Pumpkin and Palates.

Hey guys! Its been long, busy and productive day! I tackled my to-do list and the twins and I even got to meet up with a friend and her babe for lunch!

This morning I woke up freezing! Although the temps outside are still in the 80’s (which I love) during the day. Its starting to get pretty chilly at night and since I woke up and had all the covers on top of me getting out of my cozy bed was tough. I wanted something warm for breakfast!

Oatmeal.

Its been a LONG time since I have had oats for breakfast!

Pumpkin Oats have made a comeback. Which I expect to see different variations in the blogosphere soon. Here is my favorite combo!

{PUMPKIN OATS}

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Cup Steel cut oats (or old-fashioned oats)
• 1/2 Cup Pumpkin Puree
• 1/2 scoop vanilla protein
• 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
• Pinch of nutmeg to taste
• 1 tsp Agave Nectar

Directions:

Prepare the oats as directed, Stove top or Microwave

Then add pumpkin, protein, cinnamon, nutmeg and nectar

You can add any desired toppings- banana, slivered almonds, walnuts, pecans, chia seed, flax seed. vanilla greek yogurt – Make it your own!

 

YUM!!!

Welcome back oats. If your interested in some baked pumpkin oats check this out!

For lunch we met up with my friend Jac and her adorable baby girl, that is just a few months older then B and T.

We went to plates and palates, a local restaurant that has high quality food! It so good!  I have been there many times but I always get the same thing.. because I just LOVE it. They have a variety of delicious pasta salads, Panini sandwiches, salads and desserts!!!

Plates and Palates has great atmosphere and provides great customer service!

Since I’m in love with the spinach and shrimp salad that what I rolled with.

 

Spinach, grapefruit, pistachios, sweet potatoes with the most delicious lemon vinaigrette dressing ever. They make the dressing and I have yet to get hands on the recipe.. if I could, I would produce it by the gallon.

Q. What is your favorite Mix in for your Oats?

Pumpkin and chocolate. It taste just like a pumpkin cookie!

Q. What is your favorite dressing for salad?

I used to be a ranch girl ALL the way back in the day. Now I’m all about plates and palates lemon vinaigrette!

Building Blocks

I spent the majority of the afternoon playing blocks with my sweet babes. Its funny to watch them play together. B is all girl and T is all boy. B would gently start stacking the blocks only to have T swipe at them only seconds later! Destruction… B didn’t seem to mind and would just start over from the bottom up.

In my journey of reaching my fitness goal, I figured there are many building blocks that all take play. They can be built up and just as easily knocked down. 3 of which include the following.

• Nutrition
• Training
• Balance

Nutrition is vital to your training it can be the building block or the road block. This is where most people struggle, including myself. As we enter into the fall season, AKA the holidays, We will have the constant invitation to indulge in some our favorite “comfort foods.” Stay focused. Remember your goal. Its okay to say no sometimes. Plan ahead, prepare your meals ahead of time. This will help you stay on track when things come up.

Training- Race season is over for me now. I don’t have anything to really work for. This is when I start to slack, so I made of list of goals that I want to work on during off season. It gives me more motivation and something to strive for. Write down your goal, make a plan, schedule your workouts in and you will succeed!

Balance- By this, I mean the balance of life and everything that comes at you. As a mother, wife, instructor, blogger I have the constant struggle to find that balance. I live through my schedule, my to-do list and sometimes it can get a little stressful. So, I make sure to schedule in time for me. Whether it be blogging (believe it or not, it’s a stress reliever for me), write in my journal, read a book/magazine.

You have to build up to reach your fitness goals and don’t let one swipe or one bad training day, or indulging in a treat get in your way of accomplishing what you set out to do.

If you indulge a little bit to much one day, don’t just throw your clean eating plan out the window. Just move on, the next meal will be better.

If you don’t make it to the gym one day. There is always tomorrow. Missing one day or even two won’t hold you back.

If you struggle with balance, welcome to the club. We ALL do. Schedule your day the night before. I take about 5 minutes to write down my plan for the next day, including some “ME” time!

Don’t let one slip up knock you off course. We all have to start somewhere and there will always be days where you get knocked down. Stay committed, and you can achieve anything you put your mind to!!

DINNER-

Dinner today was literally thrown together. I had some veggies that I received from our co-op basket. (Every other week I get a basket full of fruit and veggies.)

I pulled out the crockpot.

{Easy Chicken Dinner}

yields: 4 servings

prep time: 10 minutes

cook time: 4 hours

Ingredients:

• 4 frozen chicken breast
• 4 Red potatoes
• 1 small bag of carrots
• 1 medium onion
• 1 tsp Parsley
• 1 tsp Salt
• Pepper to taste
• 1 cup water
• 1tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp  Raw Honey

Directions:

Place all ingredients in the crock-pot on high for 4 hours.

 

 

Q. Do you have a favorite crockpot recipe?

Q. How do you stay on track through the holidays?

Celebrate Accordingly

It feels good to home from Las Vegas! It was a looooong drive,

We made a few stops to keep the twinners happy, they did really well on the drive home. Stopping to let them play twice really helped them I think, AND me to.

All smiles!

It was a great trip but part of me really misses the lake. Now that our summer is wrapped up I’m really getting excited for fall.

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Today is National Pancake day!! Thanks to Janetha for reminding me via Facebook! Funny thing. I didn’t find that out until after I had already made and devoured some blueberry pancakes for breakfast!

These Pancakes are thick, fluffy and delicious! 

I didn’t really measure anything out.. I just sort of added some of this and some of that. I wasn’t expecting anything special. But they turned out perfectly! SO please note that these are estimate amounts. I’ll make them again tomorrow to make sure

They were good. Very Good. I could celebrate National Pancake day every day.

And I bet you could to probably right?

{Blueberry Pancakes}

Yields 6-8 pancakes

Ingredients

• 2/3 C. Whole wheat flour (or gluten free flour)
• 1/4 C. Old fashioned Oats
• 1 tsp. Cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
• Pinch of Salt
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 2 packets of stevia
• 2/3 C. Vanilla Almond Milk
• 1 whole egg
• 1 Cup blueberries (frozen or fresh)

 

Directions

Mix all dry ingredients together in one bowl

Mix egg and vanilla, and milk together

Combine 

Heat skillet and spray with a non-stick cooking spray

Fold in Blueberries

Pour onto heated skillet and let cook on each side for about 1 minute till done.

Top with desired topping! I whipped up some blueberry syrup quickly by heating frozen blueberries mixed with 2 tbs of agave nectar!

 

These were perfect fuel to get through the day! I was glad I was able to celebrate this holiday accordingly!

Q. What is your favorite kind of Pancakes?

So far in Lake Mead

We have been having a great time so far in Lake Mead! We drove to St. George Thursday and spent some time with some friends and family!
This is B & T with my friend Jamies twin girls that were born only two days before them!! Could you imagine having quadruplets? It was fun to watch all of them run around together.

As we were leaving we ran into my dad's Aunt and Uncle randomly. Like way random. It had to be documented.

We spent the whole day on the lake yesterday the babies did fairly well and it was fun to get some time out on the boat.

"I got my stunna shades on mom"

We came home and relaxed a little bit, fired up the grill and enjoyed some grilled chicken, green beans and grapes for dinner.

After our dinner settled we decided it would be fun to get a workout in. Brent and I set the timer and completed this workout.

For Time

100 high sumos with 25lb Kettle bell
100 squats
100 pushups
100 situps

We completed each exercise before moving on to the next. It kicked my booty.. especially the pushups! It was fun and motivating to have Brent do it with me! He actually finished before me! Seems as if I have a little competition ;)
I finished in...

Baby B even got in on the workout! Check out her perfect "below parallel squat"!

We shared a recovery shake post workout, out of my new favorite mug. That we discovered in the rental home. Hate the show. But love the mug! ha!

This morning I woke up pretty early, we made a good egg scramble breakfast and I decided to head out for a quick 3 mile run. I laced up my shoes and got all ready to go. Well, sort of. I discovered that I had forgotten my headphones and my running belt. Since I use my I phone for my music (love the Pandora app) There was no way to listen to my music.. I don't know about you but running without music for me is a little rough when I'm by myself. But I set out anyway. Once I stepped out the door the heat hit me and I was sweating already.. and I wasn't even running!! It was only 8AM and 100 degrees outside!!! Seriously. I made it only 1.5 miles before I called it good. It was to hot and being music less I had nothing pushing me to keep going. Since we hit the lake later I didn't feel to bad for not finishing my run. We were planning on major boating time so to me wakeboarding > running in 100 degree weather for sure.

When I got back to the house it seemed like everyone had turned to the pool to fight off the morning heat. Including my two little munchkins.

Yes, they walked in the water.. in their clothes!! It was to cute to get mad.   I was actually surprised that they actually chose to get even close to the water! Since they have not always been water babies.

Once everyone was ready to go we headed back to the lake, which of course involved a little wakeboarding and tubing today!!

 I haven't gone tubing forever! I love it. It just reminds me of being a kid again. Janey (My SIL) and I could not stop laughing and screaming. It was quite the riot.

The best part of the trip was my BIL blew up the tube pretty much by himself!! New tube.. No pump. Impractical yes, but not impossible.. Here is the proof!

good luck with that...

TA DA!!

We were able to snack on this little fruit medley, grilled chicken from last night, and PB sandwiches, and homemade gluten free banana bread. Completely random but it kept us fueled throughout the day.

Nobody said boating food was fancy.

As much fun as tubing was, it doesn't even match up to wakeboarding! The water was a little rough for my liking but it was a killer leg workout! I still had a blast cutting, jumping and just riding! 

It was a fun day on the lake and a good way to wrap up the summer!

We returned home from boating and were STARVING. We didn't have much variety to choose from and are planning on heading out on the town tonight so chicken and veggies it was..

Hey, at least I took time to throw it on a plate right?

Time to go hang out a little more with the fam, then were out on the town! 

Hope your all having a great weekend!!

Q. Any Vegas must do, must eat recommendations??

Pinterest Motivation

So here I am again, to show my love and addiction to pinterest! It has been a great tool for some motivation lately! You can follow me on pinterest here!
Going to the gym everyday isn't easy, everyone has their days but you know if you go you will feel better. But knowing isn't always doing.. Its up to you.

Now whats your plan today?

Almond Pumpkin Butter

Today has been busy trying to get my to-do list done because we are heading to Lake mead tonight first thing in the morning..for one last summer vacation. We go every year, last year the babies were only 9 weeks old!! So I'm a little more excited this year because I'm not breastfeeding and we don't have to worry about  naptimes, feeding time and .. oh wait.. yes we do.. but not to the extent we did last year.
Lake Mead here we come!!
But I can't go with out leaving you with an amazing nut butter recipe.

{Almond Pumpkin Butter}

Does it get any better?

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2C. Raw Almonds
• 1/2 C. Raw Pumpkin Seeds
• 2 T Maple Syrup
• 1 T. Maple Syrup
• 1.5 T. molasses
• 2 t. Cinnamon
• 1/4 t. Ginger
• 1/8 t. Nutmeg
• 1/2 t. Salt
• 1 1/2 T. Canola Oil

Directions:

Pre-heat your oven to 300 degrees
Place almonds and pumpkin seeds on a baking sheet
Pour 2 T. Maple Syrup and Molasses and stir
Roast for 30 or so minutes, stirring every 10 minutes until browned
Dump into a blender or your food processor

Add all remaining ingredients
Blend together until desired consistency is achieved

I like it chunky. -- The longer and faster you blend/process it the creamier it will get :)

Its life changing. Really.
Make this. You will thank me later.

I have a few post planned while we are gone on the vaca. So be sure to check back! And ENJOY this last day of summer! 

*note: This was inspired by this lovely lady

Q. Are you a chunky or smooth kind of person? 

Chunky has my heart all the way. I just love the texture of it better.

Pancakes to the MAX

okay, so in my last post I mentioned that I would see you in the A.M. It is now the P.M. I will no longer make those kind of promises... But Brent took the computer to work today so alas I was left with the broken one, that doesn't upload pictures. --
Last night I got a text...

Invite to the pool.. at 5AM! Strangely enough, I was excited to jump in the water at 5am! I haven't been to the pool since right before the triathlon!! The pool has been closed for the past 2 weeks for cleaning and it opened up yesterday! It felt good to be back in the pool. Having a friend to go with helps with the whole 5am thing to..
We completed this workout:

Warm up:

100 yards freestyle

Workout:

50 yard X 2 Kick
25 yard Sprint X 6 -- 30 Second break
25 yard Sprint X 4 -- 60 Second break

Cool down:

150 yard freestyle

Being back home by 6:15 I did something that I haven't done in quite sometime--
I got READY. Yes, showered and blow dried/straightened my hair.
Its truly a miracle folks.

Breakfast:

{3 Ingredient Banana Cakes} 

Serves: 2 or one hungry mother.

Yields: 6 mini cakes

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

2 TB Almond Butter

1 egg

1 banana

Directions:

Blend together in blender on medium

Pour onto hot skillet

                                                       & if your thinking I need new pans. Your right.

Flip when bubbles begin to form and continue cooking until brown.

Watch out for distractions like this little man.

Results will vary but most likely it will be a burnt pancake.. or 3.

Serve with favorite toppings! 

I used sliced banana and agave nectar!

LUNCH:


Was post workout today. So of course I opted for the obvious.

Pumpkin Protein Shake! 

Oh how I have missed these. Its honestly like pumpkin pie in a cup X2

Blend Together:

• 1.5 cups Almond Milk Unsweetened Vanilla
• 1/2 frozen banana
• 4 ice cubes
• 1 scoop of vanilla protein
• Spoonful of Pumpkin Puree
• 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp Nutmeg

I also had a piece of grilled chicken, green beans and apple about an hour after the shake that went unpictured.. Dinner is TBD.

MAX WEIGHT:

Every time I am going through a strength session I try to completely challenge myself. Throwing more weight on the bar after each set to push myself just a little harder, to dig deeper. 

Some days I prove it to myself that I can lift heavier. Then there are days that I back down if my form is thrown off by the weight.

Why I am bringing this up? 

Because this is also an example of life. Stay with me here. K?

In today's world sometimes we are expected to do to much. Think of the bar as your life--- Each plate is a commitment, or a responsibility.
We like challenges, in fact, sometimes I crave challenges. They give me a sense of accomplishment and importance.

 At one point your going to meet your max weight. Your arms start to weaken and you just can't quite get it overhead with a straight back. Face it. You just can't handle that extra 10lbs.

source

It can be frustrating but each and every one of us needs to back down a little when our form falters or if you can't complete that last rep. How much is on your bar? How much is to much? Do you add extra commitments, say yes to everything or do you just simply plan to please? 

I am guilty of this,  as I'm sure many others are to. You have to learn to recognize your max weight. To find that balance in your life that will  make you stronger. Not break you down leading to future injuries.

Its okay to back down, and its okay not to say yes to every oppurtunity that comes your way. You need to do what makes you happy. Find what drives you to be the best person you can be and just do that.  We are not perfect. nor will we ever be. BUT we all deserve to just be happy.

Challenges will come at you each and every day. Lift only as much as you can handle and never worry about having to back down. Keeping good form will lead to better relationships with family, and  friends. It is what is really important. Not how much you do you, how much weight you can lift, or how far you can run.
Life needs challenges sometimes but its how you decide to deal with it is that matters. Are you going to give up or fight to prove yourself you can handle the weight.  You may not be able to handle the weight now, but as things come and go you may find that you are stronger then you think. 

Find your strength, your balance and only then you will achieve optimal health. Make that your goal.

Because right now. Its mine.

Q. What is something right now you can eliminate in your life. To just simplify and make your load a little lighter?