Eat it, Share it, Live it, Love it!

I am so blessed in that I get to watch my sweet baby Madelyn on Wednesdays. I look forward to this day all week. Brian and I just can't get enough of her! For those of you that are new around here, Madelyn is our grand daughter. She is 6 months old. Talk about a joy. She is just so happy and really beginning to show her personality. However, on Wednesday, I don't get much done. I barely have time for lunch. I don't know how I ever did it with 3 boys. Honestly. I forgot just how much work babies are. We have a great time playing, reading and resting. I don't get to move as much on Wednesdays, but I am okay with it. It's worth it!

On these types of days, I am thankful for some healthy, prepared food. I try to always have something good and healthy in the fridge to eat on the run. Last week, Cedar's Mediterranean Foods sent me the most wonderful package in the mail. I got to try all kinds of goodies. My favorite was the hommus. Oh, this was good. Spinach and artichoke hommus with baked pita chips. The pita chips were so good and I love that they are baked.

Last week after workout, everyone was starving, well, I pulled out my goodies and we got to taste testing. Everyone agreed that all the products were good, but the favorite among the group was the garlic chive feta spread. I don't eat dairy products, so I was glad they were here to help me try ths stuff out. Kristi, Jason, Brian, Hermina, Morgan and Cassie were all willing participants and loved them all. The Spinach Dip went over well too! We also loved the salsa and the tzatziki (cucumber yogurt dip) and the Edamame salad was divine!

I also thought it was funny that I came home yesterday and Jake was plopped in front of the TV with the hommus and chips. I love it when the kids eat the healthy snacks in the house!

So on the days when I don't have time, I'm glad for items like these in the fridge. I will pull out a wrap today smother it with hommus and throw in the edamame salad, wrap it up and enjoy! So quick and easy.

Follow Cedar's Foods on twitter and facebook.

Head over to Cedar's and check out these great tasting products. They will ship them directly to your front door. You can be munching healthy and quick tomorrow! Eat it! Share it! Live it! Love it!

HerbaSway

I recently had the wonderful opportunity to try HerbaSway products. These are GREAT!!!! HerbaSway is a high quality, natural liquid concentrate that ensures you are getting the optimum levels of anti-oxidants, vitamins and herbs. The products are sugar free, caffeine free, calorie free, alcohol free and they don't have any artifical sweeteners or preservatives.

HerbaSway has 5 categories:

Anti-Oxidant
Bone/Joint Health
Cardiovascular Health
Daily Health
Digestive Health

HerbaSway comes in bottles with a dropper, you just add it to your water and you are ready to go! This is so handy. I've been keeping mine in my purse, I can use it wherever I am.

HerbaGreen Tea, Seven and Thre (pronounced three) are the ones I have tried. I've been very impressed with them all.

The HerbaGreen Tea is good. It tastes like green tea with a little sweetness to it. I can't have any caffeine and I love that I can enjoy all the benefits of green tea without any caffeine. Each serving provides up to 15x more anti-oxidant power than brewed green tea. This will help to provide free radical fighint components that support a strong immune system. I've been enjoying it iced, but am going to try it in hot water today.

Seven is really tasty. Seven is also in the Anti-oxidant line and is a combination of the 7 hottest super fruits. Acai, goji Berry, Black Cherry, Pomegranate, Mangosteen, Indian Gooseberry and Grape that provides the "super support" your body needs to maintain good health.

Thre Energy is all natural energy without the calories, caffeine and crashes. Great alternative to the high sugar and high caffeine energy drinks on the market. I did notice a little more perk to my body when I used it. It tasted pretty good too.

I shared with the workout group - see they get all the benefits, working out with ME :) and trying out the great products. Kristi tried the thre and really liked it and Brian tried the Seven and loved it! Jason wasn't brave enough, but I'll work on him!!

Check out HerbaSway on facebook and twitter and be sure to stop by their website and sign up for the email list to get weekly specials delivered to your inbox!

Do you have 10 mins?

The biggest excuse I hear for not working out is "I don't have time!". Well, do you have 10 mins? Everyone can fit 10 mins into your schedule. Right? If you have 10 mins, I have the workout for you.

Ten Minute Trainer. You can get a great workout in 10 mins. Yes, you really can! You can also stack the workouts and do 3 and get a good 30 mins workout. Do one 10 min workout in the morning and another one in the evening. These are VERY flexible.
Check out the video below:



Purchase Ten Minute Trainer Now


It's another Fit Club Monday! I love Monday's, a fresh start to a new week, a clean slate. It's time to forget the excuses and get busy! So today - for just 10 minutes, do some type of exercise! Dance around the house - great workout song today!!!! Go for a walk, during the commercials when you are watching TV, do jumping jacks, pushups and crunches. It's easy to find 10 mins in your day to move!

Today's recipe is from Skinny Bitch in the Kitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin. I love this cookbook. If you haven't read Skinny Bitch ( their first book) I highly recommend you pick up a copy! You will look at your food a different way for sure!


Quick Tortilla Pizzas
Makes 4

4 (9-10 inch) whole wheat tortillas
1 cup Roasted red pepper sauce ( recipe below)
4-6 oz vegan mozzarella, shredded
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
1/3 cup halved and pitted Kalamata olives
2 cups loosely packed arugula (optional) (since this is hard to find around here, you can sub spinach)

Preheat over to 475 degrees F. Arrange tortillas on two rimmed baking sheets**
Top the tortillas with the Roasted Red Pepper sauce, cheese, onion and olives, dividing evenly. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the cheese is bubbly and the edges are brown. Cut the pizzas into quarter top with the arugulas, if using and serve.

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
Makes 1 cup

1 cup drained jarred roasted red peppers
6 large basil leaves
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
1/8 tsp pepper

In the bowl of a food processor, combine all ingredients and pulse to form a coarse paste.

** For crispy pizza, bake the tortillas for 3 mins, flip em and bake em for 3 mins more. Then add the toppings and bake for 8-10 mins.

What would be your suggestion for a 10 min workout?

Friday Follow!

The concert last night was sooo good! I have to say that I absolutely LOVED every minute of it. Good friends, good food and great music. I love both Billy Joel and Elton John, but together they are just fantastic! The concert started off with the pianos rising up from the stage, then Billy and Elton came out and sang songs together ( hence the concert name Face to Face!) Then Elton John took over and played for almost 2 hours. I couldn't believe it. He was like the Energizer bunny. Billy Joel came out and played for a little over an hour and then they came together and finished up with songs together again. My favorites for the night were Crocodile Rock (today's workout song of the day, just try and listen without dancing!!), Piano Man, Uptown Girl and Saturday Night! All of them were good, but those were my favorites. I highly recommend that if you can get to one of their concerts, DO IT!!!!!!

As you know, yesterday I called the Ford Center and they said no photography would be allowed. So, I didn't take my camera. I was sooooo mad when I got there, cameras were everywhere, they didn't check my purse. I could've had so many great photos. I'm so unhappy with the little lady I spoke with. This is the photo I took with my cell phone.


It's another Friday and another Friday Follow! This is actually week 7, but week 2 for me! If you want to participate in all the fun, please just follow the instructions below and jump on the bandwagon!







Link up and spread the word! I'll be posting on twitter and facebook as well. Be sure to follow me there if you'd like!!!

For those of you that are new to my blog, sit back, relax and stay a while.

Elton and Billy.....

I am in OK City today to see Billy Joel and Elton John in concert. I can't wait. It's going to be a blast! We are staying in a beautiful hotel and I've taken photos to prove it.

I have heard that there are no cameras allowed in the Ford Center. WHAT???? How else am I going to show you the wonderful photos of me and the boys backstage? I'm sure they will even call me up on stage to sing to me...... I won't even be able to record it for you all to see. You'll just have to take my word on what happens.....

I'll be back tomorrow with a great post all about my travels. Had a fantatic lunch today at 105 degrees. Was hoping to go back for a little breaky in the morning, but they don't open until 11. We have to get back since my father-in-law is having surgery. Please keep Bill in your prayers.

I'll chat with you all tomorrow - don't forget to push play today!

Shakelogy 2 day fast

This last weekend, I decide before I begin this crazy workout routine (Insanity/P90X) I would do a 2 day Shakeology fast. I wanted to just get a jump start on weight loss and toning. The goal was to have Shakeology for breakfast and lunch and then have a good, whole food dinner. Not sure what I was thinking of starting this the weekend of Brian's birthday, but I had started it and was determined to finish it. Brian decided he would join me, so I thought we could be strong together. Boy, was I ever wrong!!!

Saturday AM: We get up bright and early and have our first Shakeology - tasty and feeling just great!

Saturday 11:00 AM: in a hurry, but we made our shakes, Brian had thin mint, I had greenberry lemonana. Still feeling good, but had a busy afternoon. We showed property to family and were running around like crazy. A little hungry, but not bad.

Saturday 2 PM - the family wants to eat something (they hadn't had lunch yet) so off we go to Panera Bread. I decided I would just have something to drink and Brian wasn't going to have anything. We walked in and I could smell the bagels. Oh hell no..... this isn't good, my stomach immediately starts growling. I decide I'll have a bowl of veggie soup and a roll and then a light dinner. Brian jumps right off the deep end and has coffee and a BROWNIE!!!

We run into the hardware store and as we come out - Girl Scouts from hell. Lookin' so cute with their little signs: Please support your local Girl Scouts. As we walk out, I put my head down, there will be no eye contact. They look right at Brian - bad sign - "would you like to buy some girl scout cookies, mister?" All innocent and angelic. Brian goes right over to them and buys THREE BOXES!!! I refuse to look at him. How can you do this to me? We get out to the car and Brian won't look at me. He KNOWS!!!!!! Needless to say, I ate 3 of the little buggars ( not the girl scouts!)

We go on to show property and Brian decides we need to go to the casino for a while. We lose all our money, I mean putter around for a few hours (it sure seemed that long.....) and we leave the casino a little lighter - not in lbs mind you. Brian decides he is hungry. It's now 8 PM and we didn't eat any dinner, but had that wonderful snack at 2. Somehow, Brian drives the car through Wendy's drive thru and orders a grilled chicken sandwich AND FRIES...... I order water. I'm going to be strong and do the right thing. As the car smells heavenly, I wolf down a few handfuls of fries, Brian devours his chicken sandwich and the last of the fries. What the heck happened anyway to our great intentions?????

Sunday AM: This is going to be much better. Oh, and by the way - Happy Birthday Brian!!!! Chocolate Shakeology for Brian, Greenberry lemonana for me. The kids are all coming over for dinner and I am cooking/cleaning like a mad woman.

Sunday 12:00 PM - lunch time and I'm starving. Chocolate Shakeology for both of us. Everything is under control. Cleaning is done, cooking is started. I start on the chocolate mousse. It's a healthy version made with tofu and maple syrup. I think that I am hungry, so I eat a cup of red grapes. No problems there.

Sunday 4:00 PM- Nick and Jake come in and start raiding the pantry. I'm still cooking ( making the meat loaf) and leave the open bag of popchips on the counter right in front of me. I eat 2 handfuls before I even realize it. I put them away and tell myself I'm back on track. Brian has been at an open house all afternoon, I have no idea how he is doing, but assure myself that he is busy and not thinking about food.

Sunday 6:00 PM - Dinner with the family. I did eat pretty good. Roasted veggies, salad, veggie burger, mashed potatoes and a corn muffin. Not too bad, didn't really feel stuffed. I did have some chocolate mousse, a smallish portion. Brian had a huge bowl of mousse and was miserable. He ate 2 helpings of meat loaf, a few corn muffins......

So, I get up on Monday morning thinking that the weeked was a complete bust. I jump on the scale and I lost 3 lbs. I was pretty happy with this. I really did feel lighter and my pants fit a litle looser. Brian did not get on the scale, said he just wanted to believe that it was a good experience. Go ahead and live in your fantasy world honey.....

Overall, I was very happy with my results. I would've like to not have eaten the cookies and fries, but life is just that way. I will do this again and I will do better next time. It will have to be after this crazy rotation, I need more calories to get through these workouts.

Shakeology Recipes:

Funky Monkey:

1 scoop Chocolate Shakeology

8 oz almond milk

1/2 banana

1 tbsp peanut butter

ice

Blend in a blender and enjoy!

Thin Mint:

1 scoop Chocolat Shakeology

8 oz almond milk

a FEW drops of peppermint extract

ice

Blend and enjoy!

Lemonana

1 scoop Greenberry Shakeology

6 oz organic lemonade

2 oz rice milk

1/2 banana

ice

Blend all ingredients in blender and enjoy!

German Chocolate

1 scoop Chocolate Shakeology

2 tsp almond butter

1 tsp coconut oil

8 oz almond milk

ice

Blend and enjoy!

If you are interested in learning more about Shakeology, please visit: Shakeitforyourhealth.com Purchase Shakeology now! As a Beachbody coach, I can help you achieve your health goals!

Beautify yourself and the Planet!

I have done several reviews for Paris Presents line of Eco-Tools. I truly love these products and can not say enough good things about them. Today I shot a quick video showcasing some of the newest make-up brushes.

The Bronzer Brush ($9.99) Super soft and supple and designed fo easy and proper application of bronzer on the face and neck.

The 6 Piece Eye Brush set ($7.99) contains some great travel size brushes in a natural hemp and cotton case, perfect for travel or in your handbag for on-the-go touch ups!

Be sure to check out my vlog review ( had to tape myself, sorry for all the shakiness!!) I'll get the hang of this soon!

Check out Eco-Tools on facebook! You find these great products at Walgreens or Target.