Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Yummy Discoveries!


 Juneau's Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program Helps Kids Learn


In the course of this journey, I have discovered some really good recipes that are very low in calories and fat that I really love. I want to share some of them with you. Keep in mind that a food scale has been a big part of my diet. I weigh everything. So the portions listed are sometimes listed in grams or ounces. If you don't have a food scale, you can convert the amounts. I never use salt. If you must season, use any variety of Mrs. Dash seasonings. Also, the meats are all cooked on my $20 George Foreman Grill so that I can cook without adding any fat. These recipes are all very easy to prepare and take no longer than about 15mins from start to finish, so there is no excuse not to try them.

 I hope you try some of these recipes and let me know what you think!

Fresh Salsa

2 small tomatoes
1 jalapeno split, veins and seeds removed
1/4 onion chopped
1 tbsp cilantro
1 small yellow squash (in season)

I use a small food processor for this. It makes 1 small jar of salsa. Tomatoes in first and pulse, then add the other ingredients. Pulse until the mixture resembles a rough salsa. You can season with Mrs. Dash Fiesta Blend if desired, or eat as is. Best salsa ever!


 Fish Tacos

100 gm of white fish such as basa swai
2 tbsp of fresh salsa (not sauce)
1tbsp plain nonfat greek yogurt
1 tbsp of chopped cilantro
2 LaTortilla Factory low carb tortillas

Brown the fish on a nonstick grill. I use my George Foreman grill. If you find that your fish is still sticking, use a little olive oil cooking spray. Mix the yogurt and salsa together and spread on tortillas. Split fish into two portions, put on tortillas. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro, and enjoy!


Protein Pancakes

1/2 c blueberries
2 tbsp coconut flour
1/4 c nonfat cottage cheese
1/4 c egg whites
1/4 c oatmeal
1/4 scoop protein powder

Mix all ingredients together and drop on griddle just like regular pancake mix. If the batter is not wet enough, you may add a few drops of water. I top these with Walden Farms Zero calorie pancake syrup. Delicious!


Chicken and Quinoa 

1 c frozen cauliflower boiled and drained
4 tbsp fresh salsa
1/2 c cooked organic quinoa
85 gm chicken breast

Cook your chicken without fat on a nonstick surface such as George Foreman Grill, about 10 mins. Then chop and toss together with cooked cauliflower, salsa, and quinoa. Season to taste with any Mrs. Dash seasoning you like! The perfect lunch!


Monday, July 15, 2013

It's been awhile...

Well, it has been awhile since I have posted. Due to computer issues and life I got a bit side tracked. I will try to pick up where I left off. Here goes;

  The fitness weekend was tough and I was very sore after that. I wanted to keep up the momentum though. I got pretty good at sticking to my gym routine. I would meet my sister or go with my hubby early. Like 4:30am early. I am not a morning person, but I am highly competitive and at this point I was pretty disgusted with the predicament I had gotten my self into. So, I sucked it up and went. This is kind of what my exercise routine looked like:

Monday:
5:00am-6:00am chest, shoulders, and triceps
8:45am 2mi jog on the treadmill
9:15am-10:00am spin class

Tuesday:
5:00am-6:00am back, biceps, and abs and stair climber if time permits

Wednesday:
5:00am-6:00am legs, abs
8:45am 2mi jog on the treadmill
9:15am-10:00am spin class

Thursday:
5:00am-6:00am chest, shoulders, and triceps Abs and stair climber if time permits

Friday:
5:00am-6:00am back, biceps, and abs
8:45am 2mi jog on treadmill
9:15am-10:00am spin class

Saturday:
no time specified
easy cardio day

Sunday:
rest

 Looks pretty good right?? It was so nice to have a routine going. I also would weigh in every Monday morning. It was very satisfying to see the numbers going down every week too. I started to feel like this goal was attainable. The only variable was the other contestants in the weight loss challenge. I can stick to my meal plans and hit the gym, but if you don't know what they're doing, you just don't know. It was very good for me to not know. If I felt like I was winning, I would feel like I could back off. And that would be very bad.

 I also liked the food. I started looking for healthy recipes and came across these two food blogs that I really love. They are
100 Days of real food.com &
The Gracious Pantry
These ladies have great recipes on their blogs as well as really good tips on buying local and organic foods.

 Anyways, at this point I was feeling pretty good and ready to conquer this competition and the fat!
I will keep you posted :)