fitness Archives - Page 8 of 11

Lean Lena January 24, 2014

Five on Friday

Hey guys! Happy Friday!!!

Here I am again with five things that I am loving lately.

{{ONE}} Conscious box

Oh. My. God. I saw the ads pop up a lot on the internet, and finally decided to try it. The idea behind it is – you subscribe for certain number of months (can be as little as one), and every month you get a box of goodies – all healthy and organic stuff. When I ordered mine, they had a promotion running where you had to pay shipping only and get the first box for free.

Check out some things I got in my box:

Mighty Leaf Tea

Beauty Bursts!

Wholesome sweeteners

and lots of other wonderful things that made me a one happy camper!

Would you like to get a conscious box? Then you need to head over here.

{{TWO}} Lemon Bars

So last weekend I was browsing through Facebook and stumbled upon a great recipe for Lemon Bars.

I have never made those before, I don’t think I ever had one either, but they looked so good and easy to make that I decided to go for it and make a batch.

Aren’t the gorgeous?

You can find the recipe for these wonderful things on Lauren Kelly’s blog.

{{THREE}} Oranges Infused Water

Well, you guys already know from my previous Five on Friday post that I have been addicted to oranges lately. It got worse – now I infuse water with oranges 🙂

{{FOUR}} “Women, Food and God” by Geneen Roth

What a wonderful book!

Buy Women Food and God on Amazon

Initially, I heard about this book from the list of recommended reading for the “Yoga Fit Yoga Lean” certification course with Beth Shaw.

What a wonderful reading it has been! Very refreshing and useful book to read for those who what to look deeper into their relationships with food 🙂

{{FIVE}} My New Food Scale

Long time ago I got myself a food scale. Loved it! So easy when you need to control your portion size or keep track of the recipe ingredients.

Time went by and one day my kitty dumped a pot of dirt onto the scale (didn’t you see it coming?) 🙂 Well, I was “smart” enough to wash it off with water. My scale stopped working…

So I was on the market for a new one. It amazes me how ridiculously expensive these things are! So I went searching on Amazon for two reasons – the prices for these at the store just did not seem reasonable, and reason #2 -me being a ~~lazy~~ busy person. Here’s what I found.

And that concludes my Five on Friday! Have a wonderful weekend, guys, and…

Your turn! Tell me about your Five on Friday!

Filed Under: dessert, Five on Friday, recipes Tagged With: dessert, fitness, fitness motivation, five on friday, good food, recipes, Vodka the Kitty, weight loss 4 Comments

Lean Lena January 20, 2014

Weekly Exercise Recap

Hi guys! How are you this fine Monday morning?

I feel like I didn’t sleep at all last night…still not awake! I blame the weather…

Anyway, I wanted to share my weekly exercise recap with you – with ups and downs of the last week. Here we go!

{{MONDAY}} Spinning

As always on Mondays, I took a spin class with Jim last week – 12.5 sweaty miles and pure joy of great music and company.

{{TUESDAY}} Weights and Strength Training

Usual weekly meeting with Jim at the gym 🙂 Awesome as always! I am starting to feel more confident in the weights room on my own. I think I can have the sessions with Jim once in 2 weeks now instead of weekly, and keep going by the usual schedule (twice a week) on my own.

{{WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY}} – Unplanned Rest Days

I don’t know what happened. I had a crazy week at work and a couple of commitments in the evenings, but generally – I was just not feeling it. I could not motivate myself to workout. I was sleepy all the time, very sluggish and lazy – all those 3 days. Felt terribly guilty for not working out, but still could not bring myself off the couch in the evenings.

{{SATURDAY}} Walk and Weights

On Saturday morning I finally started feeling guilty enough and feeling like I owe myself a workout 🙂 So I got up bright and early and headed over to the YMCA.

Normally I do my Saturday double – spinning+yoga, but this time I felt like changing things around and bringing some variety to my workouts.

So I walked a mile on a treadmill:

And then did some weights!

All that made me feel just GREAT, which immediately resulted in this happy “selfie” in the car 🙂

After the awesome workout and all the “selfies” were done, I headed home and made myself a super energizing power smoothie.

1/2 cup (firmly packed) kale, 1 frozen banana, 2/3 cup unsweetened almond milk, 1 tbsp. Vega protein powder, 6-8 whole roasted almonds

{{SUNDAY}} Yoga Practice and Home

A while ago I got a free gift from Yoga Journal – a DVD (first in a series) with home yoga practice. I didn’t subscribe for the rest of the series since I rarely get a chance to workout at home, but got to keep the first DVD they had sent me. Yesterday, while hubby was taking a nap, I decided to give it a try! I have to say – I regretted not subscribing to the series! It was a great flow with just enough challenges for my home practice.

I absolutely loved practicing yoga at home – I dimmed the lights, turned on my candle warmer, fought off the kitty who was extremely interested in my yoga matt, and just spent an hour doing something for myself. Who doesn’t love that? I should definitely do it more often!

And that concludes my weekly exercise recap!

What was your favorite workout last week?

Filed Under: fitness, Motivation Monday, spinning Tagged With: fitness, fitness motivation, GGS, Girls Gone Sporty Ambassador, plankaday, spinning, weight loss, yoga Leave a Comment

Lean Lena January 17, 2014

Five on Friday

Hey guys! Happy Friday!

I hope you had a wonderful week and are ready for an even better weekend!

While you’re still waiting for it to come, here’s my “Five on Friday” – a weekly post about 5 things that I have been loving, liking, enjoying, etc.. lately.

{{ONE}} EOS – Lip Balm

Blueberry-Acai

Love those things! Carmen got me hooked on those – she started collecting them a while ago. I got her a set of lip balm and hand lotion by EOS for Christmas. She already had the lip balm flavor that was in the package, so I kept it for myself 😉

I am not a lip balm/chopstick kind of person at all…But I LOVE this series! It is sweet, too!

{{TWO}} Nike Air Total Core Cross-Trainers

$70 at Kohl’s.

I have shoes for running and walking, so I was looking for something light and easy to slip on for my cross training. Found it!

I love these shoes! They are extremely lightweight, comfortable and stylish!

Let’s go lift some heavy stuff!

{{THREE}} CND Creative Scentsations Hand & Body Lotion – Pear & Dandelion

It looks like this post is going to be about girly stuff 🙂 Oh well, let it be. Next on the list is this magic hand and body lotion.

What’s interesting – I don’t like any other kind from this CND series – just pear and dandelion. I absolutely cannot survive the winter without it! I use it mainly as hand lotion, but it is good as body lotion as well. I buy it in 31 OZ bottles. Seriously!

{{FOUR}} Naval Oranges

Image and Oranges Source

I made my husband go to Walmart at 9:00 PM and get me those the other day. It says it all!

I crave them, I eat at least one a day and I don’t see the end of it in the near future.

{{FIVE}} Ceramic Candle Warmers (Electric)

LOVE those things! After searching everywhere – Target, Kohl’s, Walmart, etc., I got mine from Amazon.

You put in a candle in a glass jar into this thing, plug it in, it heats up and melts the candle. I can’t even begin to describe how wonderful it makes my house smell! I got a candle with the holiday season scent and we enjoyed it so much! It also lasts a lot longer that if you would light up that candle.

Your turn! Share links to your “Five on Friday” posts with me or just comment here! I would love to hear what you’ve been loving lately.

Filed Under: Beauty, fitness, Five on Friday, Uncategorized, Weight Lifting Tagged With: beauty, fitness, five on friday, healthy snack ideas, holidays, home improvement 5 Comments

Lean Lena January 14, 2014

NY Resolutions: Status Update

Hi! Happy Tuesday, guys!

I thought I’d give you a status update on my New Year Resolutions post today.

So…one of the resolutions was to become a spinning instructor in 2014.

I have been thinking about it for a while now and even did some research before making that resolution! There are a lot of options out there for all kinds of goals, willingness to travel, price ranges etc. etc..

I looked into online training and certification with AFPA.

I looked into going to Philly for a pre-conference training and certification at the SCW MANIA in February…

Another option for instructor training I was looking at back when I first started thinking about becoming an instructor was with Mad Dogg Athletics. Last time I checked, the closest to me (geographically) instructor training session they had was in Washington, DC. It’s not that far from me, but would still require travel, time off work, accommodation and meals expenses on top of the training cost, that I wasn’t really looking forward to, so I kept researching.

Once I made this resolution in the beginning of this year and made it public, I looked at their website again and…they had a session scheduled on Saturday, February 8th, 30 minutes away from where I live at a local YMCA!!!

Of course I signed up right away!

Marked my calendar!

So, on February 8th I am going for a 9 hour spinning instructor orientation training.

Last Friday I got a box in the mail from Mad Dogg Athletics.

with my Instructor Manual in it!

Now – study, study, study!

Also, on Thursday this week I am taking my CPR certification class. Mad Dogg Athletics does not require CPR certification card for the training, but I will definitely feel better if I have one! 🙂

Ok, so for those of you who are looking into becoming a certified spinning instructor, here’s how to do it with Mad Dogg Athletics, Inc.:

Head over to their website and find the next instructor training session near you.
Register and pay for the training online.
Receive your Instructor Manual in the mail.
Study, study, study!
Attend the training session and receive your certificate of completion, which allows you to start teaching.
Take the online assessment test at your convenience.
Upon successful passing of the assessment test, get your instructor certificate in the mail – valid for 2 years.
Earn the required number of STAR point (CEC’s) in two years by attending their events, taking online courses, or other continuing education events/training (which you can later petition to be counted as your CEC’s).
Renew your certification in two years.
Enjoy being a spinning instructor and teaching! 🙂

Pretty awesome, huh?

I can’t wait for my training and getting certified – SO super excited!

Question: have you started working on making your NY resolutions a reality yet?

Filed Under: events, fitness, fitness events, new experiences, spinning, Spinning Instructor Tagged With: bicycling, fitness, new experience, spinning Leave a Comment

Lean Lena January 13, 2014

Motivation Monday – Last Week’s Exercise Recap

Hey-hey, my fitness gang! How are you this wonderful Monday? Ready to face the week?

I feel ready and excited! Why? Because it is a new start. New beginning of everything – it is your chance to start the week off right by eating healthier, exercising more and being happier 🙂

So, let’s look at my last week from the exercise standpoint. Here’s what I did:

Monday: Spin Class – 12.5 sweaty miles!

It was freezing cold outside that night and I left the sensor for my heart rate monitor in the car. I realized that after I got changed for my class and decided to ride “naked” rather than go back to the car in my capris and cycling shoes. So, “naked” ride it was! I have to say, it felt a little weird not to be able to see your heart rate, but it was definitely liberating not seeing the calories burnt. I think subconsciously as I approach my goal number of calories burnt during the class I stop working as hard as I should. So, I definitely enjoyed my “low-tech” ride on Monday!

Tuesday: Weight Lifting and Strength Training with Jim at the Gym

I feel like I am still burning calories from that one. It even hurts to type, leave alone steer…

I have noticed that I got a little too comfortable with my routine with the weights… Those personal trainers, they can read minds, you know? Just as I thought that I wouldn’t mind increasing the weight/number of reps, he did just that!

Oh. My. God.

That step forward is always killing me the first time I take it. I just hope that next time will be better and I will enjoy it a little more, and maybe suffer a little less afterwards… 🙂

Wednesday: Always Yoga Day, I mean ALWAYS.

After my killer workout on Tuesday it was a very much welcome practice. Looooove that stretching.

Thursday: a day of relaxation and not knowing what to do with myself

Is it just me or is there anyone else who feels like he/she is getting fatter by the minute on a rest day? 🙂

I do!

Anyway, it was nice to spend the evening “couch-potating” with hubby and catch up on the new Big Bang Theory.

Friday: Rest Day

Was originally supposed to be a yoga day, but I just wasn’t feeling it. So I listened to my ~~lazy mind~~ body and made it a rest day. 🙂

Saturday: Spinning+Yoga

Totally paid for my two rest days by making it a “Saturday Double”:

Another 12.4 sweaty miles!

Followed by a relaxing yoga class

Sunday: Yoga

Was initially supposed to be a “pump day”, but I got caught up in the 49-ers game and only made it to yoga. Hey, it was totally worth it!

And that is what I did last week!

Tell me: what was your best workout of the past week?

Filed Under: fitness, Girls Gone Sporty, Motivation Monday, plankaday, spinning, Weight Lifting Tagged With: fitness, fitness motivation, GGS, Girls Gone Sporty Ambassador, plankaday, spinning, yoga 2 Comments

Lean Lena January 10, 2014

Five on Friday

Hey guys! Happy Friday!

As usual, here is the Five on Friday post – five things, events, adventures, foods, etc.. that I am loving/enjoying lately.

{{ONE}} Trip to get our wedding rings.

I dug this picture out from that trip and it made me feel so good!

We went to Frederick, MD to get our wedding rings and stopped at a Starbucks on the way. We were still unmarried, happy and full of goof like above 🙂 Now – the only thing that’s changed is the “unmarried” part. Yep, still full of goof 🙂

It was a great trip on a beautiful September day that I will always remember with warmth in my heart.

{{TWO}} Healthy Living Blogs Tea Swap

Yeah, I participate in a lot of swaps… But I can’t help myself – it is so much fun and I get to meet new people!

The idea behind this one is so simple and so fun – you get a name and an address of a person and you send them 2-3 teabags of your favorite tea. You then receive tea from somebody else on the swap in return. So – you get to meet 2 people.

Here’s what I got from Mindy at Just A One Girl Revolution

I sent my tea package to Jessica at Fit & Fab Yogi. I haven’t heard back from her, but I hope the tea made it to her and she enjoyed it.

If you are interested in participating, keep an eye on the Healthy Living Blogs website for the new round of the program to start

{{THREE}} Meal Prep

I love it. Simply love it.

I usually get my “cooking bug” all active on the weekends anyway so why not put it to a good use and prep some meals for the coming week? Exactly – no reason why not.

Last week’s salad prep for hubby and me

Things I usually make:

Quinoa
Hardboiled eggs
Sweet potatoes
Beet roots (boiled/steamed)
Chicken breast (baked, grilled, fried)
Wheat berries
Roasted nuts

These are the ingredients to throw together a great salad to take to work for a healthy lunch! And it saves you time on the weeknights when you are tired and oh so tempted to grab some comfort food for lunch or go out.

Seriously, who wouldn’t want this for lunch, right?

{{FOUR}} Single Serve Blender

I got this baby for Christmas from my husband and I am absolutely loving it!

Neither of my family members is a big fan of smoothies, so the single serve is just perfect! It has travel cup, too – so it is super easy to just make one serving, detach the cap and drink on the way to work.

Look what goodness I have made so far:

cherry-banana goodness

If you think that making a smoothie is a rocket science – it really is not. Check out this cheat sheet for making smoothies that I am using, curtsey of Super Skinny Me.

{{FIVE}} Polar Loop

I know I have more gadgets than I can handle already…But this is something to wish for 🙂 Love the way it looks and what it does!

Maybe…maybe if I am a good girl, Santa will bring it for me next year 😉

Check out the features and prices:

Awesome, right?

Now – your turn!

Share your Five on Friday with me.

Filed Under: family events, fitness, Five on Friday, gadget-head, lunch Tagged With: family, fitness, five on friday, gadget-head, good food, healthy lunch, lunch, smoothie Leave a Comment

Lean Lena January 3, 2014

Resolutions Anyone?

Hey you, guys! And Happy New Year!

I hope you had a great time off with your loved ones, enjoyed the holidays and all back in the groove now.

New year is the time for resolutions, decisions, new goals and re-evaluation. It is to the point where it is borderline pure pressure and stress, isn’t it? Everyone is asking about your resolutions, sharing theirs, and looking for “resolution buddies”. Uuuurgh! Pressure. I hate pressure. Pressure has the reverse effect on me – the more I am pressured, the less I want to do it. For me, what does the trick is ME actually WANTING to do something. So. Let’s get the pressure off of you and have you relax for a couple minutes while you read this. This post is about me and my goals for 2014 as well as looking back at 2013. No pressure on you, navigate away if you like 🙂 Or…Keep reading 🙂Continue Reading

Filed Under: fitness, new experiences, running, spinning, Weight Lifting, Yoga Tagged With: bicycling, C25K, fitness, fitness motivation, new experience, running, spinning, weight loss, yoga 7 Comments

Lean Lena November 15, 2013

Five on Friday

It’s that time of the week again, my friends! TGIF!!!

So…here we go, Five on Friday – five things I am grateful for, things that I am liking, that entertain/amuse/puzzle me – all good stuff!

{{ONE}} Kat – My Best Friend.

Everybody should be as lucky as I have been with people in my life. I have the most wonderful friends in the whole world, and the best friend ever that I have had since the first year of college.

Somewhere on the way to a folk rock fest

Her name is Katerina and we met when we were both trying to go through the admission exams at college to be a translator.

We’ve been friends for many years, and haven’t seen each other for the last two. I am very-very-very excited about my upcoming trip to see my family and my dear friend! Lots of things to catch up on!

{{TWO}} Jim at the Gym

Told ya – I am incredibly lucky when it comes to people that come into my life.

About two years ago I took the first yoga class at the local YMCA that Jim taught and I have been addicted ever since.

In the two years I started going to his spin class every Monday, 3 of his yoga classes a week, and I now have personal training sessions with weights every Wednesday with him at the gym. Yep, my readers know that I spend a lot of time with Jim at the gym.

I am incredibly grateful to Jim for never ending inspiration, support, sharing his experience with me and letting me enjoy his company.

Seriously, the guy rode almost the entire Lewis and Clark Trail on his bike – he is DANG AMAZING.

Check out his blog – I read it as a book – cover to cover!

{{THREE}} Sugar Free Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

I am so grateful for these! They have been my go-to cheat treat for a long time now 🙂

{{FOUR}} Ice cream.

For its size, Carlisle, PA has A LOT of ice cream places. We have Bruster’s, Meadow’s, Leo’s, Rita’s, and now – Sweet Frog.

Sweet Frog

Leo’s ice cream pie

Meadow’s

I live in heaven!

{{FIVE}} My Polar FT-40 sports watch and heart rate monitor.

I am so glad I got it! It is a great tool to give you an idea of what you’re doing activity wise, keep track of your heart rate and fitness level.

Take it to your yoga class

It will connect to your spin bike monitor so you can see your heart rate during the class

Take it with you when you go for a bike ride outside!

And those are my Five on Friday!

Your turn!

Filed Under: fitness, Five on Friday Tagged With: dessert, fitness, five on friday, good food, people in my life Leave a Comment

Lean Lena November 11, 2013

Motivation Monday – Last Week’s Exercise Recap

Hey, guys! Happy Monday to you!

Hope you had a great weekend.

I haven’t done a Motivation Monday post with weekly exercise recap in a while – simply because I haven’t been exercising nearly as much lately due to my bad cold and later – bronchitis.

All better now and pretty much back in the game! So here’s what has been happening on the fitness front in the past week.

Monday and Tuesday – rest days (good start to the week, right? 🙂 ) as I was still recovering from my cold/bronchitis.

Wednesday – had a wonderful yoga class with Jim at the Y. One of my co-workers joined me for the class and we had a great time!

Thursday and Friday – rest days (told you I was taking it easy).

Saturday – did my usual double. Oh did that feel good!

11 sweaty miles!

Followed by a great yoga class!

Sunday – in addition to running errands (lots of walking), cleaning the house (lots of walking), and meal prepping (lots of walking), hubby and I went to the gym to lift weights! I love working out with him!

I think it was a pretty good week for the condition I was in, and that I managed to stick to the rules:

Credit: indulgy.com

It was a little hard to get back in the game after the 2 week break, though. The first week I didn’t know what to do with the free time I suddenly got on my hands due to not working out! But the second week (when I got a taste of doing nothing and having extra time), I felt like I am slipping back into my natural laziness! Couldn’t let that happen.

Credit: www.motivationblog.org

Credit: www.losgatosfitness.com

Because once you take that exit, you realize there is no turning back!

What did you do for your exercise this past week?

Filed Under: fitness, Girls Gone Sporty, Motivation Monday, spinning, Weight Lifting Tagged With: bicycling, fitness, fitness motivation, GGS, Girls Gone Sporty Ambassador, spinning, yoga Leave a Comment

Lean Lena October 18, 2013

Five on Friday

Hello, my friends! How have you been this week?

Hope you’re doing well on this beautiful day!

Today I am sharing the things I’m loving lately/great things happening in my life/exciting news – Five on Friday.

Ready?

{{ONE}} Our 2nd Wedding Anniversary and Trip to NYC!

I will post the trip recap some time this week. This One of Five is about this awesome guy I met years ago and married 2 years ago – best “YES” I ever said!

He is my best friend, my one and only and I am SO lucky to have such a wonderful man by my side!

{{TWO}} Mantra Bands!

Aren’t they awesome?

My Mantra Band

I found these online and I was obsessed ever since. Head over to the Mantra Band and order your own to help you stay motivated on your fitness or any other journey!

See how it motivated me? 🙂

{{THREE}} My latest kitchen gadget – crock pot!

My new crock pot

Now this is a blessing for a family of 4 where both mom and dad work full time. I’m sure you know, but I just love saying it – throw the ingredients in, turn on, leave for work, come back to a delicious hot meal – that is what a crock pot is and I can’t believe it took me so long to get one.

Look at these wonderful things you can make in a crock pot:

Home made crock pot split pea soup

Home made crock pot chili

if you add too much water to it like I did – you get soup instead of the stew, which is not too bad either

{{FOUR}} My upcoming trip to Russia in November!!!

Super excited about it! I haven’t seen my family and friends for 2 long years!!!!

Got tickets in my pocket – leaving on November 27 and coming back on December 11. 2 weeks with my dearest ones! CAN’T WAIT!

{{FIVE}} Overnight Oats

Gotta love those! Easy and quick breakfast for week days. Just combine oats, almond milk and chia/flax seeds in a jar and refrigerate!

Take out of the fridge in the morning, heat up, add fruit, nuts, etc.. and your healthy breakfast is ready!

Your turn!

Filed Under: breakfast, dinner, events, family events, fitness, gadget-head, new experiences, recipes, travel Tagged With: dinner, family, fitness, five on friday, gadget-head, good food, healthy breakfast, healthy dinner, healthy lunch, recipes, travel Leave a Comment

Lean Lena October 11, 2013

Junk Food: 2, Lena: 1

Hey guys!

I finally got to my blog – second time in this busy week, which sucked for the most part 🙂

Let’s see….It’s Friday (YAY!), I am back to PT for an uncertain period of time (boooo), and heading to NYC this weekend to celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary!!!

The past week healthy eating was challenged by:

lunch out with my husband on Monday

Birthday celebration cupcakes at work

Photo source – Catherine’s Cupcakery

movie night at home with my family

Junk/Processed/Not-so-good-for-you food – 2, Lena – 1.

There were some good/not-so-bad food choices and decisions this week, as well.

Fruit and yogurt for breakfast last Thursday

Home made crock pot chili

Mashed potatoes and chili on top

Home made crock pot split pea soup

Whole grain orzo salad

All in all, it wasn’t the best week food-wise.

On top of that, I pulled my left calf on Wednesday night, went to my scheduled physical therapy session on Thursday and was immediately treated for the new disaster. And that’s right when I was going to start making my way out of PT some time after next week. No such luck. The pulled calf hurt like hell last night, but seems to be a little better today.

What I am most upset about is the rest days I have to take that I was not planning on. This injury once again messes up my entire exercise routine and I can’t ignore it because it hurts to move.

Erm…remind me – isn’t exercise supposed to make you fell better? 🙂

Anywho, before my fitness life was interrupted by the pulled muscle, I managed to fit some fine exercise in last week:

12 ml ride in Monday’s spin class

Weights and strength training with Jim on Wednesday

Yoga class with Jim on Wednesday

Blogging news:

Did you guys noticed the new banner? What do you think?

Also, the former “Healthy Recipe” page of the blog is now called “Recipes” (the sole reason for the name change is that what’s healthy for me can be unhealthy for somebody else, so let’s go with the neutral name) and is powered by ReciPage!

I am still in the process of transferring the recipes from one to the other, but very happy with the way the new page looks! I think it is a lot easier to brows recipes now. You can also search by key ingredients, cooking methods and alphabetically.

I hope you like it and I would appreciate any feedback!

I will see you guys next week with the NYC trip recap!

Have a great weekend and stay fit!

Filed Under: breakfast, dessert, dinner, events, family events, fitness, lunch, recipes, spinning, Weight Lifting Tagged With: bicycling, dessert, dinner, family, fitness, fitness motivation, GGS, Girls Gone Sporty Ambassador, good food, healthy breakfast, healthy dinner, healthy lunch, lunch, pasta, pasta salad, recipes, salad, spinning, yoga Leave a Comment

Lean Lena October 8, 2013

Tasty Tuesday: Delicata Squash with Orzo Recipe

Hey guys!

Tasty Tuesday is here!

Today I am sharing one of my all time favorite recipes I found in the Yoga Journal a while ago.

Ever since it has been my number one choice when it comes to cooking squash this time of year. Even though it is pretty easy to make, I usually make it on the weekends as it requires a little bit more time than I have/am willing to spend on a week night meal prep 🙂

Delicata Squash with Orzo

Prep Time: 40 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Delicata Squash with Orzo

Ingredients

2 ea delicata squash, halved and seeded

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 fresh sage leaves

6 ounces whole grain orzo pasta - cooked according to package instructions, drained

1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds or chopped almonds, roasted

1/2 cup dried cranberries, halved
1/2 cup bread crumbs
Italian parsley, chopped
Handful of fresh pomegranate seeds
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Rub cut side of the squash with oil, and roast, cut side up, until tender when pierced (approximately 40 min).
In a small saucepan over medium heat, heat the remaining butter until it melts and develops light brown color, about 5 minutes.
Remove from heat.
Tear the sage leaves and add them to the saucepan.

Strain the brown butter through a fine strainer, and toss the butter with the orzo and the lemon juice.
Add the cranberries and roasted pepitas to the orzo.

Mound the orzo into the squash.
Sprinkle a layer of bread crumbs on top.
Heat in a 250°F oven for about 20 minutes.
Garnish with parsley, pomegranate seeds, salt, and black pepper.
Enjoy!

https://leanlena.com/tasty-tuesday-delicata-squash-with-orzo-recipe/

www.leanlena.com

The original recipe can be found on the Yoga Journal website right here.

I made it this last weekend and every member of my family had their plates empty before my first spoonful reached my mouth. 🙂

Enjoy the rest of your week and stay fit!

Filed Under: dinner, fitness, lunch, recipes, Tasty Tuesday, Weight Watchers, WW Tagged With: dinner, fitness, good food, healthy dinner, healthy lunch, lunch, recipes, weight loss, Weight Watchers, wwbtb Leave a Comment

Lean Lena October 7, 2013

Last Week’s Exercise Recap as part of the Motivation Monday

Hey hey, my fitness friends 🙂

Happy (?) Monday to you! Are you ready for another week of work and fun? I feel pretty good today – I think it is going to be a very-very fun week…and – this weekend is our second wedding anniversary. It’s been very happy two years – with ups and downs like in any family in general and a step-family in particular.

But not for once did I ever regret that “I do” I said to the most wonderful guy in this world!

So we are keeping the tradition of going to NYC for our anniversary! I am so excited about another opportunity to discover more of this great city!!!

Anywho, back to our Monday. I am back here with my exercise recap of the past week.Continue Reading

Filed Under: fitness, Girls Gone Sporty, Motivation Monday, new experiences, spinning, Weight Lifting, Weight Watchers, WW Tagged With: bicycling, fitness, fitness motivation, GGS, Girls Gone Sporty Ambassador, new experience, running, spinning, weight loss, Weight Watchers, wwbtb, yoga Leave a Comment

Lean Lena October 2, 2013

Foods of the Week – What’s on my Plate Wednesday

Hello and happy Wednesday to you, my friends!

Let’s talk healthy (and not so much) food, shall we? I am changing the format of my weekly “What’s on my Plate Wednesday” blog post today – just because I get bored if things don’t change for a while 🙂

Hope you like it!Continue Reading

Filed Under: breakfast, dessert, dinner, fitness, gadget-head, healthy snack ideas, lunch, recipes, Weight Watchers, what's on my plate wednesday, WW Tagged With: dessert, dinner, fitness, gadget-head, healthy breakfast, healthy dinner, healthy lunch, healthy snack ideas, lunch, recipes, salad, weight loss, Weight Watchers, wwbtb Leave a Comment

Lean Lena September 30, 2013

Foodie Pen Pals – Reveal Day

Hey, my fitness friends!

Guess what? I did it again! I participated in Foodie Pen Pals program and today is the Reveal Day!

Curious what I got?

Filed Under: breakfast, dessert, dinner, Foodie PenPals, healthy snack ideas, lunch, new experiences, recipes, Uncategorized Tagged With: dessert, dinner, fitness, fitness motivation, foodiepenpals, good food, healthy breakfast, healthy dinner, healthy lunch, healthy snack ideas, lunch, new experience, recipes, smoothie 5 Comments

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