Sheperd's Pie during the summer...oh heck yes.

Kevin asked me to make him a Shepherd's Pie. Didn't really expect it especially during summer. Of course, I went on the hunt for a recipe that still has the flavor but not as much fat. I decided to go with a REALLY LEAN ground sirloin and we splurged on the mashed potatoes. I went for a sirloin that was 4% and locally produced in PA. It was all natural and VERY tender. The cheese I bought was from Trader Joe's and had NO hormones. I added some steak sauce and a little bit of sweet bbq sauce for flavor.

Ingredients

2 cups prepared mashed potatoes (such as Simply Potatoes)
3/4 pound ground sirloin
1/3 cup water
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (2 ounces) preshredded reduced-fat extrasharp cheddar cheese

About 356 cals a serving as long as you keep it lean. Remember DON'T SKIP TASTE. Otherwise, you won't want to eat it.

Happy School Year!

Well it's every teacher's worst nightmare...starting the school after making positive eating changes. A couple of enemies in the school: the teacher's lounge, the front office, and Fat Fridays. I believe goal setting is the only way you can see what's in front of you so here are my goals for the school year (health wise and fashion...yes fashion):

1. I will only bring snacks to school that are protein packed and/or easily proportioned. This includes: raw almonds, raw peanuts, trail mix, fat free popcorn, veggies, and hummus. If anyone wants to by me a frig for my room, I will give your kid an A. Yep I'm not above it.

2. Even when I am tired and drained from both work and grad school, I WILL GO FOR A WORKOUT. If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook and I post something that is along the lines of "I'm so tired" or "I'm so stressed" or "Reward day" PLEASE COMMENT AND TELL ME I'M STILL FAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's not mean, it's reality.

3. Budget, budget, budget my groceries every week. You can eat skinny but still be on a budget if you keep simple things in mind. Foods that can last or recipes that can be eaten all week are you best friends. If you plan ahead and budget for it, it's not hard to eat healthy on a budget.

4. I need to dress for my body. Even though I'm trying to lose and have lost a little over 6 pounds, that does not mean I can fit into a smaller size. I'm still around the same size. I've trimmed down in terms of inches but I'm still on my journey. DO NOT FOOL YOURSELF INTO THINKING YOU CAN WEAR SMALLER CLOTHES BECAUSE YOU ARE LOSING WEIGHT. Wait and be surprised by your smaller size. There is literally no better feeling than putting on a size smaller but if you wear clothes that are too small or cover up your body, you will lose sight of your body image. You will slip right back into FAT GIRL SYNDROME and start buying clothes that are too small. Stacey and Clinton on "What Not to Wear" always say, "DRESS YOUR BODY NOT YOUR FUTURE BODY". This is so true. Dress your body now, and you will want to take care of it.

Go enjoy the end of summer and welcome back to all my teacher friends!!

Tis the season

For heirloom tomatoes, fah la la la la la la...you get it. Any who, heirloom tomatoes are in season and in honor of meatless Monday, I made a VERY simple but very satisfying meal. One cup of heirloom tomatoes is only 35 calories. They are small, meaty and beautiful. This meal can be made in about 10 minutes and since I am making it for myself, the portions are smaller.

Ingredients
1 cup of heirloom tomatoes (check out Trader Joe's)
1 tsp of minced garlic
.5 tbsp of EVO
Season with basil, salt and pepper
Optional: grated parmigiano reggiano
1 cup of organic whole wheat pasta (in my case 2 cups)

Directions
In a large pot, bring water to a boil and place pasta in pot and stir constantly.
In a small sauce pan and LOW heat put the first four ingredients together. There should be TONS of juice from the tomatoes that it will look like a thin sauce. Cook until the tomatoes are soft but juicy.  Once everything is cooked through then add them all together. Once again, CHEESE IS OPTIONAL! (But completely delicious)

In my case this was 523 calories but if you do just one cup it will only cost you about 322 calories! Eat them up will you can!

What I Learned at Cheer Camp.

1. There is a reason why Freshmen in college gain weight. The food is plentiful and alcohol is over the top. While I was at cheer camp (yes you may judge), we ate like we would have if we were in a dorm. Remember back in the day when you were a little bright eyed Freshmen ready to take the world on. Remember that dorm food that you swear was disgusting. You probably blocked it out, but you DESTROYED plate after plate of that disgusting, processed, easily accessible food. Do NOT deny it. At every meal, there was something AWFUL waiting for me to consume but I said NO. NON. I stayed away from fried food and chose to eat salads and my delicious Clif Bars. Even when we went to McDonald's, I got a grilled chicken sandwich with a bottle of water...wah wah waaaaah. But I saved myself 680 calories. The point is, you have choices. SO MAKE THE RIGHT FREAKING ONES. You know what's right and wrong. If you are in a situation, like a limited menu, then make decisions that will save you calories and a ton of regret.

2. You need to be creative with your work outs. I thought, "We will be at a camp in the woods. OF COURSE there will be a trail I can run on." Well the camp is called Trail's End. Yeah...about that. I only had one GIANT hill and that's about it. I was bitching and moaning all week. "I can't work out" or "What am I supposed to do?" It wasn't until the last night I saw the light...literally. At night the tennis courts are lit up and all the camp workers use that as the track. Gosh damnit. I spent 3 days trying to figure out how to get some kind of a work out and there it was the entire time. FAIL. Lesson learned here: BE CREATIVE.

3. Your youth is the time to lose weight. Not when you wake at 45 and decide it's time to be fit. It's MUCH harder to become healthy later in life than when you are younger. Why? Your metabolism slows down but it is NOT impossible to lose weight later on. As I looked around the camp, I saw girls that were over weight and struggling to feel comfortable in booty shorts and tank tops. I had flashbacks to my days on the drill team and SQUEEEZZZZINNNGGG into those uniforms and always feeling uncomfortable in my shorts. I'm about to be brutally honest right now. Avert you eyes if you are sensitive to the truth or don't want to me to heartless. If you know a teen that is over weight, you need to intervene. It's hard enough being a teenager, but being an overweight teen is completely awful. I wish, no...I'm not going to regret my youth but I am going to say a conversation about weight and health can go a long way. They are going to hate you and tell you that you're a horrible person but you're doing the right thing.

To recap: You must make the right decisions with your food, be innovative with your work outs and catch your (or your teen's/friend/sister/boo's) bad habits sooner rather than later

My personal favorite. Salmon.

I love salmon. As a product of the great Northwest, I believe it's ingrained in our minds that salmon must be perfect. You eat certain kinds of salmons and that's it. So whenever I see salmon on the menu, I must ask, "Where is your salmon from?" and if the answer is Atlantic...I cringe. Copper River Salmon (King, Sockeye and Coho) is the best salmon in the world. It was like a treat to have it in my house. My mom cooks the best salmon in the world. She knows the exact time and look of the salmon when it's perfect to eat. She would cooks it with dill and lemon juice. Simple and straight forward.
Last night we had Atlantic salmon. A cardinal sin. It was painful to admit I ate but I will say...it was delicious. Still had that wild salmon taste but juicy!

Ingredients
8 oz salmon fillet
Lemon Juice
Salt and pepper
3 tbsp of fat free balsamic vinaigrette 

Directions
Preheat oven to 350
Sprinkle lemon juice all over the fillet along with salt and pepper. Wrap salmon in aluminum foil so that it is covered completely. Place in a baking pan and cook as is for 20 minutes.
Remove and uncover salmon. Pour your balsamic vinaigrette over the salmon and spread evenly. Cover salmon again and place back in the oven for 10-15 minutes more.

4 oz serving- 200 calories
It's a great alternative to ground beef or turkey. One serving of this and you have your entire daily requirement of Vitamin D! Plus it's rich in Omega-3 fats that are the "good fats".

To find out more about Copper River Salmon, here is the link: Copper River Salmon

Roasting Eggplant...easy peasy.

Looking for something different...try oven roasting!
Preheat your oven to 400.
Cut eggplant in half and score the eggplant in a X pattern.

Depending on the size of your eggplant, you will rub in salt to all the crevasses. The salt must be inside of the eggplant in order to dehydrate the plant. Let it sit for a minimum of 30 minutes. When you notice a puddle of juice under the eggplant you are ready to squeeze out the water from the eggplant. It's important to get ALL of the water out of the eggplant.

Next, brush on olive oil with any seasoning you desire. I chose garlic, thyme, salt and pepper.

Cook for 45 to 60 minutes and VOILA you have a delicious side dish that will fill you up with about 53 calories for 1 oz.

Sorry for all the emo photos. I just love this app on my phone.

Cook What You Got

And I have eggplant, zucchini, whole pizza dough, and mozzarella. It's been far to long since my last post. I have been eating these veggie burgers from Trader Joe's that are to DIE FOR but I needed to use these veggies before they went bad. I have never been one for zucchini or eggplant but since I'm trying my best to eat more vegetables, fruits, and all natural meats, I decided to give it shot. However, it must taste good in order to lose weight. If food does not taste good, why would you eat. Well, we need it to stay alive. But more than that, food should be an experience and nourish our souls. Not just our bodies. I need to eat food that is grown naturally without the help of hormones or processing. I lost 40 pounds in France due to walking every where and a healthy all natural diet. Let's not confuse natural and organic. Organic food is still processed, but with very few chemicals. When I say natural, I want cows that only eat grass and chickens that only eat seed from the earth. Of course it's not completely possible for me to cut out all processed food so YES I will turn to organic because it's lower in chemicals. It's really important to keep this in mind when choosing foods. I love Trader Joe's Market for that reason. Lot's of organic and natural choices. In this meal, the most processed thing in this meal is the dough.
I had lunch with my dear friend Leslie and she showed a recipe for zucchini pizza so I stole the idea and came up with my own idea.

Ingredients
Trader Joe's Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
1/2 Eggplant, sliced
1/2 Yellow Zuchinni, sliced, peeled
1/2 Green Zuchinni, sliced, peeled
3 tbs fat free balsamic vinaigrette
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
Red pepper flakes
Four for rolling the dough

Directions

Preheat oven to 425

On low to medium heat, cook eggplant and zuchinni in balsamic vinaigrette and garlic. Move zucchini around the pan so not to burn. Cook eggplant about 4 minutes on each side. You may need to add more EOV to make sure the vinaigrette doesn't start to burn. Remove from heat once veggies are cooked through. Set aside.

On a flat counter, cover area with flour and cover rolling pin with flour. Spread out dough as desired.

Layer eggplant first, then mozzarella, then zucchini, then mozzarella. Season with red pepper flakes as desired.

Cook for 15 minutes MAX. And BAM. There you go...delicious vegetarian dish.

If you're feeding 8 people, it's about 210 calories a slice. Hope you enjoy!

On a side note, my brother wants me to give a shout out o myfitnesspal.com. It's true. They are fantastic and SO EASY to use. They have every food possible!!!! If you have a smart phone, I highly suggest their app!