Natural Snack

Here's a quick, all natural little snack we've been munching on around our house that I thought you might enjoy.  They're no-bake, all natural energy balls/bites.

I first saw them on Krista's blog where she talked about how delicious they were. I pinned her pin to my pinterest board and finally made them myself, you can find the original recipe at Food Doodles.

I stayed close to the recipe but a few slight changes.

Ingredients
1/2 cup all-natural peanut butter
1/3 cup honey
1 cup finely shredded coconut
1 cup old fashioned oats
1/2 cup ground walnuts
1/4 cup chopped, dried mixed fruit (cranberry, blueberry, strawberry)
about a teaspoon sea salt

***UPDATED: I have been roughly chopping up some milk chocolate chips and love that addition. It's not so natural but it's really good!***

You mix the peanut butter and honey together, then mix in the rest of your ingredients.



Refrigerate for at least 30 min. and roll into little bite-sized balls - I got 30 out of them. I stuck them on some wax paper in a tupperware dish in the fridge and they lasted about 5 days.



I'll be making a new batch tomorrow and trying the frozen version, Heidi, mentioned.

Random Thursday

I've been away for a couple of days so here's a little random catch up post.

I've been baking. I have an unhealthy addition to pinning all kinds of sweets recipes on pinterest and it gets even more unhealthy when I decide to try them!

So, this recipe has been on my tasty board and I finally decided to try it. I had to add a lemon glaze though.



It was pretty good. Not sure if it's a keeper yet, but pretty good.



We had an Indian night a few months ago when some friends introduced us to Indian food. It was so good that I decided we had to have it again. This is a cheapo, cheater version. I'm sure you could find a recipe for tikki masala and make your own, but, I had a $10 gift card to a local Indian restaurant so I got some to-go.

I made another one of those "fauxtesserie" chickens. While that was cooking, I assembled some veggie kabobs with zucchini, yellow squash, onion, mushroom and yellow peppers. I poured a little olive oil over the sliced veggies and sprinkled a little curry powder over them and tossed it all around to coat. Then I put the veggies on skewers and broiled them for about 30 minutes, turning a couple times while they were cooking.



I steamed some brown rice in my handy-dandy steamer, diced up the chicken, topped it with the veggies and then poured hot tikki masala all over it. Mmm. It satisfied my heat-craving and kept the kitchen cool.



The whole dinner cost a total of $8.22 which comes to $1.37 per person! That's cheap!

I've also been enjoying this summer with my girl. She's been enjoying the cat.



Our very, patient cat.



And here's me and my girl in the shark cage at the aquarium for Embrace the Camera.

Happy Thursday.

Irish Oats

Have you every tried Irish Oats? I like it a lot better than plain ol oatmeal. There's something in those steel cut oats that has a little crunch. Not in a bad, like they-haven't-been-cooked-all-they-way, but just a little bite that gives it a good texture.

We don't follow directions very well around here and I don't go by what the side of the box says. I like my oats to cook in a little milk because it makes them oh-so-creamy, so I mix 1/4 C oats with 1/4 C milk and 1/2 C water.

I put all that in a pan with a pinch of cinnamon and turn the heat to medium low. Once it starts simmering, I turn the heat to low and since there's milk in it, I stir pretty frequently so it doesn't burn on the bottom. After all the milk and water has absorbed and simmered for about 5 minutes it's done.

I like to put a little butter and brown sugar on my oats. Then I pretend I didn't just put brown sugar in it and I add a little fruit to make it healthy.



Breakfast served.

Lemon-Basil Shrimp with Veggies

One of my favorite things about summer are all the garden fresh veggies. We typically plant zucchini and squash but didn't get around to it this year. Sadness. But, it's okay because we have plenty of onions, tomatoes, herbs and garlic. So, what do you do with your vegetables after you harvest them?

Here's a super easy and pretty healthy recipe I came up with that uses a lot of summer veggies. If you don't love to chop, slice and dice things, this recipe isn't for you. Fortunately, I LOVE cutting up stuff when I cook. Call me crazy but it's kind of relaxing!

Here's what you'll need:

Ingredients:
4 cloves of garlic - minced
1 small white or yellow onion - diced
2 zucchini - sliced into little strips
2 yellow squash - sliced into little strips
1 yellow pepper - diced
1 tomato - diced
1 jar marinated artichoke hearts
1/2 a lemon - zest (save a little for garnish) and juice
5 fresh basil leaves - sliced (save a little for garnish)
whole wheat spaghetti
1 lb. large shrimp - peeled and deveined
a couple handfuls of feta cheese crumbles

Boil some water in a pot and cook the spaghetti.

Meanwhile, in a tall walled skillet, heat 3-4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion and saute until tender (not brown). Add the zucchini, squash and yellow pepper and cook for about 6 minutes - stirring occasionally. Add the shrimp and cook for a couple of minutes.



Then add the artichokes, lemon juice and zest, tomatoes and basil and cook for another couple of minutes until everything is heated through.



Put the pasta into bowls and spoon the shrimp and veggies over it. Top with a little feta cheese, fresh basil and lemon zest and enjoy.



I love how light and summery tasting this meal was, not too mention healthy and colorful!

Another Insanity Update

Well, today is my goal date for my Insanity challenge. I wish I could say I completed my goal of working out every weekday, but I've been slacking. I'm averaging 4 days a week, which isn't BAD, but it's not what I had planned. So, I decided to extend my plan another month.

I am NOT a morning person but I have actually enjoyed being up early before the other two wake up. It's like my only me time in the day and it's so peaceful (after I catch my breath and recover from those stupid insanity videos). It surprised me to learn that I actually liked getting up early. Plus, I feel like I have so much more time in the day. So, I may not work out every weekday, but I'm actually enjoying the torture so far.

Along with working out, we have been eating pretty "healthy" around here - not counting the weekends :) Here's some of the stuff I guess I consider healthy:

Poached egg on toast


Ham and veggie sandwich with veggie salad - I actually eat this almost every day for lunch.


And grilled portobello sandwich with baked zucchini fries - those fries are so good! Thanks for posting that Anna.


I love how bright and colorful healthy food is!

Oh, and I haven't had a donut since I started this challenge! But I have had cake, ice cream and oreos.

Insanity Update

Remember that post when I said no to un-Jillian-Micahels-approved-food? I have to admit, she may have got a little mad at me over the weekend.

I did really good during the week though!

I made a super-healthy, raw food salad with quinoa, fresh corn, black beans, avocado and lime juice. I ate that for lunch for like 3 days.



I also made pretty healthy dinners with my best friend, grilled chicken. Do you feel the sarcasm as I talk about grilled chicken?



I marinated some chicken breasts in balsamic vinagrette dressing before I grilled them. Then I topped it with feta cheese and sliced onions from the garden. Is feta bad? I don't think so. Just in case, I steamed some broccoli to go with it.

But then the weekend hit. I'm taking the weekends off on working out and apparently eating healthy too. Let's just say there was some Mexican food, good ol hot dogs and pizza. It was all so good.

I'm looking forward to the weekend already!

And just because she's pretty darn cute, a picture of my peanut on our splash park outing.

National Donut Day

Yep. It's today. Do you want to know what I ate for breakfast INSTEAD of a donut?



Blah. More granola, fruit and Greek yogurt.

Last year I celebrated with this:



I didn't plan this working out thing too well.

And an update on the working out thing, I have got up all three days so far and done that stupid cardio thing. My legs don't like me and it's very difficult to even straighten them. But, I guess that means I'm doing something to them, right? I did a whole lot better today than I did on day 1 so yay for me! I'm so ready for these next two days so I can have a little break. I know, only three days into it and I'm already happy about 2 days off.

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Insanity

I'm trying something new for the entire month of June. I started the Insanity workout. I only have the cardio one right now, but after yesterday, that's all I'll need for a while. I am committing to getting up an hour early every day (*gasp* I love my sleep) and doing the workout each weekday for the entire month.

Why am I telling you this? I feel like if I put it out there, it will be harder not to. You know I'm doing it, I know I said I would, so there.

I used to workout and loved it. I felt like I was in pretty good shape and liked it. Then I got pregnant. I haven't exercised much since and feel a little blah. Last week I scheduled a hair appointment but my lady didn't have an opening until June 21. Geez. My roots are getting a little ick up there. Anyway, I decided I'd use that date as a goal to get in better shape. So, better bod and better hair by the 21? We'll see.

Along with the workout, I'm going to eat a little healthier. Which means...

No more double-cheesy delicious burgers. (for a month)

No more chili-cheese covered, golden-fried bits of tastiness (for a month)

And sadly, no more delicious, sweet, icing-covered pasteries. (for a month)

Or pretty much anything else that resembles anything that Jillian Michaels would kick my booty for!

(Well maybe not none of those things, just limited amounts.) And yes, this is the small print.

But just because I'm going to try to be healthier, that doesn't mean I'm not going to eat tasty things anymore. This morning I whipped up some Greek yogurt, frozen blueberries and granola.



So take that donut.