Fab Abs June Challenge

I really need to tighten up my pooch so when I saw this June Abs Of Steel Challenge calender on Pinterest I told myself "you are going to do the exercises on this calender every day for the whole month of June!" I will take a picture of me tomorrow morning before my first work out and on the last day after my last workout to see if there is a difference. I wanted to share it with you so you can do it along with me if you would like! Lets work on getting some abs of steel!

Turkey "Meatloaf" Muffins

For this Weight Loss Wednesday I wanted to share a super yummy, super healthy recipe that my friend (a Personal Training Expert) shared with me. Since I was going to be the only one in my household eating them, my husband and son don't like trying new things, I cut the recipe in half.

Ingredients: 

1 pound ground turkey

1 1/2 egg whites

1/2 cup quick cooking oates

1/4 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon dry yellow mustard

1 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1/2 small onion chopped

1 celery stalk chopped

Her recipe also calls for 2 teaspoons Chipotle Pepper Spice but I'm not a fan of spicy so I didn't put any in but if I would of I would of put in 1 teaspoon. 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees 

Spray your muffin pan with canola or olive oil

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl

Roll the mixture into balls (about the size of a racquetball)

Bake for about 30 minutes or until cooked through

I ate my muffins with a side of brown rice and oh.my.gosh they were so very good! 

Serving Size: Women-2   Men-4

Calories: 80

Fats: 2 grams

Carbs: 4 grams

Protein: 11 grams

My Left Over Ideas:

I made a scramble the next morning using 3 eggs, one of the left over muffins which I chopped up, a bit of green onion and a small about of mozzarella cheese.

And the day after that I made a meatloaf melt for lunch using another one of the left over muffins which I sliced up and some Swiss cheese. 

Thank you....

Thank you to all of those who have served, especially those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice.

Spring Cleaning Tips

Our long dark, damp winter is finally over which means one thing, its time to spring clean! As soon as the clouds were gone and the sun reappeared I opened all the blinds in the house to let the light in, unfortunately that's when I noticed all the dust, dirt and dog hair that had built up over the winter months even with all the cleaning I had done. Our closets were over flowing with holiday decorations that were never put away, new clothes and toys from Christmas, winter clothes and boots....it was time for action! I spent about 4 days straight going through every drawer, cabinet and closet in the house then finished up by organizing the garage and deep cleaning every room in our home. Spring cleaning is easy and fun for me (weird right?) but I know its not for everyone so I thought I would make a list of some spring cleaning tips in hopes of helping the spring cleaning imparted.....like my husband!

Spring Cleaning Tips

1. Organize One Room At A Time.
If you start on one room then move onto another without finishing the first you will get stressed and overwhelmed which will probably end up with you giving up on the whole thing.

2. Make 3 Piles.
When ever I organize anything I always have a keep pile, donate pile and a trash pile. I always buy large garbage bags before I start so everything I want to donate and all the trash I find automatically goes into a bag and not on the floor.

3. Have A Donate Rule Of Thumb.
My donate rule of thumb is if its been sitting in the back of the cabinet or closet collecting dust for over a year I donate it. Or if I totally forgot that I had it I donate it since I obviously don't need it. If it doesn't fit and probably wont any time soon I donate it.

4. Drop Off Your Stuff To Be Donated As Soon As Your Done.
The longer it sits at your house the longer you have to think about it and change your mind. 

5. Get A Receipt From The Place You Donate To.
By the time I was done organizing our house I had about 6 car loads full of stuff to donate and I made sure to get a receipt from Goodwill every time because you can write it off on your taxes.

6. Wait To Clean Until You Are Done Organizing.
Focus on one thing at a time. If you are like me as soon as you start to organize you get into an organizing mode and if I stop to clean then I get into a cleaning mode and don't want to do any more organizing.

7. Put Things Away In Your Already Organized Rooms. 
 If you already organized your room and are working on a spare room and find some things you would like in your room make sure you put them away instead of setting them down and waiting till later. If you let things sit out in your already organized rooms it wont feel like you are making any progress.

8. Try Not To Stop For A Long Period Of Time.
I am a homemaker so it wasn't hard to find the time to spring clean but if you don't have the time like I did try to get everything done over a couple of days. If you do a little one day then don't do anything again for a couple more days you most likely wont ever finish.

9. Ask For Help.
If you have a lot of stuff that needs to be gone through and organized doing it all by yourself can get very overwhelming, stressful and time consuming. Don't be afraid to ask your friends and family for help! A few of my friends throw spring cleaning parties where they all go over to each others house's and totally organize and clean each home over the weekend for a couple weeks until each friend has a clean clutter free home. It gets their spring cleaning done faster and it ends up being a lot of fun.

Motivational Quote

A great thing to remember!

Last Day Luau

With the end of the school year quickly coming up, it might have already passed for a few of you, my friend and I thought it would be fun to surprise her kids with a summer themed dinner to celebrate their first day of summer vacation. What we came up with was a last day luau!

 I loved this sign, I think I will keep it on our door all summer!

We surprised the kids with summer buckets, they had pool toys, goggles and some bubbles in them.

We had chicken kabobs with jasmine rice...

...pineapple chunks out of a pineapple "bowl"...

...some Hawaiian rolls and for dessert I made some coconut cupcakes (everyone loved them!)

All the decorates we had were so much fun, we bought everything from The Dollar Tree.

The kiddos drank pineapple juice out of their tiki glasses...

...and my friend and I drank our fun frozen drinks out of palm tree cups. 

Of course we all wore leis, no luau party would be complete without them!

Our last day luau was a lot of fun and got us all really excited for the summer!

April Favorites

We were all super sick in April and spent half of the month in bed but the other half of the month was fun and busy. In the month of April I met so many amazing people that quickly became really great friends, life is pretty awesome right now! Here are some of my favorite things from April:

Random: I bought the Shape Bikini Body Camp DVD awhile back and it is now one of my favorite workouts and I have been getting great results from it.

Movie/TV Show: I have been a Hart Of Dixie fan since the first episode but this month it has really sucked me in. Check out my Hart Of Dixie themed dinner here

Style: My family started racing Motocross again in April so I have been wearing hats at the races to keep the sun out of my face.

Food: I made some hummus at the beginning of the month and have been putting it on everything! Click here for the recipe I use.

Music: I blast this song, Rihanna ft.Mikky Ekko - Stay, every time it comes on...I cant get enough!

My April Disappointment: Snow! It snowed so much here in April that I felt like I should bust out our Christmas tree again!

Staying Fit While Sitting

It seems like I can hardly find the time to sit down during the day but when I do I feel like I am being lazy. So instead of sitting in a regular chair or on the couch I like to sit on my stability ball. I get a little work out while I "take a break." For this Weight Loss Wednesday I wanted to share where and how I use my stability ball.

While Watching TV: Instead of lounging on the couch I like to do Rollouts on the stability ball.

While On The Computer: Instead of sitting still on an office chair I like to do Seated Circles on the stability ball. (Yes I am sitting on it right now!)

While Reading A Book....








                                       

                                               ....Or A Magazine:

Instead of laying in bed I sit on my stability ball and bounce.             

 

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Homemade & Meaningful Mother's Day

I don't know about you but I would much rather get a homemade or meaningful Mother's Day gift from my son then something he picked up at the store. To me its more thoughtful, sweet and precious and it is something I will remember and treasure forever. I made a list of homemade and meaningful gift ideas that I would love my son to do for me on Mother's Day.

Mother's Day Ideas

1. Breakfast In Bed.

2. Homemade Card. 

Here are a few cute ideas: Tons of Fun, Little Inspirations

3. Clean The House.

4. Body Scrub. 

Here are a few recipes: Deliciously Organized, RAD mom COOL kid

5. Cook Her Favorite Dinner.

6. Have An At Home Movie Day. 

Here is a movie theater themed movie day idea: Movie Mother's Day

7. Bake Her Favorite Goodies.

8. Homemade Coupon Book.

Here are a few ideas: Something Created Everyday, Preschool Crafts For Kids

9. Pack A Picnic.  

10. Run Her A Relaxing Bath.

Add bubbles or bath salts, light a few candles, turn on some light relaxing music, place the book she is reading or a new issue of her favorite magazine near the tub and most importantly don't let anyone bother her until she is done.

Ready To Get Re-motivated!

Being sick is absolutely no fun and if your like me it messes up your whole routine. Since I have been sick I have not worked out once and I haven't stuck to my diet what so ever. I didn't have the strength or energy to cook any of our meals. Plus fruits, vegetables and proteins just didn't sound appealing at the time. But now that I am feeling better I really need to get re-motivated to get back at it. For this Weight Loss Wednesday I wanted to share the ways I re-motivate myself to start back up on my diet and working out.

The first thing I do is weigh myself! Unfortunately I gained back about 3 pounds while I was sick because I was not following the diet plan I have made for myself.

Seeing my weight gain on the scale really starts to get me motivated but for an extra kick I look at old photos of myself when I was way over weight. I never want to get back to this and seeing how bad I looked gets me even more motivated.

Getting some new fitness magazines helps me out a lot. I like discovering the new fitness and diet tips they have and reading about other peoples fitness struggles and triumphs gets me pumped up and ready to go.

When I do start to workout again I don't go all out. I start small and work my way back up to where I used to be. I like to either do a short Zumba workout or take one of our dogs for a walk. Just being physical again starts to get me back into the groove.

Since I am out of the habit of cooking meals and feeling pretty lazy I will write out a dinner menu for the whole week. Knowing what I am going to make every night erases the stress of dinner time, I have found that when I get stressed about what to make for dinner I end up popping something in the microwave or just running out to the nearest fast food restaurant which is no good.

Another thing that really gets me re-motivated is finding a fitness friend. A couple of my best friends are also working hard on their health by working out and dieting. So getting back into my routine is easier when I have them by my side, doing this together really pushes us and keeps us going. 

Dinner For Dixie

Tonight is the season finale of one of my very favorite shows Hart Of Dixie! If you have never seen the show and know nothing about it click here. I had come up with a themed dinner and dessert for myself for the shows season premier and have been waiting for the shows season finale to post it. So here is my Hart Of Dixie themed night!

Since the residents of Bluebell Alabama had a gumbo competition in the very first season, Gumbo & Glory, I thought it was only right to make a big pot of gumbo for dinner. As a side I made the very delicious and very addictive Alabama Fire Crackers and had a glass of tea which I drank out of my beautiful tea cup just like I was one of the Bells!

For dessert I made sugar cookies in the shape of bells and covered them in blue frosting, I served them with some lemon sherbert. If you have ever watched Hart Of Dixie you will understand my dessert choice.

Cheers to you Hart Of Dixie, I really hope you come back for another season....I love you!

Movie Mother's Day

Mother's Day is next weekend and I wanted to come up with a simple, fun, relaxing and entertaining Mother's Day idea....something I would really enjoy if my son did it for me. What I came up with was a movie theater themed movie day.

Of course she has to have her movie ticket...

...and all of her favorite movies!

Whats a movie theater themed movie day with out the concessions?! Popcorn, nachos, hot dogs, soda and of course candy!