PSA: There are just five YBC Mantra Boxes left in stock! We expect to sell out today, so grab yours now while you still can and discover new small businesses in the health and wellness industries in September when the box ships out!
Hey everyone! Today I'm excited to have a guest post from my sweet friend Hayley and her husband Bill, the minds behind Primal Palate, one of the web's most popular Paleo recipe websites. Now, I haven't actually met Hayley in real life, but through my conversations with her online, I've found her to be one of the kindest, most genuine, hardworking people in the blogging business. She is also a huge supporter of YBC and I can't thank her enough for that. Together, she and her husband have authored four books, the most recent being Make it Paleo II - which is ah-mazing. Primal Palate encourages others in the Paleo work to contribute their own recipes, they have an app, cookie dough that you can purchase through Cappellos, and now a line of organic spices and spice blends. They post regular peeks into their real life via Instagram, which constantly works to inspire and provide support to people pursuing a healthier and tastier lifestyle. Enjoy! xo Candace
PS- My morning routine, and Carrie's, from Carrie on Living.
Mornings are pretty hectic for most people, but luckily for us, we typically can enjoy our mornings at a slower pace. Working from home allows for a flexible schedule, which has many benefits. Although a flexible schedule can be nice, it also means that there really could be no end to the work day if you allow it. One of the things we have been working on is changing our nighttime schedule for better health, which then changed our morning schedule. Instead of working until very late at night, and then watching movies in bed until 1 am to wind down, we now get in bed at a reasonable hour and read until we fall asleep. It has really helped shift our sleep schedule for better rest and healing, and in doing so has made our morning routine better.
Fresh eggs
We have quite a few mouths to feed here: 7 chickens, 1 dog, and 2 cats. Our cats have automatic feeders, which helps a ton with our mornings. If they didn’t, they would wake us up at 5 am every day begging for food. We also have a great setup with our chickens to allow for more snooze time in the AM. They can let themselves down into their small run, and have access to their automatic feeders and waters. That way they don’t wake up our pup with their squawking, and we get to sleep in.
Our dog Charlie usually wakes us up between 7:30 and 8:00 am. Bill takes him out, while I make Charlie’s breakfast. When Charlie comes in to eat, Bill goes back out to tend to the chickens. He opens their small run so they have access to the bigger one we made for them, and fills the feeders if needed.
Chickens
After Charlie eats, and the chickens are let out, we start on our breakfast, but not until Charlie gets the last tiny bit of his food bowl scraped out for him. Yes, our dog has us trained to clean his bowl out for him!
Hot lemon water in the morning
The first thing we do for ourselves is put on a kettle of water for our morning lemon water. Warm lemon water on an empty stomach has become part of our routine the last few months, and we love it! While we sip on our warm lemon water, we make breakfast. This is usually sautéed Brussels sprouts, pan-fried sweet potatoes, and either grass fed ground beef, or roasted chicken. You’d think with 7 chickens we’d be eating eggs everyday, but we aren’t! In an ironic twist of fate, I found out that I have a slight egg allergy shortly after getting 7 chickens, but it has kept our neighbors very happy until I can eat them again.
Breakfast from Primal Palate
Throughout making breakfast we do check email, and social media, which is one habit we do hope to change slightly, but we don’t settle down for real work until after breakfast is over. Once we have finished eating we take Charlie out for a walk. This is how we begin and end our day. We go for a morning walk and discuss the day, and all the things we want to accomplish, or just talk through any current issues together before the day gets started, and we end the day the same way, although Bill says the evening walk is his favorite because the work day is done, and he can just enjoy it. He is right about that!