Lunchtime Summer Salad from my Little Urban Garden

Today's lunch is special because when it was time to eat, I got to go out and pick my first round of Bibb Lettuce from our little city garden!

I washed the greens and added:
2 strawberries,
4 cherries,
1 diced slice of red onion,
s&p,
1/4 avocado and this
AMAZING lavender-infused balsamic vinegar that a friend gifted to me as an early birthday present. I had a little side car of cottage cheese for some protein…Lunch is served! I love summer.

Can't BEET this simple trick.

I've recently had conversations with a few friends about Beets.  Not totally random, as it is Farmer's Market season, and we share our weekly finds and plans for our market goodies. But I was kind of surprised to hear in both instances, that my friends were shying away from the beautiful red, purple and golden beets of the season for fear of the hassle to prepare them.  Don't let these guys intimidate you!

Here's what I do.

Heat your oven to 425 degrees.

Start with your beets. Get them washed and Cut the ends/greens off (you CAN say the greens! But thats for another day…) No peeling, no seasoning.

Wrap each beet in aluminum foil. I also like to line the sheet pan with an additional piece of foil because chances are the pouches will bubble a bit.

Cook the wrapped beets in the oven for about 45 minutes. Take them out and let them cool completely.

Now the magic happens.

Unwrap your little beet-presents under cool, running water.  Gently rub the skins of the beets under the water and watch them peel away. Its hard to see in the picture of the purple beet, but look at that golden beet!  The peel just comes right off!

You're left with gorgeous produce and CLEAN HANDS with such minimal work!

Now its up to you how you want to prepare you beets. Simple salt seasoning for the most basic enjoyment, but I love to make a nice salad with granny smith apples, fresh mint, and goat cheese crumbles!

Chop the beets on a plastic cutting board.

I add about 2 tablespoons of fresh, chopped mint. 

Season with salt, pepper, and EVOO.

Dice a tart green apple.

Toss it all together. 

Top with goat cheese crumbles and enjoy your seasonal delight!

Other delicious ingredients to try with your beets: Quinoa, Avocado, Walnuts, Balsamic Dressing!

It's #grilleverything season! The simplest Shrimp Tacos EVER.

We are getting into the season that nearly every dinner at our house will be prepared on the grill.  I don't want the oven on. I don't want to be inside more than we have to be. I want yummy food thats simple and healthy!  The grill is the best.

We don't limit our grill to burgers and pork chops either (although we do plenty of that too! Stay tuned for my spicy pork and cherry skewer recipe coming soon!). We do the whole meal on the grill.  Roasted potatoes. Grilled vegetables. Mushroom caps. You Name It. We grill it.

Now we loooove Taco Night at our house and Tacos are a perfect match for the grill.  This recipe for shrimp tacos is seriously the simplest recipe you'll find.  I seasoned some shrimp with my Salt Free Southwest Seasoning (that I keep in the pantry at all times), a couple twists of sea salt (I try to keep the salt separate when seasoning to know just how much I'm adding), and…thats it. (I did spray them with some light cooking oil so they wouldn't stick to the grill.)

I also cut up a red onion and green pepper, added a pinch of the same southwest seasoning and 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil. A quick toss and put the veggies in a foil pouch to steam on the grill.

Finally I sprayed a few corn tortillas with cooking spray, and those went on the grill as well.

Top these bad boys off with whatever taco dressings you love. We are partial to avocados, salsa, plain greek yogurt, and when we can, fresh cilantro straight from the garden. Ahhhhh…. Summer, I love you.

A KitKat a day keeps the Swimsuit away = The simple snacks that you will ALWAYS find in my fridge

Truth:  There was a time in my life when my standard snack throughout the day was the snack size KitKat bars like you pass out on Halloween.  I don't know what it was but they were my JAM!  (ok, I do actually know… #sugaraddiction) But it was one day, soon after having baby #3, that I finally came to grips with the fact that the KitKats had to go. I knew that if I was going to get anywhere with my weight loss, there had to be an overhaul of my nutrition --> meaning, lose the KitKats.

The KitKat Khronicles: 4 weeks post pardum after kid #3 in 3 years. Enjoying life but not feeling confident in my own skin.

I disposed of the remaining KitKats in the most reasonable way one can imagine: #eatthemALL, and then made a vow to not buy them anymore. Now here's the thing with such a "vow":  You have to REALLY want the results more than you want the KitKat... And I was certain at that point that I REALLY wanted the results.  At that point, I felt a complete disconnect from my own body.  When I looked in the mirror, I wasn't seeing who I felt I could be. It didn't feel like my body matched the spirit and energy that I had inside and I was willing to do the work to feel better about myself again.

60 pounds gone and Kicked the KitKat Habit. Boom! 

I'll tell you more about the structure of my weight loss nutrition and fitness regimen in future posts, but today I want to focus on what I used to replace my beloved KitKat snacks.  I realized that for me, my overhaul needed to be dramatic - as in - clean out the house and start fresh. I am fortunate to have an amaze-balls hubby who supported my decision to get rid of chips, pretzels, cookies and any other treats that were common-place around here.  I realized I needed to have quick, ever-present snacks in the house that would support my goals and satisfy.  Before I knew it, they were my staples - and many of them remain my daily go-tos over 18 months later.

Apples: My morning snack, I probably have an apple every single day. Somethin' 'bout that crunch. #Satisfies
Also, Grapes: Something that you can grab a handful of and get that "hand-to-mouth" eating satisfaction…(PRO TIP: Summer is coming…Freeze the grapes! Snack-a-licious.)

Between the kids & me, a 5-pound (!) bag of carrots and a giant tub of hummus usually gets us through a week…#thanksCostco

Carrots & Hummus: My afternoon Snack, savory goodness that might be on the shortlist for "if you have to pick just one snack for the rest of your life"

Dark Chocolate Chips: These were actually added to the snack list AFTER I was making good progress with my goals and felt that I could allow some treats on the reg. I still use a measuring cup to eat them out of so I don't go at them mindlessly.  Also, I keep mine in the freezer. I don't know why…

Hard Boiled Eggs: 2 whole eggs is generally considered a portion, and thats a hearty snack. Plus the protein will be effective in keeping you feeling fuller longer. I prefer them to be peeled and ready to grab. (#sundayprep)

I love both of these, but would not recommend eating them together. Unless thats your thing... #notjudging...

Cottage cheese: add berries in the morning, add veggies if I want savory, but eating it plain happens more often than not.

Pickles: Can't Stop. Won't Stop.

Gold medal: Cookie dough, Silver: Cookies & Cream, Bronze: Mint Cookie

Quest Bars: Now, these are not a daily snack for me, but its the thing I keep in my purse, next to my apple, so when I'm running around and need something to get me through, I've got an option ready to go. Chocolate chip cookie dough, anyone?!

I may or may not have an Amazon auto shipment of this stuff…by the case. #hubbysfavoritetoo

Popcorn: At the end of the day, sometimes you just want to munch. This is another snack that I added in only once I was seeing results and could practice will-power. Seriously!  Air-popping your own fresh corn in a bit of coconut oil on the stove top is super yummy, but when you can't wait, SkinnyPop is the BEST.

Take your weight, divide the number in half…thats how many OUNCES of water you should be drinking every day.  How are you doing??

Water! Ok, so maybe not a snack, but seriously: do you know that the same part of your brain is responsible for interpreting hunger and thirst signals…but many of us have trouble recognizing the difference. Try drinking a big glass of water before reaching for a snack, then wait 15 minutes and see how you're feeling. Water is seriously amazing stuff.

There's no denying there was a definite sugar addiction happening during my KitKat days and thats not an easy thing to break.  For me, it was a limb that I stepped out on at the time to try Shakeology, a protein shake, and that made a tremendous impact for me.  The chocolate shake totally helped me to wean off of the KitKats without suffering from night sweats*.

One of my favorite shake recipes has caramel and coconut extract plus the chocolate shake…think: Girl scout cookies!

*Dramatization

What's your favorite healthy snack? Comment below, I'd love to know what's keeping you on track with your goals too!

Southwest Seasoning: Tacos, Dressing, Chili, Soups…#ANYTHING!

I love southwest flavors and would put taco seasoning in just about anything to enhance flavors.  We all know the store bought stuff packs way too much sodium to use as regularly as I'd like, so I like to put together a bulk supply of my own seasoning blend to keep in the pantry.  I keep mine salt free and add that as needed based on individual recipes.  I've made a couple notes about salt additions below the recipe.  Let me know what you think!

Mama's Salt-Free Southwest Seasoning
-Bulk Preparation-
Makes about a cup. Store in an air-tight jar in the pantry to use as needed.  Most recipes would use about 2 tablespoons at a time.

1/2 Cup Chili Powder
1/3 Cup Ground Cumin
3 Tablespoons Coriander
4 teaspoons Onion Powder
4 teaspoons Garlic Powder
4 teapoons Paprika

*Salt:  For about every 2 tablespoons of this seasoning, I would add about 1teaspoon salt to recipes, but I prefer to add it at the time of cooking so its only on an as-needed basis.

Use it to make Heathy Southwest Ranch Salad dressing too!

Mason Jar Food Prep: Southwest Ranch Taco Salads (21 day fix approved!)

When you're trying to balance healthy nutrition with a family's worth of busy schedules, work, and the day-to-day "must-dos," grabbing snacks and haphazardly throwing together a lunch are simple ruts to fall into. But then, weekly meal preparation can feel daunting.  The idea of preparing so many meals ahead of time seems like surely it will eat up my entire #SundayFunday and that is not a trade-off I'd like to make.  While there's no denying that meal prep takes a bit of time, when done right, it's consolidated, streamlined time.  What you can do in an hour of prep on a Sunday can eliminate 30 minutes a night (or morning!) while you're tired or rushed and not able to make decisions that are well-balanced and working towards your nutrition goals.  There are plenty of time saving tips out there but one that I've found to be especially useful are Mason Jar salads.  The beauty of these is that once you have the concept, they can be whatever you want them to be. Its really just preplanning your food and storing it conveniently (and in a "green" way!) in Mason Jars. The idea is you layer your salad ingredients with the dressing on bottom, heartier ingredients towards that bottom (think cucumbers or beans - things that won't get soggy in the dressing), all the way up to the lettuce which won't even touch the dressing until you shake it all out at lunch time. *PRO TIP: When you're shopping for your jars, purchase Quart Size WIDE MOUTH Jars… much easier to shake out the salad. #dontmakethesamemistakeidid! #liveandlearn

One of my favorite Mason Jar salads is Turkey Taco Salad with Southwest Ranch dressing.  The dressing I use even offers an extra punch of protein rather than an oil or healthy fat. And it's 21 day fix approved for anyone working with that program. #Bonus

To start, you'll just cook up a pound of lean ground turkey as if you're making regular taco meat.  You can always use prepackaged, lower-sodium taco seasoning, but I like to prepare a bulk amount of this Southwest Seasoning and keep it in the pantry for whenever my life needs a little fiesta, but margaritas aren't socially appropriate. #its5oclocksomewhere

Once the taco meat is prepared, 1 pound can be portioned into about 4, 3/4 cup portions. 

 The salad part itself is up to you.  Your choice of lettuce (I tend to keep spinach and kale on hand so thats what I used), tomatoes, black beans, cucumbers, sweet peppers, fresh cilantro…these are all excellent ideas to add into this salad!  

Start with your dressing.

The most important part is ordering the layers. Given the above ingredient ideas:  Start with dressing, then add beans and tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers, taco meat, and once there's a good bit of distance from the dressing, add in your lettuce, herbs, and shredded cheese or avocado if you'd like!  Finally, if you want any crunch in your salad, the last thing you'll want to add are some crunched up tortilla chips.

Add your hearty veggies…like tomatoes...

…Cucumbers...

…and peppers.

Next add your protein.  I added some black beans to my taco meat as well.

Now its time for the stuff that you don't want to get soggy.  I added fresh chopped cilantro...

Baby kale, Baby spinach & shredded cheese.

Repeat this with all 4 portions of prepared taco meat and store in the fridge for the easiest grab-n-go lunch salad you ever did meet.  

Once you're ready to eat, simply open the jar, dump it all out onto whatever plate or bowl you've got handy in the office lunchroom and enjoy!  

It should be noted that since my "office lunchroom has been known to be my SUV in the carpool pickup line at preschool, I HAVE eaten it directly out of the jar.  If you're in this scenario, simply give the jar some really good shaking before opening to get the dressing distributed a bit.  Not as pretty but just as tasty and less cleanup!

Portions & Ingredients:
2T Southwest Ranch Dressing (recipe below)
1/2-1 C Vegetables (tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, etc)
3/4 C Turkey Taco Meat 
1/2 C Baby Kale, packed
1 C Baby Spinach, Packed 
1/4 C Shredded cheese OR 1/4 Avocado
2T Crushed Tortilla Chips

Southwest Ranch Dressing
1/4 C cottage cheese
1T Plain Greek Yogurt
1.5T unsweetened, plain almond milk
1T Southwest seasoning
Combine ingredients and blend in vitamin/food processor to a smooth, dressing consistency.  Add up to another tablespoon of almond milk to adjust consistency.