Favorite Homemade Dressing and "Stretching" Dinner!

Hello!  Welcome to my blog!  My name is Jeanette and I am a mom of two.  Here are a couple of photos from this past week.  My son is 6 years old and was so happy to be riding a train at the Erie Zoo and Waldameer this past week!  My daughter is age 8 and enjoyed the opportunity to celebrate Father's Day with a family lunch out over the weekend.  We have lived in Erie for 9 years now and definitely enjoy many things about this region.  My husband is originally from CT and I grew up 2.5 hours southeast of Erie, down in rural Elk County.  He and I are opposites in many ways but somehow it all works! 

Over this past week I have been using a new homemade salad dressing recipe that is so, so, SO GOOD!  It is also super-versatile, clean-eating and quite inexpensive.  I will be sharing the recipe below!

I mixed up a batch of this dressing mid-week last week and we have enjoyed it many times since!  The first meal I was serving it was over a kale garden salad that I had made for guests.  That evening we enjoyed it again!  I took that same kale salad base and added some leftover quinoa that I had made over the weekend, some chicken prepared in our favorite marinade, this dressing and a dollop of guacamole that I had made the evening prior.

We have been eating clean since September 2013.  It does not have to be overly-expensive or complex!  In summary, clean eating really is quite simple!  Below is a basic marinade that we use often around here.  I am one who does not like my chicken to "taste like chicken" and this helps a lot with that!  Cooking chicken with this marinade and adding some veggies and at times a grain makes for an easy meal.

I used the homemade dressing a few more times over the past several days.  Tonight we finished it off while tossing it with an unexpected combination.  This is one of those weeks where I seem to have a lot on my mind.  I grabbed some groceries on Sunday but did not have a super-formulated plan!  I knew that I was bringing home workable ingredients and would figure it out as I went.  So tonight I was sauteing some chicken breast with vidalia onion and an orange bell pepper.  I had a cucumber but no more kale, romaine, spinach or whatever.  I also wanted to add a grain of some sort but was short on time and didn't feel like cooking one.  I looked at what I was working with for the dinner protein and thought that if I could stretch it a little bit, I would have enough to place in my husband's lunch for tomorrow.  So I looked for some beans in my cupboard and all that I found was garbanzo.  Beans are going to be one of your higher-quality carbs and also contain some protein.  Done!  No need to decide which bean to use... I just went with what I had and as always, gave them a thorough rinse before incorporating into my recipe.  And guess what??  This random combo turned out to be quite delicious!  And do you know why???  THE DRESSING.  For real.  You can put this one on anything!  The chicken, peppers and onions were warm as I topped the cucumber and beans with them.  I poured the dressing on top and - WOW - it became a delicious combo!

I am a coach with Team Beachbody and my team recently hosted a 5 Day Clean Eating Summer Salads group.  14 of the coaches on my team contributed recipes and credit for this recipe goes to my coach friend Jessica John.  SO MANY PEOPLE are loving this recipe!  It was first shared last Monday and has been a major hit!  

Favorite Homemade Dressing!

3/4 cup olive oil
1 cup red wine vinegar but you can use Apple cider vinegar. Both ways are great!
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp oregano
2 tsp basil
1.5 tsp salt
1.5 tsp pepper
1.5 tsp onion powder
2 tsp Dijon mustard 

** Shake all ingredients before serving.  

Dressing may be kept in the fridge 10-14 days while sealed tightly.  

3 Ingredient "Clean" PB Pie Filling!

Hello!  Welcome to my blog!  Today we are taking a look at a recipe that I put together for last night's get-together with friends.  We are part of a "Life Group" through our church.  We have been getting together with three other families for nearly 5 years now!  We meet every couple of weeks and take turns hosting.  When it is your turn to host, you know that the NEXT time will be your turn to bring food!  We study the Bible together, talk about life and pray for each other.  Plus we enjoy some refreshments!

I have an 8 year old daughter who is full of ideas!  She began talking the other day about what we were going to bring to share with the group?  Yesterday morning she requested s'mores!  Umm...  we were not planning a campfire for last night or anything!?  My family began eating clean in September 2013 and I could not bring myself to purchase marshmallows to serve to everyone COLD with chocolate bars and graham crackers!  Don't get me wrong - I will enjoy a couple of s'mores this summer!  They will be scattered here and there during this season and I will be at a camp fire! 

So I suggested to my daughter that we make something with a graham crust?  She readily agreed.  I had an early morning dentist appointment yesterday and then we had to be picking up a few groceries and returning home before some of my family arrived from out of town.  Our days are busy but we find ways to make clean eating work.  Sometimes it involves a bit of compromise, which you will find below.  We stopped in at Wegmans (my favorite grocery store!) with no list or recipe.  So I was thinking off of the top of my head and we were preparing a recipe to amongst with 16 people.  Of course I made a double batch, which produced two PB pies.  I LOVE PB.  Too much.  Actually, almond butter is my REAL FAVORITE!!!  I will make this recipe again and will perhaps use almond butter to see how that tastes!  Regular PB pie typically involves cream cheese, Cool Whip and confectioner's sugar along with the PB.  We avoid 3 of those 4 typical PB pie ingredients... so, what to do?  Time to get creative!

For the filling, I used natural PB, plain Greek yogurt and lightly spotted bananas.  I also picked up a bag of Ghiradelli mini chocolate chips and split that between the two pies.  Now, I do have a recipe for a delicious "clean eating" pie crust and that will be included below.  BUT, there was not time for that extra step yesterday.  So, here was the compromise -- store-bought graham crusts which were ready to go in the foil pie pans.  Some days are like that!  

3 Ingredient Clean Eating PB Pie Filling
                                                            * makes 1 pie

3 1/2 Cups Plain Greek Yogurt
1 Cup Natural Peanut Butter
2 Small/Medium or 1 1/2 Large Bananas that are lightly spotted

3/4 Cup Mini Chocolate Chips
1 Pie Shell (graham crust or recipe below)

** I really liked the taste of this filling the way that we made it last night.  But I could see adding a dash of sea salt of teaspoon of vanilla for a slightly different flavor.

1) Use a food processor or a mixer and cream the bananas.  I like the spotty bananas for recipes like this.  You could use very ripe bananas but that is going to change the flavor profile and will be sweeter but will also have more of that "banana flavor" and not everyone loves that.  Myself included!   

2) Add the PB and Greek Yogurt and thoroughly combine the three ingredients until the mixture is smooth and creamy.  You may need to scrape down the sides and make sure that everything is combining well along the way.

3) Take your pie shell and add a light layer of mini chocolate chips to the bottom.  Pour in your filling.  Top with the remainder of your chocolate chips.   

4) Place pie pan in freezer for at least 2 hours.

5) Thaw a bit before serving, depending upon your desired consistency.  I had the pies in the freezer for 5 hours yesterday after making them.  I thawed on the counter for about 20 minutes and then they went back into the fridge until we were ready to serve them a short time later.  You want the pie to be not entirely frozen but to still hold up with a nice, firm texture.

6) We had a tiny bit of pie left over and I placed it in the freezer.  You could also keep it in the fridge if you want the texture to be more mousse-like.  

Pie Crust Option:
• 1 cup walnuts or pecans
• 1 cup cashews
• 2 tbsp honey or maple syrup
• 3 - 4 tbsp almond milk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• To make the crust, add crust ingredients to a food processor and process until a ball of dough forms, stopping and scraping the sides of the bowl. Start with a few tablespoons of almond milk and add more if necessary to bring to a desired consistency. Be careful not to over process the crust into a nut butter. Transfer the dough to a 9" pie dish and flatten on the bottom and sides with your hands to make a pie shell.

Calories Burned with the 21 Day Fix Extreme!?!?

 

Hello!  Welcome to my blog!  Today has been an exciting day here!!  We have been a homeschooling family this year and yesterday was our 180th day of academics!  Hurray!!  That meant that today was (almost) the start of our summer.  We are now working on putting together our year-end portfolio as we prepare to meet with our evaluator next week.  SO, this meant that today was Day #1 that was pretty much FREE OF ROUTINE!!!  I like systems, I do.  But I get all claustrophobic when locked into one.  I would just rather see where the day leads, for the most part anyways!

I am a member of a fitness/clean eating accountability group via a "secret" FB group and I posted this there two hours ago...

Well, this is what happened.

I slept in. Didn't look at the clock for 3 hours this morning as we enjoyed being done with academics and worked on our portfolio amongst other things.

The kids spent as much time as they wanted at the library.

We walked around "Five Below" for the first time and found a few items.
Shopping for seasonal flowers and then spending 2 hours outdoors. 
Making dinner.
Going out to make all of our workbook copies of selected samples.
And now???
I still have to do Extreme Lower Fix! 
Oh man! Hold me to it!

I can tell you right now that if I was not a member of a group like this, I more than likely would have skipped my workout today!  
So, I pressed play on "Lower Fix Extreme" from the 21 Day Fix Extreme, as that is what was up on the schedule for today.  And from having done this program back in February and March and returning to it for the first time again this past Monday... well, I knew enough to know that this particular routine is HARDCORE.  It should mean something when Autumn (creator of the 21 Day Fix) calls it her favorite.  

 
I was off and running and made it through the first round of exercises and halfway into the second when it was time to exit the basement and help my husband with getting our 6 and 8 year old off to bed.  But now I was committed and knew that I would return!

Well, isn't this interesting??  For 20 minutes, all that I did was walk around part of the house and sit with the kids - yet I burned an additional 80 calories during that time??  Fantastic!!!  This is one MAJOR benefit of getting that heart rate up to a consistent upper 150's through lower body exercise.  The BURN continues!

I made it!!!!  Hurray!!!  This is a 33 minute strength/plyometric workout and I did have that 20 minute pause while getting the kids off to bed.  So, to burn 467 calories and REALLY work my legs and hold 15 pound weights during half of the workout - to me, that is worth making time for this in my day.  We are worth the effort we put in to ourselves!

Earlier this evening we had breakfast for dinner - mine was a slice of Ezekiel toast, 2 scrambled eggs and diced bell peppers.  I knew that I would be very hungry by bedtime with the big calorie burn and exertion of Lower Fix Extreme.  So I blended up a bonus Shakeology for today and split it with my husband.  It hit the spot and kept me from randomly munching throughout the evening.  We have been loving this flavor and I blend it up with a few slices of banana and frozen raspberries, plus 4 ounces of almond milk, 9 ounces of water and 4 ice cubes.  YUM!  It tastes like SUMMER!

Out of curiosity, I checked my calorie burn one more time.  Since finishing my workout 20 minutes prior, I had just been in the kitchen blending up my Shakeology and putting away a few things while checking FB.  So definitely no more physical exertion there, yet with having raised my heart rate during the workout itself, I burned another 90 calories post-workout while essentially doing nothing for 20 minutes.  Bonus, right??

Tomorrow will mark 11 years since the day my husband and I met.  I am incredibly thankful for him and am so glad to be able to say that I am currently in the best shape of my life as I enter my late-30's.  As a wife and mom, sister, daughter and granddaughter, my health is important to me!  Going from a size 18/20 to a 10/12 has been a great side benefit but the bigger boost comes from knowing that I am working to keep my heart healthy and I do this to honor those in my life.  I want to be able to keep up today and tomorrow with whatever life may bring! 

After beginning my own life change in September 2013, I became a coach in March 2014 in order to help others with clean eating and home fitness.  If you are interested in joining my upcoming accountability group, complete the form below!  I hope to see you there!

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