Blog Archives
Workouts and Recipes
It’s most definitely already summer here.
All this week we’ve had super hot weather (especially for around here!).
The warm weather both makes me want to go outside to workout and party.
Here are some great workouts and recipes to try this weekend if you are like me and already into summer mode!
Workouts:
- Playground Obstacle Course Workout – What’s your best time?
- Playground Upper Body Workout – Monkey bars make perfect pull up bars!
- Partner Outdoor Workout – A super fun way to workout with a friend and get some sun!
- Summer Sprint Workout – Great cardio and core workout.
Recipes:
- Lamb and Feta Meatballs – Love making these into a small plate item and snacking on them!
- Tacos – One of my favorite summer foods!
- Macadamia-Coconut Encrusted Chicken Fingers – Healthy party food perfect for summer fun!
- Yonanas Recipes – If you are ice cream obsessed like me, you’ll love Yonanas…Refreshing and healthy!
And GOOD LUCK to Caitlin over at Fit and Feminist! She is running in the Keys 50 this weekend! Go over and say good luck!
Lamb, Spinach and Feta Meatballs
I never was a big meatballs and spaghetti type of girl, but when Ryan made these Lamb, Spinach and Feta Meatballs, I fell in love.
No spaghetti needed!
Lamb, Spinach and Feta Meatballs
Ingredients:
3/4 lbs Ground Lamb
1/4 cup finely chopped Spinach
1/4 cup crumbled Feta
Salt and Pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Combine lamb, spinach, feta and salt and pepper. Divide and roll into balls.
Place the balls on a foil-lined baking sheet coated with olive oil.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Serve with a side salad and some garlic cream sauce.
Buffalo Beef Spaghetti Squash Pasta Recipe
I’ve always loved anything with buffalo sauce on it.
I make buffalo wings and even buffalo cauliflower all the time. Actually I’m not sure which I love more…buffalo sauce or cauliflower!
While I wasn’t feel cauliflower today, I thought it would be delicious to make Buffalo Chicken “Pasta” using spaghetti squash since I was in the mood for spaghetti squash AND buffalo sauce.
However, I quickly realized we didn’t have any chicken…only some ground beef.
So instead of a Buffalo Chicken “Pasta” recipe, Buffalo Beef “Pasta” was born. And boy was it delicious!
Buffalo Beef Spaghetti Squash “Pasta”
Ingredients:
1/4 can Tomato Sauce
2 tbsp Frank’s Hot Sauce
1 medium Spaghetti Squash
1 lb Ground Beef
1 clove garlic
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 tbsp heavy cream
2 oz blue cheese
Preheat oven to 375. Slice spaghetti squash in half and coat with olive oil, salt, pepper and some garlic powder. Bake for 40 minutes to 1 hour.
Once spaghetti squash is done, let cool and then scrap out with a fork. Place in a bowl and save until meat and sauce are done.
Heat a skillet on high. Place meat in skillet and begin to brown. Add garlic, salt and pepper.
Once meat begins to brown, add tomato sauce and hot sauce. Cook on high until meat is browned. Then simmer for a few minutes on low.
While meat is simmering, add spaghetti squash and mix well.
In a microwave, combine cream and blue cheese. Melt blue cheese.
Once spaghetti squash and the beef sauce are combined, top with a bit of the melted blue cheese sauce.
Serve. Should make about 4-5 servings.
Thinking about this meal now….It could be yummy after Thanksgiving when you have leftover turkey to use up!!! GOING TO HAVE TO TRY THAT! YESSS!
Spaghetti Squash and Meat Sauce and Homemade Pistachio Ice Cream
I don’t really ever crave pasta, but there are some days when I WANT carbs even though my body really isn’t asking for them.
On those days I find that carb-like dishes (like cauliflower mash) always more than satisfy me. And since spaghetti squash are in season, they are the perfect food to curb my carb cravings.
If you crave pasta or just want carbs even though your body doesn’t really need them, Spaghetti Squash and Meat Sauce is a great way to satisfy those cravings!
Spaghetti Squash and Meat Sauce
Servings about 4
Ingredients:
1 Medium Spaghetti Squash
1lb Grass-fed Ground Beef
1 can tomato sauce
1-2 clove garlic
1 tbsp Basil
1 tsp Oregano
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 tbsp Olive oil
Heat oven to 350.
Slice the Spaghetti Squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Drizzle with olive oil and add salt and pepper to taste.
Place on a baking sheet with cut side up.
The spaghetti squash will take anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour depending on the size.
Once the spaghetti squash is cooked, scoop out the inside with a fork to create long strands.
When the spaghetti squash is close to done, place the grass-fed ground beef in a skillet with a bit of oil.
Have the heat on high to start to brown the meat.
Add chopped garlic, spices and tomato sauce when meat has started to brown.
Cook on high another minute and then lower flame to low. Let simmer another 5-10 minutes at least.
When sauce is done, scoop on top of some spaghetti squash and serve with a sprinkle of raw milk or grass-fed cheddar.
And in case you occasionally crave dessert like I do, a great way to end the day is with a scoop of healthy ice cream.
Honestly never thought I would say “healthy” and “ice cream” in one sentence, but when the ice cream is made of bananas, it is actually healthy.
I’ve been loving the Yonanas and tried out a Banana Pistachio Ice Cream last night, using a pistachio nut butter made by Ingr-EAT-ients.
Pistachio Ice Cream
I gave it a good stir but while it tastes good, the pictures don’t look that appetizing…I need work on my food staging.
Servings about 2
Ingredients:
2 frozen bananas cut into pieces
5 tbsp of pistachio butter (not frozen just refrigerated)
Let the bananas defrost for a minute.
Turn on the Yonanas and place a piece of banana in the machine followed by a tablespoon of nut butter and another piece of banana. Keep alternating till all ingredients are used.
Then give it a quick stir and serve.
(Sorry Jodie…I tried to make it look good, but I’m definitely no food photographer!)
Anyway, a great dinner and dessert that felt like a treat and was exactly what I needed!
What are your favorite recipes when you’re craving a treat?
Chicken “Nachos” – Create Your Own Healthy Recipes
I mentioned about a week ago that while getting into a routine is key, making your healthy new lifestyle FUN and interesting is also super important to creating new habits.
And one of the best ways to keep your new lifestyle FUN and INTERESTING and make healthy habits stick is to make them your own – to mold them to fit you and your specific needs and goals.
Find workouts that you ENJOY. Don’t force yourself to do something that a friend said worked. Find something you will stick with in the long run that combines something fun with something that is good for you.
Same goes for recipes. Yes, the more you can eat only whole natural foods, the better off you will be. But that doesn’t mean you have to eat simply baked chicken and broccoli every night.
AND it also doesn’t mean you can never have those foods you love.
While I’m not a huge fan of “Paleo” baked goods, I am a huge fan of making TRULY HEALTHY variations of the foods we love to indulge in.
I love taking recipes I used to love and tweaking them to be healthier. It is creative and fun and it makes you feel like you aren’t being deprived of the foods you loved!
Plus it is just so exciting when that new recipe tastes freaking amazing!
Anyway, I was super pumped when I got texted this delicious picture of Mini Pepper Chicken Nachos by Jodie last night.
She first made the shredded chicken for the recipe in the crockpot, which was great because she also had leftover chicken for later this week!
Jodie’s Crockpot Shredded Chicken
Ingredients:
2 large chicken breasts
1-2 cups Chicken Broth (depending on size of chicken breasts)
Cumin and chili powder to taste
Add all ingredients to a crockpot. Cook on high for about 4 hours until you can pull the chicken apart with a fork.
She then took that shredded chicken and made Mini Pepper Shredded Chicken Nachos:
Ingredients:
1 tsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 green onions, sliced with white and green parts separated
1.5 cups of shredded chicken
1 tsp chili powder
1 cup salsa (all natural or even homemade please!)
1 pound mini bell peppers (can also slice up regular bell peppers a bit smaller)
1.5 cups shredded cheese (grass-fed is best!)
1/4 cup sliced black olives
1/2 large tomato, diced
1/4 cup cilantro
Salt and Pepper to Taste
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Heat the oil in a 12 inch skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and the white parts of the green onions and cook and stir 1 minute.
Mix in shredded chicken and chili powder. Toss until all ingredients are well coated with chili powder and chicken is warm, about 1-2 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in salsa. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Slice the ends off each mini bell pepper and slice in half lengthwise. Remove seeds and ribs and press each half open so the peppers are as flat as possible. Arrange close together in a single layer on a large baking sheet.
Spoon chicken mixture evenly over pepper halves. Top with black olives and cheese mixture.
Bake nachos for 10 minutes, or until cheese has melted. Remove from oven, top with tomatoes, cilantro, and remaining green onions.
Top with a little sour cream or guacamole if you want!
Enjoy! (Makes about four servings.)
What are your favorite healthy variations of recipes you used to love?
I know one of my favorite recipes is our healthy variation of the Shepherd’s pie!
Healthy Deviled Eggs Recipe
I LOVE deviled eggs.
They always seem like such a treat to me even though they are pretty easy to make and can easily be made to fit in your healthy diet.
They can be an appetizer for a party if you don’t want to cheat on your diet or just a fun little side dish for your lunch or dinner. (Shoot you can even save leftovers and eat them for a breakfast!!)
I also find it can help people starting out on a new diet to occasionally be able to indulge in healthy variations of the “treat” or “party foods” they used to love!
Buffalo Blue Cheese Deviled Eggs
Sorry not the best photo…And if Ryan and I weren’t just chowing down alone we probably would have made them look prettier!
Ingredients:
7 eggs
1/2-1 tbsp Frank’s Hot Sauce (or other hot sauce)
1 oz blue cheese
1/2 tbsp cream
1 tsp dill
Place eggs in cold water in a pot (to make them easier to peel, put vinegar and salt in the water). Heat the pot on high heat until the water boils. Leave the eggs boiling for about 8 minutes.
Remove from heat and place eggs in cold water.
Once cool, peel the eggs and cut in half.
Scoop out yolks and add to a food processor with cream, cheese, dill, and hot sauce. You can add each ingredient to taste. Blend until smooth.
Place mixture back in eggs and serve!
You can also make jalapeno bacon deviled eggs this way as well! That is one of our other favorites!
What are some other “traditional” party foods or “treat” foods that you love that you’ve made healthy variations of?
Low Carb Shepard’s Pie Recipe
As you’ve probably all now noticed…Ryan does a lot of the cooking. And he is superb at it (follows in his father’s footsteps…Yea…Just a little sucking up…)
You’ve also probably noticed…I’m obsessed with cauliflower! (Getting sick of me repeating that, huh?)
Combine those two things and you are bound to end up with one great meal! Which Ryan did indeed do this past weekend. He created the LOW CARB SHEPARD’S PIE!
If you double the recipe, you could easily make this dish tonight and have dinner or lunch for almost the rest of the week!
Casseroles like this are great if you don’t have the time to cook or simply don’t enjoy cooking each and every night.
I have lots of clients complain that eating well is so hard because they have to cook when they get home and are exhausted from a long day of work. But when you make a meal like this Shepard’s Pie on a Sunday or Monday, you end up with HEALTHY leftovers you can easily reheat when you get home late, tired and drained from work!
Healthy eating doesn’t have to be difficult or even extremely time-consuming. You just need to plan ahead a little.
So here is a great recipe to use when meal prepping for this week!
Low Carb Shepard’s Pie
Ingredients:
1lbs grass-fed ground beef
1/2 head cauliflower
2 tbsp pasture butter
2 oz Grass-fed Cheddar Cheese
1 egg
1/4 cup beef broth
Spices (Cumin, garlic) and Salt and Pepper to taste
Steam cauliflower in water until softened a bit. While cauliflower is steaming, heat a little oil in a skillet on medium-high heat.
Add beef and broth to skillet. Cook allowing the broth to reduce and the beef to brown.
Take steamed cauliflower and add to food processor with butter and egg.
Turn the broiler on your oven on low.
Once broth has reduced and beef is basically cooked through, add to a casserole dish. Place beef on bottom and then scoop cauliflower mash on top. Place in the oven under the broiler and allow the cauliflower mash to brown slightly.
Remove from oven and top with sliced/grated cheese and place back under broiler. Allow cheese to slightly brown and crisp up.
Then scoop out the shepard’s pie and enjoy! You can easily refrigerate the leftovers as the recipe above makes about 4 servings (although if you are Ryan and I on a Saturday afternoon after a morning fast and workout, you will eat the entire thing).
P.S. Posted this one for you *la. Just another meathead you are following on IG for meal prep ideas! 😛
Cauliflower Mash
I’m a bit obsessed with cauliflower. I mean I could literally just eat a whole head of it raw.
Is that strange?
Probably.
But anyway, since it has looked so amazing at the farmers market, we’ve gotten it the last few times and the other night, Ryan created a cauliflower mash with it that was absolutely amazing.
So because I’m cauliflower obsessed and this was a super delicious meal of Wild Caught Salmon steak and Cauliflower Mash, I wanted to share the recipe! (Maybe I should call this the Un-American meat and potatoes…even though I do like grass-fed steak and mashed potatoes…)
Salmon Steak and Cauliflower Mash
I’m pretty sure I’ll never make a living as a food photographer.
Ingredients:
Salmon:
2 Salmon Steaks
1/2 tbsp Paprika
2 tsp cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
Cauliflower Mash:
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp diced garlic
1/2 tbsp dill
1 tbsp cream
3/4 head cauliflower
Salt and pepper to taste
For Salmon Steaks:
Sprinkle with spices and then sear in a skillet (with 1 tbsp olive oil) on high heat for 1-2 minute each side. Then lower temperature to medium/low and cook to medium/medium rare. About 8-10 minutes.
Cauliflower Mash:
Steam cauliflower until soft. When you transfer the cauliflower to the food processor, try to get rid of all extra water first. Put into a food processor with butter, garlic, dill, cream and salt and pepper. Blend until everything is mixed and there are no cauliflower chunks.
Then serve steak and mash together. If you are like Ryan, you may even enjoy a bit of hot sauce on your cauliflower mash!
The salmon steaks made one portion for each of us, but the cauliflower mash actually made about four servings…however, it was so good (and low-calorie) that we ended up consuming all four portions! (YUM!)
What random food do you love to consume…like raw cauliflower?
Also, since I’m into self-experimentation and have actually tried a number of the diets on Free the Animal’s list (and happen to agree with his findings), I thought it was interesting to share. What diet have you found to be most effective?
Happy St. Patty’s Day!
While I’ll pass on the green beer, I will indulge in some not-so-Irish Coffee, Organic Cider and delicious Man Bicep dishes!
After surviving the Filthy 50 this morning, Ryan and I came back and made some breakfast – Corned Beef Hash and a not so Irish Coffee.
Corned Beef Hash
Ingredients:
1/2 lbs Corned Beef (cooked in the slow cooker the day before)
1 potato
1 onion
2 tbsp The Meat House Duck Fat
Garlic to taste
3 eggs
Heat duck fat in a pan with garlic and add in the diced potatoes and chopped onion. Once the potatoes start to brown, add in chopped up corned beef. Once potatoes are a golden brown and the corned beef is hot, divide onto plates. Cook eggs in butter till over easy. Top the hash with eggs and serve!
Man Bicep not-so-Irish Coffee
Ingredients:
Freshly brewed fair-trade organic coffee
1 tbsp Godiva liqueur
1 spoonful homemade whipped cream (Recipe here. I left out the chocolate this week)
Poor a cup of freshly brewed coffee and add in Godiva liqueur. Top with a spoonful of the whipped cream.
With breakfast we also had a “food experiment.” I made protein pancakes, which actually were delicious especially when topped with a spoonful of the whipped cream!
Protein Pancakes
Ingredients:
2 eggs
2 tbsp unsalted Almond butter
1/2 scoop of Optimum Double Rich Chocolate Whey Protein
1 tbsp of Coconut oil (courtesy of Trader Joes)
Beat eggs, almond butter and whey protein together until completely combined. Heat coconut oil in skillet. When coconut oil is hot, scoop batter onto heat (With the measurements above, you can make two decent sized pancakes.) Flip when bottom starts to become golden.
If heat is hot, it takes only about a minute or two on each side. Be careful – It is easy to over-cook these. When both sides are just lightly golden, remove from heat and serve.
We topped with a bit of whipped cream but a berry compote would also be delicious on top.
These “pancakes” were easy to make and could be refrigerated and eaten throughout the week as a quick breakfast option!
Ok…more recipes to come as we enjoy a relaxing St. Patty’s day watching some March Madness! Anyone else an addict?
Man Bicep 