Recipe: Salmon Patties

Afternoon!

I’ve been super busy so far this week, so I haven’t gotten around to recapping the weekend, but it was definitely a good one! Here are just a few things that happened:

1. I went on a 5 mile run while Chad walked the buddies on the trails.
2. I made blueberry pancakes!
3. Went to see my future sister-in-law perform as Eponine in Les Mis. She was fabulous!
4. We put a shirt on Pierre just because it was hilarious.

This week, I’ve been getting up early to make sure I finish my workout/run before having cheer practice with my squad. Then I go into work for a little while to get some stuff done. Afternoons are usually used for doing housework and soaking up the rest of summer break before I go back to work full time in a week and a half!

I have a crazy, simple, easy, and delicious recipe for you today! Last Thursday I made salmon patties for the first time, and they turned out awesome, so I thought I’d share!

Salmon Patties

Serves 2
Ingredients:
– Two 4oz cans of pink salmon
– 2 eggs
– 1/4 cup of Panko crumbs
– 1 tsp garlic powder
– salt and pepper to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and form into four patties. Cook in a medium skillet for 5 minutes on each side. Enjoy!

We’ve been having our annual revival at church this week, and it’s been amazing! Tonight is our last night(I’m singing a special), so if you’re in the area come join us at Tuscumbia First United Methodist!

Happy Tuesday!!

Five Things Friday and I NEED YOUR HELP!

I’ve been doing some thinking. I’m not really into the whole “blog about every meal and workout every single day” thing anymore. I feel like it just makes the blog boring and predictable. Oh look here’s my workout. Oh look here’s my breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Bye. This is exactly why I love doing Five Things Friday posts. It gives me a chance to show you my meals and workouts all in one post, that way you don’t have to read the same thing every day.

But this brings up another dilemma. What do I write about all the other days of the week? This is where I need your help! I’m not really sure how many people actually read my blog, and I know people who do read don’t normally comment (which is totally fine with me, that’s not what I care about). But just this once, I would love for those of you who read regularly,to give me an idea of what you like to read about. Recipes? New workouts? Running related topics? Weight-loss? Eating disorder/binge eating issues? Any other random thing? LET ME KNOW. I want my blog to something interesting that people want to read.

Okay, now on to Five Things Friday

Five Things I Ate This Week

1. I made the weirdest breakfast creation ever on Wednesday morning. 3/4 cup of egg whites in a skillet mixed with cinnamon(A LOT) and truvia. Then I added some strawberries and blueberries and let it cook until I could flip it. The flipping didn’t work that time, so it ended up looking like an omelet. Next time ill know to wait a lot longer. It was actually really good. I added a little almond butter on top as well.

2. This morning I combined my two favorite breakfasts into one. An egg white scramble with spinach and laughing cow cheese, plus a tiny cup of oatmeal (that exploded in the microwave) with blueberries.

3. Monday night we made taco salads. Mine was HUGE. Seriously, as big as my head!

4. Tuesday night I tried a recipe I found on Pinterest. Chipotle-glazed chicken and sweet potatoes. So good! Recipe is here!

5. Last night I tried making salmon patties for the first time. They had a little trouble staying together at first, but once I cooked them in the skillet, they were perfect! I’ll have the recipe up soon! Roasted Brussels sprouts on the side.

Five Workouts from the Week

1. NROLFA Workout A on Monday
2. Easy 3 mile run on Tuesday
3. NROLFA Workout B on Wednesday
4. Interval run on Thursday
5. NROLFA Workout A this morning

We’re almost done with Phase 1 of the workout program. We might start taking some progress pictures to see if there’s a difference. I’ll post them if we do!

Five Random Things from the Week

1. I’ve been getting everything ready for the upcoming school year. My favorite thing so far has been working on my teacher binder that organizes my schedule and lesson plans.

2. I may not have talked about this here on the blog, but for the last few weeks I’ve been counting calories. (gasp!) Yeah. It may be a little surprising since I went on and on about how I loved not counting when I did The Challenge, but I have my own personal reasons for why I’m doing this(pants are tight, not comfortable with myself, etc). I have a goal in mind, and I’m hoping that combining the New Rules of Lifting program and calorie counting for a little while will get me to that goal. But, I’m definitely being careful not to slip back into the “restriction zone.”

3. I was finally able to announce this week that I’m going to be coaching junior varsity cheerleading this year!! I’m super exciting because I cheered all throughout middle school and high school, so getting to coach cheerleading at my alma mater is going to be such a fun experience! We had our first official practice yesterday, and I can already tell it’s going to be a fun year.

4. I tried riding the new law mower for the first time. If you follow me on Vine, then you’ve already seen it. If you don’t follow me on Vine, do it! Grace Kennington

5. My life was boring this week, so I don’t have a #5.

Not too much going on this weekend, so it should be pretty relaxing.

Happy Friday! 🙂

The Weekend

Mornin’ and happy Monday! How was your weekend? Ours was pretty great!

Friday night we went to see a girl from our youth group in the musical Camp Rock. It was super cute and a fun little date night for me and Chad. 🙂 Before we went out though, I fixed Chad’s favorite meal… Reubens!

Saturday morning I ran my first trail race! I really loved running on the trail, but running the last 1/2 mile straight up a mountain was not as fun. 😉

Saturday afternoon we went my family reunion at The Marriott, and then ended the night at Casa eating chips, salsa, and fajitas… my favorite! 🙂

Sunday morning included church and Sunday school, then Sunday lunch at my parents’ house, and finally the annual Water War with our youth group! We had a 150 ft. slip n’ slide! 🙂

That slip n’ slide did some serious damage to us. haha! Chad was actually so sore that he skipped the gym this morning. But I made sure to take pictures to send to him and let him know I missed him. 😉

For breakfast I made an egg white scramble with spinach and cheese. I also had a piece of toast with honey and cinnamon.

This morning I did a huge grocery haul, which was not fun, then came home to do some laundry, dishes, and other chores. After lunch, I’ll be heading over to school to do some work in my classroom. Only three weeks until I’m back to work! As sad as I am to see summer break coming to an end, I’m just as excited to get back in the classroom and see my kiddos again! 🙂

I’m thinking it’s time to figure out something for lunch now. Have a great day!

Five Things Friday

Five Things I Ate This Week

Breakfast has either been egg scrambles w/ a side of fruit, or oatmeal w/ peanut butter. As for lunch, I usually switch out the main dish between spicy spaghetti(squash) w/ chicken and tuna w/ avocado and sriracha. A veggie and fruit on the side always! And for dinner last night, I baked sweet and spicy tilapia with roasted Brussels sprouts.

Five Workouts From The Week

Two runs this week… One HIIT style and the other just a steady pace. Then, Chad and I did three workouts from the NROLFA program.

Five Random Things From The Week

1. Chad bought me a present for no reason at all. 🙂
2. I actually worked out 6 times this week. I forgot about going back to the gym Wednesday afternoon for some easy cardio.
3. Pierre is ridiculous.
4. I love planning out my days for the upcoming school year!
5. Chad got a new(used) toy yesterday, and it doesn’t work. lol Just needs a new battery.

Five Things I’m Doing This Weekend

1. A night at the theatahhh. One of our youthies is in the musical Camp Rock at the community theater, and we’re going to see her tonight! Go Megan!
2. My first trail race!!! Tomorrow at 6:30 am I’ll be doing my first ever trail race, let alone my first ever trail RUN in general. Since it’s my first time, I’m just doing it for fun and not worrying about time. From what I’ve heard, this is a really tough course, but I’m excited!
3. Family reunion! Yes I actually look forward to these. I love catching up with aunts, uncles, cousins, 2nd cousins, that guy that no one really knows, etc. 😉
4. Our annual “Water War.” Hours of slip n’ slides, water gun/balloon fights, and food. Sounds good right? Every year we do this with our youth, and they always seem to love it. I know I do!
5. Mexican food WILL be happening sometime this weekend. Mark my words!

Happy Friday everyone! Go do something fun! 🙂

The Dentist and Breaded Ranch Chicken

Those two things totally sound like they go together…….. Anyway.

Yesterday I was super busy running errands and crossing things off my list. Around 10:30, I went to my dentist’s office to turn in a form and decided to ask about scheduling an appointment. I’ve been very very bad and haven’t seen a dentist in 5 years. I missed an appointment one time and never rescheduled. So I knew it was time to be an adult and get a check-up and cleaning…. and Chad forced me to do it. 😉 So the receptionist asked if I could stay for an 11:00 appointment because there had been a cancelation. I didn’t expect an appointment so soon, but I went with it. Of course I ended up needing a filling. That’s what I get for going 5 years without a dentist. Oh well, I go back this afternoon for the torture, then I’m free for another 6 months! 🙂

After my dental appointment, I came home to fix lunch. It looks gross, but I mixed a can of tuna with avocado, black beans, and sriracha. Plus I had some cucumber and strawberries on the side.

After lunch I did some shopping for school supplies and bought a new workout top and shorts from Target. (Like I needed them)

Dinner ended up being a half win and half fail. I burned the broccoli (still ate it though!), but the chicken turned out delicious!

Healthy Breaded Ranch Chicken
Serves 2

Ingredients:

-Two 4 oz chicken breasts
-1 egg
-1/4 cup Panko crumbs
-2 tbs grated Parmesan cheese
-1 tsp garlic salt or garlic powder
-1/2 a packet of Ranch dressing mix

Combine Panko crumbs, Parmesan, dressing mix, and garlic salt in a bowl. Dip the chicken in the egg and coat with breaking mixture. Spray a medium heated skillet with cooking spray and cook chicken about 5 minutes on each side.

Let me know how it turns out for you! 🙂

**********
This morning, I got up around 5:30 for some coffee before heading out for a track workout. I ran to the track for my warm-up, stretched, then completed the workout. The run back home was my cool down.

After a shower, I had the usual oatmeal for breakfast.

I’m hoping to spend the morning tackling more things on my lists from yesterday before I have to go back to the dentist after lunch. Wahhh 😦 I know I’m a big baby.

Happy Tuesday! 🙂

I Had A Dream About Zombies

I’ve obviously seen too many movies because I dreamed about zombies all last night. It was horrifying. Me and Chad have always said that we wouldn’t be surprised if the whole zombie thing actually happened. All I’m saying is look up Zechariah 14:12-13. 😉

So this weekend was pretty good. Saturday Chad was away, so I took the buddies with me to my grandad’s to swim and visit with family. I also ate about a gallon of fresh picked blueberries while visiting.

I was on my own for dinner as well, so like I normally do when I’m alone, I threw some random things in a skillet and baked a sweet potato.

That bowl had chicken, Brussels sprouts, onions, mushrooms, and spinach.

Sunday was the typical “funday” it always is! Morning church, lunch at Mom’s, couch sitting/Netflix watching, evening church, and dinner at Fiesta(chicken fajitas always).

**********
This morning, after trying to recover from my horrible zombie dreams, I grabbed some coffee and then went to the gym with Chad. We did Workout B from phase 1 of the “New Rules of Lifting for Abs” program. This workout included core work (lots of planks) and strength (single-leg dead lifts, shoulder presses, overhead squats, and lat pull-downs). It was so fun that Chad decided to take a selfie at the gym.

He might kill me for that 😉

I cooked eggs for him and made myself an omelet as well.

After he left for work, I started working on some to-do lists. There are quite a few things I need to get done over the next four weeks before I go back to work for the school year, and making lists is my favorite way to make sure I get everything done. Just writing everything down makes me feel a little more “in control.” I’ve also been working on planning out my days for the fall semester. I need to be a little more organized with my time during the school year so that I don’t get overwhelmed. That’s what I’ve been doing this morning. Making list after list after list…. And I already feel much better!

Well, I’m off to tackle some things on today’s list. Happy Monday! 🙂

Seven [plus 4] on Saturday

Hello!

This week has been pretty easy going and, if I’m being honest, boring. Hence the reason I haven’t written anything since Tuesday. But since it’s the end of the week, here’s a look at some things that have been going on the last few days….. in list form!

1. Tuesday night we went to see Despicable Me 2, and it was hilarious. I’m obsessed with the minions.

2. This week Chad and I started using a new workout program called “New Rules of Lifting for Abs.” I tried it a little over a year ago and stopped a few weeks in, but having Chad doing the workouts with me makes it so much better. Lets hope we stick with it!

3. You all know about my obsession with avocado, and it’s still in full force. I put it on my eggs the other morning.

4. Thursday morning we had to drive to Birmingham early in the morning for Chad’s doctors appointment. So, I had to wait until the afternoon to run which meant running on the treadmill or dying in the heat and humidity. So………

5. Friday morning Chad had the crazy idea to go out for breakfast. We went to a diner downtown called The City Restaurant. We used to go all the time when I was little, but I hadn’t been in so long. Healthy options were pretty limited, so I ordered two eggs and a bowl of oatmeal.

6. Later in the afternoon on Friday, we took the buddies on a walk to the park. Pierre especially loves the park because of all the ducks. They’re everywhere!

7. I actually cooked dinner on a Friday night instead of going out to eat. #proud I made spaghetti with turkey meatballs. Spaghetti squash noodles for me and regular noodles for Chad.

8. This morning I woke up around 5:45, had some coffee, and then got ready to go out for a run on the TVA trails. I chose the hilly path because it has the best views, but was kind of regretting it every time I came to a hill. At least the scenery made it worth the pain! 🙂

9. I still can’t get enough oatmeal for breakfast. Post-run breakfast of choice was overnight oats made with 1/2 cup of oats, 1/2 cup almond milk, 1 tbs pumpkin, truvia, a LOT of cinnamon, and a big spoonful of peanut butter.

10. Chad is gone today on a youth paintball trip. I was originally going with them, but paintball is just not my thing, so I gave up my spot to let another kid go. I was definitely not too upset about the decision. 😉

11. It’s time for lunch over here, so I’m gonna go figure out what I want to have with my avocado. 😉

Happy Saturday!!

Doing Nothing

 

Afternoon! Hope your Tuesday is going good so far. Today has been a lot less busy than yesterday. Actually, I’ve done practically nothing all day. 😉 One of the perks of being a teacher is having summers off work and getting to do what ever I want…. which includes doing nothing.

Dinner

Last night we fired up the grill for dinner. I had prepped shish kebobs earlier in the day using chicken, green and red peppers, onions, and mushrooms. We also grilled corn on the cob.

It was the perfect summer dinner and so delicious!

Workout

I went out for 3 miles this morning around 6:30, and I realized that 6:30 is still not early enough to beat the heat. It was a slow slow slowwww run, and sweat was pouring into my eyeballs. But at least I got through it!

Breakfast

Of course I showered first, but then I dug into the bowl of “overnight” oats that I had made before I left for my run.

I passed out on the couch after Chad left for work because I had a terrible headache, and I ended up sleeping for 2 1/2 hours! I felt like a big lazy slob though. haha

Lunch

I forgot to snap a picture, but I mixed a can of tuna with avocado, black beans, and sriracha. It looked sorta of like this only in a bowl.

I also had some baby carrots and strawberries a little while later.

As for the rest of the afternoon, I have no plans. Tonight after dinner, Chad and I are taking the youth group to see a movie. I’m pumped because we’re seeing Despicable Me 2! I love the minions!

That’s about all I’ve got. I’m pretty boring today. Maybe I should do something………..

Happy Tuesday! 🙂

Free At Last

I’m finally free from traveling for the summer! I’ve enjoyed all my adventures, but I’m sure glad to be staying in one place for a while. Mine and Chad’s last trip was to Gulf Shores with my aunt, uncle, and cousins. Here are some pictures for proof. 😉

It was tons of fun, and I didn’t exercise one bit. I felt a little bad, but Chad kept reminding me that it was vacation. He was right. There was no need to worry about running or working out while on vacation, even though it would have been good for me. Ehh.

I got back into the groove on Saturday and just did 3 miles.

It was about all I could handle since I haven’t been running well this summer. I did have one brief shining moment last weekend when I took first place in my age group at the Helen Keller 5 mile race.

I got lucky with that one. I felt like dying from mile 2-the finish. It’s all good though because I’m back at it this week. There are some 5ks coming up in the next few months plus I’m running another half marathon in October, so I’ve got to get my mileage back up. The October half is the same one I ran last year as my very first half marathon. I’m pumped to run it again and hopefully improve my time!

This morning Chad and I went to the gym around 5:30. We’re trying out a new routine, but I’ll talk about it more when we’ve gotten a little further in to the program.

After the gym, I made an omelet with spinach and cheese. It’s been a while since I had eggs for breakfast, so it was extra good this morning.

I was going nonstop this morning cleaning and running errands. After lunch I had some down time which is when I wrote this post that you’re reading right now. 😉

But there’s more work to be done, so I’m off to do more chores! I’m glad to be back home and back to a normal routine. Hopefully you will see more workouts, recipes, and random musings from me now that I’m home for good.

Happy Monday! 🙂