21 Day Fix - Day 1

So I've kinda been slacking lately...oopsie :-/ After 2 weeks at the beach and a week in Seattle, I really needed a jump start to get back in the swing of things and put some good habits back in place before school starts (on Aug 31 ohmygoooooooooooosh make it stop).

One of my BFFs did the 21 day fix and got awesome results. I did some research on it and as I was about to make the purchase - their infomercial came on tv and I was HOOKED! My dad always said I was a marketer's dream...

So when the package came in the mail I was like ummmm those containers are really small. My mom saw them and sent me a text that said "oh my those 21 day containers are so wee small." Yup. This is going to be a fun 21 days! Real talk, they may be small but you get enough of them so its good - I had unused containers today (which may be the result of me snoozing my alarm for 3.5 hours...yes...really. It's a real issue I have - any suggestions?).

Last night I decided it would be a good idea to watch the first workout...just to make sure there were no surprises (and to see how annoying her voice was - surprisingly, its not bad. I like to think of it as a soothing Miley Cyrus voice). She tells you that if you want to modify the moves, look at Kat because she does them. Um, no thanks Autumn  - these don't look that bad, I'll be just fine! 

Haaaaaaaaa...

Fast forward to this morning when I actually start the workout. I'm like, this isn't bad at all, I'm doing just fine, and then she says "okay, we're almost done with the warm up." I'm sure my jaw dropped. I do okay for a few minutes  because Autumn keeps saying I can do anything for 60 seconds and then I'm like "NO AUTUMN I CAN'T DO THAT! Let me see what my girl Kat has going on...she can show me the way." So, obviously I survive. I wasn't sure how I was going to make it up the stairs to shower, but that was a problem that could wait a few minutes (yes, I did end up showering).

And as if that wasn't bad enough, I went momentarily crazy and asked my friend if she wanted to elliptical today. So, I did that today, too! Yikesssss! But I guess that's why it's good to tell people - they hold you accountable and encourage you! So thanks to my fitness friends :)

Tomorrow's workout is upper body fix, so I better quit typing and save my strength :-/

Summer Goals

So, I just came back from 2 blissful weeks at the beach :) It was 2 weeks of sitting on the beach with books and sunscreen! Took a few walks on the beach, but for the most part not very active. Oopsie! Buzzfeed gave me some great ideas in this article though, so I thought I'd pass them along. I usually do veggies and dip in cups at parties, but never thought to do it in mason jars for the week - I'm definitely adding those to my berry parfaits in the fridge!

I'm also setting a few other goals for the summer:
1. Set and stick to a sleep schedule. I'm thinking 11-7 for July, 10-6 for beginning of August, and 10-5 for end of August so I can get into a morning workout routine (real talk I accidentally just typed mourning...HA!) and be used to it for work
2. Sweat every day. Simple! 

I think that's it. It's doable, right? :) 

Happy summer!!!

Summer Fruit Salad

Oh my word where have I been? Whatever, this salad is so delish you'll forgive and forget my absence!!

I'm forgiven already, aren't I??

Okay so I was wandering around Wegmans, which is oh so dangerous...I usually make my list in the app and it tells me exactly where to go and I (usually) don't allow myself to get anything that's not on the list. And I usually go on Sunday. But I skipped yesterday and was just going to wing it this week, but I decided I really wanted a salad with fruit in it. So here we are! I found this gem of a dressing: 

Then I picked up my favorite berry trio - straw, blue, and rasp. They went on the bottom of the pile, atop of the dressing of course. Next I packed in the spring mix, then some goat cheese and topped it all off with some candied pecans! Simple right?

I candied the pecans myself, but you can buy them already done if ya like. I just liked controlling what went in them. Mmmmmmmm :)

Enjoyyyy!

Asian Salmon Salad

I cheated...this is probably the easiest salad in a jar ever! It was so easy that I made tomorrow's dinner because I felt like I was slacking :-/

Alright so I started with this amazing dressing (well it smells amazing, so I hope it tastes amazing):

Then here comes the part where I cheated...I used chopped salad mix! I didn't use the dressing that came with it because it had literally 15 ingredients, so that went in the trash. But I just put about half a bag of salad in each jar, topped it with super yummy salmon I made (that I swore I've posted before, but apparently not, so that will come later), and then topped with the wonton noodles and almonds that came in the kit! So yummy!

Cleaned up Comfort Food

So here is the recipe I use for meatloaf. And I say the recipe I use instead of my recipe because it is in no way, shape, or form my recipe. My now sister-in-law brought over a meatloaf last year (possibly the year before) and we were pretty darn impressed! We asked her what her recipe was and she let us in on her secret - it was the first recipe that popped up when she Googled easy meatloaf recipe. So, I cleaned it up as best as I could and made it tonight. Mmmmmm

Meatloaf:
1.5 pounds organic ground beef (or turkey if you like)
1 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
1 cup organic milk
1 organic egg
1 chopped onion

Glaze:
2 T organic brown sugar
2 T organic mustard
1/3 c. organic ketchup

Mix together all the meatloaf ingredients - I use my hands. You can be a baby if you want and use a spoon or something silly. Then put it in a greased meatloaf pan. Mix together the ingredients for the glaze (I do use a fork for this part) and then spread evenly on top of meatloaf. Bake at 350 for an hour. Sooooooo good! 

When I have my act together I usually serve it with mashed cauliflower, but today I was feeling super lazy and bought microwave mashed potatoes - I like Simply Potatoes, I find they are the cleanest of the microwave variety. And my veggie of choice is green beans. Those I just spray with a little oil, minced garlic, and pepper and throw in the oven about 25ish minutes before the meatloaf is done.

Literally...

I cleaned up today...literally! For a few reasons: 

1. My room was pretty atrocious. Not, like dirty, but super messy. I have a really nice pottery barn dresser and for the past few weeks (okay 2 months...3 tops), I've been storing my clean clothes on the floor in front of it...

2. I still had my flannel duvet cover and sheets on my bed. With a high of 80 tomorrow...I definitely do not need to be sleeping in flannel. 

3. I read this Buzzfeed article and thought, man I want to accomplish all the things so I need to make my bed, too. But, due to the aforementioned piles of clean clothes on my floor, there was only a path to get in my bed...not get all the way around it to make it. 

4. When I have clutter around, I'm not as likely to workout. But fear not, I cleaned up and laid out work clothes AND workout clothes for the week! Yayyyy! 

The only problem is that took all day and no lunches were packed for the week...looks like it will be sandwiches for the win!

I also really like nail polish...have I mentioned this?

Pasta Salad with Tuna!

Oh my gosh where have I been?? 

Ireland...that's where! I went to Ireland over spring break with my mom and sister and it was so much fun! I obviously had to kiss the Blarney stone so I could continue the gift of gab to keep up with you good people! You're welcome! I also got to see Michael Flatley in his new show Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games. It was amazing. It made my life! (Just in case you're judging, please know that I was a competitive Irish dancer growing up. If you still feel the need to judge, go ahead. Juuuuuuust as long as you have your all your facts). 

And then after I got back, I was busy planning a surprise 60th birthday party for my cute mom! 

Cake is clean...right?

So, now to this week's recipe! It was inspired by the food I made for my mom's party. I was actually planning to use the leftovers from the party but as it turns out, there weren't any and I had to make more. But that's okay! Here we go:

I used my favorite Weggies organic pasta. Call my crazy, but I think the shapes make it taste better! So I cooked the pasta and then rinsed it with cold water. Then I added tuna, 2 chopped bell peppers, olives, feta cheese, and a few squirts of Caesar dressing (I would say 2-3 TBSP if you made me give a measurement). Just mix it all up and you're ready to go!

I've been eating it at lunch this week at school (obviously...duh Kathryn) and my kiddos keep saying how good it looks!

The Fit Decision

I am SO EXCITED about this post!! Read on to find out more about 2 of my very best friends over at The Fit Decision and their awesome journey :) You may remember that my conversation with Katie is the famous conversation that started it all. No? You don't remember? You weren't one of the 2 people that read that post? Read it here now! Okay, without further ado...

The Fit Decision – Powered by Juice Plus+

Katie and Christine Manley – two sisters working to inspire healthy living with whole food nutrition

Hi All!  

We are super honored that Kathryn asked us to do a guest blog post. We’ve known Kathryn our whole lives, and we’re practically family.  So it’s pretty cool to have this mutual interest and cheer each other on!

My sister, Katie, and I wanted to create a platform to help people implement simple changes to improve their health. Becoming healthy is something that can make a substantial difference for someone, in his or her overall happiness, so we want to support that mission in as many ways as we can!  And while trying our best to help other people, we are learning so much and helping ourselves too, which has been a lot of fun.

Our vision for our company, The Fit Decision, is to be a resource for people who want to live a healthy, abundant life.  Our initial focus is to provide people with simple changes to start implementing today. Kathryn is the perfect example.  She started making some simple, but significant, changes in her diet and it has grown so quickly from there.  Now she is out motivating other people with her lifestyle, recipes and inspiration.  It’s pretty awesome how impactful that inspiration can be!

A little bit about us:
Katie has been studying to become a health coach since last spring. She has been determined to start her own business since the moment she decided to make this career change. I currently have a career in marketing and community relations, so I have always told her I will be her go-to marketing and social media guru when starting her business. Meanwhile, we were both introduced to The Juice Plus+ Company, and began taking their flagship product, Juice Plus – powdered fruits and veggies in a capsule – early on last year.  Over the last several months, we’ve both seen a noticeable improvement in our immune systems and energy levels, and Katie has had a significant decline in her migraines.  So we knew we were onto something great with this company.

In the beginning of this year, we decided to join forces – we combined Katie’s nutrition education, my marketing experience and both of our love for Juice Plus – and The Fit Decision was born.

The Fit Decision and Juice Plus+:
At The Fit Decision, we incorporate whole food nutrition through the Juice Plus products.  Powdered fruits and vegetables in a capsule is really as simple as it sounds. It provides thousands of phytonutrients to our bodies from over 30 fruits, veggies and grains. I tend to eat healthy foods most of the time, but I still often don’t get anywhere near the servings or variety of fruits and veggies I need. The more I shared this with people, the more I realized many others have that same problem.  So Juice Plus+ helps bridge the gap between what I DO eat and what I SHOULD eat.

There are two things that really struck us about Juice Plus: it’s not a supplement – it’s a whole food product with a food label. The benefits are also backed by over 30 clinical research studies. The results of these studies are so impressive: improving heart health, protecting DNA, reducing oxidative stress, easing systemic inflammation, and supporting healthy skin, gums and immune system. 

The best way to decrease your risk of disease is to eat healthy.  We work with people to help them figure out just how to do that, and incorporating Juice Plus to get started is a great insurance policy for getting those micronutrients. 

As for macronutrients, Juice Plus also offers the Complete Protein line of protein powders and bars. This protein is 100% plant-based, organic, non-gmo and gluten-free. It’s a great source of protein and fiber and it keeps you full, so it’s a good meal substitute or snack – and it tastes GREAT! Katie and I use it to make smoothies every morning for breakfast. Check out our Instagram for some smoothie ideas :) 

We’re really excited to be encouraging a healthy movement in today’s world. Check us out at www.thefitdecision.com to learn more! 

We are also always looking to grow our team, so if you’re interested in getting involved, please reach out at info@thefitdecision.com!

Caprese Salad

I clearly got into the warm weather today. When I think Caprese salad, I think of tomatoes fresh off the vine and basil fresh from the herb garden. I don't have either of those right now, so I had to make do with these:

I did have to Goldilocks the mason jars. I thought one was going to be perfect, but I forgot when you add in the mozzarella, it was going to take up more space...oops. The next one would have been perfect, but the mouth wasn't wide enough to fit the tomato slices. The one I ended up using has a little extra room on the sides, but whatever, it'll do!

So I cored and sliced the tomatoes, bought pre-sliced mozzarella (don't judge - it was on sale), and chopped the basil. I use a glaze from Harris Teeter, which is totally delicious. Then I just layered them in the jar and BOOM! 

Cute right??

And there were no blueberries or raspberries at the store - how crazy is that? So I had to vary my berry parfait. But, please don't worry - I used blackberries and strawberries, so it is still a berry parfait.

Yum!

Prepping my meals for the week saves me so much time, energy, money AND calories. I highly recommend doing it. People ask me if I get sick of eating the same thing every day, and I really don't because every other meal I have varies that week. Give it a try!!

Tasty Turkey Chili

So I don't mean to brag, but I make really good chili. And I've decided to share it with Y-O-U! You're welcome ;)

As always, I have to start with my dream team. I want to start making my own sausage, so if you have any good sausage seasoning recipes, send them my way! Until then, its turkey sausage from the package :-/ The beer is up for debate. Usually, I use whatever we have on tap (yes on tap...my brother brews). But today we had 1 bottle of Guinness blonde. Just 1. And it was bothering me that it was in the fridge. So I used it. I'm feeling muuuuuuch better now!

First step - cut the sausage out of the casing (if you're lazy like me and don't make your own) and brown it on medium heat. 

Next up, add in the onion and garlic. Make sure you scrape up the good stuff on the bottom. Let that cook for a few minutes until the onion gets soft and you can start to smell the garlic. Then add in your beer of choice. 

Bring that to a simmer, add your cumin and chili powder and stir. Then you can add in everything else - beans, crushed tomatoes and tomato paste. I'd let it simmer for at least 20 minutes on low heat (covered). Then serve it on its own, over rice/quinoa/spaghetti (yea, I thought it was weird too but apparently its a thing). I bet it would be good over spiraled veggies too!

You can easily double and triple batches and it freezes really well. 

Chopped Chickpea Salad

I am pretty excited about this week's lunches! I had a request to do something vegetarian - that's right, I take requests AND someone requested something. Pretty cool, eh? I mean, it was my cousin but I'm still putting a check in the cool column. Thanks Rach!

So, I don't really have a recipe, but I can tell you what I put in this jar! It all starts with my friend Annie:

 ^Seriously one of the best salad dressings I've ever tasted. But I can only find it at Wegmans. I've looked for it at Target, Giant, Safeway, Harris Teeter...but Weggies never lets me down. I made 5 salads, so after the dressing, the layers go like this in each jar:

1/2 cup chickpeas

1/8 cup dried cranberries

1.5 chopped peppers divided

1 chopped cucumber divided

2 oz goat cheese

Go crazy and swap out whatever you don't like with something you do! Some sort of nut would probably have been nice. Or maybe some sunflower seeds???? That could have been fun. Next time!

Pure Barre: Intimidating or Inspiring?

So, I bought a 1-month unlimited class package to the pure barre studio near my house back in August. I was super intimidated to go, because I'm overweight and out of shape. I'm super weird like that...I didn't like going to gyms either. Which is dumb. Luckily I got over myself and went. It was so hard. No, I don't want to say hard. It was challenging. And I was so sore the next day! But, after attending a few classes, the month was up and school started and I was starting graduate school and it was expensive and *insert any excuse you can think of here.*

Since I've started blogging publicly, I've loved the accountability that comes with it. I may not have a huge following, but knowing that I do have people that read what I say and try my recipes helps me stay motivated. 

Because of this, I stopped making excuses and started making time. On my birthday, I bought myself a 1-month pass of pure barre classes and I'm so happy I did. I was still intimidated going to class, but I realized that was my problem. When I went to the studio, I was going to work on myself, and that's what everyone else is there to do as well. Today, I decided to be inspired by the women in class. Through all the shaking and last 10 and last change in the set, I chose to be inspired by the women next to me. They, too are working on improving. Does it really matter that they are at a different place than I am? 

I chose to not be embarrassed by the fact that I need to take breaks. I took less breaks today than I did last class (and only took 1 during seat) and I'll take less breaks on Saturday than I did today. 

That's the thing about fitness. It's a choice. I'm choosing to change the way I've done things in the past because they didn't make me happy. Sweating during a workout makes me happy. Making a meal with whole, fresh ingredients makes me happy. Seeing tiny changes in my body makes me happy. Having my clothes fit a little better (and ordering jeans a size down!) makes me happy. And wearing these super cute socks make me happy. 

Adorable right? Pick some up here!

Who would have thought these little things would make such a big difference??

Shredded Chicken Tacos

It's my birthday and I'll cook if I want to [eat]...

So my 27th birthday was this past Thursday (yikes...late twenties). We had invited some friends and family over and I knew I didn't want to order pizza, but I also knew I didn't want to cook when I got home from work (yes, it was the only day I worked all week, but still...). So, I decided to pre-make dinner! Yayyyyy I'm so smart.

All I had to do was throw this in the crock pot to heat up!

So to start this party off, you have to throw your favorite taco seasoning on your chicken. I've turned into quite a snob in regards to taco seasoning (YES ONLY TACO SEASONING). I was on the hunt for a clean taco seasoning and stumbled onto this recipe from Pinterest. It's so super easy and you probably have everything in your spice cabinet already. I just make a huge batch and once and store it in a mason jar.

So, once you have your taco seasoning, go ahead and season your chicken. Then bake it in the oven at 425 for 25-30ish minutes.

Once it's done, throw your cooked chicken in the stand mixer to shred it. Once its cooled, put it in a freezer bag and then layer a jar of salsa, a can of black beans, and a can of corn.

This is the dream team I use

At that point, you can either freeze it for a lazy night when you don't feel like cooking, or put it in the fridge for the next few days. When you're ready, throw it in the crockpot on low until its heated through (if you froze it, make sure its thawed overnight). Then throw it on your favorite taco shells with your favorite taco toppings!

Lettuce and pico for me!

This is so easy to make in huge batches, too! I made 3 pounds of chicken in this batch. Just make sure you're using 1 each of salsa, black beans, and corn for every pound of meat you're using!

Banana Pancakes :)

So, I've seen these recipes for 2 ingredient banana pancakes all over clean eating/fitness blogs and instas that I follow. And I was like yea right...no way that is legit. But, I had some bananas that were about to go bad (this is the second week in a row that's happened...maybe I should go on a banana buying hiatus?), so I decided to test them out!

All I did was mash two bananas and then beat in an egg. Aaaaaaaand here's what happened :-/

Not the best...

But I didn't want to add flour, because the whole point was to have these be as clean as possible. So I added in about 1/2 tsp of baking powder (and when I say about 1/2 tsp, I literally have no idea because I was just going to sprinkle a little in...but I hit it too hard and added more than I meant to. Oops). So this is after adding the baking powder:

Getting there, but I thought we could do better...

So, I decided to turn the heat down to low and make them as thin as possible:

Yay! Finally they look like normal pancakes!

In total, I got 6 pancakes out of that "batter." I think if I had made them this thin from the beginning I would have had 8-10. Also, if you don't like banana, don't make these. Because they taste like banana. Just want to be clear about that part :)

I added some delicious Justin's Maple Almond Butter!

Curry Chicken Salad with Avocado

I have a paper due at 7 p.m. so what better time to write a blog post than right this second?! I will do almost anything to avoid writing papers...I mean it...after this I'll probably go clean the snow off my car. After doing laundry, and then the dishes. Yikes!

Okay, so curry chicken salad! So good (well if you like curry it's so good. If you're not a curry fan, don't put curry in, silly)!

I didn't split it into individual servings in the hope that we are out of school all week..a girl can dream!

First you have to bake your chicken. You know I like to spray mine with a little cooking spray and then with onion, garlic, cumin, and pepper. I bake at 425 for 30ish minutes. Then, while they're still warm, throw the chicken breasts in your stand mixer to shred! My super smart friend Amanda showed me that trick and it has saved my life. Thanks :-*

Okay so after you've shredded your chicken, throw your avocado in there and it kind of melts into the chicken which will help hold everything together in a chicken salad-y way (and no mayo, which is a huge plus). Mix in the curry powder.

Not the cutest pic, but since avocados are pricey and not always ripe, I buy a bunch from Costco, wait for them to ripen, then quarter them and keep them in the freezer until I need them!

After that, fold in your favorite chicken salad enhancers (fold is my fancy way of telling you not to use the mixer anymore. Don't want to squish the grapes). I enjoy celery and grapes. Sometimes I'll throw almonds in there, but I was not in an almond mood today. Other suggestions: raisins, bell peppers, tomatoes, onions. Go crazy - today is your day! 

I know I've mentioned it before, but the OXO Good Grips Grape Cutter is my best friend! Get one now!!!

I even got all fancy and wrote up a recipe! Thanks Microsoft Word templates!

Test it out! Let me know if you make any changes: kathryncleansup@gmail.com or @kathryncleansup on Instagram!

Southwestern Pork Taco Salad

Woohooooo! It's that time of the week again...meal prep day!!! This week, I did an amazing taco salad in a jar (well, technically I don't know if its amazing because I haven't tried it yet). But, look how pretty:

Okay, so I started with cooking the pork in the oven. I rinsed them off, sprinkled cumin and onion powder, then added Wegmans Organic Barbecue Sauce. Even if you don't do the organic thing, I highly recommend their BBQ sauce. It is ahhhhmazing.

I always line the pan with foil - super easy cleanup!

While the pork was cooking, I chopped these delicious veggies:

Then all I had to do was layer everything! I used salsa and lime juice instead of dressing which I'm hoping is a great decision. 

Enjoy, friends! Have a fantastic, productive week :)

Make Ahead Lunches Volume 2

I am so excited for so many reasons this week:
1. I was stalking one of my favorite fitness instas (which happens to be run by one of my favorite people) and saw her weekly meal planner. I went straight out to the container store last night and bought one and I'm obsessed with it! Get one here...it will seriously make your life so much easier! Here's a peek at mine for this week:

This is amazing, right?!

2. I'm starting a new fitness program that involves some 2-a-days...hopefully this will be good! I'm feeling determined to become my best self, and the support that you all have given is insane! Like crazy insane! Thank YOU!

3. I am obsessed with Fitbit. I had an issue and their customer service is amazing. Something that could have been a setback just really turned around and I was so impressed with them! Yayyyyy Fitbit!

4. I discovered that Silk makes Dark Chocolate Almond Milk. Yes, it really is as good as it sounds. Go get some right now (well after you finish reading, because maybe you need some other ingredients, too. Don't be so hasty)!

5. The Bachelor is on tomorrow. Those girls...

Okay, but lets be serious. We are all here for the food. And this week does not disappoint! Look how cute it is:

Just stop!

You'll need: 2 avocados, 1 lb of pasta, 4 cans tuna in water, 1 bag of frozen green peas (thawed), celery.

I didn't end up using the tomatoes...sorry for misleading you!

Okay, prepare your pasta. I added about 1/4 cup of chopped onion when I threw my pasta in. It was a great spur of the moment decision. So, I guess add some chopped onion to the above list. I guess I could have just gone up and added it. But it's not in the picture. Whaaaaaaatever

While your pasta (and onions) are cooking, mash your avocados. After you've drained your pasta, mix in the avocado.

Then add in your tuna, chopped celery, and peas. That's it! It's ready! Soooo yummy :) Let me know if you make any changes!! Enjoy!

Ready for another week!

Want more? Check out @kathryncleansup on Instagram for more frequent updates :)