Month: December 2014

Pumpkin Quinoa Pudding

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pumpkin quinoa pudding

Pumpkin Quinoa Pudding

Growing up when ever we would visit my Grandma Shurlow she would make us cereal pudding. I loved this concoction of Cream of Wheat, eggs, milk and sugar.

I decided to healthy up the recipe so I can once again enjoy this yummy breakfast treat!

1 cup of water and 1 cup of milk (I used Almond Milk)
1 cup of quinoa- rinsed
1/2 cup of pumpkin puree
4 eggs
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 tbsp ground flax seed
honey or maple syrup drizzle on top
chopped walnuts (optional)

Always rinse your quinoa- just trust me on this one! Bring 1 cup water and 1 cup of milk (you could use all milk if you wanted just be sure to use 2 cups of liquid total) to a boil. Stir in rinsed quinoa, 4 beaten eggs, spices and pumpkin puree. Cover and let cook for about 10 minutes. When most of the liquid has evaporated add the flax seed.

I topped mine with a little maple syrup and walnuts.

This recipe made about 5 servings. I like to measure mine out into small glass pyrex dishes so that I can quickly grab one and pop it into the microwave for 1 minute and breakfast is served all week long!

Hope you enjoy this healthy version of my favorite childhood breakfast. I am sure you could easily make this just as I did but use Cream of Wheat instead. I needed mine to be gluten free so I used quinoa.

The Struggle for Balance

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best projectI venture to say we all struggle to find balance in our lives.  We all have people who count on us, different things and people pulling us in a million different directions.  All to often we are the ones who fall way too far down on our priority list.

I have learned over the past 6 months that it is not only OK to put myself near the top of my list, but it is vital to happiness in my house!

In September of 2012 my oldest son was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.  This was a huge shock to our family and I went immediately into what I would call Diabetes Mom mode.  I learned everything I could about diabetes.  I made sure that I was available 24 hours a day 7 days a week to make sure that he was OK.  We taught him that he was just like everyone else and that Diabetes was not going to hold him back.  We worked to keep his life as close to it was before he was diagnosed as possible.

Flash forward to April of 2014.  I had a healthy, happy 10-year-old who just happened to be a Type 1 Diabetic!  I, however, was tired, short-tempered, unhappy with the way I looked and disappointed in myself that I had let myself go…again.    I had become what we didn’t want for my son, I was a Diabetic Mom first, Wendy second.  In fact, I wasn’t even close to second on my priority list.  I simply didn’t have time for that!

Around this time I met someone who would quickly become my friend and my coach.  She invited me to join a 40/40 Challenge.  I was to workout for 40 minutes a day for 40 days.  I figured, why not!  To my surprise I rocked this challenge.  I made 40 minutes a day my time and got back to something I had really missed in my life: exercise!  I was starting to feel better!  I had more energy and had more patience with my kids, even at the end of a very long day.  I joined her next challenge and started focusing on fueling my body with clean, healthy food.  I started to feel even better and people started to notice!   After that I decided to take a huge leap and become a coach myself!  I wanted to keep myself motivated and I felt such a desire to help others.

This was a very hard lesson for me to learn , but I will never go back!  I love that I can now work with other’s who have their own set up circumstances that are making it seem impossible to make themselves a priority.  I can teach them what I learned, that taking time to take care of yourself helps you take care of everyone else in your life to the fullest.