Gravy, Marinara, Pasta Sauce, Spaghetti Sauce....whatever you want to call it....here it is...HOMEMADE

Apron wearing, wine drinking, sauce making kinda night...

Sometimes my boys help me make the sauce, but tonight I was solo with my 90's Destiny's Child Pandora station. Which I then had to change to Frank Sinatra, because, well, duh!!!

There is a debate in my family about who makes the better gravy and what EXACT technique used creates the better gravy, even though I think we ALL use the SAME ingredients...haha

This recipe is my grandmother's who is not Italian, but learned from her Italian sister-in-law, she had to make sure to get it right for Grandpa. This was taught to me at 10, which I was just in charge of chopping the fresh basil and garlic. This is KEY. FRESH basil and garlic. According to my mom, the more basil the better, according to my aunt, the more garlic the better. Catch my drift?!?

Anyways, actually my first responsibility was at 4 years old, was to stir the sauce. Do not let the sauce burn (stick to the bottom of the pot). You have to stir the sauce often, the longer the sauce simmers the better. That's A LOT of stirring...

Here are the ingredients:

First cut Italian sausage, sweet, spicy or both. And bake.

Once that's done, gently blot with paper towels and set aside. Don't blot too much, we discovered the more grease the better :)

While the sausage is baking, finely chop an entire container of fresh basil and open cans

In order:

Cover the bottom of the pot with olive oil

Finely Chop 2-3 cloves of fresh garlic and add to olive oil. 

Finely Chop a shallot and add. Once they bubble add:

2 cans of SAN MARZANO whole plum tomatoes and smash with a potato smasher

Add 2 cans of crushed tomatoes 

2 cans of Contadina tomato paste. Once emptied, fill cans with water and pour in

Stir

Add enough oregano to cover top of pot, add salt (to taste?!?)

Add 2 bay leaves broken in half

Add basil

Stir

Add sausage

Set to simmer for at least 2 hours...STIRRING OFTEN. 

You can serve it, or you can wait a day and let the flavors marinate, the house smells amazing, and it's total torture but well worth the wait. 

SO this sauce feeds a lot. For example, I hosted dinner and served 7 adults and 1 kid. With left over sauce.

Next, my hubby wants to add some half and half, sun dried tomatoes and mushrooms to go on pasta with chicken. Or shrimp...

Pictures of that to come. 

Or, it can go on homemade pizza, or make a sausage sandwich, or freeze. It should be eaten within a few days if you chose to not freeze it :)

Mangia Mangia

favorite dessert

apple slices, peanut butter and tea

eliminates the carb/sugar craving by having good sources of carbs and sugar (and some protein) keeps your tummy full, and is a great way to wind down...I swear by it, even on a hot night...

Hearty, Gluten-Free Protein Salad

On a hot summer night, when I am eating dinner solo, I whip up a protein packed salad with ingredients I have already prepped.

I cook rainbow quinoa in a rice cooker and have that with sautéed veggies and seasoned black beans as a mid-week dinner, or add it cold to a salad.

I always have a container packed with raw veggies for snacking, perfect for my son and me!

And, I always have a container of drained beans, usually garbanzo or black beans to add to any salad.

So the amount of time it took to prepare my dinner was under 5 minutes, I just chopped some spinach and cut my raw veggies smaller. Oh, and I whisked a light and clean lemon dressing.

Light & Clean Lemon Dressing

1/2 fresh lemon squeezed

1 tbsp olive oil (mine is infused with garlic :) )

1 tbsp of Italian herd seasoning mix, mine is the grinder kind from TJ's

Whisk together and drizzle on top!

Ok, so excuse the tacky plastic container, but I love to use these, I stole the idea from my hubby who likes a well-dressed salad. Cuz' when you attach a lid to your bowl, you can really blend the dressing onto all of your ingredients!

Also, I am trying to eliminate dairy, but I still had feta in the fridge and CAN"T let it go to waste!! So here's my protein packed salad, plus some lightly salted nuts on the side, (instead of having crackers...and getting more protein in)

All in all my salad was 16.75 grams of protein, and the mixed nuts were an additional 7 grams.

Please note the sparkling water instead of wine :)

I'm trying!!

Hard Work

So I have been away from my blog for a while, it was constant baseball mania at our house. 

My mellow moments were for sleeping, not for thinking or typing...

But, seriously, I did not make my busy schedule an excuse to NOT go to the gym. I did, 5 days a week.

There were moments I ate too many snacks, drank too much wine...

But, I tried to maintain consistent workouts.

It is HARD WORK.

Now, I am focusing recording my workouts and slowly eliminating dairy from my diet. And huge reducing the amount of sea food I eat. This is thanks to a documentary that basically promotes Veganism. 


Monday:
Breakfast: Organic pink lady apple w/2 tbsp all-natural peanut butter
Lunch: Salad -romain lettuce, broccoli, cucumber, carrots, cherry tomatoes and garbanzo beans w/ a homemade lemon vinaigrette.
Snack: 1/4 cup raw almonds
Dinner: Rainbow quinoa with roasted bell peppers, zucchini & onions and cooked black beans. Dressing was a 1/2 tsp of teriyaki sauce and some siracha.

I pretty much ate that simian combo for 2 weeks. Minus, my cheat night last Friday that was Trader Joes gluten-free pizza and wine. Or my veggie burger (sans bun) on Saturday while at a BBQ.

I have felt leaner, fuller, and overall great, so I'm feeling like this is a good plan for a while. I think the key is to find a rhythm but to not feel pressured that it is the end all be all.

Oh, and my workouts varied:
Monday: 2 mile outdoor run, 50 air squats, 30 push-ups, 50 lunges
Tuesday:Interval run on the treadmill, the key is to get your heart rate to max, mine is 160, that's when you burn the most calories...100 bar squats, 50 deadlifts with 50lb, 30 lunges with 25 lb dumb bell
Wednesday: YOGA...always
Thursday:Repeat monday
Friday:Repeat tuesday
Saturday: I had to head out early to visit family, but I did pilates with my theraband. Check out resistant band workouts, you won't feel sore, but you feel great as you're doing it. It sometimes that is all that matters

This schedule was last week, and it seemed to work, so I am on repeat. The biggest difference, though is me trying REALLY HARD to NOT drink WINE during the work week. I gave in tonight, I admit, and I had to brush my teeth and tell myself that I was fine and didn't need to snack, because it is HARD WORK to not snack. And when I drink, I want to snack.

My thought is chances are, if I am thinking about this, and experiencing this, then someone else is. So here I am sharing my new plan. When I began this plan I weighed 106. 

let me remind you that I am 5 feet. So being 106 is completely realistic, I am not too skinny, or too heavy. I am comfortable, however I want to be leaner, stronger and firmer. 

Healthy and Easy Snack!

When life gives you 2 EXTREMELY RIPE bananas, make muffins!

My mom has made super healthy 5 banana muffins for years, but we don't usually have 5 super ripe bananas, so what to do with 2? I found this great recipe on Pinterest, here's the bloggers link:

https://www.sweetashoney.co/whole-wheat-banana-muffins-an-easy-snacks-for-kids/

My sneaky trick is to coat each muffin space with coconut oil, giving the muffins a slightly crispy texture on the outside, but they remain moist and soft on the inside ;)

update: staff love

feels good to be loved :)

while i've been gone...

So, while I've been gone from the internet world and dull moments where I can fill my time with blog posting and what not. 

I completed my first year back at CSULB, yay! 

I prepared a cool board for the teachers and staff at my school...and prepared gifts for Teacher Appreciation Week for my son's teachers. I will take an updated picture of the "Staff Love" board, it's all filled up and the teachers love their notes from their students!!

Also, I made a date-night, basket for my son's baseball coach and team mom!

Gifting is fun, spread the love, extend generosity, warm someone's day!

When all else fails...

MAKE AN OMLETE!

This looked so good I began to slice into it before taking a pic :)

So, I'm on my own for dinner tonight and I have been trying to have more of a protein rich diet. My delicious pesto salmon with roasted artichoke hearts and green beans are gone. So now what?! It's Thursday, I have to begin a final paper and I don't want to spend a lot of time cooking...

I made an onion, mushroom and spinach omelet with feta, it literally took me 6 minutes.

So first I must say that as soon as I buy an onion I chop it up. Since I hate chopping inions but love the taste, I just get it out of the way in one shot, it keeps in the fridge for a week. So, I had already the chopped onions, and yes, I chopped the mushrooms in advance too. 

I sautéed those in coconut oil, tore up some baby spinach with my hands and added it. While that was going on medium heat, I whisked 4 eggs. Whole eggs people. 

Added it, sprinkled some feta, salt, pepper and grinded my Italian Seasonings mix.

Cover.

Fold, Cover, Done.

So this Ketosis thing...

I've been seeing a lot of people loose weight following a Ketogenic diet. My husband who wasn't trying a particular diet, but realized he had actually been following a Ketogenic diet is leaner then ever. He's fricken hot. Almost an 8 pack. I can't believe it.

Anyways, being a Pescatarian I began thinking about how I could attempt this diet, since I am SOOO close to having flat abs. 

Last week I tried this: Following all serving sizes perfectly...
Coffee Protein Shake 
String Cheese
Plain Non-fat Greek Yogurt with all natural PB and TJ's Omega 3 nut mix OR Salmon Salad
That kept me full till dinner...which was
Salmon w/ sautéed french green beans and sweet potato w/ spinach salad OR 2 black bean and veggie tacos w/ corn tortillas w/ taco filling extras on romaine

I feel amazing...

I love fruit, but I am trying to pay attention to the amount I have a day. Some of the days, like after my salmon salad, I had a cutie or some strawberries. But I found that on my yogurt days, it felt like a dessert so I didn't have that sweets craving, plus there was so much more fat and protein I was SO FULL 

So here's the thing about Ketosis:
The diet which was developed to help epilepsy and has been found to help other cancer patients, is a high fat with good protein and low carbs. This dynamic changes the way the body uses energy, as it lowers glucose levels and improves insulin intake. This is very beneficial to working out, since you want to BURN FAT. If you have a higher carb intake then you will just burn those off and not shed the problem area fat...for me it's my belly.

Fat fuels not carbs, this is ketones, ketosis is a process where it's a normal metabolic way to use ketones to make energy. Check out this informative page:

http://www.ketogenic-diet-resource.com/daily-protein-requirement.html

Weekend Breakfast after an amazing Orange Theory Workout:

That's 6.81 carbs, 27.23 protein, 28.5 grams of fat

The other benefit for waiting to eat after your workout is that you force your body to go into ketosis so that you actually burn fat. My dinner last night was this amazing recipe I found on Pinterest http://bakerbynature.com/pan-seared-cod-in-white-wine-tomato-basil-sauce/ paired with sautéed green beans, 1/4 baked potato and lots of wine...whoopsies

Plop Plop Fizz Fizz

Lifesaver last week!

I thought I was going to loose my voice, so I bought these amazing Elderberry Tablets at Sprouts, 4 times a day on the first day and my throght already felt better!

No Oatmeal for Me!

Ok, so I've been on an oatmeal kick, we all have in fact. There's a million overnight oats recipes out there. Well guess what, I can't eat oatmeal...

You know how I figured it out? I had really knarley gas. Knarley is a surf term for crazy. So yea, gross, stinky gas. Super embarrassing. 

So I decided to Google search and Pinterest it up. I NEEDED ANSWERS!!! Many blogs mentioned a few foods consistently:
                             oats, beans, broccoli, cauliflower and other leafy greens. 
Well, I'm a vegetarian so I can't give up beans, I kinda hate broccoli and cauliflower so I don't eat that much...So, I gave up oats for a week. WOAH

I can't believe what a difference that made, I don't remember all the science I read behind it's gas causing properties, but I can tell you that not only am I gas free (YAY), but I feel less bloated and my abs feel tighter. Can I just say, that I have been soo consumed in school work that all my gym time is replaced by study time. So I have literally been to the gym once since I gave up oats. I do little exercises everyday, but it's not the same as a good sweaty gym workout. 

But since I have to eat carbs and protein for breakfast I have had 2 corn tortilla breakfast tacos or veggie quiche with a slice of peanut butter toast. I know it's not gluten free, but my psoriasis is easier to deal with then gas...

Oh, and I have a bit more of a tighter tummy....huh?!?!

With oats (and prob my last gym sesh):

Without the oats...see there's a little definition there ;)

#busy

So, as I've said before, I'm a mom, a wife, a health nut, a student.

Today we had our nephew over and spent most of the afternoon playing baseball.

Then, I meal prepped. On this weeks menu:
-Asian sautéed veggies & edamame and rice
-Spanish seasoned tilapia with quinoa & black bean salad
-My favorite tuna salad

Oh, and I had to make a bigger quiche since my husband decided that he liked mine from last week. 

And he asked me for that lemony salmon I made, did I post that? With lemon green beans and roasted sweet potatoes? But replied with sorry, you're on your own...

Now I have to get my brain to switch gears and complete a midterm on the issue of technology and children. Specifically the usage (perhaps overuse) of handheld devices and kids...

We're all guilty of it...

#mealprepdone #wheresmywine

Breakfast for Me

My no crust quiche: #gluten free #vegetarian #easy

Chop:

 about 1 bell pepper 

 2 cups of mushrooms

1/2 white onion

Sauté in Coconut Oil (1 tbsp), season with S & P

Once done, onions translucent, peppers soft

Pour onto a greased baking dish, like a brownie pan

I greased mine with coconut oil too

Whisk 8 eggs with like 2 splashes of milk, not even  1/4 cup

Pour eggs on top, sprinkle cheese ANY cheese, I just used shredded Mexican, then sprinkled seasoning salt 

Bake 350 for 20 minutes

Here's your cheese options:

Mexican blend or cheddar: add salsa, avocado etc

Feta/Mozzarella: add chopped cherry tomatoes

More veggie ideas: spinach, broccoli, zucchini

Meat (if you do that) bacon, sausage, ground taco meat...(my hubby loves to make scrambles with his left over taco meat...)

Mine tasted just fine done simply, and I honestly didn't have the time to think about adding any other yummy ingredient, but this is the easiest breakfast that you can literally add whatever you want into it. The best part is it lasts up to a week, since I'm the only one who eats it, I gave myself 4 large portions. 

Have Your Cake and Eat it Too!

My gorgeous friend got married quite suddenly on Valentine's Day. She and her hubby had been engaged for a while, however the idea of planning a wedding, having bridesmaids and the whole debacle of a wedding did NOT interest her. She she just said, screw it, let's get married at the court house on V-Day. 

Our teacher group of friends, i.e. MAJOR PLANNERS. Could not let her get away with no shower. So we surprised her at a previously planned dinner!

We bought her a Stella & Dot gold plated necklace with her wedding date in Roman Numerals. https://www.stelladot.com/shop/en_us/p/signature-engravable-delicate-necklace-gold?gclid=CjwKEAiA0fnFBRC6g8rgmICvrw0SJADx1_zA8gX8q1BtNi27wQ6oUzTq_KqzU2No-jgCEFpiypHbDRoCre_w_wcBAnd I arranged some flowers in Mr. & Mrs. stemless wine glasses, (function and beauty;) 

 

Then used the left over flowers to top her cute little cake:

Precious waiter thought we were celebrating her birthday, and put candles on the cake singing "Feliz Cumpleanos!"

Packed Lunch and Study Time

This week has been full of work. House work. School work. Work, work. I have continued my meal prepping and embraced my life as a student, mommy, wife, teacher once again. It was hard to get back in the groove of this semester. 

Stater Bros has frozen wild caught salmon already in 4 portions for $6.99, that's a STEAL! I forgot about taking pictures and what not, but it's nothing new with me, I keep my seasonings simple this way I can adjust the flavors to my mood. Work lunch and dinners are, baked salmon with roasted french green beans (I buy the frozen ones at TJ's) and try-colored quinoa. Yesterday I added teriyaki sauce. Tonight I will have it with pesto, oh and I had some random heirloom tomatoes no one wanted to eat raw to I roasted them to go with the pesto! 

School lunch is:

It's STRAWBERRY time!!! So some sliced one's go in the yogurt, the PB is for the celery and carrots will be for the drive home from school. Cheese is just in case...Low carb, low sugar, low calorie & gluten free...

Note: This LOW EVERYTHING lunch and snacks only work when you have a GIANT breakfast. At least for me. I'm not trying to wither away to nothingness, but I am eating for my bodies needs. For it to function properly and to look lean, I work out so damn hard (or try to) what's the point of eating crap?!? 

So, my breakfast was 4 eggs: 2 whites, 2 whole with bell peppers sautéed in coconut oil AND jar oatmeal.

This week my oats have 1/2 water, 1/2 Vanilla Almond Milk, and 1/2 cup of my favorite Archer Farms Almond, Cashew and Cranberry mix. A serving of that mix is 1/4, but since I made 2 servings of oats in my jar, I doubled the mix :)

What's funny is even though I try my best to eat healthy, I am human and I do give in... like to cake...so I'm at my goal weight, but not at my goal abs...that's OKAY though, I'm still feelin' good! My hope is for you to feel good too!

Italian Week!

I am a proud Italian girl. Was taught the marinara sauce recipe at the age of ten, and had to recite the particular steps to my mom while I chopped, stirred and watch. I don't always have time to make the coveted sauce, it's actually fast, but needs to simmer for a few hours and be stirred often=stay home for a while and try not to be too distracted...hard to do!

But thanks to this 3 day weekend, I actually had time to make the sauce, and to share the moment with my son and nephew! #passonthetradition #teachthemyoung

So you grate a carrot to cut the acidity of the tomatoes...

The biggest tip to homemade sauce, besides stirring it often, is WAIT and use it the next day. The flavors need to marinade!

Today, I did some food prep with my sauce. Gluten free penne with roasted veggies and sauce (or make it Primavera style and add extra olive oil and garlic w/ some parm)  and spaghetti squash with sauce, which I will add mozzarella cheese and bake in the oven when the time comes.YUM!!

Happy Italian Week to me!!!

Sweat is Good

It was crazy rainy and windy last night. Living in So Cal, that is unusual weather for us and I'm not ashamed being a weather whimp. So the weather was my reason to not go to the gym, but it was not my reason for NOT working out!

All you need is some good music and maybe something to look at. I love our Chromecast slideshow of family pictures on our T.V and Pandora's Pop & Hip-Hop station. Good old Pitbull really brings some upbeat jams that keeps me going with the workout...

So here it is

3 Sets of Each:
20 burpees
20 push-ups
25 regular squats 
25 wide leg squats(like your in ballet's 2nd position)
                     THEN...
Repeat this rotation for 2 sets each:
25 mountain climbers
Hold plank for 30 sec.
Side plank each side,15 sec.
25 mountain climbers
Forearm plank for 30 sec.
Forearm side plank each side, 15 sec.

                   THEN...
ABS. Since I love pilates, so I did a little pilates series. All you need is 5 minutes of abs. Hope you sweat as much as I did!

Did I Mention that I haven't had ANY Seafood This WEEK?

As a self-proclaimed Pescatarian, I decided to challenge myself and see if I would feel fine (and full) without seafood. So I made a batch of Trio Colored Quinoa sautéed with onions, & mushrooms, threw in some black beans, and used that as my base for my meals this week.

 I try to use little seasoning when I cook my base foods during my meal-prep day (including seafood) so that I can alternate the flavor palate throughout the week which keeps me from ultimate boredom!

So, with that quinoa base, I included fire-roasted tomatoes and made stuffed bell peppers. 

Then I also used that mixture for enchiladas.

 I still had left-over "base" so I jarred it. Tonight, I sautéed up some carrots, broccoli, more mushrooms and green beans and seasoned it with my favorite stir-fry seasoning. Then I threw in the remaining base, added some edamame, and a little teriyaki sauce, (and Siracha) done!

The result is that I honestly never felt full, but I did feel satisfied. I'm learning that the reason American's are overweight is because we confuse the idea of feeling full vs. feeling satisfied. Once we can learn and understand the difference, then we are more successful at a healthier, slimmer version of oneself! 

Homemade Love on V-Day

We're all about the homemade cards for every event. Partially because cards are so overpriced and I feel like I'm always repeating myself. The partially to bring out the crafty side in my son, and partially, for him to understand and appreciate WHY we give cards. 

This year we made cards for each other, he helped with his school Valentines, here's the great freebie printable: http://www.theidearoom.net/50-diy-kids-classroom-valentines-day-ideas

And, we made pizza for dinner. The intention was to make it heart shaped, however my husband must be a pro since he spread the dough so well it was too big for a heart...

My side of the pizza had sun-dried tomatoes and pesto ;) We used the Trader Joe's dough, the pizza came out more greasy then when I used the local Italian bakery dough...but the flavor was spot on! 

          Fun lunch, check! Valentines, check! A jar of chocolates for his teachers, check!                   Homemade cards & Pizza, check check! A fun and memorable day, DONE!

           

        Notice, my son "working" while I'm studying?!? #swoon

my good friend David...

My dear friend David, known on The Millionaire Matchmaker had a lovely wedding in Bel Air, that was very detail specific and intimate. Here's a pic of my hubby and I infant of this gorgeous backdrop that he handmade. He has a great new website dedicated to everything Gay Weddings! Launching on Valentine's Day!! here's his blog link: http://www.finding-cupid.com/single-post/2015/08/14/Bow-Ties-Wedding-Cake-Getting-Inspired

guilty pleasures

Last weekend I drank a lot of wine, ate pizza and had some dessert (insert monkey hide-face emoji here)

But....at least the pizza was homaemade right?! A group of my girlfriends, the Supper Club, host rotating dinner parties. The host makes the main, and the others bring sides, apps, wine, etc. Well, I decided to have the girls help make the main, some delicious pizza! We all workout so hard and adhere to strict diets, why not indulge and have some juicy conversations?!?

I covered my table with butcher paper, had some fun Valentine napkins and many bottles of wine, here's the before and after of our dinner...We almost forgot to take any pics at all!

it's been a while, but here's a great lunch idea...

I'm back in the swig of things at school and work is intense.  I am currently preparing for a Parent Curriculum Workshop, how we integrate curriculum tools into our creativity and innovation!!

But, I made a yummy and super low carb, low cal lunch: Romain boat fish tacos:

So, I sprinkled S & P and baked tilapia in the toaster oven. Once done, I prepared my lunches in my food prep containers. Fresh romain lettuce, sliced cherry tomatoes, some shredded cheese and some chunky salsa. DONE! Someone was kind enough to buy and share Siracha Mayo, that did take my tacos to the next level, of course some avocado would have been a delicious add...Because I loaded my tacos with fish, I was full and completely satisfied until my afternoon snack.

Remember, if you workout regularly it is important to maintain your metabolism and to fuel your body with food to either prepare you for your workout or to repair your body afterwards. 

My afternoon snack was 1/2 and apple with 2 tbsp Sunflower butter. YUM!

Eat a Rainbow

I am busier than ever now that I'm back in the full-time college student in addition to my job, being a mommy and wife. So meal-prep and planning is more important than ever!!

This week I bought veggies and fruit in  every color of the rainbow! Partially because my son loves purple carrots, and multi-colored heirloom tomatoes, and he requested blueberries. And every mom knows that it's worth it to spend the extra $$ if your kid will eat some good healthy food!

With these, I prepped for veggie sticks for snacking, and made my go to tuna salad, this time I made the salad dressing. NO sugar, hardly any fat and calories.

Balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard, water, olive oil, salt and the Italian seasoning grinder. I added more mustard than usual just to change it up!

Oh, and I made this chili, http://alidaskitchen.com/2013/10/06/sweet-potato-black-bean-chili/it's delish!

Just Plank & Run

Yesterday, I wasn't sure if I would have time for the gym so I did a plank workout. My triceps are sooooo sore, isn't that the best feeling?!

Hold plank for as long as possible, I did 60 seconds
10 push-ups
Hold forearm plank for the same time, again, I did 60 seconds
10 push-ups
Downdog, then max time plank again
10 push-ups
Downdog
Max forearm plank
10 push-ups
THEN...reverse plank, so your facing the ceiling and not the floor...again, if only I came up with this when my hubby is home to include a pic...
Hold that for your max
10 Reverse push-ups. So you are in that reverse plank, facing the ceiling, and slightly bend your elbows. Keep your arms close to your body and the bent elbows doesn't have to be much for effect. This is from my mom's pilates classes she taught. Such a great exercise for your chest and triceps!

Since I have tendinitis in my joints, that one is hard for me, so I do some abs right after to break up all of the pressure. Once I've done crunches, single-leg stretch or whatever, 
I repeat the reverse plank hold and reverse push-ups. Then back to abs of your choice!! 

I keep this going until my timer goes off at 20 minutes, or until my son wakes up! 
Luckily for me, he stayed asleep, my husband was working from home and I got to include a 15 min run on the tread!!

Yes You Can

Pack healthy lunches for you and your kid(s)

Packing healthy lunches for my son has always been a priority. Having been a preschool teacher for so many years and seeing the CRAP these little bodies are getting is so upsetting. EVEN AFTER we have more knowledge about the benefits of a nutritious, well-balanced meal not only for to prevent things like obesity and diabetes, but also the benefits on children's emotional regulation. I have seen it time and time again, the children who eat lunchables, uncrustables and any other completely processed main food, along with a gogurt and cup of peaches doused in high fructose corn syrup are by far the one's with either a social, emotional or hyper activity issue. Not to mention the inability to nap, quiet their bodies and go to the bathroom.

I am no nutritionist, but I have been a teacher for over ten years, studied nutrition and have seen the first hand benefits and side affects of a proper diet. And by the way, I teach in a highly affluent, well-educated population. They have more time, (nannies) more money and more accessibility to the best quality food. There is no excuse.

The only thing that is easier for me than perhaps others, is that I have a particular lunch eater and only one to worry about. He prefers a peanut butter sandwich, yogurt and fruit EVERYDAY. I've tried to pack him other things, but he won't eat it. So instead we give him a great variety for dinner every night, and lunch remains the same. It's filled with protein, calcium, vitamins, fiber, good carbohydrates. So why bother?!?

The lunch goes as follows: 

All natural peanut butter sandwich, TJ's yogurt (there are no additives) and fresh fruit, today it's an orange from Nana's orange tree. Oh, and I also packed him one of our 5 ingredient banana muffins. He knows that whatever he doesn't have time to eat at school, cuz he's a talker, he will have for snack afterwards. 

My lunchbox has:

Romain lettuce to go with my tuna salad, another bowl for soup I have at work, purple carrot sticks, celery for peanut butter, an orange (yep from that tree!)

Did I motivate??!?!

Proof is in the Moving

This weekend was all about driving throughout Ca to visit family. While I ate normal, I barely moved my body. 

Saturday AM: 4 hour drive 1 way...
Up at 4, lemon water & coffee
6am-nuts & half an apple
9 am- finally arrived in Nor. Cal, 1 slice of PB toast & an orange
1pm-Chopped Salad w/ fat-free Ranch
5pm-Latte from some cute little hipster cafe on our way back
8pm-We hadn't made it home yet and so we stopped in Whole Foods and I got a package of Brown Rice Spicy Tuna Roll
9pm-2 glasses of wine w/ some dubliner cheese and bed

Sunday: 2 hour drive one way...
Up at 6, lemon water & coffee
7 am-orange (we got these amazing oranges from a tree in Fresno...)
9 am-Breakfast out: scrambled eggs, country potatoes, hot tea. Note that even though this breakfast seems normal enough, no obvious extra fat, it's the fat in which they were made that kept me full forever.
2pm-veggie burger w/ sautéed squash and all the fixens, minus sauce plus avocado. 2 Coronas, that and potato chips (salt & pepper kettle) were for sure my down-fall this weekend. I'm not sure if it was the beer, the chips or both, but I felt full and gross all night, had 1/2 cup of tomato soup for bed. 


Overall, my meals were typical for me. But the fact that I didn't have nearly as much veggies as I had during the week, and that I literally barely moved my body, was a huge difference in the way I felt. Not only how my body felt, but I weighed 106 on the gym scale today.

Monday, my body is still cleansing itself and self-regulating. 
Breakfast: Lemon water & coffee, single serving non-fat plain greek yogurt 
Snack: almonds
Lunch: tomato soup & salad
Snack: Scoop of pb
GYM-circuit training plus cardio
Dinner: black bean and veggie chili

Mid-Week Yoga

Yesterday was a Yoga morning, and veggies all day. I felt great!

One day I will have my hubby video me so that you can see how simple a 20 min yoga routine is, yoga is not always for the workout, not always for practicing balance, but it is always a great stretch and a way to stop thinking. Just for a moment. 

To begin, sit criss-cross, and stretch arms up to the sky, then to one side then the other. 
Hands down in front of you, head down. Boom, already stretching! Then hands flat and ease into your down dog. Bend knees, alternate, do whatever it takes to make that feel good. Then stand up nice and tall, stretching arms to the sky. 1 Sun Salute all ready done! Hands down, feet back, down dog, then one foot in-between your hands for a low lunge, switch sides. You can make it harder by standing up with your feet in the lunge, or keep your hands down. With your hands down, put your feet back in down dog. That is always your transition pose. It's actually considered a working-resting pose. We can keep going, but I will stop here, in down dog, walk your feet to your hands, take a moment, then sit down, sitting criss cross but try to put your other leg on top. Another great way to balance, physically and mentally. Take a moment to thank yourself for being patient, stretching and dedicating just a little bit of time to yourself. Then get some coffee, wake-up your kid or kids and move on with the mad rush of school days!

Food Log:
AM: Warm water w/ lemon & honey (that was before yoga)
Coffee, oatmeal w/ apples and almonds
Snack: Almonds
Lunch: Minestrone soup! I shared it with friends at work! Some bell pepper slices and hummus
Snack: Yogurt w/ peanut butter, I didn't finish it, I couldn't believe that I was full enough from all those veggies, it's working!!!
Dinner: Tuna salad & some tortilla chips (weird I know, but I really wanted a crunchy texture and they're gluten-free and hardly any fat and no sugar!!
Snack: My feeling of not being hungry caught up with me, I had a string cheese

BTW: I am a certified Yoga Teacher for Kids, have been teaching kids yoga for more than seven years, and taking it for over 12 :)

1 Week Results are in:

1 Week of my meal planning: I now weigh 104,  had the 'accidental' glasses of wine I had on the weekend, and absolutely no other sugar. My abs have always been my struggle area, growing up I was the self-conscious one with the "soft" belly, so this is where I concentrate my improvement visually. My husband however, loves my tighter butt, which of course is always a plus!

Here's to the new week! 

AM: warm water with honey and lemon, I read a lot about how it helps boost your immune system by supporting your digestive system...black coffee, oatmeal.

GYM: cardio and weight training, cardio consisted of the same tread routine I posted last week, weights were:

15 squats with 30 lb dumbbells

15 deadlifts with 50 lb dumbbell

8 shoulder presses with 20 lb dumbbell 

5 bicep curls with 20 lb dumbbell 

My husband is a big fan of higher weight and less reps for faster results...

SNACK: chocolate protein shake w/ almond milk

LUNCH: mixed green salad w/ cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and garbanzo beans, 1 slice of cheese pizza

SNACK: almonds & cashews, hot tea

DINNER: minestrone soup w/ sparkling water!

SNACK: peanut butter and almond milk

Soup for a Rainy Week

I love soup, it's hearty, flavorful and a meal in a bowl! Except living in So Cal doesn't always allow for soup weather, so when it does I embrace it! We finally have a rainy week, so it was perfect timing to try out this crockpot minestrone soup recipe. The only thing I did differently was to sautéed my onions, garlic, carrots, celery first, oh and I also added gluten free pasta. So not only did my house smell amazing while it cooked, but boy was it delish! 

 For meal prep this week, I have my oatmeal for breakfast, that tuna I posted to go with mixed greens and spinach, and soup! Paired with snacks such as plain, non-fat greek yogurt, an apple or some nuts, I should be good to go. Today was a success, let's hope I keep it up!

OH and I did my band workout and also included some arm stuff, attach the bands to your wrists and pull outwardly, keeping arms out straight, up over your head and behind you for some tricep work. I may not have burned many calories, but then I ate low fat, low caloric foods today, and I did get my body moving, so that's always a plus!

Here's the link for the soup:

http://littlespicejar.com/homemade-minestrone-soup-slow-cooker/#

about yesterday...

it was almost a complete fail...

Of course it started out great, did a quick and effective pilates workout with this band:

Standing, balance one leg at a time, while the other lifts to the side or the back 20 times each leg. This works your core for balance and your abductors. On hands and knees, work your glutes by doing back and side leg lifts, 20 each side. For your abs and a good leg stretch, lay on your back and do leg lifts from floor to however high you can go keeping your legs straight and not arching your back. These are also great for arm resistance too!

Then I had oatmeal with some apple chunks and black coffee.

A very productive morning at work, complete with a parent tour of our school then my plain non-fat yogurt with half and apple for snack...Then lunch happened:

I met a dear friend who visited from out of town, and ordered the Nicoise Salad with tomato soup. Well, the menu did not say tomato bisque, that would have clued me in on how rich and creamy it was. The salad was a little too mayoish for moi.

Then I was disgustingly full and had a stomach ache the rest of the day at work, I could hardly eat dinner. 

But for dinner I had the kale/broccoli slaw salad and some carrot sticks with hummus. Then I met another dear friend who was also visiting in town for a...drink

I couldn't even go a whole week without a single glass of wine. That is all I had, one glass of cab, and I woke up later then norm this morning with a headache. I don't know if it is because of the sudden amount of sugar or of the actual alcohol, but that sucked...

So my breakfast this am was a veggie scramble with a gluten free waffle which had peanut butter, my snack a protein shake and lunch is my favorite way to do tuna (unless it's poke)

The beauty of this salad is you can add as little or as much of whatever of these veggies, more or less than 1 tablespoon of mustard, any other seasonings you like, perhaps red onion or shallots would work, but I just kept it clean and refreshing, note I did add salt and pepper to taste. Today I'm back on track let's see how long this lasts!! Oh and I'm going to try to make homemade minestrone soup tomorrow (insert fingers crossed emoji here)