Now that the weather is freaking gorgeous I've been running outside a lot. But at least two days each week I get up early to exercise (before you think I'm so motivated for doing that, it's so I can go to happy hour after work). And for nights when I get home late and it's already dark, I need a good ole basement workout. These are my favs right now:



I took a break from Millionaire Hoy to do T25, and I was so happy to get back with his workouts. I love his 500 calorie videos- most are ~30 minutes. He has a lot!



I love Leslie. I have been having back discomfort lately (really why are we still sitting at desks all day when we know how bad it is for us?) and this twisty video has really helped.




Fitness Blender is back and putting out new videos like crazy! I liked this workout - half weights and half pilates. I also love how Fitness Blender gives all the info about their videos (like below):







I've started playing this in the background when I do yoga and it takes it to a whole other level of relaxation and focus. Plus something about music makes concentrating so much easier for me.

Anyone have some good free workout videos I should be checking out?

Wednesday Workouts:Videos lately

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

I'm only talking about Blue Apron because this Blue Apron subscription is the reason I had parsley and decided to make these sliders which turned into meatballs which were delicious.

Ok so everyone loves Blue Apron. I hear about it everywhere, I read about it everywhere, it is apparently the best thing ever. Do you know what, to me who has a weekly goal of feeding 2 people all organic whole foods on $75/week, is NOT the best thing ever? Paying $10 per meal per person. The other thing, to me who fast forwards through YouTube tutorials to just see the first and middle step because I am confident I can figure it out from there, that is not awesome is following intense directions. So here I am, the only person in the whole world who canceled their Blue Apron subscription. 

I do however think it's worth a try for 2 weeks - I DID have some great meals that inspired me to try new things this winter (recipes to come!). I also learned something from them - add lots of salt and lemon juice to everything and it will taste better! Did I miss that in cooking 101?

Anyway, all that to say I'm horrible at following directions (is that why I never enjoyed school?) and somehow ended up with a random assortment of leftover ingredients from my Blue Apron meals including: 4 cloves of garlic, 1 small onion, 1 tiny baggie of parsley, a bunch of green onions, and a purple potato. So while my chili cooked in the crockpot with 2/3 pack ground chicken I thought what they hey, let's throw a few things together and see what happens!



Servings: 5 Meatballs
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:
  • 1/2 lb ground chicken ($2)
  • 2 stems (is that what you call it? but you know what I mean right? like 2 stalks maybe?) vidalia onions chopped  ($.50)
  • 1/4 Cup fresh parsley, chopped ($.50)
  • Juice of 1/2 lemon ($.50)
  • 3 Tablespoons crumbled Feta ($1)
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • Black pepper to taste
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced 
  • 1 egg
  • Optional seasonings: marjoram, basil, dill
Preheat the oven to 400. Mix all the ingredients together except for the Feta. Spoon about 1/5 of the mixture onto a separate plate and flatten it out. Sprinkle some of the Feta into the center of your flat meat stuff. Now pull all the edges up around the Feta and pinch them together until the Feta is completely wrapped up. I rolled mine around in my hands to get the round shape too.

Repeat this with the rest of the meat mixture and place your meatballs onto a baking sheet. Cook for 20-30 minutes, or until cooked all the way through. 

I just ate mine plain. I ate them quickly, hence the reason I only have pictures of one cooked meatball.

What is your favorite spin on meatballs?


Clean Eating Greek Stuffed Meatballs + The Time I tried Blue Apron

Monday, October 19, 2015

Oh hey! I went MIA for awhile... did a little soul searching, a little WTF am I doing with my life and when did I become someone with a blog who spends time blogging?? and a lot of eating non-blog-worthy food and doing a lot of non-blogworthy things (like work) and a lot of sleeping. But I'm back, and back on track (maybe?) and glad to be using this outlet again. SO thanks for the emails, comments and messages and let's get back to it:

Anyone who graduated from a big football school usually finds themselves extremely nostalgic at this time of year. I find myself reminiscing about the tailgates, the marathon weekends with friends, crying that time the bulldogs came running out in black jerseys during our blackout game my senior year of college against Auburn (laugh all you want but anyone at that game who claims to have had dry eyes and/or dry pants is a LIAR), and my inhuman ability to binge drink from the time class ended Friday (if I made it to class) until Sunday night.

The next biggest thing I get all hot and bothered and sad about missing is the food. We had some great soul food in Athens, Georgia. My personal favorite was Weaver D's (Fun fact: REM - also from Athens - named an album Automatic for the People after Weaver D's slogan). This restaurant was literally an extension of an old couple's home, you were basically sitting in their actual kitchen when you ate the best fried chicken you've ever had in your entire life. Just look at this beauty:


Anyway, every since I started on this clean eating thing I've experimented with fried chicken and generally end up with chicken coated in soft or slimy skin. Until I found the perfect combo, and it was easier than I could have thought. 

Servings: 3
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:
  • 3 Tablespoons of the fat of your choice - I think this recipe is best with bacon grease but olive oil or coconut oil or whatevs along those lines works too.
  • 1.5 lbs chicken tenders or chicken breast sliced into 1-2" strips (I get organic/free range for $5)
  • 2 eggs, beaten ($.50)
  • 3/4 Cup ground Flax Seed (I get mine for $8/box at Trader Joe's)
  • Seasonings of your choice (I use sea salt, pepper, a little chili powder, and some Italian seasoning- weird) + sea salt and pepper
Mix up the ground flaxseed and seasonings in a bowl. Set up an assembly line on your counter in this order: plate of chicken, beaten eggs, ground flax seed mixed with seasonings, empty plate. 

Sprinkle salt and pepper onto each side of the chicken strip. Dip a strip of chicken into the eggs (get that egg all over the chicken strip!), then roll it around in the flax/seasoning mixture until it's completed coated, place on an empty plate. Repeat with all the chicken strips.


In a medium frying pan, heat the fat. Once it's all heated, throw your chicken into it the frying pan and cook about 5-8 mins on each side, or until it is completely cooked all the way through. I may or may not have burned the sh*t out of a chicken strip or two and you know what? All the crunchier. And extra Cajun, right?




Anyway, it's that easy. Sometimes I throw them on salad with some whole30 ranch, or put them on 3 ingredient paleo waffles (yes drool), or just dip them in some stone ground mustard. 

Do you have a favorite "fried" chicken recipe? What is it? Please share!





Easy 5 Ingredient Crispy Paleo Fried Chicken

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

It's football season which is basically CHRISTMAS over here - (Go Dawgs)! I hate being too far away to just bop down to Georgia for games, so for now I have to settle for Georgia bars and tailgates at home. Essential to the tailgates is the quality drinks. These are some of my favs:


Grapefruit Jalapeno Margaritas by Jillian Harris



Georgia Peach on Food.com


Moscow Mule from The Crazy Wise Woman



Grapefruit and Sage Mimosa from Bakeaholic Mom



You can check out my clean tailgate foods here. I also really like this wine pairing guide from

This guide to how much food and drink to serve is also  helpful, as well as this guide to pairing wine because my knowledge of wine is limited to me knowing that a bottle is $3 at Trader Joe's.

What is your favorite tailgate drink?

Tailgate Boozin

Friday, September 11, 2015

...Annnd just like that it's fall. We spent Labor Day weekend in Charleston for a wedding and had a blast. I LOVE Charleston and it did not disappoint. This time my friend took us on the Sunset Cocktail Cruise and I seriously recommend it - it's basically a BYOB tour of Charleston by boat and we saw JUMPING DOLPHINS!

Anyway, Mexican food is my fav but unfortunately my favorite Mexican dishes include tortillas, cheese, sour cream, and did I mention cheese? This little spin on fajitas keeps it all healthy, eliminates the no-no foods, and honestly I didn't really miss the cheese and sour cream!


Servings: 2
Cook Time: 20 mins
Prep Time: 10 mins

Ingredients
  • 1.5 lbs chicken breast (I get the cage free organic for about $4/lb)
  • 2 bell peppers, sliced ($2.50)
  • 1 red onion, sliced ($1.25)
  • 1 jalapeno seeded and sliced ($1)
  • 1 avocado, sliced ($1)
  • 1 cup mushrooms, sliced ($1)
  • 10 ounces tomatoes, sliced ($3)
  • 1 bag of lettuce, chopped (I mix a bag of spinach and a bag of kale - each is $2 from Trader Joe's)
  • Juice of one lime
  • 1 tablespoon of bacon grease or cooking fat of your choice
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 2 Tablespoons fresh cilantro
  • Optional: Salsa to top the
Slice up the chicken breast into strips and toss with the sea salt, chili powder, garlic powder and cumin. Grease a large frying pan with your cooking fat and cook the chicken strips over medium heat for about 15 minutes. When the chicken is almost done, add in the onion, peppers, jalapeno, mushrooms and lime juice and cook for another 5 minutes, or until the vegetables are cooked through.

Top the lettuce with the frying pan concoction, cilantro and avocado slices and enjoy!

What is your favorite Mexican dish?

This week's meal plan:




Paleo Chicken Fajita Salad + Paleo Meal Plan & Grocery List

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

I've been less into dresses and more into shorts this summer and conveniently shorts are going on sale this time of year, and there are plenty of ways to wear shorts through October (at least here in DC where I stay sweating through October).

Here are some looks I like that can work outside of just summer:

via

via

via



via
via

via
I bought these black & white Aztec shorts at a thrift store for $8, but they are at Forever21 for $19. I love them because they are made from quality material (F21 steppin up!), lined, and not booty shorts at all.

F21 also has these blue and white geo pattern shorts for $17 and these striped denim shorts for $9.

Also love these $15 boho embroidered shorts from Nordstrom Rack (they remind me of the last image!), and these fun bright shorts from Old Navy. 

Asos curve has some bomb plus size shorts.


Question: would you ever wear shorts to work?


Pattern Shorts Under $20

Thursday, August 27, 2015




I'm wiping my eyes as I write this post because I just finished watching Dogs on the Inside on Netflix and it gave me a REAL GOOD CRY. A good happy cry. A good, happy, very very ugly cry. Everyone needs those once in awhile right?

This recipe was an experiment gone good (I've had a few gone bad recently so it was quite a relief when this went right). And it was easy! Here it is:

Servings: 2
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients
  • 2 lbs chicken (I got the organic at Wal-Mart for $8)
  • ¾ cup olive oil
  • ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp basil
  • ½ cup frozen (or fresh) raspberries
  • ¼ cup water

For the marinade, I used this recipe.


Before I left for work I put the chicken in a ziploc freezer bag and scooped about 1/2 cup of the raspberry vinaigrette in and let it marinate in the fridge for the day.

That night we grilled the chicken. We ate it with salad topped with the leftover raspberry vinaigrette and it was delissshhh. If you don't have a grill (  ):  )  you can put it in the oven for about 30 minutes at 400 degrees. 

(PS note my bootie coffee mug photo bombing the chicken and salad pic)

Paleo Raspberry Chicken (I know it sounds weird but it just works)

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Eating:


Breakfast salads for approximately 2 meals per day. 2 eggs over easy or soft boiled + diced tomatoes + spinach + salsa verde + sriracha. Yes. OMG yes.

Watching:


Do you ever put something on like "oh this will be boring enough to just have on in the background and I won't pay any attention" then 2 hours later you are on the edge of your seat over gamers in South Korea who accidentally killed their baby because they confused reality and video game world? Just me? This "background" documentary was called Love Child on HBO. WTF. Don't watch it before bed because this thing takes you inside the video game and you'll be having nightmares about running through a rainbow tunnel from a winged Arnold-Schwarzzanegger-esque monster.

Reading

Just finished In the Woods - murder mystery in Ireland. It was ok...I didn't love Lovely Bones either, and I think this is a book for that crowd. I've been on a North Korea kick - the more I read about it the more I'm like WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON EVERYWHERE. I started with Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea - memoirs of North Korean defectors and am now on The Orphan Master's Son. F*cking fascinating.

Looking forward to:


Government is out which means DC shuts down for the summer which means I get 4 day work weeks in August. Yes. Yes yes yes yes yessssss. It's crazy how one less day of work each week actually makes me more productive.

Dreading

Doing the dishes. I spent years in apartments and houses with no dishwashers. Now I have a dishwasher. Now I want more. Someone to come to my house and do my dishes for me perhaps? A live-in staff? LOLLLLLLLOLOL.

Exercising with:


"To thank everyone for getting us to two million followers, we're going to kick your a$s!" Thanks Fitness Blender! But for real, this 1,000 Calorie Workout is a good one. 

Confused by:

Kylie Jenner. Is she ok? Why has she been allowed to date this grown man? And did the Kardashians really have an intervention with her re: plastic surgery and if so wouldn't it have been a little easier to just not sign off on a child getting plastic surgery? AM I MISSING SOMETHING HERE? And wtf happened to Rob? is he alive?? 

Wanting:


How beautiful is this dress. And how far out of my price range is it...womp womp,

Feeling

 Reflective. I hit my 2 year anniversary at work this summer and am so thankful for the work-life balance I have been able to achieve with this job while still making a difference. Also going to friends' weddings has me reflecting on my own relationship. A lot to be thankful for over here!

Planning

Upcoming travel - Richmond this weekend to get my sister-in-law moved into college (tear!!), Richmond the next weekend for a one year old birthday party, Labor Day wedding in Charleston, Boston wedding the next weekend, cabin weekend in Luray, VA with friends, and a winery wedding. Thank you, Rover for always keeping me stocked with awesome, affordable dog sitters.

Wearing



Just got this  Club L Cap Sleeve Body-Conscious Dress in Watercolour Floral Print for $17 from Asos and loooove it. Asos you KILL ME and I LOVE YOU. Head's up: it runs real small. Also about to buy all these on ASOS 60% off work clothes sale (PS am I boring for only wearing black to work?):

Wanting to

Catch up on blog reading! I have missed being in the know about what everyone in the blog world is up to!

Limiting

Social Media. I have wasted so much time scrolling through my Facebook feed to see what people I haven't spoken to in years are doing. Limiting Instagram to once/day and FB to once/week (eeeek).



Currently

Thursday, August 13, 2015

I hit a point a few months ago where I was so freeeakkinggg tired of rotating through the same workouts. It was like, if I have to jump around with Millionaire Hoy or listen to Daniel and Kelly's voices I just ... I just can't. I realized the only way I can stay motivated is if I make sure I'm switching up the workouts A LOT. Variety is the spice of life, amiright? Here's what I'm diggin lately on top of running (with some new friends!):



  This killer weights workout is nuts. The kind of nuts that I think could get me very toned very fast. I mean just look at this lady.




I'm getting back into running again and this yoga flow is the perfect post-run activity. Can we just talk about how much yoga has changed the way I feel running? So much less sore and less joint pain. My grandma claims yoga is the reason she has made it to 93 "It's the cure-all for everything" and I'm starting to believe her.




Who doesn't love a little barre with peppy Jessica and that Peanut dog of her's?? This is my fav.




Ahh yes HIIT with weights. Let's all die a little. Right around minute 10 I began audibly suffocating. Around minute 17 my thighs gave out. Killer.

How do you keep from getting bored working out? Any videos you recommend?

Youtube Workouts I'm Diggin Lately

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Since the government goes on vacation in August I get August Fridays off, and somehow Monday still comes too fast. So fast. Maybe I'm more meant for a Tuesday - Thursday kind of lifestyle? Wouldn't that be nice. Anyway we had a wedding in town this weekend and it was nice to have all of Sunday to recover meal prep, clean, watch the Wet Hot American Summer TV SHOW (!!!!) and get life together a bit. This is my meal plan for the week:




And here it is all prepped up:


So I'm a goals person. Every summer I set some basic goals and this summer goal #1 was Master Grilling Ribs. I love ribs and am picky about them to the point that I only order them at restaurants if they are recommended by someone I know and trust because I am not about waste money on some chewy meat that does not fall right off that bone. *steps off soapbox*. Welp I can check #1 off the list and here's how it worked (2 disclaimers: I had nothing to do with the completion of this. It was all Harrison. 2, the ribs are not paleo. I cannot give up Sweet Baby Ray's. I just can't, it's not an option. Same goes for the bbq seasonings I use):


Prep Time: 5 mins
Cook Time: 3 hours
Servings: 3-4
 Ingredients: 
  • 1 rack pork baby back ribs (I got mine at Trader Joe's for $12)
  • 3 Tablespoons dry rub (we used this, paleo option here)
  • 1 cup barbecue sauce (As noted above I use Sweet Baby Ray's. Paleo option here)
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Trim the membrane off the ribs. Cut up the ribs into individual pieces and cover with the rub. Place the ribs into a large baking pan (we use this for easy clean up) meat side down, cover with foil, and cook in the oven for 2.5 hours.

Remove them from the oven and drain the cooking juices into a bowl. Place the ribs all directly on the grill for 10 minutes, constantly turning them and basting them with the barbecue sauce AND the cooking juices.

After 10 minutes, put the ribs into another baking dish and put them in the oven on broil for 4-5 minutes on each side. 

Enjoy the ribs which Harrison describes as "fall off the bone-y and kind of wet but also crispy at the same time".  I served these with a broccoli salad that I adapted from my friend Amanda's recipe:

Paleo Broccoli Salad
Prep Time: 5 mins
Cook Time: 0
Servings: 4


Ingredients:
  • 1 head of broccoli florets or package of broccoli florets ($3)
  • 2/3 cup Whole30 mayo (recipe here - don't let this ingredient scare you off! This takes less than 5 minutes to make!)
  • 1 handful craisins
  • 1 handful shelled sunflower seeds (optional swaps: any type of chopped nuts)
Toss all the ingredients together. That's it! So easy.

What is your favorite barbecue meal? 

Paleo Meal Plan for the Week + Ribs & Paleo Broccoli Salad

Monday, August 10, 2015

Hi, it's me Lindsay, the worst blogger ever.  My summer got taken over by happy hours, porch beers, cookouts, dog cuddles, and trips. The way a summer should be. Needless to say I've gained more than a few libbies (WHAT! I eat and drink everything in sight for months and gain weight?! Science is nuts). Every few meals I'm like today's the day I get back on track and make something healthy. Here's a recipe that is Harrison-approved and clean but not quite paleo:

Wait but first - is is PortabellA or PortabellO? I always confuse words with A's vs. O's, I spelled Puerta Rico Puerto Rica for years, as well as Costo Rico, and even though I live in DC I stay drawing out of a hat to decide if I live in the nation's capitAl or capitOl.
Servings: 3
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients:
  • 6 Portabella mushroom caps ($5.00)
  • 2 oz Goat Cheese (or to taste, I got a little excessive with the goat cheese and will go for less next time) ($3.50)
  • 1 red pepper, diced ($1)
  • 1/2 red onion, diced ($1)
  • 1 tablespoon bacon grease (or your choice of cooking fat)
  • Baslamic vinegar to taste
  • (Also pictured: a very lazy salad consisting of tomatoes and arugula topped with balsamic vinegar)
Place all the mushroom caps smoothe side down, remove the stems, and sprinkle crumbled goat cheese into 3 of them (they should be kind of like bowls).

Saute the onion and pepper in bacon grease or your cooking fat of choice for about 8 minutes, or until onions are translucent. Spoon the mixture into the mushroom caps on top of the goat cheese. Drizzle with Balsamic Vinegar. Put the 3 empty caps onto the 3 full caps to make sandwiches. 

Coat the veggie frying pan with more bacon grease and heat the "sandwiches" evenly for about 3-5 minutes on each side.  

Enjoy!!

PS Found this article of what to buy and not buy at Trader Joe's. I've been trying to get my sh*t together enough to write something like this!

What's your favorite meatless Monday recipe?



Meatless Monday: Red Pepper Portabella "Burgers" with Goat Cheese

Monday, July 27, 2015

Hi! How was everyone's fourth? Mine was awesome! The park across the street from my house puts on an amazzzing bootleg fireworks show so we put on a cookout and enjoyed the show with family and friends. It was pretty much perfect, and as you can tell we 100% committed to the theme (thanks, Amazon)!






Anyway, the other day I had a killer craving for okra (weird I know, but I love okra a LOT) and there was NOT ONE PIECE OF OKRA TO BE FOUND AT TRADER JOE'S so I grabbed a pack of brussel sprouts, a pack of mushrooms, and a bag of frozen asparagus and called it a day.


Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 30 mins
Servings: 2 (with leftovers for lunch)

Ingredients:
  • 2 chicken breasts, sliced (I use organic/cage free so it's a little pricier at $8)
  • 8 sticks of asparagus - do we call these sticks? What is the right term? Stalks? ($3)
  • 1 pack of brussel sprouts, halved ($2.50)
  • Handful mushrooms, sliced ($1)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • Garlic salt to taste
  • Sea salt to taste
  • Pepper to taste

Toss it all together, throw it in a baking dish and bake at 425 degrees for 30 mins. Minimal work, maximum healthy meal.

What is your favorite chicken dish?

Easy Paleo and Whole 30 Chicken Dinner

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

So I was super healthy and exercising a lot before the wedding, then proceeded to eat and drink everything in sight and exercise once in awhile. Enter: first weigh in since the wedding. Enter: A new 15 pounds! Enter: time to get it together.

New plan:
  • 80% paleo, 20% not (for me this breaks down to a cheat day)
  • Exercise 5x week
  • Yoga 2x week
  • Get back to running!
  • Stop eating everything in sight!
  • Booze limited to 2 nights/week (summer why do you make this so hard!)
  • Weigh in and measuring every Friday (not sharing my weight or measurements, because I am a firm believer in comparison being the thief of all joy, but I will be posting progress.)
  • Food prep Sundays (seriously this time. SERIOUSLY)
Food I'm excited to try:

BREAKFAST FOR DINNER

HI!!!!

YES!

ALL OF THESE

Anyone have good resources? New recipes? New plans? Delicious desserts that are healthy? Tips for passing up booze in the summer? ): 


Getting It TOGETHA (again)

Thursday, July 2, 2015

I had a work conference in New Orleans last week and thought I'd have all the time in the world to catch up on blog stuff, eat healthy, have some quality time for myself... not so much. Not at all actually. It was an amazing time though! It was my first time in NOLA - Harrison flew down on the last day of the conference and some of my friends from Florida came up for a few days on the town. Then we drove to Alabama to see Harrison's family and hit Grady, Montgomery and Birmingham (sadly we were just there for a minute, I was praying for some downtime to finally have a drink with my blog crush Nadine but it was non stop).

For New Orleans I highly recommend every single restaurant we stopped at in NOLA but my favorites were Charbroiled Oysters @ Drago's (I don't even do oysters), ghost tour with Free Tours by Foot, and Frenchman Street. My fav stops in Birmingham: The Purple Onion (Harrison has been talking about this restaurant since we met) and Kelly Ingram Park. Here are some highlights:


Bourbon Street!


Maison on Frenchman Street


Harrison's Grandma Pearl had this food waiting for us when we arrived to her house (no cell service, no internet, no neighbors. Quite different from DC life!)


Exploring his grandma's property - Harrison spent summers here!


Boppin around the farm



And now it's back to the real world womp.

Before I left for the conference I attempted some pho. Let me start by explaining that I once had  Vietnamese co-workers who introduced me to this incredible dish, but who also always ordered for me (in Vietnamese) and I have never been able to re-order or re-create the exact dish. It's not quite paleo (rice noodles, sorry) but it is super healthy and super super delicious. Mine was also a little heartier/less soupy than your average pho but I loooved it.



Servings: 5
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

  • 1 head broccoli, chopped into florets ($2.50)
  • 1 12 oz package of snow peas ($2.00)
  • 32 oz broth ($1.50) 
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 package pho / rice noodles (I found mine at Wal-Mart! - $2)
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 stalks celery, chopped ($1)
  • 1 jalapeno, sliced and seeded ($1)
  • 8 oz sliced mushrooms ($1.80) (I used a package from Wal-Mart also)
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 tablespoon minced onion
  • Serve with fresh basil, fresh cilantro, and sririacha sauce

Cook the noodles according to the package directions (I just put mine in a covered bowl of water and let it set for 20 mins. Too easy).

Combine the broth, water, onion, salt, garlic and broccoli in a pot and bring to a boil, then let simmer for 15 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and let simmer for another 5-10 minutes. Serve with the basil, cilantro, hot sauce, or anything else your heart desires!

Do you like pho? Do you make your own? What is your favorite New Orleans stop?? 


So when this whole finger thing happened I was given strict instructions: No activity that jostles the hand, and no using my right hand. Aka no exercising, because when you think about it what kind of workout does NOT jostle one's hand (answer: yoga! But wait, you have to put weight on your hands in yoga so nope).

I didn't realize how stressed out I am without exercise. I have so much energy and tension that gets worked out in daily exercise and walking miles with the dogs every night and all of it was just stuck inside of me. When I told my hand therapist how I was feeling she said "oh! Drink more wine. Really." If only my health insurance would cover that... She also suggested a stationary bike (not paying for a gym membership) and pilates so Pilates it was!

I scoured youtube for low impact videos that don't use hands or wrists and here are some of my favs:

Fitness Blender Pilates for Lean Legs & Toned Core (these two really do everything).



Barlates Body Blitz THIS ALMOST KILLED ME. The shakes kicked in right around minute 7.



Blogilates Extreme Abs Workout (Hello Cassey, it's been awhile since you ripped up my insides)






10 Minute Barre Abs Workout - my favorite part is the girl in the back complaining about how bad it hurts. THANK YOU!

Do you know any good hands free workout videos? Please share!!



Look Ma - No Hands! Low impact workouts with no hands/wrists

Wednesday, June 17, 2015