One thing I have found that I sometimes have difficulty doing is getting my veggies. I really do not know why that is. I actually like most vegetables so theoretically it should be fairly simple to to get the 4 servings of vegetables (according to www.health.com) that active women should get each day. It isn't. I'm not really a girl who digs salads. Well, let me retract that. I prefer my salads to be slathered in dressing, and not the healthy kind (Blue Cheese is my absolute favorite!). So, since that isn't exactly the healthy way to eat salads, I just don't eat them. That leaves me with a problem in getting my veggies then, doesn't it?
That is one of the reasons I eat smoothies the way I do. I can throw 1-2 cups of kale in the blender and get some veggies that way, then I don't feel bad about not eating salads. I throw veggies like zucchini and squash in with my eggs which I love. I try and sneak them in any thing I can so I make sure I am getting them.
I also love noodles. Unfortunately noodles aren't exactly low in calories even though my new favorite kind, Ronzoni, is much lower! So, a while ago, I tried something at the suggestion of the Hungry Girl called Tofu Noodles. If you know me at all you know that I am NOT a tofu girl. I am a meat and potatoes girl. But, she talked about them so highly I thought I would give them a try. UGH! Yeah, they were GROSS!!!! Yuck. I have kept my eye out for another idea for noodles. I heard about spaghetti squash which I tried with fantastic results. Seriously, if you haven't tried spaghetti squash, run to to the store and get some!!
In my daily perusal of Pinterest, I found that Hungry Girl had suggested using Broccoli Slaw instead of noodles. Now, I like slaw, I like broccoli, and I like noodles. But, this seemed a little crazy. I'm willing to try new things though, so I bought a bag. I gave THIS recipe a try. Oh My Goodness. It was very good. Now, realize up front, you are not eating noodles here. They are still a little crunchy, but I put some home made pasta sauce (thank you Aunt Terri!) on them and a little Parmesan Cheese and it was really very good and very filling. I will most definitely give this another try! It was only about 170 calories for the entire bowl! AND it gave me 2 cups of vegetables (that does not include the veggies in the pasta sauce either!) for my lunch. Personally, I think it was WAY better than a salad!!
Let me know if you give it a try, I would love to know what you think!!
Faith. Courage. Strength. Change.
Showing posts with label recipe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recipe. Show all posts
Friday, May 2, 2014
Monday, March 24, 2014
Couple of Things Today!
As I type this, I have to admit. I am TIRED! It was a very busy weekend and after my workout this morning, I could use a nap. :) But, alas, I am probably not going to get one. I have a lot of things I need to get done. It was a great weekend though. I was blessed to sing at 2 wonderful masses, had a little alone time, knocked out 20 miles on the bike, and we celebrated J's 6th birthday with our family. Very busy, but the weekend was fantastic.
This morning was pretty nice. The kids are on Spring Break and the oldest is at Grandma and Grandpa's house. So, the little ones let me sleep in and it was WONDERFUL! Then, I went to the gym. I went to the gym with a goal. If you remember, last week I did 20 Eli miles on the Indo-rowers. Well, after that, 2 of the men at the gym matched that work. Today, I decided that I was going to up the ante. My goal was 30 miles. That is 16,500 meters! Whoo. So, I went. I went and I rowed. Then I rowed some more. I was doing pretty well. I hit 10 miles, then 20. I knew I had it and would finish. But, honestly, I had no idea how difficult those last 10 miles would be. I just kept rowing. About 25 miles, I started to hit a wall. But at that point, there was no way I was stopping. One of the gentlemen I row with in class was stretching near me. He encouraged me and cheered me on. It got me through and I pushed and pushed (well, pulled and pulled!). 16,500 meters. Yeah, I'm pretty happy about that. Now, I just have to decide if I want to attempt spinning class tonight. :)
Saturday, my sweet J had a friend's birthday party to go to. While she was there, I ran out to the mall and walked around. I have been learning a song for church for this coming Sunday and I was listening to it on repeat as I walked. Of course I did a little shopping while I was there as well. I found a couple of shirts that I liked. The cool thing? I purchased XLs, not XXLs (well, I purchased one XXL, but it was the ONLY one in that design and it was a T-shirt, so I can refashion it later). My boobs aren't small to begin with, so that means that I AM getting smaller in the rest of my body. That makes me feel pretty good.
Saturday night on Facebook, I posted that I had made a Skinny Chicken Fried Rice for dinner. I was asked for the recipe, so I wanted to share it with you here. It is seriously SO good! It has become one of E and I's favorite meals. Sometimes I make it without the chicken for a meatless meal. The only other change for us is that I do not use sesame oil. I use Extra-Virgin Olive oil because that is what I have at home. I also only use 1-2 T. of the oil. I don't need 3T. of it! You can find the recipe HERE. I hope you enjoy it too. Please let me know if you tried it and what you thought!
The next couple of days will be a challenge for me. I am heading down to my parents' house and I have a tendency to not eat very well or exercise very much when I am there. My mom is wonderful and worked it out with the owner of her gym so I can come in and workout for free. She also said that she will try and make healthy meals. So, hopefully, I can do better. I'm going to set a goal of working out every day that I am there in SOME way. It may not be to the extent that I do here at home at my own gym, but I WILL keep moving.
I hope that all had a wonderful weekend and are looking at a good week. It is supposed to be cold again this week which stinks. I don't know about you, but I am looking forward to some REAL spring!
Blessings!
This morning was pretty nice. The kids are on Spring Break and the oldest is at Grandma and Grandpa's house. So, the little ones let me sleep in and it was WONDERFUL! Then, I went to the gym. I went to the gym with a goal. If you remember, last week I did 20 Eli miles on the Indo-rowers. Well, after that, 2 of the men at the gym matched that work. Today, I decided that I was going to up the ante. My goal was 30 miles. That is 16,500 meters! Whoo. So, I went. I went and I rowed. Then I rowed some more. I was doing pretty well. I hit 10 miles, then 20. I knew I had it and would finish. But, honestly, I had no idea how difficult those last 10 miles would be. I just kept rowing. About 25 miles, I started to hit a wall. But at that point, there was no way I was stopping. One of the gentlemen I row with in class was stretching near me. He encouraged me and cheered me on. It got me through and I pushed and pushed (well, pulled and pulled!). 16,500 meters. Yeah, I'm pretty happy about that. Now, I just have to decide if I want to attempt spinning class tonight. :)
Saturday, my sweet J had a friend's birthday party to go to. While she was there, I ran out to the mall and walked around. I have been learning a song for church for this coming Sunday and I was listening to it on repeat as I walked. Of course I did a little shopping while I was there as well. I found a couple of shirts that I liked. The cool thing? I purchased XLs, not XXLs (well, I purchased one XXL, but it was the ONLY one in that design and it was a T-shirt, so I can refashion it later). My boobs aren't small to begin with, so that means that I AM getting smaller in the rest of my body. That makes me feel pretty good.
Saturday night on Facebook, I posted that I had made a Skinny Chicken Fried Rice for dinner. I was asked for the recipe, so I wanted to share it with you here. It is seriously SO good! It has become one of E and I's favorite meals. Sometimes I make it without the chicken for a meatless meal. The only other change for us is that I do not use sesame oil. I use Extra-Virgin Olive oil because that is what I have at home. I also only use 1-2 T. of the oil. I don't need 3T. of it! You can find the recipe HERE. I hope you enjoy it too. Please let me know if you tried it and what you thought!
The next couple of days will be a challenge for me. I am heading down to my parents' house and I have a tendency to not eat very well or exercise very much when I am there. My mom is wonderful and worked it out with the owner of her gym so I can come in and workout for free. She also said that she will try and make healthy meals. So, hopefully, I can do better. I'm going to set a goal of working out every day that I am there in SOME way. It may not be to the extent that I do here at home at my own gym, but I WILL keep moving.
I hope that all had a wonderful weekend and are looking at a good week. It is supposed to be cold again this week which stinks. I don't know about you, but I am looking forward to some REAL spring!
Blessings!
Friday, March 14, 2014
You Have To Try This!!
Oh My Goodness! So, I found this pin on Pinterest for a "healthy" Shamrock Shake. Now, I don't know about you, but this time of year, I get SO excited for a Shamrock Shake from McDonalds. Unfortunately, a Shamrock Shake from McDonalds is 530 calories for a 12 oz. shake! Yeesh! To make it worse, there is absolutely NOTHING healthy in it. Well, maybe milk, but that is it.
Back to the link on Pinterest, the original blogger, Simply, Taralynn said she made a 77 calorie version of it. You can find her recipe here. I was a little skeptical, but thought I would try it. Unfortunately, I didn't have most of the ingredients in house. So, I faked it. This is what I did with my first try:
That one was good. It was. But, after I kept looking at the other recipe, I thought I had to try it. I went to the grocery store this morning and bought what I needed. This was the result.
Oh wow! Seriously people, this was SO awesome!! The healthier version had no fake coloring and will get it's green color from the mint and kale. I only add the Stevia because kale can sometimes make smoothies a little bitter so the Stevia helps with that. When I finished, I was mad at myself that I hadn't made more.
There are some differences between mine and Simply, Taralynn's. First, I don't stress too much about Organic. My kale leaves and mint are organic, but that is really just by chance. Secondly, I used vanilla almond milk because I like it, she uses water which would totally work too. She does adds the vanilla extract but I don't since I use the vanilla almond milk. So, if you use water, you need to throw in the vanilla! I use a different Protein Powder than she does as well. Finally, I used fresh mint, she uses dried. Honestly, I just couldn't find the dried, so I bought fresh. It totally works. :) Finally, mine comes out at about 250 calories. Obviously, this is more than her 77 calorie version, but still WAY better than the 530 of McDonalds and my portion was HUGE, we are talking 2 glasses full. So, if you don't want 250 calories, split in in half, give a glass to a friend, and down 125 calories instead! Win, win!
Oh finally, you might be wondering why I eat kale instead of spinach (that is the other difference between mine and Simply, Taralynn's version). I can not eat raw spinach. It will give me a kidney stone within a matter of days. So, I just avoid it and eat kale in my smoothies instead. Same benefits, same taste, no agony!
I hope you have a wonderful day. Let me know if you try a Healthy Shamrock Shake just in time for St. Patrick's Day!!
Blessings!
Back to the link on Pinterest, the original blogger, Simply, Taralynn said she made a 77 calorie version of it. You can find her recipe here. I was a little skeptical, but thought I would try it. Unfortunately, I didn't have most of the ingredients in house. So, I faked it. This is what I did with my first try:
1 c. Vanilla Almond Milk, Reduced Sugar
1 Scoop Vanilla Protein Powder (I use Body Fortress)
About 1/2 t. mint extract
About 1/2 t. Vanilla extract
Couple of drops of green food coloring
Ice
Throw all of that in your blender. Mix until thick and smooth. Enjoy!
That one was good. It was. But, after I kept looking at the other recipe, I thought I had to try it. I went to the grocery store this morning and bought what I needed. This was the result.
1 c. Vanilla Almond Milk, Reduced Sugar
1 Scoop Vanilla Protein Powder (I use Body Fortress)
1 c. fresh kale leaves
2 branches of FRESH mint leaves (I just used the leaves, not the stems)
2 small packets of Stevia
Ice
Throw all of that in your blender. Mix until thick and smooth and all of the kale leaves are completely chopped and blended. Enjoy and be healthy!
Oh wow! Seriously people, this was SO awesome!! The healthier version had no fake coloring and will get it's green color from the mint and kale. I only add the Stevia because kale can sometimes make smoothies a little bitter so the Stevia helps with that. When I finished, I was mad at myself that I hadn't made more.
There are some differences between mine and Simply, Taralynn's. First, I don't stress too much about Organic. My kale leaves and mint are organic, but that is really just by chance. Secondly, I used vanilla almond milk because I like it, she uses water which would totally work too. She does adds the vanilla extract but I don't since I use the vanilla almond milk. So, if you use water, you need to throw in the vanilla! I use a different Protein Powder than she does as well. Finally, I used fresh mint, she uses dried. Honestly, I just couldn't find the dried, so I bought fresh. It totally works. :) Finally, mine comes out at about 250 calories. Obviously, this is more than her 77 calorie version, but still WAY better than the 530 of McDonalds and my portion was HUGE, we are talking 2 glasses full. So, if you don't want 250 calories, split in in half, give a glass to a friend, and down 125 calories instead! Win, win!
Oh finally, you might be wondering why I eat kale instead of spinach (that is the other difference between mine and Simply, Taralynn's version). I can not eat raw spinach. It will give me a kidney stone within a matter of days. So, I just avoid it and eat kale in my smoothies instead. Same benefits, same taste, no agony!
I hope you have a wonderful day. Let me know if you try a Healthy Shamrock Shake just in time for St. Patrick's Day!!
Blessings!
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