This morning I woke up feeling really good for making it through a day of mindful eating, doing my cardio workout and getting in a nice evening walk with the family. I thought that I would feel really worked out and unable to stand, but I am stronger than I thought. I guess it is all the walking we do. I have a lot of lower body strength, but not much upper body strength at all. I still do feel pretty sore, but it is the good kind. Today I did my hour long power yoga with Rodney Yee to stretch out and relieve some of my stress.

After the yoga we headed into town again to pick up some more produce. I have been planning to make a vegetable rainbow with the girls since we made our fruity rainbow, but just haven’t got around to it. Today we picked up the veggies we needed to create a veggie rainbow.

Vegetable Rainbow

RED – Sliced Cherry Tomatoes

ORANGE – Coined Carrots

YELLOW – Sliced Bell Peppers

GREEN – Broccoli, Chopped into small florets

PURPLE – Sliced Red Cabbage

Isn’t it beautiful?

I also was up last night thinking of all of the different salads I can make and decided on this for today…

Mandarin Cranberry & Almond Salad with Raspberry Vinaigarette

This salad is nothing short of amazing! The mandarins and raspberry give the romaine lettuce a sweet touch, while the cranberries add a tart flavor and the roasted almonds add some protein and crunch to jazz it all up.

Makes one large salad

• 3 cups chopped romaine lettuce
• 1 mandarin orange, peeled and separated
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup roasted sliced almonds
• 3-4 tablespoons Raspberry Vinaigrette (recipe below)

Raspberry Vinaigrette

Makes about 1 cup of vinaigrette

• 1/3 cup all fruit raspberry jam
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 1/4 cup sunflower oil

I am enjoying these salads and looking down at my plate and seeing color. I didn’t know how much I missed this. I hope someone will try this salad and love it as much as I do. 🙂