Meal Plan Monday and a T25 update

This was a crazy week!  Daddy was out of town for a few nights and I was on my own.  I contemplated not even posting about our meals but then I thought about how I want to be honest and intentional with this blog so below is the real deal.  Here are the recipes (or in this case non-recipes) and how the week went down.

Monday:  I had Bible study in the morning and then spent too long on a lunch date so I ran out of time to get to the store.  Note to self:  Shopping on a Monday is not a good mix.  Instead of rushing through meal planning and then rushing through the store, I decided to get Chick-fil-a for the fam after piano practice and wait until to the next day to prepare.  I thought I was choosing the healthy salad at Chick-fil-A.  I did not.  Maybe it's just me and the fact that I rarely go through the fast food lines anymore, but I got all flustered and in a hurry and I didn't take the time to choose what I really wanted!  Lesson learned.

Tuesday:  Tortellini soup

Wednesday: Daddy was still out of town so we had leftover soup and whatever else we could find.

Thursday:  Good ole pork chops, peas and carrots, and this rice:

Friday:  My sister and her family came in town so we cooked up a large batch of chicken fajita meat.  I used greek yogurt instead of sour cream.  But we still had the refried beans and rice!  My total comfort food.  

Saturday:  Leftover fajita meat. It was such a blessing to have easy dinners this weekend so we could get a major project done.  Our garage is cleaned out and organized and that makes me very happy.  

Sunday:  We spent the day with friends and ate lunch and dinner at their house.  I enjoyed the food they had there but the best part was holding their brand new baby.  Welcome to the world little Decker!  

I would give myself a C on healthy and clean eating this past week.  I drank my Shakeology every day except one so I know I got the good stuff.   However, I really need to focus on better choices and planning for my other snacks.  For lunch, instead of my quinoa salad, I simply toasted a piece of Ezekiel Bread and topped it with cucumber, grape tomatoes, kalamata olives and a little purple onion and feta cheese.  Top it all with some balsamic vinegar for added extra flavor.  

I finished up the Alpha phase (first month) of Focus T25 and now I'm on to the Beta phase.  I'm REALLY enjoying the shorter workouts.  They go by fast and you are moving fast throughout the whole thing.  It's taking me a while to get used to not having any breaks but sometimes I just pause the video to catch my breath and start up again.  I've found that if you wait too long, by the time you've caught your breath, they have moved on to something else.  So I pause because I don't want to miss anything and I want to get the most out of the 25 minutes that I am working out.  

What have you been eating lately that it simple and easy to get you through a challenging week?

November Beachbody Excitement~Give and Recieve

Can I just tell you that I'm so proud to be a part of the Beachbody family?  And even more so this month.  Just when I think things can't get any cooler, they come along with this month's promotion.  It's called Give and Receive and it comes in two parts.  

Part 1:  "Recieve":  Whenever someone buys a challenge pack this month, they will receive a $20 dollar coupon to apply to a future purchase.  That would be like getting Results and Recovery formula, the after workout liquid gold, for about half off. * 

Part 2:  In the second piece of the promotion, “Give”, Beachbody is proud to partner with Feeding AmericaTM, the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity. For every challenge pack purchased or Shakeology order processed (on home direct) this month, Beachbody will give $10 to Feeding America. That equates to a $10 donation for every Shakeology HD order and a $20 donation for every Challenge Pack sold. 

Here's a short 2 minute video about it!

There is no limit to the amount Beachbody will donate and they've promised a minimum of $250,000 with a goal of $1,000,000.  Can you help us reach this?  Each $1 donated provides 9 meals secured by Feeding America, so together, we can provide over 2,250,000 to America’s hungry.  more information about Feeding America, or if you’d like to make a donation yourself, please visit www.feedingamerica.org/beachbody.

*Coupon Terms: When your customers or enrolling Coaches purchase a Challenge Pack in November, they’ll receive a $20 coupon towards a future minimum purchase of $30 or more on TeamBeachbody.com! Coupons will be emailed to the address on file within 7-10 business days of the Challenge Pack purchase for customers and new Coaches and on or around December 11 for sponsoring Coaches. Hurry, coupons expire on April 1, 2014! Coupons may not be used on certain products - see official promotion rules here.

Meal Plan Monday

I want to share my meal plan from last week with you.  It has its imperfections but done is better than perfect right?  In the future, I hope to incorporate more breakfast and lunch options.  I'm pretty boring in these areas so just know that I typically eat oatmeal for breakfast and Mediterranean quinoa salad for lunch.  Snacks for the day are almost always Shakeology.

So without further ado, Dinners were:

1. turkey burgers

2. cauliflower/potato soup

3. crockpot chili

4. zucchini noodles with red sauce ~ Use a julienne peeler like this to make the "noodles" and saute them in olive oil with a little garlic and minced onion.  I made these for my husband and me because the kids were eating hot dogs for Halloween with the neighbors.

5. "Brinner"(Breakfast+Dinner) ~ scrambled eggs, homemade scones, fruit, breakfast sausage

6. Cilantro lime rice w/ black beans

7. Stuffed Pepper soup (I didn't get around to making this this weekend.  I'm thinking of adding it to next week.)

Enjoy!

Currently

finishing up the first phase of Focus T25, my latest workout program

learning from the Smart Success videos from Chalene Johnson

cooking homemade chicken broth (after seeing a horrible video about "natural" flavors)
tending to poison ivy on my boy
listening to Just a Fool by Christina Aguilera
crushing on these workout tops

via

missing this place

5 uncommon kitchen untensils that help me cook healthier

Well hello there.  I'm back!  There are so many reasons why I left the blogging world but more importantly, there are reasons that I am back.  Let's just focus on those reasons, ok?  I've missed expressing myself through writing and I've missed the fact of maybe I just might be helping people here.  With that being said, I've had many ideas floating around in my head and I'm ready to jump back in.  Feet first!

Here are the 5 uncommon utensils that I use pretty much use on a daily basis to help me stay on track with healthy eating.

1. Small hand strainer ~  I use this for rinsing my quinoa, rice and canned beans.  The holes are tiny so the food doesn't fall through like a regular colander.

2.  Set of cutting boards ~  We use about 4 on a daily basis and I encourage you to have this many.  Who wants to cut up veggies or fruit when the one cutting board you own is dirty? That alone would make me grab for something else.  Also, I prefer these non-flexible ones because they are easier to clean in the sink.  I run them through the dishwasher every other day or so.  

3.  Julienne peeler ~ This is perfect for making zuchinni "noodles".  I'll share the recipe soon!

4.  Ulu knife ~ This little knife makes cutting up garlic and herbs so fast and easy.  It's fun to use too.

5.  Immersion blender ~  Since it's kind of beginning to feel like Fall here in Texas, soup is on my mind.  I've come across so many soup recipes that call for you to cook all of the ingredients and then add it to a food processor.  I've burned myself too many times and finally picked up one of these at my local grocery store for cheap.  Just blend up those ingredients while they are still in that pot.  (And you don't have to clean a food processor!) I don't use mine too often so I'm not sure how it would hold up with more frequent use.

  What about you?  What would you add to the list?

Thrilling Jeep Rides & Waterfalls

So I'm just now getting the courage to write about the next two days of our Colorado trip (over the summer!).   These days were thrilling and I was actually downright scared through some of it.  

I felt like Roo in this picture.

We rented a jeep for two days.  A jeep that would take us to some of the most amazing places I've ever seen.  But with that came narrow roads, steep inclines, and raised heartbeats!  The jeep trail that we did the first day was a bit long and really bumpy.  But nothing too major.  (That was day two!) Our day started off nice and calm at an old abandoned mine.  This house obviously belonged to a wealthy family.

 It even had an indoor potty.  I could have stayed in this house all day.  My love for houses does not discriminate between the old and the new.  

 Our next stop was so breathtaking I can't even try to describe it.  The name of the point on the map is called "oh" point because it leaves you speechless.  We enjoyed our lunch here with the most spectacular 360 degree view.

I was happily in charge of the map that gave historical information about each spot along the trail.  I still can't believe that the next spot was just a little dot on the map.  Not too much information but the word waterfall is like a magnet to my hubby so we had to stop.  And we couldn't just look at it from the nice overlook they provided.  Nope.  We walked straight down the crumbly trail to the base of the waterfall.

My baby girl was becoming a pro with those hiking boots.

 See?  He's in heaven.

 The water was very cold!

Here is another random waterfall on the way back to town.  They were everywhere.  It was like a game to see how many waterfalls we could find.  

But day two of jeep riding?  Oh how I wish I could go back and try to enjoy it more.  Honestly, I really did try.  I prayed my heart out to not be scared but but maybe I was just praying that I wouldn't die.  Hmm, that's not the same thing.  Anyway, if there was any day I could have a do over with it would be that one.  Hopefully I won't be away from the blog too long to tell you about it soon.  But I've got a crazy week ahead of me and I've got to prioritize my time.  That means cleaning because bible study is at my house this week!

Hi

Hi.  I've forgotten how much I like to blog.  I've missed the little exhilarating feeling of hitting the publish button.  I won't try and recap (for the hundredth time!), but like with a good friend that you haven't talked to in a while, I'll just start sharing.

This week was hard.  J-man got upper and lower appliances in his mouth on Monday.  Now starts our adventure with orthodontics.  He has taken it way better than me.  That night, with all the slobber in his mouth, he was making jokes about waking up in a pool of spit.  Me?  I would have been crying.  I told him that he makes me want to be better and his quick response that I didn't have to be meant the world to me.  I think it's a bit too early to celebrate getting them off?

A few months ago, I accepted a volunteer leading position at my church in outreach.  I was certain I got a clear answer to prayer about if I should do it or not.  But the next day, the doubts and fears took over!  I'm stretching and learning and praying like crazy.  I had another meeting with my pastor yesterday and I've realized that it's way more about the people that I will be serving and the church I'll be helping.  It's changing me and I'm not too sure how I feel about it!  His question to me was "Why do you feel like you have to do it all on your own?"  Um, because that's how I've always done it.   My independence comes with a fault sometimes.

But I've started a Beth Moore bible study focusing on the fruit of the spirit.  And I know that it will help with my new job.  If I take most of myself out of it and let Him do his work, all will be well.  I'm clinging to this and to my new group of friends that I know will be helping me along the way!

I'm also knee deep in house projects.  (Isn't this why I started this blog in the first place?)  We finished the music room (minus a few accessories) but it has left other rooms in shambles.  So I'm off to get them worked on!

{Yikes!}