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

Leg lift,star crunch - 20 reps

Rebounder - 60 seconds

Elbow plank side hops - 20 reps

Repeat the circuit three times. Resting where needed.

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