Thursday, November 11, 2010

A little okra, quinoa roasted beet salad, and a workout

I'm back! I felt like I needed to give Remembrance Day it's own post. I'm sure you would agree:)

The other day I was wandering through the aisles of my favorite produce place and I saw these.....

Immediately I heard Katie's voice screaming at me to pick some up. I listened.

Katie said to try roasting these suckers and eat them with with some classic condiments or even ginger mustard will do. I followed orders! 


How did I do?

Then it was the battle of the condiments.Will it be the saucy MR.K or the sophisticated MR.DM?

After Multiple taste tests I think Mr.Dijon had me swooning more! Yum!

Do you like okra? What's your favorite way to eat it?

I'm thinking okra would be amazing deep fried and of course Paula Deen can show you how!

On Saturday night when I was making dinner for some friends I WAS going to bring another salad but my energy levels were just too low. Since I bought all the ingredients for the salad, I made it for myself instead later in the week:)

I was searching for a quinoa salad (love me some quinoa!!) and I came across Ricki's blog Diet, Desserts and Dogs. What a great site! I had seen the site before but had totally forgotten about it. So glad I found it again as it's a great for foodie inspiration.

While I was cruising around Ricki's recipe index I found a great quinoa, roasted beet, and walnut salad.


I used pecans because I didn't want to shell walnuts that night! Mmm really good. Just one note, make sure you don't burn the lemon rinds and the dressing can get a bit bitter! I also suggest doubling the dressing recipe as I would have preferred a little bit more. As a result I added a bit of a new dressing I tried.

 Involving some very expensive figs:)

Add in some olive oil and balsamic vinegar (along with some other goodies) and you've got a
figgy balsamic dressing.

This is really delicious! I made the dressing from a recipe off of The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen's site. Another great site to check out some foodie inspiration..and it's gluten free!

Now for workout time!!! i had another treatment for one of my knees the other day and so I need to keep the exercising of the lower body to a minimum. This is hard for me to do because I love to feel the burn in the legs, thighs, and but!! But I need to honor my body and let it heal so that I can squat and lunge into my 90's:)

So, I decided to invent a little workout that was geared towards my abs!

Kick my but abs Circuit

Please note: I'm not a trainer, just an exercise lover who put some exercises together. 

Rebounder - 60 seconds (Jump with two feet or jump single leg bringing your knees as high as you can)
Side plank lift - 25/side
Rebounder - 60 seconds
Stability ball plank- 60 seconds
Rebounder - 60 seconds
Rebounder - 60 seconds

Repeat the circuit three times. Resting where needed.

I feel it in the abs today..wahoo!Have a great rest of your day!!





5 comments:

Katie said...

You heard me at the grocery store? That's weird. ;)

Glad you tried and like the okra! Mustard makes it all better. I can never decide which is better either, so I usually do a little of both on each okra fry.

bitt said...

I've never had okra, I think I am a little scared of it. And beets too these days. Only two veggies I fear.

Lori said...

Mustard on anything = YUM. But I tried Katie's suggestion on baked okra and it was good- I think I may need to char it a bit more though, not crunchy enough for me...

Love the ab workout! Hope you were sore afterward! ;)

Laury @The FitnessDish said...

I have never ever cooked with Okra! I just don't know what to do with it..thanks for giving me an idea. I am a little nervous, not sure if I will like it, but I am willing to give it a try!!!

For not being a trainer, your circuit looks pretty kick a$$!!

Melissa said...

Hey Katie - I did hear your voice..it was a little creepy but I it got me to try okra again, right?

Hey Aimee - If you can get the okra crispy its so delish. Oh beets ..just roast some up and drizzle with some balsamic vinegar..it will break your fear:)

Hey Lori - Yes..char on the okra is great:) love the crisp!!
The abs workout was awesome!

Hey laury - Get it really crisp in the oven and eat them like fries:)YAY thanks for the circuit comment!! I try:)