Girl's Night

I went to a Girl's Night last night to see my cousin Tina who was on for her birthday. It was nice seeing everyone. It makes you wonder where all the time goes. I enjoyed catching up, and everyone gave me a smile that I left with. I appreciate them inviting me over.

Before I went I made a healthy dish that I got from www.skinnytaste.com. It was baked mozzarella sticks with a marinara sauce. I thought it turned out very good. My daughter said it tasted like pizza to her.

If you are interested, here is the recipe I got from their site:

Skinny Baked Mozzarella Sticks

Skinnytaste.com
Servings: 12 • Serving Size: 2 pieces • Old Points: 1 pts • Points+: 2 pts*
Calories: 86.8* • Fat: 4.8 g • Protein: 7.4 g • Carb: 3.5 g • Fiber: 0.2 g • Sugar: 0.2
Sodium: 168.6

Ingredients:
• 12 sticks part-skim, reduced sodium mozzarella string cheese (Sargento)
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 2 tbsp flour
• 5 tbsp Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
• 5 tbsp panko crumbs
• 2 tsp parmesan cheese
• 1 tbsp dried parsley
• olive oil cooking spray (I used my misto)

Directions:

Cut cheese in half to give you 24 pieces. Place cheese in the freezer until cheese is frozen.

In small bowl, whisk the egg. Place the flour on another small dish. In separate bowl, combine bread crumbs, panko, parmesan cheese and dried parsley.

Dip the frozen sticks in flour, shaking off excess, then into the egg, then coat with the crumbs.

Repeat this process with the remaining cheese placing them on a tray with wax paper. Place cheese back into the freezer until ready to bake (this is a must or they will melt before the crumbs get golden).

When ready to bake preheat oven to 400° F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and lightly spray with oil.

Place frozen cheese sticks on baking sheet. Spray the tops of the mozzarella sticks with a little more oil and bake in the bottom third of your oven until crisp, about 4 to 5 minutes. Turn and bake an additional 4 - 5 minutes watching them closely so they don't melt.

Makes 24 pieces.

* There will be extra crumbs and flour after breading, I've deducted them from the nutritional info.



Quick Marinara Sauce

Skinnytaste.com
Servings: 6 • Serving Size: 1/2 cup • Old Points: 1 pt • Points+: 1 pt
Calories: 51.5 • Fat: 0.8 • Carbs: 9.0 g • Fiber: 1.1 • Protein: 0.1 g

Ingredients:
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed
• 28 oz can crushed tomatoes (I like Tuttorosso)
• 1 small bay leaf
• 1 tsp oregano
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
• salt and fresh pepper to taste

Directions:

In a medium pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and saute until golden, being careful not to burn.

Add crushed tomatoes, salt, pepper, oregano, and bay leaf. Stir and reduce heat to low. Cover and let simmer about 15 - 20 minutes. Remove from heat and add fresh basil.

The only difference with mine to the original recipe is that I substituted a lot of items though to keep it all organic, which was the flour, bread crumbs, cheese. It was all easy to find at my local health food store, but you don't have to do organic. That is purely reference, and I didn't edit the original recipe, so none of that was changed.

I am off to do my morning workout now. Today is Turbo Jam - Cardio Party by Chalene Johnson. :)

Quote of the day: "Don't let other people tell you what you want." – Pat Riley

They Fit!!

I was sooo excited this morning!! I slipped on a pair of really comfortable workout pants that I bought back in September. They've been too tight to wear - like so tight that I couldn't get them over my booty. They slipped on with no problem! I couldn't believe it. I was all smiles this morning. :)

I have to say that this is all because of Chalene. She's such a motivating person, and I am not sure I could have pulled through these intense cardio workouts without her. She is truly an inspirational person. Really, if you are interested check out my site and look through the fitness programs that are available. You will find TurboFire, which is my current program or they have programs accustomed for so many different fitness levels. I chose TurboFire because I've always loved kickboxing, and I like to dance, which is a combination of both.

By the way, I'm on my last week of the TurboFire schedule. I can't believe it's been twenty weeks already. I have Turbo Jam and Rockin' Body as well, so I'm going to hop right into one of them. I haven't decided which to do next, but I know both of them are going to be a blast.

Well, here I go - time for my workout. Wish me luck!

Quote of the day: "The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." – Winston Churchill

Shake it!

I made an awesome shake this morning using Shakeology. It's 1 scoop of Shakeology, 1/2 a banana, and 1/2 cup of strawberries with some ice then about a cup and a half of water. I love it! It packs a wallop of flavor! Also, the Shakeology is so tasty and very filling! I've noticed after drinking it that I have a considerable amount of energy. I'm not talking about the type of energy that makes you feel shaky. This is a natural energy that makes you feel more alive and awake. It's amazing the difference it can make for your mornings! Plus, my workouts have felt it from the little boost of energy. Once I get moving I start off with a bang! No joke!

Something that I would love to add. Beachbody is having a sale on Rockin' Body workout package by Shaun T for only $19.95! It's 75% off! You can't go wrong with that, and it is a very awesome workout program with 4 free gifts!! It's fun and gets the job done! If you are interested click this link or click the Rockin' Body picture. It will lead you to the shopping page. You will find Rockin' Body under the Fitness Programs! Act fast before the sale ends!! I'm not letting the opportunity slip by. I am picking one up for myself!

Quote of the day: "Happiness is neither virtue nor pleasure nor this thing nor that but simply growth. We are happy when we are growing." – William Butler Yeats

Spinach and Cheese Tart Plus Banana PB Shakeology

I have a couple of things to share today. One, I made this awesome tart for dinner. It's a spinach and cheese tart. It has awesome flavor. It's another recipe I acquired out of my vegetarian cookbook. However, it wasn't the simplest thing to make. It took probably an hour of prep work. Still, it had a good taste. If you like spinach and cheese, that is, which I do.

However, my husband and daughter didn't care for it. They are picky eaters though, always have been and probably always will. Still, it's always nice to try healthy alternatives. I'm not exactly sure what the calories are on this dish, but I can already assume it's high in calories because of the cheese then the crust had cheese in it as well. Also, a stick of butter. So..yeah..definitely not the healthiest.

If anyone is interested in the recipe you can drop a reply here or message me at andrena28@beachbodycoach.com, and I will be happy to send the recipe to you.

The second thing I have to speak about is I am happy to say that the Shakeology drinks are going fabulously. I love the taste of them. For breakfast I like to add a banana and a tablespoon of peanut butter to the shake. Sometimes I add strawberries to that. It's so good and so filling. Plus, you get all these vitamins and nutrients from it. It's totally worth dropping the daily coffee purchase for this.

Sunday's Are Always Busy

For breakfast this morning I decided on oatmeal. It was fast and easy. The reason I decided on this was because I was going to church, and I didn't want the meal to take forever to prepare. In it I added a sliced banana, which I covered with oatmeal. I like to put the hot oatmeal over it to warm the banana up. Then I add a teaspoon or two of honey. I used to add tons of sugar to my oatmeal, but I found honey is a healthy alternative to that. If you don't add too much, anyway. I don't like too much honey in it. It tastes like pure honey then. You just want enough to give it a little sweetness.

I haven't decided what I am going to make for lunch, but I promise to post a picture with it. I believe I might make something out of my vegetarian cookbook. It's a meal my daughter picked out. I let her go through my vegetarian cookbook one day and she picked out pictures of things she thought looked good, and she promised to try them all, which is good for me because she's a picky eater. I like it when we find things that she really enjoys.

Also, I will be doing Fire 45 EZ and Abs 10 class today from the TurboFire workout program. I'm going to try and squeeze it in before my daughter's cheerleading game, but if I don't then I plan on doing it after I get back home.

Quote of the day: "Far away in the sunshine are my highest inspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see the beauty, believe in them and try to follow where they lead." – Louisa May Alcott

What's For Dinner Tonight?

For dinner tonight I made a pork roast, vegetable medley, and a baked potato. It was all simple. The hardest part was cutting the garlic and peeling the layer of screen away. I find that making slits into the pork roast and putting garlic cloves down into the slits makes it really, really tasty. Then I put it into the oven at a temperature of 350 degrees. It typically only has to cook for a few hours, but I had a large roast, so it took more like 4 to 5 hours. The first hour I let it cook sitting on a rack inside a roast pan, so the drippings fell to the bottom. I didn't cover the meat, until about an hour of cooking. I then placed aluminum foil loosely over the meat. The vegetables were easy as well. I tossed them frozen into a bowl, covered them with a plate then put them into the microwave for about 4 minutes. Voila~ They were steamed to perfection.

It was a really easy meal. It's a favorite in my household. I actually got the idea of putting garlic cloves into my pork roast from my mother-in-law. She's an exceptionally good cook. I go to her whenever I need a good recipe.

I got my workouts in today. I did the HIIT 25 and Sculpt 30, which are TurboFire workouts. They were so intense. I absolutely love them. Not to mention how motivating that Chalene Johnson is. She makes you feel like you can accomplish anything if you just put the positive thought into your head. I believe it. I've done a lot of positive talking to myself lately. It seems to be paying off.

So, the next time you find yourself saying you can't do something take a little breather and change your mindset to a positive thought. Then keep repeating it until it's stuck in your brain. I promise, it works!