Taco Tuesday!

How Amazing does this look? 

Every Tuesday, we make tacos. Healthy Tacos. This one includes: 

Corn Tortilla 

Brown Rice

Ground Turkey Seasoned with Taco Seasoning 

Tomatoes 

Avocado

Spinach 

Plain Greek Yogurt 

Simple, Yes. Everyone knows how to make a taco, but this one was just so pretty :) Enjoy! 

Shrimp and Mushroom Lettuce Wraps

Shrimp and Mushroom Lettuce Wraps

This is a HORRIBLE picture, but I promise this is one of my new FAVORITE dinners! I will be making this on a weekly bases! So maybe next week, I will take better photos. 

YOU NEED: 

1 HEAD OF ICEBERG LETTUCE

1 BOX OF COUSCOUS

1 BAG OF SMALL FROZEN SHRIMP

1 CUP LOW FAT CHEESE

1 PACKAGE MUSHROOMS

1 CUP GREEK YOGURT 

1 CUP CHOPPED CUCUMBER 

PEEL LEAVES OF LETTUCE. COOK COUSCOUS AS DIRECTED. SAUTE SHRIMP AND MUSHROOMS. 

This recipe was enough to feed my family of 5. Just add a bit of all ingredients to your lettuce leaf. Roll it up and ENJOY! 

Purple Protein

Is that not the prettiest purple shake??? 

Purple Protein Shake

8 OZ Coconut Milk

1/4 Cup Blueberries 

1/4 Cup Black Berries 

1/2 Cup Ice

1 Scoop /  Package of Vanilla Protein Powder 

Blend. Enjoy. 

Sausage Tin Foil Dinner

Dinner was so Delish! It was not one of my normal dinners and my boys ate it up! Here is the recipe.
This recipe is to make 5 Tin foil dinners. I added some brown rice as a side and a Peach Tea drink, Yum!

You Need: 

5 Turkey Sausage 

2 Cups Chopped Celery

2 Cups Chopped Mushrooms

1 Cup Diced Onion

2 Cups Sliced Asparagus

2 Cups Baby Carrots

Sprinkle of Seasoning Salt for Each

5 12X12 Pieces of Heavy Duty Foil

Pre-heat Oven to 350 Degrees. Divide all ingredients up, onto the five tinfoil pieces. Roll up all the edges. Bake for 45 Minutes. Careful removing them, they are HOT! Enjoy!!! 

Whole Grain Bread

Maybe its because it is December and I love the baking season, but I have been eating some amazing carbs :) I have been making a couple of loafs of bread in my moms bread maker and I think I have come up with my favorite recipe! This recipe is for the softest Wheat Bread that I have ever made out of my bread maker! I love it because I can put what I want in it, its cheaper and healthier then store bought.

Wheat Bread Recipe:

You Need:

2 Cups White Flour 

1 Cup Warm Water

1 TBLS Yeast 

2 TBLS of White Sugar or Raw Honey 

1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil 

2 TBLS Butter

1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour

2 TBLS Flax Seed 

2 TBLS Oats 

1 TSP Salt 

Put the Water, Sugar, and Yeast into the pan of the bread machine. Let the yeast dissolve. Then add all other ingredients. I put my bread on the Light setting. ( I don't like a hard crust )

Thats it! Easy, 4 hours later yummy  bread! 

Cinnamon Apple Sauce

Its Fall and that means . . . APPLES! I have buckets of apples and have been making homemade apple sauce to try and use up as many as I can. I found a great recipe but it had TONS of sugar. So I came up with a healthier alternative. My family LOVES it. It does have a little sugar in it, so its not perfect Clean eating, but its better then buying it in the store and WAY cheaper!

YOU NEED:
16 Cups of Chopped / Peeled Apples
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1 TSP Allspice
2 TSP Cinnamon
1/2 TSP Cloves
1 Cup Water

I cooked mine in my Pressure Cooker, but you can cook it on the stove in a big pot. If you are using a pressure cooker, just throw all ingredients in pot, and set it to High Pressure and Cook 20 Minutes. When done, just stir it all up. The apples are soft, and its easy to mash everything together. I canned mine, this recipe makes 2 Pint Jars.

SUPER EASY. The only bad part is peeling and chopping apples, AHHH! But in the end its worth it!

Beets

So I found a site about beets, and the healthy benefits. The WEBSITE HERE. I planted beets in my garden, and have a TON of them. While I was looking up recipes I found tons of information on how healthy they are. Even though they taste like dirt, they are so good for you!


Just a couple healthy benefits. 

• Beets give you ENERGY! 
• No Fat and low in Calories 
• Beets can help guard cancer ( Thats good enough for me to eat them! ) 
• Beets are High in Vitamins and Minerals: Iron, Magnesium, Fiber, and Folic Acid are just a couple!

I found a couple things in "google search" and I had to share. 

My son is VERY low in iron and his body does not absorb vitamins. The doctors can not tell us why and its not been easy to deal with. Yesterday I made a smoothy with beets and I gave a tiny bit to my son who I thought would waste it. He drank it all up and wanted more! You can taste the beets in this smoothy but they are not strong and think about all the health benefits. 

Beet Smoothy Recipe:

1 Scoop Vanilla Protein 

1/2 Cup Strawberries 

1 Banan 

1 Small Cooked Beet 

8 oz Almond Milk 

1 Cup Ice 

Blend all ingredients very well and enjoy! 

This smoothy is PINK! 

Look at my instagram for pictures of our beet smoothy and my pink son! 

Username: barbiemarissa 

http://instagram.com/barbiemarissa/

Orange Sunshine Smoothie

Last night at the grocery store I found Honey Orange Greek Yogurt, and knew that I could build an AWESOME smoothie around yogurt alone! So here is the recipe.

Orange Sunshine Smoothie

8 oz Pineapple Juice 

1/2 Cup Orange Honey Greek Yogurt 

Vanilla Whey Protein 

1 Banana

1/2 Peeled Orange 

Blend until Smooth. SUPER EASY! 

Oatmeal

Oatmeal is so boring and I think its super gross plain. So I came up with a list of different ways to spice up your plain oatmeal, but still keep it healthy.

Add a Fruit or Vegetable:
Cranberries
Raisins
Strawberries
Flax Seed
Craisins
Banana
Pumpkin

Cherries
Applesauce
Blueberries
Rasberries
Peaches
Chopped Apples
Dates
Dried Fruit
Walnuts Or Almonds


Add a Flavor or Spice: 
Peanut butter
Chopped Nuts
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Ginger
Honey
Maple Syrup
Cocoa Powder
Vanilla
Fruit Jam
Protein Powder
Almond or Coconut Butter

Add a Liquid thats not just water or skim milk: 

Almond Milk
Coconut Milk
Yogurt

Mix and match all of these! A couple ideas:

• Peanut butter and Cocoa, 
• Pumpkin, Nutmeg and Cinnamon  topped with Almond milk. 
• Strawberries, Vanilla, and Yogurt. 
• Flax Seed, Raisins, and Almond Milk, Sprinkled with Cinnamon. 

Because of all these new ways to eat oatmeal, it is my new favorite breakfast. Tell me how you like your oatmeal, I'd love to hear another new creation! Enjoy!

List of Easy Healthy Lunches

These are my Favorite Lunches. Easy and cheap! They are also all under 400 calories, but very filling. 

1. Protein Shake

2. Turkey and Spinach Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette Dressing RECIPE

3. Avocado Grilled Cheese RECIPE 

4. Cucumber Subs  RECIPE 

5. Mixed Fruit Salad with Greek Yogurt

6. Turkey Wrap

7. Pita with Turkey or Chicken 

8. Turkey Burger

9. Tuna and Cheese Melt on Whole Grain Bread

10. Chicken Salad Sandwich

11. Whole Wheat Quesadilla and Black Beans

12.  Spinach Salad topped with a hard boiled egg and strawberries

Healthy Peach Cobbler Smoothy

NEW FAVORITE :)
Really this tastes just like peach cobbler, just so much healthier!

Peach Cobbler Smoothy

You Need: 

2 TBLS Oats 

2 TBLS Vanilla Yogurt 

1/4 Cup Vanilla Almond Milk 

3/4 - 1 Cup Peaches (Fresh, Frozen or Canned) 

1 Scoop Vanilla Whey Protein 
Just a dash of Cinnamon

Blend Oats well. Next add all other ingredients. Blend and ENJOY! 

Healthy Snack List #2

My post popular post I have ever written is my 52 Healthy Snacks. I have since added to that list and I have come up with additional snacks that are healthy and filling.

1. Celery and Peanut Butter with Raisins (Ants on a log)
2. Olives 
3. Pretzels
4. Grape Tomatoes and Cottage Cheese
5. Whole Grain Crackers ( I like the Kashi brand) 
6. Sliced Avocado
7. Sweet Potato or Carrot Fries 
8. Whole Grain Toast with Peanut butter 
9. Frozen Berries 
10. Make at Home Popsicles RECIPE HERE 
11. Apple Slices Sprinkled with Cinnamon
12. Kale Chips 
13. Frozen Banana 
14. Protein Bar 
15. Skinny Bagel 
16. Egg Whites with Spinach 
17. Nut Mix with Dry Fruit 
18. Apple Slices with Peanut Butter 
19. Cottage Cheese and Berries 
20. Vanilla Yogurt Sprinkled with Cinnamon 

Strawberry Vanilla Smoothy

Strawberry Vanilla Smoothy

You Need:

1 Cup Strawberries 

1 Cup Ice 

1 Cup Vanilla Unsweetened Almond Milk

1 Scoop Vanilla Whey Protein 

1 Cup Spinach 

1 TBLS Flax Seed 

1/2 Cup Vanilla Yogurt 

BLEND ALL TOGETHER AND ENJOY! 

Strawberry Vanilla Smoothy 

Chicken Okra Stir Fry

This week I tried Okra for the first time. I can't believe I had never had it before! I made Gumbo with it at the first of the week and tonight I made Chicken Okra Stir Fry. AMAZING! I found the recipe in a magazine, but since I did not have half the ingredients I made up my own stir fry, and it turned out great!

Chicken Okra Stir-Fry

You Need: 

3 Chicken Breasts Cooked and Diced 

1 TBLS Coconut Oil 

1 1/2 Cup Cut Okra ( I used Frozen ) 

1/2 Purple Onion Diced 

1 Cup Chopped Celery 

1 TSP Cajun Seasoning 

1 Can Diced Tomatoes 

1 Can Chick Peas (rinsed and drained) 

1/2 Cup Chicken Broth 

1 TBLS Minced Garlic 

Juice of 1/2 Lemon 

Salt and Pepper (to taste) 

1. Melt coconut Oil in Large Pan. 
2. Add chicken, onion, celery, cajun seasoning, garlic. 
3. Cook for about 5-6 minutes on medium heat. 
4. Add tomatoes, chick peas, broth, lemon juice. 
5. Simmer for 15-20 minutes. 
6. Add okra, salt and pepper. 
7. Cook for another 15 minutes. 

I served this dish over brown rice. Enjoy! 

Recipe Fail!

I have been trying a couple healthy treats, but this week I have failed on 2 of them! Last week I made chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, they were flat as paper and hard as rocks! Today I made no bake cookies, and they won't harden!!! AHHHH!!! Sometimes using healthy substitutes throughout the whole recipe does not work :( And now I feel like I have wasted so much food. Maybe the 3rd times the charm???? Maybe!

Yummy Oatmeal Breakfast

This morning, I needed a big breakfast, I have a lot to do today. Oatmeal or smoothies are my favorite, but I was getting bored with plain oat meal. So I changed it up! Not only is this new way healthy its soooo good!

Oatmeal 

You Need:

1/2 Cup Oats 

Water 

1/2 TSP Ground Cinnamon

1/2 Cup Almond Milk 

1 TSP Flax Seed 

Cook Oatmeal, with water. 

Add all other ingredients and mix. You can add a low calorie sweetener if you want. Enjoy! 

145 Calories 

6 Grams of Protein 

22 Carbohydrates

5 Grams Fat 

Strawberry Banana Milkshake

Strawberry Banana Smoothy

You Need: 

5 Frozen Strawberries 

1 Banana 

1 Scoop Vanilla Whey Protein 

1 Cup Unsweetened Almond Milk 

Blend and Enjoy! 
About 350 Calories

After Workout Breakfast

I have been experimenting with protein powder recipes. I have come up with a couple great breakfast drinks! Seriously, they taste amazing, not like protein at all.

Strawberry Banana Smoothy 

1 Scoop Vanilla Whey Protein Powder 

1 Banana 

1 Cup Frozen Strawberries 

1 Cup Unsweetened Almond Milk

Blend well and Drink! 

I Don't know what to call the next one, but here is the recipe! 

1 Scoop Vanilla Whey Protein Powder 

1 Cup Unsweetened Almond Milk

1/2 Cup Strawberry Greek Yogurt 

Blend well and Enjoy! This one is really creamy, with a great taste! 

New Recipes

Each month I get Shape magazine. I pull out the workouts and usually skip over the recipes, because A. they look way to complicated B. I can't pronounce the name of some of the stuff they use C. I am lazy and want quick dinners.

The Link for the Recipes is HERE.

None of these excuses are going to work anymore. My husband was flipping through it and said we should do this. It was a grocery list and 5 recipes. Everything was very detailed. I looked through and thought it would be good to try new things. The next day I went to the grocery store, picked up the ingredients that were called for and I was actually excited about trying something new.

The first night was chicken and quinoa. AMAZING! My kids ate it all up and I thought that the portions sizes looked small, and that I would still be hungry. NOPE, I was full and did not even crave a late night treat.

Tuesday, was red snapper and couscous. I could not find Red Snapper fish, so we made salmon, and it was just as good! Never tried couscous before, but I must say I was impressed and we will be adding couscous to our dinners weekly.

Tonight, was lettuce wraps. My boys loved them. They loved all the meals that we have had this week, but tonight they kept saying they wanted to make it again. I was shocked, I thought this is the night they would not want to eat!

I am so excited to have 2 more nights of dinners planned and I know they are healthy, and I know that they are something different. I loved how even though monday took some time to prepare all the food, I have food then entire week. Wednesday is a busy night for us and we usually end up making something fast. Tonight was fast, and so good. Much better then the normal food that we eat. I will post about Thursday and Friday dinners, but I am sure they are just as good! Thank you Shape magazine!!!

New Healthy Food

This week, I have tried a couple new things, that I have NEVER tried, and wished that I had. So good!

First Unsweetened Almond Milk. I always buy coconut milk, but yesterday at the grocery store, they were out. After a big discussion on Facebook with a friend about almond and coconut milk, I was convinced that I should try unsweetened almond milk. I have had regular almond milk, with added sugar, and its amazing, but I don't need extra sugar trying to cut fat.

I was so excited to try this that I poured a glass before even putting my groceries away. For only being 30 Cal. it was good. It was not what I was excepting and I don't know if I could drink this plain, all the time, but I added it to my morning oatmeal, and it was so good. I cant wait to add it to my healthy drinks.

Next thing I tried was quinoa. I have been meaning to try this for months, and every time I go to the grocery store I pick it up and think do I really want to spend $5.00 on a small box, and put it back. This week my family is trying 5 new recipes and this the main ingredient in 3 of the dinners! So I figured for 3 meals spending $5.00 on a small box was not that bad. 

I cooked the whole box last night to save for my next 2 meals. I added vinegar and pinto beans (recipe to come) We ate it with chicken and it was so GOOD! I will never worry about the price again, because one box actually made a lot and my kids ate it and loved it. It has an amazing texture, with great flavor. I can't wait to use it again. 

I am so glad that I was open to trying new things, and I have more new ingrediants in my meals that I am making this week. If I like them I will blog about them! Thanks for reading!