs with gatorade or fruit juice just so you keep your electrolytes balanced and keep your energy up.   

3. Don't skip meals. It will almost guarantee yourself that your workout will end with you feeling like your gonna pass out. If you feel that way- you need QUICK sugar in your body. Grab fruit, some juice, or a gatorade to get sugar in your system quick. 

4. Drink a ton of water. I keep a gallon jug with me almost all the time. If I haven't drank it all by the end of the day, I definitely didn't drink enough. 

5. Don't grab a candy bar for a fast treat. Try and keep something like this on hand all the time...

low fat or fat free yogurt

low fat granola bars

fruit or gatorade

low fat cereal 

bagels, rice cakes, graham crackers

fig bars, vanilla wafers, animal crackers

6. Listen to your body and learn from experience. Ive been doing this for a long time, and with trial and error I've learned a few things. But everyone has their own story. Figure out what yours is and continue to KILL IT! :) 

Share with someone who needs this! 

#ilivebyfaith

I have sat down a few times to write this blog and I haven't been able to start. 

Not because I'm scared about what people will think, cause honestly... I've moved passed the opinions, but because I wanted to be able to tell y'all this AMAZING ending where God paved this beautiful way that was so obvious and we now understand why he had Matt quit his job. 

As most of you know, Matt and I felt like the Lord was telling us to quit his job 2 weeks before we were to have our 2nd baby. Crazy? Well, for most, but we so earnestly wanted the absolutely BEST God had for us and I knew it wouldn't come without sacrifice. So, we stepped in the water. 

With no CLUE where we would get insurance or even another "job" for that matter... we stepped out on faith and Matt quit. You can scroll down and read it. 

So, like any person would probably do, we started to plan out what was next. 

My dream has always been to live by the beach. I grew up most of my life by the beach and have a deep desire to one day return. I have told Matt over and over again, "the beach is where I fill closest to God." I want to fill that close to Him again. I know what you are thinking, "God is everywhere! Draw near to Him where you are at!" But everyone just has that place where you just can feel him so close to you. It might be the mountains...might be hiking through the woods... mine is the ocean. And my soul longs to be back. 

As we made our plan to go back to FL, God began to shut doors left and right. I truly believe looking back on it, the timing of everything was just not right. It was so crazy how doors shut because we truly felt God wanted us to continue our ministry there. Non-the-less, we are still in NC waiting on God to show us what's next. Here is what we mean by God was shutting doors:

1. 3 days before we are to move, our housing in Florida fell through. 

2. At that time, the people who were supposed to take over our rent in NC, their application got denied.

3. The rental truck went up $500 more than what we had budgeted.

4. We fully packed the truck, just to find out not everything fit in it.

5. As we are unpacking the truck, a storm rolls in, and we found out there was a hole in the roof of the truck, and water started poring in on all of our stuff.

6. When we went to take the truck back, the check engine light came on and the oil pressure gage about went through the dashboard!

It was definitely clear, that the timing of all of this was NOT NOW!!

As we moved passed this, there was another possible opportunity for Matt, as a church in GA was looking at him to come on staff.  He had went through 4 interviews and they started checking references. We felt like this was it!! Matt couldn't have answered their questions any better! Then we got the news that God slammed that door as well. We were devastated! 

I'm not gonna act all spiritual and say I didn't have a few crying it out sessions with God. And a WHOLE lot of doubt as to if we made a mistake. Nothing now was clear.

So, here we are. We knew what God told us, and said "Quit your job, and until you do, I will not fill in the rest."So, Now what?? Well, we don't know! And if I may be so honest, I am not very patient, haha :)

We know what we would LIKE to do, but we want it all to fit into the beautiful plan that God has for us. And until he reveals that to us, we will continue on this journey of faith. 

Today, I happened to flip to Hebrews 11 in my Bible. That was NOT a coincidence. It was the faith chapter. I am reminded all the time of Noah's faith, and Joseph's faith, and Abraham's faith... it was NOT a pretty road for any of them. And it goes to show me that until this year, I "thought" I had true faith. But this time we have COMPLETELY stepped out of the boat and began to walk. And this is SCARY.

In a book called Draw the Circle, Mark Batterson talks about "get a testimony". That's what I have to keep remembering when I feel like throwing in the towel on this whole faith walk. He says it's God reputation on the line. And we are just waiting for him to show off in our life! 

Faith Journey with Abraham

If you know anything about Matt and I, it would probably be that we don't necessarily do anything "normal," for God did not call us to be normal, but extraordinarily faithful! Bold & faithful!

In the last 8 years, we have moved 8 times! 8 TIMES PEOPLE! 

And most people would be quick to make the statements....."are you crazy?.... why?...... and what are you running from?" In fact, I said the same thing to myself.

Well, the answers to those questions are: YES... we are crazy, but crazy for Jesus...

 Because we never want to be disobedient to the things that Christ is telling us to do; and lastly, we aren't running FROM anything, but I think of it as running TOWARDS Him. 

The past 8 years that Matt and I have been married, God has done a HUGE work in our lives.

See, you never realize what baggage someone brings into the marriage until they are in it .  We all have junk from our past, whether negative or positive, & if allowed, can drive a wedge between the one's you love.  

With that said, God has taken us on a journey that has shaped us and developed us like never before, and that journey is called "Faith."

I thought I had "faith,"... but this is a totally different kind that I wasn't ready for.

God speaks to people differently.  

It may be through a vision, a dream, audibly, etc...but when God speaks to us, it's in a specific way and at a specific time of night.  

In the summer of 2011, I had yet another melt down. I was so tired of not being able to get pregnant and keep the baby. All my friends around me were pregnant and here I was pretending I was ok, when really I did not understand what was wrong with me. 

Then our first experience with "faith" happened. 

This experience was after having gone through 3 miscarriages. God gave Matt a word, through scripture, that we would have a child, not just a child, but that we would have a son.  

That was on October 27, 2011. 

The Scripture God used was Jesus spoke to Matt through was 2 Kings 4:17, "about this time next year you will embrace a son."  Matt told me he believed that with his entire heart...   But I was not convinced.

 It wasn't until January 6, 2012, God woke me up at around 3:40 am with an unction to take a pregnancy test... 

As I sat there waiting for the results, with my eyes closed as tight as I could get them, I begged God not to let me go through another year not being able to have a baby. And if he did allow me to be pregnant, that he would PLEASE allow me to keep it. 

When I opened my eye (and yes, I peeked with one eye, lol) I couldn't believe it, so I ran in and woke Matt up to tell him that WE WERE PREGNANT!!  We laughed really hard & then cried, and then praised Jesus! 

We were finally going to have a baby.  It seemed like time stood still waiting for the day that we would finally get to see what we were having.  

I just knew that we were having a girl!  Matt said, "No Jess, God told us that we were having a son!" But I just KNEW it was a girl!!

As they were doing the ultrasound, in my head I thought... God, if this is really a boy, then I'm in awe of the faith Matt had in believing You would do this... and I want that kind of faith. 

Matt acted in faith and believed in what God had told him... and you know what we saw??? Something between that baby's legs!!! It was A BOY. 

Kyson Gabriel Laughter was born 9/16/12..."about this time next year."

The second experience came just a couple of months ago when we felt it was time for us to sell our house. 

I DID NOT want to sell our house.  It was a dream home to me....It wasn't just our house, but Kyson's house. It was everything I had wanted & I was completely content there. 

Then again, God woke Matt up at 3:40 am and told him, "Go and don't look back." He asked God, "where are we going?"  God said, "don't worry about it, just go." 

God spoke to Matt through Genesis 19 that morning, and while Matt was away praying, God spoke to me too.  He told me that I needed to "live by faith and not by sight."... which is SO MUCH easier said than done and NOT something that I wanted to try.

We both knew that God was speaking though, so we put our house on the market.  Five hours of it being on the market, 3 people wanted to see the house.  Within 6 days... IT SOLD!! 

Faith.... & then obeying.

Now for the ULTIMATE EXPERIENCE!  The stepping out of the boat experience.  

3 weeks ago, God woke Matt up again.  He woke up and said, that if it was 3:40, he knew God had something to tell him. 

Matt had been awake for a few minutes before he looked at his phone, but when he looked at his phone, it showed 3:44 am.  

He immediately started crying and told me to pray.  God pointed him to a book by Mark Batterson called "Circle maker." He told Matt to read chapter 20.  The verse of the Chapter was Hebrews 11:8, 

"By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going."

The chapter talked about stepping out in faith and doing something that you may not be ready to do, stating you will NEVER be ready, but God doesn't call the qualified, but qualifies the called.  

Faith without action is not faith at all. "You may need to quit your job, make a move, etc..." In that moment, God said, "Matt quit your job." 

When Matt came in and told me what God told him, we both knew it was time.  

Yes, we were scared, but we were more scared of being disobedient.  

Matt's words to me, "I will not and cannot be disobedient to God! How will I ever expect my boys to be faithful to God if I am not willing to leave that legacy for them and step out in faith?...I don't know what we are doing, where we are going, and yes, we have a baby on the way, but God has spoken."  

3 weeks ago, Matt quit his job, and was obedient to what he knew God was telling him and us to do.  We have NO IDEA what is next, but we pray God shows us soon.  It's a crazy ride, but I wouldn't trade this crazy, uncomfortable ride for any other COMFORTABLE kind of life :)