Bring On 2015, Off Goes the Baby Weight!

I am starting this year off on a great start! Prior to the new year and the typical new year's resolution diet that everyone starts, I lost 5 pounds during the holidays. That is something to be proud of! I have so much motivation to lose this baby weight and have a healthier lifestyle like I used to have in the past. I have some great support and if anyone needs help let me know. I am more than willing to be your motivator and/or help you with recipe ideas. Bring on 2015!

Here are a couple quick and easy dinners I prepared this past week, more recipes to come.

 

This recipe calls for:  whole wheat pasta (portioned out to be 350 calories), 1 can of fire roasted garlic tomatoes, garlic powder, steamed broccoli & parmesean cheese (optional)

-- Cook pasta per directions on the box, steam broccoli, mix the tomatoes, broccoli & garlic powder in a sauce pan & simmer for a little. Add the pasta to the sauce once cooked. Top with parmesean cheese if desired.

 

Side note: Fire roasted tomatoes are to die for! Officially obsessed with them!

 

 

This recipe calls for:  1 pound ground turkey, 1 bag of mixed frozen corn, black beans & peppers, 1 cup of salsa, pepper & minced garlic

-- Cooked the turkey in a non-stick pan, add to the crockpot with all the other ingredients. Cook for about 4 hours on low.

 

Elizabeth Gilbert, a well known writer best known for Eat, Pray, Love posted on Facebook an amazing tradition that I am going to start this year! Check out the link and make your own jar!

 

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=751739328241518&substory_index=0&id=227291194019670

I am going to call my jar, "Jar of Happiness". This will be things that make me smile and laugh.  Little surprises. Special moments. Adventures. Memories I want to remember for a lifetime. Motivational and inspirational findings. Anything that just brings happiness to my days in 2015.

 

 

A goal, not a resolution for me this year is to become more crafty and have more of a natural lifestyle!

Mexican Chicken Salad or Burrito

The recipe calls for:
ground chicken meat
avocado, chopped
black beans, rinsed & drained
shredded lettuce
fat-free greek yogurt
taco sauce
taco seasoning

Optional:
shredded cheese
burrito wrap (whole-wheat is best)

-- Cook the ground chicken meat in a pan.  Mix in the seasoning packet and a little water.  Add the beans to the pan to warm them up.
-- Put chicken and bean mixture on top of shredded lettuce. Add chopped up avocado, a little fat-free greek yogurt and some taco sauce.
-- Mix it all up and enjoy your mexican chicken salad!
-- The other less healthy option is to put all those ingredients into a burrito wrap. If you choose this option use a whole-wheat wrap.


The meat mixture makes for great leftovers, I am eating it as we speak for lunch.

Stuffed Peppers

The recipe calls for:

4 peppers

1/2 lb ground turkey, cooked

2 cups rice

1 can black beans

1/2 cup frozen corn

1 cup onion, chopped/cooked

1 tbs taco seasoning

1 15 oz jar of salsa

cooking spray

-- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

-- Cut the peppers in half and cut out the insides.  Disregard.  Spray cooking oil on both sides of the peppers, place in a baking dish and cook in the oven for 20 minutes.

-- In a large bowl mix together the turkey meat, rice, black beans, corn, onion, taco seasoning and the salsa.

-- Spoon the mixture into each pepper halve.

-- Bake in the oven for another 15 minutes.

The toppings I used were avocado and light sour cream, but cheddar cheese, cilantro and even some shredded lettuce are other good choices.  In you want to sprinkle some cheese on them bake the peppers for a little longer until the cheese melts.

These stuffed peppers are very healthy, filling and a good source of fiber, protein and vegetables.  I had some mixture left so I made some healthy whole wheat tortilla tacos.  Great leftovers for the next day!

Homemade Chili

Between the cold weather and wanting to use the crock pot again I decided to make some homemade chili.  I looked at tons of recipes for the crock pot and none of them were exactly what I wanted so instead I just winged it.  I put everything I liked from the different recipes into this recipe.  No real measurements were used.  Jeff & I both tasted it a few times to see if anything else needed to be added.

All the ingredients added to the crock pot, pre-cooked.

The recipe calls for:

lean ground turkey meat

kidney & black beans

frozen corn

jalapeno peppers

onion

garlic cloves

garlic powder

chili powder

cayenne pepper

salt & pepper 

tomato paste

tomato sauce

mini diced tomatoes

chicken broth

cheddar cheese (optional)

sour cream (optional)

tortilla chips (optional)

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

I don't usually cook anything for this holiday, but I figured it would be fun. I made my own version of salsa. Not all the ingredients I added are normal for salsa, but they were things I really enjoy & I thought went well with all the flavors together. I just eye balled the measurements.

The recipe calls for:

tomatoes

yellow onion

green onion (chives)

green pepper

cilantro

a little salt & pepper

I'm going to make fish tacos tonight for dinner, two different versions of it with tilapia. The hard taco shells I use are so good, only 55 calories & high in fiber. They are so tasty you can just break them up & eat them as chips, put in a salad or something else to add some crunch/texture.

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Whole Grain Corn Taco Shells - Brand: Ortega