Recipe of the Week

I have been thinking a great deal about how I can help my readers of this blog to not only exercise, but eat right as well. Because losing weight, getting fit, and feeling great is about 20% exercise and 80% food. The things we put in our mouth determine our results. Nutrition is not easy, especially if you have grown accustomed to your regular diet, but with small changes you can be eating better and FEELING better and LOOKING better than ever. And those workouts that COMPLETELY wipe you out will have their reward because you are eating the proper foods in the proper amounts. I am always tweaking and fixing because eating healthy takes practice and I am ALWAYS and FOREVER  a work in progress. However, I want to share the things I use and have used to get me there. My body rewards me when I eat well. And THAT is worth it! 

Now I want to dispel a myth. Eating well is NOT starving yourself. What I will share with you are solid, healthy foods. I eat between 2200-2400 calories a day depending on how I feel. I eat that much because I am very active. I NEVER EVER go hungry! It's not good for you and it defeats the purpose of living a healthy, fit life.  Nor will your body let go of fat if you are in starvation mode, not a good place to be, and the fastest way to hit a plateau. I eat 5-6 small nutritious meals a day, and I DON'T spend hours in the kitchen. I have 3 kids for heavens sake so I don't have time for that, nor do I think many people do. So I use protein powder, protein bars (which I make:), and buy, it just depends), left overs from the night before, and Shakeology (it's my supplement and meal and I don't go a day without it SERIOUSLY!) Okay with that said...

We are going to go over portion size. On the left is one of my dinner plates. On the right is a salad plate. We use the salad plates for the kids and for myself. I haven't converted Kelcey yet, but I'm working on it. And those little hands are Kody's. He had to be involved. Now I use a salad plate whenever I can. It keeps me honest, and it fools your brain into thinking you have a ton of food on your plate. For those of you just starting I would recommend starting here. Try portion sizing everything at first.

This was my lunch today and the first meal I am featuring. Before you start calling "FIBBER" on me with my "easy meal talk" earlier, these are left-overs from last nights meal. I just added steamed vegies instead of salad. So this meal took me 10 minutes maybe to throw together. And it's on my salad plate, so see it totally looks like a TON of food. What you're looking at is 3/4 C whole wheat pasta, 1 ground turkey meatball sliced in half, and 1_1/4 C. steamed vegies, with a pinch of salt and pepper. This meal equals about 350 calories. I make my own sauce so there is no sugar and that recipe will be for another day. Today I am going to tell you how to make the ground turkey meatballs. 

This is what I use. It is ground turkey breast, no dark meat or skin in there. You can get this at Winco for $3.19/lb. It's the cheapest I've found ground turkey breast EVER, but it's worth it. I rarely use ground beef anymore. I like to cut corners on fat and especially saturated fat. My kids love it and so do I soooo yummy.

1lb. ground turkey breast

10 saltine crackers

2-3Tbs. grated parmesan cheese

Salt, pepper, and granulated garlic. (I just guess with this so I'm not sure on the measurements, so take a good guess on what would taste good for you and go for it, but careful on the salt:) Next time I'll add a little hot red pepper for some spice, and some Italian seasoning. I'll let you know how it turns out. I like to experiment:) 

• Blend all together like a meat loaf
• roll into 8 meat balls or do 4 LARGE meat balls (1 serving= 4 oz or 120 calories. There are 4 servings in one 1lb package, so you decide what works for you)
• spray broiler pan with non-stick spray
• place in the oven on High Broil a few inches from the heat
• It cooks for about 6 minutes, turn meat balls over, cook another 6 minutes, or until completely done (no pink)
• Place meat balls in prepared sauce and simmer in the crock pot all day until dinner

So there you have it. I haven't always been a fan of whole wheat pasta, but if I don't like something I try it until I do. I don't like being picky because it limits what I can eat. Anyway I made both kinds of pasta white and whole wheat, just to reduce the shock factor in the house, and you know what...my kids preferred the whole wheat! AWESOME! It actually wasn't that bad this time. I got the whole wheat spaghetti in the bulk foods section at Winco, and it's the best whole wheat pasta I've tried. Kelcey didn't even mind it, which is saying a lot. He still prefers white, but I'll get him converted don't you worry:) He'll have to because that's all I will buy now. You gotta go with what the kids will eat, right? Perhaps next time I will go over making your own spaghetti sauce. Until next time...Here's to healthy eating