Chit Chat For Fun

Have you ever just had a super fun weekend? 

My boys went camping with the boy Scouts, so that just left the two of us girls to PLAY!

Friday night, the weather was so miserable we decided to stay in with our favorite pizza and a few senseless shows on Netflix. We ended up having our own camp out in the living room.

Saturday I got up early and made eggs and oatmeal. I do not always have time for this so it was a nice treat. I headed out to my Tri class, while Allison got ready for our fun day. When I came back from class I surprised her with her favorite treat, A Chai Tea Latte and we headed out.

We headed to IKEA. Have you ever been there? I could just move right in! Allison and I had so much fun. We took pictures, designed rooms for our house. We are working on turning her room into more of a grown up style. Can not wait to get started! Any tips for a cool beach theme?

We headed to the prom dress store next. Disaster! Way to many people, dresses and to much fluff. We were out of there. She has never liked all that itchy stuff as she used to call it.  Allison usually orders her dresses online, to great success.

Any tips from moms out there on how to buy a dresses successfully?

Then we headed to see a movie. Have you seen We Bought A Zoo? It is an adorable movie. The little girl just steals your heart. I did not know it was a true story!

We ended the night at our favorite Mexican restaurant. Allison ordered her favorite vegetarian dinner and I had an awesome salad.

I simple love the times I get to spend with my children, whether they are together or just one on one.
This was truly one of my favorite weekends.

What are your favorite things to do over a weekend?

Clean Eating - What's for Breakfast?

What's for breakfast?Day 19 and 20: I apologize for not sending you a clean eating message last night. I had to send my two Boy Scouts off to camp and headed home. The weather was nasty out so Allison and I grabbed blankets, put on a little senseless television and had our own camp out!

Now on to the good stuff. What is for breakfast? How many times a week do we ask ourselves this? We all want something simple or quick and easy to prepare, right?

Well, here is my favorite breakfast when I have time. Scrambled eggs served with a bowl of oatmeal.

Scrambled eggs

• 1 whole egg
• 3 egg whites
• dash of salt and black pepper

Put everything in a bowl, whisk it all together. I add about a teaspoon safflower oil to my pan, add my eggs and cook eggs until set.

Oatmeal

• 1/4 oatmeal ( I use Quaker Multi Grain Hot Cereal)
• 1/2 cup water ( you can use milk of your choice such as skim, almond or soy here. I prefer water.)
• 1tablespoon ground flax seed
• 2 teaspoons raw honey

I put all of my ingredients into a microwave safe bowl. mix the ingredients well. microwave on high for 1 1/2 minutes. stir again before serving.

I also like to prepare a batch of steel cut oats and keep it in the fridge for crazy busy mornings.
You can prepare these oats in your crock pot over the weekend. pull out what you need in the morning add a little raw honey, sliced almonds, a bit of fruit and you have a really good for you breakfast.

Here is a favorite blog post of mine over at The Gracious Pantry. It is  a 365 day oatmeal project. I love to head over their and browse the recipes. 365 day oatmeal project

If you would like me to post a few more breakfast recipes just let me know!

Enjoy!

Marathon Training

Day 25 and 26: Yesterday I took a rest day. We headed out early to celebrate our anniversary and I did not have the opportunity to get to the Y.

I was really excited to get there today! I hopped on a treadmill instead of  running the track. Whoa, what a different workout. I felt like I was working twice as hard. I loved it though.

Today was a nice easy 3 mile run. I laugh at the thought of an easy 3 mile run. A year and a half ago I could not even run a mile. Now I am training for a marathon. How crazy is that!
 

Clean eating - Anniversary Dinner

Day: 18 What a wonderful day! My husband and I enjoyed a nice meal at Ted's Montana Grill. We were celebrating twenty one years of marriage. How awesome is that!

I love to go to Ted's on a special occasion such as this, because it is easy to get a clean meal.

To start, they bring out cucumbers as an appetizer. For dinner,  I chose a delicious buffalo filet, plain baked sweet potato and steamed broccoli. They do cook their broccoli in butter but when I asked if I could have my broccoli steamed, no butter, they were happy to do so.

I never thought I would enjoy buffalo. I decided to try it about a year ago. I wanted to have someone else cook it for me before I decided to cook it myself. It is like butter melting in your mouth. Here is a great article I found on the benefits of eating buffalo.
http://www.thehealthycookingcoach.com/2009/06/the-benefits-of-eating-buffalo.html

I am so excited for lunch tomorrow because as you know restaurant food is generally enough for two days.

We skipped dessert. Not on the Clean Eating Plan (we were both OK with this, we are not really dessert eaters).  Not to worry though, I was prepared. I had a couple squares of dark chocolate frozen to our liking - Yum!

All in all, what a lovely evening with the man of my dreams!

Marathon Training

Day 24: Whew, managed to run a nice 5 miles after work and headed back to the pool to swim with the Tri class.

My running is getting easier. I am feeling great at the end of my run. I do however, need to step it up and stop coddling myself by taking my runs outdoors. Adding a bit more hill training to my workouts. Although my legs love a good flat run.

I am so glad that I am getting back into the Tri class. What a great group of friends. We have so much fun working hard. The pool was full tonight. We had a few kids join us. The fun part was they were kids I know. Two of the kids I had taught in Kindergarten. How fun is that!

I worked a lot on arm placement tonight. I am so thankful for Muriel (our instructor) for her guidance. She is going to make a swimmer out of me yet!

I skipped out of the bike part tonight. I was a bit tired and needed to get home and catch up on some much needed sleep.

Clean Eating - friends helping friends

Day 17: I have to say, I so enjoy people at work asking what I am having for lunch today? It is so fun to share my love of eating clean.

My partner in crime Janet and I are always bringing lunch or treats for one another to try. I will say to her " Hey try this and let me know what you think. Today she brought me some pinto beans and rice I can not wait to try.

I tell you this in hopes that you may find your own food partner. Janet and I can call, email or text one another. We ask each other questions, give advice, share recipes and give each other lot's of encouragement to stay the course on our path to healthy living.

I so appreciate having a friend who gets so excited about something new she finds at the nature store, and calls right away to tell me all about it!

My point is, it is so much easier to keep yourself on the path to eating clean if you have someone to go the distance with you. A friend, coworker, spouse or family member.

If you do not have access to these things you can also hit the internet. We are in the age of Facebook, twitter, chat and instant messaging. There are many websites on eating clean available as well.

So, what are you waiting for? I am always here to talk as well. Feel free to leave me comments, and I promise to help encourage you along your journey to eat clean.

Marathon Training

Day 23: I finished my light day today. I was so tired from not sleeping last night but, I managed to finish 3 miles. I did not however make it to strength training. I knew my limits. It was time to head home after completing my run.

I did not even have to work on Marathon pace because my body did that for me. Ran slower today than I have in quite a while. 

I will be heading to bead early tonight to gear up for a great day tomorrow.