My "famous" salsa

I call my salsa recipe "famous" because people LOVE it... I mean LOVE... its like crack salsa. People are always asking me to bring it to parties and raving about it. I am a salsa FREAK and I love it, but it makes me happy that other people love it too!

The original recipe is a "copy cat" of a Chili's salsa recipe I found online... I just added a couple of ingredients, so I feel like its my OWN!

http://www.copykat.com/2009/03/27/chilis-salsa/

"Famous" Salsa Recipe

1 handful of cilantro
1 jalepeno
1/2 white onion
2 tbsp lime juice (give or take, I am not really sure how much, I just squeeze a few times around the bowl)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes with green chilis and mexican seasoning
1 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp sugar

Blend jalepeno, cilantro, onion, lime and all of the spices in the food processor, add both cans of tomatoes, blend more and VIOLA... the best salsa ever!

Sunday Meal Prep

WHERE does the weekend go? Seriously… weekends at home are so busy anymore, it makes it hard to throw anything fun in the mix because everything at home seems to fall behind… but the fun stuff is worth it!
Last weekend was pretty busy, so I didn’t get to do as much of my meal prep as I like to do normally. Meal prep is great because it keeps me from blindly grabbing things out of the fridge in a rush in the mornings before work and better yet, it keeps me from eating out too much. So, while it’s a couple hours of WORK on a Sunday, I actually really enjoy doing it and it keeps me on track throughout the week.
I just started prepping my own food for the whole week at a time… so honestly, I don’t have a whole lot of variety just yet. Also, my little family doesn’t really like the same stuff I do, so I usually make them something quick and as healthy as I can get with them as they are pretty picky eaters : /
I normally prep snacks and my protein shakes (which I blend up w/ ice, strawberries and bananas) in the mornings as I go… so the stuff I do on Sunday is normally mostly lunches and dinners… and I keep it pretty simple.
This past Sunday I prepped ground turkey taco salads

With homemade salsa


Egg white cups

Spaghetti squash with chorizo chicken sausage


And roasted almonds with cocoa, cinnamon and a little coconut oil (recipe to follow!)

All with help from my little helper…

Healthy fudge!

I've been on a roll today... I have many past recipes I want to post, but everything from today way quick, easy and healthy! my baby girl was sick and slept a lot, so I went for it!

Paleo Peanut Butter Fudge

1/2 coconut oil
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 natural peanut butter
1/4 cup honey
1/2 tsp vanilla

Melt coconut oil, add peanut butter, cocoa, honey and vanilla to melted coconut oil. Mix well and distribute into ice cube tray. Chill in fridge 30 min and move to the freezer for another 10 min.

Recipe Credit

I'll be keeping the rest in the freezer for quick chocolate fixes!

Baked Apple Chips

The worlds easiest, most delicious, HEALTHY snack...

Baked Apple Chips

Ingredients...

Apples

That's it.

You could season them up with cinnamon and even some brown sugar if you wanted, but these babies are delicious just baked on their own.

I sliced them on the thinnest setting on my mandolin and baked them on a cooling rack on a baking sheet at 250 degrees for 50 minutes... perfect!

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip "Muffins"

I have to start off by saying these are the healthiest muffins I have come acrossed... they are basically a bowl of oatmeal baked in a muffin tin and they are DELICIOUS!!!!

I got the recipe from Pinterest (seriously an addiction... but that's a whole other post!)

Here's the link to the website w/ the recipe itself.

Banana Chocolate Chip Baked Oatmeal Cups

3 cups Old Fashioned Oats (I used quick cooking)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 egg whites
1 whole egg
1 1/4 cup milk
2 mashed bananas
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips (you could also use raisins, dried cranberries, etc)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly mist a muffin tin with cooking spray.
2. Combine oats, brown sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl and stir until mixed well.
3. In a seperate bowl, whisk together egg whites, egg, mashed banana, milk and vanilla. Add mixture to dry ingredients and stir until blended together. Mix in chocolate chips.
4. Use measuring cup to pour mixture evenly into muffin tin. Bake 18-22 minutes or until oatmeal is lightly browned and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

These things are freaking DELICOUS! I definitely want to try different variations... apple cinnamon comes to mind =)

What’s been going on lately…

As I mentioned in my last post, I have been keeping busy working, exercising, being a mommy, prepping food to stay on top of my healthy eating habits, etc.

Here are some pics……

There you have it... what's going on in "real life" around here!

I will be posting some healthy recipes seen here soon! =)

It's been awhile.......

To say the least!

I know, I know... I have been gone WAY too long. I really miss blogging, its been SO hard to make the time to sit down and take the time to write posts and take/upload pictures of what's going on... but I really want to get back into the swing of things. I am sure there is a lot of technology out there making blogging easier, I am going to look into it!

So... what's going on?

SO MUCH! Busy life, as usual... being a working mommy, fitting in workouts, getting into food prep, studying for my NASM CPT Test............. Never a dull moment around here!

I am happy to report I have scheduled my CPT test for MAY!!! YIKES!!!!!!! I can't believe I actually have a date. I am studying every night, I bring flash cards and printouts to work to study on breaks, I bring the iPad to the gym to study while I do cardio a few days a week. I am DEFINITELY serious about this and it makes me happy knowing I am taking the steps I need to, to make this dream come true. It might not seem like much to some, but health, fitness and nutrition have been a part of my life for YEARS... it's absolutely a passion of mine. I feel happy and motivated to make this happen for myself... even if I don't have much time to put it to use right away, I am going to put myself out there and really TRY. It scares me and makes me smile at the same time. It's going to be much more work than I have going on right now and it's not deterring me at all. I know this is what I need to feel complete in my professional life. I want to help others feel good about themselves and live happy, healthy lifestyles. I also want to teach my daughter that type of lifestyle is "normal" and I want it to come naturally for her by following my example.

Lately I have had close friends tell me I "inspire" them. I inspire them to get eat healthy, prep food so they aren't left running through the drive thru when they are starving, to workout and love themselves. There is NO greater compliment I could recieve than knowing I am an inpsiration to anyone, ESPECIALLY my friends and family and I am a part of the reason they are making these positive changes in their lives. I am 100% here for them if and when they need me and I love it!

In the future, I hope to take some nutrition classes as being a personal trainer doesn't give me the "ok" to create diets for people... but the least I can do is NOW is become more knowledgable to give advice in that area and maybe one day persue a Registered Dietician degree. One step at a time, we will see!

For now, I am happy to say I feel HAPPY with the direction I am heading! It feels good and I am so motivated.