Plank a day?

 OK.  I am constantly looking for things to do to challenge myself.  I know some people who do a plank a day and see how long they can hold the pose.  I have been doing it a few times a day (my favorite is during commercial breaks at night) and using my stop watch on my phone to see how long I can hold it before my arms start uncontrollably shaking.  :)  Give it a try.  Challenge yourself!

MOTIVATION

In the craziness of this time of year, it is important to stay on track.  It is perfectly fine to go crazy and have diet cheat days....just not an entire diet cheat season.  Keep your eye on the prize and remember why you decided to be healthy in the first place.

Turkey Salad

It is no secret that I love Chicken Salad.  I very much enjoy making it with some fat free greek yogurt and dijon mustard and rolling it up in a wrap.  So, I figured I would make some turkey salad wraps since I had some left over turkey!  You can make your turkey salad however you like to make your chicken salad.  Some people like celery, grapes, cranberries, pecans or walnuts in theirs.  I made some very basic greek yogurt and dijon for mine.  Sooooo good.  It was a great way to use up my leftovers.

Turkey Noodle Soup

Mmmmmmmm, Soup.

Hi there!  Remember me?  I know, it has been a while since I last posted, but you know how life gets sometimes, right?

I had never seen these before, but they are YUMMY!

Anywho, I had a bunch of leftovers from Thanksgiving so I made myself some yummy soup for my lunch this week.  I will try to give you measurements, but I honestly just threw some things in the pot.  In my stock pot, I sprayed some cooking spray and added 4 diced celery stalks, 1 medium onion, diced and about 15 sliced baby carrots.  I cooked them over medium high heat until almost tender then I tossed in about 10 oz of diced cremini mushrooms (button would work fine as well).  After all of the veggies were tender I added 10 cups of low sodium chicken broth.  Once it came to a boil I added half of the bag of whole grain noodles and cooked them for 1 minute less than the recommended time on the bag.  Then I added about 2-3 cups of diced turkey (you could also use a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store) and about 1-2 Tablespoons of fresh thyme.  I let the turkey heat through for a couple of minutes and served it up!

This is a perfect lunch for me now that it is cold outside, I can just heat it up and eat.  YUMMMMMMMY!

Quinoa stuffed peppers

I am not going to lie.  I was so excited to make these....but I knew I would have to sell it to the hubs.  This is a meatless meal and even though he has lost over 60 lbs, he needs to have his meat at dinner time.  I thought about it long and hard all day long and the only thing I could think to do was to have him bring home a rotisserie chicken on his way home from work.  LOL!  I really liked it.  It has basil, cheese, tomatoes....what's not to love??

I found the recipe here.  The recipe makes one pepper, so plan accordingly.  

Ingredients
1 medium red or green bell pepper
1/3 cup cooked quinoa
1/3 cup chopped tomatoes
1/3 cup grated zucchini
1 Tbsp minced basil or parsley
2 Tbsp grated Parmesan or Romano cheese, divided
1 Tbsp pine nuts, divided
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp minced garlic
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.

2. Cut the top off of the bell pepper and remove the seeds and ribs, leaving the remaining pepper intact. Trim the bottom slightly, if necessary, so it will stand up straight.

3. Combine the quinoa, tomatoes, zucchini, basil or parsley, 1 tablespoon of the cheese, 2 teaspoons of the pine nuts, lemon juice, oil, and garlic in a medium bowl. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.

4. Place the bell pepper in a baking dish and add enough water to come halfway up the sides of the dish.

5. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Top the pepper with the remaining 1 tablespoon of cheese and 1 teaspoon of pine nuts and bake, uncovered, for 15 more minutes or until the cheese is melted and the nuts are golden.

Dijon Salmon

Ok, it isn't much of a recipe because I stink at measurements when just throwing dinner together, but I
ll do the best I can.... I coated 4 pieces of salmon skin side down with dijon mustard (top and sides only), then pressed a coating of a mixture of about 3/4 cups of panko breadcrumbs and the zest of one lemon.  Then I put it in a pan coated with cooking spray on medium high heat for about 4 minutes.  I finished cooking it in a 425 degree oven for 5-7 minutes more, depending on thickness.  This is my new favorite salmon recipe.  Even the hubs enjoyed it and he isn't a huge salmon fan, but I make him eat it anyways.

Pumpkin Peanut Butter Dog Treats

I love making dog treats for my dog, Lilly.  There are so many dog treats out there that don't even resemble food and who knows what is in them!  Here are some really easy dog treats and your dog will love them.

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 large eggs
2/3 cup pumpkin purée, canned or fresh
3 tbsps peanut butter

Mix all of these ingredients together, roll the dough out and use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes, or you can even just cut them into bars.  Put them in a 350 degree oven for about 20-30 minutes, depending on the desired doneness.  Lilly likes them crunchy so ours were in the oven for about 30 minutes.  Just check on them every now and again.  ENJOY!  Your dog will thank you!

Pumpkin Bread

I like a good challenge.  When I found this recipe on Pinterest boasting the entire loaf is only 500 calories, I knew I had to make it because even if I ate the entire thing, it was only 500 calories....only 500.  Now, I do enjoy the full fat version of this very much.  I make it every year, so I was curious to see how this tasted.  It is certainly a yummy addition to my 3pm snack with my coffee and I only eat 1 serving at a time at 100 calories each.  Delicious.

Batter:
1-1/2 c. pureed pumpkin
1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce
1 whole egg
3 egg whites
1 c. all-purpose flour
2/3 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. Stevia Cup For Cup sweetener
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. ground nutmeg

Cream filling
8 oz. reduced fat cream cheese
1/4 c. granulated sugar
1 T. all-purpose flour
2 egg whites
1 t. vanilla extract

1. For the Batter: With an electric mixer, beat the pumpkin, applesauce, egg, and egg whites on medium speed until smooth. In a separate bowl, combine the flours, Stevia, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. Slowly mix the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture.

2. For the cream cheese filling: Beat the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, egg whites and flour until creamy and smooth.

3. Grease 2 8x4x2″ loaf pans. Divide half of the batter between the two pans. Pour half of the filling in one pan and the other half in the second pan and smooth with the back of a spoon. Top with the remaining batter.

4. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Don’t overbake or your bread will be dry on the edges. Cool and remove from pans. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

Buffalo Chicken Quinoa Cups

I love hot wings and I love to dip hot wings in blue cheese dressing.  I have been known to eat wings for my weekly cheat meal.  I just love the spiciness and the creaminess all together.  Yummmmm.

Here is a healthy alternative that you won't feel guilty about later.

-1 cup cooked quinoa
-1 large egg
-1/4 cup chopped onion
-1 cup finely chopped cooked chicken (I used a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store...I used the rest of the left over chicken to make chicken salad (greek yogurt and dijon mustard))
-1/4 cup buffalo sauce
-1/2 cup reduced fat shredded mozarella cheese
-1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
-1 minced garlic clove
-salt and pepper

Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl until combined.  Put a heaping Tablespoon in each cup of a well sprayed mini muffin tin.  Push the ingredients down in each muffin cup so it is compact.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes.

Now, even better news is that I also used a blue cheese dressing that is only 35 calories for 2 tablespoons.  It is seriously so good and practically

Pizza Panini

If you haven't been to Roni Noone's Green Lite Bites site.  Go now.  I LOVE her site!

It is chilly here today and I am having a hard time staying warm and cozy.  It is just one of those days.  I saw Roni's panini picture and immediately got up and made one.   At only 163 calories, it was so ooey, gooey, delicious.

I got a multigrain 100 calorie English Muffin and spread 1 tablespoon of pizza sauce on it.  Then I sliced a Laughing Cow Light Babybel and put it on top and layered some of my favorite pizza toppings.  I used roasted bell peppers, a mushroom and some spinach leaves.  I tossed it in a nonstick pan and pressed down using the back of my spatula.  I did that for a minute or so and flipped it over to do the other side until the cheese in the middle was all melty.  You could also use a panini press or a George Forman grill, but I was way too lazy to pull out the special equipment.  ENJOY!!

Baked Pumpkin Spice Doughnut Holes

I am eating these with a cup of coffee as I type.  Holy cow, these are good.  Just out of the oven, warm, moist.....delicious!  The Apple Cider Doughnut Holes I made last week were a hit, so I decided to make these.  I love pumpkin flavored anything!

I adapted this recipe from here.  I changed it to make it a bit more figure friendly as my recipe made 33  doughnut holes at only 53 calories a piece.

For the Doughnuts:
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup skim milk


For the coating:
2 Tablespoons melted butter
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray mini muffin tins with cooking spray.

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl.  Mix all the wet ingredients in another bowl.  Mix half of the dry mixture into the wet mixture until incorporated and then mix the rest.  Do not over-mix!  Using a tablespoon or a small ice cream scoop, place dough into each muffin tin.  Bake for about 10 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

Once they come out of the oven, brush the tops with the melted butter and then toss them in a ziploc bag with the cinnamon sugar mixture (about 6 at a time).  Place on a cookie sheet to cool.  Once cool, place them in an airtight container.

MOTIVATION!

My pal, the foam roller

I am 37 years old.  Some days I feel like I am 60.  I work out hard almost every day so I can be the healthy version of me that I am now.  I like her.  I need to take care of her.  Sometimes, my workouts leave me sore for days (because I ate more than I should have and I'm trying to work it off...I'm still trying to find a balance, don't judge).  I was introduced to my good friend, foam roller and we have been close ever since that day.  It helps with recovery and flexibility.

My trainer, Lilly

I am not a fan of running.  I really WANT to be a fan of running, but I just don't enjoy it.  I do it though, every now and again to mix things up.  I even was pretty good for a while with having 5K Fridays, but school and work and the kids' sports started and I would just rather do some circuit training or kickboxing or strength training or bull fighting....OK, maybe not that.  I was just using my foam roller the other day to work out one of my calves because I decided to run a 5K after not running for over 6 weeks.  Smart decision?  Not so much.  It hurts when I use it, but I know in the long run, it is helping greatly

The foam roller helps with recovery and with flexibility.  It is also fun to do while you are sitting watching your evening tv show before you go to bed.  Hopefully, you aren't growling in pain too loudly as you use it.  It helps me wake up the next morning able to walk sometimes....I kid....maybe.

Here are some exercises you can do with your foam roller.  Check it out.  They are really very helpful.

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-267--13796-0,00.html

http://www.dailyspark.com/blog.asp?post=video_how_to_use_a_foam_roller

Baked Apple Cider Doughnut Holes

I am a HUGE fan of doughnuts.  I eat them a lot less these days, but sometimes you just need to eat a doughnut.  Since it is fall and I seem to be enjoying all things apple, I knew I had to make them when I came across the recipe.  I found it here.  I didn't adapt the recipe in any way.  The only difference is that mine made 36 instead of her 24.

I even used the apple butter I made my previous post!  Yay ME!

Are these as bad as the fried version?  Heck no!  So grab a cup of coffee and enjoy some doughnut goodness.  These puppies are only 62 calories a piece!

Crock Pot Apple Butter

We still had lots of apples left from our trip to the apple orchard, so I decided to make some apple butter.  Even better, I made apple butter in the crock pot ALL DAY LONG!!!  Can I just tell you how incredible my house smelled??? SO GOOD!

I found the recipe here.  Skinnytaste.com is an awesome place to visit, by the way.  I have found so many yummy things there!  Check it out!

Apple Butter

2.5 pounds (about 6 large) apples, peeled, cored and chopped (I used a mixture of Golden Delicious, Honey Crisp and Red Delicious)

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp allspice

1/8 tsp nutmeg

Toss the apples in your slow cooker. Cover the apples with the remaining ingredients and stir to coat.  

Cover and cook on low for 10 hours, stirring every so often.  Your mixture will turn thick and dark brown.

Uncover and puree with an emersion blender or zap in a food processor.  Cook on high with the lid off of the slow cooker for an hour or 2 more until at the desired consistency.  

It should make about 2 cups and have 16, 2 Tablespoon servings.  Calories: 88.5, fat: 0.3, 24.5 g carbs, fiber: 2.2 grams

Vegetarian Chili

I thought I would mix things up from our usual turkey chili and turned it vegetarian!

Cooking Spray

2 medium onions chopped

1 medium red bell pepper, cut into 1/2 inch dice

6 medium garlic cloves minced

1 box frozen corn

6 portobello mushroom caps, gills scraped and diced

1 zucchini, diced

1/4 c. chili powder

1 T. ground cumin

2 tsp. ground coriander

1.5 tsp. red pepper flakes

1 tsp. dried oregano

3/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

2 (15 oz) cans black beans, drained and rinsed

1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes

1 (28 oz) can tomato puree

Heat the cooking spray in a large pot or dutch oven. Over medium heat, add the onions, peppers and garlic. Cook for about 3 minutes, until they begin to soften. Add the zucchini, mushrooms and frozen corn until cooked through.  Then add the chili powder, cumin, red pepper flakes, oregano, cayenne pepper, and coriander. Cook until the veggies are softened and beginning to brown, about 7 minutes or so. 

Add the beans, tomatoes with juice, and tomato puree. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer 1 hour, covered, stirring occasionally. Remove the lid and continue to simmer for another hour, stirring occasionally.

Every cup (my recipe makes 13 cups) is only 143 calories, 0.6 g fat, 6.0 g dietary fiber, 6.4 g sugars, and 7.5 g protein.

Crock Pot Applesauce

Every year, we go apple picking and every year we come home with so many apples.  Today, I made some applesauce.  You can make applesauce a lot of different ways, but I prefer to toss everything in the crock pot on low for a few hours and let the yummy smell of cinnamon and apples travel throughout my house.  Talk about the sweet smell of fall!

yummy, bubbly goodness

There is no exact recipe for this one.  It all depends on what you like, but this is what I used.

8 apples peeled, cored and chopped (I like to use a variety of apples.  I used Honeycrisp, red delicious and golden delicious this time)

1/2 a teaspoon of cinnamon (you can add more or less according to your taste)

The juice of 1 lemon

After I tossed all of the ingredients in the crock pot, I just let it do it's job.  I stirred it every 45  minutes or so and turned off the crock pot when it looked like I wanted it to (about 3 hours).  It is so good, and I must admit that I burned my tongue on my spoon while trying to take a taste because I am impatient.

This is such a healthy applesauce.  NO SUGAR ADDED!  Try it!  You will LOVE it!

Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Baked Oatmeal Singles

I adapted this recipe from here by adding PB2 in it.  YUMMMMMMMM!

Makes 18 Regular Sized Muffins

3 cups old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 egg whites
1 egg
1 1/4 cup skim milk
3/4 cup mashed banana
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 Tablespoons PB2 (powdered peanut butter)
3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly mist 18 cups in a muffin tin with cooking spray.
2. Combine the oats, brown sugar, baking powder, PB2 and salt in a large bowl and stir until thoroughly mixed.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg whites, egg, mashed banana, milk and vanilla. Add to the dry ingredients and stir until blended together. Mix in chocolate chips.
4. Spoon the oatmeal mixture evenly between the prepared muffin cups. Bake uncovered for 18 to 22 minutes or until oatmeal is lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Nutritional info:  Mine were 112 calories each, 0.2 grams saturated fat, 1.8 grams dietary fiber, 6.6 grams sugar, 4.1 grams protein.

Food of the Week: Salad Dressing

Does your salad dressing have more calories in it than your entire salad you are putting it on?  It shouldn't.  A serving size of salad dressing is 2 Tablespoons.  For example, two tablespoons of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing is 140 calories.   Salad dressing is one of those things that you just pour on your greens without even thinking about it because you are eating a salad, right?  It must be healthy.  Measure out 2 tablespoons and see what that looks like.  Make sure you know for the next time you have a salad.

When I started my weight loss journey, I used lemon juice, or balsamic vinegar, or even salsa!  All of those are very low in calories and won't blow your diet.  

I came across these little gems from Bolthouse farms in the refrigerator section of my produce department.  SALAD DRESSING MADE WITH YOGURT!  Thank you!  They make creamy salad dressings made with yogurt at only 35-45 calories for 2 tablespoons.  They have Classic Ranch, Salsa Ranch, Chunky Blue Cheese, Zesty French, Caesar Parmigiano, Thousand Island, Honey Mustard.  I have only tried 2 of them, but I LOVE the Salsa Ranch!  Try it!

SALSA!!

I am drowning in tomatoes over here.  Why do they all have to ripen at the same time?  Today, I made some salsa!  I loooovvvveeeee salsa!  I put it on my salads, in my wraps, on some pop chips.....mmmmm.  So yummy.

The thing about salsa is that everyone likes theirs differently.  Some people like super chunky, or lots of cilantro, or insanely hot.  I typically just toss ingredients in a bowl and taste it along the way to see if anything else needs to be added, then I add some other things or more of something.  It is far from an exact science.

The way I like it is:

1 lb of tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
2 garlic cloves minced
1 bunch of cilantro, chopped
1 small onion, diced
juice of 1 lemon
salt to taste

ENJOY!!  I know I am!

Food of the week: Pop Chips Tortillas!

To say that I have been stalking when and where to find these would be an understatement.  I am a huge fan of pop chips, but I LOVE TORTILLA CHIPS!  I LOVE chips and salsa!  I texted this photo with the caption, "I FOUND THEM!!!" to my husband and told him to hurry home because a taste test was happening!

I could only find 3 of the 4 flavors.  I did not find the salsa flavored one.  :(

My husband and I both agree to the order of our favorites.  We loved them all, but we REALLY loved the ranch pop chips.  They are so yummy!  Next we liked the nacho flavored pop chips and then the chili limon.  I decided that chili limon were the perfect chip to dip in salsa.  The flavor was subtle, but had a spicy kick to them.   The others could stand alone on their own.

In case you haven't heard about pop chips, this is from their website:

"naturally delicious and healthier. that’s popchips. when they said it couldn’t be done, we raised the snack bar. how do we do it? well, first, let's talk about how we don't do it. we never fry our chips. that just puts a lot of stuff in there that we could all do without. we never bake our chips either. that just takes a lot of flavor out, which, as snackers, we simply can't do without. so we came up with a chip like no snack aisle has seen (or taste bud has tasted). thanks to the magic of popping, we found a way to pop all the flavor in, while keeping fake stuff and at least half the fat of regular flavored chips out."

THIER pledge: no fake colors, no fake flavors, no preservatives, no fluorescent orange finger tips.  TheY do not use hydrogenated oil or msg.

Peanut Butter and Banana Overnight Oatmeal

1/4 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup greek yogurt (I use 0% Fage)
1/3 cup + 1 Tablespoon unsweetened almond milk
1 1/2 Tablespoons Chia seeds
2 Tablespoons PB2 Powdered peanut butter
1/2 banana sliced

I eat overnight oatmeal about 5 days a week.  I love it because I can make it ahead of time, so when it is time to eat breakfast, I can just grab it and go.

I got this recipe idea from my friend, Megan.  I was chatting with her about PB2 and she said she put it in her overnight oats and I thought that was a brilliant idea.  I use PB2 because it only has 45 calories and 85% less fat a serving and regular peanut butter has about 200 calories.

All you need to do is mix the first 5 ingredients.  Once mixed, I add the sliced bananas and put it in my mason jar and toss it in the fridge.  Easy Peasy.

My recipe has 246 calories, .5 grams saturated fat, 8.3 grams of dietary fiber, 10.8 grams sugar, and 16.1 grams of protein.  Wow!  That's a lot of protein.

Peanut butter and banana frozen sandwich

I love ice cream sandwiches and decided to whip  this little number up for a nice under 100 calorie snack.  I used my PB2 I reviewed the other day (or you could use regular peanut butter), a ripe banana and some graham crackers.

2 Tablespoons of PB2
1 Tablespoon of water
1 banana
5 whole graham cracker sheets

I put the PB2 and water in a bowl and stirred until it was peanut butter consistency.  Then I mashed a banana into it.  I put a couple of Tablespoons of the mixture on half of a graham cracker sheet and placed the other half on top of the mixture.  Next, place them on a plate or cookie sheet and freeze.  After a few hours, you can wrap them individually or just toss them all in a freezer bag, like I did.

Fooducate

Fooducate is a free app available on iPhone and Android.  I even got the kids in on trying this one.  The bad news is that I was caught eating an Oreo and was scolded because it only got a B-.

Fooducate grades your groceries.  Each product is automatically graded (A-, B+, C, etc...) by a scientific algorithm based on it's nutrition facts and ingredient list. Fooducate recommends minimally processed, real foods, that are naturally rich in nutrients and antioxidants.

You can scan the barcode on your groceries while you are in the store to see which one is best.  You can learn about the foods' pros and cons and even choose healthier alternatives. 

I do love to go around the store scanning things and this one is definitely helpful in choosing foods that will help you reach your fitness goals.  Try it out!  Let me know what you think!

Food of the week: PB2

Yes, I love peanut butter.  Last week my food of the week was peanut butter and so is this week.  Hi, my name is Kim and I am a peanut butter addict.  I don't even have to put peanut butter on anything...a spoon works just fine.  It is a quick snack when I am running around and don't have any time to prepare anything.

When I saw this product, my mouth dropped.  It has 85% less fat?  HOLY COW!  I'm in love.  This is what the website says.

"PB2 has the same consistency as full fat peanut butter with all of the natural roasted peanut flavor, but with nearly 85% less fat calories. PB2 is made with high quality peanuts that are slow-roasted to our specifications and pressed to remove the oil. All natural with no artificial flavors,sweeteners, or preservatives.

PB2 Powdered Peanut Butter is mixed with water to create a traditional peanut butter mixture. It also works and tastes wonderfully in recipes that call for the use of peanut butter. "

All you have to do is add a tablespoon of water to 2 tablespoons of the powder and mix it until you get the right consistency!  Amazing!  Does it taste exactly like peanut butter?  Not exactly, but it is pretty darn close!  Does it taste the same in recipes?  Heck, yeah!  The website also has plenty of recipes for you to choose from in order to make your favorite peanut butter snack.

There is also a PB2 with premium chocolate!  HELLO!  I will be buying that one next!

Food of the Week: PB Crave

I love ALL things that have chocolate and peanut butter together.  It came as no surprise that I fell in love with PB Crave Choco Choco.  The label says it best, "A delicious double dose of semi-sweet and rich dark chocolate with premium peanut butter and wild honey."  The first thing I did when I brought it home was the spoon test.  How did it taste just on a spoon with nothing else?  Delish.  Then, I thought I needed to try it again....  ;-)

I am excited to add this to my oatmeal, English muffins, and on fruit.

PB Crave comes in 4 flavors.  The other flavors are Coco Bananas (chocolate and banana peanut butter), Razzle Dazzle (dark chocolate, white chocolate and raspberries) and Cookie Nookie (chocolate chips and cookie dough flavor).  I can not speak for the other flavors, but I will let you know once I have tried them as I was certain it was not a good idea to have 4 jars of delicious peanut butter in the house at the same time along with a multitude of spoons.

Two Tablespoons of Choco Choco has 180 calories, 3.5 grams of fat, 2 grams of fiber, 5 grams of sugar and 6 grams of protein.

ShopWell

This is a pretty cool free app!  I am sad to say that it is only available for iPhones at the moment, but it is very cool.  If you don't have an iPhone, borrow a friend's and play with the app.  You can also go to the website, but you aren't able to scan the items.

This app is your "Personal Nutrition Expert."  You put your diet needs in the app such as weight management or lowering cholesterol etc. and it tells you which foods are a good match for you.  You can scan food items and it will give that food a score so you know if it matches your goals.  It lists quick facts on each item such as letting you know if it is a good source of protein and calcium, low saturated fat, good source of Iron, added sugar, High Fructose Corn Syrup, refined grains, and preservatives.  It also suggests alternatives that are better for you.  I have spent the last 30 minutes scanning things in my pantry.  It is so informative!

"ShopWell draws on trusted resources and guidelines set by the FDA, USDA, the Institute of Medicine, and the latest peer reviewed research."

It's Snack Time!!!

Surplus of garden tomatoes? CHECK!  Surplus of Herbs from said garden?  CHECK CHECK!

I always over plant my tomatoes.  Do I need to have 2 cherry tomato plants, 2 Roma tomato plants, 2 Beef steak tomato plants AND 2 yellow tomato plants?  Ummm, probably not, but there really is nothing like fresh tomatoes from your garden.  The yellow tomato plants are even taller than I am this year (I am 5'10'').

I saw a picture of this pizza from here and knew immediately that I HAD to make it.

1 Low carb tortilla (mine is 60 calories)
2 Laughing cow garlic and herb cheese wedges
tomato slices
fresh basil
salt
garlic powder

I turned on the broiler of my oven and tossed the plan tortilla on the rack in the oven so it would crisp up a bit.  Then, when it was feeling crispy, I spread the cheese on the tortilla and placed the tomato slices on top.  I put it on a cookie sheet and broiled it until the edges of the tortilla was browned.  When it was done, I pulled it out of the oven and topped it with some basil, salt and garlic powder.

This was such a yummy snack and was 175 calories.

Food of the Week: Beanitos

I haven't done an item of the week in a while.  I am actually eating these right now with a little salsa as a snack.  I LOVE the Chipotle BBQ ones because they have quite a kick!  These chips are either made from pinto beans or black beans.  They are corn free, gluten free, low glycemic and high in fiber as well.  One serving of these little power houses have 4 grams of protein, 5 grams of dietary fiber and are 140 calories!  That is what I like to see in a snack!  I can also pronounce every ingredient!

Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Bars

These are perfect as a snack or for a quick breakfast!  I came across this recipe on Pinterest.  I found it here.  I adapted it slightly. 

1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup almond milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 large mashed banana
1/4 cup Creamy Natural Peanut Butter

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and pour into an 8x8 pan sprayed with cooking spray.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  My recipe makes 6 good sized bars.  Each bar is 205 calories, 1.4 grams of fat, 3.2 grams dietary fiber, 13.5 grams sugar, 6.1 grams protein.

Quinoa Cucumber Caprese Salad

I LOVE CAPRESE SALAD!  I know it has to do with the delicious fresh mozzarella, but the combination of that with the basil and tomatoes is a match made in heaven.  Here is my lunch for the week.  I can eat it as a salad or in a wrap, of course.

1 English cucumber, diced
1 Avocado, diced
1 pint of cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/4 cup chopped basil leaves
1 cup quinoa uncooked
juice of 1 lemon
3 minced garlic cloves
3 Tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
4 oz fresh mozzarella, diced

Cook the Quinoa according to the package directions.  Mix all of the ingredients together and there you have it...Easy Peasy.  This salad is a little higher in calories and fat than my normal salad, but I just love it so much.  It is worth it!

SWORKIT PRO!

Earlier today, I posted about SWORKIT, a free workout app I came across.  Well, Ryan from SWORKIT contacted me about the awesome features that SWORKIT Pro has and even gave me a code to get SWORKIT Pro for FREE so I could try it.  Thank you, Ryan!

SWORKIT Pro is only $.99 and has these awesome additional features:

Audible Announcement of Exercises
Access to Videos During Workouts
Total Progress Training
Pause Between Exercise Options
Call Friends Out on Facebook and Twitter
Bonus Workout: Bootcamp-Inspired by US Army Fitness
Access to Future Feature Upgrades and Bonus Workouts

I LOVE IT!  I had received this free access after I had already worked out for the day, and I actually worked out AGAIN just so I could try it out.  I love that you can see a quick video tutorial on the move if you need them, that there is a pause button so you aren't using time on the clock to figure out what the next move is, and it has an Audio announcement that tells you what the next move is!  I highly recommend this App!!

SWORKIT

Here is a fun, free app that is available on iPhone, Android or on your computer.  It shuffles your exercises for your workouts and keeps things new and exciting for you!


You choose your workout time (up to one hour) and goal (back, core strength, full body, etc.). Sworkit then generates a series of randomized 30-second routines (none of which require equipment) for you to follow, along with handy pictures of what each task actually looks like. At the end of every 30 seconds, a whistle blows and you’re on to the next exercise.  


My only complaint is that it moves immediately from move to move.  By the time I see the next move to do, 3 seconds have passed.  Perhaps I will get quicker with it the more I do it.  I love 
the variety of it all though and time goes very quickly.

Quinoa Pizza Bites

I bought a 4 pound bag of quinoa at Costco.  I am trying hard to find things to make with it instead of putting it in a salad.  This is what I came up with.  Soooooo yummy.  I actually had these for dinner and had to force myself to stop eating them.  They are addicting and very cute!

1 cup quinoa, uncooked
1 cup diced turkey pepperoni
1 cup reduced fat mozzarella cheese
3/4 cup diced onion
3/4 cup red bell pepper
30 fresh basil leaves chopped
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
3 garlic cloves
3 large eggs
cooking spray
Pizza sauce to dip bites into

Mix all ingredients together except for pizza sauce.  Distribute mixture into mini muffin tin sprayed with cooking spray.  Put into a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until it is looking lightly browned on the tops.

My recipe made 36 bites and each bite was 37 calories a piece.  Each bite had .5 grams of saturated fat, .4 grams dietary fiber, .4 grams sugar, 2.5 grams protein

Scheduling Workouts

I am a planner.  I like to know exactly what is going to happen before the time comes.  I HAD to find out if I was having a boy or a girl before I gave birth to my kiddos.  I needed to plan their rooms, clothes, toys etc.

When I am going on a trip, I write lists.  I list what needs to be packed and I list the things we will be doing with addresses and phone numbers.  Needless to say, I am not a huge fan of spontaneity.   Spontaneity leads me to make poor choices about food and keeps me on the sofa instead of working out.

On Sundays, I have been making my breakfasts and lunches for the week so I don't even have to think about what I feel like having each day.  Lately, I have been doing the same with my workouts.  I plan on what workouts I am going to do each day.  I make sure I have a variety of things to do, so that I am not bored.

All of this helps me stay on track.  I don't stray from my plan.  I don't take the easy workout and I continue to challenge myself and complete harder and harder workouts.

What do you do to help you stay on track?

Zucchini Tots

I LOVE TATER TOTS!  I love the salty, fried potato goodness.  I needed something to fill the hole that tater tots left behind.  These are not tater tots, but they are pretty yummy all the same and went well with my salmon burgers.

I came across the recipe here.  There is also cheese in them so that made them pretty awesome too.

1 cups zucchini, grated 
1 egg
1/4 yellow onion, grated
1/4 cup cheese (cheddar or Parmesan work the best)
1/4 cup bread crumbs - I used Italian style
Salt and Pepper


I grated the zucchini and onion and then put them in some paper towels and squeezed the liquid out of them.  This is a VERY important step.  If you don't get rid of the liquid, your tots will never set.


Preheat oven to 400 degrees and spray a mini muffin tin with cooking spray.  Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl and then distribute the mix into 12 mini muffin holes.  Cook for about 20 minutes until they have set and the tops are golden brown.

Breakfast Sandwiches

I have been eating Overnight Oatmeal every morning for breakfast for months now because it is made ahead of time and I can just grab a jar and go.  This morning, I tried something new!

I fried up 2 slices of Center cut bacon and toasted 2 English muffins.  In a muffin tin, I put 2 egg whites each in 2 muffin holes that were sprayed with cooking spray.  I then cut up the bacon and put them in the egg whites (1 slice per muffin) and put them in a 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes until cooked completely.

Then I put 2 Tablespoons of shredded, reduced fat cheddar on an English muffin half and put an egg on it.  I made the complete egg sandwich and put it back in the oven until the cheese is all melty.

Delicious!!!  One for me, one for The Hubs.  Breakfast is served and it is less than 250 calories!!

You can make these ahead of time and freeze them as well, which I REALLY enjoy.

Peanut Butter Banana Wrap with Mini Chocolate Chips and Golden Raisins

I love all things that have peanut butter and chocolate, so I decided to make a snack wrap today with those things in mind.  To make it seem healthier, I also added some banana and golden raisins.  I can convince myself that something is healthy if I can add some fruit and/or veggies to it.  It is my super power.  :)

-1 Low carb, multigrain wrap (60 calories)

-1 Tablespoon of Natural Peanut Butter (85 calories)

-1 teaspoon mini chocolate chips (I used Enjoy Life chips, 25 calories)

-1 Tablespoon of Golden Raisins (depending on what brand, 30 calories)

-1/2 banana (depending on size, 50 calories)

This wrap is about 250 calories and is very filling.  As you know by now, I need a snack pretty much every day at about 3pm and this hit the spot!  It is filling and satisfied my peanut butter/chocolate craving.

Tomato and Basil Salad

The garden is getting a little out of control, so this week I made a very simple salad for my lunches this week.

4 cups of chopped, seeded tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped basil
1 can white beans
1/2 cup quinoa dry, cooked and cooled
2 oz of any hard cheese grated such as pecorino or parmesan
2 Tablespoons of Balsamic

This makes me 5 servings to have as a salad or in a wrap.  Nutritional facts: Saturated fat: 2.4 grams, dietary fiber: 5.6 grams, sugars: 2.4 grams, protein: 9.5 grams, 187 calories.

Health Calculators

I came across this app available on iPhone and Android.  You can also access it via it's website as well www.healthstatus.com.  It has a VERY extensive calories burned calculator.  Calories burned calculators aren't the most accurate things in the world, but this gives you a good estimate on how many calories you have burned doing various activities.  It also has calculators to determine your Ideal Weight and it also has a calculator that uses your weight and age and tells you how long you have to complete various activities in order to burn so many calories.  It is a pretty neat app.  Check it out!

Ice Cream Sandwiches!

Behold the 77 calorie ice cream sandwich!  The first 3 I made on the plate above were gone in about 30 seconds after making them because the kiddos and I scarfed them down.

I just took one sheet of graham crackers and broke them in half and then put about 2 Tablespoons of chocolate frozen yogurt on one half and put the other graham cracker on top and gently pressed the 2 crackers together.  Make a bunch and keep them in the freezer because they are a yummy snack for less than 100 calories!

My Version of a BLT

Vegetarians, look away.  Today I wanted some bacon.  I do not like turkey bacon.  I like REAL bacon.  I cooked up 2 slices of center cut, thick sliced bacon (80 calories).  While it was sizzling away I pulled out one of my low carb tortillas (60 calories) and spread a Laughing Cow Veggie Cheese (45 calories) wedge on it.  Then I placed some spinach on top of the cheese and a sliced Roma tomato on top of that.  Once the bacon was done, I drained the grease on a paper towel and put it in my wrap and wrapped it up.  It was OH.  SO.  HEAVENLY.  It wasn't too bad for me either.  The only problem is that I wanted another one when I was finished with it, but I had some blackberries instead.  See, I can have self control some times.

Back to Basics: Salad

I make my breakfast and lunch ahead of time every week, so I don't have to think about what to have to eat.  This keeps me on track to make better food choices.  Instead of making one salad to last me the entire week for lunch, I decided that I would make a new salad every day this week.  Call it my super convenient salad bar.  Sunday night I boiled some eggs and chopped up mushrooms, red bell peppers, cucumber and broccoli and bagged them individually.  I also picked up some bagged salad.  This will be the basic salad all week.  I can change it up every day by adding leftovers like chicken or steak or BACON!  I can also add dried cranberries, walnuts, almonds, fresh herbs from the garden or deli meat.  The possibilities are endless!

What is your favorite kind of salad??

Good for Puppy's Tummy

My little Lilly is still a puppy and still eats EVERYTHING!  Sometimes it causes her to not feel so great, so here is a bone that helps her feel better.  I found it here.  Pumpkin helps soothe their stomachs.

-2 eggs
-1/2 cup canned pumpkin
-2 tablespoons dry milk
-1/4 teaspoon sea salt
-2 1/2 cups brown rice flour  (you can also use whole wheat flour, but rice flour is easier on their tummy)
-1 teaspoon dried parsley (optional)

Preheat oven to 350.

In a large bowl, mix the eggs and pumpkin until smooth.  Mix the other ingredients in with it.

Lilly loves them!

Roll it out on a lightly floured surface and roll it out to be between 1/4 and 1/2 inch thick.  Use a cookie cutter or just cut them with a knife into strips.  My daughter had a ball cutting these out and making tine marks with a fork in the middle.  

Put them in the oven for 20 minutes and then flip them over and bake for another 20 minutes.