Zoodles!!

Recipe of the day: Zoodles!!


This is probably one of mine and Cody's FAVORITE healthy meal options. Before I made these, Cody didn't really eat zuccini, but for some reason he LOVES zoodles! This is great for lunch or dinner and is low in calories and carbs, and makes for a GREAT pasta substitute!



For this, you will need 2 tools in addition to your regular pots and pans:
1.Julienne Peeler:


2. Potatoe Peeler


Okay,  this is so incredibly simple.

First, you peel the skin off the zuccini with the potatoe peeler.
Second: Take that julienne peeler and start peeling that zuccini
Third: Heat a pot or pan with a little bit of olive oil or coconut oil and toss the zoodles in. Cook them until they start to get soft (about 10-15 minutes).
Fourth:Throw in meat of your choice and sauce of your choice.
ENJOY!!

You can garnish with cheese if you wish as well. I try to stay away from dairy so I personally don't usually do that (occasionally I will). I normally throw in some low sugar and no salt added marinara sauce (Trader Joes has a great one) and some ground turkey. Sometimes I go no sauce and mix in other veggies..point it-there are SO many variations with this recipe. It is great if you have kids and are trying to get them to eat veggies..they won't even notice a huge difference.

Nutrition in 2 Cups Zuccini Noodles with 4oz ground turkey and 1/2 cup of Trader Joes Marinara Sauce:
Calories: 230
Carbs: 20g
Fat:2g
Protein: 32g

You can add a side salad with this for some extra healthy cals if you wish..sometimes this goes GREAT with a glass of red wine :)

ENJOY!

Beards

I know I said this blog was meant to be for healthy tips and recipes, but it is also for my own sheer enjoyment and today, I want to talk about beards. Beards are interesting. I feel like they have their own lifecycle. They hit that point where they look really good and it is "coming in nicely" and then BAM! You have a beard! There is a point where they are good looking and then there is the dirty overkill (Duck Dynasty anyone?) I mean...what is the point in having a beard that long? Things can get stuck in there! Anyways, in honor of my WONDERFUL husband, below is a lifecycle of beards. I only had a few of Cody so I had to insert some other ones, but you get the idea. :)

Stage 1: "Too lazy to shave" (






     

 Stage 2:"Wait, I think he trying to grow one?!"


    

Stage 3: "Yep, he is definitely trying to grow one"

Stage 4: Yep, that's a beard"

Stage 5...skipping to full on beard here:





  


I personally think Cody looks GREAT with a beard...but a maintained beard :) I wonder how long he is going to go? I dared him to go until we go to Mexico in January...we shall see!

Eat Your Breakfast!

You know what they say- breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

I have gone back and forth with fasting through breakfast and eating breakfast, and I have found that what works best for me is to make sure I am eating SOMETHING. When you skip breakfast, you are basically keeping your metabolism in "sleep mode". You want to wake it up as soon as you can so it starts working for you!

BENEFITS OF BREAKFAST

• Increases Metabolism
• Helps to maintain/lose weight
• Enhance your mood
• Stimulate Intelligence
• Enhance your immune system

I find that days when I eat breakfast, I am able to control my hunger more whereas days I skip, I find myself eating way larger portions at night..spacing your calories out throughout the day rather than eating them all right before bed gives your body a chance to burn through them.

Here is my challenge for the week-eat something every morning. I don't care if it is a shake, eggs, meat, oatmeal, whatever...just try it. You should try to make sure to get some protein in there since protein helps keep you full longer and preserves muscle. Below is a super easy go-to breakfast for me with recipe that I eat AT LEAST 3 times a week. The pic isn't the best..I should probably work on taking better food pics :)

Eggwhite Pancake with Almond Butter:

Recipe:
6 eggwhites
pumpkin spice
nutmeg
cinnamon
1 TBL Almond Butter

1. Heat pan (medium heat) and spray with nonstick spray or oil
2. mix eggwhites and spices in a bowl
3. Pour into pan-cook it like a pancake and flip on both sides to cook
4. Once cooked, remove from heat and spread almond butter on it
5. ENJOY

 This breakfast is great when you are wanting something a little more sweet and provides you a good amount of protein and healthy fats keeping you satisfied throughout the morning. The nutrition info for this is below:

Calories: 245
Carbs: 3g
Fat: 9g
Protein:34g

Until next time...stay warm and EAT BREAKFAST!

Calories:

RE-Debut of Blog

A few years ago I created this blog with EVERY intention to keeping it updated with what is going on in my life. The main purpose was so I could share it with my family and friends back home since Cody and I live away from our families. However, life got busy and I stopped updating it.

Over the past few years, I have really been on a health journey. I feel like I have learned a lot about nutrition, been able to experiment with different recipes, and have helped other people find health and happiness while trying to find the same for myself. Recently, I have been getting asked more and more for recipe ideas, workouts, eating plans, etc.. I was talking with my sister about this a few weeks back and she said I should just start a blog. Share my ideas, recipes, thoughts, etc... While the thought of having a successful blog sounded amazing, the thought of finding the time to update it seemed daunting.."just another thing to add to my laundry list of things to do".

However, helping people get healthy has ALWAYS been a passion of mine so I thought I would give it a go. There are so many ideas and thoughts that I think I can share through this blog. Who knows if anyone will read it, but if anything, it can serve as a healthy, fun hobby for me when I am unwinding after a long day.

I am excited to share my first post..so STAY TUNED... :)