Some healthy breakfasts or snacks

I decided I struck gold this week when I found this recipe for Cranberry Pecan Granola.  It is absolutely delish!  Lauren at Healthy food for Living has some amazing healthy recipes.  You should check them out.  I do not know her but I think I wish I did.  We'd get along very well in the kitchen!  Soccer dad was a big fan of this granola, he purposely came into the other room to tell me that, that means it was actually good, not just kind of good.  I followed her recipe with measurements but used honey instead of maple syrup (didn't have enough) and I used regular puff rice cereal instead of brown rice.  I did recently purchase the Kashi puff cereal though and will be making a second batch with that...that'll be extra healthy :)  She mentions in some of her other granola posts that you can use honey, maple syrup, agave, or brown rice syrup interchangeably in a lot of recipes which I tend to agree with, especially granola!  Doesn't it look delish?  and it's SO HEALTHY!

 Next, I tried these fantastic and extremely healthy trail mix granola bars from the same blog.  Another awesome snack.  I baked mine in a 9x9 pan and cut into squares but I like squares :)

I followed the recipe exactly but used regular puff rice cereal again and honey and natural almond butter with slivered almonds, sunflower seeds and cranberry/cherry mix.  Soccer dad was a big fan of these.  I liked the almond butter...something different.  I only used it because it only called for 1/4 cut so it was worth trying.  That stuff is expensive so I tend to savor it.  But it sure was good.  I portioned these babies out and right to the fridge they went.  Perfect to grab "on the go." 

I will be making more and more of Lauren's recipes.  Nothing more that I like than some healthy natural ingredient recipes that taste good!!  I hope you will try them, you won't be dissapointed!

Coming Soon....

A day in the life of THIS soccer mom!  My title says that I'm a very busy active mom...well, what does that mean?  What does a day look like in my shoes?  Do you even care?  Well, some people do because I get asked that a lot.  What do you do all day?  How do you fit in your workout?  How often do you eat?  What do you eat?  Do you workout every day?  How long?  Do you get a lot of sleep?  Do you drink soda or coffee to stay awake?  What do your kids like to do?   These and many other questions will hopefully be answered as I start "A day in the life of THIS soccer mom" series....coming soon! 

and I've been postponing this for a while due to an irregular schedule and having this awful cold that just won't quit!  I want to give you an accurate assessment of my "normal schedule."  and this series will be pre-soccer season.  I will continue my series during and post-season as well so that I can show you how I maintain my schedule with lots of added activities and fun!

Stay tuned!

Roasting Veggies

Do you roast your vegetables or are you more likely to steam or eat raw?  We do a little of everything in this house but I, for some odd reason, took the time to roast my little heart out today.  I had picked up some asparagus, cauliflower, red peppers and baby bella shrooms in my trips to the grocery store lately.  I had some chicken defrosted and that's about all I knew.  Some where, some how, it came to me.  Why don't you roast those babies up and get some nice flavor in them and serve it all up over quinoa.  So I did.

Packed 2 baking sheets full, one of asparagus and shrooms and the other of cauliflower and red pepper. Then I peeled a head of garlic and roasted some cloves along...my kitchen smelled AWESOME!  So then what?  Well, diced up the chicken breasts and cooked in the skillet with a little olive oil.  (mind you, my quinoa is also cooking beside me in a little chicken broth)  So, the chicken was about finished and my veggies were all roasted.  Diced those veggies up and just as my chicken was finishing I addes some garlic and herb seasoning to it....tossed in the veggies and some roasted garlic, sprinkled with a little olive oil and let everything heat through together.  I also had to add a little water as I just about over cooked the chicken...some broth would've been a better choice probably but I didn't think about that til, well...now!  Served this roasted veggie and chicken dish over the quinoa and in my opinion it rocked!  I had wanted to sprinkle some feta cheese on top too and was all excited about it before I started this meal and forgot, til now!  Man, my brain was fried tonight!  Soccer dad hates the texture of quinoa so his response was...well, you dressed this stuff up pretty good.  weirdo!  get over the texture Mr. I love protein person...quinoa is like the best grain in the world for protein.  I can't win!  Anyway, I didn't take a picture because well, I had no idea where my camera was and frankly, I was in a hurry.  But trust me, it was delish!

That whole roasting thing just brings out a whole other flavor in those veggies.  And I roasted a ton thinking oooh...leftovers.  Um...most got eaten.  I think I increase my veggie intake times 10 when those babies are roasted.  ooops!  I have a recipe for roasted vegetable soup that is just delicious so I wanted to make that but I'm pretty sure I don't have enough veggies anymore.  Perhaps I'll be roasting again soon!

So tell me, how do you prefer your veggies?  and don't say, with lots of dip please!! 

NFL Play 60

I have been a HUGE fan of NFL Play 60 for a long time!  If you haven't heard of it, the NFL partnered up with several different health organizations to promote a healthy and active lifestyle in children.  60 minutes of activity and play everyday...surely you've heard the commercials!  Well, with the superbowl just wrapping up and our favorite team winning...I thought it was appropriate to remind people of the important things the NFL is trying to do for children all year round.   Many people that know me know that fighting against childhood obesity is a huge passion of mine.  I really really want to get more involved in it and am constantly thinking of ways that I can make a difference in the life of a child.  Of course, the biggest way is by setting an example for my own children.  When children see their parents being active and exercising it encourages them to do so as well.  It's hard to tell your child he or she should be active when you are sitting on the couch all night long, tired or not. 

I have come up with many games for our kids to play including the silliest things like running up and down our stairs a hundred times.  We have dance parties, we play active games, we play outside so long as it is safe and we enroll them in activities as we can.  There are some game and activity suggestions as well as recipes and contests on NFL Play 60.  I encourage you to check it out and see if some of these things might work for your family.  We are still very excited about football in our house and I think we will use some of these suggestions to get us through the rest of winter, until we can move into baseball season :)

And finally I just want to really encourage you (if you aren't already) to become active as a family.  There is nothing better than having fun while you exercise.  It is definitely harder in winter, but there are still plenty of things you can do...sledding being one of my favorites!  Please do your part to help prevent childhood obesity.  It is an epidemic that is getting out of control, but as parents we can at least take a baby step to help that with our own children. 

Who knows...maybe this could be your child someday...I know one of ours is hoping to be pictured here!

They are role models for our kids, help them understand ALL the reasons why!

Shoveling and shoveling and yep...More Shoveling!

So, I'm sure most of you had to shovel at least a little bit yesterday (unless you live in those warm states in which case I don't like you right now :)  Anyway, I just wanted to re-iterate how good shoveling can be for you but also, how careful you must be.

I heard it a million times today.  My back hurts, my shoulders hurt, I am sore.  And the answer to why was all from shoveling.  Moving 15+ inches of snow with drifts up to your chest is not easy, plain and simple.  However, it is also a great workout.  We were fortunate enough to have a neighbor help us but I'm not going to lie, I was almost upset because I really wanted to get a fantastic workout it.  Well, I did anyway as a snowblower can't do everything but man, we needed that help for sure! 

Soccer dad gave me some pep talk about shoveling and what he said is pretty much dead on to what you should do.  He says to me..don't go crazy and overexert yourself (um, I might do that a lot) and bend at your knees!  It was hard to want to bend at the knees but that is THE most important thing to remember.  It is so easy to just get the swinging motion with your back and shoulders going but that's when injuries happen.  Plus, the more you bend your knees to lift, the more your heartrate will go up.  Let's face it, if you have to be out there shoveling, don't you think you should make it all worth while and get a workout in too?  I do for sure!

I am sure there will be more snow this month, we have been too lucky otherwise.  So, remember to bend with your knees, take breaks when you need them but try to have fun and relieve a  little stress while you're out there.  It is truly unlike any other type of exercise you can get.  Your body will thank you if you do it properly.  And, if you think you may have pulled something or are a little sore, put some ice on it, gently stretching and take it easy.  Your back needs you and you need your back!! (and your knees and your arms for that matter!!)