I'm a little under the weather today, so as I lay low at home even though I wanted to be super productive (I taught a barre class early this morning and then went right back to bed), I thought I'd fill you guys in on some of the things I've been up to lately:

• Cuddling up under a blanket or wearing my Uggs while sipping hot tea. June Gloom is real, you guys, but these chilly days are kind of speaking to me.
• Deep-cleaning my whole house and still filling bags of clothes for Goodwill.
• Trying not to mope around after my mom left last Friday morning.
• Putting dishes in the dishwasher as soon as I'm done with them and being amazed at how easy it is to keep the kitchen clean if you just do a little work when it needs to be done.
• Studying Pure Barre choreography so I can switch it up with clients as I'm now officially on the schedule teaching.
• Taking Ender on super long walks around my neighborhood and scoping out all the amazing fruit trees and flowers that bloom around here.
• Cooking up a storm and freezing stuff so I rarely have to go grocery shopping. I have a love/hate relationship with grocery shopping.
• Watching Game of Thrones from the beginning with Rob because we can't wait another month for new episodes. It's so amazing to start over knowing what we know now.
• Trying to be more present on this blog but also accepting that I'm juggling a lot of things right now, so giving it my best and hoping it's enough for now.

What have you been up to lately?

I love making shredded chicken in my slow cooker with a little salsa, but I can only do lettuce wraps for tacos so many times before I start to really miss having an actual tortilla to pick up and eat like a real taco. These low-carb taco shells are incredibly easy to make and so delicious, you might not believe that they only require one ingredient. Seriously, one. That's right--the only thing that stands between you and a keto-friendly taco is a little handful of shredded cheese. Let's get cooking.

Ingredients (makes 4 taco shells):  

• About 6 ounces of shredded cheese (I like to use cheddar)

For the filling and toppings, follow this recipe for my crock-pot chicken tacos.

Instructions: 

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Separate the cheese into sections of about 1.5 ounces.
2. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat (affiliate link) and make small circular piles of cheese--usually I can only do two at a time so they have enough room (they will spread out a bit in the oven). Pat the cheese down so each pile is in one even layer. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the edges begin to brown. Allow to cool slightly (just a couple minutes).
3. Lay a wooden spoon or spatula over two overturned glasses and carefully transfer the baked cheese circle so that it lays over the handle, allowing it to cool into the shape of a taco shell. (You can also leave them flat and use them as a tostada.)
4. Fill with your choice of protein and top with chopped lettuce, avocado, salsa, sour cream, or whatever else you like on your tacos. Taco shells will keep for a few days in the fridge, but they do best freshly made, while they're still a little warm.

My cousin and aunt got in from Montana on Thursday and then my mom arrived on Friday, so all weekend we've been out and about exploring. They leave tomorrow but my mom will be here for five more days and I'm so excited to hang out with her all week--I love having friends and family visit and just doing normal stuff together like grocery shopping, walking Ender, and drinking coffee in my living room every morning.

There's a big field in the park by our house and just recently it got completely fenced in. Rob and I brought Ender there the other night to see if he would want to run around and it was so adorable--as soon as I let him off the leash he took off at a sprint and was having so much fun. He is such a fast dog and I love finding opportunities to let him go at full speed. There are a bunch of squirrels around so it's a much different experience from the regular dog park, but it wears him out just the same (in about half the time).

Sometimes I look at Rob and can't believe I get to spend my whole life with him. I feel so lucky.

I go through these phases where I love eating rice cakes with mayo and sliced tomato, but the other day I got some of that Everything But the Bagel Seasoning from Trader Joe's and sprinkled it over a rice cake with cream cheese. It wasn't exactly a bagel, but it was pretty damn good.