Foodie Penpal Reveal

Hiya all! Happy Thursday --- one more day and we've made it to yet another weekend. Can I get a woot woot?! Is it not crazy that it's May 31st today?! We're almost halfway through 2012 - I can hardly believe it!!!

 

...and with the month end comes another Foodie Penpal Reveal.

Every month I score some awesome swag and this month was no different. I received this month's package from Denise at Crazy Mother Runner. This is what I found when I opened up my box of goodies:

~ Bengal Spice Herbal Tea

~ Honey Roasted Cashews

~ Quinoa Crisp

~Vega Whole Foods Vibrancy Bar

~ Sweet & Hot Apple Mustard

I'm pretty sure I let out a big whoopie! when I opened it because the first thing I spied was the tea. My friend, Barb, always has a box of this tea at her desk and I'm forever snagging a bag for my afternoon tea time. It's got a unique 'spiciness' about it that I absolutely love! All of the other goodies were new to me and I have to tell you that I'm loving everything so far.

I sent my package to Nicole. I was pretty excited with all the yumminess that I put together for her, so check out her site to see what I sent. You may also notice that she has an absolutely beautiful photography business --- I wish we didn't live on opposite ends of the country because I browsed some of the pics and they are gorgeous!

Do you think you'd be interested in participating in the Foodie Penpal exchange in June?? If you are, here are the deets:

-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month.
-Foodie Penplas is open to US & Canadian residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We've determined things might get too slow and backed up if we're trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. 

If you’re interested in participating for June, please CLICK HERE to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions. 

You must submit your information by June 4th as pairings will be emailed on June 5th!

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I hope you have a fabulous day and I promise that I will see you tomorrow with a recipe (finally!).

See ya on the flipside my friends,

Andrea
xo

What I Ate (on Memorial Day Wkd) Wednesday

I'm baaa-aaaccck. Really, truly I am :)

Life got a little crazy for me last week and then Derek and I took off for a visit with my family and I went completely offline for THREE WHOLE DAYS!!! It felt absolutely ah-mazing.

But now I'm back. I'm refreshed, rested and feeling better than ever. It's amazing what a few days with the people you love most can do. We had such a wonderful time with my family....we ate, we laughed, we ate some more and we just had a lot of fun.

Eating is always a big part of our family visits. I swear I must have gained 5lbs and I enjoyed every. single. bite. We enjoyed spicy black bean burgers, oreo blizzards from DQ, homemade biscuits, the best Mexican in the State of Kentucky, blue cheese kettle chips, beer and much more. Unfortunately, I was so busy snapping these little cuties....

....that I didn't snap anything I mentioned above....

Seriously, can you blame me with all this cuteness running around??

Lucky for you though, I managed to snap a few mouth-watering pictures of Sunday night's dinner.

CHECK. IT. OUT.

Yummm-o!

We had corn on the cob, warm potato salad, grilled fresh veggies, smoked pork tenderloin, ribs & chicken (I'm told the meat was pure perfection --- yay for my hubby the "cook-a-roo"), coleslaw, fresh from the oven roles and a tomato/mozza salad with fresh basil. Dessert was my famous Skor trifle and homemade rhubarb pie.

Heaven.

If you're looking for more inspirational eats, check out Jenn's What I Ate Wednesday page. I'm willing to bet you're going to see a  lot of barbecue and Memorial Day eats this week! Thank you as always to Jenn for continuing to host the most popular eats par-tay ever.

What is your fave barbecue side? 

Do you ever feel the need for an offline break?

Have a great day, 

Andrea

xoxo 

I'll Be Baaaccckkk

source

Hey y'all! I just wanted to touch base to say I haven't fallen off the face of the earth...you know, in case you were worried about where the heck I was. Work has been absolutely insane and we've been getting ready for a trip to see the fam and I just haven't had time to put together any blog-worthy posts.  

I have lots of ideas and there's a notebook packed in my bag,

so I'll be doing some serious blog and recipe creating while I'm on the road.

I miss you all and I promise that I'll be back to my usual shenanigans early next week!

Muah --- <3

See you soon.

Andrea

xoxo

High Five for Friday

Why hello there Friday. So nice of you to show up. Thanks for bringing a long weekend with ya! That's right, today is the start to our Victoria Day Long Weekend....aka May 2-4 (yeah, you can imagine how it got that name!). Work has been extremely busy and I'm trying to get ready to go on a mini vacay to see my family next week, so I've been workin' my little buns off.

Thank you to Lauren for hosting this High Five for Friday party. This week I really needed to look back at some of the things that I've been lovin' to remind me that it wasn't ALL work and no play :)

So here's some things that have made me smile this week...

Source: via Lacota Eaglin (Pinterest)

Garlic Roasted Asparagus

This is a repeat pic, but I love my husband for getting it for me :)

This 40 Minute Walking Mixed Interval Treadmill Workout.

Kicks my butt but seems to be okay with my sore knee!

Hellz Yeah!

Have a great day!

Andrea
xoxo

Staying Active at Home

Hey there! Happy Thursday!

Luckily for us Canadians, we only have one more day 'til the May 2-4 long weekend. Can I get a {woot! woot!} :D I'm actually double dipping because we're heading to my parents for a couple of days over Memorial Day as well, so we get 2 long weekends in a row. I can't wait!!! Work has been extremely busy and I am in need of a break.

Derek's still working 2 jobs and now his baseball schedule has started up as well. That means he's pretty much gone from early morning to late evening every single day. I miss him. The dogs miss him. We are happy that his bartending gig is done this Saturday (thank freakin' goodness)!! His busy schedule has made it really difficult for me to get to the gym. I live about a 45 minute drive from work, so I leave home at 7:50 a.m. and get home around 5:30 p.m. Our dogs are crated during the day, so unless I get up and go to the gym before work, it's been hard to find time to go afterwards because I don't like to crate the dogs in the evening if we've been gone all day.

source

...so, I've had to get creative to ensure I get some exercise in each day! Here are some of the ways that I sneak it in on days when I can't get to the gym:  

• Get up 30 minutes early, throw my running shoes on and go for a power walk or light jog. This gets my mojo flowing for the day and I'm finding that I don't mind getting up that little bit early. Hank likes to get up with me and Dora likes to sleep in with Derek, which works out perfectly because Hank's our little maniac, so an extra walk a day does him some good!
• Bring my runners to work and take a walk during the lunch hour. My friend, Lisa, and I usually meet once a week for lunch. We used to go for a cheap-o pizza lunch, but now we meet at a park that's located between our offices and go for a 20 - 30 minute walk. This makes such a huge difference in my afternoons! Instead of feeling sleepy and lethargic, I'm wide awake and productive.
• Get out and do some yard work. Last night after work I spent over an hour raking and lugging grass clippings out of the yard. We have a fairly big yard and it was quite a tedious task. By the time I was done, I had a good sweat going and my arms were starting to ache. I'd already power-walked for 50 minutes earlier in the day, so I figured I'd gotten in my activity for the day!
• Search online for some at-home workouts. I'm not great at coming up with my own workouts, so I've done some searching around online and found tons of great ideas that I've been using regularly. Here are some of my fave finds for at-home workouts.
• Tone It Up - these girls are so motivating! They have lots of online workouts, printouts and meal suggestions! I've signed up and get a newsletter from them several times a week.
• MyYogaOnline - tons and tons of yoga workouts! I was lucky to get a free 2 week membership.
• Fitnessista - she is an all round awesome blogger - I check out her posts every single day. She also gives tons of workout ideas. I've been loving her 10 ways to crunch post.
• I love this printable 5-4-3-2-1 Workout from Fit Fab Cities.
• Pinterest is another awesome source for at home circuit workouts.

Now please keep in mind that I am not an expert in this area.

I'm simply sharing the things that work for me personally :)

Even though life is going to get back to normal once Derek goes back to only working one job, my plan is to keep up with my early morning walk/jog and my lunchtime walk most days. It's unbelievable how much of a boost they give me both in energy and in my mood! I do plan to get back to the gym a little more in the evenings because I've been missing the 'class' atmosphere and it helps to keep my cardio workouts interesting, but just knowing that I have the option to workout in the comfort of home is awesome!

How do you fit in exercise on days when you can't make it to the gym?
Do you have any online sites that you use for at home workouts? If you do, please share!

Have a fabulous Thursday,

Andrea
xoxo

What I Ate Wednesday ~ Clean Eats

Happy Wednesday! How's your weather? Ours has been absolutely dreamy. Today is the only day in the foreseeable future that is calling for rain .... I know our farmers need it, so I'll take it, but just for today mmmkay?

I've been attempting to keep my eats really clean and by amping up the veggies and reducing the amount of processed food, I've been having a lot of success.

Check out my recent eats:

Breakfast

If you'd asked me last week what my feeling were on eggs, I would have told you that I absolutely despise egg whites. In fact, I love my eggs scrambled, but do not like the whites or the yokes separated. When I was trying to figure out a quick and easy breakfast that stayed in line with my clean eats goal, I kept seeing recipes for egg white scrambles. So, I bought myself a container of egg whites on the weekend and decided to give it a go and see if I could choke 'em down. Surprisingly, when you add lots of veggies, some sundried tomatoes and a shake of Spicy Mrs. Dash, you'd hardly even notice that it was only egg whites! I've been enjoying this breakie for the past few days now and think it's safe to say that I am now a converted egg whites 'liker.'

Lunch

I've been having the biggest, most awesome salads ever! Most of them include baby spinach, goat cheese or grilled tofu, sundried tomatoes, tons of veggies and an apple cider vinegar/dijon combo as the topper. DEEELISH!

Snackage

I got a new vegan vanilla protein powder on the weekend and I've been loving it in all sorts of fruit smoothies. Sadly, I take my smoothies to work for my mid-morning snack and I haven't managed one single pic! My other snack of choice has been the Fitnessista's Chocolate Chip Protein Ballz. Um, why have I never tried these before?? A protein-packed little ball of amazingness for sure! It's the perfect treat for late afternoon when I'm planning to go to the gym before dinner...the best part is that they taste sinfully good, which tricks the junk food lover in me into thinking I'm 'cheating' - ha!

Dinner

This is definitely the most difficult time for me to stick to a clean meal because as soon as I get home from work or the gym, my immediate reaction is to reach for something to munch on. I also crave carbs and do not crave veggies at this time of day. So far, I've been doing pretty well....my fave meal was from Monday when I stirfried a ginormous plate of fresh veggies --- can you see all that asparagus?! I spiced 'er up with some cumin, cayenne and spicy Mrs. Dash and then topped it with some chopped cashews. It seems that chopped nuts or a scoop of quinoa amp up the meal to make it satisfying enough for my last meal of the day.

For dessert, I had a few bites of stewed strawberry rhubarb. Um...remember that big pot of stewed strawberry rhubarb from Monday??? Yep, it's gone :)

So there you have it. I'm pretty happy with how well I've been eating. I am feeling light, yet full, and very satisfied!!! 

Thank you to Jenn for continuing to host our Wednesday eats party! Check out her What I Ate Wednesday page to get even more meal inspiration. 

What do you snack on when you're heading to the gym before dinner? 

 What is your fave smoothie combo? My current fave is strawberry, banana & kiwi!!!

Have a great Wednesday!

Andrea

xoxo

Stewed Strawberry Rhubarb

Hiya! Happy Monday.

Did you have an excellent weekend and a fabulous Mother's Day? We have 3 grandmas and one mom that live close to us, so I was very busy buying gifts and making time to visit everyone. Yesterday we ate out for every meal .... let's just stay the pants are a little on the tight side today ;)

Apparently even doggie moms get to celebrate. Hank & Dora got me this....

Can we get a big "awwww...." Regardless of what kind of mommy you are, it's nice to know you're loved <3

You may have noticed that I've been a bit absent and my blogging schedule's been all over the map. There's a few reasons for my absenteeism, but the big one is that I've been freakin' exhausted. Derek's finally given notice at his bartending gig and his last day is Saturday --- I can't wait until we can be a normal married couple and a team again, so that we aren't both constantly running in opposite directions! With the exhaustion, has come a complete lack of interest in creating new yumminess in the kitchen. I've been running on egg sammies, Greek Yogourt and Clif bars and haven't created much of anything in the past couple of weeks. I do have some new plans in store for myself and my blog and I'm hopeful that you'll be seeing a ton of ideas for how to eat a 'cleaner' diet in the coming weeks. I'm super excited and I hope that I'll be able to inspire you with some new healthy eats!

In the meantime, I had lots of requests for instructions on how to make the stewed strawberry rhubarb that I posted on last week's What I Ate Wednesday post. Fortunately for you, I happened to have a nice little visit with my grandma this morning and we she & my grandpa (I was in church clothes and heels!) picked a big bundle of rhubarb and sent me on my way with cooking instructions. Initially when I posted it, I thought that it was a combo of strawberries and rhubarb, but I have since been informed that there is a type of rhubarb known as strawberry rhubarb. Apparently the name refers to a very vibrant red rhubarb. There  are absolutely no strawberries to be found!

Stewed Strawberry Rhubarb

It feels almost wrong to call this a recipe because it's the easiest thing ever!

6 cups rhubarb cut into 1/2" pieces

1 1/4 c water

4+ tbsp natural sweetener (I used Truvia - stevia would also be great)

Place the rhubarb and water into a medium-sized pot and turn the heat to medium high.

Bring the water to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium low. Simmer covered making sure to stir often.

*My grandma told me to be careful because the rhubarb tends to stick very badly to the bottom of the pot. I had no problem with this because I have very thick-bottomed pots, but keep an eye and stir often.*

I let mine simmer for 12 - 15 minutes until the rhubarb had all boiled down into a thick sauce. Remove from heat.

Add your sweetener. I personally like mine to be tart, but I have had it when it's super sweet as well. Just add as much sweetener as you like --- that's the nice thing with a natural sweetener, you can add it guilt free!

To clean, soak the rhubarb in cold water in your sink - it can get pretty sandy! Sometimes there a brown papery type coating on the stems and that will wash right off.

Once it starts to boil it cooks down quite quickly

Stir, stir, stir to prevent sticking.

Eat in small servings. Has been known to give really bad belly aches if eaten all in one sitting ;)

No, I'm not joking and yes, I have done it more than once!

My fave ways of eating the rhubarb is on its own when it's been chilled  or over vanilla bean ice cream. It's also really good stirred into plain non-fat Greek yogourt and topped with some granola.

Enjoy!

What's your favourite type of natural sweetener?

How did you celebrate your Mother's Day?

Have a great Monday,

Andrea

xoxo

What I Ate Wednesday #1,001

Haha - just joking about the 1,001 but seriously I've been involved in this WIAW hijinx for a long time now! I've met some great bloggers, found tons of meal inspiration and fallen in love with sharing my weekly eats with you!





Breakfast
I strayed a wee bit from my normal breakies because when there's pizza in the house I can't think of anything else! On Saturday I made a veggie pizza extraordinaire and I've been eating up the leftovers for breakfast!

Lunch
Yesterday I had an amazing veggie wrap and salad with honey mustard but it was during a lunch date with my friend, Lisa, and I was so excited to catch up with her that I ate it up without taking a single pic *fail* ...

Snack
My grandma has a rhubarb patch and on Sunday she brought me over a batch of stewed strawberry rhubarb. Oh my gosh, does this ever take me back to my childhood. This stuff is delish on ice cream or all on its own. I've been eating it with plain Greek yogourt and granola this week. Such a great snack!

Dinner
Lucky for you I've had some awesome dinners, so I'll give you 2 for the price of 1 since I oopsie daisied on lunch.   :-D

Last night I had spaghetti squash with grilled veggies and the best. marinara. sauce. ever. Of course, no "pasta" would be complete without a little parm.

May has delivered some awesome grillin' weather so far! Derek's been firing up the barbie alot and I've been taking advantage of that and letting him cook up most of our weekend dinners. One of my favourite BBQ meals is a sweet potato, grilled asparagus and marinated portabello mushrooms (I usually use teriyaki or balsamic vinegar) topped with a little melted swiss. Hands down, this is my fave summertime dinner. It's especially fab served wtih a glass of cabernet on the deck. Our nights aren't quite that warm yet, but we're getting close!!

PS - local asparagus is in season and is as delicious as ever!!!!

Is your mouth watering?? If you're looking for even more meal inspiration, head on over to Peas & Crayons and see what other bloggers have been feasting on this week. I wouldn't be surprised if you found lots of Mexican-inspired meals in salute to Cinco de Mayo. Thanks, as always, to Jenn for hosting our weekly eats par-tay!

Do you love pizza for breakie? Do you eat it cold or heat 'er up?

Did you celebrate Cinco de Mayo? If you did, what was the best thing you ate?

Happy Wednesday. I hope you have a great one!

Andrea
xoxo

Changin' It Up

"If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies."

- Author Unknown

Are you a person who loves routine or are you a mover & shaker who loves to mix things up?

I'm easily bored and hate when life feels monotonous. I love trying new things and mixing it up now and then. If life gets too routine, I get a really bad case of 'ants in my pants.'

Derek, however, is the total opposite. He would be a very happy guy if nothing changed....EVER. He loves routine and he doesn't welcome change with open arms. He is predictable and organized. He loves a plan. I love the idea of a plan, but by the time it comes time to implement "the plan," I usually have a new plan in the works :) I think we really compliment one another. I keep things fun and interesting and encourage him to step outside his comfort zone (which for him is really hard) and he brings me back down to earth when my plans and ideas get a little outta control.

Now when I talk change it doesn't have to be something huge like moving across the country (although moving to Edmonton, Alberta or somewhere on the Gulf of Mexico does make my heart flutter). It can be something as simple as a new nail polish or a new 'do to liven things up.

I've had a case of Spring fever quite a bit lately, so I stepped out of the box and did a couple of things that have been on my list of 'things to try'.

First off, I recently had a hair appointment with my all-star hairstylist, Krystal....another person who tends to bring me back to earth when I have some really inappropriate styles in mind :) I haven't been loving my 'do lately and I wanted to change it up without chopping it off, so I decided to go blonde and get bangs.

I love the change and now I have a fresh trendy look for Summer. Whatcha think??

Secondly, I tried a hot yoga class. Workouts are an area in my life where I get really bored and that leads to a total lack of motivation. I've been wanting to try hot yoga forever, but the closest class is 45 minutes away from my house. I thought a hot yoga class would feel amazing on all my sore and achy joints and it seemed like the perfect reward for being such a responsible gal and listening to my body instead of pushing myself past my limits, so I decided the drive was worth it.

My friend, Barb, and I got up bright and early a few Saturdays ago to make sure we got to the yoga studio in time to get a spot and we both LOVED the class. It was a 75 minute session of Moksha Yoga and it was fantastic. I couldn't believe how hot it was and how much my body can sweat!!! It was much more challenging than I expected. Being in that kind of heat really changes your body's dynamics. Poses that usually come easy for me were more difficult to hold and my legs were super shaky for most of the class. It was fun and it was different and I'm so glad I tried it! I'm hoping that I can make at least one class a month to vary my yoga workouts and keep things interesting. 

So that's how I've been changing it up lately, what have you been up to?

Are you a person who loves routine or you like to change it up from time to time?

My challenge to you is to try one new thing this week and then report back! Maybe your new thing will be something that I'll want to try!

Enjoy your Tuesday,

Andrea
xoxo

Weekend Ramblings & Meal Plan Wk #3

Good morning! Happy Monday. Did you have a great weekend? I had an amazing weekend. It was sunny, busy (I just wrote busty haha), productive and thoroughly enjoyable. Here's a snippet of what went on in our neck of the woods.

1.  I gave myself a pedicure and used Turquoise & Caicos by Essie.

2.   After yoga yesterday, I had an amazing shopping trip with the girls. We checked out a local hotspot called Dess911. If you love indie, retro or vintage style dresses, you have to check out this site. I bought 3 new dresses because I just couldn't choose between them!

you can`t tell how awesome these are from the pic....they are all on the site....

the 2 on the right are minis.....the two on the ends have pockets --- love!!!

3. I have officially become a Costco addict. I got my membership on Wednesday and I`ve already been there twice. On Saturday I got some great deals on Liberte Greek Yogourt and goat cheese.

4.  On Saturday, we had "Make Your Own Pizza" night.....sadly, everyone was pooped out (dogs included) and I was the only one who actually made a pizza. Derek passed out as soon as he got home from work and never got up until 8 a.m. on Sunday morning!

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz............

veggie awesomeness

5. I am in love with this 40 minute walking interval workout.

6. You shouldn't  do an upper body workout on the same day as you plan to do some serious gardening. All I can say is I am in pain.

7. My fave garden decor. $2 at the Dollar Store. WIN!

look carefully....we are dog lovers to our core :)

8.  GCB makes for some kick-butt Sunday night TV.

I know some people find this show controversial, but I don`t take it to seriously

and get some good belly laughs out of it....

I also wanted to update you with how my eats and workouts have been going.

First of all, my right knee is still aching like crazy, so I  have scaled back the intensity of my workouts in order for my knee to have time to properly heal. This week, my workouts went a little like this:

Monday - Zumba

Tuesday - 25 minute run, 15 minute ab workout

Wednesday - 34 minute yoga/pilates workout from MyYogaOnline

Thursday - Rest

Friday - Rest

Saturday - 90 minute Kundalini Yoga

Sunday - 40 minute walking interval workout, upper body weights

For once in my life, I am actually listening to my body and trying to give it the time it needs to heal. Frustrating? Yes. Necessary? Also yes.

My meal planning/grocery budget is also going really well. I love knowing what's on the menu, so that I don't have to figure something out each night. I also love extra cash in my bank account :D

This week, our eats are going to look a little like this:

Breakfast
Green smoothies, Greek Yogourt with honey & granola, veggie omlets

Lunch
Wraps, salads, soup, leftovers

Dinners
-Make your own pizzas - I still have one crust left, so I'm thinking this will work for a lonely girl dinner
-Spaghetti (Derek)/Spaghetti Squash (me!) with marinara & sauteed veggies
- Barbecue - Meat and Taters for Derek; Portobellas and Sweet Taters for me & grilled local asparagus
- Bacon & Eggs/Egg N Cheese Sammies
- Chicken Nachos for Derek; Sweet Potato Fry Nachos for me
- BLTs with Caesar Salad
- Eat Out

Whew! What a post for a Monday morning....I guess I had lots to talk about :)

What was the highlight of your weekend?

Have a great day,

Andrea
xoxo

High Five for Friday

Welcome to Friday....finally!!!

This has been the longest work week ever and I am sooooo happy to welcome Friday in with open arms.

Thank you Lauren for hosting this weekly Friday par-tay

and helping us cap of the week on a positive note!

I'm not going to waste anytime today, I'm ready to get to some things that have been making me smile:

High Five for Friday

Fruit Smoothies
Greek Yogourt, frozen berries, Amazing Grass Green Superfood powder, water
~so good on a warm afternoon~





New Moisturizer and Primer
I recently got a new moisturizer and primer. I've been using them for about a month and I am really loving both products. They leave my face soft and smooth!

Mark - For Goodness Face - Antioxidant Skin Moisturizer





Arbonne Make Up Primer


Chives
Somehow these chives have come back after sitting outside all winter.

I love fresh herbs!




 

Costco Membership

(similar to Sam's Club for my American followers)

I bought my membership on Wednesday and I've already spent $40 and saved $50.

WIN!!

Partner in Crime

Hank loves coming for car rides --- he's a GREAT passenger!

So there's a few things that are making me happy, what's made you smile this week?

Have a great day!

Andrea
xoxo

What I Ate Wednesday

Good Morning and welcome to the 2nd day of May, 2012! Just one more month and we'll be halfway through the year --- isn't that crazy?! My friend, Natasha, and I were talking about our fitness and running goals last week and our plan to look smokin' as the summer months approach. Reality has set in that it's crunch time and if we're going to eat clean and get those muscles toned and sexy the time is NOW!

So, with that being said, my What I Ate Wednesday eats continue to be clean,
healthy meals full of fresh (and sometimes local yay!) produce.

 

Breakfast

For some reason, being on time this week has been a bit of a struggle, so breakfast has had to be on the fly. My absolute love right now is taking 1/2 cup of plain non-fat Greek yogourt and mixing it with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a 1/2 tsp of stevia (or any other natural sweetener) --- I swear to you this combo tastes just like cheesecake! I top mine with a mix of frozen berries.

Cheesecake for Breakfast = MAJOR WIN

Lunch

I'm proud to say that I have become a habitual salad eater!! This salad combo has been making several appearances this week because I went a little overboard when making quinoa on the weekend. I used baby greens topped with quinoa, sundried tomatoes, grape tomatoes, red pepper, green onion and goat cheese and then I smothered the whole thing with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. It was delicious!

 

Snacks

I've been trying to stick to fruit for a mid-afternoon snack. Yesterday, I treated myself to some Karmalized  SaviSeeds (thank you foodie penpal!!). They were so good and I had no idea that 1 oz contained 5000 mg of Omega 3. I got this little package from my foodie penpal and it's now my mission to find some more of these tasty little seeds!

Dinner

This is actually Sunday night's dinner. It was soooooo good that I just had to share! Luckily I had enough leftovers for dinner on Monday night before I headed out to my zumba class. Barbecue basted tofu with stifried veggies in a honey/soya sauce and quinoa. Filling, healthy, awesome & oh so satisfying.

I've also been trying to cut my coffee down to 2 cups per day and be more conscious of my water consumption; making sure I get at least 6 to 8 cups in each day.

Thank you so much to Jenn from Peas & Crayons for continuing to host this weekly eats party.
Head over and check out her WIAW page for lots more meal inspiration.

What protein source do you love to add to your veggie stirfries?

Have you started making plans for your summer vacations?

I hope you have a wonderful day!

Andrea
xo