Motivated

Helllllo world Thanks for all of your sweet comments on my pictures from Easter weekend and all of your motivation tips!

I think all of the positive vibes you guys sent me really got me going yesterday morning. I woke up at 6 – went for a quick 3.5 mile run, did an arm & a buns workout and ate healthy all day.. I also had another quick workout before dinner that included 15 minutes on the elliptical and a legs and abs circuit. I already feel SO much better. Isn’t it crazy how getting off track can make you feel so blah? I’m thankful for all of you to keep me in check

BrittFit left a comment that hit home with me because I used to say this to myself ALL the time. “I’ve never regretted a workout”. It’s so true… The hardest part is getting to the gym – Once you are there its easy breezy. Well, kind of! I was thinking of things I usually do to motivate myself to get back in the gym/eating healthy routine and here is what I came up with.

1.) Make a new playlist on my ipod — Music determines how hard I work out… If I have a good playlist I will run and run and RUN.

2.) Break up your workouts — If 60 minutes of cardio is intimidating do 30 minutes when you wake up and 30 minutes after work. Chances are you will push yourself a lot harder in those 30 minutes than you would in the 60.

3.) Create a plan — Plan your meals, plan your workouts and plan your grocery list. A plan always helps you stay on track!

4.) Take a new class — Sometimes doing the same thing over and over will drive you crazy. Sign up for a yoga, pilates, bootcamp or a spin class. I guarantee it will push you to get back into your routine.

5.) Change your scenery — If you spent all winter in the gym, head outside for a run, find a trail to hike, bike your neighborhood or Rollerblade around a park. 

So now that I’m back on track I’m ready to show you some healthy recipes

1.) Protein Pancake

2.) Orange flavored Cranberry & Feta Chicken Burgers

Both are so easy and quick that we should rename me Rachel Ray!

Protein Pancake

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup egg whites
• 2 tbs vanilla almond milk
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbs flaxseed
• 1/2 banana, mashed
• 1/4 cup blueberries
• 2 frozen strawberries, defrosted

Directions

• Combine all ingredients into a bowl
• Heat a skillet on medium high and spray with olive oil cooking spray
• Pour batter into skillet as one big pancake
• Cook for 3 minutes on each side (or until browned)
• Eat up!
• Add some agave if necessary but this pancake is pretty sweet without it

You could certainly use fresh strawberries but I think the defrosted frozen strawberries really give it that sweet flavor where syrup is unnecessary. This might be my new favorite breakfast! If I workout in the morning I would probably add a scoop of vanilla protein powder

One of the perks of working as a nanny is that I have full use of a kitchen ALL day. So for lunch I made these chicken burgers for the girls and I… They were delicious!

Orange Flavored Cranberry & Feta Chicken Burgers

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb ground chicken breast
• 1/4 cup orange flavored dried cranberries
• 1/6 cup feta cheese
• 1 egg white
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Directions

• Combine ground chicken breast, cranberries, cheese and egg white in bowl.
• Shape into 3 patties
• Heat 1 tbsp of Olive Oil in skillet
• Add patties and brown on each side for 5-6 minutes or until fully cooked

Bleh – hate to look at raw meat but wanted to show you them being cooked.

Serve warm on a whole wheat bun with lettuce

The girls asked me if I would make these EVERY day… That can be arranged

Here’s to making it another healthy day! Happy Wednesday everyone.

QUESTIONS: What new healthy recipes should I make this week? Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner options needed

Funfetti Pancakes & Favorite Friday

Happy Friday everyone! This week went by fast =) I love when that happens… Remember when we all used Myspace and people would send you Happy Friday comments? 

Sometimes they’re good for a smile.

Yesterday I woke up to 10 inches of snow on the ground! Yay for a snow day… I decided to make myself a yummy breakfast since I wasn’t in a rush for once. If you know me, you know I’m OBSESSED with funetti cake/cupcakes/cookies. I make them once a month and always have a spare box in the pantry. So, this morning, I ripped open the box in an attempt to make Funfetti Pancakes…

Mission Accomplished. I love incorporating one of my favorite things into breakfast because breakfast is my favorite meal so it’s bound to make for a wonderful day! Oh and these weren’t just regular pancakes, they were packed with protein and made with whole wheat Give them a try, you wont regret it.

Protein packed Funfetti Pancakes

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons of brown rice protein
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup oats
• 1/3 cup almond milk
• 1/8 cup greek yogurt
• 1/3 tsp baking soda
• 1/8 cup egg whites
• 1 tbsp ground flax
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tbsp funfetti cake mix (or more if you’d like)
• Sprinkles

Directions

1. Mix dry ingredients – protein powder, flour, oats, flax, baking soda, sprinkles and funfetti mix.
2. Mix wet ingredients – almond milk, greek yogurt, vanilla and egg whites.
3. Combine together.
4. Heat a skillet with cooking spray to med-high heat. Drop the batter into 3 portions in skillet and heat for 3 minutes on each side. Make sure you press down after flipping the pancakes the first time.

5. Transfer to plate and top these however you would like.

I topped mine with frozen blueberries that were defrosted in the microwave. We were out of sugar-free syrup and I didn’t want to use regular. (Sugar free has 30 calories while regular has 210!) I’m still thinking about these pancakes because that’s how much I loved them.

Good thing I had a hearty breakfast because I was headed outside to shovel for my first time! Apparently I have OCD and couldn’t stop shoveling because I ended up shoveling the road… Ridiculous, I know. I was all about the calorie burn so I just kept going… I shoveled for about 2 hours and let me tell you that I’ve never been more sore in my life. Who would’ve thought that shoveling snow would’ve been the best workout I’ve ever had?? There is not 1 muscle in my body that isn’t achey today…

We had the cleanest sidewalk/road/driveway in the neighborhood and burned about 600 calories while doing it

After I got showered and warmed up I was hungry again! I decided to make a cheese”burger” out of last night’s Sweet Potato TurkeyLoaf.

Stuffed it in half of a pita with some spinach and it was goooood!

I love creating new meals out of leftovers.

During the day I also snacked on some watermelon slices and of course a protein granola bar. Those will finally be gone tomorrow! Need to think of a new snack to make

We had A LOT of fresh veggies on hand so we decided to go the stir fry route for dinner

Stir-fry is probably one of my favorite dinner choices!

We broiled some salmon and threw it into the veggies with brown rice, drizzled szechuan sauce and topped with sesame seeds. 15 minute meal – 6 ingredients – Rachel Ray & Claire Robinson would be proud.

Even though I am out of Vegan Chocolate Chips I still managed to have dessert…Imagine that. I received this candy bar 2 weeks ago and have been saving it for the perfect moment.

Which was clearly, now. I broke off 3 squares, topped them with marshmallow fluff and placed that on top of 1/3 of a piece of graham cracker.

I love mint, I love chocolate and I love anything that resembles smores so it’s only fair to say that I love this dessert as well. I didn’t even miss my chocolate chips. Did you notice I went an entire day without Peanut Butter? Weird, hope I’m not getting sick

Onto Favorite Friday… I made a list of my top 10 favorite foods that I could NOT live without. Ready…

10. Green Beans – By far my favorite vegetable. I love them szechuan style the most!

9. Avocado – looks like greens will be at the top of the list. I love that you can add this to a lot of different dishes… But sometimes I just scoop it out with a spoon  

8.  Goat Cheese – On pizza, salads, quesadillas or the simple way with crackers

7. Pancakes…hence why i make them at least once a week

6. Apples – Honeycrisp to be exact. Of course they have to be the most expensive

5.  Mac & Cheese… I’m sure you all agree

4. Strawberries – I’ve yet to meet someone who didn’t enjoy these

3.  BACON! I feel like the dog on the commercial when I say that.

2. Ice Cream – Tasti D Lite is the best EVER. They need to open one up in Maryland ASAP

1. Peanut Butter… any type. I currently have 5 different jars in my cabinet. That’s true love.

What are the top ten foods you cant live without?

Day #2 of my blog challenge - Meaning behind your blog name

Fashion – Fitness – Foodie – Staying fit while eating good food in stilettos.

I wish I had some awesome story or could tell you that there was a deeper meaning behind my name – But it’s just 3 things that I’m passionate about… Fashion (shopping) Fitness (working out and being fit) Foodie (food – healthy and not so healthy!) I was introduced to blogs by a friend who wanted me to make a recipe from someone’s website and I quickly became sucked in. I jumped from blog to blog reading about people’s daily eats, workouts and recipes they’ve created. After 2 weeks of basically stalking people I decided I would try one out myself…and now here I am testing out the waters. It’s only been a little over a month but I enjoy writing, thinking of new recipes and of course reading all of your blogs too

I hope everyone has a great weekend!!

QUESTIONS: What is the meaning behind your blog name? Weekend plans? What is a food you CANNOT live without?