Hi! How’s the day going? What’s today’s workout plan? This is a shocker, but I actually woke up early and made it to yoga! It felt amazing to start the day with some movement, heat (loooove the heat) and a stretch, especially after yesterday’s Bodypump/spin combo.
(Last night’s ridiculous sunset!)
At our gym, we have the option to wear MyZone heart rate monitors, which project calorie burn and heart rate zones onto a screen during the classes. A participant in class last night torched 2500 calories in my spin class! It blew my mind. It’s been a helpful tool during classes to gauge how the class is doing, especially during spin and Zumba.
Playlist:
After class, the Pilot and Liv met me at the park for an evening playdate + picnic. The Pilot packed up an entire chicken and sweet potato dinner for us to share, and it was a wonderful way to spend the evening before heading home for relaxation + The Voice. (Anyone else LOVE that Gwen Stefani and Pharrell are on this season?! So so good. And I am still Team Blake haha.)
A recent delicious salad to share:
Pickled kumquat, feta and mint!
Lately, I’ve noticed that meal planning, while helpful in a variety of ways, has contributed to my cooking rut. I got into a habit of making the tried and true staples, and since grocery shopping is usually a bit of an in-and-out-rush, there was no time to be inspired by what was fresh or new. Meal planning has dramatically helped me stick to a food budget, especially since we eat a majority of meals at home, but I felt motivated to do something different this week. I went into the co-op with a rough plan (a few dinners and lunches planned out) and decided to see what looked good and go from there.
Kumquats are in season, and they looked awesome.
(The fresh mint was also particularly inviting, and Liv and I love to add it to our water)
They also made me a bit nostalgic for my Valdosta days. One of my favorite clients aka “Funny Quotes Lady” would bring me bags of kumquats from her garden. They were pretty new to me, and I’d happily shove a few in my face between teaching clients. They taste great on their own -fresh and vibrant and a slight tang- but I remembered a salad I once had with pickled kumquats.
I grabbed a bag of the kumquats and thin-sliced them before pickling in a white wine vinegar with a little salt and pepper.
I covered them and set in the fridge for about an hour, and then tossed them with super greens mixed, crumbled sheep feta and fresh chopped mint. Usually my salad combos go something like this: something sweet, something for protein, something for texture and a fresh chopped herb. Usually you can’t go wrong ?
This was a fresh and lovely fall salad, and something I’ll definitely be making again soon.
Hope you’re having a great morning. See ya later with a NEW workout!
