Even Better Thai Lettuce Cups

Happy Friday to all!

With all of the commotion with the SCD happening these days, I realize I have been slacking a bit on the workout front. During day 1 and 2 of the introductory diet, my energy level was fairly low. Considering I really am not a meat fan, and eggs I can only handle every once and a while, I was getting most of my calories from carrot broth and juice gelatin.

That’s the honest truth. Since my food intake wasn’t where it should be, my energy level took a brief dive. I still made it to the gym on the second day but it was only for an easy elliptical workout. Nothing too hardcore.

I have been trying to get to the gym (especially since it has been so hot lately), but this last week since the Warrior Dash, I have been slacking a little more than usual. Now that my energy level is up a little bit again, I am trying to get back on that train. The train I really  need to jump on is the strength training choo-choo. This happens to me all of the time, where I am so good about it for a month, and then all of a sudden it’s been two weeks and I haven’t lifted a single dumbbell. This time around, it was because I was feeling a little too weak. I will be working on catching that train, we’ll see when I jump on it. 🙂

Anyway, now that I am following the SCD, I feel like I have SO many great food ideas and recipes to share with you that I seriously can’t keep up with them all. How awesome is that, right? This comes with the fact that I am spending an incredible amount of time in the kitchen. I am fully aware that this will get better as time progresses. I am still only in the first week. Once I get some of the basic condiments made and have those stored away, that will help cut my time a bit. So far, I have only made ketchup (aka my favorite condiment). I am a sauce and condiment queen, so I need to make some more.

Thursday Gym & Breakfast

Yesterday I actually did get to the gym. I had hopes to run outside in the morning but my hopes were slaughtered when it was already 80-some-degrees out at 8 am and the air as thick as molasses. Yea, not for me, no thanks. At the gym I hopped on the treadmill and pounded out 2 sweaty miles. I then made my way to the elliptical to finish up some with 10 more minutes of cardio. Lastly, I hit the carpet and worked on some core. K, I really only did core for probably 4 minutes but I still managed 2 planks on the Bosu ball. I always say, it’s better than nothing!

For breakfast I whipped myself up a refreshing smoothie. In the mix this time around was: banana, peach, strawberry, blueberry, spinach, a splash of pineapple juice, SCD homemade yogurt, and a pinch of sweetener (SCD allows saccharin or honey for sweeteners). I went a little heavy on the spinach this time around. Usually I can’t taste the spinach but this time I could. That doesn’t bother me too much but it’s also not the first thing I want to taste when I take a sip.

I still really enjoyed it though!

Lunch & Dinner

I didn’t snap a photo of my lunch but those of you who are curious, I ate a cashew butter sandwich on SCD bread (both ingredients homemade). I also noshed on buckets of watermelon. I am in LOVE with the watermelon right now. It is so juicy and sweet and summery and perfect.

I had big plans for dinner. Around 10:30 am I set two boneless skinless chicken breasts in the crock pot with a big squeeze of lime juice, 1/2 cup of water, 1 smashed garlic glove, 1/8 cup of onion, and a sprinkle of cumin, salt, and pepper. I set the crock to low and left it alone while I tackled my day.

In the afternoon, Dana and I made a sweaty trip to Menard’s to pick up mulch for a landscaping project in our front yard. This is something we wanted to do last summer but with the wedding and all of the costs and time associated, we decided it had to wait. I am super stoked about it. What’s even better is it’s free because we still had some last gift card money from our wedding! Thanks, friends! While we were out we rented the movie, “The Descendants” from RedBox. More on that in a sec.

At about 5:30, I turned the crockpot off, and transferred the chicken into a small bowl. I grabbed two forks and shredded it easily.

On the stove top, I sautéed diced carrots, zucchini (no skin), and mushroom in a touch of olive oil. I wanted to give the carrots enough time to cook and soften up so I added them to the pan first. I seasoned the veggies with salt, pepper, and cumin. Sauté until softened.

In the meantime, I placed unsalted, unroasted peanuts into the food processor and began processing them to make peanut sauce. While they processed, I added a big squeeze of lime juice, some warm water, 1 chopped garlic clove, salt, and pepper. I kept it whirling until it was a saucy consistency. I transferred the peanut sauce into a small dish and microwaved for 30 seconds just prior to serving.

To dish it up this all up….start with your butter lettuce cups, layer on the sautéed veggies, then shredded chicken, peanut sauce, cilantro, and finish with a splash of lime juice.

My mouth is watering as I write about these this morning. They were unbelievably awesome and completely SCD legal! I am loving this so much. Is it challenging to come up with recipes for SCD? I would say no, I really enjoy it. The challenging part is basically making everything from scratch. Typically, I would’ve just used store-bought peanut butter and mixed it with soy sauce, lime juice, and other spices to make the peanut sauce, but instead, I had to make my own peanut butter from actual peanuts. A little more labor intensive, but so totally worth it. I am loving this clean living. I feel great!

I strongly urge you to make these lettuce wraps. If you don’t feel like going all SCD homemade, go ahead and use some store-bought natural peanut butter to make the sauce. Just go make them, please. I have made Thai style lettuce wraps before, but these ones from last night take the cake.

After dinner and clean up, I made a batch of these:

Recipe to come later! 😉

Then I plunked myself on the couch next to the hubby to watch our movie. We aren’t much of movie watching people, I think it’s because neither of us can sit still very long, but every once and a while we will rent one and enjoy it. Since it was so hot last night, we thought it would be the perfect way to spend our evening. Being that we don’t watch movies often, I have no clue what’s out for rental, much less know what the movies are actually about. Dana had heard about the movie, “The Descendants” with George Clooney, so we decided to give it a go. I didn’t bother to read about the story line when I got it from the RedBox. I actually thought it was going to be some sort of action movie, and I was anticipating sitting on the edge of the couch biting on my cuticles. I was utterly mistaken. I am not going to ruin it for anyone who hasn’t seen it, but the movie was definitely not action, it was drama. It was sad and I wasn’t expecting a sad movie. I enjoyed it but I just wasn’t prepared for it. So, if you choose to rent this one, just be aware of the story line before you watch it. I think most people ARE aware of the movie they are about to see, I am just a special one who chooses to go in blindfolded.

Anyway….I am off on tangents this morning. Why not continue with the tangents with an update on my UC symptoms? I have been on the SCD for less than one week and I am already feeling insanely better. I am in awe at how well I am feeling. Since I began, I haven’t been bloated one single time. That was my probably  my most uncomfortable symptom from the UC prior to the diet, and now that I have eliminated the complex carbs, no bloat, and very very little gas. Are you serious? Is this for real? I am so pleasantly surprised. It’s hard not to be skeptical but I am experiencing first hand the benefits of this scientifically proven diet. As for my other symptoms, I am visiting the restroom less, I don’t feel as fatigued, my skin is clearing up, and my hair has gotten blonder (kidding that’s from the sun). 🙂 That was a Dana and dad kind of joke.

If anyone out there is thinking about starting this diet, please mention it to your physician asap, so you can start to feel better too! I am continuing with my meds as prescribed but am really hoping that eventually I will be able to go off them and just maintain with diet and healthy living alone. I know this is not what the doctor would want to hear, but it is my hope.

I am so inspired and can’t wait to beat this disease. I will continue to update you all with my symptoms, and share my recipes and insights along the way. Thank you to all of you for being so supportive, and for offering such great advice and kind words! You are all so wonderful.

I am off for the day. I am hoping to get some laundry done possibly (it’s really piling up) and speaking of workouts, hopefully get a workout in too. First things first, I need to eat some breakfast…

Have a happy day everyone! Catch up with you soon.

Continue Reading Even Better Thai Lettuce Cups

Nutty ‘Naner Bread: WILD HARVEST Recipe Contest

Happy Independence Day everyone!

As mentioned a little while ago, I received a wonderful package of WILD HARVEST Organic products courtesy of WILD HARVEST and SUPERVALU INC. in conjunction with the Healthy Living Summit 2012.  SUPERVALU INC. provided these products to me for free and asked that I come up with a fun and healthy breakfast recipe which included three or more of their products provided.

As soon as I received my box of goodies, my brain started rolling at a mile a minute. I absolutely LOVE recipe creation and was super pumped to get started.

The WILD HARVEST ingredients I chose to include in my breakfast recipe are: WILD HARVEST Original Applesauce, Creamy Peanut Butter, and Cherry Vanilla Granola.

Here is what I came up with. I hope you like it!

Nutty ‘Naner Bread

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350°F. Use cooking spray to lightly coat one 9 x 5 inch bread loaf pan. Set aside.

Step 2. In mini food processor, process 3/4 cup WILD HARVEST Cherry Vanilla Granola into a course sand texture.

Step 3: In a small bowl, combine processed granola with 3/4 cup almond meal, 1/2 cup whole wheat flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Mix to combine; set aside.

Step 4: In a large mixing bowl, beat together 1/4 cup granulated sugar with 1/4 cup WILD HARVEST applesauce.

Step 5: Add two eggs and 1 teaspoon of vanilla; beat well.

Step 6: Add 3 over-ripe mashed bananas; beat until smooth.

Step 7: In a small liquid measuring cup, measure 1/3 cup almond milk. Add 2 teaspoons of white vinegar to milk and mix.

Step 8: Alternate adding dry ingredients, then milk mixture to the batter, until both are incorporated into the batter; beat until well combined.

Step 9: Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 1 hour and 5-10 minutes. Baking time will vary so check bread at 1 hr and 5 minutes and test if it’s done by poking a toothpick through the center of the loaf. If it comes out clean, the bread is done. Remove from oven. Let cool slightly.

Step 10: Once bread has cooled, melt 1/4 cup WILD HARVEST creamy peanut butter in the microwave for 30 seconds.

Drizzle over bread. Scrape the bowl clean to get every last drop of the wonderful peanut butter onto that bread!

Step 11: Sprinkle the top with 1/3 cup WILD HARVEST Cherry Vanilla Granola.

Serve slightly warm or cooled to room temperature. Enjoy this nutritious and delicious Nutty ‘Naner Bread for breakfast with a side of fresh berries and a glass of low-fat milk or your favorite morning beverage.

Nutty ‘Naner Bread (Makes 1 loaf)

Prep time: 20 minutes; Bake time: 1 hour and 5-10 minutes

Ingredients

Bread:

  • 3/4 cup WILD HARVEST Cherry Vanilla Granola, coarsely ground
  • 3/4 cup almond meal (almond flour would work fine too)
  • 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup WILD HARVEST applesauce
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3 over-ripe bananas, mashed
  • 1/3 cup almond milk
  • 2 tsp white vinegar
Topping:
  • 1/4 cup WILD HARVEST creamy peanut butter
  • 1/4 cup WILD HARVEST Cherry Vanilla Granola (for topping)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Use cooking spray to lightly coat one 9 x 5 inch bread loaf pan. Set aside.
  2. In mini food processor, process WILD HARVEST Cherry Vanilla Granola into a course sand texture.
  3. In a small bowl, combine processed granola the flours, baking soda, and salt. Mix to combine; set aside.
  4. In a large mixing bowl, beat together sugar with WILD HARVEST applesauce.
  5. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.
  6. Add bananas; beat until smooth.
  7. In a small liquid measuring cup, measure almond milk; add white vinegar to milk and mix.
  8. Alternate adding dry ingredients, then milk mixture to the batter, until both are incorporated into the batter; beat well until well combined.
  9. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan; bake for 1 hour and 5-10 minutes. (Baking time will vary so check bread at 1 hr and 5 min. and test by poking a toothpick through the center of the loaf. If it comes out clean, the bread is done. Bread should be lightly golden brown). Remove from oven. Let cool slightly.
  10. Once bread has cooled, melt WILD HARVEST creamy peanut butter in the microwave for 30 seconds. Drizzle over bread.
  11. Sprinkle the top with WILD HARVEST Cherry Vanilla Granola.

Serve slightly warm or cooled to room temperature. Enjoy this nutritious and delicious Nutty ‘Naner Bread for breakfast with a side of fresh berries and a glass of low-fat milk or your favorite morning beverage.

Thank you to SUPERVALU INC., WILD HARVEST, and Healthy Living Summit for providing me with the opportunity to be a part of this recipe contest. I had such a great time in the creation process! I hope to do it again.

To all of my readers, the contest is being judged on nutrition, taste, and creativity. I am anxious to see what everyone else came up with!

Again, Happy 4th of July to all! I hope you enjoy your day. Catch up with you soon!

Continue Reading Nutty ‘Naner Bread: WILD HARVEST Recipe Contest

Not Quite a Warrior, More Like a Pansy

Hello there! Happy Sunday to all. I hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend. Mine has been busy, but a lot of fun.

Saturday Morning: Warrior Dash

It was Warrior Dash morning which meant I was going to have my typical pre-race meal: perfectly ripe banana with a light smear of Smart Balance peanut butter.

I gathered the first set of troops for a “I-just-got-out-of-bed-but-let’s-do-this” pre-race photo.

We made our way to Afton Alps and picked up some of our friends on the way. Parking cost $20 so we figured we would pack everyone in to one vehicle to cut the cost, and hey, we were going green too. The parking scene was an obstacle in itself–driving through farms, weaving around cones, riding over some seriously bumpy terrain; it was actually hysterical. Once we parked, we took a shuttle bus over to the race.

Here is my brother Kevi, and our friends Matt and Steph.

Dana and I, and behind us are our friends Adam and Stacy. Peace.

We arrived super early, which I love. We went and picked up our bib numbers, timing chips, t-shirts, and warrior headgear. We then had plenty of time to relax, pin our numbers on, use the facilities a couple of times, and snap some clean pre-race photos with our group.

Being that I have not been feeling my best lately, I was slightly nervous that this race wasn’t going to be a good idea. I become fatigued very easily, I feel weak, and my stamina isn’t where it could be, and mostly, I was afraid to be far from the restrooms. That’s the ugly truth. Not only that, I felt very sick the night before. I woke up Saturday morning feeling pretty good though, and mornings are usually better for me than night-time when there isn’t a whole lot of food being digested yet, so I decided to give it a go.

Off to the race we went. The first obstacle was a bunch of car tires tied up in a bunch, and you had to run through them kind of like you were playing football and knocking through everyone. I liked that one but that’s probably because I was the first one to run through and didn’t get knocked in the face by any of the swinging tires. 🙂

Let’s see the rest of the obstacles from what I remember:

  • Balance beam that slanted up down up down.
  • Climbing wall with uneven foot holdings and a slanted top which made it challenging to climb over.
  • Cargo net wall
  • Snow blowers set with water that basically blind you as you run through
  • Crawl under barbed wire on rocky grounds
  • Slightly slanted wall with rope to pull yourself up and over
  • Grassy steep hill and rope to pull yourself up
  • Hurdles and barbed wire so you had to go over a hurdle and then under a barbed wire, over a hurdle, under barbed wire, etc.
  • Water slide!
  • Jumping over fire twice
  • Mud pit
But the most challenging part of the race wasn’t the obstacles, it was BY FAR the insane amount of hills. In between the obstacles was 3 miles of “running” through the grassy, truly beautiful views of Afton Alps, but I would say (and I don’t think I’m exaggerating) that 60% of the running part was uphill. And I don’t mean little bunny hills, I mean crazy steep hills that even the most incredibly in-shape person would struggle to run up. My team walked most of the hills and even walking them was hard for me! I kept losing my breath and had one scary moment where I couldn’t catch my breath at all and felt like I was beginning to hyperventilate. This happened to me during the half marathon as well. I think what happens is when I begin to feel so short of breath, I begin to panic and the panic only makes the breathing more difficult. It is such a scary feeling though, not being able to catch your breath. The group I was with was so supportive and everyone kept cheering each other the entire way.
The race ends with the mud pit where you have to crawl on your elbows in 1-2 feet of wet mud under a barbed wire. This year they sprayed us with a hose while we crawled, which made it even more messy (but so fun!). Dana and I were very cliché thanks to me, and held muddy hands through the finish line.
We all finished in one piece. Kevin completely tore it up and finished probably 25 minutes before we did. Next year I tell ya, he is taking the prize. Seriously. (BTW the guy on the left in this photo is Stu, and he is Matt and Adam’s uncle and a friend of ours as well. He wasn’t in the previous photos).

After all the muddy shots, we headed to the rinse area where they had a snow-making machine shooting out a thick mist of water. It was very cold but felt good to get all the muck and dirt off! We then donated our shoes, dried off in the sun, and headed home.

I don’t know if I’m a true warrior. I’m more of a pansy, but I still finished the race. 🙂 Intestinally speaking, I was fine during the race, but I could tell my stamina wasn’t where it used to be. My body is fighting hard right now and I understand that, so just completing the race at all was a big accomplishment for me.

Wedding Reception

Dana, Kev, and I had a wedding reception to get to. We showered up, making sure to clean out the mud in the ears, and headed to my cousin Mike and Jess’ wedding reception. They got married in Mexico in March and are having their reception back home to celebrate with everyone. It was set up in a large outdoor shelter near a public lake. It was so nice to be outside; it was a little hot, but I kind of liked it. They had the reception catered with the great classic barbecue foods: burgers, brats, chicken, beans, watermelon, pasta salads, and lettuce salad. I didn’t snap a photo of my lunch but I had a few bites of chicken, a half a burger, and a huge lettuce salad with mustard.  Mike and Jess did a wonderful job planning for the reception. Thanks for a great time!

At this point in time, I was completely beat, but Dana and I had a few errands we needed to run. It started with what was going to be a quick trip to our nearby natural food store, but we ended up having to make a trip to Whole Foods, and Trader Joe’s in search of almond flour among other very particular items. If you’re looking for almond meal/flour, Trader Joe’s has the BEST deal. The other stores had the almond flour as well but it was about double the cost.

For dinner, I ate 1 1/2 leftover turkey burgers from Friday night with a side salad.

I think the burgers tasted even better the second time around!

The rest of the evening was spent with some food preparation.  Tomorrow’s post is going to be a big one. I am beginning a new way of eating, I don’t like the word diet so I am going to try and not call it that. It is going to heal my colitis, I know it is. I have already begun to feel better and I have only just started the process. I can’t wait to break it down for you, so check back tomorrow! I don’t mean to leave you high and dry, but there is a lot that goes into it, and I want to make sure I have adequate time to tell you everything I need to tell you. I have tomorrow off of work so it will be the perfect opportunity.

Alright, off to hopefully cut some awesome coupons. Have a great Sunday!

Continue Reading Not Quite a Warrior, More Like a Pansy

Peanut Butter All Day

Yesterday I decided to take a break from the smoothies. I don’t know if my body was reacting poorly to the weekend of fun and not eating normally, or if it was reacting because I had two smoothies on Sunday. One way or the other, it wasn’t very happy. Since I had to be at work yesterday, I thought it would be a good idea to stick with the basics.

Delicious basics. Cream of Wheat with cinnamon, banana, and stevia in an almost empty peanut butter jar. The hot cereal makes the peanut butter melt off the sides. It is so so good. I scraped this bad boy clean.

The protein, fat, and carb combo did a great job of holding me over until lunch time. At lunch I came home and made myself a PB2 banana sandwich and served it on possibly the cutest plate I have ever laid my eyes on. Target boutique really knows how to make me happy. 😉 This plate was $1.79 I think; well worth it. I have another one to show you soon too!

I also ate some pretzels and cheesy crackers with hummus and a piece of dark chocolate. Then back to work. After work I headed straight to the gym even though all I wanted to do was lay outside on the deck under the beautiful sun. I brought an issue of Fitness magazine and read it from front to back while movin’ it on the elliptical. It felt great to move yet I kept it a fairly relaxing workout. I was still sweating through it! I think I have decided that Fitness magazine is currently my favorite magazine. I love reading all of their recipe ideas, workouts, and tips on healthy living.

Anyway, I headed home to hang out with the boyeeze. On the menu for dinner: lettuce wraps with pulled chicken, apple, avocado, and Newman’s Own Lite Honey Mustard.

I loved all of the different textures and the sweetness from the apple and honey mustard with the slightly salty chicken. After the lettuce wraps I got into the peanut butter again. Yup, you read it right, peanut butter for the third time, this time with pretzels (Hales I thought of you while snacking on this one). I just couldn’t keep my paws off the peanut butter yesterday. And since I’m being totally honest, I’ll go ahead and tell you I also had a few bites of rainbow sherbet and a lemon cookie.

After dinner I still had quite a bit of energy to burn, so made my way down to the treadmill and walked my way through the Bachelorette. Well, part of it at least. I am such a huge Sean fan still. I am really hoping that Emily falls for him and they can live happily ever after.

Once again I got roped into watching this season. They always get me somehow.

I am off to tackle some To-Do’s. Catch up with all ya’ll later! Have a great day.

Do you have a guilty pleasure show? What is it?

Besides The Bachelorette, I find myself getting sucked into Keeping Up with the Kardashians every once and a while if it’s on. Those are my guilty pleasure shows, and now you all know!

Continue Reading Peanut Butter All Day

Tilapia Fish Sticks

Friday is such a wonderful day. I love Friday. But first, we have to recap Thursday.

The day began with a warm bowl of Cream of Wheat with cinnamon, brown sugar, and PB2.

For lunch, more peanut butter, but the real stuff this time. A piece of spelt toast with natural peanut butter and banana. I also ate some watermelon and insanely addicting Barbecue Pop Chips.

After work, Dana, Moose and I hit the pavement for a long walk around the neighborhood. The weather was absolutely perfect yesterday and I was so grateful we were able to get out and enjoy it at least for a little while. We cruised for about 3 miles.

Dinner was a fun one. I must be in a “dipper” food type of mood this week considering Wednesday I made Italian dunkers, and last night I made….tilapia fish sticks!

Assembly Line Preparation (in this order)

  • Plate: Cut two defrosted tilapia filets into 1 inch strips, cutting with the lines of the filet. Season the fish with cracked black pepper.
  • Bowl: In a wide bowl pour about 1 1/2 cups egg whites.
  • Plate: Pour a heaping pile of almond flour, salt, and pepper. **
  • Baking pan: Spray with non-stick cooking spray
**Notes: If you like a little kick you could add a pinch of cayenne to the almond flour. If you don’t have almond flour, you could use breadcrumbs or cracker crumbs instead. I picked up a bag of almond flour at Trader Joe’s and this was my first time using it. Almond flour is completely gluten-free; the only ingredient is almonds. It also packs 7 grams of protein and 3 grams of fiber per 1/4 cup. I am anxious to use it in baking in the future.

Assemble:

Dip fish sticks into egg whites.

Roll and cover in almond flour.

Place on prepared pan. Once all of the filets are on the pan, lightly spray the tops with non-stick cooking spray.


We had plans to grill these bad boys outside but our plans were halted when we realized we ran out of propane. Hence the reason you see the fish filets on our outdoor grill pan versus and indoor pan. We moved the process indoors to the oven but I didn’t feel like dirtying up another pan so we left it on the other pan.

In a preheated 450° oven, bake for 12 minutes, turning once. Finish by broiling for 3-5 minutes until the fish sticks begin to crisp (keep an eye on them!). Serve with your favorite dipping sauce. In my case, ketchup.

These reminded me of childhood in such a huge way. They are perfect for adults and kids alike. You feel like a kid when you eat them. It’s wonderful. They are slightly crunchy on the outside and tender on the inside. They are a very healthy alternative to frozen fish sticks!

**********

Now, back to Friday. It’s that time to check in on the June Yoga Challenge. Just a reminder to you all that my goal is to complete three yoga sessions per week. Time and intensity do not matter in my challenge, only completion of the sessions.

  1. Sunday: Gentle Yoga by Sportskool On Demand
  2. Wednesday: Back Challenges by Sportskool on Demand
  3. Friday: Metal Yoga by Sportskool on Demand

The session from this morning was by far the most challenging to me. I am still working at beginner level but am hoping to step-it-up to intermediate in the future!

I am loving yoga more and more each day I practice. I am continuing to notice that I am able to better control my stress now that I have added yoga into my routine. If my day is becoming stressful, I will remind myself to breath and slow down. I still have a LONG ways to go on increasing my flexibility, but I have already noticed a slight difference and it’s only been a short while. I can’t wait for another week!

Happy Friday to you all. I have two special guests coming to stay with me this weekend, my brother Scott and his girlfriend Nicole (our Boundary Water tour guides). I have to decide what to make them for breakfast tomorrow morning. I’m off to go brainstorm, run errands, and get some stuff down around the house.

Continue Reading Tilapia Fish Sticks

My Day of Small Meals

I have officially taken on the June Yoga Challenge along with Courtney at SweetToothSweetLife and other lovely readers and bloggers.

(You can click on the above photo if you want to check out Courtney’s page)

Basically, the challenge is to incorporate more yoga into your life. You set your own goal as to how you wish to do so. Courtney’s challenge was to incorporate three yoga sessions into her weekly routine. It doesn’t matter how long the session, or at what difficulty, just as long as you do it keeping your own personal goal in mind. Or, you can create a different type of yoga-related challenge, such as mastering a new pose or trying out a new yoga studio for the first time. It’s up to you.

On Fridays, we all check in with our weekly yoga status updates and motivate eachother through those weekly updates as well as through twitter. It’s always more encouraging and motivating working out with others, and this is a fun and different way to do it!

At first I was thinking my goal would be to incorporate one yoga session into my weekly routine, but considering I have already tackled two yoga workouts in the past two days, I figured I could create a heftier goal. I am going to also have a goal of completing three yoga sessions through the week. I am finding I am enjoying this workout first thing in the morning; it is very relaxing and allows me to mentally and physically relax as I begin my day.

The other part of my challenge is working around this big dude who likes to sit directly next to me on the carpet during yoga time.

And inevitably he just HAS to go outside during this time.

He keeps me smiling at least. 🙂

My brain and body could really use the stress relief from yoga. Thank you Courtney for creating this and motivating me to get yoga’ing! It’s always a good idea to set fitness goals for yourself, and I look forward to continuing this challenge.

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Food Recap from Yesterday

I had a day full of small meals and snacks versus three bigger meals and small snacks in between. I prefer to eat this way, but my work situation doesn’t really allow for this type of structure. Well, our schedule was a little different yesterday and it just so happened that it did work out for me. So, here it goes.

Breakfast: Cream of Wheat with cinnamon, brown sugar, and bananas with a cup o’ decaf coffee with cream and stevia on the side.

Snack: the rest of the banana from breakfast with PB2

Snack #2: Unphotographed tuna noodle salad at work

Lunch: Lower-sodium turkey breast, hummus, and avocado wrap

A spoonful (or two) of peanut butter…

Pomegranate no-added sugar applesauce…

Snack: Unphotographed peanut butter M & M’s at work

Dinner: Cooked spinach, pureed black beans, cheddar cheese, and avocado with salt and onion powder

Lastly, pretzels with honey mustard dipping sauce, and then I made myself I small batch of PB2 with honey to finish’er off!

I love these kinds of days! I get to eat all day long. I was extra hungry yesterday too so this worked out perfectly.

I slept much better last night by the way and am very thankful. I had a rough night of sleep the following night and was hoping it wasn’t going to be a reoccurring theme.

Alright, I’m off. Happy Thursday everyone.

Question of the Day: Which do you prefer? Small meals and snacks throughout the day/grazing or 3 larger meals?

I prefer grazing throughout the day but like I mentioned, work doesn’t always make that possible. I feel like my energy level is so much greater when I am eating smaller meals throughout the day and I am able to regulate my blood sugars more evenly versus many highs and lows which makes for a happier me overall.

Continue Reading My Day of Small Meals

Baby Love

Hello world! How was everyone’s Saturday? Mine was seriously awesome.

My morning started out with a bowl of my very standard cinnamon Cream of Wheat with stevia and a little brown sugar, but to switch it up a bit I added some leftover white rice which added a different texture to the dish. I also added a few bites of banana.

After breakfast we headed to the city of our alma mater, Mankato, to visit a good friend of mine who recently had a baby girl. Their beautiful baby was born less than two weeks ago and she is such a doll. Dana and I had such a good time visiting with our friends and oogling over their precious miracle.

I love babies!

Since we were in Mankato, we just HAD to go visit our old campus. We headed over to Minnesota State University, Mankato to cruise the campus, notice renovations and reminisce.

I asked Dana to snap a picture of me in front of the library since I spent a whole lot of time there in my day (nerd-alert). Dana on the contrary, said he hardly spent any time in there. The difference between us though is that I need complete silence when I study, whereas he prefers noise whether in the form of television or other people.

It was good to be back. We also drove by our old houses, apartments, favorite bars and hangouts, and the Mankato Mall. Seriously so many memories packed into one city.

While we cruised, we ate our packed lunches: Peanut butter and grape jelly, veggie chips, and a banana.

On our way home we stopped at the Medford outlet mall so I could hit up the Nike Outlet Store since it was on our way home. I really like Nike workout apparel. They have such fun colors and their clothes are very comfortable which is the most important thing I look for when buying workout clothes. First, comfort, second for cuteness. I controlled myself and just bought one pair of workout shorts. These particular pair are a brownish gray color with pink and white details on the sides. Cute and comfy and at discount price. Score!

When we got home, we pumped some air into our bike tires and biked to the store to return our redbox movie from last night. Then it was time to give some major attention to our large furry baby. Into the car we went. Destination dog park.

Look at the excitement in his eyes peering over the back seat.

He went crazy sniffing every square inch of the dog park, making sure to leave his scents along the way.

He found the other dogs and immediately tried making friends with them all. Unfortunately for Moose, many of the dogs steer the other way when they see him coming. Poor guy. Is it because he’s so big?

It’s okay, he still had plenty of fun.

He did manage to steal the heart of this young lady.

But it was short lived. We wore Mooser out at the dog park. We loaded him back up in the car and headed home.

It was a warm one around here yesterday at about 92° or so, but there was a nice breeze which made for a really pleasant day. We dragged out the doggie pool and filled her up. Talk about spoiling this guy today. If only he liked the water. We had to pretty much force him in the water for this picture. He warmed up to it after a while, probably after the water warmed up a bit.

Such a big baby, but I love him.

For dinner we fired up the grill to cook up a random combo of shrimp, mushrooms, and green beans. We seasoned simply with salt and pepper and let the grill add the rest of the flavor.

Num! After dinner we threw the ball to Moose to really wear him out, and enjoyed the beautiful night. What an AWESOME day.

Continue Reading Baby Love

Wait, Wait, Good Boy

Thursday was an eventful day at our household….

I’ll give you a hint.

It was garage sale day at our house! We finally went through a million boxes that were piled up in our basement, got our business together, and set up for a one day sale. We had little expectations as to how well we would do.

We had a little rain in the morning that pretty much soaked all of our stuff, but besides that, the day was beautiful and it actually turned out to be quite productive. We didn’t have too much stuff leftover at the end of the day which was of course the goal. We boxed up the unsold items, and plan on bringing them into Salvation Army. What a great feeling to have so much stuff cleared out of our house. It’s like a breath of fresh air. I can’t believe how much junk accumulates over time.

For lunch, I made myself a sweet potato (did not eat the skin) with peanut butter. This is actually an old photo because the picture I took today looked extraordinarily unappetizing. Let’s just say the dollop of peanut butter didn’t look like a dollop of peanut butter.  I thought I would spare you.

After the sale, we took Mooser out for a long walk around the neighborhood. I was wishing I had brought my camera with me because there were so many beautiful flowers along the way. Oh well, next time.

For dinner we grilled up a couple of boneless skinless chicken breasts seasoned simply with salt, pepper, and onion powder. To top the chicken, I made a small batch of guacamole with ingredients I had on hand: 1 1/2 avocados, 1 small handful of chopped cilantro, a little salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and dash of lemon juice. I served my chicken on top of a small salad and Dana made his into a killer sandwich.

While we ate dinner, Moose did too. But first, he had to “wait.”

“Wait.”

“Good boy.”

That is what happens each time we feed Moose. If we don’t say “good boy,” he will just sit there and stare at his food. Our family learned that the hard way when we were out of town, and they were taking care of the dog.  We forgot to leave them the magic words and he wouldn’t eat well for them. Whoops! Now they know the secret words and will probably never ever forget. 🙂

Happy Friday! Have a beautiful day.

Continue Reading Wait, Wait, Good Boy

Carrot Soup Take Two

Happy Friday and Happy 8 Month Anniversary to my honey!

Recap of yesterday coming right up.

After my morning run yesterday, I whipped up a bowl of Cream of Wheat. This is a recycled photo from a few days ago as my breakfast yesterday was completely the same except it was in “to-go” form (plus I forgot to take a picture). I had a meeting yesterday morning and was running late, so I heated my bowl of cereal right before I left the house, and it was still fairly hot when I got there.

For lunch I made rice with soy sauce, leftover chicken breast with teriyaki sauce, and green beans. Mmm, salty.

And for dessert….I couple bites of banana with peanut butter. This is a very common dessert for me but I always forget to snap a photo.

Dinner was a real easy one last night. I took a batch of carrot soup I had made a while back, out of the freezer, and began the defrosting process.

In the meantime, I sliced three bread-butts from the freezer (I save the butts of the breads for croutons) into bite-size squares, sprinkled them with garlic powder and a little salt, and set them under the broiler. Voila. Homemade croutons to go on top of the soup; healthy and simple.

I also cut up some fresh cilantro and fresh chives. Reminder to self: I need to dry the chives this weekend before they go bad.

So what do you get when you take your carrot pumpkin soup, add croutons, and fresh herbs? THIS!

Here’s the recipe if you’re interested: Carrot Pumpkin Soup. I made this batch back in March. The only thing I left off on the March ingredient list was the chives and croutons as those are optional items.

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This morning I woke up not feeling so hot. My tummy feels pretty nasty. I am wondering if I ate a little too much salt yesterday? It’s a possibility that I am just feeling über dehydrated. I hope it goes away soon.

Anyway, I am off. It looks like it’s going to be a beautiful day in our  neighborhood. Have a great Friday.

Continue Reading Carrot Soup Take Two

Veggies with a Runny Egg Are Back

Hello there! Everyone excited it’s Thursday? It’s almost Friday!

Yesterday morning started off with the usual Cream of Wheat, but this time I sweetened it with stevia, added banana slices, and Pb2 with cinnamon. Since I’ve been eating Cream of Wheat pretty much every morning, I’m trying to keep it jazzy and switch it up a bit.

I have been noticing that I have been eating a whole lot of extra sugar (maple syrup, honey, brown sugar, fruit, etc.) lately, and I really am working on trying to cut back on it again. But I LOVE the taste of brown sugar on my Cream of Wheat, so I will be putting a little bit on there every once and a while.

For lunch I ate a half of a grilled chicken breast with BBQ sauce and a bunch of green beans. I also ate a half of a banana with peanut butter and a no sugar added pomegranate apple sauce. Sorry for this totally unappetizing photo.

After work I headed to the gym, and on the way there I snacked on fresh honeydew melon. On the workout agenda was a 20 minute warm-up on the elliptical while drooling over delicious food photos in Rachael Ray’s magazine, followed by weights where I focused on triceps and chest.

On the drive home I contemplated dinner options, and decided that eggs were sounding pretty good. Should I make a frittata? I’ve never made a frittata but would really like to sometime. Should I make an omelette? Egg-white omelette? Scrambled eggs? A runny egg? Runny egg on top of a small salad?

YES please to the last option.

I plated up a small green leafy salad with cilantro, bacon bits, and Western Dressing. For the egg, I cooked it over-easy and sprinkled one side of the egg with nutritional yeast and freshly cracked black pepper. I gave the egg a gentle flip towards the end of the cooking process and left it on side two for just a short time before plating it up on top of my salad. I don’t want the inside to cook through because I want runny egg.

Oh, how I’ve missed you salads with a runny egg on top. So easy, and so delicious. I’ve still got to cool it on the green stuff but I am still slowly working it back in to my diet. Not yet onto the cabbage and broccoli point though. I am feeling a lot better these days and trying my best to stay positive.

Other variations of my favorite  veggie/egg combo from the past:

Leafy greens, broccoli, banana pepper, tomato, quinoa, and a runny egg.

Southwestern style salad including sautéed onions, black beans, tomato, corn, avocado, cheese, salsa and a runny egg. This one was killer.

Sautéed vegetables including broccoli, kale, mushrooms, onions, black beans, tomato, cheese, and a runny egg. There are so many great ways to eat your veggies with a runny egg (or 2). I am crazy about this combo obviously.

To top off dinner I ate a small bowl of non-fat Greek yogurt mixed with a little maple syrup for sweetness.

After dinner, Mom and Abbie came over last night to hang out with me while Dana was out golfing. We relaxed, chatted for a while, and hung out with the pups. Always love her company.

I made sure to get to bed early last night, because I was really hoping and also planning to get myself out of bed early this morning and get a run in before work. Well guess what? I actually did it! I got up before work and got a run in. Sometimes I think all it takes is me telling myself before I go to bed that I WILL be running in the morning versus saying I might run in the morning. I made sure to have all of my stuff laid out last night so that it would be as easy possible for me in the morning.

I wanted to get this last run in before the race mostly to test out my outfit for the race. I know this may sound silly, but it’s so important. I may have bought a new bright pink shirt to wear for the run and wanted to make sure it wouldn’t rub me the wrong way anywhere. 🙂 Good news, no chafing. It’s a great shirt and it makes me feel good. You will get to see it in a few days.

I completed 3-easy paced miles this morning and obviously feel fantastic for running in the morning before work. I feel energized. This was my last run before the half-marathon on Sunday. It’s time to rest.

I have to get going and charge through my day. I hope you all have a good one!

Continue Reading Veggies with a Runny Egg Are Back
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