I am officially bringing Jillian Michaels back into my life (her fitness DVDs, that is.) Leading up to our wedding over a year ago I completed her 30-Day Shred workouts and really enjoyed them. Well, perhaps “enjoyed” isn’t the right word; I felt whatever it is you feel when you are successfully motivated by someone yelling, “Get up! Get up! Get up! I have 400-pound people who can do this… so can YOU!” through the TV screen. 😉 Around the same time I purchased Jillian’s Ripped in 30 DVD. I used it a few times, then fell off the wagon. Yesterday I pulled it off the shelf, put it in the DVD player, and allowed my butt to be kicked.
I’d forgotten how much I love her workouts, and how much harder I push myself when, well, someone else is pushing me! I am definitely feeling the good kind of sore today–like I worked hard. Jillian is back in my regular workout rotation, and I am pretty excited about it. 😀
Transitioning from fitness to food, last night we cooked some green beans from our garden for dinner!
We picked exactly thirty green beans. Thirty beautiful, fresh, delicious beans.
Along with the green beans, which we lightly sauteed, we made mahi mahi, brown rice, and side salads. We used this recipe for the mahi mahi, but we baked, rather than seared, the fish, and used a dairy-free buttery spread rather than butter for the sauce. We also used fresh basil from the garden!
It’s interesting how careful we’ve been to not waste food that we have grown. Typically when preparing green beans, I snap off more of the bean than necessary for the sake of doing it quickly. Last night I was so careful to only break off what was necessary. It takes hard work to grow every centimeter of those beans! I really think home-grown food tastes better too. We have one zucchini and a few yellow squash that are about ready to pick, and I am so excited to eat them, even though they aren’t my favorite veggies.
After dinner we went to Ray’s for ice cream and DF frozen ice with our good friend Amy (she has an awesome blog you can check out here!) She teaches in Florida and is town visiting for the week now that school is out for the summer. It was so good to catch up, and made for a nice end to a great Tuesday. 🙂
Have you harvested/eaten any of your summer veggies yet? Have you done any Jillian Michaels workout DVDs?
A Two Storey Home 
I tried growing basil, cilantro, and tomatoes… TOTAL FAIL!! Couldn’t get the watering part quite right. Your harvest looks AMAZING!! Maybe next year for me?? I have done Jillian, but I’m still a Beachbody workout fan. I’m feeling the crazy burn from P90X2 upper body workout yesterday. OUCH… in a good way! 🙂
Thank you!! We are doing better with some things than others. Our cilantro is pretty much dead, the Swiss chard hasn’t grown in about a month (and is definitely not full grown,) and the broccoli is way taller than it should be, but hasn’t actually produced any broccoli. 🙂 It’s definitely a trial and error process for us… I’m sure next year will be better for you! P90X2 sounds intense!!
What is it with Cilantro? I thought it was a no-brainer? 🙂 P90X2 is intense but well worth it! So much stronger and leaner. Gotta love that!
Hahah love it!! And I have been thoroughly enjoying those DVDs! 😀 Jillian knows how to work you out for sure!
Haha, yeah, she really does! I think 30-Day Shred is tougher than Ripped in 30, but they are both pretty good. I’m curious about her 90 Day Body Revolution (I think it’s supposed to be her version of P90X.)
Oh really?? I’ve never heard of the 90 Day thing… I will definitely have to check it out!
I loved 30 day shred – but hated level 2 for some reason – loved 1 and 3 though! In April 2010 I did it for 30 days straight and lost only 5 pounds but lost 4 inches all over my body!
Now I am doing Insanity – hoping for equal results! 😀
I’ve heard Insanity is great (and grueling!) When I did 30 Day Shred, I only did it every other day (and stretched it to 60ish days total.) I really didn’t have any weight in terms of pounds to lose at the time, but I definitely got smaller in terms of inches!
Good for you for taking on Insanity!! Tough program. Make sure you take measurements, which it sounds like you’re doing. You’re more apt to lose inches and not pounds with this program, too. And you will come out so much tougher on the other end… and a bit more insane! 🙂
Just placed my order for Insanity, hopefully it won’t kill me!
What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger… or at least that’s what Kelly Clarkson says! 🙂 I’ve helped many get through Insanity, so if you need help making your way through it, let me know!!
Nice!! I am really curious to try Insanity. I’m excited to hear how it goes for you!
Good job on gettin Jillian back in the rotation! I recently did the same thing with my Shed and Shred Jillian Michaels Dvd. You’re so right, I never slack with her yelling at me through the screen lol
Thanks! Yeah, she is tough! Way more reps than I would do on my own 🙂
Love this post … and all the pictures!! Very nice!!
Here’s one of my favorite squash recipes… sort of a Squash Goulash (the name Squ-olash isn’t catching on.)
Ingredients (serves 2, adjust ratio to make more servings)
1 yellow squash,
1 zucchini
2 tomatoes
Handful of vermicelli (or angel hair pasta, broken into 1-2″ pieces).
Chop up tomatoes (skin seeds and all) and start slow cooking in a deep skillet. After tomatoes start to soften up, add zuchini and yellow squash (sliced and quartered). By the time the zuchini/squash start to soften, you should have a lot of tomato liquid. Throw in a handful of angel hair pasta (broken into little pieces) or vermicelli, to soak up the juices. Cover and simmer until noodles are “al dente”. Season throughout cooking (to taste) with oregano, parsley, a little basil and salt/pepper.
If you want, sautee some garlic before you start the tomatoes, and add a couple tablespoons of red wine with the zucchini/squash for deeper flavor. 🙂
Or, scrap the pasta and serve it on a bed of steamed rice. Versatile recipe you can play with. 🙂
Peace,
Little Birds Dad
http://www.littlebirdsdad.com
Thank you! That recipe sounds great… we will give it a try this week!
I love Jillian! I was able to hear her speak a few weeks ago, and she’s just as inspiring in person as she is on television!
Oh wow! I am so jealous! I’d love to see/hear her speak in person. I can imagine it was incredible!