Protein Pancakes

While I am not one to keep up the Kardashians...I saw this recipe from Kourtney and just had to try it out for something different for breakfast.

Super easy and mighty tasty too!
Recipe
6 egg whites
1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1/4th tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
Place all the ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth.
Pour into A non stick griddle, and cook until golden brown. Flip and cook and the other side.
Top with your favorite fruits and a drizzle of maple syrup!

Peach Kabobs

 Yummy grilling season is upon us.I was trying to think of new combinations to grill this season (and of course thinking of healthy). Super simple and packs a lot of taste of as well.

Ingredients:
~ a package of pork chops (I then cut them into cubes)
~ 2 peaches
~ 1 red onion
~ soy sauce
~ garlic
~ skewers

The night before I was going to grill, I cut the pork chops and red onion. I marinated it in some soy sauce and garlic. The next day I was ready to assemble the kabobs. Cut the peaches thick enough so that they'll string through the skewer. Make whatever combo you want on the skewer. I made 6 kabobs with what we had. Basically each skewer had 3 pieces of pork...2 peach pieces..and 2 onion slices. Tom put them out on the grill and there you go a nice dinner under 20 minutes.

I paired it with an old favorite of ours: http://sarahwawerek.blogspot.com/2015/06/clean-eating-spicy-lime-black-beans.html
I did substitute the quinoa with orzo since we had a box of it in the pantry.
Pork could also be substituted with chicken or steak and I'm sure it would still be delicious!

June three day refresh

So I decided I needed a good cleanse/detox! I had been sleeping pretty bad lately...hard falling asleep...waking up for odd hours during the night...so thought what the heck...let's try this again!!! I waited until I was done with the my Body Beast/Insanity hybrid. I finished that on June 4th (a Saturday)...started the refresh June 5th and ended today June 7th!!
So what is it?

What's included in the package:
〰 3 days worth of shakeology, fiber sweep, and a vanilla refresh!
〰 program guide
〰 guide to maintain once done
〰 me as your coach supporting you (while doing it at the same time).

Detox yourself...cleanse yourself...feel refreshed...lose weight....all while enjoying superfoods and real food...

 

So I started my day with water...

I would make sure to have this as soon as I woke up and walked down the stairs...

I then would have my Shakeology. I went with vegan chocolate for my refresh. Now here is a tip to share..I decided to mix my one fruit in the shake. I went with 1/2 of a medium banana. Now tip one..you will not have anything to eat until lunch. It was hard for me not to have anything to eat until about Noon...the last time I ate something was around 5 pm the previous nights. So if you think you are going to miss "eating" something...don't mix the fruit in your shake! I did it for all three days...mixing the fruit with shake..but just wanted to share :)

Next up was the optional cup of green tea. I did this all three days in the am only. By the time the afternoon and evening optional ones came around...in all honesty I wasnt in the mood for the cup of tea. So totally up to you if you do it!

Next up is the fun part..the fiber sweep!!! One time I put it in a bottle and shook it!! Not as good!! Do not do this!! LOL! I had to because we were out on Sunday but wanted to gag...and it's bad tasting enough on it's own. LOL!! I recommend putting it in your blender with your water...pour it in a cup and chug as fast as you can!!!! Really the worst part of the whole deal if you ask me!!! Not sugar coating it...hahaha!! But just chug and get it done!

Lunch time!!! I made mine the same for all three days!! I had red pepper and hummus!! So delicious.

Now with your lunch also comes the vanilla refresh! For some reason I didn't take a picture of it at lunch time. Now for lunch you are allowed a fruit..at dinner you are not! 

You will notice that there are two different plates for lunch. The first day I put my fruit (strawberries) into the shake. I personally did not like the consistency of the shake with the fruit in it. So I switched it up and had the blueberries on the side for my lunch the last two days.  It was so yummy to get to the food by this point of the day!!!

Snack time!! Yes I got five baby carrots and hummus!! I kept the snack the same for the past three days! Simple and yummy!




You can also throw in a tea between snack and dinner...I was not in the mood for it on the last two days. I just drank a lot of water.

Next up was dinner...

Love this salad. The recipe for it is in the program guide. Ate this all three days. The best part of doing the refresh during the summer...the produce and fruit is so yummy this time of year!
You also get a vanilla shake during dinner. You cannot add fruit to it. I added cinnamon to my lunch and dinner shake. I also put it in the blender to get it the consistency that I enjoy! 

Again you get a tea..but I just drank more water!

That's a wrap:

 
Let me tell you..keep your self busy while doing the refresh! On sunday we had a family fun day...shopping at three different stores...the boys were at lunch (torture)...more shopping..hanging up new pictures we just bought!! Busy was our word of the day. I was so busy that I got off track for the time suggestions in the program guide. Now Monday was a LLOOONNNGGG day!!! I was miserable! I was so hungry all day long and only thought of food..haahah!! I knew today (Tuesday) I wanted to be strong...so I kept myself busy with the kids...cleaned out their closets..organized..cleaned the floors. I felt so much better all day long. So something to think about is keep yourself busy!
Definitely feeling less of a bloat...sleep was awesome the past few day...I dont have a scale at home so not for sure if I lost any weight..but I'll try to find something to go by! Hahah!!! I'll share my after pictures tomorrow!! I think that this is something that I'll do about every other month...something similar just to detox myself. I notice the difference!! 
Hope that this helps and if you have any questions let me know!

Body Beast/Insanity Hybrid Results

So early March I completed Master's Hammer and Chisel  (I think around March 7th). I was going to Florida at the end of the month...so I didn't want to start 22 minute Hard Corp. So, Tom suggested that I do the Insanity Beast hybrid that he had done. I was a little hesitant only because I knew a lot of weights would be involved. I even went into this program thinking that I would do it until my FL trip and come back and start 22 minute. But guess what? I really enjoyed it. Each week was a variety of Body Beast programs and Insanity programs. The first month was longer and then the second month were the shorter programs. The last phase was a mix match of the programs and also included legs. Tom would tell you that out of all the programs that I have completed, he has seen the most results with this one. I loved the variety of cardio one day and then weights mixed in. I also love Shaun T and the original insanity. He has such great energy in that program. I would def. recommend doing these programs as a hybrid. I've done the whole Insanity program (back in 2012...my first ever Beachbody program), but loved having it mixed in with some weights! I dont know how much I weighed prior to the program or my stats. I can tell you that based on my clothing they are looser again! These two programs came out prior to the 21 day fix containers. But I still loosely followed it while completing the program. I should probably pay a little more attention to the yellow container...but did really well keeping my nutrtion on point. I sitll have my cheat meal on the weekend..but really tried hard and I think it showed.
Here the final results.

The top two were taken after completing Hammer and Chisel.
The bottom two were taken yesterday after I finished my least beast program.
I have now started my three journey with the 3 day refresh, so I'll keep you posted on how that goes and what I ate during my journey!

21 Day Fix Approved stuffed Shells

I LOVE pasta!!!! I wanted to find a meal that could be a little more than just the regular brown rice pasta I've been having. This uses ricotta cheese over a bunch of mozzarella cheese. It is sooo delicious!!! Saved some for my lunch tomorrow!! Looking forward to eating it again. LOL!

Ingredients

• 25 Jumbo Shells (whole wheat if you can find them!)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 lb ground beef (or turkey)
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 2 cups fresh spinach, chopped
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups pasta sauce
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella
• salt and pepper

Directions

1. Cook shells until el dante and set aside (TIP: I cooked mine earlier in the morning so it would cool down and be a little easier to work with).
2. Heat oil over skillet and add garlic and saute for a few min.  Add ground meat and onions and season with salt and pepper.  Cook until meat is no longer pink. Set aside to cool.
3. Heat some more oil and cook the spinach (if you want to or omit this step..I cooked mine ahead of time).
4. Mix ricotta cheese, spinach and eggs in bowl.
5. Once meat mixture is cooled, add to ricotta mixture.
6. Pour 1/2 cup of pasta sauce in bottom of 9×13 dish.
7. Stuff 25 pasta shells with roughly 2 tablespoons of mixture and place in baking dish. Pour remaining 1 1/2 cups of sauce over the shells and top with mozzarella cheese.
8. Cover with aluminum foil and bake in oven at 400 for 30-35 minutes.

**21 Day Fix Containers (per 5 shells): 1 Yellow, 1 Red, 0.5 Purple, 0.5 Green, 1 Blue ***

Lemon chicken pita with spicy garlic sauce

I had pinned a recipe on Pinterest...but didn't have the time to grill it. So I kind of took the basis of the recipe but put my own spin on it!!! It was delicious and a very light tasting dinner!!

Ingredients:
• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• Olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed through garlic press
• Zest of 1 lemon (about 1 tablespoon)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Pinch or two black pepper
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• ¼ teaspoon coriander
• ¼ teaspoon paprika
• 4 middle eastern-style flatbreads (you can use pita bread, as well)
•  greens
• Sliced tomatoes
• Spicy Garlic Sauce (recipe below)

Place the  chicken into a slow cooker, and drizzle in about 2 tablespoons of olive oil; add in the garlic, plus the remainder of the ingredients up to and including the paprika, and using your hands, toss all of the seasonings/spices very well to coat the chicken. I cook mine on low for about 6 hours.
Cook time will depend on your slow cooker.

To make the spicy garlic sauce:
  ½ cup sour cream or full-fat, plain Greek yogurt
• 3 cloves garlic, pressed through garlic press
• 1 tablespoon tahini
• 2-3 teaspoons sriracha (I used a lot more since I like mine spicy, so use your own judgement!)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Pinch black pepper
• Pinch cayenne pepper (again, you can use more, if you like it spicier)
• ½ teaspoon lemon juice 
Place into a mixing bowl and blend.

After the chicken was done, I put the sauce on one side of the pita bread, added lettuce, tomato, and I decided the last minute some onion. Add chicken!!
Enjoy! 

Avocado Pasta

Creamy Avocado Pasta! I have been craving the avocados (okay mostly guacamole). I had seen a friend recommendation for avocado basil pasta. I thought why not. Got my ingredients and went to town. It was yummy!!!

Ingredients

• 12 ounces spaghetti
• 2 ripe avocados, halved, seeded and peeled
• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1/3 cup olive oil 
• Crushed red pepper
•  
  Instructions
• In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain well.
• To make the avocado sauce, combine avocados, basil, garlic and lemon juice in the bowl of a food processor; season with salt and pepper, to taste. With the motor running, add olive oil in a slow stream until emulsified; set aside. 
• Mix in a large bowl with pasta. Sprinkle crushed red peppers as you like.
•  
• My favorite pasta now a days is the brown rice one from Aldi's. Cooks up nicely and tastes delicious!! I served with steak. Yummy! You can add veggies to your pasta if you want...but I decided not to.