Update, and Turkey Meatball Recipe

Sooo I've been slacking on the blog front. Things have been pretty busy for my little family (little family....of seven?) I suppose. Here's a quick summary of what has kept me mostly outdoors and away from my blog!

We got a mini-donkey, named Pablo. He's just the funniest little guy ever. I love him. I typically blog during my kids' naptime but that has become our bonding time. I would say he has been my biggest "blogstraction." He is a good source of exercise too, let me tell you! Carrying 5 gallon buckets of water to his stall, fetching bales of hay, not to mention wrangling him. He is a fun addition that our whole family loves.

 

 

I also went through our shed and dug up a few things we haven't been using: ie, jogging stroller, inversion table, p90x. I sold those things and used the money to buy..... NEW MOUNTAIN BIKES for me and the hubby. And also a bike trailer to pull my little two girls. Now I can go on bike rides with all the girls, even if Jason isn't home. It has been so fun (and HARDER than I remembered) to ride, especially with my love. 

 

 

My diet has been going great, and I'm so thrilled to have been spending time outdoors with my kids being active, as weather permits. I'm down 8 pounds since Christmas, as of my last weigh in. Tonight I'll be trying a turkey meatball recipe by Bob Harper (thanks Holly for sharing) along with wheat spaghetti and broccoli.

 

 

Bob Harper Turkey Meatballs

20	oz Extra Lean Ground Turkey Breast
3	pieces Garlic Cloves
0.25	cup chopped raw Vidalia Onion
0.5	tsp Salt, Table
0.5	dash Pepper, Black
0.25	tablespoon Oregano
1	large Egg, Whole
1/2	cup Brown Rice

 

Mix all ingredients together and shape into 1" meatballs. Generously coat skillet w/ olive oil spray and cook 5-6 minutes turning throughout.

 

For 1/4 of the meatballs here is the nutritional info:

Calories- 210

Fat- 3.5g

Carbs- 9.6

Protein- 34.9

 

Let me know if you try it too!! Later ya'll!



 

Recipe- White Chili

Tonight we are having what has become one of our favorite colder weather meals. We just call it white chili. I also make a really good deer chili that I'll share soon, but for this one I use ground turkey. I sat down to crunch the numbers for the nutritional information so hopefully this is right. Ha. It's easy to make and high in protein and fiber. I estimate this makes about 10 cups, so each "serving"is a cup. This is a recipe I first got from my friend Courtney, not sure the original source but it has been modified a little. It's really easy, and can be as mild or spicy as you like it. I prefer it to be so hot that Jason cries and my nose runs, but that's just me.

Ingredients:
- Ground Turkey, I bought the 93% lean package that was 1.25 pounds
- 3 cans great northern beans
- 1 can low sodium chicken broth
- 1 medium white onion, diced
- 2 4oz cans of diced green chilis (one of my favorite ingredients ev-ar)
- 2 cloves of garlic, diced
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- ground cayenne to taste
- crushed red peppers (optional, to taste)
- salt to taste

Directions:
Cook the turkey, onions, garlic, and green chilis until the onions are tender and the turkey is cooked well. Add the beans, broth, and spices. Slowly add cayenne and crushed red peppers until it's to your liking. Then add a little more, for me.

Here's the nutritional break down, per 1 cup serving:
177 calories
20 g protein
6.5 g fiber
1.2 g fat

Delicious and nutritious? I think so. If you try this, let me know what you think!

Buy This, NOT That

Alright, time to look at our grocery spending. Have you ever said to yourself or anyone else "I can't afford to eat healthy"? I have! And I hear it all the time. We are quick to spend money on fast food or trash food, especially when we are in a hurry. Check out these comparisons from spark people to see what you can buy instead. You absolutely CAN eat well for little. But if you leave the decision of "what's for dinner" until you're on your way home at the end of a busy day, I'm gonna guess you'll be getting dinner from a window. SO. Take a minute. Plan your menu. Go to the grocery store. Your body will thank you for it! And maybe, JUUUUUST MAYBE, so will your wallet.

Recipe- "Monster Meatloaf"

Thank you Angie for this recipe, and for introducing me to Jamie Eason's other recipes. You can find the original post of this meatloaf here.
 
This recipe yields 24 servings, so it is ideal to make at the beginning of the week and heat up for lunch, or to eat more than once for dinner, or even freeze. For anyone who is focusing on a diet high in lean protein, low in fat, this is a winner. FIFTEEN grams of protein per serving. Less than one gram of fat. We will be having this ASAP.
 
Here ya go! If you try it let me know what you think. Eat it with a big salad or some roasted veggies. Yum.
 

Jamie's Monster Meatloaf Recipe

(by Jamie Eason, www.bodybuilding.com)

Nutrition Facts:

Makes 24 servings
Single serving = 83 calories, .7 g fat, 3 g carbs, 15 g protein

Ingredients: 

• 1 12-oz package chopped onions and peppers, thawed (or 1 - 1 1/2 cup fresh)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp minced garlic (or paste)
• 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 tsp tomato paste (no salt added)
• 3 lbs extra-lean ground turkey (or chicken breast)
• 1 cup quick cooking oats
• 4 egg whites
• 1 cup reduced sugar ketchup (no high fructose corn syrup)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and prep a 9-by-13 Pyrex dish with non-stick spray. In a large sauté pan, cook the onions and peppers with salt, pepper and thyme until onions are translucent (about 5 minutes). Next, add garlic, soy sauce, chicken broth and tomato paste, mixing until heated through. Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, combine ground turkey, egg whites, oats and sautéed mixture (cooled). Mix by hand until all incorporated and press flat into the 9-by-13 prepared Pyrex dish.

Spread ketchup in an even layer on top of the prepared turkey and place in the oven to bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Cut into 6 rows of 4.

Makes 24 servings

 

 

#1 Struggle

This is the MOST difficult thing for me. To not snack because I'm bored or pop something in my mouth simply because it's there. I'm doing better each day. : ) What holds you back?

Today's Nutrition

Part of the purpose of this blog is to give you ideas for meals and snacks. Almost all the new people who sign up want to know what we eat "besides shakes."

It's really easy once you get started. I could be more creative with it too, but get in a rut.

Today's morning shake: Apple Pie. Recipe is listed on the blog from Friday 1/4/13.

Morning snack: 3 boiled eggs, sans the yolks. 1/2 apple. And TEA. (Have I told you lately I love my tea?)

Lunch shake:

White Chocolate Strawberry
- 8 oz  water, 8 oz ice
- 2 scoops Vanilla Meal Replacement Mix
- 1 scoop Vanilla Protein Drink Mix
- 2 tsp sugar free strawberry jello
- a little dump of white chocolate sugar free instant pudding

Ta-DA! Really really good. I usually make this with cheesecake pudding but was out, the white chocolate was tasty. Betcha we have this one again for breakfast tomorrow.

Afternoon snack: Greek yogurt with granola and TEA.

Dinner:
Grilled chicken
Fresh spinach (sauteed in a little olive oil)*
Sweet potato fries
Rice for the kiddos and hubby

*I'm really trying to cook veggies from raw more often instead of using frozen or canned. We have had fresh broccoli and cauliflower so far this week, both roasted.

There you have it! Do you have any healthy recipes to share? Post them in comments or email it to me and I'll include it in an upcoming post!

Meet the Men!

Alright, so there are tons of before/after pics floating around that attribute success to Herbalife. Tons. Amazing weight losses, or muscle gain, diabetes and other health problems resolving, etc. But these pictures are not random ones I snatched off the "Google-machine." I wanted to highlight a couple of busy working men who have had success on Herbalife products... drum roll...

Introducing my handsome hubby, Jason. These pictures show a 21 pound weight loss which happened from early June to late August. He has put some back on since then (ackhem, thanks fast food), but is now losing again. I love this picture. I think weight loss shows most in the face. He did this using the products I described in my "The Basic Line-Up" post from January 1st. He knows what to do to get back to where he was and beyond. So stay tuned for more progress.



Introducing....Malcolm. Hubby of my friend and fellow Herbalife distributor, Christina. This picture shows his results after 7 days. Yes, you heard me, seven days. He drank one shake a day, two teas, and took Cell Activator and Cell-U-Loss. He was also able to kick a soda habit. This is even after just using products, before he started working out. Amazing.

 

Both these men are in thier mid-30's. They work long hours. Malcolm and Christina have four children, Jason and I have five. Both men are losing weight even while working busy jobs.

So you see, Herbalife isn't just for women. And it isn't unaffordable. It can work for the average American family, even on a single income. How? Here's how it works for me. I signed up to be an Herbalife Distributor for $68.00 so I could better afford products thanks to the automatic 25% discount (Anyone can become a "VIP Customer" by paying to sign up. You get 25% off, can order for yourself, and still get advice and coaching. You don't ever have to sell a thing to anyone else.) It paid for itself after one order. However, I quickly discovered a passion for the products that were changing my health. People started asking me questions and wanting to try it too. I quickly decided to start selling products from home (while raising my kids). I love helping people get healthy! This is almost exactly how it went with Christina and Malcolm too. The discounted products we are able to purchase plus what we earn from our sales has made this journey not only affordable for us but profitable. Losing weight and helping others, including our own spouses. Love it!

Contact me for more information on how to get yourself or your family started on Herbalife, or for more information about the business opportunity. Don't forget to check out Christina's Blog too!

Later ya'll.

A Series of Good Decisions, Strung Together

Hey all you healthy people! Happy Friday. It's now the fourth day of this year of our Lord. Have you taken any steps to make this your healthiest year yet? I've seen lots of people making changes, from modifying current favorite meals to include fewer calories, to cutting out caffiene, hitting the gym, and of course, my favorite, deciding to try Herbalife. I hear a lot of skepticism around whether new years resolutions are made into life changes. I, however, choose to instead be optomistic. You can do it. We can do it. There is no better time than today, and YES, the change can last. How? There's no magical formula other than taking it a day at a time, pound at a time, workout at a time, glass of water at a time... you get the picture. Progress is just a series of good decisions strung together. And repeated. : )


So with that said, here is what today looks like for Jason and me.

Breakfast: Apple Pie Shake (Jason calls it "Apple Spice and Everything Nice" Lol!)
It's one of our favorite blends.
For each shake I add
-8 oz water
-8 oz ice
-1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 scoops of Vanilla Meal Replacement Mix
-1 to 2 scoops of Vanilla Protein Drink Mix
- A few shakes of cinnamon
- Dash of vanilla extract

Snack: Apple and almonds

Lunch: Jason will have another apple pie shake since I make his in the morning and send it in a lunch box, I'll have banana cream pie. OH YUM. Apparently it's pie shake day? Recipe another time.

Snack: Greek yogurt and granola. (Jason has a protein bar)

Dinner: Spaghetti (made with lean ground deer meat and wheat noodles), roasted broccoli, and the kids will have garlic bread. Check out my favorite Roasted Broccoli recipe , it's sooooooo good! I add minced garlic to the broccoli prior to roasting and leave the shallots out, and just squeeze some lemon over it afterwards.

So there's the basic plan! Later ya'll.

Amy

The Basic Line-Up

Happy New Year!! Are you among the people who have decided since we are now safely out of the "pie zone" it's time to crack down on losing some extra stuffing? Jason and I started back on our strict Herbalife regimen on Dec. 28th. I packed on 5, yes 5, pounds during our two week Christmas feast fest. As of this morning, 4 of those are gone. I LOVE YOU HERBALIFE. I've been really encouraged by the number of people who are already dedicated to better health this year.

I think today is a good opportunity to go over some of the basics. For any of you considering Herbalife as your "plan of action" for 2013, here are the core products we use every day.

Supplements:
We take Cell Activator morning and evening to keep our digestive system clear of toxins and to help with nutritional absorption. And Cell-U-Loss to assist with water elimination, appearance of cellulite, and kidney health. There are lots of other great products too under the supplement category, but these are our two staples.

Shakes: We replace two meals a day with a shake. They are filling, tasty, and full of good for ya stuff. I add 8 oz liquid, 8 oz ice, two scoops of Healthy Meal and 1-2 scoops of Protein Drink Mix to each shake.

Herbal Tea Concentrate: I LOVE MY TEA. I can't be out of it or I'm very very sad. Ev'ry day I'm guzzlin'.... Oops. Sorry. Anyways, tea has replaced coffee and soda for me (for the most part). This stuff is great. Makes me feel like Super Mom.  I mix 1 tsp of our original flavor Herbal Tea Concentrate with 32 oz water and 1 Crystal Light packet, and drink 1-2 of those a day. Each serving of tea burns 80 calories thanks to its thermogenic properties. 

So there you have it. I'll be spotlighting other great products as we go, from cleanses to fiber to protein bars and aloe concentrate. If you want any more information or have questions feel free to contact me! Also if you are local to the greater OKC metro I'm taking orders today for delivery to you on Thursday. Have a great day and cheers to good health!