Recipe - Veggie Burgers

A couple weeks ago my sister emailed me with this recipe and also called me saying I had to try these veggie burgers because they were awesome. I had previously failed big time on some veggie burgers (they tasted like cardboard and fell apart on the grill) and I had pretty much given up the idea of a protein packed healthy veggie burger. Well my sister came to my rescue and this recipe is absolutely delicious and packed full of good nutrition. For those of you out there who aren't veggie burger fans you owe it to yourself to at least try this because this might be the burger that changes your taste buds! And of course a key ingredient in these is quinoa, no surprise there, ENJOY!

Southwest Veggie Mini Burgers:

• 1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed
• One 15-ounce can black beans, drained (or whatever beans you like and are used to)
• 1/2 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
• 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs or regular breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 teaspoons kosher salt (I didn't use quite this much)
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
• Bring 1 cup water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the quinoa, cover and reduce the heat to low. Cook until the water is absorbed, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the quinoa from the saucepan and spread out onto a baking sheet. Cool completely.
• Puree half the can of black beans in the bowl of a food processor. Add  the puree to 1/4 cup of the cooked quinoa, the remaining whole beans, corn, panko, cilantro, salt, chili powder, cumin, garlic, pepper and lemon juice in a large bowl. Mix until the mixture comes together. Form 8 small patties, about 2-ounces each. Refrigerate the patties for 15 minutes to firm up.
  Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Cook the patties until golden brown, 5 to 8 minutes per side.
  
  
  For a special dressing or spread to go on your burger mix 1 pkg of chipotle ranch with greek yogurt. OR I used my homemade salsa found here, that I always have on hand and mixed it with greek yogurt and it melted in my mouth!
  
  
  These were so yummy I can't wait to have another!

Weekly Workout 17

We are getting close to 20 weeks, wow! And I may be biased, but I think it has been a fun 17 weeks with something different every week. Last week I had one of my treatments done to shrink the tumors in my lower ab and it has me feeling a little sick and my gut was still a little tender and swollen from it so I was only able to do the instruction video. But with a weekend of rest I am feeling ready to tackle this workout head on, I hope you feel the same! Work hard, watch what you eat, have FUN and results will come!

Weekly Workout #17

 Main Set 

Complete as many rounds as possible in 11 minutes

20 Squat Jacks

10 Press up with knee crunch

20 Skate hop with burpee out

20 Ab wheels

---1 Minute Rest ---

Mini Set

complete as many rounds as possible in 8 minutes

20 Plea with donkey kick

10 Curl and Press combo

20 Twisting Ab with leg extension 

Instruction Video:

Recipe - Breaded Cauliflower

Most people have never heard of this dish but I grew up eating breaded cauliflower and loving it. It is a comfort food for me and my mother made this often and got the recipe from her aunt who always made it when they were over to visit. In the days before the internet, this beloved dish was hardly known, in fact my family was the only one I knew (and still do) that makes it.  When I married my husband he was a meat and potatoes kind of guy and considered potatoes his veggie (wrong on so many levels) so when I introduced this dish (the first among many veggie dishes to come) he was very skeptical and reluctant, he just wasn't a veggie lover. Then he took a bite and this dish has been at the top of his request list for dinner items for the past 10 years, yeah it's that good. I make it a point to prepare this when I have guests and I always get inquisitive looks but everyone walks away satisfied and addicted. With that said the way my mother always made it and how I made it, until recently, was far from low calorie because you basically where frying the breaded cauliflower in butter (yes delicious butter, it makes me giddy just thinking about it). But recently I came up with a lower calorie way of recreating this childhood, okay and adulthood, favorite of mine. This dish is not only easy but it is filling and there have been times when this is the main part of my meal, and my husband and kids fill their plates pretty high as well. So even if this sounds odd to you, or you have never been a cauliflower fan (like my husband) it is a must try. 

What you will need

One head of Cauliflower, Italian Bread crumbs OR croutons crushed into crumbs (I do the croutons because I can get a huge bag of organic croutons from Costco), butter, garlic salt and other spices you may like.  *If you want to add a few calories and a little more taste then you will also want Parmesan cheese and a cooking spray oil ( I use grapeseed oil)

Breaded Cauliflower Instructions

*Cut cauliflower into medium sized florets

*Steam until tender but do not over cook!

*Place cauliflower in a Ziploc bag or large bowl. 

*Add 1 to 2 tlbs of butter and melt onto hot cauliflower.

* Once the butter is melted and has coated the cauliflower add Italian bread crumbs or your crumbs of crushed croutons. I use about 1 cup but it depends on how big your head of cauliflower was.

* Add garlic salt (or other spices you like) to taste.

* Gently stir or shake your cauliflower until it is lightly coated. You can also add some Parmesan cheese, when I do add it I use the freshly grated kind but crumble it up into smaller pieces. 

*Once the cauliflower is coated with the spices or extras you like, place it in a single layer on a large foiled baking sheet. Set your oven to broil. If you have a cooking spray you can lightly coat the cauliflower and this will give it more crisp as if it were fried.

*Place the pan on a lower rack in your oven and watch carefully as you broil it, it does not take very long, we are just browning and crisping it, not cooking it. When the cauliflower is browned it is ready!

This makes great leftovers especially if you have a toaster oven. I just place some straight from the fridge into my toaster oven and broil it again until it is warmed up and crispy again. Enjoy this one, I know I do!

Weekly Workout # 16

Wow, if you have stuck it out and are here at week 16 ready for more then give yourself a pat on the back. The actual act of exercising is typically not difficult and even when it is you still feel awesome afterwards, the hard part is sticking with it and not giving up or giving in. If you have fallen off the wagon these past 16 weeks, it doesn't matter, what matters is that you get back on and keep moving forward. I really enjoyed this workout, I would say this is my first full week of hitting it at my maximum and it feels GREAT! My treatment for the lumps in my abdomen seem to be doing well other then causing me to retain some serious amounts of water, eeehhh! But I am going to try and up my water to 100 ounces a day and see if that doesn't help flush my system. How is your water intake going? Remember it is absolutely essential when trying to lose weight or just be healthy, so don't forget to be a camel and drink up!

Weekly Workout # 16

Main Set 

You will need a weight for both sets

Complete as many times as possible in 11 minutes

50 Butt Kickers

40 Kettle Bell Swings

30 Two Step Jacks

20 Squat and switch w/ press

10 3 Point V jumps w/ push up

----- 1 minute rest -----

Mini Set

complete as many times as possible in 8 minutes

30 Wood Cutters  15left 15 right

20 Triceps Press w/ weight

Ab Plank -  20 sec left side 20 sec, middle, 20 sec right side

Instruction Video

Real Time Workout

The Path to a Healthy Lifestyle

This morning I had some time to collect my thoughts, do some studying and some good old fashion mediation and contemplation. It was only 25 minutes but when I am able to do this it really sets the right tone for my day. When I have time like this to truly reflect on issues bigger than ones such as, what's for dinner, what child has what practice, how many laundry loads need done, what color to paint my son's room and how to better organize my work load I find I have a greater balance in my day. Though thoughts like these are often essential because they are apart of everyday life, sometimes we get so caught up in them. The trivial things typically take front and center stage just because they are urgent or immediate. Something I have learned is that urgent does not always mean important yet we tend to organize our lives starting with the issues which are urgent. A healthy lifestyle to me does not just carry a physical definition. Health to me means balance in all things and in all areas. We talk about a healthy body, healthy mindset, healthy attitude and healthy relationships. Yes health is more than just getting fit or losing weight. I have found that the times in my life when I am most productive and feel amazing are when I have a sense of balance in my life. That balance often comes because I am focusing on important things not necessarily all the urgent things. So what is important to you? It's a good question to ask. If your not sure try this, imagine you've just been diagnosed  with a fatal disease and have 1 year to live. What are your first thoughts about how and/or with whom you want to spend that last year with? Those things you treasure most will float to the front of your mind. What comes to the front of our mind might surprise us sometimes, or even possibly shame us, but keep in mind that you control what is important in your life and what you give priority to, so if you don't like what is taking center stage in your life, change it!

Something which is important to me is my physical health, I have always wanted to make sure I can run and play with my kids, go for long walks or hikes in nature, enjoy recreational events with my family and live as long and disease free as I possibly can. But something else which is also extremely important to me is my Family, they are my everything. It took me a very long time to figure out how to balance these important issues, keeping my physical health in check while not missing out on time with my family. For a very long time the pendulum would swing one way and I would feel selfish for taking so much time for myself and then it would swing the other and I would find that my body and emotions would suffer for my lack of attention and dedication, often times resulting in me not being the best person I could be for my children and husband. I am someone (like a lot of people) who reacts to a lack of physical exercise by falling into bouts of depression or anxiety, so when I ignored physical exercise it affected my family life. I didn't like this imbalance in my life, I felt like Jekyll and Hyde, and still do some days ;)  but I knew there was an answer so I searched, contemplated, prayed and found a solution. The answers to our issues are out there, we just have to want to find them and then be willing to commit to them when we do. Everyone's balance point will be different but you will know when you find yours.Once you find that balance does it mean it will permanently stay in check? I wish! Rather it takes daily or sometimes hourly efforts to keep happily centered but, it can be done, and if you've done it once you've already blazed the trail and therefore all you need to do is follow the path back to find it.
We will have days where no matter our best efforts to stay balanced the end result feels much like chaos. On days like that just remember to tell yourself "tomorrow is a new day full of new opportunities to do better" it is never a failure until you give up. And a failure is never a waste because you can always learn from it.
So find your balance, start small with one area and then when you have mastered it, move on to the next area. It doesn't mean you won't have to retrace steps but I guarantee you will find greater health along your way.

Weekly Workout #15 - 400 Rep Chair Challenge

Every 5 weeks or so I like to bring you a change of pace and do a rep challenge. These not only break things up a bit but this helps keep your metabolism up instead of plateauing. There is a huge benefit to doing different exercises every week, this challenges you muscles so you will not experience muscle memory where your body says "yeah we know how to do this, no big deal". We don't want that and this is why we change up our workout every week. But every 5 weeks it is good to really rev up you reps to make sure we are keeping our bodies guessing. This challenge is unique because we will be using a chair. And I will warn you now, your legs and butt will be screaming for you to stop, but don't! You see results when you exhaust your muscles and then push a little further or harder, that is how you get change.
On a personal note I have not been pushing myself these past 5 weeks due to my medical issues and it is really starting to show. My muscle definition is lacking and I have noticed a slight increase in my weight. I was warned that the treatment I am currently undergoing to shrink the masses in my abdomen could cause water retention, possible weight gain and some other issues and with a surgery most likely in my future in a few months, now more than ever I need to step up my workout regimen and get my body in the best shape it can be so I don't suffer from the time off I am anticipating in the future. To accomplish this I will also begin cutting my calories down to 1200. When I am at a comfortable weight I do not count calories instead I just continue to eat healthy and exercise, but do to my lack of exercise and now that I am battling other forces, I will kick it back into gear with calorie counting. So for those of you out there who are doing these workouts but are not seeing the results you want, look at what you are eating. Count your calories and keep them in a low range (do not go below 1200 especially when working out the way we do) and fill your body with lots of vegetables, lean meats, fruits and whole grains. Limit your sugar to natural sugars found in fruit and things such as that and you will see results. I am going to put my money where my mouth is and follow my own advice exactly this week and in the weeks to come. When I started these videos I was basically where I wanted to be with my body and fitness level so I did not need to be as strict with food but now with a bump being thrown into my road I need to adjust. It is all about adjusting to make things work for you and your goals so don't be afraid to change things up every once in awhile and you will be amazed how your body responds!
And with that I will give you the breakdown for this workout. Remember to stick to it and don't give up. Because this workout is very strenuous make sure to stretch and if you need to only do it Monday, Wednesday and Friday it will still benefit your body. But make sure on Tuesday and Thursday you do something like go for a 20 minute run or walk to keep your body loose and burning calories! Good luck this week!

Weekly Workout # 15  - 400 Chair Rep Challenge

You will need a sturdy chair

100 Step ups - 50 left,  50 right

50 tricep dips

100 kick overs - 50 left, 50 right

25 elevated reptile crunches

50 High Knees (count one knee)

25 elevated reptile crunches

50 One leg sit stands - 25 left, 25 right

Looking at your body with a Different Perspective

I am not one for email forwards or posting random pics of people I don't know on Facebook , but when the above picture caught my eye I knew it was perfect for a post I have been wanting to do. The caption in the photo really says it all but I want to elaborate on this because it is not about having a baby or not, it is about viewing your body with a different perspective. This is a fitness blog (if you haven't caught on to that I am not sure how you've missed it) and though our focus is being healthy and strong this tends to go hand in hand with body image. I have done a post and have had a guest post discuss this subject and now I want to address it from another angle because improper body image is a plague in this modern world particularly affecting women of every age, size and color. And since this blog's target audience is mother's I am going to stick with the above example, not to alienate any of my followers who have not had children or are men but because pregnancy is something I am familiar with and can easily use as an example.

For those of us who have had babies looking into the mirror postpartum can be depressing and sometimes frightening. Many of us see nothing but flaws, we get so obsessed with getting back to pre-pregnancy weight or better, we become like horses with blinders on and won't cut ourselves some slack until the desired goal weight is reached. I was like this after all of my children, and then when I would finally fit back into those jeans, I found I was still unhappy with my body because of the deep canyon like stretch marks and saggy skin. It wasn't until a few years ago that my perspective changed. My sister was pregnant and whether it was good fortune,  great genes (which I obviously missed out on) or her unwavering commitment to a coco buttered belly she did not receive one stretch mark, not a one! Her belly was gorgeous and I was envious! One day while speaking to her and again reiterating how lucky she was not to have any stretch marks she brought up an interesting comment made to her regarding her lack of marks. When my sister revealed to some extended family members she didn't have stretch marks her sister-in-law exclaimed "how on earth do you validate that baby is yours, you have no battle wounds to prove it!" Her sister-in-law was being humorous but, when my sister told me this story something in me instantly changed. I thought, she's right! Stretch marks are like battle wounds, I am a warrior and the best kind of warrior. I earned every stripe, canyon, and flap from doing something so amazing and magnificent; creating, carrying and giving birth to a human being. There are few greater causes for allowing such damage to happen to your body than providing a healthy and safe environment for a growing baby. All the aches and pains, all the vomiting, the sleeplessness, the discomfort and the stress of carrying a baby was worth it, each and every time. And instead of viewing the after math  left behind as collateral damage, I now view it  differently. Those stretch marks and areas of my body which just refuse to bounce back serve as sweet reminders of those special times in my life where I was selfless, where someone else always came first, when I was doing something great and when I was experiencing  a bond which runs deeper than human comprehension and I was a part of an absolute miracle! I still have those tender moments of triumph today in other forms and I am in no way implying that having a baby is the only way for women to do something wonderful, great or selfless, this is not the case. What I am saying is I began to see things with a different perspective and when I did I became proud of my body, battle wounds and all.

 My husband took this picture before I gave birth to our last child, our sweet little Ruby. At the time when he said "show your belly" I did it reluctantly and then commented on how awful I looked and that no one was to EVER see this picture. Now I am posting the picture for the world to see because I am proud I carried my sweet little girl for nine long and painful months (my c-section scar had reached it's absolute max with being stretched out 4 times and it was a daily source of discomfort) talk about a battle.

I used to look at this picture and see the stretch marks and the chubby cheeks and the list could go on, now I see beauty, a unique beauty of a mother who is expecting. I do not post this picture to say "look how radiant I am", if you think that you are missing the point. I am showing the growth and change that comes from gaining a healthy sense of perspective. I went from being ashamed of this picture to realizing that there is nothing gross or repulsive about it, in fact it is quite the opposite.

Fast forward to last year. Though I learned my lesson about my tummy I still had a lot of things to learn about being comfortable in my own skin. I was complaining to my mother about my breasts, or lack their of, and how I would just like them to be back to how they were before I had kids. I mean come on, was that really too much to ask? While looking through some family photo's we came across a picture of my aunt in a bathing suit at age 50+. I remarked at how awesome her boobs looked and how amazed I was she was able to have such great assets when she was almost 30 years my senior! I will never forget what my mother said next. "Brianna you have been blessed to bear and nurse 5 healthy babies, your aunt was never able to. Sure her breasts look great but I know she would have traded that for the opportunity to have a child." My mother's words stopped me in my tracks and I again received a much needed moment of enlightenment as well as a dose of humility. Too many times we as women look longingly at others and their bodies and think "if only" and fail to keep the right perspective. We all have our trials, struggles and losses and comparison is never equal nor even logical when you consider how unique each of us are in our own beautiful ways.

As I said in the beginning, this post it is not about those of us who have had a baby and those who have not, I am merely using this scenario as an example that perspective not only is important to have but, it can change the way you view your body. Being satisfied with your body does not mean everything is perfect, it means you've decide to look beyond it's imperfections and maintain a healthy perspective. So next time you find yourself comparing your assets to another, whether it be physical or even temporal, remind yourself that we are all unique individuals for a purpose and therefore we have unique experiences and that is part of the beauty of life! 

And to all you ladies out their with the postpartum stretch marks my advice to you is to just rock'em. Own it, love it and be proud of them. You are a warrior and those marks have meaning that go further than skin deep!