Hair Styles

I was googling braided hairstyles and I came across these pictures...

So, needless to say, I'm inspired! I have always been interested in new and different hairstyles.  I came across these pictures of side braids and an up-do... I'm in love! Sometime this week I will have to give these a try.  And post pictures, of course!

Much love xo

Green Power Smoothie

Good afternoon fellow bloggers! Here is a wonderful breakfast (or snack) power smoothie!

This is what I did...

Puree'd 1 carton of strawberries with 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice and desired amount of stevia (optional)

Juice 1 large apple, 2 medium sized carrots and 2 large hand fulls of uncooked spinach leaves

Combine strawberry puree, carrot juice, juiced spinach, apple juice and ice.  Blend in a blender until smooth.  Add more ice if it is not to your desired thickness, or more puree or juice if it is too thick.

Makes 3-4 servings 

ENJOY!

LUNCH!!

Besides eating a healthy breakfast, lunch is the next important meal of the day. Hopefully this yummy recipe will help you stay focused and on track!

Tijuana Torta

A Mexican-style torta is just like a burrito, except the “wrapper” is a hollowed-out roll instead of a tortilla. Here it's filled with mashed spiced black beans and a quick guacamole. Take this vegetarian version to another level (and add calcium) by melting Monterey Jack cheese onto the bean side of the sandwich. Serve with: Grilled corn on the cob or Spanish rice.
Ingredients:
• 1 15-ounce can black beans, or pinto beans, rinsed (see Note)
• 3 tablespoons prepared salsa
• 1 tablespoon chopped pickled jalapeño
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 ripe avocado, pitted
• 2 tablespoons minced onion
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 16- to 20-inch-long baguette, preferably whole-grain
• 1 1/3 cups shredded green cabbage

1. Mash beans, salsa, jalapeño and cumin in a small bowl. Mash avocado, onion and lime juice in another small bowl.
2. Cut baguette into 4 equal lengths. Split each piece in half horizontally. Pull out most of the soft bread from the center so you’re left with mostly crust. Divide the bean paste, avocado mixture and cabbage evenly among the sandwiches. Cut each in half and serve.

• Make Ahead Tip: Cover and refrigerate the bean mixture (Step 1) for up to 3 days.
• Note: While we love the convenience of canned beans, they tend to be high in sodium. Give them a good rinse before adding to a recipe to rid them of some of their sodium (up to 35 percent) or opt for low-sodium or no-salt-added varieties. (This recipe is analyzed with rinsed, regular canned beans.) Or, if you have the time, cook your own beans from scratch.

5 Minute, Dangerously Good Doughnuts!

I found this recipe the other day on pinterest.com and HAD to share it with you! I am so terribly sorry that it is not on the "healthy" list, but it is still so good nonetheless! :)

5 Minute, dangerously amazing doughnuts~
Makes 8 doughnuts

You will need:
1 package of Homestyle biscuits (make sure it's not the flakey layers kind)
Oil for frying (Any kind of your choosing, I used sunflower oil)
Sugar
Cinnamon

This is what you do:

• Pop open the container of homestyle biscuits.  Form a hole in the center with your fingers or use a small cookie cutter. (You can use a star, heart, circle or whatever shape you choose)
• Pour 1 inch of sunflower oil (or your choice of oil) into a shallow cooking pan.  Bring to a low-medium heat.
• Place doughnuts into hot and ready oil. Cook until golden, turning to cook the other side until golden brown.
• Remove from the oil and sprinkle cinnamon and sugar mixture to cover.
• Now sit back, enjoy, and sip a cup of your favorite roast or tea!

White Pass 2012 Experience

How are ya'll doing with the exercise??  I am sore! I had no idea how out of shape I was... until this last weekend! I did a couple day's worth of workouts- and was feeling it in my abs and legs.  (Which is good!! Those are the problem areas!) Then came Saturday... ba, da, da (Theme music) I accompanied my boyfriend to White Pass! I have never been skiing before, and so I thought it would be a BLAST of a trip.  Boy, turns out it was a CRAZY fun/scary trip! I have never known the definition of fear until that day.  Thank goodness Brad used to be an instructor (Firefighter, ski instructor, electrician... boy- this guy is sure hot *wink & a smile*) and he was able to teach me the basics so that I would not plummet to my death over the cliff and ravines.

We started the day off with Belgian waffles, strawberries and whipped cream (oops! Sorry, diet...) and we loaded up everything we would need for the Mountain and off we went!   My nerves got the best of me when we pulled into the parking lot of the ski rental place, and I thought I was going to pee my pants or something to that effect.  Once we actually made it to the ski lodge, I was A-OK, and excitedly put on my ski boots.  (I fondly refer to them as moon-walking-foot-contraptions) Even just walking in the boots was such a strange ordeal... but we made it up to the little kid's slope.  ( I don't really know what it's called, I just know that they have a 'magic carpet' thing for little kids that was AWESOME! hehe)  My loving boyfriend spent the better part of a couple of hours showing me how to "snow plow"  so I wouldn't get going too fast and tried his hardest to show me how to turn.  All while he is going BACKWARDS down the hill, I might add.  Sheesh.  So after quite a few attempts at turning while going down the teeny, tiny hill (Still scary... don't judge) and crashing and burning even that much more, I finally figured out how to turn!! Brad kept telling me to move my ski, or move my body more towards the hill... and I'm thinking, "You want me to do what?!" But once it clicked, I was golden!  We decided to get our lift tickets and head up to the top.

Wait.... the top?

Uh, oh! I was thinking I would be riding the magic carpet the whole day.  Gulp! Well we get on the lift and we get whisked off... much to my surprise- we are WAY up there! It was so beautiful! At the end of our 5-8 minute ski lift ride we are supposed to jump off the lift.  Gaaa! But I did it! Brad even said that most people their first time will biff it and wipe everyone out- thank goodness that didn't happen! ;)

I made it!

Wait- no I haven't! Now I have to go down the mountain! The top part of the hill was the steepest part of the run that we went down and right out of the gate I smashed my face in on the snow.  That hurt.  But I got up and.... BOOF! Bit it again.   haha  That moment kept repeating itself quite a few more times, each time I would get 20 more feet down the mountain and I would freak out, thinking I was going too fast, and I would wipe out.  Bummer... It was getting harder and harder to pick myself up with the skis on because I was tiring so quickly from all the snow plowing, so by now I would just take one off and stand up to put it back on.  Brad and a friend's dad went on their merry way down the mountain and my friend stayed behind to watch out for me.  lol   I'm so glad that she was there! If I got going too fast she could see the panic in my face and would tell me "Cut up the hill!!" And it would snap me out of my terror. 

I can't explain what it was, but for some reason I lost all sense of control with my fear.  It was a humbling experience! Especially when a four year old little kid came tearing by me when I was flat on my back screaming, "Sucker!"  Darn you, little kid!! Brad was the best boyfriend ever to keep pulling me back up when I was flat on my keester, to keep encouraging me when I was so petrified, and to go literally 2 miles an hour down the mountain with me.  He never forced me to do anything too fast or beyond what I could do- I'm such a lucky girl to have him as a boyfriend and now ski instructor. I love you, honey!

So, with my twisted and hurt neck 2012 (Rainman moment), jammed toe and bruised butt, it may seem that I didn't have any fun.  WRONG.  I had possibly the time of my life out there, getting beat up and giving my heart a work out! I really do want to try it again, and this time I will have more experience under my belt :) 

So here's to next time...

My Top Do's and Don'ts

DO: Choose porridge over breakfast cereal.  This is a good source of slow-released energy; meaning that you will fill up quicker and stay filled up for a longer period of time.

DON'T: Fill up on sugary cereals! These are full of processed sugars and have no nutritional value. Try not to skip breakfast... food is fuel for the day!

DO: Use pure fruit spreads instead of jam.  Sugar occurs naturally in fruit spreads.

DON'T: Use jams and jellies.  These are packed with added sugars and chemical sweeteners. 

DO: Choose low butter and salt on your popcorn.  Try to cut it out all the way to zero... just air-popped, popcorn.

DON'T: Reach for that bag of Doritos or Lays no matter how loud they scream your name! Chips are so loaded with processed garbage and are very high in sodium!

DO: Grab a piece of fresh fruit for a midmorning or afternoon snack.

DON'T:  Choose snack bars, or other proccesed foods for a filling snack.  These contain loads of cane sugar, saturated fat and corn syrup.
Your body will thank you for it later!

DO:  Try and make it your goal to introduce sweet potatoes into your diet.  They are chocked full of complex carbs, minerals, vitamins, antioxidants and beta-carotene.

DON'T:  Hesitate to switch to sweet potato fries or other things that sweet potatoes can be substituted with!

DO: Choose Extra-Virgin olive oil when cooking.  EVOO has a high monounsaturated fat content and antioxidant properties. These are the "good fats"; same with avocados. Choose glass bottles instead of plastic ones because PCV's can be absorbed from the plastic.

DON'T: Use vegetable oil as much as possible! It is the "artery clogger" we should all run from!

Rev Up Your Morning!

I have never been a breakfast person.  Plain and simple.  So with this new exercise program I'm testing out, I want to give my best to the effort of it all.  I am going to try my hardest to fuel up before starting my day!

Grapefruit helps to control hunger; drizzle a little bit of honey and bake in the oven for extra juicy explosions of flavor!

I don't know about you, but I love to tweak things as I go.  I love smoothies, and by adding protein powder and replacing milk with soy, you have yourself a dandy breakfast drink!

1 1/2 cups frozen strawberries

1 cup frozen pineapple chunks

1 cup low-fat vanilla soy milk

2 teaspoons honey

1/2 cup vanilla non-fat vanilla yogurt or vanilla soy yogurt

Protein powder of choice

Blend until smooth.  Makes about 2-3 servings.  

Remember- food = fuel.  Breakfast is the best time of day to kick your metabolism into gear.  Don't skip out on eating something- fruit, oatmeal with fresh fruit or raisins, smoothies, etc.