Paleo Diet, Copycats, and Banana Pancakes

In three days, I will have officially completed a whole month of eating paleo! It was really hard, but I'm glad I did it. I feel so much better, and there's nothing better than a sense of accomplishment. I've decided to keep eating paleo, but on the first of every month I get one cheat meal. I won't be posting just about paleo anymore, but when I find good recipes I will definitely share them with you.

Speaking of food, this morning I just tried a new banana pancake recipe. I even fed it to my non-paleo friend and they were a hit! I added them with a side of bacon though, so maybe that was the real winner, haha. Anyways, here is the recipe I used. I would also recommend listening to Jack Johnson's Banana Pancakes song while you make them.

The original recipe (found here) for this "Primal Fudge" didn't call for a filling of peanut butter or anything and this was a little boring to me. I've changed it a little bit to make it more like a candy rather than just a fudge. I added some almond butter in some of the centers and a mint filling in others. They are VERY rich, very chocolatey, and extremely delicious. It makes for a very good after dinner dessert or something sweet to go with coffee. These are great because you feel like you're really pigging out on dessert but really they're actually healthy.

Christmas Gifts

Hello everyone!! I know I've been gone for awhile, but this year my family was hosting Christmas and so it's been quite busy. Whatever holiday you celebrate (or even if you don't) I hope you had a good winter and that you had lots of yummy food. I sure did, and now I am still burning off all that holiday food, haha. Some news in my life, today we got a dog (named Ozzy), and it's good news because my mom is always happier when she has a dog. I'm not really a huge dog person, but if it makes someone I love happy, then I'm willing to sacrifice. He is pretty cute and lovable, so I'm sure I'll get attached (even though I don't want to, I don't think I'll be able to help it). Let's get started!

DECOR

I don't usually review things that are so expensive, but I got this for Christmas from my step-dad so I wanted to show it off! First things first, it is VERY complicated to put together. In fact, I wasn't even the one who put mine together. I had to have my cousin Jaden do it (he's just super smart, what a nerd) but now it's up in my room and I love it. It has a lot of color options from Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple, White, and multiple colors in between. You can also choose the brightness of each color as well as choose to have it play every color on a timer kind of thing. The only bad thing is that it is very hard to put together like I mentioned before, and it's quite pricey for just one light. 

The pieces themselves are about $25.00 and come separately in 30 pieces that you have to put together. The color changing light bulb and remote are $20.00 and for some reason is sold separate from the light cord which is $10.00. I'm sure you can find this product somewhere else for much cheaper, but these are the prices I found from the official website.

BOOKS

This is just a simple journal from Fireworks and it was also from my step-dad (shout out to Peter, gift giver winner of the year). There's a quote on the inside by the artist of the cover that says, "The soul would have no rainbow if the eyes had no tears." I love knowing about amazing women in history so it was really cool to learn about Laurel Birch, the artist. The back page of this journal gives a brief biography of her, and it was fun to learn about how she was a self-taught artist as well as "flower child." In the back is also a pocket sort of thing to keep small papers or something which is just super neat and I will probably forget about and never use. I have terrible trouble keeping a journal because I never know what to write and I'm always paranoid someone will find it and read it so I've decided to just record my dreams instead. Eventually, I'll be able to look back at some of them and say, "What the heck, I am nuts. How could I dream that?!" and that'll be fun.

I received more things than these, but these are just two of my favorite things and they are easy to write about so I decided to keep it short. Actually, this last Christmas was probably the best (if not the only good) Christmas I've ever had. Sure, there were people I missed and thought about, but there was no drama or recent heart break and I was surrounded by people I love and that I know love me. 

It's crazy to think that the Christmas before this one I was so down, and felt so hopeless. This year has had it's ups and downs but I'm so glad I survived to see it get better. If this year is your hard year, hang in there! It may not get better right away but you are not alone in your struggle, and just know that there are people who have gone through similar things that you are and have not only survived but got better. Believe it or not, they didn't believe they were strong enough either.

Happy New Year!