Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Recipe Favs! A List of My Favorite Recipes


Hello healthy ones! How's it going? Feeling great and living the healthy life I hope! :) As part of my continued effort to live a healthy life, I've been making an effort to eliminate processed foods ( i.e - any food that comes out of a box) out of my diet. While I'm not totally process food free yet, I've made a great strides! As a result, I've been one cooking little woman over here! Lol! It's funny to me because I was never the type who liked to cook, I avoided it while living at home because ironically I have a mother who has always loved to cook, and when I got out on my own, I made my cooking as easy as possible - 30 minutes or under, nothing fancy. But lately I've been cooking, baking, and trying new recipe after new recipe! I've discovered that I actually LOVE cooking! It's relaxing yet educational and the rewards are delicious!

As some of you may know, I'm a vegetarian, it's been around 14 months for me at this point and I love it! I honestly don't think I'll ever return back to eating meat. I mention this because I think me becoming a vegetarian is what got me into cooking. It gets kind of boring eating salad and soups all the time, and nutritionally, it's just not balanced. As an ovo-lacto vegetarian, eggs and dairy aren't cut out of my diet, so I could possibly eat a lot of things that aren't good for me, but the whole reason I became a vegetarian is to eat healthier, so eating a lot of junk and/or processed vegetarian food wasn't an option - this is when I started searching for recipes and seeing how I could add some life to my vegetarian diet. Well, 14 months later and I think I've officially got the hang of it! I'm loving all the different meals I've discovered! So I thought I would share. While all of the recipes I'm about to share with you are meat free that doesn't take away from their taste! These recipes are delicious! So I urge you, whether vegetarian or not, to give them a try!


January 2013 Recipe Favs

  1. Vegetarian Black Bean Burger
    Recipe from About.com


    Vegetarian Black Bean Burger w/ Cornmeal

    When I first became a vegetarian, I ate a lot of name brand vegetarian burgers like (i.e - BOCA, Morningstar Farms, ... etc.). In my attempt to eliminate process foods I came across a couple of vegetarian bean burger recipes and this has to be my favorite! I was never a black bean fan, but these burgers are delicious and super simple to make! They've definitely become a staple in my kitchen! I find that by making my own veggie burgers, I'm not only keeping it healthier, but it saves me a lot of money as well! Can't beat that! Check this recipe out!

    Ingredients

    Instructions

    Place beans in food processor; process until fairly smooth. Add flour, cornmeal, salsa, cumin, garlic powder and salt. Process until well combined. Spoon mixture into 6 balls on a large plate and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 4 hours before cooking. Heat barbecue grill or ridged grill pan over medium heat. Coat grill or pan lightly with oil. Form each ball into a 4-inch patty about 1/2-inch thick. Place the patties on the grill or in pan and cook until browned and heated through, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Serve your black bean cornmeal patties on hamburger buns with your favorite toppings.

    Makes 6 servings


    FIT GIRL TIP: I make large batches of the burgers at one time to freeze and take out when ready. Saves time! All you have to do is thaw out the burger before cooking and you're set!



  1. Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
    Recipe from
    Weelicious.com
    Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
    I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THESE LITTLE COOKIES! My boss brought these to work one day and I fell in love! It's through this recipe that I actually discovered Catherine McCord and Weelicious.com - if you're looking for some great, healthy recipes (vegetarian or not), I definitely recommend checking her site out! Just pop 1 or 2 of these cookies in your mouth for a great dessert or snack! Another Fit Girl staple! And one great thing about them is they stay in the refrigerator, so you don't have to worry about them getting too stiff or stale like you would with other cookies that sit out on the counter!

    Ingredients

    Instructions

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mash bananas in a bowl, and mix in the remaining ingredients. Allow the mixture to sit for 10 minutes. Using a mini ice cream scoop or tablespoon, place the batter onto a Silpat or parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 25 Minutes. Cool and serve.

    To Freeze: Allow cookies to cool after baking then place in a Ziploc bag, label and freeze for up to 3 months.

    Makes 30 servings (depending on how big you make the cookies you may not get this many)



  2. Banana Ice Cream
    Recipe from
    Clean and Delcious.com
    Banana "Ice Cream"

    Speaking of bananas... I just discovered this recipe and if you love bananas as much as I do you've definitely gotta' try this one! It's super yummy! 

    Ingredients

    Instructions

    Pop bananas into a blender or food processor and blend until the bananas have a smooth and creamy consistency (just like ice-cream). Depending on how powerful your blender or processor is, your bananas may clunk around a bit at the beginning but  just give them a minute. Once they start to break down they turn into this lovely, creamy treat.

    If you want, you can skip the milk addition all together, but I like to add a little in.  Start with about a quarter cup and then blend.  If you want it a little thinner add a little more milk, if not - skip it!
    Top with whatever you’ve got on hand or nothing at all and enjoy!

    Makes 2 servings

    FIT GIRL TIP: Add a little protein powder to your banana/milk mixture when blending, that way you can counteract the carbs from the bananas with protein and keep your glucose levels down (which when high can turn into fat). Depending on how much powder you add it, this shouldn't really change the taste that much, but if you use a vanilla protein powder (like I do) it may actually give it an even sweeter, yummier taste! Sweet!!!



  3. Cauliflower "Mashed Potatoes"
    An original recipe
    Cauliflower "Mashed Potatoes"

    If you Google "cauliflower mashed potatoes" you will find a ton of recipes out there, so I'm not the first and won't be the last to come up with a variation of this dish, but this is my own original recipe that I created using tips I found from various other recipes. Now if you're not a cauliflower fan, this probably won't be for you because while it's not completely potato free, there's more cauliflower than potato and you definitely get that strong taste of cauliflower, but it tastes great in my opinion as well as others I've had try it. It's a super healthy, tasty side to go with any meal!

    Ingredients

    Instructions

    Cut up russet potato in chunks. Steam or boil, along with cauliflower florets until soft. Drain and put into baking casserole dish/pan. Mash well and stir in the sour cream, cream cheese, onion powder, garlic powder, and salt and pepper to taste. Cover and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. 

    Makes 8 servings, 1/2 cup each


  4. Butter Bean Burger
    Recipe from AllRecipes.com


    Butter Bean Burger
    Another awesome bean burger for ya'! I love butter beans so when I found this recipe I knew that I had to try it! It's a small burger that packs a mean punch! If you like spicy, you'll like this! 

    Ingredients

    Instructions

    In a medium bowl, mash butter beans. Mix in onion, jalapeno pepper, crushed crackers, egg, cheese, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Divide into 4 equal parts, and shape into patties.

    Fry patties in a large skillet over medium-high heat, until golden, about 5 minutes on each side. 

    Makes 4 servings

    *I don't eat regular eggs so this is what I use but feel free to just use 1 egg if you don't like Egg Beaters/egg substitutes.


  5. Vegetarian Vegetable Soup
    Recipe from Mandula's Kitchen.com
    Indian Vegetarian Vegetable Soup
    Saving the best for last! I just made this vegetable soup and I LOVED IT! It's Indian Vegetarian Vegetable Soup and it's delicious! If you're interested in eating meat free you should definitely check out Mandula's Kitchen.com. The site is full of vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free recipes that carry out the authenticity of Indian vegetarian cooking. This recipe tastes great and was super simple to make! Check it out!

    Ingredients

    Instructions

    Heat the oil in a pot over medium high heat Once oil is hot, add the cumin, potatoes, carrots, bay leaf, cloves, ans salt, stirring occasionally, for about 2-3 minutes Add corn, cabbage, celery, tomato, and 3 cups of water, after it comes to boil turn down the heat to low medium Cover and let it cook for 25-30 mins until veggies are tender Add the pepper and lemon juice, taste and season with additional salt and pepper to taste. 

    Makes 4 servings

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Living The Healthy Life

Happy New Year fitness fans! :) How's it going? Good I hope! This is my first real, official, blog post of 2013! Can you believe it? WE ARE IN THE YEAR 2013! Coming from this 1980s baby that sounds kinda' when spoken out loud (guess I'm showing my age, lol) but wow, what a blessing! Another year, another chance to get it right! And hey, maybe you've already got this fitness & nutrition thing down, but just remember, no one knows it all and you can never learn too much so we've got a whole new year to learn more and just keep getting better! :)

So the subject: "Living The Healthy Life", now what do I mean by that? As I said before, we're at the start of a new year. While the media and most people are preaching to you on how to lose weight by trying to sell you the latest diet, piece of exercise equipment or at-home DVD fitness program, I'm not here for that. Don't get me wrong, all those things are well & good and have their place, none of them will be effective if you don't change your mindset first.

When I say "change your mindset", I mean that you have to stop thinking of diets or even exercise as being "the answer". They're a huge part of the answer but by themselves they won't work. The key is changing your mindset to stop thinking of  nutrition and fitness as "the thing you're doing right to lose weight" but as your new lifestyle. You see, the only true way for diet & exercise to be effective is to incorporate it as a LIFESTYLE CHANGE. They say it takes 21 days/3 weeks to form a habit, and I've found this to be very true. You stick to anything for 3 weeks and you can, if you truly want to, continue it for life! By 3 weeks time, your body has gotten used to the new taste of the healthier foods you're feeding it or  the feel of working out everyday. Our bodies are truly AMAZING!!! (When God made us He knew what He was doing!) It doesn't take our bodies very long to adapt at all! In 3 weeks time, whatever you're doing has become apart of your lifestyle! You are now officially LIVING THE HEALTHY LIFE!

So as a part of my new year's resolutions, I've come to the conclusion that I want to officially stop using the word "diet" because not only does it leave a bad taste in most people's mouths from years of yo-yo dieting and diets full of bad tasting pre-packaged foods, but it usually refers to something temporary - and that's exactly the mindset I want us all to get out of! Eating healthy should not be a temporary thing, but an EVERYDAY OCCURRENCE. Working out should not be something we do only when we want to lose weight, but with all of the benefits that come from exercising, fitness should be apart of our EVERYDAY LIVES. So start living the healthy life today!






Thursday, January 3, 2013

Weight Loss and Wellness Summit 2013 - REGISTER NOW!



Hey Fitness Friends!

I wanted to let you know that I have been handpicked to be a guest speaker at a great upcoming event to start the New Year off!

I am able to get you FREE access to attend this weight loss summit hosted by my colleague Carol Dunlop of OptimumBodySculpting.com and Dana Dunn of Dunn Enterprises called the Weight Loss & Wellness Summit 2013.

 
Imagine looking in the mirror and seeing
YOU at YOUR GOAL WEIGHT!
What will you learn?
In this tele-summit, Carol and Dana have brought together 30 weight loss and wellness experts to explain exactly how to put their techniques into use right away so you can start losing weight now.

If you’re wondering how you’re actually going to fulfill your New Year’s resolution to lose weight while others totally blow it by the middle of January, you need to register for this tele-summit and get all the weight loss details first hand.



The experts are going to share:


  • How to create meals that make your body burn fat
  • When to workout for maximum fat burn
  • The 5 tips to keep you on track and focused to win
  • The #1 habit you have to put in place to be successful at losing weight
  • How to create YOUR weight loss plan
  • And more... !

To register for your place, click the following link:
http://losetheweight2013.com/?ap_id=jonelleboyd


You will finally be able to say with confidence, “My resolution is to lose weight and look and feel great in 2013!”

So even if have started yet another diet and don’t think that you can stick with it long enough to see real results, the experts on this weight loss summit are going to show you how to get on track and stay the course to lose ALL the weight you want.

Stay Fit!
Jonelle

PS: Registration is limited, so register TODAY for your free place!