strawberry shortstuff

Hey Everyone! 

Hope you’re all having wonderful days!  It’s FRIDAY!  And I”m off until Tuesday!  3 glorious days of rest, relaxation, laundry and exercise ahead!

I thought I would pop on and share a quick and easy recipe we tested out last night. 

Southwestern Chicken Skillet

I didn’t have all of the ingredients required and really wasn’t in the mood to stop at the store so I made a few substitutions.

What You Need:

1 Tbsp. oil

4 small  boneless skinless chicken breasts (1 lb./500 g)

1-1/2 cups water

A few pictures of our trip up to Whistler B.C in September! 
What a beautiful spot!   

Click on images for larger view!

Enjoy!

P.S.  It’s SNOWING here!  Blech!

A few shots of …..

Classical Chinese Garden – Vancouver

That’s right folks – I’m ALIVE! 

I’m so sorry that I dropped off the face of the earth there for a while!  I’m sure you all got by without me. 

I initially took a break from blogging while I was on vacation, with full intentions of returning to regular blogging when I got home.  Well, I guess I sort of lost my blogivation (motivation to blog) somewhere in Vancouver because I just couldn’t get back in the swing of things. 

Instead of forcing myself to write I decided to take a break until a return to the blog world (as a writer – I have been faithfully reading) felt right. 

Well,  the time is right!  Now that it’s getting cold and dark at 4:30pm I’m more interested in being inside behind my computer!

I’m excited to refocus and reconnect with all of you! 

I hope you’ll have me back! 

Stay tuned for…

 A picture post of my vacation to beautiful B.C.

Hey everyone!

So sorry I haven’t been posting lately. I am going to try to return to my regular – if you can call it that – posting after my vacation.  Life is just too busy right now.

“See” you all soon!

Hey Everyone!

Happy Fitness Friday!

We are finally starting to see summer weather around here!

So last night the bf and I headed out to the pool!

What a refreshing workout!

It hardly feels like exercise -it’s just too much fun!

Thanks Google Images for this picture.

Note:  I’m not hardcore like this girl!

Read what Mat Luebbers at About.com has to say about this sport!

Swimming is good exercise (that’s obvious). Swimming is a lifetime sport that benefits the body and the whole person! But what is it that makes swimming good, specifically? That depends on what you are trying to accomplish.

“Swimming is a healthy activity that can be continued for a lifetime – and the health benefits swimming offers for a lifetime are worth the effort it takes to get to the pool.

Why do you swim? For the health benefits to your heart and lungs? For the chance to be with some of your friends at the pool? Because, in your case, running everyday hurts? Because you like the feeling of floating and sliding through the water? Or is it something else?If you are looking for a break from the heat of the summer, then a dip in the water is exactly what you need; swimming is a way for you to cool off. It fills a wonderful recreational need for individuals and families, from beach and pool fun to water parks.

Maybe you are a runner, training on a regular basis, and want to find an activity that keeps your heart rate up but takes some of the impact stress off of your body. Perhaps you have been doing some other form of land exercise, and now an injury prevents you from putting weight on a knee or ankle. Swimming can help you. Kicking workouts, water aerobics, pool running, or a regular swimming workout can all give you a great exercise session without the weight of your body pounding you with each move.

Regular swimming builds endurance, muscle strength and cardio-vascular fitness. It can serve as a cross-training element to your regular workouts. Before a land workout, you can use the pool for a warm-up session. Swimming with increasing effort to gradually increase your heart rate and stimulate your muscle activity is easily accomplished in the water. After a land workout, swimming a few laps can help you cool-down, move blood through your muscles to help them recover, and help you relax as you glide through the water.

Swimming does burn calories at a rate of about 3 calories a mile per pound of bodyweight. If you weigh 150 lbs. and it takes you 30 minutes to swim one mile (1,760 yards or 1,609 meters), then you will be using about 900 calories in one hour. However, many swimmers do not swim that quickly, and many cannot swim for that distance or duration.

Spending time in a group workout, whether water aerobics or a master’s swim practice, is a great social outlet. Exchanging stories, challenging each other, and sharing in the hard work make swimming with others a rewarding experience.

There are other psychological benefit to swimming, if you allow it to occur. Relax and swim with a very low effort. Let your mind wander, focusing on nothing but the rhythm of your stroke. This form of meditation can help you gain a feeling of well-being, leaving your water session refreshed and ready to go on with the rest of your day. Many swimmers find an in-direct benefit form swimming. They develop life skills such as sportsmanship, time-management, self-discipline, goal-setting, and an increased sense of self-worth through their participation in the sport. Swimmers seem to do better in school, in general terms, than non-swimmers as a group.

One thing swimming is not good for is losing a lot of weight. The on-line Merck Manual explains that swimming is not the best way to lose weight due to the cooling effects of being in the water. While you do use a lot of calories swimming, once you get out of the pool much of that calorie burning stops. Doing land based exercise like running or cycling may use about the same amount of calorie per hour as swimming, but once you stop exercising the land-based workout usually leads to continued increase in calorie use for as long as 18 hours after the workout. Why? Because when you are in the pool you don’t heat up as much as you do on land, and your body does not have to work to cool you down as much once the exercise session concludes. Swimming does exercise almost the entire body – heart, lungs, and muscles – with very little joint strain. It is great for general fitness, just not a great way to drop excess pounds.

And I didn’t mention the neat things chlorine and sun can do for the texture and color of your hair…

Swim On!”

I personally like to swim because it gets me moving while allowing my joints to recover from running.

‘ve learned my lesson from previous injury that running too much isn’t good for my body.

Plus swimming is a great way to take advantage of the short summer months!

Do you swim?  Have you seen any benefits?

What do you like about this sport?

Hey Everyone!

The newest installment of…

Word on The Street Wednesday!

Today I decided to post links to articles all about –

SOY: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly!

I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.

Soy and the Thyroid

Is This The Most Dangerous Food For Men?

Powerful Benefits of Soy

Weighing The Health Benefits of Soy: The Good News

Soy:  Super Food of Health Hype?

Happy Reading!

Hey Everyone! 

I’m back with my second installment of…

 mmmonday!

Today’s recipe comes from the Healthy Living Collection at Kraft!

I present to you …

Southwestern Stuffed Turkey Chicken Burgers

What you’ll need:

Hey everyone!

I’m making the mmmonday recipe tonight.

I’ll be posting later this evening!

In the mean time, I’ll give you a bit of a hint.

Here are some of the ingredients I will need:

- Lean Ground Turkey

- Miracle Whip

- Taco Seasoning

- Shredded Cheese

- Salsa

- Lettuce

- Tomato

Any guesses?

Hey Everyone!

I’ll be spending what remains of the weekend at the cottage!

Can’t wait!

Only 30 minutes until I break free from my desk- working Saturday is a bummer.

Anyway, I thought I would leave you with a few pictures of our

little paradise.

Enjoy!

See you all on mmmonday for another RECIPE!