Breakfast, Austin, Kayaks & Cooking :)

The original goal was to try and blog at every meal. I found that to be impossible however. Then the goal became to blog every day, that has also been rather hard. However, I'm going to do my best to make that happen:) Sorry for the broken promise of blogging yesterday! I'll catch you guys up to speed as well as the recipes. (No pictures, sorry! I didn't end up getting to make the meal but when I do, I'll re-post the recipes as well as the pictures.)

Yesterday was my FIRST day off! Hoorayy!!:) And it was a marvelous one at that. Breakfast with Kayla was so yummy! We went to Mimi's Cafe and I ordered of their "Fresh and Fit" menu with the "Low-Fat Fitness Omlette" which had broccoli, tomatoes, egg whites, and mushrooms. Mmmm mmm:) And then it came with sliced tomatoes which I added a touch of salt to:) This was around 9 AM. I had already gotten up at 5:15 and had a good weight and cardio workout. I didn't run because my foot is acting up again, but I did do this machine (not an elliptical) that simulates running. It's like an elliptical only you can do a star movement, medium stride or full stride and you have complete control over how large your stride is. I loved it!

From there, I went to pick up David around 11 or so before heading off to Austin to do some kayaking!! I started to get hungry again so I ate the cup and a half of spaghetti squash I brought along:) We settled on Zilker Park/Barton Springs to rent the kayaks from and we went around town lake. I LOVE AUSTIN! I will live there one day, guaranteed:) Before we set off on kayaking, I had the best coconut snow cone I have ever had. I felt like a kid again:) While we were kayaking, we saw a snapping turtle! And a whole bunch of people doing the stand up "kayak" (I'm not really sure what they are) and I'm definitely going to try those out this summer. After about an hour and half, we paddled ourselves back to Barton Springs and returned the Kayaks. I HIGHLY recommend this place to rent from! They have tandem kayaks, and solo (that's what we did) as well as canoes. The address is 2201 Barton Springs Rd. It was only $10 an hour or $40 for the entire day. Since we only went an hour and a half, the guy gave us a $10 discount and only charged us $20 total:) Such a pleasant suprise! Then we layed out on the grass at Barton Springs for a bit and swam in the freezing (but refreshing if only in there for about 10 seconds) water:) We got hungry (and toasty) so we left and went to Thundercloud subs. Here I had a small on wheat with mesquite roasted chicken, avocado, sprouts, tomato, black olive, hummus, and cucumber. It was exactly what I needed after the great day we had:) When I got home, I had a second dinner with the Texas Caviar and guiltless gourmet chips, more butternut squash, a So Delicious coconut milk ice cream bar and a pear:) I also came up with the idea of "chocolate covered" strawberries with subbing the chocolate with the chocolate peanut butter I listed in a previous post. It's not exactly Godiva, but it's still yummy (and peanut buttery!:)).

Then I called it a night:) Got up again this morning at 5:30, went to the gym and had a good weight workout. Then came home, got ready and went to work until 4, and mowed the lawn when Dad got home (my first time ever!! So he had to teach me). Time for bed again and another early start at 6 to go run and shower before work!:)

Here are the recipes I promised:) They're my own and I never measure, so I'm going to get as close as I can to measurements.

Salmon/Fruit Salad (with this I'm always mixing up the fruits and trying new things so feel free to experiment!)--and this is for 1 serving

1/4 lb salmon (about 3 oz.)
Blueberries -- handfull
Honeydew -- cubed, about 1/2 a cup (or just add as much as you want, that's what I do)
Strawberries -- 1/2 cup
Almonds -- handfull when whole, now chop them (I used roasted as well as tahari -- a como is really yummy)
Foil
Watermelon (a few pieces, I just ate these on the side)
Blackberries or raspberries -- handfull
Meyer lemon -- sliced in circles
Capers -- roughly a spoonfull or however many you like -- I love them so I add a bunch
Spinich leaves (as many as you want, I usually have anout 1 1/2 handfulls)

Dressing:
Meyer lemons -- 1/4 cup juice
1 tsp Honey dijon mustard (you can add a little more to taste)
1 tsp Olive oil (you can add a little more to taste)
1 clove garlic, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350-375 F.
2. Place salmon on foil. Make it into a little box (so the juices don't run all over the place. sqeeze half a meyer lemon over the salmon and add the capers and lemon slices to the top. Now fold the foil so it's completely enclosed.
3. Place in oven and bake for about 12 minutes.
4. Wash spinich and place in bowl. Then add all of your fruit and almonds to the top. When the salmon is done, you can place it on top. I usually flake mine apart into bite size pieces and remove the skin (and throw away).
5. For the dressing, you will squeeze 1/4 lemon juice into a cup. Now add the honey dijon mustard (tsp) and oil (tsp) and garlic. Now taste it. If it is too tart, add a little more olive oil to mute it down, and a little more mustard to sweeten it up just a little bit. Repeat until you get the desired flavor.

ENJOY!!:)

Another dressing I love is my honey-balsamic dressing. I make it in a shotglass usually which works well for 1-2 people. I add about 1/3 oil and 2/3 balsamic vinegar. Some honey (about = to the amount of oil I used), a tsp or a little more of whole grain mustard and then stir! Sometimes I also add some flaxseeds for a little nuttiness:) It's been one of my favorites to make!!

Other times, I just use lemon juice:) I'll update again in the next couple days!:)

"The more I thought about what I get to do, the less I realized I had to do. It was just a shift, just a new perspective, just a new and more grateful method for labeling the things in my life. Think about it - if you stopped yourself every single time you were about to say 'I have to' and changed it to 'I get to', it might change your entire experience." -Kristin Armstrong

I have quotes all around my room that bring out positive thoughts and motivation in my goals and daily life:) I'll start posting some of them on here:)