Round and Round and Two New Recipes!

My husband and I were talking over dinner last night about routines and how they are important, but also how it is good to venture away from them from time to time.  I am a person of routine, thus Keenan is definitely a child of routine. As we were talking last night, I realized how so much of my day–including what I eat and when I workout–is a part of my routine. i.e. my “usual” breakfast and going to CrossFit every afternoon. Having a routine in my life is just who I am, though it may seem mundane to others, I thrive by it! Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE to travel, experience new things and see what the world has to offer (all while throwing the routine out the window!), but I enjoy coming home and getting back into my daily routine (I’m sure my husband’s eyes will roll as he reads this!). Having a routine makes me appreciate new things and experiences. It also helps me maintain a healthy lifestyle for myself and for my family. Without my routine of eating healthy and going to the gym every afternoon, I don’t know where I would be. A routine is vital for establishing healthy habits, such as going to the gym at a set time everyday, packing your gym bag and setting it by the door every night before you go to bed, packing healthy lunches for you and your family the night before, or planning your family’s meals for the week every Sunday. All, in all, routines help you adhere to a healthy lifestyle that last a lifetime. But (a BIG BUT), it is important to try new things and break out of your routine every once in a while. You need change in order to grow.

With that being said, I am going to try my best to break out of my “routine” here and there, not always eat and/or post about my “usual” breakfast or that we always go to CrossFit after Keenan wakes up from his nap. I am going to do my best to mix it up a bit and keep things fresh for you and me!

Speaking of mixing things up, I made Keenan and I “No-Oat Oatmeal” for breakfast this morning. It was perfect for our Fall-like morning! By the way, I’m SO excited that Fall is finally here (or at least it is appearing to be!). I love anything pumpkin, so I can’t wait to make more pumpkin muffins, bread, pancakes, soups and lattes with pumpkin pie syrup! Look for some new Fall inspired recipes with pumpkin to come soon!

Back to our breakfast…I love “No Oat Oatmeal,” because it is loaded with protein (egg whites), so it keeps you full for a long time! You can pretty much add anything to it, as far as what kind of flavor you want and it still tastes great. Since I had a little bit of leftover pumpkin, I threw that in, along with a little pumpkin pie spice and topped it with sliced strawberries and a dollop of almond butter. It was yummy!

Perfect for a Fall morning!

No Oat Oatmeal (serves 1)

Ingredients:

– 3/4 cup egg whites

– 1 Tbsp flaxseed (ground)

– 1 Tbsp chia seeds

– 2 tsp vanilla

– 1 tsp cinnamon

– 1/4 cup milk (any kind, i.e. non-dairy is fine)

– 1 tsp honey

– 1 banana (mashed)

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and transfer to a small sauce pot.

2. Cook on the stove on medium heat, constantly stirring, to make sure the bottom doesn’t burn.

3. Cook until it reaches a thick consistency like oatmeal.

4. Top with fresh berries, chopped walnuts, almonds, a scoop of almond butter or peanut butter and enjoy!

Cooking it on the stove.

*Notes: This usually cooks in 5 minutes, but if you want to save time, you could make this the night before, let cool and refrigerate. In the morning, just warm it up in the microwave for a couple of minutes and you are ready to go!

After breakfast, Keenan and I met Giselle and her little guy from A healthy Happy Home at our local park. It was so nice to meet her in person and talk “blog shop,” but also just to get to know each other. Her little guy is adorable and she is so nice. We have a lot of similarities, so it will be great to get together with them again!

Playing with the water fountain at the park (as always)!

For lunch, we ventured out of our routine and made egg sandwiches! I made Keenan an egg sandwich with cheese and tomato spread with Costco’s yogurt jalapeno dip and avocado pieces on the side. I made my egg sandwich with spinach, tomato and avocado, spread with the jalapeno dip, too. In addition, we shared a peach. It was a delicious lunch and something we will be doing again (see, it’s great to break our of our routine sometimes!).

Keenan’s lunch! Sorry for the poor picture quality, I’m not sure what happened.

My lunch! Again, sorry for the poor picture quality!

For today’s workout, we are doing one of the benchmark WODs, Fran: 21-15-9 of thrusters (65 lb) and pullups. The last time I did it was at my CrossFit Level 1 Trainer Cert and I was able to shave off 2 minutes and PR (my personal best) at 8 minutes and 12 seconds. I’m hoping to shave off another 2 minutes and finish in 6 minutes today. We’ll see! I’m a little nervous, but I’m excited to do it again. I just hope my left shoulder holds up, because it is still pretty sore, especially from yesterday’s workout.

Yesterday, we did another benchmark WOD, Elizabeth: 21-15-9 of squat cleans (95 lb) and ring dips. Since I don’t have full ring dips yet and my shoulder was sore, I used the band for them (the lightest band). I was able to finish in 9 minutes and 17 seconds! I was pretty pumped! We are going to do these benchmark WODs again in 6 weeks, so it will be great to compare and see how and if we improved!

On the menu for dinner tonight is Chinese long beans sautéed with onions, Italian sausages, sun dried tomatoes, garlic and sprinkled with feta cheese. I thought I posted a recipe for this a while ago, but apparently I didn’t, so look for this to come tomorrow!

Before I forget, here is the recipe for my roasted brussel sprouts that we had for dinner last night:

Soooo good!

Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Pine Nuts and Parmesan Cheese: (serves 3-4)

-2 lbs brussel sprouts (washed and trimmed)

– 1 large yellow or red onion (large dice)

– 1/4 cup roasted pine nuts

– 2-3 Tbsp Parmesan cheese (grated)

– 2-3 Tbsp olive oil

– 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning

– 1 Tbsp Garlic no-salt seasoning

– 1 clove garlic (minced)

– pinch of salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Toss to make sure the brussel sprouts and onion are well coated with olive oil and spices.

3. Place brussel sprouts and onion on a large cookie sheet and bake for 30-40 minutes, until golden brown.

4. Sprinkle roasted pine nuts and Parmesan cheese on top of brussel sprouts when serving. Enjoy!

Ready to go in the oven!

Question: What do you do to maintain healthy routines? Does it work? Do you function better with routines or without them?

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