Well we're back!! We have been on vacation for 8 days and we got back late last night. It feels so good to be home! We had an AWESOME time in St Louis and Branson. While we were on vacation, we really tried to make healthy choices as much as possible. Now don't get me wrong, eating out and having treats is all part of vacation! When we did eat out, we all drank water (NO SODA!) and the kids shared 2 kids meals, for portion control. If the restaurants had a salad available, that is what I ordered. And we stayed on the vegetarian Lent diet (except for some fish my husband ate).
On our 2nd day at Silver Dollar City, I packed us a big cooler full of grapes, apples, organic PB & agave sandwiches (on whole wheat bread), cheese sticks, and some pretzels. Instead of ordering the fried lunch foods, we had a pretty healthy lunch!
The whole time we were on vacation, I did not exercise one time. Although I didn't really plan on working out, it was pretty hard not getting my daily exercise in. I didn't gain any weight on vacation but I feel like I have an extra layer of flab from not working out. However, my left bicep is sore from carrying Chris on my hip for 2 days straight. For me, diet is 80% of the equation when it comes to losing or maintaining weight. But, that 20% keeps me toned and I am a better mood overall when I get my daily workout in. Even though I didn't work out, we were SUPER active. We spent a full day at the zoo walking around
2 days at Solver Dollar City
(Between the 3 families, we had 10 kids total. I think I ran about 10 miles between the 2 days, chasing the babies around.)
A day at the park
Went up in the STL arch
My husband is just like me and loves to be active, get out and explore while we're on vacation. We are rarely sedentary.
So you know one of the first things I did this morning (other than starting the 10 loads of laundry I had...)? I got my workout in! I did a Nike Training app workout. Under the intermediate level, I did "wipeout", a 30 minute high intensity cardio interval workout. It included a warm up, squat jumps, plank, lunges, dead lift with rows, burpees, and much more. It was a GREAT workout. And I was glad to get my workout in early so I didn't have to worry about it the rest of the day.
In addition to my workout, I also had a very busy day on my feet. I went to Wal-Mart and got some fruits, bread, milk, cereal, and enough food for a couple meals to get me through until Wednesday. So, when I got home, I whipped up some hummus.
Cut up some fruits
And ate lunch!
In my salad today went organic celery, mini cucumbers, organic grape tomatoes, broccoli, organic spinach, organic romaine, organic carrots, organic black beans, and half an avocado chopped up. My dressing today was 1 T olive oil with 2 T balsamic vinegar, and some fresh cracked pepper. I was so happy to eat my big veggie salad again for lunch!
After lunch, I took the kiddos over to the park across the street and we played for a long time. The weather was PERFECTION today and we really enjoyed the outdoors!
It felt great getting back on our healthy routine. The kiddos ate a healthy lunch with tons of fruits and dinner was AWESOME: baked ziti with whole wheat french bread. Here is the recipe:
Deceptively Delicious Baked Ziti
14 oz whole wheat ziti pasta
2 c organic spaghetti sauce
1/2 carrot puree (steamed carrots, processed in food processor)
1 c part skim, non-rBGH ricotta cheese
1/2 c cauliflower puree (steamed cauliflower, processed in food processor)
2 large egg whites
1 c organic part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 cloves minced garlic
1/4 t pepper
1/4 grated organic parmesan
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cook pasta a few minutes less than recommended on packaging so that it will still be firm when baked. Drain & set aside.
Pour spaghetti sauce in medium bowl, add carrot puree & mix until well combined.
In another medium bowl, combine ricotta, cauliflower puree, egg whites, 1/2 c mozzarella, garlic, & pepper.
Spread half the spaghetti sauce on the bottom of the baking pan. Then add a layer with half the pasta. Spoon the ricotta mixture on top and cover with the rest of the pasta. Top it off with the remaining sauce. Then sprinkle with the parmesan and remaining mozzarella.
Bake for 30 minutes, until the cheese starts to brown and the filling is hot.
I served this with whole wheat french bread with some Earth Balance butter and sprinkled with garlic salt.
Yum!!! The kids ate it up. Sophia kept saying "this is good!" and Chris had 2 servings! And, I had a ton leftover so I put it in my glass tupperware to heat up in the oven tomorrow for dinner. Tomorrow, I'm also going to serve it with an organic caesar salad. I had full intentions on putting together a salad with it tonight, but I got so busy and didn't have time when dinner time rolled around.
So today I got all the laundry done, made a trip to walmart, cleaned the house, and unpacked our suitcases. It was a very eventful day and I'm exhausted. Thanks for reading!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment