Soup, Manicures, Long Walks, & Workouts

Four Blog Posts in ONE!

I found a recipe recently for a turkey soup so I modified it slightly to make it A) even easier, and B) crock-pot friendly!

Ingredients: 

• 2 lbs ground turkey
• 1 large (28 oz) can of diced tomatoes
• 2 bags of frozen cauliflower
• 1 bag frozen mixed veggies of choice (I used peppers and squash) for flavor and variety
• 1 large bunch of kale
• Turmeric
• Pepper (and salt–optional)
• Montreal Steak Seasoning

Directions:

• Cook the ground turkey until it’s done.
• In the meantime put everything else in the crock-pot
• Top all the veggies/seasoning with the cooked turkey, add about 32 oz. water (or chicken broth) and let it cook about 8 hours (I let it simmer on low overnight).

Really, it’s that simple. Of course you can get fancy and add more ingredients; fresh garlic and onions sauteed in ghee would be wonderful–and other seasonings would be totally fine–but I just choose to do it this way to save time and because these  seasonings are my favorite (I put the steak seasoning on EVERYTHING) and turmeric with pepper is one of the best inflammation and free radical fighter combos I know of. So I also put that in everything. 🙂

Try this one out and let us know in the comments what changes you made to the recipe to suit your own tastes and needs!

So recently, I’ve been obsessed with my hair and nails…not sure why, I’ve never been super girly, or maybe I just went through a tom-boy phase? I don’t know. But I decided that since Erik and I are on a budget AND trying to get through the holidays on one, that I would take it upon myself to learn how to do my own gel nails. And I did them last night! What do you think? I might be obsessed with it. I need more colors.

I also just learned that there are these hair ribbons out there called “no dent” or something like that…anyway, it’s supposed to hold your hair back (or they have headbands) that won’t leave dents in your hair. (I’m really sorry for the guys who are reading this.) I’m curious…have you ladies tried these hair bands and do they stay on your head during intense workouts? Over the past ten or so years, I’ve gotten extremely good at ruining my hair. It’s broken from wearing it up all the time, fried from excessive heat, and just overall BLAH. I’m getting better at coloring it myself (also saves a lot of money) but I need some GREAT product.

What’s your favorite hair product? Have you tried the no-dent hair bands? Comment below please!

This morning was BEAUTIFUL, and I didn’t have to be at work until later, so I took the dogs on a long walk in the park where I work. I was able to put in over a mile with them which didn’t bother my feet “too much.” Soaking afterwards did feel amazing though. I’m not sure I’ll get to workout much more today–working all day and Strong Figure meetings all night–so hopefully that walk will be enough to keep me sane for the day! Maybe I’ll do some working out with my bootcampers tonight.

Yesterday, however, I did a killer little conditioning workout that I LOVED. In fact I loved it so much, you’re going to do the same! Here it is, your Strong Figure Thursday Conditioning workout! 

12 Minutes–as many rounds as you can:

• 20 lunges
• 15 squats
• 10 KB swings
• 5 push-ups

I got 6 rounds plus 20 lunges and used a 50 lb for the swings. It looks easy but it hits the legs pretty hard! And if you don’t have a kettlebell, I would just sub burpees. You could even switch the push-ups around so that you do 10 push-ups and then 5 burpees.

BUT WAIT! THAT’S NOT ALL! 😉
I rested for a couple minutes then tacked on an AB FINISHER!

Set your timer:

• 30 seconds max effort hollow rocks
• 3 sets of 10 half-get-ups on each arm
• 30 seconds max effort hollow rocks

I think the whole workout took me somewhere in the 18 minute range and it was a great little burner!

PS–after my walk, I had a few minutes to do something productive before heading into work. And since I’m not spending hours upon hours heavy lifting right now, I’m suddenly obsessed with cleaning and organizing our house. Erik said, well, he asked me to please not decorate for Christmas until after Thanksgiving. So I didn’t! 😉Don’t forget, I want to know how you modify this recipe, your favorite hair care product, your thoughts on the no-dent hair bands, and how you do on this workout. 😉 Comment below!