Baked Veggie Spring Rolls

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 cups of green cabbage, finely chopped
• 2 cups of beans sprouts, or 1 can
• 1 can of water chestnuts, chopped
• 2 Tbsp green onions, chopped
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 2 Tbsp liquid aminos, (or soy sauce)
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 package egg roll wraps
• Duck sauce or Sweet and Sour sauce for dipping

In a large skillet heat olive oil over medium heat, add cabbage, bean sprouts, water chestnuts, ginger, and garlic.  Cook for 5-8 minutes or until wilted, but still slightly crisp.  Meanwhile mix cool water, soy sauce, and cornstarch together until cornstarch is dissolved.  Add green onions and sauce to the pan and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and stir continuously until sauce thickens 1-2 minutes.  Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.







Place two Tbsp of mixture in the center of a wrap.  Fold the bottom corner up over the filling.  Next fold the left and right corners towards the center.  Finish by rolling up like a burrito.

Heat oven to 400*.  Spray baking sheet with cooking spray. Place rolls on a baking sheet and spray with a coat of cooking spray.  Bake 8-10 minutes and then turn them over.  Bake an additional  5-7 minutes, or until golden brown.  Serve with your favorite dipping sauce.

Coconut Lime Chicken

Coconut Lime Chicken

Ingredients:

• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts-cut in half
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• zest of 1 lime
• 1 tsp cumin
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce (or liquid aminos)
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 3/4 cup canned coconut milk
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 serrano pepper, finely minced (remove seeds) 
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro 

Whisk all ingredients except chicken and cilantro together in a large bowl.  Place chicken in a large ziploc bag and add the marinade making sure chicken is covered.  Allow to sit a few hours in the fridge or overnight.  

To bake: Preheat oven to 350* .  Place chicken and marinade in a glass dish and cover in foil.  Bake 25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.  Serve with sauce spooned over top, sprinkle with cilantro and fresh lime juice. 

Grilling: I think this recipe would be great on the grill.  Simply grill the chicken and boil the remaining marinade on the stovetop to make it safe for eating. (or prepare extra marinade for this purpose)  

Original Recipe from Menu Musings 

Light Shepard's Pie with Cauliflower Mash

Meat mixture ingredients

·         1 lb ground meat (turkey, beef, venison)

·         ½ cup broth of choice

·         ½ cup onion, minced

·         About two cups of veggies, I used frozen onion, celery, carrot mix because I had a bag open, peas(leftover), and mushrooms (needed eaten)

·         1tsp minced garlic

·         Seasonings to taste: I used salt, pepper, & dill

·         1 Tbs cornstarch (or potato starch or flour)

   

Cauliflower “mashed potatoes” ingredients

·         ½ head cauliflower

·         ¼ cup cottage cheese

·         2 Tbs broth (or to get desired texture)

·         1 tsp minced garlic

·         ½ tsp dill

·         ½ tsp thyme

·         Onion powder

·         Salt

·         Pepper

Directions for meat:

• Brown meat in skillet and drain grease.
• Add garlic and other seasonings
• Mix cool broth and cornstarch together in a small bowl until dissolved, add to meat and heat until bubbling
•  Add veggies and cook until onion is clear and veggies are soft.
• Place meat in the bottom of a 9x11” pan

Directions for cauliflower:

•  Break cauliflower into small pieces and cook in boiling water until soft (can use broth to add extra flavor)
•  Place soft cauliflower and all other ingredients in a food processer and blend until smooth. 
• Taste, I am terrible at following recipes and just dump things in until I like how it tastes.  Add more seasonings, broth, etc. to adjust to your liking
•  Spread cauliflower mash on top of meat
• garnish with cheese and green onions (optional)

Bake @ 350* for about 20 minutes or until cheese and cauliflower is bubbling

Can easily be made the night before and put in the oven for a fast dinner.  Next time I am going to make a double batch and put one in the freezer! 

The beginning of my journey to a better me!

I am a stay at home mom of a 3 year old boy and 8 month old girl with a college degree and a teaching licence expiring in a drawer somewhere.  I never planned on being a stay at home mommy but love getting to watch my kiddos grow and learn each day.  However, being stuck at home with two kids who don't care about how I look I started to form some really bad habits.  It started small, not getting dressed in the morning, no hair, no makeup.  Sweatpants all day.  No one to see me eat little debbies for breakfast.  Chips and chocolate chips for a daily snack.  Pepsi as my beverage of choice. I became a couch and floor potato.  I continued to wear my maternity jeans to avoid buying bigger regular jeans.  I used having two babies as an excuse for the extra jiggle I wasn't so proud of.  I let myself go.  I felt pretty crappy about myself.  My life was dedicated to my kids and I wasn't taking care of myself.  Worse, these bad habits that I thought no one could see, my son,who was no longer a baby, was taking notice.  He wanted chips and cookies too.  I needed to do something.

After seeing a friend transform her body and lifestyle by doing T25 I reached out to her to ask how she did it.  She invited me to try shakeology, purchase a workout program through her, and join an accountability group on Facebook.  It sounded too expensive and gimmicky to me so I declined and decided I could do it on my own.  I bought a workout set on Amazon and started working out in my living room. I failed miserably.  I didn't put a lot of effort into my workout, got bored and quit.  I continued eating junky snacks and having coffee for breakfast.

I felt really bad about myself, not just unhappy with my post baby body, but aggravated that I lacked the initiative and perseverance to improve it.  So, I reached out to that friend again and jumped on the Beachbody bandwagon. I made a 60 day commitment to workout every day and drink shakeology. Why was it different than doing it alone?  I joined that accountability Facebook group.

 My challenge group was full of women just like me, they were busy moms and working professionals unhappy with their bodies.  We all set goals for ourselves on day one and shared a little about ourselves.  We measured and weighed ourselves and took our before pictures.  To make it official I emailed those pictures to my coach, Renee Schopmeyer, the women who helped start my journey.  That is a scary thing. To put your body on "film" so to speak, for others to see your imperfections can be intimidating but also very motivating.  I wanted her to be able to see a difference after 30 days, she would know if I slacked off!  The group did not just focus on working out, but changing your eating habits and water intake.  More goals of the group were to plan out yours meals and snacks each week and drink half your body weight in ounces of water.  The focus was on clean eating and having regular snacks, not counting calories or starving yourself.

 Each day I checked in with the group.  There was an assignment each day: post a sweaty selfie, share a struggle you are having, post a pic of your healthy snack, etc.  Small things.  The women in my group were so inspiring.  Doing double workouts, running miles at a time, shedding inches.  It was sooo motivating for me!  These people were strangers to me but I got to be a part of their journey and they were a huge part in mine.  Feeling down? Post it in the group and receive five posts telling me to keep going and that I could do it! And I did do it!

Here are my before and after pics after only 30 days!

I lost 9 pounds and several inches.  I fit into all of my pre-baby jeans.  I had more energy and felt better about myself than I had in a long time. In 30 Days!  It only took 25 minutes a day!  

After 60 day I lost a total of 13 lbs. and way over 14 inches (I didn't do all the correct measurements at the beginning.) I lost 4 inches just from my waist!  For the first since high school the weight on my licence is actually true!

My challenge group is over and I am going to start doing Piyo next.  To keep myself accountable I am becoming a coach myself and putting my story out there for everyone to see. 

My goal is to help motivate at least one other person to change their life for the better.  If I can do it so can you!