How our Vitamix saved Breakfast!

Hello Interwebs Family...

Can you believe that summer is almost officially over? I can't. I am always sad to see it go, but then I am also a bit excited to move into the more "festive" time of year. Plus, I am tired of looking at myself in tank tops and internally complaining about my arms being too fat. Bring on the big, fluffy sweaters!

As promised, I wanted to tell you a bit about our life with our new Vitamix blender. I sort of laughed a bit when people I knew with Vitamixes constantly claimed that "Vitamix changed their lives"... what? How boring was your life before? Sheesh! And after having ours for over 3 months now, I can say our lives have changed but not so much because of the Vitamix, itself,  but more of what the Vitamix has allowed us to change in our eating habits.

In my ever-continuous goal to eat well & feel well, I picked up a book about smoothies. I like smoothies but I was always a bit skeptical because the flavors I favored were either 1) full of stuff I shouldn't put in a smoothie (like frozen yogurt & peanut butter) or 2) a bunch of fruit mixed up with ice... which would keep me full for .01 seconds. After a bit of research, I ordered my own copy of Superfood Smoothies by Julie Morris.

I have to admit, when I first started reading through the ingredient list, I panicked a bit. What the heck are Goji Berries? What does Lacuma Powder do? Why do we need Hemp Seeds? The more I read, the more I became intimidated and started asking myself "What did I just get myself into?!" (followed by, "how much am I going to have to spend at Whole Foods just to make a silly smoothie?!")

I started with baby steps - I picked a few smoothies to try one week & buy the ingredients I needed for those. Since each recipe makes 2 smoothies, I justified buying all these crazy-spendy ingredients based on the fact that I was feeding both me and my test subject, er... husband. 

Admittedly, the ingredients can be pretty expensive when you first start accumulating them. But the good news is, you don't use all the "superfoods" in every smoothie, so it's not like I'm buying $20 worth of hemp seeds every week. I figure, if you commit to spending a few weeks accumulating one or two of the superfood ingredients, you'll be all stocked up in no time & then it's just maintenance. You'll start to see what items you use the most & can check out local stores or even online for good deals. I find that we use Hemp Seeds, Chia Seeds & Goji Berries the most.

So, the million dollar question.

Do I notice a difference since we started our Super Smoothies? Truthfully, it's hard for me to tell. I don't feel worse... so that's good. But I can't confidently say that I feel better or any different than I did before. However, that being said, I really did not expect to start feeling much different. My family and I did not start making these positive changes to our eating habits just for immediate satisfaction - I really saw it as an investment for our future selves. I think that much of the detriment of our life choices won't show up until we're a bit older. So, do I feel better from drinking my super smoothies every morning? No, I am not seeing much of a physical difference. I do feel better, though, knowing that I am investing in my future health and well-being and those of my husband and son, too. And that's worth it, right?!

Now - back to the Vitamix. It is a game-changer, fo-sho. (Yes, I did just say "fo-sho.") This baby blends everything up so well, you'd think you just wandered into Jamba Juice. This is important when you're adding things like spinach and kale to your smoothies. There is nothing that will turn you off of a smoothie faster than a big lump of spinach coming up through your straw. Ick! Vitamix can handle your spinach. 

In closing...

Do I recommend investing in a Vitamix - YES! 

Try looking at their reconditioned machines before buying new. It's a good savings! I did do some fairly extensive reading & research (even watched an infomercial) on the differences between the Ninja and Vitamix and the Vitamix just kept coming out on top. You know what really sealed the deal for me? 2 things - 1) It's made domestically.Now, I have nothing against items made overseas - Lord knows, I spend all day everyday working with factories in every country you can think of & they are good peeps. But, sometimes, it's nice to buy things made here. Cue "America the Beautiful," release the bald eagle....  *sigh*. OK, and 2) it has a 5-year warranty. Yep, 5 years covered. Boom. 

Do I recommend Super Smoothies - YES! 

I definitely recommend Julie's book. It is very informative and clear. She gives the history of each of the superfoods along with their benefits & whether you can swap it out for something else (especially if you don't want to invest in both Maca powder AND Macqui powder.) Plus, every smoothie we've tried has been delish and easy to make. And extra-bonus: each smoothie has like 2 servings of fruit or veggies in it! Whoo hoo! Take THAT food pyramid.

XOXO

Happy New Year!

I'm a bit late, but sincere none-the-less. Happy New Year!!

I've been seeing a lot of bloggers posting about their new year's resolutions so I figured, why not jump on the bandwagon?

Typically, every year I make a laundry list of things I want to accomplish in the new year. Last year's list was fairly attainable.. or so I thought. When I recently re-read it, I laughed & realized I had completed or achieved about 1/4 of the list. Even easy things like "read 3 books" was only met by 1/3 completion. Eek! So this year, I'm keeping the list short and simple.

Read More

Family Art Night 

Make Date Nights truly dates

Open Etsy Shop

Cook New Things

Drink more water

Silly... probably. Doable... yes!



Read More
I used to be quite the avid reader before my little sprout was born. I read tons of fiction and even some non-fiction (especially when we decided to start our family). I read one book this year for fun and realized how much I had missed it. I found myself easily blowing off TV to go read.

A few things I have on my list...

Photo Credits: Amazon.com

Does anyone have any good suggestions for books? Chances are I have not read it!


Family Art Night
When I was pregnant with Drew I was already planning family traditions in my head. I am a huge sucker for traditions and wanted to start them as soon as possible. I think they are important for kids while they grow up to have fun things that they can look forward to. Family Art Night will be once a month (to start) and will just be a fun night of some new art or craft activity that all of us do together. Our first project will be some Valentine's Day cards to send out to our family.

Photo Credit: Miscellaneous Pinterest

Date Nights
My mother-in-law has graciously come over one night every week since Drew was born and allowed me and Mark the opportunity to spend some time, just the two of us. For a while we were making efforts about going fun places but then it kind of turned into errand running or just staying home. Mark and I agreed that we should turn these nights back into "dates." I don't think we'll go as far to get dressed up or anything (maybe every so often) but definitely put the effort back into these special nights.

Just a picture of me and Mark... a very old picture.. Look how young I am! 

Etsy Shop
I mentioned in a previous post that I was working on a Etsy shop. I am still hoping to be able to get some inventory in stock soon so I can launch away.

Banners, Buntings and Garlands, oh my!

Cook New Things
What are we serving? Chicken or Chicken?

This wasn't on my original list but after reading the 7-day Challenge over at Dinner: A Love Story I decided to join in the fun & add some new recipes into our dinner repertoire. This week I already have 3 new things on the menu!

Photo Credits: Dinner: A Love Story, Skinny Taste

Drink More Water
This one is fairly self-explanatory. When we were training for our Ragnar races it was always super important that we hydrated before the race and, even though it made me have to use the facilities every 30 minutes, I always felt so much better when my body was fully hydrated. My company moved into a new office this January and it has a filtered water & ice machine and I am super excited about the ice. Is that silly? Yes... but it makes me want to drink water so it's cool.

 I wish everyone a very Happy, Healthy & Blessed 2013!


Amy

Baking Healthy

Baking healthy is for the birds.

It's ironic because I am a die-hard Weight Watchers member and fan but one thing I really can't handle is trying to bake healthy. What's the point? Why not just have a nice small piece of the real thing instead of choking down a slightly bigger piece of something that is just so-so?

Against my better judgement I decided to try to bake some "Energy" muffins for the Napa Valley Ragnar Race we ran this past weekend. I looked up a few recipes that I thought might be good - made with things I could pronounce - and found one via Oxygen Magazine that looked decent. The recipe called for all sorts of protein-packed ingredients and mostly yummy things.

The original recipe called for Strawberries as the fruit-of-choice but I decided to change it up and use bananas (potassium!) and cinnamon (always tasty!).

One of the cool things about this recipe is that you basically take all of the ingredients and toss them in a blender to mash up and mix. Then you pour them in the muffin tins and bake. Easy-peasy.

Overall, the muffins came out ok. I say ok because they didn't taste like much. I definitely think i could have easily doubled the cinnamon, added more bananas and maybe added some extra vanilla or something else festive. Maybe some mini chocolate chips! Yeaahhh....

Did these muffins serve their purpose? Yes.
Do I want to try these again? Probably... with some tweaks
Do I condone healthy baking? Not if you can help it... but there is a time and place for everything.

For now, I'll just stick to baking with butter and cream and leave the healthy things to others.

Cheers to the cook!

Oh.. and just because I can... check out the sweet medals we got for finishing our race this weekend. Yep. I wear them all the time.. they go with everything!

Energy Muffins [adapted from Oxygen Magazine]

Ingredients:

 

• 2 cups egg whites
• 1 1/2 cups oats or 1 cup instant oatmeal or 1½ cups quick oatmeal
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 cup 1% cottage cheese
• 1/2 cup whey protein powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 25 almonds
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1/8 tsp or pinch of salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 3 very ripe bananas
• optional add-ins (pick one): 
• 1 cup of mini chocolate chips 
• 1 cup of toasted walnuts
• 1 cup of shredded coconut 

Instructions:

 

Pre-heat oven to 350˚F. Pour ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Mix in fruit by hand, if you want it to remain chunky or include in the blender for smoother texture. Pour into greased muffin tins - I don't suggest using paper liners (the muffins stick to the paper once cooled). Cook until toothpick comes out clean (about 30-40 minutes). Cool on wire rack; store in air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Ragnar Wrap-Up

Well, I did it! Actually, WE did it! My team - Directionally Challenged - finished the Ragnar Relay! It was a great experience and I am pretty sure I will be doing it again. It was a true physical & mental challenge for me but I did great - finished all of my legs and feel like I contributed to my team. What an awesome feeling! 


The race started in Huntington Beach - our team off 11 (one runner had an injury that kept him from competing) in our team shirts ready to go.

My husband was runner #3 and I was runner #6 so we had a little bit of down time while waiting for our turn. I kept busy by reading educational materials.

My first leg was in Yorba Linda - it was fairly short (2.7 miles) but it was also 98 degrees out so it made the run a bit more challenging than normal. Each team member has to hand off a snap bracelet to the next runner as they enter the exchange. First photo is Aimee (runner #5) handing off to me. She had just finished an amazingly difficult run up a hill - she was a machine! 

And I was off!

Normally I would never post pictures of me running because no one needs self-deprecating photos like that to be on the internet but this one actually didn't make me cry so I thought I would prove to the world that I was running!

By the way - can't you just see the heat?!

We skip forward about 30 hours or so to the end... my van, runners 1-6, had finished our final legs & were headed to the finish line area to wait for our final runners to complete the race. We stopped at our hotel to check in on our way and they welcomed us with this fancy sign - how thoughtful!

The Ragnar Relay is a great experience - if you're a runner or aspire to be one - this is a great challenge & I highly recommend it. The key is to have a great time & we had one for sure! 

PS - I need show you the cool medals we got - but it deserves its own post!

Ragnar Relay

This weekend Mark and I are participating in the Ragnar Relay - for those of you unfamiliar with the Ragnar series it is a 12-man relay & our race is from Huntington Beach to Coronado Island in San Diego. If you're not from this area and aren't sure how far that is... our route is roughly 200 miles. I have been very intimidated by this race & training for it but today I feel ready... which is good because the race is Friday. 


I was never a team sport player growing up and I do not have a competitive spirit when it comes to physical activity. Trivia games, yes - running, no. I actually think it's the scariest part of running this relay - not whether I can run it, but whether I can run it in time to keep my team on track. No pressure! 


Wish me (and the rest of our team) luck! I'll post pictures of the race next week!

Jillian Michaels is trying to kill me...

It's true.


Little did I know that Monday night, while perusing through Target, I would sign myself up for my imminent death. While browsing through the exercise DVDs I came across the Jillian Michaels' "Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism" DVD and I thought, "Hey, this is only $10... let's give it a go!"




I am a fanatic Biggest Loser follower and really like Jillian.. until now...



I was actually excited to try my new workout DVD - I came home from a quick trip to the grocery store, threw my exercise clothes on and flipped on the DVD. I was ready! We started with a warm up.. but this was like no warm up I've ever done... I was gasping for breath at only the midway point! What ensued for the next 40 minutes (well, 40 minutes according to the DVD player... probably more like 25ish in real time) was a series of circuit combinations that are meant to give these little "bursts" of calorie burning moves. Each circuit is done 2 times. I think I made through about half of each circuit. The moves are a combination of kick-boxing kicks and punches, jumping drills and a bit of floor work.



I admit fully that I am a bit out of shape - it has been about 3 months since I donned my running shoes for a quick sprint around the neighborhood... but this was a whole different beast. As I watched the DVD, doubled over, gasping for breath, hoping to not pass out on my new yoga mat, I was continuously impressed at how flawlessly the girls in the DVD completed each circuit. You could definitely tell they were working though - not just glossing through each move & then off camera taking a ten-minute breather.



I like this DVD and I think that if I can ever get to a place where I am doing even 75% of the workout I will consider myself triumphant.



Mark asked me if she yells at you the whole time you're working out (sort of like on Biggest Loser) and I said no, she's actually quite pleasant... however, like on the Biggest Loser, she does make you want to throw up on your self! Here's to good health!

Eating Healthy

To keep in line with my new year's resolution of being healthy, I have started buying alot of organic, kosher, free-range, hormone & antibiotic free.. everything.

Last night Mark and I decided to make hamburgers for dinner with a nice side salad - using organic lettuce & tomatoes and hormone/antibiotic free, vegetarian fed, free range ground beef... thank you Trader Joes!

This is my burger. Simple with just a touch of mustard.

And this... is Mark's burger. Complete with 2x as much meat as mine... and don't forget the bbq sauce, sauteed onions & cheddar cheese to complete it.







I'm not sure we're on the same wave length!

Getting Healthy

It occurs to me that the holidays are looming somewhere close and that always sends my metabolism into hiding for a few months. I always find it amazing that in two fell swoops (namely Thanksgiving & Christmas) that I can go from a fairly normal, healthy girl to Hilda the Bohemoth Woman who's jeans are way too tight and has the energy of a slug baby. NOT THIS YEAR!

As soon as the sun decided to get it's lazy butt out of bed an hour earlier... so did I... and I started running in the mornings again. I always feel so much better when I run in the mornings - I am ready for bed at 8:15pm, but definitely feel better. Plus, I love our neighborhood early in the morning - when people are just starting to get up and move about. Houses are quiet, streets are still, sprinklers are doing their thing - it's very peaceful. Well, until I come running through with a quasi-asthmatic wheeze desperately trying not to keel over while singing the lyrics to one or another Miley Cyrus song. But enough about that..

I am also very excited about the prospect of the new workout DVD that is to be finding its way to me sometime "after the 17th" - the Jillian Michaels 30-day Shred. Compliments of my bestie, Kaija, I am guaranteed results from this bad boy. My Question is, does she yell insults at you from the DVD? I secretly hope so!

And last but definitely not least - I am going back to Weight Watchers. I joined WW a bit over 2 1/2 years ago and was very successful at it... and then decided I didn't need it anymore and I figured that I could do everything on my own. It is humbling how wrong I was. So - I am back and with a vengeance!

Watch out holidays! I'm on to you and your wiley ways!

Baby Book Worm

My adventures in future parenting continue...

First, one of my very bestest friends called today to tell me that she is expecting & I couldn't be happier. Congratulations to you!

Ok... so back to me.

I am now reading three books simultaneously.
1. Skinny Bitch with a Bump
2. What to Expect before you're Expecting
3. Healing & Preventing Autism (Jenny McCarthy)

The information is crazy-fascinating and I just can't seem to get enough. I need there to be more hours in the day for me to read!

My last post was the brain child of Skinny Bitch - I have successfully given up soda, anything with aspartame (and trying really hard to give up anything with sugar substitutes but they're EVERYWHERE!), milk on my cereal & yogurt. It may not sound like much but it's alot for me. Soda has been tough but I find myself drinking gallons of water everyday. I also find myself peeing gallons everyday too... I guess that's good practice for when I actually get pregnant! However, with all of the positive changes I am trying to make in my eating habits, I am not seeing myself really becoming a vegan. I am sure that my husband will refuse to live in a world without bacon. *sigh*

I've only read the first 6 pages in What to Expect but it has already prompted me to schedule a dentist appointment & physical with my GP... and to start harassing my husband to do the same. I have to say I was a bit surprised when I emailed my doctor and he said it "wasn't necessary" for me to come in for a physical before trying to conceive. I sort of figured my doctors would always think it was a good idea to get a physical - especially if I am about to attempt to grow another human inside my body. Silly, Dr Chen! I also went and bought some major vitamins today. They'll probably make me nauseated... Boo... but good for my bod so.. Yay!

And finally Jenny McCarthy's book about autism & vaccinations. My manager is pregnant and we've been talking alot about vaccinations lately - we both find it surprising that so many parents are perfectly fine immunizing their kids from things like Hep B... I looked up Hepatitis B on WebMD and this is how they say you contract it:

You may get hepatitis B if you:

• Have sex with an infected person without using a condom.
• Share needles (used for injecting drugs) with an infected person.
• Get a tattoo or piercing with tools that were not cleaned well.
• Share personal items like razors or toothbrushes with an infected person.

Hmm... How many babies do you see out their having illicit affairs while shooting up & getting tattoos and then borrowing some random guy's tooth brush? Not many. But yet, we're vaccinating our babies for it.

Now, don't get me wrong... I am not discounting the importance of vaccinations & immunizations - I think they are very necessary for some things. But I think it is important as parents & future parents to ask questions & research. These are YOUR children.

Anyway - wee tangent there.. sorry... I just think it is really important to read up on everything I can now so I can make real educated decisions for my children. Thus my 3-books-at-a-time club.

I do feel a bit sorry for my husband... as he has to listen to me wax poetic about my new-found knowledge on everything... and now he has to go to the doctor and the dentist. It's all for our future kids, right? Yes.. so it's the most important thing ever.

Have a great weekend!

Misadventures in Eating... trying to be Half a Skinny Bitch

My husband and I are about to celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary & like all couples we are starting to think towards the future & our potential family-to-be. So, in my greatest efforts to be a proactive future-mother I have started to read all about how to be healthy when trying to conceive, etc.

I started reading Skinny Bitch Bun in the Oven & I have to be honest that it is a bit intimidating. It takes the normal "don't drink caffeine, don't eat raw fish" dos & don'ts of pregnancy and straight kicks it in the soft stuff! I am only on chapter 6 but I am already asking myself, "How am I alive?! I've been eating dairy & meat and eating sugar substitutes for years! How do I not have 6 arms coming out of my forehead?!" The Skinny Bitches, if you will, fill their chapters with a barrage of information about not only certain health risks for many of the daily-consumed foods on my menu (and probably 90% of America!) but it also blows the whistle on the FDA & food industry giants for certain less-than-legit test results and statistics. It reminds me alot of the second part of Fast Food Nation - the part that goes in-depth on the meat industry. Eek!

With all of this newly discovered knowledge I have already decided to make a few changes with my eating habits. First and foremost (and probably hardest) was giving up soda & most sugar substitutes. SB goes into detail on some of our most favorite sugar substitutes - worst of all the faves being Aspartame. I think I've known for sometime that aspartame was bad but it wasn't until my dad told me that he had given it up & that action was helping with his arthritis that it really started to make me think that maybe this stuff really was poison! Then, when SB put up a big stink about it & elaborated on the questionable way that it was approved by the FDA I decided that I could probably live without it. So... Buh-Bye Soda.

Next was dairy. I won't go into detail because it is rather high on the "eeeww" factor, but I have decided to try something new on my granola during the morning commute. Today I tried Almond Milk.. and I have to say I was happily surprised. It just sort of tastes like a light-almond flavored liquid (umm.. yeah.. that's because that is what it is!). I enjoyed it very much. So, I'm 1 for 1. Feeling braver & braver, I decide to try Soy Yogurt with my lunch. I cannot say that it leaves me as happy as almond milk, but it is also not the worst thing I've eaten in recent history. It's a bit grainier than dairy yogurt and has sort of a heavier flavor, but all-in-all ok. It will probably not make a headlining appearance in my lunch, but is a good alternate option.

I have to admit that looking so closely at food & health has stressed me out a bit. I realize that so much of the food we consume on a day-to-day basis is just really not good for you. And I am a relatively healthy eater too - not alot of processed foods here. My wise friend, Tina (also a reader of the SB), advised me to find my groove with food. So, that is what I will do. Some of it is just about me asking the question: Why do I eat this? and some of it is making consciously better decisions about my health and my future child's health.

I know this is a completely new avenue for my posts - away from paint & baked goods. But I figured that lots of women go through this when they're trying to make good choices - so, I'm sharing my misadventures. Next... soy butter!