Logical Mermaid

Updated Morning Routine

Most mornings I wake up drink a cup of coffee or tea and do like most people, browse social media and check the news. It wasn’t until recently that I realized how counterproductive this was to trying to start my day positively.

First off, let’s start with the caffeine. Of course, I already knew it’s bad for me but what I didn’t know was how it was effecting my body’s start for the day. Naturally, our body naturally releases a hormone called cortisol throughout our day. In the morning, it wakes us up and makes us feel alert.

Also, when the body is stressed, our cortisol levels rise. Serotonin levels tend to drop as a result of high cortisol levels too which makes us feel sluggish or dull. Exactly the opposite of what im trying to achieve in the morning!

My new routine has been modified to stay on track to living a positive and stress free life. Here’s what I looks like:

Pray or meditate to ground myself and decide on a positive affirmation for the day
Get out of bed & open up my window shades in the house
Read a chapter in my kindle book or an inspiring article online
Brush my teeth, and wash my face
Drink glass of fruit juice or smoothie

My son wakes up around 8-9 most mornings so I still need something to get myself energized for our homeschool day. Orange juice is great for boosting energy so I make sure to include that in my morning drinks. I’ve been keeping this routine for a few days now and it’s not as bad as I thought it would be.

Have you adjusted your morning routine since the New Year? Let us know 🙂

Chicken Pot Pie

Last night I made chicken pasta and had left over chicken breast. Not wanting to make another pasta dish I tried to be creative and make something different. I found a can of veggies in the pantry. I’m not even sure when I picked up this can of vegetables because I typically buy them fresh or frozen. Nonetheless, they were there. And when else am I going to use it? If not now! When deciding, nothing else came to mind besides one dish. It seemed like a no-brainer to make chicken pot pie because this can of veggies literally contains all the ingredients except the chicken.
After pouring out the liquid from the can, I poured it into a saucepan. I reheated the chicken with the can mixture and added a 1/2 cup of chicken stock, and additional seasonings: garlic powder, pepper, paprika, and parsley.

For the pie crust I used:

1 cup of Bisquick

1/2 cup of vanilla almond milk

1 egg

Pour the veggies and chicken in a greased pan and then top with the pie crust mixture. DO NOT MIX!

Bake for 30 min at 375 degrees.

Meatloaf Balls Recipe

Last night’s dinner was meatloaf balls and it was inspired by a post I saw on Pinterest. The pinner said the individual balls made the dish super moist and savory. I haven’t come across a recipe using oatmeal before so it peaked my interest. Normally I don’t like dry meatloaf so, I’ll usually make it with saltine crackers or breadcrumbs. At least once a week I like to try new recipes, especially if it doesn’t require a lot of preparation time. Unfortunately, the link to this pic did not work so I had to improvise.

Ingredients:

1 1b ground beef

3/4 cup uncooked oatmeal

2 tsp. chopped parsley

1/2 cup milk

1 egg

2 tbs. chopped onion

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Mix all ingredients in medium bowl.
Use a large spoon or ice cream scooper to place each ball in a cupcake pan.
Brush the glaze all over the top of each meatloaf ball.

For the glaze: mix 2 tsp each of sweet and spicy chili sauce and bbq sauce

Bake, uncovered, 25-40 minutes. Drain then spoon the remaining sauce mixture over meat loaf balls

Bake for an additional 5 mins. Top with cheese, optional.

This new recipe turned out delicious -next time we will make twice as much!