Easy Pork Parmigiana

I made this last night for the family and my 12 yr. old son ate a WHOLE pork chop!  Needless to say, I'll be making it again!  For a lighter version use olive oil and go easy on the cheese.  I served this with a side salad and fresh pasta (found in the refrigerated aisles of the grocery store).

Ingredients:
1 egg
2 T powdered Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1 to 2 T of olive oil
4 3/4 inch thick pork tenderloins or boneless pork chops
1 24 oz jar of spaghetti sauce
shredded mozzarella cheese


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix 1 egg with 1T of water in shallow bowl and set aside.

Combine Parmesan cheese with bread crumbs in another bowl.

Start heating up olive oil in a large frying pan.

Dip meat in egg mixture; then dredge in crumbs.  Brown breaded pork in the olive oil.
Place in a greased casserole dish.  Top with spaghetti sauce.

Bake about 30 minutes.  Top with grated mozzarella cheese and return to the oven for 5 minutes.


Enjoy!

White Chicken Chili

A new recipe!   Just for you.

White Chicken Chili

1 ½ cups dried navy beans

1 large onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic

olive oil

6 cups chicken broth (from boiling the whole chicken)

1 whole chicken

1 4oz can chopped green chilies

1 tsp salt

1 ¼ ground cumin

¾ tsp dried oregano leaves

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

1/8  tsp ground cloves

Monterrey Jack cheese

For beans:

Cover dried navy beans with about 3 inches of water, bring to a boil, remove from heat and let stand 1 hour.  OR soak them overnight.  Drain off water

For chicken:

Bring 4-6 quarts of water to a boil.  Add whole chicken with some salt. 

(You can also add 1 or two carrots and stalks of celery for some extra flavor.  The water should just about cover the chicken so remove some it there is too much after adding the chicken). 

Cook at a low boil for an about an hour or when the meat is separating a bit from the bones.  Remove chicken and let cool.  Take all of the meat off of the chicken and set aside.   SAVE the broth for the recipe!

Saute onion and garlic in the olive oil.  Add the chicken broth and soaked beans.  Cook about 2 hours-till beans are tender.  Then add the chicken, green chilies, salt and spices. 

Cook about 20-30 minutes.  Top with cheese! 

A casserole replacement

This a repost that I wanted to share again:  
When our family started eating healthier, most of my casseroles were cut from the menu.  But every once in a while you just need something creamy right?  I made this recipe last night to satisfy that craving. No cream of mushroom soup or loads of sour cream.  This recipe only uses half a block of cream cheese and it makes a BIG pot.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!  Just say NO to casseroles.  

~Mexican Crockpot Creamy Chicken~

Ingredients: 

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 small onion, diced
1/2 cup salsa
1 bag frozen corn (I used half the bag)
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can Rotel tomatoes and chilies
Chili powder, salt and pepper to taste
1/2 block light cream cheese

Put chicken in crock pot, cover with all ingredients except cream cheese. Cook 3-4 hours on high or 7-8 hours on low. Shred chicken and mix back in with light cream cheese until melted. Cook 15-20 minutes longer until heated. 
Serve as soft tacos with lettuce tomatoes, cilantro, avocado, etc.

Meal Plan Monday and some healthy eating travel tips

This was an easy meal plan last week since we were leaving on Friday for my husband's grandmother's funeral.  It was a lovely time with family after we braved the ice storm of 2013 to get there!  I just have to add a picture so you can see what I mean:

Sunday-  Spaghetti squash again!  Google how to cook one until I can post a recipe about it.  I could eat this everyday of the week.  Be sure to use the Italian seasoned ground turkey in your sauce for great flavor.

Monday- Meatloaf.  I know what you're thinking.  Yuck?  But this recipe from my MIL is seriously good.  My kids LOVE it and we need to eat some beef every once in a while around here.  We use 90/10 ground beef and I try to not put too much cheese in the loaf (yeah, right).  

Tuesday-Healthy chicken nuggets.  My kids eat these up too!  There are never any leftovers.

Wednesday- All-American chili chowder.  I have to have a crock pot meal at least once a week.  It keeps me sane.  

Thursday- Brinner (Breakfast+Dinner).  We've been having this a lot lately.  It's so easy and everyone eats it.  I'll share my scone recipe soon.  They aren't by any means healthy, but we top them off with a strawberry jam and greek yogurt mixture.  We scramble some egg whites with a few whole eggs mixed in and serve everything with whatever fruit we have around.

Before we left on Friday, I went to the store and was sure to buy some healthy snacks for the road.  We had apples, easy peel oranges, nuts, sugar snap peas and some crackers.   On our travels, we utilize Yelp to help us find healthier restaurants for eating out.  We've found some really cute deli's along the way in small towns.  We like to give them our business as well and leave feedback for other travelers.  Another option is finding a grocery store.  Get creative and build your own salads with pre-washed lettuce bags and little tomatoes or grab some whole wheat tortillas and fill them up with veggies and hummus for a wrap.  You might have to pack a bag before hand with plates, cups and utensils but it will be worth it!  We've also packed a cooler and eaten at rest stops.  The kids can run around while we finish up.  It can be an adventure but in the end, we've eaten healthier, felt better, saved money, and have some great stories to remember.

Here we are enjoying our chicken salad at a rest stop in the Texas hill country this past summer. 

And here's my honey teaching the kids about black widow spiders at that same rest stop.  eek!  One of our many adventures together as a family.  

                           

Another Meal Plan Monday

I skipped a week of meal plans but that's alright because my meals weren't blog worthy anyway.  We took a last minute trip to be with family so our plans got re-arranged and we at out a lot.  This past week I was wrapping up the in-line skating unit with the 3rd and 4th graders at our elementary school.  I also had a long overdue lunch with a friend and the Thanksgiving lunch with my daughter.  A busier week than normal, where I'm not at home during the day, leads to easier meals.

Monday:  Stir fry-  I love this recipe from Erin.  It's simple and full of flavor.  I start with her recipe and then add water chestnuts, baby corns and frozen veggies to make it more of a stir fry.  Don't forget the cashews because that is what makes the dish.  Also, to keep the recipe on the lighter side, start with a small amount of sauce and add more if you need to.

Tuesday: Google how to cook a spaghetti squash.  For the sauce, brown Italian Seasoned ground turkey and add your favorite pasta sauce.  One of my favorite simple recipes for Fall//Winter because the squash goes down in price.

Wednesday:  Easy pot roast in crock pot. Cut up some carrots and potatoes and put them in the crock pot, trim fat off of roast and place it on top of vegetables, sprinkle roast with one package of Lipton onion soup mix and water.  Cook on low 8 to 10 hours.  (I used the recipe on the back of the onion soup box)

Thursday:  Skinnytaste Crock pot taco chili

Friday:  lightened up kale and potato soup

Saturday:  tortilla soup-recipe coming soon!

Brinner:  the usual scones, eggs, fruit and breakfast sausage

As I share these recipes with you, I'm realizing that they aren't as "clean" as they could be.  I'll be working on finding new easier recipes that are using less processed and canned items.  It's been really good for me to write these meals down and see a pattern.  I'm thinking that it will be helpful to me, especially in the next few months, to write down what I eat for breakfast, lunch and snacks as well.  Now I'm off to prepare for Thanksgiving.  Have you lightened up some Thanksgiving recipes?  I'd love to hear about them.

lightened up kale and potato soup

No pictures here today.  I need to get over the fact that I am not a food blogger so my pictures will never do a recipe justice!  Just take the pictures, Kristen.
Anyway, the other night while meal planning, I got the crazy craving for kale and potato soup.  I'd seen other recipes out there and decided it would be great for our new cooler weather.  But most of the recipes out there call for heavy cream and bacon.  I needed something a lot lighter than that.  I actually found a recipe using milk instead and when I went to cook everything, realized that I had not saved it on the Ipad!  This lead me to create my own recipe and it actually turned out pretty good.  I have to note that I think my homemade chicken broth was the reason it tasted so good.

Ingredients:
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 package of JennieO Italian seasoned ground turkey
4 cups of homemade chicken broth
10 fingerling potatoes or about 4 red potatoes, cut in 1/2 inch pieces
1 cup of 2% milk
4 cups of kale, with stems removed and torn in pieces

First, saute the onion and garlic until browned and tender.  Add the turkey and brown until done.  Add chicken broth to the pot and bring to a boil.  Add potatoes and simmer until they are tender.  Add milk and heat through.  Add kale and cook for a minute or two or until it is wilted.  Season with salt and pepper as desired.

The next time I make this, I'll experiment on adding some corn starch to thicken up the soup a bit.
Enjoy!

Quick and easy Miso Soup

It's getting cold around here and you know what that means.  Soup!  We enjoy this quick and easy soup for lunch.  Everything you need for this soup is in the picture except for the chow mein noodles that we add for a little crunch.

2 stalks of celery, chopped
2 or 3 green onions, chopped
2 carrots chopped,
1 1/2 cups of purple cabbage (optional), chopped
tofu
Miso Easy, mild and/ or chili flavored

-In a pot, heat 3 cups of water and the veggies until all vegetables are cooked.
-Add 2 Tbsp. regular miso and 2 Tbsp of chili miso to the pot and stir.  (You can play with this combo to make it spicier or more mild)
-Add tofu and let sit for a minute to allow it to heat up.

*Serve with a few chow mein noodles

{This recipe serves two}


Note:  We usually have celery and carrots on hand but not purple cabbage.  When I buy the cabbage, I chop the whole thing up and then freeze flat it in one big bag.  Then I just grab what I need out of that bag and put the rest back in the freezer.  If you look closely, the cabbage in the picture is still frozen.

Meal Plan Monday and a T25 update

This was a crazy week!  Daddy was out of town for a few nights and I was on my own.  I contemplated not even posting about our meals but then I thought about how I want to be honest and intentional with this blog so below is the real deal.  Here are the recipes (or in this case non-recipes) and how the week went down.

Monday:  I had Bible study in the morning and then spent too long on a lunch date so I ran out of time to get to the store.  Note to self:  Shopping on a Monday is not a good mix.  Instead of rushing through meal planning and then rushing through the store, I decided to get Chick-fil-a for the fam after piano practice and wait until to the next day to prepare.  I thought I was choosing the healthy salad at Chick-fil-A.  I did not.  Maybe it's just me and the fact that I rarely go through the fast food lines anymore, but I got all flustered and in a hurry and I didn't take the time to choose what I really wanted!  Lesson learned.

Tuesday:  Tortellini soup

Wednesday: Daddy was still out of town so we had leftover soup and whatever else we could find.

Thursday:  Good ole pork chops, peas and carrots, and this rice:

Friday:  My sister and her family came in town so we cooked up a large batch of chicken fajita meat.  I used greek yogurt instead of sour cream.  But we still had the refried beans and rice!  My total comfort food.  

Saturday:  Leftover fajita meat. It was such a blessing to have easy dinners this weekend so we could get a major project done.  Our garage is cleaned out and organized and that makes me very happy.  

Sunday:  We spent the day with friends and ate lunch and dinner at their house.  I enjoyed the food they had there but the best part was holding their brand new baby.  Welcome to the world little Decker!  

I would give myself a C on healthy and clean eating this past week.  I drank my Shakeology every day except one so I know I got the good stuff.   However, I really need to focus on better choices and planning for my other snacks.  For lunch, instead of my quinoa salad, I simply toasted a piece of Ezekiel Bread and topped it with cucumber, grape tomatoes, kalamata olives and a little purple onion and feta cheese.  Top it all with some balsamic vinegar for added extra flavor.  

I finished up the Alpha phase (first month) of Focus T25 and now I'm on to the Beta phase.  I'm REALLY enjoying the shorter workouts.  They go by fast and you are moving fast throughout the whole thing.  It's taking me a while to get used to not having any breaks but sometimes I just pause the video to catch my breath and start up again.  I've found that if you wait too long, by the time you've caught your breath, they have moved on to something else.  So I pause because I don't want to miss anything and I want to get the most out of the 25 minutes that I am working out.  

What have you been eating lately that it simple and easy to get you through a challenging week?

Meal Plan Monday

I want to share my meal plan from last week with you.  It has its imperfections but done is better than perfect right?  In the future, I hope to incorporate more breakfast and lunch options.  I'm pretty boring in these areas so just know that I typically eat oatmeal for breakfast and Mediterranean quinoa salad for lunch.  Snacks for the day are almost always Shakeology.

So without further ado, Dinners were:

1. turkey burgers

2. cauliflower/potato soup

3. crockpot chili

4. zucchini noodles with red sauce ~ Use a julienne peeler like this to make the "noodles" and saute them in olive oil with a little garlic and minced onion.  I made these for my husband and me because the kids were eating hot dogs for Halloween with the neighbors.

5. "Brinner"(Breakfast+Dinner) ~ scrambled eggs, homemade scones, fruit, breakfast sausage

6. Cilantro lime rice w/ black beans

7. Stuffed Pepper soup (I didn't get around to making this this weekend.  I'm thinking of adding it to next week.)

Enjoy!

How we grill fish for fish tacos

....or maybe the title should say how hubby grills fish.  It's no secret here that he is the cook so I asked him to help me post this.  Also, I don't really love fish but when I eat it in a taco,  I really like it.  I have never been a seafood fan but we know it's good for us so hubby tried and tried many kinds until I gave him the thumbs up to fresh steal head trout.  Turns out that cooking this kind of fish on a gas grill isn't rocket science and since he's taught me, I've even grilled it a few times on my own while he's been away.

Here are the not so high tech details:

(This recipe is for a one pound filet of steal head trout)  It feeds our family of four just fine when we make them into fish tacos.)

1.  Pre-heat grill on high

2.  Prepare fish by placing it skin down on a vegetable grill pan and spray it with a little olive oil.  

3.  Sprinkle it with the following seasonings lightly.

{The third one is Cavenders all purpose Greek Seasoning}

 ****This is where there are no pictures of the grill.  How do you take pictures when dinner time is crazy enough and everybody needs something?****

 4.  Before popping it in the grill turn it down to medium and scrape off any charred food from a previous cookout if needed.  Place the fish in the center of the grill without the baking sheet under it.  (We use it only for seasoning the fish and transporting to the grill).  Hang out and watch the temp turn to about 400 and then let it cook for 10 minutes.

5.  After 10 minutes check it.  The fish should look like this:

and a little pinky flaky in the middle.  If not, cook for only a few minutes more.  

The meat should fall right off of the skin.  See, easy.

To make them into fish tacos, we add our homemade salsa on top with a dollop of no fat greek yogurt in place of sour cream.  Enjoy! 

Word Dumping

I've lost sight of this little blog of mine.  As soon as a blog post idea makes its way into this maze of a brain of mine, I quickly convince myself that no one would want to read about it.  We can be mean to ourselves, huh?  It's funny how quickly revelations can delete those thoughts and give me a jumpstart.

"Hey, it's your blog.  Your life.  Go and write about it and hope that it blesses someone!"

So here is where my word dumping begins and I'm praying that it makes some sort of sense and I can get back to normal.  Whatever that is.

* * * * * 

I finished my second round of Insanity last week.  It was the hardest workout program I have ever done.  I definitely feel different and proud.  Not of my body but of my heart.  Roo rode her bike for the first time to school the other morning.  I ran behind her and didn't even get winded.  I hate running and I usually feel like I'm gonna die but I didn't and that is more valuable to me than any award or medal.  I bought hubby (and me!) Les Mills Pump for his birthday so we will start that soon.  

* * * * * 

We ventured out to a local farm to pick strawberries the other weekend. 

After the picking, we bought a ton of other veggies at their produce store.  Most of the items were brought in from close by farms.  We bought this massive amount of kale for a buck.  

We made kale chips out of it.  

They were good but beware because they don't keep and get chewy by the next day. 

Will I make them again?  Maybe.  

I've been meaning to share our healthier recipes on the blog.  I can't believe my first one is about kale!  Just google kale chips and stand by and watch so they don't burn.  I'll give better recipes instructions on other dishes in the future but these were just so darn easy.  

* * * * *

Don't laugh but I've been watching videos on how to put on makeup.  Eyeshadow to be specific.  It's like art in a way and I haven't gotten the hang of it yet.  I'll let you know how it's going and which ones I've watched.  I've learned alot about brushes and types of cosmetics from these pro ladies and it's fun to learn something new that makes me feel more confident during the day.  

* * * * * 

I can't wait to show you my painted armoire.  I'll take pictures soon.  That darn thing was almost the death of me but I'm done!  I just need hardware for the bottom of the drawers and something cool done to the inside.  

* * * * * 

And finally, I finished The Hunger Games!  It was a good read and I'm very satisfied.  I'm itching to find something new to read.  This reading thing is exciting.  (-:  Any suggestions?

So, if you're still here.  Thanks for letting me word dump!  

Healthy Hump Day #9

I'm trying to bring back Healthy Hump day now that school is back in session.  

Here's an easy substitution that I do. 

 Exchange this:

on your sandwiches for this:

 

It's not a huge difference in calories and fat but I like to think that I'm making a little progress.  Cheese is by far my downfall and I wish that I could just do without it but I'm not there yet.  Plus, the Laughing Cow wedges have more flavor and are downright fun to open (-:

Shakeology

This is a true story.  It happened yesterday in fact.  This was a conversation between me and my very best friend. 

Me: What's wrong?

Heather: Just stressed from the job change, move, etc.... and I feel a migraine coming on.  I've got tummy issues too.

Me:  What are you eating?
I didn't even have to ask because I've known her so long and I knew that it was probably nothing and that she eventually got so starving that she grabbed the first convenient unhealthy thing and that now she felt horrible.

Heather:  I'm so busy, so stressed.  I've had half of a baked potato and some chicken tenders.
It was already in the afternoon mind you and no wonder she felt like crap.

Me: You need my shake girl!  Shakeology saves me everyday from the 'I feel like crap' feeling.

Shakeology is a rich, yummy shake filled with 70 different natural ingredients from around the world.  I'm drinking it right now while I type.

A few months ago, my husband started drinking it everyday.  I didn't set out to do it daily, but somehow I just kept reaching for it and before I knew it, I was hooked.  After two months, my digestion was better, I had avoided my daily "sugar drops" and I had more energy in the afternoons (when I needed it most!)  Also, my monthly cycles weren't horrendous.  We made it through the cold and flu season too without any major sicknesses.  Unlike every year since moving here!  I'm not saying I never will get sick, I just feel like my body is more ready to fight off any critters trying to attack me.  Last week, I felt yucky but was never confined to my bed.

So instead of my best friend crashing, she could have whipped up a shake in less than a minute and felt so much better!   

The number one question I get about my fitness journey is "Do you have to change your diet?" Yes you do but I think it is good to start with small changes. Shakeology is great first step for increased energy, weight loss, and better digestion.

Below is a excerpt from our CEO of Beachbody, Carl Daikeler. 

I like it because it shows that he's just like one of us in this fight to get healthier.

THE CEO's personal Shakeology^® story

"You eat like a 2nd grader."

That’s what my wife said to me three years ago. She said if I was going to run a health and fitness company, I had better find a way to eat better or I’d be a dead CEO sooner than I’d like.
Problem is, I don’t like vegetables. And everything I’ve been reading about them was telling me that even they don’t have the antioxidants, prebiotics, and enzymes of some of the exotic foods being harvested from around the world.
So we set out on a mission to create a way for me to not only live up to my wife's request but surpass it, using the most potent whole-food ingredients available for health, weight loss, and energy. And we had to make it taste good.
The result is Shakeology, my healthiest meal of the day. It takes the
guesswork out of nutrition for me and simplifies my life.
I’ve been using Shakeology now for over a year, and it’s not only
my healthiest meal of the day—it’s my favorite meal of the day.
And here’s my guarantee to you: If you don’t feel results in the
first 30 days, I want you to have your money back (less s&h).
But I hope you really give it a try so you see the benefits I have.
—Carl Daikeler
CEO, Beachbody
{source}


Are you still here!?  I know- I get a little excited on this subject and I love to share if great things are working for me.  Check out my the site or click on the Shakeology tab on the right.  I would love to answer any questions may have about it.