Let's Look- Little Things I do Everyday

 Happy Valentine's Day Friends!  Not sure about you, but nothing too romantic planned over here today. We have work, kids practice, Ella has a hair appointment and Luke has his last basketball game of the season. I do have a special treat lined up for us after we get through all that!  There is a girl from my fitness studio that makes some better for you snacks and treats and I had to order this yummy Valentine's box. Cannot wait to sample these! Local friends, check out Danna at Feel Good Snax. You can follow along on her Instagram. 

Today I am linking up with Shay & Erika for this month's edition of Let's Look. A fun monthly post where we take a peek at some random little things in our lives. Today's topic, Little Things we do Everyday. 

Hmmm… I had to think about this one. In many ways, I’m a creature of habit, but I also like to mix things up once in a while. I guess I also feel like the things I do everyday are somewhat boring! So in no particular order here are some random little things that I do every day. 

1. I get up early. Usually before everyone else in the house. I have always been an early bird by nature. I continued that as my kids were little, as I really liked that quiet time before they got up and the day got started.  I guess I still like to have my quiet time. A few days a week I’m up at 4:15 to go to a workout class, the other days I’m usually up by 530. Even on the weekends, I love being up first and starting the day on my time :)

Coffee, sunhine and a quiet house... yes please!

2. This may sound random, but I always have some morning snuggles with my dog. We have a golden retriever, who has been great trained since she was a puppy. She could probably sleep out of her crate now, but she still goes in every night around 9 PM. When I head to see her in the morning, and it’s usually early, she just loves to get some quiet attention before she starts her day. 

3. I get most of my drinks ready the night before so they’re ready in the morning. In the morning, I have some protein mixed with almond milk and collagen, so I have the almond milk in my container in the fridge ready to go. And then I drink electrolytes every morning and I have those in the fridge ready to go as well. These are my favorite electrolytes, they have pretty clean ingredients. Watermelon is my favorite flavor, but you can get a sampler pack of 4 flavors to try out. 

 I fill both of those the night before and I feel like I’m saving time in the morning. I also set up our coffee maker the night before and set it on a timer, so it just starts brewing in the morning and it’s ready when Paul heads out to work. 

4. Move my body. Whether it’s a workout class at a studio, trying to get in a walk with the dog, or doing something at home (treadmill or Pilates class).  I feel so much better when I move. I do try to start my day with exercise, because gosh the days are busy. But even on days I am not able to get my workout in first thing, I do something later in the day. Even if its 20 minutes on the treadmill at 8pm!

5. I take  my vitamins and supplements. To be honest a couple of years ago I was very hit or miss with these things. These last 12 months I have been much more consistent with this and notice a huge difference in how I feel. I take my vitamins at night, that’s my personal preference. I take magnesium, vitamin C, vitamin D, and B12. In the morning, I take my plant based wellness supplements to help keep my head clear throughout the day and to regulate my digestion.  You can grab my regimen here adn get $10 off, plus a free gift!  Paul prefers to take his in the morning  and yes, we are now at the point in our lives, where we have matching pill containers. LOL

6. Eat breakfast. It might actually be my favorite meal of the day.  I hear so often that people don't like or don't eat breakfast and I can't imagine. I usually start my day with about 40-45 grams of protein at breakfast and it has made a big difference in how I feel throughout the day. I typically have my protein, followed by some greek yogurt with fruit or I may do a couple eggs. 

7. I talk to my Mom. I call her every day. Not much to talk about most days, but I call her everyday to chat even if just for a few minutes. If it's a crazy day with work travel or kids' schedules I'll text her to check in and let her know I will call her the next day. But 99% of days I call my Mom. 

Now for something I don't do. One thing that I don’t do every day is make my bed! I like structure in my life, I have a calendar for all of our personal stuff, a weekly meal plan, an organized all  items facing forward refrigerator (think, like sleeping with the enemy movie- crazy I know!)  But I have never in my life been a bed maker. I don’t know why, but it really doesn’t bother me either way. Now on the days I wash my sheets, I do love the feeling of getting into that freshly made bed, but I guess not enough to make it every day! anyway. I'm sure this is probably a controversial topic, but it’s just never been my thing. 

So there you have it. My list of 7 random things I do every day and one thing I don't!  How about you? Any fun, random or great things you do everyday? Drop them in the comments!

I'll see you back here on Friday. There is always room for one more at our family table. 

xoxo

Genevieve

Something New for Your Family Table Orange Chicken

 Happy Monday friends! We had a full, full weekend! One of those when you blink on Friday afternoon and all of a sudden it’s Sunday night! 

 Luke and I were in Pittsburgh for the weekend for lots and lots of volleyball! We made it home just in time for kick off of the Super Bowl last night. Paul stayed home with Ella, as she had an important track meet. She and her team won the team championship! And just like that, it’s Monday!

This week we’ve got three basketball games, practices, Ella has the final track meet of the season on Saturday and then we are heading out of town to find some warmth and sunshine!

But before we head out, we have to get dinner on the table every night, and I have something new for your family table to share today. We have a few favorite things that we eat around here. One of those is something created with a bowl. We love salmon bowls, chicken bowls, Mediterranean bowls, Mexican bowls. Something about putting a layer of rice or couscous, or salad, and then building upon that to create a meal is fun and delicious. Everyone can customize to their liking, so I count that as a win. 

When I saw this recipe for orange chicken, I knew we had to make an orange chicken bowl! Typically when you order orange chicken, the chicken can be fried, or there’s a ton of sugar and the sauce is too sweet for my liking. The sauce tastes really clean, and received 10 out of 10 from my family.

A few tips on the sauce. I always sub liquid aminos for soy sauce. And our grocery store has the most convenient frozen ginger. It comes in pre portioned teaspoon portions and is great to add to recipes. You can always have it on hand in the freezer in case you can't get fresh ginger. 

We tossed ours over some jasmine rice, but you can also do cauliflower rice, or even lo mein. Next time I make it, I will definitely add some veggies to the bowl as well, either some steamed broccoli or sugar snap peas, or maybe edamame.

The chicken cooks up really quickly, and you could put the sauce ingredients together and store it in a mason jar a couple days before, to make it easier for a weeknight meal. Another time saver is to have the chicken breast cut into smaller pieces and keep a container or a baggie until you’re going to make it.

 The actual meal itself comes together pretty quickly, so anything you can do ahead of time I think helps on a busy weeknight.

You can grab the full recipe here, and you can check out our fun reel on Instagram too!

Hope you have a great start to your week, and I’ll see you back here on Wednesday. There’s always room for one more at our family table.

Xoxo

Genevieve 

Friday Favorites February 9th

 Happy Friday friends! And just like that, we are one week into February! This month always seems to fly by for me. The kids winter sports seasons are wrapping up and we always escape the cold to get some warmth and sunshine in February, so this month just goes by! Today I am linking up with Andrea & Erika for a little Friday Favorites. A peek into a few of my favorite things from the week. I had a FULL week at work, so not my most exciting week!

one

This sweatshirt! It's a dupe for the Lulu scuba at a fraction of the price. I got it in the coffeegrey color in my true to size medium. I love the high neck and the pocket. I love a good sweatshirt and this one is nice and thick and has a little more shape that a typical hoodie/sweatshirt. 

 I just ordered it in black too. 

two

On Sunday Ella & I got to spend the morning working out together. We did back to back classes at our favorite spot, Clique. First up was a strength training class followed by a spin class. A great way to kick off the week with my girl. 

three

A big part of my health journey these last few months has been paying closer attention to what I eat and how it makes me feel. In working with a nutrition coach and leaning into some of what I have read, protein has become a bigger part of what I eat. I shoot to eat between 110-135 grams per day and have noticed a big difference in how I feel. This lunch is one of my go to meals lately and has 28 grams of protein. It tastes like a deconstructed chicken parm!

I use 1/2 cup of cottage cheese (Good Culture is my favorite), top with 1/4 cup or Rao's sauce and microwave for about 1 minute. I add 3 chicken tenders (I found a pretty clean/organic brand) that I air fry and add some crushed red pepper flakes for a little heat. Add a salad and it's a great lunch. 

And speaking of food, this was a new to me recipe this week. It will for sure be on rotation in our house! Air Fryer Asian Meatballs- we used them in a bowl. My family loves to make a "bowl meal". Take a simple protein and load it up with veggies. We do it all the time with salmon, chicken, beef....there are so many different possibilities. These Asian inspired bowls were delicious. You can see all the details here.

And that's a wrap on this week! After a week of work, track & volleyball practices, and 3 basketball games I'm ready for the weekend! And by weekend I mean a track meet and an out of town volleyball tournament! While our weeks are busy, I love getting to watch  my kids do what they love. So we divide and conquer. Paul is staying with Ella to watch her track meet and Luke & I are off on a roadtrip to his volleyball tournament. 

Have a great weekend friends!

 See you on Monday, there is always room for one more at our family table.

xoxo
Genevieve

A Day in the Life February 2024

Happy Wednesday friends! 

So I am not sure about you, but one of my favorite posts to read or stories to watch on Instagram is a "Day in the Life". I don't what it is about the mundane day to day in a friend or stranger's day that fascinates me, but it sure does!

I decided to document my day last Saturday, Feb 2nd. I shared it along Instagram throughout the day and am sharing it here in blog form in case you missed it!

My day started early with a 530am wake up call. This not really out of the norm for me. I get up at 415 several days during the week to workout, so I guess 530 is sleeping in. I have shared before that I don't love sleeping in. Anything past 7am and I feel like I have missed half of my day!  

I got up, fed the dog and got my morning lineup ready. 

For years I was a diehard coffee first thing in the morning person. I'm talking bring it up to my bathroom to drink while I am getting ready. Like I thought about my morning cup of coffee as I went to bed.  In my journey over the last 6 months into bettering my health, I have read a lot about not having coffee first thing, but to have water/electrolytes and to wait on coffee for a bit to allow your brain fog lift. Mel Robbins had a doctor on one of her podcasts that shared some insight on it. It was a great listen.

My morning lineup looks like this. 

 I start my day with protein- one scoop of protein powder, collagen and 8oz of almond milk. I also have my plant based wellness drops (I'll have a post to share on this soon) and a digestive gummy (helps to keep things moving along).  After that I add my electrolytes to 25 oz of water to sip on throughout the first part of the morning.  I have felt amazing since starting my day like this. I used to have 2 cups of coffee and always need another one around 3pm. Not anymore. I have a cup about 2 hours after I wake up. Mostly because I like the taste, not for the caffeine jolt. 

More on my morning routine in another post, let's get back to my day. At 620am I was making my first high school drop off for the day, as I took Ella to get the bus to her track meet. 

I headed back home, got dressed and woke up Luke. He had to be at basketball practice by 745am. Paul had gotten up with me and was already gone to get some bloodwork done. I made Luke an egg sandwich for breakfast, myself a yogurt bowl and jotted out our meal plan and grocery list for the week. 

Luke and I left at 735 to pick up our neighbor and head back to the high school for practice. 

After drop off I grabbed myself a coffee, got gas, stopped at the post office and made the drive to Ella's track meet. They race at a college about an hour from us. 

There were approximately one million athletes running, but thankfully I got there on time to see her race and headed out right after! She had a great race, earning a new personal record. 

Got home and had lunch with the dog, as the boys had left for Cleveland. Luke had a 2 day volleyball tournament there. 

This has been one of my go to lunches. High protein and tastes like a deconstructed chicken parm!

I use 1/2 cup of cottage cheese (Good Culture is my favorite), top with 1/4 cup or Rao's sauce and microwave for about 1 minute. I add 3 chicken tenders (I found a pretty clean/organic brand) that I air fry and add some crushed red pepper flakes for a little heat. Add a salad and it's a great lunch. 

The sun was finally out, after a really gray January. I took Maddie for a walk and she enjoyed the sunshine as much as I did!

After our walk I got in a quick workout in the basement and then headed to Lumos Sauna. I just recently started visiting this place. I have been reading up on the benefits of infrared sauna and have been trying to get there at least once a week.  So I grabbed my book and headed in the sauna for 30 minutes of peace and warmth. I'll be sharing my thoughts on this book soon- I am loving it!

From there it was onto Target, Dicks and Wegmans.

 That all took way longer than I thought, because I saw so many people I knew and chatted with! Of course I did... I was unshowered from my workout and still sweating from the sauna. It only made sense I would see everyone I knew! 

Made it home to unload and help Ella get ready for Winter Homecoming. 

We both had some sushi and she was off for the night with her friends. 

I put away groceries, started on the many loads of laundry and enjoyed a quiet night at home with the dog while I worked on some new blog posts and recipes.  

My day wrapped up after 11pm as I picked up Ella from her friend's house. I was in PJs and slippers... I was wiped out by that time of the day! 

It was a full Saturday and my last one at home for a while! We have a busy few weeks coming up with another volleyball tournament, family trip, work trip and the start of our college tours for Ella. 

Hope you enjoyed following along to see a day in my life!

I'll see you back here on Friday, where there is always room for one more at our family table.

xoxo

Genevieve

Something New for Your Family Table Airfryer Asian Chicken Meatballs

Hey friends. I hope you had a great weekend! Ours was busy, but we finally saw a few days of sunshine which was much needed. 

Today I am excited to share a new recipe with you.  I love to be in the kitchen. I find joy in experimenting with new recipes or ideas and make tweaks to make it work for my family or fit it in the time I have to cook. With a full time corporate job and busy kids schedules I am always on the lookout for meals that are healthy and can come together pretty quickly. When I have more time on my hands, I love making something more intricate or challenging, but those days are few and far between. I am forever trying out new recipes- some I find in cookbooks or online and some are my own creations and I want to share them here with you. My hope is to inspire you to get outside your comfort zone (think the same old ground beef taco Tuesday) and try something new that's not super complicated. 

I have found that with a little prep and planning.....and giving yourself some grace.... the "what's for dinner?" chants don't have to be so scary. You can get a healthy meal on the table in less than 30 minutes... I promise!

I stumbled upon this recipe on SkinnyTaste. I tweaked the recipe to make it with ground chicken instead of ground turkey. 

These were so good and gave a new flavor twist to the usual meatball. Meatballs, rice and some veggies are typically a pretty kid friendly combo so I think this makes a great family weeknight meal. You can get it on the table from start to finish in less than 30 minutes. 

Here is what you will need. You can grab the full recipe here.

• ▢1 large egg
• ▢¼ cup plain panko breadcrumbs
• ▢2 large garlic cloves, minced
• ▢1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger 
• ▢3 medium scallions, finely chopped (greens and whites separated)
• ▢2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce, plus more for topping
• ▢1 pound 93% lean ground turkey
• ▢Olive oil spray
• ▢3 cups cooked brown rice
• ▢2 teaspoons sesame oil
• ▢2 cups shelled edamame, heated
• ▢Sesame seeds, for topping
• ▢Sriracha sauce, optional for topping
• ▢fresh cilantro, optional for topping

To help get this together even quicker, you can make and form the meatballs ahead of time and just chill them in the fridge until dinnertime. Have your veggies chopped and ready to go in the fridge and it's a pretty hands off meal. If you don't have a small kitchen scooper, you need one. This is a staple in my kitchen. I use it for meatballs, mini muffins, protein balls... its so easy to form evenly sized portions when you are making something in that smaller size.

3 Piece Scoop Set

You can build these bowls however you or your family likes them. We added edamame, cucumbers and shredded carrots. Liquid aminos, sesame seeds and pickled ginger are great finishing touches. If you are like me and looking for a little heat, siracha hits the spot here!

Shredded napa cabbage or sugar snap peas would also be great with this. 

We did ours with jasmine rice, but you can also do brown rice or cauliflower rice. Our grocery store and Trader Joes carry both frozen jasmine rice and frozen cauliflower rice. Those are both staples in my freezer. They are quick and easy to help round out a weeknight meal.

No air fryer- no problem! These meatballs will cook up in the oven at 400 for 20 minutes. 

I shared a reel over on Instagram with some highlights of this meal coming together. Let me know your thoughts if you try these at your house!

Have a great day! I'll see you back here on Monday, where there's always room for one more at our family table. 

xoxo

Genevieve

 

Friday Favorites February 2nd

Happy Friday friends! I am so excited to be back in this blog world and linking up with Andrea & Erika for a little Friday Favorites. A peek into a few of my favorite things from the week. 

one

My first favorite is just being back here. I stepped away from blogging for a few years and it has been on my heart to return. I shared my why for coming back on Monday and you can read about that here. 

two

A big part of my coming back to this space is sharing what I am up to in the kitchen. The kitchen is my happy place and I love to create healthy meals and try new recipes for my family. My hope is to inspire some of you to try something new and take the dread out of being in the kitchen. 

This week we had one of our family favorites. Easy Salmon. 

It is such a simple and healthy meal option that comes together pretty quickly. 

I shared my steps to putting this meal together over on Instagram in a reel. Pop over to Insta to check it out. 

Last night I made some Chicken Shwarma bowls with extra veggies and they were so good! I'll be getting the details for this up on the blog and Instagram this weekend. 

three

This dog of ours sure is a favorite. She will be 9 next month and she is forever by our sides. If she wasn't nearly 80 pounds she would be a lap dog. I often find myself nearly tripping over her, but wouldn't have it any other way!

four

Ummmm...there is sunshine in our forecast!!! After 29 cloudy days in January (yes that's only 2 days the sun came out) we are ready to see sunshine. I think all of us in this region can use a little Vitamin D and a mood boost!

five

Are you wearing your red today? Today is the day to Go Red for Women's Heart Health. Did you know that cardiovascular disease is the number one killer of women each year? Number one. Many of these deaths can be prevented with education and a healthy lifestyle. My goal this year is to help share some of that education and tips for a healthier lifestyle here on this platform. So put on your red today :)

We have a full weekend ahead for my crew with a basketball game, volleyball tournament, track meet, and Winter Homecoming Dance.

Have a great weekend friends!

 See you on Monday, there is always room for one more at our family table.

xoxo
Genevieve