Overnight Oats

In lieu of a Sunday Brunch post I am going to share with you one of my favorite breakfasts - overnight oats. Honestly, last week was a super busy but boring week. All I did was work, work, work. I did 3 evenings with 2 turnarounds (I worked 4-12 then on call from 12-8am then worked 8-4pm) so there was little time for anything else. We did go away again this weekend but it was pretty low key and I forgot to take any pictures so how boring would that be!

Recipes for overnight oats are everywhere these days. If you search on Pinterest you will literally get hundreds of ideas. I make them fairly often so I have figured out the base you need to get the perfect consistency and from there you basically just add whatever kind of flavors your into.

Overnight Oats Base:

1/3 - 1/2 cup quick oats (depending on how big of a breakfast you want)
1/3 cup plain greek yogurt
1 tbsp. chia seeds
1/2 - 1 tbsp. sweetener of choice (I use stevia)
1/2 - 3/4 cup milk of choice (dairy, coconut, almond, soy, etc)
*You can also add 1 scoop of protein powder if wanted.*
I promise you, this will give you the perfect consistency! It is tried, tested and true! Now is the fun part, adding in whatever you want. Here is my favorite mixture:

1 banana, sliced
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp. walnuts
1 tbsp. dark chocolate chips
1 tbsp. peanut butter

Place all of this in a mason jar then shake to mix and store in the fridge overnight. The next morning you can either eat it cold or warm it up, whichever you prefer. I hope you enjoy this quick, easy and healthy breakfast recipe!

Farm Update

Hey folks!

Today, as promised, I am going to do a short and sweet farm update. It has been awhile since I posted anything farm related so I thought I'd show you what's been going on at Brovale Farms!

In all honesty, not a whole lot has been going on. This is probably our calmest time of year because the cows are out to pasture and all of our cropping is done. Scott just did some second cut (meaning took a second cut of grass off our fields) and made it into round bale silage (those big white marshmallow-looking things you sometimes see at farms) so we are pretty much done. Most of our feed is made into chopped silage (basically pickled grass) and kept in our silo and whatever is left over we make into square bale hay and keep in our haymow.

Scott at the top of our silo!

We have moved our cows from the pastures they have been in all summer into a large section of aftergrass. Aftergrass is referring to a field that we have cut for hay or silage and has grown back in which we turn the cows onto for pasture. Their main pasture was getting pretty ate down so we needed to move them to ensure they have enough to eat. It also serves as a cheap way of fertilizing the field - cow poop is a great fertilizer! All of our cows and calves are doing great! The calves are getting so big, it's almost time to wean them. Weaning time is our least favorite time of year (and probably our neighbors as well). The calves are so loud because in order to wean them, we have to separate them from their mothers. The mothers also don't like it but they get over it a lot quicker. It's super stressful on us because there is always the risk that they will get loose, trying to get back to mom or baby. We will likely wean them mid September so I will let you know how that goes!

The cows as they were just turned out onto the aftergrass

This year we bought 40 meat chickens, 10 turkeys and I just got 10 laying hens. We bought the meat chickens and turkeys to sell in the fall and I have been advertising them on Facebook and by word of mouth. The turkeys sold out super fast - I mean, we only had 10 but still, I didn't think they would go as fast as they did. So far I only have 18 chickens sold but I'm sure they will sell eventually and if they don't - more for me!

I picked up my laying hens on Tuesday and Scott had made a coop for them the night before. They won't be staying in this coop all winter as it is actually a calving pen but it will do for now. Now, I must say, I love laying hens! I don't know why, but I do. I am so pumped to have my own eggs again, there really is such a difference between farm fresh and store bought. There was a little drama with the hens however. I picked them up on Tuesday morning and had them all settled in before I went to work that night. Scott checked on them when he got home and added a little perch for them at my request. When I got home Wednesday evening (I worked a turn-around) I immediately went to see how they were making out. What did I find? We were missing a chicken! I counted and recounted over and over but sure enough we were missing one! I went searching, thinking it couldn't have gotten far. When Scott got home, he helped me look too. We literally looked everywhere and I even checked the neighbors to see if they had seen a random chicken running around but no luck. The chicken was gone. I was actually super bummed so we reinforced our coop to make sure no others went missing (we figure the chicken got up on the perch and then flew out over the side of the coop - our mistake).

Tonight, when Scott got home, he was in the barn getting the lawn mower and there, right in front of the barn door, walks the missing chicken! How unlikely is that - it actually came back! Scott immediately caught it and put in back in with the others. Missing chicken found!

Not necessarily farm related but the Kings County Fair was this week. It's an agricultural fair when local breeders show their cows. There is also a horse pull and a few other events. I didn't get to make it to any of the shows or events because of work, and neither did Scott but he was able to make it to the pee-wee class. The pee-wee class is for young kids, new to showing and 4-H, to have the opportunity to show a calf in a class. It is super cute, as most kids are under 5 and they dress up in all white (what you have to wear when you show dairy cows). My niece and nephew both had a calf in it, so Scott went to help his sister Rachel. They both got a trophy and a ribbon (all the kids do) and they were so proud!

My sister-in-law, Rachel, and her 2 kids, Jack and Hannah!

Scott with Jack and Hannah - they were so proud!

So that is about the extent of the excitement at Brovale Farms right now. I wish I had more to share but like I said, this is one of our slower times of year!

See you next time!

Sunday Brunch: August 21st, 2016

Hey there and welcome back for another Sunday Brunch (minus the brunch)! This has been a pretty busy week (end) so lets get right to it. Oh, but first, just a little heads up, this post is loaded with pictures, I just couldn't help myself!

Monday to Friday was your typical work week. I came down with a cold (ahem, thanks Scott :) on Tuesday and I am still stuck with it. I am definitely feeling better than I was but its turned into a bit of laryngitis now so that's just dandy! Wednesday after work, Scott and I went out for supper with our friends Stefan and Heather to celebrate Heathers birthday since we were not going to be around on the weekend for her party.

Friday after work Scott and Roscoe picked me up and we headed to Nova Scotia for my cousins wedding. As I have said before, I grew up in NS and my parents and all of my family live there as well, so that's where we were headed. We didn't arrive until late, around 10pm, as Scott didn't get off work until 5 and we had to make a few pit stops for Ros.

Saturday morning we got up bright and early and headed out kayaking. Where I am from there are tons of great places to go exploring so we started out in the river in Harpellville and eventually made our way to the ocean! There was quite a group of us; my parents, brother, aunt, a couple of friends of the family and Scott and I, 8 in total. It was such a beautiful morning for it. We went up river first and into a couple of small brooks then turned around once the tide came in and headed down river to the ocean. This was my first time ever kayaking and I was nervous that I would tip it over but I actually did pretty good, I even managed to beat Scott and my brother, Colin, in a race (not really but it was close!). It was super calm on the river but when we got to the ocean the wind came up a bit. It wasn't bad but it was windy enough that we didn't venture out too far. While we were floating around in the mouth of the river we did see a lot of seals though. It was so cool! They were popping up all over the place and actually came pretty close to our kayaks. Scott had never seen a seal that close before so he was pretty excited.

Scott, exploring one of the little inlets

The crew

My brother - Colin

"The Shanty's"

Back on solid land

After a couple of hours of kayaking we headed back to where we had left the trucks. The wedding was at 3pm so we went back home to get ready. This was the first wedding of the season for Scott and I so it was fun to get all dressed up. The wedding was beautiful and the bride and groom looked amazing. It was such a fun night, dancing and spending time with family and old friends. It was a blast from the past for me as there were quite a few people there that I hadn't seen since high school graduation (and that wasn't yesterday!). My cousin, Cody and his new bride, Brittany, got married and had their reception in the same venue that Scott and I did so it brought back lots of memories from our wedding day too! We danced until they kicked us out, it was so much fun but I am feeling it today!

This morning, once we finally all got up and at em', Scott and I took Roscoe and my families dog, Baylee, to the beach to play. They had been stuck inside for most of the evening on Saturday so they had some energy to burn. It was so funny, Roscoe LOVES to swim but he didn't care too much for the big waves. He would run out until he met a wave breaking and then turn around and hightail it back!

The ocean is my happy place

He was only a little happy!

My two loves

Ros and Bay

It was such a great weekend but not long enough (they never are). I am already looking forward to coming back to NS next weekend with our friends Heather and Stefan and baby Avery for more fun and sun!

On another note, I wanted to mention that I decided I am going to start a "mini cut". This weekend kicked off wedding season for Scott and I so I know there will be lots of food and drinks in the near future. Before all this starts I want to get my diet back on track. I have been doing pretty good during the week but I am still not good enough. I don't plan on losing any significant amount of weight I just want to get feeling healthy again and I thought I would share the process on here to help keep me accountable. I will do a more detailed post on this on Thursday so stay tuned for that.

Have a great week!

Workout Wednesday

Lately, I have been addicted to a few different health and fitness blogs. They are mainly runners, but they touch on a variety of topics. Some of my favorite posts to read are about their training. Whether it be from one day or a weeks worth, I just like to see what others are doing to stay healthy and fit! Today I thought I would share a "Workout Wednesday" post. It's pretty self explanatory, it's the workout I did on Wednesday. I know I just posted something similar to this in last weeks Sunday Brunch but bear with me, I promise there will be a farm related post coming next week.

Yesterday, being Wednesday, I went to CrossFit. The group that I workout with always meet up Monday, Wednesday, Friday and occasionally Saturdays. I did a slightly altered workout than the rest of the group due to my hip injury but I made sure it was just as tough! Here is what was scheduled:

Strength - Bench 5x5 @ 90#
WOD: 3RFT
            15 Thrusters @ 65# (I did High hang powercleans + push press)
            50 Double unders

I started by warming up and doing some mobility work then moved on to strength. I am only doing bench right now because squatting and deadlifts are a no-go, they hurt too much. Todays programming had me doing 5 sets of 5 repetitions at 90 pounds. I came down with a cold a couple days ago and unfortunately I definitely felt it during my workout. My warmup sets, which I did a few reps at 45, 65 and 85 pounds, felt tough so I new it was going to be a struggle to get through all 5 sets of 5. I was right - it sucked. The first set felt terrible and it didn't get any better as the sets went on. I made sure to take lots of rest in between sets and still got a good pause at the bottom of each rep but it was hard. I am glad I struggled through it though and successfully completed all 5 sets because when I am healthy again, that weight will be so much easier!

The WOD was equally suck-tastic. It is amazing how after 3 years of CrossFit, I still always underestimate the workouts. We all looked at this workout and said "oh 3 rounds, easy!". Boy, were we wrong. It was a lung burner for sure and by the time I was finished my grip was toast. The weight was light but hanging onto the bar for that long was difficult. I finished in 8:03 (8 minutes 3 seconds) so it was longer than expected but I felt so much better after finishing. It helped clear my head for a little while and the post-workout euphoria always has me coming back for more!

Today I am still feeling crappy from being sick but I am also sore as hell. My shoulders, traps and back are wrecked! I had planned to do another lighter workout tonight, just an easy 3km run, but I think I am going to take a rest day and relax. I may take Roscoe for a walk and I have a lot of housework to do before we go away for the weekend, so a rest day is needed.

I hope you enjoyed this Workout Wednesday post. See you next time!

*This post was inspired by Wild Workout Wednesdays linkup by Jen at Pretty Little Grub, Nicole at Fitful Focus, Annmarie at The Fit Foodie Mama, and Michelle at Fruition Fitness.*

How I Use My Erin Condren Life Planner

Hey folks! We're changing things up a bit today so if you're not interested in planners then skip this post because that's what it's all about!

Last month I took the plunge and bought an Erin Condren Life Planner. I say "plunge" because these things are not cheap. They run from $50 to $75 American so I paid a little over $100 for mine with shipping, duty and a few other purchases included. Scott was not too impressed when the charge showed up on our Visa but I can honestly say it was worth every penny. I've been using it for 3 weeks now and I love it! These planners are more than just a planner. People use them as more of a scrapbook I guess you could call it. I have been watching a lot of "Plan with Me" vlogs on YouTube (I work a lot of nights, ok?) and some people go crazy with stickers (see picture below). You can buy monthly and weekly sticker packages that are themed depending on the  month or time of year. Some peoples planners end up not even looking like an actual planner. For me however, the point of it is to keep me from screwing up my work schedule and keep all aspects of my life in order.

*These are not my pictures. I took these last three images off Google so you could see how some people use them. They are so crafty!*

Since I have now had a couple of weeks to use my planner and figure out what arrangement works best for me, I thought I would take you through my planning process. I usually do this on the weekend while I'm at work because when I am home I usually have way too much to do.

Here is what the weekly layout looks like before I add anything to it:

I make little notes to myself and stick them to the page when there are things I don't want to forget, such as a blog topics or ideas.

The first thing I do is look at the monthly layout, which is where I put all of my plans for the month. This seems the most logical way for me to do things because I like to have the months work schedule laid out in front of me so that I can then plan the rest of my life around that. I also like to keep the weekly views as neat as possible so when shifts get switched or plans changed, the mess is on the monthly view and not the weekly spread.

Next I start adding stickers.

I like to separate this planner into three main areas and then have them color coded. Blue is for work (both mine and Scotts), peach is for the gym and purple is for other personal things. So far this seems to work pretty well but I think I will change this up a bit in the future.

Then I write in the labels.

Now I start adding plans for the week in. I begin out by writing in things I know for sure are going to happen, such as my work schedule and appointments. Then I add in other things I need to remember to do such as blog posts and errands to run.

And voila! I am now ready for the week. As the week goes on, the spaces fill up with "To Do" lists and last minute appointments. I also like to keep track of my workouts in here.

For next month, I ordered a weekly sticker kit off of Etsy to try. It is fall-ish themed and I am really excited to give it a try. As I said above, I don't thing I want to stick with this format of planning exactly. I want to dress it up a little and make it prettier (I know, I'm a huge weirdo). When I get that kit and start to use it I will do another post like this one for anyone that's interested in these planners!

Hope you have a great week and see you next time!