Casey, Ashley, Chase & Jimmy

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Wellness Wednesday: No-Bake Protein Energy Bites

As you know, I am all about the easy healthy recipes. This one definitely fits that category. I have made many variations of these "Energy Balls". Here is a simple recipe that is easy to follow. You can add or omit ingredients like dried cranberries, white chocolate chips, yogurt chips, chia seeds, whole flax seeds, sesame seeds (good--I tried this once). Basically any kind of chopped nut or small nut (sunflower seeds). You can also make them with a little bit of protein powder (but don't put too much in because they won't stick together). 
Here you go!

Ingredients:
 -1/2 cup peanut butter (creamy or chunky)
-1/2 cup of honey 
-1 cup of oats
-1/2 cup sliced almonds
-1/3 cup of ground flax seed
-1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
-1/2 cup shredded coconut or coconut chips
- you can add a little bit of cinnamon or vanilla if you want

Directions:
-Mix wet ingredients together (I heat up a little in the microwave so they mix better-30 sec)
-add all the other ingredients and mix really well
-make dough into 1.5 inch balls
-Place on cookie sheet with wax paper
-Let sit in fridge for 30 minutes
-They last up to 1 week in the fridge in a ziploc bag!

Enjoy!!!




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Thursday, November 21, 2013

Lately...

For some reason we always seem to be so busy over here. This week we have just been getting ready for Thanksgiving and our trip with my family. There is a lot that goes into packing for a baby :( Here are some pictures of what we have been up to lately….

 I signed up for and package at Xtend Barre and I love it!! My goal is to go 3-4 times a week. It is such a good workout. I have totally notice my legs getting so much stronger. My sisters do it with me which makes it more fun. 

 It snowed last Saturday. It's officially winter :(

 We went up to Sugar House last weekend for lunch at THE Habit (a California favorite). THey have the best malts! and teriyaki pineapple burger mmm…


 my shopping buddy :)

 I've been trying to go on the treadmill on the days that I don't do Barre.

 I did this bootcamp contest with my friend Shallan called the Fittest Pair and we won most improved!!! I was pretty proud of us. I seriously did not think we would win. It was lots of fun!

 Not a fan of the grass. This is how far he would get then just started crying cause he didn't want to touch the grass to get back to the blanket haha. 

 Utah knows how to do sunsets. 

I saw this movie and it was so so good!!!! Love Actually and Notting Hill are my favorites so I guess I was bound to like this one. 

 Getting bundled up for the cold weather !

Iced Coconut Crio Bru w/ Almond Milk! My favorite. 

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Monday, November 18, 2013

Another Video! Chase 5-8 months old

I have kind of been into making home videos lately. I've decided they are way better than just having pictures. We got a GoPro HERO3: Black Edition a couple of months ago and I love it! It's so easy to use and just film everyday moments with Chase. This movie is just a bunch of videos I've filmed over the last couple of months of Chase. We are going to Costa Rica next week so I am pretty excited to get a bunch of footage and work on another movie project! 




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Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Wellness Wednesday: My Favorite Healthy (for the most part) Grocery Store Picks!

These are a few of my staples that I get at the grocery store weekly. They are mostly all healthy. Some of them might surprise you!



1. Light and Fit Greek Yogurt-Vanilla
I absolutely love this yogurt! It is so so hard to find greek yogurt without a ton of sugar unless you get plain (GROSS). This only has 7grams. I try to eat things with less than 10 grams per serving. We use this in our parfaits with cut strawberries/bananas and granola. And it's greek so you get the extra protein too!
2. Angie's Kettle Corn in individual packs
 From Target. You may think that this is not healthy BUT popcorn is a whole grain! and kettle corn is sometimes better than butter because it doesn't have the fat. Plus it has fiber-2 grams! and only 8 grams of sugar- 140 calories. A great snack!
3. Morning Star Veggie Corn Dogs
 Ok so I am not a vegetarian but I sometimes love stuff like this! I love kid food-including corn dogs. And this one is guilt free cause it doesn't have all the weird bad stuff in it that actual hot dogs have. And they are only 150 calories. I will eat these before I run my errands and don't have time to eat a full lunch.
4. Horizon Omega-3 Chocolate Milk
 so so good! I wake up STARVING in the morning. I contribute this to breastfeeding. But I have to feed Chase and make Casey lunch/breakfast so in the meantime I will take a few sips of this to hold me off until my breakfast. I also love to have a few chugs after a really good workout (it's a great recovery drink: good ratio carbs to proteins). Plus it has Omega-3s which are awesome for your baby if you are breastfeeding/pregnant. Anytime you can buy something fortified with calcium, vitamin D, Omega-3s--do it! (think OJ, eggs, milk)
5. Taylor Farms Salad Kits
I have found these at Sprouts and Target. They are the perfect lunch for me. I just add cut up lunch meat and avocado to this one. My other favorite one is the BBQ Salad and Southwestern. They come with dressing, almonds, cheese, etc. 
6. Acai Smoothie Packs
I have only found these at Sprouts Market. If you have ever had Acai bowls this is the secret ingredient. Casey and put one of these in our morning smoothies with banana, soy milk, frozen berries and protein powder. Then we put granola on top- so good!
7. High Fiber Oatmeal
I love oatmeal for breakfast. This stuff as so much fiber in it which makes it extra good for you. If you need to be more regular then this is for you! It also makes you feel fuller longer. I like mine with cut up strawberries or raspberries and a little bit of coffee creamer poured on top. 
8. Kind Almond and Coconut Granola Bar
The best granola bar ever created!! This has no added sugars. It is all natural. If you are a fan of almonds or coconuts you will fall in love with this bar. 

That's it! I hope you find these things as yummy as I do:)


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Monday, November 11, 2013

Remember that one time we went to Costa Rica in January 2012...

This Thanksgiving we have the opportunity to go to Costa Rica with my family! We leave in 2 weeks to California then we fly out with everyone to Costa Rica for the week. I am a little terrified to take Chase. Especially since one of the flights is a red eye :( But I think he will have a lot of fun and love the beach as much as we do. 
 Casey and I actually went to the same place in Costa Rica two years ago---TAMARINDO.  I have all this video footage and I finally decided to make a movie with it! It got me so excited about going this year! We did not have the best luck with waves so hopefully it will be better with my family--or the boys will be especially bummed.
 Sometimes I wish that it was colder during Thanksgiving so I could appreciate escaping Utah to warmer climates. I still kind of take it for granted this time of year. But there is nothing like the beach, warm sun and sand between your toes during the holidays!
 Let's just say we are pretty excited about this trip!




Here is the MOVIE!



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Friday, November 8, 2013

Oh Taylor...

The CMAs were a couple of days ago and I kind of forgot they were on so I just ended up fast-forwarding through and watching all the music performances (The best part anyways). My favorite by far was this performance by Taylor Swift with Alison Krauss, Vince Gill, Sam Bush and Edgar Meger of her song Red. I loved it! 
Sorry it's not the best quality :(



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Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Lately...

With Halloween and fall activities we have been pretty busy lately. I worked last Friday and I work tomorrow! ahhhh but then I have a good 2 week break. I started doing this 3-week long bootcamp and this is my last week. It's so hard to workout with a baby! I either have to go early in the morning 6 or 7 am class or the 530pm when Casey comes home. I never thought I would like the early ones but I kind of prefer to get it over with. You feel so much better the rest of the day. Plus I can take a nap when Chase naps. I'm really enjoying it though! Haven't lost any weight but I am feeling good! 

A couple other things we've been up to:

-And we took Chase to his first BYU basketball game. Casey got us season tickets so we will be going to lots more games. I like basketball 10x more than football (inside, warm, shorter games, seats with backs...). 

-Celebrated my sister Becca's 24th birthday with a breakfast at Communal!

-Chase can sit up in the grocery cart now! and he absolutely loves it

-I've been continuing cooking healthy dinners (salmon, veggies)

-I finally took Chase's 7 month pictures- I just need to last till he is 12 months so I can put them all together!















I could kiss those lips all day

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Sunday, November 3, 2013

Baby's First Halloween!

This year was Chase's first Halloween! He was a doctor, I was a nurse and Casey was a patient. We were going for easy costumes this year. We kind of celebrated two days in a row. First we had a trunk-or-treat at Riverside Country Club with Casey's family followed by dinner together. Then on Halloween Chase and I met Casey at work for his trick-or-treat in the office. Every year each department has a theme and they deck it out for everyone's kids to come by and trick-or-treat. Chase got lots of candy! After that we went to our friends the Haslers in Lehi for some pizza. It was a very successful Halloween to say the least! I'm pretty sure Chase enjoyed himself :)
















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