Vegetable Egg Cups

Eating breakfast during the week can be challenging. I usually start my day off with my daily dose of Shakeology because it provides all of my nutrient needs, but sometimes I want to switch it up! I started flipping through one of my cookbooks called FIXATE, it provides recipes based on the 21 Day Fix portion control container system, and it has some great recipes. I turned to a page labeled Vegetable Egg Cups and thought perfect!

These little vegetable egg cups are perfect to put together on Meal Prep Sunday or Monday. They are great for a quick breakfast or packed in your lunch for a mid-morning snack. The vegetables I chose for my egg cups were spinach and diced orange peppers. You could also add chopped mushrooms, diced green or red peppers, broccoli, maybe a little cheese...anything you would put in your omelet! Also, you could make these with meat by adding crumbled bacon pieces or crumbled sausage. 

What you will need is a muffin tin, cooking spray, and the following ingredients below:

12 Large Eggs

1 medium orange pepped, diced

3 cups of fresh spinach

Salt and Pepper to taste 

Medium Salsa (Optional)

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 375.

2. Coat a twelve-cup muffin tin with non-stick spray

3. Crack eggs into a large bowl and whisk until blended. 

4. Add in your chopped vegetables (and meat preference is you desire). Season with salt and pepper to taste.

5. Evenly pour egg mixture into muffin cups (See below for desired level of fullness).

6. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a fork inserted into the middle comes out clean. 

7. Top each egg with 1 tbsp of salsa if you desire. 

Reheat Directions- Place on a microwaveable plate and microwave for 45 seconds. If using a toaster oven, set to 350 and bake for 3 minutes. 

If you are following the Beachbody portion control container system, 2 egg cups equals 1 red container. 

Enjoy!

7 Halloween Themed Recipes

Pumpkin, Jack-O-Lanterns, Costumes, Witches, Trick-or-Treating, 13 Days of Halloween, Spider Webs, Hocus Pocus, Candy, Candy, And MORE candy. That pretty much sums up what I think of when I think about Halloween!

Halloween is the first holiday that kicks off the holiday trifecta...followed by Thanksgiving and Christmas. Holidays bring unexpected amount of refined sugar, fat, alcohol, and lots of baked goods (not trying to make you depressed, but it's the truth!). Having all of that in the mix is what inspired me to come up with 7 healthy-ish Halloween Recipes. They're fun, spooky, and appeal to your sweet and savory taste buds without having to eat a whole bag of snickers.

Check them out below!

7 Healthy Halloween Recipes:

1. Jack-O-Lantern Stuffed Peppers
2. Sweet Potato Witches Fingers
3. Candy Corn Bark
4. Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread
5. Pumpkin Coffee Swirl Smoothie
6.Gluten-Free Protein Pumpkin Pancakes
7. Graveyard Taco Bake

Feel free to save your favorite recipe! If you make it, give me a shout out! Have a Spooky Halloween Season!

Graveyard Taco Bake

Halloween Themed Recipe #7- Countdown to Halloween!

Happy Halloween! We have reached our final day in this countdown to Halloween. 

Tonight's recipe brings us back to when we were kids. When we were younger we would dare each other to walk through cemeteries, especially since there was one really close to school. Cemeteries are creepy enough as it is, but on Halloween night they become even scarier. It's one of those places that is intriguing, but there is almost an invisible fence around it keeping you from entering. 

As I was putting dinner together, trying to figure out what spooky name to call dinner, I thought about this childhood memory all the while I was watching Tim Burton's A Nightmare Before Christmas. My boyfriend looks at me and goes it kind of looks like a graveyard with the meat and chunks of peppers on top. And walah! We had our name!

This recipe is extremely easy to make and perfect for Halloween night! Between getting home from work and getting the kids dressed up for trick or treating, you can throw this in the oven and in 20 minutes you have a healthy dinner to feed your family before getting out the door. What you will need is brown rice, ground turkey, multicolored peppers, an onion, and cheese. 

Cook the brown rice according to the package instructions. I made 4 servings of rice. You are going to want enough to cover the bottom of your pan. Next, in a skillet I drizzled olive oil and tossed in the chopped onion and 1/2 of a red pepper and 1/2 of a yellow pepper, just to give it more color. I sauteed the onions and peppers for a few minutes. Then I added in the ground turkey meat. Stir occasionally until cooked all the way. I like to use my stirring spoon and chop the meat into smaller pieces that way is spread evenly over the rice. Having big chunks of meat won't do the trick. 

Once the ground turkey is cooked I add in my taco seasoning and dried cilantro. Stir and let simmer for 2-3 minutes to allow for the meat to soak up the flavors, then remove from heat. Your kitchen will smell delicious by this point!

Using a 9x13 pan spread the rice out evenly on the bottom of the pan. Next, layer the turkey meat on top of the rice. If you are planning on eating this graveyard taco bake the same night as you are making it the next step is to top with a Mexican cheese blend and throw it in the oven for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. If you are prepping this meal the night before, allow the dish to cool before covering with aluminum foil and putting it in the fridge. When you are ready to bake it, remove the aluminum foil, top with cheese, and place it in the over for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. 

Serve with warm tortilla on the side and some roasted vegetables. Optional topping include: salsa, greek yogurt (or sour cream), jalapenos, extra cheese, avocado, etc. Serve immediately and enjoy! 

Ingredients:

1 package of ground turkey meat (or ground beef or shredded chicken)
2 cups of brown rice 
1/2 yellow pepper
1/2 red pepper
1 small onion
2 tbsp of olive oil
1 cup of Mexican cheese blend
2 tbsp dried cilantro
1 packet of McCormicks taco seasoning
Additional toppings. 

Directions:

1) Place skillet over medium heat with olive oil. Dice onions and peppers and add to skillet. Stir occasionally.
2) After 5 minutes, or until onions & peppers become translucent, add in the turkey meat. Stir frequently and use your stirring spoon to break up clumps of turkey meat. You want the meat to be in small pieces, kind of like Taco Bells' meat (don't worry this is just for visual purposes!).
3) Boil water according to the package instructions of rice to water ratio for cooking your brown rice. Follow the cooking instructions on the box.
4) Once rice is done, spread the rice out evenly on the bottom of your pan. Next, layer the meat mixture on top of the rice. Allow dish to cool before covering with aluminum foil and placing in the fridge.

On the day you are ready to bake this, preheat oven to 350. Top the dish with cheese and place in oven for 20 minutes. Serve with any additional toppings and serve immediately!

Recommendations:

~I found taco bake to be a little dry, due to the rice soaking up the moisture, top with a jar of salsa before placing in the oven, or while cooking the meat add a jar of salsa.
~Another idea is cover the bottom of the pan with a large can of refried beans, then layer the rice on top, and then finish by layering on the meat mixture. 
~If you want to make this dish scarier, cut gravestones out of tortillas. Bake on a sheet in the oven for 10 minutes at 350, or until edges are brown. Before serving stick the tortillas into the dish as if it was an actual graveyard. 

I hoped you enjoyed this healthy recipe countdown to Halloween! Thanks for following along and have a spooky evening!

Gluten Free Protein Pumpkin Pancakes

Halloween Themed Recipe #6- Countdown to Halloween!

There is nothing better than waking up on a Saturday morning and making pancakes, am I right?!

A few weekends ago one of my girlfriends, Annie, was in visiting from out of town. Whenever I have friends over I always like to make a fun and delicious breakfast, one because I am Italian and that is how my mom taught me to entertain and two because I like to make elaborate breakfasts on the weekend. 

So we started prepping everything. Before I go on any further I should preclude that my friend Annie doesn't cook a lot nor does she know how to cook {these are her words not mine!} so it was fun teaching her how to make pancakes. We made the batter and I showed her how to make pancakes on the stove. We were making chocolate chip pancakes for her and my boyfriend.  

Funny Story. About halfway through cooking the pancakes I had to use the restroom and I knew the pancakes were going to need to be flipped, remember she doesn't really know how to cook. So she says excitedly "go ahead! I will watch the pancakes." I had this overwhelming sense on panic because all I could think was "oh my gosh she doesn't know how to flip the pancakes...they are going to get ruined!" But I walked away and let her do her thing. A few seconds later I hear "Uh oh!" and then an excited scream. So I rushed back into the kitchen only to find that she accidentally flipped one of the pancakes on top of another one, but she had also successfully flipped her first pancake. It was a great moment :-) 

While the pancakes were finishing up I realized I wanted to try and make a batch of healthy pumpkin pancakes. So I threw some ingredients together and hoped it worked! Which it did by the way and that is how you have come to be blessed with this delicious recipe!

Gluten Free Protein Pumpkin Pancakes

Ingredients:

3 tablespoon of Libby's Pumpkin Puree
1 egg
1 scoop of Vanilla Shakeology
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 dashes of pumpkin pie spice

Directions:

1) Whisk all ingredients together until everything is wet.
2) Set skillet on stove top and turn dial to medium heat. Spray pan with cooking spray.
3) Using a small serving ladle make 3 silver dollar size pancakes.
4) Cook 2 minutes on each side or until edges begin to bubble. Repeat process until all the badder is gone.

Recipe should yield 6-8 silver dollar pancakes. Serve with fresh fruit, a little maple syrup, or pumpkin butter! 

Pumpkin Coffee Swirl Smoothie

Halloween Themed Recipe #5- Countdown to Halloween


I love having smoothies for breakfast. It's quick, it's easy, it's simple. 

I don't have a lot of time in the morning to make a nice breakfast, as I am assuming many of you reading this are in the same boat! I can throw everything in a blender and in less than 5 minutes I have a delicious breakfast. 

Since it is fall time I use a lot of pumpkin puree in my recipes. Costco sells big cans of Libby's Pumpkin Puree in packs of 3, which definitely last me through the season. Now when you buy pumpkin puree make sure it is the real stuff (like Libby's) and not just pumpkin pie filling. The pumpkin pie filling can have extra sugar and preservatives in it compared to the pure puree. 

One of the ingredients I love adding to my smoothies is cold coffee because I am able to get my caffeine for the day without adding the flavored creamer or half and half, which equates to extra calories. Another ingredient I add to my morning smoothies is a nutrient dense protein powder called Shakeology. It is packed with my daily dose of vitamins, minerals, fruits, and vegetables. By adding it to my smoothie it helps me stay fuller longer throughout the day as well as makes my smoothie more substantial.

The Pumpkin Coffee Swirl Smoothie was created on a morning when I couldn't make up my mind of what to put in my smoothie, I know we have all been there before! I wanted to add coffee, pumpkin puree, chocolate Shakeology, Vanilla Shakeology....so I decided why not throw it all together?! And that is exactly what I did. 

And the Pumpkin Coffee Swirl Smoothie was born.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of iced coffee (I use Starbucks brand)*

1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk

1/2 scoop Chocolate Shakeology**

1/2 scoop Vanilla Shakeology**

1/4 cup Libby's Pumpkin Puree

1/2 banana (not pictured)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Dash of cinnamon

Add everything into the blender along with 4-6 ice cubes. Blend until smooth. Pour into your favorite cup and whalah! You have an amazingly nutritious breakfast!

*Starbucks iced coffee can be swapped for any cold coffee. Do NOT add hot coffee to the smoothie, it will cause the smoothie to not blend smoothly.

** If you do not have Shakeology this can be swapped with any protein powder you have at home, although I do have to say it might not be as delicious! Or if you don't like protein powder you can omit it all together!

Happy Blending!

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

Halloween Themed Recipe #4- Countdown to Halloween!

I love pumpkin. I love chocolate. Putting the two together seemed like a no brainier.

There is no doubt pumpkin season is here and in full swing. Everyone is looking for their next best pumpkin recipe, well no need to look any further. You have found it. Right here, on this page.

This bread is moist, chocolaty, and will cure any sweet tooth you have. There is mounds of chocolate chips in every bite. It is not overly sweet though, it is the perfect balance of sweet. Anytime you add pumpkin to a baked good you can guarantee it will come out moist and fluffy due to the nature of pumpkin.

Have a slice for breakfast, an afternoon snack, or even a late night dessert before bed! {That is usually when I op for it haha} I love warming up my slice and topping it with creamy peanut butter, butter, or homemade pumpkin butter, that way the topping melts all over the bread and I get the flavor in every.single.bite. <3 

This recipe takes less than 10 minutes to get in the oven..it just depends on how fast you add the ingredients! Don't let the long ingredients list overwhelm you! Let's get cooking!

*For a clean version of this bread, look for the substitutes next to the ingredients in blue.

Yields: About 10 slices. Prep Time: 5-10 Minutes. Cook Time: 50-55 Minutes Total Time: 75 Minutes

Ingredients: 

1 large egg (1 banana)

1 cup pumpkin puree (Libby's works best!)

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed (substitute maple syrup)

1/4 cup granulated sugar (substitute applesauce)

1/4 cup of greek yogurt (vanilla yogurt works great too!)

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (substitute whole wheat flour or almond flour)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Dash of salt 

2 cups chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Take a stick of butter and grease the inside of the pan. Use your hand to spread the butter evenly, covering all the sides and bottom of the pan. Add 1 heaping spoonful of flour to the pan, shaking it around until it sticks to the butter. Dump the excess flour.

2. In a large bowl, add the first 10 ingredients and whisk to combine.

3. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir to combine.

4. Slowly add the powdered ingredients into the wet pumpkin mixture. Stir until combined, but don't over mix.

5. Add the chocolate chips. Stir to combine.

6. Pour the batter into your prepared bread pan. Sprinkle top with cinnamon.

7. Bake for 50-55 minutes. The top should be domed and a golden brown color. Double check by sticking a toothpick or fork in the middle, if it comes out clean the bread is done. If mixture sticks to it, bake it for another 2-3 minutes. If the edges of the bread look too brown, cover lightly with aluminum foil.

8. Allow bread to cool for 10 to 15 minutes before slicing and serving. Store bread in an airtight container. 

Candy Corn Bark

Halloween Recipe #3- Countdown to Halloween!!

Remember when I said I was going to make healthy Halloween recipes and I put in parenthesis next to it that MOST of them would be? Well.....this is one of the exceptions!

I love baking. A lot more than I used to. My love of baking interferes with my desire to stay healthy. :-) So what do I do with everything I bake?? I take it to work with me of course!!! My co-workers love it and it means I don't have to eat all of the baked goods. But on a serious note, I love baking and taking it into work, people get so excited and I feel like it brightens their day! Try it! 

Anyway, this recipe is SUPER EASY to make! I love this recipe because you can make it so many different ways and even coordinate the toppings with the holiday or season you are in. Cook time is probably about 5 minutes and then you stick it in the freezer for a few hours.

Supplies:

You will need a baking sheet with a rim, wax paper, milk chocolate chips, candy corn, and orange frosting (preferably the kind that is in a tube with a point so you can drizzly it over the chocolate like in the above picture). 

Directions:

1) Melt 2 cups of chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl for 45 seconds. Stir chocolate with a spatula. If it's not melted all the way microwave for another 15 seconds and stir again. Continue until chocolate is melted, but you shouldn't need to do it more than twice.

2) While chocolate is melting, lay wax (parchment) paper on baking sheet. Overlap 2 pieces to cover the whole pan, but don't have the pieces overlap in the middle to prevent chocolate from seeping through.

3) Once chocolate is melted, pour onto covered baking sheet and spread evenly over pan with a spatula. You may need to hold the wax paper while you do this since the paper will move around since it's not attached to anything (Make sure you move fast before the chocolate cools!).

4) After you spread out the chocolate to your desired thickness, top with candy corn and drizzle with frosting!*

5) Pop the whole tray in the freezer for 2 hours. Then break into pieces! You can make the pieces as big or small as you want. I used the handle of a metal knife to help break up the pieces so I wasn't manhandling the chocolate!

**You can modify this recipe by adding whatever toppings you want, such as nuts, peanut butter, pretzels, and other assorted candies. You can even use dark chocolate or white chocolate for the base if you want.**

Enjoy and Happy almost Halloween!!

Sweet Potato Witches Fingers

Halloween Recipe #2- Countdown to Halloween!

As I looked on to what I had pulled out for dinner I thought "How can I possibly make ANY of this Halloween-ish?!" I had talapia, green beans, and a sweet potato in front on me.... 

And then it hit me! Sweet Potato Witch Fingers! Witches are known to have pointy nails, so if I can cut this potato into fries and then give them a pointy tip to resemble witches pointy finger nails I could be in luck!

Instructions:

Step One- Preheat oven to 350. Wash and dry the sweet potato.

Step Two- Cut the ends of the potato so it can sit on the cutting board without falling over.

Step Three- Cut the potato into slices approximately 1/2 inch thick. Make sure the potato is vertical so you can make the fries long.

Step Four- Cut the potato slices into thirds. Then use your knife to add a point to the top of the fry (see picture to the left). You will take a little off each side of the top.*

*Waste Alert!-Don't throw away those little pieces of potato. Throw them on the pan to cook or save them to mix in with a breakfast scramble.

Step 5- Drizzle olive oil (or coconut oil) over the fries and whatever seasonings you would like. I topped mine with chili powder to add some kick! Cook for 25 minutes. 

Step Six- Once done, allow to cool for several minutes. 

Step Seven- Place wax paper in a cup and stack the witches fingers inside, almost as if they are coming out of the cup, and serve with your favorite dipping sauce!




P.S. Stay tuned as I bring more healthy Halloween recipes your way over the next 5 days!

Stuffed Peppers Halloween Style

Halloween Recipe #1- Countdown to Halloween!

I can't believe Halloween will be here in ONE week! Once Halloween comes Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years will soon follow, but lets take it one holiday at a time.

As we anticipate Halloween and all of the fun activities that go along with it, trick-or-treat, costumes, candy, pumpkin baked good....we can sometimes lose sight of how much sugar we are in taking! For the next 7 nights leading up to Halloween I will be doing a mini-series of fun and healthy (for the most part!) Halloween/Fall recipes! Tonight is the first recipe, so you are in for a real treat!

Getting in the spooky spirit of things I decided to make dinner a little fun tonight by carving peppers, yes...peppers! Peppers resemble pumpkins in a lot of ways; 1) they are both weird shaped, 2) you have to cut the tops off to scoop the gunk out, and 3) you can carve them.

This is a kid-friendly recipe! However, it is best to have the grown-up carve the faces, but ask the kids what kind of face they want on their stuffed pepper. Getting kids involved in the kitchen is one of the best things a parent can do, not only is it quality bonding time, but it's never too early to teach them how to cook! 

First step is to pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. While the oven is heating, in a large pan combine ground turkey, black beans, corn, salsa, chili powder, cumin, black pepper, taco seasoning, and lime juice. Cover and let simmer. I added a spicier salsa and a good amount of cumin to make the mixture spicy and flavorful. Add spice according to your taste buds.

The next step is going to be to carve the peppers! Cut the tops and set to the side (do not discard). Cut out the white lining and seeds, but be careful not to cut all the way through the bottom of the pepper. Next, take a small sharp knife with a pointed tip and carefully carve faces. 

Once the mixture is done remove from heat and stir. Allow to cool for a few minutes. Next stuff peppers to the top. Use a slotted spoon so drain the liquid from the mixture before stuffing to prevent liquid from running out of the carved pepper. Place stuffed peppers in a bread pan sprayed with cooking spray. Cover with aluminium foil. Cook in oven for 30 minutes. Pull from oven and top with Colby Jack shredded cheese (or whatever kind of shredded cheese you like!) and bake uncovered for 3-5 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

Plate peppers for serving. If you want to make it look like they are "throwing up" (like on the left) then scoop out some of the mixture and set aside before topping the peppers with cheese.

This meal can stand alone or feel free to serve a side salad or brown rice on the side!

If you are following the 21 Day Fix Portion Control Containers this is 1 red, 1 green, 1 yellow, and 1/2 blue. (Not including any side dishes).


Ingredients:

4 medium peppers (red, yellow, orange, or green)
2 tsp of olive oil
2lbs ground turkey
1 tsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp black pepper
1 cup canned black beans (drained & rinsed)
1 cup corn kennels (I used frozen corn, but canned would work fine too)
1 tbsp lime juice
1 cup shredded Colby Jack cheese

Directions:

1. Pre-Heat overn to 375 degrees
2. Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan over medium heat
3. Cut tops off of peppers and set to the side. Clean out the pepper of all seeds and white rind
4. Carefully carve faces into each pepper (Remember, let the kids help!)
5. Once mixture is done fill peppers to the top and place in an olive oil sprayed pan
6. Cover pan with aluminum foil and cook for 30 minutes
7. After the 30 minutes, remove the aluminum foil and top with cheese. Cook for another 3-5 minutes or until cheese is melted
8. Serve and Enjoy!

Have a Spooky Halloween!

The Masters Hammer & Chisel Review: Week 1

Oh ...
My...
Gosh...


That was my reaction after my workout everyday this week. 

The Masters Hammer & Chisel is a brand new workout program from Beachbody that features Autumn Calabrese and Sagi Kalev as the trainers. All I can say is they mean business. This program was not designed to be easy, but as a program for those who want to challenge themselves or need a new "extreme" workout. The workouts range 25-45 minutes and utilize hand weights, a chin up bar or resistance band w/door attachment, and a workout bench or a stability ball.

I have been using a stability ball, since I can;t fit a workout bench in my apartment, free weights, and a resistance band w/ door attachment. They have all been working great for me.

This was the first weeks schedule:
Monday- Chisel Balance
Tuesday- Hammer Plyometrics
Wednesday- Iso Strength Chisel
Thursday- REST DAY
Friday- Iso Speed Hammer
Saturday- Chisel Endurance
Sunday- Total Body Hammer + 10 Minute Abs

By Wednesday Morning my lower body was hurting. My legs, buns, and thighs were very fatigued, however I still worked out on Wednesday. I was sore enough to tell my body had been working different muscles the past two days, but no sore enough that if I did my workout I would cause harm to my body. 

After my workout Wednesday I drank Beachbody Performance Line Recover to help my muscles recover faster during my rest day and so that I would still be able to walk up the stairs and not have to awkwardly lower myself to the toilet seat. :-) (we've all been there!)

Having a rest day in the middle of my workout week was something new for me. A lot of program I have done before rest day or recovery day was on Sunday. But I think they did a good job of placing the rest day on Thursday because as I said earlier this program IS difficult.

Overall, I really, really like this program. I have completed the 21 Day Fix Extreme and Insanity Max 30 prior to starting this program because I wanted to make sure I was not signing myself up for something I would fail at. Each day I press play and keep an open mind for my workout. I know it is going to be hard but I don't wan to tell myself that because I am setting myself up for defeat.

Mind over Matter.
Hussle and have Heart.

If you are considering trying this program I hoped this review helped and if you want me details please feel free to get in touch :-) 

XOXO
Ashley