Sharing a recipe for the best dairy-free broccoli salad. This is the perfect side dish for dinners, delicious leftovers for lunch, and an awesome healthy summer BBQ or potluck side dish.

Hey friends! How’s the day going so far? We’re back in town after a trip to Phoenix for Nationals, and have a mountain of laundry + have some virtual 1:1 appointments.

For today’s post, I thought I’d share a summer side dish recipe! Whenever we have friends over during the summer, finding recipes for the *fun* stuff like appetizers and desserts is always super easy. I always like to make sure we have some kind of salad or vegetable, and am always looking for new favorites. Mia recently shared her favorite broccoli salad recipe with me and I knew I had to post it here on the blog! It lasted about 15 minutes in our house.

I accidentally found out that the girls love raw broccoli when we were low on groceries and I was running out of options while packing their lunch + snacks for school. I’ll typically roast broccoli with dinner and they tend to be pretty meh about it. I needed one more spot to fill in their lunch bento boxes, so I added some raw chopped broccoli. When I picked them up, they both said how much they loved the broccoli in their lunch, and I’ve been adding it ever since. This broccoli salad was a HUGE hit in our house – we each had a bowl and it was gone.

Broccoli salad is a great source of fiber and vitamins. It’s also dairy-free, and includes blanched broccoli, which still has a crunch, but can be easier to digest than raw. You simply mix all of the ingredients into a bowl and enjoy! It’s also a versatile recipe; feel free to customize it as you like. You can swap out the almonds for another type of nut, or use a different type of dried fruit (like dried cranberries or raisins) instead of the dates. Just make sure that you don’t skip the celery seed, as it gives it a unique flavor and crunch.

The best dairy-free broccoli salad

Ingredients

1 head of broccoli (or a 12 oz bag of pre cut florets)

Avocado oil mayo (Chosen foods, Sir Kensington or homemade. I like to make my own, or order Sir Kensington from Thrive Market)

Maple syrup (or honey) for a little bit of sweetness

Celery seed – don’t omit this ingredient!

Salt & pepper, to taste

On

Hi friends! Happy Friday! What’s going on this weekend? We’re off to Liv’s dance Nationals competition (so excited) and spending the rest of the weekend hanging out with friends. Our dance team has worked so hard all year, so I’m absolutely looking forward to seeing the dances one more time and celebrating the end of such a wonderful season. I’d love to hear what you have going on!

It’s time for the weekly Friday Faves party! This is where I share some of my favorite finds from the week and around the web. I always love to hear about your faves, too, so please shout out something you’re loving in the comments section below.

Friday Faves

Staycation at Tanque Verde Ranch

Last weekend, we had a little Father’s Day staycation at Tanque Verde Ranch. Last time we stayed on property, I was pregnant with P! We’ve gone back many times to enjoy their Saturday night Cowboy Cookout. I highly recommend it if you’re visiting Tucson! We wanted to stay for the weekend and take advantage of the extra activities, like horseback riding, archery, and fishing.

The girls shocked the instructor with their perfect archery form:

(all of the practice with P’s toy bow and arrow has really paid off, let me tell ya)

and after archery, we headed to Barnyard for dinner before seeing a family of javelinas right outside our hotel casita! Fun trivia: a group of javelina is called a squadron.

Saturday morning, we were up bright and early for horseback riding. The girls take lessons, but the Pilot and I hadn’t been on a horse in years. (We always joke that we’re a little bit j

Hi friends! I’m so excited to have Stevie Smith, a Registered Dietitian who works with InsideTracker, on the show today! This show isn’t sponsored, but you can use my link to get 20% off at InsideTracker here and read about my experience here! I’m so excited to re-test soon and see how my numbers have changed.

Here’s what we talk about:

– The most common biomarkers that people need to improve through their Inside Tracker results

– How can athletes and those who are more interested in finetuning their nutrition use their results

– What types of recommendations and analysis she provides for athlete clients

– How recommendations differ based on goals (strength, endurance, overall health/longevity)

– HRV (Heart Rate Variability) and what factors affect this

And so.much.more!

Here’s a bit more about Stevie if you’re not familiar with her:

Stevie Smith is an experienced Registered Dietitian, board certified in sports nutrition, with a demonstrated history of working with individuals, groups, and also in clinical settings. In her work with InsideTracker, Stevie helps athletes like Shalane Flanagan use the platform’s analysis of blood biometrics, DNA insights and fitness tracker data to create science-backed recommendations for nutrition and lifestyle interventions and optimize for strength, endurance and longevity. She holds a Bachelor of Science (BS) focused in Dietetics and Nutrition from State University of New York College at Buffalo and Masters of Science (MS) in Applied Nutrition with a sports and fitness concentration from Northeastern University.

You can connect with Stevie on Instagram, read her articles at InsideTracker, and check out her website here. 

Resources from this episode:

Get 20% off at InsideTracker here and get customized recommendations based on your personal biomarkers. If you’re looking to take your health to the next level, this is an amazing tool!

Book recommendations from Stevie:

Run Fast. Cook Fast. Eat slow. I ordered a copy after recording this episode and the recipes look AWESOME.

Rise and Run

Next Level

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 Sharing 20 of the best babywearing exercises if you’re looking to work out with your baby close by. Check out the full list and form tutorials here!

Hi friends! How are ya? I hope you’re having a great morning so far! I’m off to get some work stuff done (new Fit Team workouts go out next week) and then spend the rest of the day swimming with the crew. I hope you have a wonderful day.

For today’s post, I’m chatting about babywearing! It’s funny because I feel like those days were a LIFETIME ago, but I have so many friends who are currently pregnant or have new babies. (It allows me to soak up some baby snuggles without debating our “two and through” rule.”) When the girls were itty bitty, babywearing saved me. It enabled me to get things done around the house, cook meals, and also enjoy keeping them close and happy at the same time.

As you guys know, babywearing is holding your baby close to you using a carrier. It’s a clever way to go hands-free while you get some chores done, run errands, or even doing some exercises. Working out with a carrier is a great way to get your body moving and burn some calories, and the repetitive movements can also help calm a fussy baby. I still have the “mom sway” all these years later, and I hope it never goes away. 🙂 Today, I’m sharing a roundup of the best babywearing exercises that my friends out there can do without compromising bonding time with your babies.

The 10 Best Babywearing Exercises

(What do you think about my baby model? lolol)

Squat to calf raise

Make sure your feet are underneath your shoulders (hip width or slightly wider is good) and toes slightly turned out. Focus on sitting back, while keeping your chest lifted and a tight core. Inhale to lower, exhale to rise. Make sure that your knees go towards your toes, but not far past your toes. Sink your hips as low as your flexibility allows, exhale to rise, coming up onto your toes. Lower down, squat and repeat. This exercise will also increase your heart rate.

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Sharing tips on how to create a home gym on a budget and what equipment you really need.

Hi friends! Hope you’re enjoying the day so far and that all of my dad friends had a happy Father’s Day!

For this post, I wanted to chat about how to set up a home gym and what equipment you need, especially since many of us are still working out at home, or you might be considering creating a home gym on a budget.

Home gyms are getting even more popular since the pandemic started and there are SO MANY benefits to having your own gym at home. One of my favorite parts is that there’s zero commute time, and if the kids are home, I can just get in a workout while they play or watch a show.

Creating a home gym can be a bit challenging if you have a limited budget (some gym technology and gear is pricey!) but there are ways you can create a home gym that works for your needs without breaking the bank. You can also customize it based on what you like to do and what products you think you really need.

Before I get started, I just want to emphasize the fact that you don’t need fancy or expensive equipment to get in a great workout. All you need to get an awesome workout is a plan, sneakers that fit you, and motivation. Anything else is just a bonus.

How To Create A Home Gym On A Budget:

Take advantage of what you already have and create a wish list for future items

Create a list or spreadsheet with the items you currently have and prioritize the ones you have your eye on.

Create a budget and estimate expenses

Determine a total spending budget and after doing some searching online, you can estimate how much your total gym set-up will cost.

Invest in multi-tasking tools at first

An example of this is if you’re looking for strength training equipment, find something that you can use for multiple things (like dumbbells) and is versatile, before expanding into different products in the same theme (like barbells, kettlebells, etc.)

Create a dedicated workout space

This can be a full room in your house, a garage, an office corner, whatever you have the room to use. If you don’t have a dedicated space, you could even store your workout items in a closet in a large bin. If space is an issue, focus on the items that don’t take up a ton of room (like resistance bands, jump rope, small Pilates ball, etc.)

Buy secondhand equipment

I usually get lucky on Facebook marketplace, or when you hear about gyms closing or relocating, they’re often looking to sell their equipment (if they didn’t lease it).

Choose equipment you will actually use!

This one seems obvious but don’t purchase anything you won’t be excited to use in your routine. 🙂 A spin bike makes a lovely clothing rack but would be a waste of money.

Here are some of my top home gym essentials!

Home Gym Essentials

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