Life Is Better When Running: Tone It Up Meet Up!

This past weekend I met up with a few of my favorite Tone It Up sisters (Shannon - @smalone_tiu, Lauren - @runlaurenrun_, Arielle - @relletonesup, and Danielle @danibee8tiu) and we had a little cooking lesson hosted by our friend Shannon. This idea all started because as most Tone It Up girls are - we are addicted to the Perfect Fit Protein pancakes/waffles and we had heard that Shannon makes the best ones yet. We all got to talking and realized that there were more things we wanted to know how to cook/bake and since Shannon feels comfortable in kitchen - she invited us all over for a cooking lesson.

A couple of weeks before the get together, we all sent Shannon 2 recipes that we wanted learn how to make. I decided on kale turkey burgers that my co-worker always brings into work. They always smell amazing and the one time she let me have a little bite, I was in love. Another recipe I chose was from the update to our Nutrition Plan called the Spicy Señorita. I have become bored with my normal food routine and wanted to learn two new recipes that added a bit of spice and shook things up a bit. Other girls wanted to learn how to make a stir fry, the perfect fit pancake, and kale chips to name a few. When we were all done, last minute we decided to fix up a gluten free flax seed wrap from the book Wheat Belly. Um lets just say that was the tastiest wrap I have had in a VERY long time.

What was great about this set up was that Shannon walked us each through our own recipes step by step and helped us cut up some of the ingredients but really allowed us to do our own mixing and mashing and cooking so that we gained confidence in the kitchen. When those kale burgers came out of the oven - yummm yummm yummm - let me just say they were super yummy. They had a good kick to them and tasted delicious. They are going to become a staple in my dinner routine. I also really enjoyed the chicken stir fry recipe as well - lots of veggies and chicken - it was light but filling.

After we were done cooking - we all sat down and got to talk with one another. This is something that I love so much about the TIU sisterhood. We are all different ages, come from different backgrounds, live in different cities, but when we come together at a table - its like we have known each other for ages. Next weekend we are all headed to the SELF Workout In The Park. Can not wait for that day! It is one of the best things I discovered in the city last year - a whole day of working out in beautiful downtown Chicago at the start of summer in Grant Park. More on that tomorrow!

Here are some pictures from our get together last weekend. I really hope we get to do more of these! Thank you to Shannon for hosting and showing us how to get around in the kitchen a bit. I even grilled for the first time tonight WITHOUT my husbands help and didn't burn down the house or burn the food! That is an accomplishment!