Recipe as Promised-Healthy Chicken Salad

Hard to believe it is already Thursday!  I was going to post this recipe last night for you all, but my little sister got home and things got a little crazy! 

 Just think lots of almost peeing your pants because your laughing so hard!  My Grandparents get in tonight, we are going to have a full house before heading up north!

But lets get back to talking about chicken salad!  I was never a huge fan of chicken salad growing up, because I don't like the taste/smell of mayo.  Now a days when I make chicken salad I sub in greek yogurt for all the mayo!

Review of Ecolissa

Good Morning to all of you out there!  Remember this post where I talked about the Blogger Discount Program for Ecolissa.com... Well my clothes came in yesterday!!   I practically ripped the box open thats how excited I was!  I couldn't wait to try on the clothing I had purchased!  

Anyways here is a recap of the clothing I purchased.

 Except I got it in black!

Banana Soft Serve

Ok Banana Soft Serve is my latest food addiction, I just realized this tonight as I was making it!  Lets just say there was an over abundance of bananas in the house (and they were going bad) so I froze all of them! I froze 12 bananas, and that was after using 3 of them to make delicious Banana Muffins!  I used this recipe from Gina's Skinny Taste, although I just used chocolate chips and left out the cocoa powder!

(Photo from Curious Foodie)

But lets get back to talking about the 12 frozen bananas in my freezer and what the heck I have been doing with all of them!  Lets be honest I can only make so many different variations of the banana muffin!

So what have I been making, have I been going bananas over this simple recipe?  The answer to both of those questions is YES!

Fitness and Travel

Well I am looking at my calendar, and the weeks of travel drastically out number the days I am going to be home!  I don't think I have traveled this much in a while.  Since I am going to be on the road, or in the air a lot I decided to dedicate todays post on staying fit while you travel!

If you are a runner (my favorite form of cardio)  Look up trails in the area you are traveling, or plan a running route.  I have several different running routes I take when I am in Dayton at Marks house, and the lodge we are staying up North has a great bike path right out side of our cottage!  Cardio Check!  

Here are my stay fit tricks for while I travel!

1-Pack your gear.  I always bring my Nike+, Running Shoes, and exercise cloths!

2-Pack Healthy Snacks. Packing healthy snacks for flights, train rides, and road trips not only saves money but lets you control what goes into your mouth!

Some of my favorite snacks for the road are apples (and peanut butter) veggies, if I take the train PB sandwiches are always a go, granola bars, trail mix and yogurt!

(Picture from fANNEtastic Food)

3-Be inventive.  Sometimes I do not have access to a fitness center when I travel.  So for strength training I do lots of push ups, and I bring a pack of resistance bands!  I will also map out runs on local streets or bike paths!

Check out the resistance band work outs here.

4-Relax a bit, after all you are on vacation!

Check out these sites for more tips!

 Carrots N' Cake blog post! Click Here

Fitness Forum- 7 Tips for Traveling

Fit Sugar-How to Stay Fit While Traveling

I hope you find this helpful!  

As always remember to live Happily Ever Healthy

Cove Point-Lake Superior

Happy Monday! 

Where did the weekend go?  I felt like my body and my mind were a day ahead the entire weekend!  If you missed a few post from the weekend, here they all are!
Domestic Diva First Installment 

Shop Till You Drop... Literally
20 Questions-Tag Your It Featuring Amanda
Strawberry Spinach Salad

Yesterday (Sunday) my flight to Dayton was booked for the wedding that Mark is in!  11 days till I get to spend 2 weeks with Mark!  It seems like our time apart has flown by, and believe me I am not complaining about this at all.  I have a feeling that this week is going to go fast.  Not only am I getting ready to leave for Dayton, my family is also heading up to the North Shore on Lake Superior!

My family and I used to go up to Lake Superior every year for MEA (a 3 day weekend for Minnesota Public Schools).  My family would go with good family friends, I have some of the best memories from these trips.  Lake Superior is beautiful.  However at a young age I am not sure I really appreciated the beauty or serenity of the lake.  I am looking forward to getting a bit of relaxing in before the whirlwind of traveling and weddings!

Strawberry Spinach Salad

Strawberry Spinach Salad is one of my all time favorite salads.  I love the light sweetness of the salad and the crunch provided by either almonds or granola!  Plus you get a little saltiness if you throw feta in the mix!  Mark and I used to make this in Indianapolis on nights when we wanted something on the lighter side.  Usually Mark and I would leave the almonds out (he doesn't like nuts) and simply stick to the granola for crunch.  Whats great about this salad is you can pretty much top it with things you like (nuts granola, cheese, cranberries)  Or jus keep it simple like I did today.  Just Spinach, Strawberries, and a Almond Vinaigrette (if there is someone allergic to almond sub in vanilla extract). 

What you will need:

6 Servings 

Salad:

1 Bag Spinach (Washed and Stems Removed)

1 Pint Strawberries (You will use half)

Sesame Seeds

Poppy Seeds

Dressing:

2 Tablespoons Vinegar

2 Tablespoons Honey 

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil 

1/4 Tsp Poppy Seeds  

1/2 Tsp Almond Extract

The original Recipe calls for 2 tablespoons sliced Almonds, and 1/2 Tsp Margarine.  We didn't have sliced almonds, so this time I left the toasted almonds out!  Results still fantastic!

Wash your spinach and place in serving bowl.  Cut up half your strawberries and place on top of spinach.  I then sprinkled the spinach and strawberries with a bit of sesame and poppy seeds.  Now for the dressing, combine all the dressing ingredients in a shaker, shake well to combine the olive oil, honey and vinegar.  However they will separate a few minutes later.  Dress the salad with your dressing and serve!  

Note if using the almonds the recipe said to microwave the margarine and almonds for 1 1/2-2 min.  Then you just toss the almonds into the salad!

Enjoy and remember to live Happily Ever Healthy!

I had to share this with you!  I found this on the website Liz's Kitchen:  This is a new take on the Strawberry Spinach Salad!

For Recipe click here!

The Domestic Diva First Installment!

I am so excited for today's post!  Today is the first ever tips from the Domestic Diva!  I was extremely excited when I brought up this idea to Sam, and even more excited when she said she would love to do Domestic Diva tips!  Pretty soon the Domestic Diva will be an up and running blog (very excited for this).  I am looking forward to learning new and exciting tips from Sam!  She has lots of great money saving Ideas, recipes and so much more!  So without further delay lets here from the Domestic Diva!