Cha Cha Cha Chia.....

I hope that everyone is enjoying their weekend. I am not sure where today has gone, but I can't believe how late it is already. So, this morning I posted about Chia seeds so I want to do a little post about them. First, I have a few other things that I want to talk about.

As promised earlier in the week, I tried out a new recipe that I found at The Gracious Pantry. Well, it was not a success in our home. In a few words.....frozen tanning lotion. I love coconut & I love bananas, but I did not love this. Maybe I used too much coconut milk, or maybe I will just focus on trying a new recipe next week. I haven't spent nearly as much time on her website as I would like & I already have 7 other recipes in my interested list. What recipe are you looking forward to making this week? Did you try anything yet? Come on folks, jump in this with me. It is worth it. Promise.

Secondly, and I mentioned this on Facebook & Twitter this morning, but I LOVE PB2! I have been trying to get my hands on some all week to sample but I knew deep down that it would be love at first taste. It was! Here is why....I love peanut butter. Crunchy, creamy, natural...it doesn't matter. Well now I know that I like powdered peanut butter too. It kills me that I can only have a serving of peanut butter or nuts a day so I was SO relieved to know that there was a better way. Check this out....

If I have "regular" peanut butter, I am looking at around 190 calories & 16 grams of fat per serving. With PB2, that goes down to 45 calories & only 1.5 grams of fat!!! (I can't put enough exclamation points here.) The best part is that I only needed 1/2 of the serving in my shake. Now, if I want to have some almonds in the afternoon or in my morning oatmeal, I can! After tasting this today, I immediately ordered four jars. This is going to be a healthy staple in our home. A healthy food that will "feel" like a cheat, without ANY guilt. They even have recipes on their website that look amazing. I am so happy! If you want more info, you can click on the banner below or on the right of the page.






With that being said, I want you all to know that I am only promoting foods, products, websites and blogs that I truly love myself, believe in, & think can benefit all of you as well. I feel so blessed that in a few short days, I have come across several things that are completely changing the way that I look at food, fitness, & overall health.

On to the chia seeds. I have to admit that I was completely terrified to try these. I went to the health food store & asked them if I could purchase two tablespoons instead of the 1-2 cup prepackaged portion. They agreed. I am so happy that I tried this! Chia seeds do not have any taste but have amazing health benefits. Click here to review the nutritional information. So far, I have only used it in my oatmeal, but you can add it to just about anything. Chia seeds are considered a super food. I can write all night long as many of you know, but I will just leave you to this website instead. MyChiaSeeds.com. has a tremendous amount of information that will tell you everything that you need to know. Sprinkle some in your cereal, soup, smoothie, salad or just about anything else. You can even use chia gel to reduce the butter/fat in your baking. How do you use chia seeds?

As a new week is about to turn the corner, what ONE goal will you post to make yourself accountable for this week? Seriously, just ONE new goal. ONE goal is a great start. Please join us.

Clean Eating Pizza

How I love the sound, smell, & taste of that title. I didn't want to wait to test out a new recipe & since I had to go to the grocery store tonight anyway, I decided to go for it. I am not going to make this post terribly long because I still need to get my cardio in for the night. :)

This weekend I went back & looked through several of my Clean Eating magazines. Now that I have a fresh, open mind, I figured that recipes that I may have passed up before might sound appealing now. I was right. I like the way that sentence sounded so I will say it again...I was right. Tonight's menu - Pizza per Uno with Garlic, Spinach, & Fresh Mozzarella. YUM!

Based on the nutritional information in the magazine, I could afford two pizzas & still have room for my snack this evening so I was more than excited. There is something about the words "clean eating" that keeps my children from getting excited. In fact, they make an automatic assumption that they will HATE it. I am sure that there are many of you that are agreeing with them right now. I am here & I hope that you will continue to follow along with me while we take a journey to find delicious clean foods. Just because it is good for you doesn't mean that it has to be nasty.

Apparently, the recipe in the magazine used a different whole-wheat pita than I used. I didn't have the magazine with me at the store & made a major mistake here. I chose the healthiest one that I found, but I thought that the serving size was 1 pita, it wasn't. It is a 1/2 of a pita. Really? A half!? So, thank goodness I didn't eat two or I would be working out until the morning. As I expected, the kids decided that they wouldn't like it & were pleased that I considered a back up option for them. So with that in mind, I was able to persuade them to taste it. They are glad that they did.....

Since I was making two, I decided to try out two toppings. If you look closely, you will notice just a few pieces of pepperoni in the first photo. (This was how I persuaded the kids to try it) Next time, no pepperoni. Ha! The second photo was mushrooms. Everything else was the same.

I was extremely impressed with this dish, the ease, the fresh, healthy ingredients, it only took 8 minutes in the oven, & we all loved it. Success!!! This will become a regular weekly dinner. At least until we find more yummy clean eating recipes. You can find this recipe in the Clean Eating - January 2011 issue.

Recipe makes 2 pizzas

1/2 natural salt-free tomato sauce
1/4 to 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (I left these out)
2-3 cloves of garlic, pressed
2 whole-wheat, sprouted wheat or gluten-free pitas
1 cup spinach or other winter greens
2oz fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
2tbsp minced basil

1. Preheat over to 400.
2. Mix sauce, red pepper flakes, & minced garlic together in a bowl & then divide sauce evenly on the two pitas.
3. Sprinkle the spinach, place any other healthy toppings & then arrange mozzarella rounds on top.
4. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Again, my pita could have been much healthier so my nutritional information will improve next time. But it is still good & I am still well within my daily allotment of calories.

Information for 1 pizza -

Calories - 312
Fat - 6g
Protein - 13
Fiber - 4.1
Carbs - 50.6

I am looking forward to tomorrow's Banana Coconut Ice Cream. If you would like to be sure that you don't miss out on a post, you can subscribe in the top right corner to have each post emailed directly to you as soon as I post it!

Have a great evening, don't snack too late, & get enough rest.

The Gracious Pantry

A few weeks ago I found a website/blog that I absolutely love! You can find it here. Basically, all of Tiffany's recipes are clean. I was looking around on her site a little tonight & started thinking....wouldn't it be great if we all committed to just ONE new recipe this week? One that is clean & healthy. One that we could easily share a link from the website so that we don't have to type out a recipe & directions. I think so.

Go to this website...www.thegraciouspantry.com & pick a recipe. Any recipe. You can search by category or even ingredient. It is awesome. Tell us which recipe you are going to try out so we don't double up. We can do this each week & in no time we will all have our own little clean eating cookbooks of favorites. I love it! Our bodies will love it, our families with love it, & our friends will want to know what we are doing. :)

After you make your recipe & share with your loved ones, post the link to the recipe in the comments, if you made any modifications, had troubles, & what your overall suggestion for that recipe is. Is it a keeper?

I think that I found my first experiment right off the bat. It is only TWO ingredients. Who said that eating clean had to be expensive? Now, Tiffany doesn't always post nutritional info so if you really want to wow us, you can include that. I am going to because I count & track all of my calories. It takes a day of prep & I need the groceries, so I am going to make mine on Thursday night. Honestly, I can't wait!

Clean Eating Banana Coconut Ice Cream

If you know of any other great websites like the one that I have suggested, please share. Join us on the road to living healthy....

A New Start

The question these days doesn't seem to be, who has tried dieting....it is how many diets have you tried? There are so many different options & many of us have tried quite a few, if not all of them. What works for one person may not work for someone else. I have close friends who are extremely successful on diets that most people would heavily criticize. It is about you & what you can do. What you are willing to do. What your commitment level is.

So here I am. It is hard for me to find motivation to be honest. I hate to admit that, but when have I ever held anything back from you all? Getting me to the gym is like pulling teeth. However, once I am there....I could work out forever. It isn't the exercise that I hate, it is simply getting me there. So I have to start somewhere else....my diet.

Enter Shakeology. When I decided to give this a try, I think I was even feeding myself a load of BS. "I can have a shake a day as a meal replacement & I'll lose weight. No effort. Perfect." I tried to convince myself that I would like it when I have hated EVERY other protein shake that I have ever had. Unless of course it contained so much sugar that it should have been illegal. So here I go, wasting all of this money. Because ordering something healthy online = losing weight for certain. Yeah right!

Something was different this time though. From the second that I hit send, I was excited. My package came in & I went straight to the post office to pick it up. I went home & immediately made my first shake. Brandon was in the kitchen with me. We smelled the chocolate Shakeology powder first, because I smell everything new before I taste it. Who's with me? It smelled amazing. Brandon was begging me to let him take the first drink but I knew that we had to do something first...pray. It went a little something like this, "Dear Lord, PLEASE allow me to like this shake. I need this & I need to be excited about it. Amen." Ok, stop laughing at me. I am totally serious. I wanted this, but I was scared of all of my other failures & horrible memories of chalky shakes from the past. So God had two seconds before my lips hit that glass to make sure that I liked it.

Amazing! Those of you that follow me on Facebook or Twitter have already seen a few of my recipes & constant Shakeology discussions going on. This. Is. It. This is what is going to work for me. It already is. Not only am I already losing weight, my digestion is better than it has been my entire adult life, I have increased energy, & I have even (wait for it) worked out five times in the last seven! Holy smokes! I don't dread my shakes, I look forward to them. I even turned down dinner out with friends that I love tonight to go home & have my Shakeology, and I wanted to. Who am I? Hopefully, the new version of myself. A healthier person.

I also want to mention that Brandon was begging me to let him share my shake or make him his own, and was even willing to pay me. He absolutely loved it & hasn't stopped talking about it. He helps me make my shakes & he wants to taste each one. Getting my kids excited about something that is so good for them is a blessing. One that I didn't expect or even consider. Brandon & I will be sitting down this weekend to discuss how we can incorporate Shakeology into his diet. Eating healthier as a family will be an amazing gift.

For the last three years, I have loved & been blessed with every second of your support that you have given to me & to my family. Please join me on this journey as well. Let's do this together. I am excited for myself, my family, & what this can do for all of us. I heart Shakeology!

Want to know more? Start out by watching this video, and stay tuned for my next post/vlog! I can't wait.