today i’m so excited about our “shut the fridge” editor i could almost run on a treadmonster.
and if pigs did in fact fly, wes pedersen would be the coach to get me on said torture device.
one of orange county’s favorite personal trainers, running coach, and group exercise instructor, wes pedersen is a favorite and a force at our club, equinox fitness. motivating, kind, and crazy informative, wes has created a powerful presence with his running clubs, clients and classes.
thank you so much wes for taking the time out of your very busy schedule to “shut the fridge” with us.
“A little of this and a little of that” . . . how else can I describe what my fridge looks like? To me it makes perfect sense and tells the story of the lives in our house with one parent working full time in the fitness industry while training to run across the Grand Canyon, one parent playing “Super Mom”/doctoral student/psychology intern, and one overly-active 2 year old with the appetite of a 17-year old adolescent boy!
We’ve got organic veggies (which the wifey is a master chef at preparing in at least 14 different/delicious ways), plenty of fruit that can be the quick sugar-induced pick me up in the middle of the day, every form of yogurt possible to satisfy our son, lots and lots of water, and even a couple of beers for when the the tyke decides to tantrum.
With our schedules tightly packed to the minute, I sometimes feel like our family plays out the metaphor of “ships passing in the night”. Therefore preparation is key and we try (even if sometimes it is only a feeble attempt) to prepare food at the beginning of each week to sustain us through each day . . . hence the sliced sweet potatoes ready to be baked, the pre-sliced asparagus, and chicken marinating in “Island Soyaki Sauce” (from Trader Joe’s).
While I don’t prescribe to idea that everything from Trader Joe’s is 100% healthy and devoid of calories, I do think you can find some unique/tasty/addictive/and still healthy options. Case in point, TJ’s “Fresh Brushetta” which we use more like a gravy than a condiment, preferring to slather it on everything from eggs to quinoa to cold lentils. Speaking of cold lentils, try this:
1 cup cold lentils (from TJ’s – pic above)
1/2 cup shelled edamame (from TJ’s – pic above)
2 TBSP fresh brushetta (TJ’s)
handful of walnuts
handful of dried cranberries
**(I’ll even throw chicken, hard boiled eggs, or sliced turkey in there for more protein)
Building off of Carly Farmer’s “Shut the Fridge” post, here’s my morning smoothie essential list:
Protein powder (either whey or Vega brand in the berry flavor)
Banana
Chia Seeds
Ground Flax Seeds
Peanut Powder
Almond Milk
Spinach
** while the spinach doesn’t carry a lot of flavor it does change the color of the smoothie to green – which makes me feel that it is infinitely more healthy for me . . . even if it is of the banana/PB/chocolate almond milk variety.
And here is the Pièce de résistance! All hail to the mighty power of the Cocoa Almond Spread! It can be paired with something like apple slices or just with your index finger . . . as you can tell from the pic . . . don’t judge . . . just try a little bit using a spoon and soon you’ll find that the utensil just gets in the way! I hope that this finds a happy home in KO’s fridge next to the “NutZo Butter” and replacing the DH frosting!
Thanks to KO for letting me share my soul/fridge with all of you. It was a fun exercise . . . in the sense that I had to literally move all of the normal junk food out to make way for what I wanted you to see 😉
Wow – I love this series – shut the fridge is genius. These are really organised people – well done you guys! we have that soyaki sauce too, if you marinate chicken in it overnight, it turns out amazing on the BBQ. Sadly I have given up a bit and find myself buying from the (incredibly pricey) local store at the end of the road up to three times a day. Mind you we go through three litres of milk a day! BTW, if you're at Trader Joes, you may like a Kiwi cereal called Weetabix.
thanks jody! actually i have tried weetabix…tasted like brix of wheat….no?
wow, you go girl! i adore your blog.
So fun to peek into the fridge of these uber healthy people. I will have to try the bruschetta sauce!
xo Mary Jo