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Contact me today (608) 395-4335 or balancepersonaltraining4u@gmail.com.

*Printed or email gift certificates available upon request. 

Happy Holidays from Eric & Bob. ❄️

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At a recent potluck a friend brought a homemade Farro Salad. It was so delicious that her serving bowl was empty in under an hour. Below is the recipe which she got from Food52.com. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 2 cups uncooked farro (or substitute barley)
• 1 medium red onion, cut in half
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 handful fresh parsley plus 1 tablespoon finely chopped
• ¹/₂ teaspoon salt (add more if needed)
• 1 cup diced (about 1/4″ cubes) fresh mozzarella cheese
• 2 teaspoons minced pitted kalamata olives
• 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil
• 1 pinch freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 1/4 cups extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons honey

Directions

1. Add the farro, one onion half, garlic, handful of parsley and salt along with 2 3/4 cups water to a 2 quart pot. Bring to a boil, then cover, reduce to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes. Turn off burner and let sit, covered, for 5 more minutes. Discard the onion, garlic and large pieces of parsley. Spread out on a rimmed sheet pan and let cool completely (do not skip this step or the mozzarella will melt into the finished dish).
2. Whisk together the olive oil, vinegars and honey to prepare the dressing. Chop the remaining onion half finely. Add onion, cooled farro, mozzarella, kalamata olives, tomatoes, remaining tablespoon of parsley and basil to a deep bowl. Pour the dressing over the ingredients and stir well to combine, using a long wooden spoon or rubber spatula. Season with salt and pepper. The salad is ready to serve, but can also be made and stored in the fridge, covered, one day ahead.

Parsley and basil straight from the garden.

Here is the onion half, garlic and handful of parsley that we removed from the farro. We saved it for another dish.

Cooked Farro looks lonely without the other ingredients.

Chopped tomatoes, olives and red onion.

Olive oil, vinegars and honey. 

Everybody in the pool. Ready to serve and eat.

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There is something both energizing and peaceful about going on a hike. Nature, fresh air, scenic views. For me, my mind relaxes. My eyes relax. My muscles relax. We didn’t have a specific time to return to the car or mileage we wanted to accomplish or particular views that we had to see. Just enjoying. Being in the moment. Step after step. Breathing. What’s around the next bend?  We took a break every now and then to observe and to listen to the birds and grasshoppers. So if you want to get off of the beaten path, check out the Spring Green Prairie. 

Starting out on our hike with the bluffs as a beautiful backdrop.

Prickly pear cactus.

Sumac turns red this time of year.

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Ingredients

2 tsp grapeseed oil

1.5 pounds boneless skinless chicken thigh meat cut into 1/2″ pieces

3 carrots, peeled and sliced

3 ribs of celery, chopped

1 small yellow onion, diced

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

2 cups lentils, rinsed 

6 cups water

1 tsp chicken base

2 Tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp ground rosemary

salt and pepper to taste

1 bay leaf

Directions

• To a pot add the grape seed oil and set heat to medium/high. Add chicken pieces and cook until done; about 10 minutes stirring frequently.
• Then add carrots, celery and onion. Once vegetables are soft, add thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper. Stir frequently.
• Next add water, chicken base, lentils and bay leaf. Make sure to stir occasionally so food doesn’t stick to bottom of pot. Bring water/broth to boil then reduce heat to simmer.
• Add halved tomatoes and cook approximately 60 minutes. Ready to serve and enjoy.

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As an aside, if you are interested in improving in a sport or athletic endeavor, I strongly encourage you to watch videos and read books about your favorite athlete(s) in your chosen sport(s). They motivate, educate and illustrate how they became successful. As you watch them employ a perfect serve and volley in tennis, for example, not only are you watching how it should be done, but you can picture yourself doing the same thing. I can recall many, many, many times watching the documentary Pumping Iron before or after a weight training workout. This featured bodybuilders like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrigno and Franco Columbu. Let’s just say I was pumped. 

June 11th, 2022 was the last game for coaching my spring soccer season. When I was packing up and say my goodbyes, Tom, one of my soccer players, and his father came over and presented me with a gift. I opened it and was delighted to see the book Pele: Why Soccer Matters.  Written by Pele and Brian Winter, they share some of Pele’s heartwarming stories and hard-won wisdom. The book was published in 2014 when Pele was 73 years old, and as opposed to athletes who write autobiographies in the prime of their career, Pele has a unique perspective on the game of soccer (and life) decades after his retirement. I was always excited to pick the book up and read the next chapter. As a matter of fact, I finished it in under a week, which is record time for me :-) What I came away with most was watching him mature as a player and a person. Adjusting his priorities as he got older and wiser. Even if you’re not a futbol fan, I strongly recommend this book. You will be inspired.

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