Craving…

Image

Other than laying on this beach, here is what I’m currently craving from around the interwebs….

These black bean and quinoa burgers….

These Reese’s Seven Layer Bars….

This lobster…I can feel it melting in my mouth

These strawberry and chocolate dessert nachos…..

This “safe” berry cheesecake…

This clean alternative to my everything bagel addiction…

This curry and cheese dip….

This grilled steak and gorgonzola pizza with balsamic reduction….

Battle of Good vs Evil

Do you ever have those days where you know you need to work out but there is an epic battle in your head between good and evil…and evil wins?  What about those days where your head seems glue to the pillow?

This is one of my biggest struggles.  I know I need to work out.  I want to work out.  I know that my goals will be met if I work out.

And yet, I don’t.  I make excuses– I need to cook dinner, I have “work” to do (which usually means I haven’t gotten sick of browsing Pinterest yet…which then results in searching “Health & Fitness” for another hour guilting myself for not working out).

I’ve heard wonderful things about motivation boards.  I’ve made the components of one before, but I quit before it ever got up.  (That’s another strange thing–I hate failure and I hate quitting, and yet it’s all I’ve ever done with regards to working out).

I think it’s time to start again.  Here are some of my current bits of inspiration:

I love the weight count down and using an actual bikini to work up to here.  I’m scared to buy a “future” bikini though–what if it never fits or I skip past that size?!  Living in Wisconsin it’s not like I’m living in biknis all the time.

I love how colorful this one is.  And having an actual section for a reward is a great idea.  I think healthy treats or workout clothes are great motivation and rather than hinder your goal, they help!

I love the positive affirmation aspect of this one.  So much of motivation and reaching fitness goals (or really, any goal) is psychological.  Positive thinking can be so hard sometimes, but if you are reminded of it over and over, you start to believe it.

I’ve started a Pinterest Board just for motivation board ideas.  Feel free to browse and see what inspires you.

How do you stay motivated?  Do you have any tricks to help you meet your goals and stay in the game?  Let me know–I’m always looking for new tricks!

Walking Dead Workout

Anyone else as stoked as I am for the Walking Dead to return tomorrow?

The mid-season finale left so many strands just hanging–I want to know what happened NOW.

I’ve found a number of these workouts posted on line.  They’re like your classic drinking game.  But why waste those calories when you could crush a workout during it instead?!

I’m not sure which one I’ll go with yet– maybe I’ll rotate every week.  Here are three that I found though:

Image

compliments of BloodSweatAndCheers.com

Image

Compliments of Accountablogity.com

Last, but not least…
Image

Thanks to Anytime Fitness

How do you plan to celebrate?

Advanced Cooking 101

I’d consider myself a pretty good cook.  Not only can I make a mean Hamburger Helper, I can do the fancy stuff too.  Boeuf Bourguignon? Easy peasy (well, as long as you remember that you just had this pan in the oven for hours and don’t grab onto the handle burning your entire hand…)  Risotto?  Mastered it.  Lobster Bisque? Way easier than it seems.

I’m like a fish out of water, though, when I’m trying to make the easy stuff.  Minute Rice is like one of the easiest “college” foods to make, right?  Yep, I turn it into soup every time.  Don’t get me wrong, I have mastered the real stuff–I’ve even made perfect sticky rice for Pork Tonkatsu Donburi.  Hard boiled eggs?  Perfect if you only want to eat the yolk.  If you were interested in eating the white, well, tough luck, because it’s all ending up in the garbage with the shell.

That is until I discovered Nom Nom Paleo.  Seriously.  This blog and their respective cookbook has changed my life.  I had long ago given up on having hard boiled eggs until I came across this.  I had some old eggs so I figured why not give it a try.  I have now made about 2 dozen hard boiled eggs with this method and the vast majority of them have turned out perfectly.  Epic win.

What do you struggle with cooking?  I always like to challenge myself in the kitchen–maybe Minute rice will be the next mountain I climb!

Wildtree Wednesday {Crockpot Applesauce}

I really enjoy grocery shopping at Super Target.  I think it’s because for the most part, the quality of the product is better than the other grocery store near me and for the most part they have a good organic selection.  I bought a bag of organic Granny Smith organic apples (because they’re one of the “Dirty Dozen” that you should always buy in organic).

Unfortunately, they were rock hard and I could barely bite through them despite the great flavor.  So what is a girl to do?  Turn lemons into lemonade (errrr apples into applesauce, as it were).

It couldn’t get much easier than this–core, peel and chop the apples.  Put in crockpot.  Add a bit o’ water and about a tablespoon of Wildtree Oatmeal Mix-In: Sugar and Spice.  I did 3 apples to about 1/4 cup of water.  Cook on high for about 3 hours and then mash til you get to your desired consistency.

I’ve heard it’s ah-mah-zing on top of oatmeal (crockpot overnight oats anyone?) and just plain.  I can’t wait to have it as my afternoon snack tomorrow.

Body Image–The new “fat”???

The interwebs is currently blowing up with this Cosmo image of a “Plus-Sized Model”.

Image

This beautiful woman is a size 8 and looks FAB.U.LOUS.  (Also, where can I get that bikini top???!)

What has our society come to that we would call a size 8 “plus sized”?  Size 8 is the second “goal” on my way to becoming healthy.  I haven’t been that size since college and starting my “big girl job”.  When I reach that point, there will be a party.  A big, fat, party.  Seriously.

But until then, am I seriously supposed to feel that I am incredibly obese as a size 12/14???  Sure, by the standard BMI I’m overweight.  But I’m not obese.  But if size 8 is “fat”, call me an elephant.

How can we let girls grow up this way, seeing this as “fat”.  Why should size 0 be the ideal?  Why can’t we tell girls that size 8 is fit and healthy?  Why can’t this be the ideal?

The average woman in America is a size 14.  Sure, that doesn’t say much when we’re in the middle of an obesity epidemic.  But that means that most women will never meet the “minimum” that we call fat.  Think about that.

This photo waltzed into my life just at the right time–as I begin my journey to become fit and healthy with a wonderful new community of friends at IIN.  I will absolutely make it my goal to look like that rather than the size 0 models that we’re bombarded with in the media all the time. I not only want to obtain this for myself, I want to help teach women (and girls) that fit is better than famished.

What do you think?

Wildtree Wednesday: Egg Nog Chai Bread Pudding

Image

We had some awesome visitors staying with us the week before Thanksgiving.  It’s not often that we have visitors, nor that we have visitors who appreciate good cooking, so I knew it was a time to pull out all the punches.  They were pretty busy visiting others, so the only meal that was open was breakfast on Thanksgiving morning.  I’m not a huge breakfast person but I knew this would be solid gold.

The recipe comes from The Kitchn, a website full of great recipes and cooking tips.

I wanted to Wildtree this one out–our guests were new to Wildtree and I knew they’d love it.  I also was on a personal mission to find more ways to use Wildtree’s Chai Bread.  Done and done.

It sounds fancy shmancy and tastes that way as well.  But it’s easy.  Like, I just played Cards Against Humanity and helped polish off 3 bottles of wine and lots of beer before throwing this together, easy.  Though, it was a reminder to always read through a recipe fully before starting…I didn’t plan out the pre-buttering of the bread nor the fact that I had to essentially create a double boiler.  But, it was also a reminder that being resourceful in the kitchen is an awesome trait and we made it work.

When we made it, we did a mixture of french bread and Wildtree’s Chai Bread.  The Chai bits were better than the regular, so I definitely recommend going all in on the Chai and forgetting about the French.  I was hesitant because I thought the flavor would be too full with everything, but it definitely wasn’t.

Lastly, it makes, a lot.  Four grown adults and a baby barely put a dent in it.  I’d definitely recommend cutting the recipe in half unless you’re feeding an army.

Enjoy!