Don't Judge A Meal By Its Picture

Seriously, because this one looks kind of gross...but it was SO FREAKING GOOD!

These are the ingredients. I made this one up as I go along (as I usually do...) so the measurements are at your own discretion.

Basically:
- Leftover Quinoa
- Almond flour
- Spinach
- Bell Pepper
- Green Onion
- Black Forest Bacon
- Chicken Breast
- Sun Dried Tomatoes
- Almond Milk
- Garlic Powder
- Onion Powder
- Salt
- Red Pepper Flakes
- White Wine
- Eggs (not pictured)

I didn't use the garlic or onion that's pictured because I was in a time crunch so powdered was easier in the moment.

The meal looked like this:

Green spinach, black-ish bacon, and red tomatoes make yucky green-brown btw

The Quinoa Patties were easy. I mixed the leftover quinoa with about a cup of almond flour ( there was a little more than a cup of quinoa), some chopped green onion and bell pepper, and some spices. Then I added whole eggs until it got doughy (2-3). When you can form it into balls it's the right texture. Simply make patties and fry in your choice of oil until nice and brown on both sides!

I rinsed the chicken breasts and did a fast dredge in the almond flour (about 1 cup with the garlic, onion, salt, and red pepper). Then I fried those in a teeny bit of oil until they were almost done (a lot of the breading comes off and that's no big deal). I ended up putting them under the broiler to finish those last few degrees to done while I made the sauce.

I put a handful of spinach, a few sun-dried tomatoes, and 5 pieces of (chopped) bacon in the blender. I added enough almond milk to blend it.

While the chicken was out of the pan I deglazed with white wine (just enough to scrape it) and then poured the flour in and stirred it around until it combined. I added about half a cup of almond milk and the mixture from the blender and stirred frequently. I ended up adding more almond milk to make it more "sauce" consistency but that's just me!

I sliced the chicken and poured the sauce over it. Serve it with the patties.

Super yummy and high protein!!

Only ONE Shake A Day?!

This is a question I get a lot. The way it's asked varies but it's still the same premise: How do you lose weight if you only do Shakeology ONCE a day?

Answer? Without secretly starving yourself.

I usually hate math but it helps make my point so *deep breath* here it goes...

The average person probably needs to eat a minimum of 1500 calories a day to LOSE WEIGHT at a healthy rate. That might be higher for you if you're more active or have a higher Basal Metabolic Rate. But we're going to stick with 1500 because it's in the middle.

That means if you eat 3 meals a day they should each be 500 calories. What's an example of a 500 calorie meal?

Click for recipe

Seared Chicken with Apricot Sauce
1/2 steamed broccoli with lemon
1/2 steamed spinach with lemon
Cheesy broccoli potato mash
Banana pudding pop


Okay, back to the shakes!
Those 2 a day shakes usually run 90 calories. The instructions say to eat a sensible dinner. So let's use our 500 calorie dinner above as our "sensible dinner."

90 + 90 + 500 = 680 calories

Not even one thousand calories for the ENTIRE DAY. That, ladies and gentlemen, is starving.

Even if you have a couple of snacks, and assume those snacks are 100 calories each, you still don't hit 1000 calories.

That's why people gain weight back after they stop their "shake diet." Your body has been starving and when you start truly feeding it again (with your healthy 1500 calories) it will hold on to everything because it's in a panic. When you go from eating 600-800 calories back to 1500 it doesn't matter how healthy you're eating...your body freaks out.

How does this change with Shakeology?

The big point is that Shakeology is more calories. We've been drinking the Chocolate Vegan so I'll use that in this comparison. It's 170 calories. Plus, the nutrition can't be beat! Check out the ingredient list!!

We want you to learn to eat healthy food! That means ACTUALLY EATING! So if we go with the "500 calorie healthy meal" assumption the math looks like this:

170 + 500 + 500 = 1170

MUCH closer. You could easily maintain this for a few weeks to jumpstart your weight loss and then add in healthy snacks to bump up to where you need to be for calories. Going from 1200 to 1500 isn't going to be as much of a shock to your system!

To learn more about the awesomeness that is Shakeology click here! Remember that I'm not a medical professional and I can only speak from experience!

Bad Habits, Blog Series, and RevAbs

Bad habits are HARD to break. I'm not even talking about things like smoking or whatever...I'm talking about emotional habits.

I have a history of depression and anxiety. Over the years I've come to fight against it a lot. But, honestly, a lot of it is ingrained habit now. When I have a hard day, get bad news, get frustrated, etc... my first instinct is to curl up in a ball and WALLOW in that feeling. Truly, I have so much to be thankful for and, if I fight, can avoid giving in to the wallowing...but the feeling is still there. It's a habit just like anything else! Did you know you can have EMOTIONAL Habits?

Moving on...

I get a lot of questions about what I eat and how much we spend. Basically, we try to keep it at about $500 per month for the 4 of us. That does NOT include eating out money. That is an entirely different fund. Our Food Budget includes raw milk in it so the amount spent at the grocery store is less than that $500.

So, I've decided to do a blog series for July where I track our purchases and meals made with those purchases. Yes, this means you'll get to see when I sneak in junk food and when I throw up my hands and say "I'm not cooking tonight" at the end of a hard day! No, I don't buy totally organic produce (I don't even stick to the dirty dozen...I know...fail) but if you're on a super tight budget this series will be for YOU. Hopefully I can help you make some healthy choices and learn to shop a little more efficiently.

The first post will include a list of things I ALREADY HAVE. I'll tell you right now that the shrimp and chicken breasts were on SALE when I bought them...normally those are too expensive for my taste. Are you excited?

Expect some photo updates every 30 days or so as you follow my and my husband's RevAbs journeys. I'm loving this workout so far. Brett has charisma even through the screen. I'll tell you that phase one is already changing my body and I'm only about a week into it.


Which update are you most excited about?

Hungry But Not Starving

I'm hungry...all the time.

I'm also eating...all the time.

I'll be honest and tell you that this is sort of weird for me.

The last time I was hungry all the time I was eating 500-800 calories a day. Now I eat a minimum of 1700.

I have a metabolism. I'm not sure I've had a functioning metabolism for the last 10+ years. No, I'm totally serious here.

How did I do it? How can you replicate it?

1) Eat a filling, protein rich breakfast.
You should aim for 400 calories. A wrap with egg whites, avocado, potato, and veggies is perfect (just measure things out so you're in your calorie range) The first WEEK I did this I couldn't finish it. I'd eat half, wait an hour or so, and then eat the other half. Now I easily inhale my breakfast and wake up HUNGRY!

2) Eat every 2-4 hours.
Yep, even if you're not hungry. Eat SOMETHING. Even if you just eat an apple or have a small glass of milk. Think of hunger like a scale of 1-10. 1 is so starving you think you're dying and 10 is so full you could puke. You want to stay in the 4-6 range as much as possible. If you get to 2-3 you're more likely to overeat and end up in 8-9. (okay, enough numbers!) Eat frequently.

3) Stay hydrated.
Seriously. Drinking 8 glasses of water a day isn't enough for everyone. Aim for 1oz per pound of body weight. More if it's hot or if you're working out or if you just feel thirsty!

4) Exercise regularly.
Once you fuel the fire you need to keep it running....by running (or weight lifting or dancing or or or...just MOVE)

5) Give it time.
If you eat tomorrow and wake up the next day and don't feel hungry don't think you've failed. It takes time. Just keep at it!

No More Sugary Soda?

I recently began reading "Reshaping It All" by Candace Cameron Bure (you remember DJ from Full House?)

It's amazing. I knew it would be. I can relate to parts of her story, especially when she gets into her eating disorder.

One thing that stood out to me recently was this:

"One problem with our overweight society is that we've been trained to look at food as the problem rather than our approach to appetite. Food as become the focus of our culture with fast-food signs adorning every street corner. In hopes of fixing this obsession with food, we find diet plans that offer twice the binge at half the calories or we reach for pills that will quickly shed the pounds."

She put into words what I've been thinking for sometime now. After New York's Mayor decided to ban sugary drinks 16oz and larger I had mixed feelings.

Health is important to me. I want people to make healthy choice. Notice that sentence: I want people to make healthy choices. I did not say I want the government to make healthy choices for people.

BUT, some of you are yelling, what about people that just don't know any better?

Educate them.

It's kind of like school and children. If SchoolChild doesn't know how to do a skill and you do it for them without teaching them THEY WILL NEVER LEARN.

We should be teaching people how to make healthy choices, teaching them how to SHOP on a budget (I hear "healthy eating is too expensive" too much), teaching them how to prepare healthy meals with limited funds/resources, showing them how to get a good workout without a gym and trainer, etc... We should NOT be making choices FOR people.

We, as a society, need to learn moderation and self-control...not government babysitting.

Slim in 6 and Shakeology thoughts

Click the photo to be taken to my website!

I started Slim in 6 yesterday. I have a few initial thoughts...

1) They use REAL women in the video! That's a HUGE PLUS for me. These aren't skinny teeny tiny women. It shows that everyone can do it.

2) It's short. 30mins for a full body workout. There are additional videos (abs, stretching, thighs) that they recommend you add but they're sort of optional if you're pressed for time.

3) I'm a bit sore today. 30mins and I got a workout that made me sore? SCORE.

I'm also doing a modified Shakeology cleanse. I need more than the calories they recommend for the actual cleanse (breastfeeding) but I am replacing TWO meals a day instead of just one.

1) I need to branch out with my recipes...and not use milk each time.

2) Even though I ate "enough" my body didn't think so because I've gotten so used to stuffing myself. FAIL.

3) I discovered that I like pineapple juice (especially on grapes) but not pineapple itself...hmmm

4) Hummus and Carrots = Awesome snack.

Dinner Highlight

I mostly just loved out the plating turned out with this...I'll show you the picture before I really start explaining (because it's prettier than it sounds!)

It looks like some nifty restaurant meal doesn't it? Yeah...that's a hamburger and fries! 

I can't tell you what it was seasoned with because my husband made them! I wasn't privy to the ingredients (he probably wouldn't remember anyway to be honest) 

I sauteed some mushrooms and cherry tomatoes. 

We did sweet potato fries (and one red potato worth of fries). 

The plating started as an accident. I was putting mushroom and tomato on it and it looked so pretty that I went with it! 

See what a little creativity can do?

New Restaurant Trends 2012...Excited?

I read an article recently called Top 10 Restaurant Trends for 2012

In it the author states

... the predictions are from Baum+Whiteman, international food and restaurant consultants in New York. They say the coming year will be all about “into the wild” as chefs go foraging for new ingredients and customers abandon comfort food for intense mix-and-match global flavors.

It's interesting to say the least. There are a few things I'm going to hit on in this blog...

1. Whole world on a plate. Look for a multi-ethnic, multi-sensory dining experience where flavors clash on purpose. Now it’s all about multi culti. A zucchini pizza dabbed with hummus and topped with crunchy wasabi peas is from nowhere geographically because it’s from everywhere. Cooking is at a crossroads where everything collides.

This could be really neat. I've seen it done on a lot of cooking shows. It's called Fusion Cuisine. I've been known to do it in my kitchen; occasionally on purpose! You might take Mexican flavors and serve them with an Italian flair (Stuffed shells but with jack cheese and ground beef instead of ricotta). It's a great way to change up your menu!! Instead of having the same dish you can deconstruct it and present it a different way without sacrificing your favorite flavors.

4. Innards and odd parts. Tongue, gizzards and pigs ears are moving up from ethnic neighborhoods and onto menus of upscale restaurants.  In the year ahead, look for more “wobbly cuts,” such as tripe, chicken livers that are crunch-fried and beef heart (but not brains, yet), because customers are increasingly adventurous.

My husband will be more excited about that than I am...he goes for the "offal" parts. I've tried to eat them (my style of eating says they're good for you) but I just can't do it! I even tried doing half kidney and half ground beef in a spaghetti sauce. I tasted every single bite of kidney in the dish! It will be interested to see fancy places serving what was once lower class cuts!

6. Instead of bread. Look for sandwiches piled on things other than bread:  arepas, flattened tostones, bao, waffles, rice cakes.

I'm glad to see that the new "low carb" option is going to be something other than lettuce!! Sometimes I want a bit of the bread without a whole slice.

Buzzwords for 2012

Fresh sardines. Uni. Yuzu. Tamarind. Kalbi. Bao. Bibambap. Bulgogi. Huacatay. Bone Marrow. Ox tail. Duck. Flowers. Hibiscus. Arepas. Coconut oil. Goat meat. Shiso. Green papaya. Seaweed.  Ultra-long dry aging of meat.  Lamb ribs and belly. Hand-made ricotta and burrata. Micro-distilleries. Exotic bitters on the bar.

Coconut oil!! Yay! I hope that the bad rap it's been given starts to go away. I've seen nothing but good things from coconut oil. Seriously! It's good for you inside and out.

There are plenty more to read about in the actual article: Here


Which trend are you most excited about in the coming year? Is there one you're dreading? Tell us about it in the comments!!