Monday, April 25, 2016

Chipotle Inspired Burrito Bowl - 21 Day Fix Friendly




Seriously, who doesn't love a burrito bowl from Chipotle?  A couple years ago it was my go-to dinner when I had not planned and prepped, and definitely one of the healthier options you can choose for fast food.  I got to thinking that the ingredients are nothing complicated at all and usually I have everything I'd need in my fridge anyways, so on those nights when things don't go as planned, it's one of those meals that you can quickly whip up, and for very little cost!  If you did plan in advance and have it on the menu, you can prepare some of this ahead of time and have it mostly ready, making dinner time simple.  Good nutrition does not have to be complicated!

If you have a family, this is also super FAMILY FRIENDLY.  It can appeal to everyone, while allowing you to stay within your portion guidelines.  My kids especially love it because they can pick and choose their ingredients and build their own meals with the foods they eat....and the best part ---> without complaint!



All the ingredients listed below are based upon your preference, but can be used in your burrito bowl:

 - Brown rice with chopped cilantro and freshly squeezed lime juice (YELLOW)
 - Sauteed fajitas peppers and onions seasoned to taste with cumin and chili powder (GREEN)
 - Freshly made pico de gallo (PURPLE)
 - Freshly grated cheese (BLUE)
 - Homemade quacamole (BLUE)
 - Black beans whole, or smashed (YELLOW)
 - Shredded romaine lettuce (GREEN...or free - what the heck, it's only lettuce ;)
 - Grilled chicken breast, lean steak, ground turkey, or shrimp all seasoned with
   cumin and chili powder (RED)
 - Plain Greek yogurt (RED)

Pico De Gallo:
4 ripe roma tomatoes
1 small yellow onion
1 jalepeno with the seeds removed for a milder taste, or with the seeds for a spicier taste
1 cup of chopped cilantro
Juice of 1 lime
Salt and pepper to taste

Guacamole:
2 ripe avocados, smashed
1/2 small red onion chopped
1 cup of chopped cilantro
Juice of 1 lime
Salt and Pepper to taste

To assemble, use your Portion Fix containers to measure out the perfect portions and begin layering your bowl based upon your daily allowance.  I like to begin with the rice on the bottom, and end with a dollop of guacamole on top.  There is no wrong way.  I wind up mixing mine all up anyways. 

I hope you enjoy this meal as much as my family and I do!  After making our own burrito bowls at home, I prefer the homemade version now to Chipotle's! 








Tuesday, April 19, 2016

How to Peel a Perfect Egg!

Hard boiling eggs and peeling them .... FRUSTRATING!! 😩 I used to lose half my egg whites because the peel would stick and I could literally spend 5 minutes on one egg carefully removing the shell tiny piece by tiny piece and be left with half the egg I started with. I tried it all - baking soda, vinegar, salt in the water, using old eggs versus new eggs. NOTHING WORKED! Then someone told me to 👉STEAM THEM. So I tried it and no kidding, every single egg peeled perfectly and effortlessly.

Using a steamer basket fill the pot with water and the trick is to not let the water touch the eggs.
Cover the pot, turn on the stove to medium high and set your timer for 15 minutes.
When the timer is up, turn it off and let it sit for 5 minutes.
Move the eggs to an ice bath and then peel. You will get perfectly peeled and cooked eggs EVERY SINGLE TIME!

NEVER BOIL AN EGG AGAIN - STEAM THEM INSTEAD!!

Try it and tell me what happens!!

Sunday, April 17, 2016

Incredible Transformations!

Proof is in the pudding!  What I absolutely love most about what I do is that I get to share what I know works, and pass it on to other people, help support them through their journey and then see them reach their goals.  

A transformation that happens when someone decides that it's finally time to make a life change goes beyond the scale, beyond the physical looks, and creates such an emotional change within.  We focus so much on wanting to lose weight because we want to look good and feel good physically, but losing weight can also improve a person's self-esteem, and we cannot forget that exercise improves cardiovascular function, bone strength, fights diseases, improves mood, boosts energy, improves sleep patterns, improves and protects your mobility, and will improve your quality of life as you age.  

Taking 30 minutes a day to move your body is so worth the effort and I'm sure each one of these people will tell you the same.  Every single person you see pictured here has taken a leap of faith, stepped out of their comfort zone, trusted the process, and put in a lot of hard work.  Every person here has completed a program from beginning to end and gotten results!  Seeing this happen is the best part of what I do each day!  Here are their stories:

Lynne's Story...
"January 1st of this year I was exhausted! I was tired of being tired. I woke up tired, spent the day tired and went to bed even more tired! Working two part-time jobs as a CT Technologist in two busy hospitals and driving four children to baseball, softball, soccer, basketball, swimming and volleyball had really taken a toll on me. I decided it was time for a change. Time to take a long hard look at what I was eating or not eating and just how much exercise I truly was getting! I had always been a runner but only about three days a week, four at the most. I ran a few 5k's and a few 10k's but I never crossed trained or pushed myself beyond my comfort level! I did the 21 Day Fix and lost a few pounds on that but I didn't keep up with it! I ate decent after the program but I relied heavily on starchy carbs that really didn't have a ton of nutritional value. What could I do better? What could I change? What could I do that didn't require me to drag the kids out of the house or take away from my time with them? I decided to do the Beachbody Ultimate Reset to start out!! I loved the program. The meals were really easy to prepare and to this day I still use many of the recipes from the reset. My favorite recipe, hands down is the roasted sweet potato bisque! I incorporate the recipes into at least one meal a day! I gave up caffeine as well which was huge for me! I had at least two cups of coffee a day and while some caffeine isn't bad, the 1/4 cup of chemical ladened creamer and pure sugar I was putting in was! I don't do dairy and I eat very little meat. I find that my body runs most efficiently when I'm eating fruits, vegetables and healthy carbs like steel cut oatmeal and sweet potatoes. I also added in Shakeology! I love the Vegan Chocolate and have it almost every morning for breakfast! If I don't have it for breakfast I have it as a post workout snack! After the reset I decided it was time to look into a fitness program. I actually didn't have to look much farther than the dusty DVDs sitting on my shelf that I purchased years ago! I decided to give Insanity a go again. I started that journey on Feb. 1st and finished just around April 1st!! It was amazing! Just the push I needed to get back on track. I LOVE Shaun T. I truly can feel the excitement and motivation coming right out of the screen at me while I work out! All together on my journey I am down 20 lbs and about 14 inches since the start of the year! I have also gotten away from the scale. It can not measure my happiness, my health or my fitness level!! I weighed myself only because the program asked me to!! I have decided to start coaching and hopefully help others as I continue to help myself! Next up is the 22 Minute Hard Corps! Whooo-rahhhh!!!"



Amanda's Story...
"In 2008, I was at my heaviest weight of 194 pounds. This was 4 years after the birth of my second child. For 5 years I battled with yo yo dieting, diet pills, crash and burn diets, you name it, I tried it. I tried weight watchers and lost 40 pounds, but it never kept me interested. A friend from high school started posting pictures of her success while doing the 21 Day Fix and she looked amazing. I started asking her more about it and I decided that I have to give this a try. So I purchased the 21 Day Fix Extreme in October 2015. It sat in the box until January 4, 2016 when I decided it was time. So, I started the program and about a week into it I decided to give Shakeology a try. Once I started drinking the shakes and incorporated them into my diet, I thought why did I wait to start this!!! I've done 3 rounds of the 21 Day Fix Extreme with Shakeology and I've lost 17 pounds and 5 inches off my waist!!!! I feel full of energy and the best I've ever felt!!!!"


Patty's Story....
"I had gastric bypass surgery in April of 2015. The day of surgery I weighed 384 pounds. I'm now down 150 pounds and feeling awesome! It's been a great journey so far, but not always easy. I've been pretty shy about sharing this publicly up until now. At first I felt like a failure for having to have surgery to lose weight, but I don't feel like that anymore. The surgery was just the first part of my new life. I see it more like a tool that I use to help reach my health and fitness goals. I still have to eat healthy and workout. I have to really work at it. It wasn't just a quick fix, without a life change. It's not just about the weight loss for me, it's about being healthier too. I have some chronic illnesses too and all that weight was not helping.
Now I'm using Shakeology and BeachBody to help me get closer to weight goals and to meet my nutritional needs."   (If you would like to follow Patty's journey, you can find her on Facebook and Instagram @ FitCakes79)





Amy's Story...
Amy has been my friend since junior high!  We reconnected years ago through Facebook and we've been on this journey together pretty much ever since!  She is a nurse, wife, and mom to 3 kiddos, and a coach on my team.  This is what 65 pounds lost looks like, but you can obviously see that she's dropped several dress sizes and tons of inches, and she's so much happier.  She's loyal to drinking her Shakeology, and completing several Beachbody programs, and living a healthy lifestyle.  I know that Turbofire and the 21 Day Fix, 3 Day Refresh, plus a few more, have all contributed to her success.  You can also find Amy on Facebook and Instagram @ Move More Daily.





Saturday, April 9, 2016

Clean Out the Fridge Minestrone - 21 Day Fix Approved!


In my house, by Saturday, the fridge is pretty much empty of anything that can constitute a meal. Sounds familiar on your end too, right?  There are always some veggies still lingering that did not get used for my other meals, and some are starting to turn soft.  I used to toss them out, and boy was that a big mistake!  Don't throw them out!  You can salvage those veggies!  Take all the left over veggies you've got and make a minestrone soup!!  You'll get several meals out of what would have been trash, money that would have gone to waste!

Soups are so easy to make!  Unless you head to the store to get the ingredients fresh, there really is no wrong way to do this and if you don't have everything, no worries, just use what you've got.  

Suggested Ingredients:
2 Tbps Olive Oil
1/2 head of Cabbage
3 Carrots
3 stalks Celery
1 Red Pepper
1 Parsnip
1 Onion
1 Zucchini
3 cloves of Garlic
1 large can of stewed tomatoes
1 can of cannellini beans or garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
Salt/Pepper to taste
For the broth you can use water, chicken stock or vegetable broth
1/2 cup (dry) choice of small pasta, like ditalini, orzo, etc.  Quinoa may be a good option too for protein!


Directions:
Chop up all the veggies into bite size pieces. In a large hot pot, add the olive oil, carrots, celery, onions and garlic.  Turn the heat down so not to burn, and cook for a couple minutes, stirring occasionally until veggies are softened.  Then add in the rest of the vegetables, and continue to cook for a couple more minutes to soften.  Do not let them get brown.  Add in the broth, enough to cover everything.  Add in the tomatoes, beans, salt/pepper.  Cook for at least 1-2 hours on low, or until all the veggies have softened completely.  If you choose to add a pasta, add it in about 20 minutes before serving and turn up the heat a bit to create a gentle boil.   When the pasta has cooked all the way through, you are ready to serve.  Top with freshly grated parmesan cheese and enjoy!!

*You can also add green beans and cauliflower, but I did not have any on hand.

21 Day Fix/Portion Fix Equivalents:
2 cup serving = 1 Green, 1/2 Yellow (If you add the optional cheese, use 1 Blue)