Howdy Friends,

How was your weekend? Mine was busy but not too eventful. This is the only weekend in February that E and I are actually going to be home so we had a lot of errands to run and things to take care of. I was also "suppose to be" on modified bed rest because I pulled a hip flexor and abdominal muscle last week. My hip flexors were feeling really tight Friday before last and this goofball decided it would be a good idea to run on the treadmill on Saturday. By the time I got off, they were screaming at me. It got worse as the week went on, so being the paranoid 1st time prego lady that I am, I went to see the doctor on Thursday. I got to listen to baby girl's heartbeat and the doctor reassured me that it was just pulled muscles and baby was fine. Thank goodness!

Saturday morning, started off pretty slow with a little Olympics watching and a big cup of decaf coffee!

I don't know about you guys, but I could seriously sit on my couch (while doing push-ups, squats, and sit-ups during commercials of course) for the next two weeks and just watch the Olympics! I love love love them!

source

The incredible displays of athleticism are awe inspiring, but I think I like hearing the back stories on all the athletes just as much. Some of them have overcome so much to make it to the Olympics! It's so inspiring!

After catching up on the Olympics, I headed to meet a friend for lunch and return some items at the mall. I was hoping to find a new dress to wear to a wedding shower I have coming up, but it was a no go. I'm in that super fun stage where I don't have a cute baby bump, but nothing fits. Oh, well I'm sure I'll look plenty pregnant soon and then I'll miss these days! All in due time :) After the mall, it was time for a nap and then dinner with the hubs and more Olympics.

Sunday, was full of laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning the house, and working on some stuff for baby girl. While I was at the store, I came across a mango and was shocked to see how big it was. My weekly FitPregnancy email said baby girl was the size of a mango last week. Crazy to think she is that big already!


I also picked up a couple of my new favorite bars. Have you ever tired a Detour SMART bar? They are gluten free, low in sugar, delicious, and packed with 10g of protein for only 130 calories! What??? I know!




I found them about three weeks ago and I love them! They are perfect for a snack and keep you extremely full for a 130 calorie bar! I would definitely suggest giving them a try.

Sunday evening was pretty low key. We grilled some fish, butternut squash, and sausage for E. I topped my fish with mango pico de gallo and sliced avocado. It turned out to be extremely colorful and delicious!


I got a little carried away with the pico, but it was so good! We watched the Olympics for the remainder of the evening and finished laundry. :) After a weekend of rest, my hip flexor was feeling a bit better but it's still not back to normal. I'm definitely going to have to be more careful moving forward. Live and learn right?

I hope you all have a happy healthy Monday!

In health,

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Howdy Friends,

How was your weekend? Fabulous I hope! I spent most of my weekend at work. Friday night, E and I went to happy hour at a colleagues house. It was a great way to unwind after a crazy first week back to school. Saturday was spent spinning my wheels literally. I attended an 8 hour Spinning Orientation workshop.

It was a fantastic workshop, and I really enjoyed the presenter, Terri. My booty and legs were definitely sore the next day. Sunday was full of more training for our student supervisors. I gave a talk on charismatic leadership that I hope went over pretty well. It was a fun but exhausting weekend.

I squeezed in going to the grocery store Sunday morning, and filled up my basket with healthy quick meals. The first one up on my list was a Crockpot Cajun Roast I found on Pinterest. This recipe was originally developed by Stacy Makes Cents. I decided to go with a pork roast instead of beef and added fresh green beans to up the veggie power. It was super easy and delicious!

Step one is to rub your roast with all of the delicious spices and surround it with your tomatoes, onions, and green bell peppers.



Next, top your roast with one can (drained and rinsed to remove excess salt) yellow corn, fresh green beans, and half a cup of water. Cover and cook on low for 8-10  hours.


When you get home you will have a complete and delicious meal ready and waiting for you! This was the perfect meal to come home to after a long day of training.



Monday was another busy day that kept me at the office from 9:00am to 8:15pm. I knew it was going to be a late night, so I prepped this baby in the morning before I headed out the door.


This is another one of E's favorites. Simply chop up 3-4 new potatoes, 1 link of turkey sausage, and throw it together with green beans, 1 tbsp of Cajun seasoning, 1 tbsp of olive oil, and a little salt and pepper. I did all the prep work in the morning, so all E had to do was throw it in the oven at 375 for 30 minutes and voila. Easy peasy!

I also made a new discovery at the grocery store that I am pretty excited about - Food for Life Brown Rice Tortillas! I had these at a restaurant in Austin when I was visiting my sister, and I was so excited when I saw them at my local grocery store on Sunday. Since going gluten free, I have only eaten corn tortillas, but I missed a good egg burrito, peanut butter and banana wrap, and turkey wrap which just don't taste as good in a corn tortilla. That's why finding these just made my day. They are delicious and huge. These things are made for making some serious wraps!


If you are allergic to gluten or just trying to cut back on your wheat intake, I would highly suggest these. They are definitely better warm! Let me know if you try them.

I hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday!

In health,

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Howdy!

How was your Saturday? I must admit, mine was pretty dang fun. I started the day off by teaching a step class and followed that with breakfast with my friend Katie at Cafe Brazil! Two weekends in a row. How lucky am I?

After breakfast, it was back to the house for a little R&R and house work. In the afternoon, I took a leisurely trip over to Central Market to stock up on some necessitites. Right when I walked in, I saw these guys. They were huge and so colorful that I couldn't help but snap a picture.



I grabbed some Creme Brulee coffee, tahini, chickpeas, pine nuts, pumpkin seeds, cumin, almond butter, bananas, quinoa pasta, and corn tortillas. Homemade hummus is in my future. I love the bulk food section so much!


When I pulled up to the house, this is how I was greeted.


Aren't my boys cute? Champ was actually pretty good while taking his bath. He only jumped out of the basin 20 times. Just kidding, Champers. Once Champ and E were all clean, we headed out to dinner. We decided to try out a new restaurant called Patrizio. It was absolutley delicious. We sat out on the patio under huge heaters. Check out our view!

I ordered the veggie plate which included grilled squash, zuchinni, carrots, asaparagus, brocolli, and onions with fresh parmesan cheese. It also came with polenta and marinara sauce. I had never tried polenta before, but I absolutley loved it. I was in veggie Heaven. E went with the deep dish pepperoni pizza.



This pizza looks innocent, but it was crazy. The layers of cheese and pepperoni were so thick, E only finished 3 pieces. I couldn't believe it when he said he was stuffed. Well, kind of stuffed. He can always make room for dessert.....


Woops! We ordered the flourless chocolate cake with rasberry sauce. It was so delicious I forgot to take a picture before we devoured it. After dinner, we walked around the village for awhile and then headed home to watch some football (story of my life). :)

I hope you had a wonderful Saturday!

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Howdy Y'all! :)

How is your week shaping up? I've been busy working, sweating, and baking up a storm! I can't believe Christmas is just a couple of days away! I am almost ready but for some reason I still feel so unprepared. I think it's because I've been so busy the holidays have just seemed to fly by this year.  Anyways, all of that will change at 10:00am on Friday. I will be off work and ready for full blown Christmas wonderfulness (so not a word but oh well). I really do LOVE Christmas. I love buying presents for my friends and families, baking, spending time with loved ones, and most importantly celebrating Jesus' birth! :)

I have had a lot of fun trying out new foodie finds lately, and I thought I would share some of my favorites with you.

1) Nutritional Yeast - I have have been hearing about this around the blog world, but just now found it in the store. It adds a cheesy taste to your food (without all the fat and calories), and is the perfect topper for eggs, soup, and chili! It really is delicious! :)

2) Coconut Milk Creamer- One word .....AMAZING! I don't know if I will ever be able to drink regular creamer again. This stuff is like candy in liquid form. I seriously woke up stoked for my morning cup of Joe.


3) Almond Thins -  These guys are the perfect alternative to traditional crackers. They are gluten free and wonderfully crunchy. I'm slightly addicted.


4) Amy's Organics Soups - I've tried two different flavors of her vegetable soup plus her vegetable chili and they have all been delicious. She uses only organic ingredients, and the soups are rich and flavorful. If you someone served them to you in  a fancy bowl, you would never know they came from  can. They are perfect for a quick lunch!


5) Baking Banana bread for all of my students and instructors! Baking is so therapeutic, especially when you get to cook for others!


Well, there you have it. Those are a few of the things that are bringing a smile to my face thee days. I'm off to continue baking away! I hope you all have a wonderful night!

What are some of your new favorite foodie finds?

Do you love baking for the holidays?

In health,

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Happy Sunday Everyone!

How was your Friday and Saturday? This weekend was full of shopping adventures!

What do you think of the new header? Yea or Nay?

On Saturday, I met up with a friend at Central Market for some fun shopping and chatting of course! I bought some really yummy goodies!

I just thought these were so rich and beautiful!

Oh Central Market how I love you!

Then it was off to HomeGoods in search of a mirror for our guest bathroom. I love that store!! It has everything you could ever want and so many things you didn't even know you wanted but you just have to have once you get there!

Isn't she beautiful?  She will look great in the guest bath!

If I didn't already have 2 super cut aprons, I would  have been all over these!

Anybody need a rooster for their kitchen?

Colorful Pot Land!

So many random but pretty things. I could spend hours in that place just wondering around!!

On Sunday E and I made our weekly trip to Home Depot. When you live in a house that was built in 1948, you get to know the Home Depot guys pretty well. I have been wanting to plant a garden since we moved in, but now that we have Champ, and he likes to dig in everything, I don't think a full fledged garden would be a good idea. That's ok! I am going to test out my green thumb on this guy!


I've been cooking with a lot of fresh herbs lately so I thought an herb garden would be a great idea. Plus, I can keep it safe in the side yard so Champers can't dig it up! :) I'll keep you posted on the progress.

I'm headed back to the kitchen to finish up my creations! Stay tuned later this week for a full recap of both recipes featuring NuNaturals MoreFiber Baking Blend. One of them definitely takes the cake as my  favorite recipe of all time!!

Q's and A's:
Did you do any shopping this weekend?
Any gardening tips for me?

In health,

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Howdy!

I have to start by apologizing for my complete absence last week. I can honestly say that last week was one of the busiest of my entire life. I worked close to 55 hours, spent a good 6 hours driving around from job to job, and still had to go to class. I'm not complaining, I just wanted to explain my absence. I have to be honest, the next two weeks will probably be pretty similar. I will try and get in as many posts as possible, but I can't make any promises. Please bare with me!

Sunday is the day for laundry and grocery shopping. Laundry isn't my favorite, but I LOVE going to the grocery store! I could spend hours strolling through the aisles comparing prices and nutrition labels. It's like a fun scavenger hunt every week. Sometimes E and I go to the store together, but today I got to go by myself. I say "got to go by myself," because Eric doesn't usually like to send me alone. He thinks that if he's not there to monitor what goes into the cart, he won't get all of his junk food. Against my better judgement, I purchased all of his not so healthy staples today so he should be happy when he gets home from football. Check out this cart full of goodies.

This cart looks like it belongs to someone with split personalities. It's about two-thirds healthy and one-third unhealthy. Compared to what E used to eat, I can't really complain. He would tell you that I really have nothing to worry about because the results from his health screening came back perfect. His blood pressure, glucose, triglycerides, and cholesterol levels were all above average. How does someone live on Snickers, cookies, fried chicken, frozen pizza, and Mike and Ikes and still have perfect levels of everything?? He is seriously a medical mystery. All I can say is, I really hope our kids get his amazing genes!!

The groceries in our house are pretty divided. There are not too many things that Eric and I both eat. Come to think about it, minus dinner food, we don't really share anything food wise. Here's a comparison of my groceries to Eric's.

Not seen here are Eric's snickers, chewy bars, and fruit snacks which we purchased big boxes of last week.

We are both creatures of habit and purchase similar things every week. A few of the things I could not live without include:

1. Luna bars
2. whole grain wraps or tortillas
3. bananas, strawberries, and or grapes,
4. peanut butter
5. eggs
6. oatmeal
7. almond milk
8. yogurt
9. morningstar veggie burgers
10. avocado

I am off to finish some homework and laundry. I hope everyone has an amazing Monday!

Q's and A's:
Do you like grocery shopping?
Do you prefer going by yourself or with your significant other?
What are some of your staples you buy every week?

In health,

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Happy Friday!

 
How is your Friday treating you so far? I apologize for such a late post. I pooped out early last night and then had a fun but jam packed schedule today which included teaching, lunch with my wonderful friend Jenny, buying wedding and wedding shower gifts, and going grocery shopping! I just love fun and productive Fridays. E and I are heading back to College Station this weekend for a wedding on Saturday and a wedding shower (different couple) on Sunday. What a love filled weekend!

Speaking of grocery shopping, I had a little bit too much fun with my new Fooducate app at the store today. A trip that would normally have taken me 45 minutes turned into an hour and fifteen. I had a blast scanning in all of my favorites and seeing what Fooducate had to say about them. Check out how some of my usual buys scored.




This one made me really sad. I love these bars!

I definitely learned a lot as I scanned in everything before I put it in my basket. Now, I didn't base all of my decisions on the app, but it definitely opened my eyes to a few questionable items and made me take a closer look at the ingredients list. I really like that it gives you a pretty detailed description of why it received the grade it did.  For example, the main thing it did not like about the Kashi TLC bars was that they didn't have a lot of real fruit in it. I guess the app thinks that a bar labeled "fruit and nut bar" should contain more fruit. I must agree.

Besides playing with my app, I have also been busy experimenting with new ways to use peanut flour. This morning, I mixed it with water and a little bit of salt to create a paste and then plopped it on top of my oatmeal. It was amazing because I got all of the peanuty flavor with about 1/3 or a 1/4 of the calories and a fraction of the fat! After I mixed the peanut flour with water, it was the equivalent of a giant blob (about 3 tbsp.) of peanut butter for only 114 calories and 16 grams of protein!


I need to get my hands on some more of this stuff before I run out! :)

I don't know how it is where you are, but the weather in Dallas has been amazing the past few days. I literally woke up the other day to the sound of birds chirping outside of my bedroom window. I know I sound like a silly movie, but it's true! You know spring is in the air when strawberries go on sale and the pretty trees are blooming!


I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and I will see you next week! I have some exciting posts planned, including two reader requests: pre and post workout fueling, and the mystery that is known as MSG.

Q's and A's:
Have you tried out the Fooducate app yet?
What is you favorite oatmeal topping?
What are your plans for this weekend?
In health,

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