Thankful Thursday and Halloween Fun! November 1, 2012

I hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween! We had a great time last night! Keenan really took to the whole concept of trick-or-treating and loved going door-to-door! He did a good job with saying “trick-or-treat,” though we would have to prompt him! He would always say “hi” when people answered their door and “thank you,” as he left, being very polite, which was really cute. He loved seeing all of the “big kids” trick-or-treating and wanted to run as fast as they were, in fact, as he was holding my mom’s hand, he kept saying “faster, faster!” The highlight of last night was seeing Keenan experience Halloween for the first time.  He was so excited about everything: dressing-up, going trick-or-treating (especially with Nonna!), eating candy for the first time, looking at all of the Halloween decorations on people’s houses and seeing other kids out and dressed-up. It was so much fun to see Halloween through his eyes and see him so happy! It truly melted my heart.

Here are a few pictures from our evening:

At his first house!

Getting his first handful of candy!

Going through his candy with Slinky at the end of the evening!

A quick family picture! Don’t you just love the sweats and lovely hairdo I was sporting?!

He was SO excited to enjoy his first piece of candy, a mini sucker that he unwrapped all by himself!

Today, after my mom headed home, we  met with an estate attorney. At my MOMs Club meeting last month, an estate attorney made a presentation about the importance of establishing guardianship and making plans if something unforeseen were to happen. Though, my husband and I have casually talked about a few things, we hadn’t discussed anything in depth about who would take care of Keenan if something were to happen to us. I hate talking about these things, but after hearing the presentation, it really made me think about the “what ifs” and how it is better to be prepared than have nothing in place. Fortunately, the attorney offered everyone who attended the presentation a complimentary consultation, so I immediately made an appointment.

Today’s appointment with the attorney made us think about a lot of things that we really never thought about it before (nor really want to think about, but need to). It put things into perspective and made me appreciate what we have in our lives and that we have each other. You just never know what can happen…

With that said, today I’m linking up with Jessie at Jessie Loves to Run, for her Thankful Thursday link-up. When things get busy, or I’m stressed, I sometimes forget to slow down, take a deep breath and really appreciate all that I have in my life. It is easy to take things for granted and not reflect on what we are blessed with or show appreciation or love for others. So, I thought it would be great to make a list of what I am thankful for. Thank you Jessie for coming up with such a great idea!

• My family: I’m so blessed to have such a supportive and loving family. They are my rock and everyone is always willing to help each other. Sometimes, we might not agree on things, but we still respect and love one another.
• My mom: She is my best friend, mentor and role model. I strive to be as good of a mom as she is to me. I love that I can tell her anything and she is always there to listen, offer a shoulder to cry on or a warm hug. She is also a tremendous Nonna to Keenan and my niece and I’m so thankful for everything that she does for us!
• My husband: He is my best friend and the love of my life. I am truly blessed to have met him 11 years ago! He makes me laugh everyday and is always there, supporting me along the way. He is a wonderful father and I couldn’t have asked for a better partner to share my life with.
• Keenan: I am so blessed to have him in my life. He is my sunshine, making me smile and laugh everyday. I can’t believe that already 2 years have gone by, but I have loved every minute of it! His snuggles, hugs, kisses and sweetness are priceless.
• Health and Fitness: I’m thankful for being able to workout and stay active. Even though there are days when I don’t feel like doing anything, I’m thankful for having the ability to exercise.
• Faith: I’m thankful for my faith and it helping me get through difficult times, such as when we lost my brother, or my grandparents. My faith has always been there and it has helped me get to where I am today.

This evening, I am heading to CrossFit to get my workout in and then stay to help with the beginner’s class. My lower back is still a little sore from max deadlifts on Tuesday, so we’ll see how today goes. After doing virtually two workouts yesterday (heavy skill work in the morning and a WOD in the afternoon), I’m a little tired. I’m looking forward to tomorrow evening, because my husband and I have a couples massage scheduled (thanks to groupon!) for our date night!

Anyhow, on the menu for tonight is a roasted broccoli salad with cherry tomatoes, red onion, chicken and feta cheese. I just love roasted broccoli with charred cherry tomatoes; they are just so good together!

Have a great afternoon!

Question: What are you thankful for? How was your Halloween?

*The winner of the Artisana giveaway is: Danielle at Clean Food Creative Fitness! Please email me at fitnwellmommy@yahoo.com with your address!

Happy Halloween and What I Ate Wednesday! October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween! Since it is Wednesday, it is time to link up with Jenn for What I Ate Wednesday!

Instead of just focusing on today’s eats, I thought I would do a roundup of what I ate the past few days, especially, since I haven’t talked much about them.

On Sunday night, I made spaghetti squash tomato bake with turkey, using cheddar cheese, instead of mozzarella (I forgot to include mozzarella on my grocery list for the week). I actually liked the cheddar cheese better, because it was much more flavorful!

Before it was baked.

Just out of the oven!

We have also enjoyed our “usual breakfast” (having it on Monday and this morning).

The usual, but always good!

For lunches the past couple of days, I have been eating my new favorite dish: microwave egg whites in a mug on top of a bed of spinach with tomatoes, avocado and salsa. Keenan has been enjoying “cheesy egg” and turkey and cheese sandwiches.

So good and so satisfying!

Since we had so much leftover spaghetti squash, we have eaten it the past couple of nights for dinner (finally finishing it last night). I just love making big casseroles that last a few days. It makes dinners SO easy!

On the menu for tonight is Chinese long beans with Italian Sausage and mushrooms added. It should be good! I figure a nice veggie loaded one-pot meal will be perfect for tonight, since we will probably snack on some popcorn while watching a movie, while passing out candy.

Speaking of popcorn, I can’t forget to mention that Keenan and I have been snacking on some wonderful salted caramel popcorn from Angie’s Popcorn, that we received a couple of days ago (look for a review and giveaway coming soon!).

SO incredibly good!

Since we are going trick-or-treating tonight, I still have a lot to do, including going to CrossFit to do today’s WOD (I went to the box this morning to do some skill work of strict presses, push presses, handstand pushups and double unders), so I’m going to keep today’s post short. Also, my mom is here, to go trick-or-treating with us and spend the night (which Keenan is SO excited about!), so I better get going!

Questions: What are your plans for tonight? What have you been eating the past few days?

FINAL REMINDER: The Artisana giveaway ends tonight at 8 p.m. PST!! To enter, click here.

Artisana Giveaway!! October 25, 2012

Well, it is cleaning day over here, not something I am looking forward to (as usual!). Since my goals today are to get the entire house cleaned, laundry done and dinner prepped, I’m going to keep today’s post short. There is just too much to do! In addition, I’m heading to another blogging event tonight, so I definitely have to get all of my things done. I’m excited about tonight’s blogging event; it is sponsored by the SITS Girls, an online blogging community of more than 40,000 women bloggers. I look forward to meeting other local bloggers and learning more about the SITS community. I’ll fill you in tomorrow with how it went!

Onto today: I tried out a new breakfast of paleo pancakes, inspired by Danielle. I used 2 eggs, 2 egg whites, 2 bananas, 1 Tbsp flaxseed, 1 Tbsp chia seeds, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp vanilla, a drop of milk and 1 tsp of baking powder, to make enough for Keenan and I (with some leftover to freeze for later!). They turned out great and were so simple to make (very similar to my No Oat Oatmeal). I’ll definitely be making these again!

Soooo good topped with a dollop of Fage Greek yogurt, honey and berries!

Look who was excited to have pancakes this morning! He ate three whole pancakes!

Now, onto Artisana!

They are a small organic food company based in Oakland and specialize in making raw nut and seed butters, with some super food products, such as acai berry, goji berry and blue green algae. They are committed to sustainable living and support the organic and living foods movement. They focus on purchasing foods as locally as possible, buying directly from organic farmers. All of their products contain lots of vitamins and minerals, non-animal proteins, essential fatty-acids and fiber, as well as being certified kosher.

The goodies that Artisana sent!

Artisana was very kind and sent me a box of their goodies last week to try. They sent some coconut butter, raw walnut, almond, cashew, pecan and macadamia nut butters, along with their cacao bliss (coconut butter mixed with cocoa). I had only tried raw almond butter prior to trying Artisan’s products (which was okay, I prefer roasted), so I was excited to try other raw butters, along with coconut butter. I first tried their raw walnut butter on top of my Pumpkin Almond Flour Muffins and it was really creamy and rich. I was quite surprised at how good it was! The next day, I added a dollop of cashew butter to my No Oat Oatmeal and again, I was pleasantly surprised at how creamy and tasty it was. Since I hadn’t been a fan of raw almond butter in the past, I was surprised at how much I liked Artisana’s butters! Last weekend, we all topped our pancakes with coconut butter and the cacao bliss.! The two together were heavenly! Overall, all of their butters were excellent and I will definitely be adding their coconut and walnut butter to our list of “nut butter staples” that we keep in our cabinet. If you haven’t tried Artisan’s products, I highly recommend trying them. You won’t be disappointed!

Very tasty!

Coconut and cashew butter!

Since Artisana was so generous, they offered to send one lucky a reader a box of their goodies!

To enter the giveaway, please follow the steps below:

1. Leave a comment on this post stating how you would use your raw nut butter.

(Optional) Earn an extra entry by:

1. Like Fit ‘N’ Well Mommy’s Facebook page

2. Follow Fit ‘N’ Well Mommy on Twitter: @FitNWellMommy

3. Like Artisana’s Facebook page

Post on YOUR Facebook page or Tweet, “I want to win a box of goodies from Artisana and Fit ‘N’ Well Mommy at http://www.fitnwellmommy.com.”

*Make sure to leave a second comment on this post with your Facebook post, Tweet or Like, in order for your extra entry to be counted!

The giveaway ends next Wednesday, Oct. 31st at 8 p.m. PST!! Good luck!