A New Chapter

"Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat—I am... Follow me and I'll show you how." Luke 9:23

After copious hours of prayer and soul searching, we have decided to put our house on the market. We absolutely LOVE our home and it saddens us to offer it up to the highest bidder. However, we are very excited about our future prospects.

Home Sweet Home

Being that this was our first home together, Allan and I have spent countless hours changing fixtures, painting, decorating, updating, organizing and landscaping. The future owner of our house will certainly have a delightful surprise once the snow melts - the yard is an oasis filled with exotic blooming perennials.

Endless Summer - blue when in bloom

Perennial Hydrangea - Amazing LARGE blooms

If you or someone you know is looking for a well kept, updated, modern home in South Minneapolis, 6 blocks west of Lake Nokomis and 1.5 blocks south of Minnehaha Creek, please do not hesitate to drop us a line.

Beautiful tulips

Click here to view the Virtual Tour (please ignore the smooth jazz)

Click here to view the MLS listing

Our new, custom built fence
and the spring view of the newest flower bed

What are you favorite memories of homes past?

My favorite memory in our home was our housewarming/my college graduation party - all of our closest friends and family were there to celebrate with us. Amazing!

What does it mean to eat clean?

I am often asked what I did to lose weight successfully. When I answer that the secret to my body transformation is simply clean eating and vigorous exercise I am greeted by three distinct reactions:

The honest and inquisitive, What exactly is clean eating?

The judgmental and know-it-all, Really? That’s it.

The well-intentioned and interested, I would really like to eat clean, but don’t know how to start. Do you have any advice?

Today I will address the question, What does it mean to eat clean?

Cantaloupe and Blueberries

Clean eating is a thoughtful way of nourishing your body. Our bodies are designed to consume foods that are whole, natural and bursting with nutrients; however, most of us do not consume foods that respect these needs. Clean eating replaces processed, refined, toxic and nutritionally devoid foods with those that are as close to nature as possible. This creates a diet that will transform you into your best self: healthy, vibrant and lean.

By combining natural, whole foods into 5-6 small meals a day, each consisting of lean proteins, complex carbohydrates and healthy fats, clean eating will transform your body into an energetic powerhouse.

Grilled Chicken on Bibb Lettuce topped with Almond Butter

Eating clean is also good for the World. It is a preservationist approach to making smart food choices that respect the land, animals and your health. The core values of clean eating focus on making local, sustainable, eco-friendly choices that minimize waste and conserve resources.

Eating close to nature translates to shopping the outer aisles at the supermarket, especially the produce, bulk bin, dairy and meat departments, visiting farmer’s markets and making contact with local farmers and suppliers using sites like localharvest.org.

Quinoa Mango Salad

The following are some examples of easy swaps that you can make to clean up your diet, please note that this is not a comprehensive list:

Category of food	Conventional choice	Clean choice
Sweetener	Refined, white sugar Corn Syrup High Fructose Corn Syrup Dextrose Artificial Sweeteners (Splenda, Aspartame, etc.) Sugar Alcohols (Xylitol, sorbitol, etc.)	SuCaNat (Sugar Cane Natural) Agave Nectar Raw Honey Maple Syrup Maple Sugar Flakes Dates
Grains/Flour	Enriched White Flour White Rice Flour Unbleached white flour White Rice Quick Cooking Oats Semolina (white) Pasta	Whole Wheat Flour White Whole Wheat Flour Brown Rice Flour Kamut Flour Spelt Flour Brown Rice Wild Rice Rolled Oats Steel Cut Oats Whole Grain Malt O Meal Whole Wheat Pasta Brown Rice Pasta Multi-grain Pasta
Produce	Conventionally Grown Produce	Organic Produce, specifically those you intend to eat the skin of and the “Dirty Dozen”: Apples Cherries Imported Grapes Nectarines Peaches Berries Peppers Celery Spinach Kale Potatoes
Dairy and Eggs	Milk from cows treated with rBST Conventional Cheese Conventional Yogurt Conventional Eggs	Organic Milk Cheese that is free of hormones and antibiotics Organic Yogurt Cage-free or Organic Eggs
Meat	Conventional meat from animals treated with hormones and antibiotics Processed, cured and preserved meats (bacon, hot dogs, brats, deli meat)	Meat from animals not treated with hormones and antibiotics, preferably allowed to roam in their natural environment Uncured meats that do not contain added nitrates, nitrites, preservatives and sodium

In future posts I will explore the topics of how to start eating clean, the importance of reading nutrition labels, and how to shop each grocery store department. Also, check out a previous post that gave you a glimpse into my Simply Clean Fridge.

Yummies from Lovely

Last night our good friend, Jamie Paul, stopped over bearing some yummy gifts! With him he had 3 Punch pizza's for supper along with some Lovely Mpls swag.

Jamie and Kevin of Lovely Mpls were nice enough to share with us the "Your Hair is Lovely" poster above and the Hope print below that I have been in love with since we visited their studio last winter. Thanks!!! If you are interested in purchasing a print from Lovely Mpls you can visit their etsy site.

Thank you.

Thank you for your support, thoughts, prayers, and encouragement in the last month and a half. It has really meant a lot to both Allan and me.

Allan has been home from the hospital for about a month and is getting stronger every day. His attitude is very positive and he makes progress every day towards a full recovery. Thank the Lord!

We thank God daily for saving Allan's life so that he can experience beauty that God grants us each and every day. Allan's life is truly a miracle!

I plan on starting to blog again about my daily life, eats, and workouts. Even though I have not been blogging recently, I have been taking pics of the simple meals that we have been eating and plan on sharing those with you. Since Allan has been sick, I have simplified our eats and we are both happier that way.

Thanks again for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.

”God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." Psalm 46:1

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Our staycation was wonderful! I loved the feeling of waking up every day and knowing that Allan and I could do whatever we wanted! I wish that we could spend every day together hanging out, getting some sun, eating good food and enjoying life’s simple pleasures. It’s silly, but sometimes I look forward to the day that we can retire together. ☺

While staycationing I did not do a lot of cooking or baking, so by the end of the week I was really starting to miss being in the kitchen creating. Here is the one meal that I did make last week and it was a good one!

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Update: I started reading Psalms at the beginning of the summer and got through Psalm 50 and started feeling as though God was calling me to read Proverbs. So, I started Proverbs this morning and am really looking forward to becoming wiser through the words of Solomon.

So—join the company of good men and women,
keep your feet on the tried-and-true paths.
It's the men who walk straight who will settle this land,
the women with integrity who will last here.
The corrupt will lose their lives;
the dishonest will be gone for good.
- Proverbs 2: 20-22

Cooler 1

I am approaching the last week of my 12 week competition and will be stocking up on Cooler 1 items today at the grocery store. On Saturday or Sunday of next week I will take after photos and will be on Cooler 1 until the photos are taken! I am also considering purchasing distilled water and Dandelion tea to aid in "muscle popping". I will keep you updated on my progress and things that I am eating from now until picture day. I may even consider posting my before/after pics.

On a side note, I just ordered a bunch of new bikinis from Victoria's Secret! I am super excited to have some items that actually fit me! I am sick of walking around wearing clothes that are a size Large when I am a Small/Medium. YAY!

BPA

Everyone needs to read this Enviroblog post about BPA and Coke. There is some very scary stuff going on in Washington right now. Let's hope that the chemical companies do not win.

We, as a country, need to fight for tougher standards and regulations on the food and household/beauty industries to keep toxic chemicals out of our homes. Why is it that Europe is ahead of us on this trend? Why does the U.S. keep lagging behind them in regulation? Isn't our people's health more important than wealth? Apparently not.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's to everyone!!!

Some day soon I hope to be celebrating Mother's Day with all of you as a fellow mother.

Unfortunately, this Mother's Day weekend was a cold one, so we didn't get to go out on the trails with the bikes, but we had a nice weekend with our moms.

On Saturday night we treated Allan's parent's to the Longfellow Grill. A fun, hip place along the Mississippi River. Lois (my mother-in-law) and I dined on grilled chicken breast over pears, greens, corn, and sweet potatoes with a side of corn bread, which I split with Mark, my father-in-law, and Allan. The guys enjoyed bison burgers topped with caramelized onions and mushrooms with a side of sweet potato fries. No, they were not the nice oven baked variety that I make, they were the full fat, oily variety. I tried one and they were nothing to shake a stick at. Mine are much better. :)

This morning was the last choir performance of the current choir season, practices will resume in the Fall. The summer church season begins soon and we will start attending Thursday night church services - I look forward to this time of year when I get to sleep in on Saturday and Sunday mornings!

After church, we treated my parents to breakfast at Key's Cafe. I ordered an egg white veggie omelet without looking at the ingredients list and was shocked to find HASHBROWNS in my omelet! I have never seen anything like it. I tried pulling most of them out, but gave up and simply ate the omelet as it came. After breakfast I had the worst stomachache. What was I thinking?

This weekend we also went to the movie, earth. I have been wanting to see this movie since it came out and we finally had time to go and see it. I really enjoyed it - the animals were cute, James Earl Jones' voice was very soothing, and I learned a lot about the different species of animals and various parts of the world. Overall, it was a great movie. It would have been the perfect movie to see at an IMAX theatre.

I have been promising to post pictures of the new bike and here they are! The other day, Allan and I took a long bike ride from our house to Fort Snelling and biked along the Mississippi River. Half way through our bike ride, we stopped at this cute fishing dock in the backwaters. How beautiful!!! After the ride, my legs were sore - riding up and down the bluffs of the Mississippi was an excellent workout!

Allan and his bike along with my bike (on the right)

Me biking along the parkway on our way home

Sporting my new Twin Six Jersey

We also went and test drove one of these:

We are seriously considering picking one up, but are not sure if we should take advantage of the great deals they are offering on the 2009 models or if we should wait and check out the new 2010 model. 

Or just switch it up completely and get one of these:

(hybrid, of course)

Fridge Organization

Several of you have asked that I post pictures of the inside of my fridge and explain how it is organized. Here you go!

The Fridge

Opening the Doors

Left Door

• Cage-Free Egg Whites
• Water Dispenser
• Frank's Red Hot
• Misc Milks (Unsweetened Vanilla Almond, Unsweetened Vanilla Soy, Chai Tea Mix)

Right Door

Butter (for making spreadable Olive Oil butter in the VitaMix for Allan)

Frequently Used Condiments (organic tamari, steak sauce, organic salsa, organic BBQ, organic ketchup)

Oils

Bee Pollen

Unsweetened Organic Jelly

Organic Unsweetened Apple Juice (for cooking)

Local Maple Sugar

Freeze Dried Spices

Left Inside

Top Shelf: 

• Leftover items to use for meals this week (black beans, organic sauerkraut, etc.)
  
• The contents of my cooler for the next day are moved to this shelf every night

Second Shelf:

• Quick "Grab and Go" Items 
• Pictured Items: chocolate protein bars, chocolate banana muffins, donut holes, leftover stir fry portioned into lunch sizes, pumpkin pudding

Deli Drawer

• Hummus
• Ground Flax
• Oat Bran
• Wheat Germ
• Tortillas
• Wraps
• Yeast

Bottom Left Shelf and Fruit Drawer

• Bottom Shelf: currently holding overflow from the fruit drawer and unthawing sun dried tomato chicken sausages for supper
• Some infrequently used condiments like Miso and horseradish sit behind these items in the back of the fridge
• Fruit Drawer: oranges, cut-up pineapple, grated coconut, young coconut flesh

Top Right Shelf

• Applesauce
• Unsweetened Apple Butter
• Unopened Organic Low-Fat Plain Yogurt 
• Coconut water (in container also)
• Wheat Grass to be blended into juice using the VitaMix and then frozen

Second Right Shelf

• Organic Eggs in can holder
• Iced Tea
• Allan's beer
• Individually Packaged Yogurt Cheese
• Whipped Butter
• POM

Bottom Right Shelf

• Cottage Cheese
• Nut Butters
• Vegan "Butter"
• Organic Pickles
• Marinades

Veggie Drawer

• Romaine, Spinach, Minced Organic Garlic, Zucchini, Celery

Freezer Drawer

• Top: Meat, Cheese, Frozen Whey (strained from yogurt and frozen in ice cube trays then placed in a freezer bag
• Bottom: Fruit, Veggies, Flours, Nuts

Freezer, Pull-Out Shelf

• Breads, Chicken Sausages, Wraps and Buns

More Fruit on the Counter

• Bananas
• Avocados
• Kiwi

Happy Monday!

It is a dreary, cold Monday here in MN. What is it like where you are? 

Allan and I had a fantastic weekend filled with clean food, the outdoors, and some much needed relaxation.

I spent Friday afternoon grocery shopping at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. I picked up some much needed essentials and some fun and new items to try, including Maca and Chia Seeds.

On Friday night we sat outside and ate shrimp cocktail. I made the cocktail sauce recipe from Tosca's Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook. It was really easy to throw together and was very tasty. Next time I make it, I will ensure that have Tobasco sauce on hand (instead of using Frank's) and will probably add a bit more horseradish for a little more zip.

Then we made clean pizzas. We used some leftover pizza sauce that I had frozen and Allan tried the Trader Joe's pizza crust that I picked up and I had my pizza on an english muffin - I just love eating pizza this way! Allan liked the Trader Joe's pizza crust and thought that it was a great change of pace. I tried a slice and thought that it tasted really good. Overall, the Trader Joe's crust is a good value, at a little over $1.00 per 12-inch crust; but it was a little bit of a struggle to roll out to fit the pizza pan. Next time I will let it sit out for a bit longer and let it get to room temperature.

Allan has decided to start commuting downtown to work... heck it's only 5.3 miles! So, on Saturday we took the Fuji in to Penn Cycle for some new tires. While there, Allan and I decided to check out some new bikes. We really weren't looking for anything new, Allan is refurbishing a Fuji bike that his dad gave him and when I feel like riding, I can use Allan's sister's old bike. Low and behold I walked away with a new bike! It is a Trek Lime Light that was used as a demo bike. I am so excited to have a bike of my very own!!! Tomorrow I will have Allan take a pic of me on my new bike and post it here.

On Saturday afternoon, I was really excited to try making Kale Chips from Dani Spies. Unfortunately, they did not turn out as well as I had liked. The "chips" burnt easily and they smelled a bit funny. Oh well. Sometimes things just don't turn out the way that you would like. I always like Dani's recipes and was sad that I did not like this one. Oh well, if you check out her site, there are few new items, like the Peanut Butter Performance Pancakes, that look amazing!

We decided to brake in our new bikes and took a nice ride down to Minnehaha Falls... about an 8 mile ride roundtrip. What fun! For supper we tried a new type of Amy's Veggie Burger, Texas, which has a BBQ flavor. Both Allan and I really liked them and would have them again.

On Sunday, we went to Bed Bath and Beyond to use our 20% off coupons before they expired. I picked up a new Simple Human paper towel holder, 2 new Calphalon hard anodized omelet pans (a great deal at $49.99 for the 10" and 12" set), and a Kitchen Aid Food Processor. I will post a pic of the new Food Processor tomorrow with the bike pic. I know that I originally said that I wanted the Cuisinart model, but when I saw both models in the store next to one another, I changed my mind. Also, I was able to snag a never been used, straight out of the box "display" model for a deep discount. The Food Processor is very cool and I will give you more specifics when I post the pic.

While at Bed Bath and Beyond I peeped a very cool new stainless steel dishrack by Simply Human that I know have my eye on. If I would've had one more 20% off coupon, it would be sitting on my counter right now!

Being that I had a brand new toy to use I decided to make the Donut Holes from Ani's Raw Food Kitchen Cookbook. 

They are VERY good!!! I will take a pic and post it tonight! They kind of remind me of Lara bars.

While my batch of Chocolate Banana Protein Muffins were cooking, I made Raw Pumpkin Pudding from Gone Raw. I did not have any raw pumpkin or squash, so I used canned pumpkin - I know that it is not raw. But it was very tasty. I had a bowl after supper with chia seeds soaked in it. VERY GOOD!!! Thanks, Abbie at Foods That Fit for the suggestion. 

For supper I made meatballs from Tosca's Eat-Clean Diet Family and Kids Book with Muir Glenn Cabernet Marinara sauce and Ancient Harvest Quinoa Noodles. This was a great combination!!! I really liked the Ancient Harvest Quinoa Noodles - these noodles really reminded me of white starchy noodles that I haven't had in years. The texture was spot on and they tasted so good! Also, the meatballs were super easy to make. I baked a double batch and froze the remaining meatballs to use sometime in the future when I am pressed for time. Just pop them in the sauce to thaw and you are ready to go! What an easy and delicious meal!

My New Clean Eating Gadget Wish List

Recently, we splurged our tax dollars on a bunch of new items for the house (i.e. fridge, dinning room chairs, TV, dinning room table, sideboard, etc.), so I am not sure when I will be able to get the new kitchen gadgets that I would like, but today I thought that I would share my new wish list. :)

An Excalibur Dehydrator. I am not sure if I want the 9 tray or the 5 tray, but really want the timer model vs. the regular model. I would really like to start making my own dried fruit, tortillas, etc.

A Couple Tools to aid in Dehydrating Prep:

Excalibur ParaFlexx Sheets. For making tortillas and fruit leathers.

A Benriner Spiral Veggie Slicer. For slicing apples, pears, etc.

An Offset Spatula. For spreading mixtures onto the ParaFlexx sheets.

A Brita Classic Pitcher. Our current pitcher does not fit into our new fridge - the handle gets in the way. :(

A Garmin Forerunner 305 with foot pod and cadence sensor. For tracking my runs and bike rides this summer. You know me, I love to track and organize everything!

An Iron Gym with Ab Straps. I just re-started NROL4W this week, after taking a 2 week hiatus from it while my knee recovered. Now that I am back into it, I know that pull ups and chin ups are awaiting me in the stages ahead and I will definitely need one of these then.

A Cuisinart PowerPrep Plus 14-Cup Food Processor. I love my Vita-Mix, but it just does not do some of the cool things that a food processor can do. Also, when making nut butter or fruit leathers, it is extremely difficult to clean the Vita-Mix. A food processor would be much better!

A Couple Composters from Gaiam. I would love to start composting this year and want an outdoor unit for my driveway and kitchen unit to keep under the sink.

There you go! Let's see if I can start acquiring a few of these items some time soon.

Here are my eats for today:

m1 - 1/2 c egg whites + chick sausage + 1/3 c dry oatmeal+2 tbsp wheat germ+2 tbsp ground flax+1/3 c blueberries

m2 - vita-mix: protein powder + spinach + mango/straw

m3 - black bean chicken quesadilla leftover from last night's supper + pear

m4 - yogurt + pineapple + nectarine

m5 - flank steak + broccoli

m6 - tbd

Tonight I am going to try out my new running shoes outside! YAY!!!