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Treat Yourself Tuesday: Snacks & Girl Time

Post author:Melanie
Post published:January 21, 2014
Post category:Family / Friends / Gluten-Free / Lunch / Snacks / Sweet Treats
Post comments:8 Comments

Today I am linking up with my lovely blend Becky for Treat Yourself Tuesday.

“Do whatever feels best for you. Do something that will make you feel relaxed and loved and happy. Remember this is about treating YOURSELF – not your friends, not your family, not your spouse, not your dog – so make sure you really focus on you. Treat yourself well and treat yourself often so that you will become the best you possible and in turn be your best for others in your life!” source

Little treats, big treats…it doesn’t matter.

Little things like making homemade almond butter on a Sunday afternoon. This was made with raw almonds, unsweetened coconut, and a touch of stevia. It will never compare to my beloved peanut butter but I do enjoy it still.

Fruit strips from Target made with fruit juice; 45 calories a piece and 9 grams a sugar. It’s a nice little sweet treat.

A lunch date with my friend Kalley and homemade vegetable soup topped with parmesan cheese!

Air-popped popcorn on #NationalPopcornDay seasoned with olive oil and salt.

Girls day with my beautiful mama. Manicure, pedicure, shopping, coffee. Yes, it was glorious!

How did you treat yourself this week?!

Favorites from the Week: Spin, Florida, Food

Post author:Melanie
Post published:January 17, 2014
Post category:Fav Products / Fitness / Lunch / Recipes / Travel / Workouts
Post comments:12 Comments

Happy Friday! I’m linkin’ up with Katie’s Friday Favorites today. Thanks, Katie!

Many of my Friday favorites involve events that you have already heard about this week. Although, there is one amazing day that I still have to share about (I won’t forget I promise!).

Some of my Friday Favorites…

1. Spin class with Dana and Dara Torres. A great workout instructed by an olympian with my honey by my side. Sounds nice, right?

2. Snacking on Driscoll’s blueberries! So crunchy and sweet and fiberlicious.

3. Homemade California Rolls with quinoa instead of white rice. This was my first ever attempt at using quinoa instead of white rice in these rolls. I let the quinoa cook for an extended period of time before stirring in a vinegar, honey, salt, and water mixture. The combination of overcooking the quinoa and adding the vinegar mixture made the quinoa perfectly sticky and so easy to use in the rolls. I don’t think I’ll ever go back to white rice! 4. Mini getaway to Orlando with Dana. Sunshine, relaxation, and Disney. 🙂 5. Salt ‘n Vinegar Blue Diamond Almonds. I mentioned these a couple of days ago I realize, but they make an appearance again because they are SO good.

6. The kettle chips from M. Tavern in Orlando. The chips were super crunchy just how I like them. 7. Egg salad with avocado. One hard-boiled egg, 1/4 of an avocado, mustard, green onions, and pepper. A perfect snack or addition to your lunch! 8. Wild Harvest’s Organic Green Chai Tea. (I originally typed green thai chee. A little dyslexic today I guess). 🙂 I’ve been limiting my coffee intake and replacing with tea instead and this has been a morning staple for me. I add a splash of coconut milk creamer too.

There you have it!

What are some of your Friday favs?

Current breakfast beverage?

Current favorite snack?

What I’ve Been Eating Lately: Eggs and Veggies

Post author:Melanie
Post published:December 11, 2013
Post category:Breakfast / Dinners / Lunch
Post comments:9 Comments

I realize I use the WIAW as an opportunity to catch you up on my eats from the past couple of weeks, so instead of calling my posts What I Ate Wednesday, I should really call them What I’ve Been Eating Lately’s (WIBEL), but I like to join in on the WIAW action so you’re just going to have to roll with my WIBEL version of the WIAW instead. Got it?

What I’ve Been Eating Lately…

More salads and a homemade honey mustard chicken Dana made which was awesome!

Leftover veggie beef soup with loads of parmesan cheese…

Brown rice pasta with marinara and parmesan…

Tilapia, sweet potato, brussels sprouts, and avocado. I want this again. This was insanely delicious and probably tasted better because it was cooked for me by someone else.

Loaded salads with whatever I can find in the house: broccoli, mixed greens, sliced almonds, cottage cheese, black beans, etc….

Breakfast out with my dad before some Christmas shopping for my mom! Talk about great shopping fuel.

Southwest salad with leftover avocado ranch…

Eggs and turkey bacon…

How’s that for a quick little WIAW WIBEL?!

Thanks again to Peas and Crayons for hosting the WIAW party!

I hope you all have a nice Wednesday. Catch up with you later.

WIAW: Sweet Potato Nachos & Five a Day

Post author:Melanie
Post published:November 27, 2013
Post category:Breakfast / Dinners / Home Life / Lunch / Moose
Post comments:10 Comments

Tomorrow is THANKSGIVING (to those of you who are unaware) and I am just a tad excited!!!!! Tomorrow I will be walking and possibly jogging in the best ever 5K and then I will be going to mom and dad’s for family time and crazy good food!

I am bringing two pies: one homemade pumpkin and one homemade caramel apple. I’m also bringing green bean casserole. I happen to be a huge green bean casserole fan. I know it can be pretty hit or miss for most. I’m trying a new recipe too.

Enough about tomorrow, let’s talk about yesterday. I actually took off my lazy pants and made myself some pretty awesome meals. I’m going to join in on the What I Ate Wednesday fun!

To start the day, a cup of decaf vanilla bean creme brulee coffee with coconut creamer and stevia in my adorable owl cup that makes me very happy.

For breakfast, a fruit and yogurt bowl: FAGE Greek yogurt, agave, raspberries, blueberries, banana, raisins, cacao nibs, and pecan pieces.

A walk/jog on the treadmill happened mid-morning while watching Gossip Girl! I am getting back into running and I’m hoping to write about this soon. 🙂 Lunch: one of my favorite ol’ salads. In the mix is romaine lettuce (we ran out of dark greens), peas, avocado, red bell pepper, olives, broccoli, sunflower seeds, cottage cheese, and honey mustard dressing.

Dessert: dates with peanut butter!

Afternoon snack: crunchy juicy grapes, a handful of Crunchmaster’s Multi-Seed gluten-free crackers and a cup of tea.

Dinner: sweet potato nachos. Crispy sweet potato “chips” with cheddar cheese, black beans, corn, tomato, avocado, and salsa. So satisfying!

I rounded out the day with some Fiber One 80 calorie chocolate squares. Those babies are dangerous! They taste like candy but they are loaded with fiber so you need to be careful with your intake or you could face some major bloating and other issues.

The remainder of the night was spent on the couch hanging with my boys in my warm home and of course, in my sweatpants.

I’d say it was a pretty healthy day! I’m working towards redeeming my 5-9 daily servings of fruits and veggies. I used to be so good about it but lately have been sliding. I feel so much better when I reach the 5-9 mark and it’s something I am continuing to be mindful of and you should too!

As always, thank you Jenn for hosting the WIAW!

Are you celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow? Are you cooking up anything tasty? How do you make sure to get your five servings of fruits and veggies daily?

I’ve Been Cooking!

Post author:Melanie
Post published:November 25, 2013
Post category:Dinners / Gluten-Free / Lunch
Post comments:12 Comments

Hello, hello! Did everyone have a fabulous weekend? Mine was incredibly low-key which is always fine by me. We got a lot done around the house: deep cleaned, took down fall decorations and put up Christmas decorations :smile:, and spent the majority of the day on Sunday putting up Christmas lights. I listened to Christmas music this weekend too which made me very happy.

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned how badly I wanted to get back into the groove of meal prep and cooking actual nice meals versus waiting until the last-minute and then throwing something completely random together. This past week, I got to work on that.

For lunch on Wednesday, I made myself an open-face egg and cheese sandwich (heavy on the mustard) which tasted absolutely perfect.

On Thursday I made eggplant lasagna with spinach and ground beef.

It was good, but not something I would make again. As much as I try to love eggplant, I just don’t.

On Friday I made us buffalo chicken salad with romaine lettuce, red onion, feta cheese, buffalo chicken, and buttermilk ranch dressing. SOOOO good! I love this salad.

On Saturday I took a break from cooking, mostly because I wasn’t super hungry once dinner time rolled around because I spoiled my dinner with ice cream. Whoops. #yolo #saystheRD

On Sunday I made a batch of cauliflower gratin based off of this recipe: Cauliflower Gratin by Good Dinner Mom. I didn’t have regular milk so I subbed in almond milk and I only had mild cheddar not sharp. This turned out pretty well still. On the side I had some leftover chicken (from the freezer) on top of spinach. Easy peasy dinner.

Later I snacked on some homemade air-popped popcorn while watching a couple of episodes of Breaking Bad with my guys! Later I grabbed some raisins and some other snacks too.

So there’s the proof. I’ve been cooking! I don’t plan on stopping any time soon.

Who’s excited for Thanksgiving?! Only three days to go!

Question of the day: Have you been cooking up anything tasty lately? Please share!

Weekend Update: Clean It Up

Post author:Melanie
Post published:November 11, 2013
Post category:Dinners / Lunch / Misc. / Restaurants / Sweet Treats
Post comments:8 Comments

Happy Monday my friends. Yes, we are going to make Monday happy today. Think of one thing you are thankful for and make that your happy thought for the day. My happy thought: it’s my birthday month! What’s yours?

It’s going to be a real quick weekend update for you all today. Friday night, Dana and I were feeling so super creative and motivated in the kitchen that we ordered ourselves a Domino’s veggie pizza. 🙂

I whipped up a batch of Julie’s raw brownie bites in the Ninja Ultima. Holy cow you guys. If you haven’t made these yet you absolutely must. They taste like a fudgy brownie. SO GOOD!

Dana and I actually went out to eat this weekend. For those of you who have been following me for a while, you know this just doesn’t happen very often. I ordered chicken fajitas and they did not disappoint. Although, my favorite part of the whole meal was probably the beans on that side plate.

We spent the day on Saturday with friends and it was such a great time. It was very much of an impromptu hangout, and sometimes those are the best! We grilled up burgers and hung out with the kiddos and the babies! Loved it.

On Sunday I got cozy in the kitchen and made a batch of beef and veggie soup. I am realizing I need more zinc in my diet and the best way to get that is through meat. This soup was completely amazing! I may or may not share the recipe.

My body wasn’t too thrilled with me and my not-so-healthy weekend. I am going to do my best to get back on the clean eating track as best as I can within reason. It starts with that soup; mostly clean and veggie-packed! My body will thank me.

It was a quiet weekend once again which ends our quiet weekend marathon for a little while. We have lots of birthday celebrations coming up and I am obviously super excited!

One more thing before I leave you. My girlfriend Jen who blogs over at Brunette Anthem, is going to be featuring me and some of my healthy recipes over the next two weeks! Go check out her site. She is my fashion inspiration.

Happy Veteran’s Day to all. Today and always, we honor our nation’s veterans and those who are currently serving.

What I’ve Been Eating Lately: Random and Tasty

Post author:Melanie
Post published:October 30, 2013
Post category:Breakfast / Dinners / Fav Products / Gluten-Free / Lunch
Post comments:14 Comments

It’s been a while since I’ve caught you all up on what I have been eating lately. I will warn you that my eats have been completely random. I have been veering away from the cold salads more often in place of something warm like soup or quesadillas.

Thank you to Jen at Peas and Crayons for hosting the What I Ate Wednesdays!

Here it goes!

Gluten-free pasta with mom’s spaghetti sauce. NUM!

Cheese quesadillas with salsa.

Organic tomato soup with extra cracked black pepper.

Homemade veggie dip made from cottage cheese, ranch seasoning, and Italian seasoning packets–the Ninja Ultima was perfect for this job!

Veggie plate with veggie dip.

Grass-fed beef burger with Monterey jack cheese.

Acorn squash with turkey bacon.

Oatmeal for National Oatmeal Day!

More quesadillas, this time with black beans and avocados too!

Loads of berries (recycled photo)!!

Baked strawberry oatmeal bars.

I told you…completely random, but TASTY!

What have you been eating lately?!

Wicked and What I’ve Been Eating Lately

Post author:Melanie
Post published:October 21, 2013
Post category:Dinners / Family / Lunch / Moose
Post comments:13 Comments

Well, hello there! How are you doing my friends? I am just fine over here. I had an incredibly relaxing weekend full of family and friends.

Oh, I suppose I haven’t filled you in on my Thursday evening yet either.

On Thursday, I went to the Orpheum in Minneapolis to see Wicked!! It was Dana and me, mom and dad, and Kevin. Please excuse the blurry photo–it was raining and people were pouring out behind me so I had to take a walking photo.

This was my first time going to see Wicked and holy cow….I get what all of the hype is about! It was funny, the story was great, the music was phenomenal, and the acting was wonderful. It was amazing! So now I can say to you, if you haven’t seen Wicked yet you MUST go see it at some point! You won’t regret it!

Moving on to some food photos. I have a whole slew of random photos of food I have been eating over the last week or so. When I say random, I mean random.

PB and J on regular whole wheat bread (I just had to have it although I’m still trying to mostly stay clear of gluten), carrots, and a pickle.

Homemade veggie soup. I decided not to share this recipe with you all because the soup is just ok to me. I’m really hoping I get creative in the kitchen this week so I have something nummy to share with you all. I have been slacking!

I’ve really been into the cottage cheese lately. I found that I really like Organic Valley’s 4% cottage cheese. I love it on salads, with veggies, by itself, and with crackers.

One weeknight I made a big batch of stir-fry veggies over quinoa.

The next day I used the leftover veggies in a southwestern stye dish with veggies, black beans, avocado, cheddar cheese, and salsa. I really enjoyed this one!

On Friday night after work, Dana built us a fire in our fireplace. It was a chilly night and it felt so nice and cozy to sit in front of the fire and take care of bills, Halloween costumes, etc. FYI Moose is not a fan of the fires, especially when the logs fall and make crashing noises. He is so ready to bolt in this photo below.

Neither of us really felt like cooking on Friday night, so we cheated and picked up a ready-made meatloaf from Costco. All we had to do was reheat it in the oven. It was good, but not as good as homemade. It was nice to not cook though!

I’m missing a bunch of food photos. On Sunday our friends had us over for French onion soup (my fav) and chopped salads and they were both SO good. We finished lunch off with homemade apple bars. I felt so spoiled!

Throughout the weekend I think I watched at least 10 episodes of New Girl Season One on Netflix. I can’t believe it took me so long to get into this show. Thanks Luke! 🙂 I also slept a lot and got some walks in on the treadmill (it was a pretty rainy weekend here).

It was perfectly relaxing. I actually feel well-rested after this weekend which feels nice.

How was your weekend? What was your favorite thing you did?

Deliciously Simple Egg Salad Recipe (No Mayo)

Post author:Melanie
Post published:September 25, 2013
Post category:Gluten-Free / Lunch / Snacks
Post comments:16 Comments

Happy hump day! I hope everyone is having a fabulous week. How’s the freezer clean out going? Before we get into that I want to share with you all an embarrassingly easy recipe that you can make this week for lunch. It is a mayo-free, deliciously simple egg salad recipe!

I always forget how much I enjoy egg salad until I make it again and then I always say, “why don’t I make this more often?” It’s protein packed, full of great vitamins and nutrients like Vitamin D and choline, and can be very versatile. Serve it on a lettuce salad, or on a couple of pieces of whole grain bread with tomatoes, in a whole grain tortilla with spinach, or you could even eat it as a snack by using thick cut veggies (think scoop-shaped ones like bell peppers and celery) to dip it up!

This is what’s for lunch today, and I am excited!!

Deliciously Simple Egg Salad Recipe (No Mayo)

Print

Serves: 1

Ingredients

2 hardboiled eggs, peeled and diced
2 Tbsp celery, diced
1 Tbsp dill pickles, diced
1 tsp capers, chopped or whole
1 heaping Tbsp mustard
sprinkle of onion powder, to taste
fresh black pepper, to taste

Instructions

In a small bowl, combine all ingredients. Use a fork to mix well and mash eggs slightly.
Serve cold over a salad, on whole grain bread, in a whole grain tortilla, or with thick cut veggies to scoop up salad.

It has been a looooong time since I’ve shared a recipe, or at least I feel like it anyway. So although this is the most simple recipe ever, I am so happy I got to share one with you all still!

So, back to the project freezer clean out. How is it going for everyone? I am personally having a great time scrounging for long lost items in the freezer. Here’s a tip: remember to write the date that you freeze the items right on the bag or the container before you freeze them. Even if you think you’ll remember when you put the item in there, there’s a good chance you will probably forget. Just do it!

I threw together this hodge-podge of a meal last night and it turned out great. It was leftover asparagus and leek soup with broccoli, leftover sautéed veggies from the other night, chicken, yellow quinoa, and cheddar cheese melted over the top. So random but honestly so good!

Besides that leftover meal, I’ve also been enjoying brown rice wraps (that I keep in the freezer—sorta doesn’t count) with peanut butter and banana, smoothies made with frozen fruit, and that’s about it besides that I showed you in the previous post!

This whole freezer clean out business might have to extend to post-vacation. It is fun to get creative with what you have already! Plus, leftovers such as soup are so great when you are feeling real lazy and not wanting to make anything. Just toss it into a microwave safe bowl, cover it and let it heat through! Easy and delicious.

I hope you all have a great day!

I want to hear from you…Have you been working on cleaning out the freezer? Any delicious concoctions you have come up with?!

WIAW: What I Have Been Eating Lately

Post author:Melanie
Post published:September 18, 2013
Post category:Breakfast / Dinners / Fav Products / Gluten-Free / Lunch / Sweet Treats
Post comments:16 Comments

Today I’m joining in on the fun with a round of Peas and Crayon’s, “What I Ate Wednesday,” but instead of what I ate Wednesday, I am renaming mine to what I have been eating lately.

Loads of fresh and sweet berries thanks to Driscoll’s berries!!

Spinach salads with strawberries, black beans, avocado, chicken, sunflower seeds, and honey mustard dressing.

Fruit and Nut “Cereal”–blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, bananas, sliced almonds, cashew pieces, dried currants, cacao nibs, and almond milk! And I just decided that is what’s for breakfast today! Num!