Colors of the Rainbow

Bye Bye Skittles! We are tasting the new rainbow!  We have been out of town for 5 days, and we did not have countertops for a few days before we left, so I was soooooo excited to get to the grocery store today!  

These are a few fruits and vegetables that we bought at the Trader Joe's in Albuquerque before we headed home and at our local Market Street.  You can see here that I have a love for tomatoes!  3 out of the 11 shown above are tomatoes! Can you spot them??  

(Check out our new counter top too!)

Cauliflower Crust Pizza!

Quote from the Mr. - "I would never have known this was cauliflower if I hadn't watched you cook it!"  You could trick your family into a serving of vegetables with this one!  It was AMAZING!  Do yourself a favor and try it!  


Easy steps too!  

Shred about half a head of cauliflower.  (should make about 2 cups)
Microwave the cauliflower (dry) in a bowl for 8 minutes.  

Preheat oven to 450. 

 
Combine 
1/2 tsp of garlic salt, 
1 tsp of dried oregano, 
1 egg, 
1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese, 
and the cauliflower as soon as it is done.  

Press this mixture in a 9in. pie pan as the "crust."  Bake at 450 for 13-15 minutes.   

Then turn the oven to "broil." Top the pizza with your favorite toppings.  I used a tomato-basil marinara sauce, pineapple, ham, and black olives, but may try bbq sauce and chicken next time. 

Broil the toppings for only 3 or 4 minutes!  Wha Laaa!  The best, healthier pizza you will ever taste!  

 
 

Breakfast for Dinner...or for breakfast!

I am ALWAYS looking for new, healthier recipes these days!  I stumbled across a recipe for Huevos Rancheros!  Those of you not from the Southwest, that would translate as yummy breakfast goodness that is awesome anytime of the day!  (or "ranch eggs" in Spanish!)  This traditional dish is usually two fried eggs on a fried corn tortilla with red or green enchilada sauce, served with a side of pinto beans and tortillas to soak up all the goodness. 

This Huevos Rancheros meal was made for a dinner one night and served with a side of Jicama Hash Browns. 

The following Huevos Rancheros is a recipe I found on Pinterest! (find my boards to follow here:  http://pinterest.com/hillaryd/) The website Pinterest sent me to for the recipe was http://bevcooks.com/2012/03/huevos-rancheros/.

Of course I leave stuff out or add stuff when I cook, so here is what I used for 

2 servings of Huevos Rancheros with Black Beans:

about 2 Tbsp of EVOO (split for two different pans)

1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp ground cumin

2 Tbsp salsa (I used Salsa Bob's Hot Sauce-Hot)

4 eggs

2 tortillas if desired (You will see in the pictures that we used tortillas, but decided it would be just as good without the tortillas!)
coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

Then for the side dish of Jicama Hashbrowns:

1 medium jicama (WHAT? I know! Just scan the labels in the vegetable department! Looks like a large, tan turnip!)

1/2 yellow onion (original recipe called for 1 whole onion)

1 medium bell pepper

salt and pepper as you like

(original recipe called for 1/4 cup of water too, but I do not believe it is needed)

First I added the Tbsp of EVOO to the pot with the black beans and stirred in the chili powder and cumin.  Heat (low) these and stir occasionally.  Beans will get real soft and you can just give them a little mash with the wooden spoon you are using. Lower heat and keep warm while you want to top with freshly fried eggs right at the end!

Then I sauteed onion and bell pepper in just a drop or two of oil until tender...about 5 or 7 minutes on high heat.  

Then you want to peel and shred the jicama! I hate that I didn't photograph the jicama before my husband murdered it.  I LOVE new vegetables!  A friend, Casey Schaef shared this recipe me!  Thanks, Casey!  

Add the jicama when the onion and bell pepper are good and soft.  Then cook on medium to high heat as you want them to brown and crisp like original, potato hash browns.  

While that is cooking, mash the black beans occasionally and plate up the beans (on a tortilla if you wish) and fry two eggs for each plate of Huevos Rancheros. 

Cover the bed of beans with salsa and layer with eggs and top with more salsa, if you enjoy the heat like I do!  

 Don't let the tortilla size deceive your eyes here...they are maybe 4 inches in diameter...they are called soft taco, heart healthy tortillas.  
Serve with a side of Jicama Hash Browns and ENJOY!


ps...just after the picture, we topped our Huevos Rancheros with the Jicama side dish and cut it all up together and mixed it all with the runny eggs!  SO GOOD! (and too much for one person...we will only fry one egg next time, use half the can of beans, and not use a tortilla! We are still learning!)

Stuffed Turkey Burgers!

A few confessions for today:

1. This is the first time I have made stuffed burgers with ground turkey.
2. I piled sliced pickles on it AFTER the pictures you will see here tonight!
3. I do not count calories, nor am I concerned with that type of data.  
(Please accept my apologies for not including that information when I share our meals!) 
4. I used an ingredient that has ODD/unnatural ingredients tonight!


My house is known for these "stuffed burgers!"  I am never allowed to make a burger without it being stuffed.  If we are invited to grill at others' houses, I am asked to stuff the burgers.  It is so easy!  I have told people verbally about this stuffing process, but I am excited to share the steps in images so maybe others will actually try to STUFF their next grilled burger!   




I used a lb. of ground turkey and made three burgers.  I guess you can call these burgers 1/3 lb. patties!  


I added half a package of Lipton's Beefy Onion Soup mix to the ground meat. 

I mixed the dry soup mix into the meat...btw...ground turkey has a really weird, sticky texture, so make sure to do this right out of the frig or you will not be able to form the hamburger patties. 

Let that sit in a bowl in the frig again for a few minutes while you prepare the "stuffing" ingredients.  Tonight, I chose to stuff with bell pepper and mushrooms!  You can stuff your burger with anything your little heart desires.  I have done TONS of different things including shredded cheese, bacon, onions, bell pepper, mushrooms, black olives...but you could stuff anything your family likes on a burger.  I guess you could put pickles on the inside instead of on top of your burger!  hehehehehehe

I stuff raw ingredients, except bacon.  When I use bacon, I cook the bacon and crumble before stuffing.  I always try to chop the ingredients into small bits to insure that the veggies will cook while the burgers are on the grill!  
 

 Next, make two THIN patties with the meat. These patties should be made with the total amount you want to use to make ONE burger. Make sure to make both patties and lay one aside.  Top one of the patties with your stuffing.
 


 Lay the second patty on top of the stuffed ingredients and then start the motion of pressing the sides together to "hide" or "stuff" the veggies inside.  Once you get the sides closed up, press the patty all around and you will never be able to tell there is a surprise inside!  (sometimes I like to surprise my guests with a little bit of heaven in their mouth with the first bite of one of my burgers, but your grill master will need to know the secret in order for him/her to be careful when flipping the burgers!) 

 We also grilled asparagus with these burgers.  You can see my tips for asparagus on the grill in a blog from last month.  This has been a staple at the Deaver house since we have adopted our new way of life! I have refused to call it a diet! ;0)

White turkey meat should read about 160 degrees on a meat thermometer before you remove the heat.  I believe 165 or 170 might be ideal, but the meat will rise 10 degrees even after you remove it from the grill.  If you wait until 170, then you will have dry, over-cooked meat! 


And wha laaa...you have stuffed burgers!  They are amazing!  We opted out of a bun this evening.  Sometimes we have at least the bottom bun!  We used a bed of lettuce, topped the burgers with a slice of pepper jack cheese and 1/4 of an avocado each, and threw a few grape tomatoes on the plate for a few more veggies for the day!  Remember we try to eat 5 servings of vegetables a day!  


ENJOY!

A fun side note:  Photos 3-6 above were taken by my husband, Josh Deaver!  He has really taken on the hobby of photography too!  He is amazing! Find him on fb or twitter!

 

Pork Tacos

Very productive Sunday today!  4 loads of laundry, vacuumed, planted vegetables, painted our old, old house address numbers, sprayed the yard for weeds (AGAIN!), and worked real hard on a crock pot recipe! LOL  *note my sarcasm on that last one!

Don't you just LOVE cooking in the crock pot!?  I do!  I read about a "Mexican Pulled Pork" here -  http://www.canyoustayfordinner.com/2011/03/08/slow-cooker-mexican-pulled-pork-tacos/

I changed it up just a little!

I threw all of this in bowl together, gave it a little stir and poured it on top of a pork tenderloin in the crock pot for 6 hours.

1 small can of Rotel tomato sauce (mild - 8oz)
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
a generous sprinkle of  garlic powder

Pork should be at least 160 degrees when ready to eat!
I shredded the pork...mmmm...it was so tender! 

We layered a bed of spinach leaves on a small, fajita-sized "heart healthy" tortilla, topped with warm black beans, a tablespoon of Wholly Guacamole (spicy), and a pinch of 2% shredded cheese, and about a half-palm of shredded pork on each taco! (I ate two!)  Paired with 15 grape tomatoes and you have two servings of vegetables, one serving of lean protein, good fats from avocado, and carbs from your beans and tortillas.

 We will eat the left over pork on a bed of mixed greens as a taco salad! 

I cannot rave enough about Wholly Guacamole! I ALWAYS make sure we have these neat little packs in our fridge.  I LOVE spicy, and the spicy is great!  Check for their salsas and guacamole in your local produce department.

Grilling Asparagus

A few things I know about grilling asparagus:

1. It doesn't take long.
2. It dries out fast.
3. Solve that by rolling in EVOO and sprinkling with pepper prior to grilling.
4. Snap off ends instead of cutting! (Thanks Phil Curtis for that tip!)
5. You may lose some (ground or bottom of grill or otherwise!)
6. It will be the hit of the party.

Ingredients and Labels

The guidelines for food in your kitchen, according to www.precisionnutrition.com, are close to three ingredients on a food label, and to recognize how many steps of processing the food went through to make it to that state! (for example, from tomato to ketchup or from a natural grain to sliced bread, etc)

I have to admit...I used to be that person who grocery shopped at Walmart MAYBE twice a month.  I would steer clear of food that would spoil too fast because we NEVER ate the groceries I bought anyway! 

Think of that food in your stomach.  If you can leave it in your refrigerator for over a month and it still be ok...I wonder what that month old food looks like at the bottom of my gut??

I now go to the grocery store at least twice a week!  I have totally enjoyed it.  Who else hates the grocery store? Come on, I see you shaking your head.  But what is it that we hate about it?  (I was in that boat with you shaking my head! We almost tipped over! LOL)  Stay there for hours? Hate checking out? Lugging the groceries to your car? Lugging the groceries in the house? Then having to put them all away? uuuugggg...I know! 

BUT, picture this...I never get more than 3 or 4 bags full. (now, maybe not on that trip to get cleaners, toilet paper, paper towels, shampoos, etc! Make your spouse go with you on that trip!)  I only have to go to the produce and meat sections, and it is kind of fun! Have noticed the sweet little vegetable men and meat guys that are there to assist you in anything you are looking for?  They do not have these guys in the frozen food sections!  We try to get food that does not have a label at all! Check out our meal the other night!

(Eeeekk...ok...we wrapped that chicken with bacon, but most of it fell off and we fed it to our puppy anyway! And maybe that is the tip to juicy chicken breasts...wrap with bacon while cooking and not partake it in....more on this grilling at a later date!)

Chicken breast (about the size of my palm) on a bed of asparagus. Go ahead, have as many as you want!  With a side of zucchini, mushroom and bell pepper slices! mmmmmmm

What is your favorite meal that includes all foods without packaging or a label?

Preparedness

 as defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary online:

My husband and I are attempting to set ourselves up for success!  We are human...obese humans at that! We have to be especially prepared for lean meals!  We need to not be able to find an excuse to eat out or to eat unhealthy!

We did a kitchen clean out about a month ago! Yes! We threw out food! I hated to do it, but it was junk and it was killing us slowly.  We used to rarely grocery shop, so no worries, we MAY have had half a brown grocery sack full of groceries to throw out.  The top things that heart our hearts as it went to the dumpster were two boxes of Velveeta Shells and Cheese and one half-eaten jar of Jif Crunchy peanut butter! (I will post more about peanut butters as soon as I gather more info! I am researching this, folks!)

Now we grocery shop at least twice a week.  And we set ourselves up for success...

Our daily goal is to eat 5 servings of veggies each day.  This is so fun! Try it! Veggies will fill your stomach up faster than that snack-sized Snickers you had yesterday! Yeah...you! :0)

One serving of a vegetable in a snack bag, ready to grab, is so awesome when you feel a little rumbly in your tumbly!

1 serving is about:

5 broccoli trees
10 baby carrots
1/2 a sweet potato
4 slices of onion
1/2 bell pepper
1 cup greens for salad
15 grape tomatoes <-------  my personal favorite! My new quote is, "I guess I will go force 15 grape tomatoes down!"

You will notice I have 6 strawberries in a baggie above too!  Fruits are a great snack also!  Just make sure you have more veggies than fruits! 

For lunch most days, I grab an assortment of three personally-packed snack bags from the arrangement above and throw in a palm-sized piece of grilled chicken breast or roasted turkey.  (If I feel real hungry in the mornings, I will pack some wheat thins, but I normally do not have room for them after I eat my meat and veggies first.  Timing the carbs last is part of the preparedness for success as well.  Just do it for yourself! Your body will love you for it. It will show you the love by dropping at least 2 lbs the first week you eat veggies each day!

Easy Quesadillas

I made these quesadillas Wednesday night.  I used the left overs to make more this afternoon.

I am still new at the eating healthy thing, so please do not feel like I know all about it.  I do know that I am not a patient person, and if you remember back to my first post, I used to pull up to Taco Bell or Wendy's and get dinner in less than 5 minutes.  Cooking has been more of a challenge, so I am helping myself by finding easy BUT YUMMY things to make!  I have to give credit to my sister here! She taught me how to create these quesadillas!  http://mcreynoldsmcblog.blogspot.com/

Ingredients:

turkey breast (I get an already roasted breast from a local grocery store!)
black beans (low sodium...I believe these were Progresso...not sure...left overs!)
Rotel tomatoes with green chilis
shredded cheese (I used a 2% milk Sargento mexican blend this time.)
fajita sized tortillas (...these were La Tortilla Factory brand Heart Healthy fajita size)

Enjoy the pictures! My apologies for your instant hunger! ;0)

I spray my old, old flat griddle with a small amount of canola oil spray and start with a small layer of GLUE, aka cheese. (I have tried making without cheese, but they fall apart when you flip them.)

Then add a layer of black beans, attempting to use little juice from the beans.

Then add a layer of the shredded turkey breast.  If you like pepper, grind fresh grounds here!

Then a layer of Rotel tomatoes. (The more you use, the spicier they will be!)

Then I top with a small pinch of shredded cheese for more "glue."

Fold over and let warm on griddle for about 4 minutes on each side, flip as often as you like. (it is kinda fun!)  Crispier tortillas come from more time on the griddle.  The browning you see here is just from the time it took me to load the half up!

These are about the size of a taco.  I cut in half and we usually eat three small triangles. (so I use three tortillas that cut into 6 little quesadilla parts!)  Avocado slices are nice as a side here.

Due Dates and Late Payments

I had a doctor tell me one time about making time for a healthier me..."What happens if you don't pay your mortgage? or your cell phone bill? or your car payment?"

He compared that to making time for exercising.  Well, I would eventually lose my house, my car, and my cell phone would be turned off! What, then I couldn't play Draw Something or Scramble with Friends! LOL  I had to start asking myself what was important here! Feeling healthy makes you sleep better, work better, be in a better mood, feel sexier, love others deeper, and makes you smile inside and out!!!  That doctor was asking "What happens if you don't exercise?"

So, on Sundays I make due dates for my "bills" in my healthier lifestyle change.  I have to tell myself and physically put it on the calendar that "This week, you have to..."

Most weeks are the same.  I am a creature of habit and really like to have a plan for the week.  I have a hard time sticking to the gym if I guess all day if we are going to go or if Josh will be off work in time to go with me, etc.

Monday - Body Pump at Zachs
Tuesday - walk Winston at the park
Wednesday - Body Pump at Zachs
Thursday - volleyball at Memorial Park

Friday I am leaving early to meet Josh in Abilene, so I will not work out at all this weekend.  Life happens.  We have planned to go out of town for a few months now, and we will definitely eat some great food with friends in Abilene, but it will be ok. 

That brings me to being too hard on yourself.  I did this for the first few weeks.  If I ate french fries, I would starve myself for the next 12 hours.  If I didn't go to the gym, I would get so down and mad at myself, which in turn made for not going again the next time because I was being so negative.

Late payments are a very smart concept that businesses use to make you pay your bills on time.  I think my late payment on my mortgage is like $22.00.  This is a very small fraction of the total bill that was due.  Just a little slap on the hand to make yourself try harder to be on time next time.

So if you miss a healthy meal or a workout, don't be so hard on yourself.  (I am speaking to myself here too! lol)

Try to make a plan today for the week.  Make a few due dates on some great exercise and pay them like you would your bills!

Hillary's Take on a Rachel Ray

One thing I have learned from www.PrecisionNutrition.com is that I can still have yummy food!  I cannot believe I used to think that Burger King french fries were good, or that ranch dressing on Subway sandwiches was good! 

We started watching what we ate around the first of February.  I STILL drive around LOST if there is a time when we have to get something quick to eat and we have no groceries.

We ALL have those days that we MUST get something on the go.  I recently pulled up to McDonalds to see if they had maybe a yogurt cup or apple slices I could have for breakfast! NOPE! (Well, maybe they did but the guy at the speaker was very impatient with me wanting to look the menu over!)  I just drove off.  Anyway, onto Rachel Ray...

I saw an episode of her 30 minute meals show recently and thought I could adapt this recipe pretty easily!  (For those that may not know, when I cook, it is just for my husband and myself.  I will post if we cook for others so you will have an idea of how many the recipes will feed!)

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/poquito-and-grande-taquitos-and-burritos-recipe/index.html

Adaptation:

1. Skip making the "poquitos" or the taquitos.
2. Get large romaine lettuce leafs instead of tortillas for the "grande" or burritos.
3. I buy low sodium black beans and do not "re-fry" them the way Rachel says.
4. I use skim milk cheese or Weight Watchers brand cheeses are ok too. 
4. I do not add the extra shredded lettuce to the burritos because of our wraps! 
5. I use a 14 ounce can of roasted tomatoes for the dipping sauce, so I half all the other ingredients and I skip the sugar. This is an amazing sauce!

This makes a meal for two nights for us, or a meal for 4 on one night.  It is amazing! I am a fan of black beans AND always love spicy things!  This meal beats the socks off a Whopper and lame french fries any day!  We ate this Thursday night and then went to the park and played a few games of volleyball.  Try it!  It is so light, but so fulfilling!  MMMMMMMMMM

I will post a picture of the meal next time we make this. 

Planning is a big part of the important step of changing how you eat.  We try not to get stuck in a situation without groceries.  I am a little OCD about my planning meals now...stay tuned Sunday evening for a post on that ritual!

Me and Food

Welcome all! I come to you 20 lbs. lighter than I was on January 4th when I signed up for the coached group with Precision Nutrition.  I had a friend request a blog about what I have been eating and how I changed my eating in order to lose weight!  Here I will post new recipes we try and the outcome. 

A little bit about me and food prior to 2012:

I was addicted to fast food. 
I added up all debits one month in late fall of 2012, and over $900 in one month was spent on eating out.
I always ate around 8:00am, 12:00pm, and 6:00pm, even if I felt hungry or not. 
I had not felt my stomach growl in over 3 years probably. 
I THOUGHT I was hungry at times because I felt a faintish feeling and would get headaches.
I would sleep a lot of the time after my humongous meal at 6:00 in the evening. 
I always ate everything on my plate.
(My dad was wrong when he told me that was the right thing to do!)

Today:

IF we eat out, I order lean protein and veggies.
I can NEVER finish a whole meal.
I LOVE the feeling of my stomach growling.
I bought a small refrigerator for my classroom so I can have small snacks.
I RARELY take naps now, except if we decide we NEED Taco Villa and then regret it after a carb-loaded coma, aka nap! (That happened today, so it is fresh in my mind! We still eat junk sometimes, but we have noticed that we feel BAD afterward!)