A Pursuit of Healthy

It's that time of year again, right after Christmas and almost New Year's which means everyone is talking about their New Year's resolutions. I tend to not really make resolutions, I just make a list of goals and things that I would like to work on. Nothing crazy or unrealistic, just little things like drink more water everyday or take some time away from all screens for a bit each day.

I know a lot of people make a resolution dealing with getting more organized in their lives, this is an area that I happen to excel in! I'm somewhat of an organizational freak. If my house is a mess and crazy, then my life is a mess and crazy. So I am often cleaning out, purging, throwing away and redoing. A few weeks ago I did just that with my pantry and thought you might like to follow along.

Okay, so my process of cleaning out and organizing my pantry takes just a bit of time. I did this in about an hour and a half on a lazy Saturday afternoon. It almost never takes me that long but I had this little one that was feeling especially needy that day...

I mean, come one, who can resist those eyes! We went to the dog park for about an hour after I was done. So to get started with my pantry organization, the first thing I do is take everything out. Yep, everything! Don't leave anything left. I put everything on my kitchen table or counters and try to keep the like things together (canned goods, pastas, etc.). I do this because while I'm organizing, I'm also making up my pantry inventory. Pantry inventory, what's this? Well this mine...
Why in the world would you want a pantry inventory? I make an inventory of my pantry and freezer so that I know exactly what foods I have available when I'm making up my meal plan for the week. I list how many full jars, boxes and cans I have and then estimate the amount in opened things. As I'm planning our weeks meals I'll put a number next to the item to mark how many of those I need for the week. When I'm done planning, using this inventory to make my grocery list is so simple. Then at the end of the week I'll update the inventory to show what I actually have. Trust me it helps! You'll save time and, more importantly, money!

Okay so after I've gotten everything out of my pantry, I go through it all and toss anything that's expired or any cracker sleeves/bags that had been left slightly open and gone stale, just anything that you'll no longer use. Then I add all the foods that I'm putting back in the pantry to my inventory list. Before I put everything back into my pantry, I'll go through all the shelves with my vacuum's handheld attachment to pick up any crumbs left behind and then I'll even wipe the shelves and doors down with all-purpose spray (I like Mrs. Meyer's basil scented spray but that's just me!).

Now it's time to put it all back! My pantry is tall and skinny. We completely remodeled our kitchen when we moved into our little old house and we added this pantry... (on the left)

So it's not the sprawling shelved closet that the lovely people on Pinterest seem to have...I'm jealous. My kitchen (and whole house actually) is pretty small so staying really organized and reducing clutter makes it feel not as small. Not everything on my pantry inventory actually lives in the pantry. I have a metal shelving unit thingy in the basement where I put duplicates of things so that I have more room upstairs. It really helps! Down there I have extra dry goods, condiments, toilet paper, paper towels and some cleaning products. Back to the pantry!

The bottom portion of the pantry is devoted to mostly food but I also put my Cuisinart blender/food processor on the bottom shelf (I'll show you in a minute). The top portion is mainly for small kitchen appliances and things I don't need often so it's okay if they're out of reach. The top shelf of the bottom part is devoted mostly to canned goods. I line them up according to type of food, so beans then tomatoes then vegetables and so on.

The main goal of an organized pantry is to be able to see what you have so that you'll use it! This works for me. The second shelf has most dried goods like pasta, beans, and noodles. The very back looks like this...
I try to arrange all the boxes so that I can see the labels easily. I would love to put it all in those beautiful clear containers with labels (yep I'm a label girl) but those containers aren't cheap, so that's for another day. In front of the boxed goods I have a basket full of packages of dry beans and other pastas and also containers of bread crumbs. I use the basket because I can move it easily and look through it, and it contains the clutter that all of those bags can create.

The bottom shelf of the pantry has a basket of veggies that need to be kept in dark cool spaces like potatoes and onions. The basket I use is from one of the cabinets that was originally in our house that we tore out. I love this basket! Next to it in the back is our food processor/blender and then in front is our big container of quick oats. We eat oatmeal every single day and I cook with these oats a lot so it has to be within reach.

Here's everything in the cabinet. We very rarely eat cereal but I do have a couple boxes that I put on the top shelf next to the biggest crock pot (smaller one in the back) and then we keep boxes or bags of crackers next to the toaster.

So that's it, my pantry! Even though it's small, it holds pretty much everything. We do have some open shelving in our kitchen where I keep mason jars of things we use a lot. Right now there are jars of brown rice (I don't buy instant rice, so I like to empty the bags into the jars), orzo, almonds and pecans. I keep nuts right out where we can see them so we make better snack choices. Also, you might be wondering where all of my baking things are, well they have their own cabinet. I'll show you that later. I hope this helps you to get moving on any resolutions for organization that you might have. Hopefully you have a bigger pantry than me! Just remember to clean out, throw away and put back everything in a way that is easily accessible and visible to you. Jars, baskets and labels are your friends!! Happy organizing!

(Oh and I'm planning to make these organizing posts a series if you like them, so let me know what you think and what you'd like to hear!)

I hope everyone is having a great before-Christmas. This is my absolute favorite time of year! Everything is beautiful and magical, and smells like cookies! I've been baking the last 4 days straight and as of last night I am officially done! I love putting together packages of goodies for our neighbors and friends, but I go a little overboard. This year's baking list started with 4 things, but eventually made it to 8...whoops. I'm exhausted of cooking right now, but tomorrow we're having our own little family's Christmas and I'm attempting to roast my first turkey! Pray for me.

The recipe I'm sharing with you today is from SkinnyTaste, another one of my favorite blogs full of amazing, healthy recipes. I've made so many of her recipes and they're all good. This is no exception. I had never stuffed a chicken breast until I made this the first time, and it's not as hard as it sounds! There's another variation that has a jalapeno popper stuffing which is amazing! I hope you try this recipe out! You'll love it!

Broccoli & Cheese Stuffed Chicken

Nutrition Information:
     Calories: 142
     Fat: 4.9 g
     Carbs: 4.8 g
     Protein: 19.4 g

Hey all! So what do you think of the new look? I'm loving it! But, of course, I'm somewhat technologically challenged, so I'm still working out some of the kinks. Bare with me please!! My last final is Wednesday, so be ready for some awesome recipes coming soon!

Are you looking for a small healthy changes to make to your everyday diet? Here's a super simple one: switch out ground turkey where you would normally use ground beef. This will save you a lot of calories and, of course, fat but won't cost you any of the flavor and will still give you an awesome source of protein. This is one of my favorite recipes that incorporates ground turkey. These turkey meatballs are so versatile too. You can use them in red sauce for pasta, like I did today, or put them in a more tradition barbecue sauce. Pretty much any instance where you would use more traditional beef meatballs, you can use these.
I also love them because they're baked instead of pan fried. Here are all the ingredients you'll need:

Turkey Meatballs

Prep Time: 10 min. | Total Time: 45 min. | Makes ~15 Meatballs

Ingredients:
2 lbs lean ground turkey
1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
1/4 cup grated carrot
1/4 cup grated zucchini
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
2 large eggs
2 tbsp Italian seasoning
1 tbsp coarse sea salt

Preparation Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, mix turkey, breadcrumbs, carrots, zucchini, onion, eggs, Italian seasoning, and salt until well combined. Form into approximately 1 inch balls and place onto baking sheets sprayed with nonstick cooking spray (or lined with aluminum foil).

Bake meatballs for 15 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from oven and either serve plain or add to any sauce.

For spaghetti and meatballs: I make my go-to marinara sauce (I'll post that later) and then add the meatballs directly to the sauce once I remove them from the oven. I'll bring the sauce back to a boil and then cover and reduce heat to a simmer and cook another 10 minutes.

Note: This is a really easy recipe to halve if you're cooking for 2, like me!

Oh y'all.....these are good. Tis the season where everything I make is pumpkin flavored, I love it! These pancakes are really great, not too sweet, not too dense or too fluffy, just right. They really satisfy my need for some pumpkin...well for a minute anyway!


See those pancakes? That slight char is very typical of all pancakes made by me. I always always always leave them on just a touch too long and end up with that. I think my taste buds have become used to that little burnt edge because I don't even notice it anymore. Something to work on! A better blogger would have probably made them again to show you the perfect pancake photo, but I'm just trying to keep it real!  I'll blame my little cooking buddy for distracting me with her cuteness...

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

Makes 6-7 Pancakes

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
Dash of ground ginger
Dash of ground cloves
1 cup milk
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 large egg
2 tbsp. vegetable oil or melted butter

Preparation:
Whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and spices in a medium bowl. In a separate small bowl, combine the milk, pumpkin puree, egg and oil or butter. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Be sure not to over-mix. If the batter is still kind of lumpy, that's totally okay.

Heat a greased skillet or griddle over medium heat. Pour the batter onto the griddle or skillet in 1/3 cup portions. Cook on one side until bubbles start forming on the top, carefully use a spatula to flip the pancake over. Let cook for a few more minutes, or until golden brown.

Transfer the pancakes to a plate or baking sheet and serve immediately or keep warm in an oven set to the warm setting or 200 degrees. Repeat with the rest of the batter until it has all been cooked, re-greasing the pan as needed. Serve with cinnamon, sugar and maple syrup.

Enjoy!

Note: If you're not a fan of nutmeg, ginger or cloves, just increase the cinnamon to 1 full teaspoon.

Recipe adapted from here.

This is one of our favorite recipes! When I'm planning our meals for the week, I always ask my husband if there's anything specific he's been craving and normally I get the "I don't care, I'll eat anything" which is true and nice for me. (If he was picky I don't know what I'd do, he'd starve to death!) But every now and then he actually comes up with something, and more times then not, this is it!

This is the simplest recipe but is so flavorful and comforting, we just love it! I use turkey sausage for this recipe, but I know the original recipe calls for chicken sausage. So this is definitely one of those that you can tailor to suit your tastes. And I use small red potatoes (new potatoes) because I like how they hold up during roasting, they don't break down and get mushy, make sense? But you could easily use any other kind of potato you like or just what you have on hand, just be sure to watch how many you include.

Roasted Potatoes, Turkey Sausage and Peppers

Prep Time: 5-10 min. | Total Time: about 1 hour | Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds potatoes, russet or new
1 medium onion, peeled and quartered, layers separated
2 red bell peppers, seeds removed and cut into 1 inch pieces
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and fresh cracker pepper to taste
1 tsp chopped rosemary (fresh or dry)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Non-stick spray
1 lb. sausage (turkey or chicken, your pick!), cut into ~1/2 pieces

Preparation Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray one large non-stick baking sheet, or two small ones with olive oil spray or whatever nonstick spray you like to use. You know this, but I covered my baking sheets my tin foil and then sprayed it with my nonstick spray to make clean up that much easier!

Cut the potatoes into small 1"x 1/2 inch pieces. These take the longest to cook so cutting them small ensures everything cooks evenly. Combine the potatoes, cut up onion, and cut up bell pepper in a large bowl. Add olive oil, salt, pepper, rosemary, and garlic powder. Stir it all around to be sure that all of the veggies are evenly coated with the oil and spices.



After 15 minutes, stir around the vegetables to be sure they don't stick to the pan, and add the sausage. Return to the oven and bake an additional 25-35 minutes, or until sausage is cooked through and potatoes are tender. Remove from oven and dig in! Easy peasy!

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
Calories: 355
Carbs: 39 g
Fat: 11 g
Protein: 21 g

Hello everyone! Now that my husband is done (well technically this is his last week) with his 12 week training, I am back to my normal meal planning/cooking regimen. I have to say that I've definitely missed it! After being on a very strict diet for my 12 weeks training and then doing his diet for 12 weeks, I think we're both ready for some "normal" food! We're still eating healthy, but every dinner is no longer fish or chicken with plain veggies. Here is my meal schedule this week....

It's not very exciting since we had a busy weekend last week and then a much needed date night planned for this weekend. But that's okay! Our weekdays will be nicely planned and healthy!

Here is the grocery haul this week....



My grocery store had the rolls of ground turkey on sale for $2.99 each! And it's 93/7, so super lean! So I had to stock up! We'll use this a lot this time of year especially. I replace ground beef in a lot of recipes like chili, meatballs for spaghetti, taco soup, other soups like minestrone, tacos, etc.

Honestly there's not a lot that I have to prep this week. I could cut up the produce, but with my school schedule I'm home a lot, so there's not a real need for that. I've already posted the recipe for the quinoa broccoli bites but I'm excited to post the other recipes, there's some really great stuff there I think you'll like!

I'd love to hear about what all of you have been eating! Or changes you've been making in your everyday lives to be a little healthier. Or how you're doing meal planning, any organizing strategies you've come up with, etc. Let me know!

Have you ever heard of the Mediterranean diet? Don't be confused by the word "diet" in there, it's actually proven to be a very healthy, beneficial meal plan. I've had to do a lot of research on different diets recently for class and I've read a lot about the Mediterranean diet. It's based on the diets of the people who live in the Mediterranean, like Italy and Greece. Their diets are largely made up of fish, lean proteins, such as chicken, beans, tons of fruits and vegetables, and healthy oils such as extra-virgin olive oil. Whole grains are allowed sparingly (so it is NOT gluten free), and wine too. The Mediterranean diet has been proven to lower cholesterol, improve conditions such as cardiovascular disease, and has even been linked to mental conditions such as Alzheimer's and dementia. A couple of my professors at KUMC are actually conducting a study now about the effects of this diet on the cognitive function in the elderly. It's really interesting and it's just a testament to what a good diet can do for your health!

Tuscan Stewed Chicken with White Beans and Tomato

Preparation Instructions:
Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil and butter in large skillet. Cook diced onion and garlic in butter and oil until soft, be careful not to overcook garlic! Add chicken to pan and brown both sides, approximately 5 minutes per side. After browning, remove chicken from pan and set aside.

Add tomatoes and white beans to pan with onion and garlic. Mix and heat until boiling. Add back in chicken and reduce heat to a simmer. I simmered this for approximately 30 minutes (maybe 45, I was studying at the time and got a little sidetracked) because I wanted the meat to be extremely tender and fall-apart yummy.

Done! Serve with a side salad and some crusty bread. Delicious!

Need a quick run-out-the-door kind of breakfast? Make these! Being in graduate school full-time this semester has been a whirlwind I feel like I'm constantly doing about 40 things at once. There's always an exam (or 2 or 3) to study for, a group project (or 2 or 3) to work on, multiple research studies to read and write papers on, and then trying to have a somewhat normal life on top of it. Cooking has kind of gone by the wayside lately, which I hate because my kitchen is my happy place! So when I've had a chance to actually cook lately, they've been quick, simple recipes like this one.


 Have you noticed I love bananas?! Well I do! We almost always have a bunch of bananas on our counter. They're easy to grab and eat in the car on my way to class (yep that's my life lately). Inevitably, I lose track of how ripe my bananas are and they get WAY to ripe to eat raw. I usually make banana bread, but I thought muffins would be good this time. These are delicious! And I made them with whole wheat flour and oats to get more fiber in them. Try them, I know you'll love them!

 Oatmeal Banana Muffins

Prep Time: 10 min. | Total Time: 30 min. | Makes ~16 Muffins

Ingredients:
1 cup quick cooking oats
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (you can use all-purpose too)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup milk when using honey (3/4 cup when using sugar)
1/3 cup oil
1/2 cup honey or sugar
2-3 mashed overripe bananas

Preparation Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium bowl, stir together oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, mix bananas, egg, milk, oil, and honey or sugar. Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened. Don't over-mix. Fill greased muffin tins 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. Enjoy!



Oh and don't use muffin papers or liners, just spray the muffin tin really well with nonstick spray. If you use paper, you'll never get the muffin out of it! 
 

I may have eaten 2 while taking these pictures...oops!!

I love fish. Basically all kinds, in all forms. I'm a super un-picky person. During my "12 Week Transformation" I ate a TON of salmon and tilapia. After eating either of those options almost nightly for 12 weeks, you get a little sick of fish and need to find new ways to cook them. I found this recipe during that time and it's become one of my nightly go-to meals. It's super quick and easy and really good. Sorry, my pictures aren't fabulous...but really does tilapia photograph well? You be the judge.

Parmesan Crusted Tilapia

Prep Time: 5 minutes | Total: 20 minutes | Serves 4

Ingredients:
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 tsp. paprika
1 tbsp. chopped parsley (or 1/2 tbsp. dried)
1 tbsp. olive oil (or even spraying the fish with cooking spray would work just fine)
4 tilapia fillets (about 4 oz each)
Lemon, cut into wedges

Preparation Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil. Absolutely don't skip this step. I don't know about you, but I hate hand-washing dishes and my baking pans don't always fit in my dishwasher. Lining my baking sheets with foil makes for super easy clean up! Just throw away the foil, and done!

In a shallow bowl, mix together the Parmesan cheese, paprika, and parsley. Drizzle the tilapia fillets with the olive oil, then dredge in the cheese mixture, pressing it in lightly with your fingers if necessary. Transfer to the baking sheet.

Bake until the fish is opaque or flakes easily with a fork in the thickest part (that's how I always test it), about 10-12 minutes. Serve with the lemon slices. I eat mine with a bunch of steamed veggies and sometimes brown rice. Enjoy!

Hi everyone! Long time no see! I'm really sorry for being MIA the past couple of weeks. News flash: grad school takes a lot of your time! Who knew?! I am now about 6 weeks in to my first semester of graduate school and I absolutely love it...my teachers, classmates, classes...it's all been great. I've learned SOOO much and it makes me excited to eventually have the career in wellness and nutrition that I've always wanted. But it is very time-consuming. I study ALL the time! I haven't had as much time to cook as I'd like, so if my posts are sporadic I apologize and just stick with me please!


That all being said, I'm sharing a not-so-nutritious recipe with you today! I feel bad for not posting for so long AND today is National Homemade Cookie Day! Who knew such a thing existed. Like everybody, I love chocolate chip cookies. My favorites are oatmeal chocolate chip but my husband is more of a purist. I've always used the chocolate chip cookie recipe on the Nestle Tollhouse wrapper, just like Phoebe Buffay (if you don't know what I'm talking about, 1. shame on you! and 2. go watch Friends!) but I found this recipe on one of my favorite baking websites and it is now my go to! They're perfectly soft and amazing! My husband is not a crunchy cookie guy, so these were perfect for him. The secret? Cornstarch! Yea, something about the cornstarch (it's science-y and I won't bore you with it) keep the cookies soft and perfect! I hope you take some time to bake today, it makes the whole day better, well for me at least! Enjoy these amazing cookies and let me know what you think!!

THE Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes: ~2 dozen cookies

Ingredients:
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preparation Instructions:
In a large bowl using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat the butter for 1 minute on medium speed until completely smooth and creamy. Important step! Be sure to do that for the full minute! Add the brown sugar and granulated sugar and mix on medium speed until fluffy and light in color. Mix in egg and vanilla. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. In a separate bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. On low speed, slowly mix to the wet ingredients until combined. The cookie dough will be quite thick. Add the chocolate chips and mix for about 5 seconds until evenly mixed. Cover dough tightly with aluminum foil or plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour, and even up to 2 days. Chilling is mandatory for this cookie dough!!

Remove cookie dough from the refrigerator and allow to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside. Once chilled, the dough will be slightly crumbly, but roll the dough into approximately 1 tbsp amount individuals balls with your hands. Bake for 8-9 minutes, until barely golden brown around the edges. They will look really soft and not completely done when you remove them from the oven, this is how they're supposed to be! All the cookies to cool for about 5 minutes while still on the cookie sheet. Then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.

 Keep the cookies in a covered container for about a week. You can also freeze them for up to 3 months, or freeze the uncooked dough balls...although I don't know how anyone would have the will power to just make the dough to freeze and not bake a couple. You are stronger than I!

Recipe adapted from here!

Happy September everyone! We are swiftly approaching my absolute favorite time of year. I really love fall! Everything about it! The clothes, the food, the weather....there is really nothing better as far as I'm concerned. I'm ready to use pumpkin, apples and cinnamon in everything I cook and to be cozy in hoodies and blankets on cool evenings. (I am anything but a summer person...I hate the heat!)


I made these delicious muffins yesterday and they made my house smell perfectly fall-like, and tasted amazing too. You could eat these for breakfast, mid-afternoon snack, or just anytime. They call for applesauce and a smaller than normal amount of brown sugar, so they aren't overly sweet. The Greek yogurt makes them very moist with the bonus of all that added protein, not to mention the amazing fiber content to keep you full longer.


I hope you give these little muffins a try. They are really very good! Here's what you'll need:

Note my bottle of awesome vanilla from Mexico! Gotta love grandparents who take trips and bring back goodies!

Apple Oat Muffins

Prep Time: 10 min. | Bake Time: 20 min. | Yields 12 muffins

Instructions:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 apple, peeled, cored, and grated

Preparation Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a muffin tin by spraying with nonstick cooking spray or smearing butter. Do yourself a favor and do not use muffin papers for this one. I learned a lesson with this one. The muffins stick amazingly well to the papers. Set pan aside.

In a large bowl, combine both flours, oats, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine egg, applesauce, yogurt, brown sugar, vanilla extract and apple until well mixed. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, mixing gently until just combined.

Divide batter evenly among the 12 muffins cups, filling almost to the top. Add a sprinkle of oats to the top, if desired.

Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until top is firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool in pan for approximately 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!


Nutrition Facts: 12 servings
     Calories: 106
     Fat: 1 g
     Carbs: 19.5 g
     Fiber: 2 g
     Sugar: 6 g
     Protein: 4.5 g

My Cuisinart has really been getting a workout the last few weeks! I'm normally not one to grab my food processor to make sauces, (I actually rarely ever make any kind of sauce other than salsa or a simple skillet sauce) but lately I've been discovering the simplicity of good healthy sauces and how much they can flavor a dish without adding extra unwanted sodium. I am one of those people who salt everything. I'll sprinkle it on my food before ever even trying it. It's a bad habit and one that I'm working on! I found this recipe in the DASH diet cookbook and then tweaked it to fit the idea for dinner I had last night. Okay I tweaked it a lot...like the only thing I used was the actual sauce itself. I ended up making a type of chicken and rice and then put the sauce over everything. It was amazing and my husband and I both loved it and will definitely make it again! Enjoy!

Chicken with Jalapeno Cilantro Cream Sauce

Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 30 min. | 4 servings

Ingredients:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup long-grain rice (not instant, either brown or white)
2 cups water
1 cube chicken bouillon
1 tbsp. cumin
1 tbsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cayenne
2 jalapenos, ribbed and seeded
1 cup cilantro
1 garlic clove
Juice of 1 lime
1/3 cup mayo (regular, no Miracle Whip here)
1/2 tsp. sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation Instructions:
Salt and pepper chicken breasts and cook in preheated, nonstick, skillet. When chicken is cooked through, remove from skillet. Add the uncooked rice directly to the skillet. Stir around and cook for a few minutes, or until it starts to slightly brown. I always smell a nutty flavor coming from the rice when I cook it this way and I know it's good to go. Add water and chicken bouillon to the rice and bring to a boil. Once it's boiling, reduce heat to simmer and cover. Leave covered and simmer for approximately 15 minutes or until rice is cooked and fluffy.

Meanwhile, make the sauce! Into your food processor or blender, combine the jalapenos, cilantro, lime juice, garlic clove, mayo, sugar, salt and pepper. Blend until smooth. Taste it and see if you may need more salt or pepper. When you have it how you like it, set aside.

When the rice is finished cooking, stir to fluff. Then add the cumin, chili powder and cayenne pepper. You may add more or less of any of these depending on your particular taste. We like our food to have a little spice. Stir all of that together, then add the chicken back to the pan to warm. Cover and let sit for another 5-10 minutes. When everything is warmed up, plate the rice, put chicken on top and then drizzle the sauce over everything. Dig in!


This has now become a condiment of its own in our house. I've made it numerous times and keep it in an airtight container in the fridge and we use it on everything! My husband eats a lot of chicken with brown rice, or ground turkey with brown rice now that he's training with my trainer and has a specific eating plan. Those combos can get old and bland, so he uses this sauce and it makes it all go down a bit easier!

Note: next time I'm going to make it with plain Greek yogurt instead of mayo to take out some unwanted calories and fat.

I really love banana bread. Okay, I love anything with bananas, but if I'm going to whip up something with bananas, it's going to be some good warm, comforting, bread. I bake when I'm stressed and have a lot on my mind....I needed to bake something over the weekend. My very first day of grad school was Monday and I had a long weekend of overthinking, over-analyzing and just general freaking out to do. I let myself get overly stressed and anxious with new situations. I am so excited to get started with grad school and be able to really focus on my area of interest, but it meant starting something big and new in a new (to me) school with all new people and situations (not to mention parking which is a nightmare and I've already gotten a parking ticket...oops). This is all a recipe for lack of sleep for me. The week has started off great though! I already really enjoy my classmates and teachers and I think my classes are going to be really great!
 


This recipe comes from my new favorite cookbook, How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman. It really is amazing! I especially like this particular banana bread recipe because it uses a combo of both all-purpose and whole wheat flours, thus adding more fiber and nutrients to this bread. Tastes great and is healthy-ish...win win!

Here is everything you'll need...

Banana Bread

Time: about 1 hour | Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients:
8 tbsp. (1 stick) butter, softened
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 very ripe bananas, mashed with a fork until smooth
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
1/2 cup shredded coconut (optional)

Preparation Instructions:
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan with butter.

Mix together the dry ingredients. With a hand mixer or whisk, cream the butter and beat in the eggs and bananas. Stir this mixture into the dry ingredients, just enough to combine (it's okay if there are lumps). Gently stir in the vanilla, nuts and coconuts.

Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake for 45 to 60 minutes, until nicely browned. A toothpick inserted in the center of the bread will come out fairly clean when done, but because of the bananas this bread will remain moister than most. Do not overcook. Cool on a rack for 15 minutes before removing from the pan.



The nuts and shredded coconut are optional. So add in what you like. I'm a banana bread purist... nuts have no place in my banana bread! I hope you give this bread a try, and check out Mr. Bittman's cookbook. If you love to cook and want to know how to make absolutely everything, it's for you. I also love it because I really enjoy making as much as possible from scratch (bread, mayo, salad dressing, etc) and he has endless amounts of recipes for all these things and more and then numerous variations of each. Excellent! 

My mission in life is to be my healthiest and happiest self. So you might think that this means that I am crazy about counting my calories and buy low-cal, low-fat everything....not even close. I am a firm believer in the benefit of whole foods. All of the processing that a food has to go through in order to become low-fat or low-calorie, really takes away the things that make it a good nutritious option in the first place.

For instance, milk. You will definitely not find skim or low-fat milk in our house. Instead you'll find two different options: organic almond milk and whole, vitamin D enriched milk. Yep you read that right... whole milk. I've done a lot of reading on the different types of milk and have found a lot of research that states skim or low-fat milk is not beneficial to us. What do we get from milk? Why do we drink it and insist that especially our children drink it daily? That's right, calcium and vitamins. The interesting thing is that the vitamins that milk provides, mainly vitamin A, are fat-soluble. That means that an adequate level of fat has to be present in order for our bodies to absorb those vitamins. Therefore, no fat = no vitamin absorption. So what's the point of drinking the milk in the first place? Sure you might see a skim milk label that says "fortified with vitamin D" but think about what that means. In order to become skim milk, that milk has to first have all of the fat taken out (along with all the naturally occurring vitamins) and then that vitamin D has to artificially be added back in. What's wrong with that, you might be asking yourself. Our bodies don't readily absorb those artificial vitamins as well as the naturally occurring ones. And I personally would rather take in the naturally occurring vitamins over those that are made artificially, wouldn't you?

You might be wondering about the calorie content. Yes, whole milk does have more calories than skim milk because fats account for more calories. But what do we know good fats give us? Increased satiety. They make us feel full quicker and longer, therefore we eat less. And I don't know about you, but I am about the last person to grab a glass of milk to drink. It's not my thing. I'm not lactose intolerant but milk just does not make me feel well. I will only have it in cereal, in coffee, on oatmeal, or with the occasional cookie, so it does not account for much of my daily calorie intake.

Don't just take my word for it, do some research of your own. And the next time you are at the grocery store, think about your milk. Compare labels, do some checking, and decide for yourself what's important. For me, vitamins trump calories every time.

Hello everyone! Sorry this post is so late, I meant to post it sooner. Since I have had a lot of interest in my weekly planning and prep routine, I thought I'd go ahead and keep posting my weekly plan. So here is the plan I used for this past week.

While in Colorado, I heard about an amazing cookbook (which I now have to buy and read daily! It's amazing!) by Mark Bittman, How to Cook Everything. I am a cookbook addict so after we got back from vacation I headed to the library to check it out. Thankfully they had it and another of his cookbooks, and then also a DASH diet cookbook. Don't know much about the DASH diet? I'll get to that later. Bottom line: it's a very good eating plan that emphasizes whole healthy foods. Calling it a "diet" really gives it such a negative connotation, but it has been proven as one of the healthiest and most effective weight loss/health plans out there. The cookbook was full of great healthy recipes that are simple and chocked full of good nutritious foods. I spent the good majority of my Saturday lounging with these cookbooks on my lap planning out our week's meals. So you'll see probably 90% of the recipes this week come from one of these books. Check them out yourself, you won't regret it!
Our 8 year old nephew spent the weekend with us, so we had a special pizza night. He thought making pizza crust from scratch and getting to pat his out and then top it with whatever he wanted was awesome!

Okay, the DASH diet. It was originally implemented as a means of lowering high blood pressure (hypertension) without the intervention of medication. Initial research showed that implementing the principals of the DASH diet alone reduced high blood pressure in individuals just as well as first line medications. Additional research has shown that the DASH diet also helps to reduce the risk of many diseases including some kinds of cancer, stroke, heart disease, kidney failure, kidney stone and diabetes. All with a change of diet! Just think about that for a minute. Imagine how much money in healthcare and drug expenses we Americans could save in a year by simply changing the way we eat...billions! There is nothing odd or crazy about the DASH diet. There is no cabbage soup. There are no supplements or shakes. There are no specific food schedules. It is based on simply eating right. No preservatives. No fast food. No added sugar or salt. Real fruits and vegetables. Healthy whole grains (Yes, eat grains!! Carbs are not the enemy! Just know which ones are best.). Lean meats. And low-fat dairy. If you want to know more, start here. Go check out a DASH cookbook though, you might be surprised at just how "normal" it is.

I hope you all had a good week. I have exciting news! I have been accepted to the Master of Nutrition program at the University of Kansas Medical Center! So I am one step closer to having a career in nutrition in wellness! I get started in about a week and I couldn't be happier.

On another note, my husband starts his own 12 Week Transformation with the same trainer I used. He officially starts his eating plan tomorrow so we're going back to a very strict, very simple clean eating way of life. I'm so glad because after having 2 vacations in a row right after finishing my 12 weeks, I could really use a clean sweep to my diet!

Sorry for the short blogging hiatus. We were in Colorado all last week hiking, riding 4-wheelers through the mountains and fishing. It was great! I love being outside! But, as you know, with vacationing comes less than healthy eating. So time to get back on track!! That being said, lets dig into something chocolatey!

I love these pancakes. I am not vegan, but I think I could try it out if it meant I would eat these everyday. They provide the perfect naughty sweetness of chocolate chip pancakes, but then you remember they're loaded with oats and flax and all those good things (fiber anyone?!) and they're actually pretty healthy! Win win!

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes

Prep: 5 min. | Cook: 5 min. | Total Time: 10 min. | 5 Pancakes

Ingredients:
1 ripe banana
1 tsp. baking powder
1 flax egg ***
pinch salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tbsp. almond butter
1 tbsp. canola oil (or coconut oil)
3 tbsp. almond milk (or other milk)
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
3 tbsp. semisweet chocolate chips

Preparation Instructions:
Preheat a skillet to medium heat. Prepare flax egg by mixing 1 tbsp flaxseed meal and 2 1/2 tbsp water and let sit 3-5 minutes. Mash the ripe banana with baking powder. Add flax egg, oil, salt, vanilla, almond butter, almond milk and stir. Stir in oats and flour until just combined. Sprinkle in chocolate chips and fold gently. Scoop scant 1/4 cup measurements of mixture onto lightly greased skillet. Cook 2-4 minutes on each side until golden brown. Serve plain or with a drizzle of maple syrup.


**Did the flax egg thing throw you? Yea me too. This recipe is from a site completely dedicated to vegan eating, meaning no animals products, meaning no eggs. Even without the egg, these pancakes are perfectly fluffy and delicious. So try out the flax egg. It's super easy to make. You just combine the flaxseed meal with some water and let it sit a few minutes. Done.

When I made these for myself I didn't need any syrup, they were sweet enough with just a couple more chocolate chips on top. Another side note, I didn't have almond butter when I made these so I used the natural peanut butter I had and it worked perfectly. I also used quick oats instead of rolled oats. Try these, they're amazing!!

Recipe adapted from here.

Have you heard of the blog Damn Delicious? No? Well you need to check it out, go here. I love all of her recipes and look at it often for dinner ideas. I've loved every one of the recipes I've tried from her site, this one included. At first glance I thought shrimp, tomatoes and peas sounded like an odd combo...I was wrong! This is delicious! Give it a shot!


*Mouth currently watering, need to make again!*

One Pot Lemon Orzo Shrimp

Nutrition Facts: Calculated for 4 servings
        Calories: 453
        Total Fat: 8.3 g
        Carbs: 56 g
        Fiber: 4.1 g
        Protein: 38 g

Recipe adapted from Damn Delicious.