Blender Blueberry Muffins

A home cooked breakfast is probably one of my favorite meals. There's just something about a fresh cup of coffee, the calm morning, and the smells of breakfast cooking that I just can't get enough of! One breakfast food I really enjoy is blueberry muffins. Thanks to Beachbody I found a healthy alternative to the typical blueberry muffin mix packs I use to buy! AND they aren't time consuming to make, so it's a win-win if you ask me! This recipe makes 12 muffins.

Ingredients:

- Nonstick cooking spray

- 1 cup of reduced fat plain Greek yogurt (2%)

- 3 tbsp. raw honey (I love using my local honey)

- 2 large ripe bananas, cut into chunks

- 2 large eggs

- 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

- 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

- 1 and 1/2 tsp. baking powder

- 1/2 tsp. baking soda

- 1/2 tsp. sea salt

- 2 cups of fresh or frozen blueberries

- 2/3 cup of chopped walnuts, almonds, or sunflower seeds (I prefer almonds)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

2. Line your muffin pan with muffin liners or coat with your cooking spray. I like to use the liners just to make my clean-up a little simplier

3. Put yogurt, honey, bananas, eggs, vanilla extract, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in blender. Blend until smooth. You may have to scrape the sides one or two times just to make sure everything gets blended together well.

4. Fold in blueberries and nuts

5. Evenly pour your mix into your muffin cups

6. Bake 20-25 minutes. My oven has a mind of its own, so I start testing them around 18 minutes just so I don't burn them. If your tester comes out clean, they're done

Once they cool you're good to go! 

Now this recipe will make about 12 muffins, and I'm going to assume you will have some left over. You can freeze any leftovers which also makes this recipe something great to make ahead of time to have as an easy on the go treat. You can put them in the microwave for about 30 seconds to have ready to eat right then, or pack them in your lunch box and they'll be thawed out by the time you eat them. If you follow the 21 day fix portion control containers, one muffin counts as 1/2 purple, 1 yellow, and 1/2 blue.

Clean Slowcooker Chili

I love slow cooker meals! There so simple it's honestly impossible NOT to love them, in my opinion! During the school year when life gets very busy, slow cooker meals become my go-to. They're great for those night when nobody feels like cooking and you're tempted to order pizza.

Ingredients:

- 1 lb. ground turkey

- 1/2 cup diced tomatoes (if you buy this canned try to get organic)

- 8 oz. whole kernal corn, canned

- 1/2 onion, diced

- 2 cloves of garlic

- 8 oz. can of black beans

- 8 oz. can of pinto, chili, or kidney beans (your preference)

- 1 tbsp. tomato paste

- 1 package of Lawry's chili seasoning

- Low-fat shredded cheddar cheese (optional...I skip on the cheese but only because of my dairy allergy)

Directions:

1. Brown turkey. Drain and discard any fat.

2. Put all the ingredients except for the cheese into your slow cooker.

3. Cook for 4 hours on low or 2 hours on high.

4. If adding cheese, top with cheese when serving

Enjoy!

Grilled Chicken Wrap

During school, this was one of my go-to lunches! It was so easy to make real quick when school activities make you feel like you're being pulled 100 different directions.

Ingredients:

- 1 whole wheat tortilla

- Hummus (my favorite kind is the roasted red pepper, but any you like will work)

- Grilled chicken cut to your preference, I prefer very fine slices 

- Lettuce

-Tomato

-Feta cheese (optional, I can't have cheese so I skip this but I know it would be great on here)

Directions:

1. Spread the hummus on the tortilla.

2. After you cut the chicken how you want it, put it in the wrap

3. Add your lettuce, tomato, and feta cheese on top of the chicken. If you have any other veggies you want to add, feel free!

4.I wrap mine up and pack it in my lunch box the next day! 

I usually try to eat this with some fruit since I cover the other food groups all in one wrap. This wrap is so simple and delicious you're going to end up making it all the time! Don't say I didn't warn you! ;)

Clean Eating Cookie Dough Yogurt

I have a serious sweet tooth. I use to think I was more of a salty kind of girl, but nope! I want all sweet things! I guess that's what this pregnancy is doing to me. I read somewhere that if you're having a girl you crave sweet. At this point I would have to agree with that. 

Since I have been craving so many sweet lately, I have been on the hunt for healthier options. This clean eating cookie dough yogurt recipe is wonderful! It definitely satisfies my sweet tooth!

Ingredients:

- 3/4 cup of plain Greek yogurt

- 1 tbsp nut butter

- 1/4 tsp vanilla

- a pinch of sea salt

- 1 tbsp of mini chocolate chips

Directions:

Here's the easy part! Just mix it all together and top with the chocolate chips! A sweet and simple treat makes this pregnant girl happy! :) 

Clean Eating Chicken

Oh man, one of my go-to things to eat is chicken! It's also one of my favorite things to cook because it's so east and literally can go with almost anything! Besides chicken, I am also all about a simple recipe. If a recipe is complicated, you can count me out. Here's a simple recipe that I have found that is great! This is a clean version of chicken parmesan. I have a dairy-allergy, so I like to buy dairy free parmesean cheese to use with mine!

Ingredients:

- 2 pounds of boneless and skinless chicken breasts

- 1/4 cup of bread crumbs (gluten free or just regular panko crumbs)

- 2 tbsp Parmesan cheese (the fresher the better and grated!)

- 2 egg whites

- 1/4 tsp sea salt

- 1/8 tsp black pepper

- 1/8 tsp lemon pepper

- 1/8 tsp oregano

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

2. Break open eggs into a separate dish and scramble well

3. In a mixing bowl, combine bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, sea salt, black pepper, lemon pepper, and oregano

4. Dip each side of chicken breast into the egg and then into the bread crumb mixture

5. Place in a large baking dish

6. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I have! 

Summer Cookouts: Turkey Burgers

It's officially summertime, and you know what that means! Cookouts, picnics, family gatherings, pool time, vacation, and more! Yes all of that is fun and wonder, but that also tends to be when we fall off the wagon with our nutrition.

Whenever my family gets together we usually have a cookout. We have the usual summer meal: hamburgers and hotdogs. Traditional hamburgers are chocked full of saturated fat, calories and cholesterol but they taste soo good! That’s because fat creates flavor and the more flavor the more rib stickin it gets.  But there is a way to preserve flavor and keep it clean!! 

So, now you may be wondering how in the world do I make a hamburger fit into my clean eating routine??

Here's how:

You need to start with lean ground turkey, fresh is best!
Chop 1 onion and fold into your turkey meat
I like to add onion salt (not required)
Garlic
Chopped parsley
Salt & pepper
I also like to add hamburger seasoning to give it a little more flavor
Form into patties and you're ready to grill!
We cook them until the juices run clear

Each burger s eaten on a whole grain bun with any veggie topping you want such as: lettuce, red onion, pickles, and tomatoes. I prefer mustard on mine and my husband prefers all natural ketchup. 

Now you're ready to handle this summer without a problem!

Total Slacker

image: A Good Hue

Well as usual I make some grand promise to blog regularly about a certain topic and I fail. Let me tell you, the end of the school year stuff totally kicked my butt. I felt like I kept running in circles trying to get stuff done, but still not getting it all done! It was very exhausting.

So, about working out.

I have continued to workout with the 21 Day Fix. I did slack a little the last two weeks of school, but I am back on track now!

After Round 1 of the 21 Day Fix

So far, as of right now (in my last week of Round 2) I have lost 15 pounds and over 12 total inches! I truly believe in this program and I am loving my results! I have a lot of people give me grief about trying to lose weight though. 

No, I don't think I am fat.

Do I think I am as fit as everyone else thought I was?

No.

I would get so out of breath just walking up the stairs at school, or sometimes just walking to the mailbox.

I am blessed with an awesome metabolism, so that is the only reason my body never gained a whole lot of weight. 

I weighed 148 though before I started this program, and that is the most I have ever weighed. 

I hated it. 

My clothes were to tight.

I looked like I was in the early stages of pregnancy in a few of my favorite tops.

I was miserable, and decided something had to be done. 

My main goal with working out was to become more tone. If I lost weight along the way, great! But the goal is to become tone and fit, not skinny and thin. 

I love food to much for that!

I am about to start my third round of the 21 Day Fix. My goals for this round are to stay motivated and complete the workouts every single day. I don't want to skip like I did this past round.

Another goal I have is to follow the strict nutrition plan better, and not eat out as much. We probably eat out every single night. Now, I do make healthier choices when we do, but I enjoy cooking. I would love to get back in the kitchen and learn how to cook some healthy meals. 

I don't want to promise to much as usual, but I do plan on posting more. I can't keep slacking on everything like I have been doing lately. I have to do better!

Find me on Instagram to see what I'm up to each day!

21 Day Fix Day 2

Yesterday was Day 2 of the 21 day fix. My legs are definitely feeling the workout from yesterday! Sitting down and bending over is a struggle. For breakfast yesterday I had scrambled eggs with hot sauce. It was so good! I could eat that every morning and not get bored with it. I also had my cup of coffe and some pickles with it. Lunch was Cafe Latte Shakeology, yummy! My afternoon snack was string cheese. For supper I baked chicken and topped it with all purpose seasoning. The recipie for the seasoning is in the 21 Day Fix book that comes with the challenge pack, and it taste wonderful. I put my chicken on a bed of brown rice with a side of green beans. I put the same seasoning on my green beans which made them so good! My evening snack was some organic fruit gummies. I don't think they're 21 Day Fix approved, but it was almost bed time and I was hungry so it was something satisfying and quick.  

Yesterday's workout focused on the upper body. Now, it still worked everything else but it was mainly shoulder and arms type workouts along with some ab work. It was great to give my legs a little break since they were so sore from the day before. 

Even though I am only 2 days in, I am absolutely loving this program! I can already tell I am going to see great results! 

Love my Shakeology! 

21 Day Fix Day 1

Ok, so I successfully completed day 1 of my 21 day fix. For breakfast I made a spinach and mushroom omelet, which I hated by the way. I would much rather just eat my egg with a small salad on the side. I'm weird about certain food mixing and the spinach with my eggs was just gross to me, but I ate it anyway. Don't want to waste it right? For a snack I had one thing of string cheese. Lunch was skipped (not recommended) only because I took a pretty long nap. By the time I woke up from my nap it was to late for lunch because it would have interfered with my appetite for supper. Instead I made a Shakeology shake and OH MY GOODNESS it was so yummy! I've never had it before and it did not disappoint. Cafe Latte flavor is my favorite so far! Supper was not a completely wonderful meal. We ate at Cracker Barrel for my Pawpaw's birthday. I ordered vegetables, which sounds good until I ordered the dumplings as one of my vegetables. Oops!! 

The workout today was a full body cardio. Let me be really honest, I was needed water after the warmup. I am so out of shape!! The workout was great though. It only last for 30 minutes, so it went by pretty fast. There is also one person in the group on the workout that is the modifier, so if the workout gets to difficult you can just follow that person. I noticed I was getting way too tired too fast, so I stuck with that modifier. It was still a great workout! I'm definitely sore from it! 

New Beginnings

Well, well, well. I am actually writing a blog post! It has seriously been to long! 

Have you ever wanted to make a change for the better, but wasn't sure how or where to start? 

Wanted to start a healthy lifestyle, but became to overwhelmed and quit before you even got started?

Well, me too!! Tomorrow I am completely stepping out of my comfort zone and starting something new. I start my 21 Day fix tomorrow! 21 Day fix is a Beachbody program that includes an at home workout, food guide, portion control containers, and wonderful coaches to help and support you along the way. An optional part of the program is the Shakeology, which is these awesome shakes that you can drink as a snack or as a meal. I hear they taste wonderful! I went ahead and ordered those to go along with my program.

Joining a group like this is something I would have never done before, but I decided instead of complaining about my clothes being to tight that I would actually do something about it! When you join you also get added to a group on Facebook with other people doing the same workout program as you. How awesome is that?!? I love that it is somewhere I have that will hold me accountable. That will keep me motivated because I do not want to have to admit to the group that I skipped my workout or whatever the case may be.

I am telling you all this to also say that I will be posting about it on here. I think writing blog posts about it each day will also hold me accountable with not only my workouts, but also with my meals. 

Wish me luck! It starts tomorrow! I'll let you know how day 1 goes!