Fun and Mental Changes

Today is just one of those days! SUPER BOWL SUNDAY: A day when the worst of the worst food is served by the best of the best... your friends. Why not take a moment and consider making that menu a bit more calorie friendly with a few simple substitutions. Traditional Super Bowl Wings: Instead of serving this greasy, fried and oh-so-bad-for-you dish, why not bake up some chicken, cut it into strips and serve with a bowl of buffalo sauce for dipping. Potato Skins: another fried treat that turns out much better in my opinion when baked. Bake potatoes till done, cut in half, scoop out the middles and place in separate bowl and mash. Add to the mashed potato some crumbled turkey bacon, some garlic and a splash of low fat milk. Combine and scoop back into potato skins. Place filled skins on cookie sheet and sprinkle with low fat cheese, salt and pepper to taste and place in 500 degree oven until the tops are brown. Chips and Dip: Organic low fat corn chips with freshly made pico de gallo...

Here is my fabulous magic bullet concoction! Done in minutes and tastes wonderful! Lemon Cilantro Dressing 3/4 Cup celery juice 1/3 Cup fresh cilantro 2 Tbsp. lemon juice 3 Tbsp. raw tahini 1 Tbsp. flax oil (optional) 1 clove garlic In Magic Bullet, juice celery (using the bonus juicer attachment). Pour juice into bowl. Remove juicer attachment and celery pulp. Replace juice into blender attachment adding remaining ingredients. Blend until smooth (about a minute). This recipe is so simple, so quick and so yummy. This would also make a great sauce for grilled chicken or salmon! ***This is a modified recipe from Living In The Raw .

Ok, so I think that I've established how much I LOVE my magic bullet! I have owned one for a little while now, but today was the first time that I've ever used the juicer attachment (that's weird). I was in the process of making a veggie plate and needed to whip up a quick dressing. Of course I picked a dressing that called for juiced celery! Really? Juiced celery? I DID NOT want to pull out my juicer and all the attachments for 3/4 cup of celery juice. My light bulb moment hit.... the magic bullet juicer!!!! That's right! I almost forgot the magic bullet came with that. It's compact and would be PERFECT for 3/4 cup of anything! And since it is so small, I can also remove the juicer attachment and just use the blender attachment to whip up the dressing! Sometimes I am really brilliant. What would have been at least a half hour project of pulling out my juicer, all the attachments, putting it together, then prepping the celery, then disassembly and washing all the p...

Here is a REALLY yummy and healthy recipe for Banana Cupcakes! This is a cake batter that is made from scratch, but is super easy. It makes me wonder why we don't make cakes from scratch anymore! Banana Cupcakes 2 1/4 Cups whole wheat pastry flour 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda 2 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg 1/2 tsp. ground cloves 1/2 Cup agave nectar or maple syrup 1 small zucchini julienned 3/4 Cup unsweetened applesauce 1 whole egg 1 egg white 3 Cups mashed banana 3/4 Cup raisins (optional) 3/4 Cup chopped walnuts (optional) 1/2 Cup flax meal (optional) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix dry ingredients together; set aside. Mix the agave nectar or maple syrup and applesauce together. Beat the eggs into the wet mixture. Stir the banana, zucchini, raisins and walnuts into the wet mixture. Add wet mixture to the dry and mix well. Fill cupcake wells 3/4 full and bake for 30-35 minutes. Batter can also be placed into into a 13 x 9-inch pan and baked ...

Welp... I'm on vacation. I alotted 3 days to be bad and eat whatever I want. Boy did I ever! Yuck! I feel nasty, and bloated and just generally "out of whack"! So today will be a light eating day. Oh how I wish I would have just gotten the supplies I needed to do The Master Cleanse ... Damage control: Healthy Pizza (it's what's for dinner! LOL!) 2 cloves garlic 1/4 C. of olive oil Blend until smooth in the Magic Bullet. Expect to have some left over to store for future pizzas. 2 Mission Carb Balance tortilla shells (I use 2 small, but you can use 1 large) Thinly sliced mushrooms Thinly chopped bell peppers (all colors) Diced onion Thinly sliced zucchini Diced Cabbage (any color) Non Fat Mozorella cheese Any other vegetable that you prefer sliced thin... make sure not to use veggies that are too wet, as that will keep the tortilla from crisping. And be sure that you don't overload the tortilla, or you might have a hard time picking it up to eat... remember... ...

I don't know about you, but I used to LOVE chocolate covered coffee beans from Starbucks. They also used to carry the chocolate covered cherries too, but the coffee beans gave you that bonus buzz that nothing (but their coffee) could compare to. I rarely drink coffee, but today I got an overwhelming craving for those dang coffee beans. Was it the sweetness of the chocolate, the bitterness of the coffee bean or the rush that I wanted? No matter, I whipped me up a little chocolate covered coffee bean of my own... sort of. Chocolate Covered Coffee Bean Shake 1 serving of Vanilla Protein Powder (I use Myoplex Lite) 1 1/2 tsp. of decaffeinated instant coffee crystals 4 oz. cold bottled water 4 oz. almond milk 1 oz. dark chocolate (I used Raw Dark Cacao) Ice Cubes (I used about 6) In blender, combine all ingredients, blend on high and enjoy. I used my Magic Bullet (cuz I love it) and it turned out amazing. It was almost like the ice made the cacao break into pieces so when I drank the sh...

Yesterday I posted a blog with the recipe for my raw candied yams and mentioned slicing the yams. I forgot to put in the post that the fun little gadget that I used to make all my yam slices uniform was a "mandolin" slicer. So this got me thinking about all the gadgets in my kitchen that I use and LOVE. As I have posted in the past, I am a gadget girl and thought it would be fun to showcase some of my "must have" tools. Here are my top 10. This is my #1: the mandolin slicer. Mine is an OXO V-Slicer. It is, in my opinion, the very best slicer on the market and the one I used to make my candied yams. It is easy to use, easy to clean (everything goes into the dishwasher) and easy to abuse. Basically, "it takes a lickin and keeps on tickin". It will slice four different slice thicknesses as well as julienne and fry cuts. I literally cut an entire bag of yams in about 10 minutes. Seriously quick food prep. And speaking of quick food prep, #2 is a food process...

The Magic Bullet has yet to fail me!!! I LOVE it! I whipped up this ultra healthy mousse in seconds, and the mint came straight from the garden. Yay! Here's how I made it. Danielle's Heavenly Mousse 1 small container of low fat vanilla yogurt (I prefer Yoplait Light) 2 heaping tablespoons of Knudson Free cottage cheese 1 tablespoon of Amaretto flavored Agave Nectar 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon 2-3 peeled and pitted organic figs (optional) In Magic Bullet container combine above ingredients. Attach flat whipping blade and mix until mousse has formed (about 45 seconds). That's it. If you are using figs (which will create a thicker mouse after it sets in the fridge and will require longer blending time), be sure that they are room temperature before blending. Blend with chopping blade, remove and attach flat whipping blade until smooth. Allow to set in fridge at least 30 minutes before serving. This thing is quick and incredibly yummy! Here is the pic of the ingredients I used. Cl...

Some time ago a family member stored a Total Gym at my house. I have a workout room with weight equipment and was easily able to accommodate the addition since the Total Gym basically folds down to nothing and stores standing up so it uses vertical space (smart!). It was missing a bolt, and if I fixed it and got it working again, I was free to use it. Well, I just repaired it and have been having a blast with it. Ever since my Magic Bullet discovery, I've really been rethinking the whole infomercial gig. There's more to these products than just a bunch of junk being sold sight unseen to gullible buyers. The infomercials have really come full circle and seem to be taking quite a bit more pride in selling products that really deliver benefits. What I am loving most about this Total Gym is the ability to do a pilates workout on it. I've only done a few reformer exercises, but it seems to do a really great job. I'm going to order a pilates DVD so that I get an entire at-h...

Anyone trying to get in shape knows that protein shakes are a MUST, especially if you're trying to get 5-6 meals in each day! And finding one that is quick and actually tastes good seemed like an impossible combination for me to find. Well, as I mentioned in a previous post , sugar free flavored syrups worked very well for me and got me experimenting with other "additives" that would make ANY protein shake mix taste great. I think I'm getting this down to a science and the treat in today's post is super simple and super delicious (see my side note for how I make it super quick too)! 2 Seconds To Chai Heaven 2 teabags of your favorite chai flavored black tea 8 oz. water Ice 1 serving of your favorite vanilla flavored protein powder - Steep teabags in 8 oz of boiling water (approximately 5 - 10 minutes until tea is very dark.... not exactly 2 seconds, but I had to get you to read this somehow! LOL). In a blender or shaker, mix tea with ice and protein powder. Enjoy ...

Well, I received the magic bullet and it's everything I hoped it would be. I have already sold a couple people on it as well. You just can't beat single serving blending. The juice extractor attachment is a nice bonus and the motor IS very powerful. It blends the ice for my protein shakes like I'm mixing butter. All the pieces (except for the electrical base) can be thrown into the dishwasher for super fast clean up. I haven't used this in the microwave, but haven't seen any issue with putting the mixing cups into the dishwasher or freezer. It really does grind up spices and coffee VERY well and unlike the expensive nut and spice grinders, all the "powder" from whatever you are grinding stays contained in the cup. You just remove the blade and you can serve directly from the cup. The vented lids are perfect for sprinkling those fresh ground spices or cheeses. Exactly what the infomercial said, it's absolutely true. I would love to write a letter to the...

So I was on my group message board at P eertrainer.com and someone made a recommendation that I thought was wonderful! So wonderful in fact that I spent the afternoon balancing my checkbook to see if I can afford it!!!! Apparently the Magic Bullet is quite the go-to gadget for trainers and athletes! Why? Isn't that just another piece of garbage that they are trying to push on those infomercials??? Well, that's what I thought, but I've gotta say that more than one person in the discussion said that this piece of garbage is invaluable in keeping them on track with their nutrition. Here's what I heard today about the Magic Bullet: It's got a really powerful motor It really is quick and easy to use (the infomercial didn't lie) The handy single servings make it quick and easy to whip up a power shake for a quick "treat"! If you drink more than one a day, you can make many different types of shakes without continually dirtying up an entire unit! NICE! A co...