AMAZING End of Summer Salad!

I had this at the Flat River Grill in Lowell, Michigan and tried to recreate it!  This is pretty close :)

Dressing Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon minced shallot
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar

Potatoes:
Cut up 1 Idaho potato and 1 sweet potato into small chunks.  Toss with EVOO and maple syrup.  Sprinkle with a bit of salt.  Pour onto baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes turning once.

Salad Ingredients:

• Spinach
• Bacon
• Avocado slices
• Potatoes (see above)

Toss salad ingredients with dressing and enjoy :)

Awesome day today!  Lost another 3 pounds this week which puts me down 7.4 total!  Then I went to one of my favorite places!  I read a book and watched the sunset by the pool.  <3 summer!

Apparently it's safety day at the railroad... in case anyone wanted to know!

On another note, I went for a run today.  My training group starts Thursday with the following levels:

Level One

20 Minutes - Run 1 Minute / Walk 2 Minutes

Level Two

20 Minutes - Run 1.5 Minutes / Walk 30 Seconds

5K

Run .5 Miles x 4

10K

Run 2 Miles

Looking at these levels, I was sure I would place myself in level 1 however, decided to go out for a run to test level 2.  I honestly didn't think I could do it.  I can easily run 1.5 minutes but with such a short break I was not sure I could run 1.5 minutes over and over again.  I DID IT!!!  It was difficult but not too difficult :)  WOOHOO!!!  Level 2- here I come!

Memorial Day Run :)

I have to take a moment to brag about how beautiful my running route is...

 

Okay- I'm done :)  Training starts Thursday with CARA!  It feels so good to be running again!

30 by 30!

Well my birthday is officially over after my finally birthday celebration with friends last night.  I'm 25 which is crazy old!  I made a list tonight of 30 things I'd like to do by the time I'm 30 :)  Here is to 5 fun years trying to accomplish this list!!!

Thirty by Thirty!

May 19, 2016

1.     Run a 5k

2.    Run a 10k (Wrigley Start Early- April 2012)

3.    Do Bike the Drive with my mom (May 2012)

4.    Run a 15k (Hot Chocolate- November 2012)

5.    Run the River Bank Run (May 2013)

6.    Run a marathon!!! (Chicago Marathon- October 2014)

7.    Join a running club

8.    Weigh 128-132 pounds

9.    Take a hot yoga class

10.  Take tennis lessons

11.  Take swimming lessons

12.  Live in the same place for at least two years

13.  Become a vegetarian for lent

14.   Speed date

15.   Go geocaching

16.   Give blood regularly

17.  Take a photography class

18.   Get my masters

19.   Have an emergency fund

20.  Be debt free

21.  Cook every recipe in at least one of my cookbooks

22.  Go on vacation by myself

23.  Eat dinner with strangers

24.  Read every book I own

25. Walk through a corn maze

26.  Go on a ghost investigation

27.  Get a dog

28.  Go on a silent retreat

29.  Volunteer at the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer

30.  Go on a movie tour of Chicago

Rainy Sunday...

It is a crazy, rainy day in Chicago today.  I woke up, went to WW, and caught a bus just before the downpour began!  After WW, I went to church which was nice with the rain and thunder in the background.  Walk home... not so nice!  My dress was soaked!

After I got home I made lunch, a "breakfast" quesadilla.  So easy and yummy!

All I did was make up the Mexican Egg Scramble without adding the cheese.  Then I plopped the egg scramble into a tortilla, covered it with 1/4 cup of cheese, folded it in half and put some EVOO on top of it.  Finally, I put it under the broiler for 3 minutes on each side.  MMM!

9 Points+

If you live in Chicago, have an amazing day of book reading, Wii playing, and Netflix watching :)

Quarter Century Birthday Bash!

As of May 19, I am officially 25 years old.  Last week I celebrated with my mom and this weekend it was time to celebrate with my friends!  Off to Carnivale we went!

 

 

Delightful drinks...

 

Amazing appetizers...

 

Fabulous fish!

Decadent desserts...

 

 

 

I had an excellent birthday to say the least :)  Thank you ladies!

Mini Park Ave Pizza!

6 Points+

1 Smart and Delicious Multi-grain wrap
2 T. sun dried tomato hummus
Veggies (I used zucchini, green peppers, and sun dried tomatoes)
1/8 cup feta cheese
Sprinkle of Parmesan cheese
Sprinkle of mozzarella cheese

Spread hummus on the wrap and top with veggies and cheese.  Bake at 425 for about 8 min.

IMPORTANT!

I feel the need to announce two things.........
1) Today is the PERFECT day for a run.
2) High Fiber Oatmeal with 1 T. of White Chocolate Wonderful PB is the most amazing breakfast in the WORLD!  LOVE IT!  7 Points+

Mixin' Things Up!

I had a fun WW meeting on Wednesday!  We were so chatty that we never even got to the topic of the week.  One guy said something that I thought was interesting.  He said that when he started WW he would pack for the week.  He would make the same lunch x 5 and store it in the fridge or freezer.  After awhile he started to mix things up and he tried never to repeat things.  This made eating fun for him and he also said he would like to think that he was constantly tricking his body.  One day he would have more points than he was supposed to, the next day less, etc.  Some days he would eat a lot in the morning and other days he ate his biggest meal at lunch.

I thought this week I would try to switch things up a bit too and get out of my routine.  Today I had my lunch for breakfast, my breakfast for lunch, ate two snacks (normally I don't snack), and made a super yummy egg scramble for dinner.

One amazing thing I discovered today that I now LOVE are bagel thins.  Take 1 bagel thin, top the halves with 1 wedge of Laughing Cow (any flavor), and top each half with one sliced tomato.  That's two veggie servings and amazing goodness!  The whole bagel prepared this way is 4 points+.

For dinner I prepared one amazing bagel thin and a Mexican Egg Scramble.  The recipe is below:

On the stove heat up some sliced orange, green, red, and yellow peppers along with 2 spoonfuls of Trader Joe's Hot Salsa (in tubs near the hummus).  After the veggies have cooked a bit, mix in 2 eggs and 3 T. of egg whites.  Scramble as always and towards the end add in 1/4 cup of TJ's light Mexican cheese.  6 points+ and SUPER filling!!!

10 Points+ for the whole meal :)

Apple and Banana Breakfast Bowl!

I got this idea from Une Vie Saine and mixed it up a bit!  First I microwaved an apple on high for 90 seconds (next time I would peel it first though), then I poured myself a bowl of Banana Nut Cherrios.  I topped the Cherrios with the apple slices and a sliced banana.  Then I poured in 1/2 cup of almond milk and sprinkled cinnamon on top.  MMM!

If you're doing WW it's 7 points with 2 servings of cereal and 4 points with only one.  I made 2 but then didn't finish my bowl!

Have a wonderful Saturday :)

Backwards Day!

I'm having breakfast for dinner tonight using only 8 points plus :)

Egg White Sandwich
Morning Star Bacon
Clementine
V8

Have a great night everyone!  Anyone waking up super early to watch the royal wedding?!

Good news and bad news...

Good news... I lost 4.2 pounds my first week of WW!!!

Bad news... I figured out that one of the Almond Butter Brownies was 10 points :(  Sad!

Have an awesome Wednesday!

My Sunday Thus Far :)

I started Weight Watchers for real this time!  I think it will help to have a group of people to help me AND to get weighed in every week and to know that's coming.  So far I've made better choices and I plan to continue!

Breakfast: Waffle with 1/2 cup Cottage Cheese and Fresh Strawberries :)  This is so good and only 4 points!

Lunch: Salad with Buffalo Chicken Bites and Lite Ranch Dressing- 10 points.

Happy Sunday everyone!

Weekend with my Momma!

My mom is coming to town this weekend and I'm stocked with lots of yummy food to help us BOTH stick to our diets :)

Woohoo for a fun weekend with the most amazing woman I know!  I'm lucky to call her my mom!

HEALTHY Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Balls!

Ingredients:

½ cup oats

1/8 cup sunflower seeds

1/8 cup pumpkin seeds

¼ cup currants

1/3 cup cooked quinoa

2 T. chia seeds

½ cup of peanut butter

1 T. honey

Splash of vanilla

Directions:
Mix everything together and form into balls :)  It should make about 12 balls of amazing goodness!

Makes a great breakfast on the go!

Sunday Morning Breakfast!

I'm on spring break this week!!!  Ten days off to relax, spend time with friends and family, catch up on movies and reading.... SO excited!!!  My friend and I have also started P90X.  I'm doing the workouts but am not following the meal plan.  I'm also starting a running plan so P90X might have to be on my non running days or something once running gets more intense.  Right now I can easily do both.

Here is an easy and yummy breakfast I made today. 

Take 1/2 cup of Fiber One pancake mix and mix it with 1/3 cup plus a little extra.  Then pour it into a skillet on the stove.  Cook it as usual and plate it.  Then in the same skillet, add 1/2 cup of frozen mixed berries and 1/8 cup of syurp.  Heat until berries are no longer frozen and pour on top of pancakes :)  Enjoy!

In the past I've also topped them with slivered almonds but I didn't have any on hand today!  Another similiar recipe is to take a Kashi waffle and top it with cottage cheese and the berry mixture :)

DIY Pizza

I'm back from yoga class and hungry!  What a great night to whip up a quick DIY pizza :)  I took a Trader Joe's pita, topped it with some pizza sauce, added some fresh basil, mozarella cheese and it was ready for the oven.  It would be great topped with some additional veggies but I was in a hurry!  Put it under the broiler for 5 minutes and you have yourself a speedy and yummy meal :)

Happy Sunday!

Today is off to a great start!  Why?  Because it's weigh in day!!!  Last Saturday I met with a wellness consultant who helped me develop some strategies for healthier eating and meal planning.  All week I felt better and had more energy however today was the day to get quantitative data to show if her plan was working.  The result- I lost 1.8 pounds which is more that I lost the whole month of February let alone in one week.  I know many people loose much more than 1.8 pounds but for me anything more than .2 is something to celebrate :)

Last night was fun!  I had friends over for a wine night.  We had lots of amazing, healthy, organic food along with some pizza rolls that someone brought!  They were yummy too though!  I'm so not a food snob!

Photo by Sarah Kim

This morning I slept in, surfed the internet while I drank my daily lemon water and now I'm finally getting around to breakfast- at nearly 11am!  Today's breakfast is a Peanut Butter and Banana Chia Breakfast Bowl which is AMAZING despite how it looks in the picture.

Peanut Butter and Banana Chia Breakfast Bowl
2 tablespoons of chia seeds
1 tablespoon hemp seeds
1 tablespoon goi berries
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds
1 banana
1 glob of peanut butter (I like Peanut Butter and Co White Chocolate Wonderful)
drizzle of honey

1. Place chia seeds, hemp seeds, and goji berries in a tiny cup.  Add water, stir, and let sit for 5 minutes. 
2. While you're waiting, grab a cereal bowl slice 1 banana and add a glob (technical term) of peanut butter on top.
3. After 5 minutes, scoop out the seeds and put them on top of your banana.  Also add the pumpkin seeds.  Mix, drizzle with honey, and serve.

This is SO yummy and super healthy!  Have a great Sunday!!!

The Most Amazing Recipe That You Will Ever See Posted Online In Your Entire Life!!!

I <3 Almond Butter Brownies!!!  I cannot even tell you how amazing, wonderful, fabulous, etc. etc. these brownies are.  LOVE LOVE LOVE!

Photo by Amanda Skrip