Feeling Hot Hot Hot!!!!!!

So today is definitely an inside activity kinda day considering that with the heat index its supposed to be somewhere around 115 out there! Whew!

So here's how we began our day..with a lil Curious George on the TV and coloring while I made breakfast! Brock insisted that he wanted eggs again sooo I made eggs happen!











So I wanted to share with you a picture of some staple items that are always in my kitchen!

1. Old Fashioned Oats, I use these for anything basically that would normally call for flour, I just place a cup or so in the food processor and make my own oat flour. It's especially great for pancakes or waffles, and we just eat plain oatmeal with all sorts of toppings probably a couple times a week. My two favorite oatmeal mix ins would be almond butter and Hershey's special Dark cocoa! Yummm!
2. Chickpeas, as I shared with you yesterday I love them in my eggs and we're huge fans of hummus which I'm still working on perfecting my hummus recipe and once I do I'll post it on here as well! I also have found that I would much rather buy the dry uncooked chickpeas and cook them myself rather than the canned, they just taste so much better! 3. Green tea, one of my new years resolutions this year was to drink more green tea soo every couple days or so I'll brew up a bunch of it and gently sweeten it with Stevia and put it in the fridge. Because sometimes I just do not want another glass of water with dinner so its nice to have this on hand.
4. Cottage Cheese , usually the 1% is my lifesaver! Since I'm really really trying to keep my carbs under 130g cottage cheese is great for when your craving some sort of starchy side to go with your meal. Its a great substitute and its super high in protein and low in sugar/carbs.
5. Plain ol dry almonds, I keep these puppies in my bag where ever I go. They are especially great if I make the mistake and don't plan my food and I come in freakin starving...I can just grab a handful of these and it keeps me from eating something that I'll regret while I'm taking the time to prepare something else.
6. EGGS EGGS EGGS Seriously if it weren't for eggs I'd probably be dead! Ha!!! I love them, I eat literally between my breakfast and hard boiled snacks probably 5 a day! They're cheap and soooooo healthy for you. Whenever I just have no desire to think about what I'm gonna eat, I eat eggs! Very rarely do I eat the yolks, however my grandma has clipped me several articles out of her magazines that now say that research shows that they yolk isn't chuck full of bad cholesterol like they once had thought. But I do give the boys the yolks.
7. Baby Mixed green salad , I keep this on had and obviously use it for salads for lunch or dinner and I use it as our lettuce for sandwiches for the boys and I pick out the spinach to throw in anything from scrambled eggs to shakes.I'm a huge fan of spinach, because it has a very mild taste and you can hide it in anything!  I was raised thinking the only type of lettuce was pale green in color and called ice berg, but I never buy that anymore considering it has little to no nutritional value.
8. Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk, this is what I use to mix with my protein powder mostly, but I've cut regular milk completely out of my diet cause its really high in sugar and carbs. So whenever I have a milk craving this is a Fine Substitute. I still buy 1% for the boys but for Aaron and I its almond milk all the way.
9. Fage 0% Plain Greek Yogurt is fairly new to my fridge however I welcome it with open arms lol!!! This stuff is awesome! Anything that you would normally use sour cream in you can use this as a substitute and its loaded with nutritional value! I mix it with medium chunky salsa to make a creamy sauce to put on top of chicken, I use it as a chicken marinade paired with lemon juice salt and pepper, I make a kick ass buffalo chicken salad in the food processor that just includes greek yogurt, franks red hot, and chicken breast! I mean the possibilities are endless with this stuff!
10. Flax Seed meal is excellent. Its sooo good for you so I hide it anywhere I can. I put it in all recipes that include ground meat, pancakes, oatmeal, you name it!
11. And finally last but definitely not least is my coconut oil. It's also fairly new to my pantry but my favorite use of it is for eggs!  You can use it in anything that calls for oil but just be careful considering it has a lower heat content.

A few people have asked me about protein powder, and honestly I use this.....the biggest bag I can find for a great price at Sam's club. I usually have 1-2 shakes per day but its especially great right after a workout considering the importance of your post workout meal and it should be high in protein and consumed within 30 min after the workout. So before I go to the gym I just go a head and mix one up and throw it in my bag and drink it on the way home.

Here's another lil fantastic gadget that I could not live without! My blender bottle......you can pick one up at Wal-Mart around here but if not GNC or any vitamin store always has them. 

Now as far as protein bars go.....which are great if your out and your hungry and theres nothing else healthy to eat my absolute fave are called Quest Bars! They are down right DELICIOUS and have Zero Junk included. 20g of Protein 4g of non fiber carbs, no sugar alcohols, no sugar used, gluten free, and no trans fats which is sooooo hard to find all of that in protein bars that I have tried in the past. The only downside is that you can only get them off the internet at www.questproteinbar.com and they may seem expensive however once you do the math they average out to about $2 a bar which isn't bad! 

I sooo wish I had this shirt! But ....enough of food talk now its time to get down to business and talk about  todays workout!!! <<Fist Pump>>

Today was a lil Bi's Tri's with Abs and Plyo's inbetween

~ Warm Up consisted of Reverse pull Up's / Squat with and over head press using a 50lb Bar / and the         good ol faithful Push Ups for 21x15x9

~ Cable Machine Tricep pull downs

   70lbx10/ 80lbx10/ 90lbx10 and yes that last one was rough

   Inbetween these sets  20 mtn climbers/ scoop planks 10 on each side/ sit bone ab rotation using a 20lb  

   DMB for 20x2/ V-Up Abs passing an exercise ball from hands to feet for 20

~ Bicep Curls using 25lb DMB 10x3

~ Side Bicep Curls using 20lb DMB 10x3

~ Assisted pull up machine using 80lb resistance 8x3 and boy was that last set rough 

   Inbetween theses sets I did 20 burpees using the Bosu Ball

~Tricep Dip using 10lb weight in my lap 15x3

~ Top half Bicep Curls using 40lb Bar 12x3

    Inbetween these sets I did lying alternating Ab toe reaches side to side for 20/ 4 count bicycle crunch 

    for 20/ and lying heel reaches side to side for 80

Tonight will either be a fend for yourself kinda night for dinner considering I have several leftovers in the fridge or I thought about making my almond meal chicken nuggets.....we'll just have to see !!!!