Celebrating Celery

I read somewhere recently that March is National Celery Month.

Celery is one of those veggies that just doesn't get enough credit.

As I started to search around for some mouth-watering and healthy recipes, I was surprised to find that celery actually has several impressive health benefits.

You will almost always find some celery stalks in our crisper because it's one of Derek's faves --- give him a bag full of chopped celery and fresh radishes as a snack and you've got one happy man. I don't get quite so excited about this veggie. It's one of those foods that I feel sort of <meh> about. I like the crunch factor, but it certainly isn't the first thing I reach for when I'm searching for something satisfying to eat.

When I saw that it was a month of celebrating celery, I thought that I needed to give celery another chance, so I started a search for some clean celery recipes to try ---- of course, I headed straight over to Pinterest :) Here are some of the pins that made me drool the most.

* Green Apple, Celery & Walnut Salad

* Five-Spice Tofu Stir Fry with Carrots & Celery

* Celery Slaw

* Roasted Celery with Blue Cheese Crumbles {swoon}

* Celery-Based Green Juices

* Clean Eating Citrus Celery Salad

I'm going to give these a try and I'll let you know what I think!

Do you like celery? What's your fave way of eating it?

Have a great day,

Andrea

xoxo

Plans for the Week of March 10th

Hi! How was your weekend? I hope it was fabulous!

I had a lovely weekend. We went out with friends to a karaoke bar on Friday, which was so much fun, and the rest of the weekend was spent doing just the "usual stuff"  (groceries, house cleaning, watching Season 3 of Sons of Anarchy {LOVE!!!} etc). Yesterday, I spent some time in the kitchen doing food prep for the week. Last week I was really successful in sticking to my clean eats goals and I am determined to be just as good this week.

Yesterday I made:

 * Baked Blueberry Banana Oatmeal
 * Hard-boiled Eggs
 * Homemade Tater Soup - for Derek & his dad
 * Quinoa (to add to salads, roasted veggies, etc)

Now here is where I should be inserting a pic or two of my food prep, but someone <cough, me, cough> has misplaced her cord and cannot download any photos right now :-/

I'm planning for the following dinners this week:

 * BBQ Tofu with Roasted Balsamic Broccoli
 * Lentil Veggie Mac 'N Cheese
 * Toasted TLT (tempeh, lettuce & tomato)
 * Spaghetti Squash with Veggies
 * Veggie Omlets with Sweet Potato Homefries

I also bought a ton of fresh veggies that I'm planning to wash and chop tonight because the one thing I'd like to improve on this week is adding more salads to my daily eats - I'll be having salads for lunch or adding them as a side to our dinners. Now that the weather is starting to warm up, I crave fresh greens so much more!

In addition to my eats, here's what the workout plans are looking like this week:

*Sunday - Rest
*Monday - Bootcamp (new love that kicks my butt!!)
*Tuesday - Spin
*Wednesday - Rest
*Thursday - Zumba
*Friday - Active Rest or a new lunchtime Bootcamp
*Saturday - Yoga

So here's to another successful week my friends!

What do you have planned for the upcoming week? 

Have a great day!!

Andrea
xoxo

Today's Motivation:

Source

What I Ate Wednesday - Veggie Love

Hiya guys! I've been really light on my posting over the past two weeks and its because I've had a lot of stuff on my plate! The most recent was a visit from one of my most favourite people....my mom!

She's on her way back home this morning :( and we are back to our regularly scheduled programming ---- not only in our routine but our eats! Oh gosh, our eats have been all over the map. I have been absolutely amazing at sticking to my clean eats goals during the week, but I've been indulging a little more than I'd like to over the weekends.

We have some vacation plans coming up, so that's the motivation I'm using to really stick with my clean eats program and I'm hoping all the veggie love shared at Peas & Crayons this month will help motivate me and give me some creative ideas on how to eat clean while keeping things interesting, and most importantly DELICIOUS!!

 

Even though I've been absent here on the blog, I've still been snapping pics and sharing my eats on Twitter and Instagram....here are some of my fave meals from the past couple of weeks (please forgive the photos - most were taken on my phone and clearly I need to use my Canon with editing to actually have a photograph that is properly centred :) :

 

Bananarama Protein Pancakes are still one of my all-time favourite breakfasts. Lately, I've been adding 1/2 a grapefruit to my first meal of the day.

 

 

 

Over the weekend, I made my mom & I some sweet potato homefries (sweet potato & sweet onion panfried in coconut oil) and baked eggs with mozza, grape tomatoes & fresh basil. I must say it was the best egg concoction I've put together in ages! My mom and I totally swooned over this breakfast.

 

 

 

I've been making a true effort to pack a healthy lunch that includes mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks. Here is one from last week that included Gina`s Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili, plain non-fat Greek yogourt with mixed fruit, whole wheat crackers and roasted garlic hummus, and some of my trail mix.

  

 

 

I've also been eating a ton of kale. Yesterday, I marinated some kale in an olive oil/apple cider vinegar/dijon combo and topped it with some leftover sweet potato homefries, sweet orange pepper, raw pepitas, raw walnut pieces, goat cheese and sundried tomatoes. It was ah-mazing!

 

Dinners have been really good too. I cannot get enough of Angela's Easy BBQ Tofu. It is so good! I usually pair it with some roasted veggies - here I had roasted taters and turnip. Have I mentioned that I used to hate turnip?! I tried roasting it with a bit of coconut oil and sea salt and I have absolutely fallen in love with it. Derek and I easily eat an entire turnip in one meal!

  

 My other fave dinner of late was Lentil Veggie Mac & Cheese by Lindsay. A classic comfort food with an added punch of protein and veggies. I didn't share one bit of this with anyone; not even Derek got a bite!!!

Whew! I'm feeling a little better about my eats now that I see all the goodness I've used to fuel my body. I've had a few moments of weakness where chocolate or and wine have passed my lips, but hey "moderation is key" wouldn't you agree?!

What's the best healthy meal you've eaten this week?

When you try to follow a meal plan do you allow for some indulgence?

Have a great day my friends!

Andrea

xoxo

November Fitness & Food Goals

Howdy! Happy Friday.

Have you recovered from Halloween?! I've eaten my limit in my candy treats and am back to the healthy train today.

Speaking of trains, I've been a total train wreck when it comes to my workout schedule lately. I'm lucky to make it to the gym twice a week and my yoga class once or twice a month. Gah ~ I can totally feel my lack of exercise in the way my clothes fit and in the way I'm feeling about myself!

But that is all about to change, because I'm setting some new goals that are my birthday gift to myself. That's right, I'm going to be 35 next week and I'm going to give myself the most precious gift: a healthy, lean, fit, energetic, positive, HAPPY self.

Source: Pinterest via Shaylen Harris

I have set some goals for myself effective November 1st.

• Join (DONE!) the Fitnessista's Namaste November challenge by doing at least 10 minutes of yoga per day - I'm planning to do most of this in the comfort of my living room before work
• Sign back up for a Monday Zumba class - DONE!!
• Attend at least 1 - 2 other classes per week at the gym
• Plan 2 sessions per week to do my own weights/cardio session at the gym
• Maintain a workout journal consistently
• Buy Tosca Reno's Eat Clean Diet Vegetarian Cookbook and I'm still deciding what other book I want to kick start myself off on a clean eating menu
• EAT CLEAN!!!
• Do a weekly menu plan every Sunday and do some meal/lunch prep

This is my mantra for November....



Source: Pinterest via Shaylen Harris

Did you manage to sneak a few Halloween treats? How do you stop the candy binge and get back to your normal, healthy eating routine?

Do you have any goals for this month?

Have a great weekend and I'll see you on Monday with an awesome butternut apple soup recipe!

Andrea

xoxo

What I Ate Wednesday

Hiya and Good Morning to you!

Here we are at the beginning of yet another new month, which around these parts means a new What I Ate Wednesday theme. This month we're going to focus on setting goals and keeping/creating good habits as the seasons change.

Our weather has been absolutely beeea-uuutiful and my garden is still producing tons of produce, so even though it feels like we're heading into Fall, it's been really easy for me to load up each of my meals with lots of fresh produce.

My goal as the weather changes is to keep bulking up my meals with lots and lots of veggies. I absolutely adore rich, warm, carb-heavy casseroles as the weather turns chilly and this year I want to remain mindful of making sure each of those delicious dishes is packed full of veggie goodness.

Here's a little peek into what I munched on yesterday:

Breakfast

Okay, so the slow cooked steel cut oats obsessions continues, but I thought I'd change it up yesterday with an egg white scramble. This one had sweet onion, zucchini, mushrooms, sundried tomatoes and goat cheese! I really do love this breakfast!!

Lunch
On the weekend I made a spin off of Angela's Speedy Three Bean Salad and Courtney's Healthy Roasted Potato and Veggie Salad. I had leftovers of both, so I made myself a little salad plate for lunch yesterday. It was filling and delish!! Both had dijon-based dressings that were to die for!

Snackage
Derek loves to munch on raw veggies for snacks. That or pork rinds. {insert a great big "ew" here} He's been a good influence on me because I've been munching on veggies right along side him. There has definitely been a lot of raw zucchini, green beans and cherry tomatoes comsumed. He likes to eat his veggies naked, but being the dip lover that I am, I've been loving a little tzatziki with mine ~ haha, you didn't think he was naked while he ate his veggies did ya?! 

Dinner
I had absolutely NO idea what I was going to make for dinner last night when I got home from work. Derek had a baseball practice and wasn't going to be home until late, so all I had to worry about was myself.

This is what I ended up with:

~ Tortilla Pizza with caramelized onion, portabello mushrooms, zucchini, basil & goat cheese.

YUMMY!

Thank you as always to Miss Jenn for hosting this weekly foodie shindig and for continuing to encourage all of us to be healthy and stay healthy!

What do you pack for lunch on the go? Give me some new ideas; packable lunches just aren't for the kiddos you know :-D !!

What goals are you going to set as we enter the Fall season?

Have a great day!

Andrea
xoxo

What I Ate Wednesdsay

Happy Wednesday and welcome to August 1st!

Can you believe that we're halfway through the summer already! This is one of my favourite times of year because there are vegetable stands and farmers' markets popping up all over the place. Fresh local produce is definitely at it's prime right now and I have been eating boatloads of fresh veggies & fruit. I've even harvested a few cherry tomatoes, some baby spinach and lettuce from my very own garden...weeeeee!!!!

 

Breakfast

Egg Burrito filled with egg whites, salsa, black beans, corn and lettuce (from my garden)

Lunch

I made these clean mini egg quiches on Sunday so I could enjoy them all week for lunch. They are so customizable and are super duper tasty. Mine are filled with shredded carrots, zucchini, red onion, sweet peppers, cajun seasoning and some leftover black bleans.

Fruity Tooty Snacks

Once I started this post, I realized that I've been loving me some fruit in between meals as my snacks. I've had a bunch of different things this week and here are 3 of my faves all of which used fresh local fruit picked by my sweet grandma!

Blueberry Coconut Almond Ballz

Raspberry Coconut Protein Cake

(this is a recipe I'm still tweaking!)

Non-fat plain Greek Yogourt sweetened with stevia and a big handful of fresh blueberries

Dinner

This was a scrumptious one! Fresh, local corn on the cob and butternut squash mac 'n cheeze with baby spinach --- fresh from my garden!!!

Thanks to Jenn for coming up with yet another great What I Ate Wednesday theme! Make sure you head on over to her site to see what other foodies have been munching on this week!

What is your favourite summertime food?

Have a fabulous day!

Andrea xoxo

The Low Down on Clean Eating & Some "Pinning" Love

Hi there! Happy Thursday to you! It's been a quiet week at my office because there are tons of people on summer vacation. I thought the week would drag by since so many people were out having fun, but it's actually been a quiet and productive work week. It's amazing what you can accomplish when the boss isn't around to bug ya!! :-)

I've been getting a lot of questions about clean eating and what it's all about and what you do eat vs what you don't eat, so I thought I'd talk to you a little about that and then share some awesome clean recipes that I have recently found during my escapades on Pinterest.

At first, I did a little searching around online before I answered the question "What is clean eating?" There are several different interpretations out there, so here's my simple answer:

CLEAN EATING is a lifestyle that focuses on eating whole, natural foods.

Clean eating, in my opinion, is the way to go so that you are fuelling your body with the best food and nutrition for optimal functioning. THIS IS NOT A DIET, although you will look and feel great! Basically, you want to eat foods that have been processed the least. This means you limit processed foods, foods sweetened artificially, bad fats, refined foods such as white flour, white bread or white rice and alcohol (this one is toughest for me!). When you start eating clean, you need to look at labels and become aware of ingredients --- if there are few ingredients and you know what each ingredient is (and it's a whole nutritious food), then it's probably a good choice! Organic is good too because we don't want to eat foods that have been chemically-treated. Clean eating is not just for vegetarians and vegans; if you're a meat eater, you can do this too! When it comes to animal products, I look for local stuff with labels of grass-fed, antibiotic-free, hormone-free, etc.

So....what to eat, what to eat? Once you get started, it's really not that difficult to eat clean, but it does take a little more planning because you can no longer reach for your favourite frozen convenience meal. Here are a few really great sites that I find helpful for meal inspiration:

The Eat-Clean Diet (Tosca Reno's site)

The Gracious Pantry

Oh She Glows

The Clean Eating Mama

I've also been stalking Pinterest searching out some mouth-watering clean meal ideas. Here are some of the most drool-worthy that I've found so far:

Source: Pinterest via Mary Tate

Source: Pinterest via Stephanie Haughian



Source: Pinterest via Jenha Martin

And here are a few of my own clean recipes I think you just might enjoy:

Bananarama Protein Pancakes

Marinara with Lentils & Veggies

Roasted Sweet Potato & Kale Soup

Chewy No Bake Trail Mix Squares

Happy {clean} eating my friends!!

Are you more productive when it's quiet and there's not many people around or do you thrive in a busier environment?

Have a great day!

Andrea

xoxo

What I Ate Wednesday - LiveFit Trainer Continues On...

 Happy Wednesday!

Are you surviving the heat?? Yesterday set new records here in Southwestern Ontario --- I'm told (& I really hope) that it is expected to be the hottest day of the year! It was SO HOT! Don't hate me for saying this, but I am really looking forward to the arrival of Fall -- warm days and cool nights is my favourite kind of weather! 

I know some people don't have a big appetite when the temperatures spike, but heat won't keep this gal down. In fact, I really can't think of any type of circumstance that stops me from wanting to eat!

 

I can't believe I'm already in the middle of Week 3 of Jamie Eason's 12 Week LiveFit Trainer. I'm really starting to notice a difference in the way my body feels since I started eating clean 17 days ago. I always ate fairly healthily, but my nighttime snacking has definitely been cut way back and I have really reduced the amount of processed food that I eat on a daily basis.

Let's have a peek at what I've been noshing on this week:

Breakfast

I've been eating lots of protein pancakes and egg white scrambles for breakfast. A couple of days ago, I decided to stuff a tortilla with the egg white scramble and then added some mashed avocado to create my version of a breakfast quesadilla. It was pretty freakin' yummy! I mixed a little taco seasoning with some non-fat plain Greek Yogourt as my sauce on the side.

After my workout is done, it's off to work I go. A large coffee with milk is my morning drug :-)

 

Snack

My snacks have mainly consisted of some sort of conction that involves non-fat Greek Yogourt. I recently won some granola from Boulder Granola (new fave!!), so I've been mixing in a bit of that together with a peach chopped up into chunks.
We got some local peaches on the weekend and they are scrumptiuous!

 

I've also been eating raspberry cheesecake protein popsicles like crazy.

*Teaser - I have a new popsicle recipe coming for all you chocaholics out there! Stay tuned....  ;-)

Lunch

Most of my veggies are consumed at lunch. Large salads and boatloads of water are the norm.

This salad was awesome--I combined a baby arugula/spinach mix with broccoli slaw, raw almonds, shredded carrots, yellow pepper & marinated tofu and then added some light spicy peanut dressing.

{drool}

Dinner

I actually had time to put together a nice dinner for Derek & I on Sunday --- it was nice to relax and have a leisurely meal together! I had marinated kabobs loaded with veggies & tofu, some whole grain brown rice and a side of roasted beets from our garden. Ok, so they're from Derek's uncle's side of our garden, but we're family, so we share so he won't mind that I scooped some while no one was there on Sunday morning hehe ;-)

Fitness

My workout plan has increased from 4 days per week to 5. We still have 2 weeks of no cardio, but I've really started enjoying the weight training and I'm not missing the cardio as much as I did in the beginning. We've also increased the weight from 60% of our maximum to 80%. Let's just say that my body hurts. Most of it is a good muscle hurt, but yesterday I couldn't raise my arms above shoulder level without some serious effort!

If all goes according to plan, my workout schedule this week is going to look a little like this:

Monday - Chest & Triceps
Tuesday - Legs
Wednesday - Back & Biceps
Thursday - Shoulders & Abs
Friday - Chest & Triceps
Saturday - Yoga
Sunday - Rest

My upper body is definitely where my weaknesses lie, so instead of doubling up on the legs workouts, I've decided to double up on chest & triceps this week and then maybe back & biceps next week.

Whew, I've written quite the WIAW post this week! If you have any questions or want any more information about my experience with the LiveFit trainer, my clean eats or workouts, please feel free to email me anytime. If you're looking for more food & fitness inspiration, head on over to visit Jenn at Peas & Crayons and see what other bloggers have been up to this week.

What is your fave body part to work out at the gym?

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Andrea
xoxo



What I Ate Wednesday ~ Clean Eats & LiveFit continued...

Happy Wednesday! And how are you on the gorgeous day? Things have been going pretty fabulously around here. I'm very proud to say that I'm in the middle of LiveFit Week 2 and I am feeling really, really good! The clean eating is going very well (the only time it's challenging is when I get the munchies right before bed) and I'm really enjoying the workouts - much to my surprise!





  

Since this is What I Ate Wednesday, I'm going to start with my eats and then give you a quick rundown of my workouts. Remember, clean, mindful eating and exercise are the two essential components to getting healthy and staying that way! I truly believe you need both in order to live a long, healthy life.

Here's a peek into my eats this week:

Breakfast

I have finally found a protein pancake that I cannot live without. On the weekend, I tried a banana bread protein pancake (recipe by PJ Fingers) with a cup o' joe on the side, of course! It was dense and pancake-y and totally delicious. I ended up making 2 extra batches, so that I could have some for this coming week. All you have to do is freeze and toast. Mmmm....weekday pancakes are a treat around this house!

Lunch

I am still swooning over sprouted whole grain toast with smashed avocado. Add a little sea salt and you have the best snack on the planet. On the weekend, I had some avo toast with an egg white scramble on the side. In my scramble was tempeh 'bacon', green onions & some grape tomatoes. Yummers!

Snacks

I can't keep out of my raspberry cheesecake protein pops. They are so freakin' good! I'm also eating tons of Greek yogourt mixed with Truvia and unsweetened cocoa. I'm thinking I need to nickname myself the "Queen of Sinless Treats" :-)

Dinner

This was one of the lonely girl meals I had when Derek was away this past weekend. A lightened up version of sweet potato homefries, marinated honey dijon tofu & sauteed kale with mushrooms was on the menu. A rainbow on the plate is a major dose of healthy in the belly!

Are you weak in the knees over all that amazingness up there?! haha

You might recall from my posts last week that I am currently in Phase 1 of Jamie Eason's 12 Week LiveFit Trainer. Right now we are doing 4 days of weights and still NO cardio. The no cardio part is taking a bit of time to get used to and so is working out only 4 days per week. I was starting to feel restless over the weekend and considered going to a step class, but I didn't. I do have plans to go to a yoga class on Saturday with a friend, so I'm hoping that will fill my workout gap. My workout schedule this week is going to look a little like this.

Monday - Chest & Triceps

Wednesday - Back & Biceps

Thursday or Friday  - Legs

Saturday - Khundalini Yoga

Sunday - Shoulders & Abs

Not too shabby right?! I know I shouldn't complain at all about the workouts at this point because they're a total breeze compared to what's coming up! Remind me that I was wishing for more when I'm complaining that I can't move from sore muscles mmmmkay?!

If you're looking for more meal and fitness inspiration, head on over to Peas & Crayons and check out Jenn's What I Ate Wednesday pages.

What is your favourite summertime snack?

If you could do just one workout per week, what would it be?

Have a great day,

Andrea

xoxo

Raspberry Cheesecake Protein Pops

Hiya! So how was your weekend? Are you as glad to have survived that humid heat wave as I am?? I was starting to feel downright miserable. Hot is one thing, but the air was so thick and damp last week, I could hardly stand it.

If only we  could all lay in our own l'il pile of ice!

Source: Pinterest via Angie F.

My heart truly went out to all of those people suffering from respiratory issues --- it would have been a hellish few days for them!

My weekend was utterly relaxing and blissful :-) Derek was away at a baseball tourney in Saginaw, MI, so I was left to my own devices from Friday night 'til Sunday afternoon. Okay, so I feel the need to note right here that my weekend wasn't blissful because Derek was away, but it was kinda nice to just do my own thing. Once in a while I love a little "me" time! On Saturday I went to see Magic Mike with my girlfriends. Yowza....girls, if you love hot men, hot bods and hot moves, you will love this movie! The rest of the day was spent puttering around the house and hangin' with the dogs. On Sunday, I went for brunch with my grandparents to celebrate my grandpa's birthday. I had a buckwheat crepe with spinach and white cheddar and a big ol' bowl of fruit. SO GOOD! When I got home, I went to see the progress in my veggie garden (things are growing like crazy my friends!) and then went through a huge pile of bills and papers that really needed to get sorted and filed. It was one of those jobs that neither Derek or I wanted to do, but it felt so good once it was done.

I also managed to squeeze in some kitchen time this weekend. Not only did I give it a really good scrubbin', but I also was able to create some new and fabulous iced treats. All I've wanted to snack on lately is anything that can be described as cold and refreshing and I swear that I've been dreaming of popsicles on more than one occasion! {Are you a dream interpreter???? Does this mean I'm a crazy freak haha?!}

This is one of my favourite iced treats so far. I wouldn't have believed you if you'd told me that we can eat clean and have our cheesecake too because it just seems to good to be true, but I assure you that it isn't ;-)

I've found a way my friends and I am so happy to share.....

Raspberry Cheesecake Protein Pops

Inspired by Tosca Reno's Protein Popsicle Treats

Makes 6 popsicles

1 heaping c of non-fat Greek Yogourt

3 tbsp stevia (Truvia)

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/3 c fresh or frozen raspberries

1 scoop vanilla protein powder, optional

Combine all of the ingredients except for the raspberries and mix well.

Gently fold in the raspberries.

Spoon the mixture into your popsicle mold. Gently tap the mold on the counter to ensure the entire mold is filled.

Insert your popsicle lids/sticks and freeze.

Once frozen, help yourself to this healthy CLEAN treat! My popsicles were a little tricky to pull out of the mold; I really needed to wriggle it around to get it out!

*Note - I added protein powder so that the popsicles fit within the LiveFit diet I am currently following. Personally, I prefer the flavour of the popsicles without. If you aren't following any type of plan right now, I think these would be awesome if you added a bit of crumbled graham crackers instead of the protein powder.

Greek yogourt is so versatile --- it's quickly becoming one of my favourite ingredients!

My favourite all natural sweetener is definitely Truvia.

I got a great deal on a bag of frozen raspberries, but fresh will definitely work as well.

My 6 popsicle molds held exactly 2 cups. Figure out the volume of your cups before you make this and adjust the recipe as necessary so there isn't any waste.

Popsicles are best when enjoyed outside in the sunshine!

Holy mackinaw ~ these are so cold and refreshing and absolutely sinless!

You can enjoy them without one ounce of guilt. 

{YOU.ARE.SO.WELCOME}

What do you do to stay cool in the middle of a heat wave?

Have a great day!

Andrea

xoxo