Smitten Life

Ingredients: 

3 chicken breasts or 6 thighs

2 bell peppers

1 baby bok choy

2 green onions
2-3 tbsp cornstarch mixed with 1 tbsp water

for sauce:

1-6 hot dry chilies (6 if you are crazy like me, I like it spiiiiiiicy) 

2 tbsp hoisin sauce

1 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce

1 tbsp sesame oil 

2 tbsp ginger (I used paste)

3 tbsp garlic (I used paste)

1. Chop chicken into bite size pieces, mix the corn starch and water and dip chicken in it. 

2. Mix all the ingredients for the sauce in a wok or pan on medium heat. Bring to a simmer, and then add the chicken into it. Let this cook

3. While that's simmering, chop all your veggies up, put on the brown rice if you're having that. Add veggies in when chicken is almost done, I like my veg still a bit crunchy! 

4. Once it's all done you're good to go, top with fresh chopped green onions and peanuts!

xo Jenna

One of the absolute best parts of spring and summer is getting the bike out. My little cruiser here is a thing of love put together by a couple of my best friends and given to me as a gift. Also, it's freakin' adorable. However, it has no gears so I'm thinking next year of adding a road bike to the mix so that going up and down the hill in the river valley is more doable and I can take it off roading. Don't forget your horn to warn other people enjoying the trails & a helmet, just in case. I look super dorky in mind but I love it. 

I love rediscovering things in my closet, like this striped dress. It's hard to live on a budget sometimes but that's why spring cleaning is so important because sometimes you unearth gems like this one. I have had this dress for 5 years and worn it countless ways and times and I'm so happy that I can still find ways to style it. That's the best part of simple pieces, and that's what I've been focusing on in my shopping these days. 

 A denim jacket is just a no brainer for simple summer dressing in my mind, perfectly casual and goes with everything. I've also been drawn to adding pastels into my wardrobe lately, like these shoes. I'm obsessed with the soft pink, only downside is they're SO hard to keep clean. I am a messy person I guess? It's a tough life

xoJenna

When the weather finally smartens up around these parts I can't help but want to spend most of my time out doors, it gets so cold here in the wintertime so it's nice to be able to explore. That means the way I train & get my workouts in can change too, and there's nothing better than being able to workout outside! There's so many great body weight exercises, here's a few you can do to make into a circuit and do anywhere :)

1. Tuck Jumps 45s on/ 15s off

Stand feet shoulder distance and jump up knees tuck in to touch hands, keep core tight and torso upright. If this is too challenging, bring 1 leg up at a time to meet hands. 

2. Superman Push ups 45s/15s off

One arm directly under shoulder like a normal push up position, other one down lower to in line with pec. Lower body down (from knees or from toes like pictured) keep head up and core tight. Switch from side to side for the duration.

3. Plank Rotations 45s/15s off

Start in a plank position, take 1 arm and rotate it open to a semi side plank position. Keep the core tight and shoulders down, ensure hips are level and glutes are squeezed. Switch from side to side. Can also be performed from knees, just ensure the core is tight and hips stay level

4. Walking Lunges 45s/15s off

Torso upright, step out bend both knees and push through the heel of the front leg to come back to standing position, change legs as you go. 

5. Walk outs 45s/15s off

Start from standing, bring hands to ground out in front of you, walk hands out until in a plank position and then walk them  back to standing position again. You should try to keep your legs as straight as possible, and don't let your hips drop. 

Run 45s after this, repeat circuit 4-5x 

Finish off with stretches 

1. Cut up veggies into small pieces, or shred carrots

2. Add rice to rice cooker (or cook on stove)

3. Add 1-2tbsp olive oil to pan on medium heat, add crushed garlic in saute. 

4. Add carrots and asparagus to garlic and cook until the veggies soften

5. Add cup white wine, squeeze the 1/2 lemon (no seeds) let it simmer and reduce, add the tbsp cornstarch in next

6. Once it thickens up, add the shrimp, package of basil and cover until shrimp is heated up 

7. Put brown rice on place with veggie/shrimp mixture and add handful of crushed peanuts or cashews on top. Also tastes really good with Sriracha on top ;)

There are some things that are just better with friends & that definitely extends to working out. Especially stairs! I honestly don't think I would ever run stairs if it weren't for my fitness minded amazing friends. It's really awesome to have friends who are just as passionate about getting fit and being healthy as I am so we can be social, catch up & get our workout in. We're good about pushing each other and after each set of stairs saying "just one more" until we're out of breath and ready to take a nap. Andrea is another personal trainer in Edmonton and is an amazing person and trainer. 

Challenge: Find a set of stairs to meet at, here are a couple good sets in Edmonton. We used the glenora ones, set a timer for 30 minutes and see how many sets you can run. Up & down count as 1! 

Don't forget to stretch it out afterwards, Andrea & I demonstrate some easy partner stretches. First one for the groin, make sure your feet line up grab wrists in the middle, one will pull the other forward until they feel the pull and hold 30s.  

The second is the assisted hamstring stretch, support friends leg with your body, ensure they keep their knee straight and push forward until they say it's good enough. Hold 30s 

For some reason prior to this summer I've never owned a pair of high waisted shorts. I think it's because I'm not a huge fan of most crop tops so I think in my mind I had to wear a crop top with high waisted shorts. Not so! Bringin' back the ol' tuck. Although in a cuter, much more fashion forward way than your 70 year old Grandpa. Because, let's face it, your grandpa ain't got gams like this. Or if he does, kodus to him, he squats. 

When it's hot out I really like to keep things simple and be really comfortable, so this basic tank and short combination is perfect for me. It can be a hard balance to take a simple combination like this and make it your own. For me I add some fun unique jewellery, a bright lip and look like I have my shit together without melting in +20 temps.

xo Jenna