Pure Happiness

Posted on May 7, 2013 by Melanie

Happy happy hump day!

Since I decided to post about my new adorable Ellie workout gear yesterday, I failed to update you on my nummy day of eats from Monday. Since I had a major lack of food photos yesterday (zip-zero), I am going to catch you up to speed from Monday.

Breakfast

Breakfast was a piece of toasted almond bread with organic natural peanut butter and raw honey, served with a cup of coffee with my new favorite cream!

This picture makes me so happy. Photographed is one of my favorite foods: peanut butter, my favorite morning drink that comforts my soul: coffee, and gorgeous yellow roses that my mom gave to me: love and friendship. Pure happiness.

Lunch

A bed of mixed spring greens topped with deviled eggs, red bell pepper, celery, olives, peas, avocado, sunflower seeds and Annie’s Green Goddess dressing. Way good!

I ate it outside in the sunshine which probably made it taste even better!

Dessert

Driscoll’s beautiful organic raspberries. Nature’s candy.

There was definitely more snacking that happened in the afternoon. There are no pictures of it but I am guessing I had some mixed nuts, some carrots, and maybe an apple.

Dinner

For dinner I roasted up brussels sprouts and broccoli with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. To go on top of the veggies I made a marinara sauce using Ragu No-Sugar-Added spaghetti sauce, with one Italian turkey sausage, and sautéed onions, mushrooms, and garlic. I sprinkled in some dried basil and oregano too!

To plate it up I started with a layer of veggies, next I grated some fresh parmesan cheese, and then finished it with a huge serving of the sauce which in my opinion is the best part!

I wasn’t loving the brussels sprouts that night. I had bought them fresh and then froze them, and feel they take on a bit of a different flavor once I use them out of the freezer. Anyone else experience this? Anyway, I still enjoyed the dish and ate all but three bites.

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Alright, it’s time for me to go pack up my lunch and think about what I want for breakfast! I am so food-minded; always prepared for moments when I may need to eat. The hardest part is not knowing what I will be in the mood for come lunch time. I usually pack myself a couple of options so that I can pick and chose what sounds good.

I am super excited that thunderstorms are possibly going to happen this afternoon. I LOVE a good thunderstorm, as long as no one gets hurt and no damage is done of course. They remind me of being young and hanging out with my family in our safe home. As the thunderstorm approached we would watch the news and make sure we didn’t have to go to the basement. Then, as it whooshed over us I would watch safely out the window as the lightning struck and the thunder rolled (Garth Brooks anyone?) and it would make me so thrilled! I still feel that way when a thunderstorm rolls around! My mom also loves watching storms; she must have passed that gene down to me.

Watch, we won’t even get one now that I got all hyped up about it.

Do you enjoy thunderstorms?

Have a great day my friends!

Spring Has Finally Sprung

Posted on April 26, 2013 by Melanie

It’s finally happening people…spring is arriving in Minnesota! Yesterday the temperature got up to 50°F which being that we had these sights just days ago, gets us Minnesotans super amped up. Today is supposed to reach 69, Saturday: 72, and Sunday: 76. If every Minnesotan who is capable of being outside this weekend isn’t outside I would be truly surprised. We have been caged up for far too long. There will be people in shorts and flip-flops left and right, and possibly even bathing suits. Spring is finally ARRIVING! My heart flutters at the thought.

Tomorrow we run are running in a 10K race. Because of the nasty weather, and since the beginning of Insanity, we haven’t been running…at.all. I am hoping since we are keeping up on our cardio and endurance and building up our strength, that 6.2 miles will be a breeze (*fingers crossed*). The other thing that should help is the gorgeous weather. The adrenaline of warm weather and cheering spectators should be all that we need to make this race a great one. We shall see!

Last night there was no doubt in my mind that we were going to grill. At lunch time I started marinading two skinless chicken breasts in coconut aminos, honey, pineapple, ginger, and garlic powder.

When it was time for dinner we threw those bad boys on the grill and hung outside with the pooch while they cooked away.

“Look ma, no snow!”

To go along with the chicken, I put together a simple romaine salad with red peppers and lima beans. For the dressing I made a simple mix of rice vinegar, sesame oil, ginger, and a touch of honey. We plated the chicken over the salad, and dressed it with the Asian-inspired mixture. That’s what you call a springy-looking plate! So light and refreshing!

I’m officially welcoming salads back in as a dinner option now that the warm weather is rolling around.

After dinner we took Mooser for a 2 mile walk around the neighborhood. I underestimated my clothing and lack of layers and wound up being pretty chilly through the walk. It was still so nice to get out and not have to trudge through any snow. LOVE.

I am really hoping to make this a ritual in the evenings. So often I find myself wanting to snuggle into the couch after dinner and then I don’t end up moving from my spot until bedtime. I’m working on breaking that habit and the warmer weather will absolutely help that.

After our walk we came in and enjoyed Glee and I whipped up a batch of banana soft serve. I made it in the NutriBullet for the first time and it came out even smoother than when I make it in the blender. We went the simple au natural route and just used bananas and a little coconut milk.

Between the grilling, the salad, the evening walk, the banana soft serve, it looks like spring has finally sprung over here! Can I get a whoop whoop?!

What do you enjoy most about spring?

Happy Friday my friends!

Fish Tacos with Fresh Mango Salsa

Posted on April 6, 2013 by Melanie

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!

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.

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

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

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

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!

Mom’s Ham and White Bean Soup

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Melanie

Hello hello and happy Wednesday!

I’ve been dealing with some type of allergic reaction the past few days, so I am keeping a close eye on my food intake to see if it is a certain food that is triggering an allergic response or perhaps it’s from a medication. I’m in touch with my docs too so I am in good hands; no worries! It’s just really weird. I am feeling more and more inclined to have a food intolerance test done to see which foods I should really be staying away from.

I switched up my breakfast a bit from the usual and went with a bowl of mixed berries (strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries) with FAGE Greek yogurt, a touch of honey, and chia seeds. I gave it a good stir and thoroughly enjoyed this sweet breakfast.

I snacked on a huge baggy of carrots to tide me over between breakfast and lunch, and there was a huge bowl of shelled peanuts at work so I snagged a handful of those too.

For lunch, I used celery stalks to scoop up freshly made egg salad. I was so inspired by the deviled eggs from Sunday that I went ahead and made this similar tasting, protein-packed meal right away on Monday.

I attempted a run in the early afternoon but was hindered by some new pain, so I kept it short and made my way home.

I had a few snacks in the afternoon before heading over to mom and dad’s for dinner.

Mom had made ham and white bean soup from the leftover Easter ham, per my request. She’s the best!

I love this soup! It’s so simple yet so flavorful, comforting and belly-warming. It’s such a good way to use up the remainder of the Easter ham too. I would love the recipe for this one but I’m almost positive mom just does her own thing when she makes this soup and goes by taste, adding a pinch of this and that here and there. She adds her motherly TLC in there too so that’s probably why her food always tastes good.

It was the perfect meal for a very cool evening. It is supposed to be in the 50′s again today so I am super excited about that!

I officially saw my first robin yesterday which means that spring is definitely here. My mom and grandma always used to say that to me when I was younger and I would always look forward to it every spring, and I still do!

Happy Hump Day! I hope it’s a good one!

Question of the day: What are your favorite ways to use holiday feast leftovers?

A Hungry Morning

Posted on March 27, 2013 by Melanie

We are half way through the work week! How about that?! I hope everyone is having a great week.

Yesterday was one of those days where my body just couldn’t get enough to eat. I think I did a pretty good job of listening to what my body was asking for and feeding it lots of healthy foods. The morning was a feeding fiasco.

It started off with a bowl of gluten-free Erewhon Buckwheat and Hemp cereal with homemade almond milk, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and banana. I had to remind myself to slow down as I ate this but it was SO good I couldn’t help myself!

I really want to try other Erewhon cereals. They have strawberry crisp, raisin bran, crispy brown rice, and more. They all sound fantastic! I haven’t had cereal in forever.

For my workout yesterday I turned on Apple TV and found a ZUMBA workout led by a young male Zumba instructor who was a really good dancer. It was fun but not as fun as actually being in a class with other people dancing with me. After Zumba I completed a 15-minute intense ab workout.

Many snacks proceeded the workouts. I ate walnuts, dates and peanut butter, a banana, celery, and an energy bite. I’m probably missing something else in there.

After all of the snacking, it was only about 11:00 am but I figured since I was still hungry I may as well make lunch.

I sautéed onion, green bell pepper, and mushrooms. I then added a splash of bone broth, leftover chicken and black beans. I topped off this concoction with avocado and salsa. NUM!

After “lunch” my belly was finally feeling satisfied. The hunger staved off for a while after that!

Later in the afternoon I took the pooch for a 3-mile walk around the neighborhood. It is extremely messy around here these days. The snow is definitely melting and we are left with very muddy grass, wet sidewalks, and a dirty dog, but I’ll take it because that means spring is really here!

More snacks happened in the afternoon.

Dinner was light because I had done the majority of my eating throughout the day and wasn’t super hungry, but still wanted some nutrition. I threw together a lazy salad with mixed greens, red bell pepper, peas, olives, pickles, avocado, sunflower seeds and a dressing made with Dijon mustard and red wine vinegar. It was simple but tasty.

I am pretty much convinced that I could put avocado on anything and it would taste good. The avocado really stole the show last night.