A colorful wrap up...

Soooo....mornin, folks!  Sorry I've been a bit MIA the past couple weeks, but roll insanely busy mixed with feeling LOUSY almost all of last week and the days just get away from me.  And on top of that, I wasn't very diligent with taking photos the past couple weeks or even remembering what the hell I DID each day, let alone what I ate...hahahahahaha😉. Lately anyone asks how I'm doing and my response is "Just swingin from vines", since that's EXACTLY what it feels like day-to-day😉  I'm sure, um, ALL OF YOU understand that feeling😉  Sooooooo...instead of a weekly recap, I'll just share some of my favorites from the past couple weeks and maybe a few I'm REALLY excited to try as Summer is quickly approaching.  Which...

A.- 'scuse???  How the hell did THAT happen??

and

B.- I'm FAIRLY excited for.  Double 'scuse.  I still don't even know who I am anymore...but we've already been to visit the beach a couple times so far this spring and I. JUST. CAN'T. EVEN. DEAL with all the gorgeousness and how happy the kids are just to BE there.  

(and humidity, if you could stay away the ENTIRE time??  THAT'DBEGREAT)

Some of my fav meals:

Quickest dinner that felt 'fancy':  One-pot puttenesca

Throw everything in one pan and end up with a dish where each bite brings a new taste of ZINNNNNNGGGGGG???  Yes, yes and yes please.

The 'pardon the photo on my stove grate' meal:  BUT this picture makes me super happy because Katie was SO EXCITED to invite a couple of friends over for our first cookout of hot dogs of the season that she actually helped me clean almost our ENTIRE back porch (all while singing "I just can't wait to be King"...which was ADORABLE)...weeeeee!  Not to mention:  CLASSIC summer fare...

Pasta salad recipe from Pioneer Woman, which I made last summer and have thought about ever since.  It's THAT perfect😉

We also made THIS PIE for the cookout and um, also PERFECT...

What will probably become a staple recipe:  Lauren Conrad's Easy Enchiladas

My love for all things Lauren Conrad and her perfectly filtered life runs deep, so it was no shock that her absurdly easy enchilada recipe was not only easy but PERFECTLY DELICIOUS.  Poaching the chicken in the salsa kept it super flavorful and extremely tender.  I upped my game just a bit by finding a small loaf of premade cornbread in the freezer and stuffing it with said enchilada chicken.  My photo does NOT do it justice for how PHENOMENAL THAT was😉

My current breakfast & lunch obsession:

(photo source)

+ strawberries + chopped almonds (or peanuts) + ground flaxseed + a sprinkle of granola.  This used to be my spring-y/sunshine staple (how is that blog post from SEVEN years ago???), but haven't really had it in YEARS.  And, just like most things, I get reacquainted and then get re-obsessed and have it a million times a week😉  I've had both the nonfat & whole milk variation of the yogurt and honestly can't say I notice much difference once you add all of those toppings.

Other meal-prep lunches:

Our FAVORITE couscous salad

BBQ Chicken, roasted sweet potato & broccoli bowls

Both made on Sundays, portioned and set for the week ahead.  And BOTH were delicious!

Healthier indulgence:  Chocolate Orange Chia seed pudding

So ya'll know my LOVE of chocolate on MOST days of the week, which I obviously think is FINE...BUT here's a great way to satisfy that craving while staying a LITTLE bit more on the healthy end of things.

Favorite Workout:  Tone it up Sandy Sweat HIIT

I'm so obsessed with this one at the moment that I COULDN'T WAIT to get back to it after recovering from feeling lousy.  15 quick minutes + I'll throw in 15 minutes of dance and it feels like a full body, excellent muscle/cardio combo.

And a few things I'm excited to make with the Summer on the way!

Firecraker Cake

This picture makes me straight up giddy.  

Further making me question who I'm becoming😉  But it's just so purty!

Red, White & Blue strawberry cheesecake bites

How perfect are these??  I might just be able to get behind the whole 'fruit for dessert' thing with these adorable little babies!  Plus, I'd love giving these to the kids.

Summer Sand Pudding

I can't even DEAL with how adorable this is...PLUS we are a dirt cake lovin house and Katie will FLIP for this adorable variation, I'm sure😉

Pioneer Woman BEST Macaroni Salad

So while Googling the above recipe for Pioneer Woman's macaroni salad, I also stumbled on THIS one...and if she's saying THIS is the best??  Well, YOU KNOW it's worth trying!

Well, that's a colorful wrap!  I'm planning to DEFINITELY be back on Wednesday since I have two current 'mental weight loss' topics that I'm dying to discuss.  Here's to finding time to bang out these keys😉 (hold me...😉)

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As always...thanks for reading!

I'm bulletproof...sorta...

Wednesday Update:

*Coconut oil coffee.... So I started the day with this new fab in coffee of 1 cup brewed coffee BLENDED (this is KEY or you'll end up with a cup of coffee with an oil slick floating on top!) with 1 tablespoon of coconut oil.  A lot of recipes add in a tablespoon of organic Kerrygold butter to make the (trademarked) Bulletproof coffee...but I was going baby steps here, peeps.  There are plenty of articles online talking about the pros & cons of this latest fad concoction.  My main reasons for wanting to try it were the prompt of steady energy/less blood sugar spikes (= no hunger spikes), a morning boost to the metabolism and the mind clarity that it suggests.  (and who couldn't use more mind clarity, AMIRIGHT??)

What I ended up getting after 1 day:

A.- The 1 tablespoon of coconut oil made a tasty enough cup of coffee that I didn't end up needed to add anything else.  And as a coffee creamer JUNKIE, this made me VERY happy.  The coconut oil had about 50 calories more than the 2 tablespoons of creamer I TRY to use.  And of course,  significantly more fat...BUT, the healthy fats were now replacing all of the chemicals, bad fat & sugar of the creamer.  So does one outweigh the other??  I would think so, right??  I would think any time you're using natural ingredients to replace beloved crap ones is a good health step.  Not to mention, adding coconut oil to your diet is just an all-around good idea since its benefits are known far & wide.

B.- Ummmm...not much appetite suppressant, though.  The fat & calories of the oil & butter coffee is supposed to be a meal replacement, really, but my 1 tablespoon of oil was doing NONE of that for me.  I was pretty hungry shortly after the cup.  I tried to wait it out over an hour to see if it was just a passing thing, but IT WASN'T.  I was DEFINITELY hungry and NEEDED breakfast AND snack.

C.- Through the rest of the day, though, it seemed my hunger spikes were kept at bay....but they've also been that way since following the 5-meals a day of the Bikini Series.  Sooooo, I can't really say which caused it, but I didn't really have any cravings or irrational food choices for the rest of the day.

Soooooooooo...in conclusion:  Winning?  I guess?  I tried it again this morning and maybe I'll try it for a bit to see if I see any changes and I'll report back my insights here.  As usualJ  

Anyone else try this??  Pros/Cons??

Annnnyyyywwwayyyyyyyyy:

Breakfast:  Superfood Chocolate Breakfast Bowl

Sooooo...I really wasn't sure how I was feeling about this weird-ish concoction of frozen blueberries, banana, cocoa powder and spinach...but it was sooooooooooooooo good!  Especially topped with the added chocolate hit of crushed caco nibs, chia seeds, banana & unsweetened coconut.  Swoooooon.

Snack:  1 cup berries + 1/4 cup peanuts 

Had VERY shortly after that smoothie bowl since, as I mentioned above, I was PRETTTTY hungry yesterday morning.  After this double whammy though, I was pretty satisfied for several hours.

Lunch:  Ummmmmm... 

Yep, I liked that smoothie bowl so much that I had it TWICE in one day.  If that's not enough of an advertisement to try this recipe out ASAPJ

Snack:  Califia Chocolate Almond Milk

I was on a chocolate kick yesterday, huh??  But here's where I definitely think my "rational mind" worked out in my benefit, because I picked up this little bottle while taking a quick spin through Whole Foods (stockin up on my cocoa nibs & chia seeds from their bulk bins) and realized I needed SOMETHING.  And while I passed cases of cupcakes, pastries & gelato, I had no urge for ANY of them and found THIS option to be the most appealing.  Now THAT'S a definitely win.  Not to mention this was really creamy & delicious and SUPER filling from the (plant-based) protein...

 Dinner:  Pizza Kitchen

Now I know this looks like an 'irrational splurge', but I swear this ended up being a dinner more because it was SOOOOOO nice out last night and had more to do with making our annual 'spring' trip to Pizza Kitchen to eat outside under their little patio than it ACTUALLY had to do with the pizza.  Since last week it was already TOO hot and the last couple days were TOO gloomy, it just felt nice to be outside on such a sunny and breezy night.  And of course, the pizza was delicious to bootJ

And I'm glad we enjoyed that pizza since both Scott AND I managed to catch Katie's cold that she developed OUT OF NOWHERE on Monday.  Yippeee.  We both slept terrible last night and woke up feeling SUPER lousy.  Sooooo, you may or may not hear from me tomorrow, depending on how these next 24 hours treat me.  

Until then...have a great Thursday!

Bringin back the carbs;)

Thursday Recap:

Workout:  2 rounds arms & squats with 8 pounds

Breakfast:  Mango Avocado Smoothie

I cut the avocado to half this time around and I LOVEEED the flavor.  It wasn't as creamy as the original version, but I loved the combo flavor of mango + mint.  SOOO GOOD!

Snack:  Luna Bar

Lunch:  "Breakfast Tacos" 

TOO GOODJ  In full disclosure-I just had these AGAIN for breakfastJ  CAN'T STOP!

Snack:  Granola bar

Not crazy over having granola bars for BOTH snacks, but I was craving chocolate yesterday afternoon and this was as close to a healthy dose of it as I could find in my house at the momentJ

 Dinner:  Tone it up Turmeric "Skewers" + couscous + spinach

Scott & I are LOVING these quick 'stir-fry' meals cause they are not only healthy, but SUPER quick.  TIU recommended the turmeric, soy sauce, green onion marinated chicken as skewers, but we instead tossed it in a pot with a diced onion, some cooked couscous & spinach and let it all cook together about 10 minutes.  A uniquely flavored + healthy meal in mere moments = A-OK with us!

ps-I've been feeling A LOT better since adding healthy carbs into my dinners.  I was surprised not having them past 3pm had such an affect on me since I certainly didn't cut them out the rest of the day (and, in fact, was eating MORE of them throughout the day than usual).  But after a week & a half or so of cutting back, I was barely able to hold my head up after lunch.   So (healthy) CARBS with DINNER again it is!  I may try again IN A FEW MONTHS (since cutting them at night apparently puts your body in fat-burning mode), but for this moment, a few pounds I could potentially loose from those carbs are SOOOOOOOO not worth being even MORE exhausted thought out the day,  So yeah...that was my little carb updateJ

ANYWAY!  I should have PLENTY of my fill of carbs after THIS weekend since it's Memorial Day!  Crazy!  Hope you guys enjoy every moment!J

By request...

 Wednesday Recap:

Breakfast:  Flax & Almond Meal Pancake with peanut butter & maple + 1 cup strawberries

Snack:  Luna Bar

Workout:  Power Yoga Class

Everyone in my classes have beens so sweet and surprised I'm still hangin in.  I tell em I'M still shocked myself what I can still do aka-haven't fallen over yetJ hahahahahhahaha

Lunch- 1 SMALL Fast Food cheeseburger
By the time I chatted with some peeps and left the gym, I was pretty ready for lunch and a few-days craving for a cheeseburger seemed like the perfect for a quick lunch (so I was more interested than eating than taking a photo by the time I got homeJ)  And since what I wanted was one SMALL burger (no fries), my little splurge clocked in at 270 calories!  Not a healthy/everyday lunch, but certainly not a break in the calorie bank.  It was just enough, I savored every bite and had no guilt since I had just what I wanted and stopped when I was done.  Weeeeeeee!


Dinner:  Whole Wheat Spaghetti 

The small burger somehow kept me full all afternoon, long enough to take Katie to play at the mall playground and to a make-up dance class.  And when we were on our way from class, she had one request:  SPAGHETTI.  And since Katie isn't usually much of a 'dinner person.' we were OK with granting her request, even if it was a bit off the Bikini SeriesJ...

She even photoed her dinner for you, blog-styleJ

Dessert:  Wednesday night Treat night

Brought to you from our take-home desserts from Kim's in the Mix.  And even though I kept bouncing back & forth between all of the amazing choices, my first instinct won out with my final pick of Wedding Cake....

Kim's somehow makes a basic vanilla/vanilla cake PHENOMENAL.  Vanilla flavor to the hilt.  LOVE.

And I managed to sneak a quick bite of Scott's Blueberry praline pound cake before he devoured the rest.  The pound cake was vanilla and dense layered with a bright center of tangy berries & crunchy praline...JUST. SO. GOOD.

The only bummer about treat night?  It was Survivor Final night too...BOO!  We always hate when Survivor's overJ  I guess Wednesday treat night will now be a night of catching up on "Ridiculousness,"  "Impractical Jokers," & "Inside Amy Schumer" nightJ 

Anywaysss....have a great Thursday!

Sweet reunion...

Wednesday Recap:

Breakfast:  2 slices wheat toast with avocado + honey + sea salt

All the love.

Snack:  Coconut Chia Breakfast Pudding

Workout:  Power Yoga class

STILL hangin' in!

Lunch:  Tone it up Power Bowl 

Chicken + Beans + Red Pepper + Tomatoes + Chili powder, cumin & cinnamon

And since I realized I had forgotten the avocado that was supposed to top the power bowl, I did the next best thing and indulged in one of these AWESOME little avocado brownies that my dear friends, Ricky & Jen from EdoFoods brought me on Tuesday... 

Little nuggets of 4-ingredient perfection, these will fix any mid-afternoon sweet tooth in a healthier way.  Fudgy, dense and a perfect bite.  Scott had em for his afternoon snack when he got home and FLIPPED too.  JUST SO GOOD!  Thanks again, Ricky & Jen!!!  We heart youJ  (So does KatieJ)

Snack:  2 Carrot Cake Protein Bites

Dinner:  Chicken Thai Coconut Bowl + 1/2 cup brown rice 

So I think we may have found our VERYFAVORITE Tone It Up dinner recipe with this one.  The original recipe calls for tofu (and I WILL try it with it one day!), but I just subbed chicken and mixed it with the onion, soy sauce, peanut butter, coconut flakes and some spinach (because, like smoothies, Why not??) and served over a little brown rice for my non-exhaustion healthy carb quota for mid-weekJ

Savory from the soy & peanut butter with kicks of sweet from the coconut shreds throughout, I'm kinda guessing we could eat this about 3-4 times a week and be happy.  Bonus, it came together in about 15 minutes.  DEFINITELY give this one a try!  Totally satisfying. 

Dessert:  Dairy Queen Marshmallow Sundae with coconut 

So...I don't have TOO many pregnancy cravings after the first 3-months of 'eat what I want or else I'll feel sick,' but here's one of the 'funnier' ones that cropped up during a three-Fridays-in-a-row span at the end February/beginning of March in THE BRUTAL DEAD OF WINTER, where Scott ran out at nearly 9:30 one night to pick up one of these when I knew the craving WOULD NOT PASSJ  Marshmallow sundaes with coconut were my winter jam (as was post-Power yoga frozen yogurt)J  I'm not sure I've had one since FREEZING March, but it was a sweet reunion for Survivor treat night last night...made esp. sweeter since Survivor was soooooooooooo good last night!  (How very year-2000 of me to sayJ)  Hahahahahahaha

So talk about anti-ice cream weather, we woke up to THE MOST PERFECT FALL MORNING WEATHER this morning.  Too bad it's MayJ  Hopefully Mother Nature remembers this weather and starts sending it to us bright & early on September 1stJ  I'll be ready and waiting on the other side of many beach days with KatieJ

Have a good Thursday, everyone!J

FINALLY taking a moment to stop & think...

Tuesday Recap:

Workout:  2 sets of arms & squats with 8 pounds

Breakfast:  TIU Pina Colada Smoothie

Mmmmmmmmmm....coconut, coconut water, frozen pineapple, protein powder, lime juice FABULOUSNESS!

Snack:  1/2 wheat pita with hummus + spinach

Lunch- Flax/Almond meal pancake with peanut butter & syrup + 1 orange 

Yeah, not exactly your typical lunch, but one I was DYING for!  So much so in fact, that we didn't have pre-made almond meal, so I just tossed a couple handfuls of almonds in the coffee grinder and whipped some up myselfJ  That cake turned out so huge, I couldn't even finish it!  Totally satisfying.

Snack- Coconut Chocolate Chip Larabar

Perfect afternoon sweet tooth fix!

Dinner:  Chicken fajitas + toasted corn guacamole + baked corn tortilla chips 

After being COMPETELY inundated all the live-long-day of ALL sorts of Cinco de Mayo treats, honestly we were almost one foot out the door for some gooey nachos & fried ice cream last night.  But I just KNEW neither of them were going to make me feel good...not to mention, I knew our dinner was gonna be a quick-cooking WINNER and I was rightJ

Sauteed cumin/garlic/chili chicken & peppers and onions... 

...sided up with some guacamole mixed with some toasted corn (just tossed a drained can of corn in a dry skillet and let the flames work their magic)  with a few homemade oven-toasted corn chips...

Let's be honest...this was DEF our favorite partJ  I'll probably be making this meal again this week, so be warnedJ

Dessert:  Mexican-spiced mini pudding pies 

I won't lie:  I whipped these up with some instant chocolate pudding (it WAS a Tuesday night, afterallJ), mixed in a bit of chili powder, Cayenne and lots of cinnamon and called it the perfectly lighter way to enjoy a Cinco treatJ  No fried ice cream involvedJ.

And again, not that there's not a time & place for nachos & fried ice cream...but I'm not sure if it's been because I've been eating MUCH healthier lately OR the extremes that pregnancy tends to bring, but eating healthy has become SUCHHHHHHHHH a relief/treat lately, while eating 'bad' has become not really even worth it because I end up feeling soooooooooooooooooo G-ROSS afterwards.  We didn't even over-indulge over the weekend, but I kinda felt the lowsy effects of it for a couple days.  It's wild.  I've never really been one to stop & think of how I'd feel AFTER I ate something more indulgent (more like a 'dive right in there and worry about it later' kinda personJ), but the extreme of how bad I feel has really helped put on the breaks of late.  Here's to hoping it continues cause it's MUCHHHHHHHHH easier to curb those cravings when you take that second to realize that one 'extra spoonful of ice cream/slice of pizza/night of unplanned indulgence when you know you have a satisfying healthy swap on tap' (see that above dinner againJ) is gonna put you over the edge.  Actually puts this little quote I saw on FB last night even more in perspective...

Just food for thought.  Pun intended.

Have a great Wednesday, everyone!J