Naturally Lindsay

Adventures in Astoria

April 2, 2013 by Lindsay Ingalls Leave a Comment

This past weekend we took advantage of the beautiful weather and took a spur of the moment trip to the Oregon Coast. This was our first trip to the coast and of course because our trip was so last minute, I’m talking we decided Thursday night to go away for the weekend, we had very limited options for accommodations due to Oregon schools being on spring break. We ended up finding a hotel in Astoria and here are a few of the places we visited.

Breweries: Of course we had to stop into Rogue and Fort George for some beer sampling while in Astoria. While I loved the location of Rogue (right on the water literally) I have to say Fort George was the winner with it’s amazing beers. My favorite Fort George brew was the 1811 Lager, which is surprising to me because I am a lover of hoppy beers which this one is not. Not a beer drinker? Well then you must try the wasabi ginger ale at Fort George. So good.

Night Life: If you do happen to go to Rogue at night you’ll probably walk outside and be greeted by the sound of sea lions, they are seriously so loud and so cute. You will also be able to take in a breath taking view and sunset. I recommend taking a walk along the water down to the pier so you can see the sea lions up close while enjoying the sunset.

Filmed in Astoria: I knew that The Goonies was filmed onsite in Astoria but did you know that Short Circuit, The Black Stallion, Kindergarten Cop, Free Willy, Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, Benji the Hunted, The Ring Two, and Into the Wild were also filmed in Astoria? Of course we had to grab a map (side note: seriously who uses mapquest anymore? Google Maps for the win) and visit The Goonies house and take a photo of the school where Kindergarten Cop was filmed.

Blue Schorcher: This vegetarian cafe has a small food menu, lots of baked goods, chocolates that I wish I had bought and of course coffee. The menu is vegetarian but vegans don’t get too excited because everything is very dairy heavy. We ended up ordering the Tempeh & Toast for breakfast and coffees and it was really good, so good I’d recommend going. You can also pick up one of their wonderful homemade breads to take home and if you forget your reading material they have a wall full of really wonderful magazines you can purchase. Also for those of you with little ones there was an amazing little play area that Edith enjoyed for almost our entire meal.

Coming up later this week I’ll show you a few other adventures from this past weekend.

Have you ever visited Astoria?

Where did/are you travel for Spring Break?

April Goals

April 1, 2013 by Lindsay Ingalls Leave a Comment

First off this is not an April Fools post, I really am setting goals for April.

I used to set monthly goals for myself and lately I haven’t been doing it and I am noticing I’m not accomplishing as much as I’d like each month. I am going to set monthly goals from here on out and do a recap of my goals at the end of the month.

On top of setting goals I am going to give myself an incentive to actually accomplish my goals. You may remember Neil & my incentive program back in 2011, well it’s going to be similar to this. Right now we have a budget for groceries, entertainment, gas and household items and at the end of the month whatever we have leftover we put 50% in savings and we each get 25% for our allowance (allowance = lunches out, coffee out, fun/non-essential purchases). Well my incentive to accomplish my goals will be that I get to keep my 25% and if I don’t accomplish my goals then I have to put it into Edith’s college fund (we already put money aside each month for this as well).

April Goals:

1. Read one new book. I have a book that I have been reading since December (embarrassing, I know). Well I am planning to (finally) finish this book and my goal is to read one other book as well. I think I am going to make this a monthly goal so please leave your suggestions in the comments.

2. Run/Walk/Bike 100 Miles. My goal for this month is complete 100 miles total by doing any or a combo of the following: run, walk, or bike. I am also challenging you to do the same (sign up here); oh and there is an incentive for you as well.

3. Write 5 freelance articles. I love freelance writing but I haven’t done nearly enough since Edith was born so I am hoping this will help me get back into the swing of things.

4. Use one of my cookbooks each week. I have a huge cookbook collection but I honestly rarely use them. I actually probably have a number that I’ve never even used, so this month that is all going to change. My goal is to use a different cookbook each week to prepare at least two recipes for the week.

5. Finish unpacking. We still have too many unpacked boxes so my goal is to get them all unpacked with one exception: anything we won’t need between now and November 1st can stay in a box. Why November 1st? That is when we finally get to move out of this site-unseen apartment and into a new rental that we (hopefully) love in a better neighborhood.

6. Return calls and e-mails to friends. I have been awful at staying in touch with people and returning phone calls. There is really no good reason but I blame the time difference, the fact I’m exhausted by the end of the day and having too much on my plate. However, those excuses suck and I need to make more time for important things like my friends.

7. Write 8 new recipes this month. I have been doing a lot of throw together meals lately and not enough recipes (as you might have noticed) so I want to write 8 total this month. That meals 4 for my freelance gig and 4 for the blog. Again I’d like this to be a monthly goal so if you’re looking for recipes using a specific ingredient or a healthier version of one of your old favorites leave me ideas in the comments.

These are my seven official incentive goals but I also have a another other non-incentive goal:

Spend more time at home. On the weekends we have been spending a lot of time getting to know the area which means we are spending very little time at home. This also means that we are not getting our home improvement, household tasks or other at home things done on the weekends when we have more time.

What are your April goals?

Monday Link Up: April 1

April 1, 2013 by Lindsay Ingalls Leave a Comment

This Weekend We…

We escaped to the coast and I can’t wait to share more about our trip this week. (Links to come)

Challenge Yourself…

Today kicks off the start of my April Healthy Challenge (you can still sign up!) but if you aren’t up for running, walking or biking 100 miles how about taking the 100 burpee challenge?

It Starting To Feel A Lot Like Summer…

Summer means BBQ’s and this veggie burger looks amazing and would go great with a side of these pickled green tomatoes and this kale and cabbage salad.

I would love to cool down after a hot day in the sun with one of these creamy milkshakes.

Over on Naturally Family…

Check out last weekends snapshots, my finds for nursing friendly dresses, our adventures in the Ergo at OMSI and our Monday links around the web.

Yoga Mama

March 31, 2013 by Lindsay Ingalls Leave a Comment

This Yoga Mama is Mary, here she is 6 months pregnant doing a headstand. Impressive!!

P.S. All you March Yoga Challenge participants please head over and update your spreadsheets so that I can add your name to the pot and draw a winner!

Random Thoughts

March 29, 2013 by Lindsay Ingalls 1 Comment

1. Running with friends is actually fun especially when it’s beautiful outside and they are also pushing a jogging stroller.

2. The weather is supposed to be insanely beautiful and warm this weekend so obviously that means we should go to the Oregon Coast.

3. Spontaneous trips means our fridge full of food won’t be eaten so I must make a dent in it today with some juicing and lunches….I should probably go work on that. Unfortunately it also means we are probably going to waste some things, not something I like to do.

4. Leaving the house means I should probably find something besides yoga pants to wear…it also means I should probably do laundry like now.

5. I finally feel like I got my running mojo back. I feel like a runner again.

Chia Squeeze: New Gluten-Free and Vegan Snack from Mamma Chia

March 27, 2013 by Lindsay Ingalls 2 Comments

I am head over heels in love with the new Mamma Chia snack, Chia Squeeze, they are honestly insanely delicious. I have been snacking on them after my runs and reluctantly let Neil try one and my friend Fawn try another flavor (looking back I wish I hadn’t shared they are that good.)

These little packets contain/are:

Chia + Fruit + Vegetables
1200mg Omega-3
Good Source of Fiber
Gluten Free and Vegan
Only 70 Calories
No Added Sugar
Non-GMO
USDA Certified Organic

Like I said I have been enjoying these after runs and the other day I was sucking one of these back while stretching. Edith was sitting on the floor with me and as soon as she saw the packet she got excited and crawled over and attempted to take it from me, I think she knew how good it was….or maybe it just reminded her of her fruit and veggie packets, anyways she wanted it. I finished the packet it tossed it in the trash small trash bin in the living room and then went to grab a fruit and veggie puree packet for Edith to snack on since I teased her with my Mamma Chia Squeeze. In the two seconds I was gone she had fished the empty packet from the trash and was just about to put the (capped) end into her mouth when I recovered and swapped it out for her own packet of food. Needless to say the girl knew how good it was and would go to any length to get just a taste.

Honestly, there are very few products that I gush over (most I just like or really like) but this is one that I love. It is a product that I plan on going out and buying mass quantities of it is that good. I also think it is the perfect post workout snack because it is sweet but low in calories and sugar. Also did you know chia seeds offer a complete nutritional profile of omega-3, balanced dietary fiber, complete protein, antioxidants and minerals? Neat, eh?

Have you ever tried Mamma Chia? What is your favorite post workout snack?

P.S. the Green Magic is my favorite flavor.

April Healthy Challenge: 100 Miles

March 26, 2013 by Lindsay Ingalls 12 Comments

Can you believe it is almost April?!? I hope you all are feeling very relaxed and flexible after your month of yoga and are ready to get moving because this month is a real challenge. A challenge unlike the past two that is sure to get you ready for your summer bikini body, running or bike races and triathlons.

This months challenge is to run, bike and/or walk 100 miles. Yes you read that correctly 100 miles.

I know that this sounds like a grueling challenge and you’re probably thinking “can I really complete the challenge?” Before you go doubting yourself let me tell you YES you can and just think of how proud of yourself you will be.

Healthy Challenge: Walk | Run | Bike –>100 MILES. You can count any miles that you walk, run or bike. That means walking around the grocery store can count towards your total miles for the month; this challenge is not just about specific fitness miles but rather miles in general. I want you get moving. If you live in a city and take public transit to work get off a stop early and walk the remainder of the way or maybe you live only a few miles from work, go ahead and bike or run instead of driving. Once you start tracking things you’ll see it isn’t that hard to complete the 100 miles (although if you’re a biker you may want to take on a personal challenge to complete 125-150 miles).

Tracking: You can track your miles via your Garmin (or similar device), run keeper or daily mile. Once you sign up for the challenge I’ll send you a spreadsheet where you can submit your daily mileage. However, I will require you to send me a screen shot of your tracking device to prove your miles.

Complete the challenge and you’ll be entered to win a pretty amazing giveaway item. That’s right if you complete the challenge not only will you get bragging rights that you walked/ran/biked 100 miles in 30 days but you will also be entered to win a great prize. Brooks Running has generously agreed to offer a pair of the #pureproject running shoes to the winner of this challenge. To win you must complete the 100 miles and submit to me your completed spreadsheet with screenshots. There will be one winner of the challenge and all entries must be received by May 2nd, 2013 at 12pm PST.

Social Media: You can follow me on twitter and instagram @runwithtongs and you can follow our April Challenge giveaway sponsor on twitter and instagram at @brooksrunning. The challenge hash tag is #RWT100Miles.

Second Giveaway: Oh yes and there is a second prize, a package filled with my favorite running/training items. To enter “tweet @runwithtongs @brooksrunning #RWT100Miles” along with how many miles you completed for the day. You can enter once per day for a total of 30 entries. There will be one winner of this prize.

Okay so now that you have all the details lets get you signed up: