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We love taking a little time to represent some amazing people in our lives and showing what they are doing. Life is filled with some amazing people, isn’t it? So today and tomorrow, we are looking into the life of Meghan Meredith, who has a passion for living a well life and inspiring others to do the same. Come along the journey with us as we explore her dreams, visions, and her most recent project.

Check out her website here

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/754730560/whole-body-fitness-a-self-guided-fitness-planner

Tomorrow we will learn what inspired this great idea and go behind the scenes with Meghan Meredith! Stay tuned!

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Happy Halloween from the Growing Weisser Family!

We have ALWAYS loved dressing up and we have a family history in photo albums to prove it. Sharing the love of dressing up and holiday fun with our children is such a gift.

We hope that you have a wonderful and safe Halloween.

Here are our costumes from this year!!

Happy Halloween!!

Love,

Growing Weisser

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I was inspired today by the question, what is one thing you have done in your life that you never thought you would do… It got me thinking and reflecting on who I am, the person I have become, and where I have been. As busy adults we don’t often take time to look back at the path we have been on that has brought us to where we are today. But if you think about it, you have overcome obstacles, pushed through setbacks, broken limitations, and conquered your fears. Not your path compared to the rest of the world. But your path for you. The person you are. The things you have pushed through, grown from, and moved into.

So what is it for you? What have you done in your life that you never thought you could do, or were scared to do? Run a marathon? Given a speech? Gone skydiving? Given birth?  And what have you still not done? We all have these limitations that we put on ourselves that we think we can’t do… but I think its time to push through that lens. Look at where you’ve come from, and think you can. Just like the little engine that could, “think you can”. We aren’t all created to be a CEO of a company or the best cook in town, but you were created to be you. Don’t compare yourself to what everyone else is doing, the success they are having, or their picture of “having it all together”  And don’t let that you be held back by your hardest critic, yourself.  Go Big. Think of something that you want to do. You were also created to be courageous, to dream big, and to live free. So be you, do something big (for you), and …

Sweet Potatoes are my FAVORITE!! They are one of the most nutritious vegetables AND are a great source of the antioxidants beta-carotine and vitamin C.

This recipe is so customizable, plus it is the perfect way to load up on vegetable goodness!!!

You simply replace chips with sweet potatoes, roast, then top with your favorite vegetables, meat, beans, and cheese. The sky is the limit!!

Ingredients:

Sweet Potatoes (seasoned and roasted)

Beans

Meat (cooked and seasoned)

Your choice of veggies (red onion, zucchini, broccoli, peppers, carrots, celery, spinach, etc)

Shredded Cheese

toppings for serving (salsa, guacamole, cilantro, etc)

avocado oil

seasonings

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Peel Sweet Potatoes. Cut into 1/4″ coins. Toss in a bowl with avocado oil, salt, garlic powder, and paprika. (I use 1/2 tsp of each). Lay the sweet potatoes on a baking pan with edges. (This will make it easier to keep all the toppings on the nachos). Try to space the sweet potato coins so that they don’t overlap. Roast at 450 degrees for 20-30 minutes. Check at 20 minutes. Add more time if needed.

While the sweet potatoes are cooking, cook your meat, rinse beans, and chop all additional veggies. Once the sweet potatoes are nicely roasted and slightly browned, add the meat, beans and vegetables on top. Cook for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes place the shredded cheese on top and cook for 5 more minutes.

Serve and enjoy with your favorite nacho toppings!

This is a new staple in our house and we hope you love it too.

Let us know on Facebook or Instagram @growingweisser if you try it!

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This is a great meal to make to have people over, take to parents of a new baby, and eat for yourself! And it is all in one dish! Can’t get much better than that! Make it for your family, grab some salad and bread and there you go!

Spinach and Sausage Spinach Bake

• 1 ¹⁄₂lbs chicken sausage
• olive oil (optional)
• 2 onions, coarsely chopped
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 large sweet red pepper, coarsely chopped
• 20-28 ounces meatless extra chunky pasta sauce
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 1 tbs dried basil
• 2 tbs oregano
• 1 teaspoon fennel seed
• 6 cups penne pasta (1 box)
• 1 cup of yogurt
• 8 oz package fresh spinach (trimmed and coarsely chopped)
• 2 cups shredded provolone cheese or 2 cups mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup grated asiago cheese or 1 cup parmesan cheese

1. Cut sausage into 1/2 inch chunks. I large skillet, brown sausage over medium-high heat, in batches and adding oil if necessary. Transfer sausage to a bowl.
2.  Add to the oil mixture the onions, garlic and red pepper, cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes or until softened. Stir in pasta sauce, tomato sauce, basil, oregano and fennel seeds; bring to a boil, stirring and scraping up any brown bits from bottom of pan. Return sausage and any accumulated juices to pan; cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until sausage is firm throughout.
3. Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta for 6 minutes, add spinach;cook for 1 minute. Drain well and return to pot. Add one cup of yogurt Add sausage mixture and provolone/mozzarella cheese; stir to combine well.
4. Transfer to 2 greased 8-inch square baking dishes or 1 13×9-inch dish. Sprinkle with Asiago/parmesan cheese. Cover dish with greased foil, greased side down.

Am I the only one suffering from the “Back to School Blues?”

I gotta be honest, the past few weeks of back to school have been ROUGH! Just one thing after the other, plus the stress of remembering to pack lunches, a separate snack, a water, not to mention drop off and pick up your child ON TIME. My head is spinning just thinking about how stressed I’ve been.

Luckily, I decided not to stress alone and had a wonderful coffee date with friends to vent and connect. Seriously, friends, DO NOT suffer alone. IN ANYTHING. From the little things, like stress over school, to big things–reach out, connect, ask for help!!!

That’s what we are here for too!

This blog is a place for us to connect with you and share what is going on in our lives in hope that we will motivate and inspire, connect, and let you know we are going through the ups and downs with you!

Here’s what I’ve decided – after this week, school will no longer rule my life.

I’m going to get a handle on getting and staying organized, catching up on emails, prioritizing our schedule, and taking it ONE DAY AT A TIME. Lots of prayer and my secret weapons for nutrition (simple way to get your greens–& SALADS WORTH of nutrition in one scoop) and stress. (Stress wreaks so much havoc on our bodies. We can’t always prevent stress, but we can work on how we respond to stressful situations and do something nutritionally to help our body fight the effects of stress!)

(Click the links for articles on my favorite superfood greens and adaptogens to combat the effects of stress–because STRESS HAPPENS!!)

I’m in the thick of this adjustment, now juggling a child in public Kindergarten, …

Today is Amazon Prime Day!! Are you a prime member and love a good deal? Then, head over to Amazon right now!!

Here are a few awesome deals we are looking at…

The Instant Pot 8 qt.

$89.00 usually $129.95

Chicco KeyFit Infant Car Seat

$199.99

Save 20% at Checkout!

Check back later for more Prime Day deals!

— The Growing Weisser Women —…

Anyone else melting in this heat? I sure am. And it can make sticking to healthy meal plans tricky.

I have 2 tips to make things easier for you and your family.

TIP 1: MEAL PLAN and MEAL PREP

Spend one day with the AC on and get all your baking and cooking done!

I roast veggies, made cookies, and prepared easy to grab snacks.

Lots of healthy superfood shakes

Then use your crock pot or make lots of fresh meals that don’t require the oven!!

TIP 2: Get creative

Make just a few meals and stretch them to as many meals as possible. This will support less evenings in the kitchen and longer days outside or at the pool.

I made a large crockpot of Bolognese and stretched it 3 or 4 nights – over pasta, over salad, “meat” ball sandwiches, and pizza sauce.

Last week I added our Mexican Summer Salad to a bowl of spinach and crock pot salsa verde chicken!

The freshness really accented the crockpot meat and it was perfect for the heat.

TIP 3: Get outside and BBQ!!!

Make meals fun and involve the whole family!

We hope that you have enjoyed our tips to highlight communication in your family during playtime and during meal time!

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Summer is filled with potlucks, picnics, bbqs, and get togethers! Most of the time these events are a shared effort where every family brings an item to contribute. I find myself bringing the same types of things to every event… So I am going to share a list of some new ideas I am finding as I tackle the summer potlucks.

Salads

• Corn salad
• Quinoa Salad
• Coleslaw
• Pasta Salad
• Potato Salad
• Orzo salad
• Watermelon and mint salad
• Succotash

Sides

• Watermelon is always great! Find creative ways to cut and serve!
• Fruit tray: Make a flag for the 4th of July, arrange creatively for the event
• Sweet potato fries
• Baked Potato
• Corn on the cob
• Roasted Vegetables
• Bread

Appetizers

• Meatballs
• Chip and Dip
• Veggie Tray
• Bacon Wrapped Asparagus
• Flat Bread Pizza
• Mozzerella cheese and tomatoes
• anything on a skewer

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