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By Courtney on August 14, 2013
Has anyone ever played the drinking game “Roxanne” ? My assumption is that if you’re reading this blog, you have. Well, at boot camp this week, our insane trainer (Hi Shantille!), decided to suck everything fun out of what used to be the most sure-fire way for me to get A.) A brain freeze B.) A blackout C.) A hangover, and made it into a 3 minute full body workout game. There are times in life when you realize you’ve changed, you’ve grown-up (even if it was on accident and just a tiny bit), and you’re onto another chapter. One of those times was this week, during “Roxanne.”
So, are you up for a serious challenge? Here’s how it goes: Grab The Police’s “Roxanne,” turn up your speakers and position yourself in a plank. Whenever Sting says, “Roxanne,” you do a push-up; whenever he says “Red Light,” you do a plank knee tuck. Throughout every other part of the song, you’ll be holding your plank. As you know, verse 2 and 3 are really when you either get incredibly drunk (me 6 years ago) or when you want to vomit from exhaustion (me 3 days ago). Okay, go try it now. Ryan and I will wait…
HOLY HELL, eh? But kind of awesome too, huh? Welcome to your new chapter.
Speaking of The Police, I’d like to arrest this dinner for being so damn good. This meal is so sneaky – it’s low-carb, high protein, gluten-free AND you significant other/roommate/Kramer-like neighbor will never suspect it’s healthy. What a snnnnnnneeeaakkky mom! If you’ve got 20 minutes (from start to plate), you’ve got dinner that people will high five you for.
Mexican Zucchini Skillet with Carne Asada
Mexican Zucchini Skillet:
Ingredients: Continue reading “Call The Police”
Posted in Beef Recipes, Recipes, Uncategorized, Workouts | Tagged avocado, gluten free, lemons and lunges, Low Carb, protein, steak, tomato, zucchini |
By Courtney on August 13, 2013
I’ve never met a skewer I didn’t love. They are fun to put together, you can do most of the prep work ahead of time and you can get everyone involved in the party – “Stab Monkeys! Stab!” I’m going to keep it pretty short and sweet tonight, Adam just got back from a business trip and I gotta get to catching up with him. And reminding him why he loves me. Exhibit A is below:
Sweet and Spicy Salmon Skewers
Ingredients: Continue reading “Skewer? I Just Met Her!”
Posted in Family Life, Recipes, Seafood, Side Dishes, Uncategorized | Tagged lemons, lemons and lunges, mushrooms, salmon, spicy, sweet |
By Courtney on August 12, 2013
First of all, who worked out today? I’m so happy to feel accountable to someone/thing besides myself. I thought of our workout promise when I was flipping tires in boot camp and I cursed all of you. No, but for reallllll, I hope you found that little piece of time for yourself today to get those endorphins going. Now that you started, you’re already one day closer to your goal, so go with the momentum and if you need it, here’s one of my favorite mantras: “No one ever regretted a workout.” (Except that time I threw-up on someone’s new Nike Frees…. sauj weee)
Have you ever Googled a seemingly innocent topic that brings up the most horiffic/graphic/sexual/inappropriate image results? At that very moment, I usually want to be proactive and call my HR department and let them know that I’m not a pervert or sicko. Just to be safe. Well, today, before I went to the grocery store I wanted to double check if peaches were on the “Dirty Dozen” list. If you’re not familiar – it’s a list of the top 12 produce items you should always try to buy organic, if nothing else, because they have the highest levels of pesticides used when growing.
Well, if you ever look it up, don’t be too quick to the trigger, like I was, push “Enter” on a suggested search and accidentally Google “Dirty D”. Because… there are just some things you can’t unsee.
I hope I don’t get fired for trying to look up if a peach is going to give me cancer. Let’s at least make it worth my while… can we talk organic? I’ve really been trying to be better with buying more organic produce. It’s expensive, but I at least always buy the “Dirty D”…. I mean “Dozen” (holy gross) organic and then look for sales on other items. Do you eat all organic? If you’re a halfy like me, what are your “organic priorities” at the store?
Tonight, the hug for my stomach, known as Restaurant Style Chicken Tortilla Soup was ALL organic (minus the chicken). Everything in the whole recipe organic?? I’m such a hippie! Get me my flower crown.
I used my leftovers from Friday’s Three Ingredient Shredded Chicken to put together this delectable little Chicken Tortilla Soup. The recipe below is for about half the shredded chicken I made on Friday. If you have less chicken, you can adjust accordingly. There’s no science to tonight’s meal, just adjust as you go!
Restaurant-Style Chicken Tortilla Soup
Ingredients:
Continue reading “The Dirty Dozen”
Posted in Chicken Recipes, Recipes, Uncategorized, Workouts | Tagged Chicken, dirty dozen, lemons and lunges, soup, tortilla |
By Courtney on August 11, 2013
Hope you’re having a lovely weekend. I’ll be back tomorrow with more recipes and ridiculousness. And don’t forget tomorrow’s kick-start workout challenge!
Posted in Workouts | Tagged lemons and lunges, word art |
By Courtney on August 9, 2013
Few things make me happier than an article entitled: “Deformed Miracle Puppy Defies Death… Twice and Learns to Walk”. I mean… reaaaaally? That is just too much feel good coming right at ya! So before I continue, let’s take a look at this little puppy today:
Just stop with that face. Continue reading “Feel Good Friday: Puppy Edition”
Posted in Feel Good Friday, Uncategorized | Tagged Feel Good Friday, lemons and lunges |
By Courtney on August 9, 2013
Well, that was quite a big day in American history. October 12, 1981… my birthday and coincidentally, also the day I was born with cankles. Yes, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I have cankles… always have, always will. When I was in college, I was a lot heavier than I am now. (I think it might have been brought on by the 4 AM trips to the sorority kitchen to take down three bowls of mac and cheese, or perhaps the seven nights a week of drinking that led to my mac and cheese chowdowns. Who could say for certain?) However, when I was in college, I used to call my cankles “wankles” because I’d joke they were “waist ankles”… or the same size as my waist. I thought my “wankles” were the reason I looked fat. Now looking back, I want to say, “Ummm.. hello? How about you focus on not living like a foie gras duck and stuffing every available thing into you mouth. And while your at it, get movin’ lazy bones.” My point is, it wasn’t my wankle-cankles that were making me look fat, it was my unhealthy lifestyle, and in turn my big fat ass.
Now, that I’ve slowly fooled myself into thinking exercise can be fun, I still have my cankles. But, I also have a strong fit bod (did I just write that?), and a little case of the cankles is not going to overshadow that. People notice that I can do 10 plyo push-ups or that I don’t give up on the burpees challenges. I don’t think most zone in on the canks. I think that everyone has their “sore spot”. But letting it define you, or hold you back from your true potential is such a disservice. No one will notice that one problem area if you’re fit and confident and healthy. Don’t trick yourself into thinking your cankles make you fat. It’s the soda. Naw’ Mean?
Tonight, I wanted to make an easy peasy dish, so I could kick-up my cankles and relax after boot camp’s “Thursday Thunder” session (ouch). For these kind of days, nothing beats the magical powers of the Crockpot. I tried the Pinterest favorite – Three Ingredient Mexican Shredded Chicken and it was a big success. My house smells like a mexican cantina (minus the vomit and tequila) and dinner was put together in under ten minutes. Score one for the home team!
Shredded Chicken Tacos:
Continue reading “The Day I Was Born With Cankles”
Posted in Chicken Recipes, Recipes, Uncategorized | Tagged Chicken, Crockpot, Easy, lemons and lunges |
By Courtney on August 8, 2013
… said no guy, ever. However, I’m talking about the four wheel monstrosities that crowd up the roadway and literally DRIVE YOU OFF THE ROAD when they decide that the left lane seems more happenin’. On my way to boot camp today, one of these army tanks came careening at me, forcing me to nearly make a car faceplant into the shoulder barricade. It’s at that moment when I wished I could transform my car into a Monster Truck and literally drive up and over him with the words “Hostile Territory” dramatically airbrushed on my bumper.
And here’s my question to the driver of this vehicle: Where are your friends? Ya know, the ones that should tell you that buying an army tank that you paint iridescent green and put chrome wheels on is not a cool move. Especially because those wheels will tip everyone off to the fact that you, my friend, are not going into any off-road combat situations anytime soon. But… I digress.
Onto tonight’s meal – I must say that Zucchini Boats are in major rotation ’round these parts this summer. It’s a great way to cram in all the delicious flavors that you love in a low carb boat of goodness. (And I stuff my boats like I used to stuff my bra in 7th grade…heavily). Bonus points: This recipe makes enough for leftovers for lunch all week.
Tonight’s titillating treats are the Oooey Gooey Stuffed Zucchini Boats:
Adapted from Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice
Continue reading “I Hate Hummers”
Posted in Beef Recipes, Recipes, Turkey Recipes, Uncategorized | Tagged lemons and lunges, Turkey, zucchini |
By Courtney on August 7, 2013
Well, if not… that’s fine. I know I’m THE WORST at keeping (my own) secrets. Everyone else’s secrets are safe for me, but once I have something I have to wait to share, I’m absolutely bursting at the seams. Last Christmas, I told Adam what he was getting 20 minutes after I purchased it… in September. I just can’t help myself. I want to share my news. Even for L&L, I was planning to wait until I had at least five posts before I shared this with anyone. But, here we are and I’m hoping I’m not still the only one reading, because I SWEAR that homeless man outside bootcamp seemed really interested in what I was throwing down. Or maybe it was just my nips after a sweaty workout combined with cool Southern California nights?
Anyyywaaayyyy, I’ve got a little secret to my success when it comes to getting in 4-5 workouts a week that I thought I’d share. For me, it’s starting on Monday. I know… that sounds like the biggest DUH ever, but it’s one small trick to getting me to my goals. If I start out Monday with a good sweaty bootcamp session, I’m so much more likely to not make excuses for the rest of the week. And then, best of all, if I get in five days between Mon-Fri. I have NO PROBLEM being a lazy bum or whatever I want all weekend. Has anyone else tested this theory? Let’s start next week! Try to make me (and more importantly YOURSELF) the promise that you will work-out on Monday. Then, let’s see where that takes you. Look at us, setting goals together. We’re so cute.
Tonight for dinner alllll I wanted was a burger, I loooooove burgers, but my genetics do not and if I had a traditional burger every time I wanted one, I’d be writing this blog from back of a flatbed truck on my way to Montel to discuss how I felt when then crane ripped my roof off to take me out of my house. So, I have to find a workaround and that’s when I decided on this delicious little summer treat, a Low Carb (BIG FLAVOR) Turkey Bruschetta Burger.
adapted from SkinnyTaste
(I promise I’m REALLY doing some serious research on good cameras and programs to up my photo game. But, in the meantime, I’d like to take a second to pat myself of the back for figuring out that little overlay on tonight’s dinner photo!) Continue reading “Can You Keep A Secret?”
Posted in Recipes, Turkey Recipes, Workouts | Tagged bootcamp, Challenge, lemons and lunges, Low Carb, Turkey |
By Courtney on August 6, 2013
I feel like our kitchen is a little like Epcot. Some weeks it feels like every night we go to another country. And tonight we’re heading to Japan… or Thailand. I’m a big fan of Skinny Taste and am always amazed by Gina’s ability to create healthy, delicious meals. This is one of my favorites and it makes me feel like I had a cheat day with Thai take-out, without the guilt. Let me introduce you to my little friend – Clean Eating Garlic Shrimp with Coconut Milk and Cilantro.
Continue reading “Take It Up The Nose”
Posted in Recipes, Seafood | Tagged clean eating, lemons and lunges, shrimp |
By Courtney on August 3, 2013
So, here goes nothing. I bought this URL three weeks ago and I’ve been stewing over how you start your first blog post. I’m reminded of my “Dear Diary” days; how does one begin? Hi, my name is Courtney? That’s not going to work… since I’m the only one reading at this point. So… I figured I’d share my war wounds. As I tried last night to make yet another attempt to grab something from the oven, (by reaching my entire arm in, rather than just pulling the shelf out)I AGAIN singed my forearm to the 450 degree top. Today’s lesson: I have a problem with learning lessons.
But, I’ll take a 1000 more of them. I love cooking. It’s my happy place and one of the only times of the day I think about nothing else. I devour recipes from Pinterest and Food blogs and I’ve really come to appreciate the craft that goes into so many of those blog creations. So I thought, why not jump in? My hope for all this is that it will keep me motivated to create new, delicious, healthy (and sometimes just decedent) meals.
And while I’m at it, I’d love to talk about my latest favorite fitness obsessions… barre, bootcamp, body pump or twerking. Doing those things is the other time of the day I’m totally in the moment. I still am amazed at those butts on the twerking videos. I’ll probably just stick to bootcamp… but stay tuned, ya never know.
Speaking of moments, I have the stupidest and most wonderful little family – my boyfriend Adam and our two dogs, Rondo and Gidget. Lots of funny, and most of the time embarrassing, moments happen around here and I’ll make sure to share those too. Ya know… just between us girls.
So that’s it… my first blog post. Complete!
Posted in Family Life | Tagged barre, bootcamp, first, lemons and lunges |
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