BlenderBottle® Giveaway!

Giveaway! Giveaway! Giveaway!

Hurray for Giveaways! If you would like to be a part of this awesome giveaway, all you need to do is follow the site (click Join This Site) and leave a comment below- Tell me "What motivates you?"

We'll giveaway a NEW BlenderBottle SportMixer to one lucky follower each week in February.

For years I have used the BlenderBottle® Classic to mix my protein shakes, green smoothies, salad dressings and even eggs for scrambled eggs. When I was in Cedar City running the Red Rock Relay race, our team got to rub shoulders with the Blender Bottle Team who was generous enough to give us all a free bottle. Since starting this blog I have wanted to do a give-away and thought "what better company to represent than Blender Bottle"?!

Here is some info on the the company and their NEW BlenderBottle® SportMixer … I love these new BlenderBottles (the updated design is super cute!!)


Did You Know…


o The BlenderBottle® Classic revolutionized the portable mixer category when it was first introduced and quickly became the best-selling portable mixer.
o As the only portable mixer that contains the BlenderBall® - a surgical-grade stainless steel mixing ball - BlenderBottle ensures smooth, great tasting drinks by a unique mixing method for the thickest of ingredients.
o The BlenderBottle is available in two different products: the BlenderBottle Classic and the water bottle that can also be used as a portable mixer- the BlenderBottle SportMixer™. Both products are available in the full 28-ounce size and the 20-ounce mini size, are dishwasher safe, have always been BPA and Phthalate free and are available in a variety of colors.
o BlenderBottle encourages healthy lifestyles by making it easier for people to mix smoother, better tasting healthy drinks and meal replacements.

Check out their site… www.BlenderBottle.com for more info!

Quinoa Zucchini Patties

Day 4 Recipe
I always find a way to modify original recipes to make them more healthy but still have great flavor so you don't feel like your eating bland food (or at least I try:)). This recipe is super healthy and quick to prepare. Hope you enjoy! I actually put Stubbs BBQ sauce on mine and they were great! I ate the rest this morning for breakfast, yum! Do you modify recipes? What's your favorite? Thanks for sharing:)


Grate 2 cups zucchini and place in bowl.

Add 1/4 cup gluten free baking flour.

Add 1/3 cup quinoa flakes.

Add 1 small onion chopped.

Add about 1 - 1 1/2 tsp minced garlic.

Add 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese.

Add 2 eggs.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Add the juice of 1 small lemon and mix all ingredients together.

Place parchment paper onto baking sheet. Scoop mixture with ice cream scoop and place onto parchment paper then flatten them out a little so they look more like a pattie. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Enjoy!

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I promised you a months worth of recipes for dinner but so that I don't overload you, I will post a few at time. These dinners are mostly going to be super fast and easy to make and most will be very healthy and gluten free:) Enjoy!

Day 1 - Bean and Cheese Burrito with Brown Rice
1 can black beans
1/2 cup mexican blend cheese
1 cup cooked brown rice
tortillas (corn, wheat, brown rice) my favorite is brown rice tortillas from Good Earth
Mix black beans with rice and set aside. Place your tortilla in a frying pan and warm up over med heat for about 30 seconds and remove. Place about 1/4 cup rice mixture on your tortilla and sprinkle a little cheese over rice mixture. You can add salsa or cholula sauce over your rice, beans and cheese to add more flavor.


Day 2 - BBQ Chicken Patties with veggies
1 can white chicken breast
1 egg
1/4 - 1/2 cup bread crumbs or almond meal
1/2 onion chopped
seasoning of your choice about 1/2 tsp
Mix above ingredients in bowl then form into patties and fry on frying pan. I use coconut or olive oil when frying mine. Steam your choice of veggies and drizzle either lemon juice or sprinkle lemon pepper over veggies and enjoy!


Day 3 - Quinoa Noodles with Cream of Chicken Soup
1/2 - 1 can cream of chicken soup (try to find organic if possible for this one)
1 bunch of broccoli
1 box of quinoa noodles
Cook quinoa noodles, strain and set aside. Warm up soup in pot. Steam broccoli and when done mix broccoli into noodles and add your soup.

Bummer!

Sometimes its tough to stay motivated… Today is one of those days for me. I'm sitting on the couch with my husband eating ice cream, York peppermint patties, and Good and Plentys.

Today I found out I'm having a miscarriage. What a bummer! I'll be having a D&C on Wednesday morning, and last thing I want to do is try and tell you how to stay motivated. We all have challenges that bring us down and demotivate us, but it's what you do after your bowl of ice cream that helps you see your potential. For now, I'll finish my 800 calorie break from my life and let you know how I recover from this slump. Stay motivated (or at the very least, make it a goal to try Breyer's Natural Vanilla ice cream- Yum!!)

Challenging Week

This week has been extremely challenging leaving me extra exhausted and feeling inadequate as a mother and wife. One of the twins has been sick all week, won't eat, will barely sleep and I can't figure out what is wrong with him:( So sad:( All I've been able to do is fill him with as much pedialite as he will take. It's so hard to stay motivated when life throws you little curve balls now and then but we are hanging in there.

I'm still working on my detox of my living environment. I managed to finally prime our craft room last night and will hopefully be able to paint it this weekend. I wanted to paint it a gray color but already had this neutral khaki color that I figured I'd use so that I wouldn't want to re-paint the other rooms upstairs as well. It's nothing special, just neutral. It's funny when you start a project and then 20 new projects evolve. Just take it one at a time:) Pics to come as soon as it's all painted and organized:)

What keeps you going when life throws you a curve ball? Leave a comment and let me know:) Thanks!

Stay motivated and make it a great day!

Kale

Kale is a Nutritional Powerhouse

One cup of kale contains 36 calories, 5 grams of fiber, and 15% of the daily requirement of calcium and vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), 40% of magnesium, 180% of vitamin A, 200% of vitamin C, and 1,020% of vitamin K. It is also a good source of minerals copper, potassium, iron, manganese, and phosphorus.

Kale’s health benefits are primarily linked to the high concentration and excellent source of antioxidant vitamins A, C, and K -- and sulphur-containing phytonutrients.

Carotenoids and flavonoids are the specific types of antioxidants associated with many of the anti-cancer health benefits. Kale is also rich in the eye-health promoting lutein and zeaxanthin compounds.

Beyond antioxidants, the fiber content of cruciferous kale binds bile acids and helps lower blood cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of heart disease, especially when kale is cooked instead of raw.


Easy Ways to Prepare Kale

Quick cooking preserves kale's nutrients, texture, color, and flavor. Rinse kale, chop it finely, and add it soups, stews, stir-frys, salads, egg dishes, or casseroles. Or top pizzas with kale for added nutritional goodness. Steam kale for five minutes to make it more tender or eat it raw. You can also substitute it for spinach or collard greens in recipes.

Other fast and easy ways to prepare kale:

Make a simple salad with a bunch of thinly sliced kale, red pepper, onion, raisins, and your favorite salad dressing.

Braise chopped kale and apples, garnish with chopped walnuts, and add a splash of balsamic vinegar.

Toss whole-grain pasta with chopped kale, pine nuts, feta cheese, and a little olive oil.

Cover and cook a pound of chopped kale with a few garlic cloves and 2 tablespoons olive oil for 5 minutes; season with salt, pepper, and a tablespoon of red wine vinegar.

Make kale chips by slicing kale into bite-size pieces, toss with a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt, and bake for 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees in the oven.

All vegetables are rich in nutrients and fiber, fat-free, and low in calories and are intended to be the cornerstone of all healthy diets. Toss kale into your grocery cart to enrich the nutritional goodness of your diet and help you eat the recommended 4-5 servings of vegetables every day.

This information came from webmd.


Make it a great day!

Detox update…
Cleaned and organized all toys and books
reorganized kitchen
went through kids clothes
took old clothes to D.I.
reorganized bathroom drawers
reorganized kids room, which then led to re-painting craft/guest room; still working on that one:)
Hopefully I will be able to finish my list of the things I need to get in order in my own living environment with in this next month and then move onto the pantry detox. It's okay if it takes you a little more time to accomplish your goals. The point is that you make a goal, work towards it and eventually reach it.

If you've already accomplished the living environment detox then move onto the pantry detox. Get rid of any and all food items that contain high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, enriched flour, refined sugars, and things that contain a high amount of saturated fat. If you can't bare to throw it away then at least put it in your emergency food storage. Then make sure when you go to the grocery store you don't buy anything that has any of these ingredients in them. By eliminating these ingredient you will be left with a mostly healthy pantry. Get rid of as much processed food as possible. Learn to cook with healthy and whole foods that will provide you the proper nutrients you need in order to maintain a healthy body. You will physically feel so much better when you eat unprocessed and whole foods. Keep up the great work!

My workout today is going to be running on the treadmill for 40 minutes and stopping every 10 minutes to do push ups and crunches for a minute. Switch off so that you're either doing crunches or push ups but not both for a full minute.
Make it a great day!

Raw Apple Cider Vinegar

Raw apple cider vinegar has so many beneficial ingredients that make us feel better, look better and gives us more energy. Here are just some of the beneficial ingredients in raw apple cider vinegar:

Potassium - helps prevent brittle teeth, hair loss and runny noses.

Pectin - helps to regulate blood pressure and reduce bad cholesterol.

Malic Acid - gives the properties of being anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal.

Calcium - Helps create strong bones and teeth.

Ash - gives it's alkaline property which helps your body maintain proper pH levels for a healthy alkaline state.

Acetic Acid - It appears that this acid slowed the digestion of starch which can help to lower the rise in glucose that commonly occurs after meals.

Below is a list of the benefits of raw apple cider vinegar:

1 Tablespoon of raw apple cider vinegar mixed in 4 ounces of purifies water after a meal has been used as a natural remedy for heart burn and a replacement for toxic heartburn medications.

Raw apple cider vinegar may also help improve bowel irregularity, thereby removing toxins from the body at a faster rate.

Helps clear up skin conditions and blemishes giving a smoother texture and complextion.

Raw apple cider vinegar helps to break down fats so that your body can use them rather than store them.

On a small scale, researches at Arizona State University published a report that indicated that raw apple cider vinegar helps reduce levels of glucose.

I usually make salad dressings with apple cider vinegar but you could also dilute raw apple cider vinegar in water and add honey then drink it. I read that you dilute 1 Tablespoon with 32 oz of water and then mix it up well before you drink it.

Make it a great day!

Diet pills

I came across an article the other day by Russell Martino who is an excellent resource if you ever want information about the "why's" when it comes to diet and fitness. I know a lot of you have taken pills in the past that claim to help you loose weight, curb your appetite or just burn fat faster. Below are four reasons why "diet pills" DON'T work and a few health concerns you might face if you do take them.

1. Metabolism boosting pills,(natural or not),stress your central nervous system and increase your risk of heart attack and stroke.

2. Fat absorbing pills are proven to be100%useless and shown to damage the intestines in multiple double-blind research studies.

3. Carbohydrate blocking pills make about as much sense as swallowing antidote so you can safely swig down a glass of poison.

4. Last but not least–These products do NOT produce lasting weight loss. In fact, the vast majority of people taking these products never lose any weight at all!

Stay healthy and focus on eating the right foods. Every time you go to put something in your mouth, ask yourself if it's a food that will benefit you nutritionally. If you decide it's not nutritionally dense then choose something that is and eat so you'll feel good.

Make it a great day!

Stick With It

I hope you all are still working on your living environment detox like I am. Today my little goal is to reorganize my dresser drawer. I've still got quite a list but figure if I do a little bit everyday then eventually I can move to the next detox step. Whats your goal today? Let me know how you do.

Make it a great day!

Healthiest Food Choices

I'm sure many of you are super determined to eat healthy and get into the best shape of your life. I found this list of some of the healthiest foods and thought this might help you the next time you go to the grocery store. Of course this list doesn't contain all the healthy foods for you to choose from but this will steer you in the right direction.

Make it a great day!


Healthiest Food List

Fruits and Berries - Apples, bananas, blueberries, cantaloupe, kiwi and grapefruit.

Vegetables - Bell pepper, avocado, broccoli, brussels sprouts, carrots, cucumber, celery and romain lettuce.

Seeds and Nuts - Almonds, flax seeds (ground), flax seed oil, olive oil, cashews and walnuts.

Beans - black beans, kidney, lentils, navy beans, pinto beans.

Fish - Salmon, cold water fish including halibut, cod and sardines from cold-water regions.

Meats and poultry - Organic lean beef, hormone-free chicken, lamb and turkey.

Only you can choose for yourself to be healthy. Choose healthy over junk!

Stick To Your Goal!

I know it can be hard to stick with a goal. Things come up or you're goal seems out of reach and too hard, so you just give up. Here are a few tricks that will help you to accomplish and reach your goal.

Take baby steps. By taking baby steps you are allowing yourself to really accomplish your goal. When you accomplish a goal, most feel a gratifying sense of personal accomplishment. You then set another small goal, work towards it, reach it, and there you have that great gratifying feeling again. You become all you want to be and more.

Experiment. Figure out what works for you. Everyone is different and functions differently, so analyze yourself and figure out when and what things make you most productive and motivated. Once you've figured those out, make sure you set yourself up for success. For example if your goal is to loose 10 lbs and you stock your pantry with garbage food for the rest of your family but you buy your healthy food thinking you won't give in to those tempting, bad for you foods, your'e setting yourself up for failure. Why not stock your entire pantry with wholesome good for you foods that you and your family can enjoy? There will be no bad for you foods right at your fingertips to temp you and make you feel even worse when you do give in. Eventually when you've established great eating habits those foods won't even be a problem but when your just beginning a new goal of weight loss those foods need to not be present. Use this same example for other goals as well. If you have a goal to read more but don't' sit down and really manage your time well enough to give yourself that opportunity then once again you are setting yourself up for failure. You have to sit down and really go through your time and schedule in reading time for yourself. Even if it means getting up early to do a chore so that you have an hour in the evening or during the day to enjoy reading.

Write down you goals. You have to write down your goals. Tell everyone who you know will push you and keep you going. Make it as public as you can so that you have a stronger desire to stick to and reach your goal.

Don't be too hard on yourself. You should still be enjoying life to it's fullest. If you cheat or something interferes with your schedule that inhibits you from accomplishing your goal for that day, it's okay. Move on. Don't look back. Make the best of the present. Be your best. Be true to yourself.
K- enough cheesiness:) I just want you all to be happy and know that we are all human and make mistakes but jump back up on your horse and ride it out. You can do this!

Here are a few of my goals…
Plan out dinner menus for the month. (I'll share these with you)
Change up my exercise routine so that I feel it more.
Really limit my sugar intake
Make new goals every month and write them down;)

Make it a great day! :)

The Detox Program

It's a New Year; it's a New You! I decided to take somewhat of a different approach to the whole weight loss/becoming healthy thing. I have so many people who come to me all the time over and over again and can't seem to stick to a "diet/exercise plan" I've had a while to think about how to approach this new year and came up with The Detox Program. This is a Process!! Know that this will take willpower, determination, perseverance and mostly your time. In the end you will have a a great foundation for yourself to begin any new lifeStyle change you desire. By accomplishing the steps in this program you will be able to do anything you put your Mind to. Step one is to Detox your living environment. Step two is to detox your pantry. Step three is to detox yourself.

The first step is to write out your plan. Everyone's plan will be different. Your plan should consist of everything you need to do in order to get your home in order. I'm talking about throwing out old clothes, old toys, things you haven't used in 2 or more years, cleaning out closets, clean out cars, organizing bills and files, organizing your garage, Organize, Organize, Organize!!! Jot it all down then organize it based on what is easiest to do first. Take little steps. Your list might be long but don't get overwhelmed. This could take some longer than others, but everyday you do just a little then cross it off your list. Trust me, this will be So Rewarding and then you'll have a completely clean slate to work on. The point is to get rid of all your "ToDo's". If you "Do" , then you won't have any things on your "To Do List" lingering over your head or any excused that might keep you from obtaining your ultimate goal and lifestyle changes.

My list looks like this…
Clean and organize All Toys and Books.
Clean out drawers in bathroom.
Clean out cupboards in kitchen and reorganize.
Re-organize laundry room.
Take old clothes to DI.
Finish all laundry.
Go through kids clothes.

Depending on how long your list is, will determine how long this will take you. This week just choose the easiest one's and complete at least one or two every week! Make sure you're giving it an honest effort Everyday! If you need advise on anything, please leave a comment and your email and I will reply.

Here are a few organizing tips to get you started...
If you haven't used it in 2 years or more then give it away or throw it away.
Make sure everything has a "home"
Get rid of Junk and Stuff!!!

Exercise for today is Legs. I'm doing HIIT using 4 different leg exercises.
1- Sumo Squat
2- Deep forward lunge both legs
3- diagonal lunge across body
4- scissor lunge with jump squat


Let's make it a great year!