Month: November 2015

From Chelsey’s Kitchen to Yours: Oatmeal Banana Muffins

Chelsey is our new Guest Blogger who was recently featured as a Movin’ Mama and is awesome and kind enough to regularly contribute her own unique clean-eats recipes from her kitchen to ours. You can get all of her delicious recipes on our Mama-Friendly Menu – ENJOY! I know I will…

INGREDIENTS: 

• 2 bananas
• 2 cups of oatmeal
• 1 cup greek yogurt
• ¼ cup of stevia
• 1 ½ teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup dark chocolate chips
• ½ cup coconut flakes
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and prep your muffin tin with liners (12).

Then, mix the bananas, oatmeal, yogurt, stevia, baking powder, baking soda, eggs, coconut flakes, and cinnamon in a large bowl with a blender/mixer until banana is mixed in smoothly.

Add in most of the chocolate chips by hand to your mixture (leave some out for your topping).

Fill the muffin tray with mixture ¾ of the way in each muffin slot. Top with extra coconut or chocolate chips by preference, I prefer extra coconut!

Bake for 10 minutes, let them cool, and serve as a snack or dessert! 

From Chelsey’s Kitchen to yours: Stuffed Squash with Ground Turkey

Chelsey is our new Guest Blogger who was recently featured as a Movin’ Mama and is awesome and kind enough to regularly contribute her own unique clean-eats recipes from her kitchen to ours. You can get all of her delicious recipes on our Mama-Friendly Menu – ENJOY! I know I will…

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 medium size Squash
• 3 tablespoons coconut oil
• 4 tablespoons of water
• ½ cup chopped mushroom
• 1 chopped red pepper
• 1 chopped green pepper
• ¼ cup chopped white onion
• ½ cup goat cheese
• 2 diced tomatoes
• 1 egg lightly beaten
• ½ teaspoon of pepper
• 1 teaspoon sirachi seasoning
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1 pound ground turkey
• Sliced olives for topping

DIRECTIONS:

Cut squash in half lengthwise and cut out middle as a scoop, and preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Saute 1 tablespoon of the coconut oil on a skillet and add the all of the chopped veggies (peppers, mushrooms, onion, and tomatoes) over a medium heat.

Add the sirachi and Italian seasoning to skillet while sautéing.

Once the veggies are thoroughly cooked (10-15 minutes depending on how much crispness you prefer to taste), set aside in large mixing bowl.

In a skillet, lightly brown the turkey sausage on each side on a low to medium heat for about 7 minutes with a tablespoon of coconut oil.

After the turkey sausage is browned, add to the bowl of veggies and mix in the goat cheese and egg along with your pepper. Do this until turkey and veggies are evenly mixed with your hands.

Once mixed, you are ready to add the filling to your squash boats which should be in a low casserole pan. Fill each squash with the mixture and add sliced olives on the top. Once the squash is filled add 4 tablespoons of water to the bottom of the pan and place in the oven for 35 minutes at 375 degrees.

Ready to serve for dinner that night or for work the next day when reheated!

 

 

 

Meet Katie!

Katie is a 26-year-old Movin’ Mama residing on the south shore of Mass. with her husband & two little ones [girl, 5 & boy, 4.5 months]. As a Full-Time stay at home mom, she certainly has her hands full–but she especially enjoys playtime, like teaching her daughter how to kick butt on the soccer field! We asked Katie how she’s Living Well today and here’s what she shared…

How do you typically start your day?

After my personal alarm goes off (which is my son), I usually start with a bottle of water, coffee and whole wheat toast with avocado. Once my daughter gets up, she has breakfast while I feed my son who is bottle-fed.  After everyone has had breakfast, I usually tidy up the house or start a load of laundry before we leave the house.

What is your favorite workout right now?

As of right now, my kids are my favorite exercise. If we are not home, we are usually at the park playing soccer or taking a walk around the new legion field track in weymouth.  My daughter loves to ride her bike so I try to keep up with her while pushing my son or even putting him in the baby carrier which is a whole different level of a workout…they get heavy after five minutes, which is when I start breaking a sweat! however I do prefer to jog after lunch while my daughter is at school…that’s when I get my good run in for the day!

What do you wish you knew when you first became a mom, that you know now?

I wish I knew how to stress less about the little things that come along with having a baby. I used to get so worried about schedules and how much they’re “supposed” to be eating or sleeping, that I’d over think it and drive myself crazy!

This time around with my son, I’m learning that everything will be ok if they don’t finish the bottle or if they are not sleeping through the night early on.

What has been your biggest challenge with wellness since the birth of your last child, and how are you overcoming it?

My biggest challenge with wellness since the birth of my son is definitely snacking. My family and I do love our snacks, I’ll be honest! However, if I snack healthy then my family will too, so right now we are substituting an apple for the chips or a tangerine instead of the cheez-its.

What is your favorite go-to healthy weeknight meal?

My favorite go to healthy meal is a good pesto pizza.  I use a whole wheat dough with pesto instead of sauce and lots of veggies such as red and green peppers, broccoli, tomatoes and onions. It’s also entertaining for my daughter to help with the preparation and cooking!

*Check out this delicious veggie pesto pizza recipe to try at home via CookingLight.com! 

Can you share a few of your must-have wellness products today?

My running sneakers, lots of water (I don’t drink soda!) and I just started using Ava Anderson products which are all non-toxic.

What are some best wellness tips you can give new moms?

Eat as healthy as you can because when you eat good you feel good!; Don’t stress about the small stuff; and take lots of walks outside when possible!

What do you do when you want to have “Me time”?

My “Me Time” varies from dinner and drinks with my husband and friends, and I also love getting my hair done or getting a nice quiet lunch.

Anyone you’d like to thank for helping you through motherhood thus far?

I’d like to thank my husband and friends who are always supportive and helpful and have helped me along the way!

Meet Beth!

Beth is a 33-year-old Movin’ Mama residing south of Boston with her husband and two sons [ages 3 & 1]. When she’s not finding her Zen at her local Yoga studio, she’s workin’ it out as an Account Manager for an IT staffing company. We asked Beth how she’s Living Well today, and here’s what she shared…

How do you typically start your day?

If I’m going to work, my day starts with a shower, my chocolate Shakeology and leisurely train ride with my Nook. If I’m home with the kids, I skip the shower, keep the Shakeology and move right on to whatever activity is on the agenda that day.

What is your favorite workout right now and why?

Power Yoga. I used to practice 3-4 times a week before I became pregnant 4 years ago and stopped after my first trimester with my oldest. Joining a gym just didn’t make sense for my hectic life, so being able to hit up late night (7:30pm) yoga twice a week is a way for me to unwind, turn the noise off, and just sweat.

Plus, I have found it is easier to motivate myself to leave the house for a scheduled yoga class rather than changing into my workout clothes and putting on an exercise video at home.

What do you wish you knew when you first became a mom that you know now?

That I should have always made myself a priority. It wasn’t until my youngest turned 1 that I was at my wits end with the terrible work/home balance I was living with. So I registered for a night-time yoga class and told my husband he was in charge of bath/bed time 2 nights a week!

What has been your biggest challenge with wellness since the birth of your last child and how are you overcoming it?

I had to have a c-section with my youngest, so recovery was noticeably different from my first vaginal delivery. After my first pregnancy, I was back at the gym just two weeks after delivery…but with two kids to juggle and major surgery recovery after my C-section, exercise was not even on my mind until I stopped nursing my youngest recently when he turned 1.

Working full-time and nursing/pumping full-time left pretty much no extra time to squeeze in anything else (okay, maybe the occasional shower!). Plus, I was zapped of any and all energy. The second I stopped nursing, I felt like a whole new person, immediately dropped 20 pounds and have been able to fit in exercise 2-4 times a week.

What is your favorite go-to healthy snack right now?

Hard boiled eggs. I always have them in my fridge, sometimes after I make them I will shell them too and pack them into a container for easy grab-and-go.  The kids love them, too—so they make for a great snack or an easy breakfast paired with a banana.

Is losing the baby weight harder or easier this time around than before?

Easier this time around, but only since I have stopped nursing.  I was not one of the lucky women that was able to lose weight while nursing. I literally stopped nursing my oldest son and got pregnant with my youngest the same week, so I was never in that place where I could lose the remaining weight until my youngest turned 1 and I stopped nursing.

He is now 19 months old, and I am finally back to my pre-pregnancy weight, even a couple pounds lighter—however it is definitely distributed differently so I still have a ways to go before being total pre-pregnancy!

What are some Wellness best practices you can share with new Mamas?

1. Don’t lose yourself: Always carve out some time to do something just for you.
2. Prep food beforehand: I make my lunches and snacks for the week on Sunday so I can grab-and-go during the week and my husband will also prep/cook dinner on the weekend for the whole week, making dinner time a little bit easier and allowing for more play time with the kids before bedtime.
3. When in doubt, get up and GO: I often found myself just getting up and planting myself on the couch for the day with my little one during both of my maternity leaves, so I really had to force myself to find story hours, other drop in classes, or even convince myself to just go roam around Target or the mall for an hour to help get me up and out…and feeling human!

What do you do when you want to have “Me Time”?

I have my yoga nights pretty well-established in my family’s routine, but if I do want that extra time (a trip to Target by myself), I will plan it for the weekend during nap time, so I can have my time away from things and my husband can still do what he needs to around the house and both kids are sound asleep.

Who do you lean on most for support when it comes to Wellness?

I lean on my husband the most for general Wellness. He is at the gym every morning after dropping the kids off at daycare and is always game to cleaning up our eating habits if we get into a rut of snack foods.

He also knows how grumpy I get when I am not exercising and eating poorly, so he is more than accommodating when I need a boost of motivation!

Meet Molly!

Kicking off November with Molly, our 37-year old Movin’ Mama residing on the south shore of MA with her husband and three children [ages 8, 5 & 1).  As you can imagine, Molly stays super busy as a Realtor, on top of chasing around her three young ones! We asked Molly how she’s Living Well today–and here’s what she said…

How do you typically start your day?

Coffee, banana, slice of Ezekiel Bread with peanut butter and strawberry jelly.

What is your most effective form of exercise since having children?

Spin (Rhythm Ride Method at Cycle Town) and Bar Method (barre). The earlier in the morning, the better for me!

What are your top wellness products” as a new Mama?

My must-haves include: Great sports bras, cute workout clothes and a good bottle of wine opened after 5PM!

Can you share a few best practices as eating as a new Mama?

I don’t discriminate against any fresh fruit or vegetable.  Healthy fats are a priority (such as avocado, olive oil and salmon). However, I feel the need to treat myself to one great Bacon Cheeseburger (with french fries on the side of course) weekly.

Anything you forgot to do with your first that you’re doing now?

Due to exhaustion….I don’t remember much from the first!

What is your go-to healthy meal on a weeknight?

Salmon, Spicy Brussel Sprouts and Whole Grain Rice….and some chocolate for dessert. *Check out this delicious and easy one-sheet salmon with brussel sprouts recipe found at Diethood.com – enjoy at home!

Was losing the baby weight harder or easier this time around?

Definitely easier this time around with my youngest! Chasing three kids around is much harder, and they are always stealing my food!

How do you typically relieve stress?

Exercise always works wonders, plus time with friends and family…and wine doesn’t hurt…did I mention wine doesn’t hurt?!

What is one wish for your children?

I’ve been thinking about this question for days and I truly just want them to be happy–Cannot ask for anything better than that!