Lindsay Ingalls

2014 Holiday Gift Guide | For The Cook

November 27, 2014 by Lindsay Ingalls Leave a Comment

For the juice lover(s) – Breville Compact Juice Fountain – we bought ours five years ago and it works wonderfully. Great for 1-2 people.

For the smoothie, soup, nut butter and sauce lover – Blendtec Total Blender Classic with WildSide & Twister Jars– again we have had ours for five years and it is one of the most used items in our kitchen. I seriously use it daily. You could always go with the Blendtec Total Blender Classic (sans Twister Jar) but I would recommend getting the add on (it’s on my own ‘to buy list’).

For the creamy soup and sauce lover – Cuisinart Smart Stick– another highly used kitchen tool. I have again had mine for years and it is used a few times per week. So great for creamy blended soups and pasta sauces. Oh and it comes in a variety of colors!

For the zoodle and salad lover – Brieftons InstantVeg Spiralizer – I know that many people love their Paderno spirializer and I used to own one myself but I bought the Brieftons a few months ago and it’s far superior (IMO). The only down fall to it is that you have to cut your veggies to fit the holder but otherwise it does an amazing job.

For the cooks stocking– OXO Good Grips Hand-Held Mandoline Slicer – another absolute favorite kitchen item that I use nearly every day and it will fit perfectly in your cooks stocking. Want to take it up a notch (take note hubby) you could go for the OXO Good Grips Complete Grate and Slicer Set or the OXO Good Grips V-Blade Mandoline Slicer.

For any cook – Hamilton Beach 70670 Chef Prep 525-Watt Food Processor– you might be thinking ummm you are recommending I get this cheap-o food processor for my loved one? Why, yes I am! I bought this food processor many years ago and I really love it. I know it’s not the super fancy, higher powered ones that are out there but it really does the job. I won’t lie to you I am lusting after the more high end ones but this is a great and affordable option.

Disclaimer: while this post is NOT IN ANY WAY SPONSORED all of the links are affiliate links.

PDX Fit | Lorna Jane Bridgeport Village

November 26, 2014 by Lindsay Ingalls Leave a Comment

I have to say my very first postpartum outing sans tot and husband (Alder came as he is attached to da boob) couldn’t have been better. A solo(ish) outing to try on new workout clothes without chasing a toddler? Yes please!

I was running a little late because rain + Portland drivers = slow as molasses so I called to let the ladies know I was running late. Alisha was nice enough to take my size and pull some outfits for me so that they would be ready when I arrived. Well thirty minutes later I finally arrived to the beautiful Lorna Jane Bridgeport store and was greeted by Alisha and Alisha.

I was familiar with Lorna Jane prior to my style session and followed Lorna Jane on social media but had never tried the clothes myself. I have read tons of reviews and features on other blogs but I honestly have never taken the plunge into buying anything because from everything I had read Lorna Jane isn’t known for having clothes that fit plus sized bodies. Now this 3.5 month postpartum body is far from where I want it to be but I’m working at it so I honestly debated canceling my session all together because I didn’t know if I could handle not finding any clothes that fit me. In the end I decided that I just needed to go and if nothing worked I’d at least leave with an outfit that could be my goal outfit and a better understanding of the company.

Well let me tell you ladies I was pleasantly surprised to find that there were many items that did work really well for me especially bottoms. I had a little harder time with tops because well I’m a little top heavy right now due to nursing but I did find some great tops that worked and honestly rather than leaving with an outfit that would be a goal outfit I found an outfit that I feel great wearing. I also left with a greater knowledge of the Lorna Jane and the philosophy behind her brand; oh and a list of items that I want to go back and buy.

While I ended up finding three different outfits that I loved I decided to go with the one below and add the other two outfits are on my ‘to buy list’.

The Outfit I was Gifted:

Amy F/L Tight

Sophmore Sports Bra

Top- Similar

(THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!)

So Lorna Jane isn’t only about cute workout clothes for women it is also about creating community and inspiring women to move, nourish and believe in themselves. One addition to the Lorna Jane Bridgeport store that I can’t wait for is the Active Living Room. Lorna Jane Bridgeport will be hosting two FREE classes per day in their active living room. Eventually they hope to have more classes including pilates, yoga, bootcamp, barre and so many more fitness classes as well as nutritional classes. The Active Living Room is set to open in late December and you can bet I’ll be back for classes which inevitably means that my wallet will be emptied as well (I mean I need to go back for those two other outfits).

Until the Active Living Room opens I’ll be trying out the workout from the Lorna Jane Active magazine and the Move Nourish Believe website. Have you checked out the Move Nourish Believe website yet? Seriously one of my favorite sites for to go for workout, recipe and lifestyle inspiration. You can check out my favorite posts and quotes from Lorna Jane on my Pinterest Board.

Have you ever been nervous to do something to find yourself pleasantly surprised? Have you ever tried Lorna Jane clothes or checked out the Move Nourish Believe Website?

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lornajane.active

Instagram: @lornajaneactive

Twitter: @lornajaneactive

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/LornaJaneActive

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/lornajaneactive/

Google+: +Lorna Jane

Disclaimer: Via my Sweat Pink ambassadorship, Fitapproach invited me to a Lorna Jane style session and I was gifted a complimentary outfit in return for this post. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

RECIPE | Coconut Quinoa-Chia Porridge

November 26, 2014 by Lindsay Ingalls Leave a Comment

Now that the weather is turning colder I just love to start my mornings with a big bowl of warm porridge. I often I make oatmeal but I have been wanting to mix things up so I have been trying other grains in this case red quinoa. The quinoa is super nutty, nourishing and a great start to the day. I like to make a big batch at the start of the week and use it throughout the week for nourishing dinner bowls, stir fries and now breakfast porridges.

The first time I made this recipe it was actually for Edith’s Friday night dinner. See every Friday night Neil and I have an at home date night so we sit down with Edith while she eats dinner but Neil and I don’t have dinner until she has been put to bed and then we make up something special to eat or on a rare occasion get takeout. Anyways I made this for her basically because I could throw it together with very little cooking it is super nutritious. She went nuts for it and ate a huge bowl. I made it again for the both of us the next day for breakfast and I have to say I can see what all the fuss was about it’s simply amazing!

Coconut Quinoa-Chia Porridge

2014-11-24 04:31:04

Serves 2

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Ingredients

1 cup cooked quinoa
1 cup coconut milk
2 tablespoons chia seeds
2 tablespoons almond butter
1/4-1/2 small apple cut into thin sticks
1-2 tablespoons grade B maple syrup
cinnamon

Instructions

In a small pot heat the quinoa and coconut milk just until it starts to bubble.
Remove from the heat and stir in the chia seeds; allow to sit for 3-4 minutes allowing the chia seeds to soak up the liquid.
Divide into two bowls and top each bowl with almond butter, apple sticks, a drizzle or two of maple syrup and a big pinch of cinnamon.

By Lindsay Ingalls @RunWithTongs

Naturally Lindsay https://www.naturallylindsay.com/

Do your breakfast change with the seasons? Do you like to make porridge from different grains? What are your favorites?

RECIPE | Lentil & Brown Rice Sushi

November 24, 2014 by Lindsay Ingalls Leave a Comment

I have a thing for Asian grocery markets. Seriously I could spend hours perusing the aisles, checking out all the exotic ingredients. Alas I have two little children so trips to the Asian market are rare and when they do happen I am usually in and out as fast I can be so I end up only picking up my essentials, which I guess is good for my wallet.

Anyways on our last trip I just walked down one aisle and there it was a wall of nori. So many brands and types. Of course I wanted to buy one of each to try but in the end I reigned myself in and picked up one package of toasted nori to make sushi rolls at home.

While I hadn’t planned to make this particularly sushi in the first place it ended up just working out and it was fantastic (even Edith gobbled it up). It came out of a fluke when I decided to place dried green lentils and sweet short grain brown rice in my rice cooker and well it took longer than anticipated and didn’t make it to our dinner plates. I ended up packing up the lentil-rice with plans to use it for a fried rice dish the following day. When it came time to make the fried rice I took the lentil-rice out and it was super sticky and that’s when it hit me that this rice would be PERFECT for sushi.

I spread a thin layer of the lentil-rice mixture on my toasted nori and topped with a little sriracha sauce I made, then I sauteed up some shiitake mushrooms and added them along with a crisp romaine leaf. I rolled up my sushi rolls, served with a little extra sauce and tamari and inhaled these babies. Seriously so delicious. This fluke ended up being a fantastic recipe.

Lentil & Brown Rice Sushi

2014-11-20 07:03:56

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For the Rice

1 cup sweet short grain brown rice
1/2 cup dried green lentils
3 cups water

For the Mushrooms

8oz shiitake mushrooms, stem removed and thinly sliced
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon tamari
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

For Sriracha Sauce

2 tablespoons reduced fat vegenaise (or your favorite)
1-3 teaspoon sriracha
2 teaspoons tamari
romaine hearts
toasted nori sheets

Instructions

For the Rice: Do this in advanced. Place ingredients in your rice cooker and cook until done. No rice cooker? No problem just put everything in a pot, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook until water evaporates. Remove and all to cool completely before using.
For the Mushrooms: In a medium saute pan heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and saute for 2 minutes. Add the tamari and balsamic and saute until all liquid has evaporated; make sure to stir frequently.
For the Sauce: Whisk everything together.
For the Roll: Take one sheet of nori and spread with about 1/3-1/2 cup of the lentil-rice in a thin layer leaving about 1-inch at the end. Spread a line of the sriracha mayo on the center of the rice, next to that add a line of shiitake mushrooms and lastly add a romaine heart leaf. Roll your nori up as tight as possible using a little water to seal the sheet.
Slice with a very sharp knife and serve with additional sauce and side of tamari.

By Lindsay Ingalls @runwithtongs

Naturally Lindsay https://www.naturallylindsay.com/

Happy Holidays with UncommonGoods

November 23, 2014 by Lindsay Ingalls Leave a Comment

We are just a few days away from Thanksgiving which for us is the big kick off to the Holiday season.Can you believe that it’s almost December? This holiday we are really focusing on spending time doing special things as a family and with friends. While we will be exchanging gifts we are are limiting our gift giving to five gifts each and a stocking. Besides putting a cap on the number of gifts we give each other we are also requiring that 75% of the gifts purchased come from local shops and/or ones that give back.

One shop that we will be supporting this holiday season is UncommonGoods a Brooklyn based;privately-owned;retailer that features unique designs and handcrafted gifts created in harmony with the;environment and without harm to animals or people.

I had the joy of searching through theUncommonGoods site and choosing some gifts from their suggest Christmas gifts, stocking stuffers and personalized gifts. I ended up shooting the photos of all of these items while Edith and Alder were napping because there a few fun things that I just can’t wait to give them. Luckily they don’t know how to use the internet yet, although Edith is getting there, I can share them here with you in this post. Neil on the other hand is very experienced with using the internet so instead he gets a few of these gifts before Christmas and some will be given to friends and family who just might be reading this right now.
I can’t believe that Alder will soon be eating solid foods so in anticipation of that and Edith’s love for playing with her food I chose these fun Food Face plates. Honestly I think I should have picked out one for each of us because how fun are these? Oh and these Animal Hands will be perfect for Edith’s stocking and since she is so little I think Neil and I might get to play with them too.
For the man/men in your life you might like these two fun gifts. The first is a selection of beer jelly’s that are actually made in Vermont (my home state!). UncommonGoods sells a four pack that includes four different types of jelly’s for the beer lover in your life.As a stocking gift you might be interested in this mustache and beard comb especially a great gift for those who have been participating in Movember! Neil has already tested this out and it’s now permanently in his pocket.
Lastly we have some relaxing gifts for the ladies. I’m not going to reveal which lovely ladies in my life will be receiving these but I hope that they use them and feel relaxed. Both the bath soaking tea and the eye mask smell so amazing and would be perfect as a combination gift or even as stocking stuffers.

A few reasons that we love this online retailer:

• It is aB Corp: B Corporations use the power of business to solve social and environmental problems. As a B Corp UncommonGoods meets rigorous standards on a wide range of issues, including wage levels (the lowest paid seasonal worker starts at50% above the minimum wage!), environmental impact, and giving back to our community.

• TheirBetter to Give Program: With your purchase UncommonGoods is proud to donate $1 to the non-profit of your choice. Since starting the program 12 years ago they have donated over $300,000 to charities around the world!

• The Products:Half of what UncommonGoods sells is handmade, most are created in the USA and 1/3 are made from up-cycled or recycled goods.

Visit UncommonGoods to find the perfect Christmas gift for everyone on your list.

Make sure you check out all of the gifts on UncommonGoods that you can have personalized.

Oh and don’t forget UncommonGoods impressive selection of stocking stuffers.

FITNESS FRIDAY | DietBet After and Beyond

November 22, 2014 by Lindsay Ingalls Leave a Comment

Happy Fitness Friday on Saturday! You’d think I’d get myself in a better routine so I wasn’t posting a day late but alas a day late is better than never right? Or maybe I should just change this post to [fill in the blank] Saturday – leave your ideas in the comments.

So Monday marks the end of my DietBet game and well I’ll just come out and say it I didn’t win. I had to lose around 9 pounds to win and that being said I knew it would be a long shot. That all being said I did lose 4 pounds! That’s 1 pound per week which I think it is a pretty healthy amount of weight. On top of losing a few pounds I have also got myself back into a semi-regular fitness routine and have improved my diet. While I have made improvements over the past four weeks there is still a long way to go before I reach my final goals.

So what’s next? Like I said I have got myself back on a semi-regular fitness routine and my goal is to make it a regular routine. To do so Neil and I are going to sit down this weekend and come up with a workout time plan so that both of us are really able to take time during the week to workout without guilt. I say without guilt because as parents of two small children it can sometimes be mentally really challenging to make time for yourself and commit to that but we both know we need to so we are making it a priority.

I also have been doing okay with drinking enough water but I sometimes have days when I completely forget about it and just don’t drink enough. Lately I have been having a harder time because Neil “stole” my Blender bottle aka my favorite water bottle and so I haven’t been drinking as much as I should be. That being said I am going to get myself a new Blender bottle and make it my goal to drink at least 4-28oz bottles by 7pm.

Lastly, while eating healthy is going pretty well I am focusing on eating well about 75% of the time and I would really like it to be more like 85-90% of the time. I am all about eating in moderation so I do think that there is a time and place to indulge a little but I know that sometimes I indulge more than I need to. To help me be successful I am making it my goal to do bi-weekly meal planning and weekly meal prep. I also am going to make sure to buy more healthy snacks to have in the house because that is one of my downfalls. I don’t buy enough healthy snacks and then I am feeling snack-y and pick up rice chips or bean chips from Whole Foods and Neil and I eat an entire bag – not good!

Taking My Workout Outside | Fitbit Blogger Challenge

November 20, 2014 by Lindsay Ingalls

If you have been following my social media you know that I on the West Coast team for the Shape & Men’s Fitness Fitbit Blogger Challenge. I have to say it’s pretty intimidating being on a team with some pretty well known bloggers who run many more miles than I do per week but here I am working away on increasing my weekly miles via running and walking. We are only four days into this challenge and I have had some really great days 9000-10500 steps in others closer to 5000 steps. I have to say that this challenge has ignited the competitor in me and I want our team to win but more than that I want to achieve my personal goal of 70,000 steps per week.

The challenge this week is take take my workout outdoors and so far so good! I got out for a walk with the kids on Monday afternoon and then we headed back outside after dinner with Neil for another walk. Tuesday we did a short and cold outdoor walk after dinner again. Today I took the kids out with a friend and we did a pretty decent walk, I think that this walk got me around 5000 steps however it probably should have been more but pushing the double BOB seems to interfere with tracking but oh well I guess it just forces me to be even more active on days I push the BOB.

I had hoped to get out for a hike with the kids this weekend but alas PNW weather can be less than ideal and right now the forecast is rain for the next 10 days. Whomp Whomp. Hopefully we will have some clear periods and I’ll be able to get back outside because honestly outside workouts are superior to indoor. There is something about the fresh air and being surrounded by nature that makes the workout so much more relaxing. On days I can’t make it outside I can be thankful that I have a gym across the street from my house so that I can make sure to get in as many steps as possible per day.

So cheers to my West Coast teammates. Let’s do this!

Do you prefer to workout inside or outside? What is your favorite outdoor activity?

Check out the Shape Magazine/Men’s Fitness East vs. West Coast Fitbit Blogger Challenge at Shape.com/Fitbit and enter to win your own Fitbit charge!

This post is sponsored by the Shape/Men’s Fitness FitBit Charge Challenge.

Naturally Lindsay

Author: Lindsay Ingalls