Healthy Protein Packed Pizza

As promised (a little late I apologize) I am coming at you today with my recipe for a healthy pizza that is full of protein. This recipe is a macro gem and tastes great. Since trying the recipe for the first time we have made it at least five more times, definitely a new household favorite. Also its Finance approved which is how you know it doesn't taste as healthy as it really is :)

To start this recipe out you need a P28 flatbread. P28 makes great protein bread products, however the flatbread is by far my favorite. You can find this at some nutrition stores or online. In Dallas you can find it at Ultimate Sports Nutrition (aka my new favorite store, a fit girls dream they have everything you could ever want)

What You Need: 

• P28 Flatbread
• Low sugar pizza sauce
• Part skim mozzarella
• Turkey pepperoni
• Lean sweet Italian seasoned ground turkey  
• Red bell pepper
• Green chile
• Of course all toppings are optional and depend on your personal preference  

What to Do: 
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Cook turkey in a small pan, I typically use a quarter of a package for two pizzas.
3. Top flatbread with sauce, cheese and desired toppings.
4. Cook for 20-25 minutes until flatbread crust is golden brown and crispy and cheese is melted.

Macros for 1/2 a flatbread pizza: 16F 18C 40P- please note that this is high for fats so if you want to make this for dinner you need to make sure to account for it the rest of the day and keep your fats low but it should be no problem and you get 40G protein out of the deal!

Try, enjoy and let me know what you think!

Overstfuffed Sweet Potatoes

As promised I am posting the first of two yummy recipes today. If you like sweet potatoes this is the recipe for you! I got the idea for this recipe from an Instagram post by Justine Moore and after making it for the first time I was already thinking, "when can I make this again?" yeah it was that good. Finding new healthy recipes you actually love really excites me, especially if they are easy to put together like this one.

What you Need:

• 4-5 ounces pre cooked chicken (I used 4 next time I think more would be better)
• 1 medium sweet potato
• Roasted red peppers
• 1-2 garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup spinach
• 1 laughing cow cheese wedge

What to Do:

• Bake Sweet potato at 375 degrees
• Sauté garlic, spinach, peppers and chicken in a pan until garlic is browned and spinach is wilted
• Cut cooked sweet potato in half and fill with chicken mixture, top with the laughing cow cheese cut into pieces and pop back in the oven to melt and brown the cheese
• Enjoy!

I hope you like this recipe as much as I did, stayed tuned tomorrow for my healthy protein packed pizza recipe!

Fitness Victory

I know my posts have been less than consistent lately my schedule has just been all over the board for the last couple of months. In an attempt to get things back on track I am currently writing out several posts for this week that I have been meaning to get around to. So up first lets talk about a little fitness and health victory. 

 

As I'm sure you can tell from many of my posts I try to actively pursue a healthy lifestyle. I try to eat right as much as I can and exercise regularly. However sometimes I feel like I don't make any progress towards my goals. Accessing your own progress can be tricky for many reasons. The first being you look at yourself constantly so you may not notice small changes as they happen, also of course everyone is their own worst critic. That's why it is important to track your progress in other ways such as pictures, measurements and the scale. 

So last week feeling a little like all the work I was putting in wasn't showing I decided to retake my body measurements with a tape measure. The last time I measured was March of this year. I was pleasantly surprised to discover I had lost 5 total inches and 5 pounds. For me I thought this progress was huge and I was thrilled this was exactly the motivation I needed to keep going harder each day. In addition to this metric progress I notice increased muscle definition and strength.

Since March I have been hitting the gym 5-6 times a week spending 90% of my time in the weight room. I love weight lifting it is a challenge, it keeps me interested, and I don't dread it like I do with cardio. I have noticed bigger changes in my body through weight lifting in a shorter period of time then anything else I have ever done. I supplement my exercise routine with good nutrition. I base my diet around iifym most of the time. I wont lie and say I followed it for the whole time period because I did not, I fell off tracking many times but still applied the general principals I learned through iifym about portion size, macro makeup and getting in enough protein. I have recently started tracking again in hopes of reverse dieting to get my carb intake up. I have big fitness goals for next year and I am excited to see what I can accomplish.

Stay tuned because tomorrow and the next day I am coming at you with the recipe for my healthy protein packed pizza and over-stuffed sweet potatoes!

Returning with some Rocky Road Proyo

I feel like I have not been spending nearly enough time on this little space on the internet. I apologize my recent work schedule was crazy and limiting my free time quite a lot. I had five week long out of town trainings within the last couple months and now that I am finished I hope to restore some normal into my life. I finished up my last training on Friday in the Windy city and definitely enjoyed some time there.

With all the traveling I was forced to eat out basically all of my meals.... something I would never do under regular circumstances and I honestly didn't enjoy it one bit. I really have come to enjoy a much healthier lifestyle, getting in my workouts and eating healthy meals as often as possible. I felt uneasy about the situation since I really had to no choice but now that the trainings are over its time to jump back into healthy. I have vowed to myself to spend the month of November eating as healthy as possible.

I started last night by doing some major meal prepping. I made breakfast and lunches for the week. For breakfast I made a large batch of pumpkin protein pancakes, new recipe coming at you later this week (I swear I have about 100 recipes I want to share so I may just flood you with them) and for lunch chicken veggie stir fry.

I felt so good about getting that all ready last night to set myself up for success this week so at the end of the night I rewarded myself with some healthy but super yummy rocky road "ProYo" I posted this picture on instagram and got several texts and questions asking what it was and how to make it so it seemed pretty clear a post on it today was the way to go.

ProYo has been flooding my instagram feed from fitness accounts for some time. Most people make it with Greek yogurt but since I am somewhat lactose intolerant I take a slightly different approach when making mine. Its very simple and may I add Finance approved so you know it doesn't taste too healthy.

What you need:

• 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
• 1.5 TBS Sugar free chocolate pudding mix
• 1/4- 1/2 cup almond/coconut milk
• 1/2 banana
• Optional Rocky road toppings: mini chocolate chips, chopped walnuts, marshmallow bits, fat free cool whip  

What you do:

• Blend up protein powder, pudding mix, milk and banana until smooth
• Poor into bowl and freeze for 1.5- 2 hours
• Top with goodies and enjoy

Obviously this is very simple to make a good alternative to ice cream or dessert at night to keep you on track and get in some extra protein. Let me know what you think :)

Another Jam Packed Trip to New Mexico

Several months back Evan and I planned to return to Albuquerque in October so that we could take our engagement photos with our awesome photographer Tony Gambino. After some schedule changes that ended up being this last weekend. Well it wouldn't be a trip home without a full schedule and not a second to breath and this weekend was no exception. Lets just start from the top.

Friday night we packed up ourselves and the puppy and headed to the airport. We got into Albuquerque at about 7:30pm and went straight to get some much needed Mexican food. Can you say green chile overload, because that is what this weekend was.

A month ago the boyfriend of one of my best friends, Carin came to all of us and said he had a great idea for how to propose but needed some help from us and wanted us heavily involved in the big day. So Saturday morning I hung out with family, had a birthday lunch for my mom then headed out for shopping to get Carin a new outfit for her big night (while I was at my moms birthday lunch they also took her to get her nails done and to lunch) then we headed to get ready and put the plan into action.

Throughout the whole day of activities she had no idea what was going on which was great. We dropped her off at the right time, looking great in fresh nails and a new outfit and let her new fiancé take over with a beautiful proposal. Then we headed back to her parents house to set up for a celebratory party. In addition to playing part in our friends proposal this was the first time all 5 of the best friends have been all together in a year in a half so we were loving every second. Although it only seemed like a few seconds since it all went by so quickly, I miss them already.

Sunday we spent some more time with family before getting ready for our long awaited engagement photo session. We choose to take our pictures down by the river at the Albuquerque Bosque and we were so glad we did. The trees were changing colors so the scene was beautiful and according to our photographers we had amazing light. We had a blast trekking though the weeds and brush to find the perfect picture locations. We were so thrilled with the few pictures they showed us on the back of the camera and cant wait to get the finals back. I don't know how we will wait two whole weeks to see them!

Monday our last and final day in New Mexico was dedicated to some wedding planning since we feel like we have gotten so little done up to this point. It started with a meeting with a local décor and event planning company to learn more about their services and decide if they would be someone we would be interested in using for the big day. Then we headed out to our venue for a menu tasting. Our venue is kinda far out of town but it feels like another world. It is insanely beautiful and I fell even more in love with it on this visit.

Each day there went by in a flash and I cant believe we are already back to Dallas and back to work and reality. I didn't even get the chance to do everything I wanted to while at home or see everyone I had hoped. Sometimes these trips get tough since we never stop moving the whole time but I love going home and cant wait until the next trip!

Happy Tuesday Everyone!!

Puppy Post

I would say the newest ( and cutest) thing in our life right now is the addition of a new furry family member. We have been talking about how much we want a dog for as long as I can remember, we kept putting it off until one day we just decided it was time. We got our new boy Bentley that very day and haven't regretted a moment since. He has brought so much joy to our life in just the few short weeks that we have had him. We have quickly learned he is very smart and just the sweetest puppy ever, but loves to bite so watch out.

He is a Morkie (Maltese yorkie mix) and is now about 13 weeks old. He makes my heart melt for sure :) He is currently sleeping at my feet as I write this post!

What I'm Loving Friday

Finally coming at you with some regularly scheduled programming here! Another work week has come and gone and its the best day of the week, Friday! I have so many things to be happy about right now so I will go ahead and share a couple of the things I am loving right now:

One Year Until we Say I DO!!

Shouldn't be surprising that this is number one on my list this week. One year from today I get to marry the man of my dreams :) still pretty far away but glad we are now at the one year mark. We have now kicked up planning a notch. I couldn't be more excited for that day as well as all the fun the next year will bring.

My New Job

Yep I know sounds crazy to say you like your job but at this point I think I found something I will truly enjoy. After spending the last year chained to a cubicle, close to miserable I am so thrilled to be doing something different everyday, staying active, busy and engaged. I think I am definitely in a better place. Just goes to show that not every job is right for every person, there was nothing wrong with the last place I worked and I was surrounded by really nice people but the actual job wasn't for me.

Gym Training Videos

I have been going to the gym for years, so it is bound to get boring from time to time. However I have found with weight lifting I can constantly change it up with new movements to keep me interested. This is also better for your body and more effective for better results. If your mind gets really used to your exercise routine your muscles probably have too. In order to find some new routines I have been watching tons of training videos on the Fitness RX for Women website. They post new videos with fitness competitors regularly for lots of new ideas, in addition to videos they also have training worksheets, diet info and lots more. The video above is from Amanda Latona, love her!

Gaiam Stretch Strap

With new exercises at the gym comes lots of sore and tight muscles. I picked up this little gem at the store last week and it may be the best $10 I have spent in a long time. The stretch strap allows you to do many stretches that you might usually need assistance for and get a really deep stretch. I am a fan and I think it is helping loosen up my muscles quite a bit.

Well that's really all I've got today I hope everyone has a blessed weekend!

Protein Pancakes

A while back I posted the recipe for protein waffles, it took awhile to get to a recipe for the waffles that we liked. Well things were no different trying to find a good protein pancake recipe. I tried a good handful of recipes that just weren't anything to get excited about or consider making again. Many of the recipes for protein pancakes come out sort of "tough" and hard to eat, and that is not what your looking for when you're craving pancakes.

Finally I found a combination that seems to work and make some nice fluffy pancakes and the good news is they are protein packed, made with three sources of protein.

What you need: 

• I scoop vanilla protein (I used optimum nutrition) 
• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/4 cup 0% greek yogurt
• 3 TBS egg whites
• 1 TBS almond milk
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 cap full vanilla extract
• Cinnamon to taste
• Banana (optional) 

What to do: 

• Blend oats in blender to create oat flour
• Combine all other ingredients and combine with hand mixer
• Pour 1/4 cup per pancake onto hot skillet
• We like to slice up bananas and cook them directly into the pancake it caramelizes them and makes them super yummy
• Enjoy!

Macros for whole recipe (with banana): 5F/ 43C/ 46P
Macros for one serving- half recipe: 3F/ 22C/ 23P

Bridesmaids Invites

I knew from the start that I wanted to make something special to ask my bridesmaids to be a part of the big day I had stumbled upon a similar idea and knew that was it, with some customization of course. So here is what 6 very special ladies received this week:

This project was a lot more time consuming then I originally thought but it was a lot of fun as well. Heres what I did:

• Painted each of the boxes white on the outside and pink on the inside (I don't know that I would recommend this there were issues with the paint bleeding into each other) 
• Lined the bottom with scrapbook paper
• Modge podged the glitter paper to the wooden letters for the outside and attached 
• Filled with crinkle paper and goodies

On the inside there is:

• Information cards
• The Lineup- list of all the bridesmaids with phone numbers and emails 
• The Big Day- information about our wedding day
• Your Role
• Inspiration colors 
• Mints
• Chalkboard bag tag
• Bridesmaids lip balm
• Eddies grapefruit vodka shooter

I am so thrilled to have such great people to stand by my side on my wedding day. I hope they enjoyed the boxes as much as I enjoyed making them. Here are some pictures they took of their boxes, I loved getting to see how they each set them up.

Sweet and Spicy Chicken Kabobs

We recently purchased a panini/ griddler that folds down into an open indoor grill. Overall it ranks as one of our top kitchen purposes to date, you can basically use it for everything and the plates are removable and can be put in the dishwasher...Win! As soon as we got it I knew that kabobs had to be one of the first things we made, I had been wanting them forever. So we set out to do just that and we were very happy with the result, a yummy, easy and healthy meal. Here's the "recipe"

What you need:
- Chicken breast
-Assorted bell peppers
-Can of pineapple chunks
-Caribbean jerk marinade (Safeway selects)
-Honey
-Lime
-Brown sugar (I use splenda blend)
-Wooden skewers pre-soaked in water

What to do:

1. Cut up your chicken into bite size squares, coat in marinade mixed with 1 tsp of honey and place in the fridge for 30 minutes
2. Drain juice from pineapple chunks, cut up bell peppers into bite size squares
3. Place chicken, bell peppers and pineapple on the wooden skewers
4. Coat with extra marinade, squirt with fresh lime juice and sprinkle a little brown sugar on top for sweetness
5. Grill, enjoy :)

Ordered my MOH dress

In addition to my own wedding planning, I am the Maid of Honor in my amazing friend Ellen's wedding. Which is happening in.... 104 days!!! What, it is so soon! On Friday I finally ordered my dress for the big day, I also found out I was the slacker of the group and the last to do so. Opps I am not setting the best example, but it will still get here in plenty of time before the wedding so no need to worry.

Ellen wanted to have a mismatched bridesmaid look, with all the same color but different styles. She found the site Weddingtonway.com which has hundreds of dress options. The site lets you pick a color range and view all the dresses available in that color. She let all the bridesmaids choose dresses they liked and added them to a showroom. Then she went through and narrowed it down to about eight options that we could all choose from. I loved the site and showroom concept but I really wanted to try the dresses on because I was torn between a couple and felt like I needed a visual.

I tracked down a couple local bridal shops that carried the dresses and last Friday I went to try them on. I tried on about 5 of the options from the showroom and when I put on the final one I knew that was my favorite right away and the one I would be ordering. This is it in blue, please excuse the dressing room selfie.

This is the correct color of the dress for their winter wedding and the others are a collection of the dresses the other girls ordered.

I am so excited to share in Ellen's big day with her and I can hardly wait until that time is here!

Callin Baton Rouge

Well it has been quite awhile since I have posted, I know! Life has been crazy training for my new job, I just got back on Friday from six days in Baton Rouge for field training, prior to that I had a week of major studying and a week at corporate for new hire orientation. However things will possibly slow down a bit for me now due to an unexpected schedule change that will leave my training free for three weeks.

Like I said I just got back from a week in Louisiana and goodness it was scorching there, even more hot and humid then Texas, no thank you. However this was my first time in Baton Rouge so I did a tiny bit of exploring downtown during the evenings. It was a cool spot but if I ever had to go again, downtown would not be my first choice for places to stay. Here are some pictures I snapped while I was there.

Most of these were taken on an evening run along the river, that was the coolest part about where I stayed was it was right on the river trail, also the sunsets on the water were incredible I couldn't stop myself from taking tons of photos.

By Friday evening I was so excited to get back home and enjoy the long weekend. We didn't have any big plans but it was so nice just to relax and cross some much needed items off our to-do list. On Saturday we decided we wanted to try out some beer flight tasting at a place down the street so we walked there and each ordered our choice of flight, I did the create your own and Evan sampled all local DFW brews. We both enjoyed and ordered another glass of our favorite from the group. Sunday morning we met some friends for brunch and some shopping in the bishop arts district. It is such a cool area and was full of people. Monday was definitely the day for catching up and relaxing, in fact I FINALLY may have finished my bridesmaid invites project, I know seriously took my long enough. I think they turned out great in the end and I cant wait to share the final product once they are sent out and in each girls possession.

I hope everyone has a great short week of work!

Groomsmen Invites

Evan is on the ball and actually sent his Groomsmen invites out this week and they have arrived with each of his 6 groomsmen and 2 ushers. I however am still slacking on sending out my invites to my bridesmaids...they are just taking much longer then I thought. Anyways I wanted to share with you what each guy received. Let me start by saying these were 100% Evan, I didn't make these for him but I thought they were so great I asked if I could share with you all and he agreed. I just love what he came up with and I hope all the guys do as well. The invite box:

As you can see they each received a box with bow tie card that had some wedding details and everyone's contact information on the back. Inside the box a cigar and shooter of whiskey. Here are some of the pictures they posted on social media after opening their gifts (the last names have been removed):

Hopefully seeing all these pictures will motivate me to mail mine out asap! Sorry ladies I swear I'm working on it ;)

My New Work Space- Phase One

A girl who will be working from home 50% needs a nice work space right? So I set out to try and create one. Last week I made a post of my inspiration and did my best to go from there. Naturally I hit a couple snags, the first a biggest being that they no longer sell the desk I wanted. Apparently Target just keeps it on their website to tease people like me.

Left to find a desk on a two day notice I did what any logical person would do and went to the craziest and most amazing place, IKEA. I spent no short of an hour in the desk section just staring at all of them trying to decide which I wanted, I guess I was pretty worried about making the wrong decision. I was struggling with the practicality vs. style dilemma trying to find a balance of both.Then I stumbled into the next section which was "build your own desk" and I was sold. You got to pick the size, legs and if you wanted to add drawers. I was able to create the perfectly combination of practicality with cute by choosing the 59" desk top, the victorian legs and the drawer set with file cabinet.

Of course it is still a work in progress but I am happy with what came together in just a couple days. Now I need some pictures for my frames, shocking I don't have any hard copy pictures on hand. Sorry for the picture quality the sun from the windows messed with every photo I tried to take.

First Day in my New World

Yesterday was my first day of my new job and the first day of my new journey in medical sales. It was a crazy and exhausting but I am very excited for all that is to come in the near future. For the rest of the week I have countless online classes to complete before I head out for my new hire orientation in Massachusetts next week, I may feel like I'm a student all over again. I cant wait to document all my upcoming travel with you all I have some cool places on the agenda for the next couple of months. Starting in MA then on to Chicago, Louisiana, Los Angeles and Omaha.

I can tell these next couple months will be a complete whirlwind, lots of travel, tons of trainings, tests and just trying to get the hang of my new position. On Friday I finally bought myself a desk, I am excited to share my office space tomorrow... that is if I can finally take some good pictures, dang you sun.

Stay Tuned

Homemade Acai Bowl

I have been thinking of acai bowls in ever since we had them in Austin. However there is only one or two places that have them here and they aren't near by so I figured I would give trying to make them at home another go. I think I finally got down the recipe and I am very happy, I see many acai bowl breakfasts in my future.

 For the acai bowl base blend:

• One Sambazon frozen acai smoothie pack
• Half a banana 
• 3 strawberries
• Tsp of truvia 
• Splash of apple juice 

My first try was a little thin so using frozen strawberries may be a better option in the future. I think the apple juice and fresh banana are really what gives it the right amount of sweetness and flavor. Next top with the toppings of your choice I went for granola, banana and strawberries, I usually would have some coconut on there as well. Some other topping options are berries, nuts, chocolate chips or seeds. Many people also mix in some protein powder into the base to make it a more balanced breakfast, I will have to give it a try and hope it doesn't destroy all the yummy flavors. 

I hope you all enjoy

Texas Road Trip Part 2- Fredricksburg

Hey ya'll and welcome to part two of our Texas road trip adventures. If you missed part one you can catch up here. After leaving Austin and doing some major outlet shopping in San Marcos we hit the road to our next destination, Fredricksburg. In Fredricksburg we picked the cutest Bed and Breakfast to stay in called the Hoffman Haus based on lots of positive reviews online. It is the cutest place very cozy with a rustic country feel and yes they deliver your breakfast each morning in a picnic basket and so yummy!

Fredricksburg is in the heart of Texas wine country with a countless number of wineries in the area. We spent our day at Grape Creek Vineyards where we took a tour and did a tasting. It was a beautiful place and made you quickly forget you were still in Texas.

Fredricksburg was a very peaceful small town with plenty of wineries and scenery to enjoy when you want some time away from big-city life, I can see coming back again. Perhaps even for a girls weekend.

Texas Road trip Part 1- Austin

With a sudden free week off from work Evan and I decided that it was road trip time! We had been wanting to go to Austin and a couple other places in Texas but hadn't found the time yet. We set out Saturday morning for our 5 day last minute Texas road trip vacation, first stop Austin.  I originally wrote out a lot more content for this post but it got way too long so I am just giving the highlights.

We arrived in Austin around lunch time on Saturday, checked in to our hotel then headed out to try a local spot for lunch I have heard great things about, The Blue Dahlia Cafe. I got an open face tartine and Evan got a frittata that he raved about.

After lunch we head out to explore a couple sites after that we went back to the hotel and relaxed before getting ready for dinner and 6th street. We ate dinner at the Iron Cactus then we found a roof top bar with a live band and stayed put for the remainder of the night.

The next morning we woke up and grabbed some acai bowls from a local spot that were seriously delicious. Once we finished up we were ready to make our way to Lady Bird lake for  some stand up paddle boarding. Stand up paddle (SUP) boarding ended up being my favorite part of the whole trip. It was such a blast, something different, active and outdoors all make for a great time.

After walking around all of Austin we scouted out a food truck food court for dinner. It was called the Picnic and had 6 different food trucks and lots of picnic tables, we tried a little of everything.

 Then we spent the night hanging out with my cousin who happened to also be in Austin. We got up the next morning and spent several hours at the San Marcos outlet mall before heading to our next stop, Fredricksburg.