A Taste of Tuscany

First and foremost I have to say that my husband is a genius. He fixed my computer and I can now transfer pictures onto my computer from my camera. THANKS BABE!

This morning I actually got out of bed early to do my workout before work. When the alarm clock went off at 5:30 am I thought meh, I don’t know about this. I laid there playing the contemplation game in my head. Should I reset my alarm and sleep for another hour? Should I get up and just do it  Nike style? I don’t want to get up. Remember how good you feel after a workout and how much energy it gives you throughout the day? After about five minutes of contemplating I realize I am still lying there awake. Just get up. So I did.

I headed downstairs to the treadmill and started off with a nice little 4.0 walk. I slowly began cranking up the speed to 5, 5.5, 6.0, then felt comfortable at 6.4 for a while. I decided to run spurts of increased pace, I believe they’re called fartleks. I would crank up the speed to 7.4 and run at that pace for a song, then bring it back down to 6.4, and I did this little combination for 3.5 miles. I got real sweaty this morning and I am SO happy I got out of bed early! Now I don’t have to go to the gym after work.

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Breakfast

Breakfast was a success. I attempted oatless oatmeal again this time with a couple of modifications.

I mixed together 3 tablespoons egg white, 3 tablespoons almond milk, 1/2 tablespoon ground flaxseed, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla, a dash of cinnamon and 1/2 frozen banana that has been thawed. I cooked this mixture on the stove top on low-medium heat for about 3 minutes. I removed from heat and added 1/4 cup blueberries, a little stevia to sweeten, and a touch of brown sugar (because I love the flavor of brown sugar). Voila. The consistency was great and the flavor did not taste like eggs one bit. I also had a small handful of almonds for added protein.

Tasted way better than it looks

Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to work I go…

Lunch

I decided to stop home for lunch because Dana was going to be home. I ate my packed lunch. Any guesses what it was? Sorry to bore you. But yes, peanut butter banana wrap.

I love seeing him at lunch break!

To jazz up the afternoon at work I brought some Celestial Seasoning’s Black Cherry Berry herbal tea  to sip on. I had never had this kind before but it was GOOOOD! It tasted kind of like fruit punch. That reminds me of kool-aid mustaches as a kid. 😛

Dinner

Another easy dinner tonight. I decided to pull some Rubollita soup out of the freezer that I made about a month ago. Since I made this soup before I started the blog, I didn’t write down the recipe, therefore don’t have a recipe to share with you. However, I will make it in the future again and will no doubt write it all down!

I discovered this wonderfully veggie filled soup when we were in Italy. Julie, a friend of mine, told me I had to try this soup when I was there and I am so glad she recommended it. Rubollita is a hearty Tuscan soup made with bread and lots of veggies. We were at a little Tratorria (a more casual type of dining restaurant) in Florence when I spotted it on the menu and decided to give it a go. It sounded like it was right up my alley. I topped it with fresh parmesan and devoured that bad boy. It was UNBELIEVABLY delicious, healthy, and very filling! I knew this was one I needed to recreate once I got home. So that’s just what I did. To give you an idea of the components of the soup, here are some components of the soup:

  • cabbage
  • tomato
  • onion
  • kale
  • carrot
  • beans
  • chicken stock
  • garlic
  • whole grain bread that has been dried in the oven

The process involves cooking all of the veggies in the stock, simmering, and then adding the bread at the end of the cooking process. You let the bread soak in for about 20 minutes then use an immersion blender to slightly blend the mixture. The outcome does not look the prettiest but it sure does taste good!

Don’t spill….don’t trip….

My bowl was filled to the brim. It tasted just as good as the first time if not better this time around. I love easy dinners like this. I’m thinking I need to whip up a batch of soup this weekend! What kind should I make? Hmm…..Creamy tomato? Pumpkin carrot? We shall see what this brain conjurs up.

I have a raging appetite today so I will no doubt be eating a snack later tonight. I’m off to relax and watch a little Wheel of Fortune! Good night!

Continue Reading A Taste of Tuscany

No Dreadmill

Good evening friends! How was everyone’s Tuesday? Mine was pretty good. Work was smooth and flew by, but what helped my mood the most today was the beautiful weather! We are having some seriously out of season weather here but I LOVE it! I’m not sure what the official temperature was today, but my car said 43° when I was driving home from work at 4:00. Talk about a heat wave! 🙂

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First things first. I didn’t take snap a photo of breakfast this morning because I kinda flopped on it. I was trying to make Oatmeal No Oats again but decided to “wing” it and make  it from memory versus looking at the recipe. Whoops. I forgot the cinnamon and it completely changed the taste and ended up with a slightly egg-y taste. It wasn’t horrible, and I still ate it after adding a little brown sugar and some banana. It was actually kind of good in a weird way, but next time I will remember the cinnamon.

Fast-forward to lunch… I actually decided to pack a lunch today versus coming home. I had an errand to run so I packed a peanut butter banana wrap, Pink Lady apple, mini bell peppers, carrots, clementine, and string cheese. I always pack more than enough when I do pack a lunch because I never know how hungry I will be. Today I ate everything pictured below minus the string cheese and clementine.

After I ran my errand I parked my car in a sunny spot and pulled out my book. I am still reading the Help but am getting towards the end of it. I am loving it still and will probably finish it tonight before bed! When I was driving back to work after break I decided since it was so beautiful outside that I was going to run outside after work. No “dreadmill” today! Alleluia!

It’s been a while since I ran outside due to unkind Minnesota weather and due to the fact that I am pretty much a big baby when it comes to cold temperatures.  After work, I geared up in my long underwear, headband, gloves, and hit the road running. It was challenging but felt SO good to be outside. It makes a world of difference breathing the fresh air, having the constant changing scenery, the entertainment of other walkers and cars, and the challenge of hills. I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t love the hills but they are great for training and building stamina. I think I had a little bit of a hard time maintaining any sort of steady pace because I noticed myself breathing heavier than normal. I have a lot of work to do in order to feel more confident in my running. I will get there though! I know it doesn’t happen overnight.

The good news is I didn’t have any shin pain today. I am hoping I can get another outside run in soon so I can see if I have ditched the shin problems all together or not and then see what happens when I run on the treadmill again. Experiment time!

Get it 40 for forty degrees? Neat.

I will be the first to admit that the picture above totally grosses me out. I am not one of those people who thinks it’s cute to get slobbered on by their dogs. This picture was an accident as I was trying to get Moose to sit with me for a picture. It was too funny not to post though. I immediately washed my face after this happening occurred. Gross. I love you, Moose but honestly you don’t have a clean mouth. I don’t care what everyone says about “dogs mouths are cleaner than human mouths.” I know where that mouth has been. Ew.  Sorry to anyone eating while they are reading this.

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After a nice little shower, I started pulling dinner together. I threw some Alexia’s Sweet Potato Crispy Bite-Sized Puffs, aka tator tots  in the oven along with a whole bunch of broccoli sprinkled with garlic powder. As I waited for the tots to cook, I snacked on some broccoli and  Holy Land  Roasted Red Pepper Hummus which is made in Minneapolis. I love supporting the locals.

So let’s see, I had a starch, a veggie….I needed a protein. How about an egg? Sure, why not. I cooked an egg over-easy and topped it on the roasted broccoli alongside the tator tots. I dabbed a bit of good old Heinz Ketchup on the plate, sprinkled a little parmesan cheese, cracked black pepper, and a dash of salt over the whole rainbow bright dish. Then, dug in.

Random, but good and very pretty! I would do it again! Dessert was a handful or two of Craisins. Now, on to the rest of the evening involving relaxation and possibly a cup of tea. Good night good night, and tomorrow is Wednesday. I love Wednesdays!

Continue Reading No Dreadmill

Sweatin’ Out Onions

This morning’s training included a 5 mile run which turned me into a hot sweaty mess. My shins were really hurting again during today’s run so I want to spend a little time researching the possible reasons why. Am I running incorrectly? Am I deficient in a certain nutrient?

On the drive home from the gym I asked Dana if he smelled onions. He said “no, but you’re probably sweating them out from last night’s dinner.”  Huh, he’s probably right! That’s gross and funny at the same time, and totally worth it because last night’s dinner turned out wonderfully! I hope you are ready for this oh baby baby.

Yesterday I gave you a little sneak peak of the ingredients I was going to be using for part of the dinner.

After some chopping, mixing, and seasoning, those ingredients turned into this:

Melanie’s Cowboy Caviar

Ingredients

  • 2 tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 medium red onion, chopped
  • 10 mini bell peppers (or 1.5 medium-sized bell peppers), diced
  • 1 ripe avocado, chopped
  • 1/2 cup corn
  • 1-15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
  • 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
  • 2 teaspoons cumin
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Mix all ingredients gently making sure to cover avocados with lemon juice to prevent browning. Serve as a salad/side dish or with baked tortilla chips.

Holy moly this was goooood.

Next up was the main dish: Chicken Enchiladas

This was my first time ever making enchiladas I think and I decided to wing it. I started off sautéing 2 small yellow onions and 4 mini bell peppers.

Next I added 1-7 oz can of diced green chilies, 2.5 cups of cooked pulled chicken, cracked black pepper, and 1 teaspoon garlic powder.

I removed from heat then added 1/2 cup of Mexican style reduced fat shredded cheese to the mix. The next step is to stuff the tortillas. I sprayed a 9 x 13 pan with non-stick cooking spray and stuffed each tortilla with approximately 1/4-1/2 cup of chicken mixture. This made 9 enchiladas.

I rolled them up like burritos and lined them in the pan. I topped them with about 1 cup of non-fat plain greek yogurt, then a layer of red salsa, then finished with a layer of the Mexican style shredded cheese.

They cooked for 20 minutes covered at 350°, then removed the cover and broiled on high for 2 minutes to start to melt the cheese.

And helllllloo cheesy healthy goodness. I plated up and topped the enchilada with a little more salsa, because I love saucy. Apparently I need to work on my plate presentation because this picture DOES NOT do the dinner justice.

I loved every bite of this dinner and my family really loved it too! See, look how happy they are.

I love them.
Brother Kevin

We hung out for a little while after dinner and heard all about mom and dad’s wonderful trip to Florida. I am so glad they are home.

Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients

  • 2 small onions, diced
  • 4 mini bell peppers, diced
  • 1-7 oz. can diced green chilies
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • freshly cracked black pepper to taste
  • 2 1/2 cups cooked chicken breast, shredded
  • 1 cup Mexican style reduced-fat shredded cheese divided into 1/2 cup portions
  • 9 whole wheat tortillas (La Tortilla Factory Low-Carb)
  • 1 cup non-fat plain greek yogurt
  • 1 cup salsa (plus more to top post baking if you like your food saucy like me)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°.
  2. Saute onions and peppers.
  3. Add green chilies, chicken, garlic powder, and black pepper. Stir, remove from heat.
  4. Stir in 1/2 cup cheese.
  5. Stuff 9 tortillas with 1/4-1/2 cup of chicken mixture, roll into burritos, and place in 9 x 13 pan coated with non-stick cooking spray.
  6. Top with a layer of yogurt, then a layer of salsa, and finish with the shredded cheese.
  7. Bake covered for 20 minutes.
  8. Remove cover and broil on high for 2 minutes or until cheese is melted.
  9. Serve warm with extra salsa on top (or hot sauce if you like it SPICAY)

 

I am off to find something to eat for lunch and enjoy some time with my husband.

Adios muchachos!

Continue Reading Sweatin’ Out Onions

My Coffee

Alright coffee, it’s you and me baby. Help me get through the day. I slept terrible last night!

This morning I wanted to try and attempt those 2 miles that I missed yesterday on the treadmill. I was able to successfully complete the two mile with no shin pain at all! After the run, I did three sets of pushups and three sets of tricep dips. Tonight after work I am hoping to do some more strength training and/or a little walk.

Did you know yesterday was National Peanut Butter Day?! Good thing I ate my peanut butter on my pancake! =)

Catch ya later. I’ll be the lady with the mug o’ joe all day long.

I hope everyone has a great Wednesday!

Continue Reading My Coffee

Tide me over protein pancake

Treadmill run this morning= FAIL. I got through one mile and had to stop because my shins were killing me. I don’t know if it was shin splints or just cramping or if that’s the same thing? I don’t know but it did not feel good at all. I tried walking and then tried running once more but just couldn’t do it.  It could have been my bouncy Zumba class from Saturday or maybe water retention/dehydration that caused this? Anyway, I wasn’t ready to give up on a workout so I headed upstairs to tackle an at home strength/cardio circuit that I found on Pinterest.

I did this twice followed by 1 minute plank and toe touch abs. Tomorrow morning I am going to try to run again.

My breakfast turned into more of a brunch since I didn’t eat it until around 10:30. My work schedule today was 12-6 so I needed my brunch to be one that would hold me over for a while. Here was my brunch (with some blackberries too)….

Chocolate banana protein pancakes

Serving Size: 1 large pancake the size of my head

Ingredients: 

  • 1/4 cup egg whites
  • 3/4 scoop of chocolate protein powder
  • 2 Tablespoons almond milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 Tablespoon ground flaxseed
  • 1/2 mashed banana
  • 1 teaspoon peanut butter
  • 1 Tablespoon lower sugar syrup

Directions:

In small bowl, combine egg whites, protein powder, milk, cinnamon, flaxseed, and banana. Mix until combined. Pour onto lightly sprayed pan and cook on stove-top on medium-low heat. Watch for bubbles and then flip over. Finish cooking second side. Slide onto plate and smear on some more wonderful peanut butter. Drizzle with syrup.

This was so good and it held me over for a LONG time thanks to all of that protein.

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Ten minutes before I had to leave for work I decided I wanted to throw some chicken breasts in the crock pot so that I could have tender pulled chicken when I got home from work. I placed frozen chicken breasts in the crock pot, sprinkled them with garlic powder, a squirt of mustard, a squirt of ketchup, set it on low, and headed off to work.  I packed carrots and an apple to snack on in the afternoon.

Seven hours later I got home from work and the chicken was ready to be taken out of the crock pot and pulled apart using two forks. I added some barbecue sauce to the chicken and had a side of broccoli slaw with low-fat ranch dressing. It was such a quick wonderful dinner and highly recommend making crock pot chicken. It is always so delicious.

For dessert I had a whole lot of this:

Trail mix is my weakness.

Now I am still fighting off a headache which I’ve had for the past three hours. I need to hydrate! Have a nice night everyone.

Continue Reading Tide me over protein pancake

Touchy Subject

Good morning!

Work starts a little later today so I slept in until 7:30, and am enjoying a cup of coffee before I head downstairs to get a run in on the treadmill.

So remember how I mentioned that my soup had a really high sodium content yesterday (not to mention the salty chips)? Well, I could definitely tell later on in the day just how salty it was because I was incredibly thirsty. I was going through water like it was my last chance to ever again drink it.

This made me curious. I had weighed myself yesterday and I was wondering how much water I was retaining after all of that sodium. I stepped on the scale again today…I am retaining 3 lbs of water weight this morning! Now, I am not trying to be an advocate for the scale because really, I hate the scale. I could be feeling phenomenal one morning after a week’s worth of healthy eating and great workouts, and then step on the scale, “not like what I see,” and I am grumpy for the next half of the day.

I need to remember that they’re just numbers. If the pants fit, and I like how I look and feel, and am trying to eat right and stay active, the numbers don’t matter. K, that was my scale rant. It just makes me think about all of the processed foods out there and how much harder our hearts have to work when there is extra fluid flowing around in there.

Since I went there with the numbers and the scale business, I have to say, although I am a dietitian and do watch what I eat, it is obvious I love sweets. Enter oreo bars and ice cream:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Around the holidays I did pack on a few extra lbs due to endless holiday cookies staring me in the face daily, and am slowly trying to shed those lbs gained. I am a very active person, and the “numbers” are going down Slllooooowwwwlllly (which is good), but more importantly, my pants are starting to fit better than they did around the holidays.

I am not perfect, I am not a perfect eater, but I do try and balance my diet and never deprive myself of the things I love. If I want chocolate everyday, I will eat chocolate everyday, I am just learning how to moderate that so that it continues to be a “treat” and not a daily snack. I to, have to practice what I preach: It’s all about moderation.

Weight is definitely a touchy subject for most people, including myself, but it is something that so many people are worried about on a daily basis. That’s why I dislike diets so much. Sure some diets will help you shed 30 lbs in 30 days, but what happens once you go back to normal living without the diet? The pounds start to pile on oftentimes more quickly than they were lost which is why I stress the importance of learning to live a healthy lifestyle with healthy food choices and exercise. It is important to enjoy life, and love the foods you are eating, but there needs to be some balance in there.

As I continue to motivate myself to stay active and eat healthy, I will try and do the same for you whether it’s sharing healthy recipes (and sometimes not so healthy ones–remember all in moderation), sharing workouts, fun activities, etc.

I hope your Tuesdays are off to a great start. Get out there and “let me see you do something.” Love those commercials! Off to the treadmill I go (yes our basement is unfinished, that’s not a really bad zebra paint job)…

Hi, Melanie. I am waiting for you…
Continue Reading Touchy Subject

Southwest Salad Recipe

Today’s lunch was canned soup. A little high in sodium, BUT it was really tasty. I don’t do it often so I don’t feel too bad about it. With the soup I had some Kettle Brand Baked Salt and Pepper Chips, a golden delicious apple, and some carrots.

It warmed me up on this gloomy day and then I headed back to work for a few more hours.

After work I snacked on some roasted almonds and Craisins as I headed to the gym. I climbed through 35 minutes on the elliptical, catching up on Today’s Dietitian Magazine and Runner’s World Magazine. I finished the workout off with pushups and some ab-work. I can honestly say I have a hard time with strength training. I know the importance of it and the great benefits, and every now and then I will be super motivated to incorporate it into my week of workouts, and then the next week I am done with it. I would REALLY like to amp it up! You are all my witnesses. Pump, pump it up!

After the gym I came home and snacked on some more of those darn chips while I pondered what to have for dinner. I had decided to make a salad and as I started putting it together I realized the lettuce had gone bad. Yuck, so I had to get creative. I chopped up some tomato, broccoli, carrots, and added in green peas and pinto beans. I topped it with my favorite honey mustard dressing and reduced fat cheddar cheese.  Kind of random, yes. Delicious? YES! For dessert I had a handful of dates.

I cleaned up the kitchen, and now I’m snugglin on the couch with Dana and watching his favorite show (kidding), The Bachelor.

How about I leave you with a recipe for one of my favorite salads? Give it a shot! Enjoy!

Southwest Salad for Two

This is one of our “go-to’ salads. It’s easy, delicious and satisfying. We usually it meatless, but feel free to top the salad with grilled chicken.

Ingredients

  • Mixed greens
  • 1/2 can black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1/2 cup frozen corn, thawed
  • 1/2 cup red onion, diced
  • 1 ripe avocado, diced
  • 1 tomato, diced
  • 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
  • 1/4 cup reduced-fat shredded cheddar cheese
  • low-fat or fat-free ranch dressing

Directions

Pile mixed greens on two plates and top with remaining ingredients. Drizzle with dressing.

Continue Reading Southwest Salad Recipe

Training Plans

I am so looking forward to celebrating Betsy and Matt’s birthdays tonight, but first there are a few things I need to do.

This morning I headed downstairs to the treadmill to get a 2 mile run in before meeting my long time friend Amanda for ZUMBA! I have taken a couple of Zumba classes before but they are all so different because each instructor has their own style. Today our instructor was this spunky little thing and I loved her! She kept us shakin’ our booties for a solid hour and let me be the first to say it wasn’t just my booty that was shakin’ (har har)! I had such a blast and can’t wait to go back.

After Zumba I went back home to tackle two more miles on the treadmill. Running again after Zumba? Come on, seems like overkill right? Well, that’s because Dana and I are training for our first half marathon!

We have not officially signed up because registration doesn’t open until February, but we have started our training and are pumped! The longest run we have done is a 15k or 9.3 miles, which was in August 2011. The race we ran was for more “elite” runners and it was set up as a 3-loop run. Needless to say we are not elite runners, and it was a little degrading finishing our second loop when a good chunk of the other runners were finishing their third. We did finish in under an hour and 30 minutes which was our goal, but when we both finished we said, “I am not doing that again.” Ha, we’re eating our words now.

Ear buds are out, I see the finish line!

We think/hope that our next experience will be a little more fun, and it should help to do one huge loop versus three small loops. Plus, we have other friends planning to run it too!

The training plan we used for the 15k was one from Hal Higdon. For this round of training, I found this half marathon plan by him and Dana found this training plan by Jeff Galloway that he is following.  I can’t decide which one to do so for now I am just kind of doing a combination of the two. I like the idea of running Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and having Saturday be my long run which is what Hal Higdon suggested, but so far have not done the short run on Wednesday, so I am pretty much following the Jeff Galloway plan. I don’t know, we’ll see. I will keep you posted about training progress as well as registration for the race. Runners are chosen through a lottery once registered.

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Breakfast recap

Coffee and peanut butter banana much like this one except a little more sloppy and on a paper towel to go.

 

Lunch started with some appetizers (samples) at Costco: chocolate chunk cookie, protein bar, bite of meatball which I handed off to Dana, cowboy caviar, and mango peach salsa, all served in bite size samples.

Once we got home I threw together a whole grain tortilla with a laughing cow wedge, lettuce, tomato, and mustard and a handful of almonds.

I wasn’t sure how this would taste but it was actually pretty good! After lunch I finished up the birthday dessert I started making last night which I am bringing to tonight’s festivities. Now I am off to tackle a couple more weekend “to-do’s” and get ready for the rest of the day including a much needed shower.

Happy Saturday!

Continue Reading Training Plans
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