Category: Food

Day 3 of Living Healthy- Homemade salsa, hummus and protein balls

Ok guys I took the plunge into eating a whole month without dairy, gluten, corn, soy, sugar, peanuts, oranges, white potatoes, white rice, caffeine and alcohol. You know all the good things in life. 😭 If any of you missed my last post I am doing Arbonne’s 30 days to healthy living. So here is what a normal day looks like for me.

6:30- Detox Tea

7:00- I mix together my digestion plus, 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar and 1/4 of a fizz stick in about 1/2 cup of water. Plug your nose and just take it like a shot

7:15- Protein shake

8:30- Fizz stick

10:00- Snack like veggies and hummus, berries, green apple or brown rice cake

12:30-1ish- Protein shake

2:00- Fizz stick

3:00- Bean chips and salsa, avocado or protein ball

5:30- Brown rice burrito bowl (brown rice, black beans, ground beef or chicken, red onion, roasted red bell pepper, avocado, salsa)

6:00- Dessert (fruit or protein ball)

8:00- Detox Tea

The first few days are hard. You are going to have headaches and be lethargic. The fizz sticks definitely help with your energy level. If I can get a little personal too you will have a ton of gas and it will STINK!!! Seriously like rotten eggs. Stay away from your husband if you still want him to be attracted to you because this is a total turn off haha. Just realize though that all that crap was inside you and your finally getting it out.

I’m not going to lie I have been hungry and sad when people bring delicious food around me. I need to feel better though and I want to lose weight so bad. Just know that you can do anything for 30 days.

For more information on this program you can contact my friend Shayla.

Facebook- Health & Wellness with Shayla

Instagram- Shayla Moreno

You Tube- MRSSHAYLA MORENO

Or Sarah

Facebook- Sarah Francis

Here is some recipes from the week.

Hummus:

– 1 15 ounce can garbanzo beans

– 1/4 cup lemon juice

– 1/4 cup Tahini

– 1 Garlic Clove

– 2 Tbsp Extra virgin olive oil

– 1 tsp salt

– 1/2 tsp cumin

– 2-3 Tbsp water

– Paprika sprinkled on top

Put everything in a food processor but the olive oil. Mix up. Then slowly add in the olive oil while it is mixing.

Salsa:

– 1 28 ounce can fire roasted tomatoes

– 1 jalapeno with seeds

– 1/2 white onion

– handful of cilantro

– Juice from one lime

– 1 tsp cumin

– 1 tsp salt

– 1 tsp pepper

Put everything in a food processor and blend to the consistency you want. Add more salt and pepper to taste.

Protein Balls:

– 2 cups oats

– 3/4 cups agave

– 2 scoops vanilla protein powder

– 1 scoop chocolate protein powder

– 1 cup almond butter

A splash almond milk to help them stay together.

Mix it all together in a food processor and make balls. I like to keep mine in the freezer but they are fine in the fridge too.

Staying strong only 27 more days to go.

The Best Zucchini Bread

Extra little recipe for you guys I love zucchini bread and when I get some zucchini from gardens that my friends have I go a little crazy and make a ton. This is the best zucchini bread recipe I have ever had

Zucchini Bread
3 eggs beaten
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 tsp vanilla
2 cups shredded zucchini
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
-Beat eggs tell light and fluffy, add sugar and beat
-Stir in oil, vanilla, zucchini
-Add dry ingredients
-Bake in greased pan at 325 for 50-60 minutes

30 Days To Healthy Living

I have struggled for a few years losing fifteen pounds that have been hanging on to me since I have gotten married and had children. It definitely doesn’t help that I make all this delicious food from the pioneer woman. So I have decided to take a break for 30 and do the ArbonneArbonne 30 days to healthy living.

Arbonne is a company that focuses on pure and botanically based ingredients. They do nutrition, skincare, hair products, makeup…. I mean I could go on and on but I’ll let you all look for yourself.

This is my friend Shayla’s link so you can look at all the products and I know she would be so glad if you bought anything.

http://www.shaylamoreno.arbonne.com

When it comes to stuff that I put on my skin I would much rather put natural ingredients. I mean have you ever looked up what’s in your makeup. It might freak you out! This is the skincare line that I use and it is an amazing anti aging product. I have only been using it for two days but I’ll be sure to take before and after pictures for you guys.

Love it!!

Now onto the nutrition. They offer 30 days to healthy living and they offer so much for this. There is a whole list of food that you can not have for 30 days like dairy, gluten, caffeine 😬😱. Slightly afraid of taking my wonderful coffee out of my life. This comes with two bags of protein, two boxes of fizz sticks, digestion plus, two boxes of detox tea, fiber booster and you can either have the 7 day cleanse or greens. You have two protein shakes a day and then one meal for dinner with a few snacks a long the way. Now don’t freak out about figuring out meals because they give you recipes and shopping lists. As for as the caffeine you get to have something called fizz sticks that have your caffeine in it. The point is to take 30 days to detox your body, feel better and best of all lose weight. I will be posting my before and after pictures and telling you all about how I feel along the way. Just look at how awesome my friend looks since she started Arbonne.

There is so much more to her story then just weight loss and it is so inspiring. You can follow her on facebook or instagram and she will tell you so much more about Arbonne then I could ever!

Facebook- Health & Wellness with Shayla

Instagram- Shayla Moreno

You Tube- MRSSHAYLA MORENO

Here are some more results.

I hope for some amazing results and more then ever I want to feel better.

Stay posted with me to hear about my journey!

Cap’n Crunch Chicken Strips

This is a revolutionary idea!!! I think people have crusted chicken with all sorts of cereals but it never crossed my mind to use Cap’n Crunch. Why? I have no idea, because it’s genius. Some of my very favorite recipes come out of this book and I would highly recommend buying it. Just click this link for the Pioneer Woman’s Cookbook Come and Get It. This recipe is on page 102

Cap’n Crunch Chicken Strips

Delicious Scale- 10 out of 10

Husband Delicious Scale- 8.5 out of 10 (it just threw him off a little that it was sweet but he really liked it)

Prep Time- 30 minutes

Clean up- three dishes

This recipe is so easy you just dip chicken tenders in a flour mixture with salt and pepper, then into an egg mixture and last into crushed up Cap’n Crunch. Pan fry until it’s a crispy golden brown. I am being 100% honest in saying this is the best chicken tender I have ever had. I also love the added sweetness from the cereal and the crunch that you get is unlike any other. This is worth driving to the store tomorrow just to make this.

Your kids will have a hay day that you put cereal on chicken! So get them involved with crunching up the cereal. What kid doesn’t like banging things.

Happy Cooking

Life Changing Brownie Cookies

I have a slight obsession with brownies. All desserts really but brownies are at the very top! So how do you have the perfect day. First you take your kids to the local pumpkin patch!

It was a perfect 70 degrees and we got the coolest pumpkins I have ever seen.

I love this sweet family of mine!

When we got home and the girls were sleeping I decided to enter into a chocolate dream land. So if you like the edges of brownies where they are crunchy and then soft in the middle this is the cookie for you.

Brownie Cookie

Cook at 350 for 9-10 minutes

Makes 36 cookies

4 ounces baking chocolate (unsweetened or bittersweet)

2 cups sugar

2 sticks of butter

3 eggs

1 Tbsp vanilla

2 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp of cocoa powder

Powder sugar for dusting

Start with melting the chocolate by putting it in the microwave. I used unsweetened to not have an overly sweet cookie.

Cream together butter and sugar

Add in eggs and vanilla

Then when the chocolate is cooled but not stiff add it into your butter mixture. Should look like this.

Now add in all your dry mix a little bit at a time.

I used a portion scoop so all my cookies were the same and placed them on a non stick mat.

Cook and then let cool completely before you sprinkle with powdered sugar.

I’m about to go on a really strict diet for thirty days so this is exactly what I needed to pull me through.

Happy Cooking

Pork Chops With Wine and Roasted Garlic

The Pioneer Woman talks alot of pan sauces and using the drippings from your meat to add more flavor. Well she’s 100% correct there is so much flavor in those drippings why waists it.

I believe wine sauces are utter bliss!! That flavor you just can’t get from anything else. I keep the white wines for chicken and fish and the red for beef. This was a first for me though. I have never used red wine with pork though so this was a first for me. This recipe is out of page 246 of the Dinnertime Pioneer Woman Cookbook.

Ingredients

20 cloves of garlic

4 Tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

4 boneless pork chops

2 Tbsp butter

1 1/2 cups red wine

1 bay leaf

1/2 cup beef broth

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

Chives for garnish

Now I won’t give you anything more then the ingredients so I don’t give away Ree’s trade secrets. You’ll just have to buy her book to know how the magic comes together.

Now who else loves the smell of wine while it is cooking? It is the best!

Place your pork back in the sauce and let it simmer for a little while.

So delicious. The wine gives it such a richness the pork chops so desperately need.

Happy Cooking!

Crock Pot Southwest Chicken Chili

I am a huge fan of crock pot meals. I am a working mom of two kids and it really heps on the days that I work. I work three, twelve hour shifts and when I can’t get home in time to make dinner its so nice for a meal to be already ready for my family. I just recently had a baby and to prepare for that I made about 15 crock pot meals to put in the freezer before I had my daughter because who wants to cook after they have a baby? It honestly will make your life so much easier.

I have about 20 crock pot meals that I love and I will share them with you but this one is my favorite! So stay tuned. The best part of this recipe is how easy it is. I mean this is what’s in it….

1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts

3 cans petite diced tomatoes

2 cups medium salsa

1 can corn

2 cans black beans

1 package ranch seasoning

1 package taco seasoning

Cook on low 4-6 hours

Take the chicken out towards the end of the cooking time and shred it, place it back in the crock pot.

I love to serve this with lots of toppings like cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips and avocado.

This is so delicious its amazing that such good flavor could come from so little ingredients. Just to let you all know all of this does fit in a gallon freezer bag but its a tight fit.

On a side note look how cute my fall table is. I got these adorable leaf table mats and cute pumpkin center piece.

This is super important if your going to make crock pot meals by yourself to hold the bags open for you.

Click this link to get yours Holders

Happy Cooking!

Caprese With Balsamic Glaze and Pizza

I’m having a hard time keeping up with every lately. I have filled pretty much every weekend up for us for the whole month of October. So I have had to keep myself organized as much as possible. My favorite thing recently is to put a to do list up on the fridge and list everything that I would like to get done for the week. I do a weekly instead of a daily so I don’t feel like a failure at the end of the day. With my days super full I need some cheese in my life to get me through it. Any cheese lovers out there?

I recently found fresh mozzarella at our grocery store. I honestly didn’t think they had it for the longest time but I wasn’t looking hard enough. So of course I had to make Caprese and semi-homemade pizza.

Caprese with Balsamic Glaze

1 Fresh Tomato

1 Ball of fresh mozzarella

Basil if you have it

Balsamic

Salt and Pepper

This is so easy just slice your tomato and mozzarella and layer them like this on a plate.

If you put your mozzarella in the freezer for 5-10 minutes this makes it a little easier to cut if you are having a hard time. Sprinkle over some salt and pepper. Next top with a balsamic glaze which you make by boiling about 1/2 cup of balsamic over low heat until you can drag a spoon down the center and it doesn’t instantly come back together. Take it off the heat and it will become thicker as it cools. This makes it a sweet candy like taste that is seriously to die for. I could just eat this stuff by the spoon full it is that good. Although, I do have a slight obsession with balsamic some my opinion might by bias.

Next of course is pizza!!! Everyone’s favorites. Except my daughter she is an odd girl! I made two different kinds because one is just not enough. My version of a supreme and taco pizza.

I buy the Pillsbury pizza dough because I am definitely not a baker. You cook this first for 8 minutes and then put all your topping on. Then put back in the oven for 8-10 minutes longer. Or until you obtain melty goodness.

Taco Pizza- seasoned refried beans on the bottom, then salsa, cheese and taco seasoned cooked ground beef. When it comes out of the oven top it with lettuce, tomatoes and sour cream.

Supreme Pizza- diced sweet peppers, onions, jalapenos, ground beef, pepperoni and fresh mozzarella.

All I can say is I’m in heaven! This was all about me though because my daughter doesn’t like pizza and my husband doesn’t like cheese. They are clearly not related to me I think they are aliens that I just happened to fall in love with.

Happy Cooking!

Chicken Noodle Soup- cooking with my two year old

I made this over the weekend but haven’t had time to post yet. The weekend completely surprised us and decided to snow about an inch. No one was expecting this because the weekend before it was 80 degrees.

The leaves are still on our trees so the snow pulled all the branches down. Of course with cold weather you have to make some soup and my daughter loves chicken noodle.

Chicken Noodle Soup

  • 8 cups chicken broth
  • 1-2 cups chopped chicken
  • 1 large onion chopped
  • 3-5 Carrots chopped
  • 5-7 celery stocks chopped
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 3 Tbsp butter
  • 1 Tbsp salt this will need to be adjusted if you are using salted chicken broth but mine was homemade so there was no salt
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp thyme
  • 1/2 tsp parsley
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp garlic salt
  • 2 tsp pepper
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1-2 cups pasta of choice I used mini farfalle

Start with putting your aprons on this really helps your child feel special and involved.

Start with a large soup pot and saute the carrots, celery and onion in the butter. Wait until these are softened and then add flour and all your spices.. Stir! Please be very careful with your kids standing this close to a hot pan and open flame. A lot can happen when you walk away for just a second. Lexi loves to stir and when she puts spices in she always asks if she can “pat pat”. This just means she wants to hit the end of the spice bottle to make more come out.

Add chicken broth and chicken. I had this left over from my whole roasted chicken. Just take all the chicken off the bone that you can and throw the bones into a crock pot. Cover the chicken all the way up with water and cook on low over night. This chicken bone broth is so easy to make. This save you money on buying the broth at the store and its incredibly healthy for you.

Let this boil for 15 minutes. Then add milk and cream cook for 15 more minutes. Last add your pasta! Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Taste and see if you need to add any more spices.

Oh I forgot to tell you I added some broccoli in. When I make soup its also an opportunity to empty out the fridge so I put any random vegetable I have in the fridge in. This soup is so delicious and gets even more amazing after it sits in the fridge.

Happy Cooking

Easy Amazing Fudge

I am all about something easy and sweet. I think I have one of the biggest sweet tooths in the world. I try to keep it under control because I would be 300 pounds if not. Sometimes it has a mind of its own though and I have to let it loose. Towards the beginning of this blog I stated that I’m not a vegetarian I’m a dessertarian and its unfortunately still true. If you balance this out with a ton of vegetables you can still maintain a relatively healthy lifestyle. Everything in moderation!

These are the two cookbooks I go through if you buy them through these links it helps support this blog. The Pioneer Womans Cookbooks Dinnertime and Come and Get It. This recipe is on page 362 of the Dinnertime Cookbook

Quick Fudge

Delicious Scale- 9 out of 10

Prep Time- 2 hours 15 minutes just because it has to set up in the frig

Clean up- Two pans super easy

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
  • One 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
  • Cooking spray

In a double boiler or just in a regular saucepan on low heat, melt together the chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk. When it is all melted and smooth spread in a foil lined pan sprayed with cooking spray. Place in the frig for at least two hours. Peel off the foil and cut into small squares. This is a good way to know how many you can have in a day. Maybe two, one after lunch and dinner. Don’t eat 3 maybe 5 right away like I did.

The nice part about this is you can spice things up with different toppings.

Some Ideas

  • Smores
  • Rocky Road
  • M&M’s
  • Nuts
  • Caramel
  • Crushed Peppermint

The options are endless. I hope you all our having a wonderful week.

Happy Cooking