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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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

Tilapia Fish Sticks

Friday is such a wonderful day. I love Friday. But first, we have to recap Thursday.

The day began with a warm bowl of Cream of Wheat with cinnamon, brown sugar, and PB2.

For lunch, more peanut butter, but the real stuff this time. A piece of spelt toast with natural peanut butter and banana. I also ate some watermelon and insanely addicting Barbecue Pop Chips.

After work, Dana, Moose and I hit the pavement for a long walk around the neighborhood. The weather was absolutely perfect yesterday and I was so grateful we were able to get out and enjoy it at least for a little while. We cruised for about 3 miles.

Dinner was a fun one. I must be in a “dipper” food type of mood this week considering Wednesday I made Italian dunkers, and last night I made….tilapia fish sticks!

Assembly Line Preparation (in this order)

  • Plate: Cut two defrosted tilapia filets into 1 inch strips, cutting with the lines of the filet. Season the fish with cracked black pepper.
  • Bowl: In a wide bowl pour about 1 1/2 cups egg whites.
  • Plate: Pour a heaping pile of almond flour, salt, and pepper. **
  • Baking pan: Spray with non-stick cooking spray
**Notes: If you like a little kick you could add a pinch of cayenne to the almond flour. If you don’t have almond flour, you could use breadcrumbs or cracker crumbs instead. I picked up a bag of almond flour at Trader Joe’s and this was my first time using it. Almond flour is completely gluten-free; the only ingredient is almonds. It also packs 7 grams of protein and 3 grams of fiber per 1/4 cup. I am anxious to use it in baking in the future.

Assemble:

Dip fish sticks into egg whites.

Roll and cover in almond flour.

Place on prepared pan. Once all of the filets are on the pan, lightly spray the tops with non-stick cooking spray.


We had plans to grill these bad boys outside but our plans were halted when we realized we ran out of propane. Hence the reason you see the fish filets on our outdoor grill pan versus and indoor pan. We moved the process indoors to the oven but I didn’t feel like dirtying up another pan so we left it on the other pan.

In a preheated 450° oven, bake for 12 minutes, turning once. Finish by broiling for 3-5 minutes until the fish sticks begin to crisp (keep an eye on them!). Serve with your favorite dipping sauce. In my case, ketchup.

These reminded me of childhood in such a huge way. They are perfect for adults and kids alike. You feel like a kid when you eat them. It’s wonderful. They are slightly crunchy on the outside and tender on the inside. They are a very healthy alternative to frozen fish sticks!

**********

Now, back to Friday. It’s that time to check in on the June Yoga Challenge. Just a reminder to you all that my goal is to complete three yoga sessions per week. Time and intensity do not matter in my challenge, only completion of the sessions.

  1. Sunday: Gentle Yoga by Sportskool On Demand
  2. Wednesday: Back Challenges by Sportskool on Demand
  3. Friday: Metal Yoga by Sportskool on Demand

The session from this morning was by far the most challenging to me. I am still working at beginner level but am hoping to step-it-up to intermediate in the future!

I am loving yoga more and more each day I practice. I am continuing to notice that I am able to better control my stress now that I have added yoga into my routine. If my day is becoming stressful, I will remind myself to breath and slow down. I still have a LONG ways to go on increasing my flexibility, but I have already noticed a slight difference and it’s only been a short while. I can’t wait for another week!

Happy Friday to you all. I have two special guests coming to stay with me this weekend, my brother Scott and his girlfriend Nicole (our Boundary Water tour guides). I have to decide what to make them for breakfast tomorrow morning. I’m off to go brainstorm, run errands, and get some stuff down around the house.

Continue Reading Tilapia Fish Sticks

Italian Dunkers in 5 Minutes

Happy Thursday, friends!

Do you know what makes my day? Receiving packages in the mail or at my doorstep. Especially ones like the one I got from Wild Harvest Organic yesterday. Wild Harvest is sponsoring a recipe contest in collaboration with the Healthy Living Summit 2012 and you better believed I signed up to be a part of that. Let’s just say as soon as I laid eyes on the contents of the box, my brain began whirling a mile a minute. Recipe creation is my passion. I am thrilled to be able to participate in this fun event. More to come on that!

After work I came home and I was not feeling very motivated to make dinner. You all know by  now that I love to cook, try new recipes, create new recipes, and have fun in the kitchen. But I am only human, and today I was just not feeling the gusto.

I was hungry though, so I was going to have to figure it out. What I really wanted was to dive into the raw broccoli and hummus, BUT I refrained because that is a no-no right now. I scanned through the cupboard, the fridge, and the freezer. Then I spied the nummy leftover Bolognese sauce from Sunday evening. Then I spotted the spelt bread, then mozzarella cheese, and my mind was made up. It was Italian Dunker time, baby.

I preheated the oven to broil, then defrosted the sauce in the microwave, and toasted up a piece of spelt bread in the toaster. Once the bread was toasted, I sprinkled it with garlic powder and topped it with a small handful of mozzarella cheese. I placed it on a piece of aluminum foil and set it under the broiler for about 3 minutes (making sure to watch carefully so it didn’t burn into a crisp). Once the cheese was melty and starting to brown slightly, I removed the dunkers from the oven, sliced them into three strips with a scissors, plated them up alongside the reheated Bolognese sauce, and got dunkin’!

Italian dunkers in 5 minutes? Um, ya!

I swear the sauce was even better this time around.

Oh the high school memories that come along with this meal. I remember how excited everyone would get in anticipation for Italian Dunker day. They would use thick french bread, loads of butter I’m sure, garlic, tons of melty cheese, and served them along with some simple marinara sauce, and usually a small side salad.

I wasn’t much of a hot lunch gal, I would often veer more towards the salad bar or bring my own bag lunch, but Italian Dunker days were a different story. The lunch line went on for a mile and if you were a senior, you didn’t have to wait, you got to budge to the front (according to the seniors at least). I was a little too nice and too much of a wiener for that though, so I would usually wait in line like the rest of the younger kiddos. What can I say? I believe in liberty and justice for all. 🙂 They were always worth the wait but remember feeling a little sick in the afternoon from all of the grease. Anywho…

After dinner, I laced up the sneakers and headed down to the treadmill. It has been raining like crazy lately around here and I have felt very fortunate to have a treadmill right in the comfort of my own basement. I especially love that we have a TV hooked up to cable down there too.

I started walking while watching Wheel of Fortune, and then got carried away into watching my favorite show, “So You Think You Can Dance.” I ended up walking for an hour. Chalk that up with a morning yoga session, and I’d say I had a nice day of low-impact activity.

The rest of the night was spent relaxing and sleeping.

I am off to tackle my day. You go tackle yours!

Question of the Day: What was YOUR favorite lunch offered in school?

Continue Reading Italian Dunkers in 5 Minutes

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

Happy Day to the Men

Happy Father’s Day to dads of all kinds…Granddads, dads with grown kids, young kids, expecting daddies, puppy dads, cat dads. How about ‘Happy Day to the Men.’ I like that. They sure have to put up with a lot from us females, and they all deserve a day to celebrate.

Yesterday we spent the afternoon with my family to celebrate Father’s Day with my wonderful dad who makes me laugh constantly…

Knows how to seriously man the grill…

Knows how to present a good-looking plate and loves himself a big juicy steak…

Who cooks a mean marinated chicken breast for his not-as-much-red-meat-lovin’ daughter and wife…

And always has room for dessert (just like his daughter). Lemon Blueberry Bar recipe coming soon!

We spent the evening relaxing, opening gifts, eating a delicious meal put on by mom and dad, and cuddling with our favorite little girl.

Gosh, just a little love for that doggy, huh?

Happy Father’s Day to my incredible papa. Thanks for always finding the corniest, funniest jokes to cheer me up with when I’m feeling down and for all you do for me and the family. I love you so so much. Love, your baby girl.

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

Today I am celebrating Father’s Day with my hubby….it started off right with BOGO Caribou coffee. 🙂

I’ll fill you in on the rest later. Have a great Sunday everyone, and again, Happy Day to all of you men today. I love ya!

Continue Reading Happy Day to the Men

Wait, Wait, Good Boy

Thursday was an eventful day at our household….

I’ll give you a hint.

It was garage sale day at our house! We finally went through a million boxes that were piled up in our basement, got our business together, and set up for a one day sale. We had little expectations as to how well we would do.

We had a little rain in the morning that pretty much soaked all of our stuff, but besides that, the day was beautiful and it actually turned out to be quite productive. We didn’t have too much stuff leftover at the end of the day which was of course the goal. We boxed up the unsold items, and plan on bringing them into Salvation Army. What a great feeling to have so much stuff cleared out of our house. It’s like a breath of fresh air. I can’t believe how much junk accumulates over time.

For lunch, I made myself a sweet potato (did not eat the skin) with peanut butter. This is actually an old photo because the picture I took today looked extraordinarily unappetizing. Let’s just say the dollop of peanut butter didn’t look like a dollop of peanut butter.  I thought I would spare you.

After the sale, we took Mooser out for a long walk around the neighborhood. I was wishing I had brought my camera with me because there were so many beautiful flowers along the way. Oh well, next time.

For dinner we grilled up a couple of boneless skinless chicken breasts seasoned simply with salt, pepper, and onion powder. To top the chicken, I made a small batch of guacamole with ingredients I had on hand: 1 1/2 avocados, 1 small handful of chopped cilantro, a little salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and dash of lemon juice. I served my chicken on top of a small salad and Dana made his into a killer sandwich.

While we ate dinner, Moose did too. But first, he had to “wait.”

“Wait.”

“Good boy.”

That is what happens each time we feed Moose. If we don’t say “good boy,” he will just sit there and stare at his food. Our family learned that the hard way when we were out of town, and they were taking care of the dog.  We forgot to leave them the magic words and he wouldn’t eat well for them. Whoops! Now they know the secret words and will probably never ever forget. 🙂

Happy Friday! Have a beautiful day.

Continue Reading Wait, Wait, Good Boy
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