Paleo Roasted Tomato Vegetable Soup

So Christmas is slooowly (but not really that slowly) creeping up on us. Lets just say that last year during this time i seriously gained about 13lbs. THIS IS NOT A JOKE PEOPLE. I let my sweet tooth get the best of me and I ate cookies, cake, chocolates.. etc with NO self control what-so-ever. It has also taken me all year long to work all of that back off and get to where I want to be. This year I'm not letting that happen again. Ive already had a few slip ups and bombed out days but the only thing that you can do is bounce back and take on the next day determined and without guilt from the day before. Trust me on this. I am THE WORST at beating myself up over what I ate so this is the best advice that I can give: It's a NEW DAY to start over and give it your best!!!! I have found that the best way to control myself is to just PRAY. I rely on God so much throughout the day for strength, especially in tough situations, and saying NO to certain foods qualifies as a tough situation in my book.

Tonight was just one of those nights to be snuggled up on the couch watching Christmas specials (Saturday Night Live Christmas to be exact) in front of the Christmas tree with a fire going. And fuzzy socks. And bassett hounds. and my boyfrind. Oh and wine. Cant forget that. If you're having a hard time picturing this let me show you...

This is happening right now. Be jealous.

Along with this cozy day comes cozy food. What better cozy food than tomato soup???? I set out to find a homemade tomato soup because my days of eating shit out of a can are long gone. Homemade soup is 100000000x better tasting and better for you anyway. I came across this website http://blog.seasonwithspice.com/2012/08/homemade-tomato-basil-soup-recipe.html and thought that it sounded delicious. I didn't have all of the ingredients on hand so I kind of took her idea and ran with it and this is the soup I came up with. It was SOO GOOOD, it made the "best soup i've ever had" category by kyle, which is huge because his family is full of awesome cooks! This is one of those recipes that even the non-paleo eaters will go nuts over. trust me.

INGREDIENTS

• 5-6 ripe tomatoes, cut into chunks
• 1 green or red bell pepper, cut into chunks
• 1 zucchini, cut into chunks
• 1 medium sized onion, cut into chunks
• 5-6 cloves of garlic, cut into chunks
• 1/2 bag baby carrots, coined (you could use 3 full sized carrots but I didnt have any)
• handful of spinach
• 2 cups chicken/vegetable broth
• 2 tsp -ish basil
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1 tbsp butter
• olive oil
• salt to taste

1. Set your oven to 375. While that is preheating, cut up your tomatoes, onion, pepper, garlic, zucchini and carrots and spread them out on a baking sheet. Drizzle some olive oil over the top and sprinkle with basil, salt, & pepper. Place in the oven and let roast, it took about 25-30 minutes but keep an eye on it.

 

 

2. While those are roasting, heat the chicken broth, paprika & pepper on low in a large pot.

3. When the veggies are done roasting, add them all to a blender along with the handful of fresh spinach and blend together. I left mine a little bit chunky but you can blend until smooth if you like.

3. Add tomato mixture to broth and stir together. Cook on medium for a few minutes and then stir in butter and milk. Let simmer for 5-10 minutes.

4. Serve hot

 

I made kyle a grilled cheese to eat with his but I cut up half of an avocado and added that to mine. It was ABSOLUTELY DELISH. I know I say this about all of my recipes but seriously this one is a MUST try! Especially for those cozy winter nights :]

 

 

Happy cooking!



Paleo Oatmeal

So lately I've been getting a little tired of just plain eggs or fruit for breakfast. I had been looking for something new and warm and delicious for wintertime and I'm so glad that I came across recipe on http://onapinktypewriter.com/2012/01/09/paleo-oatmeal/ , it's EXACTLY what I needed to switch things up a little!

This is the best paleo oatmeal that I've made so far, so good that I may or may not have made it every day for breakfast last week........ :]

Ingredients

• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 2 tbsp ground flax seeds
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 banana, mashed
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp honey
• frozen fruit of your choice, my two favorites are blueberries and rasberries

1. whisk together egg whites and almond milk. Then add the rest of the ingredients and make sure its blended well. (I found that peeling the banana and microwaving it in a bowl for about 20 seconds helps mash it much easier!)
2. heat in small saucepan on low-medium heat and stir frequently until it reaches the right consistency. This took me about 10 minutes until I could tell that it had all been cooked through.
3. DEVOUR

This has become one of my new favorite breakfasts... or lunches... or dinners (when kyle has school and im cooking for just myself). I have not yet tried to make it in the microwave but i'm sure that it would work just fine if you continue to stir it every 30 seconds or so. Trust me, this recipe is a keeper!

Banana Avocado Chocolate Pudding

Hello everybody! It's been a few weeks since my last post and I apologize! Things have been pretty crazy and I've had alot going on!

Last week my mom, my aunt and I flew out to LA to visit my cousin for her 30th birthday. We had a BLAST! But lots and lots and lots of wine, and lots and lots and lots of bad food. Friday we ventured to a horse ranch in Santa Barbara, but the rainy weather put an end to that adventure much earlier than we had hoped, so we went wine tasting in Malibu instead. That was AWESOME! And I can honestly say that California wine is wayyy better than the 10$ box wine that I usually stock up on in my fridge :].We also had a chance to visit Hollywood, which was very...........different. People dressing up as characters from movies and charge money to take picutres with them, hustlers on the street trying to sell cd's, the sidewalk was so dirty and packed full of people that you couldn't even see the celebrity's names on the stars. But on the bright side I dont think I have ever people-watched so much in my entire life. That's one of my favorite things to do. It makes me realize how many different kinds of people there are in the world and everyone is out to find their own happiness. I feel that Living in a world with such diversity, being close-minded is only going make yourself miserable at the end of the day.

Here are some pics from the trip:

Airport fun!

 

My cousin Wendy and I on her birthday, she makes 30 look GOOOOD! :]

 My beautiful mom and I at Malibu Winery

 

Wendy, myself, my mom and my aunt at SIP Winery

 

Mom and I at Kodak Theater in Hollywood

 

 

Now don't get me wrong, I had SO MUCH FUN, but after I got home, I was miserable! I was bloated, fatigued, swollen, grouchy, and all around feeling crappy. I had stuffed myself with so much wine, pizza, more wine, more pizza, and lots more wine. I couldn't wait to get back on my normal diet and eating/workout schedule.

 

I had heard great things about this recipe so I decided to see for myself. I originally found it on http://www.thefoodieandthefamily.com/2012/01/22/banana-cado-chocolate-pudding/ , but instead of making 12 servings, I switched it up a little to make just 1-2 and it was delicious! I HIGHLY recommend that you try this one, I even let co-workers who tend to poke fun of my healthy eating habits try it and they even agreed that it was delicious and couldn't believe it was made from avocados.

 

INGREDIENTS

 

• 1 avocado
• 1 banana
• 1/4 cup almond milk
• 1 TBS cocoa powder
• 1 TBS honey or maple syrup
• dash vanilla
• dash cinnamon
 

Put all of the above in a blender and blend until smooth! Then chill in the refrigerator for atleast 30 minutes. this stuff is THE BOMB DIGGITY! 

 

 

Hot n Spicy Paleo Meatloaf....and Running.

MAN it's been too long since my last blog post. I have been such a little busy bee lately. I just recently started a new job, which I absolutely LOVE. My previous job was a 45+ minute commute each way, and now I work just 5 minutes down the road with AWESOME hours! I'm done everyday by 2:30, how cool is that? So since I have all this new free time, I decided that I needed to pick up another hobby. Who in the hell would have ever guessed that hobby would be running? NOT me that's for sure! I started this whole running thing when I began Bridging the Wellness Gap, and since then it has just taken off. I started at just going 1-2 miles once or twice a week, and here I am now signed up for a half marathon in March. WHO AM I?

I love the way that running makes me feel. Well, after the runner's high kicks in that is. Until then it kind of sucks. The first two miles are always so hard for me and then after that I get lost in my own euphoric state of mind where nothing bothers me. Nothing stresses me out. I get a sense of satisfaction that I have control over my well being and I feel so alive! Now, I'm not saying that I go out and run 10 miles every day. or ever. But I have found that 5-6 miles a few times a week is just what I need to stay sane and it helps keep my mindfulness on track.

ANYWAY, enough about that. Let's get to the food.

When I was younger, I HATED when my mom made meatloaf. I don't even know why. Maybe it just had something to do with the name. Meatloaf. Something about that just sounded un appetizing... in my PRE paleo days, that is. Now that I'm a meat-atarian (yes, I just made that word up), I can't get enough. Sometimes I feel like the dog on the Beggin Strips commerical... like "BACOOONNNNN!!!! BACON BACON BACON BACON I SMELL BACONN!!!". It's that bad.

I just compared myself to a dog....................oh well.

So I set out to make a meatloaf, with no specific recipe in mind. it couldn't be THAT hard, right? I mean it's just a bunch of meat...in a pan... So I literally just threw a bunch of stuff together and this is what I got. Now the ingredients list is a bit long, but seriously don't let it scare you! This was so easy to make. Obviously I got a little spice happy so you can add or omit any of them that you like to make it more or less spicy.  Kyle and I just love spicy food so that's why I went a little crazy but I love the way that it turned out! Kyle thought it was amazing, and I asked him if it was the best meatloaf he had ever had. His response: "It was delicious, but it wasn't as good as my Nana makes it". Now, if his Nana wasn't one of the most precious, sweetest, kindest little lady's that I have ever met, and  really didnt make some damn good meatloaf, then he might have been thrown in the Dog House after that comment. I decided to let this one slide.

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground turkey (or beef, your choice)
• 1 lb ground pork sausage
• 1 egg, whisked
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 tbsp almond flour
• 1 small can tomato paste
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 1/2 - 3/4 cup hot saunce, I used Franks
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp chilli powder
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp basil
• salt & pepper

1. Set your oven at 400 degrees
2. Heat up a skillet with some Olive oil and toss in your green pepper, onion, and garlic. Saute until onion is translucent.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine meat, egg, flour, tomato paste, hot sauce, and spices. Mix well
4. Once veggies are done in the skillet, add them to the bowl and stir to incorporate.
5. Transfer meat mixture to an 8x5 loaf pan, and bake uncovered for approx 45-50 minutes, until no longer pink on the inside.
6.  Have your glass of water ready because this stuff is spiiiiccyyyy, but absolutely DELISH! Sorry no picture, but everyone knows what meatloaf looks like. Or atleast I hope you do. If not just picture a loaf of bread.....made out of meat.

HAPPY COOKING :]

Crockpot Apple Porkchops and Other Ramblings

So this past weekend was pretty amazing. It started out Friday evening when Kyle took me on a date. A WHAT!? Yes, a date. Our first one since buying our house back in May. And I know why--  Shit's expensive now-a-days! Two movie tickets was 20 bucks! Although I am ever so grateful that we actually got out of the house and did something, saving money and renting a Redbox is seriously the way to go!

Saturday Kyle woke up at the buttcrack of dawn to go hunting. He was like a little kid at Christmas with a huge grin on his face, all decked out in his camo and brand new bow ready to go at 5am. Now, why anyone would want to leave a warm comfy bed and go sit in a tree in the freezing cold for HOURS is beyond me. To each his own i guess. He must really like it because my hunny came home with a big ol' doe! After I dried my tears and got over the fact that he killed Bambi's mom, I couldnt be more excited about all the meat in the freezer... The Deer jerky is marinating now... working on perfecting a recipe! :]

Saturday was also the last day of the Bridging the Wellness Gap program. I'm so sad that it's over! I could go on and on about the wonderful things  that it has done for me and changed in my life but I will save that for a later blog post. What I will do though is talk about how proud I am of myself and everyone that finished. We met at the gym for our final testing, and everyone had amazing results and improvements after 12 weeks. I ended up not losing any weight, but I lost a total of 4.5 inches off of my biceps, waist, hips, thighs & chest combined. My 1 mile run improved from 7:47 to 7:22, my max effort pushups improved from 31 to 50, my reach improved 2 inches, my blood pressure lowered, and my situps improved from 44 in 1 minute to 56 in 1 minute. I was so surprised! I am definitely one to look at the scale a little too often, and believe a little too much what it's telling me. So when the scale wasn't moving, I was feeling EXTREMELY discouraged and no self-confindence. After the testing on Saturday I can honestly tell you that losing INCHES is a much better feeling than losing WEIGHT!

As if Saturday morning wasn't amazing enough, in the afternoon my mom and I headed down to Mallow Run Winery for Wine at the Line. What a beautiful day for this race! I was originally signed up to run the 5 mile, but I was pretty fatigued from my testing that morning and I wanted to have more of a "fun" run rather than a killer one, so I opted to switch to the 5k. I just went at my own comfortable pace, expecting to finish somewhere around 30 minutes which seems to be close to my average. To my surprise, I rounded the corner and crossed the finish line at 26:54!!!! I COULDNT BELIEVE IT! That was my fastest time Ive ever had! I was so proud of myself for all that I accomplished that day and all the hard work that I put into it. How did I celebrate you ask? WINE OF COURSE! :] Here are some pics from the run:

 

My beautiful mom and I, she did the walk and I did the run! So proud of her!

 

Some of my PR Fitness crew, we all Rocked it! - Photo courtesy of Sherri!

 

Stacy and I celebrating at the finish line and tasting each other's wine, hey ya gotta do what ya gotta do! - Photo courtesy of Stacy!

 

 

Ok enough rambling and back to why you're really looking at my blog. THE FOOD. Not JUST food, but pork chops. Probably my favorite meat. Big ol' thick boneless ones from Meijer. Those are the best. We always grill them so I set out to find a recipe that was a little different and this one caught my eye: http://denimanddots.com/2011/09/09/easy-slow-cooker-apple-and-onion-pork-chops/  .. mainly because I had all the ingredients. I jazzed it up a little bit though and it was AMAZING--Perfect for a fall evening! I also made it in the crockpot so that's bonus points because it took about 3 minutes to throw together.

Ingredients:

• 2 thick cut boneless porkchops (or however many mouths you're feeding)
• 2 medium apples (i used gala), cut into 1 inch chunks (I left the skin on)
• 1 medium onion -- diced
• 3/4 cup chicken broth
• 2 tbs apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp rosemary
• salt & pepper

1. Spread apple chunks and diced onion in bottom of crockpot.
2. Dash with salt, pepper & some rosemary
3. Lay pork chops on top of apples & onions
4. Mix together broth & cider vinegar and then pour into crock pot
5. Add minced garlic on top of pork chops
6. Finish with more salt, pepper & rosemary on top
7. Close the lid and watch the magic happen. Well, not really, unless you have nothing to do for 8 hours except watch pork chops cook and if that's the case I think you need to get yourself a hobby. Just a thought.

I actually cooked mine on high for 4 hours but you could probably cook them on low for 7-8. These pork chops were SO TASTY. Very juicy and full of flavor! I topped the cooked chops with the apples from the bottom of the crock pot. The apples were so yummy just to eat by themselves! This is definitely a keeper recipe and very easy to make. Happy Cooking!

Maple Roasted Butternut Squash with Bacon

Today was my first Monday off work. I made a promise to myself that I would spend these days off extremely productive and would NOT be lazy. BUUUUUTTTTTT today was my first one and it was cold and rainy and all I wanted to do was snuggle with my pups. So thats what I did, AFTER going to PR Fitness this morning of course! So, given the weather conditions and my mood, I wanted to make squash with dinner because it makes me feel all fuzzy inside.

So there was a butternut squash, acorn squash & 2 spaghetti squashes sitting on my counter staring at me. I literally played eenie meenie miney mo to decide which lucky little squash was going to be on my plate for dinner, and butternut won!

I don't make butternut squash alot so I was throwing ideas around in my head on how I should prepare it-- I really only know of three ways: soup, roasted & mashed. Roasting it seemed the quickest to prepare.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 medium to large butternut squash
• 6 strips of bacon
• cinnamon
• nutmeg
• sea salt
• olive oil
• maple syrup

1. Preheat the oven to 400
2. Cut in half & peel your butternut squash and remove the seeds. Then slice into 1 inch chunks.
3. Throw into a roasting dish and toss with olive oil
4. Sprinkle with salt, cinnamon & nutmeg
5. cut your bacon strips into 1-2 inch pieces and lay on top of squash
6. LIGHTLY drizzle maple syrup over the top of bacon
7. Put in oven and roast for approximately 45-50 minutes, until bacon is cooked and squash is soft.

Sorry I didn't take any pictures, I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out so I had no intentions of putting this recipe on here. To my surprise, though, this was very tasty and I paired it with 2 eggs over easy (I like to eat really random food together and eggs take about 2 seconds to cook so it's always my go-to meal!)

Easy clean up and now Kyle and I are about to hash it out for the tv, Monday Night Football vs. The Voice... I WILL WIN! :]

Bacon Wrapped Asparagus Stuffed Chicken

Here's the truth about me: I AM A FOODIE. I've never thought about it that way until last week at family dinner when I wouldn't shut up about recipes and playing around in the kitchen. My uncle looked at me and said "DAMN you're a f-o-o-d-i-e aren't you!?" .....Sigh. 'Tis true. My love for food and cooking has overtaken my life! But.....ask me if I mind!? :] Possible inspiration for a new blog name....
Anyway, here is the recipe for what I made for dinner tonight, and it was OMG good. Remember when I said that my almond crusted tilapia was one of the best things I've ever made? I lied. Tonights dinner topped it for sure! A few weeks ago my sister in law made a bacon wrapped chicken with rosemary, so I decided to take it a step further and add in my favorite veggie.

The real name for this meal should be: The Delicious, Mouth-Watering, Savory Bacon Wrapped Asparagus and Garlic Stuffed Chicken Topped with Rosemary and Balsamic Vinegar Oven Roasted to Perfection. Yes, I think like that better.

Ingredients

• 2 boneless chicken breasts (or however many for the hungry mouths you're feeding)
• bacon (2 pieces per chicken breast)
• 1/2 bag frozen asparagus, or handful if you're using fresh. I'm sure you could use any veggie you want, really. I bet spinach would be yummy too!
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped into larger chunks
• Rosemary
• Olive oil
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Salt & Pepper

1. First, preheat your oven to 350.
2. Start by tenderizing your chicken. ANYONE who says that meat tenderizing isn't fun is a gosh damn liar. Pound the crap out of those little gems until theyre nice and flat.

3. Put in a pan and cover in a mixture of balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Sprinkle some rosemary on top and let marinate for 15-20 minutes.

 

 

4. While the chicken is marinating, Heat up a skillet to medium and toss in your asparagus. I used frozen so I threw those in with the chunks of garlic and let that cook through.

 

5. Once the asparagus & garlic are cooked, transfer it to the chicken. I piled it all at one end and just rolled it up.

 

6. Carefully wrap each piece of chicken with 2 pieces of bacon and secure with a few tooth picks.

 

 

7. I drizzled some more basamic vinegar on top and sprinkled them with rosemary. I also added some salt and pepper. 



8. Put in the oven uncovered for about 40 minutes. It may take longer depending on the thickness of your bacon, how many chicken breasts you have, etc. You'll just have to keep checking on them.

I know, I know. The picture quality on my iphone camera is just out of this world amazing.

 

 

Pair this little masterpiece with some grilled veggies and you gotchurself a nice healthy, paleo, whole30 approved, WLC approved meal-i-o. Enjoy!

Almond Crusted Tilapia

This just might be the best meal that has ever popped into my brain. ALMOND CRUSTED TILAPIA! One of the things that I miss since I went paleo is fried fish. Fried anything, actually..... (shhh I didn't really say that!).

I refuse to buy almond flour, just because its too damn expensive and well lets face it, im broke. So I usually avoid any type of recipe that calls for it, such as pancakes or muffins or brownies... I'm going to stop now before I start drooling on my keyboard. Luckily for me though, I had some leftover almonds from my trip this past weekend so I decided to make my own. Thank goodness for ninja blenders!

WARNING: THE RECIPE I AM ABOUT TO SHARE MIGHT CHANGE YOUR LIFE

Seriously, its so good! Kyle walked in the door from work and said "Are you frying fish?! YOU ARENT ALLOWED TO HAVE THAT!" lol! Thank goodness I have a boyfriend who holds me accountable on my diet! BUT little did he know that this was the healthy version! MUHAHAHAH (insert evil laugh here)

Ingredients:
2 tilapia filets (or however many you want to make)
3/4 cup almonds (or almond flour if you're really fancy)
1 tsp garlic salt
2 tbs whole30 approved mustard
olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

1. If you're using regular almonds, throw them into the blender with garlic salt and blend until it makes close to a powder but still has some chunky pieces in it.
2. Heat the skillet to medium heat, add olive oil to cover bottom of pan
3. Smother tilapia filet in mustard and cover with almond flour until evenly coated.
4. Toss that sucker into the pan and fry it! After a couple minutes flip over and fry the other side. Flake with for to check done-ness, mine took about 8-9 minutes per filet.

 

 

 

 

Voila (sp?)! I didn't take a final picture because I originally had my heat set to med-high and I kind of burnt it, so It wasn't a pretty picture but it still tasted delicious. That's why I recommend a lower heat and longer cook time. I hope you take my word for it and try this out for yourself! It's definitely a keeper!

Cedar Point

So this past weekend Kyle and I took off to Sandusky, Ohio to visit one of the most AMAZING theme parks ever, Cedar Point. My main concern out of the whole trip was: what the heck am I going to eat??? After gathering tips and ideas from fellow PR'ers, I loaded up on packs of tuna and an assortment of fruit and nuts. I found an awesome recipe for roasted nuts at http://www.windycitycrossfit.com/wccf_recipes/2011/10/102011.html ... seriously, CHECK IT OUT! Kyle and I munched on it all weekend, I added raisins to mine and made it with almonds, walnuts and pecans. sooo delicious! But anyway, Thank goodness I packed this, a couple larabars and a few apples to get me through the day because the second I got into the park, it was like poison food city. Every single sign that I saw: Fried chicken, chilli cheese fries, funnel cakes, elephant ears, chips, jumbo pretzels, dippin dots, chocolate chip cookies, cinnabon, "stuffed smore's" (which is basically a glorified poptart), pepsi, the list goes on. I kept my eye on different food items to just see if anything jumped out that I would be able to eat and the closest thing I got to healthy was a chocolate covered banana or an apple pie filled bosco stick. Another little thing I kept an eye out for was how many people at this park looked like they were physically fit. I got a grand total of 4. FOUR PEOPLE out of all of cedar point looked as if they were in good shape and actually took care of themselves. This kills me! I would just watch extremely unhealthy people shovel all of this poisonous "food" into their mouths all day and not think twice about it. It's like watching someone physically hurt themself and not being able to do anything about it.

The deeper I dive into my healthy new lifestyle, the more I crave to help people make the switch as well. I guess I'll just keep praying and striving to live as an example until I figure out how to change the world.

Spaghetti Squash Casserole

I was in the mood for italian food today. I don't crave it a lot but whenever i get the slightest whiff of lasagna or spaghetti, it lights the spark in my brain! Luckily for me, I had a beautiful spaghetti squash at home just staring at me and begging to be cooked.

I usually make my spaghetti squash with just veggies and without sauce, but I wanted to try something new tonight so that's why I made a casserole instead. It turned out yummy and was just perfect for my italian dinner.

Spaghetti Squash Casserole

1 medium sized spaghetti squash
1 medium zucchini
1 broccoli crown
1 bell pepper
1 package smoked sausage
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
handful spinach
crushed garlic, i buy the jar of minced so about 1 tsp of that
italian spice blend
salt
pepper

1. cut spaghetti squash in half lengthwise and remove the seeds. Brush with olive oil and some salt, pepper & garlic salt. Wrap one half in saran wrap and put in microwave for about 7 minutes (you'll have to check on it, if it is a larger squash it may take longer) Once finished, repeat with other half of squash.

 

2. While squash is in the microwave, cut up your veggies and throw them in a pot with some olive oil over medium heat. Let these all warm through and add the sausage. Once that cooks for a couple more minutes, add the can of tomato sauce and can of diced tomatoes. Next throw in your spices. I have an italian blend mix of spices that I used and also added some salt and pepper.

 

 

3. After squash is done, shred it with a fork into a casserole dish. Once that is shredded, add all your veggies and stir together. I added some parmesan cheese to Kyle's side of the dish but left mine without.

 

4. Heat the oven to 425 degrees and cook covered for about 20-25 minutes. 

 

This dish was so good and I have leftovers for lunch tomorrow! Also got a 2 thumbs up by Kyle so that means you know its good! I might try it with chicken next time just to mix things up :]

 

 

 

 

Candied Pecans

SWEET TOOTH.. WE MEET AGAIN! damn you for coming around when I'm trying to push you out of my life! But here I am, giving in. **HUGE SIGH**

I officially have 1 week left until the Whole Life Challenge, and the funny thing about it is that out of the whole program I'm more concerned about the fact that I'm not going to be able to have my honey or maple syrup than I am anything else, haha! Can we all say p-r-o-b-l-e-m? I OBVIOUSLY have a sugar addiction so this 8 week hiatus will be a blessing in disguise.

ANYWAYS, SINCE I cannot have either of these two little treasures after this week, I had to make one of my favorites to satisfy my sweet tooth. Since it's late at night, I try to stay away from fruit and try to gravitate more towards nuts and healthy fats. I reached for my fav: PECANS :]. this little dish is perfect for a mini craving and completely satisfies!

CANDIED PECANS

3/4 cup raw pecans
honey
maple syrup
sea salt

Heat the pan to medium and toss in the pecans. Drizzle with honey and maple syrup and sprinklewith sea salt (because I am a huge fan of sweet & salty combo). Stir consistently until lightly browned. Remove from heat and enjoy :]

Paleo Tuna Salad

My mom makes the BEST tuna salad. EVER. I used to eat it like it was my job! The only problem is, it is definitely not paleo-friendly. So I decided to come up with my own tuna salad recipe that I could eat for lunch, because lets face it, WHO doesnt like tuna salad for lunch!?!?

I was playing around in the kitchen one day (go figure) and threw together the most tasty tuna salad that was completely paleo. The fun part is, everytime I make it, it's never the same! I literally throw in whatever's in my fridge at the time or whatever spices that I'm feelin! How easy is that? So I'm going to share the recipe that I made tonight, but it's so versatile that it can be altered HOWEVER you want it to be! Keep in mind.. i have a very HARD time measuring... i literally just throw things in and see how it tastes so my measurements might be off, youll just have to taste as you go!

Ingredients:
2 cans tuna
1/4 cup shredded carrots
1/4 of a bell pepper any color, diced
1 hard boiled egg
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 tsp-ish lemon juice
1/2 tsp-ish lime juice
1/2 tsp-ish mustard (make sure its paleo friendly!)
1/2 tsp-ish liquid aminos
dash garlic salt
salt and pepper to taste

It seems like alot of ingredients but I got excited and just kept adding to it! taste as you go and see what YOU want to add! That's why I love tuna salad, it goes with anything! i usually eat mine over a bed of spinach but sometimes i just eat it right out of the bowl like this! so delish!

Cheap coffee tables turned masterpiece!

So this past Labor Day weekend was very eventful, starting out with the Rascal Flatts concert on Friday, a Saturday full of house chores, a family cookout on Sunday, and the 5k race Monday. By Monday afternoon rolled around i was COMPLETELY pooped, so pooped that I told Kyle I was taking a nap and NOT to wake me up, not even if there was a fire! Ok, hopefully he would use his best judgement on that last one but you get the point :]

Let me rewind for a second. So back when Kyle and I moved into our house we literally had NOTHING. so everything we had to buy was pretty cheap to fit our budget, including our coffee table and end tables. We thought that we could get by for a little while before they started falling apart but what do ya know, they only lasted about 2 months before the laminate on the top started bubbling up. So I found this idea on Pinterest to cover the top of the coffee table with wood and stain it.. here is the blog if you want to check it out too! http://thefeministmystique.blogspot.com/. I mentioned it to Kyle a couple of weeks ago but just like most guys, I figured the idea went in one ear and out the other ;]

After I awoke from my 3 hour slumber on Monday, I went outside to find my FABULOUS boyfriend turning our crappy coffee table into a masterpiece! I couldnt have been more excited!!!

 



 

I'm absolutely OBSESSED with how these turned out! I don't have a before picture of what the tables looked like but they were very plain and the laminate was awful. These go much better with the "rustic" theme of my living room as well.

 

Kyle loved making these too, I think that there is something about a guy using power tools that makes them feel manlier... is that even a word? Either way, this just means I get to pick out more projects for him to do which means I get to be on pinterest all the time so it's a win win for me! :]

 

Zucchini Adventures Part 2

So zucchini season is one of my favorites, mainly because everyone I know grows it and it seems that there is always an over abundance of it which in turn leads to free veggies for me :] This leads to us eating zucchini every single day whether it is breakfast lunch or dinner, which is totally fine by me. The challenge, though, is finding different ways to eat it.

So one of Kyle's friends brought us over this MONSTER zucchini (yes, I know I'm in my jammies. It was a lazy Sunday but that's besides the point. Let's all focus on the zucchini that i'm holding) But my first thought when I saw this was 1. This vegetable is on steroids and 2. what the HELL am I supposed to cook with that thing?!

 

 

Kyle and I always always always make eggs on the weekends because we have time and aren't rushing out the door to work. He is definitely an omlet guy and I am more of a fried egg kind of girl. So as I was cooking this zucchini to put into kyle's omlet, I got the fab idea to turn it into a hash for myself. One of my favorite breakfasts is sweet potato hash with runny eggs on top, so I thought that this would be a fun little experiment to try with zucchini instead.

 

 

So I chopped the zucchini into 1/2 inch cubes and tossed them into a pan with olive oil. I seasoned them with some salt, pepper & garlic salt and let it cook until it was soft. Then I cooked my eggs over easy so that they were runny in the middle. I used to always eat them with two pieces of toast but ever since that got eliminated from my diet I've been looking for other things that go well with eggs. Let's just say that my experiment worked out very well! I put the eggs on top of the zucchini hash and dug in. yummy!! This was a very filling breakfast and a great way to use up all that zucchini that is just overflowing out of your garden. Unless you want to give it to me instead. Thats ok too. :]

 

 

now dat right derr is one purty breakfast if i ever did see one!

 



 

Banana Nut Dessert

So after my rant about the fairy, it's obvious that I have cravings during the Week from Hell, mostly my sweet tooth. That's why I came up with this little treat and let me tell you, it COMPLETELY satisfied my craving! It was also extremely easy and paleo friendly (which gets two thumbs up in my book!)

Banana Nut Melt

Ingredients:
1 banana
1/2 cup raw walnuts
cinnamon
honey
butter
(sorry, like I've said before I don't measure)

Heat up the skillet to medium and melt some butter. Next toss in your walnuts to let them toast. Next drizzle some honey on top and add a dash of cinnamon. Do not walk away from these puppies! they cook pretty fast and you must constantly stir them or else they will burn. They usually take about 5 minutes, based on how done you want them. Remove from pan and set aside.

Next peel your banana and cut into slices about 1/2 inch thick. melt a little more butter in the pan and toss those in. Drizzle them with honey and a dash of cinnamon. These do not need a lot at all because as the banana melts a little it carmelizes and it makes it's own little sauce. Just like the nuts, do not walk away from these! they cook fairly quick as well, about 5 minutes.

Once melted and carmelized, removed from pan and top with walnuts and ENJOY. I got a whole lot of positive feedback from Kyle and his friend, telling me that it was the best dessert they've ever had! Now they could have been just trying to make me feel good but I guess that's just something you'll have to find out for yourself! but trust me-- TRY THIS :]

Week of Hell

So this post may not be "male friendly", but I've just gotta talk about it. Once a month us women get visited by an evil little fairy that decides she wants to wave her tiny wand and grant us with a week of pure hell. Yea, i'm pretty sure that's how it goes. I told myself on Sunday that I was not going to give in and that I would prove to myself that i would conquer my little visitor. Yea, well, so much for that. I HATE this week for more reasons than just one! but the main reason, especially since I started BTWG, is that during this fun little period of time (no pun intended) I completely lose control of myself and my body. Not only do I crave certain things and eat everything in site, but I cramp like crazy, get horribly fatigued, my mood gets depressed, and I just plain dont feel like doing anything but complaining and feeling sorry for myself. I always have that little teeny tiny voice in the back of my head saying "keep going" and "don't eat that", but it's just not loud enough for me to listen! I am determined to figure out how to beat this, because lets face it, that damn fairy isnt going anywhere for a long long long time. I have a theory that it all depends on how strong I am the three weeks before it happens, so it's time to start over and give it another try!

"The Vegetable Diaries"

ok guys.. I just have to tell you right now that I'm OBSESSED with cooking so probably 90% of my blogs are going to be about what I made for dinner... hope you dont mind:]

So tonight Kyles mom, sister and best friend came over for dinner and I wanted to make something delish! Every night our meals consist of a meat and a veggie. ALWAYS. the hard part is deciding which veggie! I couldn't, so I chose a few. I chose red potatoes (not the BEST choice for our nutrition plan right now but they work when feeding alot of people), zucchini, onions, green pepper & garlic. I chopped everything up and tossed it into a bowl.

Next I added olive oil (enough to coat the veggies), lemon juice, garlic salt, onion salt, pepper, liquid aminos, and alittle bit of cayenne pepper. Like i said before, I don't measure. so I have no idea how much of everything I put in. I'm actually surprised that I just remembered what i put in it because I get so excited when i go through the spice cabinet that i add this and that and some more of this and some more of that and all of a sudden im standing there looking at it wondering wht the heck its going to taste like. but that's the fun part right?!

 

Then we made "boats" as Kyle likes to call them out of aluminum foil to put the veggies in on the grill. They probably cooked for about 15-20 minutes.

 

 

 



This was such a yummy side to our steak dinner!

But of course we had to have dessert too................................ and what better dessert than grilled fruit!? Im telling you, when I said Kyle and I love to grill, we LOVE TO GRILL.

So for this I just halved and quartered some peaches and drizzled them with honey and a little bit of cinnamon..

Now these dont take nearly as long on the grill as the veggies do, probably about 7-9 minutes. they come out so warm and perfect and delicious and who the HECK needs cake and brownies for desserts when you can make something as amazing as this!?

 

 

Now its time to snuggle up with my blanket and pinterest and relax for the night to get ready for my 5 mile run tomorrow at Oliver Winery with my sister! 

Zucchini Adventures

So I hope everyone has access to a grill. If not, you're missing out on a major treasure that this life has to offer. Here in the Roth/Guerrettaz household we grill EVERY night. I have really gotten into experimenting with different foods because lets face it-- everything just tastes better when cooked over fire :].

So tonight was girls night with my brand new sister in law and one of the things I made was grilled zucchini. One because it's so stinkin cheap right now and two because its just that yummy. But let me tell you-- HOLY SMOKES it was delicious!! So delicious that i felt that I needed to share the recipe, Even though it's not really a recipe I just threw it all together and it tasted magical.

ANYWAYS-- take as many zucchini as you like. I was feeding 4 people so I used about 6 medium sized zucchini and cut them lengthwise into quarters.

next I drizzled the top with olive oil-- be generous with it! it cant hurt :]

Then I sprinkled them with black pepper, sea salt, and lemon pepper. Then I got to feeling really frisky in the kitchen so I drizzled the top with liquid aminos too. I dont use measurements so just use as much as your little heart desires :]

Throw those puppies on the grill and let em cook for about 10-12 minutes. I still like my veggies SOMEWHAT crunchy so it was just the right amount of time to make those pretty little grill marks on the zucchini and taste perfect like heaven in my mouth. I would have taken a picture but I didn't come up with the idea to post it on my blog until I had devoured them all, so i hope you take my word for it and try it yourself ! :]

I'm just a rookie...

When better to start a blog than 6 weeks into a completely life changing program!? To be honest I waited so long because even though my generation is supposed to be all smart at this stuff, I'm an idiot when it comes to computers and I dont even know if I'm doing this right!

I guess I will get right down to business, I wanted to do the BTWG program because I'm an emotional wreck! Although I was doing great with workouts and nutrition already, I felt like a walking zombie that just floated through each day without any desire to push myself towards any goals or dreams. This program has done wonders for that aspect of my life already! I'll get into more mushy stuff later.. I just wanted to get my first blog underway :] My goal is to keep you completely entertained and intrigued as to what goes on in my growing life with recipes and pictures and ideas and tips and all kinds of fun stuff so stay tuned!