After weekends away I am always exhausted on Mondays, so I am so happy to have Monday behind us and be on to TUESDAY! I flew to Ohio Saturday morning for one of my best friends baby showers and got home late Sunday night, and after eating dinner I climbed straight into bed, hence the lack of chatter in yesterdays post!
:: Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread ::
At the lake this weekend, I was in charge of lunch so I made a big batch of chili and cornbread.
I made Ina Garten’s Jalapeno Cornbread – the first cornbread I have ever made from complete scratch, I usually just doctor up a box of Jiffy – and oh-em-gee it was so, so, so, so good. Which should come as no surprise because my girl Ina can do no wrong. Ever. (she’s back with new episodes of her show, too!)
Take my word for it and take the extra steps to make this instead of the boxed stuff for your next cornbread. I didn’t have a cast iron skillet, so I just made it in one of those throw away foil pans for easy clean up at the lake. But I’m sure it would be even better in a cast iron!
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal
- ¼ cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 cups milk
- 3 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten
- ½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted, plus extra to grease the pan
- 8 ounces aged extra-sharp Cheddar, grated, divided
- ⅓ cup chopped scallions, white and green parts, plus extra for garnish, 3 scallions
- 3 tablespoons seeded and minced fresh jalapeno peppers
- Combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the milk, eggs, and butter. With a wooden spoon, stir the wet ingredients into the dry until most of the lumps are dissolved. Don't overmix! Mix in 2 cups of the grated Cheddar, the scallions and jalapenos, and allow the mixture to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking pan.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and sprinkle with the remaining grated Cheddar and extra chopped scallions. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. (My oven seems to take a bit longer, about 40 minutes). Cool and cut into large squares. Serve warm or at room temperature.
p.s. a fun perk of my husband’s truck is being able to
plug the slow cooker in and get the chili warmed up in the backseat!
:: Freezer Fudge :: Healthy Dessert ::
I wanted to share an easy and healthy dessert or snack with you today.
I have talked about Kelly LeVeque and her book Body Love before on the blog.
I make a version of her Fab 4 Smoothie every morning for breakfast and have completely jumped on the smoothie bandwagon thanks to her.
She does such a great job explaining why having the right protein/fat/fiber/greens combo can shut down your hunger hormones and keep you full for hours, plus tons more, in her book. I can’t recommend it enough!
Well…. during my 31 Day Challenge of daily workouts (almost done! 2 days to go!) I have unfortunately been baking and eating a fair amount of desserts.
Whoops! I like baking on Sundays…. and it’s been cold and rainy…. so…. ya know.
But I decided it was time to try this Freezer Fudge recipe that I had read about and sounded like a great treat.
It’s basically a healthy fat bomb to satisfy the craving without sending you spiraling into a sugar coma.
I made mine with a little bit of PB2, because let’s be honest, I am obsessed with PB2 and who doesn’t love the taste of peanut butter with their chocolate?!
I ordered the rubber ice cube molds off of Amazon to make it easy to pop them out of the tray!
After taking them out of the mold, I just stored them in a ziplock bag in the freezer, which you will want to do because they melt at room temperature.
- 1 cup coconut oil
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- 8-10 drops liquid stevia
- ¼ -1/2 cup Almond Butter (Optional if you desire a thicker consistency. I used PB2 instead)
- Maldon or Pink salt (Optional)
- Melt Coconut Oil in glass pyrex bowl.
- Whisk in coco powder and stevia. (and almond butter if you don't love coconut oil consistency)
- Pour into ice cube tray.
- Sprinkle with Salt
- Freeze. Fudge is ready in 20 minutes
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:: Crack Cheez It’s : The easiest party snack you’ll ever make ::
Happy Super Bowl Weekend!
it’s a two post day! check out today’s outfit post and favorite finds here!
Today I am sharing the easiest make ahead snack to have for any party or occasion. I shared these a few months ago on instagram but never posted the recipe on the blog. These are addictive nibbles to have in a bowl or in little bowls throughout the living room when people are over (but half the time they never make it out of the jumbo ziplock bag and everyone just keeps pulling them out all day until they disappear!)
You think you like Cheez Its and that they are addictive until you make these cracked out Cheez Its. Then you’ll know how addictive they really are! Make these the night before, because it needs 12 hours for all of the fatty goodness to sink into the Cheez It’s.
Make sure you get the BIG JUMBO CHEEZ IT’S not the regular sized, and otherwise it’s idiot proof!
and with that I give you……
FATTENED UP FATTY MCFATTY CHEEZ IT’S
aka
CRACK CHEEZ IT’S
- 2 Boxes BIG Cheez Its (make sure it is not the regular size! must be the BIG size!)
- 1 package Hidden Valley Ranch dry seasoning mix
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ¾ cup canola oil
- and you will need a JUMBO ziplock bag to mix them in, a HUGE one
- Put the 2 boxes of Big Cheez Its into a jumbo zip lock bag.
- Mix the oil, ranch packet, and red pepper flakes together and whisk to combine.
- Pour the mixture into the Cheez It's bag, seal closed, and gently rotate bag up and down and round and round (very technical) until the mixture is evenly distibuted.
- Let the mixture sit for 12 hours and then transfer to a clean zip lock bag or tupperware to store.
:: No Carb Pasta (that Actually Tastes Like Pasta!) + Wellness Tips ::
I have a great recipe to share with you all today, and it’s perfect for those of you that are wanting to eat less processed carbs like regular pasta noodles.
I have zoodled and spaghetti squash’ed and tried all of the pasta replacement…. and I liked them because it made me feel like I was getting my noodles without the carbs. But they never came close to tasting like pasta, or had the same texture; they were just a better alternative.
No longer!Step aside zucchini noodles and spaghetti squash – THIS is the yummiest pasta resplacement I have ever had. Seriously. I was shocked.
I have been incorporating more fiber into my diet and watching my net carbs since learning more about the
F Factor Diet. I originally heard about this on The Skinny Confidential podcast, where I also heard Kelly Leveque for the first time last summer!)
I recommend listening to this podcast to find out more about fiber and it’s amazing abilities to keep you fuller, longer.
I have been using GG crackers (a high fiber, barely any calorie cracker) as croutons on my salad and making them into mini “pizzas” for dinner, and love them. They seriously keep you SO full. So I figured I might as well try some of the pasta replacement options that Tanya, the F Factor Founder, recommends as well.
I came across her Spaghetti Pie recipe and figured it was the perfect one to try since it was so simple and I love, love pasta.
I did not have the highest of hopes for this (how good could something with barely any calories and no carbs taste?)
but hoped it would be tasty in the same way that a spaghetti squash would be.
These shirataki noodles are SO much better. It is AMAZING.
There are a couple different brands you can get, but my first two meals have been with Better than Noodles. The entire bag has only 45 calories, 0 Net Carbs, and 4 grams of Fiber per serving (12g of Fiber in the whole bag). And because of all of the fiber, you are SO full after.
You can make this recipe as fancy or simple and easy as you like.
I made one Spaghetti Pie with just the sauce and cheese and garlic powder, and made another adding in chopped broccoli and onions, and added Mrs. Dash seasoning.
Both we absolutely delicious! I was blown away. More importantly, my husband loved it! He agreed it is 10x better than zoodles!!
(we eat a lot of vegetables, so I don’t mind that I am now having the vegetable as the noodle, and you can add veggies to this or make a big side salad like we did).
I ordered my noodles from Amazon, but I’m sure that Whole Foods carries something similar.
other options if you want different noodles : Miracle Noodles // Skinny Noodles // and for rice, Better than Rice to make risotto and rice bowls.
This will absolutely be a weekly dinner in our house! I especially crave pasta on Sunday’s (I love some mac and cheese – usually after a weekend of not eating as clean and having cocktails- and this was a complete fix for the craving).
Don’t judge the photo….. it is truly incredible! I’ll work on making it prettier next time around, but I couldn’t wait to share!
Recipe adapted from F Factor Spaghetti Pie, check out more great recipes here.
:: BAKED SPAGHETTI PIE ::
- 1 (6-8 oz.) package Shirataki Spaghetti (ex. Skinny Noodles Shiratake Spaghetti, Miracle Noodle Angel Hair or Organic Spaghetti, Nasoya Pasta Zero Spaghetti, House Foods Smart Noodle Spaghetti, Tofu Shirataki Spaghetti or Better Than Pasta Spaghetti)
- ½ cup Egg Beaters (I used all eggwhites)
- 1 cup sliced assorted veggies (onions, peppers, artichoke hearts, mushrooms,
- broccoli, etc.)
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 cup Rao’s Tomato Basil sauce
- ⅓ cup fat-free shredded mozzarella cheese
- - optional : I also added in a Mrs. Dash Italian Seasoning, they are salt free and add lots of flavor
- Preheat oven to 425 °F. Follow shiritake noodle directions here to prepare noodles. Set aside.
- In a round oven-safe baking dish combine noodles, veggies, Egg Beaters, veggies, garlic powder and ¾ cup tomato sauce. Mix well.
- Bake, uncovered for approximately 25 minutes, or until firm.
- Remove from oven and spread remaining ¼ cup of tomato sauce atop.
- Add layer of cheese atop sauce layer and place back in oven for another 5-10 minutes, or until cheese has melted.
- Once cheese has melted, remove from oven. Allow to cool for 5 minutes and serve warm.
and yes, I know that my spaghetti pie literally looks like a drunk 19 year old in
college made something at 3 am…… I know…… but I guess it’s so easy to make a drunk college kid could make it so we’ll go with it……
:: 5 Tips for Success ::
I made this pretty image to make up for my food…. ha.
I have gotten a lot of questions about workouts and food, so I’m going to try to tackle them in the next couple weeks in posts.
But I thought first I would try to pick 5 of the biggest tips that the health + wellness books and podcasts always seem to emphasize, and that I have found worked for me.
Now, as always remember – I know nada about fitness and nada about nutrition and nada about nothing anything except reality television and watching more television. I just like to read health/fitness books and listen to podcasts and do my best. Feel free to read all of this and thing it is all crock of BS.
Also, I will try anything. Someone says something is great and makes you healthy, as long as it is adding something IN and not taking something OUT, I will try it.
A common e-mail I get is just asking how I stick to a routine so I thought I would start with 5 overall tips. These are things I’ve repeated in books and podcasts and wellness websites over and over again for sucess.
- Start with One Thing – Kelly Leveque talks about this a lot and I think it’s the easiest and best tip. Don’t start meal prepping for 7 days and working out an hour a day and no sugar/dairy/meat/cheese/anything all at once. That will never last and make you crazy. Start with just ONE thing. For her, it’s to make your Fab 4 Smoothie for Breakfast every day. If that’s too hard, have it just be having a healthy meal for breakfast or for dinner. Or going on a walk every day. Or one thing that seems simple. Once that becomes a habit, move on to something else.
- You can have it all, just not all at once – This is one of the things Bethenny Frankel talked about in her book Naturally Thin. You can eat whatever you want, go for it. But if I get the crazy app, maybe I don’t need the bread basket, the dessert, etc. Another good thing is to “Balance your bank account”. If you have something decadent now, have something healthier later to balance it out.
you can see all of her 10 Rules for Naturally Thin this article - Schedule it – This is how I made working out a habit that I was able to stick to. On Sunday, write down your workouts in your planner. Or log onto Classpass or your workout places app and sign up for classes. I sign up for Thursday and Friday classes on Sunday, and if my schedule changes, I can cancel by Wednesday. But usually it doesn’t, and then I don’t have the excuse it’s already planned. Also, you get charged for missing a class you have signed up for – that alone makes me get out of bed in the morning. I sign up for a class when I know it’s something I want to do – so that when the time actually comes and I don’t want to do it, it’s too late!
- Add things in, don’t take things out – If you’re like me, the second you tell yourself you can’t have something, it is all you want. So don’t even say you can’t have a certain thing or things. Focus on adding things in instead of taking things away. Add more good for you things. More veggies, more water, more of a workout you enjoy, more sleep, more relaxing, more self-care, more protein, more fiber, more healthy fats. MORE is much better than less.
- It’s not all or nothing mentality – A podcast I listened to was just talking about this and I can’t remember which one, but I think it was Melissa Wood Health (?!) Ditch the “diet starts Monday” mentality. No more “well, today is already ruined so might as well keep going”. If you could take back all of those times of starting later or letting the whole day ruin you, where would you be now?
:: Fitness Favorites ::
Came across this hat over the weekend and loved it!
I have worn my Fitness Tracker bracelet everyday since I got it almost one year ago. I’ve never seen one that blends in more as a real bracelet and it’s so comfortable I forget that I have it on.
// FITNESS TRACKER BRACELET //
I love the app and that it can track my steps, my sleep, water, and more – and it can link to other apps too!
My pink Asics arrive today or tomorrow in the mail – my knees are ready for new sneakers to arrive!
// ASICS // come in tons of colors and styles
more favorites below :
:: Update on my Wellness Goals ::
Today is Day 9 of my 31 Day Challenge, and so far so good! I made it to a workout class OR worked out at home every day. Thanks to this bracelet I easily made sure I hit 10,000 steps daily.
I was surprisingly good about morning workouts last week and was up early; but that may be because I had to take my husband to the train station early for his flight and had a friend int own that had to be up early for a conference. Either way – they helped me jump out of bed right on time and make it to my morning workout class! And I loved having the extra time later in the day to #GSD.
I did not Foam Roll though (and intentionally avoided it ……) soooo maybe today will be the day.
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Keep commenting or e-mailing with any health/wellness questions or comments –
it’s the thing I get e-mailed about the most!
and e-mail, comment, or message me on instagram with any other post options you would like to see!
:: Breakfast Casserole + Tuesday Randoms ::
I hope you all had a great weekend and MLK Day.
I have a random collection of things today, starting with a new breakfast casserole recipe!
:: Sausage, Pimento + Pepper Overnight Breakfast Casserole ::
I decided to try out a new breakfast casserole when we were in the mountains for New Years Eve weekend. My usual casserole is delicious and simple – and a constant go to – but I wanted to try something different that added in more layer so flavor.
I loved that this casserole had pimentos (yes please!) and peppers and scallions in it! I would definitely make this again and again!
(I also only make breakfast casseroles that you can assemble the day before and leave in the fridge overnight – makes it so easy!)
When I was making it the first time I thought it was A LOT, but don’t worry it all fits into the 9×13 and bakes up deliciously!
It was a vintage oven at the cabin so I had to cover the top with foil towards the end and bake this for longer than the 1 hour it calls for, so just keep an eye on it and cover with foil if it is getting too brown.
oh….. and you can’t judge my food photography skills today because this was New Years Morning and I may or may not have stayed up very late playing catchphrase and utter nonsense (more on utter nonsense below……)
- 12 eggs, well beaten
- 9 slices white bread, cut into cubes, (I used hearty white)
- 4 tbsp butter, cut into small cubes
- 3 cups whole milk
- 6 scallions diced
- ¼ cup chopped green bell pepper (I added chopped red/green/yellow pepper an did ½ cup)
- 2 tbsp chopped pimento (I did more..... a lot more, but I love pimentos)
- 1 pound cooked pork breakfast sausage
- 2 cups grated cheddar cheese
- 1 pound of mushrooms (if desired)
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well.
- Pour into a greased/buttered a 9x13 casserole dish.
- Refrigerate covered 8 hours or overnight.
- Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 1 hour uncovered. (cover later as needed to prevent browning if it needs more time to cook.)
- Serve immediately.
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I decided to start doing a Sunday Inspiration on my instagram stories – I’ll share them here on my Monday morning post too as a good way to start the day
( I mean listen to me! “January me” is just doing ALL THE BS. ALL OF IT. So full of crap. And loving it…….)
:: Utter Nonsense::
transitioning right from that positive, uplifting moment into the garbage I love equally as much…..
We were at the cabin for a couple of nights, and the only thing we ever left the cabin for was our 80’s bar crawl in town. Which was so fun…..
But back at the cabin we played this game called Utter Nonsense.
It is like Cards Against Humanity, but with accents (and often, like cards against humanity, even the accent is inappropriate).
I laughed so, so hard. Everyone – guys and girls alike – had such a fun time with it.
:: French Onion Soup ::
A friend just made this french onion soup on their instagram stories and I had to ask for the recipe.
My husband is obsessed with french onion soup – he would love, love this!! (and I am onion obsessed!)
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Sales!
There are a bunch of great sales going on, some picks below!
Nordstrom :
Loft : 50% off
J.Crew :
GAP : 40 % off sitewide, and 75 % off winter sale
J.CREW FACTORY : 40% off sitewide