The Fit Tutor +New Workout Schedule for February

Last month after going hard core on my workouts with Asylum Vol. 1, I decided to take things a little "easier" this month and create my own workout calendar and focus on eating less sugar.

I was offered a membership at The Fit Tutor in exchange for my opinion on the service Allison offers. I promise, as always, all opinions are my own. Keep reading for a special offer for my readers too ;)

I took this first week to just focus on the Fit Tutor program and see what it was like for me.

The advanced level was still a bit "easy" for me as far as exercises go, I do the max number of sets, 3, and get a pretty nice sweat going, but I have yet to wake up sore.

This program is nice, especially if you are a busy Mom because you can bring the example video up on your phone, watch it, then do the number of reps Allison suggests. You can move from room to room if you need to and do the exercises through out the day. Heck, you could even do these at the park while your kids play, that is just how versatile this sort of program is!

Allison is a great personal trainer. You can email her with any questions and she answers in a timely manner. Each instructional video is short and to the point. If there are variations for beginner, intermediate, and advanced she tells you in the video so even if you choose the "beginner" schedule, but an exercise is particularly easy you can choose to do a more advanced option and vice versa, if you choose the advanced version but it is too difficult you can do the beginner version (I have to do this with the ab exercises.)

So, if you would like to work out with me this first month use the code BloggerFIT over at The Fit Tutor and check it out! I will be doing daily check-ins over on my Facebook Page so come and join me, this will be fun!

Workout Schedule

So, tell me what does your workout look like this month? What are you doing to move? Do you think you'll join me over at The Fit Tutor?

Disclaimer: Like I stated earlier, I was offered a free membership in exchange for my opinion on the services offered at The Fit Tutor,  but all opinions expressed are my own.

Menu Plan Monday Week 50: Eating Clean and Healthy

Happy Monday! Wow, what a weekend this has been! Explored a beach somewhat near us, date night, and lots of working out!

As you all know I am very active. Most of my hobbies involve being on the go and my love for all things beachbody keep me toned up. Also, I eat fairly healthy 80% of the time...right now it is more like 95% of the time as I have a little more fat on my abs than I prefer and I'm trying to get that to go away. I don't eat 100% clean all the time because I am human and I love things like cinnamon rolls and cookies so right now I am allowing my self one cheat meal one time per week. This takes some serious planning and some sacrifice on my part as I really love food...really, really bad for me food. But, I know this doesn't make me feel good. It really makes me feel quite awful. So before I put something into my mouth I ask myself last time you ate this did you say you shouldn't eat this again? If I did I either cut it in half & just savor a small amount or usually I put it away entirely and find something else because I don't want to feel horrible later.

Now, because most people have the misconception that eating clean can leave you hungry and that you don't eat much I am going to bust that myth with my schedule:

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor nor a health & nutrition expert by any stretch of the imagination. I have just played around over the years and know what works for ME. Take this advice with a grain of salt and play around and see what works for you. Always consult a physician with any drastic dietary changes.

7 am or so: chug 8oz of water I keep by my bed
7:20am: warm cup of water boiled with lemon & cinnamon
8am: breakfast
10:30 am (Post workout): Protein shake
12:30 or 1:00pm: lunch
3:00pm: snack
6:00pm: dinner (I usually have a glass of red or white wine with dinner, whatever will complement the meal more)
8:30pm: snack, but only if I am hungry.
Throughout the day I drink an additional 2-3 liters of water.

My 8:30 pm snack does not always happen. If I am feeling tired and know I will be going to bed around 10:30 or 11:00, if I am feeling peckish I will just tough it out because if I eat too close to bed time I will have really weird dreams and they will disturb my sleep and I am like a princess and need my beauty rest...especially as I've gotten older and more active. Remember sleep is a great way for the body to recover so make sure you are getting enough! I know situation for some of us can sort of mess that up, but get as much as you can!

So, anyway moving on....here is this week's menu!

Go to Org Junkie to see other yummy meal plans!

Breakfast:
M-W-F: Egg burritos with sweet potato pieces and fruit.

Egg burrito
Serves 1
1 Egg
3 egg whites
Burrito fillings such as:
Diced tomato
Diced onion
Black beans or kidney beans
Avocado
Dash of Cumin
Salt & pepper
Salsa (if you don't make your own read the label & make sure there isn't any added crud in it like sugar/high fructose corn syrup)

Combine the egg & three egg whites and whip with a fork. Pour into a pan sprayed with non stick spray and let cook for a few minutes as if you were making an omelette. Once set a bit toss in a bit of your favorite burrito fillings like tomato, onion, a sprinkle of beans, some avocado. Season with a sprinkling of cumin, salt & pepper. Fold over the sides like you would a burrito and let finish cooking, flip when you feel it is ready. Put on plate and pour a bit of salsa over the top. Serve with some diced sweet potato and a bit of fruit.

Tues-Thurs Banana Pancakes with nut butter & berries

Banana Pancakes
Serves 1
2 eggs
1 banana
1 Tablespoon nut butter of choice
Handful of fresh berries

Mash banana until nice & liquidyish, in separate bowl whip the two eggs. Combine with a whisk until mostly smooth & outside edges are a bit foamy. Cook as you would pancakes in a lightly greased skillet. Cover each pancake with about half to 1 teaspoon of nut butter. Sprinkle some fresh in season berries over the top.

Saturday: This is usually my treat meal. I freaking love cinnamon rolls and the grocery store here sells some chemical laden high fructose corn syrup no doubt made custardy cinnamon rolls that I LOVE. So, I usually have ONE of these with a green smoothie.

Sunday: Egg white omelettes (for hubby & the kiddo they will be regular egg omelettes because they need more fat in their diets) with a combo potato/sweet potato hashbrown mix, and a strawberry spinach salad.

Lunch
M-W-F: Turkey & cheese sandwiches with green smoothie & side salad.

Sandwiches
Serves 1
2 slices whole wheat bread (read ingredients make sure tit only has good stuff)
Mayo (read label again)
Dijon mustard (again, read your label)
2 slices nitrate free turkey
1 slice cheese of choice
Sandwich add on's:
Onion
Lettuce
Tomato
Red pepper

Spread mayo on one side, mustard on the other, put down cheese on one side (I like to spit the cheese in half so I have some on each side). Lay down the turkey on one side, put in the add on's you want on top of the turkey, top with other side. Cut in half if desired.

Side salad:
Serves 2
Diced cucumber
Diced tomato
Green onion, sliced thin
Olive oil
Balsamic Vinegar
Salt
Pepper

Combine the cucumber, tomato, and green onion. Top with a drizzle of olive oil, balsamic vinegar. Add salt & pepper to taste. (I like to make this the  night before so I can let the oil & vinegar really settle into the cucumber because secretly I hate cucumber lol)

Tuesday: Green smoothies from the Vitamin shop and a big green salad to go from the grocery store. We are going to our new apartment to wait on our furniture that day so no telling how long that will take and what all I will have managed to get in the house before then.

Thursday: Green smoothie with egg white omelette stuffed with tomato, onion, peppers

Friday: Tuna salad served on apples with green smoothie 

Tuna Salad
Serves 1
1 can of tuna in water
1 hard boiled egg
1 teaspoon of mayo
1 teaspoon of dijon mustard
1/4 of an avocado
Diced onion

Drain the can of tuna and put the tuna in a bowl. Gently cut the hard boiled egg in half & separate the yolk, dice the egg white. In a small bowl mash the quarter of an avocado with the yolk from the egg. Combine avocado/yolk mixture with the tuna and egg whites. Add in the mayo, mustard, and onion. Serve on apple slices.

Saturday: Soup & sandwiches

Sunday: Out for a late lunch/early dinner if it is nice. If it isn't nice I will grill up some chicken breasts & serve with brown rice and some mushrooms and onions.

Dinner

Monday: brown rice veggie mix (brown rice with a bag of mixed veggies), zucchini on the side topped with cheese and a side salad...hubby will have chicken satay, rice, and corn

Tuesday: Will probably eat out. Having furniture delivered that day & will have to be out & about getting things like towels and what not for the new place.

Wednesday: Homemade veggie burgers/regular burgers for hubby with leftover brown rice mix and a cup of sugar snap peas

Thursday: Chicken breasts with homemade fries and side salad

Friday: Pizza and a giant salad (I will make the dough in my bread maker and will serve with a big side salad) or baked potato bar....we will be watching The Neverending Story with the teenager since she hasn't seen that one yet.

Saturday: Will try my hand at a homemade alfredo sauce. The husband has been dying for some good alfredo & none of the restaurants around here serve it & the stores don't sell any. If you have a tried & true recipe that has no veggies in it for my picky husband please leave it in the comments! I will serve the sauce over spaghetti squash for me. Will serve with a big salad.

Sunday: We will have a big late lunch/early dinner out somewhere. For snacks at night we will munch on fruit and any leftovers in the fridge.

Snacks
**Post workout will always be a protein shake** 
Apples & pb
Sugar snap peas, hard boiled eggs
Avocado toast
Leftovers

My week in workouts coming up:
Monday: Run for 20 minutes (2 30 second sprint sessions in there), insanity cardio abs
Tuesday: Insanity Cardio Power & resistance
Wednesday: Run for 40 minutes & Cardio Recovery
Thursday: Insanity Cardio Circuit
Friday: Run 30 minutes and Insanity Cardio Power and Resistance
Saturday: Insanity Pure Cardio
Sunday: P90X, X-Stretch

Busy week coming up! I am most looking forward to playing around with making the Alfredo Sauce. I know it won't be amazing for us, but it will be a nice treat to have! I am going to try and make it with all whole foods so it is more filling and we need to eat less.

What are you cookin' up this week?

Menu Plan Monday +Workouts: Moving Edition

Wow, wow, wow! Easter Monday here folks.

We had a wonderful weekend full of games with friends, dinners with friends, and egg hunts! There was a poor decision of a donut and one of those Lindt Cream eggs for breakfast on Easter Morning but it was totally worth it ;)

Org Junkie Link Up

As you know from my last post that we are undergoing a huge move to Amsterdam, Netherlands. This means very busy days of selling and tossing stuff. So, the menu is full of easy, quick stuff that doesn't require any more than a pan, a pot, and/or a baking sheet.

Breakfast Choices:

Oatmeal cups, cereal cups, eggs & veggies, shakeology, paleo pancakes with pb, 

Lunch:

Monday: Leftover's from Easter Dinner Out

Tuesday: me: eatout, teenager: spaghetti leftovers & salad 

Wednesday: me: tuna salad, teenager: lunch out with her friends

Thursday: Driving to Washington to take care of US needs, eat out

Friday: munchies plate: any fruit and veggies that need to use up, cheese, nuts OR Chicken Salad

Saturday: Grilled cheese with salad

Sunday: Omelettes or Cream of Wheat

Dinner:

Monday: Baked potatoes/baked sweet potatoes with zucchini and sugar snap peas

Tuesday: Tacos with salad

Wednesday: Chicken breasts topped with cheese & veggies/salad

Thursday: Spending the day in Washington taking care of US stuff, eat out

Friday: Hamburgers with veggies & potato skins

Saturday: Homemade Hamburger Helper with salad

Sunday:  BBQ pulled pork sandwiches with cheese, corn, and zucchini

Snack Choices: Shakeology bites, apples with peanut butter, paleo pancakes with pb

**Update** Paleo Pancakes
This recipe is adapted from the Big Ass Pancake...

2 tablespoon coconut flour
2 eggs
2 tablespoons milk (I use almond but you could use full fat coconut, coconut almond, or-gasp, even regular milk haha although then it is not quite so paleo anymore, I think that is "primal" then)

Put the coconut flour in a mug & break up any big lumps, add milk & eggs. Mix together with a fork until not lumpy. Cook in a small skillet, mine is about a 6-8" skillet and it takes up the whole bottom of the skillet. I top it with sunbutter, peanut butter, or almond butter. Many times I will mix my nut or seed butter with some coconut oil to make it a little runnier & more like a "syrup"-ish thing.

Workout Schedule

Not only are we moving, but I am having a crazy week with starting a new work project that will need a good amount of my attention. This means workouts will need to be quick, yet effective. 

Monday: 100 Burpee Burnout +insanity cardio abs

Tuesday: 1 mile run and X3 Yoga

Wednesday: Insanity Cardio Power & Resistance

Thursday: Doing some traveling and stuff so will try and do some foam rolling

Friday: P90X Cardio X

Saturday: 3 mile run, foam rolling

Sunday: Yoga at Lulu Lemon

Menu plan Monday +workout planning

So, ladies & gents...I just finished P90X3!!! I have more coming on that soon, but I did finish it just this past weekend. Overall I am happy with my results as I feel a lot stronger and tighter, but I will be honest I didn't really watch what I ate, so my results aren't 100% what I wanted...yet!

So, this menu plan focuses on clean, healthy eating for myself and my family of course. I am really changing how we are eating simply because the way we've been eating just doesn't work for us. None of us feel amazing so I am going back to my trusty clean recipes that work. Sorry pinterest, but those greasy awesome casseroles I've been making just aren't working...

I'm linking up my menu this week here:

Org Junkie

Breakfast:

M-W-F: Big ass pancake with sunbutter and half a banana 

Tu-Th: 2 egg omelette with mushrooms, onion, spinach, avocado, and cheese and a slice of ezekiel bread with coconut oil & some gingerbread spice

Sat & Sun paleo donut holes with fruit

Lunch:

Monday: Leftovers

Tu & Th: Salad (chicken or tuna) with hard boiled eggs and avocado

Wed & Fri: Quinoa salad (throw in some black beans, onion, spinach, tomato)

Sat & Sun: Leftovers, omelettes & toast, or subs and salad-this will really depend on what we have time for we may just grab lunch at a food truck or something as we will be at a cheer leading competition 

Dinner:

Monday: Coconut crusted chicken strips,  zucchini fries, corn for the hubby

Tuesday: Tacos (we will do veggie & traditional)

Wednesday: Burgers with mushrooms, onions, and sugar snap peas

Thursday: Caramelized chicken/chick pea patties, with zucchini & mushrooms and french fries for the hubby

Friday: Homemade pizza (will do traditional and a zucchini crust) with salad

***this weekend will be super busy so these two meals are play it by ear, we may eat a late lunch so these may be moved to next week****

Saturday: Stuffed chicken breasts/chickpea patties with sugar snap peas and corn

Sunday: Homemade hamburger helper (this I make two of, one a regular and one with black beans and no meat) with salad  

Workouts

Now, since I am done with X3 I am in maintenance mode for a while. I originally planned to run the Seattle Rock & Roll Half on June 21st as mentioned back in January, but we've had something come up that is interfering with that, so, I am coming up with my own schedule. I know over the last year or so I haven't done much to lengthen my muscles so that is what I am focusing on. So there will be a lot of stretching and a lot of running.

Monday: Massage therapy day, X-Stretch from the original P90X set

Tuesday: 1 Mile Run, 1 Mile walk, Insanity Cardio Abs +foam rolling

Wednesday: Core Cardio and Balance

Thursday: 2 mile run + X3 yoga +Foam Rolling 

Friday: Insanity Cardio Recovery

Saturday: 100 Burpee Burnout +Hiit Jump Rope Workout

Sunday: P90X Stretch

I included a lot of stretching this week since I had my massage therapy appointment the girl told me it will be most beneficial if my workouts this week included lots of stretching, so that is what I am doing! 

What are you doing for workouts this week?

What I Ate Wednesday + my week in workouts!

This past week I have been trying to make sure I eat a lot healthier than I had been. I am in my final block of P90X3 so I want to make sure I am really getting the most out of it!

This was our Saturday night dinner: chicken fried steak with a yummy cream gravy, caramelized onions and mushrooms, and broccoli! I sprinkled a little corn over mine because the Mr. had that and I couldn't resist.

Monday, since it was so gorgeous here in downtown the kiddo & I went for coffee after school, she obviously talked me into a chocolate chip muffin. We were going to sit out side but it was a bit too windy for that. I love the reflection in the table.

This was Tuesday's lunch and afternoon snack. On the left is strawberries, blueberries, and banana with coconut yogurt & a hard boiled egg. On the right is a big hunk of peanut butter-because ya know, sometimes life just calls for a scoop of PB-and a hard boiled egg.

Tuesday's coffee...I was feeling fabulous so I went for the Vegas mug ;) 

This was dinner one day last week a big salad with my delicious apple cider vinegar dressing and PaleOMG's Almost 5 Ingredient pizza pie.

Weekly P90X3 Review:

Wednesday: Eccentric Lower

Thursday: X3 Yoga...after eccentric lower I needed it!!! I was s-o-r-e!

Friday: Triometrics-This one is so funky because you do one exercise for 1 minute, but every 20 seconds he makes it a little harder...so you wind up doing one exercise 3 different ways! o_O It is exhausting, but oh-so-good!

Saturday: Eccentric Upper. This was the first time I remember doing this one. It was ok, not my favorite.

Sunday: Active "rest". I felt so poorly about Saturday's workout, even though I was sore, I didn't get the sweat I wanted so I did dynamix. If you want a sweat session without anything overly intense this is the workout for you!

Monday: MMX...after dynamix yesterday I woke up super sore. So, I was glad it was MMX but I must be getting it way better shape because I am working harder and harder during this workout every week and this one is a serious sweat session with serious hard work!

The silly selfie lol this was me after MMX...I was exhausted and so sweaty! 

Tuesday: Decelerator. This workout is funny. I feel indifferent about it...I don't necessarily like it, but I don't despise it either. This one has what I call the "impossible exercise": crane push ups...if anyone out there can do these please check my about page & email me a picture I would love to brag on you!

Today: Pilates. Was supposed to be Triometrics, but I feel like I need the stretch from pilates, so that is what I am going with, trio tomorrow.

So, that's it for this week...What have you been munching on this week?

My X3 ends in a few weeks and my original goal from the new year was to start half marathon training. However, due to some things that have come up I won't be able to attend the half I was planning on, so that is out....trying to figure out what to plan for those 12 weeks...any suggestions?

Menu Plan Monday #41

Hello! Today is Monday, March 3rd...Sunday, we spring forward...my favorite time of year! I really enjoy the extra sunshine, how the hours of sunlight get longer. With the renewed "longer" days, in yesterday's post I decided to reevaluate my goals from January 1st and see what I have accomplished so far and what I need to work on. 

One big thing I need to focus on is nutrition. With this week's meal plan that is just what I intend to do! 

If you need a little help with meal planning, the very first blog post I ever did on March 1st, 2013 was all about getting started with meal planning. Go here to check it out! 

So, anyway, on to the menu! This week is going to include a lot of sugar detox friendly recipes, fermented foods because for good digestion I am trying to get those in, and of course will be high in protein to fuel me for my super tough P90X3 workouts.

Breakfast Options

• Leftovers
• Cereal
• Coconut yogurt parfait with paleo granola
• Paleo granola with keifer
• Eggs with homemade hashbrowns and avocado
• Sunday "Treat": Paleo Pumpkin Spice poppers and applesauce or I may try this fermented applesauce if I can get it together today to start it.

Lunch Options

• Leftovers
• Tuna salad with my awesome homemade dressing
• Chicken salad with my awesome homemade dressing
• Tuna salad on zucchini chips
• Chicken and cheese bites with homemade potato chips
• Baked potatoes/sweet potatoes with broccoli and a little parm

Dinner

Monday: Sausage and peppers with broccoli and applesauce

Tuesday: Pizza Spaghetti Pie with salad

Wednesday: Crock pot pulled pork waffle sliders with salad and applesauce

Thursday: Caramelized baked chicken  with broccoli, corn, and strawberries

Friday: New Restaurant Friday...Finally trying Calabash Bistro since we changed it last week.

Saturday: Chicken fried steaks with salad

Sunday: Homemade pizza with salad

Snacks

• Shakeology
• Leftovers
• Hard boiled eggs
• Zucchini chips with hummus
• Paleo granola
• Fruit

So, this being said, my top 3 goals I'm focusing on this week are:

1. Nutrition and exercise
2. TEFL Certification completion
3. Flossing everyday

What are you munching on this week? Are you doing any goal focusing?

By the way, I am linking up at Org Junkie, and Mommy Run Fast. 

Menu Plan Monday #36 +a little weekend recap

Hello! I hope everyone's week is starting off spectacularly so far!

This weekend for our little family was quite an exciting one. For Christmas we all got snowboarding gear, lift tickets, and a lesson for the 3 of us. Well, we had to cancel our trip as my daughter had unfortunately gotten ill just before Christmas (seriously, two days before!), and then I got sick on Christmas day! It was absolutely awful and took me weeks to be rid of whatever virus I had. But, fortunately we were able to reschedule at our leisure and decided to go Saturday afternoon. Honestly this was the first weekend we were able to actually go, plus my daughter is studying for mid-terms so it gave her a much needed brain break. ...and exhausted her enough that she slept amazingly well! Here are a few photos from our trip...

Prior to the lesson while we were putting on our boots...I love my little toque (aka beanie lol), was so sunny, couldn't wait to get on the snow! 

All of us post snowboarding. Thank goodness our faces are covered we were all in pain! 

When we decided to take a break after our lesson hubby had never been up to the mountain so I took him to see the city. Isn't it gorgeous?!

This as you look out there is some ocean in there but it is actually covered by all the fog/clouds! Isn't that amazing?! I love the halo around the sun & the little reflection of the sun in the middle right. It was such an amazing day!

Otherwise the weekend was pretty chill. Saturday night we watch Captain Phillips. 

Captain Phillips

It was a fantastic movie and would 100% recommend watching it! Have some tissues ready for the end though!

Sunday we just chilled and relaxed in the morning. The teenager used Skype/Facetime to study with a friend. Starting the 21 Day Sugar Detox over today so looking forward to making some lemon chicken and apple sausage. 

What was your favourite part of the weekend??

Anyway...on to what you are all really here for: Menu Plan Monday!

I am linking up over at Org Junkie so come on over & check out all the other menus!!

As I said earlier, I am starting the 21 Day Sugar Detox over. I had one semi-bad week and just wasn't feeling successful so decided to start fresh. Here is what I will be eating for the first 1/3 of the detox:

Breakfast ideas: Apple sausage & eggs, breakfast hash & eggs, breakfast pizza, paleo pancakes and cinnamon apples, and apple "donuts" for our Sunday treat.

Lunch ideas: Breakfast hash, chicken salad, chicken fried cauliflower, and whatever other leftovers

Dinner: 

Monday: Mini chicken pot pies with a mashed cauliflower topping, side salad; bbq shredded chicken for the hubs and salad and corn for his sides

Tuesday: Fish & veggies with cauliflower soup; breakfast for dinner

Wednesday: Changing up our "New Restaurant Friday" for today since we are going to our Dungeons & Dragons comedy show. We will pop in to a new pub in that area. There is some super unique stuff so can't wait!

Thursday: Soup & sandwiches...for me & the teen: 21 day sugar detox chicken "panini" and leftover cauliflower soup; for the hubs: regular ol' grilled cheese with chicken noodle soup

Friday: Mustard glazed chicken thighs with golden beets/corn for the hubs

Saturday: Hot & sweet ginger chicken, cucumber salad, and rice/corn

Sunday: Cinnamon pork chops with broccoli and quinoa/rice & corn

All of the above recipes are somehow from the 21 Day Sugar Detox guide book. I am taking a lot and changing them up so we are eating some fun things that resemble some of our old family favourites! 

What are you all cookin' up this week? Share it with me! 

New Restaurant Friday: Rain City Grill-Vancouver, BC

Happy Monday all!!! I am getting a late start today. This weekend the hubby and I were busy, busy on date nights and just spending time together and with the teenager so I wasn't on the computer too much...which honestly was fine I was feeling like I needed a technology hiatus!

Anyway...I wanted to give this review it's own post because as you all know we typically do "New Restaurant Friday" where we pick a new restaurant somewhere in town and see if we can have a new favourite! The past couple of weeks we have actually been going back to some favourites so we haven't been trying anything new. But, since I am doing the 21 Day Sugar Detox, I was looking for something a little more paleo friendly. This definitely was! Here is some info about it:

Rain City Grill is located in Vancouver, BC. It is about a 20 minutes walk from us. It is in what is called the "West End" neighbourhood, where as we live in the "Coal Harbour" neighbourhood. This place was much nicer than I had anticipated. We went at 5pm when they opened for dinner and were extremely casually dressed (jeans, t-shirts, nice shoes...decent, but had I known we probably would have dress up a bit more). Also, make sure to make a reservation. I was also a bit ticked that we weren't offered the "Dine Out" menu, I didn't realize it was available until after we had placed our order and heard the hostess ask someone if they also wanted the "Dine Out" menu. Since we had a child with us it would have been nice to get a prix fixe price.

Everything was very good and we even go to try something new-Cornish Hen! We were a bit disappointed thought because we checked out their menu online and they are listed as having a Wagyu Beef Burger, but apparently they hadn't had that since the summer. So I think I should take the time to mention their menu does change weekly as it is a "farm to table" restaurant so all the food is local.

So, here we go. We started off with some bread. It was quite delicious. They brought butter that was very soft (this is a pet peeve of my husband when we go to a restaurant and get cold butter that can't be spread so they got about a million points here in his book) and some sea salt.

I started with the butternut squash soup.

It said on the menu it came with a walnut and apple cookie. It was just crumbles of a cookie in the bowl so that was a bit disappointing as I was looking forward how that would taste! It also came with some apple panna cotta, which was amazing. It was all quite delicious and not terribly sweet like many places tend to make butternut squash soup. 

For my main I had the salmon. It was quite delicious and cooked very well. The mushrooms it came with were delicious, and it had a little sauce with kale underneath. The little squares on top are cauliflower puree hash-browns! I didn't realize it until my very picky husband said they tasted "vegetable-y" lol It was very delicious I still have half of it in the fridge to munch on for lunch.

This is the teenager's plate. I will say she was quite disappointed by the serving size. Being american and used to eating at such places as Chili's and Red Robin the fact this didn't take up even half her plate was a bit surprising to her. But, she ate most everything. She loved the Cornish Hen. She said it just tasted like chicken, but was tinier. It came with some tasty fingerling potatoes.

The husband had a rib eye. It wasn't overly expensive for a local steak. Places such as Coast & Black & Blue charge much, much more and theirs are not local to my knowledge. He got a delicious sauce over it and it came with fingerling potatoes. They were delicious. But, being picky he didn't care for them and instead opted for french fries. They came in a super cute tiny looking fry basket. I forgot to get a picture unfortunately.

We really enjoyed the restaurant. I can't say the wait staff was very friendly. They were helpful, but not very friendly. They also didn't seem to pay a whole lot of attention. I ordered a drink and then the husband and daughter ordered cokes and I asked the waiter to put Grenadine in their soda's and somehow my drink came with grenadine. I know they were going to be busy that evening and we didn't have a reservation but in that case they should have just said they couldn't seat us, where as it almost seemed like we were more of a bother. It was a bit frustrating. I do hope to go back and try their brunch or lunch menu and hopefully get a better feel of the place.

If you have been to Vancouver or live here and have a suggestion of a place we should try please fill me in!!!

Menu Plan Monday #34 +a tiny weekend recap

Wow, what a weekend this was! It wasn't necessarily too busy but there certainly was just a lot to get done.

Friday was a nice relaxing evening. Went out for a little shopping with the husband in the rain, then on the walk home picked up some chicken and potatoes at our local market. It was yummy and enjoyable. He also got his workout in! So proud of him for that!

Saturday my daughter had a cheerleading competition. It was held in a city called Chiliwack. It's about 90 minutes to the interior of BC. The weather there was horrendous. It was hard to keep the car in a lane because of the wind and it was so dark and rainy it was hard to see the lines on the road. But, due to my Mr's amazing skillz at driving we managed to make it there and back in one piece. Here are some pictures:

That's my girl right in the middle! 

Beautiful back walkover

A dancing maniac! hehehe This is probably my favorite picture of the weekend!

She can actually get that leg parallel up against her back! O_o

While we were there, since it was an all day event and we had been really good about eating only real, whole foods this week I packed us a nice bag of goodies:

Peanuts, raisins, bacon, water, snap pea crisps, pecans, plus some personal development books and a camera.

Sunday was so lazy. Spend exercising and relaxing with my hubby. I really, really enjoy those days. We cooked up some chicken legs and potatoes...mmm, mmm, mmm.

Org Junkie

This week we have really kicked our nutrition into high gear by starting the 21 Day Sugar Detox. All my meals this week are free of sugar (except for a few exceptions I have to make for hubby's finicky palate, but I won't be eating those, just him). I will also continue drinking my Shakeology during this time but it is my only exception.

Breakfast ideas: Egg muffins with avocado, root veggie hash & eggs, sausage & veggies, leftovers, and apple cinnamon donuts from the book

So tasty & so filling! Egg "muffins"

Lunch ideas: Shakeology, tuna salad (I don't like canned salmon so opting for the tuna), chicken salad, leftovers, and sunday will be chicken breasts with veggies

Snack ideas: Shakeology, jerky, cinnilla nut mix, green apple and peanut butter, banola and coconut cream

Cinnilla Nut Mix from 21 Day Sugar Detox Book

Dinner:

Directions to make this here!

 Monday: Mexican Burgers, creamy herb mashed cauliflower, rice/black beans

Tuesday: Salmon with caper tapenade,  pork chops for the hubby, and salad

Wednesday: (will adapt to crockpot) mustard glazed chicken thighs, golden beets and peas

Thursday: Breakfast for dinner: paleo pancakes with nut butter, and omelettes filled with full fat cheese, bacon, spinach, and other veggies

Friday: New Restaurant Friday: Rain City Grill  (bonus they are starting their Dine Out Vancouver special EARLY! WOOHOO!)

Saturday: Shepard's pie and salad; for hubby: burger from ground meat in the pie, and cucumbers and corn

Sunday: Braised beef short ribs, cauli rice, and any leftover veggies to use them up and start the week fresh! 

So, that is it for me this week! Come on over and pin with me on pinterest and share you meals with me over at facebook!

Menu Plan #25

Hello! Welcome to another Menu Plan Monday Tuesday...oops what happened there?! We had a heck of a weekend. It was dreary, cold, and rainy. So you may ask why didn't I get my menu up on Monday morning like usual....well, aside from the dozen (yes, literally a dozen) projects I completed the teen had a 4 day weekend and hubby took Monday off as he was very, very sick. We all know how our men get when they are sick, yes??? Well, he is no exception...so I spent most of my days taking care of him and working on project. Good news is I will have a lot to post about!

So, on to my meal plan and some prep tips:

I made the egg muffins a head of time. They are super easy. Grease a muffin pan, crack an egg in there, chop up some fillings (I used purple and orange pepper and zucchini and a little cheese), whisk them up with a fork and bake at 350 for about 15-20 min (not 100% on this so just watch your muffys). Once done let them cool for 5 minutes and store in packs of 2 for an easy grab and go meal...you can also heat them up for about 40 seconds and they are good as new. :)

 With these she usually takes a whole wheat pumpkin muffin and/or an apple.

I also made some overnight oats:

In here is a cup of almond milk (homemade), 3/4 cup of oats, 1T chia seeds, and a scoop of sun warrior protein powder, and 1tsp of pumpkin pie spice. I used up containers that had just a wee spot of nut/seed butter left in them. Very tasty!

These are banana bread protein bars...yet they have no protein powder! The buckwheat groats are the secret ingredient I suspect. They are very, very delicious ;) As an added bonus they are high in iron since the coconut nectar is a great source of iron! 

This is the last of my prep: you can see my egg muffins that were made, to the left are bags of peppers for the teenager's snacks...she loves those lol, a container full of rice, and some chopped zucchini, peppers, and onion. These will make it super speedy to throw in lunches and to whip up dinner!

Finally....

These aren't necessarily on my menu but I made a huge batch of chickpeas to freeze for use later, and I am also making a large batch of black beans to freeze and use later. These are great for making snacks, burgers, etc!

Well, I hope everyone has had a much less eventful start to the week than I've had! ;)

Linking up at Org Junkie