**Meal Prep for the Week**

I'm so excited to share my meal prep strategy with you guys! I like to start by making a big batch of something, usually chicken or rice bowls, and then portioning it out into individual containers. This way, I can grab and go throughout the week without having to spend too much time in the kitchen. The best part is that it's so easy - just throw some ingredients together, toss them in the freezer or fridge, and voila! You've got a week's worth of meals.

I have to say, I'm really enjoying meal prep right now. It's been a game-changer for my busy lifestyle. I can take one big bowl and turn it into multiple meals with just some simple swaps. For example, I can use the same chicken for salads, wraps, or even as a topping for soups. It's amazing how much time (and stress) meal prep can save you!

If you guys enjoy seeing my meal prep videos, please give me a thumbs up and let me know what other cooking or meal prep related content you'd like to see more of! I'm always open to ideas and suggestions.

**The Instant Pot**

I've been hearing a lot about the Instant Pot lately, and I have to say, I'm intrigued. It seems like it would be an amazing tool for cooking up a storm in the kitchen. I mean, who wouldn't want a machine that can do everything from pressure cooking to slow cooking to making yogurt? It sounds like a dream come true!

But before I commit to buying one, I want to hear from you guys - is it worth it? Have any of you used an Instant Pot and can you tell me about your experiences? Are there any recipes or tips you'd recommend?

**Blog Footage**

I've been working on some blog footage over the past couple weeks, and I'm excited to share some of my favorite moments with you. First up, we went on a six-hour road trip to Arizona to visit two couples who just so happen to have babies within 10 days of each other. It was such a fun adventure, and Carter (my little man) was thrilled to be along for the ride.

We ended up staying with friends at their beautiful home in the desert, complete with an infinity pool and fire pit that was simply breathtaking. The kids had a blast playing in the backyard, and we were able to enjoy some much-needed downtime as the adults.

New Year's was also a big deal this year, and we celebrated with a feast that was truly unforgettable. It's always so special to spend time with loved ones and make new memories together.

**Carter's New Toy**

Speaking of Carter, he just got his birthday present - a Splash Center! He's absolutely obsessed with it, and I'm loving watching him play in the water. The mesh fence around the pool is also super convenient - we can easily take it down or put it up depending on our needs.

**Safari Park Adventure**

We recently took a trip to the Safari Park, where we got to spend the day surrounded by wildlife and enjoying each other's company. We even met Manny, who was visiting from out of town! Carter had an absolute blast riding his favorite attractions and making new friends along the way.

One of the highlights of our trip was when we saw a group of birds flying overhead - it was truly breathtaking. And of course, no trip to the Safari Park would be complete without stopping by the animal exhibits, where we got up close and personal with some incredible creatures.

**Mandy's Podcast**

I'm so excited to share that one of my oldest friends has just started a podcast! Mandy is always hilarious and fun to be around, and I have no doubt that her show is going to be entertaining. The focus of the podcast is all about reality TV - from "The Bachelor" to "Real Housewives," it's all fair game.

I got to be one of Mandy's first guests on her podcast, and let me tell you, it was an absolute blast. We talked everything from our favorite TV shows to our personal lives and experiences. I'm so proud of Mandy for taking the leap and pursuing her passion - I know you guys will love listening to her show.

**Clip Flash Game**

We also played a game called Clip Flash during my recent vlog, which was such a lot of fun! It's a game that you play on your phone through the TV, and it requires so much strategy and teamwork. We worked together as a team to solve puzzles and complete challenges - it was an absolute blast.

**Hydra Facial**

After all that playing around, we both treated ourselves to a Hydra facial. It's such a unique experience - the machine sucks everything out of your skin and you can literally see it in real-time! It's like a mini-exfoliating treatment that leaves your skin feeling smooth and refreshed.

Carter even got in on the action, trying to imitate my words during the facial (it was adorable!). And let me tell you, having the kids around while we pamper ourselves was pure bliss.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey guys and welcome back to the weekly vlog so many of you have been requesting that I do more cooking and meal prep here on my channel so that's what we're doing today one of my big goals for 2018 is to do more meal prep bang because it saves you so much time so much money and it makes you more likely to eat healthy if you plan it in advance so I'm going to be showing you my breakfast lunch and dinner meal prep for the week and then afterwards I have so much footage from the past couple weeks we should Carter on his first plane trip so that would be a little bit later in the vlog so stay tuned for that and so with that said let's jump into our meal prep first recipe is my breakfast quiche I make two of these and it lost me for two weeks so I start off with these organic whole wheat pie shells you could just use regular pie shells to save time I get these organic pre-washed and pre-cut vegetables I just go ahead and cut them a little bit smaller which takes very little time and then i saute these just until they are lightly cooked these are very extra salt dispenser let me cut for Christmas it's a bit too funny it lights up I just you lights left eye on these for about three to five minutes just to soften them up a little bit okay so for the filling I'm doing four regular eggs one small carton of liquid egg whites and then about half a cup of milk or a milk substitute also totally optional not as healthy but I do like to add just about quarter cup of cheese for flavor purposes I am adding cheddar now we are going to assemble our quiche start by putting half of your sautéed veggies in one and half in the other and just because I feel like I didn't make quite enough vegetables I'm also going to add some spinach okay and then all we need to do is add our filling okay and this is our egg white only version this is what Ryan and Carter are going to eat and now we are going to pop these in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 25 to 30 minutes you just want to keep an eye on them and they're done once you can put a knife through them and it comes out clean so in the morning for breakfast I just cut myself a little slice of my breakfast quiche so easy to do all you have to do is reheat for my lunch meal prep I am making rice and bean bowls these have been one of my favorite lunches for years and years first thing is brown rice I just buy frozen brown rice it's a lot faster and easier to make a little bit of that on the bottom then some black beans then you can add shredded chicken or a meat of your choice I'm actually going to add this shredded jackfruit which is a meat substitute add some crumbled up kajita cheese some cilantro and then the day of I put some fresh avocado and some crumbled up tortilla chips just for an added crunch factor here it is one of my favorite lunch meal I've been eating for years for dinner we are making a three bean chili with added vegetables and ground turkey so to start things off I get one small onion diced that up get that going to caramelize in my pot and then I add the ground turkey this is five percent fat white meat ground turkey to this I add some vegetables I get my veggies pre-washed and pre-cut I just cut them a little bit smaller into bite-sized pieces I add this so they can saute for spices I'm putting in one tablespoon of cumin one tablespoon of chili powder a half a teaspoon of cayenne and some salt and pepper you can go to town and add a lot more spices to this but I just like to keep it simple then I put in one jar of crushed tomatoes and one jar of diced tomatoes put in one bag of frozen corn and some cilantro put the lid on and let it simmer for about 20 to 25 minutes but this is so easy to make I put a little bit in the freezer and some in the fridge to eat throughout the week and that is my meal prep for the week if you guys enjoy seeing that if you want me to do more of it then give us a thumbs up and let me know what other cooking or meal prep related videos you want to see me do I've been hearing a lot about the instant pot and I'm thinking I might need to buy it and try it and show you guys some recipes so if you have an instant pot let me know is it worth it should I buy it but we're not done yet I have so much blog footage I've taken over the past couple weeks the first thing is Carter's first trip we went on a six-hour road trip to Arizona to visit two couple friends of ours it is so crazy we just so happen to all have babies within 10 days of each other that was not planned and it was the first time of us getting all the babies together thanks to your advice the trip was very smooth you guys gave the advice to travel when he is sleeping so that's what we did it was perfect once we got there he was a little out of his element a little cranky slow to warm up but I have time puffs he did warm up a little bit and he was happier and it was so much fun okay check out their backyards that I don't write fountain fire pit infinity pool it's like the ultimate bye yard it's Carter's first time in the swings the moms went on a spa day which was much-needed the spa we went to was so beautiful definitely had that Arizona vibe to it we all got massages it was wonderful and then for New Year's we had a feast and we had so much fun so that was an amazing trip Carter's new toy he got his birthday you love your Splash Center come this way splash splash guys look what we finally got installed our pool fence I feel so much better knowing that Carter cannot get into the pool and we just got this mesh one which is awesome because you can put it up or take it down all right we are at the Safari Park we're here with Manny she's in town we have Carter number one are you excited did you see birdie check this African bullfrog it is probably one of the CU rocks whoa look at guys rode it silly eats like not even other frog food lines are always weeping I think there's even that song alright there's barely chance and the park is closing there's literally no one around and we do not know how to get out so ok update we made it out we found our way oh my guys crater how are you doing you're at the end of your rope a little bit I know it's a lot go out for when you're old okay we're gonna go now you guys it's kind of blowing my mind but I'm pretty sure Carter knows these word cards cuz we do them every day it could be a coincidence but kinda where's the dog dog good where's the ball good where's the baby yes all right guys this is a very exciting episode of the blog we have a special guest this is Mandy one of my oldest most best friends in the entire world and the best thing about Mandy she just so funny she's so fun to be around the other thing you need to know about Mandy is she just started a podcast and I am her second guest we all have like oh it is my first time ever doing a podcast ever being interviewed whatsoever the focus of the podcast is reality TV she talks about the bachelor house Real Housewives the Vanderpump rules the bad comedy of our time it really is I will link to it down in the description box go listen to it subscribe we're playing a new game called clip flash and it is a game that you play on your phones through the TV we are here mandy is getting a hydra facial i'm gonna get one too the best part about the hydra facial is that and it sucks everything out of your skin and you can see it and that please it's one other thing that's like gross but so satisfying to see everything that's sucked out of your face you do look glowing Carter can you say ball good can you say dog did you say dog good can you say mama ma'am can you say nein night can you say Dada da Wow good kid alright guys that is going to be it for this week's vlog I really hope you enjoyed it next week I'm not sure if I'm doing a weekly vlog or something else that I've been wanting to do for a while which would be my top of baby products for the first year and possibly the worst baby products we shall see oh that's that thank you guys so much for watching and I will see you on Sunday with a new videohey guys and welcome back to the weekly vlog so many of you have been requesting that I do more cooking and meal prep here on my channel so that's what we're doing today one of my big goals for 2018 is to do more meal prep bang because it saves you so much time so much money and it makes you more likely to eat healthy if you plan it in advance so I'm going to be showing you my breakfast lunch and dinner meal prep for the week and then afterwards I have so much footage from the past couple weeks we should Carter on his first plane trip so that would be a little bit later in the vlog so stay tuned for that and so with that said let's jump into our meal prep first recipe is my breakfast quiche I make two of these and it lost me for two weeks so I start off with these organic whole wheat pie shells you could just use regular pie shells to save time I get these organic pre-washed and pre-cut vegetables I just go ahead and cut them a little bit smaller which takes very little time and then i saute these just until they are lightly cooked these are very extra salt dispenser let me cut for Christmas it's a bit too funny it lights up I just you lights left eye on these for about three to five minutes just to soften them up a little bit okay so for the filling I'm doing four regular eggs one small carton of liquid egg whites and then about half a cup of milk or a milk substitute also totally optional not as healthy but I do like to add just about quarter cup of cheese for flavor purposes I am adding cheddar now we are going to assemble our quiche start by putting half of your sautéed veggies in one and half in the other and just because I feel like I didn't make quite enough vegetables I'm also going to add some spinach okay and then all we need to do is add our filling okay and this is our egg white only version this is what Ryan and Carter are going to eat and now we are going to pop these in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 25 to 30 minutes you just want to keep an eye on them and they're done once you can put a knife through them and it comes out clean so in the morning for breakfast I just cut myself a little slice of my breakfast quiche so easy to do all you have to do is reheat for my lunch meal prep I am making rice and bean bowls these have been one of my favorite lunches for years and years first thing is brown rice I just buy frozen brown rice it's a lot faster and easier to make a little bit of that on the bottom then some black beans then you can add shredded chicken or a meat of your choice I'm actually going to add this shredded jackfruit which is a meat substitute add some crumbled up kajita cheese some cilantro and then the day of I put some fresh avocado and some crumbled up tortilla chips just for an added crunch factor here it is one of my favorite lunch meal I've been eating for years for dinner we are making a three bean chili with added vegetables and ground turkey so to start things off I get one small onion diced that up get that going to caramelize in my pot and then I add the ground turkey this is five percent fat white meat ground turkey to this I add some vegetables I get my veggies pre-washed and pre-cut I just cut them a little bit smaller into bite-sized pieces I add this so they can saute for spices I'm putting in one tablespoon of cumin one tablespoon of chili powder a half a teaspoon of cayenne and some salt and pepper you can go to town and add a lot more spices to this but I just like to keep it simple then I put in one jar of crushed tomatoes and one jar of diced tomatoes put in one bag of frozen corn and some cilantro put the lid on and let it simmer for about 20 to 25 minutes but this is so easy to make I put a little bit in the freezer and some in the fridge to eat throughout the week and that is my meal prep for the week if you guys enjoy seeing that if you want me to do more of it then give us a thumbs up and let me know what other cooking or meal prep related videos you want to see me do I've been hearing a lot about the instant pot and I'm thinking I might need to buy it and try it and show you guys some recipes so if you have an instant pot let me know is it worth it should I buy it but we're not done yet I have so much blog footage I've taken over the past couple weeks the first thing is Carter's first trip we went on a six-hour road trip to Arizona to visit two couple friends of ours it is so crazy we just so happen to all have babies within 10 days of each other that was not planned and it was the first time of us getting all the babies together thanks to your advice the trip was very smooth you guys gave the advice to travel when he is sleeping so that's what we did it was perfect once we got there he was a little out of his element a little cranky slow to warm up but I have time puffs he did warm up a little bit and he was happier and it was so much fun okay check out their backyards that I don't write fountain fire pit infinity pool it's like the ultimate bye yard it's Carter's first time in the swings the moms went on a spa day which was much-needed the spa we went to was so beautiful definitely had that Arizona vibe to it we all got massages it was wonderful and then for New Year's we had a feast and we had so much fun so that was an amazing trip Carter's new toy he got his birthday you love your Splash Center come this way splash splash guys look what we finally got installed our pool fence I feel so much better knowing that Carter cannot get into the pool and we just got this mesh one which is awesome because you can put it up or take it down all right we are at the Safari Park we're here with Manny she's in town we have Carter number one are you excited did you see birdie check this African bullfrog it is probably one of the CU rocks whoa look at guys rode it silly eats like not even other frog food lines are always weeping I think there's even that song alright there's barely chance and the park is closing there's literally no one around and we do not know how to get out so ok update we made it out we found our way oh my guys crater how are you doing you're at the end of your rope a little bit I know it's a lot go out for when you're old okay we're gonna go now you guys it's kind of blowing my mind but I'm pretty sure Carter knows these word cards cuz we do them every day it could be a coincidence but kinda where's the dog dog good where's the ball good where's the baby yes all right guys this is a very exciting episode of the blog we have a special guest this is Mandy one of my oldest most best friends in the entire world and the best thing about Mandy she just so funny she's so fun to be around the other thing you need to know about Mandy is she just started a podcast and I am her second guest we all have like oh it is my first time ever doing a podcast ever being interviewed whatsoever the focus of the podcast is reality TV she talks about the bachelor house Real Housewives the Vanderpump rules the bad comedy of our time it really is I will link to it down in the description box go listen to it subscribe we're playing a new game called clip flash and it is a game that you play on your phones through the TV we are here mandy is getting a hydra facial i'm gonna get one too the best part about the hydra facial is that and it sucks everything out of your skin and you can see it and that please it's one other thing that's like gross but so satisfying to see everything that's sucked out of your face you do look glowing Carter can you say ball good can you say dog did you say dog good can you say mama ma'am can you say nein night can you say Dada da Wow good kid alright guys that is going to be it for this week's vlog I really hope you enjoyed it next week I'm not sure if I'm doing a weekly vlog or something else that I've been wanting to do for a while which would be my top of baby products for the first year and possibly the worst baby products we shall see oh that's that thank you guys so much for watching and I will see you on Sunday with a new video\n"