Meals and Fitness for the Week: 4/14.

Good morning! I hope you’ve been having a wonderful weekend I just wanted to pop in to discuss the food and fitness happening around here.

First up, the week’s worth of groceries.

Produce

• apples (Red Delicious)
• spinach
• romaine
• baby carrots
• broccoli
• snow peas
• strawberries

Proteins/Dairy

• shaved turkey
• ricotta
• imitation crab
• cheese curds
• chicken hot dogs
• egg whites
• shrimp
• cheese strings
• whole chicken

Frozen

• waffles
• frozen meals (boyfriend meals)

Miscellaneous

• coconut oil
• argan oil conditioner (anyone try this stuff? Do you like it? My mom’s been using argon oil shampoo and condition recently and she swears by it)
• lemon juice
• almond milk
• canned green chilis
• banana chips
• kombucha
• apple cider vinegar

Dinner plan for the week:

• Saturday: out
• Sunday: chicken, sweet potato fries and broccoli
• Monday: Annie’s Mac and Cheese with chicken hot dogs
• Tuesday: pork tenderloin with homemade applesauce, rice and salad
• Wednesday: chicken tortilla soup
• Thursday: my seafood lasagna
• Friday: homemade bacon poutine

Weekly Workouts

And to sum everything up, I figured I would talk about the workouts that happened last week. It was actually a little difficult for me not to pre-plan workouts…doing it for years made it a hard habit to break! But I think I did a good job at deciding the day of whether or not I wanted to work out, what I wanted to do, and when I could squeeze it in.

So last week (the 7th-13th)

• Sunday: 3 mile run. First outdoor run of the season!
• Monday: gym for an upper body workout. I focused on back, biceps and chest.
• Tuesday: gym for a leg workout.
• Wednesday: off. I was feeling a little sore and Eric was bottling wine that day, so I was helping him carry bottles up and down the stairs. More than enough for me!
• Thursday: upper body at the gym. I focused on shoulders and triceps, plus I added some core work. I also did 15 minutes of intervals on the treadmill.
• Friday: I did about 20 minutes of yoga in the morning (various Tara Stiles youtube videos) and definitely worked up a sweat dancing away at the banquet I attended that night.
• Saturday: I had a lot of errands to do so I was on my feet all morning. Walking is most certainly a workout!

Enjoy your Sunday and I’ll talk to you soon!

<— Do you have a favourite shampoo/conditioner brand? I’m partial to Marc Anthony…the only one that can give my incredibly limp hair decent volume!

<— Best workout last week? I was excited to get out for a run! Hopefully, the weather will allow for another one sometime this week

The Meal Plan + A Week of Unplanned Workouts.

Hello loves! I hope you’re all having a fabulous weekend.

Of course, my Saturday started with groceries and meal planning. Which means you guys get to see what I’m eating this week.

Proteins/Dairy

• egg whites
• canned tuna
• plain Oikos
• bacon
• pork ribs
• whole chicken
• raspberry and pomegranate Oikos
• feta
• turkey sausages

Produce

• bananas
• bell peppers
• grapes
• broccoli
• blueberries
• baby carrots
• coleslaw mix
• sliced cremini mushrooms
• butternut squash

Frozen

• frozen meals (boyfriend lunches)
• chicken wings (ditto)
• perogies (someone needs to teach me how to make perogies. They are amazing).

Miscellaneous

• bread
• BBQ sauce
• canned tomatoes

Meal Plan

• Saturday: out
• Sunday: Buffalo chicken sandwiches and veggies
• Monday: Cobb-style salads with chicken and feta
• Tuesday: Squash and Perogie Stew (from March issue of Food Network Magazine)
• Wednesday: Ribs and veggies
• Thursday: Tuna Melts
• Friday: out

The Workouts

Because I’m not going to be planning my workouts for the month of April, I figured I could take some time on Sundays to talk about how that’s been going during the week!

So, over Easter weekend I finished up the workout program I was on, and was feeling a little bit burnt out on the gym. So, this last week I did not hit the gym once. And it was lovely.

I walk back and forth to school often, which is 10-15 minutes each way. So, I get some daily movement in during the work week. Other than that…not much! My body has been wanting rest this week, so that is what I’ve been doing.

The weather was really nice towards the end of the week, so I got some extra walking in – including a nice walk around the Grand River.

I also did a little bit of exploring on Tara Stiles’ youtube channel and did a couple of 5-10 minute flows. Thank you Allison for pointing me in that direction – I really like Tara’s approach. And I know I can get through 10-15 minutes pretty easily; it’s the long flows where I get distracted.

So, definitely a quiet week on the workout front. But, it’s been nice. I’m getting a little antsy to get back in the gym, so that will likely happen this week. But we’ll see what sounds good.

Talk to you soon!

<— Any fun meals planned?

<— Anyone else able to get outdoors this week?

Meal Inspiration + White Chicken Chili.

Good morning!

Today is the last day before the Easter long weekend…definitely cause for a happy dance! As of 11:30 this morning, I will be off for four days

So…I like to cook. I spend a lot of time during the day perusing blogs, Pinterest, cooking magazines, cookbooks…looking out for recipes that stand out to me or look particularly tasty.

The only problem is, I forget about them almost an hour later. So I decided I needed a way to keep track.

Meet my meal inspiration board:

(yes, that is my handwriting. There’s a reason why I type everything).

Whenever I see a come across a recipe that I want to try, it goes on the board. So up there, I’ve got Skinnytaste’s Cheeseburger Casserole, and the squash and pierogi stew recipe is from Food Network magazine. I add old recipes of mine that I’m craving (my seafood lasagna), things I want to bake (cinnamon buns) and new recipes I want to put together (gnocchi, panzerottis (or calzones) and black bean burgers). If Eric wants me to make something, he’ll add it to the list too (maple bacon poutine…no surprise there). When I put together my meal plan each week, I look at the board and see what I can work into it. Definitely a way to keep me trying new things and being inventive in the kitchen!

Something that had been on the board until last week: White chicken chili. So…I put together a recipe.

Enjoy!

White Chicken Chili

Serves six. Inspired by Giada De Laurentiis White Bean and Chicken Chili.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 slow roasted or rotisserie chicken, shredded and deboned with the skin removed
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 teaspoons garlic
• 2 tablespoons cumin
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 cans white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can green chilies, drained and rinsed
• 2 cups chopped kale, stem removed
• 1/2 cup corn
• 1 cup peas
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken stock
• salt and pepper
• grated parmesan cheese for sprinkling

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in large soup pot. Add onion and cook until soft. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds.

2. Add chicken, cumin, oregano, salt, and chili powder. Stir to coat.

3. Add kidney beans, kale, chilies, corn, and peas. Add chicken stock and bring to a hard simmer.

4. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 60 minutes.

5: Ladle into bowls, and top with salt, freshly ground pepper and grated Parmesan cheese.

So…you should try this. It still has a little bit of liquid in it, so I guess it’s more a ‘stoup’ than a chili? But nonetheless, it is delicious.

I know it’s getting a bit warmer and we’re slowly moving away from soups, chilis and other warm, comforting meals, but believe me: make an exception for this one. It is fabulous!

Enjoy the last day before the holiday!

<— Do you keep track of recipes you want to try? How?

<— Soup or chili? I couldn’t pick between the two

<— Your handwriting: neat or messy? Mine looks the same as it did when I was about ten years old. Not impressive!