Teriyaki glazed mushrooms & bok choy

One of my all time favorite healthy greens is baby bok choy!! I love the texture the flavor, the crunch! Yum! Packed with nutrients and healthy whatcha-ma-callits vitamins! Here is a quick and easy delicious recipe!

-1 tbs sodium free soy sauce

-1 finely diced shallot

-1 finely diced garlic

-2 tbs low sodium or low fat teriyaki glaze 

-1/2 tsp sirachi sauce

-8 tbs water 

-sliced mushrooms

-bok choy

1. Mix all together in bowl until combined

2. Lightly oil sauté pan with olive oil.

3. Add mushrooms and sauté for 2-3 minutes

4. Add bok choy and teriyaki mixture until spread over all vegetables

5. Cook with lid until soft, stirring a few times

It's delicious!

Protein rich pancakes!

After a great gym session, you need protein within 45 minutes of working out to repair and grow muscle.

I found this recipe on http://www.ceceilielind.com and I loved them! Granted, I didn't have oats handy so I used cream of wheat instead and they were still fine!

Ingredients:

-100% pure whey protein (I used cinnamon flavor)

-3 egg whites

-1 bag cream of wheat (or 1/2 c oats)

-1/4 c flour

-2 tbs cocoa

-3 tbs water or until desired consistency

Mix all ingredients and throw on your skillet, fry pan, pancake griddle or whatever you use for pancakes! Makes approx 4-5. I topped with fresh strawberries and some homemade strawberry sauce (just blended up strawberries, 1 packet of sweet and low, and water), poured it on top and yum!

Baked Mussels- Power Protein!

Here is a super quick, easy and very healthy dinner! I paired mine with some grilled scallops and an endive salad and it was fabulous!! If u like oysters and have never had these, you will love them! If you still haven't learned to love mussels, you should try them anyways! With a mere 9 calories per mussel and almost 2g of protein for each one, I don't know how you can beat that! Scallops have about 26 calories per one and 5g protein! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

-1 clove garlic

-1 diced shallot

-1/4 onion 

-4 tbs shredded Parmesan cheese

-olive oil

-breadcrumbs

-diced fresh parsley

-lemon

-mussels

In a boil pan, use olive oil and lightly sautee the minced garlic, shallot, and onion. While they are cooking, rinse and scrub the mussels- they have "beards" you want to rub off. Any mussels that are already open, discard in trash (hint: throw it in the trash outside!) 

Once onions& shallots are soft, add mussels and enough water to cover fully. Boil until they open. Remove from heat and rinse in cold water immediately. 

Pull them open and break half shell off. Put on baking sheet and top with a little fresh shredded parm (Parmesan cheese), diced parsley, and breadcrumbs. Total toppings should be less than 1 tsp.

Bale at 350 for a few minutes until mussels are hot! Serve with lemon and ENJOY!!

Wanderlust- what's your definition?

WANDERLUST- whats your definition?

 

Wanderlust- these are my two favorite definitions. Typically, it is the unconditional desire and need to want to travel and experience the world. I definatly have this syndrome.

The average life expectancy is about 75 years, give or take. Thats 657,000 hours in the average person's life. Let's say most people get a job after college and work a normal 40 hour workweek (i know, thats rare, most of us work upwards closer to 60)- that brings you down to 210,240 available hours from the ages of 23-75. Almost there, bear with me now....Sutract a 40 hour workweek, and you have 139,144 available hours to sleep, eat, run errands, workout, live your life, and do whatever else it is you need to do. After an 8 hour sleep day (which again most of us do not get), that leaves you with  72 free hours per week!!
Now, with that being said, what are you doing with your time? If something happened tomorrow, if you became deathly ill, if you became paralized, tramautized, or lost someone close to you in your life, what would you do? Chances are you would look back and wish you could change things. But why do that?

Brings me back to my point...uh hum...sorry. =) "Take advantage of every minute you have," is my day to day motto. I book my minutes and times and weeks to the tee so I can experience everything I can in this short time we are on earth! I would say a good chunk of my life is devoted to seeing the world! I save lots of money and put in lots of time and effort to do something this important to me. Whats your wanderlust? Maybe it isn't traveling. Maybe it's crafting, or photography, or reaching a goal you have. It can be anything! I love creating experiences to gather my friends and family together. I thrive on working out and scuplting my body and creating food masterpieces. I love my family and my husband and my babygirl lucy!

Just some Thursday inspiration....take this as your "throwback thursday" and bring what you have to the table! =) For more inspiration, try reading Into The Wild by John Krakauer. It is one of my favorite books ever about a man who gives all his money to charity, picks up his life and backpacks into the wilderness, living only out of a shellpack. It is great!

 



Pretty Brunch Spread for Mothers Day

I had so much fun cooking, baking, and setting up a gorgeous spread for my family for Mothers day! My mom loved it SO much she has asked me to cater a few events she is hosting (with pay of course) =) I guess I will add that to another hat that I wear!

Anyways, as promised, photos of my spread. I have included step by step photos of the trifle, as I thought it was the most fun to make! (no it wasnt the fact that I got to keep licking sugar free whip cream off my hands....or...ehh...maybe!)

Hope your mothers day was just as beautiful and wonderful!

ENJOY!

 

The table set up- theme was yellow & pink. I had a dual-sided table runner made on Etsy that cost only $15! It was so pretty! I am using the other side this weekend =)

 

Pink peonies (they were a challenge to find, not to mention expensive but they are one of my favorite flowers!), two pink garden roses, one white garden rose, and a stem of white hydrangea

Raspberry Scone Set up

                                        Cantelope & strawberry salad with yogurt & mint

 

             Homemade lemon & mint tea                            
                                                                                             

 

Sauteed brussel sprouts & egg casserole  

 

Peach Mason jar sangria

                                                      Bacon wrapped Figs                                                     

 

First use of my Trifle Dish i got as a wedding gift! (FINALLY!)

Took half the marscapone cheese & whipped cream mixutre and added 1 drop of red food coloring to make pink! Other half i left white

 

Seedless raspberry jam preserves with 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed OJ & orange liquor

The other half of the white-- fresh whipped cream (with splenda) and marscapone cheese

Layer with lady fingers then jam, then cheese mixture (white & pink) then raspberries

 

Repeat until all ingredients are gone

 

Whoila! Homemade raspberry low sugar trifle! It was delicious too!

(Hint-- next time i would make it the night before so the cookies can sit and soak up all that goodness. It was almost twice as good when i had a few bites yesterday....oops! ha!)

 

 



Low Fat raspberry Scones!

I made these as one of my treats for Mother's Day and they were fabulous!! Super easy too and you can make them ahead of time!

Ingredients:

2 cups raspberries

2 1/2 c flour

1 tbs baking powder

1/2 c unsalted butter, cold and sliced up

1/2 c Splenda baking sugar 

1 tsp salt

1 c buttermilk

1 egg yolk

1. In food processor, pulse all dry ingredients (not raspberries)

2. Pieces at a time, add butter slices through feed tube until blended and sticky

3. Slowly add buttermilk and egg yolk

4. Spread dough onto floured surface and knead until well mixed

5. Gently fold in raspberries 

6. Raspberries will Smush a little bit- this is ok! 

7. Cut dough into 1 inch thick pieces by about 2 inch wide 

8. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until just lightly golden at 400 degrees.

9. Sprinkle with sugar and enjoy! 

Approx 110 calories per piece!

Mother's Day Brunch!!

Mother's day! What a wonderful day- a time to celebrate all those women out there that put up with us, took care of us when we were sick, cleaned up after us, bore us, and let us annoy the crap out of them.....yep, MOMS!

For mothers day, I am having both set of our parents over along with my brother and his girlfriend and we (by we, i mean me....scott will do the dishes lol, thanks babe) are doing a great big brunch spread- serve yourself style, which is my FAVORITE! I love making lots of cocktail-style/mini foods so you have lots of different tastes on your palate, typically less calories, and can have a little bit of everything.

Here's whats on the menu for Sunday! Pictures to come post-brunch!

1. Cantelope Strawberry Salad
          *cantelopes scooped out with a melon baller
          *sliced strawberries
          *1/2 c low fat vanilla yogurt
          *crushed mint
          *lemon juice
          *sliced almonds
    (combine lemon juice, strawberries, cantelope balls, and yogurt in a bowl- mix well. Garnish with almond slivers and finely chopped mint. Chill & serve!)

2. Date with a Pig (fun name twist on bacon-wrapped-dates...DONT knock these before you try them...im serious!)
         *pitted dates
         *lean bacon
         *brown sugar
     (Set oven to 450. Wrap dates with thin slice of bacon and hold using a toothpick. Repeat until desired number of dates are done. Brush some brown sugar + water onto bacon. Bake until bacon crisp, about 15 minutes. Flip halfway through-drain on papertowel before serving)

3. Peach Sangria in Mason Jars (i LOVE mason jars!!! they are so much fun! I bought a 12 pack for $7.49 at walmart! SCORE!)
        *4 c hulled strawberries
        *4 tbs water
        *1 sliced peach, peeled, for sitting in the juice
        *1-2 c fresh squeezed OJ (i juice my own)
        *1 cup of peach puree (just blend/purree sliced & peeled peaches in a blender)
        *2 bottles prosecco
     (stir all together in a large pitcher or serving glass container. Let sit for 2 hours before serving)
4. Raspberry Scones
       *2 1/2 c flou
       *1/4 c + 1 tbs sugar
       *1 tbs baking powder
       *3/4 tsp salt
       *1/2 c unsalted butter
       *3/4 c buttermilk
       *1 large egg yolk
       *1 1/2 c raspberries
    (Heat oven to 400. In a food processor, pulse flour, sugar, baking powder & salt. Add butter (room temperature) and pulse until pea-size pieces form. In a bowl, whisk buttermilk & egg yolk. Slowly pour buttermilk mixture through feed tube into processor, pulsing until dough forms. Transfer dough to lightly floured surface & sprinkle raspberries on top. Knead 3-4 times to fold in raspberries (try not to squish!) Gather & pat dough into 1 inch thick squares and cut/pull apart into 2 inch pieces. Place 2 inches apart on baking sheet (so they cook evenly) and sprinkle with 1 tbs sugar. Bake 15-18 minutes.


5. Meredith's Breakfast Casserole- there are so many versions of breakfast casserole, you can really make this anyway you want. This is one i've made and tried different variations of. Courtesy of Cooking Light i've made my own changes.
         *2 slices wheat bread
         *1 lb breakfast sausage or spiced ground pork (what i use to substitue for lower fat)
         *6 large eggs, beaten
         *2 c fat free milk
         *salt & pepper to taste (i dont use salt =)
         *1 1/2 c sliced & peeled red potatoes (thin slices)
         * 1 c fat free cheese (im going to use a mixture of grated gruyere & fat free cheddar)
 (Grease baking dish. In a skillet, cook sausage (or pork) until almost done, about 5 minutes. Drain fat. Layer bread, sausage, potatoes, and cheese in casserole dish. In a bowl, whisk eggs, milk, spices, salt & pepper. Pour egg mixture over casserole. Cover & refrigerate overnight. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Top with chives.


6. Raspberry Tiramisu
       GREAT recipe by Giada de Laurentiis here or im using the trifle tiramisu by Ree Drummond, one of my all time favorite chefs (she lives in Texas!!) here . Topping it off with homemade whipped cream (using splenda! not regular sugar!)

7. Mini Layered Brownie Trifle
      I LOVE LOVE LOVE my mini foods!! Im literally obsessed! I came up with this one (again, im sure its already out there) a while back and LOVE it! You can make so many desserts in shot glasses! I have some super cute glass lined shotglasses that are clear, and i make these in them so you can see all the pretty layering!
        *1 fat free or low sugar brownie mix, already made
        *homemade whip cream (use splenda or sugar substitute to save on calories!)
        *1 pkg chocolate fat free pudding
        *sliced almonds (you can use anything- coconut, nuts, sprinkles, fruit, dried fruit, anything will go with this! strawberry jam would be good on top too!)
(Alternatly layer brownie, pudding, and whip twice in the shotglass. Sprinkle with your choice of toppings!)



There ya have it! Covered all the main areas- and its a very festive pink-themed brunch! Will post pictures after Sunday! =)

HIIT it quick workout!

Pressed for time? This workout took me less than 40 minutes and I hit 422 calories! Part of the moves are from DAILYHIIT (aka bodyrock.tv) and some I threw in myself.

You will need:
-10lb sandbag or plastic weighted tube bar
-jump rope
-small medicine ball
-interval timer

Start with a 3-5 minute jog at 2.0 incline for a warm up.

Then, set your interval timer to 45 seconds work (high interval) and 15 seconds rest (low interval). Adjust timing as needed (ex- a beginner might do 30:30 and advanced might do 50:10 as Lisa Marie on bodyrock does! I'm not quite there yet...)

Follow excercises on the card and repeat 3 times!

*for help on specific excercises contact me, google, or u can find most on bodyrock*

After 3 rounds, if u want that extra calorie burn, do 50 push-ups, 100 lunges, and 150 crunches!! (No time limit)


Try it out! I loved it!

Mini Yogurt Parfaits

I made these about two weeks ago and love love loved them!! There are so many different variations you can make! Any glass will do, I used cute vintage beer glasses that were about 4oz each and they were perfect!

Layer graham cracker crumbs at the bottom, top with plain fat free Greek yogurt, any fruit u choose (I muddled some blackberries and kept whole ones because I wanted some of the ooey gooey goodness!). Top with more graham cracker crumbs, nuts, granola- anything! Use a dollap of fat free whip cream and yummmmmm!!! Easy peasy! Enjoy!