Ahhh...refreshing.

I am a huge water drinker, I always have been and for the most part stay away from soda, juices or flavored drinks. Although, I love water it gets old. Here is an easy trick to spruce it up but I still don't {want} do that often to make me feel fulfilled.

So, of course with the abundance of fruit and being summer and all..it's time for citrus, herbal and or fruit infused water. And I would love to have one of these pitchers to really do the trick!!

The other day I experimented with blueberry lemon water...D-lish!!! And of course, as always strawberry lemon water.

If your looking for a great alternative to plain water check out these infused water options:

Herbal  infused water

Citrus Water

Citrus Infused Spa water

Have you ever tried infused water, what's your favorite? Do share!!!

Have a foodilicious day!!

Favorite 5 (Gym edition)

We all know that part of living a healthy lifestyle is making sure that you are working out regularly. Since I love the gym and are an avid gymster, I thought it would be fun to repeat yesterday's post but revolving around the gym.

Here are my top favorite things I must have while at the gym

1) Body Spray. I make sure I have a small body spray in my little zipper pouch so that when I am done with my workout I walk out smelling like roses. Currently, I am loving this guy. 

2)Lip balm. No one likes chapped lips. Enough said.

3) Blackberry/Mp3. I don't know about y'all but I am not one of those let me workout while watching TV or I love to hear myself grunt kind of girl. I need my music. It energizes me, it makes me feel alive so if I have a dead Mp3 player or a low battery blackberry I am NOT a happy camper. I have been known to leave if I don't have my music.

4) Change purse. Just for the last minute water or energy drink runs.

5) Workout log. I like to write down my weights & progress if I am doing a new workout plan. It helps me keep on track. I don't have this one in particular, I get free notebooks through work so that's what I use.

 

So, tell me do you have a 5 gym favorites? Do share!!

Have a foodilicous day!!

Favorite 5

I am sure you are all wondering what my favorite 5 staples that I must have in my house at all times. Fine, you weren't wondering but I bet you are now since I mentioned it..ha ha!! See how my evil mind works.

Okay, unto my favorite must have foods.

1) Green Apples. They are good for the heart, taste good and are a naturally low in sugar. Love, Love!!

2) Chicken is a huge protein push in this house. We eat it at least 3 times for dinner and at least 4 or 5 times for lunch. I love it but sometimes it gets old. See what I mean.

3) Eggs. Eggs are a great source of protein. I make sure to eat eggs for breakfast everyday. I usually will only eat the whites as I am trying to build lean muscle. My normal breakfast

4) Oatmeal. And not the instant junk that you see on sale constantly, no the steel slow cooked variation. It's healthier on all accounts. Check out my recent discovery.

 

5)Almond milk or unsweetened Soy Milk. This is perfect for smoothies and protein shakes. Check out my protein power drink. Perfect for summer.

OPA!!!

Happy Monday!! I hope everyone had a fabulous Father's day!   For today's edition of Inspiration Monday I thought it would be yummy to do a Greek food theme.

Hope you enjoy these healthy dishes of the Greek descent.

Gyro

Greek Veggie Plate/hummus/pita bread

Greek Chicken w/Tzaziki

Mini Greek Salad Appetizer 

Simple tricks

I love eating fajitas and I am trying to eliminate or reduce the amount of enriched flour in my diet, so you tell me fajitas, reduced flour diet...hmmm, not the best combination.  So of course, what do I do  is use a big nice green romaine leaf. Yes, I am sure this isn't rocket science nor is the newest {or best} invention ever created but it works.

It has an interesting taste and it works okay to make sure that I can eat my fajitas. D-lish!!  A total calorie bust.

Tell me do you have a simple trick or calorie bust for fajitas to reduce caloric or dense nutrition?  Or any meal perhaps?

Not really vegetarian

On my menu plan I had decided to try a vegetarian recipe, normally I am always planning meat options to ensure that I am getting PLENTY of protein since we are "weight lifting" family. Since, I don't normally plan a vegetarian option I didn't really know what to make, but since I had purchased bell  peppers on sale  {And y'all know how I feel about a great food sale} I knew these would fit the bill for stuffed peppers. Although, I wanted to keep this a strictly meatless meal the recipe I found called for ground turkey. Awe well.

Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to take a picture of my final product but there is a pic of my prep work. However,  let me tell you mine looked NOTHING {when does it ever} like the picture below. Beautiful, for sure.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup wild rice
• 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cups onions, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 lb 99% lean ground turkey
• 2/3 cup low-sodium natural tomato juice
• 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
• 10 grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 4 assorted medium sweet bell peppers (red orange and yellow)
• 2 oz part-skim mozzarella 

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Bring rice and 2 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high. Reduce heat to medium, cover and continue to boil for 25 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, add oil and onions to a large sauté pan over medium-high. Saute onions for 2 minutes, then add garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Add turkey, juice and seasoning. Cook until turkey is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Add tomatoes and black pepper, cooking, covered, for 5 minutes. Preheat oven to 400°F.
3. Fill a large pot half-full with water and bring to a boil. Cut tops from bell peppers and remove all seeds. Add bell peppers and tops to water and return to a boil. Cook, covered, for 4 to 5 minutes or until tender. Remove bell peppers and dry on paper towel.
4. Drain rice and add to turkey mixture. In a glass dish, stand bell peppers and fill with turkey-rice mixture. Sprinkle with mozzarella and add bell pepper top. Bake for 15 minutes.

Clean Eating

 

Prep work

The flavor of this was d-lish!! However, the bell peppers were not cooked long enough, apparently it seems like I have a history of not cooking things long enough.   I would definitely try this again just cook the peppers longer and use quinoa or barley for the rice ingredient.

Have you tried your hand at stuffed bell peppers? Any good recipes to try?

Have a foodilicious day!!

Paleo Diet

Sometimes the best ideas need tweaking to perfect.  This is definitely to be said of this post. I decided to give this Paleo diet recipe a whirl. One of my good friends sent me this recipe and I thought it would be fun to try.  I am not a huge fan of enchiladas generally speaking {normally at a restaurant}, however I have made them myself {healthified, of course} and I love them. This time I decided to try them with cabbage instead.

Here is the recipe, I followed with a few exceptions, I used chicken not beef and NOTHING was organic. Hee hee....

Click here for the website

Ingredients

• 1 lb. Fresh Ground Grass Fed Ground Beef
• 1 Small Organic Onion, Chopped
• 1 Clove Organic Garlic, Crushed
• 1 tsp. Celtic Sea Salt
• 1 tsp. Fresh Ground Black Pepper
• 1 Recipe Easy Enchilada Sauce (see below)
• 1 Medium Head Organic Cabbage
• 2-4 Small Organic Avocado

Sauce

• 2 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Cold Pressed
• 2 Tbsp. Organic Chili Powder
• 1 c. Pacific Foods Organic Beef Broth
• 5 oz. Bionaturae Organic Tomato Paste
• 1/2 tsp. Organic Dried Oregano
• 1/2 tsp. Organic Cumin
• 1/2 tsp. Celtic Sea Salt

Directions
1. In saucepan over medium-high heat, whisk together all ingredients except olive oil.
2. Bring to low boil then reduce heat to low to keep warm.
3. Before pouring over cabbage rolls, whisk in olive oil.

BEEF ENCHILADA CABBAGE ROLLS
Directions
1. In a large stockpot, add a couple cups of water and bring to boil.
2. Remove core from cabbage and very carefully peel off 10-12 leaves.
3. Place leaves in boiling water and turn off heat.
4. While cabbage leaves are softening, pan fry ground beef, onion, salt & pepper in cast iron skillet.
5. Once ground beef is cooked though, remove from heat and add crushed garlic.
6. With tongs, remove one cabbage leaf at a time, fill with beef mixture, roll tightly and lay in glass baking dish.
7. Cover cabbage rolls with enchilada sauce and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.
8. Serve with avocado slices and enjoy!

Cabbage Enchiladas

The problem with this is that I don't believe I cooked the cabbage long enough to really be "soft" enough for an enchilada dish. The flavor was a little off with the sauce so maybe I need to tweak it a bit or I would try a different sauce that is equally healthy but uses tomatillos and is considered the green enchilada sauce.

At any rate, I would attempt again but with some minor adjustments.

Have you tried non-traditional enchiladas? If so, how did they turn out?

Have a foodilicious day!!