Kid Food!

Today was the first day of summer camp for my kiddos.  And that meant it was the first time I had to attempt to pack a lunch that fit in with our new eating plan.  My guy opted for turkey bologna and cheese on wheat while my little lady had tuna.  I really don't want to send them in with a sandwich EVERY day so I decided to make some chicken nuggets for tomorrow.

organic chicken breast
to coat (adjust amounts to your taste):
wheat germ
garlic
cornmeal
pepper

Heat oven to 350.  Cut up chicken breast to your desired nugget size.  Add all coating ingredients in a medium sized bowl.  Dredge chicken in the coating mixture and place on an olive oil sprayed cooking sheet.  Cook to desired doneness, turning half way through cooking time.  Mine took about 10 minutes per side.

That's it!  Perfect little nuggets that taste great, are pretty healthy, full of protein, and can be served cold out of a lunch box.  I'll send my son a little side of fat free ranch to dip as he prefers them that way.

This is actually the first time I added cornmeal to my coating mixture.  I usually just use the wheat germ, garlic and pepper.  The cornmeal adds a texture that makes the nuggets seem more like the ones from McDonald's but I don't feel it effects the taste.  From now on I may omit the cornmeal, but it was interesting to try it out today.  As for the kids, they love these (mostly because I don't make them use a fork to eat them), and haha, they're eating wheat germ and don't even know it!  I am happy to report that when I send these in for lunch they will be eaten, and I may take some to add to my salad tomorrow as well.

Do you have other sneaky ways of getting the kids to eat something healthy?  What other healthy items do you put in your child's lunch box?

Perfect for Summer - A Light Peachy Creamy Dessert (pic heavy)

Lots of desserts this week!  Today I made a light peach custard pie with crumbled pecans.  I used white peaches, but I think the regular kind would make this prettier.  Looks aside, it is soooo good (especially after being chilled).

Recipe modified and "lightened" from one found in Eating Well magazine.

1 frozen whole wheat pie crust
1 cup evaporated cane juice (organic sugar)
3/4 cup low fat milk
3/4 cup fat-free plain Greek yogurt
2 large eggs
2 tbsp whole wheat flour
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
2 peaches, sliced (frozen will do)
2 tbsp chopped pecans

Heat oven to 400.  Arrange peach slices in the bottom of the pie crust.

Combine sugar, milk, yogurt, eggs, flour, cornstarch, vanilla and salt.  Whisk until smooth.

Pour filing into crust over peach slices.  Some will rise to the top - that's ok.  Bake for 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and lower temp to 350.  Place foil around edges of crust so they don't burn.  Sprinkle chopped pecans on top of pie.  Return to oven for 40 - 50 minutes.

Let cool for 1 hour then refrigerate.  The taste really comes out when it's COLD.

You can see where the regular peaches would make the presentation a tad more appealing, but I think she's pretty as is.  :)

This is really light and yummy.  The pecans do so much for the flavor.  Perfect summer, after BBQ dessert.

If anyone knows a healthier substitute for cornstarch, I'd love to hear it!
Nutritional info (approximate as I modified the recipe quite a bit): 301 calories; 12g total fat; 4g sat fat; 50mg cholesterol; 42g carbs; 7g protein

A Try at Thai

I LOVE Thai food as does my husband, but it always seemed like such a daunting task to make - so many ingredients, so many steps, just too hard (I feel the same way about Korean food, but will try my hand at that later in the week).  Well, I found a healthy version that didn't seem TOO labor intensive and decided I'd finally give it a try.  The Mr. was very excited when I told him what I was going to make - thai coconut shrimp with rice noodles!

Recipe modified from one found in Clean Eating magazine (shocker, I know - it is just such a GREAT magazine)!

1 pkg brown rice noodles (Asian food aisle)
2 cups broccoli florets
2/3 cup light coconut milk
1 tbsp tomato sauce
3 tbsp peanut butter (I used fresh ground)
1 tsp ground ginger
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (more if you like extra heat)
juice of 1 lime
1 cup bean sprouts
1 lb raw shrimp, tails removed

Cook noodles according to directions.  Rinse in hot water, drain, set aside.  Boil broccoli florets for 5 minutes, drain, set aside.

Combine coconut milk, sauce, peanut butter, ginger, garlic, pepper flakes and lime juice in a bowl.  Mix to thoroughly combine.

Simmer coconut mixture and bean sprouts for 5 minutes, stirring often.  Add shrimp and broccoli and cook until done.  Add noodles to the shrimp mixture and serve it up while hot!  Made just enough for 4 servings.

This was absolutely delicious!!  My husband said he wished he was more hungry just so he could keep eating (he did take the leftovers with him to work today).  The rice noodles did get a little sticky so I'm not sure if I overcooked them a bit or didn't rinse them enough, but it definitely did not affect the flavor.

Kids review:  They were not home, but I KNOW my son would eat this.  My daughter decided she doesn't like shrimp (or anything else for that matter) right now, but she would probably eat the noodles and I would add some cubed chicken.  I will make this again and use this fabulous sauce for other dishes like chicken and peas!

Nutritional info (approximate):  338 calories; 9g total fat; 2g sat fat; 48g carbs; 6g fiber; 20g protein; 55mg cholesterol; 2.5g sugars

Cookies Too!!

Bit of a theme this week.  My kids have been asking where all the snacks have gone so I was on the hunt to find some new goodies that I can feel good about giving to them.  And hey, mom likes cookies too!

Today's experiment came from my old favorite, Clean Living magazine.  I did not modify this recipe and it can be found in the March/April 2010 issue.  Almond Butter Chocolate Chip cookies - now doesn't that sound yummy.  Here's how we do it:

1 cup unsalted almond butter (LOVE the grinders at Whole Foods for this)
3/4 cup sucanat (dehydrated cane juice - looks like brown sugar)
1 egg
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
dark chocolate (in chip or chunk form, whatever you like best)

Heat oven to 350.  Stir together the almond butter, sucanat, egg, baking soda and salt until well combined.  Add your chocolate and spoon onto a parchment lined cookie sheet.  Bake for about 10 - 12 minutes and cool on a wire rack.

Do be careful moving these around.  They lack the fat that typically holds cookies together.  They are quite crumbly but OH, SO GOOD!  Yup, good enough to warrant all caps.  Definitely try these (but don't dunk in milk, studies show that the milk may negate any benefit you are getting from the dark chocolate).

Kid review - my extremely picky daughter only took one bite.  I think they were a little dry for her.  My son will eat them when he realizes all our usual crap is gone (that is if my husband hasn't finished them off by now).  :)

Nutritional info (per cookie): 110 calories; 8g total fat; 1.5g sat fat; 10g carbs; 1g fiber; 2g protein; 10mg cholesterol; 3g sugars

Brownies!!! A Review

Yup, it's true.  You can have brownies while on your diet.  I've tried the black bean variety, but the idea that there were pureed black beans in them made it hard for me to eat them (which I guess is good really).  Today we tried the No Pudge Fudge Brownie mix, made with yogurt!  Much easier to eat thank you very much (or not).  :)

So basically you just dump the mix into a bowl and add in 3/4 cup of fat free vanilla (or plain) yogurt.  That's it.  Mix and bake.

These are good!!  They come out much chewier than the usual Betty Crocker mix, but they taste amazingly fudgy.  My kids ate them and didn't know anything was different (although they did the same with the black bean ones).  I will buy this again.  Here is what they look like all pretty with a very light dusting of powdered sugar:

  

 And check out the dense gooyie goodness!

 Has anybody else tried these yet?

Burgers! Again...

I don't know about everybody else, but modifying my diet has been quite an adjustment.  No more of this, no more of that, deny, deny, deny.  Well, that never worked really well for me.  I'm trying to teach myself moderation (not easy).  And I am very happy to have found resources providing recipes, ideas and inspiration on how I can incorporate my old favorites into my new healthy lifestyle (see prior post about the pancakes - thank goodness!).

So we had another weekend of experimental healthier burgers.  Recipes modified from Clean Eating magazine.

Pork Burgers with Roasted Tomatoes

roma tomatoes, sliced
thyme
sea salt
black pepper
1 lb lean ground pork
1 tsp smoked paprika

To roast tomatoes, spray a cooking sheet with olive oil spray, remove seeds and lay slices on sheet.  Sprinkle with thyme, salt & pepper to your tastes.  Roast to desired doneness (let 'em get a little caramelized for the best flavor).

For burgers, add paprika and pepper to ground pork, combine, prepare patties.  Grill to desired doneness.

Add to whole wheat bun and top with lettuce, tomato slices & mustard, if desired.  Enjoy!  The kids and my husband REALLY liked these burgers.  I was surprised by the pork flavor at first, but it really tasted like some sort of gourmet burger.  I will do these again.

Turkey Burgers with Mango Salsa

ground turkey breast
1 1/2 tsp chile powder
homemade or store bought citrus salsa (yay vitamin C)
low fat or organic all natural pepper jack cheese

Add chile powder to turkey, combine and form into patties.  Grill to desired doneness - adding cheese towards the end of cooking.

Place in a whole wheat bun and top with lettuce & a generous amount of salsa.  This was another hit with everybody, kids and adults.  I really like the idea of buying ground turkey breast versus ground turkey.  Makes a big difference in taste (and fat content, which is always a good thing)!  This was not as moist as the pork burger, but the citrus salsa (I got mine premade from Whole Foods - no way am I messing with anymore mangoes - total PIAs) added just the right amount of juiciness.

As you can see, we served this with grilled chili corn (coat with olive oil, garlic and chile powder, perhaps just a touch of sea salt).  Mmmmmm!  No need for butter with that little touch of heat and I am a girl who used to love her cobs floatin' in a butter bath.

Nutritional info (approximate): for pork burgers, 311 calories; 6g total fat; 25g carbs; 40g protein; 90mg cholesterol.  for turkey burgers, 352 calories; 4g total fat; 43g carbs; 40g protein; 58mg cholesterol.

Amazing Disappearing Muffins

OK, so I made 2 batches of these muffins in one week (one batch being about 4 hours ago), and there are only 8 left as of right now.  Not sure if I should call in an exterminator, ghostbusters or question my housemates about this.

Here is the recipe for the disappearing Banana Coco-Walnut Muffins (adapted from a recipe found online, prepared with healthier ingredients):

1 1/4 cup old fashioned oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1/4 cup vanilla fat free yogurt (plain will work too)
3 medium bananas, very ripe
1/2 cup agave nectar
1/3 cup virgin coconut oil
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 375.  Combine first five ingredients until no lumps remain.  In another bowl combine remaining ingredients.  Fold into the dry ingredients.  Divide batter into paper lined or cooking spray prepped muffin tins.  Bake for about 20 minutes or until done.  Cool on a rack and watch in surprise as they start to disappear one by one (or two by two - as in my house).  Makes about 13-14 muffins.

If you cannot find virgin coconut oil (I got mine at Whole Foods), you can substitute grapeseed or another oil of your choosing, OR try applesauce.  But then you will have plain ole Banana Walnut muffins which I'm sure are just as good and will disappear just as fast.  ;-)

I only had one full size muffin tin, so I made a dozen plus 5 minis.  Cute AND yummy!

These don't really rise and fluff up as "normal" muffins, and they will be pretty dark brown from the banana but don't fret, no matter what they look like, they rock!!  And you probably can't find a more low-fat muffin that tastes this good anywhere (but if you do, please let me know ASAP).

Enjoy!  I'm off to hide my last 8 muffins.

A Yummy Way to Eat Cottage Cheese!! Finally

Cottage cheese - yeah, I'm generally not a fan, but it's hard to pass up the low fat, high protein and extra calcium.  This morning I finally tried the "protein pancakes" I've been reading about on the P90X forums.  Well, lemme tell ya, they ROCK!  They look just like pancakes too so the kiddos dove right in without question - who doesn't LOVE when that happens.  Anyway, here is how I made them today.

1 cup regular oats
1 cup egg whites (from the carton)
1 cup low fat cottage cheese
1/2 tsp baking powder

Drop the ingredients in the blender and blend until it looks like pancake batter.  And guess what?!  It is pancake batter!  Use just like regular pancake batter (although I found they take just a bit longer to cook).  Makes about a dozen decent sized cakes.  When done add a bit of maple syrup - or not.

Some other great variations:
cinnamon & vanilla
macadamia nuts & coconut
vanilla & mashed banana
diced apple
spinach & tomatoes
grated carrot
blueberries
any diced fruit
top with unsweetened applesauce
use to make a pb&j
the list could go on and on...

I'm so happy to find I enjoy these (and the kids ate them too!).  Pancakes with butter & syrup were a morning staple around here until I started this healthy lifestyle makeover.  I was missing my flapjacks!

Would love to hear if anybody else has tried these yet.  I'm seeing us eating these a few times a week.

6/21 - adding nutritional info:
(Calculated for three ¼ cup pancakes with ¼ cup strawberries)


Calories: 254.5
Total Fat: 3.3 g
Saturated Fat: 0.8 g
Polyunsaturated Fat: 1.0 g
Monounsaturated Fat: 1.0 g
Cholesterol: 2.3 mg
Sodium: 280.0 mg
Potassium: 297.8 mg
Total Carbohydrate: 33.8 g
Dietary Fiber: 5.3 g
Sugars: 2.5 g
Protein: 21.3 g

Packet Cooking

I have made a kind of shrimp/fish boil in a foil pouch before and loved it (and you can NOT beat the easy clean up).  I was happy to see some recipes for "packet cooking" in Clean Eating Magazine this month.

Early in the week I made Jambalaya.  We had it once for dinner and several times for lunch throughout the week.  It has a great little spicy heat to it.

1 lb large shrimp, peeled & deveined
cubed chicken breast
sliced turkey sausage
1 white onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
2 tomatoes, diced
4 cloves garlic
salt-free creole seasoning (to taste)
2 cups instant brown rice
1 cup low sodium chicken broth
pepper (to taste)
cooking spray for foil

I like to make this on the grill, but if using the oven, preheat to 400.  Prepare foil sheets for three large packets, spray foil with cooking spray.  Combine all ingredients and mix to combine.  Evenly divide among foil sheets and seal packets.

If using oven, place packets on a baking sheet.  Cook for 25 minutes or to desired doneness.  Serve hot and enjoy!

My take - This was really yummy.  I loved the spicyness of the creole seasoning (which I had never used before).  One thing I will do differently next time is I will brown the sauages before putting in the packets.  The way the sausage boils or whatever it does in the packet causes it to come out very, well, boiled looking.  Not appetizing (although it was still delicious)!  I don't have a kid review as they were not home the night I made it for dinner.

Anybody have any other "packet" recipes they use?

Mango Radish Salsa

Did not make the cut.  I had trouble peeling and cutting that darn mango and it just didn't come together well.  I'll be sticking to tomato salsa for now.  :)

Burger Night!!

One night - two burgers, a salsa burger with guac & radicchio and a surprise cheese slider with spinach & honey mustard.  Both of these burgers are Fab-u-lous!!

Recipes obtained from Clean Eating magazine and modified by me.

Amount of ingredients will vary depending on number and size of burgers you prefer:

lean ground beef (I used 97/3)
fresh tomato salsa
low-fat cheddar (cubed)
guacamole (store made or from recipe in separate post)
radicchio leaves
1 tbsp raw honey
3 tbsp whole grain mustard
fat-free greek yogurt
baby spinach leaves
ground pepper

Sliders:
Season ground beef with pepper and combine.  Roll into palm sized meatballs.  Make an indent with finger and insert one cheese cube.  Seal hole and form into patty.  Grill to desired doneness (I suggest medium as the lean beef will dry out beyond that - although you can just add more sauce if this occurs).  While burger is grilling, combine the honey and mustard in small bowl.  Spread on top (or bottom) of a whole wheat bun and add spinach leaves.  Top with hot, grilled burger.

Salsa burgers:
Season ground beef with pepper.  Add salsa to meat mixture and combine.  Shape into patties.  Grill to desired doneness.  While burger is grilling, spread bottom of whole wheat bun with yogurt and top with radicchio leaves.  Spread a generous amount of guacamole on top bun.  Add hot, grilled burger and enjoy.

Bun prep:

The finished product (I could not find whole wheat slider buns so please excuse the hiding burger):

Lean beef does NOT mean dry burgers.  Hello oozy cheesy goodness:

Full nutritional info unavailable as I modified the recipes somewhat.  BUT, 2 sliders will more than fill you and comes in at under 400 calories!  Both burgers are an excellent source of much needed protein and iron.  The salsa burger brings in just over 350 calories.  Using lean beef and avoiding processed condiments knocks the cholesterol content of each serving (1 salsa burger or 2 sliders) to about 60mgs.

Review: My husband and the kids LOVED these burgers.  I had a half of each burger and they were both equally delicious.  I really enjoyed the honey mustard sauce on the slider and will use this for other dishes and sandwiches (think chicken and spinach on crusty whole grain, yum).  I was unsure about the greek yogurt on the salsa burger as I don't typically like it, but oh my, what a good idea!  This one was pretty messy to eat but very much worth it.  Prep time was minimal.  We will be doing this again and again.  Who's coming over?

Would love some other ideas for healthy burger toppings.

My Must-have Summer Condiment

Guacamole!!  Healthier than mayo and goes on just about anything.  I made this the night before our burger night to use on a salsa burger (recipe to follow), but we use it for much more.

Isn't it pretty (on a Trader Joes Flax Seed chip):

3 avocados (mashed)
1 small red onion (chopped)
1 bunch cilantro leaves (chopped)
1 jalapeno pepper (or whichever type you prefer) (chopped)
hot sauce to taste
pepper to taste
juice of 2 limes

Combine all ingredients and mash with potato masher.

30 days of P90X

Let's see how long I actually keep this post up.  haha

Below are my Day 1 and Day 30 P90X progress photos.  I have 60 days to go so you won't see a TON of change just yet.  I'm happy with the changes to my upper body.  I don't see ANYTHING changing with my legs and butt - but we're only 1/3rd of the way done.

So, that being said, here we go.  My photos are a funky size so I'll try to fix that up later and re-post.  Day 1 is the black shorts, Day 30 is the grey.

I'm going to be adding the Brazil Butt Lift workout program as soon as it arrives in the mail.  I need a lift!  LOL  I'd love to hear from anyone who is also blogging a fitness "journey". 

Keep moving!

Energy Muffins

This is a recipe from the P90X nutrition guide.  They are great as a pre or post workout treat or a quick breakfast.  I like 'em (as do the kids).

3/4 cup pear nectar
2 egg whites
2 tbsp veg oil (or applesauce)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup flour (don't see why you can't use all wheat flour)
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup low fat granola
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 to 2 pears chopped into small pieces

Heat oven to 350.  Combine first 5 ingredients in a bowl and stir.  Combine flours and sugar in another bowl.  Add granola, baking powder, nutmeg & salt.  Combine.  Add pear and toss until coated.

Add egg mixture to flour mixture until blended into a thick batter.

Spoon into 10 - 12 muffin cups.  I used 10 because I wanted some big muffins!

Bake for about 20 minutes or until done.

Nutritional Info: 227 calories; 5g fat; 5g protein; 43g carbs (the good ones again!); no cholesterol (woohoo)

My picture is a little blurry, but these are quite yummy and moist.  The granola adds a nice crunch every once in a while.  Would love to hear what you think if you try them out.

Keep moving!

P90X

Just thought I'd give a quick overview on the P90X workout system.  I am just about 30 days into the "program", having started Phase II today (and my arms are feelin' it!).  This is a 3 phase system with coordinating diet plan.  I opted not to follow the diet plan, but instead have changed my entire family's habits, and for the most part, we are eating clean and trying to make sure we get enough protein in daily (this is where I have some trouble as we require a lot more than most people take in).  I feel this works better for me as I'm not good with "rules" and restrictions.  Plus I am hoping that these changes will stay in place even after P90X is long gone from my fitness routine.  I guess only time will tell, but I'm sure people who follow the P90X diet plan to the letter will probably have quicker and greater results than I will.

Anyway, this is an INTENSE program.  Every day of the week you do something different for three weeks (resistance training, yoga and cardio), and then on the fourth week you "recover".  But recovery week is not a walk in the park.  It is also a "core focus" week consisting of yoga, stretching, some cardio and two days of kick ass core work.  You want to know just how weak your core muscles are?  Then try out the Core Synergistics DVD (I've seen this for about $5 on ebay)!  Two words - Banana Roll - OUCH!

I won't review the program now as I'm only 1/3 of the way done.  But so far I have felt some results.  Not sure I see them just yet, but I do feel them.  On Tuesday I will post my Day 1 and Day 30 comparison photos even if I don't see any difference.

Would love to hear from anybody who has gone through P90X, is thinking of it, or has any other fitness routines to suggest.

Blackberry Hot Sauce & Scallops. What??!!

Yeah, a spicy blackberry sauce over scallops.  Who woulda thought.  But it was soooo good!  Recipe obtained from Clean Eating magazine, modified by me.

1 packed cup blackberries
zest of one lemon
juice of one lemon
2 tbsp raw honey
2 tbsp chopped green chiles
1 tbsp adobo sauce (found mine at Whole Foods)
1 cup wheat couscous
sesame oil for pan
large scallops
pepper to taste

For sauce: combine berries, lemon zest, lemon juice, honey, chiles & adobo sauce.  Stir and set aside.

For couscous: boil 1 1/2 cups of water, add couscous and cover tightly, removing from heat.  Let sit for 5 minutes then fluff with fork

For scallops: season with pepper (both sides).  Drizzle sesame oil in pre-heated skillet to thinly coat.  Skillet should be HOT - we want to sear the scallops.  Cook on both sides, turning once, to desired doneness.

After removing scallops from skillet, add blackberry mixture and heat until berries start to come apart.
Serve scallops over the couscous and top with blackberry sauce.

Nutritional info for serving as shown above (give or take a few): calories 461; fat 5g; sat fat .5g; omega-3s 150 mg; carbs 56g (these are the good carbs though, no white flour, etc); fiber 11g; sugars 16g (from the fruit mostly); protein 52g (great shot of protein!); cholesterol 110mg

This was soooo good (I mean you can't really go wrong with seared scallops anyhow, but...) and surprisingly filling (I did have a spinach and pear salad as an appetizer though).  I did enjoy the blackberry sauce as well.  It took me by surprise at first, but the sweet and spicy combo over the scallops was delicious.  I do enjoy the sauce better than the whole berries though and I think I will cook it down even further next time.  I also have some sauce left over and plan to put it over salmon - we'll see.

Anybody have any killer seafood recipes that don't include butter?

What's going on this week?

First off, Tuesday marks 30 days of P90X and I'm hoping to have the courage to post my "1/3rd of the way done" photos.  60 days to go!

Recipes this week:
Seared scallops with spicy blackberry sauce over couscous
Healthy cajun shrimp jambalaya (packet cooking - actually in the oven right now)
Salsa burgers with guac, radicchio & yogurt
Surprise cheese burgers with honey mustard & spinach
Mango radish salsa (very curious about this one)
Granola pear muffins

All of these recipes are new to me so I'm hoping to give them all glowing reviews and will include what the kiddos thought about it too (this should be fun).  And providing I remember my camera, pictures!

Cast of Characters

Most days I don't feel as though I'm living in the real world. I'm a serious day dreamer. I often feel my life is a movie, music video, soap opera...nightmare. LOL Anyway, I thought I'd introduce my cast of characters as I'm sure they will come up regularly.

First off is my husband of just over a year. He's a hairdresser extraordinaire, motorcycle enthusiast and always there if I ask him to be (notice I say "ask", but what can ya do, he's a man).

Then there is my mini-me, my son.  Ball of energy, extremely smart, adventurous and headstrong.  For better or for worse, he's EXACTLY like me.

My daughter is my youngest.  She has an incredible sense of humor, is the BFF of everybody and although she doesn't take after me AT ALL, I love her all the more.  :)

Last but not least is my furry little love, Rico.  We adopted him about 18 months ago (he was a rescue from Puerto Rico) and by day 2, he was a part of the family.  I never understood the joy of having a pet until now.  Can't imagine him not being part of my family.

So that's my motley crew, my pride and joy, my reasons for getting up every morning (and all that other fluffy stuff).  Hope you enjoyed getting to know them.

Intro Post (finally)!

So I'm pretty sure that I'm going to actually start posting on my blog (it's been about a year in the works).  The things I'd love to post about run through a range of topics from fitness to budget travel to family time to makeup - expect a bit of everything.  A little about what I'll be posting:

I'm currently on a fitness/health kick.  I saw a photo of myself from last summer that just shocked me. I could not believe how far I had let myself go (no, I'm not 400 pounds, but I used to be a runner and in great physical shape) physically, diet-wise & emotionally.  I also starting studying about fitness and nutrition and really didn't like what the food I had in my cabinets and fridge was doing to our bodies.  So....off to Whole Foods I went after purging much "stuff" from my pantry, I started googling new healthy recipes, reading books about clean eating, and started a pretty intense fitness routine, amongst other things.  All done with the mindset that I'm going to get my life on track, get my body and mind in the best shape ever, and keep my family happy (more on the loves of my life later).

I'm hoping to post some great healthy recipes (with pics) in addition to reviews of various fitness trends, videos, etc.  Currently I am using the Beachbody workouts and will post my before/after pics and reviews of the same in real-time as I use them.  First will be P90X, of which I am in week 4 out of 13.  This goes hand in hand with keeping my family happy and together.  I'm hoping to share some of my views and suggestions here and would really LOVE to hear from others about this too.  This is my first and most important priority!

Photography, saving money and makeup are my other passions, but I'm not terribly good at any of them (working on it though).  So expect some posts relating to those things as well.  Hopefully budget-friendly, cruetly free beauty products that is!

Anyway, I hope someone finds this of interest.  I'd love to hear from anybody who has an opinion (even if contrary to mine), suggestion or comment!  Thanks so much for reading!!