Monday Thoughts

It is amazing how many times I can indulge on sugar treats and drinks that make me feel like a bloated ball of guilt for days. My head is in a fog, I am irritable and I have little to no motivation. But all it takes is two days of eating clean and the bloat is gone, I have limitless energy and my skin glows.

Why the eff do I continue to "indulge" and let's be real and just tell it like it is....I binge. Honestly...
It all got better when I saw two of my favorite men on TV last night. Shall we have a look?

Sigh.

Today was a wonderful day. My students were only slightly off task and I accomplished a lot for a Monday. When I got home from work there was a package at the door...MY NEW SANDALS AND HEART RATE MONITOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I purposely "forgot" my workout clothes at home so I could stop home and get my new gadget. I always wanted to know exactly how hard I was working especially when I compare lifting weights to cardio. It made going to workout quite a treat.

I forgot to take a picture but I worked out for 32 minutes and burned 344 calories. I did a leg workout (lunges, squats, box jumps) and then ran for a mile. I can't wait to see where my heart rate is at during water aerobics. I usually break a sweat when I am teaching but there is no resistance since I am on land so I usually workout before I teach. This way I can see if my heart rate is raised the whole time I am teaching.

After the gym, I got home and began to prep for tomorrow.

Step 1: Unpack sweat gym clothes.
Step 2: Get new gym clothes.
Step 3: Take out Tupperware containers.
Step 4: Throw pre-made food into containers.
Step 5: Make John lunch.
Step 6: Write a blog post about prepping food.

And here I am. Last week I was scrounging for breakfast food and decided to have a fried egg on top of shredded beef. It was melt in your mouth delicious, but more importantly it kept me full for five hours. Today, I made a "breakfast bowl" this is like your typical Jimmy Dean Breakfast Bowl BUT SO MUCH BETTER.

Breakfast Bowl: 
Shredded Pork
Sweet Potato
Zucchini
Fried Egg

Layer in a tupperware container and heat up for 1-2 minutes.

Of course I couldn't stop at breakfast so I made lunch and my afternoon snack as well. I am trying to not snack during the day but I teach tomorrow so I won't be home until 7:30-8.

Lunch: Mustard Chicken and Broccoli with a side of tomatoes
Snack: Celery, Blueberries and Almond Butter

Taste the Rainbow. 

Food Prep Sunday- Productive Edition

Since I had a three day weekend I told myself there was no reason I could not make all of the food I needed to for this week. I had a bizarre mix of piss poor attitude and the ability to get a lot done. Sometimes, my type-a-ness makes me laugh. Even when I don't want to do anything...I still accomplish quite a bit.

Let me take you through this week's edition of Food Prep Sunday:

Pulled Pork - I am planning on using it for BBQ pulled pork but will leave it plain so that I can also use it for breakfast.

3 lbs Pork Loin
2 cups Broth
1 Yellow Onion
Garlic
Penzey's Chicago Steak Seasoning
Penzey's English Prime Rib Rub (yes, I realize that Prime Rib is a cow and Pork Loin is a pig but a spice is a spice)

Almond Butter - we all know I have a serious problem with nut butters. I go through a jar a week. This is not a cheap addiction. I have tried to make my own before and it does not turn out. Until now, I was reading up on homemade almond butter and realized that I was not letting it sit in the food processor long enough. I was taking it out way too early. So, today I waited until it got oily and  formed a big ball of nut butter! I am super excited I figured this out. I can buy a 1 lb bag of almonds for $4, this makes 1 jar of almond butter. But at the store almond butter with added crap in it is $7 a jar. The kind at the co-op (which is just almonds- no added ingredients) is $12 a lb!?!?!?!

1 bag of salted & roasted almonds
Put in food processor until creamy.

Roasted Cauliflower - an oldie but a goodie. I realized that I hadn't had cauliflower in a while and after yesterday's brussel sprout experiment, I had a craving for this recipe.

1 head of Cauliflower
Lemon Juice
Lemon
Garlic
Olive Oil
Penzey's Sandwich Sprinkle

Dice Cauliflower and coat with Olive Oil, Lemon Juice and Garlic. Place in a baking dish and bake at 375 for 30 minutes.

Vitamin A Bisque - another favorite and so easy to make!

Carrots
Butternut Squash
Pumpkin
Broth
Balsamic Vinegar
Salt
Cinnamon

Simmer the carrots and squash in broth until the veggies are tender. Add in pumpkin, vinegar and salt. Use a hand blender to puree.

Mustard Chicken - This is my favorite recipe so far from Practical Paleo. I would put the recipe on here but you should just do yourself a favor and buy the book.

Typical Saturday

I thought I would document my Saturday with pictures. Just to give an idea of a typical weekend day and what I try to accomplish to make the week a little bit less hectic.

I love no-commitment Saturdays. I can wake up when I want and do not have any time restrictions. It was a beautiful day and I was lucky enough to have a three day weekend.

Every morning (weekend or weekday) I start with a big cup of coffee. Felix always has to come and catch up on reading blogs and facebooking. It is our little morning ritual. As soon as I sit down he comes up and makes himself comfortable.

Do you notice the AMAZING cookbook in the corner. I wanted to make sure I had all my ingredients ready before I went grocery shopping. I had a lot of meat leftover from last week so I didn't need to get that much at the store. It is always a nice surprise when I spend less than $100 on groceries.

I try to get to Woodman's early because it is a zoo on the weekend. Grocery shopping is my yoga, it calms me down and I could spend hours just looking around. When there are a lot of people it cramps my style and takes away my zen.

After the grocery store I went to the gym for an endurance run. The gym is right next to the grocery store so it was silly not to just go right away.

Next week, John and I will begin to train for the Madison Half-Marathon. This will be my third half marathon, but I am a little nervous since I didn't race last year and it has been a while since I have ran more than 4 miles. My pace was a 9:41 which is much better than my previous half-marathon pace but still not where I want it to be.  I am hoping that by adding in strength training and sprints I can get my time to be a 9:00 min/mile. 

After the gym I went home and unloaded the groceries, took a shower and got lunch ready. John and I rented Looper the night before and I fell asleep less than 30 minutes into it so we decided to pick up where we left off. Lunch was a steak salad with broccoli and sweet potatoes. 

John went to work and I had some time to kill before my date with Henry. Naturally, I watched Vampire Diaries.

Before I got to Henry's house I went to Target and spent under $20 (thank you very much!). Then it was time to hang out with Mr.Pants. I wanted to try roasted brussel sprouts for dinner. I have been seeing a ton of recipes for them and have never tried them. The verdict? AHmazing... right up there with kale chips.

We played with cars and trucks and watched a little bit of "Elmo" which really is Nemo.

I spent the rest of the night playing Jungle Safari and knitting. I lead an exciting life.

Homemade Bone Broth and Egg Drop Soup

In a previous post, I had a picture of Homemade Egg Drop Soup. I have read plenty of blogs that talk about how easy it is to make your own broth. Broth is not only an essential item to have in your kitchen but a nutritious staple for your diet. I am going to walk through how I made bone broth and egg drop soup.

Bone Broth:

Bones - these can be left over from chicken, beef, pork. Anything works!

8 Cups or more Water
1-2 TBS Apple Cider Vinegar
Garlic
Salt

Put all of the ingredients in a Crockpot on low for 24 hours. The more time the better! When you put your broth into containers a layer of gelatin will form at the top. This can be left on or scraped off before using in other recipes.


Homemade Egg Drop Soup

4 cups Bone Broth
3 eggs scrambled
1 onion diced
Coconut Aminos (or soy sauce)
Rice Vinegar (or White Wine Vinegar)
Salt & Pepper

Saute onions in butter until cooked. Add in bone broth. Add in about 1 TBS of coconut aminos and vinegar. When the broth is simmering, add in the scrambled egg slowly. It will form the egg pieces immediately. After egg is added, salt to taste.

Wordless Wednesday ( a day late )

Lots of food pictures today. I hope this can inspire you to try a new healthy recipe today!

Strawberry Chicken Salad

Eclectic lunch: Plate 1: Ground beef, Guacamole and Salsa. Plate 2: Kale chips, Celery, Cashews and Raisins.

My Go-To Snack: Cashews and Raisins

Homemade Egg Drop Soup... I know it looks like brains. 

Practical Paleo: Lemon Artichoke Chicken

My new favorite cookbook, Practical Paleo!

Homemade Bone Broth - super easy to make! 

Leg Press 

French Toast Scramble with Blueberries 

A horrible picture of Eggs and Ham. 

Paleo Nachos: with a cheat of chips. 

Picnic Lunch

Cute Nephew 

5 am at the gym. 

Birthday Week

How is it already Wednesday? I haven't blogged a lot this week due to it being the week before my birthday. I had the intention of enjoying whatever food I wanted and just relaxing. I shortly realized after an episode with Red Velvet Cake that this was not going to happen. Instead, I have gone Whole30 until Saturday, then I will allow myself to indulge and relax. Sunday starts my second Whole 30 and I hope I can finish the 30 days. 

Meals this week: 

Shredded Balsamic Beef

Cocoa Chili 

Kale Chips 

Roasted Veggies 

And lots of veggies, fruit and almond butter.