Category Archives: foods

Gangnam Style

Posted on by

2

I made another new-to-me dinner last night, and it was pretty good.

Couscous with veggies and bacon. Pretty self explanatory. But the secret was in the dressing! After you cook the couscous as directed, sautee any veggies you have in the fridge (I used red pep, zucchini, and an onion from the garden), and sizzle up about 5 pieces of bacon, toss them all together in a bowl.

Then- the best part- coat the mixture with dressing made up of:

  • Juice of one lime
  • 3 T olive oil
  • 1 T honey
  • 1 t paprika
  • Dash salt
  • Dash pepper

It was a really nice dish. Only complaint from Tyler was that it was too sweet. He probably would have enjoyed it more if there was a higher ratio of bacon. I would suggest tasting the dressing before coating the dish to make sure it’s to your liking.

******

Yesterday’s workout came in three parts.

Part 1: Strength Circuit from Best Body Bootcamp. For the workout I chose, she had us doing 5 sets of each exercise before moving to the next exercise. Each set was supposed to use higher weights, but since I didn’t have much choice from working out at home, I made sure to do variations for each set to incorporate muscle confusion. For example: with bench presses- first set was with feet flat on the ground; second set had my legs in ‘table top’; third set my legs were fully extended; fourth set I did on the stability ball; fifth (and technically sixth set) I did single arm presses.

I’m not sore today, but I definitely felt the challenge as I progressed.

Part 2: 45 minute walk with Layla. I wore a jacket, but hot dang I was a sweaty mess by the time we got home. I chose a route that was very hilly so I could work those glutes just that much more 🙂

Part 3: Cardio. I buzzed on over to the gym for a 25 minute interval run on the treadmill and 10 min HIIT on the elliptical. Ummm, it’s been over 3 months since I have been on the elliptical. How did that happen?

Today’s workout will be at the Eau Claire YMCA downtown. I am co-teaching HEAT (indoor bootcamp) then going over some kickboxing stuff with the fitness director to see if I am eligible to instruct an upcoming class. Then probably some sweating on the treadmill.

I leave you with my current favorite jam/dance/I will be breaking this out at the retreat this weekend:

If you scroll to 1:27, that might be what I look like while instructing my class this afternoon. #justsaying. Gangnam Style.

Spoiled Dog (and a recipe!)

Posted on by

7

So, my dog is spoiled.

I went to the store yesterday specifically to get canned pumpkin for her. Over the last few months, she has been having issues where she screams in pain whenever she sits or lays down. We have brought her to the vet and found it’s because her anal glands have been filling with fluid. Gross, right? Since then, she has had to go to the vet a couple of times to get her glands ’emptied.’ But dude, vet appointments are nasty expensive. We Googled the problem and spoke with the people at our local pet store, and it seems that upping her fiber intake may solve the problem. Insert:

 

Pumpkin!

About 1 tbsp mixed in with her food, and she should be good to go. With her being a picky eater, I was nervous she would eat around the orange stuff, but dang she gobbled it all up!

 

And now she’s even more drooly! Gross.

 

As if the pumpkin wasn’t enough, she also got some of our dinner.

 

Correction: some of my dinner.

Guys- it was a good dinner.

 

Pork Tenderloin with Apples and Onions

Here’s what you’ll need

  • pork tenderloin (duh)
  • 2 granny smith apples, peeled and diced
  • 1 medium onion (I used 2 small ones from our garden!), diced
  • 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1/4 cup water
  • S&P

This is what you do

  1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees, prepare a baking pan with olive oil (or Pam)
  2. In a large skillet, heat olive oil on medium heat. Place the S&P’d tenderloin in the skillet to brown on all sides (about 5-6 minutes).
  3. Transfer the tenderloin onto the prepared pan and place in the oven until the internal temperature of the pork reaches 165 degrees (about 25 minutes).
  4. While the tenderloin in cooking, add the onions to the same skillet in which the tenderloin was browned. Allow them to get tender. (approx. 3 min)
  5. Add the apples, balsamic vinegar, cinnamon, and sugar. Stir frequently to fully incorporate. Once incorporated, add the water to the skillet.
  6. After a few minutes, once the apples start to tenderize, cover the skillet and turn off the burner.
  7. When tenderloin is done baking, remove from oven and allow to sit for 5 minutes.
  8. Cut the tenderloin and top with onion/apples mixture. Serve.

Sounds good huh? It is. Even Tyler liked it, and he hates pork (crazy since he LOVESSSSS bacon). And he hates the idea of pairing meat with fruit. Double win for me!

 

As if these yummy eats weren’t enough for the four-footed princess, Tyler came home with even more goodies for her.

 

One of the ingredients is pumpkin! She is going to turn orange soon. I promise to post pictures when it happens.

 

She loved these treats from Wet Noses. She actually played with her first brownie bite last night before inhaling it.

While my dog enjoyed being spoiled yesterday, I unfortunately did not treat myself to such luxuries. I didn’t even work out. And I was SO mad about it. Granted, I do have an exercise-filled weekend coming up, so my body could use the break. But I took out my frustration on Tyler with lots of frowns and moans and groans. Poor guy.

Exercise makes me happy. Even if my body needs the break, I like to indulge in workouts to stay HAPPY. I promised myself that since I was not doing a single thing yesterday, I would have an awesome workout today. And I’m excited for it! I’m going to run at the Y then get in some strength circuits from Best Body Bootcamp. And then I’m going to be HAPPY!

Oh wait, I did do one thing..

 

Fall nails!

Anyone suffer from non-working-out guilt? How do you overcome?

August Foodie Penpal Reveal!

Posted on by

2

Holy Balls. This month, I had the best foodie penpal. Ok really they’ve all been super awesome- sending me things I’ve never tried (and ended up LOVING), but this month, Erin from Happier, Healthier, More Fit Me sent me a box full of chocolate goodness.

Before I get to the goods, let me lay down the law for how this Foodie Penpal thing works:

The Lean Green Bean

-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.

-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! 

-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!

-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)

-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. 

-Foodie Penplas is open to US & Canadian residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. 

If you’re interested in participating for September, please CLICK HERE to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions.

You must submit your information by September 4th as pairings will be emailed on September 5th!

******

So here’s my beautiful assortment from Erin

Chocolate heaven!

Cute card to go with it! I love dogs!

Ok. WHY have this not been in my life until now? When I first opened the package, I laughed when I saw these, and actually said “OMG”….and then I ate them and REALLY said OMG. Graham crackers with almonds and toffee bits covered in chocolate? My dream. Tyler only got one. I pretty much inhaled the rest. Then had to do an hour of kickboxing to displace any guilt. 😉

I haven’t gotten into this one yet. I actually have it in my gym bag now as an emergency refuel bar. I can’t wait to have an emergency!

Tyler and I split this one. It was good- I was expecting it to taste different from the regularly packaged Hershey bars, but it was the same. No complaints. At all.

Another OMG. This granola is fabuloso. I haven’t had granola- or oats for that matter- in a super long time. I poured a bit of this in a bowl with almond milk and it hit the spot.

I ate this all by myself- directly after downing 2 cups of coffee. Needless to say, I was literally bouncing around the living room in front of Layla and Tyler who thought I was crazy pants.

Thanks so much, Erin!

Be sure to check out her blog (linked above) and sign up for September to get a package as awesome as this (also linked above)

Recipe: Chili. Workout: Strength

Posted on by

4

If I just want to wish you an average Thursday, do I just say “Thursday?” Instead of ‘Happy Thursday!”

Thursday.

Pardon the headache and grumpy mood.

Today started cheery and bright with the puppy. She got her morning cookie out on the patio. She’s too cute.

‘Mama, just gimme the cooooookie. I sit real nice this this”

“Look, mom. I even give my paw. I’m a good puppy”

And then, I somehow managed to take my favorite picture of the day

I absolutely love that face.

So I took her for a super long walk. She, of course, led the way.

I kid you not, I looked a wreck on that walk. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t even wearing a bra. Disgusting.

You can even see my flyaways in this shadow pic

We ended up walking longer than expected and Layla needed a shade break

Oh right. Before the walk, I did two things

  • I made chili
  • I worked out

The chili was sort of a throw-together meal, so I can’t really give you EXACT amounts, but it went like this

Ingredients

  • 1 large zucchini
  • 1 red pepper
  • 2 medium yellow onions (from our garden!)
  • 1 can of corn
  • 1 can of black beans
  • give or take 10 mini carrots

(chop all that stuff up)

  • 1.5 lbs ground beef

(brown the beef in a skillet)

  • paprika
  • cayenne pepper
  • chili powder
  • onion powder
  • salt
  • pepper
  • parsley
  • basil

(to taste)

  • 1 big ass can of tomato sauce
  • 1 small can tomato paste

Directions

Throw it all in a crock pot. Cook on high for 2 hours, low for 2 hours. EAT.

It was soooooooo good. I can’t wait for leftovers.

On to the workout…

My leg felt a bit better when I woke up this morning, but I didn’t really want to take any chances with high impact stuff in case it made it worse. So I stuck with strength (ps: last night I couldn’t go without doing any kind of workout, so I did 200 situps on the stability ball. phew)

I did 5 ‘sets’ of exercises. Each set I did 2x through. If you need me to further explain moves, let me know!

Set 1

  • weighted lunges (12 each leg)
  • weighted squats (12)
  • weighted split squat (12 each leg)

Set 2

  • Donkey kicks (16 bent knee, 16 straight leg toe taps, 16 crossover knee)
  • Double leg glute squeeze (video shows the exercise on the ball, I do these on the floor)

Set 3

Set 4

  • Concentration curls (8 full, 8 all the way down-halfway up, 8 all the way up-halfway down. each arm)
  • Tricep pulls & extension (8 each)
  • Chest press & Flys on the stability ball (8 each)

Set 5

  • Behind your back pulses (12 count)
  • Overhead press- palms in (12)
  • Lateral extension (12)

Time from this cranky pants to hit the hay.

Night!

Recipe: Zucchini Fries

Posted on by

0

Well, hello, fellow people of the universe.

Last night’s workout was pretty decent. And by decent, I mean SWEATY.

-40 minutes of treadmill intervals

-15 minutes of spin intervals

I walked to and from the gym for the extra (4) calorie burn.

 

Listened to some new music-some of it is technically old, but I just got around to putting it on my iPod.

 

Might have overdone it because my left shin/foot has been throbbing like a mother fluffer all day. I also have a bruise there…so I could just be clumsy. I’M TURNING INTO MY MOTHER.

Quick vent sesh: wedding are expensive. Apparently I haven’t been properly conveying how I want my wedding because before I knew it, all the plans were getting way too formal.

 

That just might happen. And I’m gonna have a candy bouquet instead of $1300 flowers. (i joke..maybe)

For lunch today, I finally whipped up a batch of zucchini fries. I got the craving for them about 2 weeks ago, then Gina posted a recipe yesterday, so I figured it was a sign.

Instead of bread crumbs, I opted to use a recent purchase

 

I put a handful of those suckers in my new food processor, and BAM!

 

Crumbs.

Chop up the zucchini, dip in egg wash (one egg + one egg white + splash of milk) then roll in crumbs.

 

Place on sprayed cooking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for around 20 minutes.

Lunch is ready.

 

(shot ‘a hot sauce for some kick)

I tried staying off my feet all day for my dang leg to feel better-minus the short walk with Layla- so I’m not sure what tonight’s workout will look like. I’m guessing strength.