A different way to enjoy your eggs and oats!

If you want to just make 1 at a time it is a good way to start to make sure you like them:)

For those of you who bought the muscle eggs like me and could not stand to drink them...this is a great way to use them up:)

Ingredients for 1 serving

1/2 cup oats

6 oz of Chocolate Muscle Egg or 6 egg whites with 1/2 tbsp of cocoa

 http://www.muscleegg.com/chocolate-egg-whites.html

1Tbsp of chia meal or flax meal

1/4 cup of canned pumpkin

1tsp of vanilla

6 drops of stevia

top with a few walnuts chopped up

Mix all ingredients and put in a mini loaf pan or muffin pan.  Depending on your pan, one serving can fill up multiple little ones, 2 or 3 medium ones or 2 large ones.  I make 4 servings at a time and it fills up 6 Large muffin holes which makes 1 serving 1 1/2 of these large muffins. 

Bake at 350 for 20 to 30 minutes depending on your oven.  Just watch them.  You can't really over cook them.

Amazing treat or breakfast on the go and a perfectly balanced meal!

Stay posted for some other variations coming soon!

Curry Chicken Salad

Amazing!  A new favorite of mine.

2/3 cup Vegenaise (I use grape seed oil vegenaise)

1Tbsp curry powder

4 cups shredded chicken

1/2 granny smith apple

1/2 cup white onion

1/4 cup raisins

1/4 cup fresh parsley

1Tbsp lemon juice

1/2tsp salt

1/4tsp pepper

Mix all together and enjoy!

I put mine over Romaine lettus and it was super yummy!

You could also put inside a pita pocket or just eat it by itself!

Chicken Shawarma Salad

Recipe from Eating Well that I tweaked a little;)

Stir together 1 cup cucumber (shredded), 1/4 cup low fat plain yogurt or non dairy veganaise, 3 TBSP Tahini, 2 Tbsp lemon juice and 1/4tsp salt.  Set aside.  This is the sauce you see on the top.

I took shredded chicken that I made in the crockpot earlier and put it in a fry pan and added 1Tbsp garlic powder, 1tsp curry powder, 1/2tsp pepper, 1/4tsp salt and a little olive oil and mixed it all up to coat the chicken. 

Option 2:  uncooked chicken:  Combine garlic powder, curry powder, pepper and tsp salt in a small bowl.  Slice chicken breast crosswise into 1/4 inch strips; toss with the spice mixture to coat.  Add oil and toss to combine.  Grill chicken turning once, until cooked through, about 2 minutes per side.

Option 1:  Cut up romaine lettus and top off with chicken.  Add cucumber/yogurt sauce and some fresh tomatoes.

Option 2:  Take a pita and add the cucumber sauce to the bottom, add chicken, and top with lettus and tomato for a true Chicken Schwarma;)

Chicken Portabello Mango Salsa Salad

Start with mixed greens or romaine hearts.
Make Mango Salsa.
I cut up 1 mango, 1/3 cup red onion, tbsp of lime juice and 1/2 cup diced cucumber and dash of salt and pepper.

Saute 1 large portabello mushroom, shredded chicken, and handful of green onion. These are all items I had prepped for the week so I grabbed a mixture and threw it together and heated it up.

My salad. I added fresh tomatoes and black beans to it.

Greg's salad. Added a little cheese to his and made homemade corn tortilla chips for him:) For the boys, I took corn tortillas and made little chicken quesadillas with spinach, tomatos, black beans and cheese. They also love to dip them in "cream" sour cream:)

PREPARING THE WAY

As some of you may know, I experienced quite the speed bump in my journey to competing this up coming Saturday. Ten days out from my competition I was getting ready to do a box squat and on my way down, something happened to my right side hip/back. I tried to pretend it was nothing, that I could somehow shake it out but I soon realized it was unshakable.

The night before I met with my church and I was selected to be prayed for and little did I know, these words would sustain me in the next days to come. The day of my injury was a good day for me, I felt like God was going to get me through this, I was hopeful and fully convinced that I would be healed the next day despite how uncomfortable I was. I made God this special card and wrote him a letter thanking and praising him for all he has done and for being with me every step of the way. It was a great day. God was filling me up and overflowing my love tank knowing I would soon need every oz of it.

Thursday morning I woke up to serious pain. A friend came over that morning and prayed for me and my hope had changed quickly to despair. I had doubts, I questioned God, I questioned my journey, and found myself in a dark place quickly. My friend took the boys for the afternoon and I decided to go into Now Care to see a Dr. immediately for answers. As I walked to the door to get my keys to go, I fell to the floor in pain that was indescribable. I crawled to my phone and called my husband to come get me and take me in. Two hrs later after sitting painfully in a wheelchair, I saw a Dr who gave me the great news that I had a spasm in my back. Really? This much pain for a muscle spasm? I felt weak as if I should be able to suck this up and get on with my life but I knew this was bigger than my will and my strength. I was given meds and sent on my way to rest and let this run its course.

My worst moment came Saturday morning when I attempted to walk to the kitchen table and was in SO much pain, I swore...not just a little cuss word but the F BOMB came right out of my mouth in front of my family. In that moment, I wanted to just be dead. I could not imagine having to go another day in the amount of pain I was in. It was such a helpless feeling. How was I suppose to function as a mom?

A friend of ours came that day AND the next to take the boys and I was able to just rest and only get up to eat my scheduled meals. I was able to get in to an acupuncturist that Saturday and massage that evening and Sunday I felt significantly better. Today is Monday and I have had another round of acupuncture, massage, and saw the chiropractor who was able to gently adjust my hips. I am hanging on to hope and thankful that I am healing and making great progress.

Going back to Tuesday night before my injury. A couple of words were given to me.

Proverbs 31:25-29

She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.26 When she speaks, her words are wise, and she gives instructions with kindness.27 She carefully watches everything in her household and suffers nothing from laziness. 28 Her children stand and bless her. Her husband praises her:29 “There are many virtuous and capable women in the world, but you surpass them all!”

Philippians 4:11-13

11 Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. 12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. 13 For I can do everything through Christ,[c] who gives me strength.

I have read these over and over trying to regain strength and rest in his truth. I have had a lot of time to think the past 5 days while I lay on my back. I've had time to just be, to reflect, to be thankful, to doubt, to feel sorry for myself and through all of it, God was sitting right next to me, listening and picking me up off the floor and giving me hope when I felt hopeless. I will make a decision on Wednesday whether or not I will be up on the stage competing Saturday. I have thought about how I may feel if I do, if I don't, if I will continue and do another. My answer is always to stop trying to figure it all out. God has faithfully prepared me and I need to let go and allow him to lead the way. I know this is so small on the scale of what life can bring our way but for me in this moment it seems big. I've worked really hard to get to this point and I have been faithful in my prep (minus one animal cookie extravaganza) but in the end for me it truly has been the journey. Getting on stage is not why I did this. It's the celebration of what I have done and trust me, I want to be celebrated BUT from the beginning, 9 months ago I had a goal and I have met it full on and am proud to be here in this moment to truly have reflection on what this journey has done for me personally. I am coasting into Saturday with hope and peace knowing that no matter what happens I already won!

COMPETITION FOOD PREP WHEN YOU STILL HAVE A FAMILY TO FEED!

I get asked time and time again about how I prep my food for competition dieting. I will give you a glimpse of what I am currently doing. It changes depending on where I am at but at 5 weeks away from my competition this is what I am eating:)

Prepping your food is a must when dieting because as far as I am concerned eating anything other than my specific food is NOT an option. If you see me at a restaurant I will have my container of food with me...no trying to get them to make my food. This way I know exactly what I am eating and don't run the risk of getting special ingredients added to my food:)

I cook my food every 4 days since I feel like that is about the safe zone for my food. It usually takes me about 1.5 hrs from start to finish. The first thing I do is turn my oven on and get my rice boiling. As I am doing this I am getting my tilapia defrosted by putting it in cold water for about 15 minutes. While it is defrosting I start cooking my ground sirloin.

By the time I am done cooking my sirloin my fish is ready to put in the oven. I don't season any of my food until I eat it.



I put my fish in the oven and bake it at 350 for about 45 minutes...I cook it!!! While it is baking I am measuring out my ground sirloin and putting it in its designated containers.




I measure out every oz of my food using this nifty gadget! Super easy and very inexpensive to buy. By the time I am done measuring out my sirloin, my rice is done and I measure out my rice and put it in the designated containers also. As I continue to wait for my fish, I will steam some green veggies and have them ready to add to my food as needed for the day. I do my veggies fresh everyday but if you don't have the time to do that, you can cook them ahead of time and add them to your designated containers. My fish is done and I measure out my oz's and add it to containers and I am done!








As a mom I still have to cook for my family so I always make a casserole with my extra food. I intentionally make extra so I can do this every time. I took the extra ground sirloin, rice and green beans and made this casserole for dinner tonight. I sauteed onion, celery, and carrots and added it to the casserole. I also used pacific organic cream of mushroom soup and put some cheese on top. I will throw it in the oven tonight and bake it to warm it back up and have meals for 2 days out of this.

This is my food for the next 4 days in its designated containers. The white container has green beans in it for the day. I tend to pick one green veggie and eat it for the entire day. Today it is green beans:)

When it is time to eat, I open my container and warm it up in a fry pan. Super yummy and easy. If you are on the go, throw it in the microwave or sometimes you just have to eat it cold!

Some of the seasonings I love. Starting from the left is cinnamon I add to my oatmeal. Organic hot sauce with garlic and onion powder with parsley is delicious on my chicken and fish. Montreal steak low sodium is awesome on your beef but as you get closer to your comp this may not be an option as the sodium content is high and it also contains sunflower oil...check with your coach on this one. Sea salt and pepper make everything taste good and last is a poultry seasoning that is salt free and delicious on your chicken.

My current meals are

1. 1/2 cup oats, 6 egg whites and spinach

2. 4 oz ground sirloin and green veggie

3. 5oz tilapia and 1/2 cup rice

4. High Five Protein Shake and 1TBSP nut butter

5. 6oz of tilapia or chicken (I rotate them every 4 days to keep it exciting) and green veggie

6. 6 egg whites and spinach

Meals 1 and 6 I cook fresh every day. If I am home I make my shake into icecream and pretend I am eating cold stone...HA! If I am on the go I use a shaker cup and mix my powder with water and bring my tbsp of PB already measured out. I always measure out my PB since I am super anal and will make sure I have no more than a TBSP. I know it would be easy to pretend extra wouldn't hurt but it's all based on a formula that works so DON'T DO IT!!

When your mind is IN IT doing anything other than following your diet should be like smoking a ciggarette...NOT AN OPTION.

When it comes to show time I know without a doubt I never cheated on any of my meals. I know that I never added anything I wasn't suppose to that wasn't on my meal plan even if I think it's healthy. I'm in this to win it and if I get 10th I know that I did exactly what was required of me and I am ok with that:) Following your meal plan is critical if you want results. When your body is use to eating the same thing everyday at the same time, when a change is made your body responds and it's an amazing feeling! If this is a struggle for you let me know because I am crazy passionate about this!! I actually love my food and would love to help you if I can!!! As Victoria would say..."Eat clean train dirty!"

Other meal ideas with your extra food for your family...

a. Add your ground sirloin and veggies to a speghetti sauce and make speghetti. If you saw my post on the veggie snack container I tend you open it up and use these veggies to add to all my meals I make for my family.

b. Take extra chicken and make a chicken, rice, and brocolli casserole. Add mushrooms, onions and celery and any other veggies. Add a soup base such as cream of chicken, celery, or mushroom.

c. Take extra chicken and make a chicken curry. Take your chicken and rice and add veggies and stir fry them all together. Add curry paste of choice and can of cocount milk and chili paste and you have an awesome curry.

d. The easiest meal is always a meat, veggie, and rice and you can make a special sauce to add to it!

e. Take extra ground sirloin and make tacos!

ENJOY!

OUR NEW SNACK CONTAINER!

Tired of your kids asking for snacks constantly? I am;) Here is a great idea that I just came across from a good friend Dr. Ida Bergman! Every time the boys ask for a snack, I can send them to the snack container in the fridge! Have fun with it. My boys are SO excited that they have their very own snack container. If you can, always buy organic veggies.
Costco sells single hummus containers the boys can also help themselves to. This is a huge hit in our home. This container contains broccoli, cauliflower, red pepper, orange pepper, celery, radishes, and carrots. I took the boys with me to Whole Foods and let them pick out what they wanted in their special container. As soon as I got home, I cleaned them and cut them up. Only took me about 15 minutes. I can't even tell you how excited this makes me! Thanks for a great idea Ida...Genius!!!

KEEPING IT SIMPLE

Meat, Veggie, and healthy carb choice! With summer here, take advantage of the grill. Chop of some veggies, spray with coconut oil or olive oil and wrap them up in foil and put them on the grill!
Make rice, cous cous, quinoa, into a flavorful masterpiece by adding celery, red pepper, green onion or leek, and carrot!

Saute veggies and cook rice or grains accordingly and toss it together for a flavorful creation.

Meat of choice (Halibut in picture), grilled veggies and colorful quinoa!

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Ingredients: Celery, Onion, Pasta of choice (I used spinach spaghetti), Tuna, Cream of Mushroom Soup
Mix tuna and cream of mushroom soup in dish you will bake hot dish in.

Saute onion and celery in oil of choice (grape seed oil)

4 celery sticks, 1/2 red onion

When tender, add to tuna mixture.

Boil or steam and drain peas. Add to mixture.

Cook spaghetti and drain. Add to mixture.

Mix it all together and throw it in the oven covered until hot.

I tend to do everything at 350. About 30 minutes.

Another quick and easy meal!

Taco Salad

This is an easy inexpensive way to make healthy tacos!

Fixings include: Brown rice, black beans, avocado, salsa, chopped fresh spinach, tomatoes, black olives, cheese, sour cream.
Veggie and meat mixture:
1lb of ground turkey breast
2 zucchini sliced and quartered.
1 red pepper chopped
1/2 onion chopped
1 pkg of taco seasoning
In fry pan, cook 1lb of ground turkey breast. When turkey is cooked add above veggies and sautee with the turkey until veggies are tender and to your liking:). Add taco seasoning and water (follow directions on package) and simmer until ready to use.

Even pirates will eat this yummy meal!

Putting it all together is up to you! I took veggie meat mixture and added all the fixings to it and mixed it all up!

Great healthy meal and the kids will love putting it all together and making it their own!

Ginger Sesame Cabbage Salad

The dressing I used. Newmans Own makes another similar dressing. Ingredients: Red cabbage, white cabbage, tomatoes, chicken, and nut mixture. Shredded carrots would also make a great addition to this salad. Directions. Chop up red and white cabbage and place in a bowl. Cut up baked chicken and slice tomatoes and toss them in the bowl. Take a mixture of almonds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and chop them together and sprinkle on top. Put about a TBSP of dressing on and mix together! Super crunchy, filling, and tasty.

My absolute favorite weekly dish!

These 3 ingredients make any vegetable and chicken/seafood combination taste heavenly!! Saute up some veggies of your liking in coconut oil (Tbsp). Above ingredients are broccoli, red pepper, mushrooms, leek, chicken (already cooked). If your chicken is not prepped, cut chicken into pieces and saute in coconut oil until cooked and then add to veggie mixture.

Add can of coconut milk, and a heaping tablespoon of green curry paste and roasted red chili paste and mix together in a glass measuring cup and pour on top of vegetables and simmer until you are ready to eat! Put on top of brown rice!

Other options. Make this with scallops instead of chicken...wash and soak scallops really well and saute them in coconut oil until cooked and then add to veggie mixture.

Other veggie options: pea pods, carrots, spinach, zucchini, squash, fresh green beans

If you prep your veggies ahead of time (after getting home from the grocery store) this meal is so quick and easy. If you have a rice cooker, easier yet. If you don't have a rice cooker, you will have to plan for the time it will take to make rice. You can always make the rice ahead of time and refridgerate it until you are ready to use it.

Delicious!!

KALE CHIPS!

Craving something super crunchy and salty? Throw out the Doritos and give these a try. Seriously easy and you would be surprised just how yummy they are! Directions: Wash organic Kale, Cut stems off by folding over the leaf and cut off the entire middle stem and you are left with two halves of kale leaf. Rip leaves into pieces (not too small), and spread on baking sheet (I used a round pizza pan with the holes in it which worked great for allowing air through). Spray olive oil or coconut oil (they now make a coconut spray oil...a must have) on kale and toss to coat both sides lightly. Sprinkle some sea salt or Himalayan salt (you don't need much) and put in the oven at 200 for about an hour or more until they reach a crispy texture. By baking them they will create their own saltiness so easy on the salt!! Seriously yummy and if you can get your kids to get past the green leaf object, they will love them! I couldn't keep the boys out of them once they were brave enough to try one! Swiss Chard will also work but I like the fluffy wrinkly texture of the Kale better!!

Southwestern Bean Soup

A great cold day soup with many health benefits! Throw it in the crock pot and have a great meal for dinner or "supper" if you're from the Midwest:) I like to saute my veggies in coconut oil or grape seed oil and add spices to give the soup a little extra flavor but this step is not necessary if you don't have the extra few minutes.

Ingredients:

2cups diced carrots

1cup diced celery

1/2 cups diced leeks or onion

1Tbsp of garlic

1 bunch of kale chopped

***Sautee all above ingredients in a Tbsp of coconut oil for about 10 minutes***

Add spices to veggies: 1Tbsp chili powder, 1tsp ground cumin, 1/2 tsp dried oregano, and touch of salt if you wish. Sautee spices with veggies for about 10 more minutes.

Turn crockpot on low and add a carton of low sodium vegetable broth and a carton of portabello mushroom soup. Add veggie mixture.

Rinse all beans in a strainer before adding them to the crockpot. 1 can of organic great northern beans, 1 can of organic black beans and one can of organic kidney beans. Also wash a cup of pearl barley and add it to the crockpot. (adding barley will give the soup a different slimy type of texture so omit if you don't like pearl barley)

I took some organic grass fed beef and sliced it into little chunks and sauteed them in coconut oil on high just to brown each side, then added them to the crockpot half cooked.

You can cook soup on low heat for about 4-5 hours. Even with 8 cups of liquid my soup ended up really thick, more stew like. I think the barley soaked up a ton of the liquid. I ended up adding more vegetable broth until I got it the consistency I liked. If you are a texture person, you can leave the barley out. The pearl barley has a slimy texture to it and you could really take it or leave it. I didn't mind it at all and the boys loved it. My husbands only complaint was the texture so there it is!! This will make a ton of soup! A good soup to share or give to someone who may need help with a meal for the week!

Prepping Your Food

One thing that I am committed to doing is eating as healthy as I can.  Something that makes my life so much easier is prepping my food as soon as I get home from the grocery store.  I go to the store knowing what my meals will be for the week and know how I would like my food cut so it is ready to go when it's crunch time to get the meal on the table for dinner.  What works for me is going to the grocery store close to lunch time.  I get home, feed the boys lunch and as they nap and have "rest" time I get busy washing and cutting up my veggies and store them in my favorite containers so it is ready to go when I need it!  It does take time but will save you time in the long run for sure!!  I also cook up my chicken and turkey since it goes in most of my meals and is great to have on hand for a quick protein fix.  I'm weird and actually crave protein and don't mind taking some cold meat out of the fridge and eating it. 

Prepping is also helpful for those who like to snack.  If it's washed and ready to go, you are more likely to grab something healthy.  Hummus is a great thing to have on hand and you can pretty much dip anything in it for a healthy snack!  Give it a try and if you are telling yourself right now that you don't have time to do this...STOP IT!  You do have time.  We all make time for things we think are important and that looks so different for each and every one of us.  You are ultimately in control of what goes into that mouth of yours but the truth is you will get out what you put in, just with anything in life.  If you always do what you have always done, you will get the same result.  Change is hard, I know this.  If you are just beginning the journey of eating healthy, it's ok to take baby steps and make little changes.  Big changes often lead to failure pretty quickly because it feels impossible.  YOU CAN DO THIS! 

Easy Chicken Salad

A new favorite creation!  Super easy to make and a healthy lunch!  Shred 1 chicken breast, cut up 2 organic celery sticks into small pieces, cut up 3/4 of an organic apple (my favorite is honeycrisp) chop some raw organic walnuts (10ish) and add as much vegenaise as you want.  I added about 2TBSP.  I tend to like mine more on the dry side:)  Throw it in a pita pocket or add it to a piece of toast.  You can obviously make as much of this as you want.  One chicken breast will make about 2-3 servings.  You can add as much of the ingredients as you want.  Other options are to add onion and or raisins. 



Stacie's Oatmeal

 Since I have my spinach/blueberry shake every morning for breakfast, I enjoy a bowl of oatmeal for my 3:00 snack.  I look forward to this snack and almost feel guilty eating it, it tastes that good!!

Ingredients:  1/2 cup gluten free oats, 1/2 cup of vanilla coconut milk, 1/2 cup water to make oatmeal.  After cooking the oatmeal I top it off with Raw Coconut, Walnuts, and Coconut Crystal sugar (tastes like brown sugar)  Enjoy!

Pizza

 Once a week I enjoy making homemade pizza and throughout the years I have tried many variations and always find the most basic types I enjoy the most.  Organic Pizza Sauce, Spinach, and Tomato and cheese...you just can't go wrong with this pizza!

 This is my vegetable pizza toppings above.  Broccoli, zuchinni, red pepper, mushrooms, leeks, sweet potato (baked above left) tomato and cheese.  I sauteed these veggies before putting them on the pizza.

 This is my pizza without the cheese:(  but still very yummy!  Note: this just might be the heaviest pizza ever made!  Gluten and Dairy Free

And for the boys.  This is my basic spinach and tomato pizza.  I am really enjoying the Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free pizza crust.  So easy to make and very tasty!