Friday Favorites #37: A Healthy Cucumber Snack, Fall, and More

Happy Friday! I hope you're having a great week with fun plans for the weekend. If you're looking for some workout inspiration, I shared a BOSU ball full body workout earlier in the week. You can totally do the moves without a BOSU ball if you don't have one. Once again I'm stopping by to share some of my favorite things from the week. As always, I'd love to hear what things are making you smile in the comments. Thanks for stopping by. <3

Cucumber with Everything But The Bagel Seasoning

This is my current obsession. I don't do a ton of food prep, but I do like to have chopped vegetables ready to grab for snacking. It only takes a couple of minutes to chop up some celery or cucumbers, but that preparation makes it so they're the first thing I grab when I have the fridge open and I'm trying to decide what to make for dinner. Celery with salsa or cucumbers dipped in the beet cauliflower hummus I shared last week are some of my favorite low calorie snacks. But now I have a new combo!

After slicing up some cucumbers this week, I randomly decided to top a slice with Trader Joe's Everything But The Bagel Seasoning. And then another. And then all the slices I had just prepped were gone and an addiction was born. It's perfect if you're in the mood for mindlessly snacking on chips. It provides the salty, savory, and crunch of chips but instead of weighing you down it provides some added hydration. I've been snacking on it this combo every day since and I won't be stopping any time soon. Even Matt admitted it's delicious, so the proof is in the pudding. I actually have no idea what that means...

Mr. and Mrs. Muscle on Instagram

Somehow I stumbled upon this Mr. and Mrs. Muscle account on Instagram and it's GOLD. Or should I say platinum? Probably I shouldn't say either, but it's the best. They have unique cardio and functional moves I haven't seen anywhere else which makes me want to do each circuit righthissecond. Their posts are packed with awesome info including the primary and secondary muscles worked, the weights they are using, a small video showing modifications, and a timer. Impressive.

Last Saturday I put together a workout using some of their posts and it was the perfect blend of cardio and strength. Here are some of the circuits I did:

I have also seen them mentioning workout calendars in their posts, so I just checked out their website. It looks like they have free guides each month for different focuses: full body, muscle builder, butt lift & toned thighs, and abs & core so that's cool if you're looking for something more structured! From what I can see it also looks like they're free, so that's just all around fantastic.

Transitioning into Fall

Despite temperatures still reaching the 90's, my body apparently got the memo that fall has arrived. All of a sudden instead of craving salads, smoothies, and fruit all I want are soups, casseroles, and root vegetables. Anyone else? I'm curious if this transition is something engrained in us through our circadian rhythms or if it's more from the power of suggestion seeing all sorts of fall recipes popping up. Costco now has Christmas trees in their stores and I can tell you that has most definitely not made me feel ready for Christmas. Too soon, Costco, too soon...

While it may still be pretty toasty here in North Carolina, we are starting to get hints that fall is in the air. The air is feeling a little more crisp and Jameson and I have been able to go on more walks which is a good metric that the temps are starting to be reasonable. When I lived in Maine summer was by far my favorite season, but down here I appreciate all the seasons. Even winter's okay, mainly because I don't lose feeling in my extremities and I can go outside without my face stinging which is pretty cool (haha...or not).

Along with getting to spend more time outdoors, the new season is bringing all sorts of new inspiration for blog content. I have a super fun fall-themed workout in the works. My sister recommended it and *squeal* - it's so fun I can't wait to share it. I'm also working on healthy updates to popular comfort dishes. One of my absolute favorite things to do is create a healthier (but still delicious) version of recipes and dishes, so if you have a food you love but wish was a little better for you - let me know!

Instagram Stories

So, I've been pretty chatty on Instagram this week. There's a good chance I'll regret this in about another week, but for now I'm having fun. I started using stories to share random thoughts and tips, ALDI and Costco finds, and quick meal ideas and tutorials (like a quick breakfast idea and a healthy shrimp and grits-inspired dinner). A lot of that content won't make it to the blog, so if it sounds interesting I'd love for you to follow along. It's a great way to connect with some of you, which I love because this blogging can sometimes be a little one sided. Know that it always make me super happy when I hear from you! <3

A Weekend Getaway

September has been an interesting month. And by interesting, I mean not my favorite. Matt has been flying around the world for work which means different time zones and not a whole lot of time together. And that's a bummer, because I kind of like the guy.

The good news is that we saw that coming and planned for a nice light at the end of the September tunnel: a weekend getaway. Since moving to North Carolina it's fun to be in an area where there are tons of new destinations that are just a quick road trip away. Despite being here for three years, we haven't taken advantage of that as much as we should. Our list of places to escape to for a fun weekend include Charlottesville, Charleston, Savanah, Nashville, Asheville, and Boone. One of those will be getting checked off this weekend. I can't wait.

What dish or recipe do you love but wish was healthier?

What are your favorite healthy snacks?