Recipes

Protein Packed Zoodle Alfredo

I recently started a new nutritional program called 2B Mindset! 2B Mindset is a weight loss program and a new way of eating that helps you feeling full and satisfied instead of hungry and deprived. I love that there is no counting calories or points, measuring food, or cutting food groups. You get to eat the foods you love and live your life. It is all about learning what to eat and when for your body and your weight loss goals, but what makes this program really unique is that it will change your mindset and help you conquer some of the underlying reasons you’ve struggled to lose the weight and keep it off. 2B Mindset is designed to help you understand and conquer emotional eating, thereby helping you create a better relationship with food and your body-so you can lose weight happily and keep it off for good.

With a new program, comes new recipes! I am able to eat some different foods than before and have a little bit more freedom with my choices, which I love!

This program is really focused on lots of veggies, which is new for me. I came up with this recipe and I was a little hesitant because I am picky with my veggies, but it was SO good! Loved the combo of the pasta and the zoodles! The black bean pasta has 15 grams of fiber and 19 grams of protein!

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup of black bean pasta (I love Trader Joe’s)
2 cups of uncooked zoodles
1/2 cup of shredded chicken (I used rotisserie)
1-2 tablespoons of Alfredo sauce (be sure there isn’t lots of added sugar!)
1 tablespoon of parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS

Bring a pot of water to a boil on the stove and add in the black bean pasta. Cook according to directions. I usually cook my Trader Joe’s pasta for 8 minutes. Drain, rinse with cold water and set aside.
Preheat a nonstick skillet over medium high heat on the stove. Add in zoodles and 1 tablespoon of water. Cook for 3 minutes.
Once zoodles are done, add in the black bean pasta, shredded chicken and alfredo sauce. Mix together and cook for another 1-2 minutes, or until hot.
Top the pasta with parmesan cheese and enjoy!

NOTES: this recipe could be swapped out with a low sugar marinara sauce or even with spaghetti squash! You could also swap out the chicken with a turkey meatball or other type of protein.

2B MINDSET: This meal ratios perfectly for lunch! Feel free to adjust the portions to meet your needs!

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Dessert

Shakeology Ice Cream

I don’t usually have a sweet tooth, but when I do, I REALLY do. I decided to play around with my superfood shake that I drink everyday and discovered this amazing ice cream! My kids loved it too, so win win!

INGREDIENTS:

1 scoop of Vegan Vanilla Shakeology
1 frozen banana
2 teaspoon of natural peanut butter (optional)
1/4 cup of water

DIRECTIONS

Add shakeology, banana, 1 teaspoon of peanut butter and water to a blender. Blend until smooth. You may need to stop the blender and stir so it doesn’t miss any pieces of banana since there isn’t a lot of liquid in the recipe.
Pour into a bowl and top with remaining teaspoon of peanut butter and enjoy!

PORTION FIX COUNTS: 1 red, 2 purple, 2 teaspoons

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Recipes

Mexican Turkey Burger

I feel kind of silly even writing up this recipe because it is SO simple, but I have done my fair share of searching for ‘easy’ recipes only to find recipes with a million ingredients. As a fitness coach, I hear so often that people feel like they can’t eat healthy because they aren’t great in the kitchen and don’t know how to cook. This recipe only has three ingredients and can be prepared in less than 15 minutes.

INGREDIENTS:

1 frozen turkey burger (I use the Simple Truth brand)
1/4 cup of pico de gallo (I get mine in the produce section of our grocery store)
2 tbsp guacamole (you can make your own or try prepared guacamole, I like Wholly Guacamole from Costco!)
Sea salt, optional

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat frying pan or cast iron grill pan over medium high heat. I lightly coat mine with cooking spray.
Cook frozen turkey burger for 8 minutes per side, or until thoroughly cooked.
Remove burger from heat and top with pico de gallo and guacamole. Season with sea salt to taste.

PORTION FIX COUNT: 1 red, .25 green and .5 blue.

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Breakfast

80 Day Obsession Carrot Oat Muffins

Anyone else out there following 80 Day Obsession? It is the new program that I have been following. It includes home workouts and a meal plan that incorporates timed nutrition. Meaning, it tells you what to eat, how much and when to eat it. It has been a new challenge for me and has been a great excuse to try out new recipes. I cannot take the credit for this one. A challenger in my fitness accountability group that I host came up with it and I tweaked it a tiny bit. If you are following the program like me, this meal is perfect for the preworkout meal or the post workout meal. I have been having this as my post workout meal with a hot cup of coffee in the morning and it is so good. My kids love them too, so that is a huge score for me! Ben calls them treats – works for me kid! Lol!

This serves one. Multiply the recipe if cooking for multiple people.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup of carrots
1/4 cup of dry oats (I used gluten free)
2 eggs
1 tsp of cinnamon
1 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp of vanilla extract (maple or almond extract will work too!)
1/4 tsp of nutmeg
1 packet of stevia

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large pot, add carrots and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook until carrots are soft enough to stick a fork through them. Roughly 10-15 minutes. Once done, remove from heat and drain the water.
In a blender, add cooked carrots, oats, eggs, cinnamon, baking powder, vanilla extract, nutmeg and stevia. Blend until ingredients are smooth.
Pour the batter into a non-stick muffin tin. NOTE: Please make sure your muffin tin is sprayed with some sort of cooking spray or use a muffin liner of some sort. These can be tough to remove from the muffin pan.
Cook muffins for 30-35 minutes. Although I hate this word, these muffins are really moist and need to be cooked long enough. If you find them too moist, cook them longer.

I find that these muffins store great in the fridge and I reheat them the following day in my air fryer or oven for 5 minutes or so. Both of my kids loved these! My littlest son has an egg allergy and I cooked them for him and replaced the egg with apple sauce and increased the oats. He absolutely loved them!

CONTAINER COUNTS: Entire recipe counts as 1 red, 1 yellow and 1 green. I top them with a teaspoon of melted peanut butter or grassfed butter, which would count as 1 tsp.

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Recipes

Cauliflower Chicken Fried Rice

I am sure you have heard all about the cauliflower craze going on lately. I have been a little hesitant to jump on board. Unless it tastes like the real thing I am trying to imitate, I just have a hard time with it! A girlfriend told me about this fried rice at Trader Joe’s and I decided to give it a try and I am SO glad I did! Such an easy way to sneak in some veggies without eating a salad! This dinner takes less than 10 minutes from start to finish. Perfect for busy weeknights!

This recipe makes enough for one person. Just multiply the ingredients if you are making for your family!

INGREDIENTS

1 cup of riced cauliflower (I use the package from Trader Joe’s that includes peas and corn, but you could get away with just riced cauliflower)
1 tsp of peanut oil or sesame oil (I used peanut oil)
1/2 cup of shredded chicken
1 egg, scrambled and cooked
1 tsp of liquid aminos or low sodium soy sauce
2 tsp of coconut aminos (I got mine from Trader Joe’s)
1/3 cup of brown rice, cooked (I use Trader Joe’s 3 minute frozen brown rice)
Sea salt (optional)

DIRECTIONS

In a pan over medium high heat, add tsp of oil and your cauliflower rice. Cook, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes.
Add in chicken, scrambled egg, liquid aminos, coconut aminos and brown rice. Cook for another 2-3 minutes.
Remove from heat and enjoy!

NOTE: Feel free to play around with the amount of liquid aminos and coconut aminos to find what you like best! Feel free to also throw in extra veggies like carrots, broccoli or onions to sneak in extra veggies!

If you are following portion fix, this entire recipe counts as: 1 green, 1 red, 1 yellow and 1 tsp.

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Recipes

Baked Pizza Tomatoes

I started 80 Day Obsession this week and have been in the kitchen coming up with new recipes to go with my meal plan! One of my meals combines healthy fats with veggies, so I whipped up what I am calling Baked Pizza Tomatoes and they were so good!

INGREDIENTS

1 cup of chopped roma tomatoes
1/4 cup of shredded mozzarella
1/4 teaspoon of Italian seasoning

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
In a small oven save baking dish, lay out the tomatoes and top with cheese and Italian seasoning.
Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes, or until cheese is melted and starting to turn golden brown.

If you are following 80 Day Obsession, this entire recipe counts as 1 green and 1 blue.

Enjoy!

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Breakfast

Sweet Butternut Squash Waffles

I was looking for a preworkout meal to have early in the morning with 80 Day Obsession and came up with this recipe! Pretty tasty!

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup shredded butternut squash
1/4 cup grated sweet onion
1/2 cup shredded sweet potato
1 egg
Sea salt

DIRECTIONS

Preheat your waffle maker.
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and pour into waffle maker.
Cook for 5-6 minutes per side on medium high. You may need to adjust cooking times depending on your waffle maker.

*TIP: depending on your waffle maker, you may need to spray it with cooking spray. Do not flip or open too early, it will split your waffle in half.

If you are following 80 Day Obsession, this entire recipe counts as: 1 green, 1 yellow and 1/2 red. This would be perfect to pair with one hard boiled egg or a 1/2 a red of green yogurt.

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Main Dish

GF Crockpot General Tso’s Chicken

Recipe was modified from: Life Made Sweeter

INGREDIENTS

1 pound of chicken breasts, cut into one inch pieces
1/4 cup and 3 tbsp cornstarch
Salt and Pepper
2 tbsp of olive oil
1/2 cup soy sauce or liquid aminos (I used gluten free soy sauce)
1/3 cup and 3 tbsp water
4 tbsp honey
1/4 cup Hoisin sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons vinegar
3 tablespoons ketchup
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp of fresh ginger
2 tsp of red chili flakes (optional)
2 teaspoons red chili garlic paste

DIRECTIONS

In a large bowl ziplock back, combine chicken, 1/4 cup corn starch, salt and black pepper until well-coated. Set aside.
To make the sauce, combine soy sauce, 1/3 cup water, hoisin, honey, sesame oil, vinegar, ketchup, garlic, ginger, red chili flakes, and red chili garlic paste in a bowl. Set aside.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook chicken for about 2 minutes on each side, until lightly browned. Transfer chicken into the slow cooker. Pour sauce over top.
Cover and cook on low for 2.5-4 hours or high for 1.5-3 hours.
About 30 minutes before serving, whisk together the 3 tablespoons of corn starch and 3 tablespoons of water in a small bowl and stir into the crockpot. Cover and cook on HIGH for another 10 minutes for the sauce to thicken up.
Serve with a side of brown rice and top with chopped green onions, sesame seeds and red chili flakes!

This recipe hit the spot for us and I thought it was even better as left overs!

PORTION FIX: 3/4 cup counts as 1 red, 1 orange and .5 yellow.

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Breakfast

Vanilla Apple Protein Muffins

I am following Body Beast right now and I am in the final Lean Phase which means – LOTS OF PROTEIN! A girl can only eat so much chicken, so I decided to come up with a fun way to get in some protein and fruit!

INGREDIENTS

1 scoop of vanilla protein powder (I use Beachbody’s Vanilla Recharge)
1/2 cup of unsweetened apple sauce
1 egg
1 tsp of cinnamon
1 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Put all ingredients in a bowl and whisk together.
Lightly spray a mini muffin pan with cooking spray and fill with the muffin mixture. Mine made 10 mini muffins.
Cook mini muffins for 18-20 minutes, or until top is golden brown.

This recipe is counted as 1.5 red and .5 purple if you are following the portion fix meal plan.

These were a huge hit in our house and my little boy absolutely LOVED them! Guilt free treat!

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Recipes

Air Fryer Chicken Strips

I am obsessed with Chicken Strips and I won’t even lie, a huge guilty pleasure of mine is frozen chicken nuggets. No shame here. I am allergic to gluten and I like to eat healthy, so those two combined make it tough to enjoy chicken strips. A while back, I came up with a Parmesan Ranch Chicken Strip recipe that I loved and was a huge hit in our house. I decided it was time to make over the recipe, but this time, use my air fryer! Was it possible to make a crispy chicken strip without frying them in oil? I was on a mission to find out!

These were a huge hit in our house and when my Dad tried them, he actually thought I had cooked frozen pre-made chicken strips in my air fryer and had no clue they were homemade. These hit the spot and feel like a cheat!

INGREDIENTS

2 chicken breasts, cut into strips
1/4 cup flour of choice (I used gf all purpose flour)
2 eggs
1 tbsp ranch seasoning + 1 tsp
1/2 cup of gluten free Italian breadcrumbs
Salt and pepper
Cooking Spray

D IRECTIONS

In a small bowl, combine flour and 1 teaspoon of ranch seasoning, then set aside.
In another small bowl, scramble two eggs and then slowly stir in 1 tablespoon of ranch seasoning, then set aside.
In another small bowl, add breadcrumbs and set aside.
Take chicken strips and cover each one in the flour mixture, then into the egg mixture and then cover in the breadcrumbs. Be sure to shake of excess at each step. Season with salt and pepper.
Lightly spray with cooking spray (this step can be skipped if you don’t want to use cooking spray).
Place chicken in your air fryer and cook at 300 degrees for 10 minutes, flipping halfway through.
Turn your air fryer up to 400 degrees for another 5-7 minutes. Flipping halfway.
TIP: My biggest recommendation is to babysit your air fryer the first time you cook these and check your chicken every few minutes. Cooking times can vary based on the size of your air fryer. If your chicken is browning too quickly and not cooked inside, turn down the temperature. If your air fryer fully cooks your chicken quicker, then crank up the temperature on your air fryer sooner to brown the outside.

If you are following the 21 Day Fix meal plan, each thin chicken breast counts as one serving. Our two chicken breasts filled up two red containers. Half of the recipe counts as 1 red and 1/2 yellow.

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Recipes

Air Fryer Butternut Squash Fries

I am absolutely obsessed with french fries and have always wanted to find a way to make a crispy fry out of a vegetable so I would feel less guilty about eating them. Plus, anyone who follows the portion fix meal plan like me, it is always a win when you find a food you love that counts as a green! LOL! I have recently discovered a love for butternut squash and I love how easy this recipe is!

INGREDIENTS

1 butternut squash, peeled and sliced into thin fries
Sea salt (garlic salt works too!)
Cooking Spray (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Place your butternut squash fries in your air fryer at 300 for 20 minutes, flipping/shaking every 5-7 minutes. If you want crisper fries, lightly coat with cooking spray!
Turn your air fryer up to 400 degrees for 5-8 minutes, shaking every 2 minutes.
Once your fries are to your desired crispiness, remove from fryer and sprinkle with sea salt and enjoy!

TIP: Air fryers can vary based on brands and sizes. The first time you cook these, keep a close eye on them and shake often. If your fries appear to be fully cooked before the 20 minutes, crank up the temperature sooner to start crisping them up. If you want them crispier, cook them longer at 400 degrees. Play around with your air fryer to determine the best cooking time! My cooking times are based on my Black and Decker air fryer.

I love these fries and prefer them on the crispy side! I like to dip these in fat free plain greek yogurt mixed with a little ranch seasoning! So yummy!

If you are following Portion Fix: 1 cup of fries is counted as 1 green.

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Health and Fitness

Where it all began 5 years ago…

5 years ago today, I went to a conference at work where I had an ‘ah-ha’ moment that started this whole thing.

One decision to start led to losing 75 pounds, learning to love myself, gaining confidence, finding my purpose and the courage to pursue my dreams and start my own business.

ALL OF THIS from one simple decision to just start.

The next day, after the conference, I decided to start blogging again. I used to blog way back in college about running, but I stopped when I hurt my shin and life spiraled after that. I blogged the early days of my journey and I then moved to this lovely site instead. I wanted to republish a few of my blogs in the early days of my journey. Maybe you are on the starting line of your journey, looking at all of these women on social media, feeling like they just don’t get it.

Girl, I get it. I was there too once. And one simple decision to start could change your life, just as it did mine.

Here is the blog I wrote, September 28th, 2012, the day after I attended the work conference:

______________________________________________________________________________

This is weird for me. This blog used to mean so much to me and now I have not blogged in over a year. I have stopped running, I am not happy with myself and honestly I feel like I don’t even know who I am anymore. As I read through old posts on here, I remember how much joy running brought me. Why did I let a stupid injury stop me?

Lots of things in my life have changed over the last year. I got into a bad relationship, forgot who I was completely. I gave up my entire life for someone who I wasn’t all too interested in. I liked the idea of him, but didn’t really like him. Eventually, I realized that he wasn’t what I wanted and I broke things off. Ever since then, I feel like I have been in this weird process of trying to find myself. Who the heck am I? What do I want? What are my goals?

I have been doing a lot of soul searching, lots of reading, trying to pinpoint what I need to do to get back on track. Yesterday, I went to a luncheon for work. It was an all women’s luncheon and to be honest, I was completely dreading it. I have lots of work to do and I really didn’t want to drive 30 minutes to eat lunch and be lectured. Anyways, I went and oh my, it was EXACTLY what I needed. Funny how that happens. The speaker talked about how to find harmony in life. How to be at peace with yourself. She made us write a list of our accomplishments, ten of them. Ten accomplishments? I sat there, my mind was blank. While everyone else scribbled things down quickly, I sat there frozen. An accomplishment? I have nothing. So my accomplishments were:

1. Bought a new car
2. Ended a bad relationship
3. Got a new job
4. Adopted a new puppy

…and that is as far as I got. Four things? That is all I have done in 2012? We are 10 months into the year and I have four lousy accomplishments?! All of my coworkers had long lists of accomplishments that included getting married, having children, running marathons, getting promoted, being happy. I won’t lie, I felt pretty lousy. The speaker then had us write down our Disappointments. Oh phew, something easy. So while everyone at the table sat there looking puzzled, I scribbled down a very long list. Pretty sad. Well, my list included not saving as much money as I wanted, losing friends, being single, not making as much money as I wanted to, not losing weight, not working out, not being happy…and oh boy, I could go on forever.

She then asked us to compare our accomplishments and disappointments. And just as everyone in the room noticed, all of our accomplishments and disappointments were within our OWN control. Those accomplishments were things I did, things I put my mind to and succeeded. The disappointments were things I did not work hard enough at, things I had a bad attitude about. If I want to gain more friends, lose weight, workout more, make more money…I can do all of that. The only thing in my way is myself.

Why? Why do I do this to myself? Why do I allow my fears get in the way of accomplishing the things I want to do with myself. Why do I downplay my accomplishments and focus on my disappointments?

I started to read “Your Best Year Yet” today, one that was recommended by the speaker. 10 steps towards having the best year of your life. Easy enough, right? Step one…make a list of your accomplishments. AGAIN?! Ok, so I sat down and took an inventory of the last year. I made a good attempt to give myself credit where credit was deserved.

My new list of accomplishments:

1. Bought a new car – my dream car
2. Ended a horrible relationship
3. Got a new job, which I really enjoy
4. Adopted the sweetest puppy ever
5. Learned to clean and maintain a clean apartment – constantly
6. Gave up gluten completely – solved my stomach issues
7. Remained single after tough breakup, giving myself time to focus on ME
8. Lost weight on my own from eating better
9. Learned to manage my anxiety without medication
10. Gained responsibility at work

This time, I was able to get all 10. And I feel really good about all 10. Sure, there are things I wish that I could put on that list. But, I guess that is what the list is for. See your accomplishments and all the things you wish you could put on that list go on your ‘disappointment’ list. And the goal is to make those disappointments become accomplishments.

Next step is making a new disappointment list. I will make time to take a deep inventory of what I want. More to come 🙂

Jess

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