Friday Recipe Find - Sweet Potato Falafel

Happy Friday!!!!!! 

This week has felt quite busy!  I'm trying to make positive things happen in my life which sometimes takes a lot of leg work, I'm really hoping it's worth it!

I've got a basic idea for my goal board that I talked briefly about here and hopefully will have it assembled this weekend, I can't wait to share it with you.

In my world busy tends to mean: tired and achy, on the verge of a cold, and close to tears at all times.  Luckily I have an excellent team (whom I pay with love) to keep me from going over the edge.  My family and my friends are so great to talk to and text with and always have excellent advice, my hippy remedies such as the warming socks treatment tend to keep any sickness at bay if I catch it early enough, and my wonderful husband offers unconditional support and keeps the house running when I feel like it's too much and I can't keep up.

Cody made sure to take me for a walk a couple of times this week and literally a full blown headache was eliminated so simply!  He also followed along with the meal plan I had on the fridge and I was lucky enough to come home to a couple of prepared dinners!  I found a recipe for Sweet Potato Falafel on 101cookbooks.com and thought it sounded like a must try, and let me tell you IT IS.  Really super delicious, and tastes even better when a loved one makes it for you :). 

We topped them with some garlicky hummus and dug in!  Hope you enjoy!!!
 

Chicken, Sweet Potato Falafel, and Hummus!

XO - Michelle

Snack Attack

It has been one month since our wedding!!!  In a way it feels like it was yesterday, and in a way it feels like it was SO long ago!  Weird how that happens.  I'm really happy to have Cody home for this occasion, and assume we will celebrate with our (my) favorite staples... chicken, sweet potatoes, veg, and a tv show...  We certainly act like we've been married longer than one month!  I wish I had more wedding pics to show but they're still being edited, hopefully soon I'll have more to share!!

Sometimes my snack supply dwindles, and if I'm not in the mood I have a hard time replenishing it.  Last week was one of those weeks and since I didn't feel like going to the store I figured I would just find an option at home.

A ton of people that I know just add protein powder to almond milk and keep it in a shaker bottle for their snack.  I thought this sounded like a plan since I did have those items on hand so decided to bring it for my afternoon snack on Friday.  Can I just say YUCK!?!  I choked down about 3/4 of the mixture before calling it quits.  Umm no thank you.

Maybe it's because I use a plant based protein powder?  Or is this an acquired taste?  I have decided that I require a banana blended in with my almond milk and protein powder at all times.  No banana, no dice.

Luckily I had an emergency unsweetened blueberry delight Fruitsations in my lunch bag to help stave off my afternoon hunger.

Because the almond milk + protein powder incident has left me feeling a bit daunted by the prospect of ever tasting something like that again (exaggeration) I will be doing some bulk snack prep over the next little while to stock our pantry and fridge with wholesome goodness that's ready to go.

On my snack list so far:

Sunflower Seed Butter to dip apples in

Bananas to add to protein smoothies

Maple Cinnamon Almonds

Maple Coconut Granola to have with almond yogurt

XO - Michelle

A Moment of Reflection

I love Fridays for a multitude of reasons, one of them being that we get the East Kootenay Advertiser and I love to peruse it.  I look through the flyers and make lists according to where has the best sale on what, read what kind of local activities are going on in the foreseeable future, and shop for jobs.  No matter if I'm happy or unhappy in a job (the former as of late), it's something I feel I must do.

Imagine my surprise when I looked to see my old Fort Mac company advertising that they are hiring - they were always hiring - BUT right here in the Kootenays!  I certainly would have appreciated that job ad three or four years ago, it would have saved me a trip to Nisku (which I would never take back, so many laughs with my friends Marshall & Heather!)!

Since seeing it in the paper, I've been thinking about Fort McMurray and camp and all the pros and cons of being there.  The good outweighs the bad by a gazillion, as the chance to go work away led me to Cody, to figuring out who I am, and ultimately to a more confident me.  There were downsides too, like being away from home, missing out on important events, and feeling alone.  I think the thing I miss the most is feeling such a sense of accomplishment for meeting the first big goal I ever set my mind to.  I felt so proud of the fact that I got myself up there, attained ALL of my goals (financial, weight loss, happiness), had an important job, and was in control.  My job was created at the start of my employment, my files were set up how I wanted them to be, and people (for the most part) showed some respect for my position in the company.  I took pride in my work because it reflected on me and I cared.

Coming home was a really important thing to do also and was 100% the right decision, but it's taken me a while to realize that this past year has been me trying to recover from my crazy northern adventure.  Instead of taking time when I got home to assess how I was feeling and what I wanted to do next, I jumped into a full time job that is full of stress, frustration, and feeling like I'm coming up short.  Then came moving into our own house, so exciting, but a little removed from right where my family and friends live.  Would I have more company if we lived closer?  I created another dilemma for myself by choosing a place that puts me in a half way spot.  And then the wedding!  So much stress and busyness, followed by so much fun on the day and so much relief afterwards that we pulled it off. 

I guess my point is that this year has been crazy.  My fitness goals have been close to met, then far from met, then close to met again, and now are a little far away for my comfort. 

I feel like everything is hinging on the end of this month.  It's get your sh*t together time for my life.  I have all the ingredients for a well rounded and happy life and I'm not going to let anything get in my way of the positivity I've been chasing for what feels like forever.  My goal is to have a plan of action in place by the end of this week, with the action starting for October 1.  Great things are about to happen and I'll be damned if I'm not ready for them!  BRING ON THE GOAL SETTING!  BRING ON THE POSITIVITY!  I'm going shopping for some poster paper.

XO - Michelle

Friday Recipe Find - Sweet & Spicy Sweet Potato Chips

HAPPY FRIDAY!!  I'm so excited that the weekend is almost here and am trying to figure out what kind of healthy treat to get or make myself for this evening to celebrate!!!  I saw a post about Luna & Larry's Organic Coconut Bliss on Artificial Offenders and feel like I need to find out if these are sold anywhere around Cranbrook or Kimberley...

I am a huge sweet potato fan.  Yum yum yum.  My first try at sweet potato chips came from He and She Eat Clean.  I've since used many a recipe from this site, all with excellent results.

Sweet potato chips needed to be a spot light on Friday Recipe Find, so please click here for this delicious recipe.  After I got comfortable with the idea of sweet potato chips, I started playing around with spices and now mix and match different flavours depending on my craving that day.  They are an almost daily staple in my meal plans!!

Hope you enjoy!!!

Let's Get Physical

Have you ever checked out Fire Daughter Clothing on etsy.com?  Samya has these amazing tanks and shirts with awesome phrases, the Let's Get Physical tank is on my wishlist big time, I'm just waiting for a new colour to come out since my "sweat me free" tank is the same blue.  This clothing is amazingly comfortable and fits really well, great for a workout OR for just wearing every single day!  Must.  Have.  More.

Source

Source

I started the James Wilson Body Earned program on Monday alongside my best pal Danielle.  I am opting to follow more of a "Michelle recommended plan" by doing the program probably 3 days a week as opposed to the 4 and then 5 days per week that most people in the group do.  I won't complete his 12 week program in the outlined 12 weeks, but I feel that this plan will be more conducive to my overall goal of completing the whole program without burning out halfway through.

My heart has not been in weight lifting or circuit training since the spring, but I really want it to be.  In an effort to get back to enjoying this aspect of fitness, my plan is to do James Wilson's program Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, while doing outdoor activities such as biking, walking, hiking, running, or kayaking on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Saturdays and Sundays will be my choice, I can add in an extra James Wilson, get outside, or take a rest day. 


After about a month and a half of little to no workouts, the term "Let's Get Physical" finally goes with my week so far and it feels just great to be back in the game.  As I said above, Monday I did Week 1 Day 1 of James Wilson's Body Earned program.  Tuesday Cody and I debated between kayaking and biking, and ultimately chose to go biking.

Rails to Trails - Source

We left from our house and took the rail trail to Kimberley.  It was a gradual uphill the whole way which we both complained about quite a bit; we haven't been on our bikes much lately and had instant sore butts to prove it.  My friend Sarah gave us a gift certificate to Pedal and Tap as a wedding present so we decided to head there for a late dinner.  We sat out on the patio so we could keep an eye on our beloved bikes and had a delicious dinner!  The Rails to Trails burger seemed fitting so that's what I chose, with no goat cheese; and the Camburger for Cody.  We both really enjoyed our choices, plus the awesome atmosphere that Pedal and Tap is known for.  With the increasingly fall-like weather it was definitely a chilly night to sit out on the patio and I wish I had thought to bring a sweater!  Our ride back was really quick with only one uphill section to get home.  A lovely evening!

I hope to stick with the plan I outlined above and see how my week unfolds and how easy/hard/enjoyable it is to make time for this new activity regime.  I would prefer to keep my activity happenings going on in the evenings as it's been increasingly harder and now pretty much impossible for me to wake up at 5 am to swing weights around.  It is close to hibernation season after all....

XO - Michelle

Back In Action & Friday Recipe Find - Trail Mix Energy Bars

Well...  I think it's been almost a month since I posted anything!!

I had a really amazing August!  Our wedding was everything I hoped it would be!!!  Most important, we loved every minute of it and got to let all the stress go and have fun.  Second most important, we got rave reviews from all of our friends and family.  It was truly a great day!!!  Rather than explain the ins and outs of the day I will just share a few pictures.  We're still waiting to see most of them but our photographer Meagan from Unbridled Images shared a few teasers.

rustic decor for the win!!

our fave pic so far

ski hill weddings are awesome!!

Following the wedding the sheer impact of being busy set in.  We were beat and did a lot of sleeping, relaxing, and nothing.  A month of eating a lot of restaurant food has come back to haunt me...  I feel puffy, tired, and uninspired.  Heehee, rhyme.

All of that will be changing very soon because the wonderful James Wilson has just posted a new 12 week challenge for his Body Earned program.  I am excited to follow through this time!!!  I'm going to make this program work with my lifestyle, and will have more on that next week.

Good to be back in the blogosphere ;)

A Friday Recipe Find...  I really want to get back to sharing recipes that I've found and loved, and also introduce you to some of my fave blogs!

Trail Mix Energy Bars from Healthful Pursuit are our spotlight for today.  I was incorporating these bars into my meal plan every second week before my hiatus from health because I love them oh so much!  I already have them planned for next week, and I'm betting you'll want to too!

XO - Michelle