Zucchini "Pasta" With Ground Turkey Sauce!

Craving a pasta dinner, but don't want to have the heaviness of noodles? 

Try my zucchini "pasta"!

First I took about 4 or 5 zucchini and shredded them with a veggie peeler:

After they were all peeled I threw them all in a heated pan with olive oil and red pepper flakes:

Stir occasionally:

As the zucchini was cooking, I started up some ground turkey:

As the turkey was cooking I added some broccoli, which would soon be part of the sauce:

Once the turkey and broccoli start cooking up I added some sauce (bought it at Trader Joes):

After everything was all cooked up I topped the zucchini "noodles" with the ground turkey sauce:

Delish! All the satisfaction of a pasta dish, but more veggies packed in! 

This dish was still filling, but without the bogged down feeling of a ton of pasta! 

You can mix it up with any type of sauce, or do it vegetarian style!

Full Body Workout: Only Dumbbells Required!

Here's a full-body workout that will get the blood pumping in minimal time!

Only equipment needed is a single set of dumbbells! I used a set of 10lbs, but use what ever you have and what you can use comfortably. 

Here are 4 moves, complete each one 10 times, rest, and repeat 2-3 more times.

1) Plank to Dead-lift:

Start in a full plank position with one dumbbell in each hand.

Hop both feet up towards hands and pop hips out, dead-lifting the weights to hip height:

2) Full Sit-up with Triceps Extension:

Start completely down, with feet flat on the ground. 

Go into a full sit up and add a triceps extension with both arms behind your head:

3) Weighted Squats:

With feet about hip width apart, hips go back, be sure knees do not exceed the toes.

Keep weights at your side, then push body weight through heels while ascending.

4) 1 Arm Dumbbell Swing:

Using just 1 dumbbell, swing arm back between legs, popping hips out, swing arm up over head:

Mid air, switch arms and alternate swings.

10x each, rest, repeat 2-3 times!

Long Weekend Away and Staying Active!

This past weekend, my step brother Joe got married to his long time girl, Jessie. It all took place in a rural part of Vermont at Blueberry Hill Inn.

When I say rural, I mean rural, we camped for the wedding weekend!

It was fun to have a mini camping compound with my fam :) 

The hard part about traveling for any amount of time is staying on track with food and exercise! For this trip, camping was helpful because we got to be active in the outdoors. There were tons of activities to do which kept people entertained and burning calories!

The food on the other hand, was a little harder to control! But it is always fun to live a little during wedding season!

Here's what I got after during our few days at Blueberry Hill:

Friday night was the rehearsal dinner and I had tons of fun dominating on the badminton court!

That's right, I got down in my dress! I hadn't played badminton since probably high school, but it was super fun, and good cardio! 

Saturday morning, the day of the wedding, some of my family and I took about a 2 hour hike:

There were tons of trails all around Blueberry Hill and great sights to see:

The day was beautiful and the fresh morning air was great!

After hiking, a big group of us played a few rounds of volleyball up until it was time to get ready for the ceremony! ( I'm bummed I didn't get any pics of volley time!) But, we had a blast and got some more great cardio!

The wedding was fantastic, and of course we danced, a lot!

On Sunday it was time to head back to Boston!

I was able to squeeze in a three mile run along with a mini bench work out by the ship yard in Charlestown:

And of course, fresh, boiled lobstah for dinnah! 

A good lobster is hard to come by in Cali ( at least I haven't had a fabulous one yet) so I try to make it a point to get a delish lobster dinner when I'm back on the east coast! So yummy! 

All in all, it can be difficult to stay on a healthy track while traveling, vacationing, or just wedding season alone! So, my point is to try and sneak in activities when/where you can so that you are able to enjoy yourself and indulge a little! 

What's your trick to staying on track while traveling?

 

Spice It Up With Salsa!

I love a yummy, chunky, somewhat spicy, tomato salsa!

Salsas are obviously great for dipping chips, and topping nachos, but here's what I've been topping lately: 

1st cook up a couple eggs:

After flipping I added a slice of 2% Provolone to melt a little, and then of course salsa!

I like to add the salsa while everything is still cooking so that it can get warmed up and not cool down the entire meal.

Lastly, once the eggs a plated I add some avo:

I love this breakfast! It's simple, yet super satisfying! 

Other things that I love adding salsa to are salads:

The salsa can totally take the place of dressing and add great flavor! Or if you are like me, you can add diced jalapeños for even more of a kick!

Using salsa as a topper helps you get rid of the pesky bottom of the jar salsa, left over from that chips and salsa at the BBQ you had. Also, it's a perfect way to sneak in more veggies and add some spice!

What do you put salsa on?!

New Developments for Fit Foodie!

Needless to say, this summer has been crazy busy for me (hence the lack of postings)!

But I have GREAT news! All summer I have been reading and studying and quizzing and testing my way through the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) to become a Certified Personal Trainer. Today, I took the final exam and passed! I'm so pumped on this and excited for what I can continue to do in the fitness world! 

Also, I received an AMAZING gift from my dear, dear friend Jess:

That's right! I am finally the proud owner of a legit Crock Pot! I am so excited and can't wait to use it! I promise to share all (good) recipes with you! 

I am relieved to not have to watch the stove anymore for my yummy turkey chili! 

I just wanted to give a quick check-in before going out for a celebratory dinner with my main squeeze. 

Do you have a crock pot? What's your favorite thing to make with it?!