Full Body Foam Rolling Routine

I have been foam rolling since about November, faithfully. I used to think it was ju-ju hogwash, but I can honestly tell you that it aids in recovery and range of motion. The research on the subject is just starting to come out in support of those facts too. So, here is my routine :)

Southern Secret Meatloaf

I saw a recipe in Southern Living magazine that caught my eye, they had used vegetables in the meatloaf recipe to sweeten it up naturally. And so I set out to give it a try and tweak it a little just to make it a littler lighter.  The other side bonus was the whole meal was ready to go in 45 minutes on 2 sheet pans!

The results were super great! The whole family, including the fussy husband, all gave it the gold standard "make again". And sssshhhh pretty sure nobody knew I was sneaking in extra veggies!

Shoulder bombs - great finisher for those delts! Shoulders may be the one other body part I am obsessed with as much as glutes ;) I hit them 3-4 days a week. I try to get a mix of lateral, overhead, and front plane work in over the week. I also try to vary low, moderate, and high reps. Just like glutes (or any other part), variety does the shoulders good! If you don't want to have to think of all these factors, that is when solid programming like the Venus workouts come into play. You can always add extra sets in of something you want to really hit hard too ;)

Meh don't care if my hair is perfect, I mostly notice my good glute days  pump courtesy of glute bridges, barbell hip thrusts, crissover step ups, and banded clamshells!

Hanging to stretch? Yep. Super great for stretching your tight lats, shoulders, spine as well as the rest of your back, core, and chest! I literally just hang for a few seconds before or after my workout. Any grip works too :)

Grabbed these handy probiotic packets at GNC the other day! Gut health is of paramount importance to overall health, weight loss, and weight maintenance. A good probiotic will have a variety of strains with 8 billion or more CFU. Since variety is key, it is best to swap brands/types every purchase. Exercise and diet also play a role in gut health, so ✔ that too ;)

So, onto the recipe!

Southern Secret Meatloaf

Serves 4

Ingredients

20 oz, 85% Ground Beef

1/2 cup chopped, Carrots, raw

1 large, Egg

1 onion (medium), Onion

1/4 cup, dry Oats (I used old fashioned)

1 tbsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp salt

1.2 tsp pepper

2 tbsp Ketchup

1 tbsp Soy Sauce

1 tbsp parsley (optional)

Optional for two pan dinner

Sweet Potatoes (1/2 per person)

Brussels Sprouts (4 oz per person)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400*F. If you are serving the vegetables along side, cut the potatoes in bite size pieces and slice the Brussels in half. Spread them out into a large, greased cookie sheet and place in the oven. In a food processor or Ninja (you know I used my Ninja haha), shred your carrots and onion finely. Pour them into a large mixing bowl along with your ground beef, egg, oats, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Mix with your hands and form into 4 mini loaves onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 35 minutes. While the meatloaves are baking, mix together the ketchup and soy sauce. When the loaves and vegetables are done, remove from oven. Top the loaves with the ketchup mixture then the parsley. Serve alongside the vegetables. Enjoy!

Per serving of meatloaf:

Nutrition Facts
Servings 4.0
Amount Per Serving
calories 412
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 23 g	36 %
Saturated Fat 9 g	46 %
Monounsaturated Fat 1 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 140 mg	47 %
Sodium 354 mg	15 %
Potassium 164 mg	5 %
Total Carbohydrate 11 g	4 %
Dietary Fiber 2 g	8 %
Sugars 2 g
Protein 30 g	61 %
Vitamin A	55 %
Vitamin C	5 %
Calcium	2 %
Iron	22 %
* The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA.

Chicken and Cornbread Dumplings

I have not made chicken and dumplings in FOREVER. I knew it was time when I suggested it and my daughter thought I meant Asian style dumplings to dunk in soy sauce LOL she is a hot mess!

So we had to make it together for her Southern training, and I thought I wanted to try a cornbread twist to the dumplings. They turned out divine. Both kids declared them a make again! I really liked the macros and all the veggie goodness hidden inside ;)

Ealier this week, we made flat out pizza using a flat out wrap! Huge and so tasty! This time I added mushrooms and olives with my turkey pepperoni and spinach! 429 cals and 33 g of protein 💪Recipe HERE if you need more deets!

This is our "supplement cabinet" (it also holds coffee and teas, but I digress). Perks of our new huge kitchen! I was asked for a recommendation for a pre-workout the other day, and my answer is the Optimum Nutrition Amino Energy in Blue Raspberry (I am pointing to it). My husband ALWAYS does a pre-workout and I am an occasional user. When I lift in the morning, I prefer my normal coffee with creatine in it. But today I lifted in the afternoon, and I prefer this. It tastes good, and does not have extra junk. I use creatine separately so it does not have that.  I just need something for energy and focus, the amino acids are a bonus ;) we have tried a lot of different ones, and we keep coming back to this one. Do you have a favorite pre-workout need to try?

Tempo can completely change your weight lifting game. 💯Here are feet-elevated glute bridges done with a 2-3-3 tempo in the middle of my workout. So 2 counts up, hold for a count of 3, then lower on a count of 3. That is 1 rep. I did about 20 reps for 3 sets. The 3 count isometric hold at the top and the 3 count slow eccentric will LIGHT your glutes on FIRE 🔥🍑🍑🔥You can use this tempo for any set on any body part to really increase the complexity of your workout and get those #gainz 💪 It also hones your mind-muscle connection which is HUGE for progress!

Some pull-up action! I just got this grey tank in from Lululemon ...Their stuff washes and wears so well but DANG the $ hurts my feelings! Coach Jenny got me hooked by sending me an outfit for my birthday 🎂 totally her fault that I love it! What is your favorite gym wear line and what item?

Anyway, onto the recipe :)

Chicken and Cornbread Dumplings

Serves 4

Ingredients:
3 stalk large (11"-12" long), Celery, raw
4 T., Butter- divided
3 medium, Carrots, raw
1 medium, Onion
0.50 cup, Masa (can also use corn meal)
3.50 cup, Chicken Broth (can also use water)
16 oz (112g), Chicken Thighs, Boneless, Skinless (I used frozen)
4 oz, Milk
0.50 cup, All Purpose Flour
2 tsp salt and pepper, each
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp tarragon

Directions:
Bring broth to boil with chicken in a large Dutch oven. Meanwhile, chop onion, celery, and carrots into bite size pieces and add to Dutch oven. Stir in 2 tbsp butter, salt, and pepper. Cover and cook until chicken pulls apart and vegetables are tender; using frozen chicken, it took mine about 30 minutes.

In a large bowl, add 2 tbsp butter with flour and masa. Using a pastry cutter or potato masher, chop butter into flour mixture until resembles course crumbles. Stir in milk, tarragon, baking powder, and baking soda until combined.

Drop flour mixture by the tablespoon into simmering soup. Cook for 15 minutes. Enjoy!

Southern girl in training ;)

Nutrition Facts
Servings 4.0
Amount Per Serving
calories 424
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 16 g	25 %
Saturated Fat 7 g	36 %
Monounsaturated Fat 0 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 133 mg	44 %
Sodium 302 mg	13 %
Potassium 547 mg	16 %
Total Carbohydrate 30 g	10 %
Dietary Fiber 4 g	14 %
Sugars 5 g
Protein 33 g	66 %
Vitamin A	166 %
Vitamin C	9 %
Calcium	8 %
Iron	4 %
* The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA.

Tamale Casserole

This casserole was a little bit of a gamble with my family. They all love tamales, but not so much casserole. I had a busy week, and there was no time for tamale making. So this just sounded like too good of an idea not to try it, and it payed off. Both kids said it was a make again!

Playing with tempo can really change your weight lifting game. They are useful for hypertrophy and can make even the lightest of weights effective. Here I should a 3 count eccentric. Raise the weight at a normal pace, pause at the top, then lower as a count of 3. I did it for 3 sets of 8, and was sore with only 30 lbs!

Part of the reason that I was so busy this week was that I had a business trip to Detroit for Venus. Lucky me, my bestie and fellow co-worker Coach Jenny got to accompany me :) this is Kallie (middle) touring us through the Melprints warehouse ... big things are coming from #venusindex #venusfactor ❤ I am dying to tell you all!

Jenny and I doing what we love BEST at the hotel gym in Detroit-  glutes! To be clear, we did a full body workout but this is a snippet of our favorite things ;) On the right is Jenny doing bird dogs for glute activation. We try to do these (or something along these lines) as one of our first sets to really help with motor recruitment. Bottom left is me doing single leg hip thrusts with a 5 second pulse at the end. This was a middle of the workout set for hypertrophy. Top left is Jenny doing glute briges (single leg then double) as a burnout set or finisher. That really helps with the pump and max bloodflow. Notice both of us feeling our glutes or palpating to make sure muscles are engaged and engaged equally. This also helps with mind-muscle connection! 

"Muscles communicate what you are about without saying a word." Greatness from Jen Sinkler (who even commented on this picture and MADE MY DAY)! ❤ Never apologize about your body. Own it and go after what YOU want. Nobody else is entitled to that decision.

So onto the recipe ;) this one will end up on our regular rotation, and it reheats perfectly!

Tamale Casserole

Serves 8

Ingredients
1 cup, Masa or Corn Meal
1 Bell Pepper, Green Bell Pepper, chopped
1.75 cup, Tomato products - Canned, sauce (1 can)
1.25 lb(s), 85% Ground Beef
1 can (1.33 cup), Corn
1.50 cup, shredded, Cheese, cheddar
16 oz, Milk

2 medium (2-1/2" dia), Onions, raw, chopped
3 tbsp garlic
2 tbsp chile powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp salt
Optional- hot sauce, olives, plain Greek yogurt, and greens

Directions
Saute onions and bell pepper until onions are translucent. Add in ground beef and saute until cooked. In a large bowl, mix masa and milk. Stir in remaining ingredients except cheese. Spread into a greased 9x13" casserole. Bake at 350*F for 45 minutes, top with cheese and allow to melt. Serve ontop of a bed of fresh greens topped with Greek yogurt, olives, and hot sauce.

Nutrition Facts
Servings 8.0
Amount Per Serving
calories 371
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 19 g	30 %
Saturated Fat 9 g	44 %
Monounsaturated Fat 2 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 71 mg	24 %
Sodium 497 mg	21 %
Potassium 379 mg	11 %
Total Carbohydrate 27 g	9 %
Dietary Fiber 3 g	12 %
Sugars 8 g
Protein 23 g	47 %
Vitamin A	10 %
Vitamin C	12 %
Calcium	25 %
Iron	15 %
* The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA.