It worked! My new workout time! Going to the gym in the morning worked fabulously. It set the tone for the day and somehow made me even more productive. I worked out, took care of my children, did laundry, showered/dressed, & prepared lunch all by noon! Then, in the afternoon during nap time I had time to do some blogging and reorganize my clothes in the closet.

So long maternity clothes! Hello, spring wear! Now I don’t have to dig through our huge storage tub to find something to wear all the time. I still have some sweaters out for easy access, but it feels so nice to look at a closet full of cheery, warm-weather clothes. Extra motivation as well. Those stacks of jeans on the mid-shelf? All my “happy place” jeans I hope to be in by my birthday. 😉 Yep. I love morning workouts. They make my day SO much better!

And now, time for this week’s FFF Features! Don’t think I forgot about them now!

Featured Move: Don’t Ignore This Back Move!

I didn’t have the chance to shoot a video myself, but didn’t want to leave out a favorite move. I did pullovers this past week at the gym as a back exercise. I love them and think they are too often overlooked and not included in training. Give them a shot!

Featured Moment: Owning My Blog

I don’t mess around when I say how much better it feels after sharing the blogging thoughts I had running through my mind. And making blogging work for me. The blog is a living, breathing entity so how my blogging runs will always change – but I know now where to keep the focus. On having fun!

Featured Meal: Mexican Black Bean Casserole

🙁 <--- That is my sad face for no longer having more of this dish left. It was that good.

Featured Quote:

"Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." – Thomas Edison

Featured Cuteness: Kiddie Clothing

They will look so adorable in their new clothes. I love kid clothes!

Featured Reading: Dorry @ Living With Healthy Hunger – Indecision Vision

I don’t quite know what struck me most about this post, but I love the idea of going with your gut and being decisive in life. It really does bring great reward to go after things with decisiveness.

Katie @ Health For the Whole Self – Conquering the Urge to Diet

Just as the title states, Katie discusses three things we should all consider when we feel the need to “diet” and “restrict” to look better or feel better about ourselves. As always she does a great job distinguishing between a healthy approach to our bodies and the thin line of slipping into negative behaviors.

Question of the Day – Do you switch out your clothes each season or keep them all up in your closet/drawers year round?

Yesterday was crazy busy. I never knew I could pack so much into one day! I woke up early to get a head start. That’s probably the only way it could have happened.I showered and dressed. I packed the diaper bag. I prepared breakfast for when the kids awoke and snacks for on the go. I piled everyone into the car by 7:30 am. What for? Not the gym. I tried that schedule out today for the first time. Success in case you were wondering.

Yesterday I set out to conquer something else. I set out to conquer the children’s consignment sale.

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These sales are basically huge garage sales where hundreds of moms come together to sell their gently used children items. Its the only way I buy my kids clothes. One third the cost and just as nice? Don’t mind if I do!

I hit up one sale from 8:30-9:30. I had to shop fast to keep the baby in the carrier and the toddler in the stroller from spontaneously combusting. I still managed okay..

After we got home it was the usual nursing and playing routines. And hearing Makenzie rave about her new clothes. “Mommy, soooo cute!” “Ooooohhhh!!!”

Then, from 1-2 pm I participated in the 4all by jofit webcast as part of the Team 4all.

Can I just say how much I love this company and working with them?!

I still had more to do after the lovely chat, though. As in fitting in my workout. I completed a Turbo Jam DVD. It wasn’t the best workout. I need some new shoes specifically for cross training.

It worked well as my warm-up for round two. That’s right. Round two. I had another consignment sale to visit last night. I figured paying the $5 to do the presale was worth it. Not so much for getting in a night early. More so to not have to fear the spontaneous baby/toddler combustion previously mentioned. I got to shop alone. It was a mad hour rush. Once again, I think I did okay with my haul…

Perhaps its a good thing I only had 2 hours to shop between the two sales. 😉

Obviously with a day like that I needed to take the easy route where I could. It was a leftovers for lunch kind of day. Fortunately, I had the perfect meal for leftovers. And a perfect recipe to share with all of you thanks to my friend, Danielle. It may sound familiar because Caitlin just did a spin on it after I shared the recipe with her. Check out her version as well.

Mexican Black Bean Tortilla Casserole

• 2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 3/4 lb. cremini or button mushrooms, trimmed & quartered
• minced garlic (I used about 1 Tbsp)
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
• course salt & ground pepper
• 15.5 oz. can black beans, drained & rinsed
• 8 corn tortillas, warmed & halved
• 2 cups salsa or basic marinara (I did the marinara bec of spice & b'feeding)
• 4 oz. Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 400. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring often, until browned, 7 minutes. Add garlic and cayenne; season with salt & pepper. Add black beans and stir to combine. Cook until beans are warmed through.

Arrange 5 tortilla halves in a 8x8 baking dish. Top with half the bean mixture and 1/2 cup salsa/marinara, then sprinkle with one-third of the cheese.

Repeat with another layer. Top with remaining tortilla, salsa/marinara, and cheese. Cover with foil and bake until center is hot and cheese melts, about 10-15 minutes.

Uncover and bake until cheese is bubbling, another 10-15 minutes. Serve and savor.

You know I don’t post recipes unless they’re something special. So, what are you waiting for? Make this!!! And the leftovers? Taste even better the next day. Gotta love that!

Question of the Day – How do you like to score a bargain? And what’s your favorite casserole dish meal? This may have just topped my favorite chicken enchiladas that I shared in my first post!