My take on: Easy "Fried" Brown Rice

Take Out anyone?!?

Fried rice, yum. Like always I'm trying to improvise techniques and come up
 with easy takes on my favorite (take-out or fast food meals).

RECIPE:
1 Chicken Breast filets
1 cup cooked brown rice
1/2 cup frozen peas and carrot mix
1/2 diced red bell pepper
1/4 onion chopped
2-3 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce
2 Tbsp Stir-fry sauce (your choice)
2 eggs *optional

Let's get started with this healthier not so fried "fried brown rice".
Split each chicken breast into 2, season both sides with salt and pepper.
Sear each side fore about 5 minutes until golden. Take out and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
 Then cube the breast and set aside.
 

Cook brown rice accordingly and set aside.

 

Meanwhile dice the onion and bell peppers. In a large skillet, heat up some oil, add onion and
cook until translucent. Add red bell pepper, cooking about 2 minutes and finally add the
 peas and carrots mix. Cover and steam for about 3 mins. When rice is ready add to the
veggies mix, followed by the diced chicken, lastly add some low sodium soy sauce and mixing to combine. At this point you can crack 2 beaten eggs and stir into the rice. That's pretty much it!
 Congrats you've just made easy brown "fried" rice.

 

Enjoy!! xoxo

 

My favorite Smootie

 

Here's my go-to smoothie when I haven't eaten or don't feel like cooking.

The ratios are 1 cup green veggies (kale or spinach), 1 cup frozen fruit (your choice)

Liquids: 1/2 cup almond milk, 1/2 cup water (add more if needed)

Grains: 1 Tb Chia seeds, 1 Tb flax seed, 2 Tb Raw Oatmeal or 6-8 raw almonds

Blend until smooth!!

 

A little insight:

I hope to continue this lifestyle forever, especially for my kids & the example I'm setting. 

My workouts are constantly
changing because I learn something new everyday. Baby steps will one day make
 a huge difference, so far these changes are definitely working for me. Let me clarify that I still
enjoy all the foods I love, except of course not everyday. However, if I'm
 having a heavier dinner, I'll maybe skip the weights and do extra cardio. Balance is key.

 

My weekly workout looks something like this:

Monday: 40 mins Legs & butt / 25mins Cardio

Tuesday: Arms, Boxing & Cardio (1hr total)

Wednesday: Pure cardio (treadmill, elliptical, jump rope or a variation of all 3) 45mins

Thursday: Repeat monday

Friday: Repeat tuesday

Saturday or Sunday: Cardio

I totally fell off schedule during the holidays and I'm slowing picking it back up :)
Shit happens, but don't give up!!

 

Valentine's Weekend Dinner

I'm a sucker for all things cute and romantic... well someone in this household needs to be!

Last year I created a romantic heart inspired menu. I began with my favorite kabobs. Shrimp!! I really have a deep affection for these things, I"ll eat shrimp all day/ everyday, don't judge me.

  I love things simple sometimes....

 

Shrimp Skewers:

 

1 lb medium deveined shrimp

1 small green, red, yellow bell peppers

1 small red onion

about 10 button mushrooms

1 lemon

1 garlic clove (minced)

wooden skewers

 

Begin by soaking the wooden skewers for 30 mins. Meanwhile marinate the shrimp in a ziplock bag by adding minced garlic, the juice of half a lemon, some olive oil (2 Tb), and salt/pepper. Pop these in the refrigerator to marinate. Cut your veggies into nice squares. After half an hour, you can begin to assemble these yummy skewers. The next step is a personal preference, you can either use an indoor grill or outdoor. Pretty much grill until the shrimp are pink & the veggies have some chard on them.

 

The second item to this romantic dinner is "Heart-Shaped" Steak Empanadas.. I'm providing the link to this amazing recipe below. Use a heart cookie cutter for the masa. Enjoy & have fun.. the first 5 hearts weren't perfect, but you'll get there I promise.

 

Empanada Recipe!

 

Happy Valentine's Day ... Weekend!! 

 



 

 

Roasted chicken & Potatoes (1 pot meal)

Seriously who doesn't enjoy a oven roasted meal? Not even a question right!

This might be one of my easiest ways to roasted chicken.

 

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken (cut into pieces)

3 red potatoes (quartered)

3 gold potatoes (quartered)

1 large zucchini (cut into large chunks)

1 red onion (big chunks)

1 garlic minced

1 lemon (quartered)

Mixed herbs: Thyme, Parsley & Marjoram

Salt and Pepper (1Tbsp)

Pre heat oven at 375.

Wash your whole chicken, cut into pieces (breast, legs, thighs etc) or purchase a pre-cut chicken.

I began by throwing all the ingredients into a baking dish, seasoned with salt, pepper, fresh herbs of my choice, a quartered lemon, and some olive oil. Cover all ingredients & roast for 45 mins.

 Lastly uncover & brown the chicken pieces for another 15 minutes. Timing might vary depending on your oven.

 Serve yourself some wine or whatever you prefer and relax! Yum!

 

Enjoy!! xoxo

 



Cauliflower Ceviche

First time I tried this was at my cousins party couple years ago, boy was I hooked. Totally thought it was the real deal. Who knew cauliflower was so versatile, especially nowadays people keep reinventing fresh new ways of using this mighty veggie. If you've never tired fish ceviche, you may never want to after this. OK I lied, I love fish ceviche.. but this is definitely up there!!

 By the way my daughters loooove this. It's full of lemony goodness, what's not to love. 

Ingredients:

1 head of cauliflower 

1 large tomato (diced)

1/4 onion (diced)

1 minced garlic clove

1/2 bunch cilantro (chopped)

Juice of 2 limes

Salt & peeper to taste

Let's get started by boiling water in a large pot, meanwhile cut the florets off the cauliflower, & wash. Planch for 5-6 mins and shock in icy water to stop the cooking process.

Chop the remaining veggies...

After cauliflower is cool, chopped into tiny pieces, the smaller the better.

Combine all ingredients in a large pretty bowl, add lime juice and season accordingly..

Mix to combine.

 

Lastly cover with plastic wrap & allow the flavors to distribute throughout for about 30-1hr.

The longer the better.

 

Finally serve.... (optional: add diced avocado on top)

Enjoy!!! xoxo

Turkey and Quinoa Meatballs

 

Ingredients:

1 lb Ground turkey

1 cup cooked Quinoa

1 Celery stem (diced)

 Some chopped onion

2 garlic cloves (minced)

1 large egg

1 Tbsp of flour

1 Tbsp Italian seasoning

Preheat oven at 375.

In a small skillet add a bit of olive oil and heat up. Add garlic, stir for 15 seconds, literally! Add onions & celery and cook until onion is translucent (season with some salt & pepper). Take this mixture out into a bowl and allow to cool.

Next in a large bowl, add ground turkey, cooked quinoa (cook 1/2 cup accordingly and cool), 1 egg, 1 tbsp. of flour, 1 tbsp Italian seasoning and lastly the cooled onion mixture.

Now for the fun part, with the most useful tools in the kitchen aka your hands, incorporate all ingredients together.

 



 

Once meat mixture is ready, grab a large ice cream scoop or use your hands once again to form uniform balls. Place one ball into a greased (sprayed with pam) cupcake pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until slightly golden on top. For the kids I used a dash of ketchup on top of each ball. Gave it more of a meatloaf flavor which my girls enjoyed.

 



This recipe makes about 11-12 balls or mini loafs.

 

Enjoy!!! xoxo