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!!!

Just an Update!

Finally the snow is melting a little, a very little . . . But, I can see sunshine and hints of grass, and it makes me so excited for spring. I am starting a 90 Day Challenge. 3 months till Summer, and I am determined to be in Bikini shape. I have said it for months, that I am going to do it, that I am going to look awesome, but yet changed nothing. The last two weeks I have changed my workouts to the Jamie Eason program and I can tell a difference. Pushing myself for 30 minutes of cardio is really helping me loose fat. I have also cut out sugar and sticking to low calorie healthy meals. As long as I don't buy it, or have it in my house, I will not eat bad food. This is working for me because in the last 2 weeks I have lost 4 pounds! WOOHOO!!!  My weight has stayed the exact same for 4 months, so to see that scale going down makes me want to scream it to the world! I am back!!!!!!

So what I have changed:
- I am drinking more water. A lot more water.
- I have upped my cardio to a minimum of 15 minutes HIIT training after each time I lift weights.
- No Sugar.
- Only Consuming good calories. No Junk Food.
- Trying new meals and different types of food. I was getting sick of the same thing over and over!

I don't want to do this alone! Join me on my 90 day challenge!!! 

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! 

Monday Morning . . . Motivation TIME!

I had a pretty good weekend spent with my boys. It was nice family time, that was needed! Now, its Monday and its time to get back into the swing of things. I really love mondays, I have said it before but I really do feel like I have a fresh start. I can do anything this week and I have 7 days to do it. I started my morning out at the gym. Had a pretty good workout, I feel good this morning. Part of our family time was shopping and I found 2 new swim suits. This alone is motivation to eat healthy and work harder! But, this week I found some great motivational pins on Pinterest. Here they are! 

Easy Pumpkin Carrot Cake

After trying the black bean brownies I was up for some experimenting. I found a recipe for spice cake and pumpkin. Since I did not have a spice cake, I used a carrot cake mix. It turned out so good. Really amazing flavor, and its 80 calories less then making the carrot cake mix with oil and eggs. I will be making this again! My kids loved it. In the fall we had over 30 pumpkins in our garden, one late night my mom and I canned pumpkin, the smartest thing I did with our garden. I have been trying to find new recipes to use up all my pumpkin cans.

Recipe for Pumpkin Carrot Cake 

You Need: 

1 Box of Carrot Cake Mix

1 15 oz Can of Pumpkin 

1/2 Cup Rasins 

1/4 Cup Craisins 

(I added 1 TBLS Flax Seed but this is optional) 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Mix Pumpkin in mixer until smooth. 

Add Cake Mix. 

When mixed add raisins/craisins. Flax Seed. Or other ingredients you want to add. 

Bake for about 25 minutes. 

Enjoy! 

You could also add nuts, oats, chocolate chips, etc. This recipe would taste good with any of these ingredients! 

*This picture is not mine. I found it on google search. My cake turned out just like this! I just forgot to take a picture before my kids devoured them!