Since going Paleo my family has fallen even more in love with our grill. Paleo and grilling just work well together. The past couple of years I've even been stepping outside my grilling comfort zone more and more. Grilling things I'd never thought to have grilled before and trying new flavor combinations. I have to say I'm pretty thrilled with the results of most of my flavor experiments. In the past I'd never have thought to grill fruit, but it's amazing. Grilling fruit and adding it to traditionally savory dishes? Brilliant. Oh yes, and? New rule: every burger recipe for the rest of forever must contain grilled pineapple. OK, maybe more of a guideline. It's a seriously delicious combination though. This Smoky Grilled Pineapple Burger is always a crowd-pleaser at my house. It's not only Paleo, but Whole30, glutenfree, lower carb, and clean eating friendly. I promise you won't miss the bun! paleo, grilled pineapple burger, smoky
As a busy mom I know how hard it can be to fit in workouts. Whether you stay at home with your kids, work from home, or work outside the home finding time to workout can be a constant struggle. Yet we all know how much better we feel and perform the rest of our many tasks when we make that effort to fit them in. One way I have found to get this done is by getting creative while I play with my kids.
Getting our kids involved in our daily fitness is a great option. They'll love it and they need the activity just as much as we do. Plus, when we weave being active into our every day life our kids learn this behavior.
Now, I'm not talking OK kids, let's run 6 miles...and go! I'm just talking about taking advantage of the great summer weather and getting out and playing. There's tons of ways to do this, one fun way I’ve found is tag. Yes, you read that right, tag. No, you are not too old for tag.
If you are skeptical about getting a good workout from just playing with your kids, I challenge you to get out and try one of these versions of tag. Give it 20-30 minutes, or better yet, don’t watch the time. Just get out there and have fun. I am convinced a little play is good for the soul. Oh yes, and you will get your heart-rate up!
- Freeze Tag. In this version of tag when a person is tagged they are ‘frozen’. They have to stand with their arms out straight and their legs apart. The person who is ‘it’ tries to get everyone else frozen. The last person frozen is then ‘it’. However, the people who aren't frozen can unfreeze people by crawling through their legs. If your kids are too small you can army crawl next to them to unfreeze them. This can get to be quite the hilarious workout with all the running around and army crawling under people to unfreeze them.
- TV Tag. We played this a lot when I was younger. In this version, as the person who is ‘it’ tries to tag you, you can squat down and touch the ground (in sort of a frog position) and shout out the name of a television show and be ‘safe’ if you get it out before they touch you. It can get pretty crazy and fun as you scramble in your head to think of another TV show. If you can’t or you don’t see them coming in time, they tag you and you’re it. Each TV show can only be used once. You could mix this up. Make it book titles, movies, anything really. All that jumping up and down and running around is a workout for sure.
- Shadow tag. This is a version my husband used to play when he was little. Basically it’s just like regular tag except that instead of touching people to tag them, the person who is ‘it’ has to step on their shadow to tag them.
How about your family? What's your favorite way to be active together?