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21

Tofu Mac and Cheese! 327 calories, 8g fat, 46 carbs, 20g protein!! ~ This dish is one of my family’s favorites because it’s a great healthy way to get kids to eat more protein. The tofu in the cheese sauce makes it creamy and the use of healthy pasta (Rozoni smart taste), fat free milk, and low fat cheeses make it diet friendly! I served it plain (no veggies), but you could easily prepare some veggies and toss them in with the pasta- Here’s my favorite veggie additions! - 4 cups cauliflower cooked with 2 teaspoons chopped garlic (or even better roast garlic in the oven and throw in a few cloves!) you can get it frozen then thaw it and cook with the garlic for 5-10 minutes - 5 cups (raw) baby spinach (that’s one bag) and 1/2 cup caramelized onion (throw the spinach in raw so it wilts in the sauce!) - marinate thick eggplant slices and portabella mushrooms in white wine and garlic, grill 3 minutes on each side and chop - oven roast about 20 asparagus spears and thick slices of zucchini with cloves of garlic and slices of red onion (400* about 30 minutes), chop asparagus and toss in Full recipe here: piecesinprogress.tumblr.com/pastapossibilities

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I made this tonight and am absolutely obsessed with it! It’s delicious and so simple, I can’t wait to try it with all different kinds of tea! Next on my list- lemon green tea then my favorite oolong. :)

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Homemade Pico De Gallo! Per 2 Tablespoons: 5 calories, 1 carb, 0g fat, 0g protein ~ I absolutely love this sauce! It’s great on chips, on fresh cut peppers, in egg white scrambles, omelets, or my favorite use on salads as dressing! It’s incredibly easy to make, just chopped tomato, red onion, red pepper, cilantro, garlic and fresh lime juice. Best of all the longer it sits in the fridge the better it gets! You can mix up the spiciness by adding jalepeno or the flavor by adding fruits like peach, mango or even roasted garlic or caramelized onion! ~ Recipe here: piecesinprogress.tumblr.com/saucetastic

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5 easy ways to burn an extra pound every month in under 20 minutes a day! All you have to do is pick one of these each day! Every option burns about 125 calories although it will vary based on weight so to be really accurate make sure you check how much you burn with a free tool like MyFitnessPal! :)

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Inspired by my workout today, I pushed myself to try something I really wasn’t sure I could finish but when I did it was beyond worth it! Be adventurous, try something you’re not sure about, you’ll be amazed by just how much you can do!

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 Cilantro Lime Rice 164 calories, 1g fat, 33 carbs, 3g protein ~ This is so simple to make! I love flavoring my rice with different spices and herbs to make it flavorful without having to add butter. You could also try adding ginger, rosemary, basil or roasted garlic cloves. I paired this with my garlic lime shrimp kabobs and some home-made pico de gallo for a delicious summery dinner! ~ Recipe here: piecesinprogress.tumblr.com/pastapossibilities

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The picture on the left was taken almost exactly one year ago and the right was taken today. It took me 6 months to make this transformation and I’ve been maintaining it for the 6 months since. Since the one year mark of my commitment to be healthy is coming up in 2 weeks I’ve started thinking a lot about where I was then and where I am now. Getting healthy is a long term process and it can seem overwhelming and daunting when there’s so much to go but if you keep fighting and working hard you can’t imagine just how incredibly successful you can be a year later. I know just how frustrating and impossible it can seem early on but if you make the commitment to the future you will be amazed by how much you can achieve!

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Tropical Fruit Soy Smoothie! 150 calories, 24 carbs, 2g fat, 7g protein I made this with breakfast this morning and it was the most delicious smoothie I’ve ever had! It’s super simple, just throw 1 cup Dole Frozen Tropical Fruit and 1 cup light vanilla soy milk in a blender, blend about 30 seconds and enjoy! Because there’s no ice just frozen fruit it comes out really creamy and since the soy milk is already sweet you don’t need sugar! Definitely a new breakfast favorite! :) For more healthy breakfast ideas go here: piecesinprogress.tumblr.com/breakfast

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Mango Coconut Cupcakes! 107 calories, 4g fat, 10 carbs, 2g protein ~ These cupcakes were a huge hit before my family even realized they were healthy. They have chunks of fresh mango and coconut flakes (with coconut extract) to create a really tropical bright summary cupcake. I frosted them with 1/2 a teaspoon of Pillsbury sugar free frosting for an extra 17 calories and used marshmallows for the decoration. ~ Recipe here: piecesinprogress.tumblr.com/brilliantbaking

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Even on the days when I most don’t want to exercise I remind myself that my goals are worth more than an extra 20 minutes of sleep or cold/wet weather or whatever else is keeping me from doing it. I may grumble about it but in the end I’m always glad to have pushed through the excuses to get it done!

14

Garlic Lime Shrimp Kabobs! per kabob: 133 calories, 5 carbs, 1g fat, 24g protein! ~ One of my favorite parts of being home for the summer is finally being able to grill again and shrimp have to be my favorite grill food! I paired them with a serving of cilantro lime rice and a side salad topped with homemade pico de gallo salsa (I also had 2 slices of watermelon for dessert). ~ Recipe here: http://piecesinprogress.tumblr.com/pescetariantproteins

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30 Minute Wet Weather At Home Cardio Plan! The weather forecast says rain for the next 72 hours so I made this workout plan to keep up my cardio until I can get back outside! The middle 10 minutes were intense but once I made it through the second squat thrust rotation the rest wasn’t as rough. I used a timer on my laptop and watched tv while doing the routine so I didn’t get bored and I felt SO MUCH better than if I’d been sitting on the couch! :D ~ For more at home exercise plans go here!

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Today’s meal plan! (for weight loss) I loved today’s meal plan so much I’m planning on repeating it tomorrow! If you’re not trying to lose weight but only maintain I’d suggest adding in an extra 200-300 calories with fruit, veggies, an extra glass of nonfat milk, a yogurt parfait or an extra snack. For more meal plan ideas go here! ~ Pico de gallo recipe Garlic lime shrimp kabob recipe Cilantro lime rice recipe

The Perfect Cheesy Veggie Omelet!

213 calories, 16 carbs, 5g fat, 26g protein!

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This omelette is packed with diced red onion, diced red pepper, roasted red peppers, spinach and colby jack cheese. I cooked all the veggies together before adding them to the omelette so the flavors all meld together and come together really well. The whole thing only takes about 5 minutes to make and is a fantastic breakfast. I paired it with two slices of Pepperidge Farm Light Style Oatmeal bread (90 calories) and half a tablespoon Land o Lakes light butter (25 calories) to finish off the meal! :)

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Recipe here:

piecesinprogress.tumblr.com/breakfast

33 notes | 1 week ago

My grocery organization guide!

One of the BIGGEST things that helped me get and stay healthy was to be thoughtful about what I did with my groceries. Instead of just throwing it all in the fridge I sort it and prep anything that needs to be chopped so when I go to cook everything is already quick and ready for me.  Here’s what I do!

I start here with everything sorted and laid out. I go to the grocery store with dishes in mind so I know exactly what ingredients I need and don’t have random leftovers. Whenever possible I try to go to farmers markets (this wasn’t one of those weeks :/) because they’re always cheaper and I can walk there and back for a different but fun workout! =]

   

Anything frozen goes away first then the fruit goes in the bowl and pantry items get put away. I LOVE oranges so I like to keep a bunch of them around but the rest of the fruit changes. This week I’m making mango salsa and pico de gallo so there’s lots of limes around! =]

Onions and peppers get chopped next, I like to keep a variety of types and chops around based on how I use them. The “chopped” green peppers and yellow onions usually end up in curries so I use a larger chop. The “diced” red pepper and red onion usually go to veggie omelets, salads, and in sauces/ dips so they need a much smaller dice.

Having a head of garlic chopped and ready to go is one of the most helpful things for me because I LOVE garlic as a super healthy delicious flavoring and won’t have to deal with peeling and chopping every day!

Finally larger veggies get chopped and stored in zip locks. They tend to end up in pastas, stir fries or curry dishes so I use a chunky chop. You can decide how you want to chop all of your veggies based on how you’ll use them. This is so helpful because I can just grab a measuring cup, get how much my recipe requires and seal it back up for the next day!

I have my own mini fridge in my family’s kitchen to keep all my healthy foods so I can organize it how I want and I don’t have to look through everyone else’s tempting but unhealthy foods to get to my yummy healthy ones! It’s really so much easier to stick to a healthy meal plan when you can just go straight to the foods you want to eat. This fridge is filled with all my favorites: fresh chopped veggies, light soy milk, egg whites, cottage cheese, fat free feta, light butter and reduced fat colby jack cheese. (Tomorrow I’ll cook up a box of Rozoni smart taste pasta. I separate the servings into individual mini ziplocks and store them so I can just dump one serving in the pan and not worry about servings size or time cooking the pasta!).

30 notes | 1 week ago