Guess I'll Give It a Try

Yesterday turned out to be such a great day. The weather was almost spring-like, up near 50 degrees and so sunny and with an extra hour of daylight to spare, so we took advantage of it by spending the whole afternoon at the Manasquan Reservoir.

I haven't been there since last spring when Riker was just a baby, and I forgot how much I love it there. The park is really big and has lots of biking and walking trails, water views and play areas as well as two nature centers for kids.

When we first arrived we did a couple miles on the trails enjoying the fresh air; Matt pulled Riker in the wagon while I jogged the trail up and back with Butters so we could both burn off some energy. We broke for lunch at one of the centers overlooking the water. Such a great view for a picnic lunch! We packed apples, nuts and his and hers salads, Matt's with grilled chicken and mine with tuna.

For as long as I can remember I've been a tuna fish-hater - it just does not appeal to me - but Matt's convinced me it's only because I haven't had the right kind, and in an effort to eat more protein, I agreed to give it a go yesterday. He had bought some Sustainable Seas pole-caught tuna, which he dressed up for me with a little olive oil, fresh lemon juice, salt, pepper, celery and hot peppers, and I have to say it really wasn't bad.

I got about 3/4 of the way through before I said I had enough, but I'll definitely try it again. The stuff is so good for you, I feel like I need to give it a chance.

A few hours of playing on the jungle gym and checking out the turtle tanks in the nature center, and it was time for the walk back. I felt like a new human after spending 5 hours outdoors. Heeeyy spring!

We were starving and ready for an early dinner when we arrived back home, and I had a quick dinner of Dijon salmon in mind.

I spread two salmon filets with stone ground mustard, then Matt grilled them over charcoal in the back yard. The smell of charcoal burning is probably one of the best scents in the world, especially after 4 months of winter. Now that the grill's been started, it's probably going to be used at least once a week from here on out.

We made the mistake of flipping the salmon to try to get a mustard "crust" going, which of course only tore the mustard right off. Oops. No worries, I just spread some more on once they came off the grill. I served the salmon with some steamed brussels sprouts and sautéed garlic spinach.

The evening ended with a nice hot whirlpool bath and some book-reading in bed. Daylight Savings got the best of me and I'm pretty sure it was lights out by 9:00. :-)

***

Today was the start of another busy work week, and it's going to be an intense one because I actually have big travel plans next week...I'm jet setting off to Germany on Sunday! I have a new client in Munich so I'll be taking a little three day trip to go meet the team. Gotta pack a whole bunch of stuff into the next 5 days before I leave Matt and Riker for half the week. And with that, I'm back at it. Have a good night!

Getting Back to Primal

I've been meaning to do this post for a week now, but last week's bronchitis led to lots of early bedtimes so the blog laid dormant for a few days. I'm finally feeling normal again this weekend, so here we go! It's time to get a little real around here.

Healthy living has always been a passion of mine and I'm usually trying to find ways to make healthy food fun, be active and live as naturally and sustainably as possible. Lately though, I feel like my mission on life has gotten away from me a bit. I've been eating a lot of dinners out, consuming more sugar, fattening foods and alcohol than I should, and resorting to pasta bowls as an easy dinner fix on many a busy weekday. I'm finding myself feeling sluggish, tired and irritable - not a fun combination. Not to mention my clothes are starting to feel a little tight and I feel full all the time, which is definitely not fun. I can blame it on any number of things - the frequent day trips, weekends away, birthday parties and showers I've had over the last few months, or the simple fact that I'm now a busy working mom with less time for workouts and more inclined to rely on quick fix meals. All those things would be true, but those things aren't changing, so last week Matt and I talked and decided we need to start making better decisions about things we can change.

Matt recently bought a book called Primal Blueprint that talks about the importance of eating the way our ancestors did. The author refers to it as "Primal living in the modern world," and a lot of it rings true to me. He talks about eating lots of sustainable protein (organic meats, fresh caught fish and limited amounts of processed protein like Gardenburgers); very few processed carbs like cereals, crackers and pastas; a high abundance of in-season, organic fruits and vegetables; and a good dose of healthy natural fats. Sounds pretty logical, right? It's the way I like to think we eat - especially after I watch films like Food, Inc. - but really it's not. At least not lately.

For the last 8 years or so, I've been a calorie counter during the week and then I go with the flow on weekends. But calorie counting is very tedious and I found myself giving up healthy foods like nuts and avocados because they didn't fit into my daily calories. I also found myself eating more processed carbs than I should - cereal, crackers, breads, pasta, rice - which, even though I buy good brands like Kashi and Ezekiel, and even if I calorie count them, are really only good in moderation. It's worked for me for the most part, but lately I've hit a plateau. I can't work out as much as I used to having such a busy schedule, and lately when I go out on weekends I've been eating whatever I want rather than opting for the healthier menu items. We all go through phases like that, but this one's been goin' a while, and with a post-motherhood body over the age of 30, I feel like I need to start paying more attention.

So it's time for a new approach. Instead of counting calories, I'm going to work on eating lots of protein, limiting my processed carbs, eating seasonal fruits and veggies and incorporating more healthy fats into my daily diet. Here's a look at what's been on the menu this past week:

- Lots of yogurt & fruit smoothies and protein shakes

- A whole lotta salads for lunch and dinner, in every form:

Chopped salad with avocado and shrimp, and avocado dressing (last night's dinner)

Roasted beet & carrot salad with tempeh "croutons" and soy nuts, found on Pinterest

Chili lime shrimp (coated with nutritional yeast) over salad with roasted veggies and homemade cilantro lime dressing

We've also been eating a lot of omelets, which I'm loving. Matt's a master omelet maker.

Garlic spinach & cheddar omelet with a pear on the side served as breakfast yesterday. And a "Mexican Omelet" cooked with cumin, yellow peppers and onions, habanero cheddar and avocado served as dinner the other night. Yum.

Friday night pizza got a makeover with mini eggplant parmesans, sans breading. These were delicious. I had three slices of eggplant, with a big side of garlicky broccoli rabe.

Spaghetti squash boats also made an appearance, which are always a hit.

And of course grilled fish with steamed veggies was eaten several times.

I thought it would be really hard for this committed Kashi-for-breakfast-every-workday girl to give up processed carbs, but the last week has gone really smoothly. And even though I was sick, I already felt like I had more energy, I felt less "full" and I didn't experience any cravings. I'm still planning to be a normal human and indulge my sweet tooth, enjoy a beer on the weekend and go out to dinner with friends - hello pizza and Guinness yesterday - but I'm going to try to make better decisions in general and really focus on buying foods for my family that are sustainable both for us and the environment. That means less quickie pasta dinners, and more fresh seafood and veggie dinners. It's nothing I haven't tried to do in the past, but I'm hoping we can be more consistent about it this time around.

Here's to a healthier spring!

P.S., If you've read Primal Blueprint, what did you think? If you're interested in checking out some tips and recipes from the author, he posts at Mark's Daily Apple.

St. Patty's Parents

Hey everybody, long time no speak! We've had a house full of sickies this week, so truth be told you haven't missed much. Riker ended up with bronchitis, pink eye and ear infections on Monday (argh daycare), so by Tuesday I had a fever and full blown bronchitis, and by Thursday Matt was weathering a sore throat as well. Thank goodness antibiotics kicked in for all of us last night and by today we were all feeling much better. Just in time for the annual Seaside St. Patty's Day parade!

Matt and I have been going to Seaside for St. Patty's Day for years, and it's always been one of my favorite days. We used to go with a big group of friends every year and party it up, but this was our first year going as parents. It was kiiiind of a different scene going with the kiddos. ;-)

It was definitely a new kind of St. Patty's, but we had a great time. Our friends Chris and Karla and their son Evan met us in Seaside around 9:30, and we enjoyed the quieter hours of the day taking a walk along the beach, checking out the progress on the new boardwalk and letting the kids play in the arcade.

It still feels so strange to not have a boardwalk to walk on, but it was so great to see new pilings all lined up for the new boards to be ready by Memorial Day. It was a gorgeous day, and I really enjoyed watching the waves crash onshore, soaking up the sunshine and hearing the sound of the surf.

We were all getting hungry by lunchtime, so took a break at Sawmill for a pizza before the parade got going. Today's my "free day" and it is St. Patty's, so I ordered a Guinness to wash down my slice.

Most of Seaside businesses are still closed from Sandy so today was a big day for the town; Sawmill's grand re-opening was today, so it was great to be part of it and there to support them.

Then it was parade time!

How cute is Riker all decked out in his hippie sweater and matching hat? My aunt knitted it for him when he was first born and Matt gets a kick out of it; he thought it was perfectly funky for Riker to sport at the parade.

Haha that picture cracks me up!

By the time the parade wrapped up the kids were well beyond tired, so we loaded up to head home. It was perfect timing actually since that's when the town started to wake up and get rowdy. ;-)

On the way home we stopped to check out Lindsay and Ryan's new digs (they bought a new house yesterday!) and started to get really excited for the warm weather coming...they have a big pool I'm definitely going to be crashing this summer. :) Matt just took off to go mountain biking and Riker's down for a nap, so I'm heading into the kitchen to play around and cook up something fun for dinner. Catch you later!