Category Archives: Food

52 Cards

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Today I reached day 17 of #100daysofworkouts.  I’ve been doing pretty good with this.  Even if I don’t “workout” per se, I count my time doing yard work and running errands all day long as movement-the ultimate goal is to just keep moving.

I was watching The Biggest Loser about a month or so ago and I saw Bob the trainer give his team a last chance workout in which they dealt out a stack of playing cards.  Each suite was an exercise and the number determined how many of each exercise they would do.  This looked like a great way to work up a sweat without having any equipment.  As long as you have a deck of cards, this workout can be done anywhere.

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When we do this at work we try to mix it up to keep from getting bored.  But pretty much it goes something like this: Hearts=Cardio (BURPEES!) Diamonds=Push ups or an arm workout (today we did tricep dips), Spades=Abs (in/out with our feet) Clubs=legs (squats today).  We used to do it so that 2 would equal two push ups, but we realized that was kind of a waste, so now we’ve decided that anything under 5, we add 10 to it.  So instead of two push ups, we do 12.  So much more challenging and effective.  I love this workout because you never know the hand you get dealt.  There was a time when we did 14 burpees, flipped another card and had to do 12 more.  Ass kicker!

For dinner tonight I make baked marinated salmon served with a kale salad.

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I marinaded the salmon in teriyaki sauce, red chili sauce, fresh garlic, fresh ginger, and juice from one orange.  I placed it in a tupperware container, shook it up and let it sit all day until I came home and baked it.  It was, in my opinion, the best salmon I’ve ever made.

For the kale, I mixed a bunch of bite sized pieces with 1/4 cup olive oil, sea salt, pepper, pine nuts, lemon juice from 1 lemon, lemon zest, parmesan cheese and cranberries.  Sooo good!  Normally when I make kale, I sautee it very lightly in a pan with olive oil, garlic and lemon but I prefer it not cooked-it taste a lot better that way.

People at work ask me why I eat kale over spinach and my response is, “Because it’s healthier!”  Here’s a link that goes a little bit more in depth about the benefits of eating kale.

So, I did something pretty crazy last night.  I signed up for my first 1/2 marathon post Madelyn!  I sat there and stared at the screen thinking, “Do I do this? Do I not?”  I’ve ran 3 1/2 marathons before this, so I’m not sure why I was so hesitant about this one.  So I did it anyway and I’ll be following an 8 week training program to a Tee.  I figure, it will help pass time while I’m away on my deployment and my goal is to beat my 1/2 marathon time of 2:25 which I feel is pretty doable.  Training starts in just a few weeks!  Until then, I’m focusing a lot on strength training in hopes of staying injury free.  I will be running the Rock N Sole Summerfest half marathon and I’m so pumped to run across the Hoan Bridge.

Any plans for a summer race or event? Hubs keeps talking about Tough mudder and other obstacle course races.  Tough Mudder is one that I won’t do, but I’m more than happy to donate money to the wounded warrior project without having to be electrocuted :-)

Spaces

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A few weeks ago I posted about my lack of discipline with tracking Weight Watchers points just via E-Tools and I blogged about whether or not I would just switch back to MyFitnessPal because it’s FREE and it does work.  I tried it for about a week, and yes I did lose some weight but I also noticed that my milk supply was decreasing.  Instead of just giving up on the weight loss effort altogether, I quit doing Weight Watchers just online and I joined their weekly meetings + e-tools.  My first week was actually the week of Thanksgiving (what was I thinking?!)  I did end up gaining, but only .4lbs.  When I went last week, I was down 3lbs.  Success.  I also noticed that my milk supply was back to normal.

With Weight Watchers I get a daily points allowance of 44.  That includes the 14 extra that they give moms who are exclusively breastfeeding.  When Madelyn starts eating solids (which might be any day now), I will subtract 7 points from that total, because I will be breastfeeding but supplementing.  When I plan out my meals, the 44 points is more than enough.  One evening, I had 15 points leftover so hubs ran to DQ and got me a carmel sundae.  Probably not the smartest way to spend 12 points, but I really wanted ice cream and I could have it without sabotaging my efforts.

I attend the meetings every Monday morning with a bunch of older grandma types, and I really enjoy it.  Last week, I brought Madelyn with me and everyone just loved her :-) One of the topics of last week’s meeting was creating Safe Spaces.  They focused on home, work, dining out, etc. I carry apple slices in my purse and in my kitchen I’ve gone through all of our packaged stuff (yogurt, nut butters, hummus, trail mix etc) and I’ve written the points value on everything that I possible can. The most important thing I learned was how big of a deal planning is. You are allowed 49 “extra” points throughout the week.  You can choose not to use them or use them as you need them.  We are going out for my father in-law’s birthday dinner tomorrow and I will probably dip into my extra points for the meal.  I have decided yet if I’m going to treat it as a normal meal or a treat for myself.  I’ve been pretty good this week so I’m leaning towards treat :-)

The meetings keep me accountable with weekly weigh-ins, provide great support and awesome advice from other members.  One of my biggest problems is that I really like to come home from work and snack on random stuff in the kitchen or snack on things as I’m cooking or baking.  And because I’m picking here and there I don’t count points, which I should because those bites count for something.  So now, when I come home from work I try to remember to stick a piece of gum in my mouth so that I won’t snack or I grab an apple or some veggies and hummus from the refrigerator.

Weekly Weight Watchers meetings are also a great source for new, healthy recipes.  I bought their salted carmel smoothie mix because it sounded heavenly, and my leader told me about smoothie pancakes-a pack of the salted carmel mix with 3 egg whites and a teeny bit of water just to thin it out.

smoothie pancakes

You prepare and cook them like pancakes and they turn out similar to the consistency of crepes.  With the salted carmel smoothie mix, no syrup is necessary because they’re already sweet and you’ve got 3-4 smoothie pancakes for a total of 3 points.  Add a banana or apple and you’ve got yourself a nice little breakfast :-) I’ve made them the night before and I reheat them at work the next day in the microwave and they’re just as good-creating safe spaces at work!

I’m off to earn some activity points-today we’re moving my mom into her new house :-) Have a great weekend!

Weigh in Friday-Week 2

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Weekly weight loss: -2.6 lbs.
Total Weight loss: 5.6lbs

I had another successful week with Weight Watchers.  I’m learning that it only works if you track EVERYTHING you eat-everyday.  I’m surprised that I lost this much just because I didn’t get a chance to work out as much as I normally do this week, but on the other hand I’m back at work now and I had to plan my meals for the day.

Some of last week’s meals included:

-slow cooker jerk chicken w/brown rice
-breaded pork chops
-Salmon, cooked zucchini, and mashed potatoes
-And these somewhat healthy, delicious muffins posted below.  They count as a breakfast meal :-)
Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Middle
7 points +
Ingredients
  • 2 cups gluten free flour
  • 1 tsp xanthan gum-eliminate if you’re using regular flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • a pinch of salt
  • 1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 2 Tbsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 coconut oil-melted
  • 2/3 cup milk
  • 2/3 cup agave nectar
  • 2 tbsp vanilla
  • 1.5 cups canned pumpkin puree
  • 1/3 cup chopped pecans
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 12 tbsp low fat cream cheese-separated
Directions
preheat the oven to 350.  Line a 12 cup muffin tin with liners.  In a medium bowl whisk together all your dry ingredients.  Stir in coconut oil, agave, vanilla, and milk.  Stir until smooth.  Using a spatula, stir in hot water and pumpkin. Fill the muffin tin only half way.  Spoon in about a tablespoon of cream cheese.  Then, add more muffin mix  on top of the cream cheese, like this:
Bake for about 30 minutes, rotating the muffins 180 degrees at 15 minutes.  Check to make sure they’re done by poking a toothpick through the muffin.
  Onto week 3!

 

Weigh-In Friday: Week 1-Low Carb Night

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Weekly Weight Loss: -3 lbs
Total weight loss: 3 lbs

This was my first week tracking every single thing that I ate.  I hit my points on most of the days and were left with a little extra on others.  I managed to workout 4 times this week, alternating between Zumba, Turbofire & Bar Method.  I’m looking forward to running more starting next week when I’m back at work but as of right now, my workouts are done when the little one naps.  I’ve been trying to get as much cuddle time as I can with her because I go back to work on Wednesday :-/ I’m hoping there are no tears from either of us.  We are putting her in daycare 3 days week.  I’ll be home with her one day during the week and LC will be home with her another day during the week. After doing lots of research and getting references, I have a very good feeling that she’ll be in good hands and the daycare is about 10 minutes from my job, so I can stop in during my lunch breaks.

Tonight’s dinner was low carb and full of protein and veggies.  I made stuffed peppers with  ground turkey and balsamic asparagus and tomatoes.  A glass of vino would’ve gone well with this meal, but I opted for a crustless pumpkin cheesecake instead (only 4 points!), recipe courtesy of Gina at The Fitnessista.

Turkey Stuffed Peppers-Italian Style

Weight Watchers + Points: 8
Serves 4
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 50 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 T olive oil
  • 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
  • 4 green or red bell peppers
  • 1/2 cup onion chopped
  • 1/2 cup celery chopped
  • 1 clove garlic chopped
  • 1.25 lbs ground lean turkey
  • 1 tsp italian seasoning
  • 1/4 tsp of garlic powder (heaping)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes (italian style)
  • 1 8 oz can tomato sauce
  • shredded parmesan cheese for topping
  • salt and pepper to taste
Directions
1. preheat oven to 350.
2. in a skillet on the stove, sauté onions, mushrooms, garlic and celery in the olive oil until the veggies have softened.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the ground turkey, egg, veggie mix from the stove, garlic powder, italian seasoning, 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.
4. Stuff mixture into hollowed out peppers.  I cut mine in half length wise because they’re easier to eat and stuff this way. Place in a casserole dish.
5. Mix tomatoes and sauce in a bowl and pour over peppers.
5. Sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese and cover with aluminum foil.  Bake for 50 minutes.

I’m off to catch some Zzz’s!  Tonight is Madelyn’s first night in her crib.  I’ve been so lucky to have a baby that sleeps as good as she does.  Up until tonight, she’s been sleeping in a bassinet in our room, but she’s getting too long for it and I’d like her to get used to sleeping her own room before I head back to work.  Here’s to hoping tonight goes well-fingers crossed!

 

 

A smoothie for Every Season

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This weekend was filled with all sorts of Fall goodness.

A ride out to Holy Hill

 

Football Games

My first cool weather run-fastest 3 miles postpartum :-)

And a smoothie?

Since the cooler temps have been rolling in, the Vitamix was being neglected and replaced with oatmeal bowls and egg bakes. Last week I was flipping through the Vitamix cookbook looking for recipes when I came across an Autumn treat: The Autumn Sweet Potato Smoothie. I was a little hesitant to try a sweet potato smoothie, but then I remembered how much I surprisingly loved the avocado smoothie and decided to give it a try. The verdict? Extremely tasty!

Autumn Sweet Potato Smoothie

  • 1 cup red grapes
  • 1/2 orange peeled
  • 1/2 sweet potato cooked and cooled
  • 1/2 medium apple
  • 1/4 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
  • 1/2 tsp ginger
  • 2 dates, pitted
  • 2 cups of ice

Blend to desired consistency and enjoy :-)

I’m off to get some cuddle time with my little girl. This week is my last full week home with her and then it’s back to work for mama :-/ On one hand I’m looking forward to getting back into a routine, but I know that I’m going to miss her like crazy. 8 weeks goes by way too fast.

10 days of Real Food days 8, 9, &10

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**The 10 Days of Real Food challenge actually ended last Friday, the 28th, but I’m just getting around to posting it now.**

The last few days of the Real Food challenge were kind of monotonous.  Lots of apple cinnamon oatmeal bowls and pancakes filled my mornings for breakfast while baked sweet potatoes smothered in almond butter remained a lunchtime staple.

Last week, I broke out the slow cooker to try out some recipes for when I go back to work. One of the recipes I found via Pinterest.

Source: food.com via Maria on Pinterest

Slow cooker Asian Sesame Pork Ribs.  Since I went to Trader Joe’s for this particular grocery trip and they didn’t have pork ribs for sale, I just used boneless pork chops instead and during the last half hour of cooking, I added in broccoli florets.  Serve over brown rice and you have yourself one tasty/healthy little meal.

 I’m off to get a little workout in while the little sleeps :-)  If I have enough energy leftover later I just might celebrate October by making pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting…

10 Days of Real Food Days 5 & 6

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If you’re just tuning in, you can catch up *here*.

Day 5 I started the day rather well.  It was a perfect Autumn Sunday morning.  I woke up ate an apple with almond butter, laced up my running shoes and headed out the door with my neon orange Nike hoodie & black lulu pants.  I had my longest run postpartum (a 5k in 37ish minutes).  It definitely wasn’t my best time but I was proud of myself for going that far -I’m still trying to find the perfect running route for our new neighborhood.  I came home, put up yesterday’s blog post and ate some breakfast (oatmeal with blueberries and peaches).  My plan was to clean our bathroom, shower and head to the grocery store for some groceries.  But after writing yesterday’s post, I bopped around online, took care of Madelyn, and started cleaning the bathroom but instead of hopping in the shower I just cleaned our whole house and before I knew it, it was 6pm.  Grocery shopping did not happen and so enters carryout pizza from DiCarlo’s.  :-/  I was doing so good with the real food challenge until that little thing called life got in the way.  Days with an infant just seem to fly by.  But I’m back on track after that little slip up.

Day 6-A new day.  For breakfast, I made myself some homemade apple cinnamon oatmeal…so much better than the prepackaged apple cinnamon oatmeal.  I cut up a fresh apple and mixed it into some oats, sprinkled some cinnamon over it and added almond milk.  Pair that with some pumpkin spice coffee and you have yourself the perfect fall breakfast.

For lunch, my sister came over and we snacked on a few different things: a sweet potato with almond butter, cucumbers, and trail mix.  After lunch, we strapped Madelyn into our new jogging stroller and took her for a walk.  While we were walking, chatting and enjoying the day, I couldn’t help but think to myself that I picked the best time to have a baby because I have maternity leave during some of the best weather of the year (in my opinion).   I was talking with a friend about whether we’d rather be pregnant in the dead of summer or in the dead of winter.  Both have their challenges (she’s due in December), but I said the dead of summer.  The days are longer therefore giving you more energy.  Pregnancy already saps so much energy from you, I’m sure the shorter days of winter doesn’t help this problem.

Tonight for dinner, I made a slow cooker creation: beer flavored chicken.  I chopped up 1/2 of a white onion, seasoned 4 chicken breasts with dill, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper and then poured 1 bottle of New Grist beer into the pot.  I cooked on high for 5 hours and served it with some brussels sprouts (seasoned with olive oil, lemon and parmesan cheese) and a sweet potato-the reason for all the sweet potatoes the past week? I went grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s and instead of selling them individually, they sell them by the bag so we have a lot to eat-same with the avocado.

I’ll be back tomorrow with a new breakfast that I’m excited to try!  It doesn’t involve oats, egg bakes or smoothies :-) Until then I leave you with this:

Little words of wisdom

 

 

10 Days of Real Food Days 2-4. 3 ways to eat Avocado

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I had to compress the last few days of my 10 days of real food challenge.  Just as we were starting to get into the swing of things, someone went through a little growth spurt & when that happens I follow the rule “when baby sleeps, mom sleeps.”  Especially after two nights of being up every two hours.  But such is life.

I’m not going to recap every single thing that I ate, only the more exciting stuff.  But know that lots of apples and almond butter have been consumed as snacks the past few days.  I forgot how good that combo is.  When I was pregnant, almond butter did not at all sound the least bit appealing to me, but I’m making it up for it big time postpartum.

Last week, hubs and I went to Trader Joe’s after the little one’s doctor’s appointment.  One of the more exciting finds that I found were things little snack packs:

Instead of buying the big bag I opted for a big bag of smaller bags that I can just throw in my purse and eat on the go or in a hurry.

One of my lunches consisted of a lot of healthy fats.  A baked sweet potato topped with almond butter served with an apple and a 1/2 of a avocado.  It kept me pretty satisfied until dinner time.

For dinner one night, I made chicken cacciatore in the slow cooker.  Hubs requested this one dish, but instead of making it how I normally do, I googled a simpler/healthier recipe and found one on Weight Watchers website.  I scooped it out and served it on top of quinoa.  I was pretty satisfied with how it turned out.  A link to the recipe can be found {here}.

Friday morning’s breakfast consisted of an avocado smoothie as well as last three of my egg muffins heated up.  Because I loved how quick and easy the egg muffins were, I’m going to make them again this week but add some different ingredients in them and double recipe.  The avocado smoothie consisted of 1 avocado, 1 cup unsweetened plain yogurt, 1 cup almond milk, ice cubes and honey to sweeten it up.  The avocado throws people off but I really love them.

Friday’s lunch was a sign that I really need to go grocery shopping and pretty much just found whatever I could to make something edible and healthy.  I really wanted tuna salad and I was in luck because we had a packet of tuna in our cupboard.  Instead of adding mayo, I added an avocado to help with texture and taste and then I added almonds, dried cranberries, garlic powder and pepper.  It was really good, a little bit of sweet and salty and I didn’t really miss the mayo.

Yesterday, Madelyn and I went out to brunch with my mom and sister.  We visited one of my favorite restaurants, Cafe Hollander.  I enjoyed an omelette with a side of fruit.  After breakfast I ran some errands and went to Kohls’ to spend some Kohls’ cash.  Even though hubs calls it a gimmick to get you back into the store, I still can’t let it go to waste-it’s like throwing away free money!  I ended up with a Nike dry fit bright orange hoodie, perfect for the fall running season.

Last night for dinner, LC and I spent the night out.  My mom and sister came over to babysit Madelyn and the hubs and I went to a cookout/bon fire at a friends house.  She made the most amazing/moist chicken breast I’ve ever had on the grill.  I ate that with a really tasty salad some made and some hummus dip I had made.  It was really hard to pass up some of the other snacks there, but I managed.  I had my Malbec to keep me happy :-)

Nothing like bringing in the first night of fall with a bonfire, friends and red wine.  Lucky for us, Madelyn was sound asleep when we got home around 11:30 pm and she slept until about 4 am and woke back up at around 7.  After that last feeding session, I woke, snacked on an apple & almond butter, pumped went for a run.  I love my daughter, but it’s nice to get some “me time”, something I don’t see a lot of during the week because of LC’s work schedule.

I’m off to enjoy some oatmeal and pumpkin coffee. Enjoy the first official day of the fall season!  What’s your favorite thing about fall?  For me it’s the comfort foods, change of colors and Pumpkin spice lattes :-)

10 Days of Real Food-Day 1. Apple Crisp

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When I set out to do the 10 days of real food challenge, I totally forgot about the huge bag of apples that I had planned to make apple crisp and other apple-y goodness with.  How on earth was I going to make apple crisp without adding sugar??  I looked at a recipe that my mom had given to me and looked to see how I could revamp it so that it still fell under the “Real Food” guidelines.  Done & done.  I even substituted the butter for coconut oil. Easy peasy and oh so good. Maybe tomorrow I’ll look up a recipe for real vanilla frozen yogurt in the vitamix and make this baby a la mode.

Naturally Sweetened Apple Crisp {print recipe}

Ingredients
  • 9 apples thinly sliced
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 Tbsp chickpea flour
  • 1 1/2 C Oats
  • 1 C chickpea flour
  • 1 C pure maple syrup
  • 1/2 C maple syrup
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 c chopped nuts (I used walnuts)
  • 1/2 unrefined coconut oil
Directions
Preheat oven to 350.  Layer the apples in a 9×13 baking dish.  Sprinkle the 1 tsp of cinnamon, 1TBSP chickpea flour, and the one cup of maple syrup on top of the apples, then gently toss so that the apples are evenly coated.  In a separate bowl, combine the oats, 1 C chickpea flour, 1/2 C maple syrup, baking powder, baking soda, nuts, cinnamon, and coconut oil. Mix with your hands. Then when you’ve got a crumbly texture, sprinkle on top of apples evenly.  Bake in oven for 45 minutes.  Let cool and enjoy :-)
How did eating go the rest of the day?  I started my morning off with a bowl of Bob’s Redmill gluten-free oats mixed with blueberries, peaches, and unsweetened almond milk.  With the real food challenge you can have dairy, I just try to stay away from it as best as I can because it irritates my stomach.
For lunch, I munched on a pre-made salad from Trader Joe’s.  It was good, but you have to eat these right away (I bought it on Monday) because the lettuce was getting a little wilty. If I wouldn’t have eaten it today, it would’ve been garbage by tomorrow. It was a mixed greens salad with pecans, blue cheese and I topped it with Annie’s raspberry vinaigrette.
For a post workout snack (snuck in some zumba via Xbox today while someone napped), I ate an apple with almond butter and reheated two egg muffins.
Tonight’s dinner was leftovers from last night.  Yesterday, was the perfect weather for chili so I made our favorite: Sweet potato and black bean chili.  It was just as good, if not better than last night’s serving!  I think adding some cheese may have had something to do with it.
I think day 1 of the real foods challenge went rather well.  If you just set aside some time to pre make some things (egg muffins/dinner for two nights instead of one), it’s really not hard to do.  Like I said in the previous post, we generally try to eat as whole/real as possible, but sometimes life (new baby) can get in the way and deter us from that and it becomes more about convenience and less about nutrients.  I’d like to try and make my own bars one of these days because that’s generally my snack of choice to grab & go.

10 Days of Real Food

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When one of my favorite bloggers & friend posted this status update on Facebook last night, I became intrigued-

A food challenge-10 days of real food.  For the most part, I try to eat as whole & healthy as possible.  But with the newest addition to our family and trying to get into the swing of things, “real food” sometimes just doesn’t happen.  Instead of taking time to make myself a quick lunch, I grab a Luna protein bar just to get in any nutrition and calories so that I can keep up the energy (and my supply) to feed the little one.  Last week when my grandma was visiting, she brought along her famous peanut butter cookies & pecan sandies made with gluten-free flour, and I can’t even begin to tell you how many cookies I consumed.  My excuse was, “I need the extra calories to support breastfeeding Madelyn.”  Yes, it is true that you do need to consume 500 extra calories while breastfeeding.  False, that it should come in the form of delicious cookies.

So, in an effort to clean up my eating, not only for me but for the daughter I’m feeding, I decided to embark on this challenge.  It’s been a while since I’ve partook in any kind of challenge and what better than to start with one that will make me more conscious of what I’m eating and that will allow me to take some time to nourish my body a little bit better.

What you CAN eat

  • Whole foods-product of nature not industry
  • lots of fruits & veggies
  • dairy products & UNSWEETENED yogurt (this pretty much cuts out any flavored yogurts)
  • whole grains
  • seafood and locally raised meats
  • water, milk, all-natural juices, naturally sweetened coffee or tea. Beer & wine.
  • Snacks-dried fruits, popcorn, nuts, and seeds
  • All Natural sweeteners-honey, 100% pure maple syrup, and fruit juice concentrates.

What you CANNOT eat

  • No refined grains-white rice, white flour etc.
  • No refined sweeteners-sugar, corn syrup, cane juice, or the artificial stuff
  • Nothing packaged that has more than 5 ingredients in it
  • No deep-fried or “fast foods”

Here’s a link to the copy of the official rules {here}!

Looking over the list of what you can eat vs. what you can’t makes this challenge seem fairly simple.  My only hurdle will be the sugar-you don’t realize how much sugar is added into a lot of the “healthy” foods we eat until you start looking at ingredients.

Anyone willing to join Sarah and me on this 10 day challenge? There’s also a 100 day challenge, which I might partake in at the beginning of next year…I don’t want to let the holidays down :-)

I’ll be back later with a run down of how the first day went.