Mashed Potato Add the Laughing Cow

Everyone do your happy Friday dance!

First things first. Since it’s Friday that means it’s time to check in on the very last week of the June Yoga Challenge hosted by the beautiful and talented Courtney at SweetToothSweetLife.

I am happy to report that I once again have met my goal of three yoga sessions a week.  Yoga On Demand has been great–I have been able to practice yoga in the comfort of my own living room at any hour of the day.

I began the challenge one week late into June, but I can honestly say that in the three weeks that I have been partaking in the yoga, I have improved my flexibility and have learned how to incorporate breathing techniques throughout my day if I begin to feel stressed. I also feel like my arms are beginning to tone up a bit from all of the planks and downward dogs.

Although the official June Yoga Challenge is over, I will absolutely continue to practice yoga, and hopefully move from a beginner status, to a more intermediate yogi. Hopefully someday I will be able to master the crow pose! Thank you, Courtney for such a great opportunity and for inspiring me to get my yoga on.

Thursday Breakfast

A piece of spelt bread toast with cinnamon honey PB2 and banana slices.

Lunch

Lunch included a potato which I cooked in the mini crockpot on low for about 4 hours with 1-1.5 cups of water (prepared on Monday). Once it was done cooking, I peeled the potato…

And whipped the potato with a small amount of chicken broth.

I then mixed in one light swiss laughing cow wedge, and added salt and pepper to taste.

I packed it up in a nice little tupperware container and brought it with me to work, warmed it in the microwave, and had a quick and nummy lunch. There is nothing to it really. Homemade mashed potatoes are well worth the small effort. I really enjoyed adding the Laughing Cow wedge into the potatoes. It gave a very subtle creamy cheesy taste to the potato.

If you don’t want to use the crock pot method for cooking your potato, you can always bake your potato in the oven, or for an even speedier cooking method, poke holes in your clean potato, and cook in the microwave for about 5 minutes, turning halfway through (cooking time varies depending on the size of your potato).

I also had some super juicy watermelon with lunch.

Dinner

Your eyes aren’t fooling you. This is a veggie-packed salad. I am taking a different approach to my colitis and only time will tell how my body reacts. This dish is full of mixed greens (kale, spinach, and other dark greens), broccoli tops, mushrooms, avocado, olives, carrots, Morningstar’s Griller Chik’n Burger, and Newman’s Own Lite Honey Mustard.

Welcome back greenery. You are lovely and I have missed you so. This was my first time eating Morningstars Griller’s Chik’n which is a vegetarian chicken burger. Each burger is 80 calories, 3 grams of fat, 350 mg sodium, and packs 9 grams of protein. I prepared the burgers by placing them in a sauté pan on the stove top, and cooking on each side so that both sides crisp up and the burger is heated through.

The taste of this burger was great! I think they tasted like real grilled chicken. It is a nice substitute to meat every once and a while. I love Morningstar veggie products. They do a great job.

Etc.

Last night I started reading the book, “Breaking the Vicious Cycle” by Elaine Gottschall. It is all about treating intestinal problems including Ulcerative Colitis, through the diet.

The book focuses on scientific research which proves that individuals with intestinal distress can often benefit from a specific carbohydrate diet. I am only about 20 pages in but I am very curious about this diet and am anxious to read more. I’ll keep you posted on what I find and tell you more about the book later.

I took a rest day yesterday on the workout scene. I will probably take another one today. Tomorrow is the Warrior Dash! For those of you unfamiliar with the Warrior Dash, it is a 5k run combined with obstacles throughout. The very end of the race involves crawling through 2 feet of mud. It’s a beautiful site.

Photos from last year’s dash…

I’m excited to fill you all in on the details later. Happy Friday! Have a great day.

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Ruby Red Jewels on My Salad

Wednesday Yoga and Breakfast

What better way to start the day yesterday than a gentle yoga session. I turned on Gentle Yoga On Demand and completed the calming routine. I have found that I appreciate the gentle yoga versus the more intense yoga first thing in the morning. It gets me stretched out and really allows me to focus on my breathing and tackle my day. I love the more intense yoga in the afternoons though once I’m more awake.

Breakfast was an easy to digest, old favorite: the Cream of Wheat bowl. In the mix was the usual cereal, cinnamon, and brown sugar. Although it was stinking hot yesterday, this warm breakfast still tasted great.

I headed off to work for a while then came home for a super speedy lunch. I had prepped everything in the morning for a protein smoothie so that all I had to do was toss it into the blender, whip it good, and enjoy in minutes. I included tofu in this smoothie along with protein powder because I needed extra staying power to hold me through the afternoon.

I finished lunch with a couple of animal crackers and peanut butter, and two dark chocolate squares.

Lunch completely held me over until dinner. Mission accomplished.

When I got home from work ,my neighbor greeted me in between our yards. She was telling me that their raspberry bush in the corner of our two yards has completely flourished over the years and is plummeting well into our yard and into our bushes. She wanted to make sure I was aware that there were fresh raspberries up in our yard so I wasn’t missing out. I thought it was sweet of her to tell me that. I was very aware of the amazing raspberry bush in the corner of our yard, and actually thought it was our bush all along. Now technically it is partly ours since it is our yard too. Yes!

Raspberries are by far one I my favorite fruits. I went ahead and popped a few in my mouth and then decided they needed to go into dinner somehow. Since I am experimenting with adding salads back into my diet, I made plans to incorporate the ruby red jewels into a nice refreshing salad.

In the salad: Mixed greens, raspberries, watermelon, avocado, feta, and Newman’s Own Lite Raspberry and Walnut dressing. Holy cow the freshness on this salad was for sure a Melanie pleaser. This is a summer salad if I’ve ever seen one. Check out the colors. Awesome.

I also had a few mushrooms with hummus (photo from Tuesday).

And a caramel rice cake.

It was so incredibly hot here today, and I think pretty much all across the country, so I didn’t feel like being outside, but I wanted to get some light exercise in still. My favorite show, SYTYCD  was on tonight so I laced up the sneaks and headed down to the treadmill to watch my show in a cool basement.

This sounds pretty identical to last week actually with the walking and watching the show bit. I am really not one to sit down and watch an entire show because I either feel guilty sitting there sedentary for so long, or I feel like I should be doing something else productive. Walking on the treadmill while watching my show makes me feel WAY better about watching TV, not that I condone watching a ton of it. I only have two, well really three, shows that I truly enjoy watching these days: Bachelorette, SYTYCD, and always Wheel of Fortune. I would never cancel plans to watch these shows, but I usually either DVR them, or watch them when they’re on when I can. Who cares anyway;  sorry that was a pointless rant about TV.

OK! It’s Thursday which  means tomorrow is one of my favorite days of all time. I hope you have a wonderful day! Catch up with you soon.

Continue Reading Ruby Red Jewels on My Salad

Tropical Green Smoothie

Morning Run

Tuesday morning started off with another enjoyable 3-mile run. Just like my run on Saturday, the weather was absolutely perfect. It was 61° and mostly cloudy, with a light breeze. I struggled a bit with the hills but that is pretty typical for me. I kept running and didn’t stop until I was home.

Breakfast

Breakfast yesterday was a refreshing and satisfying  smoothie. I finally remembered to measure and write down the ingredients in my smoothie concoction so I can finally share it with you all.

Tropical Green Smoothie

  • 1/2 medium banana
  • 1/2 cup mango (frozen)
  • 1/2 cup peaches (frozen)
  • 1/2 cup spinach
  • 2 Tbsp strawberry puree
  • 2 Tbsp protein powder (I used Hemp Protein)
  • 3/4 cup milk

Blend all ingredients until smooth and ENJOY. In case anyone is wondering, I calculated this smoothie to be around 250 calories.

After breakfast I ran a few errands, worked on a secret recipe for a big chunk of the day (more to come soon!), and took Moosey for a walk around the neighborhood.

We actually had a good walk together. Usually when I try to walk with him, he decides not to listen to me, or there happens to be a dog on the loose, or something frustrating happens that makes me turn around and head back home. But he did a really great job of walking next to me even when we passed two yellow labs. We made a big step in the right direction there, Mooser.

Lunch 

I ended up munching on my kitchen creations so I won’t be able to tell you EXACTLY what I ate for lunch and an afternoon snack yesterday. You will find out soon though! It sure is delicious. It ended up making up about 75% of my food intake for the day. Sorry for the lack of food photos.

I can tell you that I snacked on some mushrooms and hummus.

I had to make another Target run in the afternoon because I was running low on a few ingredients I needed. I swear I go to Target everyday. Here’s what’s funny. I only needed 3 things, and guess who had to make a list? Yea, I had to make a list for 3 measly items. What is happening to my mind? I don’t know if it’s a bad memory or if it’s just the fact that Target sucks me in and completely washes my brain of the reason why I’m actually there. Probably the latter. I know I’m not alone on this one. You go there for 3 things and you walk out with 10. The good news is, with my list I remembered everything I needed AND I only bought those 3 items. I pat myself on the back for that one.

Afternoon Yoga

I turned on Metal Yoga from Sportskool On Demand. I felt warm and loose as I conquered the “beginner” session. I really disagree with the beginner status on that one. The instructor has us resting in plank. Holding a plank is not considered rest in my opinion.

It was a really great work out though. Something wonderful happened during the session yesterday. I was able to touch my toes without bending my knees! That is proof that my flexibility is improving! WOO!!

That was yoga session #2 for the week so far. I still have three more days to get one more in order to reach my June Yoga Challenge weekly goal. It’s the last week of the challenge, so I am making sure to make it a good one.

Dinner

It was time to experiment with the veggies. I made myself a very small salad that included Boston Bibb lettuce, the tops of broccoli (!!), shredded chicken, avocado, shredded cheese and honey mustard dressing. I can’t tell you how good this tasted to me.

I was a little nervous to include broccoli as it tends to be a veggie that commonly upsets the digestive system, but I wanted to try it and see how I felt. Also, I removed the stem which I would imagine is slightly more difficult for the body to break down.

(FYI: After eating the broccoli, I think I feel the same as any other day. It’s hard to tell with just one experiment meal. With that, I may start to incorporate more salads into my diet again, but will probably continue to cool it on the broccoli).

I also ate a couple handfuls of Wild Harvest’s amazingly addicting animal crackers.

And dipped them into honey PB2.

I was sleeping by 10:10 pm last night; I was exhausted for some reason.Happy Wednesday! Hope you all have a great day.

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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

Two in One Day

Holy cow this weekend was awesome but it completely flew by too fast. Times flies when you’re having fun definitely reigns true.

I have officially fallen into a smoothie kick. I am so excited to be able to incorporate more fruits and veggies into my diet albeit certain veggies may need to be in puree form for the time being.

My smoothie kick started on Friday after becoming so fed up with eating the same old foods day in and day out and not only needed more variety in my diet, but really needed more fruits and vegetables. I am not able to eat raw veggies because of the U.C. so I have been racking my brain for any type of creative ideas to incorporate more green into my diet. There are options such as steaming and baking to soften the veggies and make them easier on digestion, and I have been doing some of that, but I was looking for something else still. This is where the smoothies have been coming into action.

My smoothie on Friday was okay. It wasn’t wonderful but wasn’t horrible. Since then, I made a smoothie Saturday morning and Sunday morning and with each creation I am improving my skills. However, there was ingredient that I really wanted to add: strawberries. As mentioned before, berries are a no-no for me right now because I can’t eat the seeds, but I was determined to find a way to add them to my smoothie. I decided I would experiment a bit. I pureed them in the blender, then poured them through a small sieve, strained the puree through, and caught the seeds in the sieve. It worked like a charm and I ended up with this beautiful red concoction.

I added 3 tablespoons to my smoothie on Sunday morning and it completely changed the flavor, for the better. In the Sunday morning smoothie mix was frozen mango and peaches, half a banana, cooked spinach, hemp protein which I bought from the best brands & smoke shop products, the seedless strawberry puree, almond milk, and a pinch of stevia.

Way better. I am on to something!

After my smoothie I hit the living room for a gentle yoga session. Then, Dana and I ran to the grocery store, and came back home to hang out with my bro and Nicole before they headed out for the weekend. We made them killer egg burritos Sunday morning and I am kicking myself for not taking a photo.

In the afternoon we headed to my cousin’s house for a surprise 30th birthday party. It was SO nice to be with my cousins and hang out with them and my cousin’s adorable baby girl, Evie. Jen pulled off a great surprise, hosted a wonderful party, and supplied a seriously awesome spread of food for everyone. Olive and feta salad, Italian pasta salad, veggies and dip, pickles, pickled veggies, stuffed olives, potato salad, chips, burgers and brats.

We stayed for a couple of hours before heading out to get some things done before the weekend was over. On the way home, we stopped at Petco and got $5 back on dog food because it went on sale yesterday and we had bought it the Sunday prior not on sale. Cha-ching! Five dolla make you holla. It pays to read the those Sunday ads.

We spent some time with the pup in the backyard and took him for a walk around the neighborhood. I also worked out to an On Demand Walk and Sculpt 24 minute video. I was completely skeptical but I ended up really enjoying it. The instructor kept you walking the entire time as you worked with light weights to sculpt the upper body. I am lovin’ these On Demand workouts lately!

The rest of the night was spent finishing some laundry, planning a day trip around the 4th of July (more to come), and oh yea, I whipped up another smoothie. Oh my gosh am I becoming obsessed?

I wasn’t very hungry for dinner but wanted veggies in a bad way. I also knew I needed more protein and I just happened to have some tofu in the fridge. Into the blender: frozen peaches, fresh mango, half a banana, spinach, V8 Fusion Strawberry Banana, almond milk, tofu and a tablespoon of hemp protein.

This smoothie was the bomb. It was thick and creamy and protein packed. Melanie is getting her 5 a day one way or the other. This two smoothies in one day thing probably won’t happen too often, but it sure was a smooth and tasty day.

For dessert I ate a spoonful of peanut butter with two squares of dark chocolate and later munched on a few handfuls of pretzels.

Happy day everyone.

Continue Reading Two in One Day

Saturday with the Family

Wow, Saturday was a great day. It started off with a pretty amazing 3-mile run. It felt SO good to be running again. When I got home I made myself another green smoothie. This one was similar to yesterday’s but I also added in frozen peaches, a tiny splash of vanilla, and omitted the lime juice and splash of V8 fusion. I was happy to get some greens in first off in the morning. 🙂

In the morning we hung out with my brother and Nicole before we headed out to meet Dana’s parents for a belated Father’s Day celebration. We decided to go to lunch at  Captain Jack’s in Prior Lake. We’ve all been wanting to check this place out for a while and thought this would be the perfect opportunity. It is a casual restaurant with indoor seating, outdoor patio seating right on the lake and fun swings at the bar.

Dana’s mom, Sue, and I split the Hawaiian Chicken Sandwich: teriyaki grilled chicken breast, pineapple, provolone cheese, lettuce, and tomato with a side of sweet potato fries.

We all split a brownie sundae for a sweet bite to end lunch.

The food was pretty good but the best part was definitely being able to sit outside right by the lake and of course catch up with my in-law’s. The weather held up just long enough while we were there because as we were leaving it began to sprinkle. Talk about good timing!

After lunch Dana and I tag-teamed the garden and weeded the heck out of it. The weeds had invaded our vegetable garden and I was not having it, so we slipped on our gardening gloves and got rid of those buggers. My biggest challenge was deciphering weed versus actual plant with the plants that hadn’t gotten too big yet like the peppers.

For dinner we headed over to mom and dad’s for a BBQ. We hung out on the deck and enjoyed the perfect summer weather. Eventually we fired up the grill and got to cooking up some mean burgers. We wanted to keep the meal very simple and planned on a “picnic” type of dinner. I plated myself up an awesome super lean hamburger, some chili cheese dip with pretzels (plus probably five more servings  of pretzels), mushrooms, and watermelon.

I had made a big batch of guacamole but completely forgot to put it out for dinner. Whoops! I realize my plate looks a little lame-o but I did my best to stay low-fiber and this is what I came up with. It sure was tasty.

Plus, I had to save room for dessert…

Rainbow sherbet with whipped cream and a lemon butter cookie. Num. When we got home we hung out with this booger and then called it an early night.

 

I had such a great Saturday with both sides of the family yesterday. I hope you did too. Now on to another day of fun. I’ll fill you in later!

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Mission More Veggies

G’day friends! How is everyone feeling on this wonderful Saturday? I did something this morning that really makes me happy, but you’re going to have to wait to find out because I need to fill you in on yesterday first. This post is a little bit all over the place just to give you the heads up.

I am becoming extraordinarily frustrated in trying to figure out which foods to eat and which to avoid considering my current colitis flare. I have been trying to stick to a low-fiber, low-residue diet, and although I haven’t necessarily been loving it, I have been doing a fairly good job of sticking to it. I am continuing my research as to which other foods I should experiment with incorporating into my diet, because I am getting SO bored of the same old sweet potato and bananas day after day. Don’t get me wrong, I love those foods, but I could go for more of a variety.

Mostly, I want my greens. So, I am going to get my greens.

I read that certain types of lettuce such as Boston Bibb are easier to digest as they are very soft and light. Also, cooked spinach can be consumed in moderation but they do recommend pureeing it.

So, after yoga yesterday morning, I pulled out the blender, added banana, mango, cooked spinach, a squeeze of lime juice, a splash of V8 fusion light, 2 Tbsp Hemp protein and almond milk. I gave it a whirl until all was blended to a smooth consistency. This combination was not one that I will recreate, but it wasn’t horrible, just not my favorite either.

If I have to get my veggies in puree form, then you know what, I’m going to puree like a crazy woman. I feel so much better when I eat my veggies. I presented my green smoothie in a very fashionable Minnesota Wild plastic cup because I was headed out the door.

I am determined to improve my diet, especially with the addition of more veggies which I so love, but I don’t want to falter on the healing process in the colon region which I have been working so hard to improve. I set off for Whole Foods Market to do some creative brainstorming and to buy some natural and organic foods. I was on a mission.

I L.O.V.E. Whole Foods. I spent quite a bit of time browsing the aisles, looking for healthy foods that I could add into my diet. I managed to snag a free double chocolate scone sample bite while I was there too. Score.

I ended up buying Sunflower Seed Butter for the very first time which actually ended up being part of my lunch. I smeared some of this deliciousness on half of a banana and ate a spoonful plain as well. I am pretty impressed with this stuff. I like, I like.

I bought these little duckies which were consumed as part of my completely random lunch as well.

I also bought soft Boston Bibb lettuce, frozen peaches, mangos, butternut squash, and spinach, caramel rice cakes, horseradish for the hubby, millet, and baba ghanoush. I have plans for more smoothies in my future and more variety in my diet.

I spent some time in the kitchen working on a recipe for the Wild Harvest contest as part of the Healthy Living Summit 2012. I am in my glory when I am in the kitchen working with food. While I got creative, I snacked on a bunch of gummies that mysteriously jumped into my cart at the grocery store. Weird, right?

This afternoon I was super excited when I picked our first raspberry of the year from our backyard. Berries are on my no-no list right now but I could not help myself. I ate it and it was awesome. We have a bunch more that will be coming soon.

Dinner later…

The baba ghanoush came into play. “Baba Ghanoush!!”  Wedding Crashers anyone?

I tore the lettuce into cups, spread a spoonful of baba ghanoush on each, sprinkled with feta cheese, then shredded chicken from the crockpot, freshly diced avocado, and lastly a squeeze of lemon.

So fresh, light, healthy, easy, and hopefully easy for me to digest. I made myself a second plate but this time ditched the baba ghanoush and instead drizzled a bit of Newman’s Own Lite Honey Mustard and made my plate into more of a salad. I miss my salads so much and eating this last night seriously made me so happy.

I still am not feeling very well lately, but I am trying to stay positive and give it time. If I can at least incorporate a few of my favorite foods back into my diet, yet not upset the healing process, I will be a much happier girl. I just don’t feel like myself when I can’t pack my diet with the fruits and veggies it’s used to. It’s just a matter of finding the right veggies for now, and the right amount for now. After my salad last night all I can say is, I’ve got to get me some more Boston Bibb lettuce!

My Saturday morning news…

I went for a run! It has been about two weeks since I last ran which honestly feels like forever ago. I wanted to give my body a little break from the high-impact activities that could upset my body and have been focusing more on low-impact exercises. However, I have the Warrior Dash coming up next weekend and would feel super intimidated going into that without having run in three weeks, so I want to try to get a few runs in before then. Also, I and missing running a bit and missing that feeling you get after a run. I wanted to give it a go to see how my body reacted.

This morning’s run was glorious. The air was a humid cool and I felt like I could run and run and run.

I kept to about 3 miles because first of all I didn’t want to press my luck, and secondly I have lots on the agenda for the day including the fact that I have house guests. Scotty and Nicole are here! Btw I ran in an athletic skirt for the first time this morning and although the shorts still road up a bit, I really liked the feeling of running in a skirt. I felt so feminine even though I was dripping in sweat. As for my body’s reaction to the run, it held up just fine. It helps that I ran on a completely empty stomach which I know is not always the best option, but is okay to do do sometimes.

Again, sorry for this all over the place post. I guess I had a lot to say! Lots of fun plans today. I hope you all have a great day. 🙂

Continue Reading Mission More Veggies

Increasing My Protein Intake

Happy Summer and Happy Hump Day! We are half way through the work week! That’s something to smile about.

I’m going to dive right in to today’s post because today I want to talk about protein. As many of you are aware, protein is one of the basic components of our diet along with fats and carbohydrates (vitamins, minerals, and water too). The ratio of these components that one needs in order to maintain a healthy balance depends on many factors such as sex, activity, strength training, illness, etc. I am not about to go into all of that today; today is just about the basics.

Protein is so incredibly important in the diet for a variety of reasons such as it is responsible for maintaining and rebuilding tissue throughout the body and it helps regulate the immune system and hormones. Simply put, protein provides energy we need to live and function properly.

Where do we get protein in the diet?

Animal Sources

  • Beef
  • Poultry
  • Fish
  • Eggs
  • Milk
  • Cheese

Plant Sources

  • Soy
  • Beans
  • Legumes
  • Nuts
  • Seeds
  • Vegetables
  • Whole Grains

Vegans and vegetarians have a more challenging time reaching their protein requirements because the body absorbs animal-based iron (heme iron) easier than the plant sources (non-heme). Oftentimes, supplements are just what it takes to help these individuals boost up their protein intake. Carnivores can benefit from supplements when needed as well.

Considering I am not a huge meat eater myself, and considering my current diet and health situation, I am in need of some protein help. I was really noticing that my protein intake was low as I was feeling hungry all.of.the.time. and pretty lethargic also. My body wasn’t getting the energy it needed, and still probably isn’t to be perfectly honest.  When I am eating my normal healthy diet, my proteins will typically come from beans, eggs, Greek yogurt, and nuts, but currently I have eliminated or at least decreased all of these items in my diet due to intestinal upset.

I needed some assistance, so I called in reinforcements, aka a protein supplement.

Nutiva Hemp Organic Protein Powder is made up of one ingredient: Organic Hemp Protein. This is a completely plant-based supplement and it does not contain any hexane, gluten, dairy, lactose, or sweeteners. For those of us who don’t tolerate lactose well, this is a better alternative compared to whey protein.

This particular protein contains a specific protein called edestin that is easier to digest than any other plant.

The Nutrition Facts Per 3 Tbsp:

  • 90 calories
  • 3 g fat
  • 9 g carbohydrate
  • 15 g protein
  • 8 g fiber*

*Currently, I am only able to use this supplement in small amounts (1 tablespoon or less) due to the fiber content. I realize that only using 1 tablespoon is only contributing to 5 grams of protein, but at this point, I will absolutely take all the help I can get.

The taste is very subtle, but does have a slightly plant-like scent. It presents itself in a very green fashion. Get it? Green like organic and also green in color. 😉

They recommend you mix it into smoothies, but I have gotten more creative and mixed it into my Cream of Wheat, and pureed black beans.

I’ve only had it since Monday so I haven’t had much time to get too crazy with it. But I will. I’m thinking or adding it into soups and sauces maybe?

Until I can begin incorporating some of my favorite protein foods back into my diet, I am going to supplement when I can and have also been working on boosting my meat intake slightly. This is usually in the form of chicken or fish, but occasionally Dana and I will cook with ground turkey or ground beef.

Anyway, that was my rant about protein. I am really missing my normal raw-food diet full of salads and raw veggies. I am trying to be patient with this whole colitis deal and let my body work to heal, but I wish it would work faster. I am so ready for fresh strawberries, fresh salsa, big old green salads, broccoli and hummus, black beans, corn on the cob, sugar snap peas, carrots…Come on body. FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT.

Thank you all for being so patient with me and still supporting me and my blog even though my diet hasn’t been the most exciting lately. I have to remember that this is only temporary. Soon enough I will back to my old self. I can’t wait.

I got in a quick yoga session this am (second time this week). I want to get one more session in by Friday so that I reach my weekly goal in the June Yoga Challenge. I am loving the yoga!

Have a great day!

Question for YOU: Do you use protein supplements? Which one(s)? Do you like them?

Continue Reading Increasing My Protein Intake

Pasta Bolognese Per Request

Hi friends! I hope everyone is having a good Monday so far…

It’s time to recap a super awesome Sunday that was spent with my husband and the dog. It started with BOGO coffees at Caribou. I stuck with a decaf coffee with sugar-free hazelnut (num) and Dana went for the Milk Chocolate Mocha with a shot or two of espresso.

Let the Father’s Day fun begin! Today was all about the hubby. Moose even made sure to get his dad a sweet card for Father’s Day. How thoughtful, right?

For breakfast I made myself a pb banana sandwich (I ate half of it before remembering to snap a photo). I ate my banana ‘wich and sipped on my coffee while we cut coupons.

Once again, the coupons were completely lame this week. We cut two measly coupons. TWO. And they were for household type things so they weren’t even exciting.

Next, we hit the Sunday usuals: Target and Costco. We stocked up on some good eats and even bought Mooser a new chicken. His last one had to be tossed due to a terrible stench that really raunched up his breath each time he played with it. Gross.

We got a few things done around the house, I completed a relaxing yoga session, and then I made Dana a special Father’s Day sandwich.

This beautiful creation is made up of:

  • Two pieces of whole wheat bread
  • 1 slice of lower-sodium turkey breast
  • 1 slice cheddar cheese
  • Sliced tomato sprinkled with onion powder and pepper
  • Mustard
  • 1 drippy egg.

All grilled to perfection with love.

I LOVE making special meals for the ones I love.

In the afternoon, we had to run a few more errands which included plans to take the pooch out for a walk around the lake. Our plans were hindered when the clouds opened up and mother nature watered our grass from 1:00-5:00 pm. I wasn’t sure if it was going to let up, so I decided to head down to our treadmill to get a little walk in just in case. I walked for 35 minutes while watching The Blind Side. Such a great movie.

Towards the end of my workout, the skies had cleared up and Moose really wanted to take his dad out for a Father’s Day walk :wink:, so we headed out. It had cooled off quite a bit after the rain and the sun was even peeking through. It was a perfect evening walk with my guys.

Since today was all about the dads, I told Dana he could have whatever he wanted for dinner. His decision: Pasta Bolognese. My version of course.

I started by sautéing 1 cup diced yellow onion, 2 minced garlic cloves, and 1 cup of chopped mushrooms in a light amount of garlic infused olive oil. After about 3 minutes, I added a jar of No-Added Sugar Ragu, added a shake of garlic powder, basil, and oregano. I gave this a stir, covered, and let simmer while I prepared the rest of the meal.

In a separate pan, I started browning up a package of lean ground chicken and began boiling my water for the pasta. Once the meat was browned, I sprinkled it with oregano and garlic powder. I like to flavor each part of the dish when I can. I added the meat to the sauce, then finished the sauce by adding about 3/4 cup of chopped green olives.

Once the pasta was finished cooking to al dente, I drained it and served up two heaping plates full of pasta and Bolognese sauce and topped with parmesan cheese.

Great decision, honey.

After dinner, we just had to have dessert because it was Father’s Day after all. So what did we decide to do? Head to the Frozen Yogurt shop down the road of course. Jeez louise this is the third Sunday in a row now that we have done this. We are getting a lot better at controlling our frozen yogurt pour and limiting the toppings at least. Last night we spent $7.00 between the two of us which was our cheapest fro-yo purchase yet.

Last night I chose non-dairy, non-fat Valencia Orange Sorbet mixed with the tiniest bit of sugar-free vanilla fro-yo (to get the orange creamsicle effect). I topped it with gummies and was extremely happy with this combo. You are probably aware by now that I usually opt for the chocolately, rich toppings when it comes to my fro-yo and ice cream, but I am trying to cool it on the dairy, and since the only sorbet flavor option they had last night was orange, I didn’t think topping it with cookie dough and brownie pieces sounded very appetizing. The gummies were just perfect.

Any time I eat gummies I am reminded of my childhood, and my college years. Growing up we had gummies as a special treat, and through my college years, my girlies and I would buy a huge bag of mixed gummies from the grocery store when we were having a girl’s night in. Sweet memories.

What a great Father’s Day weekend with my papa on Saturday, and Dana on Sunday. We will be celebrating Father’s Day with Dana’s parents next weekend. Let the fun continue.

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I keep forgetting to tell you all, that last week I DID reach my June Yoga Challenge weekly goal. When I posted on Friday I had only completed two yoga sessions and my goal is three per week. Well, you better believe that after I posted on Friday I hit up the yoga. I am really loving it and am feeling pretty sore from it as well. Work it baby!

I still need to share that awesome Lemon Blueberry Bar recipe with you all that I made on Saturday. I didn’t forget! It’s still comin. Have a great Monday.

Continue Reading Pasta Bolognese Per Request

Crock Pot Sweet Potatoes

There is only one word I need to say to describe how I am feeling: Friday.

I am so happy it’s Friday as I always am. This week was absolutely exhausting and I’m thrilled it’s the weekend. We have some very fun plans for this weekend with friends and family.

But before I jump  ahead, I will back track to yesterday. I am getting so completely bored with the low-fiber foods I have needed to be eating as of lately…Cream of Wheat, bananas, sweet potato, chicken, rice. It’s becoming very boring boring boring. This can’t last too much longer because I am going nutso. I am trying to continue to be creative with my options, but it is very challenging.

I thought I could at least make the monotonous breakfast look pretty by putting them into collage form. Cream of Wheat. Oooo Ahhh. And yes, this is what I had yesterday morning if you couldn’t guess.

A tried and true lunch of mine, banana and peanut butter has continuously been making its way into my diet. This is one combination I don’t think I will ever get tired of. At least I hope not. It’s a beautiful thing. It’s like they were made for eachother.

During lunch break, I decided to conduct an experiment. I wanted to know if whole sweet potatoes would cook properly, and stay moist, if cooked in the crock pot. I am getting tired of eating baked potatoes and sweet potato fries, and was in need of something new; a new way to prepare the sweet potato. I hypothesized that they would cook perfectly in the slow cooker just as everything else does. I swear that machine is magic sometimes.

I scrubbed up two sweet potatoes and placed them into my mini crock pot. I added two cups of water, covered, and set on low for the afternoon.

About 6 hours later, I removed the sweet potatoes from the crock pot. They were very tender and I was able to peel the skin right off. Now, just a reminder for you all, that normally I would eat the skins, but considering I have to be on the low-fiber kick for now, and the skins hold the majority of the fiber, I had to removed them.

I placed these beautifully orange potatoes into a bowl and whipped them into a puree with the hand mixer.

I plated up a heaping spoonful, sprinkled with cinnamon, a touch of ginger, and salt. Alongside the whipped potatoes I got my protein fix with leftover crock pot chicken with BBQ sauce.

My experiment was a success. I wasn’t sure how the potatoes would turn out being that I just plopped them into the crock pot and let them rip, but they were very sweet and tender and moist and very tasty. Talk about easy peasy right? I would do this again in a heart beat. You could do it with any type of potato. Oh, how I love my crock pot. It makes life so much easier.

Yesterday’s day of eats pretty much sums up my current diet. I miss my greens SO much and cannot wait for the day when I can pile my plate high with dark green leafy lettuce and spinach, add a ton of broccoli, beans, and every thing else that I’m not able to eat right now, and just scarf it down.

But, if I want to get to that point, I have to stick to the easy to digest stuff for now. I am trying to keep it tasty, but I am losing my gusto for creativity with  my options! I did find a recipe for sweet potato gnocchi which intrigued me. I may have to give that a whirl.

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Since today is Friday, that means it is time to check in on the June Yoga Challenge.

I challenged myself to work three yoga sessions into my weekly routine. I didn’t begin the challenge until Tuesday however, and was only able got in two sessions this week (Tuesday and Wednesday). I know that had I had a full week to complete my challenge, I would have met it in a second. Although, I am still contemplating getting one in today. Then I would reach my goal!

So, how do I feel after my week one Yoga Challenge? Pretty good. It’s too early to really feel any  major differences, but I do notice when I am at work that I am starting to gain better control of my stress when certain chaotic situations arise.  I still have a lot of work to do, but I will get there.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Friday!

Question of the Day: Anyone have any fun recipe ideas for me that are low-fiber?!

Continue Reading Crock Pot Sweet Potatoes
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