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Salad Dressing with your Pancakes?

Alright, these are the two recipes that people are asking me about lately, so I wanted to get them both here for you. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend pairing them together…but that’s up to you. 🙂

protein_pancakesThese protein pancakes are my new love. They are so tasty, and filling and adaptable. You could even make a savory pancake with the right ingredients and toppings. The recipe below is the basic recipe I’ve been using, but play around with it and let me know if you come up with some good combinations!

 

 

Protein Pancakes (Sound weird, taste delicious)
Makes 1-2 servings (depends on how hungry you are and IF you like sharing)
1/2 C. Oats (regular or quick)
1/2 C. egg substitute (or 2 eggs)
1/2 C. cottage cheese (stay with me)
1/2 t. baking powder

Instructions: Add all of the ingredients to a  food processor or blender. Blend until completely combined and smooth. Let sit for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, heat a large skillet to medium heat. Add batter to the pan (you should get 4-5 regular-sized pancakes). Cook until bubbles form. Flip and cook and 2-3 minutes until done. Serve with fruit, berries, real maple syrup, low-sugar preserves, etc.

Nutritional facts: 297 calories & 32 grams of protein (if you eat them all yourself).

apple_pancakes

 

Ideas: Shred some apple into the mixture before blending and sprinkle in some cinnamon. Yum! Add some berries to the mix, it’ll be pretty and tasty (or pretty tasty)! Chia seeds would be an excellent, nutritious add-in! How about some different extracts: vanilla, almond, lemon, cherry, etc. You could even add in some natural almond/peanut butter, sprinkle a little shaved dark chocolate on top! Oh BOY the possibilities are endless! And I’m getting hungry just thinking about it!

 

Ok, on to the Salad dressing. I have found that when I make my own salad dressing, there is a very basic formula that seems to work well for every time. You could make multiply this recipe and store extra servings in the fridge for the week, but I have found that it’s so quick and easy to do, that I just make it as needed. 🙂

Basic Salad Dressing Formula  sunny_salad

1 T. acid + 2 t. oil +  1/2 t. thickener + seasonings = Yum!

Acids: vinegar, citrus juices

Oil: I really only use extra virgin olive oil for my dressings, but you could probably play around with that a bit.

Thickeners: Dijon mustard, honey, greek yogurt, etc.

Seasonings: ALWAYS salt & pepper (they make the world go ’round!), often minced garlic, oregano, basil, (whatever you like)…

Examples:

Balsamic Vinaigrette

1 T. Balsamic vinegar, 2 t. olive oil, 1/2 t. Dijon mustard, 1 clove minced garlic, S & P

Greek Dressing

 greek_dressing   

1 T. lemon juice, 2 t. olive oil, 1/2-1 t. greek yogurt, 1/2 t. juice from beets (pretty), 1/2 Stevia packet (or honey), 1 minced garlic clove, salt, pepper and dash of oregano

Honey Lime Dressing

* Good for a Tex/Mex salad!

1 T. lime juice, 2 t. olive oil, 1/2 t. honey, 1 clove minced garlic, salt, pepper, dash of cayenne (BAM!)

Similar to the pancake recipe above, there is a lot of room for experimentation here. Have fun and know you are saving a TON of cash and a zillion calories by making your own! Plus…it’s FUN! 😀

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Oodles of Zoodles!

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Ok, I’m going to try really hard to remember how I made this fun dish! I went into it with just my ingredients and a fun new kitchen gadget! And the result was tasty and totally repeatable! Husband and kids raved!

Zoodles with Turkey Sausage & Peppers (makes apx. 6 servings)

Ingredients:

I  pkg. sweet Italian turkey sausage, casings removed

3-5 medium zucchinis (Cut into spirals or julienne strips with whatever nifty gadget you like)

1 T. olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

½ red onion, quartered

2 bell peppers, cut into chunks

1 can diced tomatoes

1 T. dried basil (fresh would be awesome!)

1 t. oregano

¼ t. red pepper flakes (or to taste)

2 cups (or big hand-fuls) baby spinach

2 T. balsamic vinegar

Grated or shredded parmesan

Directions: Cook up the sausage in a big pan/skillet until browned. Remove from pan, reserve. Put 1 T. olive oil and minced garlic in the pan. After 2-3 minutes, add the onion and peppers and sauté for another 3-4 minutes, or until they begin to soften. Add in the can of tomatoes, basil , oregano, pepper flakes and let simmer for about 5 minutes. Mix in balsamic vinegar and spinach, and then add the sausage back into the mixture. At this point, you can warm up your zoodles in a pan with a little olive oil or broth, OR you can just use them as-is. (*I heated mine for a couple of minutes) Serve the Turkey mixture over a bed of “zoodles”, top with a little parmesan.

Delicious!

slicerOh…this is the food slicer that I am using and LOVING! Check it out!

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White Chicken Chili, a Family-Pleaser!

white_chili_salad

This is SO tasty. The kids liked it as is, but you could spice it up a little more by adding some diced jalapenos, and/or a little more cayenne pepper. This is very satisfying and very healthy. Each serving will be about 285 calories. Makes about 6 servings. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 (4 ounce) cans chopped green chile peppers
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (or to taste)
2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (cooked & diced)
3 (15 ounce) cans white beans
DIRECTIONS:
1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Slowly cook and stir the onion until tender. Mix in the garlic, green chile peppers, cumin, oregano and cayenne. Continue to cook and stir the mixture until tender, about 3 minutes. Mix in the chicken broth, chicken and 2 cans of the white beans. Puree the 3rd can of beans with a little of the broth from the chili. Add to the rest of the ingredients in the pot. Simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Remove the mixture from heat. Optional: Before serving, top w/diced avocado, light sour cream, reduced fat cheese, cilantro, etc…

For the salad: I made a tossed salad with a Honey Lime Vinaigrette Dressing.

Salad for 3-4

1 T. olive oil

juice of 1 lime

1 t. honey

1 crushed garlic clove

salt and pepper to taste

Wisk, toss and enjoy!

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What is this “Clean Eating” you Speak of?

veggiesDid you know that you don’t have to diet anymore? Dieting is SO last decade. Seriously though…just eat clean, whole foods and combine it with some phyical activity at least 3-5 times/week, and that’s IT! So easy!

Want to know what I’m always talking about when I say “clean eating” this and “eat clean” that? Watch this quick little video that I made to get an idea of how to eat, without dieting, and still get the results you want.

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TEN Steps to Get BACK on TRACK!

Did you get off track a little over the holiday weekend? It is such a challenge when you’re traveling, visiting friends and family, and eating food that you wouldn’t normally eat. On top of that, maybe you were away from your fitness gear, your gym and your routines. Luckily, it just takes a Monday to get back at it.

I went shopping last night…Costco, where else? My refrigerator is FULL of fresh fruits and veggies for the week. My pantry is stocked with whole grains and organic staples. I love that Costco has such a huge variety of organic, clean-eating foods! The last thing you should do is starve yourself in an attempt to make up for overdoing it. You have to feed yourself the right foods (5-6 small meals per day) to give your body the nutrients it needs to power your workouts, help you recover and especially to keep your metabolism going strong! Starvation DOESN’T work, in fact it can have the opposite effect! Your body can start storing fat! NOOOO!!!! We don’t want that. 😉

I’ve got my workouts scheduled for the week. It always helps me to see them, know what’s coming, and check them off as I go. Every little bit helps. Give yourself movement opportunities whenever possible. Too busy? Break up your workouts if you have to! If you don’t have a solid hour to commit, than try two 30 minute sessions sometime during your day. One hour is 4% of your day. No excuses.

You indulged over the weekend…SO WHAT! You’ve got the plan to get back on track, put it into action today! And if you’d like a little more accountability and help from me in December, join me on Facebook for a 30 Day Challenge  www.facebook.com/angieinprogress. We’ll workout, eat healthy foods and keep each other accountable, all via a private Facebook group. It’s AMAZING how much better you’ll eat and the kind of results you can get in this type of challenge. 😀 You can do this, and I can help!

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Have Box, Must Climb

What are you doing RIGHT now? Where are you right now? Because NOW is what matters the most. You’ve heard this before right? It’s not a new concept, but I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. I am all for learning from the past, and having goals for your future, but I think we all need to focus a lot more on being present, in the present tense and living for the moment of now.

What is ‘now’? Now is happening every second, in every opportunity and in every choice you make. Every step you take, every move you make…no wait, that’s a Police song, and I won’t be watching you, cause that’s creepy. But consider this, there are 86,400 seconds in a 24 hour day. So let’s say a third of those are spent sleeping, which leaves 57,600 seconds every day that you spend awake, and engaged in the activities of the day. That means you have 57,600 opportunities in your day. How will you spend them?

Will you reflect on the past? Or will you just be in the moment of now? I think that when you spend your time thinking too much about the past, you might become complacent and assume that not much you do will change your course. Let’s talk about this in terms of health. Maybe you’ve dieted in the past, and fallen back to old habits. Maybe you tried a new exercise, and slowly fell away from that, too.  Well, now you have a story, and that story becomes an excuse, and you don’t seize the opportunity to make a change NOW. You have 57,600 opportunities a day that can make a difference now. You can’t change your past, but you can start with now. Take a walk, choose the fruit-not the doughnut, park farther away from the store instead of wasting time circling the parking lot, take the stairs, try to a new exercise program, look for a healthy recipe on the internet to make for dinner…etc. These choices take seconds to make. Just think how many good choices you could make in one day, rather than let time tick by…grab a second by the neck, and show it who’s boss!

Will you dwell on the future? Do you live in the land of ‘someday’? Make someday happen today. Sure, write down your goals, visualize the future, and then do something about it. Someday never happens if you don’t start now. Did you miss an opportunity a second ago? That’s ok, because you have 57,599 other seconds to get it right. Why start your diet on Monday, when you can do it now? Why wait until after the holidays to undo all of the mistakes that seem inevitable? You give yourself permission to fail when you ignore the opportunities that you have right now. Plan less, act more. 🙂

Now exists in the middle of “I did” and “I will”. What will you DO today. Do something that flies in the face of the past, and brightens your future. Just Do It…Now! (Nike should have added “now” to their slogan, don’t ya think?)

Here are the last 2 days of my Clean Eating Challenge:

And finally, if you haven’t seen my results already, here they are. I cannot believe what I was able to accomplish in 25 days! I made a lot of really deliberate choices everyday during this challenge. And they were choices! You can make them, too….guess when…NOW!

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Oh Happy Day!

Happy Halloween!

So good news first! If you’ve been following along, you know that I decided to start Beachbody coaching about 2 months ago. Since then, I have lost 12 pounds and almost 10 inches! This alone is so fantastic and thrilling, but on top of that I’ve been working with friends and family members who are all on their fitness journeys, too. It’s been so fun to connect with friends and family and new people as well!  Thanks for being supportive, and please feel free to contact me if you’d like any information about the programs I use, the food I eat, or the coaching opportunity!

So here are my updates for days 20-23 of the cleaner eating challenge.

Actually…there really isn’t anything too exciting to report in terms of food, come to think of it. I think the most exciting thing I did was to make a warm-up for Thanksgiving meal last night that was all squeaky clean! I cooked a turkey breast in my crock pot all day, with some carrots and celery, and made some green beans (which happen to be one of my favorite veggies!). The hubs and kids wanted Stove Top stuffing of all things with it…though I did not partake. Enjoy the turkey recipe, maybe it’ll come in handy for your Thanksgiving! 🙂 I need to start thinking about how I’m going to clean up that holiday menu…it’s going to be a real challenge, but I’m up for it.

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Caterpillars Squirt When You Step on Them!

Today was the last day of the Farmers Market, which means no more 5:00 a.m. alarms on Saturdays, and no more f-f-f-freezing cold mornings spent standing behind the bounty of veggies I’ve come to know and love. It also means no more chats with repeat customers about the soup they plan to make with their swiss chard, or the kale chips they’re going to bake later that day. No more chats with my co-farmers between customers, or wafts of bacon and sausage, cinnamon bread and coffee.  There is a lot going on at the local farmers market.  And despite the fact that I am NOT a morning person, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed every minute, and learned a lot in the process.

What brought me to be here, early Saturday mornings while my whole family snoozed happily in their beds? Well, we decided to do a helping share at a local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), which means that we spent 3 hours a week working at the farm in some capacity. At the beginning of the season, we spent evenings at the farm with the kids clipping up rows and rows of tomato plants, until we were literally GREEN! Other times we would weed and weed, because somewhere in the thick there was certainly a row of kale to be found. Stone Coop Farm is certified organic, meaning they don’t use any pesticides, or weed killers of any sort.  As a result, they rely very heavily on good old-fashioned manual labor! Pulling weeds is such a KILLER hamstring workout, you have no idea! As summer temperatures rose and kids became busy with friends, I decided to work the three hours myself, at the farmers market every Saturday. Good times…

I learned so many things that I never would have otherwise. Here are just a few:  I learned that kids LOVE chickens! They had such a blast chasing them around as little chicks, and not-so-little chickens. They gave them names, learned the proper holding techniques, and stepped in lots of poo. I learned about the most interesting vegetables too, like kohlrabi, indigo rose tomatoes and sweet reba squash. The varieties and colors are endless and amazing! We really miss out on so much variety when we only shop at the grocery store! And the taste is unparalleled! We discovered that tomato worms are very juicy and squirt up your leg when you squash them! This is an activity that was performed many times! At fifty cents a pop, the kids were motivated! 🙂 Most of all we learned where our food comes from, who grows it, and how important it is to help sustain such an operation. We’re big fans. This was my last early Saturday, for this year, but I’ll be back…if they’ll have me. 😉

I’ll post my Clean Eating Challenge pics, and highlight a couple of the recipes I particularly enjoyed!

Let’s see, day 17 highlights would be the super yummy pumpkin steel-cut oatmeal that my crock pot cooks for me overnight while I sleep.  I posted that recipe about a week ago.  If you’re interested, just search “oatmeal”, and you’ll find it. For dinner I made a family favorite, which also happens to be clean and healthy, as long as you avoid a lot of ‘dirty’ toppings: shredded chicken tacos.

Day 18 consisted mostly of leftovers and quick grabs. Nothing fancy or fun to report here.

 

 

 

 

Two yummy things happened on Day 19. I discovered that I could make a clean version of french toast, which sounded so delicious after I made standard french toast for the kids. For mine, I used Ezekiel bread that I dipped in egg whites, almond milk, cinnamon and vanilla. I used blueberries sweetened with a little Stevia for the topping and Oh My was it yummy. It really satisfied a craving, and I love when that happens. For dinner I made stuffed portobello mushrooms that were a real treat too, if you’re a fungus-lover like me. 🙂

And that sums it all up for today. Going to go take a nap, or workout…or both. 😉

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Just a Quick Post Today + BONUS Sushi Recipe!

We started having a little too much fun with my clean-eating challenge pictures.  If you look hard enough you’ll find the Green Lantern in one of the food pictures each day.  We crack ourselves up over here.  Day 14 started with coffee, and my homemade vanilla coffee cream (the recipe is a few days down in the blog), and an “omelette” that sort of fell apart :(. I had an apple with chocolate PB2, mixed with a little yogurt for dipping, as a snack. Lunch was another tasty, colorful salad. I did my workout and then ENJOYED a Tropical Strawberry Vegan Shakeology…so tasty! And for dinner, I had part of a spicy tuna sushi roll made with brown rice.  I was low in the calorie department, but felt fine…so there ya go.

Day 15 was organic oatmeal for breakfast (with coffee…duh!) and a hard-boiled egg. I grabbed a honey crisp apple and some almonds for snack.  Of course I had my Shakeology after my Chalean Extreme workout. I made an extra lean turkey burger and sweet potatoes from our CSA for dinner.  I LOVE PICKLES (sorry, I just had to get that off my chest!) And when I’m low on calories…it’s popcorn, for a little chill time on the couch with the family. 🙂

Day 16…more than half-way done with my challenge.  Can you find the Green Lantern.  He may never recover from this challenge.  He might be scarred for life. I had an omelette and some cinnamon raisin Ezekiel toast for breakfast. I enjoyed my Shakeology after a super sweaty TurboFire workout. Look at my pretty salad that I made for lunch. Eating a rainbow just isn’t a sacrifice! I made a snack with plain greek yogurt, blueberries and almonds. And then I rocked a tasty dinner of HOMEMADE quinoa and brown rice California roll sushi for dinner! Anyone can make this! You can use the tried and true old-school method of rolling with a bamboo mat, or you can use one of these nifty contraptions:

 It kind of looks like some sort of Star Wars laser shooter thingie. You can order it on Amazon and it really makes the whole process easy and fun.  The kids enjoyed helping me make our sushi!

And here is the recipe to make your own HEALTHY brown rice & quinoa sushi rolls:

Enjoy!

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I Swore I’d Never Do This!

Check out these statistics: 69 percent of children aged 2-5 can use a computer mouse, but only 11 percent  can tie their own shoelaces. More young children know how to play computer games (58 percent) than swim (20 percent) or ride a bike (52 percent).  There is no gender divide either. Boys and girls under the age of 5 are equally capable  of using technology.

So, I’m about to do something I said I’d never do.  I’m going to say something that used to make my skin crawl when my parents would say it to me.  At the risk of sounding like an old lady, I’m just going to say it:  When I was a kid….

When I was a kid, I played from morning til night, outside usually.  I’d ride my bike, play kickball or kick the can (my personal favorite).  I’d climb trees, play football with the boys in the neighborhood and jump rope with the girls.  I was a bit of a tom-boy, the son my dad never had. 😉 It wasn’t just me either, it was all of us.  We played…a lot! I was thinking recently about the trend of childhood obesity and wondering how much the changing times plays a role.

Technology has taken the place of Nerf balls, jump ropes and bicycles.  I’m not saying that kids NEVER do these things anymore, but you have to admit it’s probably far less than when we were kids (look, I said it again…pretty sure another gray hair just sprouted out of my head). My kids go in streaks where they’ll play outside for a good chunk of the day, and then suddenly a video game, or an app, or a tv show takes precedence. My personal favorite is when the neighbor kids come over and ‘virtually’ play with each other; everyone on their own personal device. It’s bizarre. But, I’m an old lady, what do I know?

I’m not going to make the argument that all of this technology is a bad thing. I think it’s awesome that the kids have all of this information at their fingertips. The things that they can do on the computer never cease to amaze me! I think the Wii is a pretty cool thing, too.  At least they’re moving right? And I’m just as guilty of enjoying my own technology. You will rarely find me without my smart phone in hand, or laptop on my…lap. (duh :P) But I’m a grown up, on the way to being an old lady, and I played my heart out as a kid!

I don’t actually have a real solution to this conundrum.  I’m not really an advocate of forcing my kids to play. That seems silly right? “Go outside and play, and have fun, or you’re grounded!” ??? I do want them to WANT to play outside and be active, however. For now, I think we have a pretty good balance. I don’t worry too much about my own kids. I’m just concerned with the trend, and how it started, and how we’re going to end it.

We are a fast-moving, information-seeking, technology-loving society. We eat more and more fast, convenient and processed food as a result. And that is a topic for another day…don’t get me started!!!

And that brings me to my 30 Day Clean Eating challenge, Days 12 and 13.

Day 12 was fairly unremarkable. I’m falling into a groove now! I made a 1 egg plus 2 egg white omelette with peppers, mushrooms and reduced fat feta for breakfast. I had another quinoa salad for lunch. Shakeology, almonds, and an apple for various snacks during the day. For dinner we went out for Mexican food with friends to celebrate a birthday. I did well with grilled lime swordfish tacos (white tortillas weren’t the greatest, but what can you do?) with a cabbage and carrot slaw and avocado. They were really tasty!

Day 13 was a long day. I was up a 5:00, so spacing my meals out was a bit of a challenge. Coffee and a 1 egg/2 white mushroom, spinach, reduced fat feta scramble for breakfast. Tropical Strawberry Vegan Shakeology is my new favorite!  It’s so yummy! It was leftover turkey chili for lunch. I enjoyed a beautiful, red honey crisp apple and almonds for a snack.  We had a chicken fajita dinner at my parents’ house. They really hit the spot! I put mine in a wheat tortilla with chopped tomato, avocado and onion.  They were so colorful and delicious. Finally, I chilled on the couch with my husband and a bowl of popcorn.  It was a really good day. 🙂

Now I’m going to put this laptop down, and go play. I’m doing TurboFire for my workout today and I’m pretty sure that counts! It’s too fun not to be considered playtime!

Now go play!