Eat Clean: Apples and Cinnamon Steel Cut Oats

 

Simple. Clean. Yummy!

I like to make this on my food prep day. I will separate into individual  serving sizes so its grab and go! It makes the house smell so yummy!

1 C Steel Cut Oats

3 C unsweetened vanilla coconut or almond milk

1/4 C powdered stevia

3 organic gala or Fuji apples

I like to use the slow cooker bags for easy clean up. Be sure to spray slow cooker or bag with organic cooking spray.

Place all ingredients in coated slow cooker and stir until all ingredients are well incorporated. 

Turn your slow cooker on high to cook 4 hours. Be sure to stir often.

If you like a little sweeter, you can add a smidge of raw organic honey right before consuming. Top with walnuts. Enjoy!

Buffalo Chicken Tenders

Buffalo chicken tenders are a big hit in my household. You can ad these to your salads, shred and put in corn tortilla's, or just have them with a side of greens. 
 
Ingredients:
organic chicken tenders or chicken breasts cut into strips
1 Cup of Frank's Buffalo Sauce
1/4 Cup coconut oil (softened)
sea salt and ground pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350. Mix Frank's and coconut oil together. Season organic chicken with sea salt and ground pepper and then dip in your Frank's and coconut oil. Place on a cookie sheet (I line mine with parchment paper for easy clean up) and place in preheated oven until chicken is cooked through. 

Shrimp Taco's

Makes approx. 7 tacos

What you're gonna need:

1 bag of frozen shrimp, deveined - thawed and peeled
shredded red cabbage
1/2 C plain Greek yogurt
1 adobe from a can, chopped
1 lime
Mrs. Dash Spicy Seasoning
Sea Salt
1 TBSP Olive oil
corn tortillas

What you're gonna do:
mix Greek yogurt, adobe with a little adobe sauce from can and juice from 1/2 of the lime in a small bowl.

heat a large pan and then add olive oil.
Once the olive oil is hot, add your shrimp and season with sea salt and Mrs. Dash Spicy Seasoning.

when the shrimp is almost done, squeeze the other half of the lime over the shrimp.

Assemble your tacos by spreading adobe sauce on a corn tortilla then adding shrimp and last, cabbage. Serve with some fresh steamed vegetables and a side of black beans or brown rice.

Chili

Serving Size: 5-6, 1 Cup Servings

1 lb lean turkey or lean hamburger meat
2 cans diced tomatoes (I use fireroasted)
1 white onion, chopped
1, 4 oz can of diced green chilies or you can use 3 peppers of your choice.
1 15 oz can of black beans, rinsed and drained
1, 15 oz can of red kidney beans, rinsed and drianed
1, TBSP chili powder
1, TBSP white vinegar
2, TBSP yellow mustard
2, tsp cumin
1, tsp sea salt
1, TBSP garlic powder

In a large pot add meat and onions. Cook until meat is fully cooked.
Add remaining ingredients to the pot and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer- approx. 20-30 min.

Feel free to spice it up! Spices are your friends!!!!

Banana Walnut Pancakes

1 Serving: Makes 3 Pancakes:

4 Egg Whites
1/2 ripe banana- SMASHED
1/4 C Oats
hand full of walnuts
sugar free syrup

mix all ingredients in a bowl- except for walnuts- with a fork. Pour some of the batter into a hot skillet sprayed with a little cooking spray. Place a few walnuts into the pancake while cooking. Flip pancake and cook on the other side. Repeat 2 more times to make a total of 3 pancakes.

Top with sugar free syrup.

You can also make these on a skillet.

Chicken, Broccoli & Cauliflower Casserole

This casserole is absolutely scrumptious! It's also easy to make.

What you will need:

Chicken Breasts cut into bite sized pieces
Head of Broccoli (thoroughly washed)
Head of Cauliflower (thoroughly washed)
Chicken Broth
Unsweetened Coconut Milk
1 White Onion, cut into strips
Minced Garlic
Mushrooms (optional)
Sea Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil


What to do:

Cut up broccoli and cauliflower into bite sized pieces. Try to keep the pieces about the same size. Place broccoli and cauliflower in a casserole dish and place in a preheated 425 degree oven for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a skillet,  add chicken, salt and pepper to taste and cook until brown-ed.

Add chicken to your casserole dish with the broccoli and cauliflour.

Using the same skillet add a little more olive oil. Saute garlic and onions. Add garlic and onion mixture to your casserole dish. (I had to use red onions here because I was out of white onions- but white onions are better in this dish)

Now add to your skillet unsweetened coconut milk, stirring vigourously, then add your chicken broth. Salt and Pepper to taste. Use as much milk and broth as you would like- depending on how much gravy you prefer. Keep stirring and incorporate any chicken residue into the gravy. I probably use 1/2 cup of each.

Pour the gravy mixture over your casserole ingredients and mix ingredients together.

Top dish with mushrooms and place in your 425 oven for another 15 minutes.

You can steam some brown rice as a side dish or add it to the casserole mixture once removed from the oven. Serve hot and enjoy!

Half-Marathon Training- Week 5

It's Thanksgiving week... training will be scarce this week. If I can just get a couple of runs in and my cross-training, I think I can pick up where I left off next week.

Here is what week 5 will hopefully look like:

Mon: Cross-Training
Tues: Rest Day
Wed: Cross- Training
Turkey Day: Today one of my bff's and I are going to head out early and get our run in. We will do 15 min of "nice chat" jogging, 12 minutes of "hard to talk" running and and 3 minutes of "don't even think about talking to me" running. Followed by a 3-5 min cool-down (brisk walk)
Fri: Cross- Training
Sat: 7 Mile Long run
Sun: Rest and Food Prep Day!

Half Marathon Training: Week 4

Happy Sunday, to all of my running friends out there! I have next weeks training all planned out! And I have to say, I am really looking forward to this week. This week is an EASY week!!!

I, personally, had to make changes to last weeks training- just because of my crazy schedule. Today is Sunday and I haven't ran my long run yet. But, after church & an errand- I will crush 7!

Now on to WEEK 4!

don't be frightened.... it's a RELAXING week (as far as running is concerned, anyway):

Monday: Take it to the streets or a running trail
Casual 45 Minute Run

Tuesday: Cross Train/ Fit
 
Wednesday: Get some fresh air-take your run outside- change it up a bit and take different route
Casual 45 Minute Run

Thursday: Crossfit/ Train

Friday: Crossfit/ Train

Saturday: Long Run... of 5 Miles

Sunday: Day of Rest and Meal Prep!

Note: If you need to take an extra day of rest in the middle of the week- do so. Listen to your body- it has something to say :)

I have set a personal goal to really enjoy the scenery this week as I take my casual runs. Just take in the changes that the new season has to offer and enjoy the beautiful colors of the portrait that the Lord has hand painted. Enjoy!!

Spaghetti Sauce with a WARNING!

WARNING! You will NOT want to open another store bought spaghetti sauce after making this easy, healthy and extremely delicious Spaghetti Sauce with a WARNING! 

What you're gonna need:

1 TBSP Olive Oil
1 Medium Onion, chopped
Minced Garlic (to your liking)
2 Cans of fire roasted tomatoes (get organic if you can)
1/2 C Tomato Paste
1/4 C Red Wine- of your choice
1 TBSP Dried Oregano
5 Basil Leaves or 2 tsp Dried Basil
1 tsp Sea Salt
1/4 tsp Crushed Red Pepper (or more if you like it HOT)

What your gonna do:

1. heat your olive oil in a sauce pan 
2. add your onions and garlic- stir constantly about 2 min
3.stir your tomatoes, paste, red wine, dried oregano, sea salt & crushed red pepper
4. turn heat down and place a lid on your sauce pan and simmer for a minimum of 20 min. The longer you simmer, the tastier!
5. add your basil at the last 5 minutes of simmering

This sauce is great with whole wheat spaghetti noodles or any whole wheat pasta. I also use this sauce for my chicken Parmesan (recipe coming soon). 

For a lower carb option (which is ideal for dinner), I steam 2 cups of broccoli in place of my noodles and add a chicken breast or lean ground turkey and top with "Spaghetti Sauce with a Warning!"

Remember to save a serving  for you lunch tomorrow! 

Eating Clean: Perfect Turkey Cakes (meatloaf)

I've finally done it! I've perfected the turkey ball! Well, they are really Turkey Meatloaf Muffins but you could use the same recipe to make balls and turkey ball just seems to be so much more fun to say :)

What you will need:

1lb lean ground turkey
2 egg whites
1/2 C quick cooking oats
1/2 of a fresh Zucchini, chopped
1 onion, chopped 
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp thyme
1 tsp yellow dry mustard
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp chipotle pepper spice
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp garlic powder

What to do:

Preheat your oven to 375 & coat muffin tin lightly with olive oil or cooking spray. You can also use a loaf pan. 

In a large mixing bowl add all of the dry ingredients: oats, cumin, thyme, mustard, pepper, chipotle, salt & garlic and mix together using a spoon.

Next, add the ground turkey, egg whites, chopped onion & zucchini to the dry ingredients and mix together really good with your hands.

Fill your lightly greased muffin tin with the mixture and place in the oven for about 30 minutes or until thoroughly cooked. When the muffins begin to brown they are ready.

These are so moist, delicious and of course, nutritious!

Breakfast Bowl; aka, TM's throw up in a pan ;)

a friend of mine inspired this breakfast recipe. It's so delicious despite how it looks ;) It has become one of my Saturday morning rituals after my run.

Serves: 1
what you will need:
4 egg whites
1 cup raw spinach- washed and dried
1/4 cup organic all natural salsa (homemade is preferred)
1/4 cup black beans, rinsed and drained (if you're using from a can, make sure ingredients listed on the label only contains black beans and does not include artificial ingredients or fat)

what to do:
spray cooking pan lightly with olive oil and heat pan.
once pan is hot, add spinach and saute'
add your egg whites and toss ingredients often until eggs are almost set
then add salsa and black beans- tossing until eggs are fully cooked.
place on a plate and enjoy with a cup of hot green tea :)