An Amazing New Chicken Recipe AND Some Friday Fun!

With my newfound love for all things healthy, I have discovered the joy of cooking, and with cooking came experimenting! Luckily, everything I've made has come out amazing (with the exception of my first green smoothie.... I'm still hoping Muscle Man forgives me for that one... Too much superfood green powder= BAD), and this latest dish is no exception! Try it out!

Crockpot Chicken With Mushroom Gravy and Quinoa

I used Williams-Sonoma All-Natural Vegetarian Mushroom Gravy Base, but that's not necessary. Use another kind of mushroom gravy base or just a gravy base that you add mushrooms to, whatever floats your boat. We got this for Christmas, and I just happen to have fallen in love with it thanks to this dish.

Besides the mushroom gravy base:

* chicken stock, vegetable stock, or even just water
* 1/2 cup raw, diced onions (I used sweet onions)
* 2 raw chicken breasts (or more if you are feeding an army a family)
* Spices: I used rosemary, thyme, cayenne pepper, parsley, and basil
* Get out your crockpot!

1. Put the gravy in the crockpot and add the stock of your choice. I just filled this jar up with 1/2 water and 1/2 chicken stock, but again that's your choice. It's going to taste great regardless. :-)
2. Add in the onions and spices of your choice. Just a DASH of cayenne pepper, as it does not take much to spice this up. The others I used VERY liberally because it cooks down nicely together and makes for an amazing flavor. Stir this all together until it's a nice mixture.
3. Put in the chicken breasts. Make sure they're covered. If they aren't completely submerged, add more liquid.
4. Set the crockpot on high for 4 hours, or low for 6-8. I personally came home at lunch and put it on high for 4 and it turned out great.

Once I got home and saw it was done, I made a plate of quinoa for both me and Muscle Man, and carefully (the chicken falls apart easily after being in the crockpot) put the chicken on the bed of quinoa and ladeled the gravy (if you want to call it that by this point) over it. You want to know my go-to recipe for fluffy, perfect quinoa? Go HERE.

This was the result. I was so excited I made my own recipe! And it turned out amazing at that. :-)

Seriously, try it out. It's healthy, it's quick (to make that is), it's simple, and it tastes amazing. Bold flavors, very filling, and chicken does NOT get anymore tender than that. :-)

Moving right along...

One quick memo... At my age, I believe I am on the borderline of a MASSIVE generation gap. I was raised on simple yet effective mathematics (You know, 21-10= 11, that kind of stuff), I went outside to play, I knew what it meant to "adjust the antenna so we can watch the football game"... You get the picture... Well, I bought something today, and the conversation went like this:

*Total was $6.31, and I hand the guy $21.31*

Guy: "You handed me a dollar too much..."

Me: "Yeah, I don't want to deal with ones."

Guy: *Stares at me with a blank, confused look for a full 5 seconds*

Me: "Uh... My change?? It's 15 dollars...."

Guy: *Stares with a look that was either calculating or he didn't believe me*

Finally after, as I counted, 5 seconds, he hands me my change.

Wow. That's all I can say. Wow.

And now for your Friday Fun!!

I got this little gem from this wonderful woman, and it's hilarious! Put together by part of the Fitfluential team, and it's so true, yet great for a laugh. Enjoy!

Have a great weekend!!

Becoming a Krav Maga and Weight Loss Ninja

First off, tell me this isn't the cutest thing ever...

We had Christmas a little late with Muscle Man's family because some of them went on a cruise for actual Christmas (so jealous btw), and this is Muscle Man with his nephew. I told him to look at me and smile, and I got the cutest little grin EVER. His entire face scrunched up and he smiled ear to ear. Just felt like I had to share. :-)

Moving on...

So, my mom bought a Groupon for me for a month of Krav Maga classes. For those of you that don't know, Krav Maga (pronounced like "Krah-v Muh-gah") is a type of martial art that is used largely for self-defense. You can learn about it here and here if you're interested. You learn a lot of interesting fighting techniques to apply to self-defense in real-life situations. Not to mention I came home with a few abrasions and bruises.

I went to my first Krav Maga class on Saturday, and LOVED it. I learned how to NOT punch like a girl (wasn't sure if I should take offense to this or not), and we did a lot of groundwork, i.e. what to do if an assailant gets you to the ground. A few things I learned:

• Don't wear your hair in a ponytail for class- When we switched from instruction into "real-life scenarios", the first thing the instructor did was grab my neck and ponytail and put me to the ground. Given, it was a mat and he wouldn't intentionally hurt me, but yes, it's a shock to the system. Ha.
• You get friendly with a stranger very quickly, so get used to it- I met a girl, learned her name, and then the instructor told everyone to get in the "mount" position- i.e. on top of her like I'm the assailant. Well hello there...??!? Personal space issues anyone?!?
• It doesn't matter if you're only in practice/instruction mode, BLOCK THE PUNCHES- I think my little 5 foot nothing, 110 lb partner had some pent-up aggression issues or something, because that girl CAN THROW A PUNCH. While I was the assailant, she flipped me and did the punches we learned, and that girl throws some crazy fast punches! I put my hands up to block, and thought she fractured my wrist bone. Note to self: DO NOT MAKE HER MAD.
• Most important: I know how to flip people now. :-)

And due to the last important fact, the conversation with Muscle Man when I got home went like this:

Jonas: "So how was class?"

Me: "It was great!! I learned so much, and I know how to flip people now! Come here, I wanna show you what I learned!"

Jonas: *crazy look* "Uh, no."

Me: "Oh, come on! I'll go easy on you! We'll do it in slow motion so I can show you!"

Jonas: "Do I look stupid? No, I'm not attacking you. I don't want to get carpet burns."

Me: *walk over and get blanket, lay down on floor, lay out blanket beside me* "There, now come on!"

Jonas: "Why is the blanket over here?!?"

Me: "Because that's where I'm going to flip you!"

Jonas: *eyes go wide* "Flip me?!? No, hell no! I think it's great you're doing this, I support you, but I think you telling me about it will be enough. I love you, you're not flipping me."

So after realizing he would not budge on being the test dummy for my newly acquired ninja skills, I told him all about the class and how I'm looking forward to the rest of it. And that was all. :-)

I did some figuring over the weekend (yes, I know, "over the weekend" and yet I'm posting on a Wednesday... Shoot me.) and I figured out some more specific, concrete goals that I'm shooting for for 2012. I did NOT make these resolutions simply because last year I learned what happens when you set to stringent of goals too soon: Injury occurs, disappointment follows. So this year, as previously mentioned, my only true goal is to reach my goal weight by the end of the year. BUT, me being the OCD uber-planner I am, I took it a step further and made more of an action plan.

1. Run a 10K at the Little Rock Marathon on March 4th. I have just the right amount of time until this event, and I have two other friends (at least) that are doing this race. I did the 5K last year, and I think it would be cool to have a tradition. 5K last year, 10K this year, half marathon next year, and mayyyybe full marathon in 2014? We shall see. :-)
2. Reach goal weight by my birthday! I figured it out... 60 lbs to lose/ 30 weeks until my birthday= 2 lbs to lose a week. It is both tough yet doable. It will take a lot of focus and dedication, but I always work better under pressure. I am doing Krav Maga right now (hence the aforementioned amazing ninja skills), and also doing a long term bootcamp (utilizes a lot of TABATA, HIIT, Crossfit type, etc etc... very effective already! Details to come I'm sure!), plus the work I've been doing on my nutrition, I think this is definitely doable. And of course, let's not forget, getting in the occasional run still... :-) (As mentioned here, my love of running had to be put on a backburner until I lose a little more weight in order to avoid injury)
3. My birthday is the starting point for a 12 week training plan for the Soaring Wings Half Marathon that I had planned to run last year, so why not aim for it this year? Regardless of whether I have reached my goal weight by my birthday, I will hopefully have lost a substantial enough amount of weight to begin a 12 week training plan for the Soaring Wings Half Marathon.

So those are more solid goals. Yes, I'm being a little harder on myself this year fitness-wise and setting some stricter goals, but the beauty of this is that it is over a year's time, which I am so happy to say is actually doable this year!

There are steps that I'm taking to help me stay focused through this. One was the action plan above. And the other two main pieces are my fitness journal (which I will describe at a later date) and my mini vision board I will be creating this weekend to stick in my cubicle (yes, cubicle... Ugh...) at work as a constant reminder. After all, we spend the majority of our time working (at least most of us do... the independently wealthy can bear with me on this one), so why not have a little piece of motivation right there? Because your board at home isn't doing you any good when someone brings donuts to the office! I will post pictures of that one later as well.

So this is me- Krav Maga and Weight Loss Ninja! I hope you'll stick around for the journey! Weight loss updates, fitness and nutrition tips, random happenings, recipes, and something I have in the works as we speak- GIVEAWAYS!! That's right ladies and gentlemen, yours truly is already getting the opportunity for giveaways, and I'm so excited! So stay tuned! :-)

I like it pure and raw... Aaaaand Inspiration Board Time! Goals for 2012

Someone didn't want to get out of bed today... It definitely feels like Friday...

I have discovered two wonderful things! First up are Cuties! These are wonderful mini seedless oranges that they have at my grocery store. They are super easy to peel, and great to take on the run. I approve. :-)

Unfortunately in this picture, I was peeling and for the first time cut through an actual slice instead of in between, and got the juice everywhere. No bueno...

Next up... Pure and raw local honey!!

I had an epiphany to study the benefits of buying local honey, and I came across this little gem in my nearby Drug Emporium. Pure and raw local honey made just up the road from me actually. Good as an anti-inflammatory, healthier than your average store-bought honey from China or Indonesia or whatever the crap they get honey these days, tastes way better, you support local economical growth, and much more. On their website I read that after harvesting the honey from the hives, the only filtering they do is through a cheesecloth, so you still get all the benefits of the actual pollen in your honey. I'm addicted! I have it on toast with almond butter, in greek yogurt, or in tea most commonly.

If you are able to buy local, please do. It helps out local small businesses, and 9 times out of 10 it is much healthier for you and probably (depending on what it is and the time of year) cheaper too. This is definitely approved in my opinion, and I'm sure I'll be a frequent buyer of this lovely treat.

On another note... My dad killed two deer this season (Sorry vegetarians!) and graciously gave me enough deer to stock up my entire freezer. I have tried hard not to let the deer sausage (that was my dad's insistence- I don't really like sausage, not to mention it's bad for you, but he insists it's the greatest thing since beer... Meh, I could live without both personally, but whatev. :-\ ) run off my frozen veggies and smoothie ingredients, so Muscle Man and I have been getting creative with the deer. One result was our stew from the other night. I bought a bunch of fresh veggies from the store and basically we sat down and said, "Ok, now what do we do with it?" Well, THIS lucky girl finally got a Crock Pot for Christmas!! :-D  *I know I'm getting old when I get excited about a household appliance for Christmas* So we decided on a wonderful stew!

Carrots, onions, celery, baby red potatoes, venison, garlic, basil, a lot of parsley, a little cilantro, beef stock, and water. Put it in the crock pot for 8 hours and...

Voila!! Beautiful amazing stew!!

For the record, it tasted phenomenal. Muscle Man is quickly learning to enjoy my culinary creations. :-)

And to round out my accomplishments for the New Years break (yes, I know this post was delayed... I think you'll live :-)... *drum roll*....

My Inspiration Board!!

I decided this would be a great idea because in some form or another I have always kept something around to remind me of what my long term goals were, or had something where I would stick inspirational quotes/pictures, but I needed a central location. Well, after seeing the initial idea from Fitnessista for an inspiration board, I decided that was exactly what I needed! I'm a huge scrapbooker as it is, so this was actually perfect for me! And I made sure to leave plenty of room so I can add to it as the year goes on. Perfect! I couldn't be more happy with it.

Starting the board... Yes, I have wayyyy too much scrapbooking stuff... But I think it's good for the soul to have a creative outlet. :-)

You can barely read it, but the little saying up near the left top says "Make the most of every moment" and I'm all about that! I try to remember that with everything that I do and every opportunity that I get.

2012 Goals

*Finish with UCA- I got my bachelor's degree in Marketing from there, but before I get my master's or decide on another degree, I have to finish paying them off and decide which test I want to take. I am considering getting my MBA (Masters of Business Administration) but the more active I get and the more I start getting into food and nutrition, I am starting to feel like my real passion is helping people find their way when it comes to exercise and nutrition and see past all the lies in the fitness/nutrition industry today. This is my biggest goal for 2012: To find my way career wise.

*Reach Goal Weight- While this is specific, it encompasses so much for me. Yes, I am finally within reach of being able to reach my goal weight. I have lost about 45 pounds, and I plan to lose 55 more, which is completely doable in a year. But it is NOT just about the scale- I plan to continue changing my relationship and perspective with food and activity. Food is not something to be restricted and hated- it is something to be loved on a healthy, whole level. I want to continue to explore new recipes, try new fruits and vegetables, and learn to fuel my body without all the junk food. I want to find out what my body's potential truly is. And with exercise, I want to move every day. Whether I'm running, doing Crossfit, trying a new class, weight training, or just taking a walk on a beautiful day, I want to get out more and just move. This is totally doable, and this is the year it will happen. I have decided.

*Take a Big Trip for my Birthday- I turn 25 this year!! That is huge! At least to me it is. :-) I wanted to make the most of my birthday this year since I am a quarter of a century old. ;-) So I want to take a trip somewhere in the US. Washington to see my ultra-running uncle, Florida to see family, New Mexico to see a friend, New York to see friends, I don't know... Just something! I have not decided yet, but I know I want to do it. I also want to go skydiving, but I didn't want to make that one of my goals just in case I make this trip a big one. :-)

I felt that the "Challenges" portion of my board was very important. It is a list of things that are not necessarily goals, but they are daily or weekly reminders of things I needs to be working on or practicing. I love this list, and I am putting this board where I can read this list daily.

2012 Challenges

* Read at least one book a month
* Write one sentence a day in your journal about something memorable that happened that day- We tend to only focus on the big things that happened in a year, but what about all the small things? Life is mainly made up of the small things, as they happen every day whereas huge milestones happen maybe once to a few times a year. And I want to learn to be more grateful for even the smallest of things, so I am going to write at least one sentence a day about something that happened that day that is worth remembering. It can be as small as "Finished a great book" or "Beautiful weather today" or "Jonas told me how special I am to him and it made me feel so loved." Just something small! It takes next to no time, and you can write as much or as little as you want. That simple. Imagine how "feel-good" that would be at the end of the year? :-) I know I will realize that much more how blessed I truly am.
* Build your savings account!
* Don't be afraid of change.
* Be creative! Have fun! - Everyone should enjoy some kind of fun or creative outlet. For me, exercise/running is my energy and stress outlet. For my creative outlet, I scrapbook, paint, read, write, write music, or any other DIY I can get my hands on. It's just fun, pure and simple. And I love anything that's good for the soul. :-)
* Worry less! Just enjoy!
* Do something for yourself. - Yes, it is SO important to give back and be generous. With me, that's not hard. I LOVE helping others and putting others first. But so much to the point that I get frazzled and stressed. Well, it's because I don't ever take time for myself. Go for a walk on a beautiful day just because I want to, take a bubble bath, read a book just because I want to, fix a recipe just because it sounds fun, that kind of thing. Something that you do just because... Well, just because you want to. Pure and simple. :-)
* Challenge yourself constantly! - Do not become complacent or lost in the every day. Set new goals, reach higher, push yourself and others. Do it just because it's fun!
* How do you want to be seen? - This is huge for me. Do you want to be seen as caring, creative, strong, hard working, laid back, what? Whatever it is, however YOU want to be seen, that's who you want to be, and that's how you should act. Your habits have to match your goals if you want that end result. Period.
* Support, encourage, and motivate people as often as possible.
* Be happier with who YOU are.
* SMILE MORE! :-)

Center of the board has encouraging pictures, phrases and words. Things to push me. I have the runner, as well as the toned body. And I love the words I was able to find. I especially loved pairing up the woman doing a plank, and below it (even though you can't really read it in the picture) says: "No more wimping out on your workouts." How true is that?!? Now THAT is something so many people need to see when they wake up in the morning or at least on a daily basis! And by the 3 point plank at the bottom it says: "What will you gain when you lose?" Love it!!

I am extremely happy with how my board turned out. NOW the key is going to be the action to follow it up. Who's with me?!?

And on a final note for Friday, I leave you with the below picture... I don't how many of you are familiar with damnyouautocorrect.com but it's amazing. Hilarious! It is pretty much guaranteed to make me laugh, and partly because I myself am often a victim of unfortunate (and sometimes embarassing) autocorrect mishaps. Enjoy!

Love it. :-)


Any thoughts on my goals and challenges for the year? I would love your input or thoughts!

What are some things that you like to get locally?

Have you ever had a crazy embarassing autocorrect?

Have a great weekend!!

Do you know your numbers?... And my smoothie escapades...

As part of my journey to better health, I decided to go in for a physical. My first one since probably the ninth grade. I felt it was important for overall health, but also because I had a half marathon I planned (notice the past tense) to run in March. Upon meeting for a follow-up with my doctor yesterday, I found out two things: 1) My cholesterol is a little high for a 24 year old, and 2) I have a very severe Vitamin D deficiency.

The cholesterol I found surprising considering I try to exercise and eat right, and do better than 80% of people I know. But that got me to thinking, and after researching and asking serveral people, I realized something: It's not that everyone has better cholesterol than me, it's that no one gets it checked until there is a problem. No one knows their numbers. All my numbers were fine, except my LDL cholesterol was 109, when the most desirable is below 100. He essentially said that those 50 pounds I'm wanting to lose? That has to come off before I do anything else. PERIOD. He said it isn't going to affect me yet, but if I stay like I am for another 10 or 15 years, that number is going to get worse. This has really made me realize just how important it truly is to focus on true health and well-being, and not just weight loss alone. I know this comes from living a life of southern fried food, a high stress lifestyle, and loving comfort food. But over the past year, I have learned the true value of eating right versus eating to diet, and my whole perspective on life and health has changed.

The Mayo Clinic as well as many other sources (including your doctor... *cough cough*) have ample information on cholesterol and other important numbers, but here are the ones I want to present to you:

Total cholesterol
U.S. and some other countries	Canada and most of Europe
Below 200 mg/dL	Below 5.2 mmol/L	Desirable
200-239 mg/dL	5.2-6.2 mmol/L	Borderline high
240 mg/dL and above	Above 6.2 mmol/L	High

 

LDL cholesterol
U.S. and some other countries	Canada and most of Europe
Below 70 mg/dL	Below 1.8 mmol/L	Ideal for people at very high risk of heart disease
Below 100 mg/dL	Below 2.6 mmol/L	Ideal for people at risk of heart disease
100-129 mg/dL	2.6-3.3 mmol/L	Near ideal
130-159 mg/dL	3.4-4.1 mmol/L	Borderline high
160-189 mg/dL	4.1-4.9 mmol/L	High
190 mg/dL and above	Above 4.9 mmol/L	Very high

Long story short, LDL cholesterol is the bad cholesterol, and the lower it is the better. If you do not know your numbers, I would suggest seeing your doctor. Yes, you may not be sick now, but wouldn't you rather take preventative steps and live a long, happy life filled with loved ones and great experiences, than wait until there is a problem and it may be too late?

I was very happy to be able to tell the doctor that I am already on my journey for weight loss and true health, and I am solidly working out (doing CrossFit ever since the doctor restricted me from running), but I do believe I'm going to step it up after this discovery. Hence the importance of knowing your numbers.

Also, the Vitamin D deficiency... Doctors are finding more and more correlation between Vitamin D deficiency and critical illnesses, which is why testing for it is becoming more and more frequent. After the lab results showed how low mine was, I researched it and approached the doctor with a barrage of questions because I wanted to know about this inside and out. What I came away with was reenforcement for a healthy (i.e. healthier) lifestyle: Take a high concentration of Vitamin D (he gave me a prescription); take fish oil capsules (stocked with Vitamin D); get it from things such as milk, lean chicken, oily fish, and eggs; get outside and get some sunlight for at least 20 minutes a day.
Sunlight is obviously the preferred choice because the UVB rays allow the synthesis of Vitamin D3, and those are the key vocabulary words to remember when it comes to Vitamin D boys and girls: UVB NOT UVA (like you get in concentrated form from tanning beds... tanning beds will only have 6-9% UVB rays IF ANY) creates the synthesis of Vitamin D, and Vitamin D3 has been proven to be more effective for our bodies than Vitamin D2.

I am by no means a doctor, I have no certifications of any sort, and I am NOT trying to tell you what to do. But I am on a journey for better true health and quality of life, NOT a fad diet for quick weight loss. This means I want to listen to and understand my body, and this is part of it. And I wanted to pass the knowledge onto you.

Moral of the story: Get checked. KNOW YOUR NUMBERS. You never know what you could find out, what your body could be needing, or what you could be doing to improve your quality of life.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On another note: The Smoothie Escapade has started!!
Part of my journey is that I want to start incorporating smoothies into my daily (or at least weekly) routine. Someday I will write a post about the benefits, but for now just accept that it's good for you. ;-)

So far I have tried two kinds. The first was a green smoothie, because despite the fact that it's hard to get used to the idea of having various types of grass in something you're consuming, they are overwhelmingly good for you (superfood and all that jazz) and dadgummit I am BOUND AND DETERMINED to learn to like them! So with the advice and guidance of Amanda and Robyn Openshaw, I started exploring the options for my first green smoothie. Also, here and here and here are three of my favorite posts of Amanda's that have been invaluable!

I know, not a very pretty picture, but bear with me, I'm new! :-)



My first green smoothie:

* 2 cups spinach

* 1 cup milk (any kind works... I used cow's milk because I was a little scared :-)

* 1/2 tablespoon flaxseed

* 1 banana

* 1 tsp green powder

* ice

My verdict? It was ok. I think I need to warm up to the whole green smoothie taste. It tasted very fresh and cool (if that makes sense), but will definitely take some getting used to.

Sooooo.... After trying the green, I decided to go a completely different direction one morning, and try something that was packed with protein and could hold me for awhile. The result was a love child of a lot of different recipes combined with whatever I had in my kitchen and felt like throwing in.

Morning Protein Smoothie

* 1 tsp cinnamon (got the idea from Amanda, and it worked out amazingly!)

* 1/2 cup coconut milk (I like mine thick, you can adjust accordingly)

* 1 1/2 scoops protein powder (If I want it more sweet- because face it ladies, it happens- I substitute about a tbsp of Nesquick)

* 1 banana

* 1/4 cup raw organic peanut butter

* 2 tsp chia seeds (not necessary, but I like to add them when I can)

* ice

I don't care who you are, this smoothie tastes great. It stays with you, but it's not super heavy, it's packed with nutrients, and... Not gonna lie... It helps me cope with the green smoothies better. :-)

I will update as I continue my smoothie rendezvous, but for now that is all I have to report!

Everyone have a great weekend!!