Quickie – Breakfast And Dinner Meals!

Posted on May 14, 2012 by admin

Are you short on time in the morning yet you want to get in your protein? Well I suggest whipping up a few Egg Muffins! I cooked a pound of ground turkey and added spinach to it on Mother’s Day and was planning on making egg scramble every morning. Well I’m short on time trying to get Amiyah to school and don’t want to wake up super early to get in my workout. So I decided to make egg muffins with the remainder of the ground turkey. (Note – you can add any meat (or leave out) and veggies you want to your eggs and bake it.)

I used 3 eggs and 7 egg whites, added black pepper and the ground turkey and spinach mix. It made a total of 9 and I’ll have 3 each morning with my oatmeal, grapefruit, and green tea. I sprayed the muffin tins and added the 1/4 cup mixture and baked for 25 mins on 350º.

Now all I have to do is pop them in the microwave in the morning and boil my water for my oatmeal and green tea and breakfast is ready in minutes! Easy Peasy!!

Next I whipped up this Chicken & Vegetable Stir-fry. I have to say this was REALLY good! I know I say that just about every meal but stir-fry is one of my favorite meals. I have to admit that I am guilty of purchasing vegetables and letting them sit in the refrigerator and go bad. Pre-cut vegetables seemed overly priced to me but what’s the difference in me letting vegetables go bad in my refrigerator?

So I picked up this Asparagus Saute along with the Pizza Style Portabella Mushrooms at Kroger yesterday. First I sauteed the asparagus mixture and then set aside. Then I cut a pound and a half of boneless skinless chicken breast, added 2 tablespoons of the honey teriyaki marinade and sauteed until cooked. I added the asparagus saute to the chicken mixture and sauteed for 2 minutes. Lastly I sprayed Braggs Liquid Aminos on the stir-fry to give it a soy sauce taste.

I cooked some wild rice and added only 1/4 cup to my plate and a cup of the stir-fry and dinner  was ready! I’ll have the stir-fry for a few days and fish the other days. Both these meals were made in about an hour and a half, along with tacos for Amiyah.

For the next few days I can spend time with Amiyah when I pick her up from school and not have to worry about preparing meals. Time saver and delish! These Chef Essentials from Kroger are becoming my new favorite “friend”!! :)

I hope these ideas save you time and money!

XO Selena
“Let Go And Look Good”

 
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Need Inspiration?

Posted on May 14, 2012 by admin

Need some FITNESS INSPIRATION? Take a look at some of my favorite fitness sayings:

Do you have a favorite? Post a link below and share!

XO Selena
“Let Go And Look Good”

 
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Happy Mother’s Day!

Posted on May 13, 2012 by admin

Happy Mother’s Day to all the WONDERFUL mother’s! Being a mother is one of the toughest unpaid jobs in the world. A lot of the times what a mother has to go through goes unnoticed and taken for granted sometimes.

I for one never realized the sacrifices my mother had to make in order to raise three girls until I myself became a mother. It’s hard to understand as a young, selfish “child.” I realize that now that I myself am a single mother. There is NO love like a mother’s LOVE! If your mother is still around you should cherish every moment you have.

I started my mother’s day doing Jillian Michael’s Body Revolution Cardio 3. I didn’t make time to do it yesterday. After a great workout I showered and made breakfast. Egg whites with spinach and turkey meat, oatmeal w/walnuts, raisins, cinnamon, grapefruit & green tea. Amiyah had French toast sticks and we had a great breakfast before we went to church.

After service we went to Target (one of my fav stores) and I bought her a few tops and picked up a few things for myself. Of course she got more stuff then me. I mean lets face it Target has the cutest kids clothes and they’re hard to pass up! Then we did a little grocery shopping and that’s were I picked up these already made Pizza Style Portabella Mushrooms. I added the pepperoni’s to the mushrooms for added protein and they are REALLY good!

I picked these up from Kroger. It was in one of the refrigerators when you first walk in the store. Yep, they got me as soon as I walked in and it didn’t help that they had the orange sticker on them that screamed SALE! I also grabbed an asparagus, mushroom & onion stir-fry that I’m going to make for dinner tomorrow night. I’ll be sure to share that as well.

One mushroom is only 100 calories not including the pepperoni’s but that won’t add too many calories to the meal. I added a side salad to go along with the meal and it was delish! The lettuce came from a friends garden and it was very fresh.

After lunch I watched the movie Courageous and I it was a great movie! I definitely think every man should watch that movie. All-in-all I had a great Mother’s Day. I hope you did too!

XO Selena
“Let Go And Look Good”

 
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Shrimp Cobb Salad

Posted on May 2, 2012 by admin

I went to Publix first thing this morning and while in the checkout line I started looking through Cooking Light Best Low-Fat Main Dishes. As I was flipping through it I saw a few recipes that looked really good and then I saw a few more. By the time she finished ringing me up I think I felt I would cook just about every recipe in the book. So I decided to purchase the book. At 11.99 I better put this book to good use! :)

I had shrimp in the freezer and thought this was the perfect recipe to make first. Of course, I made a few variations by not including the corn or tomatoes, and I added red onions and used a spring mix salad.

Shrimp Cobb Salad

Ingredients:

  • 4 slices center-cut bacon
  • 1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • Cooking spray
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt, divided
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon whole-grain Dijon mustard
  • 1 (10-ounce) package romaine salad
  • 2 cups cherry tomatoes, quartered
  • 1 cup shredded carrots (about 2 carrots)
  • 1 cup frozen whole-kernel corn, thawed
  • 1 ripe peeled avocado, cut into 8 wedges

Preparation

  1. 1. Cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan; cut in half crosswise. Wipe pan clean with paper towels. Increase heat to medium-high. Sprinkle shrimp with paprika and pepper. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add shrimp to pan; cook 2 minutes on each side or until done. Sprinkle with 1/8 teaspoon salt; toss to coat.
  2. 2. While the shrimp cooks, combine remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt, juice, oil, and mustard in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add lettuce; toss to coat.
  3. 3. Arrange about 1 1/2 cups lettuce mixture on each of 4 plates. Top each serving with about 6 shrimp, 1/2 cup tomatoes, 1/4 cup carrot, 1/4 cup corn, 2 avocado wedges, and 2 bacon pieces.

source

I hope you try it and let me know what you think. This was my first time eating avocado. I know it is a healthy fat and have bought a few but never actually ate them. Shame on me…wasteful!! So I made sure I peeled this one and tried it. It does really have a taste to me. I doubt I’ll buy another one. Do you like avocados? What’s your favorite recipe to use them in?

XO Selena
“Let Go And Look Good”

 
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Dog Birthday Cake Recipe

Posted on April 29, 2012 by admin

Peanut Butter Carrot Cake

Naturally sweet, colorful and flavorful, with a natural crunch, this cake is simple and easy to make.

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 cup peanut butter
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 cup shredded carrots
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1 egg

Mix flour and baking soda. Add remaining ingredients. Pour into greased 8″ round cake pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Let cool. Puree cottage cheese in blender for icing. Decorate with more peanut butter and carrots. (source)

I used a heart shape pan and here is what it looked like right out of the oven. I bought Amiyah some apricot yogurt that she didn’t like so I decided to use that as the “icing” for the cake. I think it was a HIT! Pierre, Peyton, & Choc all enjoyed the cake! :)

XO Selena
“Let Go And Look Good”

 
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Happy 2nd Birthday Peyton & Pierre!

Posted on April 29, 2012 by admin

Peyton & Pierre turned 2 on April 23, 2012 and Amiyah wanted to have a party for them so when stopped by the store and bought a few party hats and decided to take a few pictures with them on. Poor dogs…they didn’t stay on long but I’m sure for the few minutes it was torture for them. They barely wanted to move but this cute shot above was worth it. Here are a few more:
Continue reading →

 
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Quest Bars – Love At First Bite!

Posted on April 27, 2012 by admin

There are so many protein bars out there just like everything else “diet” wise and it’s hard to know which ones are good. I have tried many protein bars in my time and I won’t name them but there were some I liked and some I didn’t. Some were dry or left an after taste in my mouth. I have heard about QuestBar’s and wanted to see why people enjoyed them so much and I finally decided to grab a few.

The Vitamin Shoppe usually has a great selection of supplements so I figured they would have them. Well…I walked in the gentleman asked if he could help me find something, usually I’m like no. That’s just the independent side of me. I asked if they had any QuestBar’s and he said no they were out…WHAT! 0_0

He said they had been out for a week and they were expecting a shipment in tomorrow. Well that was a sign that these bars much be popular. He suggested that I called before I came by just to make sure they arrived in the shipment.

The Vitamin Shoppe is near my daughter’s school so I called on my way to pick her up and he said YES they had received 5 boxes of each flavor and a new flavor…YEAH!! So I went and picked up a few single bars just to see which ones I liked before I invested in a box because the single bars are $2.49 each…I need to find a coupon! :)

With my LOVE for brownies, of course the first flavor I tried was the Chocolate Brownie…OMG!! It was LOVE at first bite! I’m literally driving down the road saying to myself, “This is sooooo good, omg, this is really good!” Then the all too familiar thought that tries to sabotage my healthy eating, pops in my head, this would be really good with some ice cream…LOL! It’s a familiar thought but I did think it was kind of funny.

You would never know that there was no added sugar or sugar alcohols. The taste was pure bliss! Chocolate Brownie is the only flavor that I bought two of and I’m glad I did. I’m going to try the other flavors first and savior the brownie for last. I WILL be ordering a box of the Chocolate Brownie flavor for sure!!

Have you tried QuestBar’s? Which is your favorite flavor?

XO Selena
“Let Go And Look Good”

 
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Jillian Michaels Body Revolution – Week 5/6 Update

Posted on April 25, 2012 by admin

I am half way through this program!! Wow these past few weeks have flown by and
mainly because of our Facebook group. It makes it a lot easier when you have a group doing it with you. I can’t say that enough!

The workouts are starting to get progressively harder and I’m LOVING that. My favorite out of the two is workout 6. All the single leg moves are my favorite. I like working my legs more then any other body part. I don’t remember Cardio 2 people as challenging when I did it the first week but it does make me work up a sweat. I didn’t do any other cardio workout during these 2 weeks.

You only have a cardio workout twice a week and I miss doing some form of cardio everyday. So if you are looking for an endurance workout this is not it. This is more of a strength training workout. Workouts 5 & 6 have a few more core exercising which is a plus!

Overall I’m enjoying the workout and am tightening up on my nutrition for the next few weeks to get the best results. I’m doing Tapout XT starting June 4 and excited about that workout. Let me know if you are interested in joining me! :)

XO Selena
“Let Go And Look Good”

 
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Southwest Turkey Burgers with Oven Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Carrots

Posted on April 24, 2012 by admin

Southwest Turkey Burgers with Oven Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Carrots
source: Jillian Michaels Body Revolution

Ingredients:
1 pound ground white meat turkey breast (99% fat free)
1/3 cup black bean and corn salsa, from jar
1 egg
1 tomato, sliced
1 avocado, sliced
2-3 cups Brussels sprouts, cleaned and halved
2 cups baby carrots
2 tbsp olive oil

In a medium bowl, combine the turkey, salsa and egg. Mix well and then form into 4 patties. Place on a broiler plan and broil on each side for 5-6 minutes, or until cooked throughout. Serve with a few slices of tomato and avocado. Meanwhile, place halved Brussels sprouts and baby carrots onto a cookie sheet. Toss with olive oil and a shake or two of sea salt and black pepper. Roast in the oven at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until soft and cooked through.

The salsa add lots of flavor to the sometimes dry ground turkey. These are easy to make and really good! I will definitely make these again. Try the recipe and let me know what you think!

Selena

 
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Banana-Almond Smoothie

Posted on April 3, 2012 by admin

I just finished workout 4 of week 4 from Jillian Michaels Body Revolution and I decided to have a “drink” and I must say it was DELICIOUS! Ok, its not a real drink but a smoothie. Since it was after my workout I decided to add a scoop of chocolate whey protein powder in it. I did taste it before I added the protein powder and it is really good. I will definitely use this recipe again and try different fruit.

Banana-Almond Smoothie

~from:Jillian Michaels Body Revolution: Fat Burning Meal Plan Guide

1 c sliced banana (from about 1 large banana)
1 c almond milk
1 tbsp almond butter
1 tbsp ground flaxseed
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 c ice cubes (about 8 cubes)

In a blender, place the banana, almond milk, almond butter, flaxseed, and vanilla. Blend until very well combined. 45 to 60 seconds. Add the ice cubes and blend until smooth. Pour into two glasses and serve.

Makes About 2 Servings
Calories 167.6| Fat: 7.8g | Saturated Fat: 0g | Sodium: 112.6mg
Carbohydrates: 22.6g | Fiber: 12g Protein: 3.2g

Try it and let me know what you think!

XO Selena
“Let Go And Look Good”

 
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