Recipes, Wordless Wednesday

Never a wordless Wednesday

Although I haven’t joined the 30 day Yoga challenge, I have decided to include Yoga in my weekly routine, at least 1-2 times per week.  Those of you that know me, know I am NOT flexible…But I am working towards being a leaner, stronger, more flexible runner in 2015…so here we go…

Balanced and even??  Heck no...but I sure am trying.
Balanced and even?? Heck no…but I sure am trying.

And meet my amazing yoga partner, my mini Mover.

My 8 year old held strong for 30 minutes tonight; So proud!
My 8 year old held strong for 30 minutes tonight; So proud! (notice my photobombing dog, yeah…lol)

After work, and Yoga, we decided to prepare a healthy meal.  The chicken wings I had (again) in the Caf at work were NOT healthy. Argh.  Someone please pass me a side of will power, please…lol.  I am down 2 lbs so I won’t complain-too much…8 lbs to go…

We made a yummy salad with mixed greens of baby kale, arugula, and spinach along with some chopped romaine.  I added radishes, tomatoes, green onions and a healthy yogurt dressing.

Top your salad with crab meat that has been seasoned with a little Old Bay and YUM!
Top your salad with crab meat that has been seasoned with a little Old Bay and YUM!

Tonight we hunkered down on the couch and watched American Idol.  Yup…still a junky 13 years later.  There are very few shows we can catch on our ONE channel, but I’ve been trying to gather the family more at least a few nights per week for at least an hour.  We all love music in our house, so this show is a win/win.  And it’s an hour spent with my favorite people.  What more could I ask for?

And now I sit here, with my thoughts and honestly I think I’ll go to bed soon. In my efforts to disengage from FB, I still find myself checking back far too often seeing people’s posts that just (sorry) piss me off.  Why do I bother?  As my sister says….FB sure can be a ‘Life suck’…I need to not let it suck the life out of me.  This brings #SMDH (shaking my darn head) to a whole new level….

So tomorrow I have a good ole dready run on deck, and despite work, kids, housework, etc, I’ve decided to MAKE the time.  Because guess what….I NEED it.  This…is no longer a want.

OOPS, my laundry timer is going off…Back to reality gang!!!

What are your favorite cross training work outs if you are a runner?  Have you ever tried Yoga?

❤ Keep Movin’ Forward, y’all….Michelle

 

 

Recipes

A whole lot of recipes with a dash of running

I only ran once last week, and despite my scale being angry at me for the lack of exercise, I won’t complain.  The two nights during the week I can normally squeeze a work out in are Tuesday and Thursday.  Tuesday I got a couple miles in, but Thursday was my daughter’s school production and that trumps running any day of the week.  I did make sure to meet my goal of cooking at least 3 of the 5 days during the week though, leaving the other two days (Mon/Fri) for left overs/sammiches.

I woke up this morning after a good long week of a headache to not much relief so decided to push my run off one more day.  I’ll tready it tomorrow while Chiberia is in full affect. Yeah, I am wimpy like that.  I may even get bold and do yoga too!

Upon realization that we will be missing the Super bowl tomorrow due to lack of cable/streaming capabilities I wiped away my “poor me” attitude quickly and sat down to make my shopping list.  We would still eat great food and enjoy each other’s company this weekend.  Well, minus my eldest mover…she is off with friends because isn’t that what teenagers do?

Our list was filled with tons of produce and the ingredients to make some yummy detox soup I found over at Be Fit With Tracy.  Click HERE for the recipe.  I will be making this tomorrow, and can’t wait to give it a try!  We also had the ingredients for Beef Bourguignon because well, that’s what the hubby requested for dinner.  I borrowed the recipe from my favorite cooking store, Sur La Table and modified it slightly using finely diced carrots, baby shallots, pancetta and gluten free flour vs. the called for ingredients.  You can find the recipe HERE.

My youngest mover and I hit the road running and battled the crowds with smiles on our faces.  You’d think the world was ending without a single empty shopping cart in sight, and hundreds of people squeezing through the isles.  But we survived, LOL!

me and my mini mover
me and my mini mover

After unloading all of our groceries, I started the cooking process as this is no “quick” dish.  It takes about 2 1/2 hours to be exact!  Here is my prep in pics!

Everything is ready, and the lid is about to go on!  T-2 hours!
Everything is ready, and the lid is about to go on! T-2 hours!
Be patient, let the butter and the heat do the work...after about 15 minutes you'll have perfection!
Be patient, let the butter and the heat do the work…after about 15 minutes you’ll have perfection!
1-31mushrooms
Use the same pan you cooked your onions in, just add a bit more butter!

Can I get a drum roll please?  Here is the final product after 2 hours of simmering.  Did I mention how GOOD my house smells?

YUM!
YUM!

My husband tasted, and literally picked me up and started swinging me around the kitchen.  I’d say that’s a win.  ❤

Final dish, served with red wine, Pinot Noir goes well with this dish!
Final dish, served with red wine, Pinot Noir goes well with this dish!

I can honestly say this is one of the best dishes I have made to date.  I am proud that I tackled a dish that Julia Child herself is known for, and even more proud that it tasted so good!  I was also reminded that I just can’t give up on my dreams.  It may not be happening for me now, but I will keep movin’ towards those goals!

How do you stick with your dreams and goals despite road blocks?  Have you ever tackled a recipe you didn’t think you could prepare?

❤ Michelle

goals

November goals…

Oops, I am a day late in my November goal post I promised myself I’d write.

Better late than never, right?

With running/racing season nearing it’s end for me, I decided I would make goals for myself for each month of winter.  Last winter was brutally rough for me, between being injured and living in Chiberia with the Polar vortex nearly wiping me out I knew I needed to start this winter off with a positive force.

 

photo credit to the Chicago Tribune
photo credit to the Chicago Tribune

November goals:

Yoga at least once per week

Weight training 3 times per week

Dreadmill running 2-3 times per week, even if its just a couple miles

Epsom salt baths, weekly

Continue decluttering at least ONE space in my house/life EVERY week (I will post for accountability)

Continue cataloging/blogging my recipes so I can get enough documented recipes to work on my e-cook book. 

I’ll do a blog post each Sunday, reporting back how I did for the week.  If you’d like to join in, HOLLA!

Nov

What are some of your November goals?