Month: July 2018

How I Prioritize Working Out as a Mom

The answer: EARLY.

Something I hear often that I think many moms struggle with is how to prioritize working out.  Life gets crazy and just when you read this and think, “oh, I don’t have time”, think again!!.. because I don’t have time either.  No one does.  We all make time for what we want to do. We make sacrifices (even when we don’t realize it) for what is important to us.  If you don’t already have a fitness routine, its never too late to jump on the bandwagon and start one! 🙂

I’ve tried working out at all different times of the day… I’ve tried early workouts, nap time workouts, night workouts and I can wholehearted say that mornings are where it’s at. There will always be days that there is a curveball thrown at me and I’ll fit a workout in whenever, in any time window I am given and I encourage you to do whatever works for you, but for me, it is almost always in the morning.  I set my alarm, wake up, do it, and move on.

One of the most invigorating things for me is to wake up before anyone else, and work on ME.  It doesn’t have to be long, as long doesn’t always mean effective. I also find that this is when my mind is clear / there are no distractions. A morning work out sets the tone for the day and puts me in a good mood so I am a better wife, mom, EVERYTHING! On occasions where I have tried to work out later on in the day or at night, I will find that my work out either won’t happen, or my mind is cluttered, worrying about things like what I’m making for dinner, what’s going on tomorrow, is Thomas okay?, etc.  I also feel like once the work out is done, I can devote myself fully to what is going on the rest of the day.  I hate thinking to myself, “oh, I still have to work out”. …it’s too much pressure! Once it’s done, you don’t have to think about it anymore! 🙂

With all this said, if you find a different time of the day is better for you, go for it! I am just sharing what works for me.  There is a time and stage for everything so if longer workouts are not feasible for you at this time, don’t worry! Focus on movement – a simple walk.  Walking is so therapeutic and relaxing!

While waking up early may seem like a daunting task at first, it will become part of your routine, just like anything you do such as brushing your teeth! It just takes some discipline.

Have a great weekend!

– alyssa

 

 

Healthier Rice Crispy Treats

Hi Everyone and Happy 4th of July!  Whether you celebrated last weekend or are celebrating this upcoming weekend, I hope you all have a wonderful time! It feels so good to be back here on the blog, while the baby is snoozing :).  Today I am sharing one of my favorite desserts that I have been making the past few months… rice crispy treats – a healthier version, of course!

No, he didn’t actually eat any ;).

Rice crispy treats literally bring me right back to my childhood.  It seemed like years went by without having them until I made these not too long ago and I couldn’t be more excited to share them.  T was actually the one who encouraged me to make these for one of our family parties this 4th of July, AND to add them to the blog because they have easily become one of his favorite desserts!

So!!! Some of you may be thinking, why make healthier rice crispy treats?  While in a perfect world, everything would be organic and real, without processed ingredients, its not always easy to come by.  I try to make as much real food as I can without all of the added junk. I steer clear of packaged items with a million unpronounceable ingredients, that are riddled with sugar.  So while these still contain sugar from the honey, I love that they are natural and don’t have all of that processed stuff in them.  Of course, moderation is still key!!! 🙂

When I am making something to bring to a party, besides having it be free of gluten since I can’t have that, I try to make something I enjoy because I love sharing with others the fact that real food can be tasty and delicious too.  It’s just not a part of my lifestyle to make anything otherwise! You CAN live without all of that other crap!   The best part about these are that they take literally about 15 minutes tops to make from start to finish.

Print

Healthier Rice Crispy Treats


Ingredients

  • 4 cups brown rice crispy cereal (Look around - I usually try to buy a box with one ingredient - brown rice or will get Erewhon which I think has about 2 ingredients)
  • 1/2 cup organic honey
  • 1/2 cup organic no-stir, creamy almond butter

Instructions

  1. Prepare an 8x8 or 9x11 baking dish with parchment paper.  Set aside. 

  2.  In a large saucepan, heat the honey over medium heat until it starts to bubble. Be careful it does not burn!!  

  3. Once it is bubbling, start to stir, then turn off the heat and immediately add the almond butter. Stir again until smooth. 

  4. Add the rice crispy cereal and stir until the cereal is completely coated. 

  5. Transfer the cereal mixture to the baking dish. Take an additional piece of parchment paper and press down into the baking dish. 

  6. Put the rice crispys in the freezer for 10-15 minutes. Take them out and they are ready!

To finish off with a little update on what we have been up to – we are still in the final stages of finishing our home and hope to be in it by the end of summer! We are so excited!!! Seeing all of the work and ideas come together has been a lot of fun!  One of the best parts so far for me is to see the final touches on our new kitchen!! I can’t wait to cook in it!  

Thomas is getting huge and is running everywhere, ALL the time.  We spent the 4th of July at my relatives house on a lake in NY then went to a party with T’s family afterwards!  I purchased this little pool for Thomas and just BYO pooled it to our parties and it was AWESOME.  He had so much fun! 🙂

Hope you all enjoy and have a great weekend!!

xoxo,

Alyssa

logo
Food Advertising by