Ok – so some of my close friends may remember the devastation I had when I had visited the Grove City Outlets a little over 3 years ago and saw a chocolate covered pretzel “blizzard of the month” at Dairy Queen and decided I’d get it when we got home – only to later find out that Grove City was one of 10 test locations in the US that had it and it was not available anywhere else. As a 8 month pregnant mama to be and avid ice cream lover – I was seriously DEVASTATED. I talked about it for weeks!!! Looking back, I’m totally blaming that one on the hormones 🙂
Well…fast forward 3 years and now shakeology has replaced my weekly blizzard (most weeks!) I have started getting a little creative and it hit me – I had done a chocolate covered pretzel shakeo – why not add some PB and Caramel!
WHAT YOU NEED:
1 Scoop Chocolate Shakeology
1/2 Cup almond milk
6 oz water
1 TBS PB2 or All natural PB
8 small pretzel rods/sticks
1/2 tsp caramel extract
lots of ice
WHAT YOU NEED TO DO:
Mix all ingredients together in your blender – Crush ice and/or Blend (I always “crush ice” first for about 10 seconds, then blend for about 30 seconds to get it really smooth) and pour into a nice big cup and eat it with a spoon! Just as good – if not better than – a blizzard and something that is actually good for you! Warning – this shakeo may become addicting 🙂
It seriously does taste like ice cream…the trick is all in the blending!!! And it is packed in right around 300 calories!!! Now that’s a healthy treat!!! Let me know if you give it a try!
Want to give Shakeology a try? Try this flavor sampler pack to figure what which is your favorite! I like them all and LOVE the chocolate!!!
Did you know Chambersburg is known for its peaches?!? Well, I for one I had NO IDEA! However my amazing Coach, Deidra, just so happens live in Chambersburg and just so happens to be from the town I currently live in. Lucky for me she was visiting her family this weekend and brought home a bunch of peaches and shared with me!!! We got a little visit in and I got some fresh peaches – win win!!!
I’ve ate fresh peaches before, liked them, made them into baby food when my youngest was just starting out on fruits but to be honest I grew up on the canned stuff. The fuzz on an actual peach kind of scared me and I never quite knew how to cut around that pit?! Every time I tried I butchered the peach! Turns out…I just don’t think I ever had the right/ripe peach! This was easy peezy – slice all the way around and pull apart! DONE!
These peaches Deidra gave me are AHMAZING! They’re so juicy and have the perfect sweetness.
So now, what to do with my peach???
What to do with my peaches?
I typically start my day the same exact way everyday. Wake up, drink my E&E, do my workout, have my Shakeology and get started with my day…but I’ve decided to switch things up – insert – Peaches-n-cream crunchy oatmeal for breakfast! And no, not the artificial prepackaged stuff either!
WHAT YOU NEED:
(I’ve added the coordinating 21-day fix containers for quick reference)
1/2 Cup of rolled quick oats (or your favorite oats) – 1 YELLOW
1/2 a Peach, diced – 1/2 PURPLE
4 Halved Walnuts – 1/2 Blue
Optional:
1/4 – 1/2 Scoop Vanialla Protein Powder – This would count towards your reds…One serving of Whey Protein powder is considered to be 1.5 scoops – so depending on how much you put in would determine how to count it for your containers. I used about 1/4 and it was plenty!
tsp Honey
WHAT YOU NEED TO DO:
Cook the oats according to package directions (I combined 1/2 cup oats with enough water to cover the oats completely and microwaved for 1 minute)
Add your protein powder and/or honey, walnut pieces and diced peach – mix and enjoy!
Perhaps the best part was – my toddler loved it! I left the walnuts out and didn’t use any sweetener but rather cooked his oats in almond milk and topped with the peaches…after the fact I thought cinnamon would have been a great add too – perhaps tomorrow!
Quick, easy, delicious dinner the whole family can enjoy!
I love quesadillas and I absolutely LOVE eating out at Mexican restauarants but truth be told – I cannot control myself with the chips and salsa!!! This dish brings a little mexican back to home without all those added calories! You can easily adapt the ingredients to fit your family’s preferences but these were a big hit for us!
BUFFALO CHICKEN QUESADILLAS
Ingredients:
(serves 2)
2 cups spinach
6 oz shredded chicken**
2 whole wheat or 4 corn tortillas
1/2 of an avocado, mashed
Buffalo chicken quesadilla prep
Directions:
Heat skillet over medium/high heat – spray lightly with olive oil
Next, sautee the spinach, flipping continuously
Then, remove spinach, and in the same pan, cook chicken with 1 TBS of red hot
Remove from pan.
Spread the mashed avocado on half the quesadilla, top with cooked spinach and chicken.
cook 3-4 minutes on each side
And there you have it! One quick easy healthy filling lunch quesadilla!
21-DAY FIX CONTAINERS: 1 RED (CHICKEN) 1 BLUE (AVOCADO) 1 YELLOW (TORTILLAS) 1 GREEN (SPINACH)
**I like to use a rotisserie chicken or I’ll cook a bunch in the crockpot with some lemon juice, sea salt and water for 8 hours on low and then shred and freeze in individual portions. Makes for a quick additIon to any meal!!
Whether you’re new to clean eating or a seasoned pro – if you’re interested in more information fill out the form below to join one of my upcoming health and fitness accountability and support groups! Together we can end the trend of obesity!
Looking for something clean, healthy and full of flavor to take to your next picnic or family gathering?!? Look no further! This dish is your winner! Its loaded with black beans and quinoa to get you protein, mango for some sweetness and a little cilantro and some spices to jazz things up. And besides – it looks very pretty!
My family reunion is today and I wanted to make sure I took something that not only my own family would enjoy but everyone there and I wanted it to be a clean dish. A challenger of mine had shared her version of this recipe in one of my health and fitness accountability groups over Memorial Day weekend and I had been waiting for a good reason to make try it for myself! Quinoa is a common side dish in my house but quite honestly, this one had a lot of chopping involved so I wanted to save it for a special occassion!
I’ll admit it wasn’t one of those “quick and easy throw together in 10 minutes” dishes but it was worth every minute in the kitchen. And thanks to my amazing hubby it really didn’t take too long with us tag teaming it!
So here goes:
Ingredients:
15-ounce can black beans (rinsed very well and drained)
1 cup cooked quinoa (according to package directions)
1 cup fresh or frozen corn
1 small red bell pepper, chopped
1 cup chopped fresh mango (approximately 1 mango)
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 small jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely diced
juice from 1 medium lemon
1 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
Directions:
Start by cooking the quinoa first (This could also be cooked in advance and refrigerated). While the quinoa was cooking, rinse the black beans, cook the frozen corn, chop the red and jalopeno peppers, chop the mango and cilantro and dice the onion. (I like to save the onion for last because I struggle so bad with my eyes!!)
Add all items – the beans, quinoa, corn, bell pepper, mango, onion, cilantro, and jalapeño in a large mixing bowl.
Next, mix the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, cumin, chili powder, and turmeric in a small bowl and drizzle it over the mixture and stir well.
Refrigerate until ready to serve.
(NOTE: This is best when mixed the night before so the flavors have the time to marinate!)
I’ll admit – despite wrapping this up around 11:00pm I had to taste it – it just smelled so good – and it tasted as good as I expected! Hoping the family enjoys it as well!
Southwestern Quinoa Salad
And to top it all off – this flavor packed side dish is both PiYO and 21-day fix approved. (I would count this as 1 yellow and 1 tsp – olive oil – even though there’s a bit of purple, green, red!!!)
If you are interested in these or any other workout program and would like to get 1:1 coaching and support along with motivation and accountability, please fill out my challenge and accountability application below! I will share tips and recipes and I will help you with the one thing I always found so difficult – MEAL PLANNING! Remember – your health and fitness success is 80% nutrition. You can get all the results and support you need right in your own home – and you don’t have to do it alone!
I’ve been on a bit of a quinoa kick however after making a double recipe of my quinoa salad a few weeks ago – which lasted over a week – I knew it was time to switch things up! I was inspired by the recipe on the back of my quinoa bag from SAMs club and made a few tweeks to make it my own – and it turned out delicious!!!
I love when I can do an entire dish in one pot! And this is no exception.
I started by toasting 1/2 cup slivered almonds over medium heat until golden.
Step 1: Toast the almonds until golden brown
Next I added 1 cup of quinoa and roasted about 5 minutes. While this was roasting I boiled 1 1/2 cups of water in the microwave
Step 2: Toast almonds and quinoa
Toasted almonds and quinoa
Once the quinoa and almonds are toasted add the boiling water along with 1/2 cup of dried cranberries, a dash of sea salt and 1 tsp of cinnamon
Step 3: Add boiling water and remaining ingredients
Toasted almond and cranberry quinoa
Bring all contents to a boil and simmer covered until all water is absorbed, about 10-12 minutes
Step 4: Cook until all liquid is absorbed
Serve alongside your favorite meals – my pick – grilled chicken tenders and grilled summer vegetables (squash, zucchini and onions)
This smelled amazing while cooking and tasted even better! Excited for the leftovers!!!
***UPDATE***
These leftovers were great cold added to some salmon and grilled veggies and as a topping on a salad.
21-day fix approved! Talk about a loaded salad…spinach, grilled chicken, grape tomatoes, snap peas, peppers, avocado and blueberries to avoid a dressing with some leftover toasted almond and cranberry quinoa salad for a little twist! Best part was everything was all prepped in my fridge so it took about 3 minutes to pull together!! 2 Greens, 1 red, 1/3 purple, 1/3 yellow, 1 blue
Ingredients: (4-6 servings)
1 cup quinoa
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1 1/2 cups boiling water
Dash of sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup dried cranberries
Directions:
Over medium heat, stir and toast the slivered almonds until golden. Add the quinoa and toast a few more minutes until quinoa begins to darken. Add remaining ingredients, bring to boil, covered, then reduce heat to simmer for 10-12 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to sit for 5 minutes. Fluff with fork and serve!
NOTE: We enjoyed the leftovers the next day and left them cold – I may have actually liked that better!!!
If you’re interested in learning more about clean eating, join one of my upcoming accountability and support groups!!
I first tried this recipe when I did the 3-day Refresh and loved it so much I had to make it again!
Kale with Pine Nuts (from 3-day refresh meal plan guide)
(makes 1 serving)
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 cups chopped green kale
1 tsp. pine nuts
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 dash himalayan salt (optional)
1. Bring water to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add kale; cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until kale is tender and bright green. Remove from heat. Drain. Place in medium bowl.
2. Toss kale with pine nuts, lemon juice and salt.
This was served as a side with our dinner: Grilled chicken with peppers and onions, quinoa salad, steamed broccoli.
For all you 21-day fixers out there, you could sub out the pine nuts for sesame seeds and this would be: 1 red (chicken) 2 greens (kale, broccoli, peppers and onions), 1 yellow and 1 blue (quinoa with jack cheese) and 1 orange (sunflower seeds)
Whether you’re new to clean eating or a seasoned pro – if you’re interested in more information fill out the form below to join one of my upcoming health and fitness accountability and support groups! Together we can end the trend of obesity!
I’ll admit I was a little nervous to try the Greenberry Shakeology but I really wish I wouldn’t have waited so long! This was so refreshing and tasted ahmazing!
Greenbanana
1 Scoop Greenberry Shakeology
8oz almond milk
1/2 frozen banana
I cup of ice
Blend and enjoy!!
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Not quite sure if you’re ready for a full month – but still want to give it a try? Try the 4-flavor sampler pack!
