Good Food On The Go

I don't know about you but I turn into Mrs. Munch Mouth when ever I go on long car rides so by the time we get where we are going I feel fat and bloated since most of the stuff I munched on wasn't the greatest. So on my drive down to New Mexico I was determined to 1) not munch as much as I normally do and 2) when I did munch it was on much healthier food. Before I left I contacted my health and fitness guru brother and asked him what food and snacks I should pack for a healthier ride, and this is what he told me....

In my snack box....

Mixed Nuts

Tomato and Sweet Basil Brown Rice Triscuits

Tomato Basil Lentil Snaps

Bananas

Sesame Bars

Nutrition Bars

In My Cooler....

Mixed Fruits

Sliced Watermelon

Apples

Reduced Fat Mozzarella String Cheese

Turkey and Provolone Sandwich on a Multi Grain Sandwich Round

Shredded Chicken and Shredded Mozzarella Wrap using a Spinach Tortilla

Arizona Green Tea

I actually did really well on this trip and didn't munch much at all which made me very happy......go me!

Crunchy Sweet Potato Chips

One of my weaknesses is chips, I can never get enough. I especially love the thick, hard, crunchy ones like Kettle Chips. But every time I eat them all I can think is "I shouldn't be doing this, I need to stop, no more Lindsey no more, holy crap I ate the whole bag" wah wah wah! So to fulfill my craving of crunchy yummy chips I made myself some sweet potato chips.

Supplies:

Sweet Potato

Potato Peeler

Mandolin Slicer

Lite Salt

Mrs Dash Garlic Seasoning

Mrs Dash Onion Seasoning

Peel the sweet potato then slice it with the mandolin slicer. 

Slicey Slicey

 Spray some of the olive oil spray onto a cooking pan then sprinkle a bit of each seasonings onto the pan. Line the sweet potato slices onto the pan. Spay the slices with more of the olive oil spray and sprinkle more of the seasonings on top. Bake for  minutes in a  degree oven flipping twice.

So yummy and fulfilling!

Unbelievably Unmotivated

 Today I am posting a weight update, unfortunately its not a good one.

Back in May I posted a Ready To Get Re-Motivated blog because I really wanted/needed to get back to the healthy, fit person I loved being. I did get back in the groove for about a week then my good friend Mr. Stress decided to drop by and he hasn't left.

When I get super stressed, like I am now, its like my whole body shuts down. My head is yelling at me "get up lazy butt, go for a run..." "don't be a quitter..." "your gaining back the weight you busted your butt to lose..." but my body goes "I'm perfectly comfortable sitting in this chair, thanks though!" The fight between my head and body ultimately leads to me becoming a bit depressed and then I totally shut down. Everything feels like such a chore so I end up spending most of my day sitting in my chair watching TV, eating food that I grabbed from the cabinet or food that I just popped in the microwave.

Super long story short I am still 175 pounds which isn't too terrible but its not where I want to be at all. I am desperately struggling to get out of this funk but I will get out of it, I have so much coming up that I want to look and feel my best for. So bare with me! As soon as I do manage to get back to my healthy, fit self you will start seeing healthy recipes and exercise posts here on my blog once again. Thanks for sticking around!

If you have any advice that will help get me out of this lazy, unmotivated, fatigued place I am in I am all ears, just leave your comments below!

Cheese Burger Burrito

Two of my husbands favorite foods are burritos and burgers so one night I decided to combine the two of them.

 Supplies:

Whole Grain Mission Wrap Tortillas

Diced Dill Pickle

Shredded Cheese Blend

Ground Turkey

Mustard

Ketchup

1/4 of an Onion Diced

The first thing I did was saute the onions using a bit of olive oil, I looked them until they were clear.

I then added the ground turkey to the pan with the onions. I seasoned the meat with my husbands McCormick's Steak Seasoning and cooked it until it was totally cooked through.

I grabbed one of the wrap tortillas and sprinkled some of the shredded cheese in the middle of it. I topped that with a bit of the diced pickles.

Over that I squirted a bit of the ketchup and mustard.

Then I added the turkey onion mixture and topped everything off with a bit more shredded cheese.

I then folded the burger burrito (side, side, roll) and placed it, seam side down, on my grilling pan. I let it sit until the seam was sealed and the tortilla had some nice brown grill marks on it, then I flipped it to grill the other side. 

These were seriously so delicious, my husbands first response was "put this on your must make again list" which is always a good sign. 

Fantastic Carrot Fries

My family loves fries, especially my husband. So when I saw that I could make fries using carrots I was stoked to try out this healthy alternative to our not so healthy favorite french fries.

 All I needed was a bag of whole carrots, salt and olive oil.

 I peeled and washed the carrots then I cut them into fry like strips.

 

 I poured a tiny bit of olive oil onto a baking pan then dumped my carrot strips onto the sheet. I sprinkled a bit of salt over the carrots then mixed everything together with my hands making sure every carrot strip was covered.

I placed them in my oven which was heated to 350 degrees and let them bake until they were crisp, about 15 minutes.

They were incredibly tasty and made the perfect side to our barbequed chicken.

Soft Summer Feet

My feet take a beating during the winter months so when the time comes to bust out my flip flops my feet are in desperate need of a little T.L.C. This is how I get my feet summer ready...

 My feet were gross I'm sorry...don't judge!

 The first thing I do is give my tootsies a little bath.

I mix 1/4 cup Listerine (any flavor), 1/4 cup vinegar and 1/2 cup warm water then let my feet soak for 10 minutes.

Next I scrape away all the dead skin from the bottom of me feet.

I do this by using my awesomely blue pumas stone that I bought from my local grocery store, it makes my feet super smooth.

Now its time to hydrate.

I pour on the lotion I made for my hands during the winter months, you can find that here, and rub it all over my feet...top and bottom.

The last thing I do is put on my cozy socks!

After my feet are all nice and slick I put on my very comfy, very fuzzy socks to keep the lotion on my feet and make them extra smooth. I leave my socks on for at least 2 hours.

And there you have it! Some super soft, sandal ready, summer worthy feet!

(I do the lotion and sock steps at least two times a week to keep my feet smooth and hydrated)

Simple Dried Strawberries

I love eating dried fruits as a healthy morning snack but they can be pretty expensive, so Ive decided to start drying them myself using my oven. There are lots of fruits that I was to try and dry but so far I have only done bananas and strawberries, you can see my dried banana recipe here.

All you need are ripe strawberries and some salt.

Cut off the stems of the strawberries then cut them in half.

Place a cooling rack on a baking sheet them place your halved strawberry pieces on the rack. Sprinkle a bit of salt over the strawberries. Place the pan in a 200 degree oven for 4 hours flipping the strawberries after 2 hours. They will be done when they are crisp and juice free.

And there you have it... simple, sweet, dried strawberries.

Weird Way To Whiten Your Teeth

I am an avid coffee and tea drinker and lately I have noticed that my teeth are a bit yellowish which I am not ok with. Before I ran out and got some pricy teeth whitening strips or mouth wash or gel pen or whatever they have, I looked up a few different teeth whitening tricks and the one with the best reviews was the Activated Charcoal one so I thought I would give it a try.

 All I needed was activated charcoal and a toothbrush which I just happened to have in my medicine cabinet...score.

I dumped some of the charcoal powder from one of the tablets onto the brush then got to work.

 Brushy brushy

Yummy

After I was done brushing my teeth I rinses out my mouth with water then brushed them with my regular toothbrush and toothpaste. 

A little to close for comfort but oh well! 

 As you can see my teeth are a little bit whiter but not too much, my teeth do feel super smooth though which is an amazing feeling. This trick was super simple and I will be doing it again soon cause I'm thinking the more I do it the whiter my teeth will get...we will see.

Spaghetti Squash Mac & Cheese

I love me some macaroni & cheese, those Kraft commercials where the adults steal their kids mac & cheese totally reminds me of myself, but unfortunately macaroni and cheese is not on my diet since its pasta and some powdered cheese...if you can call it that. So I decided to make my own healthier version.

Ingredients:

 Medium Spaghetti Squash

2 tablespoon Flour

3 tablespoons Butter

2 cups Whole Milk

1/2 cup Shredded Mozzarella

1 cup Reduced Fat Shredded Mild Cheddar

1/2 cup Shredded Parmesan

Chopped Chicken (optional)

Salt and Pepper

The first thing I did was cut the spaghetti squash in half, if you have never cut into a spaghetti squash before be prepared to use all your strength because this is one tough vegetable!

I then put both pieces on a backing sheet which I had covered with foil. Next I drizzled a bit of olive oil on each slice. I finished it off with a sprinkle of salt and pepper. 

I placed the baking sheet in my preheated 375 degree oven for 35 minutes.

When the spaghetti squash had about 10 minutes until it was done baking I started to make my cheese sauce. 

First I melted the butter in a pan over medium heat. 

I then whisked in the flour.

After the butter and the flour were combined I poured in the milk and whisked everything together once again. I stirred until the sauce started to thicken which was about 5 minutes.

I then poured in all of my cheeses and stirred everything together until it was fully combined and the cheeses were nice and melted.

I sprinkled in a bit of salt and pepper then dumped in all my chopped chicken. I then mixed everything together again really well.

By the time my cheese sauce was done my squash was ready. 

I scrapped out all of the spaghetti squash into a large bowl then poured my cheese sauce over it and mixed all the yummy goodness together.

My Mommy Mac & Cheese turned out so well and was so delicious, no more stealing bites of my sons macaroni and cheese for me!

Breakfast Bonanza

Since I am now pretty much back on track to eating healthy, and because breakfast is the most important meal of the day, I thought that I should make up a healthy breakfast menu for the week. Like I said in last Wednesday's post, Ready To Get Re-Motivated...Again, making a meal menu really helps me stay on track because I know exactly what to make and I know I have the ingredients to make it. Since a lot of people reach for the same thing every morning, I thought I would share the 7 different breakfast meals that I came up with because some times the same ol' breakfast can be a bit boring.

Day One: I had a bowl of Kroger's Carb Master Vanilla Yogurt topped with a bit of Cascadian Farm Organic's Ancient Grains Granola. I also had a small bowl of sliced strawberries and some blueberries.

around 124 calories

 
Day Two: I made a breakfast burrito using one of Mission's 95% Fat Free Medium Soft Taco Whole Wheat Tortillas, one large egg, a small slice of Jennie-O's Lean Turkey Ham, a tablespoon of Pace's Mild Salsa, a tiny bit of shredded mozzarella cheese and a 1/4 of an avocado.

about 357 calories

Day Three: I had 2/3 cups Cascadian Farm Organic's Ancient Grains Granola Cereal with 1 cup skim milk. I also had half of a honey glazed baked grapefruit which I saw on Simply Taralynn.
about 390 calories 

Day Four: I had one of Kroger's 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Thins with about a tablespoon of Kroger's Crunchy Peanut Butter on each slice. I then drizzled a bit of honey over the peanut butter on each slice. I had a sliced banana on the side.

about 302 calories

Day Five: I had two eggs scrambled, three slices of Jennie-O's Turkey Bacon and a cup of coffee with a splash of non fat milk and a couple scoops of sugar.

about 327 calories

Day Six: I had a bowl of quick oats. I made them using one cup of skim milk and 1/2 cup quick oats. I sweetened it with a pack of Trivia and a bit of fat free maple syrup. I washed it down with a cup of coffee.

about 354 calories

Day Seven: I made 3 Ingredient Banana Pancakes which I had seen on Pinterest. I topped them with a tablespoon of  Justin's Classic Natural Peanut Butter and a drizzle of fat free maple syrup. I also had a small bowl of sliced strawberries and a few grapes.
about 426 calories

Whats your favorite healthy breakfast recipe?