Movin' it with Michelle

First off, a huge thanks to those of you who commented on my last post. It truly touched my heart, and gave me a renewed faith that what I am doing here isn’t for not.

So after a fun filled day in Chicago yesterday celebrating my oldest daughter’s upcoming 16th birthday on Tuesday, I sharpened my knives and decided to dive in to making a yummy, healthy, yet EASY dinner for my family.

My husband picked up this yummy aged sirloin steak yesterday while were in Chicago at Eataly, (one of my ALL TIME favorite grocery-ish type stores…like EVER) and grilled it on our BBQ grill.

I was in charge of the side dishes, so I decided to tweak by Brussels sprout recipe just a touch, and make sweet potato “chips” as my second side.  You can find the recipe for the sweet potato chips HERE!

For the Brussels sprouts, here’s what you’ll need:

3 cups of Brussels sprouts, cleaned and cut the end core off. I halve mine to shorten the cooking time. This is totally optional.

2 strips of thick cut bacon, halved long ways, and then cubed.

2 shallots, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons of brown sugar, halved

Kosher salt and pepper to taste, and a dash of cayenne pepper.

2 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil

In a non-stick pan add 2 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil and heat to medium high heat.  Add in your bacon and shallots and 1 tablespoon of brown sugar and let caramelize.  This takes about 10-12 minutes.  Next, add your Brussels sprouts, and seasonings and sauté for 10 minutes ensuring NOT to overcook.  You still want a bite to your Brussels!  In the last 2-3 minutes add your remaining brown sugar, mix well, and taste for proper seasoning.

Dinner is served!

Next week I plan on tackling my inner “you can’t do this anymore because you haven’t been running other than on the dreadmill” demon and head outside for some much needed miles.  I don’t always have to be training for a marathon to be a runner, and I’ve accepted the fact that I just don’t WANT to make the time to train for a full marathon, either.  I have a family that needs me more, and to dedicate countless hours each week is just simply unfair.  It’s put a damper on so many areas in my life, so for now I’ll stick to the half marathon distance and shorter.

I’ve also realized that when you aren’t running, your “running friends” sort of fall by the way side.  And this makes me very sad.  I had a nice little cry to today knowing it was the day of the Fox Valley Marathon (my favorite local race) but I had other obligations.  I miss those friends, but they are still out there all running together or in groups…and I…well…am not.  It stings a little.  I won’t lie.  But that’s just part of the circle of life…right? 😦

So with my mantra of #keepmovinforward I plan on putting my time and effort in things that bring joy to my life. Being that friend that everyone can bring their problems too, yet I can’t come to with MY problems is less than joyful to say the least.  So here we go…upwards and onwards.

What’s been on your plate these days?  Do you find you have “fair weather” friends at times?  Do you have any fall races coming up?

Thanks again everyone! Have a wonderful week!

❤ Michelle

I’ve been out of the blogger land for a bit for several reasons.  I thought, “What a perfect Friday Five post!” The list is NOT all inclusive, and is all over the place.  Here goes…

1. After retiring from the Air Force in 2011 I found myself completely lost.  Insert cliché “Fish out of water” statement, HERE.  In struggling to find ME, I became a bit selfish.  I ran a lot, I signed up for lots of races, I dove in to my passions of writing, cooking and photography, I…I…I.  But wait…Oh yeah.  I have 2 kids and a husband, a house, and a career that also need tending too.  Pardon me while I slap my selfish self, now.

2. So I am runner who likes to write, cook, and several other things.  So what?  What makes me so much more interesting than anyone else.  Yeah…a whole lotta nothin’.

3. I’ve not been running more than a couples at a time since the Grandma’s Marathon in June.  I think 6+ hours on the course sucked the runner love out of me for a while.  So what will I blog about, if I am not signed up for a gazillion races?  Hmm…

4. I found in being so busy to grow my blog/page/creative career pursuit I was losing a lot of precious time with friends and family. I sort of got lost in social media land, and it more than sort of made me feel a tad sick.

5. I found myself very tired.  I was tired of not only reading the same things over and over in social media, and seeing the same selfies posted of the same work outs all while bragging themselves up over contests and awards, I was MORE exhausted trying to keep up with those pages and blogs as I found myself doing the very SAME thing…argh.

So I’ve stepped back, and reassessed where I want to be.  I still love spreading inspiration on my FB page with daily quotes and posters because nearly every day I get a “Thank you so much, I needed that,” type of comment.  I still love cataloging my recipes on the blog, and sharing my love for all things involved with food.  I still enjoy posting my workouts for a sense of accountability.  But I’ve STOPPED trying to compete with pages and blogs that clearly have me outnumbered tenfold.  “Comparison is the thief of joy” and I nearly let it steal MY joy.  Ack!  I need to practice what I preach, right?! I need to remember back to the reason WHY I started this blog/FB fan page which was to show people that even though you have struggles/face depression/suffer with life issues, YOU CAN KEEP MOVIN’ FORWARD. It’s up to you…

So thanks for bearing with me in my lack of posting.  I just needed a little break.  I am looking forward to the Fall, and some new upcoming challenges I plan on giving myself.  Yes…I am going to tackle my fear of baking.  STAY TUNED!  LOL

Have a great weekend, y’all!  And thanks again!  ❤

Michelle

Gosh things have been busy with work and my Inlaws in town but I wanted to share my weekly wrap up in pics for last week!!! 

 Tuesday my Inlaws arrived and its been so nice spending time with them. 

  Wednesday I was back at it with my 30 day shred. 

  Thursday I was reminded of this, even though I’m only running a couple miles still. 

  Friday’s mantra. 

   Homecoming dress shopping!

 Got my hair done this weekend. Yay! 

  
Sunday supper was a great success. Steaks, yucca fries, avocado and pea purée, plantain fritters and…..

  
Peach and Mango tartlets!!

  
And today’s reminder. Don’t look back. You’re not going that way. 

  
Mill miles on Labor Day!

How was your week? Did you do anything special for Labor Day?  

Have a great week everyone!!

❤ Michelle

As many of you may know if you’ve been reading for a while, my husband is gone, well…a lot. Between his civilian job and his Army reserve duty I’m lucky to have a partner in crime very often.  He finally arrived home this weekend after a month of training so I decided to prepare our tradition Sunday Supper tonight.  It’s been a while since I’ve put forth any effort into my cooking, because in all honesty it’s just been too much work to manage all the things.  So the fact my children are still breathing happy and healthy is saying a lot.  I may have only acquired 14 grey hairs…this time. LOL!!

Today was busy with grocery shopping for the week, and I really wanted to get my work outs in after 2 days of rest.  Great success with day six of my 30 day shred, and I even squeezed in a quick run.

Next was food prep for the week.  I cleaned all the fruits and veggies I purchased from the store and put them in Ziploc bags for quick access for the family.

Next it was time to prepare Sunday Supper.  Here are my recipes!

Pistachio crusted Salmon

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

I large fillet of salmon, cut into 4 ounce servings, and seasoned with salt and pepper. *make sure to pat dry your fillet with a paper towel before seasoning.

The juice of 1 lemon-pour this over the salmon evenly

2 pats of butter

1 cup of shelled pistachios

Drizzle of coconut oil

Place the butter and pistachios in a food processor and pulse on high.  Drizzle in the coconut oil to loosen up the mixture, then spread evenly on the salmon.  Bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes.

Sweet potato muffins

I large sweet potato peeled and shredded

1 cup of parmesan cheese, grated

2 eggs

1/4 cup of panko bread crumbs

1/4 cup of pancetta that has been browned, rendering off the fat, and drained on a paper towel.

Season with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and parsley to taste

Mix well and set aside.  Preheat the oven to 325 degrees, and spray a muffin pan with nonstick spray.  Fill the cups to the top with the mixture, and bake for 45 minutes at 325 degrees.  *I made these first, and then put the salmon in the oven for the last 30 minutes so they could cook at the same time!  It worked perfectly!!

Dinner is served!!!  It feels so good to be back in creative mode with my cooking, and I pray this is just the beginning.  Thanks for your support!  That cook book WILL happen someday!!

What’s your favorite family meal? Do you meal/food prep on the weekends for the upcoming week?

Have a great week everyone!!

❤ Michelle

This past week, I lost a dear friend of mine to her battle with cancer.  I took the news harder than I thought I would as this friend is someone I’ve never physically met.  But over the last few years we’ve made a bond that I held very dear to my heart. She always had a kind word, a sweet gift, or a heartfelt reminder to share with her friends.  I sobbed upon hearing the news knowing her life was taken far too early being only in her early 40’s.

With the news of her passing, I decided I needed to make the most of my life, my days…because the saying ‘Life is short’ really hit home last week.

Since not being able to run very much due to family obligations, I’ve turned my fitness plans around working out at home in my basement with my daughters, running on the treadmill while watching chopped, and taking walks on my lunch breaks.

This weekend I showered my girls with fun, shopping, and facials.  Total blog fail by not taking any pics.  But we made the most of every moment and it felt great.

Tonight I decided to make a simple Sunday supper.  Chicken wings, sautéed green beans, and cauliflower bites.  I’d like to think my wings were somewhat healthy as I flash fried them in coconut oil before transferring into a 425 degree oven to bake.  I also used seasoned gluten free flour to lightly coat the wings before frying…

But can you really say fried and healthy in the same sentence? hehe!

Cauliflower bites  

I saw a version of this recipe on Facebook and just HAD to tweak it to my liking!

1 head of cauliflower/3 cloves of garlic, steamed and blitzed in a food processor

In a large bowel: Add in 2 eggs, 1 tablespoon of low fat cream cheese, and 1 cup of shredded Colby jack cheese, 1 teaspoon of kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper and a teaspoon of parsley.  Mix well, and add 2 more egg whites that have been beaten well.  Spoon the mixture in to mini muffin tins that have been sprayed with non-stick spray and bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

How was your week?  Have you ever lost a friend at such a young age?  Any favorite high protein recipes you’d like to share?

Have a great day, y’all!

#keepmovinforward

❤ Michelle

Hey gang, sorry I’ve been so quiet. A lot has been going on in my life, and I am trying to sort through it all.  This caused me to step back, unplug, and focus on finding my center again.  After a full marathon, I always tend to get the blues as I said before…this time was no different.

BUT…I am happy to report I’ve been walking A LOT during my lunch break (we only get 30-45 minutes so not enough time for a run unless I REALLY want to offend my coworkers with my after run stench, LOL), and even laced up and RAN for the first time in a couple weeks on Monday.

I’ve also been cooking a lot more, and even BAKED this past weekend.  It was store bought puff pastry, but hey…I made the peach preserves that were inside!

Lastly…my family is packed up and ready to head out for our first family vacation (other than local staycations) in 3 years.  Long overdue, and NEEDED!  This will be my view in less than 24 hrs:

With that, I bid you all a wonderful week.  I plan on unplugging and recharging over the next few days!!!!

Keep movin’ forward, y’all!

❤ Michelle