21 Day Fix... Day 1!

Well yesterday was my very first day on the 21 day fix!  I know it's going to sound crazy... but I feel like a different woman today!  My theory on this is this... I tend to let myself down so often, and yesterday I didn't. I stuck to my plan, and I got through it.  Your mind can make a huge difference in the way you feel about yourself.

Yesterday was Monday... always my worst day of the week.  I got home, got my workout knocked out and was feeling good about myself.  Until I walked downstairs and it was time to go into dinner and sit on the couch mode.  I am going to admit something here that is going to make me sound like a real lush... but I think it's something that needs to be talked about, and I know that other's probably face these same challenges.  I love to drink my wine while I cook dinner.  It's a habit, and not a good one.  Prior to this weekend, I had been wearing my fitbit, counting calories and doing workouts like usual.  I was staying in my calorie range, burning calories... but just not getting the results I needed.  Here's where the confession comes in... I had allowed myself calories for my wine at night.  I would actually take away the calories I was allowed for food and save them for my vino!  Crazy, now that I am saying that in my out-loud voice.  No wonder I haven't made the progress I wanted.  Not that I was drinking crazily every night mind you... but you realize how many calories are actually in a glass of wine?  Especially if you fill your glass?  As I told you yesterday... On the 21 day fix, you can have wine... but only up to three times a week, it has to fit in that little yellow container... and NO you can't have all three yellow containers in one night.  This is where we have to learn moderation people.  Anyway... back to my temptation.  I had already planned two glasses to have during the week in my menu, I left the third for a gimme.  Well... I used it.  But that's ok, because I only had that little yellow container... it was all I needed, and I was allowed that little yellow container.  To me it becomes more than just sticking to my eating plan... it means I stuck to a commitment to myself and my health.   I woke up feeling good today, a little sore because these workouts are so much more challenging than I thought they would be, but it was a good kind of sore.  Definitely different workouts than I was use to.   All in all... ready for day two!  Bring it!

Just an FYI... this is how I pre-measured and packaged my food for the week, so I could pack it up easily every morning.  I drink my yummy shake while getting it all together.  My shakeology has always been my breakfast, so that wasn't a change for me.  To be honest with you, I think I am eating more food in a day than I was before. I've been staying full, and no blood sugar crashes (which I'm prone to).  That's because I am actually eating my daily calories instead of drinking them I guess.  Go figure.   The food you see above is just my "take to work" food.  I still have dinner to eat later.

For those of you who follow my blog for my creative recipes... they will return.  I just needed a break to work on me, and all the Mom's out there can relate with me I am sure.  It was hard for this foodie to pack her nutrition up in little baggies... but for 21 days it's about eating to heal not about being fancy!  See ya tomorrow peeps!

21 Day Fix!

So for the next 21 days I am going to take you guys on a little different journey with me.  So don't just walk a day in my flip flops... walk in them for 21.

I have hit a plateau, one that I don't want to be in anymore.  15 years ago I went on a journey to lose weight... and I did.  Over 100 lbs actually!  I made a vow to myself to never go back.  I don't want to be that girl anymore.

She was unhappy and unhealthy!  Although I did drop the weight... I have been struggling to get down the last 20 lbs.  I seem to have become really good at maintaining... but I don't want to maintain anymore.  I want to better myself and my health.  I want to wear shorts this summer.  I seriously have not worn shorts out in public in over two years.  So this girl now is going to give herself a swift kick in the ass and make those goals happen.  Weight loss isn't as important to me as kicking some bad habits I've developed and getting those thunder thighs back in check.  

My eating is clean... I workout... and I have a great online support group of women that keep me in check. Since joining forces with them I have done so much better than I did on my own.   but I need a jump start to get going and an added boost!  I have committed to do the 21 day fix... Here's what it's all about...

21 days of eating real food, new exercise routine, and a new attitude.   Yesterday I spent the day cooking and portioning out my food for the week.  I knew I needed to plan, or I would come up with some excuse to de-rail.  I warned the family... and made it clear that everyone needed to support momma for the next 3 weeks.  

Here's how it works... you have to figure out your caloric needs and then you basically have to make sure all your portions fit in these containers...

So, I sat down with my book, and made my plan of action... started cooking, chopping and portioning out my food for the week.  I'm always so busy trying to create dishes , that I realized I had forgotten how pretty food in it's natural state can be.  Check out those radishes!  

My downfall with this program will be not being able to have my wine.  Actually it is allowed, however, only three times a week, and the wine has to fit in this...

SERIOUSLY?  That's one swig!  Oh Geez!

So here I go... wish me luck!  I am going to try to blog daily, and hopefully inspire a few people along the way.  I am actually on Day One today... I will always be a day behind so I can give you the full scoop on how it went.  The down and dirty!

Yes you can eat PIZZA!!!

Three weeks of Turbofire done! Chalene Johnson can motivate like no other. This is my week of truth though people... you see, every time I start this workout... week 4 is when I always fizzle out and my excuses seem to take over!  Nope, not this time.  "YOU ARE NOT TIRED"!!!  Actually, I am!  I am so tired.  The job is crazy this week... but I can't let it get to me!  My mantra this week... 

So this last weekend I was craving pizza so bad! I don't often get that craving, but we all know that the only thing you can do to fight off a pizza craving is to EAT PIZZA!  Well, me being me, and my belly being my belly... I have to make my own, ordering out even once is NOT an option.  I started looking through my blog and realized that I have never posted my pizza recipe here!  WHAT?  That's just not cool of me to hold out such grain free, dairy free goodness from all of you!  You can have pizza people! Be creative with your toppings of choice and enjoy!

The Perfect Paleo Pizza Crust

Preheat your oven and Pizza stone to 425 degrees. 

 (We found that a pizza stone works really well to get a crispy crust)

1/4 cup warm water

2 tsp Organic Honey

1 package of Instant Yeast (Gluten Free of course)

Combine all ingredients above and set aside to let the yeast get frothy.

In a mixer, combine the following:

3/4 Cup Almond Flour

3 TBSP Coconut Flour

2/3 Cup Arrowroot

Sea Salt

1 egg

2 Tsp Olive Oil

1 Tsp Coconut Vinegar

Pizza Sauce (Sugar Free and Organic)

Toppings of choice

Once ingredients have been blended well, scrape ingredients onto a piece of parchment paper in a ball form.  Get another piece of parchment paper and rub olive oil on top of it.  Place Olive oiled paper on ball and start pressing the dough into the shape you want your pizza. (Your dough will be between two pieces of parchment)  This makes it really easy to get it into a round pizza shape.  You can make it as thick as you want or as thin as you want.  This is not a traditional dough texture you will be use to.  Once you get the shape and desired thickness you want... carefully remove top parchment paper.  Do not remove dough from bottom parchment... place parchment and all on the pizza stone and bake for about 5 to 6 minutes.  Bring stone out of the oven, flip the dough disc onto the stone upside down so that the top part is now on the stone.  On the cooked side, place pizza sauce and toppings of choice.  Place back in oven for 5 minutes more.  At this time, turn your broiler on high and get those toppings all bubbly.  Pull out of oven and let cool on cooling rack.  Cut up and eat up!  MMMMMM! 

 

Spaghetti Squash One Dish Wonder!

It's amazing how quickly your body can respond when you start taking care of it again.  This is my third week back into my groove... and I am feeling amazing.  I haven't been able to say that in a long time.  It blows my mind how easy it is to fall back into bad habits, but so hard to fall back into good ones.  I have had a great support group this time, and I think that has made a huge difference. 

I love talking to people and getting their opinions on food.  Some could care less about the food they eat and other's obsess.  I happen to be one that obsesses... but one of the reasons is because I am fascinated how food can either make you sick or healthy... it depends on your body and what you put in it.  There are so many foods out there that have healing properties and yet so many times we chose to put crap in it. 

I happen to still be in my one dish meal obsession, since I've been trying to take a  wee bit more time for ME... it helps keep healthy eating easy! ! This dish can actually be made up ahead of time and cooked when you get home. (And you have 45 minutes while it's cooking to get your booty in gear and fit some exercise in right?)

The star of this one dish wonder is spaghetti squash.  I use to think that spaghetti squash, and squash in general was a fall kind of dish... lately though, all the seasons run together, and I seem to  find these available all throughout the year.  Especially out here in Cali.  I'm not sure where our winter went?   Spring is officially here!

Spaghetti squash has a low calorie and carbohydrate count, but some tidbits you might not realize about this golden gourd is it contains Omega-3 and Omega-6 essential fatty acids.  These Omega's help prevent heart diseases, inflammation and different kinds of cancers.  Omega-6's in particular provide numerous amounts of minerals and vitamins which are essential for proper body functioning... including brain function.    It is high in beta carotene, which helps prevent atherosclerosis and potassium which helps to lower high blood pressure. Once it's cooked, it can be shredded and used as noodles in place of pasta... which is great for people who have grain sensitivities.  In this recipe... my family thinks the squash resembles rice... um...whatever works right?  You can also get creative with this... you could add other ingredients and make it as complicated as you wish.  It has sparked a few other ideas in my noggin as well which I will be testing out soon.    

I've been using myfitnesspal with my fitbit daily.  I am able to log what I am eating, and work up my reecipes to see the calorie content.  I love it.  This recipe makes six large servings at only 227 calories each.  If anyone uses myfitnesspal, my user name is karimarkel, I would be glad to add you as a friend!  

The SS One Dish Wonder

1 large or 2 small Spaghetti Squash

1 lb Organic Free Range Ground Pork

1 Can Pizza Sauce (I use organic, with no sugar)

1 Tbsp Olive Oil or Ghee

3 Eggs

1 can Olives, sliced

1 Red Bell Pepper, Diced

1 medium Yellow Onion, Diced

Salt and Pepper to taste

4 Tbsp Italian Seasoning

Fresh Basil

Cut Squash in half, turn upside down in dish.  Add water (enough to cover 1/4 of the squash) and bake in 350 degree oven until soft.  Turn squash over, shred with fork.  I wipe out my dish that I cooked the squash in and place all my shredded squash back in the dish.  Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees.  In skillet add oil or ghee, add onions and bell pepper and saute until soft.  Add ground pork, olives and spices,  and cook until pork is done.  Mix in pork mixture, 3 beaten eggs, fresh chopped basil and can of pizza sauce to squash shreds and mix well.  Bake for 45 minutes, or until moisture decreases.  I turned on the broiler for a bit and made a bit of a crispy crust on mine.  Add salad and voila! 

  

Hungarian Caveman Pie!

Every morning I log onto Pinterest and pick a quote for the day.  I  write them in my day planner... and post them all over my desktop so I see them all through the day.  I have noticed that it really keeps me focused on my task at hand.  To feel good again! This one here came on a morning, today, that I woke up feeling awesome possum!  I have gotten back into my workout routine (5 lbs down last week), and making sure that the menu's for the families meals are focusing on real food once again.   This is week 2, and I feel like a totally different person than I did a few weeks ago!  My depression cloud is nowhere to be seen today, and seriously... I still have a lot I could be depressed about... but it's just not worth my time.  The quote I saw the other day said " Worrying doesn't' take away tomorrow's troubles, it takes away today's peace!"  OMG... how true is that?

I've been in a easy one pot meal kind of mood.  We got a new crockpot that I have been trying some new things out on, and I am now officially obsessed with Casseroles!  Do you have any idea how hard it is to make a Grain Free Casserole?  You just can't find a lot out there.  On my casserole mission I stumbled across a Caveboy Casserole recipe from Our Paleo Life.  You should give her website a looksy, and give this recipe a try.  It turned out amazing.  I called mine a Hungarian Caveman Pie because I added Hot Hungarian Paprika to it and hot pepper to flakes to kick it up a notch!  Do you think Hungarian Caveman had paprika back then?  Ground beef, or was it ground brontosaurus?

I want to make sure credit is given where credit is due, so please check out Kendra's Caveboy Casserole.  You may like her choices better than mine.  The changes I made to mine were minor.   Her pictures are prettier... that's for sure, and OMG... her Taco Seasoning recipe is a new staple that I am making for our pantry.    Just as I always say though... cooking should be fun. Recipes should be used for ideas... what makes them unique is what the cook brings to them.  Go forth and cook!

Hungarian Caveman Pie

2 lbs Grass-Fed Organic Beef
2 Batches of Kendra's Taco Seasoning
3 tsp Arrowroot Flour
Avocado Oil (my oil of choice these days)
1 large Yellow Onion
2 Bell Peppers (I used red because they're pretty)
1 large Tomato
1 can of Black Olives
2 Cans of Diced chiles
2 tbsp Hungarian Hot Paprika
Red Pepper Flakes to taste

In cast iron skillet, brown onion, and bell peppers until soft.  Add hamburger and spices and cook through.  Mix in 1 can of chiles, half of the olives, and tomato.  In a small bit of hot water mix arrowroot into a smooth paste and add to meat mixture.  Top with crust (below), remaining black olives and second can of chiles.  Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until crust is browned on the edges.  

Crust

1/2 cup Almond Flour
1/4 cup Coconut Flour
1/2 tsp Sea Salt
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
3 Eggs
2 tbsp melted Ghee
2 tbsp melted Coconut oil
1/2 cup full fat Coconut milk

Grain Free Rolls & Buns...

Hello peeps!  I can't believe it's already March!  Christmas if only 289
days away!  Yikes!  It's still crazy weather in Cali.  The trees are so confused and so am I.

It's still WINTER... why the hell is my tree blooming?  UGH!  We are getting some rain this weekend... but I will believe it when I see it.  In the famous words of Forrest Gump... "That's all I got to say about that!"

The hubs and I took a few days this last weekend and headed up the hill in our traveling casa!  We realized that we've only had it out four times since we bought it last year!  Tragedy!   I got to cook in my favorite little kitchen, wear flip flops all weekend and watch ducks poop on my Patio Rug!  Fun times! 

So this week I am going to share one of my favorite recipes I think in a while.  Since ditching the grains, the one thing I really crave sometimes is a sandwich.  Hard to make a real sandwich without the bread.   I found a recipe online a few months back and I have tweaked it so many times I can't even tell you what the original recipe was or where it came from.  Well... I lie... it came from Pinterest originally... duh!  Pinterest is the bomb!  Any hoo... I make dinner rolls with this recipe and I use my bun pan and press dough into them to make thin little sandwich pieces of heaven.  I usually smear avocado on those bad boys, throw some applegate turkey and sour kraut on them and dig in!  Here's some of my favorite ingredients I use to make them.  

I have become a huuuuuge fan of avocado oil.  Avocado's are amazingly good for you, and this avocado oil that I order from Bella Vado is the best... no other Avocado oil can compare.  

Grain Free Buns & Bread

1 1/4 cup Arrowroot

3/4 cup Coconut Flour

1 tsp Salt

2 tsp Garlic Powder

2 Tbsp Chives

1/2 cup Warm Water

1/2 cup Avocado Oil

1 Egg

Mix all ingredients in a mixer until makes a sticky dough. There are two options on how to make.  Rolls or buns.  Rolls I just make balls and cook them on parchment for 30 minutes. 

For my thin breads... I press a think layer of dough in my bun pan...

 cook on one side for 5 min, flip them over and cook an additional 5 min. Place on parchment to cool. 

  

Long Time No See...

Well hey all!  I know its been a while... but you know how things go.  Life tends to get in the way of the things we love to do sometimes!

So, let me catch you up on where I've been and where I am going.  I went through a skin fiasco last year... about the time I slacked off on the blog.  Seems a product I was using for "13" years, that was labeled as botanical I might add, seems to have contained steroids that were not listed in the ingredients.  Skin still hasn't quite gotten back to normal... but it looks so much better.  This is a little sample of what I dealt with for 6 months!  Yikes!

Then of course there were the holidays... and you know we are always the hostests with the mostests... so that was a few months of crazy!  

Oh and I totally have to fill you in on the animal situation.  Remember the cat that we inherited from Gram's? Well she ended up picking fights with Beazie (our spoiled cat)... started spraying in Beazie's litter box, and Beazie didn't want to go in there anymore.  One morning I heard Beazie crying so loud in the dining room... I went in there to find that she pooped... in the floor... 3 DAYS BEFORE THANKSGIVING!!!!  I didn't know why she was doing this, until one night when we were going to bed... The Hubs walked past Gram's cat and caught her spraying the wall with urine!  The cat has been in the garage ever since.  I spent 3 days searching Pinterest for ways to get rid of cat urine smell, being that all the family was on their way, and to top it off had to figure out how to get Beazie back to her litter box.  Got Beazie a new litter box, and put it in a totally different location... everything worked out, and we had no surprises in the dining room for the holidays.  Shew!  3 months later... the sprayer is still in the garage.  We take good care of her... but won't let her in the house.  Cat urine and my obsessive compulsiveness  just don't jive well together!  

As for the new year... well it's still sunny and warm here in Cali.  I'm still able to wear my flip flops most days!  We are in a drought you know.  I want some rain and cold weather... we got jipped this year.  I have come up with some really good recipes that will be making their appearance over the next few weeks.  I have decided to do weekly posts for now instead of daily, so I can still share food and thoughts, but not overwhelm myself.  I've gotten back to my workouts too!  I actually took before pictures... but you won't find those on here until I have amazing after pictures to post as well.  Since my diet is clean... I don't have to worry about falling off the wagon... but my wagon needs a lot of work.  I've gotten fluffy!  That's all I am going to say about that!   A friend of mine posted this on Facebook and I keep reminding myself of it daily! 

What no skinny Fairy?  Say it isn't so!!!  Glad to be back!  Recipes Soon!  Promise!