Super Simple Turkey Chili

Tony and I are just returning from an amazing 7 day cruise to Cozumel, Belize, Mahogany Bay and Costa Maya. It was so beautiful all week on the ship. No rain and 90 degree days. It was so perfect! We really enjoyed the beach in Belize called Starfish Island. 

It was beautiful as you can tell! We also really loved Mahogany Bay on Isla Roatan in Honduras. We went snorkeling on the second largest barrier reef in the world! Second to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia! We saw some amazing fish and coral. I wish we had an underwater camera and could share the experience but we didn't. Here is a selfie only us on the chair lift to the beach. :) 

So now we are back in NC and it was 31 degrees when I woke up this morning. Yikes! Last week I got of track surrounded by food all week. This week is all about getting back into clean eating and working out. I can tell a huge difference when I miss it. So I went to the store and decided to make a pot of turkey chili for dinner tomorrow night. It was really easy and smells amazing! Here is what I did to throw it together.

Diced onion and bell pepper to taste

1-2 cloves of fresh minced garlic

1 TBSP of Olive Oil

Saute together in a Dutch oven. Add 1 pound of ground turkey and cook until no longer pink. Add 28 oz of organic all natural diced tomatoes. 14oz can of organic tomato sauce, 14oz can of light red kidney beans (drained and rinsed).

For the spices, I added 2 TBSP of chili powder, 1/2 tsp each of paprika, cumin, cayenne pepper, salt. 

Simmer and top with a small amount of shredded cheddar cheese.  Yumm-o! 

"Clean and Healthy" Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip

Is there anything better than warm, gooey homemade cookies on a rainy day?  If there is, I wouldn't know it!  I am a bit of a sugar addict and the 21 Day Fix helped me get it under control.  But some days I just gotta have something that is supposedly "bad for me"!  Enter Pinterest.  While on my favorite app I found a recipe for Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies at http://ototheno.wordpress.com.  They looked really good and easy so I thought I have all the ingredients, I haven't had my cheat meal this weekend, so lets make them and see if they are good.  Photo Creds to Hope.  She wanted to help me make these but then decided that photography was better.  She must take after her Aunt Leigh.  :)

"Clean and Healthy"Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies 

Adapted from O To The No Blog

Makes ~12 cookies

3/4 cup all natural creamy peanut butter 

2 eggs

1 tsp agave nectar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2/3 cup  quick-cook oats

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. 

2. In a medium bowl, mix oats and baking soda.

3.  In another large bowl, combine the peanut butter, eggs, sugar, agave and vanilla.  Mix with a wooden spoon until uniform and creamy looking (about 2-3 minutes. work those arms).  Dump in the oat mixture and combine.  Then pour in the chocolate chips and combine.

 

 4.  Drop by rounded teaspoons of dough on sheet and bake for 9-11 minutes.  Do not over cook them-unless you are strange and like crunchy cookies.  I prefer warm gooey heaven myself!

Hope, Tony and myself all agree, these cookies are way too good to be good for you! Delish!

21 Day Fix Approved Spaghetti

Italian food is my weakness.  I think I could curl up with mac and cheese, ziti, spaghetti or lasagna every day of the week and be happy.  Except for the fact that all those carbs would be horrible for my waistline!  So once we started the 21 day fix, I went on a mission to find recipes that I could use or modify for success on the 21 Day Fix.  I stumbled on a blog called http://www.alwaystime4fitness.com and saw they had a recipe for marinara.  I can't begin to describe how happy I was to find an approved pasta dish!  I did modify it a little and add some italian turkey sausage for some extra protein and seasoning and I cut the acid with a small packet of stevia, but it was a great starting recipe for me.  

Ingredients

2 Teaspoons olive oil

sweet onion to taste (finely chopped)

bell pepper to taste (finely chopped)

2 tablespoons italian seasoning

3 cloves garlic (smashed)

2 28 oz. Can crushed tuttoruso tomatoes 

1 6 oz. Can tomato paste

1 package of Italian Turkey Sausage-I get mine at Aldi

1 small packet of stevia

Brown Italian Sausage, drain and set aside. 

Heat olive oil in large sauce pan

Chop onion/bell pepper finely and use a garlic press on the garlic.  Cook over low heat until translucent and fragrant, 10-15 mins. They should NOT brown. If they do you will need to start over.

Add italian seasoning to onion and garlic and saute for 2-3 minutes.

Raise heat to medium low. Add tomato paste to onion and garlic mixture. Mix well and allow to caramelize for 10-15 minutes.

 Add crushed tomatoes to pan. Add Stevia and stir well.

 Add browned italian sausage

Simmer over medium low heat for 30-60 minutes.

Serve over whole wheat noodles or spaghetti squash

Finished Product!  I love this sauce over spaghetti squash or whole wheat noodles-or a combination of both.  It is so good that my husband, who hates italian food, LOVES it!  And Hope told me it was the best spaghetti she has ever eaten-that says a lot since I used to make it all the time!  

PS-Do not be intimidated by spaghetti squash!  Just slice it in half and remove the seeds, brush the inside with olive oil, sea salt and pepper and lay it slice side down on a cookie sheet lined with foil.  Bake for 30 minutes or so at 400 degrees.  Once it is finished use a fork to remove the squash and it looks just like spaghetti noodles.  The good thing about the squash is you can use the larger green container.  I mixed it with a yellow container of  whole wheat noodles or make garlic toast out of whole wheat bread and serve with a salad.  

I made this on Saturday evening for dinner one night during the work week.  I will update with a picture of the final product on the night we eat it.  :) 

And if you are interested in learning more about a challenge group or the 21 Day Fix, comment, send me an email or go to my website.

Steak Fajitas-21 Day Fix Approved!

If there is one thing in life I know to be true, it is that I love food.  Especially when I can eat food that is good for me and not feel guilty about it!  There is nothing better than feeling like you are cheating on a meal when you are not!

The best thing that I have found with the 21 Day Fix, is that I do NOT starve myself-ever!  Sometimes, I have to force myself to eat all of my containers for the day.  So yesterday I was craving mexican food unreal.  I could probably eat my weight in chips and salsa!  So I walked to the freezer and pulled out a flank steak, whipped up a marinade and let it sit all day long.

After about 6-7 hours, I cut up my veggies and sautéed them while I put the steak on the grill.

After the steak and veggies were finished, I sliced the steak and loaded a whole wheat tortilla up with 1 red of steak, 1 green of veggies and 1/2 blue of cheese.  This meal was really easy, clean up was a breeze and best of all, it was amazing to eat!  And, I didn't have to feel guilty about eating all the chips and salsa afterwards!

Recipe:  21 Day Fix Steak Fajitas

Marinade:

1/4 cup olive oil

2 cloves fresh garlic

1/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce

1 teaspoon chili powder

sea salt and pepper to taste

Pour over flank steak and marinate for 6-8 hours

Veggies:

Slice assorted bell peppers, onions, zucchini, squash an sauté with a teaspoon of olive oil and 1/4 cup of leftover marinade.

Warm whole wheat tortilla (you can substitute corn tortillas as well), and measure the containers of steak, veggies and cheese.  

Enjoy!

BeachBody 21 Day Fix Challenge Pack-Honest Review

About 5 weeks ago my husband decided he wanted to lose some weight.  He was uncomfortable with his weight and really wanted to get some of it off.  I contacted on of my FaceBook friends that I had seen posting about some other BeachBody programs.  After some discussion, she advised me that the 21 Day Fix Challenge Pack was a great value for the money and that it contained nutrition and workout DVD's that could help him achieve his goals.  Needless to say we ordered it that day.  It contained everything in the photo above for $160.  For the month of September it is on sale for $140!  

I will be 110% honest here.  I was skeptical.  Especially about the Shakeology.  I mean, it was a "protein shake" in my mind and I wasn't sure it would really help in the process but we were willing to give it a shot.  I can't explain to you how much I love this product now!  I feel so much better an can tell if I miss drinking it everyday.  It helps curb my craving, especially for chocolate.  I highly recommend that you give it a chance with a challenge pack!

Now on to the 21 Day Fix program!  Honestly, when I got this challenge pack, I was like really?!?  The containers and instructions completely overwhelmed me!  But once I took it and broke it down into a plan, it turned out to be really simple and easy.  I absolutely adore the nutrition plan on this program.  Everyone that I told I was doing this program was like "you don't need to lose any weight" or "that is too complicated and will never work".  But I was determined to help Tony lose the weight he wanted and if I got more in shape and tone in the process that would be great!  Besides, just because I dress and can hide some imperfections didn't mean I didn't need to get my sugar addiction under control!  :)  

I sat down on a Friday night and made a menu plan for the week and then went shopping.  I am a true believer in the phrase "fail to plan and you plan to fail".  So I cleaned the pantry out and got rid of all my temptations-yeah Little Debbie Nutty Buddy I am talking to you!  It was thrown out and almost broke my heart in the process.  Haha! 

The first few days I was not very creative with my food.  I stuck with the basics like salad and grilled chicken at every meal-and it got old, really fast!  I love that food, but once you eat it every day it gets on your nerves.  It was at this point that I decided that I had to get some new ideas and foods going if I was going to make it.  I began a journey to find some clean eating foods that had great taste!  One of the main components of the 21 Day Fix is clean eating (no processed, pre packaged food).  I thought it was going to be really, really hard to do every day, but turned out easy.  And I feel better than I have in years!    I have way more energy!  

Keep watching the blog for more food and recipe posts!  My goal is to post recipes at least 2-3 times a week.  

Now on to the workout DVD's.  The trainer for the 21 Day Fix is Autumn Calabrese, a national bikini model/competitor and probably knowing that Tony was going to get to look at her every day while working out is quite possibly what motivated him to order it.  LOL!  ;-)  I wasn't sure how I would feel about the DVD's since sometimes trainers get on my nerves-think Jillian Michaels.  But I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I really enjoy these workouts.  Some days are harder than others for me, but I always walk away feeling like I got a great workout.  My favorite is probably Dirty 30.  But, I like them all!  

So now for the real question.....DID IT WORK?!?!  I will let you be the judge.  This is Tony and I on day 1 and day 21.  I lost 5 pounds and 5 total inches and Tony lost 10 pounds and over 12 inches in just 21 days.  We are on round 2 of the program and are still seeing results!  If you are interested in ordering this program, joining a challenge group or just getting more information, feel free to shoot me an email at lbmintz8@yahoo.com or contact me on my coach page.