Clean Eating Meal Plans: Spicy Pork Tacos

Spicy Pork Tacos with Celery & Apple Slaw, Mexican Corn and Sauteed Peppers

So, my sister introduced me to "E meals" about six months or so ago. AMAZING. I seriously can't rave about these meal plans enough. Basically, you go to the "E meals" website and sign up to get weekly meal plans sent to your email. My sister has been sending me hers which really helps me, but I know that she was able to use a Groupon.

Here is the link to the website: http://emeals.com/meal-plans/?gclid=COjUnJC427oCFel_QgodNigAeg

They have lots of different kinds of meal plans: Classic Meals, Clean Eating, Paleo, Mediterranean, Slow Cooker, Vegetarian, Low Carb, Low Fat, etc.

You can also coordinate with the size of your family, or eating for two. You can add a breakfast or lunch plan also and you can choose which grocery store you normally shop at that helps coordinate with the coupons of that store for the week. I just use the E meals that my sister sends me, but when I run out of those, I am definitely going to sign up.

So far, I have tried Clean Eating meals and Clean Eating Slow Cooker meals and they have both been super amazing. I have really loved the slow cooker meals because I love being able to throw it all into the crockpot and come home to dinner being ready.

Something that I really love about the meal plans is that the meals have the recipe there and there are also great side dishes that go along with the recipes. Also, there is a grocery list that is attached to the weekly meal plan that separates the shopping into: produce, meat, canned food, etc. I found this to be SUPER HELPFUL when shopping.

Some things that I didn't like so much about the meal plans: 1) With the clean eating meal plans, the recipes call for a lot of grocery items that you may not use all the time and have to buy for example I have had to buy different kinds of vinegars and oils. 2) Certain kinds of vegetables or produce are unfamiliar to me and I end up spending a lot of time in the grocery store trying to find some off the wall item and end up trying to just substitute it. 3) Another thing is that for every plan there is a price listed with it. The prices for Alaska really don't match up so the meal plans are a little bit more expensive than I would like. But, normally I try to pick like 5 meals out of 7 and go from there, saving money by not purchasing the other 2 and eating leftovers or something cheap like breakfast or soup.

One thing I do like is that the portions are very well done for cooking for two and that has been really helpful in saving money. I also love that these recipes call for lots of cilantro, spinach, and olive oil. I also love rice dishes and there are lots of yummy rice dishes.

I wanted to share one recipe that I really enjoyed and then there will be more to come! :)

The picture is above. The recipe is for Spicy Pork Tacos, Mexican Corn, and Sauteed Peppers. It's super easy to make!

Meal Ingredients + Recipe:
(The pork is a crockpot recipe)

Spicy Pork Tacos
- Canola Oil
- Salt and Pepper
- 1.5 lb boneless pork shoulder
- 15 oz can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 3 cloves garlic, smashed
- 4 corn tortillas

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium- high heat. Sprinkle salt and pepper over pork. Add pork to skillet; cook 5 minutes or until browned on all sides. Transfer pork to a 4 quart slow cooker. Top with tomatoes, paprika, and garlic. Cover and cook on Low 6 hours (I cooked it for 7 and was fine).

Warm tortillas in microwave. Put some pork in the tortillas and top with celery apple slaw (see below). Serve with the other two side dishes (Mexican Corn + Sauteed Peppers).

Celery Apple Slaw
- 1 Apple, cored and shredded
- 2 Celery Stalks, thinly sliced
- 1.5 teaspoons olive oil
- 1.5 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Combine apple, celery, oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Divide apple mixture evenly among tortillas.

Mexican Corn
- 2 ears corn, shucked (although I used thawed frozen corn)
- 1 tablespoon of butter, melted
- 1.5 teaspoons fresh lime juice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese (Tony doesn't love feta cheese so I may consider a different kind of cheese for the future)

Cook corn in boiling water 10 minutes; drain. Combine butter and lime juice; brush evenly over corn. Sprinkle corn with salt and pepper and feta cheese.

Sauteed Peppers
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 orange bell pepper, seeded and sliced
- 1/2 green bell pepper, seeded and sliced
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium- high heat. Add bell peppers; cook 12 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently. Stir in cilantro, salt, and pepper.

YUM! Enjoy. :)




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His Mercies are New Every Morning

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul, 'therefore I will hope in him.' The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord." Lamentations 3:1

I have been so blessed by rest, community, and time with the Lord this week. As I am seeking the Lord, he continues to teach me, grow me, and astound me. One very real blessing is my Monday night bible study that my sister in law Holly is leading.

Last week, surrounded by a group of women, many shared that they felt their time with the Lord was lacking. For myself, I shared that this lead to feeling of guilt and shame that the Lord was not a priority. This led to a discussion about how the Lord is a "functional parent", in other words He knows how to reach us according to the specific way He designed our personalities and the way we think and feel. We were assigned a homework assignment: How does God best communicate with you?

After thinking about the times that I feel God speaking, I came to realize that while my journaling and quiet time WERE important ways that God communicates with me, I also felt like God speaks to me through other people. I am definitely an extrovert and so talking and speaking with other people about my emotions and thoughts are so important for me. I realized that God uses other people to speak to me and He does this often. I also feel like the outward way I express what God is speaking to me is through writing (and talking it out with other people).

All this to say, if you feel guilty about not having quiet times with the Lord, don't allow the enemy to use that. Seek time with the Lord, and be thankful when you have it, but realize that God uses many avenues to speak to his children, just like an earthly parent would. This was such a huge realization for me. I love the time I get to sit with God, but I don't need it to be quiet. I like to talk out loud to other people what I am learning, or talk with God out loud about it and this is OKAY. My quiet time does not need to be literally quiet. God reaches us in so many ways.

In other life updates, I got to take a trip to see my family and my best friend Mandy get married. This was such an encouraging time.

Mandy on her wedding day! :)

Also Tony and I have been working with our dog Sage with separation anxiety and I am learning a lot through the process. Funny to see fears of being alone in a dog kind of teach a lesson to me.

Sage whose nicknames so far are: Sagey Girl, Sageicle

Teaching has been BUSY, but I am enjoying my students so much. Teaching is definitely a passion and I am beyond thankful to wake up every morning and go to a job that I feel totally aligns with my calling. I try to take time to thank God for this every morning. I am learning a lot in teaching about letting control of my expectations and allowing God to do his work in my students and myself during the day. Through his grace, I am growing and (hopefully) getting better as a teacher each day.

House progress is slow going but home finally feels like home. I no longer picture our apartment when I think of home (this happened for awhile). I am getting excited about decorating our guest bedroom and we are looking into adding a wood stove (gotta be toasty and warm for the winter).

I am looking forward to the holiday season! Tony and I are staying in Alaska this year for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Our first snowfall came yesterday- Hello, winter!

Thanking God for his steadfast love and mercies that I know are new EVERY morning.

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