Italian style turkey meatballs with spicy marinara

I rarely eat pasta.  It's not like I'm anti-pasta or anything.  I just try to keep it to a minimum with the lifestyle I have chosen.  I tend to get my carbohydrates through my fruits, veggies, whole grains, quinoa, beans and oats.  That said, I still like to have the occasional pasta meal.  Lately I've decided to try some quinoa varieties, since I tend to try and keep my wheat intake to a minimum.  That makes whole wheat pasta not as much of an option for me, and regular white pasta is just not typically something I eat.  Again, this is just my choice and if regular pasta is what you like, please still try my meatballs and sauce :-)

The pasta I used tonight was a corn quinoa blend.  I really liked the texture of it.  I've heard that a lot of the brown rice pastas turn out mushy, so I have yet to experiment with them.  But this is the second time I've used a quinoa based pasta and I have to say I really like it, and so does my family.  The texture is more similar to a white pasta than a whole wheat pasta which I liked.  It had a tad less fiber in it than the whole wheat variety, but I like that it has the nutritional advantage of being a complete protein.  Pasta oftentimes makes me feel bloated after I eat it.  I don't feel that way after eating this gluten-free version.

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My sugar experiment

Over the next 2 weeks I am going to pay a little extra attention to my sugar intake.  Call it an "experiment" because I don't really like the term detox.  I will not give up my fruit, b/c I feel that the nutritional benefits I get from fruits far outweighs the natural sugars they contain.  And I just dig fruit!  However, it's still nice to see how different fruits stand up to each other, and to see that some fruits may in fact be a better choice than others for me during this 2 week timeframe.

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LEG DAY - Nuff said.....

I've decided to put some additional emphasis on my leg training.  I'm not getting the results that I would like to see in my lower body so I've put a plan in place to fix that.  Easy enough....increase my lower body workouts (it's not rocket science people......)

So I started today.  I needed some cardio so I picked a cardio workout revolving around my legs (spinning) and then put together some supersets for my legs and back (lat muscles need some attention as well).  As always, had to throw in some core ;)  So here is the workout.  Try it and I hope you enjoy it.

Debbie's Make Your Legs BURN Workout 

(and throw in some back work as well)

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Slow Cooker Taco Soup

From the request of my lovely Facebook followers here is my taco soup recipe for you.  I have to give a HUGE props to my friend Amber, who sent me her taco soup recipe!  It was a great recipe as is, however, I'm kind of "known" for taking a recipe and making it my own.  So I add, take out, do whatever to suit my taste buds.  So, thank you Amber for a GREAT base recipe for me to work with!  You're the best!!!

If you are on Pinterest, do me a favor and PIN THE HECK out of this recipe so I can get it floating around there :)  Let's get this blog some exposure people!!!  Thanks!! xxoo

So, onto it........I took all of the ingredients in the above pic, dumped them in the crock pot, walked away, and came back 6 hours later to delicious taco soup!  Read on for the deets......and keep in mind that my recipes are a little frazzled.  I'm not a recipe follower, so do your best to follow me and I apologize in advance if you get annoyed.

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My First Giveaway - with Abundant Heart Apparel

People.........I'm so EXCITED to announce the very first giveaway on my blog!  I've had this blog up now for  just a little over a month and it seems like the perfect time to give something away!!!  I know I was teasing you a little bit last week on my Facebook page with a sneak peek of the goods, so wait no more.  I'd like to introduce you to Abundant Heart Apparel!!  Jenna is a small business owner, with this great shop on Etsy and you can find her on Facebook as well!  She personally screen prints the designs on the tanks with "love and fitness in mind."  Jenna was kind enough to send me a couple of tanks to wear and review, and I'm nothing but impressed!

My FAVORITE tank she sent me was a cute burnout tank with a saying on it that certainly goes with my mission to change the world one bicep curl at a time....Biceps don't grow on trees!

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That was a good workout!!

Sometimes, I create a workout that I love so much I just have to blog about it.  This was definitely one of those times.  Why keep it all to myself??  Here's what was up today at the gym.  I'd love for you to give it a try and let me know what you think!!

I felt like running just a bit to warm up and get in some much needed cardio.  I put together a 30 minute HIIT treadmill workout.  I ended up getting in about 2.3 miles from this workout and burned close to 300 calories if I remember correctly, so not bad for a "warm-up" to kick off my upper body strength training.  For my upper body workout, I chose to do to do some Tri sets and Super sets to hit my shoulders, biceps, triceps and chest.  I threw in some burpees, because ummmmmmmmm.....do you know me?  I freakin' love 'em!  Then I ended with some quick core work.  I'm looking forward to coming up with something similar later in the week focusing on my lower body.  I'll share with you then.

Here was the treadmill workout.  Threw in just a couple sprints...nothing too outrageous cuz I don't roll like that with my running........YET! Running is something I'm working on, but have to really listen to my body on this one because I do have a bum knee (I'm icing said knee as I type this because I forgot my brace....dummy!).

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