Tidbit Tuesdays: Turkey Meatball Meal Prep

This Tuesday, I am sharing another meal prep idea that is perfect for on the go freezer meals for busy schedules. I am completely guilty of buying the SmartOne, Lean Cuisine, and Healthy Choice meals at the grocery store. While these meals are okay every once in a blue moon, they are often high in sodium and lacking specific nutrients our bodies need. So, I started making meals that I can pre-portion in Tupperware to grab when I'm on the go for a long shift at work or just too lazy to make anything else.

I made turkey meatballs for this round of meal prep out of lean turkey, but I have since made another round of frozen meals and used boneless skinless chicken tenders for that one. Other healthy alternatives to either of these two ideas are salmon, other white fish (ie. tilapia, which I can't even spell because I won't go near it or fish...but that's just me), or other lean protein. I'm a huge fan of Pinterest and so I found my turkey meatball recipe through the site. I'll give credit where credit is due, so I found the recipe HERE, but then added a few of my personal touches by preference like adding seasoning salt and a few other spices not called for.

What else do I add to my main dish to make it a meal? Well, it depends. On the batch I recently made with chicken, I added a quarter cup each of corn and black beans and also a cup of broccoli and a little under half a cup of brown rice. To the turkey meatball meal pictured, I added half a cup of brown rice, a quarter of a sweet potato, a cup of green beans, and a couple pieces of broccoli that I had left over from another meal.

 

You can add whatever you'd like to the meal obviously, but I try to make sure there's a main source of protein, at least a cup of veggies, and a starch like brown rice, potato, or beans. Keep them in smaller containers like the one I show because it keeps the meal portion sized. Add salt and pepper and whatever else you desire to the bowl. With the turkey meatballs, I remembered to pack a container of ketchup or mustard to dip the meatballs in.

It may seem like a pain to spend a little extra time on a Sunday night cooking for the whole week, but you will be thankful later in the week when you are busy or just don't feel like cooking. Also, your body will appreciate you too for feeding it healthy foods instead of fast food or the high sodium rubbery meat tasting frozen meals found in the frozen aisles at the store. 

I'm off to go cool a large batch of turkey chili on the stove that I plan to package up for my next round of meals on the go! What are you having for dinner?

Mental Monday Challenge: Week 7 - Treat Yourself

 

Hi all! It's Monday again. I'm having a serious case of the Mondays and even took a long nap after work today. There are only two weeks left in my Mental Monday Challenge. That's still two weeks to kick start a healthy lifestyle. So, if you've been reading these Monday segments, and like the idea of accepting the challenge, but still haven't....I dare you to try your hardest these last two weeks to work on one if not all of the seven steps discussed so far. 

Did you have a good week? Did you succeed in the weekly challenge of attacking your goals? I know I sure could have worked harder to achieve my short and long term goals, but we all have setbacks and that is okay. I accept that it is not the end of the world, but instead of spiraling back into old habits, I'm going to just try harder this week to accomplish those goals. I am looking forward to great things ahead this week both in my personal life and in my healthy lifestyle.

If you haven't read through the other posts for this 8 week mental challenge yet, I encourage you to start by visiting HERE! You can get the free printable there, print it out and hang it somewhere that will encourage you to stay determined. However, for those who have been following along...without further ado, here is week seven: Treat Yourself. A perfect challenge that includes the upcoming holiday of Halloween.

I hope hearing the title alone makes you excited. The word "treat" should definitely capture your attention. For those following along with the challenge or starting a new healthy lifestyle, it can often seem at times that certain aspects of your life are restricted. The phrases "Oh, I CAN'T have this" or "I SHOULDN'T indulge in this" are actually extremely harmful to say in the vulnerable state of making changes in your life. That to me sounds like the words one would say while on a crash diet or something similar. ERASE the "can't"s, "shouldn't"s, "no way"s from your life. Treats are OKAY every once in a while. 

Let me make it clear though. How I ration it, is that treating yourself is not a cheat day on a diet nor does it mean go binge on every type of junk food you can find in your house. In fact, most treats shouldn't even be food related. Go out and buy a new workout outfit or maybe even a new pair of running shoes. If you have accomplished your goals, you DESERVE that new pair of shoes. Or maybe you hit a weight-loss milestone... go get a new hair do or treat yourself to a relaxing spa day. Those are the treats that won't allow you to catch a glimpse at the lifestyle you left behind. 

I buy myself new hand weights, exercise DVDS, workout outfits, and more along those lines all the time when I reach goals. It keeps me motivated. I even purchased a bikini this summer as a goal to work towards, but also a reward of how far I have come. If you absolutely must have a food related treat, make it a protein bar (Clif, LaraBar, KIND, etc). Or buy a new container of whey protein powder. I'd even go as far as to say go have a small cup of frozen yogurt. You do deserve it. Just don't go overboard. 

This better be the easiest challenge you've ever completed. It is simply to reward yourself. TREAT YOURSELF because you deserve it. Changing your lifestyle to make it better and work towards becoming healthier is hard work. You deserve a treat every once in a while. If you don't treat yourself here and there, you won't succeed in the long run. I'm serious. I've seen it happen. Go do one of the suggestions I included above or leave a comment on another way you're going to treat yourself this week! Last but not least, enjoy! Come back next week rejuvenated and READY for the final step in the Mental Monday Challenge series!

Mental Monday Challenge: Week 6 - Attack Your Goals

Time to report back in on the challenge. I apologize for the two day delay in the post. Sometimes life just gets the best of me and keeps me insanely busy. Did you add some variety to your workouts, meals, and/or other aspects of your lifestyle this past week? Leave a comment and tell me about it if you were successful! This Monday, it's time to move on to week six in the eight week challenge. We're 3/4ths done already! 

I really hope that everyone has been incorporating all five of the steps that we have covered into their daily lives. If you have, then you most likely feel stronger and ready for this next step to add into our healthy lifestyles. If you haven't read through the other posts for this 8 week mental challenge yet, I encourage you to start by visiting HERE! You can get the free printable there, print it out and hang it somewhere that will encourage you to stay determined.

It's time to attack our goals. Through the steps of the challenge, you should have come to terms with some aspects of your lifestyle that you want to change. Now it's time to make goals and commit to them.

One of my current goals is to take the next 3 months to tone and get in shape for my January trip to Florida. I want to feel confident in my bikini swim suit. Three months is a realistic time and notice how I didn't state a number of weight that I wanted to lose or inches either. I am wanting to be fit and healthy and I know that I need to make an action plan to attack my goals to succeed in them. 

So, I am going to use the previous weeks steps and organize a plan of action and keep tidbits of motivating quotes and reminders of my trip to warmer tropics. This is so that on the days that I feel like giving up (which trust me, there are more than a few of), I remember what I'm working towards. I am now starting to get back into doing Jillian Michael's workout DVDs. I have been incredibly busy lately, but I try to workout 3-4 times a week and I would like to work up to 5 days a week here shortly. I am also making sure to eat clean as often as possible.

What are some of your goals that you are going to take this week especially to focus on and attack? I challenge you to pick one or two goals and really work at making action plans on how to accomplish those goals! You can do it!

Meal Prep - Green Smoothies

 

I have a confession to make - I am a movie theater popcorn (with butter) addict. Tonight, I saw The Best of Me with my friend, Kippen. Great movie, total chick-flick, and so many tears I could fill a mason jar with is what the night consisted of. After all that popcorn that became my late lunch, I decided it was a great time to have a green smoothie for dinner that I prepared the other night. 

My grocery store haul for the smoothies included the following ingredients: 

1-2 bag(s) of Fresh Express Spinach and Kale bagged salad mix

1 whole pineapple

3 large bananas

1 bag of mixed berries 

1 carton unsweetened almond milk 

Also optional add ins for the smoothies that I have on hand include: chia seeds, flaxseed, coconut oil, old fashioned oats, vanilla protein powder, small apple, and more. 

I grabbed five ziploc baggies and in each of them I added: 

1/2 banana

1 handful of salad greens

1/2 cup mixed berries 

1/2-3/4 cup fresh pineapple

The salad ran out after four baggies of my pre-packs, so I would recommend two bags of salad. It adds the green color to the smoothie and provides your body with a number of nutrients, but it also does not have a distinct taste or if it does - the fruit and other additives masks the taste. Try it before turning your nose up because of the color! You'll be pleasantly surprised.

I added my pre-pack from the freezer into the blender and then added one cup of unsweetened almond milk along with my two other choices to add to this particalar smoothie. The nice part about the pre-packs is that they start with the same ingredients, but can be altered to taste differently with different ingredients. I chose half a scoop of vanilla whey protein powder and 1/2 tbs of coconut oil. Coconut oil has amazing health benefits that I won't bore you with listing here - but you should research it if you're curious! 

I spooned a dollop of lite whipped topping to my finished product and it added just the right finishing touch to the healthy smoothie. The best part of meal prepping these smoothie pre-packs is that it takes just a little preparation all at once, but then it is so easy to just grab a pack and throw it in the blender with almond milk and any other last minute ingredients and voila, a healthy meal or snack is all ready to enjoy. 

Another plus is that by freezing the spinach/kale and fruits, I don't have to worry about them spoiling and going bad. I usually have that problem as I am typically cooking for one, so the freezing element is so rewarding knowing that my money on groceries is not going to waste!

Tuesday Tidbits: A Visit to the Apple Orchard & A Wedding

As soon as I witness the first leaf turning colors on a tree or possibly even before, I pestered Zach to take me to an apple orchard. He thought I asked too often, but finally he took the hint that we better go or he would NEVER hear the end of it.  So, this past Saturday, him and I went with some of his family members to a nearby orchard and I had an amazing afternoon. It was a beautiful fall day! 

As you can tell by the above picture, we had a lot to do in a short few hours. First on my agenda though was to find and purchase a big bag of apples! I chose Sweet Tangos. I have since bought light portion sized caramel dip to have as a treat with the apples, but have started every morning off with one of these delicious fruits.

Next up was a tasty lunch of a cheeseburger marinated in apple cider (go figure!), chips, and a pop for lunch. Then came time for a tractor ride out to a corn maze. 

It took us a while to find the exit for the maze as we kept getting tricked by dead ends. It's a lot harder than you'd think, actually.

I can't say enough about all the fun I had. I was in great company with people I care about a lot and finally feel like I got the full fall experience. Of course, when I spotted pumpkins at the orchard, I couldn't leave without buying one for Cash! It's his first pumpkin! 

How cute is he? Some may say that buying him a pumpkin is silly, but it sure did make a cute photo opportunity. The pumpkin even doubled as a toy to occupy his time as you can see in the following picture.

On Sunday afternoon, Zach and I headed back to my hometown to attend a wedding of a very close friend of mine from High School. I believe I can finally say that I have began the season in my life of attending weddings of those I hold closest to me. It's exciting, but also makes me long for the past few years that have flown by. I can't believe how grown up we all are.

I was overjoyed to see that my friend Gina decided to incorporate my bridal shower gift to her in her big day. The "Our Love Story" photo frame was displayed right as soon as you walked into the venue. This gift is really special to me because I made it all on my own and I'm glad she enjoyed it too! 

I refrained from taking any pictures of the happy couple during the ceremony, but it was beautiful. They each wrote their own vows to each other and their love for each other and God was clearly evident. I am extremely fortunate to have had the chance to celebrate with them on their wedding day. It didn't hurt to have such a handsome date by my side either all day.

Now, it's your turn. What was the highlight of your weekend?

Mental Monday Challenge: Week 5 - Variety

 

It's Monday again! How was your Monday? Mine was a little gloomy having to say goodbye to my boyfriend for a few days (thankfully, I get to see him again this weekend - so, I really can't complain too much) along with a long day at work under grey skies. I did enjoy my minestrone soup, green beans, and apple crisp dinner and dessert though! Alright, so moment of truth - who can proudly say they ignored excuses of some sort over the past week? If yes, doesn't it feel great? If you struggled, don't worry! Keep working on it this upcoming week. 

So far we've mastered the mind over matter philosophy, organized different aspects of our lifestyles, learned to keep pushing ourselves in our training, and on how to ignore excuses that cloud our paths to success with a healthier lifestyle. If you haven't read through the other posts yet with this 8 week mental challenge, I encourage you to start by visiting HERE! You can get the free printable there, print it out and hang it somewhere that will encourage you to stay determined. The other posts can be viewed starting by visiting HERE! As for today, I'm going to talk about how important variety is in our lives.

When I first started my journey to a healthier lifestyle, I was stuck in a routine that quickly became boring. I'm going to mostly discuss this mental Monday topic from a fitness level, but I hope you'll understand that variety is needed in every aspect of your daily life. I went through a period of time where I would eat two 100 calorie packs for lunch or a bagel every day for lunch. I learned that this was incredibly unhealthy and after receiving a few healthy cookbooks as gifts, I introduced variety to my diet by trying out healthier meals with a wide selection of fruits, vegetables, grains, and more.

The photos I am illustrating this post with are from this past weekend, when I was watching Cash while Zach was volunteering with the local 3 mile and 10K race. Cash wanted to jump on and play with all of the people attending the race, and so I decided to help expend some of his energy and take him on a small hike through the beautiful trails of the park to keep him occupied. We came upon some beautiful sights.

 

So...Back to the importance of variety. When I started working out, I stuck to the treadmill or eliptical machine in my college's gym. I ran the same mile or two distance every day or for the same 20 to 30 minutes a day and called it good. I wasn't losing weight or toning up at all with this workout regime. My body had grown so accustomed to this plan that it began to believe it was part of my normal day and not meant as a hard workout to burn fat. Therefore, I decided to add some variety to my fitness plan. 

It's so important to step out of your comfort zone and trying something new when attempting to add variety to a workout. If you are nervous and/or not a big fan of change, find another person who can hold you accountable and will make sure you don't quit or fall into old habits. 

I have learned to never say no to a new or different type of workout because I have found some of my favorite activities to do just by trying out a new workout once. Some examples of things I have added as elements of variety to my workouts are Zumba classes, SPIN classes, BodyPump classes, etc. I even tried Yoga once, which was a lot harder than I had thought it would be! For gym memberships, these classes are great! However, if you're like me who no longer has access to a gym as a poor post college graduate, there are also other ways to get variety in. 

I must first mention that if a friend refers you to try a fitness class, don't turn down the free experience if they are allowed to give you a guest pass or other method that cancels out any fees for the class. I recently tried a kickboxing class with a friend and had an absolute blast and was dripping sweat. So non- gym membership methods of variety that I like to mix up with my workout schedules are 5Ks or other running races to train for, workout DVDs (different leaders like Jillian Michaels, Shawn T, etc), hiking (like the pictures in this post. I haven't been hiking in a while before this), swimming, and more.

Cash and I had a great time on our hike! It was fun for me to get outdoors and enjoy the crisp, fall air after my back has been injured all week! He somehow decided to close his eyes for our picture, but he had a great time out on the trails.

This week's challenge is to find one new activity, recipe, or other thing that will add an element of variety into your life. Add it to a typical routine that will spice up that routine. One more thing about the challenge though is that it has to be something that requires you to step out of your comfort zone. So, what will it be? What are you going to try this week that will accomplish this goal of creating variety to keep us from being bored or mundane along our journey to a healthier lifestyle?

Read, Watch, and Listen

Hello all! So, I don't have a Tuesday Tidbits post for you because I couldn't find anything too interesting or glamorous about watching Netflix and reading off my kindle as I lie in bed on a heating pad all night. I threw out my lower back on Monday, and so I'm trying to recover in which requires a lot of advil and minimal movement. Therefore, I decided today to write a post on entertainment that I have recently read, watched, and listened to.

 Five Shows & Movies I've Recently Watched:  

1. Criminal Minds 

2. New Girl 

3. Once Upon A Time 

4. The Maze Runner 

5. Ghost Hunters 

Favorites: ALL OF THEM! The Maze Runner gets your adrenaline pumping, Once Upon A Time has such an interesting plot line, Criminal Minds provides cases that I like to get into and help solve, and Ghost Hunters is my guilty pleasure of real life haunts with evidence and perfect for fall, spooky October days!

Four Books/Series I've Recently Read: 

1. The Book Thief - Markus Zusak 

2. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - Ransom Riggs 

3. The Matched, Crossed, and Reached Trilogy - Ally Condie 

4. Paper Towns - John Green 

Favorites: The Matched Trilogy I read in a matter of days, but to me it seemed almost to close to The Giver by Louis Lowry. I love dystopian young adult books though. I'd choose my favorite of these books to be Paper Towns. To be honest, I haven't even finished. However, it's been an exciting adventure so far reading it and I'm excited as soon as I finish this post to get back to the book and finish the last 20 percent!

Three Songs I've Recently Listened To:

1. Skinny Love - Bon Iver

2. Perfect Storm - Brad Paisley 

3. What We Ain't Got - Jake Owen

Favorites: ALL OF THEM! These songs each have beautiful stories. I love the melody and voice behind Bon Iver's music and the stories of the country songs make me extremely emotional too. I love country music and sometimes its nice to slow the tunes down a bit and focus on the lyrics!

Two Entertainment Events I'm Looking Forward To: 

 

1. Garth Brook's Concert on November 14th

2. Re-watching the Gilmore Girls series on Netflix

The concert is going to be AMAZING! I'm going with my boyfriend, his family, and my mom. I received pretty good seats in the lower level and just about halfway of the arena away from the stage. As for Gilmore Girls, I can't wait to snuggle under covers and start the series that I grew up watching reruns of on ABC Family over again.

One Entertainment Form I've Recently Neglected: 

1. Pinterest 

I am Pinterest deprived. I think I need to spend a few hours this afternoon pinning puppies, gift ideas, future life event ideas, recipes, and more! 

 

Please leave a comment and tell me your list of the most recent thing you've Read, Watched, and Listened to.  Like this: 1. Read 2. Watched 3. Listened. What was your favorite of the three and why? 

Back to my mental health day involving nothing but trying to heal the injured back, watching Ghost Hunters marathon, and finishing Paper Towns! 

Mental Monday Challenge: Week 4 - Ignore Excuses

If you've been keeping track with the weekly challenge: Mental Monday series, you might have noticed that I didn't post one last Monday. Totally fitting with the week's goal to ignore excuses. I could list all the excuses I have for not posting last Monday, but I'll spare you all the details and instead state that this week I vow to be better and not let excuses get the best of me, and I hope you will too.

How's the challenge been going so far? I haven't heard any feedback yet - but I'm hoping that all you readers are at least giving all the week challenges a try! Following along with the free printable found HERE, I stands for Ignore Excuses.

When I started my journey, I woke up every morning around 8am during the summer to exercise. I decided on 8am because I knew that if I had a set time in my schedule to work out, then I would be more likely to follow through with my workout plan for the day. However, after the initial few weeks of my training program of workout DVDs and running, I noticed that some days I would wake up and linger a little while longer in bed on my phone or reading on my kindle, etc. Soon, I lost that dedication to my fitness, and I could tell in my weekly measurements and even in my energy levels. 

I discovered that it is vital to learn how to ignore whatever list of excuses I can think because its the only way I will ever fully succeed at what I want to accomplish. I don't always eliminate all excuses as is seen in my failing of posting this post last week. However, by ignoring as many excuses as I can and following through on my plans, I notice how much more I can accomplish and how much quicker I can reach my goal. My excuses sometimes return from time to time, they are never forever removed from my thought process, but by anticipating their arrival and ignoring them or squashing them immediately, keeps them from cluttering my path to success.

This week's challenge is to pick one aspect of your life (whether its fitness, blogging, hobby related or even eating healthy to cleaning the house) and focusing on eliminating any and all excuses that you could possibly create to hinder your progress to your end goal and result. What excuses have prevented you from achieving success in your daily life? Feel free to leave a comment and let me know along with any action plans you plan for the upcoming week. Otherwise, keep them privately tucked away or reevaluate them and spend the next week eliminating them until they completely disappear.

Time to check on the turkey chili I'm making for dinner. It smells absolutely delicious!