BUT (you knew that was coming...) I was recently swept away in the hubbub of my first quarter of teaching music, which is always sprinkled with a variety of adventures like program and lesson planning, my first few regular season football games, AND trying to maintain some semblance of my role as a wife and keeper of the home! How do you guys do it all?
Seriously, I don't even have kids yet! Please, do share some secrets!
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Enough of me and my excuses, I have a few gems to share with you today, and I hope you will give me a second chance at this whole blogging thing! I am on a mission to keep it updated at least weekly with more diet, nutrition, and fitness tips to keep things spicy for you as well! I will indulge a secret with you before I post about my healthy dinner... Last night was a cheat night! Splurge meal! Yolo meal! Faturday! Whatever you call it in your life, it was heavenly. I have been working SO hard keeping my eating clean and training mean, and boy was this a well-deserved treat.
Brett and I went out with our dear friends Eric and Ariel and indulged in some BoomBozz Pizza. I had the Chicken Sausage Peppadew, and boy was it delightful! Then we walked (some calorie burn in walking right?!) to nearby Handel's Homemade Ice Cream! I mean, I don't need to tell you how delicious this stuff was if you are from around here... Let me just say when you type the word "Handel's" into google, Handel's ICE CREAM pops up before Handel's MESSIAH... Yeah... it's THAT good. We then retreated back to Eric and Ariel's apartment in our food coma and slap-happily played Settlers of Catan on into the night. (Or on into 10 pm... we are just cool like that.)
But enough about my splurge meal! Now on into the GOOD for you stuff. :)
Brett and I prepared the most delicious, perfect for fall, sweet potato chili recipe EVER tonight. If you haven't heard of the blog "Chocolate-Covered Katie" then you are missing out! This girl does healthy, vegan-friendly remakes of tons of classic dessert dishes. But she also branches out once in a blue moon and shares some of her favorite main dishes - this sweet potato chili being one of those. And for good reason! Here is a link to a more in depth explanation of the recipe, and for her hardwork in creating this recipe, I want to give credit where credit is due: http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2012/01/05/sweet-potato-chili/
Here are the basics...
Sweet Potato Chili
- 2 cups sliced onion (1 large)
- 20 oz peeled and cubed sweet potato
- 2/3 cup diced zucchini
- 1-2 cans black beans (or another bean)
- 28-oz can diced tomatoes
- 1 1/2 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp orange zest
- 1 cup water (or broth)
(Makes 1 giant pot) - mix it all together in a pot, and boil until tender!!
We also prepared some of her "totally addictive cornbread" to accompany this dish... and it definitely earns its name - it is hard to have just one portion! It can get a little crumbly, but we didn't care! We crumbled it right over our chili and enjoyed! -> http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2012/01/18/totally-addictive-cornbread/ Here is the "nutshell" version of her recipe, with our choices highlighted in red.
Totally Addictive Healthy Cornbread
- 1 cup milk of choice. We used almond milk.
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 2 cups fine or medium cornmeal (I used whole-grain, but regular is ok.)
- 2 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 cup evaporated cane juice or regular sugar (I like my cornbread southern-style, with zero sweetness, so I like to omit this. But everyone else who tried the recipe preferred the sweetened version. I’d recommend leaving it in, especially if you’re making this recipe for the first time.) We used 1/4 c of Sugar in the Raw
- 1 and 1/2 packets NuNaturals stevia (or 2 more tbsp sugar) We did NOT add more sugar.
- 11-oz can corn, drained We used unsalted
- 2 tbsp coconut or canola/veg oil
- 1/4 cup applesauce (unsweetened)
- (gluten-free!)
Basically, you mix your dry ingredients, you mix your wet ingredients (minus the vinegar and milk which you mix separately in its own bowl and then ADD to the wet ingredients). Once your wet (plus milk/vinegar) and dry are mixed, you mix them together, throw in a greased 8x8 pan, and bake at 420 degrees for 25 minutes and let cool for 15 minutes before enjoying!
Earlier today, after we finished singing in our church choir, we wanted to hit the gym hard in order to enjoy our Sunday Fun Day of relaxing and watching football! We had a great full body strength session!
Warm-up
10 minute cardio warmup - I chose stairmaster, Brett chose treadmill
(I tried to stay in my 130-140 HR zone)
Strength
**Sumo deadlift - wide stance version of your basic deadlift
**Half-kneeling cable row - kneel like a marriage proposal and go to town rowing one arm at a time. Pinch those shoulder blades together!
**Half-kneeling cable row - kneel like a marriage proposal and go to town rowing one arm at a time. Pinch those shoulder blades together!
**Rear foot elevated split squats - keep your front knee over your ankle as you squat down
**Single-arm shoulder press - really focus on stabilizing your core
**Barbell bicep curls - don't throw your upper body and sacrifice form for reps!
Abs
**Swiss ball roll-outs - knees on the ground, swiss ball in front of you under your elbows, roll out until you are almost parallel with the ground and return to starting position
**Planks w/ alternating hand/leg raise - plank, lift R arm and L leg simultaneously, return to plank, switch to L arm and R leg, etc...
**Heels to the heavens - lie on back, legs straight up to the ceiling, and pulse those heels up to the ceiling, lifting your bottom up off the floor. Don't let a lot of forward/backward motion occur with your legs!
If you have any questions on specific strength moves, comment below or private message me on any social media! I'd love to help! Strength is a great way to challenge yourself, see yourself get stronger, and lean out to get that toned, slimmer body that simply doing cardio cannot possibly give you!
Happy fall, y'all! Enjoy these dishes, and please stay hungry... I'll be back! ;)
CH