Jan 24, 2017

Fitness Tuesday

Since it is Tuesday, its; time or another Fitness Tuesday. Until I can start going to the gym again (I went to my school's gym but I can't at the moment) I am trying to find exercises I can do at home & outside. I think in a time crunch at home workouts can be super beneficial if you are trying to stay in shape. 
I'm also trying to do more stretching. Ever since my car accident in October, I've lost all the flexibility that I had. One of goals I have on the fitness front this year is to get my stretch and do yoga daily. My friend & I are going to the Wanderlust 108 event in Atlanta in April (I missed the one in Nashville last year because of my accident) so I at least want to be able to do yoga in a crowd without making a total fool of myself.
There are a number of health/wellness/fitness websites that I read & Bodybuilding.com is one of my favorites for exercises (besides Pinterest of course). I'm trying to get my booty back in shape I've been doing these Ashley Horner workout booty workouts plus some more of hers from Pinterest:











Peace & Blessings, all. I'm off to do some of these exercise. Everyone have a great Tuesday & be careful if you live in one of the areas with the bad weather.

Jan 23, 2017

Taco Rice Salad

One of the many changes I'm making this year is trying to get back into shape. For me, this means the physical (exercising), mental, & and in particular the nutrition part. As of late, I've been eating out a lot quit a bit. As someone who really enjoys cooking, its been hard. It has also taken a toll on my body. Personally, I can tell when I eat crap because I feel like crap. 

In the last few months I have been buying cooking books again. One of my favorite ones is prefect for this time of year where people are trying to reach weight loss goals:


This is the Cooking Light Mix & Match Low-calorie cookbook.  This cookbook has great options for every meal plus snacks. They also include tips on what the best choices are when it comes to weight loss.

One of the recipes that I've made from this book so far is the Taco Rice Salad.

Ingredients:
1 lb ground turkey
2 cups wild rice
2 hearts of Romaine Lettuce, chopped/torn
1 cup frozen corn
1 can black beans, rinsed & drained
1 pack taco seasoning (I bought mine at Sprouts)
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup shredded colby jack cheese
Optional: Spoon of salsa

Instruction:
-Microwave bag of rice in water for 6 minutes, drain & set aside.
-Cook meat for 10 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble.
-Microwave corn for 5 & a half minutes.
-Drain meat & place back into pan.
-Add rice, corn, seasoning, & black beans to meat.
-Pour taco seasoning & 1/2 cup water to meat mixture.
-Cook the mixture for 5 to 8 minutes on medium.
-Place one cup of lettuce in a bowl.
-Top the lettuce with 1/2 of taco rice mixture.
-Place 1/3 cup of shredded cheese on top of taco rice.
-Add spoonful of salsa on top.

In the cookbook, they made a dressing with sour cream and salsa. I made my own ranch dressing. The thing I like about this meal is that you can make this as a salad, do the taco rice mixture by itself, or even make it vegetarian by taking out the meat & adding more vegetables to it.

I'm going to try to start posting a recipe at least once a weeks from the food that I make. One thing that has been working out for me is that I started buying all the food that I'm planning to eat for the week on Sunday & make my lunches for the first three days of the week that night. I usually make my dinners for the week on Monday night. I'm very lucky in that I do have a full pantry most of the time so I can shop in there, just having to go to the store for one or two items.

Peace & blessings all. Have a great start of your work week!!!

Jan 19, 2017

Thoughtful Thursday

Happy Thursday & good morning. Lately, I've been in a blogging funk. I'm eventually going to get back into doing my own photos again. One realization that I have come to this year (its only day 19 so it hasn't been that long) is that I need to take the time to do the things I enjoy i.e. blogging, cooking/baking, mixology, & working out. This weekend, I am going to spend it doing things I enjoy doing. Might go to the art museum or some other activities. Here are some thoughts for the rest of this week:












Via


Peace & Blessings all. Enjoy this spring like weather we are having. Have a fantastic Thursday!!!

Jan 17, 2017

Fitness Tuesday

It's Tuesday meaning it's time for Fitness Tuesday. For the first time in a long time I actually ran this weekend since the weather in being crazy. If you live in the South, you know what I'm talking about: the weather temps are what they are in the Spring. Warm weather in the Winter also means one thing: a storm is coming. Anywho, here are some exercises from Pinterest to try out this week if you have time:











Peace & Blessings everyone. Have a great Tuesday full positive thoughts and productivity. 

Jan 12, 2017

Thoughtful Thursday

Happy Thursday!!! I have been slacking super bad with writing lately. Planning ahead & getting organized are definitely part of one of the themes for 2017 for me. This week totally has escaped me time wise. Between work and trying to get my Grad school stuff fixed, I have been a whole lot distracted. 
Here are some thoughts for this week:

















Hard yo believe that we are almost done with the second week of 2017. I've come to the conclusion that I am going to have to do all my blog planning and writing on the weekends. I can't wait to post some of the post I have about new books, foods, and other items I've tried or made. Peace & blessings all & YAY to the week being almost over!!!

Jan 5, 2017

Thoughtful Thursday

Happy Thursday!!! Everyone is sharing their "resolutions" or "goals" for 2017. To be honest, I haven't even written mine yet. As I said earlier in the week, I'm taking a new approach to how I'm writing my hopes for the New Year. I'll probably share them next week. Until then, here are some thoughts for the first week of 2017:











I see the year beginning like I see birthdays: as endings and beginnings. We all get caught up in the hustle of life that we sometimes lose sight of who we want to be & what we truly want in life. Peace & blessings, all. May this year bring all that you hope for in life & more.


Jan 3, 2017

Fitness Tuesday

Happy New Year all!!! I hope everyone had a great and safe new year. Not going to lie, after the Peach Bowl ended I pretty much took a nap at 7 and woke up before midnight. To say I ate a bunch of crap New Years Eve is an understatement. I know that one of the major "resolutions" people make each year is is lose weight/get in shape. 
This year, I'm not going resolutions so much. I've decided to break the year up into themes but I'll get more into that in the next week or so. One of the major parts about getting back into shape is my diet. Since mid-October, it has gone downhill quite a bit. I'm going to try to cook more at home again, which will help a lot. Here are some healthy meal ideas to try out if you are trying to cutback on eating out like me.











Peace and blessing, all...