he's on a horse + crunchy almond butter brown rice crispy treats

happy mothers day!! i mean, wait... wrong sunday. ah well, i was honored and grateful to participate in my very 2nd MD.

this is one of my fave pics of two of my fave people.  7 day old Chiso and his new Granny.

Sonny treated the special ladies in his life (l to r: our moms and i) to a SCRUMPTIOUS dinner at Capital Grille.  excuse the crappy pic- ALL of our phone batteries were too low to use the flash, smh. 4 outta 4. what are the odds.... so our waiter used the restaurant's digital camera and even printed us all hard copies. what a nice touch to our special date!

yes, yes, yes, and yes.  lobster mac n' cheese, my mom's pan seared chilean sea bass with citrus and pea tendrils, creamed spinach, and of course i got the salmon which had green beans and onions on the side.  everything was cooked and flavored to peeeeerfection.

so beautiful and true.  i love when my own little family can all sit down and eat a meal together, but  i definitely miss eating at home with my 'rents.... i often find myself reminiscing about my childhood memories when hanging out with Chiso.

anyway, that creamed spinach and mac n cheese had my tummy upset with me until about wednesday!  i've been keeping my dairy consumption super low, but i went HAM that afternoon. i had to.

however these guys helped me forget aaaall about my tummy troubles! i love, love, LOVE receiving health and fitness gear for any occasion! do you even need a reason?! thanks hubby!

so that was last weekend.  THIS weekend, i had been to the gym all week and didn't want to go anywhere near one saturday morning. i stepped outside instead! Chiso and i had some birthday parties to attend, so i ran to Walgreens (yes, last minute as always) to get some cards.  Walgreens is about 3 miles away, so i ran there and back. literally.  it's always great to switch things up a bit.

 one of our events for the day was Rilee's 1 1/2 birthday fun fest!  this was our first 1 1/2 party and i thought it was the coolest idea ever.  i love when people do their own thing!  Kudos to Tinnell and Marcus.

Chiso had THE time of his lil' life lol.  he went from the bounce house, to the petting zoo, to stuffing his face with James Coney Island hotdogs and fries nonstop from start to finish.

and he even got to experience his first pony ride!

sooo about the ebook!!!!! the sweetest girl in entire world, Ogechi, came over to proofread it for me again.  i claimed May for the book's completion date and i'm sticking to that. for one of the books anyway;)   i posted about the sweet snack above on IG- they are crunchy almond butter brown rice crispy treats and taste DARN GOOD. see for yourself!  i made some of them for us to snack on, yum.

crunchy almond butter brown rice crispy treats

the stuff: 

• 1/4 cup brown rice syrup
• 1/4 cup crunchy almond butter or cashew butter
• 1 tbsp Enjoy Life dairy-free dark chocolate chips or plain dark chocolate chips
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 tbsp Walden Farms Pancake Syrup
• 2 cups gluten-free crispy brown rice

do this:

in a medium pot, set your burner to medium heat.

add brown rice syrup, vanilla, Walden Farms syrup, and almond butter together and stir until well combined.

shut off the fire and add in your cereal.

mix well and transfer to a pan that has been sprayed with no stick cooking spray (rectangle, circle, square, don't matter) and press the cereal flat into an even layer.

refrigerate for at least an hour so it can firm up before you cut it in squares.

gluten-free and dairy-free treat!  as always, sprinkles are optional but you gotta have'em.

makes: 10 bars. serving size: 1 bar. 79 cals - 1g fat - 66mg sodium - 18g carbs - 9g sugar - 1g protein.

it wasn't as crowded as expected for our Mothers day date this year.  just curious, where did you celebrate ? (celebrate = eat) answer below!

[polldaddy poll=7115316]

le

savory protein-packed albacore tuna cakes....and stuff

it is NOT tuesday already!!! seriously?  please, come back with me to the weekend for a sec.

it started with this awesome quote above by Jim Rohn. when a quote hits home and find myself reading it over and over again, i GOTTA share it.

if you're satisfied with being unsatisfied, stop complaining and UPROOT YOURSELF.   take comfort in knowing that you have the power to change your situation for the better, especially if you are unhappy  with the way things are.  less talking, more action!!

we met up with a few of our 6 Pack USA clients that morning for body fat testing and progress checks, then hit the gym, together! we make the effort to work out together at least once a week, minimum.  it's our kinda date.  this man pushes me like NO OTHER.  buttons and all :lol:  but it brings out the best in me as well as fantastic results.  i always see more progress in my body working out with Sonny vs. solo.  working out with a partner (or sig. other) provides:

*support

*encouragement

*partnership

*motivation

*accountability

*companionship

*friendly competition

choose a workout partner that truly pushes and inspires you to do better and go harder.  friends don't let friends SLACK!

also, being able to see Sonny across the (weight ) room  is....nice.  even if we are both doing our own thing on opposite ends of the gym, i take comfort in knowing he is simply there.

afterwards, we went on another date.

a lunch date.

to my fave Greek spot in Houston, Niko Nikos!  peak or off-peak hour, it don't matter.  they stay busy because the food is that good.

i started with the greek salad- it's automatic.  it was topped with a block of salty feta, calamata olives, tomato, red onion, peppers, and a splash of their famous vinaigrette dressing.  i usually get my dressing on the side, but they never load it on ridiculously and i have always appreciated that.  their salads are always cold, fresh, and crisp.

the salad was followed by a spinach & chicken pita loaded with lots of feta and melted mozzarella.

ok....as much as i LOVE me some cheese, it was too much.  i watch my sodium intake and because i had just murdered that block of feta on my salad, i was good in that department already.  soooo, i definitely took some off before i dove in.

this one's at the top of his list...the massive, impressive, Hercules Plate.

like mother like son! i'm always reaching over my own plate for Sonny's food too.

i sure wish i had read this statement straight from their menu while we were there:

'We challenge you to finish it: Gyros, Souvlaki, Chicken kebob served with tomato, cooked onions, bell pepper, mushrooms, tzatziki, yalandji dolma and two pita breads.'

cause Sonny KILLED IT.  maybe we could have gotten free dessert or something!? i'll ask next time.

after church and teaching my gym class on Sunday, we sped over to a kiddie b-day party for Titus, the Engineer!  he turned the ripe ol' ago of TWO. happy birthday big boy!

Chiso will be two in May, and i plan to do a similar type of party, meaning, somebody else will be doing all the work this time!  nothin like last year's 1st birthday party at all!

Chi chowing down on cheese pizza.

once home again, meal prep sunday was in full effect.

i did a combo of grilling and roasting for my vegetables this week.

even had some egg-plant up in the mix!

i also made egg-plant 'fries' by slicing the starchy veggie into fry sized stalks, seasoning them with Mrs. Dash no-salt garlic & herb, and placing them flat on a baking sheet, 7 minutes each side. different and tasty!

roasting and grilling over steaming, ANYDAY.  brussels sprouts, multi-color bell peppers, and egg-plant for the next few days.

last nights dinner:

savory, protein-packed albacore tuna cakes

the stuff:

• 2 cans albacore tuna, drained
• 2 egg whites
• 1 heaping tbsp 0% greek yogurt
• 1 heaping tbsp course ground mustard
• 2 tbsp red bell pepper, chopped
• 2 tbsp yellow, orange, or green bell pepper
• 1 tbsp cilantro, chopped
• juice of half a lemon
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tbsp Mrs. Dash no-salt garlic & herb seasoning ( i like lots!)
• 1 tbsp green onion, chopped
• 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper

do this: * in a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and mix very well.

* coat a medium heated pan with no-stick cooking spray

* scoop out some of the mixture and place it in the hot pan, pressing it down flat, like a pancake.

*cook 4-5 minutes on each side or until done and cooked through!

that topping is just 0% greek yogurt, lemon juice, garlic powder, and sriracha.  i didn't measure, but play around with these components to make a dipping sauce to your liking!

i made 8 cakes, and these are the stats for 1:

if you hadn't noticed yet, 

SO,  i started a new section up there titled FFL approved!  but you noticed already, right!  that page will be filled with all things health and fitness that i have either eaten, worn, or used myself!  e.g. good ol' PRODUCT REVIEWS!!!  i mean i've really been doing them all along, but this time the products will be mostly complimentary which i appreciate TREMENDOUSLY.  sooo, head on over there if you haven't already... there's more to come. way mo!

**p.s. if you make ANY of my recipes, i'd LOVE to see them! how? take a pic and post them to the Fit Foodie Le Facebook Fan Page, or Instagram it and tag me to it -----> #fitfoodiele. **

le

pizza pizza

a doorstep package is so awesome to wake up to!!!! especially when you've been anticipating it's arrival.  what is it? oooh just my next product review.  and it's food this time *pistol fingers*

we had a crazy weekend and hit up three 30th birthday parties for our friends.  30 is a huge milestone and we were honored to have been invited to help celebrate with each of them!

Friday night party #1 was for Nichola *whistles*

2nd Friday night party was for Evelyn- that dress was as hot as the woman in it!!

and finally, we ended our saturday evening with Melanie-  just flawless!

all three of them brought 30 in RIGHT and in their own way-  THAT is how you do it!

hanging on this guy's arm always makes for a fun night.  i follow @chalenejohnson on IG and she has motivated me tremendously concerning the importance of keeping family in the forefront in the midst of taking care of myself, and i encourage you to do the same!  i don't take our date nights for granted and really cherish and enjoy my toddler-less time with Sonny. felt like we were back in college with all this partying for a sec, oh boy!

but back to saturday morning- it began with maple almond butter banana burgers for Chiso and i.  fun to make, fun to eat.

he goes crazy for these things!  all flavors of Justin's nut butters work, especially the chocolate hazelnut and chocolate almond butter. yummers.

we followed up breakfast with a visit to the gym.  i got sweaty on the elliptical with some fat burning cardio, shot some hoops with Chiso, and we got up outta there.

you should know by now what we did next!!  it's a saturday ritual, come on now.  just a short trip this time though:

• sara lee 45 calories and delightful whole wheat bread
• unsweetened apple sauce
• fresh blackberries (on sale)
• fresh strawberries (on sale)
• sweet potatoes
• grapefruit
• bananas
• frozen tilapia
• wheat bran
• oat bran
• red bell peppers (on sale)
• Walden Farms pancake syrup

Q: how do i get started with cleaner eating?

A: very popular question as of late, but the answer is simple.  in the grocery store!!  buy and keep the right stuff (wholesome, fresh, natural, no-low processed foods)  in your fridge so you'll always be prepared to make nutritious, healthy meals.  check out my 'the right stuff' section for some of the brands and items i purchase and use daily.

we usually do the family thing on Sundays;  Sonny went to a house party recently and would not stop raving about the incredible slice of pizza he had eaten!  i needed to see what all the hype was about, so we made it  a date.

if you're a Houstonian, i'm sure you've either passed this place or been here yourself several times.  and hey, they are on Instagram too-  they commented on the pic i IG'ed earlier, how cool! check'em out: @starpizza

we ordered 1 slice of whole wheat cheese pizza for Chi and he went to TOWN on it.

i was impressed by the super wide range of toppings, and was relieved to see that you could order single slices instead of being forced into buying a whole pizza.  it's the little things.

i got a slice of whole wheat, thin crust, zucchini, grilled chicken, and pineapple with plenty of hot, melty, gooey, mozzarella cheese.  no words besides insanely delicious.

and then that monstrosity hit the table.  that is a WORK OF ART.

half salsa verde, half supreme deep. dish. pizza. :shock:  if you haven't been yet, i bet you're going now.  night!

le

Chiso is ONE!

who's Chiso? our son! his full name is Munachiso which means 'God and I are accompanying each other'.

however he's not getting another party until he's 5.  joking:)  i really did have fun and tried to be as creative as possible. i had no idea how i was going to pull this off 'alone', and i was completely intimidated from the jump.  all i knew was that i wanted it to look and be amazing...  just had no clue how to do that and it literally haunted me.  yes. a party for a 1 yr old sometimes kept me up at night.

first things first- a gigantic THANK YOU to my vendors: God, my mom and aunt Hazel, Parchment by Dami,   jvincentphotography,  Yongs Bakery, Etsy.com,  Oriental Trading, Hobby Lobby, Walmart, Party City, Pinterest, and good ol' Google.  a heartfelt thank you to all who joined us on Chiso's big day. read on!

*invitations*

let's give it up for Dami!! *whistles* all bias aside, these 3-D invitations are incredibly cool and original.  after filling her in on my theme, i sat back and let her do her thing like i knew she would.  i was uber pleased and got so much great, positive feedback on these puppies.  look!

she used 3 different safari animals for the front cover.

inside the invite:

she then wrapped each one in giraffe printed ribbon paper and tied it with raffia.

she is simply excellent at what she does.  Parchment by Dami - you NEED her.

*decor*

my etsy.com and oriental trading stuff  (water labels, cupcake wrappers, cupcake toppers, banners, etc.) arrived two weeks before party time and guess what- i started setting up two weeks before party time. yes, i did.  Sonny hit me with the 'are you really about to have the house lookin' crazy for the next two weeks' face when he got home from work that day.

*themed table*

here is a really, really rough draft shot of the table.  ground zero.  rock bottom.  no direction whatsoever.  i.e. 'now what?'

this was a true PROCESS!  trial and error at it's finest.  however, i was pretty satisfied with the end result.

proud moment: putting on the finishing touches about 30 min. before go time.  Sonny told me i could do it myself and i gave him so much crap about purposely not helping me.  darn you Sonny and your reverse psychology!!!! seriously though, thank you.  we're still not friends.

the french fries were in the oven at this point- that's the only thing missing (see the empty shot glasses on the right).  here are a few close-ups though:

jungle animal plates. apparently these have been at Walmart for forever.  never knew!  they were perfect though.

party agua.

mothers cookies. i happened to walk right by them in Walmart and the word safari caught my eye. or was it jungle? idk,  but they were shaped like wild animals. delicious, sweet, crispy wild animals.

fast food fries. kids love fries.

i made sure to have something for everybody. the little bitty babies and the toddlers munched on Gerber Graduate snacks and goldfish.

skewered rainbow fruit.

cupcakes from Yong's Bakery.  some were buttercream cake/icing and some were chocolate by special request;)  my zebra cakes would NOT stay put...they kept sliding down the skewers cause they were too heavy.  the show must go on!

 i saw 50 bajillion cupcake toppers on etsy.com and went with these.

remember these from our super bowl party?  buffalo chicken bites (or poppers) were in the house and back by popular demand.  i only used Captain Crunch cereal this time though, no Corn Flakes.  the sweetness just works better.

mini pizzas- kids love pizza.

veggie shots! i hope people had as much fun eating these as i did making them.  i did half humus and half ranch for dipping and used a combo of sugar snap peas, carrots, and red/yellow bell pepper.  ignore that 'happy easter' egg plate back there, hahahahaha

side shot.

there was more stuff in the kitchen- the adult food, (shrimp fried rice and grilled chicken wings courtesy of my dear mother-in-law:), drinks and snacks.

'diabetes in a cup', smh. also known as, Jungle Juice.  no idea where my tent card went though, oh well.

kettle corn! i made the holders from zebra and giraffe printed scrap-book paper from hobby lobby.  i then wrapped this big styrofoam box that our sprinklers came in with dressing paper and poked holes in it so they would stand on their own.

thanks for the idea, Dami- she is overflowing with them!!

who knows or cares where this recipe originated, but kudos to Pinterest for these cake batter rice krispy treats. too sweet for anybody's good but you just can't stop eating them, grrrrrrrrrr

'thanks for going wild with me!'

-Chiso

jungle sucker favors.almost cut up my debit card after visiting etsy.com.  yes, everything MUST  match!!! try not to get crazy though.  promise me.

activities for the kids... blank jungle animal masks to color and wear,  bubble sticks,  and frisbees.

we also had a 'spiderman' *side-eye* moonwalk outside.

 'what...is...this...place.....'

 (i had to change Chiso's clothes cause things got a little crazy after the smash cake part)

speaking of smash cake- that's the moment  i we were all waiting for!!!!

i'll say it again- this is the BEST buttercream cake/icing combo on this earth.  waiting for someone to prove me wrong!  unfortunately i accept all challenges.

Chiso loved the cake and threw a small fit once we took it away.

one last family shot and this is the best we could do! you parents know how it can be...they never smile or look right when ya need them too;)

remember we headed out to Austin the next day, so i packed up the last of his cake so we he could enjoy some on his actual bday!

can we count this as a 'preggo' post? i haven't done one in a while LOL.

hope you enjoyed reading as much as i enjoyed sharing.

le

dirty & flirty 30

my husband is an event planner by nature.  im so thankful that he ultimately just wants to make me happy, but i really think he enjoys doing this stuff.  i don't, but i'll do it for him. <3

good friday, april 6th

Sonny surprised me with a lunch time visit- he brought along our little one and together with my coworkers they walked in with *drumroll* sprinkles cupcakes!  well let's start this thang off right then!

 i had not been eating processed sugar for the last two weeks and i was SO READY TO INDULGE, yall aren't hearing me. 

my coworker/sweet friend Monica whipped out another bag which contained a vegan red velvet cupcake just for me! i gave the other red velvets to my team to devour.

 had i not known it was vegan, well, i wouldn't know the difference! it was just as moist and delicious.  i have to 'trick' Sonny like that sometimes...if don't say anything at all, he doesn't even notice he's eating healthier.  anyway, i'm loving vegan desserts right now and i plan to make my own in the near future.

s/n- who eats a cupcake like this??  Sonny turns his upside down first cause icing is equivalent to mac n cheese or oatmeal to him. it's that texture thing again.

however it's still a waste of good sugar, SMH.  moving on!

the big day...saturday, april 7th

the dirty (am):

i was excited to hear the word 'fitness' cause that's what i do every saturday morning- go burn some calories. however, before the fitness part,  we drove to a great brunch at Barnaby's Cafe (nope, didn't know we were going here either but soooo glad we did.)

 

my eyes were immediately drawn to 'green eggs' on the menu.  egg whites, spinach, and fontina cheese. im so predictable, i know.  i switched out my wheat toast for a pancake.  the eggs came with smoked apple sausage, potatoes, and a side of fruit.

 great choice, highly recommended, YES, we will be back.

on to the fun-  rock climbing and basketball at my gym!  i'm aaaaaall about activity- i love this kinda stuff.  i actually joked about a rock climbing party weeks ago via a facebook post and i see he rolled with it.  it really was a desire of my heart, deep down!

once at the gym, i thought it would be just us two and rocks.   little did i know that Sonny had invited some of my friends along who were there waiting just around the corner.  they all walked back to where we were to find me sprawled on the floor looking quite foolish and doing what?  making 'snow angels' in the recycled tires.  i made that waaaaaay too easy for everybody, especially Sonny.

everyone climbed up solo at least once, then we did some relay races.  after that, it was onto the bball courts for some more guys vs girls 'drills'.

after all that hard fun, we dined on some true party food- pizza and cake!

the cake was made to mimic my fav shoes- my nike free run 2s!! very nice touch:) thanks, Din! 

and what's a gym party without some lululemon!? i'm slowly building my lulu wardrobe. it's gonna take a while though, lol.

my friends were sore the next day but they were SUCH good sports and i love them to pieces for doing something different and celebrating with me.

one last shot with my balloons before heading out.

the flirty (pm):

Sonny then took me to get my wig split, finally! my bun needed a lot of love.  afterwards, he told me to get ready to break out the dress that i spent three long weeks looking for.

extreme makeover!  i know i live in gym clothes but i do like to get fancy every now and then when the occasion calls for it!

After being blindfolded in the car (i did my best to figure it out though 'ok, he turned left here, drove for 2 miles, turned left, etc.' but yeah i eventually lost it.  we ended up here though:

my family and a few close friends were waiting in the veranda for us!  i have become an emotional MONSTER ever since i got preggo because crying over something sappy is something i just didn't do.  i guess my hormones are still out of wack cause i shed a few tears of joy upon seeing my family :)  after some hugs, hor devoures, and pictures, our waiter led us to Masraff's wine cellar where we enjoyed an amazing private dinner.

Sonny got the soup, so i got the salad.

Sonny got the pork chop, so i got the swordfish.

i wanted to taste everything!!!! every bite of either entrée was fantastic.

the chilled beet salad on top and the veggies were fresh and crisp, and the polenta was filled will cheesy, savory, yuminess.  one fork full of each element was simply DIVINE.

yep, that good. no shame.

 CHOCOLATE CAKE. then, more dessert! why not!?

you already know which dessert Sonny picked...the chocolate.  once you pierced it with your utensil, chocolate ganache oozed out of the cake.

a halved pear was used to hold the sweet, creamy creme brulee custard- first time i've ever eaten it that way.  they were both delicious, and i definitely appreciate the portion sizes. (especially after that, pizza, shoe cake, and slice of chocolate cake, lol)

the only bad thing about this day is that it had to end :(

i have relived my birthday, every day, for the past two weeks and counting.  i thank God for blessing me to see my 30th.  a gigantic THANK YOU, yet again, to my dear husband, as well as my family and friends for sharing this special day with me.  thank YOU for reading!

le