Merry Christmas

I hope your day was fabulous. 

 There was lots of munching. I'm ready to get back to some crunching. How bout y'all?
xoxoxo Megan

Christmas Eve Dinner and a Christmas Winner

Merry Christmas Eve! What a fabulous day it has been...There really is nothing better than being with family. We spent the morning finishing up Christmas errands and then we went to see Mission Impossible. We have been going to movies on Christmas Eve for as long as I can remember. It is a favorite tradition of mine.

We followed up the evening with Christmas Eve dinner at Brio, another tradition I love.

 

My mom and I shared the Chicken with Sweet Potato Risoto...ummmm...it was DIVINE. 

Oh yeah...one more thing...The winner of the Ultimate Christmas Mix Giveaway is....

Drumrolllllll......

 AMY MEREDITH!!! 

:) 

Email me and I'll get your mix to you!! 

I hope your Christmas Day is full of Family, Fun, and remembrance of  the Savior's Birth. 

Merry Christmas to ALL and to all a good night! 

xoxoxo

Butternut Squash Soup

Merry Christmas Adam! One of my clients has a family tradition where they celebrate as a family on December 23rd and have a "Christmas Adam" party...because before Eve came Adam. Isn't that a fun idea? I love hearing other families fun traditions!

This morning my mom and I wrapped presents like elves in Santa's workshop. After that we spent the rest of the day making final Christmas purchases! It was fun to run all over with her! As our shopping was drawing to a close we started getting hungry and decided some warm soup would be PERFECT for dinner. I requested butternut squash soup, and as we were looking for a squash the man at the store told us to try the butternut squash cubes that are in the frozen section. We were a little weary, but decided to give it a shot. It was a GREAT decision. The meal came together in moments and it was healthy and delicious!

Butternut Squash Soup 
Recipe from Elaine Smith
Prep time (with frozen squash) 20 minutes

Ingredients: 
2 cans chicken stock (16 oz cans)
1 butternut squash cooked and cubed or 2 packages of frozen butternut squash
1 medium onion (pureed in food processor)
2 tsp minced ginger
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup flour
2 cups fat free half and half
salt and pepper to taste

Cook your butternut squash or thaw frozen butternut squash. Heat up two cans of chicken stock, pureed onion, ginger in a large pot. Add to that your cooked squash. Put this mixture into your blender and puree it, or you can use an immersion blender in the pot. In a separate sauce pan melt 1/4 cup of butter. Add to that 1/3 cup of flour and stir that with a whisk to make your roux. Add two cups of fat free half and half to the roux and heat that through. Whisk it the entire time until it's warm. You don't want it to sit or it will burn in the bottom. Add the roux back to the stock pot until mixture is warm. If needed you can add more buttermilk to thicken it. Add salt and pepper to taste.

We served it with a side of Whole wheat bread and some herb dipping sauce.

 

My dad was watching Christmas Vacation while we were making dinner, and we couldn't bear to miss it...sooo...dinner was served on trays. Oh how I love being home. Have I mentioned that before?

 

Do you celebrate Christmas Adam? What are some of your favorite family traditions? What flavor of soup would you have requested? 

You have until tonight at midnight to enter the Ultimate Christmas Mix Giveaway! I'm giving away a copy of each of my mixes from the year. Worth it.

The 12 Days of Christmas Circuit Workout

Today has been a complete whirlwind...but in a 10 hours in the car kind of a way.
Woke up at 5:00 AM.
Trained until 11:00.
Met my dad. Hopped in his car. Drove to Arizona.
Voila.

This morning one of my darling clients allowed me to put her through a "12 days of Christmas Circuit Workout."

It goes a little something like this.

On the 12th day of Christmas my favorite trainer gave to me...
12 Burpees
12 Row Pull ups
12 Med ball Squat/Throw/Thrust
12 Push Ups

On the 11th day of Christmas my favorite trainer gave to me...

11 Burpees
11 Row Pull ups
11 Med ball Squat/Throw/Thrust
11 Push Ups

On the 10th day of Christmas my favorite trainer gave to me...

10 Burpees
10 Row Pull ups
10 Med ball Squat/Throw/Thrust
10 Push Ups

On the 9th day of Christmas my favorite trainer gave to me...

9 Burpees
9 Row Pull ups
9 Med ball Squat/Throw/Thrust
9 Push Ups

and so on and so forth...until you get to one! Get it?
It keeps your heart rate up pretty high, but if you'd like to add an extra challenge you could throw in a 1-2 minute sprint in between each, "day"

I'm exhausted...ready for bed...and ready to NOT wake up to an alarm tomorrow. WAHOO! Tomorrow will be full of helping my mom with finishing touches for Christmas!

Don't forget...you have until this Saturday, December 24th to enter the Ultimate December Mix Giveaway...in which I'm giving away a copy of a mix from each month this year.

One year ago today...There really is no place like home for the holidays...a post with a few more great holiday survival tips. 

Delicious Fresh Homemade Salsa

Every year trying to find a gift for my clients is so hard for me. I, of COURSE, would love to buy them each a treadmill, a BlendTec, some new running shoes, and individual spa treatments; however, I would then be far past broke. Maybe one day clients? ;)

The past few years I have given them each a batch of my FAVORITE low fat Zucchini Cookies. They are still my absolute favorite cookie, but I wanted to shake it up this year. I decided to give them another favorite of mine that is SO healthy and delicious...Fresh Homemade Salsa.

Salsa is one of the best tools when it comes to eating healthy because it is so flavorful, and very low on calories. Most salsa's have 5-10 calories per serving. I love salsa on salad, over chicken, on a baked potato, or with oven baked tortilla chips. There is just nothing like fresh salsa. It's SO good! Plus it's red and green. What is more festive than that?

I got the recipe from SB's Aunt, and it was DELISH! Super easy too!!

Fresh Homemade Salsa
1 (7 oz.) Herdez Salsa Casera
1 (4 oz.) can peeled chopped green chilis
juice of 1/2 lime
2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 large purple onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 large tomatoes, chopped
3 Tbs fresh cilantro
1 avocado, diced 

Combine all of these ingredients together, chill, and serve! I put my onion and 1/2 the tomatoes in my mini food processor to speed things up.

This is a GREAT option for a healthy party appetizer or a healthy neighbor gift!

What is your favorite food to eat salsa with? 
Don't forget to enter the ULTIMATE December Mix Giveaway to win 12 months worth of mix music!!

The Ultimate December Mix Giveaway!!

Oh my goodness I am SO excited about this! I've been thinking about it all year :) Ok, maybe not that long, but for a while. It is time for December's mix giveaway, but there is a little added bonus this go round!

Titanium - David Guetta feat. Sia
You Make me Feel - Cobra Starship feat. Sabi
Without U - David Guetta feat. Usher
Skyscraper - Demi Lovato
You Da One - Rihanna
Hangover - Taio Cruz
I Like How it Feels - Enrique Iglesias feat. Pitbull
International Love - Pitbull feat. Chris Brown
Called out in the Dark - Snow Patrol
Headlines - Drake
Music Sounds Better with You - Big Time Rush
Young, Wild, & Free - Wiz Khalifa
Pass At Me - Timbaland feat. Pitbull & David Guetta (apparently I love Pitbull?)
Fascinated - Freesol feat. Justin Timberlake
Just in Love - Joe Jonas feat. Lil' Wayne
Feel so close - Calvin Harris
Dance With Me Tonight - Olly Murs
I Was Here - Beyonce

So many fun new songs...SO...the twist? For December's mix giveaway you will not only get this month's mix, but you will get a copy of the 11 other mixes from this year. Over two hundred something songs!!

To enter...
1) Become a follower, and leave a comment telling me you are one!
2) For an additional entry...tell me what you want for Christmas!
3) For even more entries...Tweet (and comment) Blog about it (and comment) or Post it on Facebook (and comment)

Good luck!! 

The winner will be announced Saturday December 24th!

Healthified Cinnamon Bun Cake

I have a darling nephew who loves baked goods more than anyone I know. He's adorable, and for his birthday every year he requests this Cinnamon Bun Cake. It would be a great addition to any holiday party, and is absolutely phenomenal served warm with a scoop of Dreyer's Grand light Vanilla. It would make a perfect Christmas Eve treat, and I think Santa would appreciate it, just saying.

FYI: This recipe is one that my family has modified to lighten it up. I am posting the original recipe and the changes that I made to make it lighter! 

Cinnamon Bun Cake

Ingredients for cake:

1 pkg yellow cake mix (You could use a sugar free version here, but we just use the normal)

1 3 ¾ oz vanilla pudding (We go with the fat free/sugar free option)

2 Tbs Oil (We use applesauce here and it makes it moist and SO good)

1 1/3 cup water

2 eggs (Replace these with 4 egg whites or egg beaters)

Ingredients for streusel:

*You only end up using about half of this streusel topping, so although the brown sugar may seem high, you won't use it all.

½ cup flour

1 ½ cup brown sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

1 TBS butter - I omit this completely. The streusel works just fine without it.
And check here for any current coupons before you shop for these ingredients.

Ingredients for glaze: Mix 4 Tsp skim milk with 2 cups powdered sugar.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, blend cake mix, pudding, applesauce, water, and egg whites. Beat 2 mins at medium speed. Do not over mix. Spread1/2 batter evenly in a 9X13 inch pan sprayed with nonstick spray. Combine streusel ingredients and sprinkle a good layer of the mix over batter in 9X13 pan. Spread remaining batter on top, and then top that batter with an even coat of streusel. Bake at 35-40 mins or until done. Top with glaze while warm. This cake keeps really well and stays moist if you cover it, so you could even make this the night before a big party and warm slices up in the microwave for a few seconds before serving.

This is a great lighter option if you are looking for a warm and tasty holiday dessert. 

This week in review...

- I got an iPhone. Best thing ever. I am obsessed with Instagram. 

- I feel like I have BARELY been home. Work. Gym. Family. Friends. Christmas-ing. Chaos.

- We threw a "Christmas Morning" themed holiday party on Friday night. Breakfast for dinner, pj's, white elephant gifts...the whole shebang.  

- Heathered gray seemed to be the theme. Yep...my pj's were an oversized men's sweatshirt, leggings, and some knee high sweater slippers. I go for comfort. 
- I'm LOVING clementines as a snack these days. I love oranges, but hate to peel them, and clementines peel so easily. They are also perfectly portable. 

- I ran a pain-free 6.3 miles today, and it felt better than running has felt in a long time. I attribute this to A) having music to listen to once again (thank you iPhone) and B) a SWEET Rockmyrun playlist. If you haven't checked it out yet you REALLY really should. 

- I CANNOT believe Christmas Eve is a week away. I am so excited. Are you ready? 

Do you leave out a treat for Santa Clause? If not, you should start this year. I hear the big guy reeaaallly like Cinnamon Bun Cake. Are you feeling the holiday stress? It's about that time.