Scrumptious Saturday!

I like anything pumpkin...Wait let me rephrase that I LOVE anything pumpkin. I think that still is not a good enough word...OK I am OBSESSED with anything pumpkin. I mean it is so awesome!! I know a lot of people are really excited when the fall comes because there is pumpkin everywhere, but I am here to tell you friends pumpkin is not just for the fall. I love it all year. I am going to give you all my recipe for my yummy scrumptious pumpkin muffins. I kind of made up the recipe on the fly. My picky 7 year old has gobbled them up since I made them. First before I give you the recipe let's talk pumpkin. So here are some benefits to one of my favorite foods. Seriously pumpkin is amazing!

 

 

So yea pumpkins are awesome!!!!

 

 

 

Ok the first thing I did was make my pumpkin puree. You can use canned, but I like the fresh pumpkin. If I don't use fresh I get the organic pumpkin that is in a carton (at whole foods) not in a can. To puree your pumpkin just cut it in half and scoop out the middle (save your seeds to do roasted pumpkin seeds) and place it down in a dish. I put a little water around my pumpkin. I bake for about 60 minutes. After it has cooled just scoop out the middle and put in a food processor or blender and voila yummy pumpkin puree. Make sure you get the right kind of pumpkin. This is what I use.

 



After making the yummy puree it is muffin time. So finally what you have been waiting for here it is...The pumpkin muffin recipe!!

15oz of pumpkin puree (homemade or carton or canned)
1/2 cup of applesauce (homemade or organic unsweetened)
2 large organic eggs (flax eggs can be used as well, 1tbsp of flax with 3tbsp water= 1 egg)
1tsp organic vanilla
1/2 cup organic coconut sugar (you can also use brown sugar)
1 3/4 cups organic spelt flour (oat, coconut, wheat, or quinoa would work as well)
1tsp baking powder
2 1/2tsp homemade pumpkin pie spice (nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, and ground cloves)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

I always mix all my ingredients together in the order listed. I know every recipe says do dry first in a bowl, and then a separate bowl mix your wet ingredients and then in another bowl mix them all together. Seriously who wants to do that many dishes? I have a Kitchenaid stand mixer and just dump everything in there, and mix.
I used silicone muffin tins, but use whatever you have. If you have paper lightly grease the bottom with a little organic olive oil.
I use an ice cream scooper so I can get roughly the same amount in every tin. Bake them for 30 minutes. With the applesauce they will be a little softer on the inside. You can freeze them to pull out to eat during the week. Let them cool down and then enjoy.

You could add some other ingredients in there if you want. Nuts, chocolate chips, peanut butter, bananas etc... I don't want that other stuff in the way of my yummy pumpkin though. I am a pumpkin purist :)

Tasty Tuesday

Today's post is about snacks. I think this is one of the biggest areas I struggle with. In the past I have fallen into eating all of my kids bag of goldfish and wash it down with a soda and a box of little Debbie's. Sounds great, but I felt terrible afterwards. So if you are eating good meals all day do not waste that with a few bad snacks. I have found it easiest to buy the kids snacks that I also will eat. That way I am not tempted by their snacks into something bad for me, which I feel better giving them healthy stuff anyways. Now I am not going to lie here, my kids do sometimes get special treats that I do not really partake in. I think yes we should eat healthy foods, but it is okay for my kids to occasionally have little treats. So anyways back to our healthy snacks. For my snacks I of course like something that I do not have to put a lot of prep into, and are both health and cost effective. A few clean eating snacks that I enjoy are as follows:

* A slice of pumpkin bread (I posted the recipe the other day), I usually will have a glass of water with it, but a cup of hot tea is also very yummy with it. Most of the time if I have this I just eat this, but you could add maybe a handful of nuts (if you did not put any in your bread) or a piece of fresh fruit.

* 1/2 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt (I like Stonyfield) with a drizzle of raw honey or agave, 1/2 cup of granola (you can do homemade or an organic one that does not have a lot of added sugars. I like the ones from KIND. There are a lot of different flavors that are good), mix with some fresh fruits (strawberries, blueberries, banana whatever fruit you have on hand)

* 1/2c unsalted nuts (cashews, peanuts, almonds, walnuts whatever you have), string cheese (get a brand that is real cheese not processed), and a piece of fruit (pear or apple is my favorite)

* 3-4 celery sticks with organic peanut butter, string cheese

* Fruit/Veggie protein smoothie (use whatever fruits/veggies you have with some organic peanut butter or protein powder)

* Organic carrots, cherry tomatoes, celery sticks and cucumber with 2tbsp fresh hummus

* 1 slice whole grain bread with 1tbsp organic peanut butter, 1 tbsp. fresh jam (grape, strawberry etc...), whole organic carrot

* 1 hardboiled cage free egg with a little pepper, handful of fresh berries

* 1c no salt added cottage cheese with fresh fruit (pineapple, strawberries, blueberries whatever you have), 1/4c unsalted nuts, 1tbsp chia seeds

* 1 apple (I like honeycrisp but whatever you like) cut into slices, 2 tbsp. organic peanut butter

* 1c fruit salad (grapes, oranges, kiwi, watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, pears, peaches, strawberries whatever you like) a drizzle of agave 1/4c chilled quinoa

These are just a few of the snacks I enjoy. What is great is all of these are also kid friendly. There are a lot more, but these are all very quick, easy, healthy and cost effective snacks. I usually drink a glass of water with all these snacks as well. What are some of your favorite healthy snacks.

Scrumptious Saturday!!

Today is the FIRST DAY OF FALL!!!! Yay. My favorite time of the year. I love the decorations, smells, holidays, clothing, leaves, the crisp air, apple picking, foods, and most of all everything PUMPKIN!!!! So today's recipe is pumpkin inspired. This time of year we add pumpkin to everything. I mean it is an amazing food why not right. I love pumpkin soup. I will post that recipe another day, but today I am posting my pumpkin bread. It is delicious and healthy, and guess what even my picky 6 year old son loves it (he calls it my pumpkin cornbread :) ) I used to make a really really unhealthy, fatty version with a box of vanilla pudding mix in it covered in a fatty frosting. I mean don't get me wrong it was delicious, but soooo bad for you. So this is a cleaned up version and it is equally as yummy. I am going to try to come up with a clean frosting recipe for this as well. I know this is not something I will be eating everyday (although I could!!), but we all deserve treats every now and then!! So here is my cleaned up version of pumpkin bread.


Clean eating pumpkin bread

1 1/2c of flour (I used whole wheat, but you can use coconut, oat, rice whatever you have)
1tsp baking powder
2tsp ground cinnamon
1/2tsp baking soda
1/2tsp ground ginger
1/4tsp ground cloves
1 egg beaten (I used a whole cage free brown egg, but you could do 2 egg whites instead if you want or chia seeds with water if you don't eat eggs)
1/4c dark brown sugar
1/2c organic whole cane sugar (you could use coconut sugar here)
3/4c plain non fat Greek yogurt (if you want a vegan recipe replace with silken tofu mixed with lemon juice or you could look for a vegan yogurt)
3/4c pumpkin (you can do a can (be sure to get a can with no added preservatives or sweeteners or fresh pumpkin puree, but be sure to use a sugar pumpkin)
3tbsp oil (canola, sunflower, olive or coconut)
1 1/2tsp pure vanilla
*optional walnuts, pecans dark chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8x4 bread pan with an olive oil spritzer.

In large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, ginger and cloves. Set aside.

In medium bowl mix egg, sugar, yogurt, pumpkin, oil and vanilla until well blended. Add to flour mixture, stirring until just combined. Stir in walnuts, pecans or chocolate if you want. Pour batter into pan.

Bake 60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let it cool for about 10 minutes.

It is so yummy!! Now like I said I do not eat this all the time, but it is definitely less fattening than the other version I used to make. I am thinking of making a few loaves and freezing some (if they last long enough to be frozen they may all be eaten before then :) ). Please comment with any variations you have on your pumpkin bread.

Tasty Tuesday

Since fall is coming up I know a lot of us will be pulling out our crock pots to do some easy cooking, although I must say I use mine year around. So today's recipe is going to be a crock pot recipe. Now we do not eat beef that much in my house. We prefer to eat the lean meats, we mainly eat chicken, turkey and fish. Occasionally we do have beef or pork. It is a "special treat" sometimes. So here is a beef recipe for you that is yummy, easy and healthy.

Beef roast

3-4lb grass fed London broil (I like to get mine at the farmer's market, but anywhere that you can find one is fine) with all the fat cut off
1/2lb portabella mushrooms cut in half(you can use a different kind of mushroom, but this is what I like)
2 cups low sodium organic vegetable broth (you can use chicken or beef and you can also make your own)
1/2 purple onion chopped
4 organic carrots chopped
1tsp garlic powder
dash black pepper
1tsp oregano
1tsp parsley

Add your broth first, then mushrooms, carrots and onion. Place the roast on top of this and add seasoning to the top of the roast. I put it on high for 2 hours then low for another 3-4 hours. Now if you are putting this on in the morning before work or something you can just do low for about 6-8 hours or so. I will check it about 30 minutes to an hour before serving and mix it up and make sure it is all shredded.

My whole family loves this especially my picky husband and picky 6 year old. They usually have seconds on it. I have served it with a lot of different things. You could do sweet potatoes, brown rice, wild rice, whole grain pasta or quinoa pasta. Typically we will have steamed broccoli with it (that is my husband and 6 year old favorite veggie), but you could really do any kind of veggie with it. The best thing is with having a bigger roast there is typically leftovers. It is actually much better then next day. You could eat the leftovers the same way or try it as a sandwich. You decide what the right size roast is for you. You can do a smaller one just make sure you cut everything in the recipe down, or you can do a bigger one just make sure you are adding more of everything else as well. I hope you enjoy this as much as my family does. As I said we do not eat beef often so this is a treat meal for us.

This is a pretty good broth to choose, but the best would of course be homemade. I will get together a recipe for that to post.



Scrumptious Saturday

Is breakfast the hardest time for you to get in a healthy meal? I know it always has been for me. I was never a breakfast eater until about 6 months ago. Now I always eat breakfast within 30 minutes of waking up, but there are some mornings where I just do not feel like making anything. So I stick to my quick and easy healthy recipes on those days. Most people love pancakes right? The problem is when you load them down with butter and syrup and use all that white flour in them. They are pretty unhealthy. Well here is a recipe for some healthier pancakes that are delicious and very quick to make.

Protein Pancakes (makes 2-3 pancakes)

1/2 cup oats (or another grain of your choosing)
6oz plain nonfat Greek yogurt
1 scoop vanilla whey isolate protein powder (you can use a different flavor if you prefer and you can also use a different protein whey, soy, rice, pea, hemp etc...)
3 egg whites
1/4 cup almond milk (can use coconut, soy, low-fat milk etc...)
1-2tsp vanilla extract

In a blender or food processer add your oats. They will look like flour once you grind them up. Then add the rest of your ingredients. I use a griddle for my pancakes and spray with a little bit of olive oil. Then add your batter it should make about 2-3 pancakes. If the batter looks to thick for you add a little more milk to it. You of course can double or triple this recipe or more. They will cook quickly so I suggest about 3-4 minutes on each side. Once they are done I usually add a little agave and maybe some fruit.

There are about a million different variations you can do with how to eat serve them. You could add 1-2 tablespoons natural peanut butter to the batter and top with some bananas, or you could add the bananas in the batter if you prefer. You could add any kind of berries to the batter. Cut up apple slices and add some cinnamon for a nice fall pancake. Also pumpkin puree and cinnamon would be good. Some dark chocolate chips in the batter would be good as well. You could also do a savory pancake and add shredded zucchini and some onions (of course in this one I would eliminate the vanilla and probably choose an unflavored protein powder and add some black pepper). Try these pancakes out for a quick breakfast or snack. Let me know what your favorite pancake combination is.

Tasty Tuesday!!

Since I was a kid I would eat pretty much everything. I have never been picky. I am lucky that two of my children are the same way. I mean they will enjoy a piece of sushi with me, and some veggies with hummus, while drinking  kale smoothie. It is awesome!! Unfortunately my husband and my oldest son are not this way. They are two of the pickiest people on the planet. It sometimes makes it difficult especially when you want to get healthy stuff in them. So how do I make sure that the two picky eaters in my life get the good stuff like us non-picky people? The answer I put the healthy stuff in with their favorite things. Now my husband knows I do this so I am not revealing some big hush hush secret. Sometimes, however I can fool him, and sometimes he can tell right away. It is all just a matter of tweaking the recipes. I have previously shared my way to get some veggies in with meatballs. We had those last night with quinoa pasta in fact, and they were yummy. So here is another recipe that you can get some more healthy stuff in those picky eaters.

If your family is anything like mine then they love enchiladas. It is seriously one of my husbands favorite foods. He would be happy if I made it twice a week or more. The problem is between the sauce and all that cheese it is so fattening. So here is a "lighter" version that I use. I still use it as a "special" meal and not a once  week meal. The big thing is to make your own sauce and not use the sodium ridden canned sauce, which I know is much much easier. I like my enchiladas with the red and green sauce mixed together. You can choose just one of the sauces if you like that better. I used all fresh organic ingredients in these.


Lightened up enchiladas

Red sauce
1 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves minced garlic

1 tsp minced onion

1/2 tsp dried oregano

21/2 tsps chili powder

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/8 tsp black pepper (ground)

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp parsley (dried)

1/4 cup diced tomatoes

1/4 cup red bell pepper

1/4 cup diced yellow squash

6 ozs no salt added organic tomato sauce

11/2 cups water

Put your tomatoes, squash and red bell pepper in the food processor. In a large saucepan heat up the olive oil. Then add the garlic and onion. Saute for about a minute or two. Then add the rest of the ingredients, including the tomato, squash and bell pepper except the water. Mix it all together in the pan and add the water. Let it come to a boil. Then reduce it to simmer and let cook for about 15-20 minutes.

Green Sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, smashed and minced

1 pound green tomatillos, husked, washed and sliced into quarters

1/2 to 1 jalapeno pepper, seeds and ribs removed (depending on how hot you like it!)

1 large poblano pepper, seeds removed and cut into large chunks

1 avocado

1 c spinach (you can use kale as well)

juice of 1 lime

handful of fresh cilantro

4 cups no salt added vegetable broth

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

 

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium high heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute until soft, about 5 minutes. While the onions and garlic are working, throw the tomatillos, cilantro, jalapeno, poblano, avocado, spinach or kale and lime juice into the blender. Blend on high speed until smooth, adding the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil to get things moving. Pour the tomatillo mixture in with the onions and garlic. Add the vegetable broth, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper and whisk to combine. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Allow to simmer on low heat for about an hour to thicken the sauce. If desired, blend with an immersion blender or throw the mixture back into the regular blender for a smoother sauce. This sauce takes a little longer to make, but it is worth it!!

Enchiladas

2 lbs organic boneless, skinless chicken breast (you can also do turkey, beef, tofu, beans, or no meat at all)

1 tbsp. coconut oil

1 tablespoon chili powder                                                    

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder                                                    

1/4 teaspoon onion powder                                                    

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon paprika                                                    

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin                                                                     

1 teaspoon black pepper

red enchilada sauce
green enchilada sauce
About 2-4c (depends on how cheesy you like it) cheese (whichever kind you prefer. I like organic cheese and will shred it myself. Seriously don't buy the already shredded. I used to, but no longer do. Also I get full fat cheese and not the low fat or fat free. That is just full of chemicals.)

40 fajita size tortillas (whatever kind you like, homemade (I will post that recipe another day), whole grain, Ezekiel, corn, flour)

Preheat the oven to 375. Heat up the coconut oil in a large saucepan. Then add the chicken (or whatever meat you prefer. If you are doing just cheese you can skip this step) and cook probably about 10 minutes or so. You want to try to shred the chicken as much as possible (if you have done a ground meat you don't have to worry). Drain the meat and return to the pan and add all the spices to it with about 1/2c water. Let the meat simmer for about 5-10 minutes or so. I usually use 2 big cake pans for my enchiladas. The good thing about this recipe is you can cut it in half and have less or easily double it for more. You should have plenty of leftovers. If you do the 2 pans you can have one for dinner and freeze the other one for an easy meal another night.

In your cake pans cover the bottom with some red and green sauce (if you are just doing one sauce then cover with that one sauce) take your tortilla and fill with the meat and a little bit of cheese (not a whole lot because you will also be topping it with cheese. Of course if you are doing just cheese you can add a little bit more). Then roll up the tortilla. Repeat this step for the remaining tortillas. I can usually get about 20 tortillas in one pan. After rolling them top with green sauce and red sauce (or whichever you choose). Top that with as much cheese as you would like then top again with the sauces. Bake for 30 minutes. You want the cheese to be melted and your tortillas to brown a little. You can cook less time if you would like because your meat is already cooked so you do not have to worry about that, or more time if you like your cheese melted a little more. You just judge how you like it.

This recipe is a little time consuming, which is another reason why I do not make it all the time. As you can see with all that cheese it is definitely not an everyday kind of meal. The leftovers you can freeze or eat the next day for lunch (which I think is usually better after it has sat a little while). I like to top mine with a little full-fat plain Greek yogurt, salsa verde, black olives and avocado and tomatoes. You can serve with some Spanish rice and/or black beans, but as filling as it is you really do not need it. See how many vegetables we got in there, and your picky people won't even be able to tell.

* I made these last night, and I realized I didn't have a picture on here of them. So here is what he finished product looks like. I topped mine with spinach and arugula, black olives, salsa, avocado, plain Greek yogurt and I had black beans topped with the same and watermelon. It was delicious! My picky hubby said today that he was worried we would eat them all for lunch, and there wouldn't be any left for him. Try them and let me know what you think.

Tasty Tuesday

I think that snacks are the biggest area I struggle in with my eating. I have always been a big snacker. Before deciding to be healthy I would raid the fridge and cabinets. I would sit and eat a whole bag of chips along with a whole sleeve of cookies without even batting an eye. I would buy my kids the most unhealthy, sugar, crap filled snacks and I would sit right beside them and eat them with them. I am so happy we do not eat those snacks anymore. I still sometimes struggle in this area though. A snack should be something quick and easy. Unfortunately when I think quick and easy it is usually one of those unhealthy snacks. So I just do not buy those things and keep them in the house. If it is not here I cannot eat it right. So one quick and easy go to snack for me is a smoothie. They are healthy, yummy and very quick. My kids love them too. They will usually try to steal them from me when I make them. Of course when I do ones with protein powder I do not let them have those. I make them a version minus the protein. So here is a protein smoothie that I love.


Protein Smoothie

1 scoop vanilla whey isolate protein powder (you can also do soy, hemp, rice, pea, whey whichever you have on hand)
2 handfuls spinach/kale mixture
1/2 avocado (you will not taste it at all, it just makes it very creamy and yummy)
1/4c blueberries
5 whole strawberries (do not cut off the greens they have tons of good nutrients in them)
1tbsp chia seeds
1/2c unsweetened coconut milk (you can also do almond milk, fat free milk)
4 ice cubes


I put my ingredients in the order they are listed here. If you notice it is not mixing well you can add a little water, and it should mix much better after that. This is a very basic recipe. You can add lots of other things in here as well. I like a spoonful of natural peanut butter. I have also added a lot of other fruits, mango, pineapple, banana, oranges, etc...I have also added a few spoonfuls of plain nonfat greek yogurt. Very yummy and very easy.

Dinner yummies

We rarely eat red meat anymore. For the few times that we do I always try to get grassfed beef that is low in fat content. Well tonight we had some. I got some organic grassfed steak that was very low in fat. I made stir fry with it, and it was delicious!

Steak Stir fry

1lb grassfed steak
2 tbsp. organic coconut oil
1 yellow squash
8 asparagus spears
1/2c chopped red cabbage
1/4c kale
1/4c spinach
1/2c organic baby carrots
1/4c sliced mushrooms
2 tbsp. minced garlic
2 tbsp. ground flax seed
1/4c chopped green bell pepper
1/4c chopped red bell pepper
1/2c all natural, gluten free Thai noodles
1/8c chopped onion
1/8c agave
1/8c liquid aminos (or low sodium soy sauce)
pepper
no-salt


Cut the steak into either strips or cubes. In a baggie add the agave, liquid aminos, steak, pepper and no-salt. Let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Cook the steak in 1 tbsp. coconut oil. In 1 tbsp. coconut oil cook all the chopped up vegetables and add flax seed. Cook the Thai noodles in a separate pot. Then add them to the vegetables after they are cooked. You can add different vegetables if you would like, broccoli, pea pods, baby corn, zucchini etc. would all be good. I think next time I may add some fresh squeezed orange juice to the marinade on the steak. It was a very yummy and easy dinner. Like I said we don't eat red meat often, but this meal I did not feel guilty about at all.

Scrumptious Saturday

I'm going to be posting my favorite healthy recipes on scrumptious Saturdays. We all know that nutrition is major part of fitness you cannot out exercise a bad diet! I love to cook, and my family loves for new to cook. I also like trying new things. I think it us important to vary what you are eating so you do not get bored quickly with healthy foods. So this week I am going to start off with an easy recipe. Turkey meatballs. You can eat them by themselves, in a sandwich, with pasta, on pizza. There are so many things you can do with these yummy treats. I bet they would be good in a clean eating barbeque sauce as well. You can make the serving you need or make a big batch and freeze them to reheat for a later meal.



Turkey meatballs


1 lb 99% fat free ground turkey
1/2 cup organic oat bran 2 egg whites (if you do not eat eggs you can substitute with Chia seeds and water)
1 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tsp mrs. dash Italian seasoning
2 tsp organic ground flax seed
2 shredded organic carrots
1/4 cup diced red onion (if you do not like onions you can substitute with 2 tsp onion powder 1 tsp organic coconut oil


Preheat your oven to 400 Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl. I usually just use my clean hands to do it, but you can use a wooden spoon as well. After thoroughly washing your hands line a cookie sheet with tin foil. Then it's time to make the meatballs. Just round them out to balls. You can make them whatever size you wish. Thoroughly wash your hands again and place the cookie sheet in the oven. Bake them for 30 minutes.



You can double, triple etc this recipe or you can half it. Super easy right. They are healthy and delicious. Also they are picky husband and picky kid approved! Please feel free to comment with any of your favorite recipes.

My favorite green fruit

AVOCADO!!!!

Yes I said fruit and not vegetable. I always thought this wonderful food was a vegetable, but I was wrong. Either way whether fruit or vegetable it is a SUPERFOOD. Avocados have gotten a bad wrap because they are very high in calories, 322 calories, but it is a very healthy fat. We all need healthy fats in our diets every day. Avocado is called "the alphabet fruit" because just one avocado provides your body with vitamins A, C, E, K, B6 and many more, almost all alphabet letters! Avocados have 54% of your recommended daily value of fiber, which gives this fruit much of its fat burning abilities.

I cut them out of my diet for awhile because of the high calories, but I have returned to my love of avocado and eat at least a half every day. My son Collin and daughter Callie love it as well. They eat some everyday. That was actually miss Callie's first food, and she has been in love ever since. My husband tried it once and did not like it, and Riley refuses to even try it. Hopefully I can get them to come to the dark side :) 

Perhaps the biggest health benefit of avocados is that by adding avocado to certain foods, you can improve your absorption of nutrients. This means that when you combine other fat burning foods with avocado, you can improve your nutrient absorption up to 400%! Avocados can also reduce the signs of aging, regulate blood sugar and improve eye health. The fat content of an avocado provides protection against heart diseases. Studies have shown that oleic acid improves cardiovascular health. Oleic acid is the primary fatty acid in avocadoes. Avocadoes are rich in omega-3, delivering 160 milligrams per cup of alpha-linolenic acid. Avocadoes provide all 18 essential amino acids necessary for the body to form a complete protein. Unlike the protein in steak, which is difficult for most people to digest, avocado protein is readily absorbed by the body because avocadoes also contain fiber. Here a couple of choice items to chew over. Once an avocado is picked, it takes between 7 and 10 days to ripen. Keeping it in the refrigerator will slow down the ripening process, while putting it in a paper bag with a ripe apple will speed up the process. Avocados have the highest protein content of any fruit. I could go on all day about how wonderful this fruit is, but you should just go try it for yourself.

 

 

 

You can eat the avocado by itself which is yummy and delicious, but there are also about a million other things you can do with it. I put it in smoothies, on sandwiches, mixed with pasta, with egg whites, use in desserts such as avocado pudding and popsicles, I bet Collin and Callie would love these. It really is one of the most versatile foods.

 

 



http://thefoodexplorer.com/dessert/39-healthy-and-delicious-avocado-recipes/

http://www.aroundmyfamilytable.com/2013/07/50-scrumptious-avocado-recipes/

http://www.damyhealth.com/2013/06/11-sneaky-avocado-recipes/

http://sunshineandsippycups.com/2011/12/cookin-with-kids-avocado-recipes-and-mini-chef-contest/

It's not a diet...

Since starting my journey I have tried to surround myself with positive motivating people. I sometimes do encounter unsupportive people. I hear how's your diet going, why are you eating like that, oh it's ok if you have some, why do you need to workout, women should do cardio to lose weight not strength training etc... I am not on a diet. It is a LIFESTYLE!!!! This is how I plan to live the rest of my life. I am not living a life of depriving myself, but I also never, ever want to fall back to what I was doing before. These are my choices. I am not pushing them on anyone. If you feel guilty for what you are eating don't bring me down because of the choices I am making. I support your decision to eat and do what you want, and I would appreciate you doing the same for me. I workout to be healthy and strong. I lift weights to become healthy. Strength training is what has set me up for success!!