Friday 13 May 2016

Crock Pot goodness!

Easy Crock Pot Salsa Verde Chicken
 

Recipe type: Dinner
Prep time:  
Cook time:  
Total time:  

Loaded with salsa verde and delicious chopped tomatoes, this healthy crock pot chicken is incredibly flavorful and extremely easy to make.
Ingredients
  • 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
  • 1 jar (16-ounces) Salsa Verde (I use Herdez Salsa Verde)
  • 1 can (14.5-ounces) chopped tomatoes
  • ½ tablespoon (or to taste) ground cumin
  • ½ tablespoon (or to taste) chili powder
  • 1 onion, diced, for garnish
  • chopped parsley or cilantro, for garnish
Instructions
  1. Lightly spray the crock with cooking spray.
  2. Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper and place chicken in the crock pot.
  3. Add salsa verde, chopped tomatoes, cumin, and chili powder; stir well to combine.
  4. Cover and cook for 3.5 to 4 hours on HIGH, or 5 to 6 hours on LOW.
  5. Remove cover and transfer chicken breasts to a cutting board; using two forks, shred the chicken.*
  6. Stir the shredded chicken back into the crock pot.
  7. Taste for seasonings and adjust accordingly.
  8. Top with diced onions and fresh parsley or cilantro.
  9. Serve.
Notes
*To shred the chicken, you can also place it in a mixing bowl and use your hand mixer or stand mixer to shred the chicken.
**You can serve this with flour tortillas, sandwich bread, and/or burger buns.
You can also serve it as is. 
***Place leftovers in a container with a lid and refrigerate for 3 to 5 days.

Wednesday 11 May 2016

The amazing chicken & veggie rice rolls


Light, Yummy & healthy. A perfect summer dish!

Ingredients 
Chicken (sliced thinly)
variety of veggies
-I used shredded carrots, red & yellow peppers sliced and lettuce
-Natural honey & Siracha 
Rice paper rolls 
A bowl of warm water


Once you have thinly sliced your peppers and grated your carrots. Place them all neatly in a row. Cut your lettuce into smaller section and Then place your rice paper in the bowl of warm water to soften. 
Once soft, Place on a plate (or just the counter for less dishes) And lay down the lettuce, a few of the different coloured peppers and carrots and then the chicken beside it. Then put a bit of honey and siracha on top and roll and fold the sides in. 

Serve cold with a side of fish sauce or plain! 

Friday 29 April 2016

Shakeology Mug Cake

Sweet tooth before lunch? Day 3 of clean eating and working out and I'm already fighting my chocolate cravings! 

I was in dire need of something this morning and to keep myself from diving into Brents chocolate cookies, I whipped up this bad boy!  It satisfied the need for something sweet and I didn't kill my healthy eating!

I am very aware that when you heat up Shakeology it does take away some of the nutritional value, but I already had my shake for the day so its ok!  I'm totally cool with it!  

You gotta give this a try!!!


Ingredients


-1/4 tsp baking powder


-1 scoop Shakeology


-1 tbs sweetener of your choice


-dash of salt

-1 egg


-optional mix in: peanut butter, cocoa powder


-2 or 3 tbs water/milk


Directions


-In a mug mix Shakeology, baking powder, salt, 

cocoa, and sweetener.

-Next, mix in an egg and 2-3 tablespoons of 

water/milk.

-Mix until dry ingredients are wet.


-If you’d like to add peanut butter, put one dollop in 

the center and push it down a bit.

-Microwave for 90 sec.


-When it is done the edges will pull from the sides.


-Enjoy!



I hope you love it as much as I do!  

Thursday 28 April 2016

Mini Taco Bowls





Easy, Cute and DELICIOUS! While trying to get creative in the kitchen i came up with this yummy lunch! (Or snack) Would be really cute for a party, Of if you are like me and have a super picky child these are fun as you can chop up all the ingredients and let them make their own! 

  STEP 1

Grab a cup and a muffin tin. Cup needs to be larger than the muffin tin spots.
Use the cup to cut out your mini taco base!
I used my handy shakeology shaker cup ;) Worked like a charm!
I used whole wheat tortillas!


STEP 2

Use a food processor (or if you have a blender that works as well)
And blend a can of bean Medley and some salsa
* I wanted a bit of a kick so i used spicy mango salsa that you can get from costco
Blend until it is a paste.





STEP 3
Load your mini taco bases into the muffin tin. 
Add one scoop of the bean/salsa mix into each





STEP 4
This is where you can get creative! 
There is no limit to your toppings. You can add 
tomatoes, green onions, banana peppers...

Because i have a picky eater in the house i just did some green pepper
& cheese! 








STEP5
load on the toppings!




STEP 6

Sprinkle some taco seasoning on top of each!
And bake in the oven at 375 until the the base
is crispy and holds its shape!







STEP 7

Take out of the oven and let cool.
Top with some plain greek yogurt and 
salsa!


ENJOY <3

Saturday 9 April 2016

Vegan Chocolate Energy Bites


My kid loves them
I love them
They taste like chocolaty goodness
They are packed with superfoods
They make a great snack
They are easy to make
😍

1 scoop vegan chocolate shakeology
1 scoop rolled oats
5 tbs of Natural peanut butter
3 tbs sun flower seeds

Mix well (add more peanut butter if needed to help stick together) roll into little balls and place In the fridge.

Thursday 31 March 2016

7 DAY NUTRITION BOOTCAMP


Seeing as I have been LOVING 22 minute hard corps. I've decided to do a 7 day nutrition bootcamp that has some of the recipes I've been using over the last week. 
This will be a FREE week of learning how to fuel our bodies properly and keeping each other accountable. 
✔Meal plan for the 7 days 
✔Recipes
✔Daily motivation 
✔Support 

If you would like to join us on Monday April 4th please friend request me at www.facebook.com/alexnxhalton and message me with "IM IN" 


Sunday 27 March 2016

22 HARD CORPS MEAL PLAN- STEP BY STEP GUIDE


  22 HARD CORPS MEAL PLAN
WILD & FIT





Daily rations in this 22 Minute Hard Corps meal plan include three square meals and two snacks that will stimulate your palate and fuel your workouts for those eating at the 1,200–1,500 calorie level. If you are enlisted in another calorie level, simply double the number of rations in a recipe as needed, or combine additional rations to make more meals or snacks. You’ll notice that this meal plan also includes shakeology to help maximize your results! 

When it comes to nutrition you need to start with a plan! I sat down with my 22 minute hard corps planner and figured out what my starting calorie bracket was and then wrote out my meal plan! Planning ahead will 100% Help you to stay on track and ultimately allow you to get better results than just winging it!

*I am using the meal plan from the BeachBody blog! But have made some changes to fit my needs/likes.



I then made my grocery list! Found below!



RATIONS LIST FOR THE WEEK:
Vegetables
5 cups spinach
2 heads lettuce
15 asparagus spears
1½ cups snap peas
1 bunch cilantro
1 bunch green onions
1 lime
3 cups broccoli florets
1 large tomato
Fruits
2 lbs. strawberries
1 banana
1 12 oz. bag frozen raspberries
Bulk
16 walnut halves
6 Tbsp. sesame seeds
¾ cup brown rice (or 1½ cups cooked brown rice)
⅓ cup dry quinoa (or 1 cup cooked quinoa)
1 cup steel cut oats. (or 2½ cups cooked steel cut oats)
Dry and Canned Goods
1 jar nut butter
Proteins
1 dozen eggs
1 rotisserie chicken (or 2 6oz. chicken breasts, cooked)
8 oz. cocktail shrimp (or 8 oz. cooked shrimp)
12 oz. ground bison (or bison steak, or lean ground beef)
8 oz. ground turkey
Deli
1 container prepared hummus
Pantry
cinnamon
cayenne
cumin
chili powder
garlic powder
vanilla extract
coconut oil
olive oil
balsamic vinegar



My total cost for my meal plan for TWO weeks was $150 Now keep in mind i did buy some extra foods in order to meal prep for my entire family! I am also a bit of a bargain hunter and i suggest looking into coupons from the grocery store of your choice. This will help with the cost if you are low budget or are a bargain hunter like myself!


In the photos below you may notice some extra food items that are not placed on the list. When i meal prep i don't just meal prep for myself i meal prep for my whole family! Which includes a 5 year old and my man child (hubby ;) )











Once my grocery shopping was done it was time to MEAL PREP! 


The 22 Minute Hard Corps Meal Plan Menu:

Breakfast: Spinach Egg Cups with Steel Cut Oats and 1 cup sliced strawberries
Shakeology Snack: Shakeology with 1 cup frozen raspberries or ½ banana and 2 tsp. nut butter
Lunch (M/W/F): Sesame Chicken with Asparagus
Lunch (T/Th): Quinoa Shrimp Cocktail- ( I did not make this recipe for this week as i am doing a full week of this my second week into hard corps!) 
Dinner (M/W/F): Bison and Broccoli Stir Fry
Dinner (T/Th): Grilled Turkey Lettuce Wrap ( I did not make this recipe for this week as i am doing a full week of this my second week into hard corps!) 
Snacks: 8 walnuts sprinkled with cinnamon and cayenne or hummus with lettuce

Here’s what your meal plan for the week will look like when you’re done.






BREAKFAST
Spinach Egg Cups with Steel Cut Oats and 1 cup sliced strawberries
(2 eggs, 1 cup spinach, ½ cup steel cut oats sprinkled with cinnamon and vanilla extract, 1 cup sliced strawberries = 1 red, 1 green, 1 purple, 1 yellow)
you may recognize these little colored containers! Yes they are the same containers that the 21 day fix uses. Beachbody loved the results that us coaches and challengers have been getting with these containers that they have added it into the 22 hard corps program! 
My favourite? Purple=Fruit!

I bought some of these divided containers from the dollar store. They were $3 for 3 of them! 





SHAKEOLOGY SNACK
Shakeology with 1 cup frozen raspberries or ½ banana  and 2 tsp. nut butter (1 red, 1 purple, 2 tsp.)

SNACKS
MWF: ¼ cup hummus with 2 lettuce leaves (1 blue)
T/Th: 8 walnuts sprinkled with cinnamon and cayenne  (1 blue)

LUNCHES
MWF: Sesame Chicken with Asparagus
(¾ rotisserie chicken breast, 5 roasted asparagus spears, ½ cup steamed snap peas, 2 Tbsp. sesame seeds, ½ cup brown rice sprinkled with cumin and chili powder, and chopped fresh cilantro = 1 red, 1 green, 1 yellow, 1 orange)

T/Th: Quinoa Shrimp Cocktail
(1 cup lettuce, topped with ¾ cup cocktail shrimp or cooked shrimp, ½ cup cooked quinoa, 1 chopped green onion, wedge of lime, chopped cilantro, drizzled with vinaigrette = 1 red, 1 green, 1 yellow, 1 orange)
** I can't wait to try this recipe out next week! 

DINNERS
MWF: Bison and Broccoli Stir Fry
(4 oz. ground bison, cayenne, garlic powder, 1 tsp. coconut oil, 1 cup broccoli florets = 1 red, 1 green, 1 tsp.)

As you can see i did pre make two of the ingredients .. I will be throwing these in a pan the night of and mixing the seasoning in each night!

T/TH: Grilled Turkey Lettuce Wrap
(4 oz. turkey patty with 2 lettuce leaves, 2 tomato slices, balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp. olive oil = 1 red, 1 green, 1 tsp.)
** These will be great for next week!




You will find below the step by step guide on how to prepare you meals for a week! This includes the two extra meals that i will be making next week as well as snacks! I hope you enjoyed reading this post on my starting journey with this amazing new program! If you are looking for more info on this program in particular or would like some more support through your journey please message me at wildandfit.4@gmail.com OR reach  me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/alexnhalton




YOUR STEP-BY-STEP STRATEGIC GUIDE TO PREPARING YOUR PREP QUICKLY:
1. Deploying the right equipment will make this advanced meal preparedness more efficient. A rice cooker will make quick work of cooking the brown rice, quinoa, and if your cooker has a “porridge” setting, even the steel cut oats. If you do not have a rice cooker, all of these foods can be cooked on a stovetop. Start your meal prep by cooking ¾ cup brown rice in 1½ cups water, then set the rice aside to cool. Next, cook ⅓ cup quinoa in ⅔ cup water and then set aside to cool. Finally, cook 1 cup steel cut oats in 3½ cups water. Divide cooked oats evenly between five food containers, placing about ½ cup oatmeal in each. Set aside to cool.
2. While grains cook, bring a pot of water to boil. Fill a large bowl with water and ice. Place a steaming basket over the boiling water and steam 3 cups chopped broccoli for 2–3 minutes, then plunge broccoli into the icy water (this stops the cooking process and assures that your broccoli will be bright green when you eat it). Use a slotted spoon to remove broccoli from the ice water and set the broccoli aside. Using the same boiling water, steam 1½ cups snap peas. Plunge snap peas into ice water, then remove them with a slotted spoon and set aside.
3. Heat oven to 375° F. Coat a baking sheet with nonstick spray. Wash the asparagus, then chop about 2 inches off the ends and discard ends. Place asparagus on the baking sheet, season with salt and pepper if desired, then roast in the oven for 10–15 minutes or until tender. Leave oven on.
4. Heat a large pan over medium heat. Spray with nonstick cooking spray. Add 5 cups spinach, stirring frequently until spinach is wilted, about 3 minutes. Crack 10 eggs into a large bowl and whisk the eggs until the yolks and whites are combined. Add the spinach to the eggs and season with salt and pepper if desired. Spray a muffin tin with nonstick spray. Divide egg and spinach mixture evenly between 10 of the muffin cups. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until eggs are set. Place on a wire rack to cool, then remove egg cups from muffin tin. Add two egg cups to each of the containers that have oatmeal. Top each container of oatmeal with 1 cup sliced strawberries (or wait until after you reheat the oatmeal to add strawberries). Cover containers and place in fridge.
5. Sprinkle the brown rice with ½ tsp. cumin, ½ tsp. chili powder, 3 Tbsp. sesame seeds, and as much chopped cilantro as you’d like, then stir to combine. Fill three food containers with ½ cup each of the rice mixture. Top with ¾ of a rotisserie chicken breast, 5 spears of asparagus, and ½ cup snap peas. Sprinkle vegetables with 1 Tbsp. sesame seeds. Cover containers and place in fridge.
6. Fill two food containers each with 1 cup of lettuce. Top with ¾ cup cocktail shrimp (or cooked shrimp), ½ cup quinoa, 1 chopped green onion, as much cilantro as you want, and a wedge of lime. Cover containers and place in fridge. (Just before serving drizzle with vinaigrette.)
7. Divide 8 oz. ground turkey half, and shape each half into a patty; season with salt and pepper or other spices if desired. Heat a pan over medium heat and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Cook patties for 3–4 minutes, then flip. Cook for an additional 3–4 minutes, or until patties are no longer pink in the center. Set patties aside to cool.
8. Using the same pan, cook 12 oz. ground bison (or sliced bison steak, or lean ground beef) in 3 tsp. coconut oil until no longer pink, about 6 minutes. Sprinkle bison with cayenne pepper, garlic powder, salt, and pepper if desired. Divide bison evenly between three food containers. Add 1 cup broccoli to each container, cover, and place in fridge.
9. Place cooled turkey patties in two food containers. Add two leaves of lettuce and two tomato slices to each container. Cover containers and place in the fridge. (Just before serving drizzle with 1 tsp. olive oil and balsamic vinegar).
10. Prepare three small containers with ¼ cup hummus and 2 large lettuce leaves. Count out 2 servings each of 8 pistachios, sprinkle nuts with cinnamon and cayenne.