Holy Sweet & Crunchy Guacamole! And How Busy Mama does Gourmet Leftovers

Today was kind of a lazy day, as many Sundays are!  My husband took Eli & Sophie to church and I stayed home with Addy & Chris since Addy was not feeling well.  She has a slight fever, headache, and stuffy nose....  So after he left with 2 of the kiddos, I laid Chris down for a nap and got my workout in for the day!  Here was my workout:

Treadmill

Min	Incline	Speed
0-1	0	3.0
1-2	1	3.5
2-3	1	4.0
3-7	1	5.0
7-10	1	5.5
10-15	1	5.8
15-20	2	6.0
20-23	1	6.0
23-26	2	6.5
26-31 (COOL DOWN)	0	4.5

Then, I hopped off the treadmill, and did:

• 10 real push ups
• 20 leg lifts (ab workout)
• Pilates Hundred
• 1 minute plank
• 10 real push ups
• 5 minutes stretching

For lunch was the Mediterranean salad I put together yesterday and it was AWESOME!

I combined the juice of 2 lemon wedges and 1 tsp olive oil to make the dressing...and put 1 tsp chia seeds and some sunflower kernels on top!

So this is how it ended up.  Seriously delicious!  And I still have about 3 servings left for next week!

I put together an AMAZING snack today too, in preparation for our vegetarian diet, starting tomorrow.  I made sweet and crunchy guacamole.  If you know me, you know my complete OBSESSION with guacamole.  And it is a pretty healthy snack, as long as you don't add a ton of cheese, sour cream, and salt!  Here are pics and the recipe:

Sweet And Crunchy Guacamole (adapted from clean eating mag)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/4 cup raw unsalted chopped pecans (1 oz) (or any raw nuts you have on hand would really be fine:  cashews, walnuts, etc)
• 2 avocados, halved, pitted and peeled
• 6 oz nonfat plain Greek yogurt
• 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 2 tbsp dried unsweetened cranberries
• 1/2 cup peeled, pitted and finely diced mango
• 2 tbsp dry-roasted unsalted sunflower kernels (you could also use pumpkin seeds)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Heat a small skillet (nonstick or not) on medium-low. Add pecans and toast, shaking pan occasionally, until lightly browned, about 7 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine avocados and yogurt and mash with a potato masher or fork until nearly smooth. 
3.  Stir in lime juice, cilantro and salt.
4. Add cranberries and pecans to avocado mixture and stir to combine. Stir in mango and sunflower kernels. Place plastic wrap directly over surface and refrigerate until needed, for up to 3 or 4 days. 

I ate so much after I made it that I wasn't hungry for dinner....oops!  That's a rookie mistake.  But, just because I wasn't hungry didn't mean that the 5 other members of my family weren't hungry!  Tonight was a pre-planned left-over night.  We needed to get rid of all the meat dishes in the house before we start lent tomorrow.  Leftover night shouldn't be boring or gross, it should be looked forward to!  I personally love leftover night because it makes my job SO much easier.  I am a busy mama after all!  Here are a couple of the ways I make leftover night more exciting and NO, I don't just stick everything in the microwave....

Gourmet Leftovers for the Fit n Busy Family

• Put your leftovers in a glass container so it will be ready to stick in the oven.  No transferring containers & unnecessary dish washing!  I put the meatloaf in at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.
• Add extra sauce to refresh the creaminess

These were the mashed potatoes from last night.  I added about 1/4 c organic light soy milk to them before heating to make them extra creamy. 

And here's the meatloaf I added 1/2 c of my homemade spaghetti sauce on top with a little sprinkle of parmesan cheese and stuck it back in the oven for about 8 minutes. 

• Have veggies on hand to steam or roast if you don't have any veggies left over.  Have extra squash, zucchini, broccoli, or green beans on hand just for adding to dishes or making fresh side dishes for leftover night!

I happened to have 2 packages of broccolini on hand, so I added them to my little steamer tray in a big soup pot and steamed for about 10 minutes with a little sea salt and fresh cracked pepper!

• Reheat using your oven, toaster oven, or stove top instead of your microwave as much as possible.  

I read an article many years ago about how the microwave decreases the nutrients in your food.  I'm not sure if this is true or not, but if there's any chance, I would much rather cook in the oven or stove top!  PLUS, food just doesn't taste as good in the microwave....it totally changes the consistency of the food. 
I heated up the leftover chicken soup on the stove top for Addy since she wasn't feeling great.  Over medium heat, it heated through in like 5 minutes!  With it, I toasted some whole wheat bread and put a little Earth Balance butter on it. 

And voila!

 Dinner is served.  Please don't throw your leftovers out!  They can be delicious if you put just a little effort into it. 

Thanks for reading!!!