Blueberry Cobbler

I love all berries- strawberries, blueberries, raspberries!  I had a bit of a sweet tooth over the weekend and decided to make a blueberry cobbler and topped it with vanilla bean ice cream.  YUM!

Blueberry Cobbler
Preheat oven to 375 degrees

3-4 cups of fresh blueberries- I just used a big box of blueberries and did not measure.
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp lemon juice

Mix well and place in greased 2 qt casserole dish

Mix together:
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup oats
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Mix until crumbly and add 3 Tbsp softened butter or margarine.  Mix well and then use as topping- cover all blueberries.
Bake at 375 for 25 minutes or until topping is golden brown.

It wasn't enough topping for me- I will add more oats next time.  We served the cobbler with vanilla bean ice cream.. yum!

Healthy Lunches

I've been trying to plan healthy lunches to bring to work, but I am tired of eating the same old things every day.  Here are a couple new lunch ideas I tried this week:

Hummus, kalamata olives, feta cheese, and spring greens in a pita pocket.  Strawberries and pineapple.

Carrots, peppers and hummus.  Strawberries with nonfat greek yogurt.  Grilled chicken over spring greens.
I found these individual hummus packs at Sams Club- they are great to grab on the go! Over the weekend we barbecued and had left over chicken-- perfect to add to a salad for lunch during the week!  I had a bigger lunch today because i'm going to take a cycling class after work today :)

Cycling and Biking

I have taken a few cycling classes and have fallen in love with it! It is an AMAZING workout and so much FUN!!  The room is dark with some colorful lights on and loud fun music.  Indoor cycling is a great workout and always puts me in a good mood!

I am not a runner, but have always loved biking!  I like that it is low impact.  We are lucky in St. Louis because there are so many great trails to ride.

Matt and I love to bike the Katy Trail.  Biking is a great way to get exercise and spend time together. :) Last weekend we celebrated our anniversary in Herman, MO and brought our bikes along.  We rode a new section of the Katy Trail in Rhineland.  The Katy Trail is 240 miles long- so many areas to explore, lucky us!

Feels like spring!

Sunday it was sunny and 70 degrees!  It's amazing what a little warm weather and sunshine does to improve my mood.  :)  I was driving around listening to music with the sunroof down-- makes running errands a little easier. I also sat outside on the deck with a glass of wine.  Lilly and Bailey love running around outside and barking at birds and squirrels :)

Healthy Asian

Honey Sesame Chicken, Quinoa, & Edamame

Honey Sesame Chicken

Ingredients: 

1 lb chicken tenders
3 T olive oil
1 cup honey
2 T sesame seeds
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 t. salt
1 t. pepper
Place in crockpot if all fresh on low for about 6 hours and if you want to freeze it: 
Place all ingredients in freezer bag, toss to coat and freeze then place in crockpot and cook on low for 4-5 hours.
Once it's done remove chicken & shred, and then return to sauce.Can serve over hot cooked rice/ quinoa or serve as lettuce wraps..


We used Quinoa which we seasoned with Asian five spice 

The Edamame we used 

Disney World for Adults

For spring break we decided to travel to Orlando, Florida and take on Disney World as adults. We stayed at the Port Orleans French Quarter for 2 nights. The resort was great and has a boat directly to Downtown Disney! Then we stayed at a Condo only about 10-15 minutes away from the park.

Using our fast pass helped a lot and being able to check wait times on the disney app was another big help. 

Downtown Disney 

*We ate at Portobello Italian: this was delicious 

*Ghirardelli chocolate for dessert..looks like a long line but it wasn't 

*Toy store I built my own Mr. Potato head for my classroom (there are only certain parts you can get in Disney World) 

Epcot 

We ended up going our first day there and our last.

Sunday (Day 1 of Epcot): 

Fastpass uses for Soarin, Spaceship Earth, & Finding Nemo ...Soarin was a good ride and worth the fast pass all the other wait times didn't really need the fastpass. After the Nemo ride is a huge aquarium we saw manatees & dolphins put on a show. We ate at The Coral Reef restaurant we had reservations for it was alright food with a really cool atmosphere. We walked through all the worlds ate in Japan for dinner and stayed for the show Illuminations. Drinks we had bubble tea, german beer, and asian alcohol. 

Friday (Day 2 of Epcot): 

Fastpass for Fast Track & Mission Space. Fast track was a great ride and Mission space was a pretty cool simulator ride. We also did Ellen's energy adventure which was a good ride to relax since it's 40 minutes long but not very exciting. We looked at Flower & Garden show exhibits and went through the worlds for lunch/ snacks. Foods we tried pineapple soft serve with rum, candied strawberries, & rose blush lemonade. 

Must dos Epcot: Soarin, Aquarium, Fast Track, Tour the Worlds , & Illuminations 

Animal Kingdom 

Wednesday (We did this 1/2 day and started in the morning) 

We didn't use our fastpass for this park we used them for Hollywood Studios. We rode Mount Everest, Dinosaur, & went to It's a Bugs Life show. The wait for the Safari was too long so we missed out on that. We had some unique foods & beverages that were African & Asian. 

Must dos Animal Kingdom: Mount Everest & It's a Bugs Life 3D Show

Hollywood Studios 

Wednesday (1/2 day started in the afternoon) 

Fastpass use: Rock and Roller Coast, Tower of Terror, & Star Tours 

We also rode The Great Movie Ride and the best part of this day was doing the Backlot Tour and my husband Nick got to participate in the show. We stayed for the show Fantasmic which was fantastic. 

Must dos Hollywood Studios: Tower of Terror & Fantasmic 

Magic Kingdom 

Thursday 

Fastpass use: Big Thunder Mountain, The Jungle Cruise, & Space Mountain. 

We also did the Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor, People Mover, & Pirates of the Caribbean. 

We watched 3 parades morning, afternoon, & night. The afternoon parade called Fantasy parade had the most characters with the best music. The night entertainment was magical the parade, light show on the castle, and then fireworks. This park for me = Disney World. 

Must dos: Parades, Night Show, Space Mountain, Pineapple Dole Whip & Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor 

Make sure you have down time since there is a lot of walking, walk around with alcohol, enjoy the food & use the fastpass so you don't have to wait in line! 

Paleo Week Four

Another week of Paleo.  My weight loss has slowed, but I feel great!  This week I worked on experimenting with new side recipes.

Asparagus with Roasted Red Peppers and Capers

I love Leftovers Weight Watchers Cookbook

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 lb asparagus
1/2 cup thinly sliced roasted red peppers
1 Tbsp capers
1 garlic clove minced
1/8 tsp black pepper

1. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat.

2. Add 1 lb asparagus, cut into 2 inch pieces, and cook, stirring often, until crisp-tender for about 5 minutes

3. Add roasted red peppers, capers, garlic, and black pepper.  Cook stirring constantly until heated through about 1 minute

2 WW points per serving

Summer Salad

It's starting to feel like summer out there and I made a yummy healthy salad.

Lettuce
Avocado
Strawberries
Grilled chicken
Light olive oil/vinegar

The weather is beautiful with a high in the 70s this week-- i'm going to try to get outside and exercise and garden :)  I need to work on my window boxes. Can't wait to put my winter coats away for good!