Tuesday, May 21, 2013

You CAN do Pullups!

We're back for another fitness video! This week I want to show you how to prep your body for doing honest to goodness pullups. Pullups can be the best workout for your back and you shouldn't remove them from your arsenal because they seem intimidating. So grab some exercise bands and get ready to get a sexy back ;)

Monday, May 20, 2013

Superfood: Honey

I love honey. Seriously I try and substitute sugar with it whenever I can.
(Photo via)

While you could look at just the caloric value of sugar (16) vs honey (22) you might not think that is a big difference in choosing honey over sugar...but that's where you have to remember not to be solely focused on calories.

So let's look a a few reasons why you should reach for honey first:

1) Honey is a pretty dense substance so most people end up using less of it to sweeten their foods.

2) We know that honey was one of the first medicines that people ever used to treat everything from ulcers to psoriasis.  But the best part is that research now shows us that honey can stop the spread and growth of bacteria, yeast, fungi, and viruses!

3) Sugar is highly processed which removes all of the nutrients really leaving you with "empty calorie", while honey is only processed once.

4) We also know that not all honey has the same level of antioxidants. The darker the honey the higher the level of antioxidants. By adding in honey to your diet it not only gives you the antioxidants but also increases your ability to absorb antioxidants.

5) SuperfoodsRx.com also tells us:
 "Honey contains at least 181 known substances, and its antioxidant activity stems from the phenolics, peptides, organic acids, and enzymes. Honey also contains salicylic acid, minerals, alpha-tocopherol, and oligosaccharides." 
So for my recipe this week I chose to highlight one of my favorite vegetables the golden beet. So this is a  roasted golden beet with a honey glaze. What I love is that the golden beet is a slightly sweet flavor so with the honey it's a bit of a sweeter side--so maybe you can trick your kids into eating them!



Roasted Golden Beet and Honey Glaze Recipe
(serves 4-6)

Ingredients:
3 medium golden beets
olive oil
kosher salt
black pepper

1/2 cup honey, your choice
2 tablespoons butter, unsalted

Directions:
1) Preheat your oven to 400.
2) Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil and coat it with olive oil.
3) Prepare the beets by cutting off the tops an bottom and peel off the skin. Cut it into bite sized cubes. 
4) Sprinkle olive oil, salt and pepper over the veggies and mix around until evenly coated. Spread them out on the pan and cook for 30 minutes (about halfway through flip the beets over so that they cook evenly). 

While that's cooking lets make the glaze:
5) In a small saucepan, on about medium heat, melt the butter and add in the honey stirring until it is thinned so that it can be poured over the beets.

6) When the beets are ready, pour the glaze over them and put it back in the oven for another 5-10 minutes.
7) Enjoy!  







Thursday, May 16, 2013

A Mother’s Prayer for Her Child By Tina Fey


Photo: A Mother’s Prayer for Her Child By Tina Fey

“First, Lord: No tattoos. May neither Chinese symbol for truth nor Winnie-the-Pooh holding the FSU logo stain her tender haunches.

May she be Beautiful but not Damaged, for it’s the Damage that draws the creepy soccer coach’s eye, not the Beauty.

When the Crystal Meth is offered, may she remember the parents who cut her grapes in half And stick with Beer.

Guide her, protect her when crossing the street, stepping onto boats, swimming in the ocean, swimming in pools, walking near pools, standing on the subway platform, crossing 86th Street, stepping off of boats, using mall restrooms, getting on and off escalators, driving on country roads while arguing, leaning on large windows, walking in parking lots, riding Ferris wheels, roller-coasters, log flumes, or anything called “Hell Drop,” “Tower of Torture,” or “The Death Spiral Rock ‘N Zero G Roll featuring Aerosmith,” and standing on any kind of balcony ever, anywhere, at any age.

Lead her away from Acting but not all the way to Finance. Something where she can make her own hours but still feel intellectually fulfilled and get outside sometimes And not have to wear high heels. What would that be, Lord? Architecture? Midwifery? Golf course design? I’m asking You, because if I knew, I’d be doing it, Youdammit.

May she play the Drums to the fiery rhythm of her Own Heart with the sinewy strength of her Own Arms, so she need Not Lie With Drummers.

Grant her a Rough Patch from twelve to seventeen.Let her draw horses and be interested in Barbies for much too long, For childhood is short – a Tiger Flower blooming Magenta for one day – And adulthood is long and dry-humping in cars will wait.

O Lord, break the Internet forever, that she may be spared the misspelled invective of her peers And the online marketing campaign for Rape Hostel V: Girls Just Wanna Get Stabbed.

And when she one day turns on me and calls me a Bitch in front of Hollister, Give me the strength, Lord, to yank her directly into a cab in front of her friends, For I will not have that Shit. I will not have it.

And should she choose to be a Mother one day, be my eyes, Lord, that I may see her, lying on a blanket on the floor at 4:50 A.M., all-at-once exhausted, bored, and in love with the little creature whose poop is leaking up its back. “My mother did this for me once,” she will realize as she cleans feces off her baby’s neck. “My mother did this for me.” And the delayed gratitude will wash over her as it does each generation and she will make a Mental Note to call me. And she will forget. But I’ll know, because I peeped it with Your God eyes.

Amen.”

-Tina Fey  

(This was the picture attached to the post, and I love it! But I can't tell you exactly where it originated from)

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day!

You know that there was no way that I could let this day pass without celebrating it! In honor of the day I wanted to share with you one of my favorite cookies: Tarin & Paige's Side by Side. It is the perfect cookie because it is the perfect meld of both of our favorite cookies. My sister Paige and I are constantly fighting over whose cookie is the best so it was decided that we would put them together and voila it was love at first bite!


This is two awesome recipes but you can use any combination of your favorite cookie doughs. What you do is to take your cookie dough scoop and fill one side with each type of dough--make sure to choose 2 doughs that cook at about the same temperature--it's that easy. (Okay so the concept is easy, but it definitely takes more time than just plain cookies, so beware!) In our Side by Side cookie-- one side is Paige: the normal chocolate chip cookie and the other side is mine: the dark chocolate with white chocolate chip cookie. 





So eat a cookie and join us in celebrating National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day!

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Foam Rolling!

(This was one of my first "fitness" focused posts way back in September. And since real life continues to get in the way--the baby has a fever now :) You guys get to hear me rave on about my favorite piece of equipment. Also I wanted to let you know, as a heads up, that next week I've got a exercise video for you that's going to involve using exercise bands!)

Imagine this scenario:

It's been a long day of work (whether it's at the office or watching the kids), you've made dinner, cleaned up the house, folded the laundry, caught up on Facebook and Blogger, wasted some time on Pinterest, maybe worked out, and now you're exhausted. But more than that you're whole body aches. So first thought is to turn to your husband to comfort you. And if you're husband is anything like mine he starts out giving a great back massage...for the first 2 minutes. And then you notice that he starts slowing down, maybe not pushing as hard, and then you realize that you're in even more pain because he's just been poking the same spot for 5 minutes.

If this doesn't happen to you on a regular basis then lucky you. But if it sounds way too familiar I have a suggestion.

When we were doing P90X2 they introduced a new stretching/warm up technique called foam rolling. What it is a high density foam cylinder which you use to roll along your muscles to an especially tight spot and then you push against the knot to help relieve pressure.

Here's a normal foam roller:



But if you're really hard core, here's the Rumble Roller:


I love this after workouts, long days, if I've tweaked my back, or especially if I have a migraine. (The pressure against my neck is lovely.) The great thing about this is that you control where to go, how hard to push, and how long. I like this video below, it gives you a quick introduction to foam rolling.



Foam rolling got me through hard days, sore muscles, knee injuries, migraines, anything. The benefits of a massage in my own home that I can do while watching America's Next Top Model ;)

Monday, May 13, 2013

Real Life

Now this might comes as a surprise to some of you--but real life does not revolve around the blog. Shocking huh? And this weekend was one of them. Friday we spent the day at the zoo, I spent most of the evening editing a family picture, Addison decided to have an asthma attack Friday and that just escalated daily to last night where Doug let her stay in our bed which meant that I got zero sleep. Saturday was my morning of fun where I got to do another awesome photo shoot for the lovely Kristie over at Blushing Basics (btw the first post of her new campaign with Glamour magazine and Movado watch is up-so make sure to click on the link  to check out our first photo shoot). Sunday, was Mother's Day and even though I had an awesome breakfast and hubby told got brownie points for getting me tickets to the Fall Out Boy concert in September, that was about the end of it. I had to get to church early, teach and then switch off the kids so Doug could teach his lesson, we came home, after a short nap dealt with Addison, went to choir practice, came home, skyped with Doug's parents in Malaysia, made dinner, held Addison as she barfed down my shirt, had to sit in it while trying to clean her up, then getting no sleep. (This is not me complaining, this is me being a mom--we've all been there.)

So needless to say I have no blog post ready for you guys today. I would still like to recommend a recipe for you. There are some days where nothing will do but chocolate. And this is one of those days. And since I'm not in the mood for making some big elaborate dessert I go to the Easy Chocolate Mousse recipe from the ladies over at OurBestBites.com. When they say Easy, they mean EASY! This recipe is great for about 4 servings, but on days like today that might just be one big serving.

(Picture via OurBestBites.com)


Our Best Bites' Easy Chocolate Mousse Recipe:
Ingredients:

1 tsp. unflavored gelatin
1 Tbsp. cold water
2 Tbsp. boiling water (just heat it in a small bowl in your microwave)
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 c. whipping cream
1 tsp. vanilla

Directions: 
1) In a small bowl, combine gelatin and cold water and allow to stand for about 1 minute. 
2) While gelatin is softening, bring 2 Tbsp. water to a boil in the microwave. Whisk into the softened gelatin and allow to cool slightly.
3) In a medium mixing bowl, combine sugar, cocoa powder, whipping cream, and vanilla. 
4) Beat with an electric mixer until medium-stiff peaks form. 
5)Mix in gelatin mixture and refrigerate for 30 minutes.