Kitchen Concoctions

For the past two weeks I have been working on making my protein snacks at home to monitor the sugar content. Last week I followed a recipe off of Pinterest that was very yummy!! But oh how sweet it was from the dates. I love dates & sugar! So they where like crack to me- which means not good to keep in the house. Here is the picture from the first batch.

1 Cup almond mill

1/4 cup dates pitted & chopped

1/2 cup almond butter

2tbl honey

scoop into an ice cream scooper roll in coconut & chill

These where so good but sweet- so you have been warned!~

This is a picture of today's protein balls made with less dates & walnuts to help cut the sweetness.

 

1 cup almond mill

4 dates pitted & chopped

1/3 cup walnuts crushed

1/2 cup organic low sugar peanut butter

2tbl honey

mix & roll into balls then roll in coconut- place in air tight container in refrigerator 

These taste just as good but not near as sweet which is GREAT for me! Each little ball contain 10 grams of protein & 140 calories. Perfect little snack at night if you get the munchies before bed. I love that you can just create your own recipe toss it together & it usually tastes good.

Getting Stronger

Saturday was packed full of fun! It started for me with a 9AM walk/run workout with Bekah my good friend. I talked her into trying on a weighted vest for our hike around our trails. We both grabbed our vests, mine was 25llbs hers 20llbs and off we went. When we approached the playgrounds with the monkey bars we got to be kids again for a moment. The only problem is we aren't as light as our kids anymore. I mean seriously folks how on earth does my nine year old just glide across the monkey bars? I've been trying for months now & still feel like a piece of cement is hanging from around my waist! But I am getting somewhat stronger each time I try and that is what counts!  Let me say I tried to hang by one arm-haha I also managed 5 or 6 little pulls to work on my strength for pull-ups. I did get higher then last week- so YAY ME!!
I am not sure Bekah appreciated the playground where I made her jump up & over the tire. Bear crawl through the tunnel, run up the stairs then back down, & last but not least knees to chest on monkey bars. Now we did take off the vests for this activity- but after 5 rounds we where tired! Then we had to put the vests back on to walk the mile & a half home to my house. It was for me a great way to start my Saturday! I just love a good work out! Here are two fun photos collages of what we looked looked like to anyone passing by us at the playground-haha I am sure they thought we where a little bananas!

Busy Week (end)

We had a busy start to our weekend already. Yesterday Banyan finally got to meet up with his new trainer & Liberty the other handsome Golden in training through All American Dogs . We met up at the Yelm park where a lot of ducks come to swim in the pond. The two boys where a beautiful site to see walking around together in their service vests. They where excited to meet but soon settled into a good walking pattern that gave me a chance to talk over some goals & such with Banyan's new trainer. I am really excited she lives so close only about twenty minutes from our home . This hopefully is going to allow us a lot more opportunity to do some training during the days so we aren't so busy at night. It will also give Banyan the chance to work with another well trained pup!

Banyan also made it to the gym with me to watch me do a little cardio & relax in a much needed sauna. I have still been super busy working on my  fitness goals while the boys are at school or I have a free moment. This week  I had the chance to add a second workout in on Tuesday & Thursday evenings during my youngest son's soccer practice. A couple of the moms asked if I could come bring my workout equipment and help them get beach body ready while the boys practice. I don't claim to be an expert by any means. But having taken the ISSA course & working out like I do with my trainer for so many years I thought, why not? It will give me the chance to get a little extra in and I would just be sitting in the van reading for an hour. I love it when other moms decide to get healthy & work out! We did circuits with the weights & other fun things I was able to bring. We also jogged a really nice lap - I did it twice. It was a good start & I am sure the ladies will get faster and stronger with each passing week. It also gave me the chance to share some nutritional information along . They are eating pretty clean & healthy but there are some tweaks that could be made to drop a few of those pesky pounds.

Today we have our first soccer game of the Spring season and we are ready to go! Banyan will join me in watching the game which should be exciting for him with all the crazy distractions. A lot of kids, fast moving balls, etc. I think it's a perfect training opportunity. But before that I am off to walk the trails around my home in a new 25llbs weighted vest a friend got me. I came home & it was sitting on my front porch- ahh she knows me to well because I was super excited! It'll be perfect for helping me get ready to carry crazy heavy objects from point A to point B in my runs. I love my friends! She thinks I'm a fitness nut but hey she supports my habit!

My husband and I also got the wonderful news this week about Block Leave- you other military wives know what that means! I can see the light at the end of the long dark deployment tunnel! We actually talked & decided to take a much need 6 night 7 day vacation anywhere I wanted to go that we could afford. Let's face it with four kids there isn't a lot of options but I wasn't passing this chance up! With his everyother year deployment schedule we need the time to reconnect & remember why we love eachother. Why we choose to stay married through this crazy roller coaster ride called Army life. I called the grandparents up told them the dates we had in mind & of course my  mom said whatever you all need. YAY!! So Ommie (my mom) will fly out in July to watch my boys for a week while we jet off to Hawaii!! That's right folks finally I am going to lay on a beach somewhere with my man & no children! I did some checking and found out that the Hale Koa Hotel   that is just for active duty military now offers a special of 30% off for those soldiers who are on R&R or on Block Leave home from a deployment!! We where super excited because that fit our budget! We locked in the dates we wanted and soon will hopefully find some good cheap airline tickets. We have already made a tentative itinerary of activities that we both enjoy & want to do while in Hawaii. My goal is to have everyother day be an activity that one of us chooses that the other participates in whether they love it or not with out complaining. With all these multiple deployments I am very aware of the fact that both me & my husband have grown - changed with every deployment. My husband who was once quiet but would go out with me anywhere to enjoy a night with friends now prefers to stay home alone with his computer or the fmaily. Or he only fishes all day every day all the time. It can be hard & frustrating for me who is beyond out going & never sits still to long. I have turned into the girl who use to be outgoing but because I was forced to do it all alone for years now needs to constantly be moving & yeah well fly-fishing your just sitting in the river all day not talking much- so not my thing. We both know we need to reconnect & find things we can both enjoy doing together as a couple. That will be what Hawaii is all about.

We have a fishing day trip planned for him where I will pick a book I;ve been dying to read grab my camera & sunscreen. I will lounge on the boat in a gorgeous setting snap a picture when I need to of my man and his fish- but I will not complain! I think since I will be surrounded by clear blue waters and sky I should be good! He will go on that romantic sunset dinner cruise with me even though romance has never been his thing- but I crave it since he is gone so much. He will try to not to cringe at the luau with all the other couples surrounding him and enjoy the fact that we can talk about whatever we want with out little ears listening as well as gaze at eachother & be mushy!! Then we have snorkeling planned which we both are excited about as well as a day of hiking because we both love to hike!


 This week has been fun and one of the most challenging in my life for several reasons . I am excited about the future & ready to get this deployment over with! I hope everyone out in bloggy land is enjoying the start to Spring with some renewed hopes & dreams . Doing what you can to make them come true for you. We aren't promised a tomorrow with our family & friends. We aren't going to stay the same we are always moving forward and changing. We just have to remember as we do move forward to make sure we take our loved ones along for the ride & enjoy every moment! Have a great weekend everyone.

Sway Me Please

I have always loved Dean Martin's version of Sway.....then I was at Ambers over at Goodnight Moon to listen to her song link up of the week. The Pussycat Dolls- wow use to listen to them all the time! Great work out music for sure. So of course I jumped on my Pinterest Workout Music Board to start pinning some of my favorites when I came across SWAY by them. I had never heard them sing it or saw the video- I LOVE IT! I have already listened to it a few times now. It's my Song Link up of the week! Head on over to Goodnight Moon to see what every one else is picking & thanks Amber for pointing me in this direction.

When Sleep Won't Come

I am wide awake & it's well after midnight. If you know me you know I'm an early bird and will surely feel the lingering effects of no sleep tonight. But it's hard when things weigh on your mind to get everything turned off in our head. I just wish I could lay down like some of my friends & fall into a peaceful sleep at night especially tonight. Instead I listen to music that makes me cry because I miss my husband.....

Fitness Friday

I had Jaime my trainer twice this week. As you all know we are training for Obstacle runs & our first is the Spartan Sprint on June 16th. With that said we have been focusing on my shoulders, back, upper arm strength. This has always been my weakness- my legs are fine but not the upper body. We have been doing so many burpees I've lost count! Today I thought my arms where going to fall off with the amount of push ups & weighted burpees ,uggg. But I can finally see the difference in my muscle tone in my shoulder area & back! That makes me super excited! I also noticed that even though I feel exhausted after our sessions I bounce back much quicker. As was the case today. I felt so good even though I had already been smoked at the gym earlier. I decided I could run the loop we use by our pool in the neighborhood to get some more outdoor running accomplished. The weather has made it almost impossible to run outside. Here is the video I shot right before I ran the loop only making it 3 times. 4 times around would be a mile which is what I had hoped to accomplish. But my legs where so done after barely making it up the third loop.

Next week is going hurt I have Jaime 3 days in a ROW!! I am not sure what I was thinking when I booked those work outs- obviously she had me under some sort of spell-lol So I took the time to book a massage & a sauna to help my poor body recover. I hope all of you who are doing all the training for these crazy runs we love are having as much fun as I am! I  may whine & complain but I love seeing the results & my energy level is so much better! I am excited that Jacob my 9 year old wants to run his first 5K with me this summer. I'll fill you in on the details later. Have a great weekend everyone! Don't forget to WORK OUT!!  I decided to do a Link Up with The New Healthy  Sweat it out Saturday. Go check out some other great Blogs about their week in Fitness. You can always learn something new- so go Link up your self!