5 Candy-Free Valentine's Day Gift Ideas

After the holiday rush it seems like we have a nice break before other holidays start popping up. In all reality, Valentine's Day comes up quick and almost passes you by before you can get a gift for your loved one. I know that I have found myself on several occasions in the card aisle at Walgreens the day before so hopefully these ideas prevent that from happening to you!

Don't get me wrong, I love my fair share of sweet treats, chocolate covered strawberries, and truffles but since this is a healthy-living blog I figured I would share some candy-free gift ideas for the special someone in your life.

All 5 of these gift ideas are great for significant others, teachers, friends, or co-workers and they work really well for the fitness-lover in your life.

Just click on the links and they will take you straight to the source where you can find all of the directions and printables to make these fun gifts!

Confetti Heart Mugs

Sugar Scrub Hearts

Thank You for "Bee-ing" 

This could easily be changed to be a perfect fit for anyone. You could change the wording to "Thank you for bee-ing amazing/a great friend/a great boss/my Valentine"

Golden Nail Polish Gift

Jump Rope Gift

For more ideas, follow me on Pinterest! I am always pinning cheap and clever gift ideas (along with a million other healthy treats, workouts, and more!)

Fall Favorites - Recipes

Fall is officially here! Well it has been for almost a week but to get in the spirit I am sharing a few of my favorite fall recipes from Pinterest.

Healthy Pumpkin Muffins

Seriously, who doesn't love anything pumpkin during these chilly fall months? Invite a friend over and enjoy these while sipping coffee! (P.S. these only take TWO ingredients!)

Pumpkin Pie Spiced Popcorn Mix

Sweet, salty, and pumpkin-y! What better snack to enjoy while watching a movie this fall?!

Low-Fat Pumpkin Waffles

I don't know about you but personally I would love to wake up to these waffles on a brisk fall morning.

Question

What are your all time favorite fall recipes?

Favorite Pinterest Finds: Memorial Day

Are you having a small get-together or a large celebration to celebrate Memorial Day this year? No matter what your plans are here are a few fun Pinterest finds that are sure to please!

Red, White & Blue Parfaits

Patriotic Strawberries

Red, White & Blue Mocktails

Fruit Flag

I hope these Pins help to inspire some of your party favors and recipes!

Question

How will you be celebrating Memorial Day?

A Little Extra Motivation

For the days you just need a little extra motivation to put on your running shoes or hit the weights

I got all of these off of my Pinterest "Get Motivated" board! If you want to go to the original site, just head on over there and find the image.

I hope these help you with today's workout and push you a little bit more!


What are some of your favorite motivational sayings?

We're Outta Here!

School today couldn't have drug on any slower.. that's because it was the last day before Thanksgiving break! I didn't have to go to any classes but I had to work the first half of the day and spent the rest of the day packing and getting the room ready so we could leave for break. We have a to-do list and have to make sure certain things are done before we can check out of the dorms for a long break (take out trash, unplug everything, etc.).

Once I got everything done I had to wait around until 3:30 to turn in a paper before I could head home. As soon as I turned in my paper, I headed towards Jamba Juice to pick up 2 Pumpkin Smash smoothies and 1 cinnamon apple pretzel to share with Alex on the ride home. The pretzel smelled so good when it first came out of the oven and was so warm and soft. And the taste.. it was amazing.

Once we got home my mom had dinner ready for us. She made a chicken bacon ranch pasta dish that she found on Pinterest, originally pinned from Chef In Training's website. The recipe was really filling and being a ranch lover myself, I really enjoyed it. I personally thought it could use a little bit more ranch, so I am sure you can tweak the amount of ranch to your liking. I put the recipe at the bottom of this post.

Workout

Being home I don't have the access to a full gym within a 5 minute walk, so I took full advantage of doing one of the many home workout DVDs we have collected over the years. I decided to do the Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown DVD to change things up a bit. I have been doing a lot of cardio lately and I thought that yoga would be a good change. The workout consisted of a lot of balance, and moves that combined balance with movement. I can tell that my muscles are going to be sore tomorrow. My favorite move from the workout is called the Dolphin Pose Push Up. It worked my arms, back, and core all at the same time. If you are unfamiliar with yoga poses, you can check out how to do this pose here.

After my workout we enjoyed banana smoothies made of bananas, milk, ice, and a hint of vanilla. I added soy chocolate protein powder to mine for a little extra protein after my workout.

Mail

When I got home today I also saw that my t-shirt I ordered from Running for Ramie had been delivered! I always love getting things in the mail, especially packages! My cousin's friend, Tamara, ran in a marathon in honor of her friend Ramie who had passed away. She sold shirts as a way to raise money for a scholarship fund that was dedicated to Ramie. I thought that this was a good idea as most people, especially runners, love t-shirts! I am definitely going to have to break this t-shirt out in the next few days!

Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Recipe

Ingredients:
10-12 oz penne pasta
2 cups cooked and chopped chicken
3/4 cup cooked and crumbled bacon
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups heavy cream (or milk)
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic salt
1/3 cup ranch dressing
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions
1. Cook pasta according to its package's directions. Drain. I always add a little olive oil after I drain it and stir in around so the pasta noodles don't stick together or the pot.
2. Toss in cooked and chopped chicken as well as cooked and crumbled bacon into the pasta.
3. TO MAKE RANCH ALFREDO SAUCE: Melt butter in saucepan, add flour and stir to combine. Once you have your roux, add heavy cream (or milk) stir constantly until sauce thickens. Remove from heat and stir in Garlic salt, onion powder and ranch dressing until well combined.
4. Pour ranch alfredo over pasta, chicken and bacon. Stir to evenly combine.
5. Add in shredded cheddar cheese and stir to combine.
6. Pour into a casserole pan and bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes.

Recipe source

What is your favorite Pinterest recipe?  

Temptations

I started the Turkey Day Challenge 3 days late, but have been going strong for the past 5 days. The hardest rule of this challenge has been not eating foods with added sugar. It is supposed to be completely cut out of your diet which means no dessert-like or sugary foods that are eaten for pleasure.

This was difficult because last weekend I attended a fall party that was hosted by my aunt and uncle. At the party there were bowls that were full of leftover Halloween candy. These buckets had all of my favorites from FULL size bags of M&Ms (my absolute favorite), Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Twizzlers, and Milky Way bars. It was especially hard to say no to my 5-year-old cousin when he insisted that everybody eat some candy! Deep down I really wanted to say "yes" and dig right in!

 (Source)

I think after a few days of not eating extra sugary or dessert-like foods that you hit a point where it is all you want to eat. I have been trying to resist my urges by chewing gum, eating fruit, or drinking flavored water. Even though I occasionally crave sweets, I have been feeling better overall since I haven't ate them.

These easy part of this challenge for me has been getting 5 workouts in and including at least three 30 minute cardio sessions a week.

Workout

Today's workout did not consist of any cardio. I just wanted to focus on strength training and did an arm workout. I found a workout similar to this on Pinterest and made some of my own modifications to it. I have found that when it comes to upper arm strength, I have close to none. If you do this workout you can make your own modifications depending on your strength ability. This workout is a challenge and I could really feel my arms burning when I was doing the third superset!