A peek at balance, week 3...

Hey, guys!  This was one of the most fun weekends in recent memory, so I had to share some quick snaps with you guys before we get to the food today...because I just can't help myselfJ

It all started on Friday with a vision board making party with an awesome group of ladies...

(a reminder to myself to throw some Disney World Mickey ears on that board ASAPJ)

...a birthday party with my girl on Saturday...

...and a night out (OK, we ate at 5:30J) with my oldest girlfriends...

...and my FAVORITETHINGEVER of the day:  Celebrating the Olympic year at Katie's 1st gymnastics show!...

...and even Lily got in on the funJ

And, thanks to my Mom for taking the kids on Sunday afternoon, Scott & I got to take naps.  NAP.  Glorious NAPS.  AT THE SAME TIME.  I can't even pretend to remember the last time that happened.  That may or may not have even trumped Olympic gymnasticsJ

Kid.  I kid.  SortaJ

ANYWAY...back to a peek at my attempt at balancing the week on the food front...

Monday:  Kale salad with Maple Almond Vinaigrette

Tuesday:  Croque Monsieur + broccoli

Just a fancy word for ham & cheese sandwich covered with bechamel sauce, but I've wanted to make this recipe for approximately 950 years and FINALLY got around to it (much in thanks to the leftover Gruyere from the French Onion grilled cheeses from a couple weeks ago.)  The bechamel was made with thyme and a sprinkle of nutmeg and was just so divine.  It will NOT be another 950 years before we make this again!

Wednesday:  Turkey and bacon lettuce wraps with basil-mayo

The basil-mayo really lifts these from standard lettuce wrap to O.M.GSOGOOD status.  

Plus bacon.

Thursday:  Pea ravioli & brown butter garlic sauce + salad 

More on this recipe coming soon...J

Friday:  Beef Puttanesca with garlic bread + salad

I was SOEXCITED to make this recipe from Andie Mitchell's Eating in the Middle cookbook that I even made a special stop at the Amish market on Friday for fresh ground sirloin and even texted Scott this picture...

Is my life sad?  

Probably.  It's OK.

Anyway, beef & beans replace the pasta in this recipe for a full-on burst of protein, but still all swirled together with all of that briny, salty goodness.  And just enough of a carb kick with mmmmm...fresh garlic bread.  Swoon.

Saturday:  Family-style dinner at the same Italian restaurant I blogged about on WednesdayJ   (ps-and I paid a fair amount of attention and left just barely full...hallelujah)

Sunday:  Caprese bake + salad

Splurges:

Wednesday:  Bites of Katie's Reese's Bunny...thanks, Easter BunnyJ

Friday:  2 SMALL scoops of this little number I picked up at Trader Joe's

Saturday:  Mmmm....bites of creme brulee & a double chocolate brownie from our Italian dinner.  And ummmm...my favorite part?  The strawberries mixed with vanilla ice cream and balsamic drizzle.  I don't even know who I am anymore.

Sunday:  Mixed bites of THESE...

In honor of Katie's gymnastics show, we had our Moms and niece over for lunch (that Caprese bake)  But, in reality, we were all WAYYYY more excited to crack open the dessert box from Nino's Pastry Shop aka-the best place for cannoli in central Jersey.  The chocolate mousse-raspberry cake wasn't really my jam, but a sliver of that carrot cake and maybe one too many bites of those cannoli cream-stuffed lobster tails were had and SAVORED.  Holy hell, worth every calorie!

Other yummy recipes from the week:

Crunchy Cashew Thai Quinoa Salad

A leftover, lingering bowl of quinoa in my fridge was saved and turned into this dish, which gave Scott & I lunch for 2 days each.  SOOOOOOO fresh & yummy.

Homemade breakfast sausage

Since I was already at the Amish market, I figured I might as well also pick up some ground pork to quickly whip up this quick homemade sausage recipe for fast breakfasts during the week.  I pretty much just had a repeat of that exact dish a few minutes ago because it was SOGOOD (and put together in under 3 minutes!  BONUS)

Ham & Cheese Hashbrown Waffles

Sunday breakfast dejour!

Exercise:

Tuesday:  Tap class

Wednesday:  TEACHING Vinyasa yoga class (and, again, shaking like a leaf until I started my classJ) + Body Jam

Thursday:  Teaching a private yoga session...we even tried chair yoga!  That was kinda funJ

Friday:  Gentle yoga

Saturday:  Vinyasa yoga

Sunday:  NAPS.  POWER NAPSJ

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A peek at balance...

Hey guys, welcome to a new week.  So while I wanted to focus more on posts tackeling the mental struggles in weight loss, I still wanted to include food and fun in the mix and thought this feature would be a good way to restart.  How does a Monday overview of a peek at how I try to balance all my weekly meals sound?  Same premise as the old blog, but now with a weekly glimpse instead of a daily one.  Also, I think I want to stick to just dinners, splurges & workouts right now.  To be quite honest, my breakfast, lunches & snacks have been pretty repetitive lately.  A fact that sprang up once I realized MOST of the time, I didn't really care what I had, just that I needed to eat SOMETHING.  (I know, how novelJ)  Honestly I've been having a lot of smoothies lately.  They've just seemed very "calming" to me at the moment, for whatever reason.  So, unless I have something majorly exciting in those 3 departments, I'll stick to the dinners, splurges & exercise because:

• Dinner is where I pretty much always try to make something different & keep it interesting....(ummm, except last weekJ  You'll seeJ)  And if you've read this blog for awhile, you'll remember that it was kinda the original style.
• Splurges are really the most fun to talk about and enjoy AMIRIGHT??
• And exercise melds them all together = keeps ya on the healthy track, while giving you a little bit of wiggle room for that piece of chocolate.

I hope this gives you guys some insight into how to balance all the healthy with all the 'good' stuff (and portion control it all, via the pictures) and maybe give you some meal ideas if you're stuck in a rut (one of the main reasons I started this blog to begin with).  As always, I like to show that you don't need to eat sad salads and steamed vegetables every night to loose weight and/or to be healthy.  And that, while at times I do have moments of cutting back on carbs and such, I DO NOT like to cut anything permanently out of life.  What's life without pasta and ice cream??  A life I don't want to live, I know that muchJ 

OK, so here ya go...a peek at my week:

Monday:  And it's starting off boring because we were all sick from before Easter and still feeling under the weather, so I think my dinner was leftover Chinese takeout lemon chicken & rice this night.  I mean, awesome first post about healthy balance, right?J

Tuesday:  The ONLY thing that sounded good:  Takeout baked ziti with sausage + a salad (still wasn't feeling great)

Wednesday:  The only thing that STILL sounded good: Baked ziti with sausage (served on a salad-sized plate for portion control) + salad + a slice of bread & butter

Thursday:  1 dish Lightened Pad Thai  (made with cabbage instead of noodles.  Healthy + delicious!)

Friday:  Polenta Caprese Bites + salad

Saturday:  No dinner since we were still satisfied from a good brunch at Tortilla Press.  Complete with a few cinnamon pita chips...

...a few bites of 'breakfast nachos'...

 ...and 1/2 a chorizo + raja quesadilla

Sunday:  French Onion Soup Dippers + broccoli

I don't want to live a life without grilled cheese either.  There, I said itJ

And the splurges!

Tuesday:  Chocolate Coconut egg.  Because EasterJ

Thursday:  A small scoop of THIS ice cream...

Friday lunch:  Aka-the ONLY thing that I wanted on the planet:  Stewart's Root Beer + a cheese dog (and a couple fries stolen from KatieJ)  Here's what was leftJ 

Sunday morning breakfast: 1 orange chocolate chip muffin

Sunday afternoon:  Good old stovetop popcorn with butter + salt

It was a family treat all aroundJ

And finally- Exercise:

Pretty quiet week since we were getting back up to speed after being under the weather.

Thursday:  Teaching a private gentle yoga session

Friday:  Power yoga...taught by ME at my 1st ever full, public class!  Yeeeeeeeeee!  (does shaking with terrified nerves burn calories??)

Saturday:  2 mile walk around the park

Sunday:  Restorative yoga

So, there ya go!  A week in review.  Let me know what you think about this new Monday recap feature if you have a minute.

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Perfect breakast/Subpar dinner...

Wednesday Recap:

Breakfast:  Tone it Up "Perfect Morning Quinoa"  

So let me tell ya:  This recipe is aptly named, because IT IS PERFECT.  I never, ever, EVER thought I'd say such things about a quinoa breakfast, but it was so sweet & yummy with NONE of that 'discernable quinoa taste' (infinitely better than the first one I ever made back in 2010!....WAY before I knew about the importance of RINSING dried quinoa!)  The only adjustment to the above recipe was that the normal TIU Nutrition Program was made with 1/4 cup COOKED quinoa vs. the 2 1/2 cup the above recipe mentions.  Not sure which one is accurate, but I found this (+ the protein from the almonds) very filling.  Nice surprise and def throwing this one into the morning rotation to make it often and a lot!  

Snack:  Blueberry oat bar 

Already wrapped up in a napkin as my on-the-go snack for....

Workout:  Power Yoga Class

And one that ended in the LEAST amount of aches & pains in the last few weeks.  Hallelujah!J

Lunch:  Turkey Sandwich + 1 cup carrots + 1 orange 

There goes that HUGE lunch again...weeeeeeeeeeeeee!  One that kept me COMPLETELY fueled for the afternoon, thankfully, since it involved a FAB time at the park with Katie and one of her little buddies...J

Snack:  Chocolate Chip Coconut Larabar

I wasn't really even THAT hungry by the time 'snack time' rolled around...but more about wanting to get my fix from another one of these FAB barsJ  My poor pre-prepped snacks I had made for the week have taken a backseat next to theseJ

Dinner:  Chicken & Mango salsa lettuce wraps + broccoli 

OK, I gotta admit, these were a little 'uninspired' last night.  In TIU's defense, their original recipe called for marinated tempeh, which may have been a bit different from the 'boring-ness' that turned out to be our chicken (in an attempt not to torment Scott TOO much, I held off from feeding him tempehJ)  I think maybe with some lime-coated GRILLED chicken this woulda been delish, but honestly I didn't even finish it all since it was kinda boring.  Can't complain for only 2 'sorta dud' recipes in 3 weeks.  Thankfully I wasn't too hungry anyway, after a full day of good/filling eats.

Dessert- Mini Peanut Butter Cup Blizzard

Not to mention I had our "Wednesday night Survivor treat" to look forward toJ  Had to go with an ole reliable classic fav last nightJ  

Man, I feel like we've been spoiled this week since it's been a week of BEAUTIFUL weather.  Today's supposed to be another beautiful day and the weekend just looks RIDICULOUS.  I can already hear the sound of jacked-up parking prices coming from the Jersey Shore.J  A sure-fire sign that sunny days are straight aheadJ

Have a great Thursday!J

Winner, winner, chicken dinner....

Tuesday Recap:

Breakfast:  Apple with 2 tablespoons peanut butter

Lunch:  1/2 can of tuna with mayo & capers on sprouted grain wheat bread

 Snack:  Trader Joe's Chocolate Chip Brownie & Oat Bars

These little babies are soooooo yummy.  Much more brownie than granola bar and studded with chocolate chips.  Perfect for a mid-afternoon chocolate fix for 120 calories.

Dinner:  Slow Cooker Italian Pulled Chicken + broccoli

Talk about a yummy dinner with MINIMAL EFFORT.  Into the slow cooker went:

• 1 pound chicken breast
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• Oregano
• Garlic Powder
• Onion Powder
• Dried Basil  (didn't measure any of those, just sprinkled em on top)

Let that cook on low about 5 hours and then add:

• 1 cup shredded kale (mine went in frozen and cooked up fine)
• 3 diced roasted red peppers

Let everything cook up for another hour and you're good to go.

Well, sort ofJ These were supposed to be sandwiches topped with melted mozzarella, but since we were plum out of sandwich rolls, I just laid the chicken out on non-stick sprayed foil and topped it with a sprinkle of parm and lots of mozz and popped it in the toaster oven for about 5 minutes, or until the cheese was melty.

Extra step = WORTH IT!  The cheese made it extra gooey and all of the flavors of the chicken just powered on through. All the flavors, and who can't use an excuse to cut back on carbs for dinner here and there.  Try this one out.  It was def a winner, winner, chicken dinnerJ

Dessert:  1 Smore  (not pictured)

Not pictured cause I was JUST TOO EXCITED to eat it to stop and take a pictureJ  Made with Trader Joe Grahams and pieces of one of the THREE Lindts chocolate bunnies that Katie got for EasterJ  Poor bunnyJ

And sigh...another day and no workout.  As excited as I was to get to movin, I actually had a doc appointment yesterday morning and after a few 'signs,' she suggested it I take certain 'strenuous' exercises a little easier ....and that I need to drink a LITER of water for every HALF HOUR of exercise???  (even though I admittedly HAVE been really thirsty this time around) So in an attempt to give my body one extra day to heal an ache I had had, I rested for another day and am going to try to get on a regular/not so strenuous routine....which means:  probably more walks/less zumba/and paying more attention in power yoga (cause I'm NOT givin up that one yet!).  We'll see how this goesJ  Just gotta pay more attention to the 'signs' at this momentJ

Alright...that was a lot of yammeringJ  Have a good Wednesday!

Yogi eats...

So as my first OFFICIAL food post back...do I have a GREAT one for you guys!  And it was all courtesy of friends I had met through my yoga teacher training.

So, let me back up here a sec and say how FREAKINCRAZYWONDERFUL that experience has been so far.  Never in the zillion times I nearly backed out leading up to it (and, um, that was in one week) would I have EVER thought this experience would be THIS enriching and just so darn crazy good.  We had our first practice teach this weekend, and even though I had some nerves, the support from the entire group was just OVER the top supportive and encouraging.  It's an electric environment to say the least.

Oh...and quick funny story before I get to the food:  So the first weekend of class the teacher announces "ya know, a lot of times we have women that start this program and by the end they have babies." (since it's a 9 month course)  From that second, I just KNEW I was pregnant.  KNEW IT.  So I wasn't TOO shocked to find out I was right about a week and a half laterJ  I even screen-caped this adorable message from one of my fellow trainees... 

SWEETEST. THING. EVER!

OK...so, anyway:  Back to the food, AMIRIGHT???  So the boyfriend of one of my fellow trainees just so happens to be a most excellent chef of edoFOODS and whipped up a FABULOUS and almost all-vegan meals (I'll explain in a sec) for some of our group this past weekend.  To say we were all excited was an understatement, as we got handed HEALTHY and DELICIOUS snacks & meals at every turn.  For our first break, we were graced with packets of CRISPY chickpeas baked in coconut oil & spices and a batch of fresh veggies and avocado dip.  Yum...

And then lunch arrived with this RIDICULOUSLY GORGEOUS sweet kale salad with shaved brussel sprouts, craisins, pumpkin seeds and the most amazing surprise of all:  Vegan dressing made of CASHEWS & CAULIFLOWER (and spices, of course)

As a non-vegan myself, I was COMPLETELY blown away by the dressing.  It was creamy, savory and not even a hint that it was made with cauliflower.  Just insane food magic edoFoods has going on there!

We also had some velvety smooth, sweet & savory butternut squash soup that helped us warm up the heart & soul...

We had so much food that I was even able to bring home half of the soup & salad for my Mom to try.  She was equally as blown away...especially for someone who probably never even considered eating vegan for even one dayJ

And then our final treat on day one was A.- one of my current favoritethingsever right now:  BERRIES.  Strawberries to be exact, tossed with fresh mint & B.- the most fabulousridiciulouslyamazing brownies I ever had in my life:

And the kicker?  The brownie was RAW.  My friend whipped up a magical concoction of walnuts, date s& brown rice puffs to create a fudgy base and a top layer of coconut oil, maple syrup & caco to create a velvet topper.  No more words.  It was that good.

No really.  It was THAT good.

Sunday brought us a whole new crop of goodies (I mean, who doesn't love a sandwich wrapped in string??  Who, I ask??):

The Bahn Mi was filled to the brim with cilantro, pickled carrots, radishes, cucumbers...and a special request on my behalf:  grilled chicken.  He made the rest vegan with mushrooms, but since they're one of the only 2 things on this earth I'm not crazy over (eggs, being the other...if I haven't mention that on here 9,000 times beforeJ), the chef so very generously modified my 'wich.  He even made a second one 'for the baby'....which I inhaled on his/her behalf before 11:30am Monday morningJ

The combo of the tangy, crunchy veggies along with a KILLER vegan (ginger??) dressing just made this sandich explode with 10000 flavors....fabulous.

Our side dish of the day was GLUTEN FREE/VEGAN Mac & cheese.  When I heard 'mac & cheese,' I just said "SIGN ME UP!", not even realizing that M&C isn't usually vegan (ummm...hello, cheeseJ)  So the simple magical swap?  Bragg's Nutrtional Yeast!  It created a cheesy, textured flavor around those you would never know they were gluten free noodles.  Mmmmmm...so warm & cozy.  It was especially appreciated after a full day of nerves the day before from our teaching sessionJ

And finally to round out the day...and just in time for when my sweet tooth started SCREAMING TO ME around 3pm, right before I knew we were getting an anatomy lesson to finish off our weekend and I needed something to get me through:  Coconut milk chia seed pudding with raspberries.  Swoon.

Oh, and I forgot to mention we started our Sunday with HOMEMADE GRANOLA BARS:

My love for homemade granola bars knows no bounds...esp. cause it's always something I WANT to make and just never get around to it.  So to enjoy one made with love and lots of seeds, raisins, oats and all sorts of goodies was SUCH a TREAT.

How's THAT for a delicious and NOURISHING weekend??  I doubt I'm alone in saying we all felt so well-taken care of given the time, love and effort that went into EVERY component.  The nutritional attention to detail was certainly one where I felt spoiled.  Ummmm...can this show up at my door EVERY day??  I swear I might just convert to full-on vegan...sans those mushroomsJ  Our group can't even wait until next month's batch of goodies, because we know they'll be spectacular!

Thanks again, Ricky, Jen & edoFoods!

And BTW, how pretty is our lunch space at the training studio??

This isn't the only one in the studio, but it seems to be the one a lot of us gravitate towards.  Hardly anyone even sits on the benches, as we're usually all sprawled out on the floor...Bahn Mi in handJ.  I can't even tell you how many laughs & tears have already been shared in this space...phew, if these walls could talkJ    Ya know: Yoga peeps...we're partiers like thatJ

Alrighty...well, I gotta head out.  Taking the crew (aka- Katie, my Mom and my Mom's BFF) to Trader Joe's and I have to hit the 'magic hour' (aka-before 10:30am) before it gets too crazy.  I'll share a haul with you guys if I get anything good.

Have a great Thursday!J