MIA

I've been a little MIA lately for good reason. We were on vacation in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico! It was SPECTACULAR. Since we have been back, work has been crazy, and we've been trying to catch up on our rest. I will be back later this week or weekend with a recap of our trip!

Baked Cashew Chicken + Happy Valentines Day

First, want to wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day! Give those loved ones lots of hugs and kisses today! I know a lot of people think this holiday is silly, but I love it! I can't wait for many more years of love, hugs and kisses from my favorite Valentine!

This is one of my favorite recipes I've made lately! It was so flavorful! It might become a staple recipe at my house!

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes

 Ingredients:

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts (hormone free is what I would use)
• 1/2 cup ground cashews
• 2 tablespoons diced onions (red or white)
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 tablespoon cashew butter (I used peanut butter, only because that is what I had)
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh cilantro (I used 1/4 teaspoon dried cilantro)
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (I used 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme)
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
• Put the chicken breasts in an oven-safe baking dish large enough to hold the breasts in a single layer. In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients except the berries and spread over the chicken. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

I found this recipe in The Fast Metabolism Diet Cookbook by Haylie Pomroy.

Wonderful Wedges

I've been needing some new Spring/Summer wedges. For our upcoming trip, I thought this was the perfect time to find them. I absolutely love shopping on Zappos.com. Anything you order from them usually is on your door step the following day. I searched around for a while, and found these two beauties.

Madden Girl Kain - Black

Madden Girl Duff - Congac

One of the reasons I am looking forward to wearing this is because that means I will be out of this freezing cold weather. #cannotwait

Turkey & Spinach Meatballs

Along with my Crossfit challenge this month, I am also doing the 10 day Advocare cleanse. This means for the next 10 days, I am going to be eating super healthy and clean. Over the weekend I made Turkey & Spinach Meatballs. Lately, I've been seeing a lot of ground turkey meatball recipes, so I found 3 different ones that I liked, and combined different ingredients from the three recipes. One of the recipes I found here.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground turkey (93% lean)
• 1/4 cup onion
• 1 egg (optional)
• 1 packages frozen spinach (Make sure you thaw it and squeeze all the liquid from the spinach)
• 3 garlic cloves (use less if you do not want a strong garlic flavor)
• 1 can Rotel (or an All Natural can of tomatoes and chili's)
• 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon dried cilantro
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

Instructions:

• Preheat oven at 350 degrees
• Mix all ingredients together.
• roll into large sized meatballs
• bake on a non stick baking sheet for 25 minutes or until turkey is cooked through.

I did enjoy these. They were of course, easy to make!

Holiday Delights

Are you like me, and when the holiday season comes, your inner Betty Crocker comes out? Well this happened last night at my house. These two holiday delights are easy and delicious! If you haven't noticed, most of the recipe's I post are considered "easy".

Peppermint Brownies
1 box Brownie Mix (any kind will work, I used Chocolate Chunk, because that is what was in my cupboard.)
1 bag Andes Peppermint Crunch

Follow the instructions on the back of the brownie box. Add in the bag of peppermint crunch. Follow baking instruction on the box, and BAM, Peppermint Brownies are complete! Easy, right? Delicious!

This second recipe is a FAVORITE of mine. I first saw the recipe here.

No Bake Oreo Balls
1 box Oreos
1 package cream cheese (8oz)
Almond Bark
Sprinkles of your choice

 

+Crush the Oreo's with a food processor or blender.
+Add cream cheese to the Oreo's. Mix well.
+Roll the mixture into balls. I usually keep my on the smaller side, these are very rich!

+Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the balls onto the baking sheet.

+When you are done rolling the balls, place the baking sheet into the freezer for about 15 minutes.

+Melt the almond bark. (follow directions on package)
+Dip the balls into the almond bark until completely covered.
+Place them back onto the parchment paper until hardened.
+Sprinkle with your choice of toppings.

+Once they are hardened, refrigerate until serving.

Everyone will want you "baking" more!!

Thank for stopping by to check out my recipes!

30 Crossfit Challenge at Home

All I hear anymore is about Crossfit, and I am jealous of everyone who does it. My sister and a lot of my friends are do it. I feel as if they sometimes are talking a different language when discussing it. I wish we had a Crossfit gym close to us that I could try out, and get on board with them. Instead, I decided to search around the good ol Internet to find a good challenge. I came across this one here. Who wants to join me in the 30 day challenge?

The thing I liked about this one is that I could do it in the comfort of my home. We do not have a gym here in Hubbard, which is unfortunate, so my home is the best I have this winter.

I am planning on beginning the challenge tonight. If anyone makes a comment and lets me know they are joining me in the challange, there may be a prize in the end! Good Luck!!

Week 1

Day 1:10 push-ups, 10 sit-ups, 10 air squats (5 rounds)

air squats (5 rounds)
Day 2: Run 1/2 mile, 25 (or 50 if you can) air squats (3 rounds)
Day 3: 20 lunges, 10 push-ups (5 rounds)
Day 4: Longer run (or whatever it is that you like to do–biking, swimming, etc), *Add-on: 1 minute front plank, and 1 minute plank on each side
Day 5: Rest day!
Day 6: 50-100 jumping jacks, 25 air squats, 20 push-ups, for time (keep a record of your time. I have THIS app for my iPhone, but you could just use plain pen and paper and do just fine!)
Day 7: Run 1 mile for time
Week 2
Day 8: Do one air squat and take one breath, (you breathe all you want while you do the squats) do 2 and take 2 breaths etc..up to 10, and then come back down to one.
Day 9: Run 1 mile (or run in place, or jump rope, or do short sprints or something to get your blood pumping) and do 10 push-ups every 1 minute.
Day 10: 20 jumping jacks, 10 sit-ups (5 rounds)
Day 11: Longer run (or whatever it is that you like to do–biking, swimming, etc) *Add-on: 1 minute front plank, and 1 minute plank on each side
Day 12: Rest day!
Day 13: 10 push-ups, 10 sit-ups, 10 air squats (5 rounds)
Day 14: 50-100 jumping jacks, 25 air squats and 20 push-ups (2 rounds) for time

　

Week 3

Day 15:

20 lunges, 10 push-ups (5 rounds)
Day 16: Run 1 mile, for time (compare to previous time!), and do 50 jumping jacks
Day 17: 10 push-ups, 10 sit-ups, 10 air squats (5 rounds)
Day 18: Longer run (or whatever it is that you like to do–biking, swimming, etc) *Add-on: 1 minute front plank, and 1 minute plank on each side
Day 19: Rest day!
Day 20: 50-100 jumping jacks, 25 air squats, 20 push-ups, for time (compare to previous time!), then jump rope for 3 minutes (or jump in place mimicking a jump-rope motion if you don’t have a jump rope)
Day 21: Sprint 200 meters (1/8th mile…or 1/2 way around a track), do 20 push-ups (3 rounds)

　

Week 4

Day 22:

20 jumping jacks, 10 sit-ups (5 rounds)
Day 23: 100 air squats, for time
Day 24: 20 lunges, 15 push-ups (5 rounds) *Scale down reps if needed
Day 25: Longer run (or whatever it is that you like to do–biking, swimming, etc.) *Add-on: 1 minute front plank, and 1 minute plank on each side
Day 26: Rest day!
Day 27: 15 push-ups, 15 sit-ups, 15 air squats (5 rounds) *Note: If you’re still struggling with this, you can do the 10/10/10 reps)
Day 28: Run 1 mile, for time (compare with your other results–have you improved??) and do 100 jumping jacks
Day 29: Leap forward (jump as far as you can with both feet) 20 times followed by 50 jumping jacks (3 rounds).
Day 30: Today’s workout will sum up what we’ve done and will take a bit longer than other days, so set aside a little bit more time than normal! For today: 

• 20 lunges, 15 push-ups (5 rounds)–decrease push-up reps if needed
• 10 sit-ups, 10 air squats (5 rounds) — or up the reps to 15 each
• 100 jumping jacks
• jump rope for 1 minute
• 25 sit-ups

Craisin Feta Roll-Ups

Hope everyone is staying warm this chilly winter! I must say, I am glad I work inside. Last night, it was my turn to bring the appetizers for my Sisters in Service group. Here is one of the easy and delicious recipes I made to share.

 

Ingredients:

• 1 bag of Craisins
• 1  container of feta cheese crumbles
• 1 container of whipped cream cheese
• 2 bunches of green onions
• about 4 - 5 flour tortillas





Chop the green onions (I only used the white part and then a little bit into the green).

Mix everything together and spread it onto the tortillas. Then roll them up.

Now you have yourself the finished product. How easy does that sound & look?

Share and Enjoy!

My husband kept trying to sneak these last night before I was heading out the door!

 

 

J Crew Factory Finds

Right now, I've been indulging in some online shopping at JCrewFactory.com. I do not like to purchase items at full price. I am always looking to find a good deal. I think my husband is less than impressed when I say, "Honey, look at how much money I saved". He always tell me I would save more if I did not purchase the items. Shopping is my hobby, what can I say, I love it. It makes me happy!

It is your lucky day, right now all the JCrew Factory jewelry is 40% off. 

Here are a few of my recent finds:

Denim Jacket & Tie

Dotted Shapes Necklace

Pinball Stud Earrings & Crystal Stud Earrings

I am really loving their jewelry. The necklaces look even better in person! Happy Shopping!!

Sorry about the poor quality photos, maybe someday I can invest in an actual camera instead of my handy iphone. Until then, this is what we have to work with! 

Go Broncos! We will be laying low for the super bowl and probably just watch it from the coziness of our home!