what's for dinner?

October 21-25

mandarin chicken salad

sloppy joes on wheat with fruit salad

marinated flank steak with baked sweet potatoes

caesar chicken wraps

rice and beans (with turkey sausage)

mandarin chicken salad 

this is a way yummy salad! HG is off a huntin’ and gatherin’ so i’ll be making this for a nice quiet evening of blogging and pinterest!

dressing:

1 tsp chopped, pealed gingeroot

1 garlic clove pressed

1/3 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup orange juice

1/4 cup of vegetable oil

1 tsp sesame oil

1 envelop onion soup mix

2 tsp sugar

whisk all the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl and refrigerate until ready to use.

salad:

8 oz uncooked bow tie multigrain pasta

1/2 cucumber, scored, seeded and sliced

1/2 cup diced red bell pepper

1/2 cup coarsely chopped red onion

1 package (6 oz) fresh baby spinach leaves

1 can (11oz) mandarin orange segments, drained

2 cups diced cooked chicken

1/2 cup sliced almonds

cook the pasta according to directions.

toss everything together and pour the dressing on.

seriously. yum.

sloppy joes on wheat with fruit salad

1 lb lean ground beef (i’ll be using venison again)

1 cup ketchup

1/4 cup water

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 tsp worcestershire sauce

2 tsp prepared mustard

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp salt

whole wheat buns

in a large saucepan, cook the beef until no longer pink. drain the fat, then add in the rest! bring it to a boil and simmer for about 20-30 mins

i’ll serve it with a side of fruit salad..fruit salad’s easy.. some pineapple, some mandarin oranges, a banana and some grapes...maybe a couple sprigs of mint. done. 

marinated flank steak with sweet potato fries

this is an old rachel ray recipe that has served me well over the years! 

2 cloves garlic, pressed

1 tbsp grill seasoning (i like the montreal seasoning from mccormick)

1 tsp paprika

2 tsp hot saucr

1 tbsp worcestershire sauce

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

1/3 cup evoo

1-1 1/2 lb flank steak

pop your fries in the oven! 

mix everything together in a shallow dish, then put the meat in and coat evenly. let stand  15 minutes in marinade.

heat up your grill pan-med/high heat. grill your steak, about 6-7 minutes per side for medium well. let it sit about 4-5 minutes before you slice it on the diagonal. 

caesar chicken wraps

multigrain tortillas

romaine

parmesan

chicken breast

light caesar dressing

season your chicken, either salt & pepper, or something a little fancier, like montreal chicken seasoning from mccormick...grill it or cube it up and cook it..whichever you prefer...again, i love my grill pan, so i use it whenever i can....

soften your tortillas in the the microwave, and serve it up!  a little lettuce, a little chicken, maybe a light sprinkle of fresh parmesan and a drizzle of dressing.

ez pz. 

rice and beans (with turkey sausage)

this is a big favorite in our house. it’s hearty, it’s filling. and the turkey sausage is a way better option than regular sausage.

whole grain rice

1 can red beans

evoo

1 package smoked turkey sausage

creole seasoning

get your rice started. 

thinly slice your sausage. add a drizzle of evoo to a skillet on medium heat. add the sausage and sprinkle some creole seasoning over the top; not a ton-it gets potent if you add too much! stir occasionally for about 7 minutes, til the sausage gets cooked on both sides. drain the beans (i like to rinse them too-just because i don’t like all the “gunk” on them) then add them in with the sausage and cook until heated through. 

once the rice is done, put your sausage and beans on top. add any extra creole seasoning if you’d like at this point. 

like i said, hearty. 

that's it! i've got a busy week ahead, so these all are fast, easy, healthy dinners. bring on the week!

Process vs Product

hang in there! 

don’t give up!

if i can do this, believe me, you can too.

i’m actually feeling much better this week about the whole health challenge at church. i’m finding myself much less hungry and therefore, less grumpy.  i did this by amping up my protein intake, and making a batch of weight watchers’ chocolate muffins that are only 97 calories each. 

(1 box of cake mix (whatever flavor you prefer!), 1 can of pumpkin, 1/2 cup of water...that’s it! bake it at 375 for about 30-40 minutes...pumpkin makes everything so yummy and moist!)

something else i’ve noticed this week: i feel like my soul, body and mind are all functioning at higher levels. yes, i realize that sounds ridiculous and frou frou... but humor me here...

i’m working out to the point that everything feels sore...but, this means i can actually feel my body. i feel present in it all day long.

i listen to great podcasts while i work out..thus, feeding my mind.

and when i make the commitment to sit down and listen to what God has to say to my soul, i feel like my spirit is getting up off of it’s lazy boy recliner and taking a walk around the block. 

yesterday in my reading, the author was making a point about how prayer doesn’t prepare us for greater works, but rather that “prayer IS the greater work.” i wrote in my journal that “it’s not the result of prayer that we’re to chase after....the ‘i want’ & the ‘i need’; it’s the actual discipline of prayer that we should be seeking.”  

God wants us to be in relationship with Him and prayer is simply communicating with Him... i think of it as like a higher level of a phone call with my dad...we catch up..he tells me stuff.. i tell him stuff...occasionally, he’ll ask me to do something for him, and i do the same..he’ll even challenge me about areas of my life that i need to improve on...but this is how we know we each other...it’s not just me picking up the phone and asking for stuff.

stay with me. 

i have a point. 

i think.

if prayer is about the process and not the product, shouldn’t my view towards my health be the same?  

i started the WhoLly Fit series with 2 small goals: eat better for 8 weeks and be able to fit into a pair of anthropologie pants that i bought last year on clearance that have always been just a little too tight. 

but now, i think my goals are changing..

ok, i still really, really want to fit in the pants. 

but now, i think it sincerely is about the process. maybe i’m getting a little taste of how He wants us to feel every day...when adam and eve were created, they had this amazing garden all around them...but they had to work in it physically and learn about it mentally and they had an incredible relationship with God to feed and exercise them spiritually. 

doesn’t He still want that for us today?

i tell parents of any new music students that i am a “process teacher”...as long as they’re learning and doing their best, who cares what a song sounds like at the end? yes, we learn discipline and how to polish a piece, but that’s just part of the process. why don’t i apply that to myself?

the greatest commandment all through the bible is to “love the Lord your God, with all your heart, soul, mind (and strength gets thrown in there too...)”

how do we do that?

don’t know about you, but i have so much more mind to develop...(*insert blonde joke here..*) i know i have a ton of work to do when it comes to my heart & soul..and what about my strength??? yup-i think i can push that more too.

so hang in there!! it’s not about losing weight! it’s about being WHOLLY fit! exercise your mind, your body and your soul and you’ll become more HOLY fit. 

little by little. inch by inch.

think it’s too soon to try on the pants? maybe i’ll wait another couple weeks....

what's for dinner??

october 14-18

roast beef with veggies & sweet potatoes

parmesan pork with applesauce

chicken caesar salad
blackened mahi-mahi sandwiches with chipotle fries

peanut chicken with whole grain rice

roast beef with veggies & sweet potatoes

there’s just something about a roast on a sunday..makes me all nostalgic and homesick for pennsylvania sundays in the fall when mom would put the roast in the oven before we all piled in the station wagon for church.  hours later we would come home to our warm, cozy house smelling crazy delicious... does anyone else leave their oven on when they’re at church??? we also left our front door unlocked in those days....but that’s another post for another time..

let’s get to the beef. 

chuck roast

salt & pepper

evoo

beef broth

carrots, onions, sweet potatoes (chopped and pealed)

preheat the oven to 275. 

season your roast with salt and pepper. drizzle a lil’ bit of evoo in the bottom of your dutch oven, set it to high and sear your roast on both sides (about a minute for each side). remove the roast, toss in your veggies in the bottom. next, put the roast on top of the veggies, pour in about a cup of broth and do a dance. because you’re done.

put it in the oven for 3 hours (4 if it’s over 4 lbs.) and take a nap. ooooh! that’s my favorite part!

when it’s done, you can either serve your sweet potatoes as they are or mash them with a teeeny, little bit of brown sugar, cinnamon and butter. yum! 

parmesan pork with applesauce

found this recipe in Real Simple years ago, and it’s one of our favorites. quick and easy-but looks fancy! 

1 pork tenderloin (about a lb)

1/2 cup flour 

2 large eggs

1 cup dry bread crumbs (i generally use panko crumbs-less crazy chemical ingredients that i can’t pronounce. but this time i found some gluten-free bread crumbs, so i’m gonna try those out..)

1 tsp kosher salt

1/4 cup grated parmesan 

4 tablespoons evoo

preheat the oven to 400.

divide your tenderloin into 8 even pieces. next, pound ‘em out into nice little medallions that are about 1/4” thick. put your flour in a shallow dish or bowl. put your eggs in another one and slightly beat them. then in another dish mix your salt, bread crumbs and parmesan. 

assembly line time! coat the pork first in the flour, next in the egg and finally in the bread crumbs..heat 2 tablespoons of the evoo in a large skillet then drop in 4 of the cutlets into the pan. cook them on medium-high heat until golden (about 2 minutes on either side, turning once). wipe out the skillet and add new evoo and the remaining 4 cutlets. 

once done, transfer the pork to a baking sheet and bake until cooked through, 8-10 minutes. 

you can serve them with a side salad, or baked sweet potatoes, but i’ve decided we’re going with applesauce. just because it’s good. and under-rated as a side dish. i like rooting for the underdog. 

chicken caesar salad

chicken breast

romaine lettuce

parmesan

fat free caesar crutons

light caesar dressing

i like to marinate my chicken for this salad. you don’t need to, but sometimes it’s as simple as dropping it into a bag of italian dressing for a bit. or you could sprinkle it with  more of the blackened seasoning from mahi night. in either case, remember to pound out the chicken a bit before you do anything so that it will grill evenly.

again, i’ll be using my grill pan! set to a medium-high heat, grill chicken for about 6 minutes on either side. while that’s cooking, chop up the romaine...i love a fresh head of romaine...it’s just beautiful! 

once your chicken is done, chop it up. toss it in with the romaine and croutons. grate some cheese over it and measure out your dressing on top. mix it all together and enjoy!

blackened mahi-mahi sandwiches with chipotle fries

this is the one exception my hubby will make when it comes to seafood. mahi is extremely mild and flaky and H.G. will eat it if it’s got blackened seasoning all over it. so that’s what i’m doing!

2 4-6 oz mahi fillets

blackened seasoning

whole grain wheat buns

chipotle fries (yup! made ‘em last week, but they’re so yummy that i have to have them with this!)

the mahi will cook quickly, so put your fries in the oven first...

season the fillets with blackened seasoning. warm up your grill pan, (you can use a skillet, coated with cooking spray, but i have a special relationship with my grill pan...i can’t say no to it. and i certainly wouldn’t dream of cheating on it with another pan.)

sear each fillet for about 2 minutes on either side. let them sit for about one minute, then bun ‘em up! you can add a little “smart balance light mayo” on the bun...maybe add some lettuce and tomato! oh man! is it thursday, yet??? 

get those fries out of the oven, and enjoy such a simple, yummy healthy meal.

peanut chicken with whole grain rice

chicken breast

salt & pepper

evoo

3/4 cup low sodium chicken broth

1/2 cup peanut butter (i prefer an all-natural brand)

2 tbsp teriyaki sauce

1 1/2 tsp hot sauce

whole grain rice

get your rice started... real rice takes time. however, real rice makes yummy, flavor-packed rice....so the time is worth it!

ez pz: chop up your chicken into 1” cubes. season with a little salt and pepper. heat up your wok on medium-high heat. drizzle in just enough evoo to coat the pan. when that’s good and hot, drop in your chicken and stir around until cooked through-about 8 minutes. 

in the meantime, mix up your peanut sauce! in a medium bowl, mix the broth, peanut butter, teriyaki and hot sauce. pour it in with the chicken! bring it to a nice little bubble for about a minute. oh man. this is gonna smell good! 

once the rice is done, you can either put the chicken and sauce on top of the rice, or on the side...depending on the picky eaters in your family! 

so that’s what we’re eatin’ this week! hope this is helpful, or at least amusing. 

on water & candy corn:

i do not drink enough water. 

i snack a lot while making dinner each night...this becomes a problem when i’m supposed to enter everything into “my fitness pal”...

there’s a slight possibility that i am seriously addicted to sugar. 

i’m tremendously grateful that black coffee is low cal. 

these are just a few of the things i’m discovering about myself during our Wholly Fit series at church.

but the biggest revelations i’ve had so far: 

1. i soooo lack self-discipline.

followed closely by:

2. discipline makes me grumpy.*

*even after typing this, i need to close the lid of the computer and walk away for a bit. because i will only blog if i want to blog...not because i have to blog....

ok, i’m back...

i know that some of you might want to be gracious and allow me the whole “she’s a musician, therefore she must be somewhat disciplined” easy out...but frankly, most musicians that i know are musicians because they like to practice. in fact, give us a whole slew of options of how to spend our time and we’ll probably pick practicing above all others. 

real discipline for musicians involves being places on time, showering before 1pm and adapting to systems of order that require more than just keeping all our band charts in a big pile somewhere...

and here’s where the daily diet comes in. 

suddenly i need to be responsible and disciplined when it comes to snacking. my little calorie-counting app is supposed to be a helpful tool and instead i feel like it’s Big Brother breathing down my neck...

“uh-uh-uh, ashley...are you going to enter in that handful of candy corn you just ate?” 

or how about when i was cooking dinner last night?

“uh-uh-uh, ashley...you know if you eat a handful of the corn chips before they go into the taco salad, they still count and you’ll have to enter in 2 servings into the app.” 

this makes me grumpy.

i want to eat excessive amounts of candy corn throughout the day. 

i want to eat the extra chips 7 minutes prior to our actual dinner time. 

and in my grumpiness, i’ll complain to anyone who will listen. russell will get random, whiney texts from me about my addiction to white sugars and my aversion to drinking water. i’ll complain to H.G. that my pencil skirts had better fit more loosely at the end of the next 7 weeks or else i’m gonna be ticked...

so yesterday i sit down to read the words my God has prepared for me and He says in matthew 11:28 to simply “come to Me..”.... and it seems so silly. 

it seems ridiculous to ask God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, to help me snack less and yet...it’s kinda a good idea...why didn’t i start there? 

we’re told in matt 7:7 to “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.”

ok. i can do that. 

so today, i’m praying for discernment to chose the right foods that will fuel my body in a healthy way. i’m praying that i can take better care of this body that was made in my God’s image as a way to worship Him. i’m praying for strength to say “no” to massive handfuls of candy corn. and above all, i’m praying to surrender my will to what He wants for my life, instead of what i want....so that whether i eat or drink, or teach or sing, or drive or even think, i do it all, in a way that pleases Him. 

What’s For Dinner?

October 7th-October 11th

roast chicken with veggies & whole grain rice

taco salad

london broil with whole grain rice

chili

marinated chicken breast with sweet potato fries

just a reminder that each week i’ll make 1 meal that takes a little longer to prepare, followed by 4, 30-minute meals....

here we go, peeps! 

roast chicken with veggies & whole grain rice

1 whole chicken (3 1/2-4 lbs)

kosher salt & pepper

sprigs of rosemary & sage (optional)

1 lemon (optional)

1/2 cup chicken broth

garlic (1-2 cloves depending on size)

carrots

onions

sweet potatoes 

whole grain rice

if you’re using your crockpot, get it ready!

if you’re using a dutch oven, preheat the oven to 300

cut up your veggies, press your garlic, and chuck ‘em in the bottom of your pot. 

season your chicken with the salt and pepper, and if using them, halve your lemon and place it with the herbs in the cavity of the chicken. place the chicken on top of the veggies and pour your chicken broth around the edges of the pot...just because i said so...not because there’s any science or miracle that results in actually doing it that way..

cook in the crockpot on low for 4-8 hours

or 

put your dutch oven in the oven for 3-4 hours 

(of course if you’re in a rush, you can preheat to 425 and cook for about an hour and a half, but i need time to take a gooooooood, loooooong, sunday nap...)

i used to be quite fond of my crock pot until HG got me a dutch oven for my birthday a couple years ago...(yes, i like those kind of presents...) now i’m hooked! it makes everything so juicy and tender...never dry...i highly recommend getting one. 

after i awaken from my sunday slumber, i’ll then take the chicken out of the oven and just let it rest while i prepare the whole grain rice. (directions are on the bag, people.)

then it’s eatin’ time. i’ll eat the veggies, HG will eat the rice. we’ll both eat the chicken. happy sabbath to you all!

taco salad

every summer when i was growing up my mom would make a huge stainless steel bowl of taco salad for every family picnic...it was one of our favorite meals then and remains a favorite still. it’s also a “salad” that HG will actually eat....

romaine lettuce

approx.1 lb lean ground beef (don’t you hate how for some reason the grocery store just can’t bring themselves to package 1lb across the board??..it must be their own quiet little rebellion....meh.....just base it on how many people you’re making dinner for. we usually use about 3/4 of a pound for the 2 of us...but i’ll be using 1/2 venison, 1/2 beef. you could even try some ground turkey instead! )

taco seasoning 

1 cup grated cheddar (optional...i’m going without the cheese, but HG might protest...then again, he might not notice...hmmm...just in case i’ll grate a little bit for him on the side.)

taco/corn chips (you just need a couple handfuls. 11 blue chips: 140 calories. 11 doritos: 150 calories. 15 baked doritos: 90 calories. gotta say, i’m kinda tempted to try the baked ones..hmm.)

2 tbsp light catalina dressing 

2 tbsp taco sauce 

toppings!: tomatoes, red onions, ff sour cream, black olive, fresh jalopeños....

go ahead and brown your ground beef in a skillet...while that’s cooking, chop up your romaine and throw it a big bowl. 

once the meat is done cooking, drain the fat & add your taco seasoning. toss your cheese in with the lettuce (if you’re using it..) then add in the meat, your chips, crushing them in your hands as your add them, and your dressing.

yum!

add some tomatoes, if you prefer and maybe even a dollop of some lowfat/fat free sour cream or some black olives! or a fresh jalopeño! now we’re talking!!  (HG will eat NONE of these things..but i certainly will!)

london broil with whole grain rice

our poor yellow lab, murphy loves london broil night...the smell is just too much for him. he’ll lay on the floor and lick his little black nose over and over again, with the sheer hope that maybe, just maybe, the smell will manifest itself into actual food...sorry murph, not gonna happen.

1/2 cup soy sauce (lately i’ve been using bragg liquid aminos instead. 0 calories vs 67 calories..)

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1 clove garlic (minced or thinly sliced)

1 1/2 lbs top round london broil

whole grain brown rice

in a gallon ziplock bag, mix together the soy sauce, sugar and garlic until the sugar gets dissolved. rinse the meat, pat it dry and drop it in the bag. let it marinate for at least 20 minutes. i usually mix it all before i head out to work for the day..so anytime between 20 minutes and 7 hours is good.. 

when you’re ready, get your rice a’cookin..

adjust oven rack to the upper third of oven and turn on the broiler. transfer the meat to foil-lined, rimmed baking sheet. (save your marinade though..) sprinkle both sides of the london broil with ground pepper and kosher salt. broil on each side for 8-10 minutes depending on how well done you prefer your meat. let it rest for about 5 minutes on a cutting board before slicing it nice and thin. 

in the meantime pour your marinade into a small sauce pan and bring it to a boil for a couple minutes til it thickens up a bit. then you can spoon a little bit of it over your rice and/or your meat..but definitely not over your dog’s food. sorry murph. 

chili

i feel silly posting my chili recipe...it’s certainly not cook-off worthy, but it is simple. and it is yummy. and it is on the healthy side. and i can make it in the morning before i go to work which means that dinner’s ready when i come home from work. i like that. 

4 8 oz cans tomato sauce (i love, love, love the publix greenwise brand. it has such good flavor to it!)

1 lb lean ground beef (again, i’ll be using half ground venison, half ground beef)

1 can (15 oz) red beans

chili powder 

yup. that’s it.

be sure to season your beef first! i like a lot of chili powder. a lot. so i’ll start off with mixing in about 1 tablespoon (ok, 2..) of chili powder while i brown the beef. after that, drain the fat (there might not be much...with the venison, there’s hardly ever any fat, which is why i add the beef to keep it from getting dry...) pour in the tomato sauce, red beans and add more chili powder to taste. bring it to a boil and let it simmer as long as you can. 

that’s it. fort pitt. 

serve with some of your leftover baked doritos crunched on top....or a dollop of fat free sour cream. 

marinated chicken breast with sweet potato fries & green beans

boneless, skinless chicken breasts (however many you need: i’m going with 2)

mojo marinade 

sweet potato fries (we love the alexia “spicy sweet potato juilienne fries with chipotle seasoning”. 30 pieces: 130 calories)

green beans

again, let’s marinate! get out another gallon ziplock bag and pour in some mojo over your chicken breast (if i remember, i’ll pound out the chicken just a little before i drop it in the bag so that it cooks evenly later on the grill.) let it marinate either overnight, or before you head out the door in the morning. 

once you’re ready, preheat the oven and throw the fries on a baking sheet. 

get your grill ready. (i bought HG a grill pan for his birthday last year and we really love it! so that’s what i’m using.) 

put your fries in the oven, get your chicken breast on the grill, and then you can toss some green beans into a sauté pan with a little evoo (extra virgin olive oil), maybe a minced garlic clove and a pinch of kosher salt...)

such a pretty plate! 

and be sure to dip your fries in a little bit of honey for extra yum factor! 

don’t know about you, but that’s what i’m eating this week!

happy cooking to you all! if you have questions, just leave them in the comment section.

on exercise:

confession:

i hate to exercise. 

hate it. each new day we are given exactly 24 hours to fill with activity and meaningful relationships and sustenance and rest and frankly, exercise just isn’t that high on the “following-my-bliss” list....

my relationship with exercise has not exactly been a deep and meaningful one. 

as a teenager, i wasn’t into sports...instead, i was playing piano for the chorus..shocker, right? when i was in college i gained a bunch of weight, then lost a bunch of weight because my boyfriend, HG, was moving to florida for an internship...so i didn’t have anyone to take me out to dinner twice a week...

when i was engaged to HG, i decided to join the Y in my town. not because i cared all that much about my health..but mainly because it was an opportunity to buy some cute workout clothes, and i figured it was good preparation for my upcoming marriage. i’d soon be moving to Boca and all the Boca women that i’d met so far went to the gym. 

after i got married there were some fitness attempts, but really they were just excuses for me to, again, buy cute workout clothes. seriously! tennis skirts are adorable!! and i’m pretty sure that i could live in yoga pants for the rest of my days...

but then....

i turned 30. 

and suddenly my metabolism changed. my cute little pencil skirts got tighter and my adorable vintage cardigans didn’t seem to button the right way anymore around my tummy...

it was happening. it is still happening. 

thank goodness, my shoes still fit.

so here’s what i’ve started to do: 

first, i needed to figure out what would motivate me...because, unfortunately i’m rather shallow, and “to simply be healthier” was just not enough for me...even fitting in my current clothing isn’t enough motivation when i’m staring at a sicilian-style-meat-lovers pizza from nypd on a friday night...who cares about my clothes?? i can get NEW clothes later. the pizza is in the here and now...

so i made a chart. if you’re a chart filler-outer or a check-list person, this might work for you. i keep it right by my fridge... and simply fill out what i’ve done for the day. when i fill in the whole chart, i get a prize!!!!! (yes, i might as well have a sticker chart, just like my piano students...but positive reinforcement works, people!!!!)

i also get bored easily. so doing the same thing every day gets real old. real soon. 

so here are some exercise activities that i’m doing. i mix it up all the time. i figure, as long as i’m doing SOMETHING, it’s better than nuttin’. 

biking: i LOVE to ride my bike! as a kid growing up in the country, i spent my summers on my bike... mostly up in the woods on trails.. i love the wind on my face, the sunshine on my shoulders and the ground moving fast underneath me. pop on some florence + the machine and i can ride for miles. 

walking: i actually don’t mind walking all that much. probably, because i’ve discovered a couple of really good podcasts like “this american life”, “filmspotting” and the “mosaic audio podcast” which is from erwin mcmanus’s church in LA. it makes me feel like my head and heart are getting a workout at the same time..which makes it feel like less of a waste of my time. 

bouncing: yep. i love the bounce. that’s easy. i’ve got a little rebounder in my living room and again, can workout while i’m catching up on tivo. multi-tasking is very big in my world. 

pinterest set: ok, this one i obviously found on http:pinterest.com (the greatest website ever designed.) i’m always a little skeptical of the fitness stuff i find on there...and by skeptical i mean, completely intimidated and more than happy to stay on my sofa in my yoga pants, surfing canopy craft ideas while eating a bowl of guacamole....

but i found this workout and i like it:

50 crunches

25 leg lifts

50 bicycles

25 squats

15 sumo squats

50 calf raises

100 arm circles

15 push-ups 

50 jumping jacks

1 minute plank

again, can be done while catching up on tivo.

weights: this is always the one that HG always brings up when i complain about the tight pencil skirts and cardigans...so i did find a nice little arm workout with weights. i do 7 different lifts, 15 reps, & 3 sets of each....i think that’s how you’re supposed to say it...again, not my thing, but i do notice it’s just enough to keep my underarms from flapping in the wind while still be able to fit them in the cardigan sleeves. 

again with the tivo.

yoga: i really like yoga. it might be the only activity that would ever make me reconsider joining a gym...but yeah, that probably won’t ever happen...so instead, i’ll say that it would make me consider joining a yoga studio someday...yoga’s great because it’s low impact and quiet...and it really works your whole body. years ago i found, crazy enough, a power yoga class on tv that was actually very good..so i’ve kept the same episodes and just use those over and over again...though i think the show got cancelled. but if you get the chance, take a class. it’ll wreck you at first, but there’s a satisfaction you get when you can actually have the strength to hold  a pose without tipping over.

some days i’ll mow the lawn instead or do some landscaping, which is a great work-out too. 

doing SOMETHING is better than doing nothing.

doing SOMETHING while watching tivo is even better. 

wHOLly fit....

yikes.

well, if any of you have ever sat down to a meal with me, you’ll know that i love food. not  just like or enjoy, but i really love food in a “hold a radio over my head outside your window, unfortunate kind of way that makes me hate you." (name that pop reference....) 

i’m also married to someone who shares my love for food...though his preferences are a bit more limited than my own..my hubby is a meat-and-starch-only kind of guy. no casseroles. no seafood. no veggies. no kidding. and don’t even think about trying to sneak in a finely diced onion or a teaspoon of mustard. the man’s radar for cleverly hidden food is as sharp as his archery aim. 

from here on out in this blogging process, i shall refer to him as HG. mainly because he’s one heck of a Hunter Gatherer. if the apocalypse is ever upon us, i’m confident that i’d never go hungry due to his skills in both the forest and the kitchen.

many of the recipes that i’ll be making over the next few weeks will substitute venison for beef. venison is a tremendously lean meat and makes for a yummy stand-in when you’d like to use something a little different...and since it’s already in my freezer, it’s a cheap dinner option...plus, i need to make some room for this upcoming archery season. 

so here’s the plan, peeps:

this won’t be an artsy, step-by-step photographic type of food blog; nor will it be anything of culinary genius. i’m simply planning on posting what HG and i are eating for the week along with recipes. there’s absolutely no way we could make the jump to vegetarian or vegan. in fact, i’m pretty sure i could never make a single meatless meal.....unless it’s a huge dish of baked mac ‘n cheese...but our plans are to cut out white flours and sugars, probably gonna back off the dairy as well..and that seems attainable and reasonable. 

each week i’ll include one meal that takes a little more time to prep, simply because i enjoy cooking a sunday night meal; it’s relaxing for me...the other 4 meals each week will be 30 minute meals...because HG and i don’t get home from our jobs until around 8pm most nights and we’re hungry! 

and of course, i’ll also be posting some dessert options as well. 

remember, we love the food.

we’d just like the food to love us in return. 

so if this interests you at all, check in every now and again.  i’ll be posting next weeks’ plan soon.