Kale News

There's a funny story about kale! I saw a recipe for Kale chips in my Hungry Girl's cookbook several years ago. I could not find Kale in the grocery stores so I gave up. I tried again to search for Kale when we moved to another state. None.  Of course, I was disappointed.  Last Friday, someone and I happaned to talk about the healthy benefits of eating Kale, I told her that I couldn't ever find Kale. She said she usually bought them at Publix and that is where I shop too. She told me to look for it in a BAG. I had been looking for Kale in those fresh, leafy lettuce area.  Not bagged salad section! So I decided to look for Kale again in the bagged section yesterday and FOUND a bag of Kale.  Thanks to her, I would never thought of that.  So you can tell that I'm thrilled to make Kale chips today!!!  I got the recipe from my favorite healthy eating blog. The blogger rocks with her recipes. Here's the recipe if you are interested. Kale Chips

Easter Egg Bake

Easter is coming up soon! My family is coming to celebrate Easter this Saturday meaning I will have some leftover ham.  So I searched for a healthy Easter breakfast recipe on Easter and I found it thanks to Hungry Girl! I will definitely try this!

Ham-It-Up Egg Bake

1/12th of egg bake: 143 calories, 4.5g fat, 650mg sodium, 12g carbs, 0.5g fiber, 4.5g sugars, 12g protein -- PointsPlus® value 4*



This brunch-y bake is perfect for Easter; but really it's good any time of year!

Ingredients:

1 package refrigerated Pillsbury Crescent Recipe Creations Seamless Dough Sheet OR cresent rolls and just pinch the lines together

1 cup light or low-fat ricotta cheese, room temperature

4 wedges The Laughing Cow Light Creamy Swiss cheese, room temperature

1 cup fat-free liquid egg substitute (like Egg Beaters Original)

1 lb. 97% - 98% fat-free sliced ham, roughly chopped

1 cup scallions sliced into 1/2-inch pieces

2 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

1/4 tsp. black pepper



Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9" X 13" baking pan with nonstick spray.



Place dough sheet along the bottom of the pan. Firmly press it into the bottom and corners. Pierce dough several times with a fork.



Bake until dough just begins to puff up, about 5 minutes. Remove pan; leave oven on.



In a large bowl, thoroughly mix ricotta cheese with cheese wedges until smooth and uniform. Add egg substitute and thoroughly whisk until smooth.



Stir in chopped ham, scallions, parsley, and pepper. Pour mixture over the dough in the pan.



Bake until egg mixture is cooked through, about 40 minutes. Eat up!



MAKES 12 SERVINGS

Easter Temptations

Easter is approaching upon on us soon! Candies galore! Easter temptations! Okay, no need to deprive yourself completely from the food as long as you keep them in small portions. That is the key!  We could develop the risk of gorging. Recipes always can be modified by using fat free mayo for those famous deviled eggs. There are tons of recipes that don't use mayo for deviled eggs as well. While we were at a store, I spotted a bag of SMALL sized candies. They were the smallest I ever seen and I LOVE that size!!! Here's an example of how small the Health candy is. I put a quarter by the candy so you can get a better idea.

There's also CHOCOLATE shakeology that just hits the sweet cravings too! If you are craving something that tastes like Reese's, simply put 1 TB of PB2 in your Chocolate Shake. That is one of my most frequent shakes. (Im a chocolate addict!) PB2 is one of the best inventions ever for food because 1 TB only has 20 calories!

Beachbody keeps coming out with new products.  One of them is FIRESTARTER. it's a program that is a stage between TurboJam and TurboFire. This program is still intense but no jumps.  It may be good for those days that you do not feel like jumping if you already used TurboFire.  Beachbody is also producing a new fitness program named Body Beast.  It is for people who are into bodybuilding. Keep your eyes peeled for its release if you are into that kind of thing!

Happy Easter!!

Fear of Exercise

Fear is a strong emotion and can prevent you from doing something you want to do. Fear of exercise is pretty common these days due to several reasons.

1. Fear of pain
You can confront this fear by building up your workouts very slowly. Walk a mile. Walk a few laps. Even walking to the mailbox is a great start if you have not worked out in ages. Start with beginner level programs such as Slim in 6, Turbo Jam, etc.  Yes, you may be sore due to new muscles but they go away in time. I developed really bad shin splints when I started walking on the treadmill.  I stuck through them and I haven't had any shin splints in years.  Even one of my hip joints was in pain for several weeks after using Brazil Butt Lift and I haven't had that problem again either. Bottom line is that you have to stick with it.

2. Fear of sweating. 
I know that sounds weird to some ot you who work out on a daily basis but I happen to know someone very well who just hates to sweat. She would do anything to avoid sweating. There are a lot of performance clothes that can take your sweat and you can be comfortable. Sweat just means you are losing some of your fat so it is good news!

3. Fear of injury
This is also one of most common fears.  The key thing is to build up slowly. Start with beginner level workout programs like I said for fear of pain.  Know your limits.  If you have bad knees, modify the movements. For example, if you use Turbofire that includes a lot of jumps, you can modify by going low impact only. There is a lady in the workout program that only does low impact and you can follow her. My knees aren't the greatest so I go low impact sometimes. I used to be AFRAID to start using TurboFire. Now I'm into the last month of Turbofire and I'm glad I did not let the fear of injury control me.  Just listen to your body. I'm even ready to order Insanity-Asylum which I never thought I will buy!!!! On other note, make sure you have a good pair of tennis shoes.  Not those shoes you had for ten years. I replace mine at least every 6 months because I use them on a daily basis. Protect your feet/ankles.

Confront any of your fears and conquer them!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

It's St. Patrick's Day tomorrow!  It's a perfect time to hit an Irish restaurant or a pub on a Saturday! I have a haircut appointment tomorrow so Im delighted that my hair will be already styled for this special day.  Since I usually take a break from cooking dinners on the weekends, I already cooked an Irish dinner last Tuesday. Its not high in calories and it's healthy.  The recipe is pretty simple.  I wouldn't cook this during the hot, summer days though. 

1 lb ground lean beef or ground turkey
1 cup chopped onions
3 cups of chopped cabbage
1 can of tomato soup
Use any kind of seasonings

Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Cook the meat and onions until they are done. Season them.  Drain. Put the meat in the casserole dish. Put cabbage on the meat. Pour the tomato soup on the top. Cover the dish. Cook 45 minutes to an hour.

St. Patrick dessert...

Shamrock Shake!! Unfortunately, I don't have Greenberry with me but I will try this with Tropical Shakeology!


•8 oz of milk (any kind, I use Unsweetened Almond Milk)

•4 oz of water and ice

•splash of peppermint extract

•1 tsp of peanut butter OR 1 TB of  PB2

•2 tbsp of sugar free vanilla or cheesecake jello instant pudding mix

•1 scoop of greenberry shakeology

You keep seeing these Thin Mint cookies by Girl Scouts, right?  Here's an alternative!

Thin Mint Smoothie

8 oz of water
few drops of peppermint extract
1 scoop of Chocolate Shakeology
use few ice if you like it thick!

If you want to know more about Shakeology, just click on this....
Shakeology

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Our Beach Vacation

We booked our 10th wedding anniversary trip at Sandals Emerald Bay in May! We are so EXCITED!! 

That means its BRAZIL BUTT LIFT time!!!!  Of course, I will continue doing the Turbofire for its intense cardio and awesome arm workouts.  Its great for an overall body but it doesnt focus on my booty or hip area very much so I will use some of BBL DVD workouts such as High and Tight and Bum Bum which are  very effective workouts for those tough areas.  BBL is just a must buy for any beach vacations or summertime. I am starting a 30 day challenge group in April so JOIN me!!

Food Addiction

I know we all are addicted to certain kind of food. Most of food that we are addicted are probably unhealthy, right?  My first memory of food addiction when I was a preteen was COMBOS!  Those preztel minis stuffed with cheddar inside them. I can eat the whole bag of Combos. I've not eaten those in years but the memory still seems fresh. I avoid buying anything that I can eat the whole box or bag without controlling myself. It's usually SALTY stuff that wont benefit me at all. (Ex. trigger food for me are tomato basil Wheat Thins, Chex Mix, Lime tortilla chips, and those extreme flavored goldfish crackers)  You can replace your food addiction with healthy snacks. As I usually go for salty stuff, I roast chickpeas as they make a great, tasty snack! Or I cut up vegetables and dip them in light Ranch dressing. There are a lot of healthy alternatives you can find via internet or Pinterest.  Here's a recipe for roasted chickpeas.   Really, you can use any kind of seasonings on the chickpeas.  If you crave something sweet and salty, use a bit of brown sugar and cinnamon.  You can get creative with this recipe.