Tuesday, March 19, 2013

In a Smoothie Rut

Good Morning!
One day down, four more to go till the weekend:-p Actually, in my case... three more days till my weekend begins. Yes, I will soon be in a flight to PARIS!!!! I can't wait! This will be my first time in Paris and I'm so excited. Be sure to expect lots of food pictures.

Yesterday, was a big smoothie day for me. I started my day off with a smoothie consisting of frozen raspberries, unsweetened vanilla almond milk and almond butter. I don't know why but I was craving a smoothie for the morning. So, I whipped this concoction up and it kept me full till lunch time.

Lunch was a delicious. My coworkers and I went out for sushi to celebrate my managers birthday. I ordered the chicken negimaki box. Delicious and filling. Six pieces of negimaki, 3 avocado rolls, 2 shumai, miso soup and salad. Sadly, there is no picture because I ate it all too quickly.

Between lunch and dinner I managed to get a quick workout in. I did 20 minutes on an elliptical looking machine, followed by 15 minutes of abs and weights. I also attempted a pull up. Unfortunately, I did not stay up :-p

By the time I made it home I had only one thing on my mind. I wanted to have a smoothie. I didn't care if there was a cold, wintry mix going on. I just wanted to down a large, creamy smoothie. So, before I even showered I whipped out my magic bullet and made a raspberry almond smoothie. I added a big more almond butter since this was practically replacing my dinner. Ah, once again a craving was satisfied :-)

How was your day yesterday?

Monday, March 18, 2013

Happy Monday... Weekend Recap

Good Morning and Happy Monday!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. My weekend was great and filled with fun, food, family and friends :-)

My Costa Rican night was a success. Surprisingly, the star of the show was the black beans. The black beans were the most easiest and quickest thing I prepared. I browned chopped onions and garlic, then added two cans of low sodium black beans and a little bit of adobo seasoning. That was it. So simple yet so delicious!

Saturday was an awesome low key day spent at home. I did manage to make it to the gym in the morning. I then came horn, cleaned a bit and did a lot of experimenting in the kitchen.

Sunday we met the family and had a DELICIOUS lunch at Kabob Paradise in Lake Hiawatha. This place was so delicious. Even though this was a half hour away from home, I see is making another visit here real soon!

In a nutshell that was my weekend. I now leave you with food highlights.










Thursday, March 14, 2013

Almost Friday....

Good Morning!

Happy Thursday!! There's only a couple of days left and then helloooo weekend. My week has been fueled with healthy eats and a few workouts. I'm also preparing for a Costa Rican themed party on Friday night.

In November I went to Costa Rica for a fun filled, activity driven trip. A trip that was fun with hiking volcanos, zip lining and eating great food. The traditional Costa Rican meal was centered around a cassada. A cassada is a plate of food consisting of a protein (chicken/fish), rice, beans, plantains, salad and an egg. This meal can be fairly healthy. I love the way the Costa Rica s like to keep it simple. So, Friday night will be a Costa Rican themed party!

Last night I boiled the eggs, marinated the chicken, made the black beans and the pasta salad. Tonight I will marinate the fish. This way on Friday all I have to do is put the chicken in the oven and make the plantains:-) Ah, I LOVE themed parties!

Do you guys ever have themed parties?

PS: Food pics to come soon!

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Sneaky Ways To Get Your Exercise In...

It's been said, getting at least 30 minutes of exercise in a day is the key to staying fit. Sure, 30 minutes is not a long time but sometimes it can be hard to fit in a workout during your day.

Here are a few sneaky ways to get your activity on when you're short on time!

1. Workout During Commercial Breaks
When you're watching TV, take advantage of the commercial breaks and use the time to do a non stop workout such as squats, lunges, crunches or high knees.

2. Workout While On The Phone
When making phone calls, use your head phones for a mic and get a speed walking sesh is. Can't go outside? No problem, grab a pair of weights and work your arms with some bicep curls, tricep dips or overhead presses. Workout your lower body with squats and lunges.

3. Don't Use Your Chair
If you're at work try sitting on an exercise ball instead of your chair. This will help strengthen your core.

4. DVD It...
If you don't have time to make it to the gym start keeping a couple of good workout DVDs at home. I love Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred workout. In 30 minutes you get a great cardio and strength training workout in.

5.  Break It Down
Instead of trying to get 30 minutes in all at once.  Try breaking this down to 3 10 minute breaks.  Walk to pick up your lunch, take the stairs instead or park further away.

6.  Double Up
Plan your gym session around your favorite television show.  It's so easy and fast to get a cardio workout in on the treadmill or stair master when your watching your favorite television show.

These are just a few ways you guys can sneak in a workout.  Do you guys have any tips to save time for working out?

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Monday Recap...

Good Morning! I hope you guys had an awesome Monday! I had quite a few good healthy eats, got a great workout in after some time, oh and I'm all caught up with The Following.

My day started off yesterday with a coffee smoothie. In the blender went coffee, banana, unsweetened vanilla almond milk and a teaspoon of home made cashew butter.

A little while later I had two slices of my paleo bread, toasted. For lunch I had a chipotle burger on one of my paleo thins. Mmmm...mmmm good!

In between lunch and dinner I got my snack on with almonds, clementines, and sliced bell pepper.

For dinner I made the most easiest chicken of all time. I bought Jerk seasoning in the grocery store over the weekend. I coated chicken with some of this seasoning and baked it in the oven at 400 degrees for 40 minutes. This chicken came out so flavorful with a great kick of spice! I'll post up the marinade I used for you guys to see. I also pan seared some asparagus and seasoned them with salt, pepper and a little balsamic glaze. Delish.

After a little over a week I finally made it to the gym! I did a 20 minute interval workout on the treadmill followed by abs and some strength training.... Not bad at all!

Did you guys catch The Following?!?!? OMG.... I am obsessed with this show! Lets wait a day or two before talking about it... Just in case you haven't watch I don't want to spoil it.

Alright, here are some highlights from yesterday:









Monday, March 4, 2013

The Easiest Paleo Bread Ever...

As you may have read in my previous post, I'm back on my Paleo kick! I feel what people miss the most while on the paleo diet is bread. Yes, they miss their sandwiches, pizzas, and bagels. After a few experiments I finally came up with an easy, quick recipe for paleo bread using almond flour. This recipe is so easy that it only requires FOUR ingredients. That's right, just four!

I love using almond flour to make paleo bread. I feel like its not a too strong in taste flour and it's loaded with monounsaturated fats and fiber.

Eggs are a great binding agent and loaded with protein!

Surprisingly, the key to this loaf is the diced veggies. The last loaf I made I used diced bell pepper. The veggies are important because they add nutritious volume to the loaf. Go ahead and mix it up an and try using chopped spinach, onions or zucchini.

I also like the use of lining the loaf pan with parchment paper. This prevents extra fat from being used to grease the loaf pan.

Well, now that we've gone through the ingredients, let's make some paleo bread, shall we? :-)

Ingredients:
2 cups almond flour
7 eggs
1.5 cups diced veggies
1TB. baking powder

Preparation:
Pre heat your oven to 350 degrees. Thoroughly combine all the ingredients to form a smooth batter. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper. Place the batter in the lined loaf pan. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour or until loaf feels firm. Once firm, take loaf out of pan and allow to cool before slicing up.

Makes 16 slices.
Servings: 8



PS: Click here to view my video on making Paleo Thins

March Madness...

Hello and Happy Monday! You know my motto, the quicker we get Monday started the quicker it's over. I love Mondays, can't you tell :-p

I cannot believe we are already in March. Whew... Time flies but I'm looking forward to warmer weather.

Last week I was letting my body rest after getting over a bad cold. I didn't go to the gym and my appetite was a never ending pit! This week I'm back in the game. I'm going Paleo with a few of my coworkers and I was able to get all my prep work done. Yes, I did my grocery shopping, made my breads, prepped my meat and cut up my veggies! I'm ready to dive into this week!

I have recipes coming up for Paleo bread and chipotle burgers so stay tuned:-)

Here are some highlights from the weekend: