Quinoa with caramelized onions and shiitake mushrooms

Ryan is working real late tonight...actually sleeping on the boat, so I decided to make myself something really delicious, healthy, and light.

What you need:

• 1 Box of 'Near East' quinoa - Rosemary and Olive oil flavor
• 2 cups of shiitake mushrooms, stem removed and sliced
• 1 half of yellow onion, sliced
• 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon of pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

Step 1

Cook the quinoa according to the directions on the box. I used the microwave option because it was easier.

Step 2

Slice up the onion.  Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to a pan over medium heat. Then caramelize the onions. Here is how to do that in this video:

Step 3

While the onions are caramelizing and the quinoa is cooking in another pan, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to another pan on medium. Then add the sliced up shiitake mushrooms until they are tender.

Step 4

Once everything is cooked add it all together and add the 1 tablespoon of soy sauce (only if you didn't add it already while you were cooking the onions). Enjoy!

No Rice Fried Rice

Tonight I was lost for what to make for dinner..so I just threw things together. I still had some broccoli cole slaw from my last post so I decided to try it in fried rice as a rice substitute. The result was great.

What you need:

• Half a bag of broccoli cole slaw
• 3 large eggs
• Green Giant steamer bag-- broccoli, carrots, peas, and potato
• 2 tablespoons of Sesame oil
• 1/4 cup of soy sauce
• 1/4 cup of water
• 1 small onion

Step 1

Place the broccoli coleslaw and water in a pan on medium for 5 minutes until broccoli is soft

Step 2

Dice up the small onion and place it in a small pan with the sesame oil until slightly browned

Step 3

Add the Green Giant steamer bag into the pan with the onion and sesame oil

Step 4

Beat your eggs in a separate bowl and then add it to the broccoli coleslaw while it is on high. Fold in the eggs.

Step 5

Add everything together

Final result.....

You can also add siracha to spice it up as well!

Enjoy!

Before Baby Bucket List

         Now, before you all get freaking or excited..no we are not pregnant, and no we are not planning on getting pregnant any time soon. But, thinking about my 'life timeline' there are quite a few things in life that I still want to do before I am called "Mom." So I am going to make a 'things I want to do before I even consider getting pregnant' list.

I feel like when I put things down in writing it helps remind me of all of the things that I still want to do, and hopefully will help me get them done. So..here is my list.

1. Girls weekend...okay maybe week in Vegas. I feel like Vegas isn't something you can really go full out on if you are a Mommy.
2. Get ripped. I would love to have a nice 8 pack abs like I did back in college swimming(sigh) before I have kids and it makes it harder to happen.
3. Travel abroad to asia or Australia. Living in Washington has made this more accessible so I hope we can make it happen before we move away.
4. Get a killer wardrobe. I have been told that it is hard to spend money on yourself and wear cute clothes when you have an infant that is spitting up on you...so maybe I should try to look cute while I can.
5. Become a personal trainer.
6. Do a triathlon. My achilles has always been running, but I just need to stop being a weeny.
7. Visit Debi in Guatemala again.
8. Go on more overnight backpacking trips
9. Go out on the town with friends and my husband more often
10. Splurge on ourselves
11. Do more things that require me to get dressed up to the 9's
12. Have a glamour photo shoot. We are only young for so long...
13. Take an adult hip hop dance class
14. Go free diving
15. Go cross country skiing
16. Hike a glacier
17. Do an abroad mission trip
18. Be spontaneous
19. Be a "Yes" girl
20. Find a job in health promotion. Ha yeah, jobs are hard to come by here. 
21. Visit my friend Ellie in London

The No Pasta, Pasta

I have been cleaning up my act with my food even more than normal. Before I was kind of loose with my carbs, so now I am working on clearing out the simple (white) carbs that are bad for us.

One of my favorite dishes is pasta...but of course its alllllll carbs. Tonight I made chicken parmesan.

So the pasta substitute that I used.....Drum roll...............BROCCOLI COLE SLAW!!!.....say what?!

All you need to do is:

Put half of the bag of broccoli cole slaw in a skillet with 1/4 cup of water and put it on the stove top over medium for about 5 minutes or until the broccoli is soft. It will turn into a bright green color!

Red Sauce: I just used a regular prego sauce that I jazzed up with diced onions, garlic, and italian seasoning.

Then I added it together...

Result: Amazing! Ryan wanted to just eat the broccoli in a bowl by itself.

Oh, and the best part...the broccoli cole slaw is only 25 calories per CUP!

My trick to the smoothest legs ever

So, I am going to let you in on my secret to getting smooth legs. This might not be a secret, and you might do this yourself, but oh well I am sharing any ways. The best thing is that it is so EASY!

What you need:

• Venus razor. Doesn't matter what kind. This is the best razor so just spring for it.
• Conditioner

Steps:

1. Use conditioner to shave your legs with the venus razor
2. Then...here is the important part. Get your leg cold! You must have goose bumps to where the hair that you did not shave off sticks straight up. You can get your leg cold by sticking your leg out of the shower or turning the water completely off. 
3. Shave your legs again while the goosebumps are up
4. Make sure to moisturize after shaving.

I have had friends throughout the years complaining that as soon as they get out of the shower and they get cold that their hair "grows back." It doesn't grow back..its just that you aren't shaving it all. 

Hopefully this helps you get smooth sexy legs!

Boot Camp 5 - Sweaty hair

Today's work out was hard. Okay its ALWAYS hard. This workout was a little bit different because we had a different instructor than I am used to. We even had an obstacle course involved with this workout as well...Ooohhhhh.

Equipment:

• Bosu
• Weighted bar
• Medicine ball
• Yoga mat

Every round is 7 minutes long and you do each as many as you can until the time is up.

At the end of each cycle you do an obstacle course which was. Sprint to a cone, side shuffle to another cone. Sprint to another. Side snuffle. Do a lap of bear crawls..and then scooter along with a square scooter thing you would play around with when you were a kid. The obstacle is hard to explain. You can always run a lap around the track if thats easier.

Round 1

1. Squat press with weighted bar
2. Split push-up on med-ball
   
3. Straight arm med ball sit ups
4. Alternating lunges with weighted bar

Round 2

1. Crunches
2. Laterals on bosu
3. Bicep curls with body bar
4. Tricep extensions with medicine ball

Round 3

1. Burpees
2. Alternating supermans on bosu
3. Russian twist with medicine ball
4. Plank runners on bosu

NEXT WORKOUT!!

6 Rounds. 6 repetitions.

• Overhead Squat
• Race car driver
• Burpees
• Plank X
• Up/downs
• Side plank taps (each side)

Suicides after each round.

Cauliflower PIZZA!!

Okay, so I am very interested in ingredient substitutes to make food healthier. My first attempt was mashed potatoes, so now I am tackling pizza.

Ingredients:

• 1 head (Small Head) Cauliflower
• ¼ cups Parmesan Cheese
• ¼ cups Mozzarella Cheese
• ¼ teaspoons Kosher Salt
• ½ teaspoons Dried Basil
• ½ teaspoons Dried Oregano
• ½ teaspoons Garlic Powder
• Red Pepper Flakes (optional)
• 1 whole Egg
• Pizza Sauce (I made my own)

Step 1

Place your pizza stone in the oven and preheat the oven to 450 degrees. 

Step 2

Wash and cut your small head of cauliflower. Break apart the florets and put it in your food processor. Pulse or put on high until the cauliflower is blended up. It should look like fluffy snow. 

Step 3

Place the blended up cauliflower in a microwave bowl and microwave for 4 minutes.

Step 4

After you microwave the cauliflower let it cool (I placed mine in the freezer for 5 minutes). Once the cauliflower is cool enough to handle put it in a tea towel and wring all of the water out of the cauliflower. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP! Wring it out until all of the water is out!!! Do Not use a paper towel!

Step 5

Add the cauliflower to a bowl and add the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and mix together

Step 6

Take it and ball it up and then press it out using your hands into a flat round crust

Step 7

Put it on the pizza stone and cook the cauliflower for 9 minutes. 

Step 8

Take it out of the oven and add your pizza sauce and cheese place it back in the oven for 5-8 minutes or until the cheese is melted....and ENJOY!!

Boot Camp 4 - Cardio Madness!!

Wow! Today's combat was a toughy. Maybe it was because it involved a lot of running and that always sparks my heart rate!

You can do this with no equipment, but alas we used some.

Equipment:
>2 pairs of dumbbells- Light and Medium
>1 Kettlebell
>1 tall box for box jumps
>1 yoga mat

2 round: 1st round- 2 minutes per exercise. 2nd round- 1 minute per exercise

1 lap around the track

Burpees

Kettle bell swings

1 lap around the track

Push-ups

Dumbbell jumping jacks (use light dumbbells)

1 lap around the track

Dumbbell plank row (use medium dumbbells)

Sit-Ups

1 lap around the track

Dumbbell plank rows

Box Jumps

Next Combat Warrior Workout!!

Equipment:

• Medicine Ball
• Medium weight dumbbells

<When you see the arrow you a lap for the workout. 10 yards down and 10 yards back.

Warmup: 3 laps around the track

100 Sit-Ups

75 Push-Ups

   <Medicine Ball Burpees

   <Medicine Ball Reverse Sumos

   <Dumbbell Overhead Lunges

   < Dumbbell lateral lunges

75 Toe-touch sit ups

50 Diamond Push-ups

   <Medball Front Raise squat shuffle (right side)

   <Medball Front Raise squat shuffle (left side)

   <Dumbbell Walking Plank Rows

   <Dumbbell Bear Crawl

50 Reverse Crunches

25 Walk-downs

Run 3 laps around the track