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Put Some Food Prep in Your Step

March 31, 2017



Good Day Mates!
So, this past weekend I celebrated my birthday with my family. My mom and sisters came, my brother-in-law by oldest nephew and youngest niece were also in attendance. It was a good time. We went bowling. My mom even participated the ENTIRE time! It was great! And she broke 100, WHAT!?  We laughed, we danced, we bowled and ate cupcakes. Fun times.




The older I get the more I appreciate my family and the more they fill my heart with love and joy.

Tomorrow Jon and I will be celebrating our dog-ters 10th birthday. Jack is just the best dog ever and we get her a cupcake and sing happy birthday to her every year. I can’t believe she is 10. It certainly doesn’t feel like we have had her that long and she still acts like a puppy. She’s just the best! So, everyone say happy birthday to the birthday girl!




Last week I wrote a little bit about spring cleaning your pantry/ fridge. Now that you all have tackled that….’cuz I know you jumped right on it! LOL I want to touch on food prep.


When most people think of food prep they associate it with body builders. While the body building community does use food prepping to gain muscle and prepare for competitions food prepping is a technique everyone can do. Utilizing food prep is a great way to maintain a healthy lifestyle, avoid mindless eating and save time. Yes, I said save time. Now I know we have all seen the posts on Facebook and Instagram of a table full of prepped and packed food. It can look overwhelming and make you just scroll past but have no fear. It’s not as labor intensive as you may think. I food prep every Sunday. For me late afternoons on Sunday is my time to cook. I cook a lot of food so I don’t have to make anything additional for my meals during the week. Sometimes I do have to make additional veggies but that doesn’t take up much of my time.


Prepping meals typically takes me an hour, tops! If I am spending more time than that I am doing too much. Not every meal has to be fancy it just as to be eatable. Well, at least that is my theory. I save my culinary skills for dinner. For my other meals, I keep it simple. When it comes to prepping food, you need to choose how many meals you are going to eat per day. For myself, I eat 5 meals per day. I do this so my metabolism keeps moving. I was born with a slow metabolism and then when I was deep in my eating disorder I just destroyed it. Now I have to make every effort to keep my metabolism burning and churning. You don’t have to prep for that many meals.  My husband, for example can’t find time to eat that many meals. He keeps a totally different schedule than I do so I only prep lunch for him. He then takes a protein shake and a small snack. You can food prep to fit your life style. I have a desk job so it’s easy for me to eat my meals and work at the same time. Once you know how many meals to prep for each day you can purchase your food accordingly.


We have a membership to the bulk stores Sam’s Club and Costco. We buy large amounts of organic chicken, Fish and Shrimp. We also buy large amounts of veggies there. Buying in bulk saves money and trips to the store. If you don’t have a membership to one of these places I highly recommend it. They have a lot of organic and gluten free options. Plus, they give samples so you can snack while you shop! It’s a win win!


The basics of food prep is to eat several small meals throughout the day to keep your body fueled. If you’re the type of person that skips meals or forgets to eat until your starving food prep maybe your answer. You want to try to have a protein, carb and fat in each meal. I cook my protein in a fat, either coconut oil or olive oil so I stray away from adding additional fat. Plus, my protein typically has some fat on its own. I sub my fat for veggies. I think it super important to get my greens in so I typically opt for broccoli, green beans, spinach etc.


On Sunday morning, I set everything out that needs time to defrost so I can cook everything up in the afternoon/evening. Just like I buy in bulk I cook in bulk. I use the oven and stove at the same time. I have as many burners going as I can and I put as many pans in the oven as possible. This is how I get my meals done within an hour.



While the oven is preheating, I’m prepping my trays and pans. I also chop up anything I need.

Once everything is done I let it all cool for about 30 minutes to an hour before packing. I heard on food network one time that you shouldn’t pack your food while its hot and place it in the fridge.  I forget why exactly but that stuck with me. Plus, if you are packing broccoli wait until its cool! If not, when you open that container the next day it will smell like fart city! That’s just the truth! And let me tell you, it’s embarrassing if you eat at your desk. 



I pack 4 meals to take with me during the day and I make the 5th at home each night. Well. My husband does make dinner sometimes but I have to watch everything I eat so I find it easier to be the main cook in the house. Here are what my meals look like.







As far as portion sizes I measure my protein and try to get 3-4oz of protein per meal. As for the veggies I eat as much or as little as I want. When it comes to starches I try to stay around ½ cup. You can play around with your portions and see how you feel and how your body responds and adjust accordingly. I know you don’t want to hear that and you want a magic formula for food prep but everybody is different and requires different amounts. A great place to start is the app My Fitness Pal I mentioned a few posts ago. It will give you a place to start with your portions.


My chiropractor recently commented about what I eat for breakfast. “So, you go right for the protein huh? You just dive into some turkey?” My answer, yes. I have to eat on the run. Once I get home from the gym in the morning I have enough time to get ready and get out the door. While it is frowned upon for digestion to eat and drive it’s really my only option unless I want to get up even earlier. ::Sigh:: I have to give and take somewhere and I need all the sleep I can get. That being said, I can’t really eat eggs on the go so I choose something I can stick on a fork or eat with my hands. Basically, my truck is my transportation, my dining room and sometimes if I’m really tired It’s my bed. We’re best friends.


I hope this has helped if you would like to start prepping your food for the week. If you need any help please contact me via the blog, Instagram or via e-mail. I will be happy to help you make a grocery list and start prepping your food!


Ok I love you all buh bye


Hey! Stay tuned. I’m putting together the blogs Pinterest page. Woo Hoo! This will make it even easier to get to the blog, see recipes I recommend and get fitness ideas.

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Spring Clean Your Pantry

March 24, 2017


Welcome Spring! And welcome to all you Spring chickens and roosters!

Isn’t Spring great! I just love Spring. The days are longer, the weather is warmer and the outdoors just seem to come alive. Well, I guess that’s dumb because the outdoors is always alive but you get what I’m saying. I just love it. Oooohh and it means Summer will be here soon!!!!! <insert happy dance here> Man do I love Summer. You open the door and just start sweating, it’s amazing, but let’s not jump ahead. Back to Spring.

The only way you wouldn’t love spring is if you don’t have control of your allergies.  I mean, there really is a lot of Sh%$ in the air this time of year. As I’ve gotten older my allergies are tamer. I hadn’t really noticed the season change until this past weekend.  On Sunday I went Strawberry Picking with the Smith fam at a hydroponic farm. Don’t ask me about hydroponics, I just know the berries aren’t grown in the ground. Any who, so there I was, picking Strawberries, which were oddly tiny if I might add. It was a warm afternoon and the farm was pretty quiet. It was almost therapeutic picking Strawberries. I found myself just getting lost in the task and I felt my shoulders, which I keep pretty tight, just fall into place. It was very relaxing but the more I picked the more stuff was tossed into the air and for a brief while I thought I was going to die! My eyes started watering, my nose was stuffy and all I could think was, “Jennifer, you’re an idiot. The Allegra was right by the door.” But I survived.  Other than that, the season change hasn’t really affected me much.
LOL, had to add this in. The weather has been so nice lately Jack has tolerated going outside more. Had to share!
So, as I was stating before I got side tracked, Spring is the time of year to renew. Many people renew through Spring cleaning. It allows you to purge you home of any clutter and give every surface of your home a deep clean. My husband and I recently purged our garage. We filled the back of my truck with stuff we don’t even use anymore. In fact, most of it we hadn’t used in years! We had so much we had to take it to the dump. That was actually the fun part. I know, I’m weird.

If you don’t know where to begin your spring cleaning a great place to start is the kitchen! I’m not just talking about wiping down the counters and mopping the floors. I’m talking about your pantry and fridge. Now I know January 1st is typically when resolutions are made but Spring just gives you a sense of a new beginning. I have talked to many people and overheard many conversations regarding healthy eating and losing weight. I think people see the effort I put in and feel I’m some kind of guru when it comes to diet and exercise. I’m flattered but I’m still trying to figure all of this out too! One of the phrases I hear a lot goes something like this, “I do good all day and then when I’m at home I eat those cookies in the pantry.” Or “I’m a sucker for dessert so I had ice cream.” It’s easy to blame it on the food but changing your diet must start with you and it has to start at home. Get rid of it! All of it! All of the junk food, all of the ice cream, all of the sodas. Just get rid of it. When I say that to people I am met with A LOT of resistance. “I can’t just waist food.” “I have to keep it around for (the kids, the husband, etc.)” I have great news! You don’t have to waist food, donate it. Sure, there might be a few things you have opened but whatever you haven’t donate it. Food banks are always looking for help. As for keeping tempting items in the home for others, no you don’t. Easy. NO, YOU DON’T. If you are the primary grocery shopper, they have to eat what you buy. Period. They can eat whatever they want on their time but at home they will eat what you buy. This will help get the entire household on the right track. If you are not the primary grocery shopper it’s time to have a heart to heart with that person or persons who do. Tell them how you would like to change your life style for the better and would appreciate their help. If they really need sweets or other snacks in the house help them pick out a healthier alternative so if you sneak some you won’t have so much eaters’ remorse.

Once you have cleaned your fridge and the pantry it’s time to stock it back up again. This time you will pack them full of whole foods. Here are some wonderful swaps to help make it a smooth transition.

Food
Swap
Canola/Veg Oil/Butter
Organic Applesauce, Coconut Oil, Olive Oil,Ghee
Sugar
Raw Honey, Coconut Sugar, Maple Sugar
Cow’s Milk
Almond Milk, Cashew Milk, Coconut Milk
Mayonnaise
Mashed Avocado
Table Salt
Sea Salt, Pink Himalaya Salt
Pasta
Spaghetti Squash, Zucchini
Tortillas
Romaine Lettuce, Ice Berg Lettuce
Mashed Potatoes
Mashed Cauliflower
Potatoes Chips
Raw Almonds, Raw Cashews
Soda
Sparkling Water

Once your kitchen is stocked with the right food it will make it easier to make healthy choices. 

 Start with this and next week I’ll give you some great tips on how to start meal prepping.
Meal prepping will help to keep you from straying away from healthy choices and help keep your metabolism running full steam ahead! Plus, if you’re working out you need all of the fuel you can get.
Here is one of my favorite quick meals. Sometimes I run out of time during the day but I still want to prepare a filling, nutritious meal for dinner. Lettuce wraps are my go to!

Turkey Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients:

-1 Head of Ice Berg Lettuce

- ½ an Avocado, sliced

- 4 Slices of Turkey

- 2 Slices of bacon (cooked)

- 2 Slices of tomato

Directions:

Peel off the first lettuce leaf and rinse head of lettuce.

Peel off two leaves of lettuce and place on a plate

Spread a ¼ of the avocado on each lettuce leaf

Place 2 slices of turkey on each leaf

Top each with a slice of bacon, broken in half and a slice of tomato

Fold in the sides and roll to form a wrap.

Serve with veggie of your choice or my favorite, Sweet Potato Chips with Sea Salt by Terra Chips!

I usually double everything to make a couple wraps for my husband.



Hey! I would like some feedback. Leave a comment below or comment on the blogs Instagram!










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Kiss the Blarney Stone with out kissing your wasitline goodbye!

March 17, 2017







What up party peopllllllllleeeeeee! It’s St. Patrick’s Daaaaaaayyyyyy!!! (Burm burm burm!)

P.S. you should have read that like a basketball announcer and the “burm” is a blow horn! Right? Yah! It’s awesome!

 So, yes, its St. Patrick’s Day. Just when you think the holidays of gorging yourself on delicious food and drink are over…have no fear! The Irish won’t let you get away that easy!
Who is celebrating today? Anyone going to a cool party? I have a real exciting evening planned. I will start by cleaning my house…yes the entire town house. Then, I’ll make a quick dinner and probably fall asleep on the couch watching TV. I know! I’m out of control. To be honest, even when I was in my twenties I wasn’t too keen on going out on holidays such as St. Patrick’s Day. I can remember going out with my roommates for Cinco De Mayo one year when I was in college. I had never gone out or really celebrated Cinco De Mayo before so I was stoked! When we got to the bar I only got one drink because it was so packed. I could barely move and forget about hearing each other or the music. It was lame. I was so disappointed. I finally had a chance to hang out with the cool kids and do what cool kids do and it sucked.  We just ended up going back to our apartment and hanging out there. Which, was a safer option anyway. All of those people were bound to drive home at some point.


Although St. Patrick’s day has progressed into a drunkin’ holiday it originally was a day of feast. Think Thanksgiving but in March! But that doesn’t change the fact that celebrating St. Patrick’s Day won’t bring you any closer to your beach body. Or will it? There are plenty of food and drink items you can partake in today that won’t set you back with no return. I’ll go over some of the menu items you can get, if you’re going out, with little regret. If you choose to stay in, like myself, I’ll give you some easy options to make sure you can still celebrate in the most delicious way possible.


If you’re venturing out for St. Patrick’s Day, you’ll probably end up at a bar. I mean, beer, well alcohol in general, goes hand and hand with St. Patrick’s Day. Going to a bar typically doesn’t lend itself to healthy eats. While bar food has certainly come a long way it can still be difficult.


One of my FAVORITE bar treats are chicken wings! I’m obsessed. The great thing with chicken wings is while many places offer the fried, breaded wings they also offer non-breaded grilled or baked wings! If you get grilled or baked wings you save yourself an enormous number of calories and carbs and if you have a gluten sensitivity you save yourself a lot of tummy trouble. 


I like my wings pretty simple. I try to eat them without a dipping sauce and served tossed in hot sauce. This keeps the calories and fat even lower plus; the hot sauce helps boost the metabolism which I am always trying to do! When I splurge and order a dipping sauce its always ranch dressing. It isn’t that I don’t like blue cheese, but blue cheese is not gluten free. So, try to keep your wings as simple as you can while still enjoying them. Oh and eat some of that celery and carrots between wings. They will give you some added veggies and help fill you up so you don’t devour a whole chicken.


Guacamole is another one of my favorites. It’s made with simple ingredients, full of good fat and way better for your than the spinach artichoke dip you’ve been eyeing. Now, guacamole is usually served with chips. Fried corn chips. While this isn’t the worst thing you could have, ask your server if they have any celery or carrots you can use to dip in lieu of the chips. If you’re lucky they may even have some plantain chips you can sub for which is amazing!


If you go to a little more upscale bar they may have additional items such as lettuce wraps, grilled artichokes etc. Always ask for the ingredients. Even when you get wings. If they are dry rubbed the rub may have sugar or gluten which you’ll regret later.


Let’s get real though. You’re going out to drink. The food is great but its secondary to celebrating the holiday. When it comes to drinking, I rely on the saying “failing to plan is planning to fail.” Decide before you go out what you are going to drink. Pick maybe one or two drinks you will partake in and don’t deviate. This will keep you from consuming way too much sugar and keep you from drinking something that may not agree with you later.


Some great low calorie drinks include 


-          -Vodka, Soda Lime

-          -Moscow Mule

-          -Ginger Whiskey Sour (not gluten free)

-          -Old Fashioned ( Sans sugar)


Take a look at the drink menu as well. Many places now offer “skinny” versions of their regular cocktails.


If you are looking to go more of the beer route try choosing a low calorie beer such as Michelob Ultra or Bud Select. If I drink beer I typically go for a gluten free beer like Red Bridge or a Hard Cider such as Angry Orchard. While these are not necessarily low calorie, they agree with my body better.



If you are being one of the cool kids, like myself, and staying in well, the world is your oyster my friend! Your food options are endless as long as you are willing to put a little work in.


Here are some of my green favorites:


-Brussels sprout salad

-Brussels Sprout with Bacon, Garlic Aioli

-Sweet and Crunchy Green Beans

-Bacon Wrapped Asparagus


Pair these with any protein and you have a wonderful St. Patrick’s Day feast!


And we can’t forget about dessert! Which, to me, is the most important part of any holiday. DUH!


 Whether you’re going out or staying in there is always room for dessert.


For St. Patrick’s Day I wanted to make a sweet treat for you guys. How do Chocolate Mint Cups sound?


I thought they would be a light, sweet treat at the end of the evening and easy to make.

With rich, dark chocolate and a hint of mint these little gems are sure to bring you the luck of the Irish!



 
Chocolate Mint Cups


Makes 6-8


Ingredients:

1 Cup Unsweetened, shredded coconut

3 Tablespoons chopped fresh mint

1 Tablespoon melted coconut oil

1 Tablespoon raw honey

12 oz Dark Chococlate Chips



Instructions:

1.  Add coconut, mint, coconut oil, and honey to a food processor. Process for two minutes

2.  Melt the chocolate chips using a double boiler

3. Place 6 cupcake wrappers in a muffin tin. Scoop a small amount of the chocolate into the bottom of each wrapper. Scoop a heaping teaspoon of the coconut mixture on top of the chocolate. Place in the fridge for 10 minutes.

4. Scoop enough chocolate on top to cover the coconut mixture.

5. Place back in the fridge for 30 minutes or until the chocolate has hardened.

6. Once the chocolate has hardened, remove the muffin liners. Store in an air tight container in the fridge or at room temperature. 

Hey! Dont forget to check out the blogs instagram. I posted a fun workout i found on Pinterest!

Also, any of the recipes i suggested for staying in tonight, if you'd like any of the recipes e-mail the blog at barbellsandboyshorts@gmail.com


















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