Taking Stock | September

 

So here’s a look into my September, another chapter down in the book called 2015.

What was YOUR favorite part of this month? Comment below! If you start your own Taking Stock – leave the URL below – would love to read all about your world 🙂

This month was kicked off by being laid off of my job, as my position was eliminated. A good and bad deal. I’ll certainly miss the money and short commute but I was unhappy there. And, it brought about a great opportunity. While job shadowing for my Health Promotion degree, I made a great contact and now have a Wellness Internship with a county office. Super excited!!!

I’ve also started another semester at school, taking Social Media Communications, Art and (still) doing Math. We’ve been on a few hikes recently and got to experience beautiful views of the fall season taking over the mountains. Not going to lie, there have been a few things that I’m struggling with recently but I’m trying to stay positive and push forward.

Making: works of art 🙂

Cooking: healthy, low-carb chicken alfredo. Yum!

Drinking: crystal lite. I’m addicted…

Reading: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Wanting: for this congestion to go away

Looking: for another part time opportunity

Playing: grown up 🙂

Deciding: that I’m not ready to give up shorts and tank tops!

Wishing: my body would hurry and get back to normal. That competition was rough!

Enjoying: some beautiful hikes

Waiting: for Orlando in December…

Liking: eating bigger meals, less often

Wondering: how someone gives up on life and resorts to wearing pajamas, fuzzy slippers and a ratty shirt to Walmart. And seeing nothing wrong with it.

Loving: the protein oatmeal cookies!!

Pondering: the options and my feelings

Considering: sending my symptoms to the writers of House and seeing if they can find a cure.

Buying: not much lately, just the necessary items

Watching: all 6 Star Wars, plus the Family Guy versions, plus the cartoon versions. Nerd alert!

Hoping: that I rock at this internship

Marveling: at how fast this year has gone by

Cringing: at the scale

Needing: a girls night

Questioning: how I could have liked “My Stepmother is an Alien” growing up. That movie is terrible, with a capital T!

Smelling: the fall air

Wearing: more loose fitting shirts lately

Following: some new contacts on LinkedIn

Noticing: that the mornings are darker

Knowing: how to fully work my entertainment system would be a real plus sometimes.

Thinking: about taking 6 inches off at my next haircut appointment

Admiring: my ability to not devour the M&M’s and Reese’s Pieces in my cupboard. The struggle is real…

Sorting: through life

Getting: a better insight into different health fields

Bookmarking: some new books on goodreads.com

Coveting: shirts!

Disliking: making less money. Boo!

Opening: my mind to new possibilities

Giggling: at awesome 80’s movies

Feeling: happy that I canceled my Wen hair products trial membership.

Snacking: on string cheese

Helping: Shawn after his surgery

Hearing: nothing

Healthy Homemade Pizzas – Yum!!!!

A group of us went to a pizza cooking demonstration on Saturday, which was a blast! We got to try various types of pizza, some good and some just okay. A good night out with friends, regardless! But it left me craving more pizza. Go figure… So, we decided Sunday was a great time to make our own pizzas again. Love doing this! We decided to make chicken Alfredo pizzas for something different. Actually, the dough was pretty filling, so I could only eat half my pizza.

RECIPE BELOW!

Q: What’s YOUR favorite pizza(s)?? If you make this one, let me know what you think!

Finished pizzas. I could hardly contain my excitement, I wanted to dig in so bad!!

Super easy and yummy! Here’s what we used but you can choose any toppings. We like to mix it up!

– Low carb dough (can’t remember the brand we bought online) or a tortilla

– Light Alfredo sauce

– Toppings: pepperoni, chopped ham, shredded pre-roasted chicken and tomatoes.

– Garlic parmesan cheese

– 2 cookie sheets

– Vegetable oil spray

To make: Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Roll out dough (we just use our hands) on greased cookie sheet. One pizza per cookie sheet. Add sauce and then toppings to your liking. Bake for about 10-15 minutes, depending on how crisp you like the bottoms. We like them pretty crispy. Viola! Super easy, healthy pizzas!

One + Life = Four | June 7

I’m a few days late on my Sunday “life” post but this was one exhausting weekend! My weekdays consisted of training, eating and more training. Friday, I had to get my stage tan, attend the competitor’s meeting and prep some things for the next day. Saturday was a loooooong day. Up at 4:30am and didn’t get to bed until 1:30am but it was great! The competition was amazing. I was stressed, nervous and excited but I had a super fun day and am really proud of myself. See below!

Hope you enjoy the glimpse into my life….

Me and my parents after I won my trophies. I know their expressions don’t show it, but they’re really excited and happy for me 🙂 My dad rarely smiles and my mom always has the “I’m so proud I could cry” look on her face whenever we accomplish something. They’re happy people, I swear. 🙂 I couldn’t have been happier at that moment, unless there was food involved. You’ll have to wait for the professional pics to be posted to see my suit!

Close up of my trophies. The smaller one is for 2nd place in my division (Novice Figure A) and the taller one is for 3rd place in the Open class (Figure). I can finally add some trophies of my own to my husband’s collection of bodybuilding trophy shelf 🙂 There is no money for winning, just these trophies and the sheer satisfaction of knowing what I accomplished.

These are the start of our second round of pancakes at Denny’s, after the competition. First round was IHOP, then we made a last minute decision on the way home to stop at Denny’s. We’re like hobbits and consider this second breakfast. And damn they were good!! 🙂

Healthy blueberry muffins we made on Sunday. Blueberry protein powder and real blueberries made these phenomenal! This is exactly what I meant about getting back to normal life and our regular flexible dieting. So much yummy, healthy food we hardly know where to begin!!

Epic Low-Carb Chicken Burger (Re-Make)

Decided to try out a new recipe last night and OH MY GOD, it was amazingly delicious! Absolutely loved it and can’t wait to have it again! If you decide to try it, I would love to hear your opinions and comments 🙂

We made some tweeks to the recipe. Here’s the version we made last night, original recipe below along with the nutrition info (if following original recipe). Forgot to take a picture of the finished beauty but it’s pretty dang close to the picture below (minus the lettuce, top mushroom cap and fancy plate). Enjoy! 🙂

Ingredients:

• 1.5lb lean ground turkey (this made 4- 4oz burgers and 4- 3oz burgers)
• 4 portobello mushroom caps
• 4 thin tomato slices (red)
• 1 small avocado, split between all the burger
• 4 portobello mushroom caps
• 1 cup chopped peppers (red, orange and yellow mixed)
• 2 fried eggs

Steps:

1. Set oven to 375F.
2. Wash portobello mushrooms and remove stem. Dry them with a paper towel.
3. Place them face down on baking/cookie sheet, spritz of spray butter and top with garlic.
4. Bake in the oven for 18 minutes.
5. Season ground turkey with pepper, salt, garlic, cumin, cayenne, paprika, Walden Farm’s BBQ sauce and Frank’s Red Hot Buffalo sauce.
6. Measure out 4- 4oz burgers and 4- 3oz burgers and cook in a skillet on medium heat. Remember to flip the patty so that the inside and sides of the patty are completely cooked.
7. Make 2 fried eggs, seasoned with pepper.
8. Remove the mushroom caps from the oven, place both face up on plate. Made one w/turkey burger, tomato and avocado. Made the second burger exactly the same but added the fried egg on top. We each had 2 burgers, one with fried egg on top.
9. Can eat with your hands but we used forks. The garlic from the mushroom caps made it pretty juicy and hard to hold. Eat!

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Original Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 5oz lean ground chicken
• 2 portobello mushroom caps
• 1 large leaf lettuce
• 2 leaves red cabbage
• 3-4 thin tomato slices (red, yellow, green)
• 1 tbsp goat cheese
• 1/16 cup shredded carrots (or 2-3 carrot slices)
• 1/2 small avocado slices.

Steps:

1. Set oven to 375F.
2. Wash portobello mushrooms and remove stem. Dry them with a paper towel.
3. Place them face down in a baking pan and lightly spray with olive oil. Sprinkle a little sea salt and garlic.
4. Bake in the oven for 8 – 10 minutes.
5. Season with your ground chicken with your choice of seasonings. I recommend sea salt, garlic, cumin, cayenne, paprika.
6. Form a hamburger patty and cook in a skillet on medium heat. Remember to flip the patty so that the inside and sides of the patty are completely cooked.
7. Remove the mushroom caps from the oven and immediately begin to assemble your burger.
8. Place the mushroom cap face up. Add: lettuce, cabbage, tomato, chicken burger patty, goat cheese (crumble or spread), avocado, carrots.
9. Top the burger with the other end of the mushroom cap. Smash it down with your hands and eat!

Approx macros: 

 

Lovin’ My New Gym Kicks!

Every year between December and March, marks the migration period to new gym shoes. This is a love/hate relationship, one that I look forward to and dread at the same time. I’m not a fan of shoe shopping (shocking for a girl, I know!) and I’m not a fan of spending a lot of money on shoes. Sounds like a lose/lose situation right? But I love it! I love the feeling of a fresh start with new workout shoes. The extra cushiony feel of the shoe, before it starts to wear down over the next year. My feet love it, too! And I love investing in good, quality shoes that help me succeed at my #1 passion: fitness!

Here are my new gym kicks – the Mizuno Wave Rider. My new love. This is the updated version of the shoe I purchased last winter. Love the shoe and LOVE the color! *sigh* I’ve been breaking them in all week and loving it! And did I mention that I love them? 🙂

Oh Glorious Pizza…

I love pizza. Dominoes, Papa Murphy’s and Tony’s Pizza are my top picks. Those can get pretty pricey and I can easily get out of control with the portions. Did I mention that I love pizza? The last year, the hubby and I have tried different versions of our homemade pizzas and I actually crave these MUCH more than any pizza joint. For our date night in last Friday, we decided to make pizzas. YUUMMMM!!! Here’s a picture of our finished version.

Oh yes, one of those babies was all mine! 😀 It looks really red because we mixed the sauce, peppers and cheese together before spreading on the tortilla. Topped them with turkey bacon and pepperoni and viola! Individual pizzas that just make my mouth water. Mmmmm….