PEANUT BUTTER & CHOCOLATE PROTEIN MILKSHAKE

I love Peanut Butter!! Seriously, I converted my daughter to love dips through Peanut Butter and apples. Peanut Butter and banana toast is one of our favorite breakfasts. I spread tons of Peanut Butter on my waffles and sandwiches... Way more than I should according to my husband! I even put Peanut Butter in shakes and smoothies... Enter... Peanut Butter & Chocolate Protein Milkshake!

CHICKEN TAQUITOS WITH AVOCADO DIP

I love these! They are divine... Lunch, dinner, snack... You name it! These are perfect. The first time we had them was when we were preparing to go on a trip to the beach. We didn't want to be worrying about what we were going to eat and didn't want to eat out for every meal--we just can't afford that right now. So I made some easy dinner and snack foods that we could easily prep in the hotel room. These were a hit!

CREAMY AVOCADO PASTA

I love avocado!! It is one of my absolute favorite things to eat. Period. Luckily, both of my kids love avocado, too. It was the one of the first real foods that I gave to both of them when they started eating "real people" food. To this day, Owen (16 months) can eat a whole avocado on his own in one sitting! He loves it!

CINNAMON QUICK BREAD

Today I'm excited to be sharing a childhood favorite! Homemade bread... but not just any bread. A quick, easy, moist, sweet and scrumptious bread that the whole family will love and devour!! This is Cinnamon Quick Bread and it is perfect for breakfast or dessert! And it smells divine!

FIT MAMA EMILY

Hi all! I'm Emily and I blog over at Nap-Time Creations. While my blog is mostly about sewing and food, I am also very passionate about fitness and health. I was really excited to join this series, because I don't share this side of my life through my blog.

FIT MAMA AMANDA

Hello! First of all, thanks Carisa for asking me to write about my personal fitness life and for creating this blog series! It’s a great way for all of us women to get inspired with staying fit and active. 

To start off, you have to know I was born a “gym rat”. Both parents played college sports and sports were a HUGE part of my growing up years. Sports have really helped instill a passion and dedication to live a healthy and active lifestyle. I was also blessed to play for a top 25 Division 1 Volleyball program and play internationally as well. Those experiences introduced me to a lot of talented people with a lot of helpful fitness and nutrition tips. A few years after college, I became a personal trainer too and loved helping others achieve their goals! I am married now and a stay at home mom with two young kids.

FIT MAMA DEE

Hi! This is Carisa’s mom, Dee. I am a mother of 6 children ranging from 13-25, and a grandmother of 2 beautiful grand-children. You may have seen them on Carisa’s blog a time or two. I am excited that I could share with you a little bit about my fitness ups and downs over the last 46 years.

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE ZUCCHINI MUFFINS

Do you have a hard time getting your kids to eat their veggies? Sometimes I do... and sometimes I don't. My kids are weird like that! No seriously, one day avocados are there favorite food and they'll eat a whole one in less than 15 minutes. The next day, they won't touch it. Randomly, Lanae will grab the cherry tomatoes out of the fridge and tell me she wants them for her snack, but then if I pull them out again... won't touch 'em! It's a tough game we play!

LEMON CHICKEN & ZUCCHINI PASTA

Today I am sharing one of our family favorites! It's a good one... It's very filling and very healthy and very very delicious! I grew up hating zucchini, but this recipe changed all that! It's really that good. My kids will down the tomatoes and the zucchini in this pasta! I love it when I can get my kids to eat something healthy without a fight.

FIT MAMA ROBYN

I feel honored Carisa asked me to be included in her Fit Mama series! I am a mom of two boys with a baby girl on the way. Our first son, Collin, was born premature and passed away 3 days after he was born. Ethan is an active, energetic, and sweet 2 ½ year old who constantly keeps me on my toes. Our baby girl is coming in November and we are so excited! Chris, my husband, works for Sorenson Capital, a private equity firm in Lehi, Utah. 

CAESAR GREEN BEAN SALAD

I love green beans! My family always planted a huge garden and one of my favorite things fresh from the garden is green beans. In fact, summer time is really the only time we had green beans growing up, we weren't really big on frozen green beans. I don't think I even knew canned green beans existed. When I married Scott, he introduced me to his family's Caesar Green Bean Salad and it immediately became one of my favorite sides.

FIT MAMA SHARLENE

Hi! This is Carisa’s cousin, Sharlene. I am a mother of 3 rambunctious boys. In the last year I have learned so much and have become very passionate about fitness and nutrition. I have reaped wonderful results from living a healthy, active life. I made the decision and commitment to consistently exercise throughout the rest of my life! I hope to inspire at least one person to do the same.  Allow me to share a little how I reached this point.

REAL FOOD HONEY VINAIGRETTE

Recently, I have become a huge fan of homemade salad dressing. I blame my mother-in-law. She makes the most amazing salads. Every time we go to visit, I cannot even get enough of her salads... which is totally weird because no one loves salad that much!

FIT MAMA SERIES KICKOFF

It is getting harder and harder to be motivated to be healthy and fit. I mean, a lot of us want to be healthy. And we want to be fit! But as moms, we have a lot to do! It's hard to find the time, and sometimes motivation, to make healthy meals and it's even harder to find the time to workout. You really have to make the time to do these things.

ENERGY BITES

I am constantly looking for quick and easy ways to get a little more energy in my life. I love to snack, but if I don't have something healthy ready and available, I sometimes make bad choices... like eating a handful of chocolate chips or not eating at all. When my family and I did our 30 days of real food, I loved to have 3 smaller meals with some snacks in between. So I did a lot of research on simple, healthy snacks. I discovered energy bites. They seem to be very popular right now. There are so many different combinations of flavors and they are quick to make.

STRAWBERRY COCONUT SALAD

This is a dreamy salad. I don't know if you can even really call it a salad... It's like dessert, really! But I call it a salad so I can eat dessert, too! :) I started making a more simple version of this salad last summer, but it has evolved into this and the last time I served it I got so many compliments that I thought I would share!

ITALIAN CREAM CHEESE CROCKPOT CHICKEN AND RICE

I'm flashing back to college, here, so bear with me. The transition to college was a little rough for me. I gave myself an ulcer from stressing so much about whether I would be able to fit in with my new roommates and balance work and school responsibilities. I'm not sure if that kind of stress is normal, but I'm pretty sure its not. Ha ha. I prayed constantly the whole summer before I moved out that I would have an amazing roommate who would become my best friend. You are learning way too much about me right now...

HOT & HEALTHY QUINOA WRAPS

Quinoa is kind of weird. My husband actually spent two years researching Quinoa in his Master's program and got me curious enough to try it. The first time I tried it... I'll be honest, I didn't love it. It has a very interesting texture. Then he spouted off all the nutritional information, so I decided to give it another try. Over time, I've developed some AMAZING recipes using Quinoa. Amazing meaning... quick, easy, super delicious and healthy!

HEALTHY HOMEMADE GRANOLA

As a mother, I think it’s easy to put yourself on the back burner and focus on your kids, your husband and all your other responsibilities. I believe it’s important to find a little bit of time to take care of yourself!!! I have been working hard to get back into shape after my last pregnancy (almost 10 months ago) and I just can’t seem to lose those last 10 pounds. However, for me this isn’t just about the weight, it’s about being healthy, happy and feeling great about myself.