Cook Bed and Breakfast Now Open

Mila, Kaylee, Hannah, Kianna and Trace

Depressed over Iowa's embarrassing performance.

Hawkeye Fans

We began the new year with the opening of the Cook Bed and Breakfast. Our first guests were The Yaus. They had been in Michigan for Christmas visiting Jodi's family and decided to stop by for a visit on their way back to Knoxville, TN. Their little girls loved our dress-up bin. Kaylee loved playing with their dog, Ruff. It was a nice visit and fun catching up with my dear friend.

The Yau's left the following day and just hours later, The Taylor's arrived. The Taylor's had been in Maryland visiting family for Christmas and stopped by to watch the Iowa Bowl game on their way back to Iowa. We invited The Johnson's over too and and made a party of it. Despite Iowa's embarrassing loss, it was a fun night. Kaylee had a lot of fun playing with their daughter, Leah. The girls even exchanged e-mails addresses. She is getting so grown up these days...

To make matters a little more intense for hosting company, our family began the Whole 30 Challenge on January 1st. The Whole 30 is a 30 day challenge to eat only whole foods. We are allowed to eat: meat, vegetables, fruit, eggs, and nuts. We are not allowed to eat: dairy, legumes (beans, peanuts, peas and corn), gluten or any grains (rice, cous cous, quinoa), and absolutely no sugar or preservatives. The idea behind this challenge is to change our bodies from being sugar burning bodies to fat burning bodies. It is also helpful in identifying any foods that may be causing digestive issues and to change our eating habits away from craving sugar. We decided to have the kids do it too to see if eliminating sugar helps regulate their energy levels and moodiness. Time will tell...

This food challenge is a BIG one. I have spent the past 3 weeks trying to find foods and recipes that will sustain us during the next 30 days. Trying to find foods without preservatives and added sugar is pretty eye opening. I have to make my own mayonnaise, salad dressings, ketchup, and barbecue sauce. Our guests were troopers as they joined us on the first two days of our challenge. Dinner for the Yau's consisted of pork tenderloin served with roasted carrots and potatoes. I also made apple pie lara bars for us to snack on while playing cards. Dinner for the Iowa Bowl Game Party consisted of baked chicken wings with half marinated in a homemade buffalo sauce and the other half in a homemade mango bbq sauce. I also made homemade ranch dressing to dip them in and a veggie tray with homemade dill dip. My first thoughts of this challenge, "Oh my word, this is a lot of work making everything from scratch! However, I CAN do anything for 30 days!"