Food & Fitness

Tasty Tuesday – Rice “Peepsy” Treats

/ Patricia M / Leave a comment

I came across this idea in my Facebook timeline about a month ago and decided I would give it a try. It was such a fun spin on the traditional rice crispy treats.  The kids truly enjoyed making them.

Ingredients *per box of 8 peeps*

  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 1/2 cups crispy rice cereal
  • chocolate chips (optional)

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter.  Add in 8 peeps and melt together. Remove from heat and stir in rice cereal.  Grease dish and spread out the mixture. Repeat and layer.  If you like you can add chocolate chips between layers.   ENJOY!!

 

Fruit Infused Water

/ Patricia M / Leave a comment

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU LISTENED TO YOUR BODY?  Of course, you will not hear your body say, “Hey you, are you listening to me?” I mean, if your body actually does say that then forget the water detox and go straight to the doctor, lol.

Our bodies speak to us through different ways, maybe through dry skin, or an abdominal discomfort, or perhaps feeling tired. I am by no means a doctor so if you are feeling constant discomfort then you need to see a physician.

Lately, my body has been speaking to me through the feelings of sluggishness and lack of energy.  Today I listened to  I am doing a fruit infused water detox with the following:

  • Cucumbers
  • Limes
  • Lemons
  • Oranges
  • Peppermint Tea Bag (I like the taste of mint and I do not have any fresh mint)

This is a great way to just flush your body and rid it of some toxins. Here are just a few of the ways consistent fruit infused water detoxes can benefit your body

  • Better digestion
  • Skin rejuvenation
  • Boosting your metabolism and energy

I urge you to listen to your body and try a water detox. Research the benefits of various fruits and try one.  There are many websites out there that have great recipes. Enjoy!

 

~ Tricia

 

 

 

Tasty Tuesday: Whole Wheat linguine with Italian Chicken Sausage

/ Patricia M / Leave a comment

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This meal was super easy and super tasty!!

Ingredients:

1lb cut up Italian Sausage (I used Chicken)

1 small pepper cut

1 small onion cut

Whole wheat linguine

Olive oil

1 can diced tomatoes

Seasonings

Directions:

  1. Cook linguine according to directions on box and set aside.
  2. In a small pan add a little olive oil and saute onion and peppers until soft.
  3. In a medium pan add a little olive oil and cook sausage until browned.
  4. Add onion/pepper mixture to the medium pan with the sausage.
  5. Instead of using a heavy tomato sauce I prefer diced tomatoes. Add amount desired to the onions, peppers and sausage.
  6. Season with your favorite seasonings.
  7. Plate over linguine and enjoy!

~Tricia

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Tasty Tuesday: Smoked Sausage and Cabbage

/ Patricia M / Leave a comment

I made this a few months ago and it was so good I wanted to share the recipe with you!

Ingredients:

  • 1 Package smoked sausage (such as Hillshire Farms)
  • 1 Medium cabbage
  • 1 Medium onion
  • 1 Can diced tomatoes
  • About 1/2 stick of butter or butter substitute
  • Favorites seasonings

Preparation:

  1. Cut up cabbage and onion
  2. Place in a large frying pan and saute in the butter until softenedwpid-wp-1421705949966.jpeg
  3. Cut up sausage and add to cooked cabbage/onion mixture
  4. Add can of diced tomatoes (including the liquid)
  5. Cover and continue to cook on medium/low until sausage is heated.
  6. I used a strainer to take everything out of the pan to reduce the amount of liquid
  7. Season to taste
  8. Eat and enjoy

~Tricia

Tasty Tuesday: Meatloaf

/ Patricia M / Leave a comment

Who remembers this clip from A Christmas Story?

This clip is is one of my favorites! Although he does not like meatloaf, I sure do. So for this week here is a meatloaf recipe. I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com. I used it as a guide and then did my own thing. To know me is to know I don’t always measure and I like to make recipes my own adding special touches here and there. Here is the original recipe.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 egg
1 onion, chopped
1 cup milk
1 cup dried bread crumbs
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons prepared mustard
1/3 cup ketchup

Here are some things I did different

  • Used 2 lbs of Ground beef
  • Instead of bread crumbs I used instant oatmeal flakes.
  • I added shredded zucchini and mushrooms
  • Used some BBQ sauce along with ketchup in the meatloaf and brushed some on top
  • Did not use any brown sugar or mustard
  • Added some season salt
  • Sprinkled some parsley flakes on top.

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  2. In a large bowl, combine the beef, egg, onion, milk and bread OR cracker crumbs. Season with salt and pepper to taste and place in a lightly greased 5×9 inch loaf pan, OR form into a loaf and place in a lightly greased 9×13 inch baking dish.
  3. In a separate small bowl, combine the brown sugar, mustard and ketchup. Mix well and pour over the meatloaf.
  4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 hour.

Great thing about meatloaf is that it is something you can easily make your own. I have used all sorts of veggies in meatloaf at times and even used beans once.  Look in your fridge see what you have and just make it how you like. Enjoy

~Tricia

Thinking Like a Size 8

/ Patricia M / 1 Comment

My new thought process is to think like a size 8. I am currently about a 12 and my goal is a comfortable size 8.  I have been every thing from a 0 – 14 over the past 20 years. That sounds crazy right? It felt crazy to just write it down. Out of all the sizes I think 8 is were I would like to be right now. My body has change and weight has shifted to different places. I feel as though an 8 would look perfect on me.  In pounds that may be about 25 pounds away.

So I am thinking like a size 8. I have already been going through my closest to pack away many of my larger clothes. Why? Because I am a size 8, I don’t need those. I have also been going through the smaller clothes I have packed away so I can start wearing them. I am not delusional I know that I can not wear them yet….YET. However, I will soon. I know that. I am confident of that. I am excited.

A couple things that I have started recently are wearing ankle weights during the day and drinking water.  Those are obvious things to most but obviously I have not been doing them. I found this great 64 oz chugger at 5 below and I love it. That is also where I got the ankle weights.  SAMSUNG

I fill my chugger with water and add sliced cucumber, lemon, lime and orange.  I also add a peppermint tea bag for a few minutes to add a taste of mint.

SAMSUNG

Also when it comes to my food intake I am again thinking like a size 8. Once I become satisfied eating I simply stop. While we are eating why do we eat past the point of satisfaction. Just save some for the next meal.

What size are you thinking like?

~Tricia

Deck of Cards Workout: A Great At-Home Workout

/ Patricia M / Leave a comment

My husband introduced me to this workout a few years ago. It is a great alternative if you can not make it to the gym or if you are just looking for some at home workouts.

You will need:

  • A Full Deck of Cards

Description:

Once you have a deck a cards designate an exercise for each suit. Write it down on a little piece of paper to refer back to. Here is an example:

  • Clubs = Crunches
  • Hearts = Jumping Jacks
  • Spades = Squats
  • Diamonds = Push Ups

You decided. If you have weights maybe make one of the exercises bicep curls. That is the beauty of this workout, you can do whatever you like.

Once you have designated the exercises you can begin. Shuffle the deck good. Pick a card and do the exercise that correlates and then put the card to the side. For instance, if you pick the 10 of diamonds do 10 pushups. If the next card is the 8 of spades do 8 squats and so on. For face cards we do the following:

  • Jacks = 11
  • Queens = 12
  • Kings = 13
  • Aces = 14

*For an extra challenge include jokers and when a joker is picked do 5 of each exercise.

Keep going through the cards until you complete the deck. You will find that although this is a simple concept it is a very challenging workout.

 

Enjoy

~Tricia

 

 

 

 

Peppers Stuffed with Italian Chicken Sausage and Brown Rice

/ Patricia M / Leave a comment

Yesterday afternoon when I was thinking what I wanted for dinner, stuffed peppers popped in my mind. I had some Italian Chicken Sausage on hand as well as brown rice.

What is amazing about stuffed peppers is that you can put anything you like in it. This is what I used:

  • A pack of Italian Chicken Sausage
  • 1 cup of uncooked brown rice
  • 4 nice size green peppers
  • Some chopped onions
  • Some tomato sauce

Preheat oven to 360°

I cooked the sausage in a covered pan with some water on medium low heat. This took about 40 – 50 minutes min (check often to make sure there is still water in the pan and add when needed). I also cooked the brown rice according to the package which also took about 40 minutes.

Cut out the stem of the peppers and clean out the seeds. I like my peppers kind of soft so I put them in a covered dish with some water and placed them in the preheated oven to steam them and soften them a little while the other ingredients are cooking.

Once the sausage was done I cut it into little pieces and mixed it with the rice, tomato sauce, and chopped onion. Use your own desired amounts but enough to fill up the four peppers.

I stuffed the peppers with the ingredients and baked them uncovered in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes.

They came out great. You can eat them alone or add any additional sides.

Enjoy!!

~Tricia

Slow Cooked Beef & Brown Rice Meatballs

/ Patricia M / Leave a comment

Need an easy meatball recipe? These came out so well. My children even liked them.

You need:

  • 1lb lean ground beef ( I have also done this with ground turkey and it came out just as good).
  • about 1 cup cooked rice ( I used brown rice)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 jar of your favorite tomato sauce ( I love tomato basil flavor)

Very simple: mix ground beef, rice, and egg in a medium bowl.  Feel free to add seasoning but it is not needed, as it slow cooks, the sauce really gives the meatballs flavor. Pour about half the sauce in the bottom of your crock pot. Then roll meatballs into your desired size. Pour the remainder of the sauce over the meatballs.

Cook on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 4 hours (until inside temperature reaches 167 ° F).

Enjoy with your favorite pasta and sides.

~Tricia

Chicken Breast Stuffed and Topped with Spinach and Goat Cheese

/ Patricia M / 1 Comment

This came out so good. I can not call it a recipe because I did not really measure out everything. But this is what I used:

  • 4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
  • 4oz Fresh Goat Cheese
  • Fresh Spinach
  • Seasonings
  • Olive Oil

Preheat oven to 370° .

First I sauteed up some spinach then mixed about half of it in a bowl with goat cheese. Set it to the side.

Next I used a filet knife to make a pocket in the chicken. I used a spoon to put the goat cheese mixture in the chicken breasts (this was not that easy…lol).  What I had left over I put to the side to use as a topping.

I then seasoned both sides of the chicken breast with some salt, pepper, and some Mrs. Dash seasoning.

Pour a little olive oil in a skillet and sear the chicken breasts on both sides until brown.

Transfer chicken breasts to a baking dish and top with any extra spinach goat cheese mixture. I drizzled a little more olive oil over the chicken breasts and placed in the oven. I would say I baked it for about 15 minutes or until the inside temperature of the chicken reached 170°.

It came out so good. I served it with the other half of the spinach that did not get mixed with the goat cheese and some roasted garlic quinoa. Goat cheese is typically fewer in calories with less fat than cow cheese and has a nice creamy texture.

Try this out and you will enjoy it!

~Tricia