I recently read a piece on “How to Get a Tight, Toned Tummy for Summer”. The information highlighted abdominal exercises moving away from the classic crunch showcasing creative exercises designed to target the mid-section even more efficiently. According to the story, resulting in the six-pack of your dreams.

Exciting or boring?

Lasagna, chocolate raspberry swirl cake, triple cheese burrito, buffalo ranch pizza.

Tony's blog on super foods was great. I decided to take an item from that list and expand on it in a culinary fashion. I thought you would find it helpful and that it would make adding salmon and/or tuna to your diet a simple task!

First, we'll make a squid and octopus salad. I know it sounds a little crazy but honestly, it’s wonderful. You can buy squid and octopus at your local grocery store and all you have to do is boil it. My only deviation from the weekend’s version would be to leave off the olives as a personal preference. Also, a simple dressing you can make at home, instead of pre-packaged Italian which we used, is to mix equal parts of red wine vinegar and dijon mustard with a little fresh cracked pepper. It's incredibly simple but a great accompaniment to most salads. You may adjust the mustard or vinegar amounts based on personal taste but the bitterness and bite of this topping is great with veggies!

Another meal from my fabulous weekend in Chicago was this one! In the background you can see wild mushroom risotto; the foreground clearly displays the sautéed asparagus and delicate, tender and perfectly cooked bison steak. It was truly amazing. I love that bison, venison, elk, buffalo and others selections like this are becoming more available. They are very lean choices that add a little bit of fun to your weekly meals. If you treat wild game like you would treat a tenderloin (give it love and attention) you will be very satisfied with the flavor!

I spent a bunch of time with Mark and Yoshi's 3-year old daughter, Gia. She is cute as a button! Feeding her child nutritious, healthy meals is as important to them as it is to me when feeding my boys. Gia's favorite breakfast is a carrot pancake.