Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by foodie.com. All opinions are my own.
It’s Autumn a time for pumpkin patches, chai lattes and most of all apple picking! Use up your apple stash with these 12 tasty recipes. We haven’t made it out to the apple orchard this year but we have been stocking up on apples and can’t wait to make this Apple Walnut Cake and One Bowl Carrot Apple Muffins. I am thinking I might also try this Apple Tahini Toast because it is a combination I wouldn’t haven’t made on my own but it sounds so interesting; if you try this recipe before I do let me know what you think!
The following post is sponsored by FitFluential LLC on behalf of Grokker.
So it’s no secret that I am really making an effort to get back to regular workouts. One thing that I am finding however is that getting out of the house to workout is a bit of a challenge to coordinate with two kids. That being said I have been trying to find ways to fit in a workout at home, even if that workout is only 20 minutes long. I mean a short workout is better than no workout, am I right?
Well that’s when the new health and wellness site, Grokker, comes into play. I tell you I have been hearing about this site for a few months now because Neil can’t stop talking about it. He asks me weekly if I have tried it out yet and every time my answer is not yet, until now that is.
When the opportunity to work with FitFluential and Grokker came my way I decided that this was the perfect time to finally check out what all the hype was about. To top it off Grokker is also hosting the October Fitfluential 4 Weeks to Wellness Challenge on their site so it provided me with even more incentive to get working out and participate.
The 4 Weeks to Wellness Challenge provides you with weekly workouts and healthy recipes to try. The one thing I appreciate is that they offer alternatives for the day as well because sometimes I just don’t want to yoga and would rather do a HIIT workout. Also to be honest the recipes videos just aren’t my thing so I’d rather sub a quick workout for one of the recipes and focus on my own recipes. Hey, I’m not saying the recipe videos aren’t well done, they just aren’t for me.
So far I have done the:
Yoga for Beginners – Sun Salutations (18 min)
Metabolic Meltdown (23:02)
and
Yoga for Kids: Beach Fun (18:53)
Edith has become so interested in yoga and has to get out her go-ga mat almost everyday. She has a toddler yoga book that goes through a variety of poses that she follows along with so I figured that she would love to do go-ga with mama (or dada). She went nuts for this video and I can see us doing this a few times per week.
While I might be short on time to go out to the gym or to a yoga class I can always find 20 or so minutes in the day to do a workout video even if that means doing yoga for kids with Edith. I currently am using the 14 day free trial of Grokker but I plan to buy a subscription after this time because I really do enjoy using it and find it helpful for me to keep up on my workouts. I have been slipping in a quick workout during naptimes or right after Edith goes down for bed. I need to get my butt up and out of bed in the morning and work on fitting in my workout then but for now this works. I like not having to fumble with a DVD I can just turn my computer on (I need to get this linked up to my ChromeCast which would make it even easier) and choose which workout I want to do. Easy peasy.
For those of you who are still wondering what exactly Grokkeris here is a little more info:
What is Grokker?
Grokker is the community driven content network offering high quality, expert-led
videos in three key wellness areas: yoga, fitness and cooking. Grokker makes it
easy and enjoyable for enthusiasts to discover valuable content and seamlessly
organize and share choice topics, experts and opinions with a larger like- minded
community.
How do they choose content?
Grokker offerings must pass strict editorial, quality, and taste standards, with
category managers actively curating a selection of the best tutorials on each
topic available from other Web sources. All content available on Grokker has
been viewed and vetted, as well as categorized and tagged by its editors.
I haven’t tried them yet but Grokker also offers group classes if you are the type of person who really thrives on a community centered workout this might be something for you:
What are Grokker Group Classes?
Grokker group classes are a new feature for the network, which promotes
community-driven wellness through a portfolio of high-quality, in-house produced
fitness, yoga and cooking videos. Grokker group classes allow fitness
enthusiasts to engage with each other and the trainers themselves via online
chat, bringing the group fitness experience right to the users’ living rooms.
The Group Class Experience
Group classes offer Grokker members a way to benefit from the social and
accountability elements of attending a live class, without any of the downsides of
commuting to a gym or studio. At the appointed time, Grokker members join the
class from the Grokker homepage. Upon entry, they are announced in the chat
window and can join in the pre-class chat with other Members. The video class
begins playing precisely at the stated time and after class is complete, members
may continue their chat discussion with fellow class-goers.
Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by foodie.com. All opinions are my own.
It’s pasta time again! Who else loves pasta? I seriously could eat some sort of noodle dish every single day and for most meals. I love noodle soups, mac and cheese, Italian pastas, Asian noodle dishes and basically anything that includes some sort of noodle/pasta. Back in March I featured 12 Vegan Pasta Dishes for Your Sunday Night Dinner well here are 12 more perfect pasta dishes for any night of the week. This recipe collection includes a your more traditional Italian pasta dishes, Asian inspired and a few other favorites thrown in the mix. Some are hot, some are cold and some include non-traditional noodles such as butternut squash and carrots. I also wanted to make sure that I included a few really delicious recipes that could either be made in advanced or take around 30 minutes or less to put together for week nights.
I am still a few weeks out from being able to get back to regular activity. While my postpartum journey has been a little bit easier (okay a whole lot easier) this time around both physically and emotionally I am still a far way off from being back to my normal active self. When it comes to working out I feel like I am basically starting from zero.
Taking a break after a walk with Edith in the stroller and Alder in the Lillebaby.
I have been getting out for walks most days but after about a mile of walking and either pushing a double stroller, which feels like I’m pushing a bus, or wearing Alder and pushing Edith in the stroller I can really feel it. It’s a reminder every time I go out that I am ONLY four weeks postpartum. While I mentally and physically am feeling better I still can’t do as much physically as I think I can. By the end of my walks I am sore all over especially down there …
While I haven’t been able to get out and run or do anything crazy I have been keeping track of activity via my new Runtastic Orbit. Thanks to my partnership with Fit Approach I was sent a Runtastic Orbit to test out and review (as always all opinions are my own). It has been helpful to keep track of how active I am being during the day and I love the feature that I love the most is the Sleep Cycle Tracker. As a nursing mom of a four week old it has been great to track my sleep cycles so that I can really take into account how much sleep I get and how often Alder is waking me at night.
I have been averaging around 8 hours of sleep with around a total of 40 minutes of awake time, a good (or rather bad?) amount of light sleep and a tiny bit of deep sleep. Overall I say that’s not too bad for having a four week old. I attribute the decent sleep I have been getting to the fact that we co-sleep and that I have been trying to go to bed by 10pm at the latest.
As for my activity I have been averaging around 9,000 steps per day and my goal is 8,000. I have been wearing the Runtastic Orbit consistently for about 3 weeks now and during that time we moved and have been out for lots of walks. I also think the fact that our new townhouse has three floors makes a difference because that is a whole lot of steps everyday especially since the bathrooms and diaper changing stations are on either the first and third floor(s).
Overall Thoughts: Overall I really like the Runtastic Orbit. As many of you know I have tried out a number of different tracking watches and this one ranks in my top three. It fits well, is sleek, has a clock feature and I love the vibrating alerts. The iPad app is super easy to use and sync with and an easy way to check my stats.
This post is sponsored by Blue Diamond Almonds. As always all opinions are my own.
I’m back in the kitchen and it feels great! The past two months have been a little chaotic and I haven’t really been inspired or in a position to really work on any new recipes. Yesterday however I made it back into the kitchen and I brought Edith with me.
I really want Edith to love cooking as much as I do and I also think that having her in the kitchen and being apart of the process makes her more interested in food and healthy eating. As you can see she is also learning how to become a food blogger with her Cabbage Patch camera. I’m thinking I need to find one of my old point and shoot cameras or maybe an inexpensive kids digital camera for her so that she can take real pictures – any recommendations?
Anyways we headed to the kitchen to make a snack for the week. Now you might be thinking chocolate as a snack? YES! These bites are filled with yummy and healthy ingredients like oats and almonds and just a little chocolate to make them a treat as well as a tasty snack. I usedBlue Diamond Honey Roasted Vanilla Almonds in this recipe because a. they are super tasty and b. I thought they would be amazing with chocolate. Check out the recipe below and then head to the kitchen right away and MAKE THESE they are seriously insane!
1-6oz container of Blue Diamond Honey Roasted Vanilla Almonds
½ cup creamy unsalted almond butter
½ cup honey
¼ cup coconut oil
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ cup dark chocolate chips
¼ tsp. Himalayan pink salt
DIRECTIONS
Place oats in the bowl a food processor fitted with the s-blade and process until it is small coarse pieces. Add the almonds and coconut and pulse 15-20 times until finely ground. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.
Add the almond butter, honey, coconut oil, cocoa powder, and chocolate chips to a small sauce pan and heat over medium heat until the mixture is smooth and the chocolate chips are completely melted. Turn off the heat and stir in the salt. Pour the mixture into the bowl with the oat-almond mixture and stir together until everything is evenly mixed.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and pour out the mixture. Top with another sheet of parchment and roll out into a square or circle that is 1/4-1/2 inch thick. Place in the freezer for 1-2 hours until set and then cut into squares. Store in an airtight container the fridge or freezer
OUTTAKES
Edith enjoyed helping me make these tasty treats but she is only two so she is easily distracted by other things like putting stuff on top of her baby brothers head. At least he didn’t seem to mind!
I still can’t believe that I am a mom of two and that at 15 days postpartum I am feeling pretty good, especially compared to how I felt at 15 days postpartum with Edith. We have had a busy two weeks and I have shared our first week over on Naturally Family. This week has been just as busy especially now that I am finally feeling up to doing a little bit more moving around, oh yeah and we are moving tomorrow. Don’t worry though I won’t be doing any of the actually moving we have a wonderful group of friends who are going to help us move out and into our new place which is luckily not too far away.
One thing I have learned over the past two weeks is that starting my morning off with a nutritious breakfast is essential. Having two kids is no joke a huge life change and I need to have steady energy in the morning to make it through the day. I know it’s going to be even more important when I am finally cleared to get back to working out and running.
Edith and I have been enjoying coconut, soy or almond milk yogurt with belVita Breakfast Biscuits most mornings and Neil has been enjoying the biscuits as a midmorning snack. These are seriously tasty! The big claim with belVita Breakfast Biscuits is that they provide nutritious steady energy all morning long and you know what I am here to say it’s true! I was skeptical at first but paired with a non-dairy yogurt (or dairy if that’s your thing) and a piece of fruit they are perfect for long lasting energy. As any mom will tell you energy is a must to make it through until lunch and/or naptime – seriously how do toddlers have so much energy?
A few other tidbits about belVita Breakfast Biscuits:
─ 18-20g of delicious whole grain per serving
─ Good source of fiber (3g per serving)
─ Part of a balanced breakfast with fruit and low-fat dairy
─ Crunchy belVita Breakfast Biscuits are available in five flavors including my favorites Blueberry and Golden Oat.
Having (lots) of steady energy throughout the morning and day is going to be essential for me to make sure that I fit my workouts in while taking care of two kids and a house. I want to be a healthy, active and inspiring mom though so I know making time for me is important. My own happiness and my kids inspire me to achieve my goals for the day especially my goals to be active and healthy.
Are you an Oregon local? Hood to Coast (a race on my bucket list) is coming up August 22-23rd and belVita is the breakfast sponsor! belVita will be providing samples of the crunchy biscuits to runners and spectators so head on out and cheer on the amazing runners and pick up your own sample of belVita.
Life has been a little crazy the past few days since adding in a new baby to the mix but we are all adjusting to the changes as well as one could imagine. I have been spending a lot of time hanging out on the couch trying to heal and nursing Alder. That being said, most of the cooking has been taken on by Neil (and Edith).
While this pancake breakfast occurred a few weeks ago now this is just a sample of the fun times in the kitchen that Neil and Edith have together. While they are making delicious meals for me I have been thankful for easy clean up afterwards.
To help make the clean up process easier I like to fill the sink with hot soapy water so I can just drop the dirty dishes in as I go along or I make sure the dishwasher is empty and leave it open so I can just place dirty dishes in as I go along. I also make sure to wipe up the counter as soon as I am done so that we start and end with clean counters.
PAM coconut oil spray has also been great for easy clean up especially for our pancake breakfasts because it keeps our pancakes from sticking and makes cleaning the pan super easy. Plus PAM’s 99% less residue formula helps to keep me from spending extra time scrubbing pans when I’d rather be spending that time with my family.
What do you do to make cleaning up after cooking meals easier?
Leaving up to 99% less residue, PAM is your ally in the kitchen and allows you to save time during prep and clean up.
Disclosure: Compensation was provided by ConAgra via Mode Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of ConAgra.
This recipe collection includes a your more traditional Italian pasta dishes, Asian inspired and a few other favorites thrown in the mix. Some are hot, some are cold and some include non-traditional noodles such as butternut squash and carrots. I also wanted to make sure that I included a few really delicious recipes that could either be made in advanced or take around 30 minutes or less to put together for week nights.
While this pancake breakfast occurred a few weeks ago now this is just a sample of the fun times in the kitchen that Neil and Edith have together. While they are making delicious meals for me I have been thankful for easy clean up afterwards. 
