Finishing STRONG! 21 Day Fix

Last week had a few "bad" eating days.  I don't really agree with the concept that you should NEVER eat certain foods.  I'm all about things in moderation.  My problem is that once I start eating something that isn't the healthiest choice (ahem ice cream), I do NOT eat in moderation.  I'm telling you, sugar is addictive and I feel the effects immediately after eating it!

We were out of town for a funeral and then we came home and I had LASIK (AMAZING!  But a separate post.)  So Monday-Thursday last week, I wasn't able to work out.  (Though I totally did some push ups Wednesday night after having LASIK that morning.  Not being able to read or watch TV or be on the computer left me a little bored.  So we went for ice cream - oops.)

Friday I came back strong and decided that I would try to finish up this challenge by doing the 3 day quick fix.  Except I had 5 days left, haha.  So I decided 2 days of the quick fix, a regular day of eating (I had lunch plans with a friend) and then 2 days to finish up doing the quick fix.

The quick fix may seem extreme to some, but I can assure you that I ate more than I think I did the entire challenge and it really just followed paleo principles more closely, which I'm a huge fan of.

You have 6 smaller meals per day.  I made some substitutions because I would rather have 2 whole eggs than 8 egg whites, and the first day I didn't have any chicken to cook in the morning, so I ate 2 more eggs for my second meal.

So Friday looked like this:

7:00 

2 eggs

oatmeal with cinnamon and coconut oil mixed in (the guide says to use steel cut oats but I had gluten free quick oats so I used that and made enough for the days ahead)

black coffee

7:40 

cardio fix workout - 30 minutes

Dirty 30 workout - 30 minutes

10:00

2 eggs

steamed yam with cinnamon

12:30

sauteed fish with salad - lettuce/tomato/celery - coconut oil and coconut vinegar dressing

This dressing is just a homemade concoction - about 40% coconut oil and 60% coconut vinegar with some salt and pepper mixed in.  You could certainly use red wine vinegar, but I really like the light flavor of the coconut vinegar!  You could also add some dried or fresh herbs to spice it up!  

3:30

chicken (went to Wegmans, haha)

sliced cucumber with coconut vinegar and oil dressing

6:00

tilapia with steamed green beans

7:30

Ground turkey with peppers, onions, tomato, zucchini, carrots and green salsa

I added in some homemade chili seasoning to make it like a turkey chili goulash - minus the pasta

I knew that my ground turkey would be 4 servings, so to make it easy to portion out, I added 3 containers or green veggies and coconut oil.  These are the 4 veggies I had on hand decided would be delicious.

Tomatoes, orange bell peppers, zucchini, chopped onion and carrot with some salsa verde (just tomatillos and jalapeno)

I started by sauteing the veggies in some coconut oil and added in some chili seasoning I had - so easy to assemble and no preservatives, fillers or salt!  Then I added in the ground turkey to cook that through.

Once it was all cooked through, I tasted it to make sure it had enough seasoning, and then let it cool.  I portioned it out into 4 containers so I wouldn't have to guess how much a serving is when the time comes to eat it!

Each container is 1 red, 1 green and 1/2 tsp

Saturday was very similar, but I really wasn't craving anything extra so it really wasn't that difficult for some reason!

7:30 

2 eggs

oatmeal with cinnamon and coconut oil mixed in 

black coffee

9:15

chicken and yams

10:00 PiYo Live class - 60 minutes

11:45

Tilapia with steamed mixed veggies - seasoned with some of the all purpose seasoning from the fix guide

I kept this super simple and used Wegmans Organic mixed veggies and steamed them right in the bag in the microwave

2:30

chicken with tomato, cucumber, celery salad with that coconut vinegar and oil dressing

Yes this is a paper plate - food prep creates so many dishes that it's OK to use paper once in a while!

5:15

Salmon salad - pan seared salmon, lettuce, celery, cucumber with dressing

7:00

Run through PiYo Lesson 27 - 30 minutes

Yoga fix - 30 minutes

8:30

Turkey goulash

On Sunday morning, I stepped on the scale and was down 2 pounds!  It's VERY important to know though that in addition to this food listed here, I drank a FULL GALLON of water every day.  Do you know how much water that is?  It's 16-8oz glasses of water!  Because I love water so much, that wasn't too difficult for me and it definitely helps to keep you hydrated and feeling refreshed.

I'm ready to rock these last two days of the 21 day fix.  I don't want to post a summary yet, but I can tell you that I'm loving the workouts so much that I know that I'll continue them after the official challenge is over.

21 Day Fix - Day 9

I'm completely uninspired today with food choices.  That's my warning ahead of time, haha.

8:00 Breakfast
2 eggs
strawberries and blueberries
coffee

9:15 Workout
Upper Fix - 30 minutes

I love this workout!  This was the first one that I was able to get EMX to do with me last week.  He said his arms and pecs hurt for 2 days.  You'll need a set of heavy weights and light weights, but that's it!  You can also substitute a resistance band for the weights.

12:00 Lunch
carrots and celery with zucchini hummus
apple with 2 tsp almond butter

I know it doesn't seem like a ton of food - it's not, but for some weird reason, I wasn't all that hungry today.  G woke up with a cold, so I wonder if I'm somehow infected, haha.

4:00 Snack
Coffee (cold) with vanilla shakeology and ice

So good!  Never thought I'd be a "shake person."

6:00 Dinner
EMX took Reedster to church tonight, so G and I were on our own.  I had some bacon in the fridge, and since I still needed two red containers, I decided eggs with bacon would be a great compromise.  Who doesn't love breakfast for dinner?

2 eggs
2 slices of pork bacon *
cheese and avocado
smashed sweet potato
sauteed zucchini

This ended up being a lot of food!  I guess tomorrow I need to plan and divide a little better during the day.  I managed to pull through and eat it all (ha).

*I am not a fan of turkey bacon.  4 slices of turkey bacon is considered one red container.  I did some investigating on nutritional values and 2 slices of pork bacon is more or less equal to 4 slices of turkey bacon.

So at the end of the day, I had an orange container, a green and a yellow left.  That is seriously never a problem for me.  I had some leftover zucchini that was starting to turn, so what should I do?  Make zucchini muffins?  AND zucchini brownies?  Why not?!

I'm going to have to freeze some of this stuff!

Minestrone soup - the lazy way

I've been loving soup and sandwich for lunch lately and I would rather make soup and bring it than eat canned soup. It just seems so much healthier to me.

So here is the original recipe that I've been using:

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2009/11/crock-pot-minestrone-soup.html

I was introduced to www.skinnytaste.com a few months ago and I LOVE it!  I love being able to make more healthful versions of usually decadent or unhealthy food. 

Yesterday when I had originally planned to make soup, I only needed a few things from the grocery store, and used a few substitutions so as to reduce the amount of items that I needed to purchase.  My modifications are as follows:

• Instead of diced tomatoes, I used canned whole tomatoes and just diced them up (b/c I had a ton of whole tomatoes and didn't get the right size can of diced tomatoes while shopping).
• I used dried herbs instead of fresh (b/c I was lazy).
• I added 3 cups of fresh baby spinach instead of 2 (b/c I like spinach).
• I added 1 cup (before cooking) of ditalini pasta (b/c that is what I had).
• I added 2 tbsp parmesan cheese (b/c I didn't have a leftover cheese rind).
• I added more like 4 cups of reduced sodium chicken broth - I didn't measure.  I just poured it in my crock pot until it looked full enough.

For a 1 cup serving here are the nutritional values of my modified/lazy version:

111 calories, 23 g carbs, 0 g fat, 8 g protein, 5 g fiber. 

Paired with a sandwich or salad and it's the perfect lunch for me!

Anything Goes Frittata / Egg Cake

An easy way to get rid of leftovers and have a yummy and nutritious meal is to make a frittata.  A while back, I was all about the quiche, but I would either have to make a pie shell or have one on hand.  I've found the frittata to be an easier/quicker alternative and it's just as delicious - if not more so.

In our house, we call it egg cake so R will eat it.  It was the first egg dish/item that I could get him to eat.

My normal "recipe" is eggs (duh), milk or cream, sauteed red bell peppers and onions, bacon, breakfast sausage, broccoli and cheese, but you can use whatever you want! 

Start by cooking your sausage and bacon and breaking into small chunks. I really like to bake the bacon.  Weird I know, but it is so much cleaner and easier and makes the bacon perfectly crispy every time.

Saute your sliced/diced peppers and onions in butter or olive oil.

In the meantime, whisk together eggs (I like to use a few whole eggs and the rest egg whites) and your cream or milk and season with salt and pepper.  Sometimes I get wild and crazy and put a dash of garlic powder in, or parsley.  (I'm daring, I know.)

When your veggies are nice and cooked through, add the meat and broccoli and cheese.  Then add the eggs.

Try not to disturb the eggs now - let the bottom start to set.  After about 10 minutes or so, place your pan in a preheated oven to finish cooking.  (375*)

(If you don't have an already oven safe frying pan, you can wrap the handle in aluminum foil to make your pan oven safe.)

The eggs will puff up and finish cooking through in about 5-10 more minutes.

Remove from oven and let it sit for maybe 5 more minutes to let it all settle.  Then flip onto a serving plate.

The bottom (now the top) will be all golden brown and caramelly looking.

Serve wedges of egg cake with toast, or croissants, fresh fruit, mimosas, etc.  I actually use this meal for dinner pretty regularly because it's a nice way to get (sneak more) veggies into R-ster and EMX.

Anything Goes Frittata / Egg Cake

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

8 eggs (whole or combination of whole eggs and egg whites)
1/4 cup milk
Assorted veggies and meats
Assorted cheeses
Salt/pepper to taste
Seasoning of your choice (pinch) ie garlic powder, parsley, etc.

Saute vegetables and meats until cooked through in a frying pan.  Add cheese.  Whisk together eggs and milk and pour into frying pan.  Cook until bottom starts to set.  Finish cooking through in a 375* oven for about 5-10 minutes.

Remove from oven and let the frittata rest in the pan for 5 minutes.  Flip onto serving plate and cut into wedges for serving.

Pan Seared Salmon with Creamy Vegetable Rice (and a Dance!)

One of the tastiest dinners that I make fairly frequently is also one of the easiest.  EMX LOVES salmon.  This meal is a combination of a couple of recipes that I have refined into my own take on things.  The nice thing about this meal is it doubles or triples very easily.  While you are making it, the dance is optional, but highly recommended.

Easy to follow directions are at the bottom of the post.

THE INGREDIENTS:

THE SALMON:

I usually buy individually frozen salmon from Wegmans, but you could certainly do this with fresh salmon.  I always check for bones just in case they were missed in packaging.

Sprinkle salt and pepper on each side of the salmon and place in a medium-high heated skillet/frying pan with a drizzle of oil.  Now, DON'T TOUCH IT!  Seriously.  Leave it until the first side is nice and lightly brown and slightly crispy.  You'll thank me for that when you dig in for your first bite.  In case you missed it... DON'T TOUCH IT!  Leave it alone.

Then when the first side is easily released from the pan, flip it and then.... wait for it.... DON'T TOUCH IT again.

It should look like this:

Trust me... you'll thank me for telling you not to touch it. 

THE RICE:

Now, you can use whatever veggies you like for this.  It started as a creamy rice with tomato recipe that I found in one of those Kraft Foods magazines, but I've omitted things in the past and added different ingredients and this rice is always delicious!

Start by sauteing one diced onion in a tbsp or so of either oil or Italian dressing.  Add salt/pepper to taste.

Add in whatever other veggies you want at this time that need to be cooked through.  I'm adding zucchini and tomato tonight.  This time I'm also adding chopped frozen spinach but I'm going to wait until the end to add it since it just needs to be heated through. 

After the veggies are starting to soften, add the rice and then the chicken broth (or vegetable broth or even water) and simmer until the rice is cooked through and most of the liquid has dissolved.  Next, add the frozen (but defrosted by now) chopped spinach.

Now comes the creamy part - add the cream cheese and Parmesan cheese and stir through.

 
Plate and serve!

THE DANCE:

The Chemical Brothers - The Salmon Dance




R loves the Salmon dance!

Pan Seared Salmon with Creamy Vegetable Rice
Printable Version

Ingredients:

Salmon (duh)
1.5 cups White or brown instant rice
1.5 cups Water or broth
2 tbsp cream cheese
2 tsp Italian dressing
Parmesan cheese to taste
salt/pepper
diced onion, tomato and any other vegetable you like

Pan Sear Salmon in a frying pan with a drizzle of oil - a few minutes on each side until each side is crispy and light brown.

In a separate pan, saute onion and selected veggies in 2 tsp Italian dressing until tender.  Add rice and liquid and simmer until rice is cooked through.  Add Cream cheese and Parm cheese and serve!



You know you're gonna love it if you give it one chance!

Sunday Family Dinner - Oberdon style

If you are from Rochester, you will appreciate this post.  If not, maybe you will still appreciate it, but maybe not as much.  Garbage plates are a serious thing around here... They may not sound very appealing, but they are DELICIOUS!  (And completely unhealthy and greasy and did I mention, delicious?)

If you don't know what a garbage plate is, you can go here or here for an accurate description with pictures.  They are perfect after a night out on the town, or if you are in my family, for Sunday family dinner.

So that brings me to my dad's famous meat sauce recipe.  In Rochester, we actually call it hot sauce, but it's really not that spicy in my opinion and it is not really hot sauce like Frank's Red Hot.  It is just deliciously seasoned meaty sauce that you can put over your Plate or cheeseburger, or Hot Dog.

Complete recipe will be posted at the end with measurements, etc.

Start by chopping up the onions and sauteing them in the butter. 

Once the onions are translucent, add the ground beef and brown it.  Once this is done, drain the fat/liquid and add the seasonings, stir well and  then add water. 

Did you ever wonder what sugar, ground nutmeg, ground cloves, dry mustard, chili powder, cinnamon, cumin and paprika look like all mixed together?  Me too - here is what it looks like:

For fun, use a spoon that makes you smile and smiles back at you.  (Thanks Dad!)

Simmer uncovered for at least an hour to reduce the liquid amounts.

Then spoon over your food of choice and dig in.  Finish the gluttonous meal by making a brownie ice cream sundae and then vow to work out tomorrow.



Dad's Meat Hot Sauce

• 2 lbs ground beef (I prefer 90/10)
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 cups chopped onion
• salt/pepper
• 1 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp ground cloves
• 2 1/2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp dry mustard
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2 qt water

Saute onion in butter until translucent.  Add beef and brown.  Drain.

Add seasonings and mix together well.  Add water and simmer to reduce, about 1 hour.

Cookie Dough Truffles

This past Sunday, my sister L and I decided to make these Cookie Dough Truffles, but with a few variations.

One, I don't really like nuts in my cookies and neither does EMX so we left them out.

Two, I just dumped the remainder of a bag of mini chocolate chips instead of measuring out the 1/2 cup.  Who wants a limit on chocolate, really?

Three, I used dark chocolate chips for the coating and when I ran out of those, I switched to milk chocolate wafers that I had leftover in the pantry.

Four, instead of immediately forming the balls after mixing, I put the mixture in the fridge for about an hour and then formed into balls and put BACK into the fridge to firm up some more.  MUCH easier and less gooey this way.

The result?  TO DIE FOR!  If you LOVE chocolate cookie dough ice cream like I do, you will love these.  They have the same texture as cookie dough, so you can eat as much as you want and not feel bad or worry about the raw eggs!  I would even dare to say that you could leave these in the mixing bowl, not form into balls at all and just grab a spoonful at a time.  GASP!  But, who does that?  I mean, really.  ;)