Friday Favorites December 8, 2012

TGIF! Look where “Peanut” was this morning…sitting on top of our Advent Calendar! Keenan was very happy that she was not playing with his toys and back by the couch!

Enjoying the view from the Advent Calendar!

Anyhow, I’m glad it is Friday, but anxious about tomorrow: my first real CrossFit competition! I didn’t sleep well last night in anticipation for it and I know tonight isn’t going to be any different. I am going to go there tomorrow and do my best, give it 100% and have fun (at least try to!) At the end of the day, I know I will be glad that I competed, but I will also be VERY relieved! My husband and I are planning a special “at home date night” tomorrow night with a truffle brie cheese that we picked up at Costco, as a little reward for competing; I can’t wait!

On Sunday, I’m looking forward to a nice relaxing family day of finishing up our homemade Christmas gifts, baking and looking at Christmas lights in the Fab 40’s neighborhood of Sacramento (such a great place to look at lights!). I can’t wait to see Keenan’s reaction to all of the lights!

Since it is Friday, it is time for “Friday Favorites!” I love Fridays, because it is nice to look back on the week and think about all of the great things that happened and great things we ate! Don’t get me wrong, I love that Fridays also equal the end of a long week and the start of the weekend, too!

Favorite Moments:

• Singing with Keenan in the car to the song, “Someone I Used to Know” at the top of our lungs! He loves that song so much that we have to play it at least twice when we are driving (if he had his way all the time, we would ONLY listen to that song!).

• Baking Paleo Chocolate Chip Protein Cookies with Keenan. As I was adding the chocolate chips, he was taking them out and shoveling them into his mouth!
  

  My little “Baking Assistant!”

• Watching Keenan find “Peanut” every morning and trying not to laugh when he gets so irritated that she is playing with his toys.

• Playing with the box of baby wipes!
  

  Having fun with his empty box of wipes!

• Dancing with my husband and Keenan to Christmas songs and playing “Ring Around the Roses!”

Favorite Eats:

• No Oat Oatmeal with spinach and topped with Coconut Whipped Cream
  
  

  So good!

Serious about his No Oat Oats and Coconut Whipped Cream!

• Paleo Pancakes topped with Coconut Whipped Cream
  

  Such a yummy breakfast!

• Cauliflower Rice (Mediterranean Style)
  

  Such a hearty one-pot meal!

• Turkey Wraps
  

  Still one of my favorite things to have for lunch!

• Slow-Cooker Eggplant Caponata with Chicken
  

  Delicious one-pot meal!

Keenan is waking up, so it is time to head outside for a walk while Keenan rides his trike and then some piano time playing Christmas songs! Have a great evening and weekend!

Questions: What were your favorite moments and/or eats from this week? Do you ever get so nervous for an event/race that you wonder why you signed up in the first place? How do you calm your nervous energy and tell yourself you will be fine prior to an event and/or race? I am a competitive person and have always loved competition, but every time before an event, I get SO nervous! Even though I know things will be okay in the end, I can’t stop feeling anxious.

REMINDER: There is still time to win a box of the BEST popcorn EVER!! Angie’s Popcorn giveaway ends next Tuesday, December 11th at 8 p.m. PST!! Click here to enter!

Friday Favorites + Paleo Chocolate Chip Protein Cookies! November 30, 2012

TGIF!  I’m SO glad it is Friday; it has been quite a week with being sick, still trying to get some good  training time in for next week’s competition, as well projects completed for the holidays! Though we have a busy day tomorrow, it will be nice to have some quality family time on Sunday. We are planning to get our Christmas tree this weekend, so Sunday’s agenda is decorating it and baking cookies! Also, I’m excited to start the Advent calendar and “Elf on the Shelf” with Keenan tomorrow!

Today has been a nice lazy day at home. My husband let me sleep in this morning to get some additional rest and boy, did it help! I definitely feel a lot better today. Even though I don’t like using nasal sprays, I gave in and used one last night and it worked wonders! I could breathe and finally get some sleep. I’m hoping with another good night’s rest, I will feel even better tomorrow.

Since it was raining this morning, I thought it was a perfect time to bake cookies, experimenting with almond flour and coconut oil. Keenan was eager to be my “baking assistant,” so he could taste everything, especially the chocolate chips! We had a fun time baking while listening to Christmas music. It was cute, he sat on his step stool and watched the cookies bake (I had the oven light on), the entire 8 minutes! Once the cookies were ready to eat, he was super excited to have one, and another and a half of another one! I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised at how good the cookies turned out. They are perfectly moist and flavorful. My husband actually said that they were probably some of the best cookies he has ever eaten…WOW!

These are so good, it is hard to stop eating them!

Paleo Chocolate Chip Protein Cookies: (makes 2 dozen cookies)

Ingredients:

– 2 1/2 cups almond flour

– 1/2 tsp baking soda

– 1 heaping scoop vanilla protein powder

– 1/2 tsp salt

– 2 tbsp flaxseed

– 1/4 cup Xylitol

– 1/2 cup coconut oil

– 2 eggs

– 1 tsp vanilla

– 1/4 cup raw honey

– 1/2 – 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips (depending on how chocolatey you want your cookies to be)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray nonstick spray on two cookie sheets

2. Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

3. Mix wet ingredients together in a small bowl and gently mix into dry ingredients.

4. Add chocolate chips and combine.

5. Form dough into small balls, place onto prepared cookie sheets and press them down.

6. Bake for 7-10 minutes, until lightly browned (but don’t over bake). Let cool and enjoy!

*Notes: These cookies don’t rise and spread out as regular chocolate chip cookies, so make sure to press them down, otherwise the cookies will stay in the shape of a ball.

So excited to finally eat a cookie!

Now, onto “Friday Favorites!” I love Fridays, because it is a great time to reflect back on the week and think about my favorite moments and things that I ate. I’ve been doing pretty well with living more in the present and cherishing each and every moment, instead of thinking about what I have to do next, but it is still a challenge. Friday Favorites is a nice reminder to slow down and appreciate the little things in my life!

Favorite Moments:

• Keenan enjoying the wonderful taste of homemade whipped cream!
  

  Having a taste straight from the container (thanks to my husband)!

• Cuddling with Keenan and his critters!
  

  Snuggling with his blanket and critters!

• Baking cookies!
  

  My little “baking assistant!”

• Enjoying some cuddle time with my husband while watching one of our favorite shows, “Parenthood.”

Favorite Eats:

• Spaghetti Squash Tomato Bake with turkey (Mexican style with black beans, spices, salsa and cheddar cheese)
  

  I made this last night for dinner and it was the best batch ever. Everyone liked the Mexican version better!

• Mediterranean Chicken in the Crock Pot
  

  Such a good dinner and super easy to make!

• Rustic Pumpkin and White Bean Soup
  

  Such a nice Fall soup!

• Paleo Chocolate Chip Protein Cookies
  

  Fresh out of the oven!

It’s time to work on some more Christmas projects and visit with my brother (he came in last night for a quick visit, since he has some work in the area). No CrossFit again for me today. I’m thinking rest is the best thing until I’m feeling 100%. I’m hoping to fit in a workout tomorrow or Sunday. Have a great afternoon!

Question: What were some of your favorite moments and eats from this week? Any fun holiday plans for the weekend?

REMINDER: There is still time to enter a chance to win a cute workout headband from Simple-Trends! Giveaway ends Monday, Dec. 3rd at 8 p.m. PST!! Click here to enter.

Friday Favorites! November 16, 2012

TGIF!! I don’t know about you, but I am ready for the weekend, especially since it is suppose to me cold and rainy here in Sacramento! Even though we have errands to run and things to get done around the house, it will be nice to have an excuse to cuddle up on the couch with a warm cup of hot chocolate. It is also crazy (and exciting) that Thanksgiving is less than a week away! Is it just me, or has this year flown by?

I’m also looking forward to a date night tomorrow night, thanks to an anniversary gift from my parents. We are going to dinner and then seeing the show, “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” at the Cosmopolitan Cabaret. It should be a fun night! Tonight, we are having an “at home date night,” making a roasted cauliflower salad with Gruyere cheese, bacon, roasted pine nuts and arugula, along with a bottle of wine that we bought last weekend after Keenan goes to bed. We have a lot of shows to catch-up on, so I think we will be having a TV marathon after dinner!

Before I talk about my “Friday Favorites” for this week, I want to tell you how my coaching went last night. I coached the CrossFit beginner’s class again and it was SO much better than last week! There were only 8 people, so that made a huge difference, but overall, I felt more confident and more of myself. I was able to loosen-up, be louder, make people laugh and remember everyone’s names from last week. I had a blast coaching and I can’t wait to do it again! Speaking of, my coach asked me to coach the weekend class tomorrow morning, since his wife is in a competition all day in the bay area. It should be fun, and another great opportunity to practice my coaching!

Now, onto “Friday Favorites!” If you missed my post from a few weeks ago, I decided to start a new theme for my Friday’s posts. Every Friday, I plan to reflect back on my favorite moments and eats from the past week, as part of my new focus of living more in the present and cherishing each and every moment.

Favorite Moments:

• Doing arts and crafts with Keenan yesterday: making a turkey using his hand cut-outs and hand prints!

• Having our “morning family snuggle time” in our bed reading stories with Keenan.

• Having breakfast with my favorite silly guy!

• Coaching the CrossFit beginner’s class last night.

Favorite Eats:

• Loaded Pumpkin Protein No Oat Oatmeal (I just can’t get enough!).

• Egg whites in a Mug over a bed of spinach with avocado, tomato, roasted pumpkin seeds and salsa or pasta sauce (another thing I just can’t stop eating!).

• Paleo Pancakes with Almond Flour

• Mediterranean Chicken in the Crock Pot

Have a great afternoon and weekend!

Questions: What were your favorite moments and eats from this week? Any fun plans for the weekend? Are you ready for Thanksgiving?

Friday Favorites and Fitblogger! November 9, 2012

Happy Friday! Are you one of the lucky ones who has Monday off in honor of Veteran’s Day?

I’m SO excited it is Friday because we have some fun things planned for the weekend and today is my feature post for Fitblogger!! If you haven’t checked it out, you can see my post here. I was so thrilled to be asked to be a featured blogger! Fitblogger is a community of healthy living bloggers. It is a place to meet other bloggers, support one another and gain great information pertaining to health, fitness and  blogging.

As for the weekend, we are doing a little more celebrating for my birthday, starting with tomorrow at my in-laws. My mother-in-law is making a special brunch for my birthday with the most yummiest beverage ever, Cafe Bon, a mocha mixed with Amarula (a liquor similar to Kahlua) with homemade whipped cream! I can’t wait! On Sunday, we are going wine tasting in Amador County with some friends. My husband is planning it, so I’m not sure what all he has planned; it should be fun!

Tonight, we are going to have an “at home date night” after Keenan goes to bed, catching-up on our favorite TV shows that we missed during the week. I’m not sure what we are having for dinner: either stuffed bell peppers (since I have a couple that need to be used) or something with sweet potatoes. We’ll see…

This morning, I went to the box to do some skill work of cleans, squat cleans and split jerks. We are heading back to the box this afternoon for the WOD. My shoulders are definitely feeling it from this morning, so this afternoon shall be interesting! At least I have two days off!

Now, onto “Friday Favorites!” If you missed my post from a couple of weeks ago, I decided to start a new theme for my Friday’s posts. Every Friday, I plan to reflect back on my favorite moments and eats from the past week, as part of my new focus of living more in the present and cherishing each and every moment.

Favorite Moments:

• Keenan having fun taking a bubble bath!

• Playing piano and singing with Keenan. He even made “Baba” play the piano!

• Keenan sporting his new “Elmo” outfit, thanks to Nonna!

Favorite Eats:

• Turkey Meatloaf in the Crock Pot

• Turkey Meatloaf Melts

• Loaded Pumpkin Protein No Oat Oatmeal

Have a great weekend!

Questions: What were some of your favorite moments and eats from this week? Any suggestions on what to do with two green bell peppers or sweet potatoes for our dinner tonight?

*REMINDER: There is still time to enter the Fiber Gourmet giveaway! Contest ends Nov. 13th at 8 p.m. PST!! To enter, click here!

The Very Inspiring Blog Award

I can’t believe that this is the first time all day that I have had a chance to sit down in front of my computer (now 10 p.m.!). It was a long day, but very productive! Today was my not-so favorite day in our household…cleaning day. Even though I always feel a million times better after my house is cleaned, I don’t enjoy doing it. Who does? Thankfully my mom came over this morning to play with Keenan while I cleaned, which made things so much easier. Though Keenan loves to help, I can go so much faster when he isn’t around.

Before I forget, I have to share a couple of creative ways I used leftovers from last night’s dinner. Since I am usually not the best for coming up with different ways to use leftovers, I was excited about today’s creations!

Breakfast: I added leftover roasted butternut squash to scrambled eggs. Since I made the squash sweet, I whisked in a little vanilla, cinnamon, honey and flaxseed to the eggs, making semi-sweet scrambled eggs with butternut squash. I know it doesn’t sound good, but it worked and was really tasty! The base was like No Oat Oatmeal, except scrambled.

So good and so satisfying!

Even Keenan enjoyed his scrambled eggs with butternut squash!

Dinner: Since it was a cold day, a turkey meatloaf melt sounded good. We added a little pasta sauce to the whole wheat bread and then topped it with a slice of a tomato, leftover meatloaf and Gouda cheese. We placed the melts under the broiler for a few minutes, until the cheese was bubbly and golden brown. They turned out so good! On the side, we had a pear and walnut salad mixed with a little balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Perfect for a cold night!

One of the reasons as to why I am writing this so late is that I helped coach the beginner’s CrossFit class tonight. It was my first opportunity to take the lead and coach most of the class. I was extremely excited, but also a little nervous, especially since there were 30 people in class! Even though I have taught health education classes to 20-25 people and led meetings with several audience members in the past, I still had a few nerves. Overall, it went okay, a little chaotic, but not too bad. I definitely have some areas that I need to work on, especially being louder and loosening up a bit, but with time, they should come (I hope!).

Now, onto The Very Inspiring Blog Award!

A couple of weeks ago, I was nominated by Diana, at Food n Thought Peddler and a couple of days ago, by Giselle, at A Healthy Happy Home. Thank you ladies; you both are so sweet!

It is a fun award to get to know fellow bloggers!

Here is how the award works:

1.  Thank the person who nominated you.

2.  List 7 things about yourself.

3.  Nominate 15 bloggers and inform them.

7 Things About Myself:

1. I raised sheep and showed them competitively for 4-H and FFA from the ages of 9 to 18 years old. My oldest brother started the breeding project, so I literally grew up with sheep. In fact, I was so close to all of our ewes, that my brothers would send me in to get them (as little as 2 years old!)  for vaccinations or trimming their hooves! The sheep loved me!

2. I absolutely LOVE Lucille Ball and the “I love Lucy” show. My grandmother introduced me to the show when I was 8 years old and I haven’t stopped watching it, in fact. When I am sick or feeling down, I watch a couple episodes and I always feel better. I used to collect the show’s memorabilia, in fact in our first home, our guest room was the “Lucy” room with all things “I Love Lucy,” including the bedding!

3. I am the youngest in my family with a 10 year age gap between my oldest brother, Chris and me. My middle brother and I are 5 years a part. It was great growing-up with two older brothers. They were my protectors, but also taught me to be tough, to stand my ground and be myself. I loved wrestling and playing football with them. They were the best big brothers a girl could have!

4. My husband and I were the choreographers for my high school’s show choir during our first year of marriage. I was in show choir and danced throughout high school and my husband used to teach swing dancing, so the choral director at the time, asked us to help. We had so much fun, especially choreographing, “Proud Mary.”

5. I met my husband on the doorstep of my apartment my second year of college. Even though we had a couple of classes together a few semesters prior (he saw me in class, I didn’t know him at the time), he was too shy to talk to me. One night, he and his friends (who lived in the apartment across from mine) were having a little get-together. They parked their car in front of my apartment and saw me studying on the couch through the window. His friend wanted to invite me to their party, so he knocked on the door. My husband immediately spewed out the classes that we had been in together, as well as stating what I used to wear, so I immediately declined their party invitation and locked the door (stalker!). A little while later, my now-husband knocked on the door holding a special Belgian cherry beer, called Kriek, that he felt I absolutely had to taste. My roommate, who had just gotten home and didn’t know what had happened, earlier, immediately let him in. We have been together ever since! We actually used Kriek (instead of champagne) for our toast at our wedding.

6. One of my favorite places to shop is Nordstrom. Their customer service is awesome and you can literally return anything at anytime (with or without receipt) and still get your money back. Though, I am on a budget, I can’t always shop there as much as I like. When they have crazy sales, like their Anniversary or Half-Yearly ones, I always try to go, because their deals are hard to miss!

7. Playing the piano and singing are two hobbies/passions of mine. I took piano lessons when I was little (4 years old) and vocal lessons in high school. I try to play the piano as often as I can, but I don’t always have the time. One of my goals is to truly sing and play the piano at the same time. For some pieces that I have mostly memorized, it is easier, but sight reading both piano and vocals is something I’ve yet to master.

15 Bloggers:

Jessie Loves to Run

Mommy Run Fast

Stuft Mama

Clean Food Creative Fitness

Say What You Need to Say

Our Best Bites

Fitnessista

A Healthy Slice of Life

Peas and Thank You

Healthy Diva Eats

Steph’s Bite By Bite

Whipped

Another Jennifer

Frugal Foodie Mama

Sunday Baker

Question: What are some of your favorite things or things people don’t know about you?

*REMINDER: There is still time to enter a chance to win a sampler pack of pasta or a case of crackers from Fiber Gourmet! Giveaway ends Nov. 13th at 8 p.m. PST!! To enter, click here!

Friday Favorites November 2, 2012

TGIF!! I’m SO excited for this afternoon and weekend! My husband and I have a date night planned for tonight that includes a couples massage (thanks to Groupon!) and dinner afterwards. Keenan is staying with my parents for the night, whoohoo! Tomorrow afternoon, we are heading to my parents to stay the night and on Sunday, my mom and I are having a “girls day” at the spa at Wine and Roses in Lodi for my birthday (my birthday is on Sunday and I still can’t believe I will be 31!). It should be a lot of fun, and I can’t wait for some MUCH NEEDED pampering and relaxation!!

Since it is Friday, it is time for “Friday Favorites!” If you didn’t see last week’s post, I decided to start a new theme for my Friday’s posts. Every Friday, I plan to reflect back on my favorite moments and eats from the past week, as part of my new focus of living more in the present and cherishing each and every moment (living more the Alaska way).

Favorite Moments:

• Trick-or-treating with Keenan and seeing him so excited and happy!

• Keenan and my mom playing together and being silly!

• My husband and Keenan playing the guitar together!

• Playing with Keenan in his sandbox and cuddling with Slinky!

• Keenan and I creating our own version of “Rockabye Baby,” except calling it “Rockabye Potty” and turning it into a potty song for potty training!

Favorite Eats:

• Loaded Pumpkin Protein No Oat Oatmeal

• Microwave egg whites in a mug over a bed of spinach, tomatoes, avocado and salsa

• Popcorn!

• Quest Bars!

After looking back at this week’s eats, I definitely need to try a few new things next week. My favorite eats from last week were pretty much the same this week (but they were SO good!).  🙂

Since our massage appointments are later this afternoon, I need to keep today’s post short, so I can finish up a few things and take a shower. I went to CrossFit this morning and got a great circuit workout in of medicine ball cleans, rope climbs, GHD sit-ups, push presses (55 lb), over-the-box jumps and sumo deadlift high pulls of 50 lbs. We did 1 minute at each station (doing as many reps as you could in that minute) for 3 rounds. The left side of my lower back is still sore, so I’m looking forward to my massage later! Tomorrow, everyone who is competing in the next few weeks is meeting up to do a couple of WODs. I want to go, but I’m going to see how my back feels in the morning.

Well, have a wonderful Friday and a great weekend!

Question: What were some of your favorite moments and eats from this past week?