Hey y’all & happy Wednesday! I hope each of you have had a nice week and are staying healthy & safe during this time. My heart has been feeling very heavy reading about and seeing what all is going on in our country. I pray for unity & care between us all. I hope that each of you know that no matter what political views, religion, or skin color you may have, I will always love you all as my brothers & sisters of Christ. We may not all think the same way or believe in the same things, but all of our lives DO matter and I will stand by that until the day I die.
There’s not really a natural way to transition from that statement, so let’s just go ahead and grab some coffee, tea, or wine (😉) and get to reading this week’s recap:
After I left you guys last week, I threw together a quick snack before going on a bike ride. I mixed Nutritional Yeast Seasoning with Organic Popcorn to add some extra vitamins & nutrients before I got in some exercise. It has been proven that consuming Nutritional Yeast before a workout can help sustain your immune system by maintaining (or in some cases raising) the levels of your white blood cells after you exercise.
I hopped on my bike for a quick 4 mile ride around the apartment complex. It was a hot & breezy day. I was happy to get in a nice ride right before a big storm decided to head this way.
Once it began down pouring, I plopped on the couch to enjoy a very late & delicious lunch. I had meal prepped my pasta salad recipe early that morning without the chicken that I typically add.
I spent the rest of the day Wednesday working on getting some chores/tasks done until Jordan got home from work. I made us a bowl of berries to snack on while I prepared a scrumptious dinner.
I made a mixture of seasoned zucchini & squash, sautéed Brussel sprouts, and (my favorite) black bean/wild, long-grain rice mixture. It was so yummy, filling, and nutritious!
I woke up super early for coaching on Thursday morning & made myself a warm cup of coffee & a slice of whole wheat toast with all-natural peanut butter + a little bit of Nutella.
I had a very long break between 2 of my skating lessons, so I decided to make the most of it & make my way to the Kickerillo-Mischer Preserve for a 2.07 mile walk. It was such a beautiful morning being able to walk while the sun was rising & also being surrounded by cloudy skies. I listened to the Harry Potter movie soundtracks to set the mood.
After finishing up coaching my last few skating lessons, I met Jordan for lunch at one of our favorite local spots called, The Annex Crafthouse. This place has so many great food options! Jordan and I both enjoyed their Buffalo Cauliflower Sandwich on a Pretzel Bun with a side of fries & vegan ranch. It was delicious!
We made our way back to Kickerillo with Mila & Huk later that evening for a fun night of exploring, fishing, and bike riding.
We all enjoyed some peanut butter sandwiches & berries for dinner. It was such a fun evening.
I sliced up some beautifully colored kiwi, mango, strawberries, and pineapple for Jordan to enjoy for breakfast on Friday morning.
Then I whipped together some nachos for myself to enjoy while working on some tasks at home. These nachos had tortilla chips, leftover black bean/wild, long-grain rice mix, and shredded Mexican blend cheeses.
I spent most of Friday getting projects done, taking food breaks, and enjoyed a short 2.62 mile bike ride.
For lunch, I made some tuna salad & enjoyed it on whole wheat bread with some Fritos that added a delicious crunch & a dill pickle on the side.
After we picked up Mila on Friday evening, we made our way to my parents house for a fun night of swimming, eating Tex-Mex, & playing Phase 10. They ordered Grab n’ Go Tacos for dinner & I enjoyed their veggie tacos on flour tortillas with Yucatán sauce.
I also had some fun putting on actual clothes & doing something different with my hair. My hair needs to be colored so badly (I know), but it’s still been fun to play around with different braided styles lately. Vikings inspired me. 😊
Jordan, Mila, and I enjoyed a nice sleep in on Saturday morning. I made some peanut butter & Nutella toast for breakfast with a cup of coffee.
The apartment pool had finally opened back up on Friday, so we spent a few hours on Saturday poolside. Mila was doing an amazing job swimming completely floaty free. We are so excited for all of the upcoming sunny days by the pool together!
After some pool time, we all got cleaned up & made our way to one of our friend’s birthday get together. One of Jordan’s very good friend’s & groomsmen was having a crawfish boil birthday party on Saturday evening. We had a great time celebrating him & enjoying some yummy grub!
We spent pretty much all day Sunday at the pool!! We had the greatest time swimming, learning new tricks, & playing fun poolside games together.
I attempted to make Buffalo Cauliflower Bites for the first time using the air fryer Sunday night. They definitely tasted good and I was impressed with my first try at it, but I need to work on perfecting the recipe before sharing it. I accidentally used a little too much hot sauce which upset both mine and Jordan’s stomachs, so once I get a good balance of the breading & sauces, I will share this recipe with you all. I can certainly say that cauliflower is an awesome chicken substitute though!!
I woke up early on Monday morning to get together some breakfast & lunch for Jordan to take with him to work. Once I got all of that done, I made myself an egg bagel with some farm-fresh eggs, Dave’s Killer Bread bagels, and Melt probiotic butter + a cup of coffee, of course.
I conquered a bunch of chores and tasks throughout the day before Jordan got home from work then we conquered an at-home workout together! We started our workout off by going for a 20 minute walk around the apartment complex followed by a circuit & stretching in our living room.
Monday’s Circuit:
•4 sets of 15 squats
•4 sets of 10 push-ups
•4 sets of 10 partnered sit-ups
Once our workout was complete, we worked on a new recipe for dinner together. We made some veggie kebabs with zucchini, squash, & onions + a side of a rice & bean mix. I used a quinoa & brown rice mix, some organic dark red kidney beans, onions, and minced garlic.
Jordan did his thing with cooking and went to town seasoning the veggies for these kebabs. He used Olive oil, Paprika, Pepper, Parsley, Basil, Himalayan salt, and Cumin.
Jordan and I have both been trying to transition into a more plant-based lifestyle over the past week. We’ve obviously still been enjoying dairy in our meals & have had fish a few times, but we are definitely working hard on transitioning without just cutting things out of our diet cold turkey. We also don’t plan to cut any specific food groups out permanently unless we find that we are intolerant to something, but rather to enjoy dairy & animal proteins in moderation and to plan most of our meals around fruits, vegetables, and complex carbohydrates. Being more mindful of making sure I’m getting in movement each day by doing exercises I enjoy & working on making healthier food choices is a big priority for me. I want to feel good, have more confidence in my own skin, & (most importantly) just work on being the healthiest version of myself overall, so making these steps to a healthier lifestyle are very important to the both of us. It has also been a lot of fun trying out new recipes lately.
I woke up early before work on Tuesday morning to make both Jordan and I some scrumptious breakfast. I made Jordan scrambled farm-fresh eggs on a bagel slice + some sliced avocado & tomatoes. For my breakfast, I went with my go-to egg bagel + a cup of coffee.
I made my way to the Kickerillo-Mischer Preserve after coaching for a very hot 2 mile walk followed by some light stretching. My muscles were sore from the circuit we did the night before.
I met Jordan at The Annex Crafthouse for some lunch after completing my walk. We both tried their Buffalo Cauliflower Bites with a few different sauces. I tried their Buffalo sauce, BBQ sauce, and Teriyaki sauce. I definitely recommend getting the Buffalo Cauliflower Sandwich over these. The bites were good, but the sandwich is awesome!
We met up with Jordan’s parents for dinner Tuesday evening at Craft Grill & I enjoyed one of the best meals I had ever eaten there! Craft Grill is one of our favorite places to go eat & I haven’t had a bad meal there yet. I decided to try something different and ordered their Avocado Toast Appetizer, which had long slices of sourdough toast covered with an avocado spread and Cotija cheese + at the bottom of the bowl was a mixture of black beans, grilled sweet corn, Pico de Gallo, mayo, lime juice, and cilantro to add to the toast. This meal was so flavorful & refreshing. I also enjoyed their wine special of a bottle of Proverb Cabernet Sauvignon for a whopping $10!
This Wednesday morning started off somewhat slow. We stayed out pretty late at dinner the night before and I woke up feeling exhausted & for some reason I was craving fast food. Instead of giving into the temptation of Sonic or Whataburger, I decided to make a homemade pizza. I used a personal sized pre-made crust with olive oil, garlic salt, a little bit of Alfredo sauce, and mozzarella cheese. It definitely wasn’t a nutrient dense option for breakfast, but it was much better than getting something fried from a nearby fast food chain, so I’m proud of myself for that!
I’ve been spending this afternoon getting some tasks done while trying to soak up some sunshine, which has been so nice! I’m really hoping we don’t get hit hard this weekend by the Tropical Storm brewing in the gulf, so we can enjoy the pool throughout this upcoming weekend as well.
I hope each of you enjoyed today’s recap & have a great rest of your week/weekend. I’ll be back to write again very soon!
XOXO, Paige.
Paige Muse 