Recipe: Stuffed Zucchini

Evening everyone!  I hope you all have had a fantastic weekend.  Our's was absolutely crazy!  Lots of shopping and other errands, but I've got to say the highlight of my weekend, or not so much, was being one of approximately a million people standing in line at the post office Saturday morning trying to get our last packages out in time for Christmas!  Not my proudest moment, but everyone in line had the wonderful opportunity to be entertained my by toddler daughter, Hadley.  It was an experience for sure!  I think I can finally say we are ready for Christmas in the Hope Household, and I hope all of you can say the same!

Right now, I am curled up on the couch in front of the fire, watching Sunday Night Football. Go Seahawks!  What a great way to end a weekend! Before I head off to bed (Gotta get up early for my first day of TurboFire!), I wanted to share a recipe that I made today for lunch, stuffed Zucchini.  Both yellow squash and zucchini have been on sale the last couple weeks at the grocery store, and since we buy based on what's on sale, we have been consuming A LOT of squash recently.  I was looking for some new ways to enjoy this veggie and came across numerous recipes for stuffed zucchini.  After looking in the fridge to find some stuffing ingredients, I decided to do a Mexican style stuffed zucchini.  I think it turned out pretty good! Here is the recipe:

Stuffed Zuchinni

Yes, I know I need to work on my food photos, but don't let the pic fool you, they were awesome!

Ingredients

3 zucchini, cut in half length-wise
1 pound of ground turkey
half of a yellow onion, diced
1 cup of water
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
spices: cumin, mexican chili pepper, paprika, salt, pepper (to taste)

Directions

(1) Put ground turkey and diced onion in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Brown turkey.
(2) While turkey is browning, use a spoon to hollow out the zucchini, removing all seeds.  Also cut the stem and base off of each zucchini half.
(3) Set oven to 400 degrees.
(4) Once turkey has browned and onions are translucent, add 1 cup of water and seasoning to taste. (I used approximately 1tsp cumin and chili pepper, 1/2tsp paprika and black pepper, pinch of salt).  Stir to evenly coat turkey.  Lower heat to simmer, and reduce liquid (about 5 minutes).
(5) Once liquid has evaporate, spoon turkey into zucchini.  Bake in oven for 30 minutes.
(6) Sprinkle cheese on top of turkey and place back in the oven until melted (2-3 minutes).
(7) Enjoy!  

Recipe: Mexican Chicken and Quinoa

Happy Hump Day people!  I wanted to share a recipe with you that we tried for dinner last night that was an absolute hit -- Mexican Chicken and Quinoa.  It is adapted from a recipe I found on Pinterest called One Pan Mexican Quinoa by damndelicious.net.  This meal is packed with protein, and best of all, it is all cooked in one pan, so there's very little clean up!

The original recipe calls for black beans, but I substituted chicken instead (we are not a fan of beans).  I also was limited to what we had in the pantry, so I will show you where you can make this meal even healthier than I made it. Instead of canned corn, frozen would cut down on the sodium.  For the tomatoes, choose either reduced sodium canned, or dice fresh tomatoes.  Rotel is kind of high in sodium, but has great flavor, if you use Rotel, like I did, I've included a trick in the directions that uses a celery stock to remove some of the excess salt from the dish.

Mexican Chicken and Quinoa

Ingredients
- coconut oil spray
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 jalapeno, diced
- 2-3 chicken breasts cut into thirds
- can of corn (or 1 cup frozen corn)
- can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes, drained (or can of Rotel)
- 1 cup of quinoa
- 1 cup of reduced sodium chicken broth
- 1/2 tsp of cumin 
- 1 tsp mexican chili powder

Directions
(1) Spray a large, deep skillet with coconut oil to coat the pan.

(2) Add garlic and jalapeno, saute about a minute or until fragrant (garlic will start to show color).
(3) Add in chicken breast and brown on both sides. Season with cumin and chili power to taste on each side.
(4)Once chicken has been seared off, add corn, tomatoes, quinoa, chicken stock, cumin, and chili power. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce to a simmer. Allow to cook, covered for 20 minutes.  **To reduce salt content, throw in a stick of celery cut in half, remove before serving**

(5) Uncover, remove chicken and shred it, put back into pan
(6) If liquid remains, cook uncovered for an additional 5-10 minutes until liquid has reduced.
(7) Serve and enjoy!

Recipe: Zucchini Noodles

The hubby is out of town on a business trip this week, so I've decided to experiment in the kitchen. Specifically I'm trying some pasta substitutes. If they turn out well, then I will add them into the dinner rotation. Tonight, I got to play with a new toy I received for my birthday earlier this month -- the spiral slicer.  The experiment: zucchini "noodles". 

Here is my amazing spiral slicer:

I like to leave the skin on my vegetables for the extra fiber, so I cut off the top and bottom of the zucchini and started spiralizing (pretty sure I just made up my own word).  This tool is really neat. You spin the zucchini in it like you are sharpening a pencil.  This is what it looked like when I was finished:

One cool result of using this tool is the center of the zucchini, where the seeds are located, stayed separate from the noodles. Can you see my sharpened zucchini pencil at the top of the picture?

Once the zucchini was cut, it was ready to cook. 

I sprayed a large pan with coconut oil cooking spray. It's important to use a large pan when you saute. If you over-crowd the pan, everything will turn out soggy. 

Once I got some color on the noodles, I added just enough water to cover the bottom of the pan and continued to cook on medium-high until the water boiled off.  This step introduces steam to the noodles and ensures they are cooked though. My finished noodles looked like this:

At this point the noodles are complete and you can serve them as is, or you can incorporate them into a dish.  I decided to make a skinny chicken Parmesan dish, so, at his point, I added about 1/4 cup of tomato sauce to the noodles and cooked until the sauce was warm through.  The amount of sauce you add is completely personal preference. I do not like a lot of sauce in my dishes, so the 1/4 cup was plenty.

I put the noodles on a plate and stacked a ground chicken burger on top and melted a slice of Swiss cheese over the dish. 

 Yum!  I liked the zucchini noodles in this dish.  They delivered on texture, and tasted great.  I would totally make this meal again!

Recipe: Turkey and Mushroom Meatloaf & 21 Day Fix Results

I am all about taking my favorite recipes from growing up and making them healthier.  The other night, I decided to take a look at my mother's meatloaf recipe and tweak it to better fit my current eating plan.  I swapped out the hamburger for ground turkey and the bread crumbs and egg with mushrooms. The results were amazing, so much so, that my husband who normally scoffs at my healthy dinners said that he would be okay with me making this again. In other words, he liked it! Let me say, that I leaned up this recipe a bit, but there is still room for making it even leaner if you so choose, especially with regards to the sausage component of the meat loaf.  So here it is, my skinny mama's meatloaf:

I know it might not look appealing like this. I'm not good at taking food photos, but I promise it tastes awesome!

Ingredients

1 pound of ground turkey
1 pound of hot ground sausage (I used Jimmy Dean Hot, but to make it cleaner, you could use Jimmy Dean natural sausage instead, or a sausage substitute, I believe there is a good one you can find at Trader Joe's)
1 small Onion, finely chopped
1/2 a bell pepper finely chopped (I used red in this recipe, any color is fine)
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
6 button mushrooms or 1 medium sized portobello mushroom chopped.
1/2 a small can of tomato sauce
A few dashes of your favorite hot sauce
Black Pepper and Italian Seasoning to taste
1 bay leaf (optional)

Directions

1. Mix the ground turkey, sausage, onion, bell pepper, parmesan cheese, mushrooms, 1/2 can of tomato sauce, and pepper and italian seasoning to taste in a medium sized mixing bowl.
2. Form either 1 large loaf or 2 smaller loaves and place in a baking dish. (I use a glass square dish)
3. Pour the other half of the tomato sauce over the top and add a bay leaf. (This is optional, depending on how tomato-y you like your meatloaf)
4. Cover with foil and bake in oven at 350 degrees for 1 hour. 
5.  After 1 hour, remove foil and drain off oil.  Continue cooking, uncovered, for 30 more minutes. (smaller loaves may take less time, check for doneness at 15 minutes).
6. Serve and enjoy!

Served with a side of mashed potatoes. You may be asking where the veggies are.  I had a big salad in a separate bowl. I'm a weirdo and can't eat my salad on a plate. I don't like my foods to mix!

21 Day Fix Results!

I finally had time to take my after photos, or I should say I finally found a time when my husband could take my after photos.  I really need to find a tripod for my iPhone so I can do these myself.  Here you go:

7 pounds and 13 inches in only 3 weeks!

The proof is in the pictures!  I had such fantastic results in the first round that I'm going for a second round to see how much more I can lose.  21 Day Fix is really a great program.  Easy to follow, and super effective for weight loss.  My November challenge group is in there second week right now and doing awesome.  I had one challenger share with me that she lost 4 pounds in just the first week. If you are looking to make a change in your health, why wait until January to make the change?  I will be running one more challenge group in 2014 and it starts December 1st.  The average American gains 5-8 pounds during the holidays.  Commit to this challenge and not only prevent yourself from the holiday gain, but also lose 8-15 pounds before Christmas and look awesome going into the New Year.  The challenge groups I run are small, and I only have 3 spots left in the December group.  If you are at all interested in this challenge group or want any information about the other types of challenge groups I run, please fill out the form below!  

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21 Day Fix Days11-13 & Recipe: Fried Rice

The last three days on the plan have gone smoothly.  I'm feeling good, plenty of energy, and I'm getting stronger.  I'm able to do more reps or heavier weights in all of the exercises in the workouts.  I've gotta say, I'm becoming a huge fan of this program!  Interestingly enough, according to the scale, I haven't lost any additional weight this week so far.  I'm pretty sure my measurements have gone down, because I'm feeling thinner and my clothes are fitting looser.  I will be remeasure on Sunday when I do my weekly check-in.  Fingers crossed I see the changes I'm feeling.  I'm not really surprised that my weight has not gone down this week.  I'm back to a weight that I have held for long periods of time in my life and it's not uncommon for our bodies to plateau at weights we have held for a significant period of time.  Our bodies are great at adapting to changing conditions and have a long memory.  As our bodies lose weight and we hit numbers we used to weigh in the past, our bodies say "hey I remember this body composition, I think I'll hang out here for awhile".  At times like this you have two options. Either, you stay the course and outlast your body (this works for some, but not others) or you can shake things up to try to confuse your body (this works for most, but the change in routine can be difficult or stressful).  This time, I'm going to stay the course.  I really think that I can push through this little plateau with the 21 Day Fix.  The plan has different workouts for each day, and I can change up my foods and still stay within the eating plan.  9 more days!

Found on Pinterest, by SparkPeople

I'm still behind on my workouts.  I completed Lower Fix and PiYo Buns on Thursday.  Friday being Halloween, I only had time for one workout so I did PiYo Sweat.  Today was PiYo Core and Pilates Fix.  I am happy to report that I made it through Halloween without eating any candy.  I did save a fun size Milky Way for once I complete my first round of 21 Day Fix. Gotta say I'm pretty proud of my will-power yesterday.  I can remember a time where I could have demolished all of the left over candy in a night or two. This year, I didn't feel at all tempted. It's the little victories that add up to our successes.

I'm not going to continue including my meal plans for each day.  I do have them written down, and if anyone would like to see them as an example comment or message me and I will be happy to provide them!

Recipe: Fried Rice

Ingredients:

• 1 Lean Pork Tenderloin (cubed)
• 1 cup dry Brown Rice (cook before you begin, so this would be about 3 cups cooked)
• 1 Package of Frozen Stir-Fry Vegetables, not pre-seasoned (pre-seasoned contains added salt)
• 1 can bamboo shoots
• 1 can water chestnuts
• 2/3 cup frozen peas
• 2-3 eggs (depending on how eggy you like your rice)
• 4 tsp Toasted Sesame Oil
• 2 tbsp Low-Sodium Soy Sauce (optional)
• Spices to taste: ground ginger, cumin, sriracha, garlic powder, black pepper 

Directions:

1. Put all veggies (frozen, bamboo shoots, and water chestnuts) in a wok or large skillet and add 2 tsp of sesame oil.  Saute on high until veggies are fully cooked and lightly browned. Stir in ground ginger, cumin, garlic powder, and black pepper to taste.
2. Set vegetables aside, cover with foil to keep warm
3. Put cubed pork loin and 1tbsp sriracha in wok or skillet and cook until golden brown.
4. Add pork to the veggies you already put aside and mix, recover to keep warm.
5. Put rice in wok with 2 tsp sesame oil and fry 3-4 minutes on medium high, stirring constantly.
6. Make a well in the center of the rice.  Add eggs to the well and scramble. 
7. Once egg is cooked, continue to fry rice and eggs for 3 minutes. Add veggies and pork. Stir all ingredients to mix and reheat.
8. Serve and enjoy! Makes 4 servings.

21 Day Fix Days 9&10 and Recipe: Skinny Chicken Enchilada Casserole

21 Day Fix Progress

Yesterday was day 9 of my 21 Day Fix Challenge.  It was a rough day.  I felt sick all day and did my best to stay on plan, but I struggled with my water intake, and I did not get my workouts in.  Motivation can really take a hit on days like this.  You have to dig deep, forgive yourself for not meeting your day's goals, and decide that tomorrow is a new day.  Be careful not to turn your one sick day into a slippery slope of excuses.  Get back on your normal schedule as soon as possible and move on.  Like I said above, no exercise today, but I will share my meal plan (note: I missed a fruit serving and had an extra dressing).

Meal Plan

• Breakfast: Cereal w/milk and and egg (2y, 1r, 1tsp)
• Snack: Apple (1p)
• Lunch: Salad w/ grilled chicken (3g, 1r, 1o)
• Snack: Grapes and peanut butter (1p, 3tsp)
• Dinner: Grilled chicken wrap (1g, 2r, 1y, 1b, 1o)

Today I woke up early and completed two workouts, PiYo Drench and 21 Day Fix Upper Fix.  It felt great to get back on track!  I am down to my last week of PiYo, and I can't wait to see my final results.  This program was very different from what I'm used to.  It doesn't require any equipment, most workouts are even done barefoot, and with the exception of a set of burpees here and there, it is totally low impact.  I'm enjoying the change of pace this program provides.  Working my muscles in a completely different way for 8 weeks has completely changed my body, in a great way!  I could go on and on about this program, but I will save that for my results post next week.  Upper fix, the 21DF workout I was supposed to complete yesterday was great too.  I increased my weights for this workout, so I really felt the burn by the end.  I'm not sore yet, but I know I'll be feeling it tomorrow.  After I post this, I will be doing today's 21DF workout, lower fix.  Normally, if you were to ask me how to catch back up after being sick, I would tell you to pick back up where you left off and not worry about doubling up, but I still have a ton of energy right now, so I'm going to go for it.  Always listen to your body when it comes to starting back up after a set-back.  Pushing too hard and playing catch-up can lead to injury or burnout, which will end up taking you further off track. 

Meal Plan:

• Breakfast: Cereal w/milk and and egg (2y, 1r, 1tsp)
• Snack: Apple (1p)
• Lunch: Salad w/ grilled chicken (3g, 1r, 1o)
• Snack: Grapes and peanut butter (1p, 3tsp)
• Dinner: Skinny Chicken Enchilada Casserole (1g, 2r, 1y, 1b)
• Snack: grapes (1p)

Recipe: Skinny Chicken Enchilada Casserole **adapted from recipe found on inspiredreamer.com**

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lbs chicken breast (cooked and chopped/shredded)
• 1 can enchilada sauce (I used mild)
• 1 can of corn
• 1 can rotel w/ lime juice and cilantro
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 4 low carb tortilla (taco or fajita size)
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese

Directions

1. Set your oven to 350 degrees.  Cook the onion down in a skillet to desired level of caramelization and put aside in a medium mixing bowl. Drain the corn and rotel and add both to the onions in the mixing bowl, stir until evenly mixed.
2. Pour a thin layer of enchilada sauce in the bottom of your casserole dish, just enough to cover the bottom.
3. Place 2 tortillas in the dish and pour a small amount of sauce over the tortillas. Use a spoon or spatula to completely cover the tortillas with the sauce.
4. Layer shredded chicken on top of tortillas. Then add onion/corn/rotel mixture.
5. Sprinkle half of your cheese on top of the onion/corn/rotel mixture and then place 2 more tortillas on top of the cheese
6. Pour rest of the enchilada sauce over the tortillas and use your spatula or spoon to evenly cover the tortillas with the sauce. 
7. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese over the top of the casserole and place in the oven.
8. Back at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
9. Cut into 6 or 8 sections, serve, and enjoy!

Throwback Thursday, Day 4 of the Fix, and Recipe: Roasted Cauliflower

Throwback Thursday

This is actually the very first time I am participating in TBT.  I wanted to share my original before photo.  I saw original because I take before and after photos every time I do a round of an exercise or diet program. So, here is where it all started (May 2010):

 I didn't actually start my weight loss journey until the following January.  In January, I began Nutrisystem.  Nutrisystem helped me loose a good amount of the extra weight I was carrying, but not without some negative side effects.  I will tell you, that yes, it does work. I was averaging a 2-3 pound loss each week, but I was also exercising a ton (Zumba 3 times per week, and running 4 days per week).  The Nutrisystem foods are highly processed.  They contain sugar alcohols, which can wreak havoc on your digestive system, as well as a host of artificial, man-made chemicals and preservatives.  I did not feel good eating this food.  I was never hungry, but I felt uncomfortable, sluggish, and bloated a lot of the time.  If you want to do a diet program where you are provided food, I cannot stress enough to do your research!  With what I know now about nutrition, I wouldn't use this program.  I have actually been able to achieve similar results through clean eating meal plans, and I feel a lot better while doing them.  After I lost most of the weight, I was feeling, for lack of a better word, jiggly.  I needed to find a program to increase my muscle tone.  This is when I found Beachbody.  I bought my first program, Chalene Extreme.  I loved this program!  My muscle tone increased dramatically and I was able to break my plateau and lose even more weight.  Even better, my running pace dropped over 2 minutes per mile.  Here is what my husband and I looked like after Chalene Extreme (he did it with me):

See how different my husband looks in the two pictures?  His results are from Chalene Extreme ONLY.  This program did amazing things for him.  I wish he would let me share his official before and after photos, but he's being shy. Wanna learn more about Chalene Extreme? Comment below or Join my Facebook Group and shoot me a message: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1478749202392357

Day 4 of the Fix

Today was ab day.  Though not intentional, both of my workouts today focused on core.  I started my day with PiYo Core and moved straight into 21 Day Fix Pilates Fix.  Now it hurts to laugh.  Today was a good day.  I woke up early, had energy all day, and was only hungry right before dinner, but I blame my husband for coming home late from work and delaying dinner an hour.  I just finished my last snack, a cup of cantaloupe. Yum, I love cantaloupe.  

Today's Meal Plan:

• Breakfast: Cereal and a scrambled egg (2y, 1r, 1tsp)
• Snack: Large apple (2p)
• Lunch: salad, grilled chicken and mashed potatoes (3g, 1r, 1y, 1o, 2tsp)
• Dinner: lean hamburger patty w/cheese, roasted cauliflower (2r, 1b, 1g, 1tsp)
• Snack: Cantaloupe (1p)

Recipe: Roasted Cauliflower 

Ingredients

• Head of Cauliflower
• Olive oil
• Lemon Juice
• Crushed Rosemary
• Ground Oregano

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
2. Cut and separate the Cauliflower florets into small pieces
3. Put the florets into a large mixing bowl and drizzle olive oil over the florets.  Add rosemary and oregano to taste. I like a generous amount of rosemary and a sprinkle of oregano. Add lemon juice, enough to coat florets.
4. Toss florets until evenly coated
5. Place florets on a baking sheet covered in non-stick foil
6. Place in oven for 20 mins, stirring occasionally. Pull out of oven when cauliflower has reached desired level of caramelization

Thanks for reading!  If you are interested in daily motivation, healthy recipes, and fitness tips, join my facebook group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/1478749202392357