The Beginning of Insanity

Generally, I am a person who avoids the scale. I know it isn’t always an accurate measurement of a person’s overall health. It doesn’t count for muscle gained, fat loss, water retention, and although I tell myself that it’s just a number, stepping on the scale usually makes me feel disappointed. Instead of stepping on the scale, I more often try to focus on the fit of my clothes and how I feel and how I look in the mirror. If the pants are feeling a little more snug than usual, I evaluate what is going on in my life and look at what may be attributing to the snugness, and then I may step on the scale to see where I’m at.

Why am I bringing this up right now? Well let’s just say the pants are getting snug these days and I did step on the scale, so Ill leave you the tip of the best scales for weight loss !

Sure enough, a few unwanted pounds have crept onto my 5’4″ frame and it isn’t from any intense weight-lifting regimen, it is from the depth of winter. Yes, the dietitian can gain weight too. As hard as I try to eat well and stay active, the cold and snowy days of winter and this year’s sprinter (spring/winter) have really been tying me down to the couch in the evenings and have me reaching for comfort snacks at night.

couch

I know I do a pretty good job with healthy eating and, but an area I KNOW I need improvement on is my workouts. I am an active person. I love to move and be active whether it’s yoga, dancing, running, strength training, walking, biking, I love it all.

workout

I would say I am active 6-7 days a week, HOWEVER, I do know that I don’t push myself as hard as I could or should and that’s why I’m not seeing huge results from my workouts. My running stamina is improving, but my strength needs a lot of work.

Well guess what, that’s all about to change. I have made a commitment to improve my health, endurance, and strength…

I have jumped head first into The Insanity Workout.

I am now four days into Team Beachbody’s Insanity Workout Program. I have been eyeing this workout program for over a year (I actually wrote a post about my interest in it here) and my curiosity has only continued to pique as friends of mine were telling me they had plunged into the Insanity challenge themselves and were seeing results. I wanted to give it a shot. I had nothing to lose.

What is Insanity?

Insanity is a workout program which uses Max Interval Training; you perform long bursts of maximum intensity exercise followed by a short period of rest, and repeat. This really gets your heart pumpin’!

There are 10 different workout DVDS which are “packed with plyometric drills on top of nonstop intervals of strength, power, resistance, and ab and core training moves. No equipment or weights needed. Each insanity workout keeps you constantly challenged as you alternate between aerobic and anaerobic intervals performed at your MAX.” source

insanity

A different workout every day decreases my risk of boredom and increases my chances of sticking with the program…this is a good thing.

Now, I’m not one to believe the workout gimmicks, but after actually completing four workouts already, and hearing about results from friends, I can honestly say I have high expectations for the results. These workouts are serious business. The only adjective I can find to best describe them are “insane.” I’d say I am a mediocre sweater, but after completing these workouts I am literally dripping with sweat. These workouts kick my booty and I love it.

How long is this program? How long are the workouts?

Insanity is a 60-day program. You rotate through the workout DVDs for one month, take one week to recover with some core cardio and balance, and then hit it even harder for the 2nd month.

The workouts range from 30-86 minutes. The first month’s workouts are on the shorter side (30-55 minutes) and the second month’s are on the longer side (45-86 minutes).

The workouts are six days a week with one day of rest.

The Secret to Success

The secret to success is obvious: motivation and dedication. If you want to see results from this program you have to be dedicated to these daily workouts and not only that, you have to push yourself and really hit it hard. Not only that, you need to be careful about what goes into your body. Clean eating is SO important for everyone! Get rid of those processed foods as much as you can.

My Plan

Life happens and I can almost guarantee there will be days that I will not be able to complete a workout, but I plan to stick to this regimen as strictly as I can. Also, I want to continue to run outside so I will be incorporating that into the routine and I may take those days off from Insanity. I will plan to pick right up the next day with the workout I left off on.

As much as I want to say I will continue this program for the whole 60 days, I have to be honest with myself and say that yes, ideally I would love to complete all 60 days, but there is a possibility that I may not. I want to see how my body responds internally. If I feel it is causing disturbances in my healing process then I may have to quit. I have a feeling that this will only continue to improve my health by making my body stronger and improving my immunity, but if not, I may need to make some changes.

I am highly motivated to see changes in my body and mainly, to increase endurance and strength. If I lose the weight I put on, great, but if I don’t, I know it is just my body adjusting to new muscles and that weight is not an appropriate measurement of progress.

Thoughts so far

Granted I have only tipped my toes into the water so far, I can still say I love the way I feel after these workouts. After the first fit test and the first workout, I felt like I could have been sick, but I have found that if I complete the workouts in the morning before I have had too much food, my tummy is just fine.

It is such a phenomenal workout that truly works your whole body and like I said, I am covered in sweat by the time it is over. Some people can reach this level of fitness alone at the gym and get the same results, but I need the assistance of a regimented fitness program.

I am very anxious to continue the program and to see results.

Now that the weather is finally turning a corner over here in Minne, it is time to stop making excuses and time to get into tip-top shape, to see what I am capable of, and to feel good about myself and my fitness level.

April Fitness Challenge

One last thing. I haven’t forgotten about my April Fitness Challenge! I am hoping that the strength training of these workouts combined with my continued attempts on our home pull-up bar, will help me to reach a goal of one chin-up. I know I WILL get there!

So that’s that. That is what I am doing to improve my overall health. What are YOU doing?!

Continue Reading The Beginning of Insanity

Chicken Marbella & Weekend Scenes

Mother Nature is seriously testing my positivity and patience. It is ridiculous here. It has been consistently cold and rainy/snowy. Enough to make me want to crawl into hibernation again.

snow

We weren’t able to get our normal weekend run in due to schedule conflicts and freezing rain conflicts, and today isn’t too much better. Although, it isn’t raining or snowing yet. The treadmill has my name on it today unfortunately. It sounds like we’re going to have a week and a half or so of not so nice weather and then it’s supposed to turnaround. We can only hope!

Okay, enough of the downer talk. How about some photos from this weekend?

Mom and dad and Abbie time…

abbie

Morning coffee with coconut milk and a fruit and veggie smoothie…

smoothie coffee

Saturday night steak dinner!

steak

Moose shares my same love for peanut butter…

pb banana moose pb

Leftover steak salad with red bell peppers, tomato, olives, avocado, and Annie’s Green Goddess dressing…

steak salad

We planted some of the veggies for our vegetable garden which we will start off indoors and eventually move to our outdoor garden! These are the things we need to be doing to keep our spirits lifted.

dana garden

A batch of homemade gluten-free almond flour bread

almond bread

And the grand finale of the weekend is a recipe inspired from epicurious and introduced to me by Dana’s mom…CHICKEN MARBELLA. 

chicken marbella

Chicken breasts, olives, dried apricots, prunes, capers, red wine vinegar, oregano, garlic, red wine, honey, olive oil, bay leaves, and salt and pepper were combined in an oven-safe dish….

chicken marbella

And baked for an hour at 350°F…

chicken marbella

The result was pure perfection.

chicken marbella chicken marbella

I am a huge sweet and salty fan and this was the perfect dish to satisfy that taste combination.

Chicken Marbella
Print
Ingredients
  • 2 large chicken breast, cut into 10 large pieces
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced finely
  • 2 Tbsp dried oregano
  • ¼ cup red wine vinegar
  • 3 Tbsp olive oil
  • ½ cup prunes, quartered
  • ¼ cup dried apricots, halved
  • ½ cup large green olives, rough chopped
  • ¼ cup capers and some juice
  • 3 bay leaves
  • ¼ cup honey
  • ½ cup red wine
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Arrange chicken in a shallow baking pan; set aside.
  3. In a small bowl combine all remaining ingredients; mix well; pour over chicken.
  4. If time allows, let marinade in the fridge for a few hours, otherwise place in oven right away.
  5. Bake for 1 hour, basting chicken with juices frequently, until chicken is cooked through.

 

It is such an easy recipe that looks fancy but it is really so simple, and it tastes AWESOME. I highly recommend you make this one night this week. You won’t be disappointed.

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend and that your Monday is off to a great start!

Question of the day: Do you prefer salty or sweet?

Continue Reading Chicken Marbella & Weekend Scenes

The Dress: Wedding Flashback

It’s wedding flashback time! I really need to do this more often because it makes me so happy reliving my wedding day. Today we’re going to talk about…

THE DRESS

There was a lot of “Say Yes to the Dress” being watched in our household before I picked out my wedding dress. For those of you who may not know, I am a terrible decision maker, so the thought of picking out the perfect wedding dress for myself terrified me like no other.

My original thoughts were that I wanted a halter top dress because I wanted to be able to enjoy the day without yanking the dress up, I wanted lace, and that was about all I thought I wanted.

The first dress shopping was very casual. My mom and I went to a small boutique, I tried on a handful of dresses, some of which I liked, but I couldn’t get over the price tags. I wasn’t about to spend a fortune on a dress that I was going to wear one time. I am a die-hard bargain shopper and that title wasn’t going to be put on hold while shopping for “the dress.” We left the store feeling pretty happy to have had the first dress shopping trip out of the way. I knew I wasn’t going to find my dress the first day, but you’ve got to start somewhere!

For the next endeavor, we headed over to The Wedding Shoppe in St. Paul. This time mom and I brought along my maid of honor, Betsy and my mother-in-law, Sue. This time I meant business. 🙂 The Wedding Shoppe has the largest selection of dresses around the Twin Cities, PLUS they honor your dress budget and have dresses that accommodate all price ranges.

I tried on halter top dresses, I tried on princess dresses, I tried on lace dresses. At this point I was starting to realize that what I had in mind as my ideal dress prior to dress shopping wasn’t all that practical for me.

Some of the dresses I tried on were SO heavy that I felt claustrophobic and I did not want to be tied down by a heavy dress. So, we got rid of the heavy dresses. Next was the lace. I loved the lace dresses but they weren’t giving me the “this is it” feeling I was hoping for, plus the price tags made my stomach churn. So, we got rid of the lace dresses. The halter tops weren’t flattering, so I ditched that idea. I was starting to get nervous that I wasn’t going to be able to find my dress because I didn’t know what I wanted.

The stylist pulled some dresses for me that she thought I might like based on what she had seen that I didn’t like, and heard that I didn’t like. The dresses she pulled would not have been ones that I would have chosen for myself, but I was open to trying them on. Many of them were strapless and I had told her my concern about worrying I’d have to yank my dress up all day. She told me that the dress is going to be so well-fitted to my body, that it will not be an issue whatsoever. Okay, the strapless dresses are back in the running now.

Sure enough one of the dresses that she pulled was the one that made everyone cry and which made me feel the most beautiful. But even with the reassurance of my family, my indecisiveness was getting the best of me. I’m a fairly emotional person, and I thought I would absolutely bawl when I found the perfect dress, but I didn’t. I got a few tears in my eyes but I think it was mostly because I saw my family members so choked up. So I worried that I wasn’t reacting how I thought I would.

I couldn’t let my lack of self-confidence and indecisiveness ruin this experience and keep me from getting this dress that was perfect for me. I knew this was THE ONE, and I knew I needed to commit, and at that moment, my stomach settled, and I knew it was right. The dress was sweet, beautiful, soft, and perfect.

The decision was made, the credit card was handed over (xoxo M + D),  and the dress was mine. I never looked back. I did make myself stop watching Say Yes to the Dress or I would have driven myself crazy thinking I had bought the wrong dress. Everyone told me once you buy your dress, STOP looking at dresses or you WILL drive yourself crazy. I took their advice for it as the textil is amazing, she also helped by choosing the textil for the tablecloths so we bought linen tablecloths bulk so we could be prepared for the day.

The dress I chose was ivory, organza fabric, mermaid fit, and stunning.

Like most brides, I was concerned that once the wedding day arrived I wouldn’t be able to zip up my dress, but she zipped up like a charm.

I never had to worry about yanking the dress up because the stylist was right, it fit me like a glove and never budged. My dress tailor did a superb job of fitting my dress to me so that it wasn’t so snug around my mid-section where I felt I couldn’t move comfortably, she left a little bit of wiggle room. I needed to be able to DANCE after all, and I surely did.

Anyway, without further ado, I present to you, my dress.

the dress wedding dress wedding dress 2 wedding dress 4 wedding wedding dress 5 wedding outside wedding dress 6

And my shoes!

wedding shoes wedding dance

 

dance wedding

Yup, I need to do these posts more often; such amazing memories. I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did!

Off I go now to enjoy my Saturday in a very good, lovey dovey mood.

Continue Reading The Dress: Wedding Flashback

Zucchini Carrot Refried Bean Tostadas

Happy Friday Eve! The snow is still drizzling down which makes for a super cozy morning. Yet again, a morning where all you want to do is sleep in and then cozy up on the couch with a good book and a cup of coffee. I am still anxiously awaiting the warm spring air that motivates me to jump out of bed and energizes me for the day. Soon enough….right? 🙂

For breakfast yesterday I had a veggie frittata thanks to some meal preparation on Tuesday evening. I used an old frittata recipe of mine for guidance but then added some different veggies into the mix. This time around I added 3 eggs, egg whites, kale, red pepper, mushroom, onions, and a little bit of cheese.

frittata

I took a couple of bites and then realized something was missing…

AVOCADO of course! I also added a little SCD ketchup to my plate. This dish was EGGcellet! I loved that it was ready for me when I woke up. Next time I will add more eggs to make it thicker.

frittata

Dinner

My creative foodie brain started wandering during the last 30 minutes of work about what to make for dinner.  I mentally ran through everything we had in our fridge and freezer.

Zucchini had been on sale this weekend so I had picked up a couple of those and wanted to use that for sure, and I had a huge batch of super cooked and easily digestible chili beans in the freezer and sort of wanted to use those too. After a while of pondering it dawned on me. I was going to make zucchini and carrot tostadas with refried beans! It sounded strange in my mind so no worries if it sounds strange to you right now too, but I just had to give it a shot.

Into the food processor went one zucchini and one cup of carrots which I shredded. I poured them onto a thin kitchen towel, gathered all corners, twisted the tops together, and rung out as much liquid as possible.

I added the remains of the veggies into a bowl and added an egg, garlic, some almond flour, and seasonings (recipe below for further details). I mixed this together and began forming my tostadas on a baking pan which I had sprayed with olive oil. I used my hands to flatten out the dough into tortilla-like shapes.

Note: You could use cornmeal or gluten-free flour instead of almond flour.

I baked the tortillas at 350°F for 20 minutes, followed by 10 minutes on broil, flipping half way during the broil.

tostada

When the tortillas were beginning the broiling process, I prepared the beans: In a saucepan on the stove, I sautéed diced onion in olive oil. I then added the beans, broth, and seasonings and gave it a good stir. I let the beans cook in the broth for about 8 minutes.

I chopped the cilantro, tomatoes, bell pepper, and grated the cheese so that it would be ready to top the tostadas.

Once the tortillas were ready, I plated them, added a sprinkle of cheese, a heaping spoonful of beans, followed by tomatoes, red peppers, cilantro and salsa. You could add avocado, black olives, or jalapeno if you would like too!

tostados IMG_2248

These are super-duper healthified refried bean tostadas if I’ve ever seen them! Don’t expect a super crunchy tortilla; it turned out pretty soft but found if you let them sit for a few minutes after they come out of the oven, they set a little further.

I had made a double batch, but scaled the recipe back for you all because it made an insane amount of these tortillas. I froze the leftover tortillas and plan on using them for mini pizzas in the future!

They require a little bit of work, but I think they are worth it! They were fun to eat!

Zucchini Carrot Refried Bean Tostadas
Print
Serving Size: 2
Ingredients
  • Tostadas:
  • 1 medium zucchini, grated
  • 1 cup carrots, grated
  • 1 garlic clove, finely grated
  • 1 egg
  • ¾ cups almond flour
  • sprinkle of onion powder
  • salt and pepper
  • Beans:
  • ¼ cup onions, diced
  • 1½ cups cooked kidney beans (pinto or black beans would be fine)
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • ½ tsp cumin
  • ¼ tsp garlic powder
  • salt and pepper
  • ½ cup chicken bone broth (veggie broth or chicken broth would be fine)
  • Toppings (optional):
  • diced tomatoes
  • diced red bell peppers
  • grated cheese
  • cilantro
  • avocado
  • black olives
  • salsa
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat one large cookie pan with olive oil.
  2. In a food processor, shred zucchini and carrots.
  3. Pour onto a kitchen towel. Gather all corners of towel and twist tops together. Ring out excess liquid over the sink.
  4. Pour remaining veggies from towel into a medium bowl.
  5. Add egg, garlic, almond flour, onion powder, salt, pepper and mix well.
  6. Use hands to form large balls of dough and place on pan. Pat down to flatten to a little less than ¼ inch high and form a round "tortilla." Repeat until all dough has been shaped.
  7. Place in oven and bake for 20 minutes.
  8. After 20 minutes, turn oven to broil. Broil each side of the tortillas for about 4-5 minutes or until they turn golden and begin to crisp up.
  9. While the tortillas are broiling, saute onion in olive oil in a medium pan on the stove top for about 3 minutes.
  10. Then add beans, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and broth. Stir until beans are cooked through and liquid has cooked out.
  11. Once tortillas are crisp, remove from oven. Place a tortilla on a plate then add the beans and finally your favorite tostada toppings.

 

I hope you all have a wonderful Friday eve! Catch up with you soon!

Question of the day: Have you made any creative dishes lately? Tell me about them and feel free to add a link to the recipe if you have one!

Continue Reading Zucchini Carrot Refried Bean Tostadas

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Yesterday the last bit of snow in our yard had finally melted. Today, I woke up to this…

april snow

Mother nature has decided to prolong our winter a bit longer around here and we are faced with some more snow. Instead of getting upset about it, I am trying my darndest to embrace it. I had forewarning that it was coming so I was at least able to “prepare” myself for it, but it still hurts a little bit to see the ground covered in white.

But, there is absolutely NOTHING I can do about it. So I’m trying not to let it ruin my day.

It’s kind of like life. Sometimes life throws you a few inches of snow in April. We are all faced with ups and downs and curveballs along the way. We can choose to sulk and get dragged down by the downfalls, or we can choose a positive attitude and make the most of the situation.

To embrace the weather we decided to make a fire in the fireplace. I honestly didn’t think we would be having any more of these this spring but last night I figured, why not, it’s cold enough outside and it would make for a cozy evening.

Yup, this is a real scene of an April evening.

fireplace fireplace

moose

What else do you think of when you think of a perfect cozy evening? Homemade soup of course! I had a package of frozen butternut squash that I roasted in the oven with onion and garlic.

butternut squash soup butternut squash soup

Once it was roasted I added it to a soup pot, added bone broth, and some spices, and let it simmer for 20 minutes or so. I then used my immersion blender to puree the soup. I ladled the soup into a couple of bowls, topped them with fresh cilantro, and that was it. This soup is so incredibly easy.

butternut squash soup

butternut squash soup

Butternut Squash Soup
Print
Ingredients
  • 2 lbs butternut squash, cubed
  • 1 large white onion, chopped
  • 5 small garlic cloves (or 3 large ones)
  • 4 cups chicken broth (I used homemade bone broth)
  • 2 tsp salt
  • black pepper
  • 2 Tbsp coconut aminos (you can substitute with soy sauce)
  • ¼ tsp cumin
  • ⅛ tsp garlic powder *optional
  • a sprinkle of nutmeg
  • fresh cilantro
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. If you have a roasting option, select roast.
  2. Spray one large baking pan with olive oil. Place squash, onion, and garlic on the pan and spread into one layer. Spritz top with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
  3. Roast for 30 minutes.
  4. Remove from oven and transfer to soup pot.
  5. Turn stove top to low. Add remaining ingredients except cilantro. Stir, bring to a simmer and cover.
  6. Simmer for 20 minutes stirring occasionally.
  7. Use an immersion blender to puree soup. Ladle into bowls and top with fresh cilantro.

 

An outdoor workout is not in the cards today. I’m going to continue to “embrace” the snow situation as best as I can and lace up my shoes and hit the treadmill downstairs. Spring WILL make its appearance again and it WILL stick around soon. I am not losing hope.

Life WILL have its ups and downs but I refuse to let the lows keep me low. Keep your head up, be thankful for a new day, and make the most of a less than perfect situation.

Question: How do you stay positive? 

Continue Reading Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Honey P. Nutty Bars

It’s a rainy day, it’s a rainy day, raining outside so we can’t go out and play, so what are we gonna do, anyway? What is that from? My mom always used to sing that with us when we were young. My guess would be Barney or Sesame Street but I really don’t know.

Anyway, it is very rainy and very gloomy over here today. The kind of day that makes you want to snuggle on the couch with a movie and a bowl of popcorn and just stay there for a while. 🙂 Who knows, that may be on the agenda for the evening, we will see.

Breakfast

I can’t believe I’m saying this but I did not have one single bite of peanut butter yesterday. That is unheard of for me! I started the morning off with a bowl of Fage Greek yogurt with blackberries, blueberries, a touch of honey and chia seeds.

yogurt with berries

 

Gym

 

I hit up the gym shortly after for a chest, shoulder, and tricep weights day. Dana was my “personal trainer” and definitely pushed me harder than I would have if I were there by myself. This is a GOOD thing. I am hoping to be able to make it to the gym more often with him so we can train together. I need the extra help especially if I’m going to reach my April Fitness Challenge!

(old photo)

workout

 

Lunch

While I threw my lunch together, I snacked on some walnuts. Lunch was a humungo salad with mixed spring greens, celery, red bell pepper, mushrooms, black beans, peas, and red wine vinegar mixed with olive oil and herbs. I added some cheese and hummus after I snapped the photo.

salad

For dessert: an apple.

Afternoon snacks included a Honey P. Nutty bar!

I received this package of bars from Honey P. Nutty after checking out their website and drooling over their products. They make delicious honey and peanut butter bars that come in a variety of flavors: Chunky PB, Red Chili PB, Cranberry PB, Salty PB, Espresso PB, and Chocolate PB. Their products are also gluten and dairy free with the exception of the chocolate PB which may have some dairy.

honey p. nutty

Of course the first one I reached for when I received the package was the Chocolate PB, aka my favorite combination EVER!

honey p. nutty

I love that the ingredients are so simple: Whole and ground roasted peanuts, honey, organic cornmeal, vanilla extract, and sea salt. Depending on the flavor there are add-ins for example the chocolate PB has chocolate added, the cranberry PB has cranberries, etc. You get it.

honey p. nutty

The bars are chewy and sweet. Personally, I would consider them more of a dessert treat but they could also be used as an energy bar before a workout, after a workout, or for an afternoon pick-me-up.

honey p. nutty

They remind me of peanut butter cookies. They have a wonderful roasted peanut flavor and in combination with the honey, they are perfectly sweet.

honey p. nutty honey p. nutty honey p. nutty honey p. nutty

 

Yea, I REALLY enjoy them. To check out their products you can go to their website at honeypnutty.com. They are a new company and have so much potential for growth with this tasty product! I LOVE IT!

Dinner

Last night we grilled up some salmon and green beans. I actually deviated from my favorite salmon recipe if you can believe that!

I marinated two salmon filets in this marinade:

  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 1 Tbsp coconut aminos (you can use soy sauce instead if you prefer)
  • 1/4 tsp dried ginger
  • 1 garlic clove, grated finely
  • 1 tsp honey

I let them marinade for about 30 minutes before the grilling them up! The green beans were seasoned simply with olive oil, salt and pepper and then grilled.

salmon

 

I still prefer the other recipe for salmon with the sesame oil, butter, capers, and almonds, but this one was really good too! I was proud that I switched it up.

Alrighty, I’m going to go milk this cold I’ve got and get on with my day. Have a good one!

Continue Reading Honey P. Nutty Bars

A Weekend Full of Great Company

Well, hello hello! It’s Monday and it’s gloomy BUT I am going to stay positive for all of us and say it is going to be a GREAT day.

I “disconnected” myself yesterday from the phone and blog. I say that in “quotations” because I still had my phone on me at all times and browsed Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc., but I gave the photo snapping a rest for the most part. By the way are you following me on:

I would love if you did!

Anyway, I do have some catching up to do from Saturday! It was a super fun day!

Saturday Morning

The rain held off and Dana, Moose, and I were able to hit the pavement for our Saturday run. We mapped out five miles around the neighborhood and they were five hilly miles. We live in a very hilly neighborhood which is both a blessing and a curse at the same time. It’s great for training but sometimes you just want an easy flat run, and we can’t get that around here.

Moose’s paws held up just fine this time around. Last week they got a little scraped up and were bleeding. He is toughening up quickly again now that spring is here. Yay!

Saturday Afternoon

In the afternoon I headed out to Minneapolis to meet up with a handful of other Minnesota bloggers for our first ever MN blogger meet up. Katie from Running4Cupcakes and Becky from Olives’n’Wine (remember that awesome cupcake guest post she wrote for me in March?!) organized this get together and I am SO happy they did.

Here was our crew:

MN-Bloggers

From left to right:

Katie from Running4cupcakes
Diana from DianaPantz
Melanie from Beautifully Nutty (me, duh)
Kendra from Kenny Gump

 

We met at Sebastian Joe’s (the one off of Franklin) which I must say has some spectacular sorbet. As you know I adore ice cream but I had plans to go out to dinner that evening so I didn’t want to risk an upset stomach, which is why I stuck with the dairy-free sorbet. Any other day, you know I would choose ice cream, let’s be real.

I went with the Strawberry-Basil Sorbet and it did not fail. It was incredible; so fresh, with huge hunks of strawberries, and a hint of basil. It was very refreshing.

sorbet sebastian loes

sorbet sebastian loes

Your mouth watered didn’t it?

I surprisingly wasn’t too nervous to meet up with these girls. In the blog world you kind of feel like you know each other from reading each other’s blogs and commenting back and forth.

We all said it was kind of weird at first only because we already “knew” the little tidbits about each other that most people would use to start-up conversation, so our conversations hedged a little further right away.

We chatted about our lives, blogging, social media, etc. We all got along very well and the hour and a half we were there seriously flew by so fast. The conversation was great! We are planning another meet up in the next month or two so if there are any other MN bloggers out there who are interested in meeting up, throw an email my way! We are hoping to make the next meet-up a bit more active—like a walk around the lakes or something.

Such a great group of ladies! I’m so happy I had the chance to meet you all! Thanks again Katie and Becky for organizing this, you rockstars.

Saturday Evening

In the evening we had a dinner date with my parents and Dana’s parents. We met at Axel’s Bonfire which is a cozy and warm restaurant that specializes in wood fire cooking.

axel's bonfire

I ordered the Barbacoa Tacos which had seasoned beef with pineapple relish and chipotle cream. I asked if they could prepare them in lettuce cups instead of flour tortillas and they said of course. Never hesitate to ask for modifications to your meal. Remember you are paying for it, you may as well get it how you want it and 9 times out of 10 they will be able to make the modification for you.

axel's bonfire menu

Check out these beauts! I had to pick off some of the peppers on there because they were  making my mouth feel like fire, but this dish was very tasty.

beef tacos axel's bonfire

It came with beans and rice so I ended up scooping the beans onto my taco as well as the pico de gallo on top of the rice.

rice and beans axel's bonfire

Besides the food being great, the company was even better. I adore my families and always enjoy spending time with them!

Talk about a fun day, right?

Sunday

Sunday was our usual gig; breakfast, paper, coupons, hanging out with the pup, grocery shopping, lunch.

moose and melanie

In the afternoon we headed over to my mom and dad’s house because my brother Scotty and his girlfriend Nicole were in town!

We spent the afternoon and evening hanging out, eating a totally nummy dinner (rotisserie pork loin, brussels sprouts, broccoli, salad, and potatoes), and catching up on life. I was so happy to be with my family again! Ahhh I just love them so much.

We made it home just in time before the sun went down to take Moose for a little stroll around the neighborhood. We watched the Academy of Country Music Awards when we got home and then called it a night. This weekend FLEW by. What the heck?! Haha, it always does though.

Okey dokey, I am off to take on the day. Make it a great one and be thankful for the day. Catch up with you soon!

xoxo

Continue Reading A Weekend Full of Great Company

Fish Tacos with Fresh Mango Salsa

Oh boy do I have a treat for you. Our fridge is stocked full of fresh produce right now and I had the luxury of throwing together many different fresh ingredients to come up with this incredibly amazing concoction….

Fish Tacos with Fresh Mango Avocado Salsa!

mango salsa

For the salsa: I bought two ripe mangos from Whole Foods the other day and knew I had to use them quickly before they went bad, so I peeled them, and diced them, and used the fruit from one mango in this salsa. I added the mango to a bowl, then added diced avocado, red bell peppers, red onion, cilantro, black beans, lime juice, garlic, cumin, salt and pepper (recipe below). I mixed it up gently and refrigerated it while I got the rest of dinner ready.

In a saute pan lightly coated with olive oil, we cooked two tilapia filets with a multi-spice seasoning blend that gave it just the slightest “kick.”

While the tilapia cooked, I washed one head of red cabbage and did my best to tear off shells to serve as the base of the fish taco.

Once the fish was cooked through and white and flaky, we used a spatula to divide it into big chunk-sized bites. I plated the cabbage, then the fish, and finally, the royal salsa.

fish tacos with mango salsa fish tacos with mango salsa

Oh my goodness these things were INCREDIBLE! If I had a restaurant I would sell these for sure.

IMG_2192

 

They were definitely messy and you could go ahead and make the cabbage into more of a slaw salad to sit underneath the fish taco and fresh salsa, but I don’t mind a mess and had fun with it this way!

This is such a simple salsa that would be great with most any type of cooked fish, or with grilled chicken, with a whole grain tortilla chip, and fantastic even by itself!

Mango Avocado Salsa
Print
Ingredients
  • ½ cup mango, diced
  • ½ cup avocado, diced
  • ¼ cup red peppers, diced
  • 2 Tbsp red onion, minced
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
  • ½ of a lime (juice)
  • sprinkle of cumin
  • salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix gently. Refrigerate and serve cold. This was AMAZING on tilapia but would be great on a salad or with whole grain tortilla chips too!

ENJOY!

Happy Saturday! I have a very fun day ahead of me! Catch up with you later gators!

Continue Reading Fish Tacos with Fresh Mango Salsa

Chicken Stir-Fry with Coconut Aminos

It’s Friday! Oh yea, baby! Before we get too excited about this glorious day of the week, let’s take a quick look at Thursday, shall we?

I had a really great day. I actually kept thinking yesterday was Friday. I was super messed up on my days.

I had the day off and I started it off by meeting up my high school friend Ted, for coffee at Caribou. Why on earth have we not gotten together sooner, I don’t know. All I can say is it was so nice to catch up with him. He is such a positive person and I love having positive people in my life! There is no room for negativity in my life.

In the afternoon Dana and I took the pup out for a 3-mile loop around our neighborhood. The weather was absolutely perfect for an outdoor run; about 50°F and sunny. I was even able to wear my capris outside for the first time this year!

Moose is still working on his stamina. He was pretty wiped immediately after the run.

moose

Allergy Update

I seem to have worked whatever food or medication allergy I had out of my system, because I have been feeling back to normal. The only thing I can think of that may have triggered it is the abundant amount of strawberries I had eaten those few days, but I’ve never had a problem with them in the past! Again, another reason I would like to have an intolerance test done.

Lunch

For lunch I threw together a ginormous veggie-packed salad. I loved the volume of this salad. In the mix was mixed spring greens, broccoli, carrots, red pepper, celery, a spritz of olive oil, hummus, and sunflower seeds. Wowza it was GOOD.

veggie salad

There were a few snacks eaten throughout the day to tide me over between meals, all of which went unphotographed.

We made a purchase yesterday to add to our “at-home gym”…..

A PULL-UP BAR!

chin up pull up bar

I wasn’t messing around when I said I am going to conquer at least one unassisted chin-up before May. We put this up in the doorway on our main floor so that I will be more likely to use it often. Like I said previously, I still have a LOOONNNG way to go, but I’ll get there!

Stir-Fry Dinner and Coconut Aminos

Mmm mmm, dinner was tasty last night. Stir-fry has got to be one of the easiest meals to make and it always comes out well.

Last night I pulled out the wok and sautéed up onion, garlic, red bell pepper, broccoli, sugar snap peas and carrots in sesame oil. Once the veggies had cooked through, I added about 1/3 of a cup of bone broth along with 5-6 splashes of coconut aminos (more on that in a sec). I also added a few sprinkles of garlic powder, onion powder, ginger, and salt. I then let the liquids cook out, added some leftover cooked chicken, allowed that to heat through and VOILA!

stir fry

I served the stir-fry over cooked quinoa (I let the quinoa soak for 24 hours before cooking to help with digestibility) and had myself a deliciously gluten-free and soy-free dinner!

stir fry

stif fry

So, about those coconut aminos I mentioned….

Yesterday I stopped in at Whole Foods and oogled over all of the great products. I meandered down the Asian-food aisle and my eyes spied this intriguing sauce:

Coconut Secret’s Raw Coconut Aminos

coconut aminos

I had to give it a go after what I read on the label. Here is what I have learned about Coconut Aminos (information taken from their website):

Their product is:

  • 100% Organic
  • Gluten-free
  • Soy-free
  • Dairy-free
  • Vegan
  • Contains 17 naturally occurring amino acids which are important for muscle tissue repair and rebuilding, enhance nervous system function, and aid in boosting the immune system
  • It is made from certified organic raw coconut sap and naturally aged and blended with sun-dried, mineral-rich sea salt
  • It can be used as a substitute for soy sauce!

Source

The flavor is a bit more bland compared to regular soy sauce, and less salty, but it did add a really nice flavor to this stir-fry dish. For those of you out there who are looking for an alternative to soy-sauce, I would definitely recommend giving this a shot. I will be 100% honest with you though, I still prefer soy sauce.

But it’s still pretty neat, right? What will they think of next?!

I had a fun new treat later in the evening including another Whole Foods find:

Gluten Free Cereal

These are SO good! And the ingredients are so simple: Organic corn meal, organic evaporated cane juice, organic peanut butter, organic soy oil, sea salt, tocopherols (natural vitamin E), organic tapioca starch. I don’t plan on eating these daily, but they are going to be nice to have around if I want a little treat.

Alright, now that we caught up on Thursday we can officially celebrate Friday. I hope you all have a FANTASTIC day! Keep on smilin’ my friends.

Question of the day: Have you ever used liquid aminos before? What are your thoughts?

Continue Reading Chicken Stir-Fry with Coconut Aminos