Bloggers of the Day (chosen randomly from yesterday’s comments)

• Eat Spin Run Repeat – Angela has a great blog that discusses lots of topics, plus a fun feature where she tries new things every week
• Ulterior Harmony – Ela will get you thinking with every post and also discusses life eating lots of homegrown food
• Living Well – Kati is in the same boat as me: going through a healthy pregnancy and anticipating a new baby + the return of old workouts

G’day lovelies! I can barely believe its already Wednesday. I guess when you are up half the night, thanks to a particular someone who suddenly won’t sleep through the night anymore, the days kind of blur. I knew I needed to start the day off on the right foot. So after some prayer to help keep me in the perspective of peace and remind me of all God’s glory, I headed downstairs to make us some glorious breakfast.

Oats to me are like a good cup of coffee in the morning. They never get old and always help me warm up on the inside, literally and figuratively. Plus, you can never run out of fun ways to spice it up. This morning I chose to spice it up with some spiced “baked” apples. Remember that “baked” is a relative term in this household in the mornings.

I used the same method as I did this past Saturday morning and added lots of cinnamon and nutmeg to really flavor these up. Topped the oatmeal with them, then added a drizzle of peanut butter. They reminded me of a fancier apple + pb childhood snack. Or adult favorite snack, if you’re me. Perfect breakfast – cofee + oats. I even got to eat by 8 am, which set me up perfectly to digest well before heading to Group Power class.

Even though group classes aren’t my preferred method of weight training, I still love lifting and make sure to fit it in each week. I usually do one class per week right now to suit my sensitive lower back, but its always a priority. I recently even read something from SELF magazine that claimed not lifting weights as one of the 4 most common fitness mistakes women make. I concur!

I have known too many women who shy away from weights because they either don’t know how to get started, fear “bulking up”, or just don’t like them. I always believe we should choose exercises we enjoy, but we still need balance and weight training is part of that necessary balance. I personally feel my fittest and believe I look my best when I weight train. That’s not everybody, but weight training still provides benefits that pure cardio won’t, so I encourage other women to give it a solid effort. After this baby comes, I will have to treat my body as a beginner with exercise again for the first couple months, which I find pretty cool. I look forward to going through that experience from beginner style workouts to more advanced with all of you.  🙂

Here are the other “common mistakes” listed by SELF magazine.

1. Being cardio-obsessed. (not enough weight training)
2. Only focusing on one or two muscle groups (like only doing crunches and lunges to spot reduce your abs/butt…not happening, sorry!)
3. Not fueling your workouts properly (limiting calories too much)
4. An all-or-nothing attitude. (working out 30 minutes 3x/week is still great and eating a donut does not mean you fail at a healthy life)

Which of those “mistakes” do you struggle with most? The all or nothing attitude has been my biggest pitfall of those. I luckily have more control over it now, but still have those times I face guilt or frustration for not doing “enough”.

Are there any others you would add to that list? I think I would add not including enough variety. Our bodies adapt very easily and if you do the same thing day in and day out, eventually it won’t provide the same benefits as when you began. Switching it up also adds more motivation for me to keep up with exercise.

I would like to start this post with a moment of silent appreciation for the weekend. Better yet? I want to scream from the rooftops I LOVE THE WEEKEND!!! You all seem pretty discerning. Can you tell I’m in a great mood today? How could I not be? I truly love my life. Sure, some days downright stink. Yea, I get excited about future possibilities. And alright, things may not be super exciting in these parts with lots of crazy adventures. But I love my life!

Please don’t be scared away…I have a special breakfast to share with you. Pumpkin Stuffed French Toast. Not only Pumpkin Stuffed French Toast…but Pumpkin Stuffed French Toast with a “baked” apple topping. And you know my style so you know this was incredibly easy. I told you you would want to stick around despite my annoyingly peppy opening paragraph. 😀

This morning, after sleeping in until after 7 am (another glorious thing about weekends), I plodded downstairs in my pajamas to make breakfast for my family. Not just any breakfast. But the. best. breakfast. ever. made. in. this. house. EVER! That may not be saying much since my “cooking” is pretty limited. Either way, this is good. Really, really good.

It all started with two spoonfuls of pumpkin, one tablespoon of maple almond butter, and a couple dashes of pumpkin pie spice. Of course slathered between two slices of hearty whole wheat bread.

While waiting for the griddle to heat up I got a sudden stroke of inspiration to do the apple topping. I didn’t have time to bake apples or cook them stovetop. I wanted my apple topping. To the microwave I go! In a microwave safe dish I put one peeled, cored, and chopped apple, 1 teaspoon brown sugar, a dash of cinnamon, and a few tiny drops of butter.

I nuked this mixture for 2 1/2 minutes, stirring once, while my stuffed french toast cooked. So, back to the toast. I dipped both sides of the sandwich in an egg, milk, pumpkin pie spice mixture before placing it on the griddle and cooking for about 2 minutes per side, until slightly browned. Then, plop the sandwich on a plate. Cover with the apple mixture. Voila!

I tasted this like Giada de Laurentiis does on her shows. Mmmmm….ohhhh…Does anyone else get slightly uncomfortable watching her taste food?

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Well, I don’t really. I do always kind of snicker though because she seems a little too into it, if you catch my drift. Then again, all her food likely tastes better than this and I know I couldn’t help myself this morning. I will no longer snicker, Giada. I fully understand now.

Would you believe me if I said the morning only got better after that? Peter took M with him to run some errands so I had peace and quiet for a few hours. I think I could hear the angels singing. No? That’s just me actually able to hear myself think? Darn. The angel thing would have been cool.

Then, after they got home, we headed out for a walk all together in this stunning weather God has been giving us here.

And now, the rest of the day…a day of family fun at the fair!!! I cannot wait!!

• What is the best breakfast you’ve had recently?
• Any fun weekend plans?