We just finished week one of the Keto diet. My husband is completely on board and it’s helping so much to have his support. Our goal this week was to stay under 25 grams of carbs per day and we stayed on track all week. I’m happy to report he’s down almost 10 lbs, and I’m down 3 lbs!! Woot!!
You know you did a great job when your daughter can’t tell the difference between your cauliflower mash between mashed potatoes. Recipe: one head of cauliflower boiled in salt water until soft. Save a couple of tablespoons of the cooking liquid. Transfer to a food processor and add two tablespoons of cream cheese, two pats of unsalted butter, sea salt, pepper, parsley and 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese. Add the saved liquid and purée on high until smooth!!
We served with a yummy steak that my hubby cooked in the cast iron skillet. Yum!
Have you tried low carb or Keto with success? How was your weekend?
Here is the recipe for my spicy broccoli puree! Note, I failed to take proper pictures other than my perfect bite, so all but the first picture are from Amazon and Pinterest just to give you an idea. 🙂
The perfect bite!
Here’s what you’ll need:
2 cups of steamed broccoli or broccolini if you can find it. I think it’s a bit sweeter, but either will do.
Reserve 1 cup of the steaming liquid for puree
Calabrian chili flakes or crushed red pepper flakes to taste
1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
1 pat of unsalted butter
Add the steamed broccoli, seasonings and butter to your food processor. Pulse on high until you get a creamy consistency, adding in little by little the reserved steaming liquid being careful not to get it too watery.
Serve with your favorite main dish!
Do you puree your veggies? What is your favorite veggie dish!
I hope you all enjoy this recipe, and I look forward to a lot more recipes to share this year!
I’ll be the first to admit I didn’t eat the greatest food last weekend. There were lots of burgers (which meant BUNS), chips, and other BBQ fare that left me a little heavier on the scale this morning. So I decided to keep dinner light, tonight.
Heat a medium sauté pan to medium high heat. Add a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and let heat for a minute or two. Next, add 1/4 cup of diced pancetta, 1 clove of garlic that’s been minced, and a cup of Brussels sprouts that have been cleaned and cut in half. Lastly, add some red pepper flakes for some heat, if you like. Season with salt and pepper and cook for about 20 minutes or until the Brussels sprouts have lightly carmelized. In a separate pan, fry an egg lightly keeping the yolk runny, about 5-6 minutes.
Dinner is served!
Because everything is better with an egg on top, right?
What’s your favorite way to prepare Brussles sprouts? Do you like your eggs runny or fried hard?
In trying to keep with my “lower” carb diet, I’ve been playing around with my “zoodler” more often. Here’s the one I have, click here. Tonight’s dish was a hit!
Recipe:
1 large zucchini, zoodled
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 bag of pre-cooked large shrimp, thawed (remove tails)
1 jar of red sauce, use your favorite!
Basil, oregano, crushed red pepper flakes, salt and pepper
1/3 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese
Here’s what you’ll do:
Heat 2 tablespoons of EVOO in a non stick skillet, add your garlic, onions and red pepper flakes and sauté until the onions are translucent, being careful not to burn the garlic; 3-4 minutes. Add in the jar of sauce, herbs and salt and pepper and let simmer for 25 minutes. In the last five minutes add in your shrimp to heat through, and get a second sauté pan heated on medium high heat with 1 tablespoon of EVOO. Next, add in your zucchini, salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese and sauté for 3-4 minutes or until al dente, making sure the zoodles aren’t mushy!
Enjoy!
Have you tried a zoodler yet? What’s your favorite low carb meal!
Have a great night everyone! If you try any of my recipes, please share your feedback!
Tonight’s Sunday supper was cooked as more of a therapy session for me than anything. The two things I love to do most when I am feeling stressed are run, and cook. Since I had just gone grocery shopping after work today, I decided cooking a nice Sunday supper would be a good idea since my goal was to cook something new each week!
There’s no real “recipe” for this dish, but here goes. Season your ribs with your favorite BBQ seasoning, salt, pepper and a touch of lime juice. Heat your cast iron skillet with a couple tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil to a high heat and sear the ribs on each side. Reduce heat and cook through until done.
For the cucumber salad, use your peeler and make long strips of cucumber (discard the outer green part) that will look almost like a wide fettuccini noodle. Place in a bowl. Season with salt, pepper, 1 tablespoon of yogurt and lime zest. Let chill for 30 minutes.
The asparagus I simply sautéed in extra virgin olive oil in a pan with salt, pepper, and minced garlic. YUM!
Dinner is served!
My sous chef!
The rest of my week was pretty blah. My workouts were minimal besides my daily plank due to work stress, school starting, and my little one catching strep on her second day of school. I’m hoping next week is better! I’m linking up with Holly and Tricia for their weekly wrap. Please run over and give their amazing pages some support!
Well, we’re going on 7 weeks down this coming Tuesday. As of late, things have somewhat evened out at least emotionally, that is until last week. See, we are our HUGE inspection at work that gives us our national accreditation and they show up unannounced. Ok, so deep breathes. I walk in to work on Tuesday with the news they’ll be here in an hour. No big deal, right? Its just ONE day, and how bad could it be? Well, when after introductions they announced they’d be inspecting our lab for THREE days. Gulp. Needless to say my long days and still needing to maintain our evening schedules left very little for working out. Good news is, we got through the inspection with only minor write ups that have already been fixed. If stress burned as many calories as working out does, I’d be 10 lbs. lighter after last week. ROFL!!!
Friday my oldest daughter, J, had plans with her friend, so I took my mini for Mani’s and Pedi’s after I picked her up from school and we ran a few errands. We never do things like this, so it was quite the treat.
Saturday J had a mandatory study session at school from 10:15-2:30 so after dropping her off my mini and I went out for breakfast. And guess who we saw?!? Donnie Wahlberg sat RIGHT there at the counter when I was paying for our meal. No, I didn’t take a pic, but YES it totally happened, LOL!!!! Sure, Mark is cuter, but I was star struck nonetheless!
Saturday night I was heading to Chicago to watch The Avett Brothers in concert at the Chicago theater with a very dear friend of mine. We headed downtown at around 4 P.M., had dinner at the Public House, and went for drinks at 3 Dots and a Dash before heading to the concert.
I haven’t been “out” in ages, I supposed more so due to guilt because I feel like my kids need me even more now that we are a single parent family. But J said, “Mom, GO! Have FUN!!!” And fun, I had. I smiled the entire evening, and sang my heart out during the concert.
Sunday I really wanted to relax. But, I had my fun last night so yard work trumped my plans of lounging on the couch. I spent 2 hours spreading turf builder and weed killer on my 1.5 acres of land. My arms are truly, officially SMOKED. LOL!!
Tonight I cooked a simple yet yummy dinner!!!
Here’s the recipe for my Asian inspired chicken. I marinated 4 chicken thighs in soy sauce, garlic powder, red pepper flakes and salt and pepper for 30 minutes. I took 1 bag of baby broccoli and drizzed it with extra virgin olive oil, 4 cloves of minced garlic, 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper and place on a baking sheet, and roast for 40 minutes at 375 degrees. Simply pan fry the chicken (pouring the marinade over the top) in a non stick pan for about 12 minutes or until cooked through. Cut at a diagonal, and serve over your favorite brown rice/quinoa. Top with the roasted broccoli!
I’m linking up with Holly and Tricia for the weekly wrap!! Please make sure to check out these (and all the amazing linkers) amazing ladies!!! How was your week? Try any new recipes? Do you have a big yard?
I was recently inspired by a healthy snacking social project put on by Nuts.com, so I wanted to share some of my favorites. There are also some GREAT ideas on this healthy snacking page that touch on all walks of life. Vegans, kids, high protein and quick snacks for work are just a few examples.
So I thought I’d share a few of my own favorites. First of which is my spicy chickpeas. These yummy morsels are packed full of protein, and you can easily snack on the go. Another quick “on the go” snack for me is, roasted pumpkin seeds. You can make your own with my recipe or buy store bought. They are high in protein, dietary fibers and micronutrients.
Pumpkin seeds, YUM!
Spicy roasted chick peas!
I’m a huge fan of roasted nuts of all kinds, really. These protein packs from Target are also something I love to have in the fridge because they are a wiser alternative to chips or pretzels. While I am not a big dairy eater, I do find these don’t upset my stomach.
Eggs…eggs, and MORE eggs. I hard boil a dozen or so on the weekends, and portion them out into baggies. Often times I’ll ditch the yolks, but sometimes I just eat the entire egg in 2-3 bites, LOL!!
Yup, that’s just for my work week. I eat at least 2 egg whites every day.
Fresh fruits and veggies are another go-to that I portion out so that I can easily grab and go!!!
Tonight I’ll admit, I wasn’t feeling so hot. I could’ve just hunkered down on the couch and felt sorry for myself. So instead, I whipped up a batch of my famous Chicken soup and did a quick Pilates core workout. Never miss a Monday, Right?!
What are you favorite healthy snacks? Do you try and meal prep in advance to help avoid temptation?
So today I did it…I bit the bullet and printed out my faithful Hal Higdon full marathon training plan. I am still on the fence about running a full with my husband deploying, but after night’s like tonight with my teen, I think I may have some mama drama that will need to be left on the trails this next year. I asked my husband if he could pack up one of us to deploy with him, but that doesn’t seem to be an option. Lord help us this next year, LOL…
I already have a good base with 6-7 miles done easy, so I have some time to decide. We shall see…
Tomorrow we are having a “healthy food” potluck at work, so I decided to make my roasted broccoli and quinoa salad. This salad is SO easy that I made it WHILE cooking dinner tonight.
Ingredients:
2 bags of your favorite quinoa, I use a brown rice/quinoa mix-cook according to package directions
2 cups of roasted broccoli-season with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder and roast at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes or until the edges are nice and golden brown
2-3 green onions chopped at a diagonal
The zest of one lemon
1/4 cup of gruyere cheese (I prefer mild), cut in small cubes
1 teaspoon of organic apple cider vinegar
1 cup of toasted pecans
Mix all ingredients well, and finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of salt.
My healthy dish is ready!
What’s your favorite healthy dish to pass for potlucks at work or with family? What’s your best release for teenage girl drama?
This morning started out a little rocky. I woke up from a terrible nightmare as my husband reached to kiss me goodbye this morning WAY before the birds (or anyone else for that matter) were awake. I laid in bed, practicing my deep calm breaths as my heart raced a million miles per hour. Would he be ok over this next year? Will the Nanny’s first day go well? How can I help my 16 year old cope with, well, being 16? Ugh…
Several deep breaths later, I was up and getting ready for work. The Nanny arrived promptly on time, and everything went quite well for our discombobulated first morning. She texted me as soon as my little got on the bus, and I sighed a HUGE sigh of relief. I had a busy day at work, but was in awe of how many times I smiled, and was reminded of how far I’ve come in life. It really is true. You control your mood, no one else. #learninglessonseveryday
I drove home from work in a crazy snow storm, picked up my little from after school care, and we headed to Home Depot. See, our front light went out, we were out of sidewalk salt, and my daughter’s bathroom toilet lid broke right off. Guess since it was the original one from 1989, it was time to replace it. These are ALL things my husband normally takes care of. Although he isn’t handy, he does do all the hard things that I haven’t had to do in over a decade usually. Yet it’s time I figure out how to be on my own again, and do all the hard things.
As I lifted the huge bag of salt from my Jeep, I reminded myself that I CAN and WILL do this and be stronger for it.
My mini and I cooked our version of Jambalaya for dinner in preparation for an evening of shoveling out above said snow, and here’s a quick recipe.
Jambalaya Ingredients
4 links of pre-cooked chicken sausage, sliced into coin shapes
1 cup of precooked shrimp, chopped into small pieces
1 large can of crushed red tomatoes (use the spicy ones for added kick) with the juice
1 can of black beans, strained
2 stalks of celery, chopped
2 small white onions (or one large), diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Creole seasoning to taste, salt, pepper, and chives
Fresh chopped Parsley to garnish
In a deep sauté pan heat 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, and sauté the garlic, onions and celery until slightly tender. Add in the tomatoes and beans, and simmer for 20 minutes. Add in the chicken sausage and shrimp until heated through, and serve over your favorite rice or quinoa. I used a brown rice quinoa blend that I cooked according to the package instructions. I even had a little help from my mini.
Not sure which sparkles more, her eyes, or this dress? ❤Dinner is served! Healthy AND Delish!
As we cleaned up the table, I got a text from one of my newest neighbors. She told me her husband has a landscaping business, and plows in the winter. Would I like him to plow my driveway? I broke down crying, and thanked God for all he’s blessed me with through this deployment preparation. He came over to plow, and I thanked him profusely as the temps are dropping, and I now only had to shovel my sidewalk and salt.
BRRRRRRR
Next it was time to fix that darn toilet seat. And who took the lead? Yup…my 16 year old. With a little help from Sammy…LOL!
“Mommy can I help? Or can I at least lick your face?”
Girl power! We did it!
My oldest asked if she could talk to me. I froze. What’s wrong? She confided in me that she’s been struggling with feeling happy, and I was catapulted back to 10th grade. I told her WE would get through this, and I would help her in any way I can to learn to find happiness even in the toughest of times. And I was just so darn touched and honored that SHE CAME TO ME. #allthetears
My hubby just got home from a very long day of training, so I think it’s time to wrap this post up. But here’s your reminder, that we can ALL do the hard things, if WE believe we can.
Do you have a handy spouse? What’s the hardest thing you’ve done lately?
Movin' it with Michelle 