SNowFlakes = Candy bars & milk shakes.... YUM!

“If all the snowflakes were candy bars and milkshakes…. Oh, what a snow that would be!!!
 Standing outside with our mouths opened wide, ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah…..”

( this was stuck in my head after running in the snow yesterday morning....)

You know that just made you smile and reminisce about childhood memories of catching snowflakes on your tongue, building a snow ball then running inside to a cup of hot chocolate, chocolate chip cookies and cartoons. :-) 

Snow days are the BEST! It is SO beautiful to see the ground covered in a beautiful blanket of white, cuddling on the couch and watching Christmas movies, OR getting around to painting those ugly cabinets of yours… ok, maybe that last one is just me... 

This is also the time when we want that comfort food that has a tendency to add extra baggage on us until spring comes around, right? 


Well guess what?? That does not always have to be the case if you have chosen to live a healthier lifestyle and WANT to change your habits!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE cooking healthy meals and snacks ESPECAILLY now that I have a little man (hehe, and a BIG man) to feed. 


Nothing makes me happier than knowing that the people I care about most in my life are taking care of themselves inside and out by what they are putting in their bodies. That is one of MY personal motivations for learning how to eat and cook healthier all the time.

Here are some of my healthy, favorite, & FUN recipes for you to make when you are craving something not so healthy..... :-) 

I was in the mood for chocolate chips cookies last night so what did I do? Make them!!


 Here is the recipe I used instead of the one that comes on the back of the chocolate chip package:

(http://www.thewannabechef.net/2011/05/04/almond-flour-chocolate-chip-cookies/) You can modify this in other ways as well with egg whites or a different sweetener if needed!

Ingredients (Makes about 12 cookies):

•   1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) almond flour

•   1/4 cup butter, room temperature

•   1/4 cup sugar (or sweetener of your choice)

•   1 egg (or 3-4 egg whites)

•   1/4 teaspoon salt

•   1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

•   1/4 teaspoon baking soda

•   1/4 cup DARK chocolate chips

Preheat oven 375

Cream the butter and sugar mixture together until smooth.

Mix in the egg or egg whites

Next, add the almond flour, vanilla, salt, and baking soda and mix until it is combined.

Fold in the chocolate chips.

I used a spoon and scooped small rounded dough onto baking paper (parchment).

Place in oven for 10-12 minutes.

Let them cool then tell me how delicious they are!! They are even better after a couple hours of cooling down!

This would be my little man chowing down on these delicious cookies! yes he is wearing my bike helmet....lol

Who doesn't like some fried chicken or chicken nuggets?I know my little Wyatt LOVES dipping his food so I found a way to make HEALTHY chicken nuggets!!! YAY!

•    1 pound boneless, skinless chicken tenders or breasts, chopped into squares

•    1.5 cups of almond meal or almond flour (can also use quinoa flour, oat flour or 100% wheat if you must)

•    1 tablespoon paprika

•    1 teaspoon garlic powder

•    1 teaspoon onion powder

•    salt and pepper to taste

•    2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. In a large storage bag, mix almond meal, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper.

3. Taking 5-6 pieces of chicken at a time, throw into bag and shake until chicken is full covered.

4. With a brush, cover baking sheet with olive oil.

Place chicken bites on sheet and bake for 12 minutes. Turn chicken over and bake for another 12 minutes.

An addition to the nuggets.....

For those if you who LOVE mashed potatoes but do not like the calorie count may I present to you…..

Mashed cauliflower…. Before you roll your eyes and laugh at me… TRY IT! Don’t knock it until you try it please! ;-)

·      3 large potatoes, scrubbed, cut into 1-inch chunks
 (or less BUT add more cauliflower!)

·      1 1/2 cups cauliflower florets

·      
1-2 tablespoons olive oil


·      Vegetable broth as needed

·      
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste

1. Place the potato chunks in a saucepan filled with cold salted water and bring to a boil. When boiling, add cauliflower florets, return to a boil and cook, partially covered, for 20 minutes, until potatoes and cauliflower are very tender.

2. Drain potatoes and cauliflower, add olive oil, and gradually add vegetable broth to moisten, mashing with a potato masher or processing in a food processor until creamy and fluffy. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve hot.

Serves 4-6.

What to take from reading this besides some fabulous recipe ideas....

Stop pretending it's hard to eat healthy... it's not. The Internet is a wonderful thing! If you have a comfort food you want... make it HEALTHY!!!

 I am positive there is a recipe out there that will satisfy your craving without adding to your love handles.

ALWAYS be thinking about if what you're eating is going to make you feel strong and fit.... if not then what is the point? Who wants to feel gross and weak??

"If all the snow flakes we asparagus spears and broccoli slaw.... oh what a healthier world we would be..... "

Stuffing, Potatoes and Pie…. OH MY!!!!!!

Crisp November chill giving you rosy red checks, autumn leaves gently crackling under your feet as you walk to the door... immediately greeted with the rich scent of sweet apple pie, mashed potatoes, and the twenty-pound turkey getting prepared for your Thanksgiving feast. The sound of children giggling while playing hide n’ seek, and seeing the great pride on your grandparents faces as they watch the whole family gather around the table.

Take a moment and think how beautiful and comforting it is being surround by people that love you. For me this means more than you can imagine! I have always felt a little like a lost child and now I have a family and love… I wouldn’t give it up for the world! (Awe. Happy tears in my eyes as I write this) that is what Thanksgiving is about… being thankful for your family, friends, and health. Look at what you DO have not at what you don’t have.

 Thanksgiving is NOT about gorging yourself with food, yes take the day and enjoy your FAVORITE dishes (pass on the ones you do not care for) and be done. It’s ONE meal… not the whole day, weekend or week! If you have leftovers of something you know you will indulge in… give it away or to the compost or trash pile… would you rather have it in your body storing fat or in the ground disintegrating?

Right now make the decision that you are not going to sabotage yourself this year during the holidays! It’s not that hard to say “No thank you” when someone asks if you’d like another piece of pie… say “no thank you” and change the subject if they persist. You do not have to explain yourself to anyone. There’s no difference saying “no thank you” to the junk than it is saying “no thank you” when brussel sprouts get passed around the table (ha PLEASE say yes to those!)

Let’s Practice shall we??

"You have yet to try my pie, here have some!"


"No thank you."


"Oh, it's a holiday! C'mon, you can't diet on Thanksgiving!"


"No thank you.”

"What, you're not going to eat your grandmother's homemade pie? You loved it as a child!”

"No thank you.”

"Oh Geez, can't you have any fun anymore?"


"No thank you." (Me thinking..."What?, the only fun you can think of is food… there are several other activities I prefer much more fun than food.”)


"I'll just put a piece on your plate. There, now you'll have to eat it!"


(Placing the pie back on the serving platter) "No thank you"

Speak up for yourself, be calm yet firm. After all you are the one in control of YOU!

(If all else fails pretend you have a tummy ache…. Good to go!)

Make this Thanksgiving about how wonderful life is! No matter where you have been or what you have done you deserve to be healthy and know family, friends and God love you.

So I leave you with this little blurb I picked up from a site about what the true meaning of Thanksgiving is: 

(http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=25419)

“The Pilgrims recognized that everything we have is a gift from God – even our sorrows. Their Thanksgiving tradition was established to honor God and thank Him for His blessings and His grace.”

So once in every year we throng

Upon a day apart,

To praise the Lord with feast and song

In thankfulness of heart.

~Arthur Guiterman, The First Thanksgiving

Have a healthy, fit and fabulous Thanksgiving!!

PS I know I will be getting up in the morning to teach a killer boot camp class then do a challenge workout with my husband in the morning… he’s going to kill me I’m sure! Remember when you do resistance training and/or a high intensity workout before you eat a big dinner your body will burn more fat throughout the day! =) 

Is Facebook making you FAT?

This is a question I have been pondering for a couple weeks now…

I hear ALL the time how people say they don’t have time to eat healthy or workout… but yet they can spend anywhere from 5 minutes to 3 hours on Facebook a day!! According to journalist Ben Parr the average U.S. user spent a whopping seven hours and 46 minutes on Facebook in August 2011. That’s a full 15.5 minutes the average American spends on Facebook every single day. Let you keep in mind this is AVERAGE over millions of Americans! Typically it’s between 30 minutes to 1 hour 30 min a day a person spends on Facebook.

Don’t get me wrong… I am NOT against Facebook by any means! I LOVE connecting with old and new friends, posting pictures of my little man and being able to socialize without getting out of my pajamas some nights!

 What gets me is how obsessed people can be and let it take over their health (and family). If you are one who thinks it is too much work to make a healthy breakfast yet checks Facebook first thing when you wake up… really? It takes TWO minutes to make oatmeal (when the oatmeal is cooking I make my eggs in that SAME time).  That’s shorter than one probably spends on Facebook reading peoples statuses about how their cat wouldn’t let them sleep… (if you really want check it AFTER you make your breakfast)!

Lunch hour… perfect time to go for a walk, jog, or do a couple bouts of push-ups and squats. Heck, if you know what you’re doing it’s easy to take 30-60 minute lunch break and get a killer workout in that will get you amazing results over your lunch break (and rejuvenated for work!).

(couldn't find hair tie... ha sorry for the mess! but HEY still getting those squats in!)

Dinner time… if you’re sitting there in front of a screen looking at people updates, eating mac and cheese from the microwave and a bag of chips because you “don’t have time” to cook healthy…. That’s ridiculous! It’s time to rethink your priorities!

To pan grill some chicken (from raw), boil some brown rice and steam or healthy fry veggies it takes a little under 20 minutes for most brands… this is if the chicken is cut & RAW and rice is not instant!  You can buy it cooked and just heat it up! It will take 10 min tops!  (feel free to make extra for lunch or dinner the next day!!)

Before bed….. this one completely kills me!!! I can understand updating a status or writing someone back quick, that’s OK. Yet, so many people stay on their computers or smart phones for hours at night…. The reason this kills me? These are the SAME people who don’t have time to make their meals the next day and are “too busy” to workout… um hello…. You’re on the computer til midnight you have PLENTY of time to work out, make your meals AND go to bed early so you can get up early to work out or make a nutritious breakfast!

I can guarantee that if you want to better your health in anyway… weight loss, muscle gain, tone, or  feel better in general… Use the empty time you spend on Facebook towards making healthy meals and getting in a quick workout… YES even 5 minutes! You will see improvements within a week in the way you look and feel!  

Moral of this post…. Set your priorities and stop wasting your life on what will not matter if you only had a day left on this earth…. I mean seriously who cares that one of your friends is about to get in the shower???

Keep yourself healthy, fit and FABULOUS…(that way when you DO post pictures on Facebook you’ll look damn good!!)

Sorry For the Convenience!!

Watching people from all generations gather around singing and dancing like no one else is in the room is a truly beautiful site. That’s what my husband and I saw last night at the Paul Simon concert. Music so beautiful with every instrument imagined playing in the band. It was wonderful! Yes I am a bit of an old soul, one of the youngest in the room! 

Enjoying little things in life and having good health are what make a person truly happy. Without good health it’s hard to enjoy those little things like getting up and dancing at a concert, rolling around on the floor with your kids or grandkids, running up a flight of stairs because you forgot something and aren’t out of breath, playing catch with you siblings or friends, hauling laundry across the house without hurting the next day (or just being able to do it!), swimming in the pool without being self conscious, so many activities in life many people are unable to enjoy due to lack of physical fitness.

When we walked into the Qwest center last night and went upstairs to our seats it was busy!! People waiting in LINE to get upstairs…. But yet we were the ONLY ones taking the stairs!!! People were waiting in line for the escalator! It boggles my mind to see that!!! It’s actually really sad….

This is the sign someone needs to put up and turn OFF that silly invention!

Unless you are injured or handicapped there is NO reason to take that escalator or an elevator! Yes you might be winded the first time or two but guess what? Your body will adapt and it will become easier and actually help make your heart and leg muscles stronger!! Little changes like this into your daily routine can really help your fitness level and self-confidence! Don’t believe me? I challenge you to take the stairs EVERY chance you get until thanksgiving… you will find not only is it easier by then but you may even start to feel some leg muscles and walk a little taller!  ;)  

Fitness tips to incorporate into daily life:

• take the STAIRS!
• While waiting for food to cook do some push ups from counter top (keep elbows in!)
• Park farther away so you have to walk a little 
• During commercials of your favorite show see how many jumping jack you can do without getting out of breath
• Race your significant other or child to the end of sidewalk.
• Sit up tall when sitting... like right now!! (shoulders back, abs engaged!!)
• LOVE who you are and embrace the fact that you are made to move and use your body... if you need more help ask a fitness professional :) 

This is Brad's favorite song from Paul Simon!

I personally love this one!!! (gives me goose bumps!)

DON'T FORGET TO TAKE THE STAIRS!!!