Five Fun Things Friday

I’m keeping it simple today with a little Five Things Friday! Here are five random things that have either been on my mind lately, made me laugh or made me smile.

1. Today is the official first day of summer!

Happy Summer everyone! I have been loving the warm weather lately. We waited way too long for it this year so we have to soak it up while we have it.

summer

2. Pet Sweep

Animal-powered debris removal system. So funny, yet practical? Let’s give it a test run.

doggy sweep

Intended use:

doggie-floor-dusting-slippers

What really happens:

IMG_3058

I don’t really have the Pet Sweep Dust Boots, but I do have dust slippers for humans. Moose really didn’t appreciate the slippers and kicked them of as soon as I snapped this photo, but hey, It was worth a shot. Afterall, he’s the reason we have to vacuum so often around here!

3. Peonies

The peonies are in bloom and it makes me so happy to look out in our backyard and see these pink beauties.

peonies

4. Healthy Living Summit 2013

This last week, I officially registered for the Healthy Living Summit where I will be surrounded by friends, great food, fun activities, and lots of healthy living talk. Last year the summit was held in Boston/Cambridge and this year it is in Minneapolis! It’s not until September but I am already extremely excited!

hls 2012

Here are my recaps from HLS 2012 in case you’re interested:

5. Grandma’s Marathon and Half Marathon

This weekend is Grandma’s Marathon and the Garry Bjorklund half-marathon in Duluth, MN. Good luck to ALL of the runners out there and have fun!

funny pinterest shoes

Happy Friday my friends!!

Continue Reading Five Fun Things Friday

Sweet Potato with Honey Cinnamon Almond Butter & Beautiful Blooms

To all you dog-lovers out there. A friend of mine is needing to find a home for Shelby, an intact female 7 1/2-year old AKC German Shepherd Dog.

She has her AKC papers, most recent vet records from early 2013, and microchip information available. She was trained as a puppy by a specialist in military and police dogs 6 years ago. She would NOT be good in a family with kids younger than teens or with cats. Any person with her will need to be comfortable being firm with her – anyone who has had Shepherds understands that that is a breed trait and not necessarily a personality trait. She has been socialized and is generally good with all other dogs – although large dogs are better – as long as introduced properly.

Shelby needs to find a home before June 27th or she will be placed into the humane society. Please email me at beautifullynutty@gmail.com if you are interested!!

********************

It’s Wednesday, you know it, it’s Wednesday and I’ll show it! I’m feeling a little cooky this Wednesday. I blame it on the sunshine. 😉 I LOVE it!

I’ve been taking the doctor’s advice and sticking to lower intensity workouts for now, mostly in the form of walks outside with Moose. It has been so beautiful outside lately and I enjoy the fact that when I go outside for a walk with Moose I am benefited in three ways:

  1. I get to move my body and feel great
  2. Moose gets to move his body and feel great
  3. I get to soak in some much-needed Vitamin D.

Triple whammy!

Lunch

Part of my lunch yesterday was baked sweet potato slices with honey cinnamon almond butter.

I baked the sweet potato slices in coconut oil the night before, covered them when they were done baking, and put them in the fridge for later. When I was ready to eat the slices, I stuck them in the microwave for a short time and they were good to go.

For the almond butter, I mixed together almond butter, honey, and cinnamon and then tried adding water to thin it out but it actually made the mixture thicken. My original plan was to make a pretty drizzle over the top of the sweet potatoes, but instead I had to plop it into the center. It was really probably thin enough, I should have just left it. Oh well, next time.

sweet potato with almond butter

What failed in presentation made up for in taste. This combo was spectacular. I have tried sweet potato and peanut butter but I don’t think I have ever had sweet potato with almond butter. I seriously think I prefer the almond butter on it! Who would have thought.

Changing gears…our yard is in full bloom. We have these beautiful pink peonies that I swear only last for a couple of days, so when they bloom, I make it a must to snap a couple of photos because they are absolutely beautiful.

peony

I called in Moose to model in the yard and add an extra point of interest. He put up with me happily obliged and did an excellent job posing for the photos. 😉

moose

Please excuse my poor photography skills. I couldn’t seem to exclude my shadow from most of the photos.

moose

Moose enjoying the fragrant lilacs…

moose

Moose

And the blinding sun…

Moose

If dogs could talk I don’t think I would want to know what Moose was saying to me in that last photo.

I am truly enjoying nature’s beauty in our backyard (and so is Moose)!

Random side note: I cannot for the life of me remember how to spell German Shepherd. I don’t know how many times I have probably spelled it wrong on the blog, on twitter, etc. Forgive me Moose if your mom embarrassed you.

Dinner

After one failed attempt at an over-easy egg, my second attempt was a partial fail as well. I could not seem to keep the yolk from breaking last night. I settled with my second attempt and served my “over-easy” egg on top of sautéed red bell peppers, onions, and quinoa. sauteed onions with egg

Then topped it with salsa and cilantro!

sauteed onions with egg

It was absolutely delicious and very satisfying.

Happy hump day my friends. Do something that makes you happy today.

Continue Reading Sweet Potato with Honey Cinnamon Almond Butter & Beautiful Blooms