Learning to Love Biking!

A while back I wrote about breaking out of my comfort zone and I am still trying to hold true to this challenge. For me I have never been a fan of biking. I grew up when roller blades were cool and sadly enough my bike got stolen off my front porch so I just stock with the blades lol.

I decided when I got back from my road trip to PA I was going to park the car and bike A LOT more! So that's what I have been working on and so far it's going pretty well. I by no means have a nice expensive bike like my sister, who rides 100miles for fun <---- CRAZY, but it gets me where I need to go and back again, sometimes :o)

Today was my rest day. I decided to do some yoga then bike to my tutoring session I had scheduled. It was a great choice. On the way home I took a different route, that not only put more miles on my legs (plus) but also changed the scenery.I love the area that I live in because I get to see so many interesting things... today included

1. Horses- more than once
2. Vultures - this one kind freaks me out because I secretly think in my head that I will seem like a better option for them every time I pass haha.. I know I am crazy. It didn't help that I had to pass 2 groups of them. 
3. A Goat- yep I didn't make this up
4. A squirrel who apparently was trying to commit squirrel-icde, he ran right between my front and back tire... totally freaked me out
5. A heckling Cricket who followed me for a few feet making noises in my face

I have to admit, I loved every minute of it! My mind was free to think about everything else and nothing at all. I enjoyed the wonderful weather and the amazing views that I so often take for granted. So I am glad that I have chosen to step out of the comfort zone and I am slowly learning to love like biking.

I will continue biking and I hope I continue to grow fond of it and enjoy it even more as the summer goes on.

Have you learned to love anything you have recently distanced yourself from?

Ciao and pushing pedals

Alexis

Bosu-Balance-Brilliance

If you were stranded on a Desert Island.... Stop me if you know how this ends....

Fitness wise, if I were stranded on a Desert Island and could only bring one piece of equipment with me, I know exactly what I would bring! My #1 piece of transportable fitness equipment would be the BOSU.

 

 This half "ball" is so versatile its ridiculous. You can use it solely to work on balance or you can incorporate weights and give your entire body from head to toe a workout. I love doing normal workouts and adding in the Bosu. Today I did squats, single leg dead lifts, and bench press all using the Bosu. I have very good balance so I like to take it up a notch and flip it over so I am standing on the flat portion while trying to balance myself and my weights on the very top of the ball. Its not as easy as it sounds. 

For Squats I grab a bar add some plates and I go at it. Today I focused on slow movement while balancing. This engaged my glutes and core even more because the movements were super slow, which meant balancing became a bit more difficult. I honestly felt these squats from my stomach down. 

*on a side note* I felt even better when one of the men working out came up and asked me to show him how to do it. He seemed to be very impressed with my balance and let me know he had never seen anyone do squats on the Bosu before. May sound lame but it makes me smile when men recognize women's workout capabilities too and seem genuinely impressed. 

If you haven't yet tried out the Bosu, I highly suggest it. The same workout  you normally do will seem like a whole new experience. You will notice the differences right away. Start slow and as you feel comfortable try a new challenging move, it gets easy so you will work harder...

Once you have tried out the Bosu reach for some sensible snacks!

This week my eats haven't been to outrageous and the weather has been far from nice (it has rained everyday for about 2 weeks) so I have not had a chance to get real photos with my real camera so you will have to settle for phone pics... sorry! 

 Ceviche- Not only is it delish but its packed with protein, omega 3s and barely any fat

 Cherries- They are super expensive right now but I couldn't pass up the yumminess this week. It makes it even better eating it out of a Christmas bowl lol.

 Cottage Cheese and Dried fruit- One of my favorite cures to a late night sweet tooth

 Pita with avacado (and chicken sometimes) I have been making these pitas for about 2 weeks now... what can I say ADDICTED!

So those are my munchies of choice this week. I can't lie, it will probably be my snacks next week too :o)

Thanks again to the amazing Jenn for hosting WIAW! So if you haven't yet, head over to Peas and Crayons

and link up your eats. 

Ciao and Beautiful Balance, 

Alexis

Not Feeling so Hot

I had big plans for my workout today... I planned on hitting the weights hard and leaving it all out on the floor. However, when I got to work I lost all appetite, and desire to do anything but go home and crawl in bed.


Not sure what happened but somehow between the house and the gym I got all sorts of not feeling great. Normally I am one to workout sick no matter what, but today it was my stomach and I was not  at all willing to chance it.

I finished my shift, headed home and exchanged my dress clothes for a t-shirt and boxers :o). However I HAVE NOT given up the desire to work out. I am taking it easy right now and trying to slowly consume small bites of food here and there. I had a nice size bowl of cherries and so far I am doing ok...

So far that is about all I have had the desire to eat, but I will try something else in a little while. If this continues I am hoping to at least get in some Tabata or my 10 min circuit. Perhaps if the rain stays away I will do just a nice slow jog. I figure anything is better than nothing.

So what leads me to this questions... Do you workout when you are not feeling well or do you just modify what you had planned?

Ciao and gym blues

Alexis

Summer Sorrows and Friday Favorites!

I have to say, I love that being a teacher brings me a 2 month vacation every year. That being said, it is not all its cracked up to be. I hear the typical " must be nice to have two months off" or "hey at least you get a summer vacation" all the time and even from my siblings that are not teachers. Here is what people don't understand. Yes I get 2 months off from work but this also means I DO NOT get paid for 2 months... so unless you are good with your money during your 10 months of work you will struggle hard core over summer break.

That being said... I AM BORED!!! haha Brian owns his own company so he is still working and I am at home alone all day. I am so used to working that having nothing to do during the day is foreign to me and I have a hard time filling the hours of the day. After I wake up and make breakfast, and workout I am pretty much done with my to-do list tehe.

SOOOOO... I have been cleaning and organizing but this is not good for the ADD in me. I continuously start in one room, lose focus, and move on to the next room. Needless to say my house looks like a bomb exploded because I have started cleaning every room and have yet to finish any of them... anyone else have this problem?

This brings me to my favorite thing this week. I do have A LOT of free time so I get bored and try new things, which has brought me to creating my all time FAVORITE pita chips. I love them so much that I have eaten them just about everyday. They are super simple, healthy, and best of all DELISH!!!!

So my favorite product of the week is Pita Chips. I wouldn't be able to make then so quickly if it weren't for this guy ------------------>
I am completely obsessed with Joesph's Flax Oat Bran Pitas! We use these in our house for everything! Breakfast wraps, sandwiches, they even sell a Lavash bread which we use for our flat breads. What is even better is that Publix started selling them so now I can have them whenever I want LOL. I came up with making them into pita over the weekend when we had our simple cookout with my mom. We were having Ceviche and I wanted something to scoop up the goodness. So I made these... and it has been down hill from there. HAHA




So then this week they have been made 3-4 times all thetime coming up with new ways to use them, I am starting to get creative with the toppings :o)

 Dinner: Grilled Turkey Burgers with Grilled Pineapple and a side of pita and guac.

 Snack: Good ol' Pita and Guac

Lunch: shredded chicken breast, fresh avocado and pita. 

The lunch was by far my favorite. It was AMAZING!!! The best part is the pitas are only 60 cal. each so even with a serving of quac. you are still sitting below a 200cal snack. Its a winner in my book. 

How to make them... 

1 pita sliced into little triangles

lightly brush with coconut oil or Extra virgin Olive Oil

sprinkle with a little salt (or any seasoning you want) 

Bake on 350 for 8 min. Any longer and they will be WAY TO WELL DONE. They are thin so they don't need much time.  

Can't get any easier than this. So I hope you give it a try. I will probably having a replay of the lunch version of my favorite again today :o)

Well I have gone on long enough so I will let you go with one question... 

What is your favorite super easy snack/meal to make?

Ciao and Pita love

Alexis 

Mexican Stuffed Sweet Potato

I pretty much love this little guy right here...

The taste and versatility of sweet potatoes are as great as the nutritional value one of these hold.

*Insert Science here: 

Sweet Potatoes are a great source of vitamin A, vitamin B6, vitamin C, copper, iron, manganese, potassium and dietary fiber. They also contain as much beta-carotene as carrots.

                                         - beta-carotene has many health benefits such as cancer prevention, heart                                             disease, asthma and rheumatoid arthritis

Carotenoids, which come in the form of beta-carotene are associated with stabilizing blood sugar and lowering insulin resistance. Last but not least Sweet Potatoes contain antioxidants that help remove free radicals from the body, protecting cells from damage and repairing damaged cells.

*Science Lesson over

Knowing all of this just makes loving these little guys even better. I have been making tons of stuff with sweet potatoes lately: Sweet Potato Protein Pancakes, Sweet Potato Salad, Sweet Potato Chips just to name a few. I would say we have been seeing this little guy at our dinner table at least 2 nights a week in one way or another. 

I have also done many different stuffed potato recipes, 1 2 3 4 but this is by far my favorite so far.

Today, however, I bring you the stuffed sweet potato. He came around on a lazy, not wanting to cook, evening and has been back once a week for the past month so I decided finally to share this super simple, super delish recipe with you.

 What You Need

Sweet Potatoes (however many you are making)

goat cheese

avocado

black beans 

salsa 

Chobani 0% plain greek yogurt. 

(For 2 potatoes I used: half an avocado about 7oz of black beans which is half of a typical can, and between 2-3 tbsp both salsa and greek yogurt)

What You Do

1. Cook sweet potato, You can either bake or do it the lazy way like I did and microwave it.

2. Heat black beans, cut avocado into like size pieces. 

3. Mix 1tbsp salsa with 1tbsp greek yogurt to make greek salsa. Make as much as you need for the amount of potatoes as you make. 

4. Cut open sweet potato and pile high. 

- I gave my amounts for 2 potatoes but you can pile on as much or as little as you want- 

Brian was a little skeptical because he is a "Meat Lover" but by the time he devoured his potato, skin and all, he looked at me and I kid you not said " I didn't even miss the meal" haha I smiled but in my head screamed out SUCCESS!!!!

 I took it up a notch the next time and layered on some Jalapenos just to give it an extra kick. Which is now the only way Brian and I will eat this version of the potato. What can I say, we love our spice!

So weather or not you choose to make this "Mexican" version of this potato or choose other toppings you should definitely try this with your own creative stuffing skills. 

So next time you eat a sweet potato think of all the wonderful health benefits it is providing and enjoy every last bite! 

Ciao and Super Potato

Alexis

Road trip To Pitt v.1

If you haven't heard yet I am a pretty big fan of Pittsburgh.

We headed back to the wonderful city or Pittsburgh for a surprise 80th birthday for my grandma. Brian and I decided to turn our vacation into a mini road trip. But let's not get ahead of ourselves here.

While on vacation I posted a few pictures of this really cool bar Church Brew Works. Brian and I meet my siblings there and had a great time. Although Brian realized as we went to order that he forgot his Drivers License IN FLORIDA!!! HAHA well we figured, no big deal his military ID has his DOB on it... UMMM nope that was back in Florida too. So instead Brian just enjoyed everyone's company.

Fast forward to the next day when we set up for the big surprise!! My Grandma was surprised and so happy to see everyone. It was GREAT!

Happy Birthday!!!

LOVE THIS ONE! Mason and Uncle Brian... 2 of my fav. boys

Me and my pap... love this man

Uncle Jim always has a good story. Think he was talking about my dad here *Good Times*

Sisters and My Cuz Jason

My mom and pap

My sister Heather and Nephew Nolan

Nolan being silly

We matched lol

 We had a fantastic time! Great catching up with all the relatives who have scattered around. Plus its just great to be back in such a wonderful city. Sounds crazy but I feel so relaxed when I am back. Its like a whole different way of life up there. A way of life I love!

So this brings me to my WIAW portion of this post. I was so sad to miss last week but I was driving to Savannah. Needless to say I am glad to be back in the food stalking world. Jenn over at Peas and Crayons has designated this month Sensible snacking over at WIAW. I have a ton of snacks I would love to share but I am super excited to share food from my road trip this week. The snacks will have to wait until next week.







I bring you my Road Trip Eats

Delucca's: Egg White and turkey sausage on Fresh Cinnamon bread. 

Our Hotel In Savannah had a free Happy Hour with wine and snacks!

Rocks on the Roof: Great view and yummy tapas- dates and chorizo. Goat cheese stuffed Peppadews

Tzatziki with beef (Brian got the beef) and fresh pita

Just 4 U: at PNC park for the Pirates game. Roasted veggie sandwich. GREAT FIND at the Ball Park

Hofbrauhaus: Beer cheese spatzle, Weisswurst and a pretzel (cheat meal obv.)

*Favorite new place on the strip* Enrico's: Beans and Greens salad- Kale, beans, roasted garlic and roasted chicken

 I often talk about clean eating, but this was vacation people. However, I did not over do it just because I was on a road trip. We did not eat any fast food, instead we packed all of our food and snacks prior to leaving. This made grabbing an apple or protein drink super easy and meant we didn't eat any fried and sat. fats while sitting in a car for hours, NOT MOVING lol. So enjoy your vacation just don't think everyday has to be an over indulgence. You will not feel good when you get home!

Ciao and Road Trip Eats, 

Alexis

Quinoa Black Bean Burgers

For all my vegetarians out there this one is a must try for cookouts this summer!!!



Brian and I picked my mother up from the airport the other day and we decided to have a mini cookout. The weather was actually really nice here in Florida so we even ate outside, which does not happen often in summer here.

So I came up with the veggie burger, home made pita chips and ceviche. I even got the thumbs up from my very hard to please mother when it comes to healthy eats. So I say this was a score.

This guy approves

  This was what was served. They were allowed to have buns haha I however opted for no bun so I could enjoy my pita chipe. I topped the burgers with my Balsamic Onions (ya I made those up haha) to add a sweet tang and man oh man was it a good choice.


Quinoa Black Bean Burgers
What you need:
- 1 can Black Beans (15oz)
- 2 cups cooked Quionoa
- 1 cup shredded carrot
- 2-3oz of goat cheese ( I will probably add more next time)
- 2 egg whites
- 2Tbsp dried parsley (you can use fresh I just hadn't been to the store)
- 1Tbsp dried basil
salt and pepper to taste

What you do:
1. In a food processor mash the black beans into a paste like consistency. Mix in quinoa, spices, carrot, egg, goat cheese.
2. Form into patties and place onto a pan lined with wax paper. Place in freezer for 30 min to let set.
3. Heat oil in skillet over med. heat. Cook about 5 min on each side.
4. Serve any way you want!

This will make 7-8 "burgers" So i wrapped the leftovers in plastic wrap and placed them in the freezer. For a quick go to lunch. Which is exactly what we had the very next day.

 

I know this isn't the prettiest looking dish but it sure was a great lunch in a pinch. Mixed greens, alfalfa sprouts topped with one of the burgers. 

These can easily be made Vegan with Egg substitute or a flax "egg". So try it this summer! Don't feel left out at the next BBQ. 

Maybe you will even have a surprise guest like we did!

Ciao and Cookout time

Alexis