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Thanks!
~Giselle
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Make sure to head over to My Healthy Happy Home where you can see my posts and updates!
Thanks!
~Giselle
Blog update
Hi there!
Happy Monday and Happy Thanksgiving week!
Before I get into my marvelous weekend I’m going to redirect you to my new MARVELOUS blog! That’s right! I’ve updated and am in the process of figuring out how to redirect everyone there but until then, follow this link and read about my Marvelous weekend!
Make sure to sign up for email on the new site if you want to continue to subscribe 🙂
Healthy Thanksgiving Ideas
Hi there!
It’s Thanksgiving week! Crazy how fast it snuck up on us this year! This week I’ll be focusing on a few tips for a healthy, happy Thanksgiving. Today, since I usually do meal planning on Sunday, I thought I would share a few healthy recipe ideas for your Turkey day.
The past few years I’ve cooked a big turkey dinner at our house. It’s been fun, but I’m looking forward to traveling to my in-laws, then my moms, for a two Thanksgiving dinners this year! I’ll be bringing a few side dishes and appetizers to enjoy at each house and have been searching for some new, healthy recipes to make. Here’s a few of my choices,
Appetizers –
This was a huge hit last time I made it!
I made a version of these a few weeks ago and the Love Nugget and I munched away on them all day! Yum!
Cheese and Vegetable Quinoa Bites
Sides –
Cauliflower puree (instead of mashed potatoes)
If you’re not a huge fan of cauliflower, you could always do half mashed potatoes and half cauliflower. I suggest using red potatoes as they pack a little more nutrients in them than just plain Idaho potatoes.
Roasted Green Beans with Mushrooms and Balsamic
I made this dish a few years ago and loved it so I might just have to make it again!
Desserts –
QUESTIONS –
Are you cooking or just eating on Thanksgiving?
Do you have any healthy recipes planned to make?
Fitness Friday #14
Happy Friday!
This week has been a long one for us! Between a teething toddler, my grandmother’s funeral and just business, I’m ready for the weekend!
This is how most of my mornings have been spent this week. Part of me is loving my suddenly cuddly little guy but part of me is also getting a little tired of constantly holding him.
Yesterday was an especially long day. We began the day with a trip about 2 hours away to my grandmother’s memorial service. It was short and sweet. We celebrated her life after at their house with family and friends. It was fun to spend the day looking through old photo albums and remembering some good times we all shared with her.
We left my grandfather’s house and drove straight to a party for my husbands work. His company, Descor Builders, was voted best company to work for in the Sacramento area which is pretty cool! So they celebrated at a local brewery with food and beer of course! I didn’t snap many pictures but I finally got a chance to try a Pumpkin Ale! I actually really liked it as well as all their other beers and I’m not a very big beer drinker! The love Nugget was in rare form fussing and clinging to me the entire time. He is NEVER like that but I shouldn’t have been surprised since that was pretty much how all week had been. I was just hoping since some of his friends were there that he would run around and play but not much luck. He did spend a little time flirting with his little girlfriend Sadie 🙂
Even though it was a long day, I was looking forward to ending the night with a fun wine class at Total Wine with my cousin, Auntie Gigi.
Wow! Not only do I look worn out in this photo but like 5 years older too! Yikes!
We have taken a few of these classes now and had been looking forward to this particular one since it was all champagne and sparkling wine. Yum!
Auntie Gigi learning to do the Angels hiss opening technique. I was too chicken to try!
Not only did we get to taste some delicious bubbly, it was very informative. Did you know that the champagne glass is shaped as a flute so that the sparkling beverage shoots to the back of your mouth where you are able to taste more of the bubbly goodness. Also, while Cooks or Andre might seem like a good cheap alternative to the more expensive choice, it is also more likely to give you a headache. This is because rather than going through the time-consuming but important process of making the grapes into a sparkling beverage, they take wine and add larger bubbles into it similar to how soda is made. Since the bubbles are larger, they go through your blood stream and up to your head faster causing you to get a head ache. The instructor joked that while you might save five bucks on the bottle, you’ll eventually spend more since you’ll have to buy a container of pain reliever! Ha! To top off the evening, we tasted a champagne with a vintage hibiscus flower dropped in.
Beautiful and delicious! I’ll be going back to purchase a jar of these for Christmas bubbly!
Since today is Friday, it’s Fitness time! This week will be short since it was a rough one as far as fitness goes for me. Not only was it hard to get out of the house with the Love Nugget, but I rolled my ankle while taking new class on Wednesday so I rested yesterday and am taking it easy today. I can’t remember the last time I did that!
Saturday – 5 mile run on treadmill + abs
Sunday – Rest
Monday – Bodypump at 24 hour fitness
Tuesday – 3 mile run on treadmill + Blonde Ponytails Crossfit Countdown Home workout
Wednesday – 24 hour Ripped Class and Cycle Class
Thursday – Rest
Friday – ???? Something but I’m still in my Pj’s right now 🙂 Lazy!
So if you guys haven’t checked out Jess at Blonde Ponytail yet do so! She is super fit and posts some great at home workouts that really work you!
That’s it for today! I’m off to put the Love Nugget down for a nap and hopefully get in a workout. We don’t have much planned for today or this weekend which is nice. We might go to the Mandarin Festival tomorrow then Sunday the hubby is encouraging me to go have a day of shopping, by myself! I might just take him up on that offer 🙂
Have a great weekend!
QUESTIONS –
- Have you ever taken a wine tasting class?
- What was your favorite day of exercise this week?
- Weekend plans?
Thankful Thursday
So it’s Thursday which means it’s time to link up with the adorable Jessie at Jessie Loves to Run. Seriously this girl is super sweet and we have so much in common I wish she didn’t live in another country!
Today is a great day for me to be thinking about what I’m thankful for since today is my grandmother’s memorial. A tough day but like I said, thinking of a few things that are important to me makes today a little easier.
1. Friends
Me and a few of my girlfriends after the Healdsburg Half Marathon
I think everyone is thankful for their friends. I mean, what’s not to love about them. Their there to listen to you, laugh with you, and pick you up when your down 🙂
2. The White Coyote
Me and the White Coyote taking a snooze
We picked out the best puppy ever when we went and found the White Coyote. Yes, he can be a little crazy, but for the most part, he is a very mellow Jack Russell Terrier and is a huge lover. However, he also thinks he’s quite tough and always makes sure we’re safe.
3. The beautiful area that we live in.
I love that we live in an area where we can drive to the mountains in under 3 hours and drive to the ocean in about 4 hours. We are also within a few hours from our family so the Love Nugget gets to see them often.
And a few random things I’m thankful for…
I’m thankful for nut butter.
I pretty much eat some form of nut butter everyday. Usually almond butter, or peanut butter, but I’ve become a huge fan of pecan butter, macadamia butter and coconut butter. Yum! Not only do they taste good but nuts are very good for you! In moderation, they assist in maintaining a good metabolism, keep your hair shiny, and your skin silky soft.
I’m thankful for Coffee
I LOVE coffee! I actually look forward to morning time just so I can enjoy my hot cup of coffee. While I was pregnant, I couldn’t handle going with out the comfort of a hot cup of joe. So I switched to decaf!
I’m thankful for Pinterest
Okay, I know it’s a little silly to be thankful for Pinterest but I have come across so many wonderful things while browsing this wonderful site. Recipes, clothing ideas, crafting , party’s, you name it, it’s on Pinterest! It also helped the time go by during while I was breast feeding/pumping. I spent so many hours attached to that milk sucker and Pinterest was a life saver!
That’s it for now! Next week will be a good one since it’s Thanksgiving! I can’t believe how fast it snuck up on us this year. Before we know it, Christmas will be here!
Hope everyone has a wonderful Thursday!
QUESTION –
- What’s one “real” thing you are thankful for today?
- What’s one random thing you are thankful for today?
What I Ate Wednesday + Two Tasty Recipes!
Good morning!
It’s Wednesday which means I’ll be linking up with Jenn for another round of What I ate Wednesday.
I was much better at taking pictures of my eats yesterday so this should be fun! Plus, I’ve got a yummy recipe for you guys!
Yesterday’s morning I was up early and headed to the gym drinking a Fitmixer aminos on the way and while I was there. I seriously love this stuff and was beyond sad when our supply ran out. Not only was I missing the yummy flavor and energy burst it give you, but my muscles were much more sore than they had been after a few days of exercise without it. I’m telling you, this stuff works!
After the gym, I came home, showered, and whipped up a warm homemade pumpkin spice latte.
So easy and it tasted just like the higher calorie Starbucks version. Okay, probably not JUST like it, but very close!
Pumpkin Pie Latte
1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (or milk of choice)
1 tbsp pumpkin puree
1 packet of stevia
1/2 – 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 cup of dark blend hot coffee (I used Starbucks Sumatra blend)
In a small saucepan, warm the milk over medium heat. Add in the pumpkin puree, stevia and pumpkin pie spice. Whisk until combined well and the mixture is warm and bubbly. Pour into your mug of hot coffee and enjoy!
For breakfast I popped a frozen flaxseed waffle into the toaster and mixed up some greek yogurt, almond butter, and protein powder. I spread that over my waffle then topped it with a few thinly sliced apples and cinnamon. Yum!
We had plans to meet a friend at the Fountains to play so we were rushing out the door after breakfast. I didn’t grab a snack for myself but did have time to run into Peet’s and order a Peppermint Mocha with soy 🙂
I enjoyed my Mocha, while the Love Nugget played with his friend Keenan at Me Gusta and I visited with Keenan’s mom Melissa. She has a wonderful blog called Fit ‘N’ Well Mommy and if you haven’t checked it out yet make sure you do, it’s great!
After playing at Me Gusta, we took a little train ride which is always a hit with the boys 🙂
It was getting late and the Love Nugget was fading so I ran into Whole Foods to grab him some lunch before heading home. Unfortunately he wasn’t really having it so we packed it up and made our way back home for nap time.
While he napped, I made myself a simple lunch of Toast smeared with goat cheese and avocado along with celery and sugar-plum tomatoes. Love that combo!
It’s time for Foodie Pen Pal so I needed to make a batch of granola to send in my package.
This is the recipe I wanted to share with you. So tasty and extremely quick and easy to make!
So good that I may have snacked on WAY too much of this after it came out of the oven and as I snapped photos of it. Ooops!
Luckily I had made extra just in case that happened 🙂
Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Granola
1 1/2 cup Old Fashioned Oats
1/4 cup chopped almonds
1/4 cup coconut (optional but I love it!)
2 tbsp Almond Butter (I used Maranatha all natural)
1 tbsp coconut oil, melted
3 tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix all ingredients in a stand mixer or by hand until combined well and the mixture is clumpy. Scoop onto a baking sheet and pack down into a large, flat, pile. I like to do it this way rather than spread it out so that the granola bakes in chunks rather than smaller pieces. Bake for 10-12 minute flipping halfway through. when you flip try not to break it apart too much. Remove from oven and allow to cool before gobbling it up! Enjoy!
Dinner last night was supposed to be Sweet Potato Shepard’s Pie but I switched things up since I had purchased Tilapia at the store that day. I made this Tilapia recipe and topped it with an apricot dijon sauce. We also enjoyed some steamed carrots tossed with a little coconut butter, honey and sea salt. It was tasty!
Sorry! Horrible lighting in our dining room!
After dinner I fixed a mug of my newest tea obsession.
If you like Sleepytime tea, and vanilla, you’ve got to try this! So good!
Later, the hubby and I shared this bowl of deliciousness.
Non-fat greek yogurt mixed with a tbsp of almond butter, honey, cinnamon, chopped apples and topped with hemp seeds. Perfect way to end the day!
Okay, off to start the day today! Hoping the Love Nugget will want to go to the gym today so I can take Spin and Piyo. Wish me luck!
QUESTIONS –
- Do you make your own granola?
- What’s one yummy thing you ate yesterday?
Famous Failures
Hope everyone had a marvelous Monday! We were home most the day yesterday except for a short trip to the gym. The Love Nugget seemed like he was feeling better and hadn’t had a fever since Sunday morning. So I thought he would enjoy going to play at the gym while I took a class or two. Nope! He screamed and clung onto me when I dropped him off. Breaks my heart! I left him but kept peaking in the window to see if he was okay. They were holding him most the time so I finished up a 45 minute Bodypump then we headed home.
After the Love Nugget’s nap, we went for a walk and played in some leaves. The weather was so nice and we both needed to get outdoors.
The rest of the day was filled with whining, clinging, hitting, and refusing to eat much. The hitting was fun. So much fun that we are exploring time outs. I do feel pretty bad when I put him in a time out but it’s not for long, (seriously like barely a minute) and then we talk about why hitting is not okay and how it hurts me. Really it’s all around not that much fun for either of us but hopefully it will get rid of the hitting problem. Eventually… Regardless of the time outs, he continued to whine and fuss all afternoon even after the hubby got home. After bath time, he was sitting on my lap and I stuck my finger in his mouth to feel his teeth. It’s hard to do this lately because he will bite you. However, he let me feel around and eventually I discovered what was causing this change in behavior. Poor little guy has a tooth that’s just about to break through and his gums are very swollen. He even said, “Ouch, when I pushed down on it.” Poor Nugget!
After yesterday, I couldn’t help but feel like a little bit of a bad mom. One, for taking him to the gym and leaving him crying with a stranger (he’s actually been left with this particular girl a few times but still…stranger). Two, for having to be stern with the Nugget and put him in a time out and three, for losing my patience with him when he was just trying to tell me his mouth hurt. Being a mom is a tough job and it’s hard not to feel like a failure some days.
This morning, as I ran out some frustrations at the gym, I heard some great facts about famous failures on the Jillian Micheals pod cast. Did you know that,
- Michael Jordan was cut from him high school basketball team
- Bill Gates was a Harvard drop out
- Thomas Edison tried more than 9,000 experiments before inventing the light bulb
- Steven Spielberg dropped out of school, in Jr. High
- John Grisham was rejected by 16 agents and 12 publishing houses
- Marilyn Monroe was dropped by 20th Century Fox because they thought she was unattractive and couldn’t act
- Abraham Lincoln had more than 12 major failures before being elected President
Very interesting little segment that made me remember to look at everything as a learning experience.
While I was feeling like a bit of a failure, rather than dwell on it, I needed to change it. Look at what was really going on with the situation and fix it. In this case, the Love Nugget’s teeth were killing him and I was getting frustrated with his way of dealing with the pain rather than helping him. This morning he started right off with his fussiness at breakfast so I grabbed an old teething toy and handed it to him. Something he never really used to like but, voila! It helped! Later at lunch he wasn’t eating anything and kept spitting out his food. Rather than trying to get him to eat what I had given him I grabbed a squeeze pouch that we keep on hand for quick meals and again he was satisfied. Yes these might seem like simple mom things that I should know how to do but honestly, he hasn’t acted this way due to teething in a long time if at all. So I thought he was just being a stinker and was focused more on teaching him a lesson rather than on helping him. Lesson learned!
Hopefully that tooth decides to pop through soon so that we will have our happy little guy back 🙂 Speaking of the Nugget, he just woke up so we are going to go for a walk and enjoy this beautiful fall weather.
Have a great afternoon!
QUESTIONS –
- What failures have turned into lessons for you?
- How have you been enjoying the fall weather lately?
Marvelous in My Monday!
Happy Monday!
I’m so excited to link up with Katie today for Marvelous in My Monday because I have the most marvelous news!
Before I get to that though, let me start with a few other marvelous happenings from this weekend.
Friday night the hubby and I had a nice little at home date night 🙂 For dinner, we cooked up some yummy salmon, roasted balsamic veggies and sweet potato wedges.
The salmon was pretty marvelous and really easy so I thought I’d share the recipe with you 🙂
Maple Mustard Baked Salmon
2 fresh caught salmon filets
1 heaping tbsp Stone Ground Mustard
2 tbsp 100% pure maple syrup
1/2 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together the mustard, maple syrup and olive oil. Rinse and pat salmon dry. Lightly spray a baking dish with cooking oil before placing salmon in it. Sprinkle salmon with salt and pepper than spoon half the maple mixture over the salmon. Bake for 10 minutes then spoon the remaining maple mixture on the salmon and continue baking for 10-15 more minutes. Enjoy!
Then we rented a movie, poured some vino, and opened up a bag of Angie’s Dark Chocolate Sea Salt popcorn. Umm… just a little good!
We watched The Five Year Engagement which was really long, kind of stupid but funny too.
Another Marvelous thing that’s been going on around here is the snacking on of these yummy goodies that the wonderful folks over at Two Mom’s in the Raw sent me.
Their granola bars actually turned me onto making my own granola and protein bars but I still love to enjoy their from time to time. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that they not only make delicious granola bars, but also granola, sea salt crackers and truffles!
After being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, Shari (the founder), discovered that natural, mostly raw foods worked best for her. Sharing with friends turned into a business that is a true family affair. I love that this small, family run business has turned into a huge company with their snacks being sold in most grocery stores and Starbucks!
The best thing about their snacks is that all their products are 100% organic, raw, vegan, free of wheat, dairy, soy, refined sugars and gluten-free! PLUS… they taste amazing!
Okay… I am so excited for this marvelous news I’ve been wanting to share with you for a few days. While I was participating in the Fitmixer Boot Camp program, I posted a few healthy recipes to their blog. Those posts received a lot of great feedback so much so that the wonderful people over at Fitmixer have asked me to join their team as a Fitmixer contributor!
This means that I’ll be writing weekly posts with healthy recipes and meal ideas using the wonderful Fitmixer products. I am so excited to be a part of such a wonderful company and can’t wait to get started! Don’t worry, I’ll be sharing the recipes with you as well and you can always follow Fitmixer on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or by email too!
Well, this has been a very long Marvelous in My Monday post so I’m off!
Have a great Monday!
QUESTIONS –
Have you tried any Two Mom’s in the Raw products? If so, what ones?
Anything Marvelous to share from your weekend?
Sunday Meal Planning
Hi there!
Happy Sunday to you all and for those of you that have tomorrow off, yay for you! I used to love having an extra day of the weekend but now it’s just another day.
Yesterday the Love Nugget and I wet to the gym so I could try to get into the Core class that I love. But… it was full 😦 Bummer! So I ran on the treadmill but was concerned about the Nugget the whole time and kept stopping to peak in on him. He cried pretty hard when I left him and was clinging to me not wanting to let go. He had also woken up in the middle of the night and I didn’t even think that he might not be feeling good until we were there and I was halfway through my workout. He was playing when I went in to pick him up but was really tired when we got home and instantly fell asleep. When he got up I took his temp and it was a little higher than normal but nothing to be worried about. So the hubby and I decided to go to the mall which turned out to be a bad idea. Holy crazyness! It was almost like Black Friday! There was no parking, long lines, and TONS of people! Not only that but the Love Nugget began to fade, fast. Poor little guy was in good spirits but looked horrible. Needless to say we came home and took his temp which had spiked to 102.3! Yikes! Luckily my sister-in-law, who is a nurse was over and she calmed my nerves by telling me to watch how he was acting rather than just his temp. He was mellow but not really crying so we just gave him Tylenol and watched him. Pretty soon he was running around playing with his toys and the White Coyote. He still had a slight fever when we put him to bed and this morning but is acting just fine! Must be some sort of virus? Scary though because that’s the highest temp he’s had yet and a learning experience for us both.
Anyways, today, depending on how he feels, we might go to brunch. Then it’s football day for the hubby and laundry day for me. Yay…
This morning I managed to get a little meal planning done before everyone got up. We are cleaning out some of our freezer meals so it’s not a very exciting week of meals but better to have a plan than not!
I’m linking up my Sunday meal planning with Laura at Mommy Run Fast for Healthy Menu Planning Challenge.
Sunday – Freezer Chili
Monday – Freezer black bean and sweet potato enchiladas
Tuesday – Sweet Potato Shepards Pie
Wednesday – Coconut Crusted Tilapia
Thursday – Out
Friday – Crock Pot Chicken Tacos
Saturday – Dinner at Friends
Sunday – ???
Hope you have a good Sunday!
QUESTIONS –
- What do you have on your meal plan for this week?
- Has your little one had a fever before with no other symptoms?
- Have you started your Christmas shopping?
ahealthyhappyhome 
