Tasty Tuesday – Meatloaf Muffins Recipe by Amber

Hey guys! Happy Tasty Tuesday to you!

I have something new and exciting for you today – a guest post! Please, meet Amber Vesey – the face behind Eats and Exercise by Amber.

1384366316

Today Amber is sharing one of her recipes with us, so I will let her take the floor from now on. I hope you like the recipe and please, take a moment to connect with Amber for more wonderful recipes and exercise routines she shares on her Facebook page, her blog and Instagram.

Growing up, I would groan at my mother’s announcement that we would be having meatloaf for dinner.  Over the course of the last few years, my eating habits have transformed drastically and so have my taste buds.  Now, I look forward to the next time when I’ll be home and can dine on the comfort of my mother’s meatloaf.  While delicious, my mother’s recipe needed some revamping to make it more nutritious.  With my meal prepper mindset, I thought it would be more efficient to make Meatloaf Muffins, so more could be made at once, prepped to eat through out the week or even frozen to eat at a later date!
This recipe was my first attempt ever at making meatloaf, let alone in the shape of muffins but I am VERY happy with how it turned out!  It was super moist and juicy, a worry of mine was that it would be too dry, but that was not the case!  The recipe below is based off of my mother’s original, but there are other ways you could make meatloaf muffins, such as swapping out the BBQ sauce and ketchup for onion and seasoning, and maybe even adding some spinach!  It really depends on what you like best!  Take an original family recipe and make some healthy swapportunities!  Comment below with any switches you made or if you thought of another Meatloaf Muffin idea!
MEATLOAF MUFFINS

Meatloaf Muffins-1

INGREDIENTS:
  • 1 lb. ground turkey (makes five meatloaf muffins)
  • 1 whole egg
  • 1-2 slices GF bread* (see below tip)
  • 1 tsp. minced garlic
  • 1 Tablespoon Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey BBQ Sauce (plus one squirt, after I mixed it all)
  • 1/4 Cup Ketchup
  • Pepper and Garlic Powder to taste
* You will need to use gluten free bread as part of the recipe, *if you use Udi’s or any other frozen bread normally, it is helpful that at the end of a loaf, you save the ‘butts’ in the crisper of your fridge so you always have defrosted bread on hand.  Don’t already do this?  No worries, you can toast a slice of bread and it works just as well.  Be careful with defrosting a slice of bread in the microwave though, I did it for too long once and the bread was not the right consistency to crumble and I had to throw the slice out which is a sacrilege since it’s so expensive in the first place!
DIRECTIONS:
  1. Preheat oven to 375
  2. Add ground turkey, egg, garlic, pepper, garlic powder, ketchup and Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey BBQ
  3. Crumble GF bread and add to mixture, mix well with your hands

Meatloaf Muffins-2

   4. Spray/grease muffin tin
   5. Roll meat mixture into balls, place into tin, unlike making cupcakes or muffins, you want the meat mixture coming up out of the tin, since it will not rise

Meatloaf Muffins-3

6. Place aluminum foil or a cookie sheet under your muffin tin in case the meat drips
7. Bake for 10-15 minutes, poke holes or cut in half to check the inside
8. Bake for another 10-15 minutes, to ensure that the meat is fully cooked, take out one of the muffin halves and make sure there is no pink on the inside
Pair these muffins with mashed potatoes or mashed sweet potatoes, putting it on top and creating a meatloaf “cupcake” instead!

Meatloaf Muffins-4

Tips/Notes
  • This was my first attempt ever, so the recipe time is a bit estimated, since while I was mid cooking my oven decided to shut off, effecting the times
  • Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce brand is gluten free, if using another sauce, please check the ingredients or company website!
  • You can top each muffin with ketchup while cooking, I only tried that with one of the muffins, I am unsure if it made a huge difference
  • Cut muffins in half to ensure they cook fully if you are paranoid like me about undercooking meat
  • Place muffin tin on a cookie sheet or aluminum foil in case the turkey “drips” to prevent the excess from hitting the bottom of the oven and burning!  No one likes the smoke detector to go off while trying to cook a delicious dinner!

Thanks so much for sharing this recipe with us, Amber! I don’t know about you, guys, but I am definitely making those muffins in the near future 🙂

Stay fit and warm!

Lena

Weekend Cooking Spree

Hey guys! How was your weekend?

Mine was busy!

The weather was just gorgeous here this weekend, but sadly, I didn’t get to do much outside.

On Saturday morning hubby and I headed out to the Y to take Jim’s indoor cycling class. It was so nice out that I decided to take my new Vibram Five Fingers for a walk.

IMG_4091

Love-love-love them!

Since my Spinning® instructor training I noticed that my workout attitude and the overall “feeling” at a cycling class has changed dramatically! For some reason I was always going for the speed – thinking that if I go faster, it will be better for me, I will burn more calories and all that crap. Well, that all has changed now. I am doing speed work, too but generally try to apply more resistance on the wheel than I used to and focus more on my heart rate rather than the RPM.

Taking the training also changed my entire perspective on what a bike set up should be – I have my saddle a lot higher now and I’ve noticed that it is making it much easier on my knees – a lot less cracking! 🙂

Anyway, with that in mind, I went pretty close to my usual distance on Saturday but burnt the number of calories I haven’t burnt in a cycling class in a long time.

IMG_4093

I did take a nice two-hour nap on Saturday after this class + yoga. I just had to! It was the best nap of my life 🙂

When I woke up from my nap, it turned out the youngest had gone for a sleepover, so suddenly me and hubby had the evening to ourselves. We headed out for dinner to a Chinese place, and then decided to do some wandering around TJ Maxx. Well, I never leave that store without a score (yep, I rhymed that on purpose!)

Got me some yoga socks :)

Got me some yoga socks 🙂

I’ve been eyeing those for a while, but they just cost some ridiculous money it seems like. These were $3.something a pair so I got them and will give them a try this Wednesday!

On Saturday I also managed to squeeze in some meal prep into my day somewhere between the two workouts and the nap.

Homemade hummus, quinoa, water infused with cucumber and frozen mint leaves

Homemade hummus, quinoa, water infused with cucumber and frozen mint leaves

Did you notice I got my water infusing water bottles that I mentioned here? 🙂 I just love the one with the orange cap except for one thing – it had a huge sticker on the front. Being an OCD driven woman, I took it off and now it’s sticky. Some Googone will have to be applied – and that’s just too many motions for something I want to get in the mail and simply enjoy. If you don’t have an OCD, you will do just that without Googone – enjoy 🙂

The one with the red lid and bottom – I haven’t quite figured it out yet – the infuser part comes out through the bottom, if you don’t put the bottom lid back on tightly – it leeks. It’ll take me a while to make friends with this one 🙂

Anyway! On Sunday morning we slept in and hubby made me an awesome brunch.

crispy bacon, poached eggs, potatoes and English muffin

crispy bacon, poached eggs, potatoes and English muffin

And then it started…My cooking bug was obviously up and full force this weekend. I just couldn’t stop cooking!

I did my lunch prep for the week:

IMG_4124

Cut up some bananas to freeze for my smoothies:

IMG_4125

Made some more infused water (oranges and tangerines):

IMG_4126

Made these super awesome breakfast corn muffins with cheese and ham:

IMG_4133-1

By the time I was done with my meal prep, it was time to make dinner. So I threw together this chicken with veggies.

IMG_4136

And yes, those are pecan bars you see in the background – I made them, too. What? The oven was warm anyway 🙂

Tell me: what fun stuff did you do this weekend?

And as always – stay fit!

#MNBChallenge, Week 3 Recap – Believe

Hey, guys! Happy Saturday!

How is your weekend going? I hope you are getting a lot of active rest and relaxation!

I am here today to tell you about last week’s happenings of the Move, Nourish, Believe Challenge. If you missed the previous recaps, you can find them here and here.

The past week was about the spiritual aspect of the challenge, which I struggled with the most, and which I think was the most important part of the challenge just because of that.

It is easy to comply with challenges like “eat this, eat that”, or “workout this/that way” for me…Unfortunately, it is not so easy to stop and think, and believe….

I’ve been struggling in the past couple of weeks with my overall motivation (or rather the lack thereof)…I hardly exercised at all and noticed that I started cutting myself a little slack here and there with my food choices. That is not good. Week 3 of the challenge made me stop, think and reconsider. And smell the roses. And realize that whatever is going on with my motivation is ok, and I need to go through this and bounce back. And I am bouncing back 🙂

So, here’s what happened during Week 3 of the MNB Challenge.

{MONDAY} Spoil Yourself!

Now that is an awesome start to any week, isn’t it? I did spoil myself with an at-home manicure.

here's all my gear!

here’s all my gear!

and the final result of spoiling myself

and the final result of spoiling myself

{TUESDAY} 5 Mindful Minutes

On Tuesday we were supposed to meditate for at least 5 minutes.

I am generally not a good meditation person. That is something I am struggling with in yoga – relaxation and meditation. ‘Cos, you know….I’m far better at buzzing around at the speed of light and it is hard for me to stop. Not that I can’t, I just enjoy my own rhythm.

Anyway, challenge is to challenge yourself, so I did.

IMG_4052

My peaceful place underneath the family pictures in the living room 🙂

{WEDNESDAY} Be Happy.

On Wednesday we needed to share our happy place picture. That one took me a while to choose from – I have so many happy places (luckily)! after a thorough selection process this picture was dug out of the cyberspace.

IMG_4062

This was take quite a long time ago, and it is of me sitting on top of a cliff in a nature park just outside the city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia, overlooking the beautiful Yenisei River.

That picture made me remember that I am the happiest when I can be alone with nature. Just for a few minutes, to get out of the everyday routine and just sit there looking at the water off of top of a cliff. Perfect!

{THURSDAY} Thankful Thursday.

On Thursday we needed to think and show what we were thankful for.

I am a very lucky woman. I have a wonderful family and friends, I have a good life, everybody I love is in good health and happy. I have a ton of things to be thankful for.

However, none of that would be possible for me if it wasn’t for my mom and dad. They were my answer to the Thankful Thursday challenge – if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t have been where I am right now.

IMG_4075

{FRIDAY} #1

On Friday, we had to give a shout out to our number one supporter and motivator.

You all know this guy very well 🙂

IMG_4082

Best “Yes!” I ever said was to him. He’s always been my number one fan, my number one supporter and partner in crime, my best friend and the love of my life!

And that is how we believed this past week!

I can’t believe this challenge is over… It was so much fun to be part of it! Thank you Fit Approach and Lorna Jane for the wonderful 3 weeks of moving, nourishing and believing!

Five on Friday – Shoes and More!

Hey, guys! Happy Friday to you! Finally this week is coming to an end and it is time to enjoy the weekend!

Do you have any fun plans this weekend? Do share!

Anywho, as always, I am sharing my Five on Friday with you today – five things I’m loving/enjoying/wanting lately. Ready?

{ONE} Vibram FiveFingers – TrekSport Sandals

2367601-1-4x

Totally under the influence of Meg McNeely, I have ordered a pair of these in orange last week. Check them out here.

I have heard so many people raving about how wearing these shoes transformed their lives, so I have decided to give them a try! (Can you tell I am such an impulse buyer?)

I got them in the mail in just 2 days from the day I ordered!

IMG_4017

I absolutely love these shoes! Can’t even call them shoes…they are more of a second skin, really. I haven’t tried them “in action” yet, i.e. while working out, but I walked around the house in them a lot – they are amazingly comfortable!

{TWO} Spinning Jerseys

5077_01_RetroJerseyBackWSS_large

Oh Lord! There are so many of them and I want them all! But even with a discount they are still pricey…Debating this one, but oh I want it so much!

Check ’em out here.

{THREE} Water Bottles with Infuser

You know I’ve been obsessed with fruit infused water lately… But I tell you what – it is the cold season after all, and I do get sick every year and it usually drags on and on for a few weeks with lingering cough and general weakness. Not this year. I started coming down with a cold last week, it did hold on for a couple of days and is almost completely gone now. That NEVER happened to me before – usually if I get sick, I get sick. I thank the fruit infused water for that vitamin and energy boost it gave to my body so it is able to fight the cold.

So here we go, I got a couple of these to promote my new healthy habit:

716QBSv1PbL__SL1045_-700x700

Just loved this design and color!

And then I ordered this, too because, guess what? The water level is going down as you drink it!

d5e9bd0a85ede696102e4978bd59ee4c

Here’s where to buy:

{FOUR} Officially Certified!

I have finally finished my home studies part of the Spinning® program and took my online test. Look what I got in the mail a couple days ago…

IMG_4045

Yey! I am officially certified now!

{FIVE} Foam Roller

I have been reading a lot about the miracles a foam roller can bring into an athlete’s/fitness enthusiast’s life. I have decided I should purchase one. I am looking at the options on Amazon, as well as at Target. So far I am leaning towards this one:

232126014

What attracts me in this option is the DVD part of it. Short of googling it, I have no idea what to do with a foam roller.

I need to do more research on this…Right now I am lost in the variety available and opinions published 🙂 But I am pretty sure I am getting one of those!

What’s your latest favorites? Link up below or share in comments!

Have a wonderful weekend, my friends, and stay fit!

Lena

Healthy Living Tips: Q&A about Infused Water

Hi guys!

Happy Hump Day!

I’ve been asked a lot about infused water lately. By no means am I an expert in this, but I thought I’d share some tips I discovered.

I make infused water every Sunday (sometimes twice a week) and I think it is a great healthy alternative to store bought juices, leave alone soda:

  • it does not contain any added sugar
  • it is cheaper
  • it is more delicious
  • it is better for you

So below are answers to some common questions I get about making infused water.Continue Reading

Tasty Tuesday – Foodie’s Guide to Snacking

Hey, happy Tuesday! Tasty Tuesday! 🙂

Are you a snacker?

I am a “snacker”. Oh, I am such a “snacker”.

I am one of those people who needs to eat every couple hours. WHAT to eat is a big question here as you want to keep your body fueled, not overwhelmed by what you put in your month in between the meals.

I have been on the hunt for perfect snacks and sharing my finds with you today.

{ONE} Homemade Peanut Butter and Banana.

First of all, you can easily use store bought PB if you don’t feel like making your own. If you do feel like making your own, check out this recipe here that I used. I should have processed mine a little longer though – it is a little crumbly.

IMG_3738

{TWO} Smoothie

There is nothing like a good smoothie to keep me going until my next meal!

Usually I put all the ingredients for my morning smoothie in the blender cup the night before and put it in the fridge. Whirl it up in the morning after breakfast and take to work with me. This way I don’t reach for that candy in the break room at work but drink my delicious smoothie that keeps me going until lunch.

The flavor possibilities are endless and you are your own chef!

Smoothies

My “must include” ingredients are frozen fruit and cottage cheese/yogurt – they create the thick and creamy consistency that I like.

{THREE} Homemade Hummus

Love it! Try making it using this recipe and you will never buy hummus again! Have it with veggies or tortilla rounds.

IMG_3869

{FOUR} Fruit

Perfect snack! Sweet, juicy and good for you. Prep some the night before or on the weekend (rinse, peel, cut, pack in zip lock bags) and take to work.

IMG_4003

{FIVE} Nuts

If you love nuts as much as I do, it is probably very difficult for you to avoid buying and eating nut bars. Am I right?

Choose raw nuts over nut bars and spare yourself that extra added sugar. Don’t buy the “super-protein-and-fiber-packed” promises on the labels. Just eat raw nuts instead.

IMG_0974

{SIX} Homemade Granola

Is a super-snack! Make a batch on the weekend, pre-pack in zip lock bags or small plastic containers and enjoy during the week.

Here’s a recipe for you to play with – add/substitute the ingredients depending on what you like and keep it healthy!

IMG_1164

Add fruit and/or cottage cheese/yogurt to it and you got a perfect snack or breakfast!

{SEVEN} Baked Oatmeal

This is not only a GREAT breakfast, but also an awesome snack – one of my all-time favorites. Make a whole batch on the weekend and you have a ready snack/breakfast for the whole week.

One of the base recipes is right here for you – play with it as you like.

IMG_2930

Enjoy with yogurt, fruit and/or cottage cheese on top.

There you have it – 7 snack ideas for 7 days of the week.

To sum it up, here are some general guidelines when it comes to snacking:

  • Prep-prep-prep. Don’t be lazy to do your meal/snack prep on the weekend – you’ll be happy you did. Rinse and pack fruit and veggies, make a batch of baked oatmeal, granola or hummus and pre-pack for the weekdays. Cut up and freeze bananas and other fruit for your smoothies. Put all the ingredients in the blender cup the night before for your morning smoothie. You will thank yourself later.
  • Always carry a healthy snack in your purse. Never leave the house without one. What happens is – you are out and about – > you get hungry – > Les Big Mac. Don’t let it happen and have a healthy snack with you.
  • Make smart choices (choose raw nuts over sugar packed nut bars).
  • Before you buy, ask yourself – can I make it myself? If you can – make it!
  • Let fruit and veggies always be your number one choice when it comes to snacking.

Share: link up your favorite snack recipes below or share in comments: what is your favorite snack?

Stay fit!

Lena

MNB Challenge, Week 2 Recap – Nourish

Hey guys! It’s the weekend! YEY!

We are totally and completely snowed in this week!

IMG_3996

I needed a training plan to shovel all that! My back and arms are still sore…

Anyway, back to the business –  today I am going to tell you about Week 2 of the Move. Nourish. Believe Challenge that I am taking part in.

You can find the first week’s recap here if you missed it last Friday.

So, the second week was all about nourishing your body.

{MONDAY} Go Meatless

This week’s Monday was announced to be Meatless Monday by the challenge hosts Fit Approach and Lorna Jane Active.

The name speaks for itself – we had to go meatless.

Meatless Monday

I had oatmeal with honey and frozen raspberries for breakfast, pasta salad for lunch and Thai food (salmon, fried rice with veggies and tofu, and rice noodles) for dinner as it was Simon’s birthday and we went out to eat.

{TUESDAY} Bring your lunch to work

Tuesday was Bring Your Lunch to Work day. That one was easy for me – even though I didn’t get my usual massive food prep done last weekend (as I spent most of it in my Spinning Instructor Training), I still managed to prep salads for a couple of week day lunches and also took some leftover fried rice with veggies and tofu to work with me from the night before.

IMG_3970

{WEDNESDAY} Write it down!

On Wednesday the challenge was to journal our food and show what we ate (another easy one for me since I do it every day with MyFitnessPal).

Breakfast

Lunch

Dinner

{THURSDAY} Thirsty Thursday

On Thursday the challenge was to make a healthy smoothie. Another easy one for me! I usually make a smoothie every morning and take it to work with me to have as a morning snack as I have breakfast pretty early and usually get hungry by 10:30 am.

Carrot Cake Smoothie

So, the Thursday smoothie was:

1 carrot cake popsicle

1 frozen banana

2 tbsp. Activia Greek yogurt (vanilla)

1/2 cup almond milk

1 tsp agave nectar

1 tsp sliced almonds (to garnish)

3-4 frozen raspberries (to garnish)

1/4 tsp chia seeds (to garnish)

{FRIDAY} Go raw!

Now, that was a heard one for me… even though I love salads, fruit, veggies and smoothies.

I did some prep.work the day before:

IMG_4010

So all I had to do on Friday was stick to the plan! That made it a lot easier for sure.

Breakfast smoothie: spinach, kale, celery, avocado, frozen banana, almond milk

Breakfast smoothie: spinach, kale, celery, avocado, frozen banana, almond milk

Lunch was an all-veggie salad with spinach, avocado, cucumber, bell pepper, red onions, corn and pepitas.

IMG_4014

Dinner unfortunately was not raw…hubby took me out to eat for Valentine’s day, so my plan did not work 🙁

Now – on to Week 3 of the challenge – the Believe part! Stay tuned for the recap next weekend.

Question: have you ever tried raw eating? What did you think of that?

Stay fit, friends!

Lena

Valentine’s Day DIY Gift Ideas

Hey guys!

How did the Valentine’s Day get so close again? Totally sneaks up on me every year.

I have a selection of Valentine’s Day gift ideas for you if you are as into DIY as I am 🙂 Links below will take you to tutorials on the blogs of the gift ideas’ authors.

{ONE} Wooden Polaroid Gift Set by Sugar & Cloth

Polaroid

{TWO}Photo Puzzle by All for the Memories

all-for-the-memories-love-you-to-pieces-title

{THREE}Personal Picture Clock by Rosy Red Buttons

clock4

{FOUR}Garage Hook System by Lemontree Creations

Garage Hook System

{FIVE}Bookends for Baseball Lovers by Mod Podge Rocks

Step7BEFinishedProject

{SIX}iPhone Apps Magnets by Infarrantly Creative

Iphonemagnets153

Have a great Valentine’s Day, guys. Show some love to your special ones!

Question: do you ever make gifts yourself or do you prefer buying them?

Dreams Come True – Awesome Weekend Adventures

Hey guys! How was your weekend? Mine was AWESOME!

As you probably remember, I had becoming a Spinning® instructor as one of my New Year’s Resolutions.

Well, this past Saturday I went for my Instructor Training session at the East Shore YMCA in Harrisburg, PA. It was a full day of training + 2 awesome rides – all done by an incredible Master Instructor Meg McNeely.

Gosh…where do I begin?

Well, first of all, for over a year I had no idea that the classes I was taking were not actually Spinning® classes. They were indoor cycling classes – thanks to Meg and Mad Dogg Athletics, Inc. – now I know what Spinning® really is 🙂

With this knowledge came a lot of revelations (mostly unpleasant) – starting with the basic moves I’d performed in cycling classes for the past year and a half being not so good for me, and ending with the whole different philosophy behind Spinning® classes as opposed to the classes I’d been taking… and unfortunately, I was not alone. 13 other people in the group were sitting there nodding their heads as Meg described the misuse of the terms Spinning®, Spin® and Spinner® and the basic moves used in indoor cycling classes that don’t do you any good and may be harmful.

This training was an eye opening experience!

I didn’t really have time to take any pictures except my Polar FT40 screen after rides.

Ride 1

Ride 1

Ride 2

Ride 2

I still have to pass the online assessment and get my instructor card, but I now have the Certificate of Completion of the instructor training which gives me the right to start teaching.

IMG_3977-1

I am SO excited!

Now on to looking for a place to teach and continuing my education as an instructor. So far I have one place expressing interest I my services. We’ll see what happens!

Meanwhile I have a lot of work to do profiling classes, choosing music and thinking it all through while learning-learning-learning.

On a slightly unrelated subject – I have just been accepted to be a Sweat Pink Ambassador!!!

I have been waiting for a loooong time for this to happen. First, Fit Approach didn’t have their application process open when I first found them, then they opened it, I applied and waited and waited 🙂 I am SO excited to finally become a part of this wonderful community and to be their Ambassador. Thank you, Fit Approach!

Thank you, my wonderful friends, blog readers and my family – for your constant support and encouragement in what I do. I wouldn’t be able to do it without you!

Now I better go check what else was there on my Resolutions list and get cracking 😉

Stay fit, my dears!

Lena

Recipe: Oatmeal Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies

Hey guys! Happy Saturday!

I hope you’re having a wonderful day. While I am at a very exciting event right now, which I will tell you about in the beginning of next week, I have scheduled this post to share a great recipe I have recently discovered.

I was looking for a recipe for oatmeal cookies last week and found this one in my recipe keeper. I honestly don’t know where it came from, but with a few changes to the original recipe, it turned out great and not so damaging 🙂

Oatmeal Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies

IMG_3839

INGREDIENTS:
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1 ripe banana, mashed
  • 2/3 cup brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 ½ cup old fashioned oats
  • 1 ½ cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 5 oz dried cranberries
  • 2/3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
DIRECTIONS:
  1. Preheat oven to 375º F
  2. Beat butter, sugar and banana together until light and fluffy
  3. Add eggs, mixing well
  4. Combine oats, flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl
  5. Add to butter mixture in several additions, mixing well after each addition
  6. Stir in dried cranberries and chocolate chips
  7. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets
  8. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown
  9. Cool on wire rack

Makes 18 cookies @ 173 calories per cookie.

IMG_3837

Have a wonderful weekend, guys! Stay fit and warm.

Lena

Five on Friday: MNB Challenge, Week 1 Recap – Move

Hey guys!

Happy Friday!

As you probably noticed from the social media, I am participating in the Move, Nourish, Believe Challenge hosted by Fit Approach and Lorna Jane Activewear.

In this post I am going to tell you what the 5 days of the challenge were all about this past week in the format of Five on Friday! (hey, I’ve been on fire with this lately, haven’t I?) 🙂

{MONDAY} Sweat-it-Out!

On Monday the challenge participants had to show their favorite way to sweat. Well, that was a no brainer for me – Spinning of course!

My fav way to sweat-1

and, of course, I had to sweat in my favorite way that night:

Monday night spinning class with MJ

Monday night spinning class with MJ

{TUESDAY} Change it up!

On Tuesday, we were supposed to try a new way to sweat – select a workout from the challenge website and show the post-sweat selfie. I chose two workouts from the website: the 10 minute core challenge and Work it out with this Wednesday workout – with dumbbells.

It was fun! I normally don’t workout at home (too many distractions), but the weather was crappy so it was nice for a change. I really liked it! I should do it more often, and now I have just the resource for great quick workouts at home. A lot of them don’t require any equipment at all!

And here comes the selfie 🙂

IMG_3920

{WEDNESDAY} Let’s get planking!

The goal was to plank for at least five minutes – either in one setting or splitting up.

On Wednesday we were snowed in and I worked from home – so I had time to get into my planking! Got it done in two sets – 2.50 minutes each. Whew!

Lets Plank

{THURSDAY} Buddy up!

Thursday was a “workout with a Friend” day! I buddied up with my husband for an awesome lifting session!

IMG_3942

{FRIDAY} Fave Friday!

This day is about sharing our Five Fitness Favorites. So here we go!

Five Fitness Favorites

You all know of course, that mine are – spinning, yoga, lifting, planking (Oh look at that 5 min plank! It is my Personal Record so far of continuous planking on straight arms) and Polar FT40!

This challenge has been so much fun! I am meeting a lot of new and interesting people and sharing a ton of fun with them!

Next week is the “Nourish” part of the challenge – all about good food! Stay tuned, guys 🙂

Now, your turn! What are your Five on Friday or just things you’re loving lately? Link it up below or just tell me in comments to this post.

Have a great weekend!

Lena

Tasty Tuesday – Homemade Hummus Recipe

Hey guys! Happy Tasty Tuesday from the snow covered PA!

My back yard yesterday

My back yard yesterday

you can see on the patio table how much snow we got

you can see on the patio table how much snow we got

and on my garage light...

and on my garage light…

and the trees still look like they came out of a fairy tale

and the trees still look like they came out of a fairy tale

So this past weekend, in preparation for the Big Game, I was thinking about the snack menu and decided to go with tortia rounds and homemade hummus.I then embarked on a long and complicated journey of finding a perfect recipe for it as I had already had a few unsuccessful attempts in making hummus at home.

I found this recipe here and decided I will share it on my blog with you guys and so I could go back to it myself when I need to.

The link above has great pictures of the process and a lot of details on “how to” and why not any other way, so I am just going to do the facts here 🙂

Homemade Hummus Recipe

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Homemade Hummus Recipe

Ingredients

  • One 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
  • 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup tahini
  • Half of a large garlic clove, minced
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for serving
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons water
  • Dash of ground paprika for serving

Instructions

  1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine tahini and lemon juice. Process for 1.5 minute.
  2. Add the olive oil, minced garlic, cumin and the salt to whipped tahini and lemon juice. Process for 1 minute.
  3. Add half of the chickpeas to the food processor then process for 1 minute. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl, add remaining chickpeas and process for 1 to 2 minutes or until thick and smooth.
  4. If the hummus is too thick or still has tiny bits of chickpea, with the food processor turned on, slowly add 2 to 3 tablespoons of water until the consistency is perfect.
  5. To Serve: scrape the hummus into a bowl then drizzle about 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the top and sprinkle with paprika.
https://leanlena.com/tasty-tuesday-homemade-hummus-recipe/

I hope you’re enjoying your week so far and staying warm!

Lena

Last Week’s Exercise Recap and a Fit Family

Hey guys! It’s Monday again! I know, I know…But hey – it is a new beginning, isn’t it? Say, if you didn’t exercise as much last week (like this girl) or made not so good of food choices (like this girl, too), you should be happy for this chance to start over, right?

Yeah, me too 🙂

So, let me tell you what I did to exercise last week and a little about my fit family members. 🙂

{MONDAY}

Was supposed to spin, but got held up at work until late and then I had a Skype call with mom scheduled for that night, so I didn’t work out. Rest day #1.

{TUESDAY}

I don’t remember what the excuse was, but that was a Rest day #2! Keep reading 🙂 I am going to get to the exercise part eventually.

{WEDNESDAY}

I finally sucked it up and decided to try something new. The Wednesday Y schedule had Zumba on it, so I decided to go for it.

I had very little clue of what I was doing, but I had a blast!!! I really liked the atmosphere of the class – it felt more like a party than a workout. Thank you so much, Terre, for a great class!

Totally killed my knees though. I did my research in advance and chose the shoes that had little tread, but it still wasn’t enough for my knees.

So I am a recovering zumbanaut 🙂 Still.

Check out what a great burn it was, though! More than in some of the spinning classes I take.

Yeah, baby!

Yeah, baby!

{THURSDAY}

Guess what? Aha, that was the rest day #3. Right after work we headed to Simon’s swim meet. Oh, that was so much fun! I am so proud of him! Scored a smile, too (can’t take that for granted when it comes to TA boys:) )

SONY DSC

He swam like he had a motor!

SONY DSC

They also had a small party for seniors there that night. So sweet!

SONY DSC

Simon got a bag of candy and a balloon with his name on it.

SONY DSC

Of course the kitty had to have the balloon when we got home 🙂

What do you mean it's not for me? Who is it for then?

What do you mean it’s not for me? Who is it for then?

{FRIDAY}

Had to suck it up again and go lift – I am a fitness blogger after all, right? Not gonna keep my readers interested if I post about kitties all the time 🙂

Anyway, on Friday I decided to go for an evening workout!

I walked on a treadmill for a bit to warm up:

IMG_3816

And then lifted some heavy stuff!

IMG_3821

I mostly worked on my arms, shoulders and abs as my legs were still sore from Zumba and I was saving them for Saturday morning 🙂

The gym was almost empty. So were the locker rooms, so I had some fun after the workout 🙂

IMG_3825-1

{SATURDAY}

On Saturday I took an early spinning class with Tara so I could later go to Carmen’s basketball game. The class was a blast! I could feel my heart in my throat the whole time – that’s a sign of a good workout 🙂 A cold refreshing smoothie after that workout never tasted better 🙂

IMG_3835

Shortly after I got home and showered, we headed out to Carmen’s basketball season play offs. Her team won both games they played that day and are officially the #1 team in their league as of last Saturday. The last two games will be held next Saturday and I am sure these girls will be the Champions!

IMG_3847

{SUNDAY}

Was a busy day – all the prep. work for the Super Bowl (grocery shopping, cooking, setting the table, etc.) and….such a disappointment… Don’t even want to talk about the SB…

Let’s just end this with Sunday being Rest Day #4!

So. Let’s see… I didn’t exercise as much as I usually do last week, but I had a fun, busy week full of fun events and pride for my step-children.

I’ll count that as an AWESOME week!

Now, tell me: did you have a good week?

Stay fit and awesome, my friends!

Lena

Five on Friday – Foodie Pen Pals Reveal Day

Hey guys! Happy Friday to you!

I hope you had a wonderful week or just happy that the work part of it is over if you didn’t.

So, traditionally on Fridays I post about five things I am loving lately. This time this post happens to fall on the same day as my Foodie Pen Pals Reveal Day, so I am going to tell you all about that in the form of Five on Friday post! 2 in 1. Behold!

This month I was paired with Andrea from TN! After a quick exchange the boxes were on the way. Before I knew it – mine has arrived:

The box was sooo big!

The box was sooo big!

So, here we go – things I got in my wonderful box!

{{ONE}} PB2

IMG_3568

If you live in the woods (like me), you’ve never heard of such a thing as powdered peanut butter 🙂 PB in my family is a sensitive subject – because everyone is addicted to it. We try not to buy it because it disappears faster than we remember that we’re trying to eat healthy. The only time I buy it is when I need it for cooking (seriously!)…But before I can even start thinking about cooking with PB – it disappears.

So – this thing here is a perfect solution to my problem! Those PB addicts will not eat powder (I know that because it has been sitting in my kitchen cabinet for 2 weeks now and nobody touched it).

{{TWO}} Bob’s Red Mill – Hot Cereal

IMG_3572

Another first for me and look how wonderful it is to have it for breakfast!

IMG_3589

{{THREE}} Sweet Potato Chips

I LOVE sweet potatoes! In any form and shape and size.

Omnomnom!

Omnomnom!

 

This is how much I got to have of them before they vanished...mysteriously

This is how much I got to have of them before they vanished…mysteriously

{{FOUR}} Wasabi Peas

These had to be donated to the husband - turned out to be too spicy for me. He was very happy!

These had to be donated to the husband – turned out to be too spicy for me. He was very happy!

{{FIVE}} Pot Holder and Bag Clips

IMG_3576

Even though you don’t have to send anything but food, Andrea was so kind to include these wonderful presents for me!

All in all, look what a great box I got from Andrea:

IMG_3567

Have you ever participated in Foodie Pen Pals? No??? You gotta do this! Head over here and register!

Check out the pervious boxes I got from my Foodie Pen Pals:

October 2013

September 2013

August 2013

July 2013

Stay fit and have fun, guys!

Lena

Blog Improvements

Hey guys! Happy Thursday!

Sharing some blog news with you today. I’ve been getting busy lately trying to improve my blog and add a couple of new features for you to enjoy. Here’s what I got done so far:

1. Grab a button.

Always wanted to do that 🙂 I made a “cartoonized” image of myself (or at least I think it looks like me) into a Lean Lena blog button that you can see on the right side bar. If you want to add my button to your blog:

  • Copy the code underneath the button.
  • Add to a text widget on your website/blog.
  • Place it wherever you want on your blog.

You will see this cute button that links to my blog:

Cartoon Me-1

If you do that, head over to the new page on the blog (see details below) and sign up for your button to be placed on my blog so I could return the favor!

2. New blog page – Sponsorship.

I created a new page – Sponsorship. For now it has the option for bloggers to get a free spot on my blog to advertise theirs. The ad gallery will be displayed on the right sidebar under “Blog Love!” section.

If you are interested, you will need to head over to the Sponsorship page, click the “add to cart” button (the total due will be $0), and follow the prompts. You will need a 125×125 px button representing your blog. Once you’re done, the button will be displayed in the Blog Love section of my blog for 30 days. You can then renew your subscription (free as well).

3. Amazon widget.

I get a lot of “Where did you get that???” questions on social media…So. I put this widget together with my favorite products that I either use, or would like to use in the future.

The links are affiliate: that means if you click on the widget and order from Amazon – I get paid a commission for that. However, it does not affect the price of the item you buy.

4. Top posts and pages

This section is now added to the right sidebar as well – for you to see what’s hot! 🙂

5. Conscious box banners.

As you know, I ordered my first conscious box a while ago and loved it! I am now part of their affiliate program, which means if you click on those banners and order, I get paid and you get a wonderful box of eco-friendly and conscious products to enjoy!

That’s it so far! Let me know what you think of the new additions to the blog!

Stay fit and warm.

Lena