Running, Recipes, and Real life adventures!
In efforts to save money and lose weight, we’ve been really good about cooking most of our meals at home.
Stir fry without the rice made for a yummy dinner tonight!! Marinated the chicken in soy, ginger, sesame seeds/oil, peppercorns, red pepper flakes, garlic and lime zest/juice.
Served with Bok choy, onions, garlic and peppers. Yum!!
Do have any new easy recipes? I’d love to hear from you!!
Happy Thursday!!! I took it to the kitchen after work today. I’ve discovered the joy of making my own red sauce and will never buy jarred again. I don’t have an exact recipe, but I can tell you I roasted a bunch of Roma tomatoes with garlic and onions/drizzled with avocado oil and seasoned with salt and pepper, oregano and basil-roasted about 25 minutes at 350, then cooled and removed the skins.
In a large sauce pan, sauté half of a diced white onion, one diced carrot (breaks up the acidity of the tomatoes with natural sweetness), and a ton of minced garlic🤣. Add one large can of peeled whole Roma tomatoes that’s been drained. Squish the tomatoes with your hands (or a spoon lol), add a few chunks of Parmesan cheese Season with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, oregano and basil. Cook down for about 25 minutes. Add in the tomatoes you roasted and removed the skin, and purée with an immersion blender or whatever you use to blend things.
Add back to the sauce pan, and let warm through. Add a pat or two of butter to finish it off.
This time I added sautéed Italian Turkey sausage and served over brown rice noodles. Yum!!
Do you enjoy making homemade sauces? What’s your favorite?
Tonight I made quick and easy turkey, arugula, egg and Gouda cheese cups for dinner. Spray a muffin tin with non stick spray and put the turkey in the tins pushing down the middle. Add arugula and an egg, and sprinkle with Gouda cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Bake at 350 for about 10-12 minutes. Yum!
Sorry I’ve been absent lately. Life just gets in the way sometimes and blogging from my phone is a pain. Hope y’all are doing well. Share with me your favorite low carb recipe!
Cheers!
Michelle
Tonight’s Keto meal was baked crispy chicken coated with egg wash, spicy pork rinds and almond flour. Bake at 425 degrees for about 35-40 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes and serve with your favorite Keto friendly veggie. We had a few spears of asparagus with bacon.
Yum! What’s on your plate?? Comment below!!! Cheers!!!
Michelle
This one is super easy, y’all.
Sautéed garlic (1 clove) and about two tablespoons of red onion in coconut oil. Add some chopped mushrooms and red pepper flakes if you like a little heat. Cook until soft-3-4 minutes. Add a cup of heavy cream and cook down for a few minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. While this magic is happening, “zoodle” three zucchini’s and brown 1 lb of ground beef in a teaspoon of coconut oil and season with salt and pepper and a little season salt.
Add the zoodles to the sauce, mix well and then add the beef-draining any excess grease before adding. I added a little mozzarella for some creaminess and served!!
Have you ever had zoodles? What’s your favorite low carb meal?
Cheers!
Michelle
We got rained out today and I was initially pretty bummed to spend a day inside. But when my youngest daughter came home from the mall with a gift for me, I was instantly cheered up.
Once our groceries were delivered via Shipt, I dove in for meal prep and dinner prep. I chopped a bunch of veggies, made some baked chicken and made turkey burgers for dinner. I also made egg, spinach and mushroom “muffins” for quick easy meals this week.
Here’s to week three of our Keto diet! I am shooting for another good eating week and 3 runs this week, weather permitting. I was so pleased I had two good runs last week and a 6 1/2 mile walk at Epcot over the weekend.
What are your week goals? Do anything fun for Labor Day?
Cheers!
Michelle
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?
Cheers!
Michelle
Winter months have always been tough on me, and with the days getting even shorter this weekend I am soaking up every ray of sunshine I can get. Today it’s 75 degrees out and It’s November 1st, so I will be outside planting some lilies a coworker gave me, and hope to get a couple miles in with my mini before dark.
Because winter months have been hard for me, I thought I’d make a list of some “winter goals,” so here they are in no particular order:
How do you keep busy during winter months? What’s your favorite thing about winter minus the holidays themselves? Tell me something good!
Cheers!
Michelle
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!
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!
How was your week? Try any new recipes lately?
Have a great week everyone!
Cheers ❤
Michelle
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.
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.
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!
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?
Cheers! Keep Movin’ forward, y’all!
❤ Michelle
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