#1MillionMinutes Update

So, remember how I signed up to do the #1MillionMinutes challenge this summer back in June? Today's post is an update on my progress with the challenge and what I've been up to lately for running and fitness. By request, there's also a recipe for the Breakfast Muffins I had on my Instagram the other day. :)

Sweaty selfie from a recent morning walk. :)

When I first signed up for the #1MillionMinutes challenge through FitApproach, I pledged to do 2000 minutes of exercise throughout the two month time period of June 21-August 21. Well, here we are about three weeks into the challenge and I'm already at 1020 minutes! Honestly, I'm not working out any extra. In fact, I was taking it easy with all the travel and visiting we had when this challenge first started. I think it's just that I really didn't have a concept of how quickly the minutes would add up! I think it's safe to say that I'll blow 2000 minutes out of the water. Maybe I'll up my goal to 3000?? Mostly I get my minutes from running, walking, yoga, and core exercises. There has been some biking mixed in, too.

With the actual challenge of racking up fitness minutes, they have also been doling out Instagram and Blog prompts people can do to participate and stay engaged and connect with sponsors. I've been doing them when I can and/or feel inspired to do so. Participation in the prompts and mini-challenges can earn free prizes, and sometimes prizes are cool!  This week's Mad-Lib style blog prompt is sponsored by a company called LornaJane, which is an activewear company from Australia. I had never heard of them, but they have some nice (expensive!) clothes on their site. I was more intrigued by the Move, Nourish, Believe sister site they have that feels more like a healthy lifestyle blog with tips and inspiration.

If I do this week's Mad-Lib, I could win a copy of a cool coffee table book from Lorna Jane called Inspired! It looks pretty neat. So, here's my Mad-Lib!

I believe that the key to a happy life is __Balance and family_______ [noun]. __Balance and Family_____ [same noun] inspires me to be the __content_____[adj] person that I am today. I am lucky to have __Jeff_____ [person] and __the rest of my family____ [person] in my life because they inspire me to live life to my fullest and to chase my dreams.

My dream is to one day __pull off a successful 5K On The Farm!___________ [verb] and even if it takes _a lot of time building internet websites______ [noun], I know I’ll get there because I’m not afraid to dream big!

While I dream big, I hope to inspire others by ____showing how an active lifestyle is possible, no matter who you are or where you live!____________. I

Join me, starting on Monday, July 13th for a fun 5 day #LJInspired Instagram Challenge hosted  by @FitApproach & @LornaJaneActive.

I've also been keeping up pretty closely with this week's Instagram prompts. Yesterday's prompt was to show a healthy food swap you like to make, and I chose these delicious Breakfast Muffins! I made a batch the other day using whole wheat flour, bacon, eggs, and cheddar cheese. You could customize the recipe to use whatever ingredients you have on hand. They are way healthier than a McSandwich from the neighborhood fast food place! But the best thing is they taste great and they're really handy in the morning for on-the-go breakfast. You can also freeze them and take out one at a time, zap it quickly in the microwave, and then head on your merry way!

My cousin Kendra requested the recipe, so here it is!


Breakfast Muffins
All You Need:
1 lb breakfast sausage OR 6 slices of bacon
7 eggs, divided
2 C all-purpose flour (or go 1 C each all-purpose and whole wheat)
1/3 C sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C milk
1/2 C vegetable oil
1 C shredded cheese, divided.

All You Do:
1. Preheat oven to 400. Grease a muffin tin or line with paper muffin cups. In a large skillet, brown sausage or bacon and drain, then wipe skillet clean. If using bacon, cut into bits.
2. Scrambe 5 of the 7 eggs in skillet, then remove eggs from heat.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients: Flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together remaining 2 eggs, milk, and vegetable oil. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, stirring until just combined.
4. Fold in 2/3 cup shredded cheese, sausage or bacon, and scrambled eggs.
5. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tin, filling each cup evenly. Sprinkle tops with remaining 1/3 cup of cheese. Bake 12-15 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes in pan before removing to a wire rack.

Freezer instructions: Freeze cooled muffins in a resealable plastic freezer bag. To use, microwave for 45-60 seconds. *I'll bet your muffins don't last long enough to freeze!

If you try the recipe, let me know what ingredients you use and how they turn out!

My feet, among antelope tracks!

In the meantime, I'm going to keep working on racking up my minutes for the #1MillionMinutes challenge! What are you doing to stay fit and active this summer?