Baking Fail, and rainy days

Rain Rain Go away...

I am not sure about anyone else out there but here in Florida this is what we have been looking at for 3 days not...

These are from the car and my backyard...Pretty much the same sight day after day! I am all for the rainy days, but I prefer them on days I can sit at home and drink a cup of coffee from the comfort of my own couch. Oh well I digress...

There is one thing that makes this day a little brighter, if you will... it's WIAW!!!!! We all know how much I love my Wednesday Food Stalker Sessions.

Before we get started with WIAW and Today's Fit Challenge check out what has been going on this week so far in my world...
Memorial Day 
Hop Squat VLOG
Food Prep Burpee Tuck Jump VLOG

Tabata Set

For an explanation and more Tabata exercises check out my weekend on the Navy Base 
For How to videos on these exercises Check out my videos on Hop Squats and Burpee.
Your Challenge: 1 round of this Tabata Set
As Always feel free to...

Ok Now on to the goodies that I call my daily eats...
A big thank you to Jenn for hosting my favorite party for another week :o)
This is where my FAILED baking comes in. I tried out Baked oatmeal for the first time and I was super excited. I pulled it out of the oven, it smelled SO GOOD it looked good... but I bit in and WOMP WOMP... WELCOME TO BLAND-VILLE haha. Well I sucked it up because I do not like to waste food and decided the texture was great it just had little flavor. So I decided. Why not just top it with some "flavor" lol so I drizzled honey over the top and sliced a kiwi on top. Brian loved it this way... TEHE i am a sneaky sneaky girl. Oh well if at first you dont succeed try try again... so hopefully soon I will be posting a DELISH recipe for you, not just one that smells DELISH :o)

Breakfast: Baked Oatmeal topped with Kiwi and 2 egg whites. 

 Snack during my training at work: Think Thin bar, Roasted chickpeas and a banana

 Lunch:  yesterday's recipe FIESTA CHICKEN! On a Flax seed pita

Snack: Hummus with a few pretzels and LOTS of cucumbers

 Dinner Out: Mediterranean Salad topped with salmon. 

Not Pictured: A few bites of cake. I went out for a friends retirement party and they served me cake. I would have felt really bad if I just left the entire thing. So I nibbled a little then pushed it to the side. HEY you gotta live a little right?

I know this was a long post but I hope you enjoyed and I hope you have a new workout to pin :o)

Ciao and retirement time (I wish)

Alexis

Is that your lunch? (30 day challenge V17)

I hope everyone has been having a great week so far... I am not quite sure about anyone else but I am so ready for it to be over! I haven't had a bad week just exhausting. Yesterday was the worst, up at 4:30am work from 7:15am until 9:45pm. Needless to say when I got home I was hungry and tired. Tired won out and in bed I went.

In case you are unaware I am a teacher. I have had the "joy" lol of teaching today's youth. In doing that I have a first hand look at what these kids are eating for lunch... if it can even be called that. Between cafeteria food and lunchables I am brought to a state of disgust almost everyday!


Instead of Veggies or Fruit there are chips and cookies. Even the kids who receive free lunch bring an entire bag of chips to snack on. Instead of a sandwich (which is debatable on the health spectrum) they bring in chicken nuggets, left over McDonalds, Lunchables... 

We as educators try to take what little time we have to teach the kids about nutrition but more times then none all of that education on food is left inside the 4 walls of the classroom. I try my best to teach them through example. I eat 7 times a day and I eat in front of my kids. They know I don;t eat certain things and it is adorable to hear them..." You know she doesn't eat that... she is healthy" haha. So the knowledge is there, but the execution at home is poor.

I started a snack lesson in my class that I hope will at least stick with my students way after they leave me. My students see me eat all the time so it is not fair for me to not allow them to eat in the classroom. So they can eat anytime they want with one stipulation: they can eat fruits and veggies and nothing else. No cookies, no chips, no candy... just good, from the ground (or tree) fruits and veggies.

It takes them a while to get used to me "dictating" what they can and cannot eat IN MY CLASS ( I can't say anything in the lunch room) but it usually ends well. Last year I ended up having a little girl bring in whole peppers and snack on them all day. Another one brings apples or oranges everyday and enjoys it before we go to lunch.

Props

I feel like this picture sums up what I probably look like in my class haha " NO, YOU CAN NOT EAT THAT IN HERE!!!" haha. Now only if I could bring the parents in and teach them the values of nutrition so that maybe one day instead of a bag of chips for snack they bring in a bag of carrots... ONE DAY!!!!

Ok now that I have ranted here is today's challenge tehe

DIP CIRCUIT

Today's challenge is Dips. Nothing more nothing less just good old fashion dips... well maybe not :o)

Your Challenge: 40 regular dips 20 single leg dips (both sides) = 80 dips total.
Are you up for the challenge?


QUESTION: What is one important health or nutrition fact you thinks kids need to learn at an early age?

Ciao from the snack Nazi

Alexis

Going green WIAW v23

So I have been pretty MIA this week... SO much going on, not ENOUGH TIME!!!

Story of my life. Well I have a bunch of fun new recipes to send your way and I promise they will be up soon as soon as I get a chance to breath.

I did however want to stop by and join the WIAW Party... Let's be honest why would I miss the first Wednesday of going green WIAW!?

I love all things green... well that could quite possibly be a lie but for right now I am sticking with this statement.

 As I said I have had no time to breath this week so I am going to make this short and sweet and show you my favorite "Green" dishes of the week. 

I usually try to eat greens everyday but I added a few spins into this weeks menu just to meet the requirements for the party... who am I not come to a party and not abide by the rules? HAHA.

Any who here are my "Green" eats

We had our weekly Sweet Potato Protein "pancakes" and added a bunch of spinach into the mix

 And of course topped it with Homemade CHIA JAM!! (new flavor recipes coming)

 Tonight's dinner was a super tasty HEALTHY, Vegetarian "patty" I am still trying to think of the name LOL but it includes tofu, feta cheese, couscous, spinach and some spices. All served up with some greek yogurt and (green) cucumbers tehe

  My favorite "green" meal was probably our asparagus pizza. some of you may sound odd but it was AHHHH- MA- ZING!!!

I will tell you a secret... Brian and I ate the entire pizza LOL... now it wasn't a super huge pizza and of course he ate more than I did but we did in fact have no leftovers.

Sorry to post and run but it is time to get some me time and enjoy the Hunger Games so I can see the movie in a few weeks!!!

What is your favorite way to get greens in every day? 

Ciao and love going green 

Alexis

Chia Jam: Great taste, Great benefits

CH CH CH CHIA!!!! Hopefully everyone is old enough to get that one HAHA

Until now all I have ever thought of when the word Chia was uttered was this....

Source

 Much like George Washington  "I can not tell a lie" I always secretly wanted one of these little guys, but my parents were not having it . . . a waste of money is what they thought it was . . . I know, I was so deprived haha

However, I have recently been introduced to the benefits of Chia seeds.
 *Enter Science lesson here*

• It is said that 30% of Chia Seeds oil comes from Omega 3's and 40% come from Omega 6's. (no need for a Fatty Acid supplement if you work these into your daily meals)
• They are highly hydrophilic, which is great for athletes. Chia Seeds are able to absorb 10 times their weight in water, which enhances the hydrating of your body during workouts all that much better.
•  Eating Chia Seeds slows down the conversion of carbohydrate calories into simple sugars (which is being studied as a diabetic benefit).
• Chia Seeds gel when becoming wet which helps prevent some of the food/calories we eat from getting absorbed by our digestive system. This blockage of calorie absorption is a great diet helper. 
• Eating Chia Seeds also helps dieters by making them feel fuller faster so they will be less hungry!
• Chia Seeds provide antioxidant activity.

*Science lesson complete* 


So when I head about Chia Seeds and I read up on the benefits I became a believer. I tried to figure out an easy way for me to add these "wonder" seeds to my daily diet without just dumping plain seeds on all my food.

After a recent trip to the farmers market, loading up on a ton of fresh fruit

and finding the seeds later that day at Whole Foods I had an idea... Fresh, No Sugar added, Fruit jam.

I made this up as I went and was pleasantly surprised with the results. I thought it came out just sweet enough for my liking (I let me mother try it, she said it needs a little more sugar but I refuse to add any... so take that as you will) and most importantly kept the fresh taste of the fruit I used to make it.

I have used Strawberries and Blueberries so far and I have loved them both. I plan on making a blackberry/blueberry combo today.

Here is the SUPER SIMPLE recipe I use (Pictures show my strawberry version)

1cup fresh chopped berries (blueberries can be kept whole)
1Tbsp Honey
1 Tbsp Chia seeds

 Add all ingredients into saucepan over med heat mix well to coat all the berries with honey and chia seeds

 Once the strawberries are hot enough (about 2-3 min) they will begin to release juices... reduce heat to low and use a whisk to lightly break up some of the chunks (you do not want it completely smooth)

 This will cause the Jam to thicken up. Once it is to the consistency you would like remove from heat and continue to mix for a min to help cool.

 Once Jam is cooled place in an airtight container and keep in the fridge.

Here are a few of my favorite ways to enjoy the jam and easily work the Chia Seeds into my everyday diet:

PrOatmeal with Natural PB, Chia Jam and Homemade Granola Bark  

 Protein Pancakes 

Recipe here

Home made Bread with home made Ricotta 

Any way you decide to use it, I hope you love it! 

How do you work Chia Seeds into your diet?

Ciao and healthy seeds

Alexis