Thirsty Thursday - Salted Caramel Shakeology

Shakeology Spotlight: Camu Camu

Transformation Tuesday - Meet Heather, she lost 65lbs with Turbo Fire

Heather lost 65 lbs. in 6 months and KEPT IT OFF!

"Since beginning my transformation journey, I have lost 65 pounds and over 60 inches with TurboFire, ChaLEAN Extreme, and Shakeology. From a size 18 to a size 6, what I lost in pounds, inches and sizes, I have gained twofold in confidence, self-esteem, and happiness. I have regained control of my life, and that is what I am most proud of."

She won $1,000 in the Beachbody Challenge.  Turbo Fire is only on sale for TWO more days! What are you waiting for? 

Tempeh Stir Fy

2 packs of Tempeh cut into small rectangles

Steam tempeh for 10 minutes.

While your tempeh is steaming, in a glass bowl mix together the following:

1/2 cup Tamari
1/2 cup Water
1/4 cup extra virgin oil
1/4 cup Worcestershire Sauce
2 Tbsp Maple Syrup
2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
1 tsp Lemon Zest
2 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
4 Cloves Garlic Minced
1 Tbsp Minced Ginger

After steaming, put the tempeh in the liquid to soak.  

For veggies, I used broccoli, onions, mushrooms, zucchini, and snap peas.

Sir fry the veggies in EVOO.
Set veggies aside and transfer the tempeh and sauce to the skillet for 5 minutes.
Add the veggies back in for 5 minutes.
Add a little water and corn starch to thicken it up, if desired. Cook it up til it thickens.
Serve over rice if you wish. 

Fitness Friday: Core Workout with Autumn

Here's Autumn Calabrese, creator of the 21 Day Fix and 21 Day Fix Extreme, with a 3 minute core workout. 

Hit pause if you need more time to complete 10 reps of each exercise. 

Do this 3 times through for an intense core workout! 

It's always a good idea to warm up before doing any workout, so do some jogging in place and a few jumping jacks first to get your blood moving.

Thirsty Thursday - Pumpkin Pie Shakeology

Shakeology Spotlight - Bilberry

Transformation Tuesday - Transformed: Veggies Ratatouille

Ingredients:

1 Egg plant, diced
1 Red pepper and 1 green pepper - diced
2 zucchini, diced
1 jalapeno, seeded, diced (optional)
6 tomatoes, peeled and chopped (I used 4 and did not peel)
1 onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup of chicken stock
2 TB of coconut oil
2 TB of tomato paste (I used the whole small can)
1 TB of fresh oregano
2TB of fresh thyme
1/4 cup of fresh parsley
Olive oil
ground pepper
sea salt
Poached eggs (see how below)

Directions

Heat the coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add onion, cook 5 minutes until translucent, and soft. Stir in egg plant and saute for 10 minutes.  Might have to add more coconut oil as eggplant really absorbs the oil. 

Add tomato paste, stirring frequently until it becomes dark in color.  Now toss in the tomatoes and cook for 7 minutes. 

Stir in the remaining veggies and herbs and the stock.  Lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes until the veggies become soft and most of the broth has evaporated.

Sprinkle with pepper and salt and drizzle of olive oil.  Finally top with poach eggs.

*Adapted from Whole Foods cook book

Poached eggs

In a skillet with straight sides, heat 2 inches of water over medium heat until bubbles cover bottom and sides of pan.  crack each large egg into a separate small bowl (do no use eggs with cracked yolks).  When a few bubbles have broken the surface of the water, gently pour each egg into the pan leaving room between them. 

Cook eggs, undisturbed until white is just set and yolk is still runny, 3 to 4 minutes.  Use a rubber spatula to separate egg from the pan if necessary.

Using a slotted spoon, remove eggs from the water.  If using immediately, blot the bottom of the poon on a paper towel to remove excess water before serving. 

EVEN my kids enjoyed this recipe.  So much flavor and really pretty looking. All the colors of the rainbow!!

Meal Monday - Teriyaki Chicken Thighs

This recipe is a staple in my house.  The whole family loves it, it's pretty healthy, inexpensive, and super easy to make.

Here's how to make it in bulk...eat one and freeze the other two:

• 7lbs of Chicken thighs (skins removed)
• 1 cup of soy sauce
• 1 cup of brown sugar
• 1/4 cup of red wine vinegar
• 1 T of vegetable oil
• 3 t of minced garlic
• 3 t of minced ginger
• 3 one-gallon freezer bags, labeled "Teriyaki chicken - bake at 350 for 1 hour"

Rinse and divide the chicken evenly among freezer bags.

Combine soy sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, and oil in a small bowl until dissolved.  Divide marinade evenly over chicken.  Add a T of garlic and a t of ginger into each bag. Seal and Freeze.

You can bake immediately or freeze. To bake after freezing, be sure to thaw it completely in the refrigerator. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. I turn the pieces over while cooking.

This recipe was taken from the Fix Freeze Feast cookbook.

Foodie Friday - Roasted Asparagus

Roasted asparagus is super easy and my whole family loves it.  It's so much more crisp and tastier than steaming it, in my opinion.  To make it just a bit of a sweet/salty combo, I rub on a little coconut oil and pink Himalayan salt.  It only takes about 10 minutes in a pre heated oven.  If you like them real crisp, go for a warmer temp of about 400 or so.

Thirsty Thursday - Cinnamon Roll Shakeology

Shakeology Spotlight - Goji Berries

Transformation Tuesday - Chicken Noodle Soup

It's Transformation Tuesday and today and instead of transformation of a body we're going to look at transformation of a recipe! 

Who doesn't love chicken noodle soup? 

But with high sodium and all those noodles it can be a hard one to swallow. Today I am transforming chicken noodle soup...Moroccan style. 

Ingredients: 

1 medium onion, diced

4 teaspoons of Moroccan spice (recipe below)
2 to 3 cups of coconut milk

1 tablespoon of coconut oil

3 cups of chicken stock

2 cups of sweet peppers

1 cup of sweet potato purée

2 cups of diced tomatoes

4 cups of spinach, fresh. 

Dash of salt and red pepper flakes

Two yellow summer squash cut into noodle like shapes or julienned

2 cups of chicken. 

Directions:

1) Bake sweet potato in the oven on 400 for 30 minutes or boil on the stove until soft. Puree when done.
2) Meanwhile, add some coconut oil into a small pan over medium heat. Sautee the diced onions and peppers for five minutes or until they are soft.

3) Stir in the Moroccan spice blend and cook for another couple of minutes until the smell of the blend becomes potent. 

4) Add in the diced tomatoes, coconut milk and chicken stock. Raise the heat until the soup is simmering. 

As it simmers, season with some salt and red pepper flakes to your liking and add in the sweet potato puree to help thicken. 

5) Add the chicken and squash noodles and stir thoroughly to combine all of the ingredients. Cook for another 5 to 10 minutes until the noodles have softened slightly. 

6) Remove from heat and stir in the spinach last allow the spinach to wilt be for serving. 

*Recipe adapted from "It Starts With Food Cookbook".*

Moroccan spice blend: 

1 teaspoon ground cumin 

1 teaspoon ground ginger

 1 teaspoon Himalayan salt

 3/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

 1/2 teaspoon Cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Meal Monday - Turkey Chili

Ingredients:
1 tsp Olive Oil
1 1/2 lbs of lean ground turkey
1 medium onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp of ground cumin
1 Tbs chili powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 cans of black beans (I make all mine in the crock pop and freeze)
1 can of diced tomatoes
Cilantro

Heat oil, add turkey, onion, green pepper and garlic...cook 5 to 8 minutes. Add spices, cook another minute,  Add beans and tomatoes with liquid. Bring to boil. Reduce heat for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with cilantro.

Fit Tip Friday - Is Cholesterol a Bad Thing?

Is cholesterol a bad thing?

Some dietary cholesterol is fine, provided it comes from quality sources. Think of it the same way you might think of simple carb consumption. Bananas, for example, are high in sugar, but their nutritional value makes up for that. Similarly, egg yolks are high in cholesterol, but they're also very nutritious, so the good outweighs the bad—as long as you eat them in moderation!

Thirsty Thursday - Birthday Cake Shakeology

Shakeology Spotlight - Shakeology has all the vitamins you need

Transformation Tuesday - Meet Jeremy

Meet Jeremy. 

   

He lost 19.4 lbs in 90 days with P90X3. 

He entered his results into The Beachbody Challenge®, 

and won the $500 Daily Prize on March 26th! 

P90X3 is on sale ($160) this month, click here to purchase!

Cobb Salad

Ingredients:


4 cups of mixed greens
2 cups of spinach
1/2 cup sliced cucumber
1/2 cup of diced tomato
1/2 cup of sliced carrots
(any other veggies would be good also)
1 1/2 cups of cooked, cut up chicken
1 avocado (divided by 5 salads)
5 hard boiled eggs

2 TBSP of balsamic vinaigrette dressing per salad

Combine first 5 ingredients.  Separate into jars/containers for 5 salads (about a cup or more per jar).  Divide chicken among 5 salads. Put one egg in each jar.  I wait to peel it until I am going to eat the salad.  Once you are ready to eat it, peel the egg, add the avocado and dressing.

21-Day Fix Info: Once everything is divided, each salad has 1-2 green, 1 red, 1/2 of a blue, and 1 orange.

Fit Tip Friday - Push Through

 

Our bodies will try to stop WAY before we actually need to. 

Push through that feeling, and you'll come out on the other side STRONGER. 

Don't give up.

Thirsty Thursday - Chocolate Oatmeal Shakeology

Shakeology Spotlight - Grape Seed Extract