Healthy Holidays Test Kitchen

I have been researching making my favorite holiday dishes lighter & healthier, but wanted to try the recipes before the holidays arrive to make sure they are delish. Yesterday evening was my test kitchen, and after posting the pic above I received a few recipe requests. The baked turkey breast is just that, 2 turkey breasts seasoned & baked.

My fav & a few of the kiddos was the dressing & next would be the sweet potato casserole. Below I will list recipes, try them for yourself. Many were vegan, but I made a few adjustments that made them not so vegan.

Dressing:

Ingredients: 6 cups Cubed bread (slightly stale), 1/2 chopped apple, 1/2 box of raisins   2 T onion, &  celery, 1 cup vegetable broth, teaspoon of moved over butter.

Melt butter, add onion and celery, apple & raisins to soften & plump. Add to chopped bread crumbs & stir in vegetable broth. Add extra if it seems dry. Press mixture into casserole dish. Bake covered about 30-40 minutes, finish uncovered to crisp top.

Sweet Potato Casserole:

Ingredients: 4-5 Sweet potatoes cubed, 1/4 c pecans, 2-3 T brown sugar, 3 T maple syrup

Boil potatoes till soft, drain and mash. Mix in sugar, syrup, & half of pecans. I used electric mixer and a lil bit of veggie broth to make smooth. Spread in casserole dish, top with pecans & bake about 30 minutes.

Mashed potatoes:

Ingredients: 3LBS red potatoes, mostly peeled and cut into 4s. Veggie broth, salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste.

Boil and mash soft potatoes. Mix with electric mixed with veggies broth, salt, pepper, and garlic till smooth. Butter is so not needed.

Lower fat mac n cheese:

Ingedients: 12 ozs elbow noodles, shredded block of 2% cheddar cheese, 1/2 c fat free evaporated milk, 1/4 c low-fat sour cream, 1 egg beaten, salt & pepper to taste, sprinkle parm on top 

Boil noodles & drain. Mix all ingredients but parm. Place in baking dish, top with parm. Bake about 20-30 minutes.

The beautiful pumpkin pie

Ingredients:
Crust: 1/2 c walnuts, 1/4 c pecans, 1/4 c brown sugar, packet of milled flax seed

Blend in food processor, press in pie pan.

Filling: 1 small can pumpkin puree, 1/2 c brown sugar, 2t vanilla extract, 2t cinnamon, 1/2 t ginger, 1/2 t nutmeg, dash of cloves. 3 eggs, 1 c lowfat greek yogurt. i package neufchatel cheese.

Blend filling ingredients together, pour into crust, & bake about an hour or till firm.

Oven stayed on 350 for everything.

I will be making a version of green bean casserole soon & will post. Hope you try & enjoy, all were great! Yummies 

Sweet Buns

Today is day 5 of the 30 squat challenge! I purposed the challenge on Tuesday after starting on Monday on my Facebook fitness journey...Although a few have proclaimed they are in, I'm waiting for shares. 50-65 squats in one set was nothing, today's 70 was a bit tough. Maybe because of the rest day, maybe because of the amount or maybe just because I'm not used to doing so many. Hey it's not called a challenge for nothin'!

This challenge may be started at any time, and I recommend taking a before snap shot. Yes, I did!

Resources to Check out

Here are a few resources I use to help with my health, fitness, & weight loss;

My fav: myfitnesspal app, website available www.myfitnesspal.com/

I happen to do best at counting calories & keeping a food journal. It allows me to pay attention to what I am putting in my body & the freedom to have anything I want to eat. So when its someones birthday I can have a piece of cake... 

http://www.modelmydiet.com/  

This website allows you to enter in a starting weight & ending weight. Great way to help visualize your results.

http://pinterest.com/all/health_fitness/   

Great ideas from meals to motivation. 

Fit quote app; delivers a motivational fitness quote daily

Get Up!!

Lets talk about set backs. I have been off course for about a month now, luckily the weight has not crept back up as it sometimes can. 

"Fall 7 times, get up eight" Japanese Proverb

That's the key to set backs, getting back on track. My goal is not just about weight loss, it's about living healthy and extending my life (as much as I can control).

Here's my way of thinking, mind you it needs to change;
I have that all or nothing way of seeing losing weight & living healthy. Without 100% success I fall back into my old habits of not paying attention to what I put in my body and being inactive.

Here's what I should be thinking; healthy living in a process. I need to do things differently this time. I can't expect perfection, but I can do damage control & try to bounce back. Keep a positive attitude (easy for an optimist unlike myself). Believe in yourself!

Plan. Reconnect with someone that might give you a lift. (My gym buddy moved) What were your main motivations?

My Fitness Boost Challange- Whose in?

A few days ago I posted a recipe for a Detox water on my fitness journey FaceBook page. A couple of the followers were interested in trying and what the outcome would be. I decided that I should step it up... This here is what I am calling my Fitness Boost Challenge. It will be my first so its results are uncertain. The goal is to give my metabolism a sort of restart or boost it back into working. I am encouraging my readers to join me, I am curious if different people will have different results. Now none of these are my own ideas, I am just choosing to combine a few health tips I have found over the web. Hoping to make it a week.

The following comes from Reader's Digest- 7 Steps to healthy Detox

1) Start each morning with a glass of lemon water (for the week I am going to use the detox water recipe/ drink remaining water throughout day). The lemon helps flush toxins in liver & gallbladder which help the body digest fats.
2) Take 10 minutes to breath deeply in the am. I am choosing to meditate to reduce stress. You may want to choose yoga or a quick jog around the block. Just make sure you are concentrating on deep breaths to fill lungs with fresh oxygen & get rid of the carbon dioxide.
3) Avoid processed foods! Hoping to make it the week, but definitely for at least 3 days. Processed foods are typically loaded with added fats, salts, chemicals, & preservatives. No artificial flavors, added sugars including artificial & drop the sodas and sugary punches. Go for water, low fat milk & herbal teas. Might want to skip coffee too. Choose fresh meat ( no chicken nuggets LOL) fruits & veggies and whole grains. Craving something sweet...make homemade cookies. Yes you will add sugar but you skip the chemicals & preservatives, just don't get carried away. I'll post a cookie recipe shortly.
4) I already mentioned #4; take a coffee break. Meaning skip the coffee especially if you are a 3-4 cup a day drinker or a Venti drinker. The more caffeine you put in your body the harder your adrenal glands have to work. Those glands regulate your metabolism. If you are not able to kick your cup try subing the cafe for a black tea.
5) Unfortunately for financial reasons I will not be following #5 very closely but if you are able to please do so; use organic meats & poultry. I do choose a few meats labeled as "natural" but not certified organic, that's about as best I can do.
6) This one is easy, fill half your plate with either fruits or veggies at every meal. Aim for 7-10 veggies & fruits a day, with out processed food you'll need to fill the space. 
7) Avoid alcohol for the week. Not only are they high in calories, but alcoholic drinks put extra stress on the body.

Some of you may have seen this exercise routine, I will be implementing it into my daily routine. It's called the Malibooty Workout. Have to get my mommy booty up to a Malibooty.

Detox Water- Make fresh nightly for following day. I will be cutting recipe in half and drinking lemon water for 4-6 cups giving me 8-10 cups of water a day.

Cookie Recipe-

 

Follow blog or my fitness FB page for results & outcomes. Hope you'll join & share. Thanks for stopping by!

Gym Jam

Friends of FaceBook would know that on most gym visits I like to post a music video of what I call a "GymJam".
What is a GymJam you may ask? It is a song that I happened to hear while working out that really got my blood pumping. A song that would have gave me an extra boost to really push my workout, and give all my energy. I'll list a few, go ahead, add them to your play list:

Destiny's Child- Bootylicious
Shakira- Loca
Hot Chelle Rae- I like it like that
P!nk- U + UR hand
Cher Llyod- Swagger Jagger
Kings of Leon- Sex of Fire
Katie Perry- California Gurls

Bye-Bye Baby Fat

Lets start with catching up with my progress;

I started using myfitnesspal app on my phone at the end of March, shortly after I joined a gym with a few friends. We were hitting the gym 3-4 times a week on a regular basis, but we have had a few personal upsets that caused a little bump in the road. We finally made it back last week, managed to make it twice. Hopefully this week will lead to 3 days. So far I am down 15lbs. and feel slightly better about myself. I gained 15lbs during my pregnancy & instead of just losing that 15lbs. I went ahead and added an additional 15lbs. That being said I have mini goal of losing 30lbs to get down to pre-baby weight. Time to say bye-bye to the baby fat! Once I lose more I will reveal actual before and after numbers.