Pumpkin Oatmeal

As promised, here's my Pumpkin Oatmeal "recipe"

1/2 C quick cooking oats
1/2 tsp brown sugar
1/4tsp cinnamon (that's just a guess... use your best judgement here, I like a lot!)
2 tbsp pumpkin puree
1 C water

Mix ingredients and microwave for 1 1/2 - 2 minutes.

Fall in a bowl!

You can even add goodies like chocolate chips, almonds, pecans, etc.

Mexican Pizza

Tonight I wanted to make something delicious, but still healthy! Especially since I didn't work out.

I was stalking Pinterest looking for something good and I stumbled on a "Copy Cat Mexican Pizza", I knew it was something I could easily lighten up, so it was a winner!

Ingredients:
1lb lean ground beef
Taco seasoning (I just threw my own spices in with the meat, way less sodium that way. I used cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, salt and red pepper flakes)
Whole grain tortillas (I used one for mine)
Vegetarian refried beans (just a thin layer spread over the tortilla)
La Victoria salsa in a jar
Grated cheese
Lettuce (all I had was iceburg, but romaine would have been my first choice!)
Tomato (I was out of fresh tomato)

For fun I threw thinly sliced red bell pepper, red onion and avocado on mine.

Preheat the oven to 425.

Brown the ground beef
Layer the beans, salsa, meat, cheese, onions and peppers on the tortilla and bake for 8-10 minutes or until the tortilla is crisp around the edges.
Add lettuce, tomato, avacado and salsa and VIOLA!

A delicious, easy weeknight meal!

Lunch date

Today I had a lunch date... with the treadmill!

I'm not going to lie, I really wasn't feeling the workout bug, the only thing that motivated me was I kept telling myself "You will feel better if you just do it, you never regret a workout!". There's really no arguing with that.

I sucked it up, put on a happy face and headed to the gym. I decided that I would just walk fast hill intervals. It didn't seem as dauting as pushing myself to run. I am telling you, I just was NOT feeling it. Hill intervals ALWAYS kick me in the a$$ and I work up a great sweat so why not? Just because its not a RUN doesn't make it any less of a workout!

I set the treadmill for 30 minutes on level 8 hills. I try to avoid changing settings while I am working out, so I let the treadmill do all the work. The intervals ranged from 1% to about 7% incline and I walked FAST... 4.8mph.

The verdict? I feel like a million bucks and I am glad I went. Now my quick work out is done for the day!

Healthy Brown Rice Salad

Hi there! I guess I better start posting over here, huh?

Over the weekend we had a little impromtu Labor Day BBQ with some friends. My hubby was dying to make bacon wrapped chicken breasts smothered in bbq sauce on the grill. I wanted to make something healthy to go with the chicken, but something other than a green salad, which we almost always have.

I thought a cold brown rice salad sounded absolutely perfect. I wasn't quite sure how it was going to turn out, but to my surprise, it was delicious!

Ingredients:
2 cups brown rice
1 chicken bullion cube
1 green bell pepper
1/2 medium red onion
1 can of black beans
1 can of corn
1/4 cup of fresh squeezed lime juice
1/4 - 1/2 cup olive oil
salt and cracked black pepper to taste

I cooked the rice per the instructions on the bag. I threw the bullion cube in once the water came to a boil, covered with foil and the lid and let simmer for 50 minutes. I let the rice cool before adding the dressing and veggies.

Definitely making this again!