MOVING!!

again LOL!
We have cleaned out and smoked out the new place...got rid of all the bad energy and have started moving our stuff in. It feels heaps better-and now we are both once again eager to renovate and give it a fabulous lift!

I will be offline over the next week as we will be moving and hooking up with a new internet provider.

And 2 weeks from today I will be in the states visiting friends and family...Can't wait! These two weeks will be jam packed with busy-ness....love it! And while I'm away, hubby will be kept busy with lots of projects to get the outside of THE PROPERTY ready for gardens etc. Plus, I think he will try to squeeze in starting our workout studio...(crossing fingers!)

So, stay tuned as over the coming months I will have lots of pics of my visit in the states as well as our progress with the house.

Cheers all!

Strength & Flexibility in Action....

Weekend Fun!

Friday Night BBQ.....(yes wine was involved)...

Saturday night HOME MADE PIZZA WITH WHOLE MEAL CRUST! YUM!

I just love my little roller! I found that last year in the states at a $2 shop! I LOVE IT!

Other than that, sunny day today and just chillin', soakin' up some Vitamin D!!!

Where to buy sprout trays.... (AND GOOD LUCK GIRLS!!)

Hi guys! First I just want to give a shout out to all the gals again GOOD LUCK TODAY!! AND HAVE FUN WITH IT!

Now, in answer to questions about where to get sprout trays....I got my tray and seeds at the local health food shop, so check there first! I found a few websites you can order them from; this one is for orders in Australia... http://au.shopping.com/-sprout+tray. It's a bit more than I paid for mine...but it's got multiple trays-so that's cool. I don't know anything about the site or the company-so research before placing an order!

I imagine in the US they would have them at any and every healthy food shop...maybe places like Trader Joes, WFM, maybe even garden shops? I found this website that has it all..trays, seeds the works-and really good prices too! (I'm so jealous!!).... http://www.sprouthouse.com/

So, hope that helps!!
Have a great weekend!

No more brown thumb!

Yep! Sprouts are the easiest thing to grow...YeeHaw! I've already harvested & eaten some from my first batch and have sprouts appearing in the second batch...I'm like a frickin' 3 year old with excitement here! And, when you read about the amount of nutrients these little guys pack....chock full of vitamins...I'm over the moon!

So, aside from my new hobby...I've been busy as a bee prepping for my annual US visit! Making lots of lists, (virgo much?), airing out travel bags (mildew from living in the tropics much?) calendaring plans....YAY! And hell yeah, of course I've scheduled in gym time (and $). Plus, got a few hikes planned with friends and family...may even catch up with some old friends from waaaaay back-that'll be fun! Aahhh and just the fact that it'll be June in Oregon....really is the perfect time of year for a visit.

So, get ready for lots of pics-I depart 3 weeks from today!

Green Smoothie Review and other stuff....

So, today I tried out KELLY O'S GREEN SMOOTHIE....Well, it's not really her smoothie-it's from the DETOX FOR WOMEN book by Natalia Rose. I made a few small changes though. Here is my recipe:

1 cup water
handful spinach
blend
carrot
juice of lemon
1/2 cucumber
blend
1/4 cup berries
1 tsp ground flax
1 tsp of almond butter
1 tsp Life Stream Ultimate Greens (w/organic Spirulina, organic Barley Grass & Chlorella)


Verdict: It looks disgusting (hence no photo! LOL), But it's not bad...Next time I will put in more berries and maybe some honey too-I think sweetening more will help immensely! But knowing how healthy it is really helps too-LOL!

AAAAnnnnd look!


I'm going to grow my own sprouts for salads and vegetarian dishes-straight from the tray to the plate! Crossing fingers that I don't kill them...I have been known to have a brown thumb LOL!

That's it!
Hope everyone has a healthy and strong day!

MEAL PLAN FOR THE WEEK:

I started off the week (yesterday) with a vegetarian meal….Lentil patties-and they were YUMMY! I served them on top of some greens w/ tomato, avocado & olives all topped with a tasty sauce mix of Greek style yogurt & whole seed mustard. Even hubby said they were delicious-twice during the meal. I was quite pleased because he was a little skeptical about not at least having tofu. But these were still packed with around 20 grams of protein each.


Here’s the plan for the rest of the week:

Monday’s dinner: Spaghetti pie with chicken
Tuesday: Kangaroo casserole (with a recipe taken off the MACROMEATS website)
Wednesday: Miso Salmon
Thursday: Vegetarian Quionoa Chile (from the April/May Oxygen mag)
Friday: Kangaroo steaks (marinated with a home made sauce)
Saturday: undecided

After workout meals will be egg whites & potato w/salsa & plain Greek yogurt on M, W, & F; KELLY O’S green smoothie on T, Th, Sat & Sun (which are cardio only days).

Workout today was back, bis & tris with about 20 minutes of cardio. Neck/pec thing is still acting up-so I’ve just going a bit lighter on anything overhead like pull-downs.

Have a fab week!
Don't ya' just love Rosa's bod?!!!

Smashed Shoulders and New Food Plan...

I know it's a pic of bicep curls...I just like the arms!

Had a fantastic shoulder workout yesterday! My shoulders are quite sore today and that hasn't happened since hubby was training me for the comp!

I started off with about 5 sets of 10-12 reps of slow lateral flies. Then did about 5 sets of front dumbbell raises-but holding one arm straight out (with the dumbbell of course) and doing 8 front raises with the other arm-OMG-this killed! Then did some bis and came back and finished shoulders with one arm side raises-while hanging on to a pole and leaning to the side to really hit the top of the shoulder!

New Food Plan.....
2 dinners a week vegetarian (instead of just one day a week)
2 dinners a week roo (it’s the leanest bit of protein you can find! And FREE RANGE!)
2 dinners a week chicken
1 dinner a week seafood –though this may be 2 days on certain weeks in exchange for something else.
(All of my dinners are also lunch the next day!)

Aaaaannnnd-I’m going to start drinking Kelly O’s GREEN SMOOTHIE-4 days a week (with whey protein powder).

Aaaaaaannnnnd-I’m thinking of having a RAW MEAL once a month. This would be on a vegetarian day of course-but totally uncooked! Why not give it a go?! I've read so many good things about raw food-of course-after looking at so many raw food sites-many of those recipes have stuff that you cannot find in Innisfail. That’s why for now it’ll be just once a month.

Not really earth shattering, but just thought I’d share as I’ve been doing so much reading, and will be doing much more once I get all the books I’ve ordered.

In addition to the books that I ordered straight off of KELLY O'S site, I'm also placing an order to include the following:

I've had this book on my list for ages:
I'm hoping this will help me to get more out of my meditation practice:
I'm a die-hard Grisham fan:
The Dalai Lama -no more needs to be said:
This just looks interesting:


So-there you go!
Have a great weekend!

TAHINI FOR TASTY TUESDAY!

I had avoided Tahini for years…Don’t ask me why! But after seeing it as an ingredient in so many recipes-especially vegetarian ones, I finally bought a jar a couple of weeks ago…and I’m glad I did! Not only is it a tasty addition to many meals, (especially when mixed with some rice wine vinegar, and tamari,) it’s also super nutritious!


I got this off of the http://www.naturaltherapypages.com.au website:

Tahini is a nutritional powerhouse, being high in vitamins E, F and T, as well as vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B15, biotin, and choline. It is also a source of vitamin A. Tahini is also 20 percent complete protein – making it a richer protein source than milk, soya beans, sunflower seeds, and most nuts.
Tahini is one of the highest sources of methionine, an essential amino acid, and also contains lecithin, which reduces the levels of fat in the blood and also protects against environmental toxins such as nicotine. Tahini is also high in minerals such as magnesium, potassium, iron, and phosphorus, and is an excellent source of calcium. In fact tahini is claimed to be the best source of calcium there is and, unlike the dairy products that supply calcium in the western diet, it is not mucus forming.
Tahini is very high in oil, over 50 percent. However, despite being high in fat, most of the oil is unsaturated fat, which is much healthier for the body. Even though it is high in oil, tahini keeps very well and will not go rancid, even if it is not refrigerated after opening. This is because sesame seeds contain the natural preservatives sesamin and sesamol, which stabilise it.

So, today’s recipe is Soba Noodles with Chicken and Veg in a Tahini sauce:


Sauce:
1 clove of garlic minced
2 tsp grated ginger
2 tbs olive oil
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tbs tahini
2 tsp tamari
2 tbs rice wine vinegar
1 tbs water
2 tsp sugar

I poured a bit more than half over about 500grams of chopped chicken and saved the rest. I let the chicken sit while I prepared the vegetables.

Veggies:

1 cup chopped snow peas
1 cup chopped mushrooms
1 cup bean sprouts (I used canned because that’s all that’s available right now)

I did a real quick blanch of the peas and shrooms then let them sit on a plate. Then boiled the soba noodles till cooked-then drained.

I cooked up the chicken in my wok till it was almost done-then added the veggies & noodles and tossed until heated through and chicken was fully cooked.

I put some of the leftover sauce on top for a little more flavour-YUM!

This recipe will serve 4.
Cheers!

Books, Books, Books!

Well, since I'm going for my annual visit to the states in just 5 weeks (WOO HOO!!!), I've started my annual book ordering-for me to pick up at my brother's house.

My first order was made straight off of KELLY O's site. I like to give credit where credit is due-and since I probably would not have heard about these books if it wasn't for Kelly-I probably wouldn't have bought them-so I figure, she should get the commission!



Those pics ended up a bit smaller than I wanted....but I think you can see it's "MASTER YOUR METABOLISM" By Jillian Michaels, and "DETOX FOR WOMEN" by Natalia Rose.

This is just the beginning! Like I mentioned in a previous post, I've been interested in a more whole food and balanced way of living for years. I've basically maintained that with a few hiccups-but now I really want to go more full-throttle, not full vegetarian-but definitely more vegetarian meals and for the first time-I'm thinking of adding more raw food recipes into our meals (not just salad-though I do make a damn good one! LOL) I thank Kelly for re-opening my eyes.

There are sooooo many blogs and sites out there chock-full of info about whole foods, raw food, vegetarian meals etc. I spent a good part of the weekend just pouring over them-and I barely touched the surface! I can't believe how many vegetarian and raw food recipe sites are out there-it's fabulous! I generally cook vegetarian once a week as it is-but now I may start twice a week realising there is sooo much more variety out there than I realised! I have put a few of the new links in my side bar-with more to come for sure!

I feel more energy just talking about it-LOL! Funny, how a little inspiration can just change your whole outlook. I've always said it's about balance-and that means regular fitness and good, REAL food! Throw in some meditation, yoga and of course a bit of personal pampering and I think it's a winning package!

Cheers!

An Excellent Site!

I just came across this site KITCHEN TABLE MEDICINE which I found at KELLY O'S new site. The Kitchen Table Medicine site is full of heaps of really wonderful information related to health and fitness-True health and fitness. Healing foods, detox, illness, naturopaths, alternative medicine, vegetarian and raw food; all with an eye towards real food and balance.

Like I said, I found it on Kelly's new upgraded site. She's been doing lots of research and reading about stuff I personally have looked at off and on over the years-but she's brought some new light on it all. She's found some really great websites and books that put it all into perspective! Have a look! You may have heard it before, but for me it puts a new angle on some old thoughts!

You know you read too many blogs.....

when bloggers, people you have never actually met in person before, start appearing in your dreams while you are sleeping.

I'm not sayin' who they are or what they were doin'...I'm just sayin'... I need to get out more-LOL!

So, Monday is ANOTHER damn holiday here in Queensland-which means, the gym is closed!!! Of course, our favourite gym owner didn't bother to put up a sign to let all of his PAYING CUSTOMERS know that he is closed. Nooooooo, I had to ask! And after I found out, I told a friend-and she was like "OMG-I totally forgot it was a holiday-and he had no signs!"

Now, maybe it's just me, but I'm thinking-if this was a "CITY" gym (because he always compares himself to city gyms by having a super high price, charging people extra to train someone else even though they bring bring him members!!!! Even with F****D open & close times- you all know the drill if you've read my blog for at least a month-LOL), wouldn't they at least put a sign up letting their HIGH PAYING customers know that they were closed on MONDAY?!!!! So that they don't drive (for us it's almost 20 minutes each way-and nothing to do in between!), into town and stand there waiting for the GYM GOD to open the doors-only to find out that the GYM GOD is not there!!!!
Nah-I'm suuuuure it's just me (snicker, snicker).

NOOOOOO push ups for this chicky! Totally frickin' bummed out about it too! I have totally had to put my push up challenge on hold. SORRY ERICA! I was soooo into it! But, I think I may have over-trained a tad....doing the push up training (3 days a week of 5 sets of lots of push ups) aaaand doing my regular training=ouchie in the pec & neck area! Lesson learned (for now anyway-LOL!), going to my chiro next week in hopes of a good crack out in order to loosen it all up-including my sacro.

So-here's to a relaxing weekend for all!
Train Hard, Stay Strong-(even if you have to work around a few little niggles!)