What I Ate Wednesday and More November 29, 2012

Happy Hump-Day! Sorry this is so late; this is the first time I’ve had a chance to sit down in front of my computer all day! It was a busy one, to say the least! Keenan woke up past 8:00 a.m. which was nice, but he also woke up at 3:00 a.m., calling frantically for my husband. I think he had a bad dream because he just wanted to be held and sung to when my husband went into his room. Fortunately, he went right back to sleep, but my husband and I had a hard time going back to sleep. Needless to say, we were tired this morning!

Today was cleaning day (not one of my favorite days, especially with a cold!), so after Keenan and I ate breakfast, I  did a little cleaning downstairs while he played (which included some cuddle time on the couch with his critters!) before we got ready to head to the box. I met a couple of my fellow athletes to do some skill work, back extensions on the glute ham developer, light deadlifts and box cleans. It was good to get some extra work in before the evening class.

Snuggling with his blanket and critters!

Tonight’s WOD was challenging: run 400 meters and 3 rounds of 15 pullups and 15 hand release pushups for 20 minutes, doing as many rounds as possible. The pullups were tough on my arm and the running is always a challenge. I’m slowly working on a faster pace. I was able to complete 2 rounds and 200 meters, not bad, but definitely not the best. After class, I helped coach the beginner’s class, which was fun, as always! It is fun to meet new people who have just joined and those who have been coming for a while and are continuing to get stronger!

Since it’s Wednesday, you know the drill! I’m linking up with Jenn at Peas and Crayons for What I Ate Wednesday!

Here are some of the things I ate the past few days:

Breakfasts:

• No Oat Oatmeal with spinach
  

  I just love this breakfast!

• My husband’s famous “cheesy eggs” (with feta, for a change)
  

  My husband’s scrambled eggs are some of the best I have ever eaten!

• Pumpkin Pie Latte with my husband’s leftover homemade whipped cream (a nice compliment to my breakfasts!)
  

  So yummy; perfect for cold and rainy mornings!

Lunches:

• Turkey wraps with spinach, tomato, avocado and pepperoncinis
  

  One of my new favorites!

• Egg whites in a mug over a bed of spinach, tomato, avocado, pasta sauce and roasted pumpkin seeds
  

  I just can’t get enough of this!

• Egg White Florentine in a Mug with avocado and pasta sauce on top
  

  So easy to make and so satisfying for breakfast or lunch!

Dinners:

• Mediterranean Chicken in the Crock Pot
  

  Such a good dinner and super easy to make!

• Crock Pot Pork and Apples with roasted broccoli, cherry tomatoes, red onions and feta cheese
  

  Such a hearty and yummy meal!

• Thai red curry stir-fry of baby bok choy, onions, bell peppers, mushrooms and chicken
  

  A great meal for a cold night, thanks to my husband for making it!

Well, it is time for a nice hot shower and then bed! I’m exhausted! Have a good night!

Questions: What have you eaten the past few days? Are you still eating turkey leftovers? Have you tried any new foods or recipes lately?

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

TGIF! October 12, 2012

Excited to be wearing his Halloween Spider shirt today, thanks to Nonna!

Happy Friday! Since this week has been extremely busy, I’m SO happy it is Friday! Since my husband will be out of town for work this weekend (bummer!), Keenan and I are headed to parent’s house, after he wakes up from his nap this afternoon. We are planing to go to a local pumpkin patch tomorrow, so that should be fun! Keenan is SUPER excited to go to Nonna and Avo’s house that he hasn’t stopped talking about all day! He is so anxious, that he had a hard time going down for his nap. It is too cute!

Speaking of napping, Keenan woke up twice last night (or early this morning) at 4:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. screaming. I’m not sure if it was a bad dream, night terror or his teeth. He hasn’t woken up in the middle of the night for several months (when he went through a period of having night terrors, but I thought we passed that). Fortunately, he went back to sleep after he woke up at 4:00 (after my husband went in and comforted him), but he did not want to go back to sleep in his crib at 6:00. He kept saying, “sleep in mommy and daddy’s bed,” so I brought him to our bed and we all slept until 7:30 a.m. (thank goodness!).

Once we were all up, we headed downstairs for a quick breakfast, since I went to the morning CrossFit class. We enjoyed my “go-to” meal prior to any morning workout or competition: whole wheat toast with peanut butter, slices of banana and honey! Keenan certainly enjoyed it!

You can’t go wrong with peanut butter, honey and banana!

Enjoying his breakfast while sporting his Elmo slippers!

Speaking of CrossFit, today’s WOD was a long partner one that included 60 back squats (95 lb for women), 50 cleans (135 lb for women), 40 deadlifts (205 lb for women), 30 pullups, 20 handstand pushups and 10 burpees. Between each lift, we had to run around the building. Since my 1 rep max for cleans is 120, I did 105 lbs and did the squats and deadlifts as prescribed. Since I didn’t sleep well last night and my shoulder was still bothering me, I was dragging through today’s workout. I partnered-up with our coach (since we had an odd number of people in our class) who definitely pushed me! It was a good workout for the end of the week, but I’m looking forward to having the next two days off!

I keep forgetting to mention that I am signed-up for two local CrossFit competitions, a team one in November and an individual one in December. I’m excited to do the team one, it should be really fun! There are four of us: 2 girls and 2 guys. I’m a little nervous about the individual competition, but I’m planing to ramp-up my workouts and start doing a couple of double-days each week to prepare. I’ve only participated in one competition (last year), but I really want to do more, to push myself to get better and stronger. So, we’ll see…

Once we were done with CrossFit today, we ran one errand and then headed home for lunch. I was craving some nice lean protein, so I made Keenan and I Egg White Florentine in a Mug (though, I made Keenan’s with a whole egg) with some avocado and slices of a peach. I also topped mine with a dollop of Costco’s yogurt jalapeno dip and salsa. It was delish!

Keenan’s lunch.

My lunch.

Oh, before I forget, I have some more exciting reviews and giveaways coming-up next week! Stay tuned!!

Well, it is time to take a shower, pack and load up the car before Keenan wakes-up!

Questions: What are your plans for the weekend? How are you enjoying our wonderful Fall weather? Have you done any fitness competitions, marathons, half-marathons, triathlons, etc? If so, how did you prepare for them?

What I Ate Wednesday and More New Recipes! October 10, 2012

Happy Hump Day! Since it is Wednesday, I’m linking up with Jenn again for WIAW!

Before I go into today’s eats, I want to share the recipe for our dinner last night. I prepped everything, but my husband cooked it, since Keenan and I got home late from CrossFit.

Such a satisfying dinner! I love Chinese long beans because they are softer and more flavorful than green beans!

Chinese Long Beans with Italian Sausage: (serves 2-3)

Ingredients:

– 2 bunches Chinese long beans (cut in 2-3 inch pieces)

– 3 Italian precooked sausages

– 1 yellow onion (diced)

– 1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes (chopped)

– 1 clove garlic (minced)

– 2 Tbsp olive oil

– 2 tsp Italian seasoning

– 1  tsp garlic no-salt seasoning

– pinch of salt and pepper

– feta cheese

Directions:

1. Steam or parboil long beans until soft.

2. Meanwhile, saute onion with garlic and olive oil.

3. Add sausage, beans, sun dried tomatoes and spices.

4. Cook until sausage is slightly brown and spices are thoroughly mixed in.

5. Divide amongst 2-3 plates and sprinkle with feta cheese on top. Enjoy!

Following my new mode of breaking out of my routine and “mixing things up a bit,” today’s eats were mostly different (except for breakfast; we had our “usual,” since we had to get out the door quickly for Keenan’s swim class).

Lunch:

Keenan: Egg White Florentine in a Mug (except with one whole egg instead of egg whites) with toast spread with pumpkin butter and a few slices of a peach.

Keenan’s lunch…an easy way to sneak in some veggies!

Me: Scrambled egg whites mixed with leftover roasted brussel sprouts with pine nuts and Parmesan cheese, tomato and feta cheese, as well as a few slices of a peach that Keenan and I shared. It was SO yummy!! Leftover roasted brussel sprouts are even better than eating them fresh out of the oven!

My yummy protein-packed lunch!

After lunch:

After seeing Giselle’s post yesterday with her pumpkin pie protein bites, it inspired me to make my no-bake peanut butter chocolate snack balls! I just finished making them, so they have to sit in the fridge for a couple of hours before they are ready to eat. I’m planning to snack on a couple before going to CrossFit later this afternoon.

Speaking of CrossFit, yesterday we did “Fran,” one of the benchmark WODs and I was able to beat my previous time by 1 minute and 30 seconds, finishing in 6 minutes and 31 seconds! I was happy, but I was hopping to finish in under 6 minutes. We are going to do it again in 6 weeks, so I’m hoping to lower my time by at least another minute and 30 seconds!

Such an easy and nutritious snack!

No-Bake Peanut Butter Chocolate Snack Balls:

Ingredients:

– 1 cup rolled oats

– 1 cup natural peanut butter (you can use almond butter, too!)

– 1 Tbsp flaxseed

– 1 Tbsp chia seeds

– 2 Tbsp honey

– 3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (I love Ghirardelli!)

Directions:

1. Microwave peanut butter and honey together for 25 seconds, until they can be easily mixed.

2. Meanwhile, mix dry ingredients together in a medium size ball.

3. Add peanut butter mixture to dry ingredients and mix, until it all comes together to form one big ball.

4. Pour cocoa powder in a small dish. Roll “dough” into small balls and roll with cocoa powder.

5. Place prepared snack balls in a container with a lid and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before eating.

*Notes: The snack balls can be stored in the fridge for up to a week! They make a perfect pre-workout snack!

Dinner:

On the menu for tonight is roasted broccoli with whole wheat couscous mixed with chicken, artichoke hearts, sun dried tomatoes, Kalamata olives and feta cheese. I have been craving artichoke hearts and Kalamata olives lately, so I’m excited for tonight’s dinner!

I just loved roasted broccoli, especially drizzled with balsamic vinegar after it comes out of the oven!

Since I have been in the baking/cooking mode today (and feeling the Fall itch to make things with pumpkin), Keenan and I are going to make pumpkin almond flour muffins when he wakes up from his nap, to freeze for quick breakfasts!

Question: What were your eats today? Did you try anything new? If so, what new thing did you eat today?

REMINDER: There is still time to enter the Drink Chia Giveaway!! Contest ends tomorrow night (Oct. 11th) at 8 p.m. PST! To enter, click here!

Tired Thursday September 28, 2012

Today was one of those days…from the moment I woke up, I was dragging all day long! I should have felt somewhat rested, since I was able to get seven and a half hours of sleep last night, but for some reason, I wasn’t! On top of it, today was cleaning day at our household, so I was in total procrastination mode. Who really looks forward to cleaning? I sure don’t, but I love the feeling of having a clean house!

Before I forget, here are a couple pictures of Keenan and I in his crib from a few days ago! I thought I would post a couple today! He wanted me to get in his crib after he woke up from his nap and go “sleepy sleep” with him. We had some fun taking silly pictures!

Being silly in his crib!

Another picture!

More about today: Keenan was tired, too and unusually fussy, getting into things he knows he isn’t supposed to and constantly testing the waters. Finally, one of his bottom molars came in, but the other one is not quite there yet, so I think that was the reason for his behavior today, Nonetheless, we had A LOT of time outs today! It is so easy to let things slide as parents, but it only gets worse if you don’t deal with the issues at the time. Consistency is key in parenting, though it certainly is tiring after a while! My patience were tested to the limit today, but without consistency, I feel Keenan will not learn what he can and cannot do or what is right from wrong.

Anyhow, more about our day…before talking about food, I completely forgot to take any pictures of our meals today, sorry! For breakfast, we had toasted almond flour pancakes leftover from last weekend topped with pumpkin butter and some slices of strawberries on the side. I had a latte, as usual! After breakfast, I preped our dinner, so it would be pretty much done by the time we got home from the gym.

Once dinner was prepared, we headed upstairs to start cleaning. Since Keenan was fussy today, he wasn’t too interested in being my usual “cleaning helper.” Though, when it was time to clean the bathrooms, he was excited about helping me scrub the bathtub and cleaning his potty!

For lunch, I made Keenan his favorite (of course): peanut butter, honey and banana sandwich with some cooked carrots and a glass of milk. I made myself my Egg White Florentine in a Mug topped with salsa and some baby carrots, sugar snap peas and a small peach on the side.

After Keenan went down for a nap, I finished cleaning and made myself an iced coffee (using my husband’s coffee concentrate), but I still felt tired, ugh!

Once Keenan woke up, we headed to CrossFit and I felt defeated prior to even working out! I was out of gas from the start, but it felt good to  workout. Today’s WOD was: 4 rounds of 200 m plate carry of 25 lbs for women, 15 over the box jumps and 15 squat snatches (65 lbs for women). I completed 2 rounds and 29 reps (just 1 rep shy of completing 3 rounds!). It was a hard one, to say the least!

Prior to going to CrossFit, Keenan insisted on having a snack, even though he almost always eats his snack at the gym. Today, he seemed to be hungrier then most days, so I gave him a snack before we left (and brought one for the gym). Anyhow, it made me think about kid snacks and how much “junk” is out there. I thought I would talk about here.

It seems that every processed kid-friendly food is marked as “contains whole grains,” “contains all of the essential vitamins and nutrients” or is “high in fiber,” even though the first ingredient is enriched white flour, contains a very low amount of fiber, high in sodium and loaded with sugar! It is such a marketing scam, because unless you actually read the ingredients, you think you are buying something relatively healthy for your children.

For Keenan, I apply the same healthy eating philosophy that my husband and I adhere to: eating “clean.” We eat fresh fruits, vegetables, whole foods (little to no processed food), lean meats, nuts, whole grains, dairy and healthy fats, practicing mindful eating. For Keenan’s snacks, I try to make sure they are nutritionally packed as possible. Some of his favorites are plain cheerios (of course), which don’t offer much nutritional value, so I add dried cherries, cranberries or blueberries and some slivered almonds to make “trail mix.” He also LOVES Trader Joe’s Fiberful dried fruit and veggie bars (which have 6 grams of fiber and no added sugar!), fruit and veggie pouches and yogurt melts from Happy Baby. When we are at home, I usually give him little cubes of cheddar cheese with Ak Mak crackers or fruit, or peanut butter with some banana slices (of course!). Sometimes I even give him popcorn (plain popcorn that I pop in my air popper). I try to give him as many “whole food snacks” as possible. It is easy to buy whatever snacks that “look good” at the grocery store and are advertised towards kids as “healthy” or “organic,” without looking at the label and applying your  healthy eating habits to your children. Just because your children are kids, it doesn’t mean that they can’t enjoy and have fun eating healthy food, too!

Trader Joe’s AWESOME Fiberful fruit bars and Keenan’s “trail mix” (though I ran out of slivered almonds\, so it only contained cheerios and dried blueberries today).

New Yo Drops from Plum Kids that we recently tried. They are too small (which get everywhere) and contain only 1 gram of protein. The yogurt melts from Happy Baby are much larger and contain about 3 grams of protein per serving (I know, not much, but at least it is more!).

Speaking of food, for dinner, we enjoyed grilled country style pork ribs that I marinated with a little olive oil, balsamic vinegar, spices and Worcestershire sauce, roasted butternut squash with walnuts mixed with cinnamon, maple syrup and a little butter, along with a salad. It was delish!

After a long day, it is time for bed. Night!

Question: What kinds of snacks do you give your kids? Any homemade kid-friendly snack ideas?

What I ate Wednesday September 26, 2012

Since it’s Wednesday, I’m linking up with Jenn again, for What I ate Wednesday: Fall into Good Habits.

Before I talk about today’s eats, here is a little recap of dinner last night: We ate some more of my leftover cheesy pasta bake with a peach and walnut salad mixed with a little feta cheese, dried cherries, balsamic vinegar and olive oil. I finally remembered to take a picture!

Our delicious and quick dinner last night!

Since Keenan had swim class this morning, we ate a quick breakfast, but I managed to do something different today! We had my own creation of egg florentine (in a mug) with egg whites and some slices of strawberries on the side (of course, I also had a latte that my husband so kindly made for me!). Breakfast was good and most importantly, Keenan enjoyed it, too! It was a nice change from yogurt and a great way to get some extra veggies. We will definitely be doing this again! Below is my recipe.

My delicious egg white florentine creation, though it doesn’t look that appetizing!

Egg White Florentine in a Mug (serves 1):

– 3/4 cup egg whites

– 1/2 cup – 3/4 cup chopped fresh spinach

– 2 Tbsp feta cheese (crumbled)

– 1 tsp Italian seasoning

– 1 Tsp no-salt garlic mixed seasoning from Costco

– pinch of salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Spray a small ramekin or microwave-safe glass bowl with olive oil or cooking spray.

2. Pour egg whites into bowl and mix in spinach, spices and cheese.

3. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir and cook in the microwave for an additional minute, or until egg whites puff up and are fully cooked (no liquid is present). Top with salsa or pasta sauce (if desired) and enjoy!

Notes: Depending on the size of your bowl, add more or less spinach. I added as much spinach as I could possibly fit! You can also make this without cheese and it still tastes good!

The line-up that went into the egg whites.

My breakfast with a little pasta sauce on top of my egg whites.

Keenan’s breakfast.

After breakfast, we headed to swim class at the Y and then home. My mom came over for a short visit after we got back from the Y. Keenan was SUPER excited to see her! They played while I did some laundry and prepared a yellow bean salad for part of our dinner tonight. We are having the last of the cheesy pasta bake with a yellow bean salad mixed with tomatoes, feta cheese and roasted walnuts. I actually haven’t eaten yellow beans, but when we saw them at our farmer’s market last Saturday, I thought they would be fun to try! I’ve only had green beans, so I’m curious if the yellow ones taste different. Here is the recipe for my salad:

The final product before going into the fridge.

Yellow or Green Bean Salad: (serves 3-4)

Ingredients:

– 1 1/2 pounds green or yellow beans (cut in half)

– 4 fresh tomatoes (chopped)

– 1/2 chopped walnuts

– 1/4 cup feta cheese (crumbled)

– 2 Tbsp olive oil

– 3-4 Tbsp red wine vingar

– pinch of salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Steam beans either stove top or in the microwave. Once steamed, let cool and set aside.

2. Chop tomatoes and place in a large bowl. Add cooled beans and rest of the ingredients.

3. Mix well, cover and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours before serving (so flavors meld together).

Notes: To steam the beans in the microwave: place them in a microwave-safe dish with a 1/4 cup of  water and cover. Microwave on high for 6-8 minutes, or until they are tender. To make this a one-pot meal, add some chopped chicken.

Once Keenan wakes up from his nap, we are heading to CrossFit, as usual. Yesterday’s WOD was short and sweet. It was 3 rounds of 7 deadlifts (women weight: 145 lbs) and 21 over-the-bar lateral burpees for time. I finished in 5 minutes and 16 seconds, the third best girl time, not too bad. I was hoping to finish in under 5 minutes. I love when the workouts are short because you just go as fast as you can and power through them. You can do anything for 5 to 10 minutes, right? It is the long WODs of 20 minutes or more that are difficult. You have to stay focused and find a good pace (not too fast, but not slow) to get through it (at least for me!).

Anyhow, I have a board meeting tonight for my MOMs Club, so I’m glad dinner is already done. My husband will be on Keenan duty tonight! Have a great afternoon!

Question: What have you eaten today? Have you tried cooking any new vegetables lately? If so, what have you tried?