Fresh Greens!

Hello everyone! It's another late night blog from the crazy mama! So many people ask me how I come up with ideas, recipes, and stay motivated to eat healthy. I have to confess, I have a little help! A few months ago I found this site www.farmfreshtoyou.com and decided to give it a try and I love it. A few time a month I get a box on my door step full of fresh organic fruits and veggies. It's a great surprise to wake up to a little box that's packed full of in season fruits and veggies that are crazy fresh. It's the little things that make all the difference! I never know what I'm going to get and it really forces me to try new things or foods that I don't usually buy.
Now I know you don't all live in CA, but I really encourage you to do a google search for fresh produce delivery in your area. It's super fun and a great way to get excited about veggies!
It also comes with some great recipes and the nutritional highlights of produce. So here's the recipe that I got today, I can't wait to try it, it looks awesome!
Strawberry Salsa into Avocados
1 or 2 TBSP balsamic or raspberry vinegar
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 Teaspoon minced fresh jalapeno peppers
2 ripe avocados
2 Tbsp chopped roasted walnuts
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 TBSP olive oil 1/2 teaspoon honey
2 Tbsp finely minced red onion
1 pint strawberries, sliced

In a bowl, whisk together vinegar, olive oil, honey, garlic, onion, and jalapeno.
Season to taste with salt and pepper and combine the strawberries. Peel, halve and pit the avocados
Sppon some strawberry salsa in the avocado hollow and serve on lettuce garnish with walnuts

Super yummy salad dressing recipe

Hi everyone,
Gunter is still in Europe and life has been a bit nutty for me to say the least. To be honest, I'm loving spending time being mommy. I have been a cooking, cleaning, and being a full up mommy! OK truth is, I've been up till 12-1am getting work done too, but I figure I can make it on a little less sleep for a another week so I don't fall to far behind!
Although my workouts have not been structured I do have to say I'm getting my workouts in in unique ways. Today I put Jake in his Baby Ergo on my back and vacuumed, dusted, and picked up. He's only 21 lbs now, but wow, what a great workout. He was so happy and I we really had fun. When I took him off my back I couldn't believe how light I felt, I should have gone and run a few miles!!
So after I got done cleaning up, I got creative with the salad dressings and came up with a super yummy recipe for you. I thought it was a great add on to my last salad tip:)
Here it is, let me know what you think!
Strawberry-Balsamic Dressing
2/3 Cup sliced strawberries
14 Cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 shallot, chopped
2 Teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
1 1/4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup water

Blend all ingredients until smooth. I love it on spinach or arugula with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese and almond slivers

On the run!

There just doesn't seem to be enough hours in my days!!! Gunter is in Europe for the next few weeks so I've been crazy solo mama and wow am I pooped! It's always good to be left to remind me how much he does around here to hold my wacky little life together! So today I'm sharing one of my super fast and easy meal tricks with you.
This tip will really help you avoid the drive thru and the 911 pizza call when life is too crazy to cook a healthy meal. I've been doing this for years and it comes in so handy.
Many grocery stores have soup and salad bars, but instead of getting the whole salad at the bar just fill up the container with a bunch of fresh toppings. Avoid the bacon bits (ok, just a few), croutons, pasta salads and other creamy stuff and stick with the all colorful veggies, chicken, and eggs.
Then go grab a bag of spinach or other mixed greens. When you get home toss it in a big bowl and there you have it, the perfect meal. No chopping, dicing, slicing, or buying 15 different ingredients. My last salad was HUGE and cost me $10. It could have easily feed four people.
Let me know what you guys think and stay away from the drive thrus!!!
PS-How crazy cute is my little guy, Jake in this video!?!

A tip from Costa Rica!

Hello my Oxygen blogger fans! I'm just back from a fabulous trip to Costa Rica! When I say fabulous I'm excluding the travel days that were far less then fun. Getting to Costa Rica from LA is surprisingly challenging. Add an 11 month old in the mix and wow, one word, exhausting! In the long run it was well worth it.
I went to pick the brain of one of my mentors about a new and larger then life project that I'm working on. I'll tell you all about it soon. I am such a sponge for information and I'm ready to expand my wings and do the only thing I have yet to conquer in the fitness industry. (Hint: You can all come train with me there!) Sometimes I have to laugh at myself and I wonder why I can't just chill instead of conquering the world. I guess that's just not in my blood!
I was in Costa Rica for my B-day, I can't believe I'm 38. I feel like I'm 25 only a lot wiser! We also celebrated my first Mother's Day while we were there. I think I'm officially a grown up now, 38 and have a kiddo!
Here's a few pictures from my trip.
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Here i am!

Wow, has it really been a over a week since I've blogged? Do you ever have those weeks that completely overwhelm you? How about those weeks when you feel like you've bitten off so much that you need to barf? Or better yet, weeks when you just want to fly away to a remote beach and forget it all?!? Well, all of the above was my last week, actually, month! Don't get me wrong, I love everything I do and when I'm doing it I have a blast. However at the end of the days, weeks, or in this case really it's months, I realize that I am working way to much and simply must come up for air.
Really it all comes down to balance and that is something that I'm forever re calculating. Now, with being a mommy, that balance is even trickier.
At the end of the day I really just have to understand that every now and again, there is no balance and that's OK too, as long as I get the balance back before losing my mind!
I spent last week in Portland filming workout videos for a new product that I'm working on called The Journey Gym. Of course I was running around like a mad girl the day before getting all my wardrobe lined up (I'm a control freak when it comes to that stuff!) and then I actually made the workouts up the night before leaving. Ekkks, no prep time which lead to a bit of stress to say the least! Of course I stressed for nothing as it was a great shoot and I've done these a million times but yet I still get a bit nervous every time! So I filmed two days for Journey Gym (www.journeygym.com) and then a day for my online training program www.FastTrackToFatLoss.com. It was a super busy trip to say the least.
I got home just in time to go to Lara McGlashen's wedding party at the pool. To be honest, I was so tired and a bit under the weather so I wasn't feeling too social, but it felt great to be out at the pool!
Now I'm off to Costa Rica to work on another project (I'll tell you soon, it's exciting) It's just four days, but I'm excited to disappear for a bit! Gunter and Jake are coming too so we are having a mini vacation, Whhhoooo hoooo!
Here are a few pics from my adventures, I'll send some pics from Costa Rica at the end of the week:)