Food challenge update

A few weeks back, I blogged about the 100 day food challenge that Tate and I started. Now that we are 3 weeks in...I thought I would give you all an update on how it's going!!!

TOP 10 THINGS I HAVE FOUND GREAT ABOUT OUR FOOD CHALLENGE:

TEN

It is so much easier than I had thought

I honestly thought I would have a hard time finding foods to eat since I am a very picky eater and that I would slip up all the time...but it's been the complete opposite. I have yet to have any type of candy (even as a cheat snack) and find myself munching on a raw carrot when I get hungry.

NINE

Meal planning weekly is much easier than doing it monthly

I use to meal plan for the whole month and then try to buy as much as possible at the beginning of the month. It was always hard figuring out meals towards the end of the month and then meals would get switched around because things would come up, etc. Now I meal plan for the week ahead usually on Friday evening and sometimes hit up the grocery store that night after Turner goes to bed (it's a bonus that nobody is @ the grocery store on Friday night).

EIGHT

Some people think we are a bit crazy, but MORE people have been intrigued.

Some people have stated they would never be able to do this and think we are crazy for doing it, but more people have asked questions and want to know more. Co workers have asked for certain recipes of things I make and would like more information on items that are in food. Some have even tried to better their diet but not necessarily do the full transformation of real food eating. I love educating others!

SEVEN

I'm learning so much!!!

WOW...I can't believe how much I am learning while doing this. I really can't believe all the stuff they put in processed food that is not good for us. I feel like I have only scratched the surface on information that is out there about what is in our food.

SIX

My energy level changed within the first week.

This one blew me away. I have a 5 month old who LOVES to get up very early in the morning. I'm talking on average...5:30 am. I usually don't go to be until 10:30 pm. Before we started this challenge, I always felt tired and was dragging through the day. I was always yawning and just wanted sleep. Now...I am not even really that tired at the end of the day. I have so much energy through out the day and feel like I get so much accomplished without feeling like I need a nap. I honestly have never felt so great!!!

FIVE

I have tried new foods that I am loving!

It is widely known I am a very picky eater. I hate cooked veggies and cooked fruit. I don't like 'blah' food. Well, when you've committed yourself to something, it forces yourself to eat food you wouldn't have tried before. Now, I still don't like cooked veggies or fruit, but I do love raw veggies. I can't get enough of snap peas...just love them. I also love my spinach salad I have everyday with a hard boil egg, sea salt and pepper and some olive oil...so delicious. We make our own homemade granola and it tastes amazing (I have never liked any granola out of a box). I also make whole wheat muffins that are super delicious! My list is growing and I love it!!!

FOUR

Cheat meals are OK!

This one is big and needed to keep one sane! Tate and I have agreed that we get one cheat meal day. That means we get one cheat breakfast, one cheat lunch, one cheat dinner and one cheat snack. We could take it in one whole day or break it up during the week. We have broken it up and have stuck to only the one. Sometimes we feel like crap after wards and regret it, other times we feel satisfied. Sometimes it's not even a full cheat meal because 1/2 the meal was actually healthy. 

THREE

I'm starting to notice a change in my body.

I feel like I have more muscle tone and my stomach pooch is going away. I feel like I have always had a lil' stomach pooch even before I had Turner...I always thought that I wish I had a baby for an excuse why I have this. Tate's noticed a change also. I love that within in 3 weeks I am noticing that change so I can imagine what I will feel/look like in 10 more weeks.

TWO

I feel even more connected to my husband.

We've been on the same page for awhile on finances and raising Turner, but I always battled with him on my eating habits. In his profession, he learns so much everyday about eating healthy and the benefits. He would hear me complain about my stomach pooch that I hated (to which he would disagree that I even had one), but tell me if I wanted to feel better about myself....I should eat better! I was too stubborn and thought working out would get me to where I wanted to be. Well...now that I've seen a change, I know my husband was right that eating better is the biggest way to see a change in your body. We agreed that when doing this, we would do it together and share the responsibility of making lunches, dinner and snacks. I love having his help with all this! 

ONE

Everything about this is POSITIVE!

There has not been ONE SINGLE negative thing that has come of this change we've made. Everything truly has been positive and I am so grateful for it. I can honestly see this becoming a lifestyle change. I look forward to the weeks ahead to see what more changes I will see. 

I hope to soon blog about some of our recipes we've fallen in love with during this challenge and also the strength training workout Tate created for us. We will be taking our measurements again when we reach the 6 week mark so I am anxious to see how far we've come to reaching the goals we've set.

Would you ever consider doing a real food challenge? 

Picky Eater

This month, I started doing the 'Photo a Day' with fellow bloggers through my instagram app. It looked fun and it makes me take a picture everyday. Yesterdays photo was 'something we don't know about you'. I posted a photo of my lunch and wrote items I don't eat and told everyone that I am a picky eater.

I honestly don't know why I am...it may be that I think about it way too much (when it comes to eating animals) or that I am so freaked out on trying knew things.  Whatever it is...I feel like it's not getting any better...if anything, it's getting worse the older I get.

I could list the items that I do eat...it would be a lot shorter than the items I don't eat, but that wouldn't be fun now would it :)

Items I don't...in no particular order:

Beef, Pork, Lamb, Duck, Bison, etc

The only meat I eat is Chicken & Turkey. I actually now no longer eat whole chicken breasts. I cut them up into small pieces and cook them that way. I can't have any veins or fatty pieces in them. I also like my meat dry...then I know it was cooked all the way. I also don't eat any type of deli sandwich meat. That also grosses me out. When it comes to bison, duck & lamb, never tried it and probably never will. No desire too...just grosses me out thinking about it. I stopped eating pork & beef back in 2003. Beef was the first to go...then eventually pork was added. I ate A LOT of these meats growing up, but when I got older and actually knew what I was eating and thought about it I couldn't do it anymore. Now I am not a PETA person and think that everyone should stop eating certain meats, this is just my decision. Will I feed our kids these types of meat, I am not sure. Tate is super healthy and really doesn't eat any of these either. Only gets it when he goes home to visit my parents or his. I guess we will cross that bridge when we get there

Cooked Veggies

This is one thing that I have NEVER liked. Growing up, I hated it when my mom MADE me eat my beans, peas, carrots, squash, etc. I have tried soo many different ways to cook them to see if I will like them and I don't. I've tried just 'lightly' steaming them and still can't do it. I wish so much that I liked them...because I know how good they are for you, but I gag when I eat them. On a brighter note, I do like most of them raw. Now I can't say I ever 'crave' raw veggies, but I at least force myself to eat them so I am getting some nutrients and trying to eat healthy.

Cooked Fruits

Source
I love raw fruit...most of them, but do not like cooked fruits. So that means...yes...I don't eat any type of pies that contain fruit. If you think about it, when you cook the veggies and fruit, it makes them 'mushy' and I eat them raw which still has the crisp to them...which is what I love.

And for the cinnamon I see on those apples...don't like that either. I only like my cinnamon on toast or in a cinnamon roll (that doesn't contain raisins).

Some other items that I don't like...muffins (unless it's a chocolate chocolate chip one), yogurt, cottage cheese, triscuits, any type of nutty, grain, shredded wheat cereal (My fav cereal is Reese Puffs...but to try to be healthy, I eat Multi Grain Cheerios), guacamole, shrimp, lobster, crab, sushi that contains raw fish...I eat California rolls, all fish except salmon, walleye & many other fresh water fresh (I'm venturing into more types fish...it's just taking some time).

So your probably thinking...what the heck do I actually eat?!?

Let's just say...I have a LOVE relationship with carbs!!! I love pasta, pizza, bread, deep fried food, pretty much all unhealthy things. But having a Fitness Director of a husband and trying to be healthy really dampers me eating chocolate at every meal and having cheese curds everyday :)

When it comes to my eating, I am trying to work new things into my diet that are healthy and good for me. It's a slow process, but let's just say I have come a LONG since collage when I would mainly eat mac & cheese, rice and grilled cheese...oh yeah, and Malt-O-Meal. Still eat Malt-O-Meal once a week...so f'in good!!!

My husband has found different ways to substitute different items to make the meals that I do love, more healthy. For example, we only eat whole wheat bread and for our pasta meals, we cook with whole wheat pasta.

A couple things I hope for...I hope that my taste buds change as I get older or when I become pregnant so that I will eat veggies and actually like it. I hope our kids get my husbands taste buds...he loves EVERYTHING!

Anybody else out there in the same boat I am with weird taste buds? What are different recipes you guys cooks that I could possible 'change up' to my liking if need be?

Birthday Weekend

So today is the big day...the day I came into this world back in 1983! So that means today..I turn 29!

You know you do to :)

This morning I woke up with post its all over the house from my lovely husband! We are both working today and then will be going to dinner tonight!

Our weekend was a really good one...they always are! We volunteered Saturday morning for my husbands work. We worked a food stand at the towns art festival. After that, we had planned a neighborhood block party. I was super excited for this. It was so fun to get to know all the neighbors I had not met. We talked, laughed, grilled food, shared stories, and had a nice fire to end the night...with smore's of course!

Ava and Lilli roasting marshmallows!

We slept in on Sunday...which has not been done in what seems like FOREVER! Went to 10:30 and then tried to decide what to do. We bounced around the idea to go to Grand Old Day in St. Paul, but I wasn't sure if I was up for dealing with all the people. I finally decided (Tate dedicated the day to do whatever I wanted) and off to St. Paul we went. I am so glad we decided to go. I had so much fun!

We watched Maiden Dixie..they were really good! Love my country music :)

Had lunch @ Jimmy Johns...yes we avoided fried food stands! But did indulge in some AMAZING ice cream! We watched a few other music entertainers and then came back to see Tim Sigler play. Loved it!

We also watched these drummers play...very good for playing on some buckets!

 

The weather was beautiful and there were so many people out and about! Great place to people watch :)

We got home and the hubby made dinner. We had whole wheat penne pasta, chicken and marinara sauce. Super YUMMY!

 It was a great weekend that went my way too fast! Can't wait for this weekend...we travel back to Tate's hometown for the annual Streetball tournament! I look forward to this since it's my first year going. It's always been a 'boys' weekend...but not this year!!!

Hope you all have a fabulous Monday...I know I am! DQ cake @ work for this birthday girl!!!



Happy Vitamin C Day

Did you know that today commemorates the discovery of Vitamin C in 1932? I didn't either. Our admin had another one of their 'fun' day's and emailed us this information and I thought it would only be necessary to forward it all on to my fellow bloggers :)

Citrus fruits are the most commonly known sources of Vitamin C, however most fruits and many vegetables are also a good sources of this vitamin.

What fruit has the best source of Vitamin C? If you thought Oranges...you are wrong. It is actually 1-cup serving of cubed raw guava. It provides 377mg of  Vitamin C. Some other fruits that are great for Vitamin C are peach slices (frozen) and 2 medium-sized kiwi without skin. [source]

What about veggies? The best vegetable for Vitamin C is a yellow sweet bell pepper. Peppers of all kinds are very rich in Vitamin C. Other vegetables and vegetables juices that are rich in Vitamin C are V8 juice and one hot green chili pepper. Green veggies are also Vitamin C rich. [source]

To celebrate this day, our amazing admin staff made fruit and veggie pizza's for us to enjoy! They are the best!!!!

Food on a stick

As most of you have read, I am a CPA and work for a public accounting firm. We work very long hours from about the middle of January until tax deadline which is usually April 15. Since we are working long hours...our Admin staff likes to do fun things here and there, which I am so happy that they do this. Once a week they do something fun. We've had 'chips & dips' day, cereal guessing competition (that I won) and many other 'days'.

Today was 'food on a stick' day. They wanted everyone to bring in something so we can see everyone be creative. I made 'breakfast on a stick' and it was a hit. It included eggs, turkey sausage, pancakes and hash browns.

My breakfast on a stick...sorry for the blurry picture!

Someone brought in suckers

Little Debbie's on a stick

Mozzarella, tomatoes and bread

Fruit slices on a stick

Sugar cookies

Cheesecake on a stick

Cheese on stick

Brownies on a stick

Bread and dip on a stick

Sandwiches on a stick :)

 Food on a stick was a HUGE success. We even had corn dogs, dilly bars and buster bars (just no pictures). Glad everyone participated. Big thanks to the admin staff for putting this one!!!!

Baked Salmon

I am a very picky eater...so it seems that we are eating the same thing over and over again. Thanks to pinterest, we have switched it up a bit here and there. I decided that we could spoil ouselves a few times a month and I picked up some salmon at the grocery store. I knew Tate would just love it. I had tried it on our honeymoon and really liked it, so I was hoping I could make it to taste just as good.

What you need:
- Fresh Salmon
- Spices of your choosing (we used Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt)
- A glaze of your choosing (we used Tastefully Simply Honey Teriyaki Sauce on mine and Pomengranate Chipotle Glaze on Tate's)

What to do:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees
- Lightly paste salmon with olive oil
- Sprinkle spices on salmon
- Cook salmon for 15 minutes
- After 15 minutes, paste glaze on salmon
- Cook another 5 minutes

My piece with Honey Teriyaki Sauce

Tate's piece with Pomengranate Chipotle Glaze

We served wild rice with our fish...which I love! This meal was delicious and it tasted better than what I had on our honeymoon. It may be that I love teriyaki sauce.

Super Easy Lasagna

My mom has made this recipe as long as I can remember. It's the only way I make lasagna and I refuse to make it any other way...because every other way that I have heard is not this quick and easy. My mom got this recipe from a cookbook from her co-workers that they put together a LONG time ago!

What you need:
1. 8oz package of lasagna noodles (I use whole wheat)
2. 12 oz of mozzarella cheese
3. 1lb of ground beef or ground turkey (extra lean)
4. 1 jar of spaghetti sauce
5. 8 oz of ricotta cheese
6. Parmesan cheese

How to make (EVERYTHING IS RAW DURING THIS PROCESS...INCLUDING MEAT):
1. Grease 9x13 pan & preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Start with 1 layer of lasagna noodles.
3. Sprinkle chunks of meat over noodles
4. Sprinkle 1/2 of ricotta cheese around meat
5. Pour 1/2 of spaghetti sauce in pan
6. Sprinkle 1/2 of mozzarella cheese over everything
7. Dash Parmesan cheese over it all

After one layer

8. Do a 2nd layer (repeat 2-7 above).
9. Cover with tinfoil and bake for 1 hour.

Ready to cook

10. After the 1 hour of cooking, take off tinfoil and cook another 10 min.
11. Take out and let sit for 10 minute before serving.

You can also add veggies to this recipe. I am not a veggie person so that is why I don't.

The best thing about this recipe is you only dirty 1 pan. No need to boil noodles, ground meat, etc....just one dirty cake pan is all it is! People always comment when I make this recipe on how good it is and they can't believe that it all goes in raw. I can't believe people cook lasagna any other way :)

Chicken Dumplings Crockpot Soup

To say I was so excited when I saw Ruthie over @ The Chronicles of Ruthie Hart put up this recipe, is an understatement. I absolutely love chicken dumpling soup and have always wanted to make it at home. I made this recipe within a week of her posting it and was not disappointed. I knew I had to share it also.

What you need:
4-6 large boneless skinless chicken breast
2 tablespoons of butter
2 cans of cream of chicken soup
1 (15 oz) can of chicken broth
1 medium onion diced
1 tablespoon of dried parsley
6-8 refrigerator biscuits or crescent rolls (raw)

OK...as I just listed out the ingredients, I just realized I did something different when I made mine and it still tasted so good. I actually baked my biscuits before adding them to the crock pot and the recipe actually calls for you to put them in raw. Well I plan to make this again this week and I will make it the recipe actually says it should be made and will determine which is better. Anyways...back to the recipe :)

What to do:
- put defrosted chicken in the crock pot
- add butter, cream of chicken soups and chicken broth and stir to combine
- add the onion and parsley and stir again to combine
- cook on low for 4-6 hours stirring occasionally and shredding the chicken as it cooks
- 30 min to 1 hour before you plan on eating, cut the raw biscuits or crescents into small pieces and add to the crock pot. Cook on low for another 30 min to 1 hour.

*As I stated above, I actually baked my biscuits and then cut them up and added them to the crock pot. I certainly didn't add 6-8 because they were already so big from being baked...but it was really delicious...I guess you can make it either way*

Hope you all enjoy it as much as I did!!!

Ground Turkey Chili

This recipe is super delicious! I have made it many times and plan to make it this weekend for the Super Bowl. I changed up a few things to make it to my liking!

This recipe makes 6 servings.

Ingredients:
1 1/4 lb ground turkey
1 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon of minced garlic
1 15oz can of tomato sauce
1 14.5oz can of no-salt-added tomatoes, cut up
1 cup water
1 tablespoon of chili powder
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
1 15oz can of pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup of frozen whole kernel corn
Shredded cheese

What to do:
1. In a large pan (I used a dutch oven pan), cook ground turkey until done; drain.
2. Stir in onions, 1/4 cup water and the garlic. Cook about 5 minutes more or until tender, stirring occasionally.
3. Stir in tomato sauce, undrained tomatoes, 1 cup of water, chili powder, cumin and sugar.
4. Bring to a boil, reduce heat.
5. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Stir in beans and corn and return to a boil.
7. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes more, stirring occasionally.

Serve with cheese on top.

I plan to cook this all and keep warm in my crock pot for the Super Bowl this weekend. I hope it will still taste the same!

Enjoy :)

Pin It

Lime Chicken Fajitas

Another super yummy receipe from the very awesome website...pinterest. I seriously think that I would be eating the same thing every week if it wasn't for pinterest. I love love love all the different recipes I find and I know Tate does also. He loves trying new things...so even though he thinks I spend too much time on there, he is thankful for the fabulous food I make that I get from there.

Lime Chicken Fajitas...best homemade fajitas ever!!!

You really can make fajitas any way you want...but the marinade for the chicken and veggies is what makes the fajitas so good. I am a super picky eater, so I am always tweaking recipes I find to make them so I know I will like them. The marinade on this one though, I did not mess with and I am not sure any tweaking is needed...ever!

Marinade ingredients:
Juice of 2 limes
2 tablespoons of rice vinegar
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of black pepper
2 teaspoons of cumin

I started out by cutting up my chicken into little pieces. I also cute up the veggies (peppers & onion) into strips. I put all the chicken in a zip lock bag and all the veggies in a different zip lock bag.

Mix together all the marinade ingredients in a small bowl. After you stir, pour 1/2 the marinade in the chicken bag and the other 1/2 in the veggie bag. Let them marinade for a good 30 minutes.

After it's all marinaded, I put the chicken in a stove top pan to cook. After the chicken was cooked, I added in the peppers and onions. Once that is all cooked together...you are ready to build your fajitas.

Everyone likes different things on their fajitas. I usually cook some rice so I can put that in mine along with sour cream, cheese, lettuce and salsa. So yummy and I am drooling just thinking about theses. We have made this recipe 3 times now and it is definitely on the dinner calendar every other week now!!!

Baked Walleye & Asparagus

So yummy and healthier than beer battered, deep fried walleye [even though I love it that way too].

Walleye ingredients:
Walleye fillets
1 medium tomato chopped
2 tbls chopped green pepper
2 tbls chopped onion
1 tbls lemon juice
1/4 tsp of Thyme

Directions:
Arrange fish in single layer greased 9x9 baking pan. Combine other ingredients and then pour over fish. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

Asparagus ingredients:
Raw asaragus
Extra virgin olive oil
Parmesean cheese
Salt & Pepper

Directions:
Season asparagus with olive oil, parmesean cheese, salt and pepper, Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

The walleye receipe is from my mom. The asparagus receipe was a pinterest find...so here is the LINK to that.

We put tinfoil in the pan so it makes for easier cleaning

We also made boxed wild rice...love it!

So healthy and good!!!!

Homemade Sushi

A few weeks ago, Tate and I decided to have to try to make sushi at home.

We were craving it from enjoying it on our honeymoon. While on our honeymoon, I tried it for the first time and loved it. I only ate veggie sushi...but at home, we decided to make sushi with veggies, smoked salmon & crab. I didn't eat any of the crab ones because I am not a fan...but the veggie and salmon ones were great.

Ingredients:

Smoked Salmon

Imitation Crab

Cucumber

Avocado

Cream cheese
Fresh squeezed lemon juice

Short or medium grain rice (Not long grain...won't get sticky)

Dried seaweed
Soy sauce
Wasabi
Rice vinegar
Sugar
Salt

We followed this website for making the sushi and cooking the rice --> Homemade Sushi

Our fresh ingredients all ready to go

The dried seaweed, rolling pad and rice spoon.

All ready to go to start making our sushi rolls

Added the rice. The saran wrap is used to keep the sushi roll board from getting dirty.

Added our ingredients. This one has cucumber, smoked salmon and cream cheese.

Tate rolling the sushi

Cutting the sushi















All finished and it was sooo yummy!!!