Disclaimer: The Koss products feature is sponsored by FitFluential LLC. I personally use these items and all opinions are my own.
Over the holidays I shared my Holiday Gift Guide for active women which featured Koss FitBuds and FitClips. Since joining the gym this January I have been wearing the FitClips all the time and well Neil has been really loving the FitBuds (what can I say he has womanly ears). The FitClips are wonderful because they don’t fall out while I am on the elliptical or treadmill or stairmaster.
While both Koss FitBuds and FitClips retail for $29.99 right now you can find them at Walgreens for only $19.99 (for a limited time only!) You can search online to see if you local Walgreens has them in stock here.
It’s half way through February and I’m working hard on accomplishing all of my 2014 goals. The first of those goals has been to organize our home. The reality for us is that things have been less than organized and with a toddler once you’re behind it seems like you can never catch up. This month I have been determined to change all that.
I have been working away and while I need to do a quick bedroom pick up that room is 95% completed. I also organized the hall closets, pantry and most of the bathroom. Yesterday was my big organizing day with the main living/dining area. I spent most of the day with Edith’s help cleaning and organizing so that everything has a place and we are not living in chaos of toys, books and other random items.
*I apologize for the terrible iphone photo.
So on our to do list still:
Kitchen. This seems to be one of those never ending projects when you are a stay at home parent and the fact we eat 90% of our meals at home. I have organized the cupboards for the most part and the pantry but we still need to figure out a new and more efficient dishes plan.
Bathroom. This is one of those places that starts out clean and then the laundry builds up and up and up. Right now I have two loads to put away and about 4 loads to clean. This room was actually cleaned and organized and then we didn’t keep up the maintenance and also ended up with a cloth diaper disaster (more to come on Naturally Family) and a necessary cushion cover cleaning which through off our normal laundry. I also still need to organize the cupboards in there and clean them out because I am sure I have a stash of makeup from 2000 hidden away.
Office. This is still our biggest project yet. The office room is downstairs and our main living area is upstairs so it has become the spot where unwanted/used items go to die. We are working on getting the area cleaned up and organized but honestly I think we have to get upstairs done first and the focus down there. I did do a bunch of organizing down there this past weekend but it wouldn’t seem that way- blargh how do we have so much stuff???
Storage. We have a storage area that we really need to go through and organize as well. We have boxes of items out there that really should be gone through but since it is semi organized right now it’s the last priority.
Car. We need to figure out some organizational plan for the car because it’s either a mess or clean as can be and that can change overnight.
Tips so far:
Don’t try to do it all at once. I have always been someone who wants to do everything all at once. If I want our house organized I try to do it all in one day and then I end up two hours in and I’ve worn myself out. So now I try to do things in chunks so that I don’t overwhelm myself and more gets done.
Work on one room at a time. This is one of the best tips I have and what has really been working for me. I focus on one room at a time starting with the area that we spend the most time. Once that area is clean I am able to do quick 5 minute clean ups throughout the day and move on to focus on the next thing.
Collection boxes. When cleaning/organizing rooms have a few different boxes: one to hold items for donation and a few for different rooms in the house because if your house is anything like ours items from other rooms tend to find themselves where they don’t belong. You should also have a bag for trash, one for recycle and possibly one for items to shred (we get a lot of junk mail). Once you are done in one room move the boxes to their destination rooms and toss the trash.
Five minute clean ups. I have started doing 5-minute cleanups throughout the day. We do a morning one, a before lunch, a before nap, a before dinner and then a before bedtime pick up. This helps to keep things clean and takes little to no time to do.
Put it away when you are done. Seriously I am terrible at this and if you ask my mom I always have been. It’s a habit I have been trying to break for years and now that I have a toddler and #2 on the way I am getting much more serious about this. Throughout the day I work with Edith to make sure she puts one toy away before starting to play with another. Since a big part of this process is leading by example it is forcing me to be more accountable for myself as well so I am also practicing what I preach and this has helped to keep things clean and organized.
While this goal is still in progress and honestly I don’t think it ever really is done I am happy with how much we (Neil plays a major part in this too) have done up to right now. We both would like to see this place organized by the end of March and if we stay on track it will be!
Please share your own cleaning and organizing tips in the comments below! I would love to hear what works for you!
We are experiencing a “huge” (for Portland) snowfall right now which has left us with snowed in. Coming from Vermont this isn’t much snow at all and it wouldn’t phase me there but here you don’t have plows out clearing and salting the roads and for some reason everyone forgets how to drive so driving anywhere isn’t high on my list of desired activities. Thursday it took Neil two hours to drive the six miles home from work due to the weather and the act that everyone was trying to head home at the same time.
So due the weather conditions we haven’t made it to the market and are pretty much out of food and I haven’t made it out of the house to the gym. The upside? Neil worked from home yesterday, Edith is in love with the snow and while I didn’t make it to the gym we took a nice snowy walk to dinner last night. This weather has also made me have to get a little creative with what little food we have in the house and so Edith and I made these yummy date balls to snack on.
Nutty Date Balls Makes 12-15 balls
Ingredients:
2/3 cup raw almonds
1 cup pitted medjool dates
1 cup raisins
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Directions:
Place the almonds in the base of a food processor fitted with the s-blade. Process until crumbly.
Add the remaining ingredients and process until everything comes together.
Scoop out with a small cookie scoop and roll into balls. Store in the fridge and enjoy!
Toddler approved! P.S. she ate three of these while I was rolling them into balls. I’d say she liked them.Q: What are your favorite snow day snacks?
I’m almost 15 weeks! Full on into the second trimester and just like with my pregnancy with Edith I am starting to feel more energized and my morning sickness isn’t so bad (not gone yet though). It has been my goal to make it to the gym 3 days per week but so far I have been averaging 2 days per week. I spend around 45 minutes doing a combination of cardio machines while watching White Collar on Netflix.
I honestly switch machines at least once during a workout because I have to take a pee break. Seriously I can’t go a workout without needing one. Last Saturday I actually had to stop when I only had five minutes left but well when you’re pregnant and you have to go…well you just have to. So when I returned for my last 5 minutes I decided to do the stairmaster. Seriously in those last five minutes I felt more of a workout than the intervals I had been doing on the elliptical! I was a hot sweaty mess. At home I have been doing my Tracey Anderson Prenatal videos and a lot of up and down our stairs. Next week I plan on getting myself on a better at home workout schedule and I am also going to start taking a prenatal yoga class. I’ve been a little nervous to start one since I haven’t tried any of the studios that offer prenatal yoga before but I guess there is a first for everything! I am hoping that I’ll enjoy my first class and be set to go to it 2-3x per month.
So those are my workouts the past week! How were you active this past week?
As most of you know Meatless Monday is everyday at our house but even so I’m always looking to add some new dishes to our weekly menu. I’m always on the look for easy meatless ingredients to create quick and easy recipes like the one I am going to share below.
While most of the time we are beans, greens and grains kind of eaters over here we sometimes have one of those days where we really want great veggie patty. I’m not one to make a lot of my own so I usually have a stash in the freezer for lazy days. Yesterday was one of those days where we just wanted sandwiches so I whipped up some Pesto Chik’n Sandwiches using MorningStar Farms® Grillers® Chik’n Veggie Patties. These Chik’n patties only have 80 calories per serving, are a great source of protein and they are cholesterol free!
The best part? Almost all the ingredients in to make my Pesto Chik’n Sandwich can come right from you pantry making this the perfect Meatless Monday dinner because really who wants to spend their Monday nights in the kitchen?
What you’ll need for 2 servings:
4 slices of really good bread or two ciabatta rolls
2 roma tomatoes (plus salt, pepper, thyme and olive oil)
2 tablespoons of your favorite pesto (or see my recipe below)
First I love to broil my roma tomatoes to really get the best flavor out of them. Simply turn the broiler on high and then I cut my tomatoes in half place them on a sheet pan drizzle with olive oil and dust with a sprinkle of salt, pepper and dried or fresh thyme. Place the tomatoes under the broiler for 3-5 minutes until lightly browned on top. Warning: be careful when you open your oven as these babies let off a lot of steam so make sure to keep your face away.
I also love to toast my bread up so I just stick it under the broiler as well for 3 or so minutes. Keep your eye on this one or you’ll end up with burnt toast!
For the Chik’n patties I simple cook them based on the skillet directions on the package.
Now the best part the Pesto Mayo. Pour both in a bowl, mix together and then slather on both sides of your bread. The place cut the chik’n patty in half and place on one side and the tomatoes on the other, put your sandwich together and serve!
Arugula Pesto
Ingredients:
1 cup raw walnuts
2 garlic cloves
3/4 cup nutritional yeast
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
2.5 cups loosely packed baby arugula
1/2 teaspoon salt + 1/4 teaspoon pepper
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Directions:
Place the walnuts, garlic and nutritional yeast in the base of a food processor fitted with the S blade. Process until a small crumble.
Add the lemon juice, arugula, salt and pepper to the food processor and process on low.
With the food processor on slowly pour in the olive oil through the feed tube. Process until smooth.
Tip: This makes a lot of pesto so place your leftover pesto in a food storage container and top with just a thin layer of olive oil to keep it from browning. Store in the fridge for 3-4 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Find your fresh take on eating well. Browse hundreds of meat-free recipes at MorningStarFarms.com.
Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Kellogg’s MorningStar via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Kellogg’s MorningStar.
What’s your favorite Meatless Monday recipe? Do any of the recipes above sound good to you?
It’s 10pm and I’ve been asleep for a few hours already but I woke up dying for a giant glass of water and a bowl of cereal. I head to the kitchen and chug back a glass of water and then pour myself a big bowl of cereal with almond milk. I stand in the kitchen and eat my bowl of cereal and throw back another glass of water before heading back to bed. I’m back in bed at 10:15pm and asleep shortly after.
Then 3am rolls around I wake up and spend the next 20 minutes just laying there hoping to will myself back to sleep but it’s just not happening. I grab my phone and headphones and put an episode of The Office on, put my eye mask on and hope that I will fall back asleep while listening to Dwight and Jim play pranks on each other.
Well 5:27am rolls around and I’m still awake and at this point Edith is stirring. I rub her belly hoping that maybe just maybe she will go back to sleep for another 30-45minutes and that I will too because I know a long day is ahead of us. It’s 5:45am and Edith is wide awake, which means we are too.
We get ready for the day and decide to head out for a family breakfast date at Harlow where Edith and I share a delicious plate of polenta with kale, beans, tempeh and chipotle hollandaise and toast. Since finding a breakfast spot with good coffee is rare we make a quick stop at Heart to pick up coffees and unfortunately ended up getting a decaf and I know it’s better for baby #2 but this mama needed some “real” coffee today.
After dropping Neil off at work I attempted to go grocery shopping but I just couldn’t seem to focus. I picked up a few things and about 10 minutes into our trip I was feeling so tired and nauseous that I had to leave. Edith and I paid for our few random items and headed home. Next thing I know I look in the rear view mirror and see that Edith is passed out. For all you parents out there you know that 99% of the time this means that having an at home nap is out of the picture. In this case it meant no nap for me either; a nap I was counting on to make it until dinner (aka when Neil gets home).
Since then I have been in survival mode. We had a simple lunch of things I didn’t have to cook and have spent most of the day reading books and watching too much TV. Neil she be home from work soon and I hope that he can tire Edith out a bit so she goes to bed….err so we both go to bed early.
I went into the first trimester with the hopes of really kicking this pregnancy off with a super healthy start and honestly I fell short. The morning sickness set in hard and having an active toddler who doesn’t always like to nap through me for a bit of a loop. While this time around my food aversions were a bit more mild my gag reflex has been on over drive.
I know maybe a little TMI but I’m just going to tell it like it is. I have for the most part been able to stick to healthier eating because I still want salads, fruit, and other veggies unlike Edith’s pregnancy when all I wanted was citrus and bagels. However because my gag reflex has been so sensitive eating can be a challenge at times. Now I’m not talking vomiting (although that has happened this time which it didn’t with E) I am talking gagging like extreme gagging. Please tell me there is some other mama or mama-to-be out there that experienced this terrible pregnancy side effect. The worst part is drinking water actually triggered my reflex at times so I haven’t been drinking as much water as I should.
To top things off in the first trimester I was not getting in my workouts. A big part of this was just pure laziness. I was tired all the time due to the first trimester hormone rush and the fact that Edith went through a nap regression ie. she wouldn’t nap or would only nap on me. So getting in naptime workouts was a struggle and honestly when I did get a break I wanted to sleep instead of workout. At night I was going to bed at 7:30p with Edith because I was so exhausted.
So lets fast forward to the last few weeks. I finally am getting my energy back, my reflex has calmed down (although not disappeared) and I have been way more active. Neil and I got a couples gym membership to our local community center and it has been great because I get in a few workouts there per week and Edith and I go to the pool a few times per week. I am not getting in my goal of three gym workouts per week yet but I am working on it (right now I’m at 1-2). I also have been making more time to do workouts at home and have overall been more active while at home (ie. not sitting on the couch, laying in bed or just sitting around on the floor playing with Edith).
Now that I am feeling better I am determined to make this the most healthy pregnancy I can and somethings that I am doing/goals I have are:
Drink 70-100oz of water per day. I know that sounds like a lot to some of you but when you are pregnant you need to drink more water than you normally would. Right now I am closer to 64oz so I am working hard to increase that. One thing that I have been making an effort to do is to drink 1L of water first thing in the morning before I even eat. I find that this really helps me to stay on track during the day.
Workout 5 days per week. This is going to include a combination of at home workouts, walks during the day and gym workouts. Currently this is in the goal stage as I am consistently getting closer to 3 workouts per week. Time to up my game!
Bi-Weekly Prenatal Yoga (at a studio). This time around prenatal yoga is a little more challenging for me to get to due to Neil’s work schedule and the fact that many classes are during the day. When I was pregnant with Edith I didn’t have a toddler to care for as well so I was able to go 1-2x per week. This time around I am hoping to go at least every other week. I haven’t yet found a studio but I did some research this week and found two that offer a weekend class that I should be able to attend. So over the next few weeks I am going to go to both and see which one I enjoy more.
Eat 90% of meals at home. First trimester sickness and tiredness really put us in a downward spiral of eating too may meals outside the home or takeout meals. I would do great for breakfast, lunch and snacks but come dinner time I was wiped out. So we would turn to take out or dining out and although we tried to make healthier choices when doing so it will never be as healthy as eating at home.
What tips do you have for staying fit and healthy?
Over the holidays I shared my Holiday Gift Guide for active women which featured Koss FitBuds and FitClips. Since joining the gym this January I have been wearing the FitClips all the time and well Neil has been really loving the FitBuds (what can I say he has womanly ears). The FitClips are wonderful because they don’t fall out while I am on the elliptical or treadmill or stairmaster.
