Day 8 Epic Life Challenge

Happy Monday - first day of a new week!

I just loved this Raspberry Coconut combo with my smoothie this morning with a wee bit of Tutti Fruity whole food sprinkle!

Quick plate lunch of devilled eggs seasoned with guacamole seasoning from Epicure was perfect for refuelling after a gorgeous sunny morning spent at the park. 

 Guacamole Eggs

What You Need

• 2 hard boiled eggs, shells removed
• 1 tbsp relish
• 2 tbsp plain Greek Yogurt
• 1 tsp Guacamole seasoning

What You Do

•  Slice eggs in half and remove yolk to dish
• Add in relish, yogurt and seasoning and mash well with fork until well mixed
• Scoop back in to eggs.
• Can eat immediately but they taste better if you let flavor meld - I made mine at breakfast and popped back in fridge until lunch time.

Balance with a serving of veggies and grain - I choose Tostitos 

For dinner we enjoyed a nice 4 oz Montreal seasoned steak with angry onions (saute onions in Red Hots Sauce), sweet potato fries and broccoli.

 

  

A huge hats off to Paul for BBQ a perfect medium steak. I like just a wee bit of hint of pink still left but not so medium rare that there’s bloody jus all over the plate. But not so dry that it’s like chewing leather ... nom nom perfect steak is just Devine!

The move more challenge is picking up pace - still having to modify the evil Pistol squat but managing all the others.Finishing the evening with a trip to the pool for an aqua fit class!

Have an amazing day!

Margaret
Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much
Be Totallyawake4 life

Challenge and Risk in the Early Years Summit

 Early Years Summit: Challenge and Risk in the Early Years

Speaker: Alistair Bryce-Clegg

 Alistair spoke about how we need to be providing children with challenge and risk not just in outdoor play but also cognitively inside our classrooms as well.

Children today will experience far more challenges in their life than our parents or their parents before them. They live in an ever changing world where science and technology are constantly experiencing innovation and paradigm shifts. Gone are the days where children choose one career choice in highschool and stick with it through their entire career - changing workplaces and technologies require workers to be adaptable and life long learners and the skills to thrive in this environment are instilled in the early years as the brain is developing and being hard wired in its thinking and problem solving patterns. 

The challenge for early childhood educators is that skills such as resiliency, creative thinking, problem solving and conflict resolution and other life skills are not tangible 'pass or fail' academic skills like 2+2 equals or ABC recitals .... it is our role to advocate for how this learning happens through documenting children's 'investigations' of the world around them, recording their trials and failures.  

Cognitive Load Theory, learning difficulty, and instructional design ... there is working memory and long term memory. Working memory has a finite amount of space in the brain to work where long term memory is almost infinite as pathways are built over time to store things we practice and master.  Cognitive Load Theory proposes that the more skills we give children to help with long term learning the better they can than later draw on those when exposed to something new in their working memory to help solve problem and critical think about it. 

About the Speaker

Alistair Bryce-Clegg enjoyed a successful 10 year career as the Head teacher of three-form entry Infant school and Early Years Unit in Cheshire. Alongside his headship he established a consultancy career specialising in the education of children in the Early Years. Demand for his consultancy became so great that Alistair left headship and established ABC Does

Most of his time is spent supporting practitioners in their settings or delivering keynotes and training, specialising all aspects of Early Years practice and management for both the maintained and non-maintained sectors nationally and internationally.

Alistair is also an award-winning author and product designer, whose work has been published in a number of books and magazines.

Alongside support and training for a range of settings and schools, Alistair also works internationally and with Local Authorities across the UK.

He has a Masters in Education and is currently studying for his Doctorate in Early Years education.

His website is abcdoes.com/
Facebook: facebook.com/abcdoes/
Twitter: twitter.com/ABCDoes
Instagram: instagram.com/abcdoes/

Day 7 Epic Life Challenge

Happy Sunday - hope everyone is having an amazing weekend! The weather today is lovely the windows are open and the kitty's are just loving listening to the sounds of nature outside!

Day Seven Breakfast is an encore of the Apple Pecan Crumble from Day 4 - its a fan favorite for me!  I cannot wait for peach season to be here cause I would love to try a warm peach crumble for breakfast too!

Day Seven Lunch is an encore of the Poco Picante Salad from Day 3!

Paul was away this weekend and returned this evening so needed a supper that would be quick and easy to time for his return as with traffic coming home from the GTA he is never sure how long the commute home might take - so a tasty Cheeseburger with Angry onions and side salad. Recipe for the Sweet Potato burger here.

 

Sunday's Move More challenge started off the morning followed by a lovely hour in the pool with the lovely aquafit instructor Grace - she is always fun for a good laugh while you workout which makes getting up early on Sunday and heading to the pool totally worth while!

Tomorrow's Monday and it looks like it is going to be the only nice day this week cause a front of rain is moving in!  So the goal for tomorrow is to spend as much time outside having fun at the park as possible. We are going to multi task an errand in the morning to drop off some ready to go meals and creative art supplies for a dear fellow home childcare friend, who is struggling with end stage renal failure and still rocking balancing full time work and her family, with checking out a park in that lovely neighborhood since we will be over there anyway!

While we are on the topic of my friend - she and thousands like her everyday are in dire need of LIVING donors to help save their lives. If you are not already registered to be a donor I strongly recommend visiting Be A Donor today and finding out more about both living donor and end of life donor options! You choice to be a donor could help save a life or up to 8 lives.

Have an amazing day! 


Margaret
Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much
Be Totallyawake4-life

Day 6 Epic Life

Happy Saturday - I love Saturdays! 

Started my day with a breakfast of Greek Omelet with a slice of toast with leftover guacamole on it!

What You Need - 1 serving

• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup of egg whites
• 1/4 cup diced onion
•  1/4 cup diced sweet pepper
• 5 cherry tomotoes
• 2 cups spinach 
• 1 tsp Greek seasoning 
• 30 ml of Goat Cheese

What You Do

• In a non stick pan saute onions for a few minutes to make transparent.
• Add in remaining veggies spread evenly over pan - turn stove down to low
• Beat Egg with Egg whites and pour over veggies
• Sprinkle with Greek Seasoning
• Place lid on pan and let cook until eggs firm
• Sprinkle with Goat cheese and slide onto your plate

Balanced plate with a slice of toast with either peanut butter or avacado
 
Lunch was a late lunch after my hair salon appointment so needed something quick so had leftovers from freezer (benefits of cook once eat several times) 

Taco Soup - Makes approximately 8 servings 1 cup servings

What You Need

• 1 pound ground meat - we like chicken or turkey
• 1 Tbsp  vegetable oil (optional not needed if using non stick pan)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 large sweet pepper, diced
• 1 cup corn - frozen 
• 2 Tbsp Epicure Vegetable soup seasoning
• 2 tbsp Epicure Taco seasoning
• 4 Cup prepared vegetable stock or bone broth
• 1 can diced tomatoes - low sodium 
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

What You Do

• Brown ground meat in non stick stock pan or 1 tbsp of oil if needed
• Add in onions and saute until translucent 
• Add in stock and remaining veggies
• Simmer 25-30 minutes on medium heat.

Serve with corn chips and shredded cheese.

Dinner was 2 slices of Gluten Free Pizza with a tasty Greek Salad

I cheated tonight and used a Frozen pizza from Udi's - its my go too when I do not have time or energy to make dough from scratch and I am on my own for dinner so did not feel like going to too much work just for myself. I like the Margherita Pizza as my base and than I add some chicken and additional veggies to it and top with some goat cheese! Once upon a time I would eat the entire pizza but now I have 2 slices with a salad on the side and than save the remainder for lunch another day.

 

Udi Margherita Pizza

 Perfectly Balance your Pizza with a Greek Salad

What You Need for 1 serving

•  2-3 cups of leafy greens
• 1/4 cup diced onion
• 1/4 cup sweet peppers
• 5 cherry tomatoes
• 2 tbsp Epicure Greek Dressing
• 15 ml of goat cheese

What You Do

•  Toss veggies and dressing in bowl and than plate on one side of your plate. Sprinkle with goat cheese.

I also had a scoop of Ice-cream for dessert with some raspberry puree - forgot to take a photo of that but self explanatory. I use my kitchen scale to weigh my ice-cream because a 'scoop' is not very uniform measurement and I know from past experience I have a tendency to do some pretty big 'scoops'!

 

Saturdays move more challenge started first thing in the morning to get it done before I got busy and forgot by getting busy with my Saturday morning workout of house cleaning and grocery shopping plus an afternoon walk!

 

Have an amazing day

Margaret
Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much
Be Totallyawake4-life

Day 5 Epic Life

TGIF! 5 days in and going strong with the move more challenge and sticking to the Epic Life plan - no snacking in between my meals and drinking up all my water! 


Breakfast - Peppermint Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Smoothie

What You Need

• 1 cup Plain Greek Yogurt
• 2 cup spinach
• 2 slices of beet (you cannot taste it but it covers the green of spinach)
• 1 tbsp Cocoa Crunch Whole Food Sprinkle
• 2 tbsp Torani Sugar Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Syrup
• 5 ice cubes and cold water to consistency you like

What You Do

Balanced with a sliced apple and a gluten free bagel that comes in under 150 calories for the whole bagel - you need to watch your bagel servings cause sometimes the serving size is actually a half bagel and not a full one for that same calorie load! If you'd like to control what's in your bagels Epicure has an amazing perfect portion bagel maker!

 

Lunch - quick Nacho plate

What You Need Dip
1 cup Plain Greek Yogurt
1/4 cup of Salsa
2 tablespoons of Guacamole - I make my own using avocado and Epicure Guacamole mix

What You Do

• Layer Dip in a bowl and serve with veggie sticks and a 1/2 serving of low sodium Tostitos

Dinner - Beef Satay

What You Need - Sauce - makes 4 servings

• 1 tbsp Epicure Satay seasoing
• 2 tbsp Peanut butter 
• 1/2 cup of coconut milk
• 1 tsp lime juice
  

What You Do

• Mix together and set aside until needed

What You Need Stir Fry

• Fast Fry beef strips
• 1 tsp olive or coconut oil
• 2 gloves garlic crushed
• Pepper - couple grind twists worth
• 1 cup sliced onion
• 1 cup sliced sweet pepper
• 1 cup matchstick carrots
• 1 cup broccoli  
•  3 cups of shredded red and white cabbage or buy the ready made coleslaw mix
• 4 cups of cooked whole grain rice

What You Do

•  Saute the beef strips in oil and garlic and pepper for 5-7 minutes. Take out of pan set aside 
• Add in veggies and saute until el dente. 
• Add back in cooked beef and satay seasoning. Toss until heated through.
• Serve over 1/2 cup of whole grain rice

I did cave and eat the Evil cupcake for dessert today - and Paul did not lie it was a total mouth orgasm of deliciousness. My hats off to his co worker and her gluten free baking skills! It did however try to slip me into a sugar coma of sleep after supper. I had to get myself up off the couch and move around the house to help regulate my sugar a bit!

Did compete my 3rd day of the May move more challenge! 

Have an amazing day!

Margaret
Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much
Be Totallyawake4-life

Day 4 Epic Life Challenge

Nom nom nom - day 4 of the Epic Life Challenge another successful day! 

 I basically had dessert for breakfast but it was healthy version and ON PLAN ... that’s what I 💕 about #epiclife #goodfoodrealfast lifestyle ... balanced plates that include all your comfort foods! 

Breakfast - Healthy Apple Crumble

What You Need

• 1 apple diced
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup of Plain Greek Yogurt
• 1 tsp Chocolate Truffle Sweet Dip Mix
• 1/4 cup of Granola
• 5 pecans - chopped

What You Do

• Cook apples with cinnamon until soft - either in the Microwave I love my Epicure steamer for this or simmer in a pot with bit of water
• Combine yogurt with sweet dip mix in prep bowl
• Once cooked plate apples, top with chocolate truffle yogurt, granola and chopped pecans

Tada - dessert for breakfast and under 400 calories of deliciousness! 

Lunch - Turkey Caesar Salad 

 What You Need

• 3.5 ground turkey sauteed with garlic and onion
• 3 cups bite size romaine lettuce
• 1/4 cup each diced onion and sweet peppers
• 5 cherry tomato
• 1 slice bacon crumbled
• 8 Parmesan Whisps broken up  
• Caesar Dressing - I used the leftover Caesar Dressing from earlier in the week

What You Do

• Toss all ingredients in bowl and enjoy!

Serve with a slice of garlic toast to perfectly balance OR add toast to salad for croutons!


 Dinner - BBQ Ribs with Sweet Potato Hash
 

Korean Ribs
What You Need

• 1 pkg Korean BBQ Chicken & Ribs Sauce Mix (3)
• 1/3 C (80 ml) each ketchup, rice vinegar and soy sauce
• 2 racks bone-in spareribs, about 41/2 lb (2 kg)

What You Do

• In a bowl, whisk seasoning with soy sauce, rice vinegar and ketchup. Cut ribs into serving-size portions. Wrap in foil and place on a sheet pan. Roast in preheated 350°F (180°C) oven for 1 1/2-2 hours.
• Open foil and coat generously with sauce. Roast for an additional 20-25 minutes or finish on the BBQ over medium-high heat for 10-15 minutes.

Sweet Potato Hash
What You Need

•  1/2 sweet potato - sliced thin
• 1/4 onion
• 1/4 red pepper
• 1 tsp oil
• 1 glove garlic - crushed and black pepper to taste

What You Do

• Saute sweet potato slices with garlic and pepper in frying pan until sweet potato is el dente and than add sweet peppers and onions until browned.

Coleslaw - single serving
What You Need

• 1 cup cabbage mix - either homemade or bagged
• 1 tsp Epicure Coleslaw seasoning
• 2 tbsp Walden Coleslaw mix or follow instructions on coleslaw mix

What You Do

• Toss ingredients into bowl and mix. Let sit while ribs cook

Have an amazing day


Margaret
Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much
Be Totallyawake4-life

Cocoa Bliss Bars

Found this share from an Epicure consultant named Denise Byrne in the Epic Life group and wanted to share and this is the easiest way for me as the group is a closed group cannot share posts from it.

What You Need

• 1 cup each of dates and walnuts
• 1/4 cup cocoa
• 1/4 cup hemp hearts
• 1/4 cup coconut
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Maybe a Tbsp of avocado oil
• 1 tablespoon Cocoa crunch and Chocolate Truffle

What You Do

• Processed it all in the food processor
  You can soak the dates in some boiling water for a few minutes too.
• Press into the perfect petite pan or roll into balls. 

Makes 18 bars each bar is 98 calories. 9 grams of Fat 2 mg sodium 3 g carbs 1 g dietary fibre and 2 grams protien 

If you wanted to double your protien without affecting the calories too much add 2 scoops of Vital Protein Collagen peptide powder than the break down would be 102 calories, 9 grams of fat, 8 mg sodium, 3 g cars, 1 gram fibre and 4 grams of protien per bar. 

These are awesome for snacks on the go and much healthier than other bars!

If you need a little bit of 'sweetener' add in some honey but the dates are sweet on their own! 

Have an amazing day! 


Margaret
Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much
Be Totallyawake4-life