loving cashew cream, but kicking it up a notch

I have growing girls who like yummy treats so I make a lot of things with nuts:

Cashew Cream Cheese

Chocolate Chia Brownies

Blueberry Bites

Dixie Pie Bites

Chocolate Frosting

and the list could go on.

Since I cook with nuts so frequently, I need to kick it up a notch at the gym. (Some of my jeans are getting snug. It's still warm and summery, so it doesn't matter, but come fall, I don't want to have to buy new pants.) Nuts are full of fat and calorie laden, but oh so good. So now it's extra trips to the gym!

I'd like to do more cardio, 'cause I'm a cardio kind of girl, but this fall, is all about muscle building. Having more muscle makes it easier to burn off calories when you are just sitting--muscles require them. Cardio burns off calories and can burn off muscle, too. (I'm not explaining it very well, but I don't feel like getting technical.)

My goal is to add in 2 strength building classes each week. I was only doing one strength building workout a week; a Pilates on the reformer workout. I think I've found a good schedule of 3 days strength training, 2 days of tap, and 1 day of heavy duty cardio day (plus walking as much as possible). (I'd like to get one more day of heavy duty cardio in there, but I don't have time until my class is over in December.)

I do love the reformer. My back, so sore for many years because of an injury and 3 pregnancies, is now not sore most of the time. From 2002-2008, it hurt more days than it didn't. I remember that if I stepped funny of a step or curb, I would be in pain. Some experts said to take it easy and rest it and some said, do more core work. Back then, I wasn't sure what a core was, but I finally figured it out and I'm glad I chose to move and not rest. It took a while to get strong, but now my core is strong and my back doesn't hurt. I don't like doing the strength building classes but not hurting is worth an hour of strength building 3 times a week!

Okay... new recipes soon. I hope. Yesterday, it was hot and summery, we even went swimming, but I decided to make soup!  I made this one Veggie Soup with Kale. Except I had no Kale. So I used cauliflower, carrots, and broccoli (and potatoes). I might add tomatoes next time or use Kale. Soups are fun 'cause you can improvise and it always works. Even the time when you add cashew cream to minestrone (I don't think I ever told you about that), but still, it worked--if you didn't think of it as a minestrone. I froze one dinner's worth of that soup (for the five of us) and have two more dinner's worth in the fridge. Next week, hopefully I'll do another soup. I made it a goal last year to make a soup every Sunday. That lasted a few weeks and then I was sick of making soup. I did get a lot frozen, and it was helpful to have them over the course of a busy year. Over the next couple of months, I'll try to make 3 or 4 kinds and get some of each kind frozen. It's all about EASY around here!