Whatcha Eatin’ Wednesday

FREE Salad (& Dressing ) Recipes!

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Oh. Em. Gee! This dressing is MONEY! I’m looking all over my house for things to put it on! Celery, carrots, spoons, bowls! I don’t buy dressing of any kind anymore, I just find it so much easier and healthier to make my own. Not to mention the artistic freedom I have, creating works of salad-topping art! Typically, I work in oils and vinegars…until my latest discovery…

Creamy Avocado “Ranch” Dressing!

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*This recipe was inspired by a dressing recipe from “The 21 Day Fix”. I just had to tweak a few amounts and ingredients for my taste!
 
 

WHAT IS THE 21 DAY FIX?!

 Ingredients

  • 1 medium avocado (cut into chunks)
  • 1 C. non-fat Greek yogurt
  • 4 T. finely chopped herbs (I used dill, chives and parsley)
  • 2 garlic cloves (minced)
  • 3 T. freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1/4 C. low-fat buttermilk (more to adjust consistency if desired)
  • Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste (lots of pepper for me!)
  • 1/3 C. extra-virgin olive oil

Directions

  1. Place avocado, yogurt, herbs, lemon juice, buttermilk, garlic, salt and pepper in a blender; cover (duh!). Blend until smooth.
  2. Continue blending avocado mixture, slowly adding oil until well-blended. *Use more buttermilk if you prefer a thinner consistency.
  3. Store in the frig, tightly covered, until ready for use. I filled a pint Ball jar to the top!

*This is tasty on salads, but also a great dip for raw veggies – and spoons! 😉

Best News: There are only 34 calories in 1 Tablespoon of this dressing…so go ahead and have 2!

Bestest News!: All of the ingredients are SUPER clean and healthy. I bet you can pronounce EVERY one of them! Well…”herbs” can be a little tricky. The “H” is silent! 😉

Unlike THIS chemical ____ storm ingredient list! YIKES! What the heck is disodium inosinate? My spell-checker doesn’t even recognize those as words, let alone FOOD! Blech!

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EAT REAL FOOD!!! 


What’s on SALE this month?!

 

 

Busy Much?!

platesYikes! It’s been a busy couple of weeks for me! I am used to spinning multiple plates at a time, often while riding a unicycle, BLIND-FOLDED! But I have to say, I might have bit off a bit more than I could chew this time! So to my loving husband, who supports me and gives me sound advice out of love and concern for my sanity, etc. etc….You were right! I had a little too much ON those spinning plates, and a couple of things fell off while I was riding my unicycle! True story.

Everything was going along just fine until I realized that I had forgotten to do something important, that I had volunteered to do by the way, and had several people trusting me to do it! The lovely ladies involved all assured me that it was no big deal, but it was. I was embarrassed and horrified and just really upset with myself about it. All bad things. Mostly though, I was just down on myself for realizing that I can’t do EVERYTHING! I try though! Man, do I try! Always have. It’s in my nature to multi-task, and run around willy-nilly as a chicken does when it’s head goes missing…but once in awhile…I take one or two bites that I just can’t chew. My bad. This particular story has a happy ending though, thank goodness! Everything worked out, I was able to get done what needed to get done, though AFTER it should have been done. Forgiveness was granted, and I can once again sleep at night. Thank Goodness!

Also, you may or may not have noticed that I’ve neglected my meal planning routine! ARGH! What a pain that has been, too! “What’s for dinner tonight?” asks my husband. “I have NO f’n clue!” says me. I’ve been too busy to shop, plan, or cook well. I’m pulling ideas right out of my…refrigerator (ya, that’s it), totally last-minute and late half the time! The kids are all starving, hubby is shoving hand-fulls of pistachios in his mouth, waiting for what might be dinner at some point! It’s been ugly. Add that to the fact that summer months always pose a problem for me when it comes to planning and cooking. I never have much of an appetite by dinner time. When it’s hot and muggy, I just want a salad, or something light, and I certainly don’t feel like cooking anything! I gotta snap out of it though…for the sake of the family, poor things.

Now the good news! Sometimes good things come from my manic desires to do new stuff, better stuff and MORE stuff! For example, I graduated some Challengers from my June challenge group! And check out a couple of testimonials from participants in the group:

  • “I have absolutely loved being part of this group! The accountability is what drove me a lot of the time. Can’t tell you how many times I didn’t feel like working out, or felt like I wanted “just a bite” of something, but knew I’d have to mention it here if I did. Happy with my numbers. Now I’m going to continue with my next two circuits of Chalean Extreme.”

 

  • “I feel like I have learned about a new healthy lifestyle and not about a fad diet. That is what I needed. I am thankful for all of the support that I received and all of the new FB buddies that I met  I am very happy with my results and I can’t wait to continue! I am going to keep eating clean and rockin’ the workouts [hopefully at a much higher intensity when my darn ankle heals] All and all, I am a happy camper!”

*If you’re interested in participating in a 30 day challenge, click the link “30 Day Challenge” above.

In addition, my coaching internship is underway and going really well! I added 6 new coaches to my team who are all ready and excited to learn about what it is that gets me up in the morning, keeps me motivated and fuels my passion to help others…oh and earns my paycheck, too! 🙂 I’m having too much fun not to share it with others!

*If you’re interested in becoming a coach, you can get more information, ask questions, and learn how to participate in the 6 week internship by providing your contact information below.

All in all, I’d like to say that I’ve learned my lesson. *Note the phrase, “LIKE to say”. Time management is not my strong point. I’m working on it. I should  listen to my husband more often when he tells me to take it easy. Honestly though, I feel like I can’t help it. When you love what you do, you WANT to do more of it! Sometimes though…I guess there’s just too many plates!  🙂