7 layer salad and my own energy bites

So last night's dinner was a 7 layer salad...except for Eli's...I guess his was technically a 6 layer salad.  Why is it 7 layer anyways?  It has more than 7 layers of things.  Oh well.  Easy to make but supposed to set in the fridge for at least 8 hours...well I didn't make it far enough ahead of time and it only sat for 4 and was good. 

Start by making some crispy bacon to top it, so it can cool off to handle.

Then in a bowl, put a layer of lettuce, then diced tomatoes, and  then sliced cucumbers. Then make a layer of thawed frozen peas and chopped green onions, then a layer of sliced radishes.  In a separate bowl combine 2 cups sour cream, 1 cup mayo, 1/4 cup lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Mix well and spread over radish layer.  Top with shredded cheese and bacon.  

Eli's was the same except no dressing and no cheese.  

Ella wanted a picture with it...weirdo!

 Next I decided we needed some energy bites in the fridge again.  I was too lazy to look up a recipe and felt I've made several and could wing it just fine.  I didn't measure anything, just dumped.  I did some quick oats, ground flax, granola, coconut flakes, and mini chocolate chips.  Then added vanilla, honey, peanut butter and almond butter.  Mixed up, rolled into balls and refrigerated.  Done.  :)

Cauliflower poppers and Chicken with Peaches

So I found a perfect meal!  No alterations for allergies, perfect for Advocare cleanse, easy to do, and very yummy!

Cauliflower poppers:  Cut and wash a head of cauliflower, toss with olive oil (enough to lightly coat), salt and pepper then put on a cookie sheet at 400 degrees for an hour, stirring three times.  Yum yum!  It has a nice crunch, sweet taste.  It actually reminded me of the Kale chips I made awhile ago, but this was SO MUCH easier!

Chicken with peaches:  Salt and pepper chicken breasts, put in baking pan (No oil needed :) ) and put a fresh sliced peach (although I bet you can used canned too) on top.

Eli wanted a picture of "his food" even though it was the same!

So reviews-  Lyle and I both loved the cauliflower, the kids ate it but Ella said it had no taste and dipped it in ketchup.  The kids loved the chicken, but wouldn't eat the peaches with it.  Ella said they tasted like chicken.  Lyle and I thought the chicken was okay, but kind of plain.  I'm thinking of marinading the chicken in some peach juice from a can, then eating cold peaches from the can with the chicken...maybe next week since it's easy to do!

Spaghetti Squash Casserole and Chicken Avocado Soup

So first up was spaghetti squash casserole.  This isn't Eli friendly, or technically Advocare cleanse friendly due to the cheese and sour cream.  But it's MUCH healthier than cheesy potatoes and tastes similar!

Cook a spaghetti squash and use a fork to clean out the squash and put into a bowl.  In a skillet, put 2 TBSP butter and add 1 chopped yellow onion and 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes and 1 tsp thyme.  Cook until slightly browned and salt and pepper to taste.  Put in the bowl with the squash then add 1/2 cup sour cream and 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese.  Mix together and transfer to a baking dish. Top with another 1/4 cup cheddar cheese.  (I added some chopped up turkey smoked sausage hunks)  Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes till it's all bubbly!    Yummy!

For Eli- I just saved some plain spaghetti squash and sausage and put a little tomato sauce on it :)

Next is Chicken avocado soup.  This is great for everyone!  Pretty simple too.  Season 2 chicken breasts with salt and pepper, then cook in skillet with 1 tsp olive oil, cover until cooked through.  Shred chicken with fork and set aside.  In a large pot for soup, head 2 tsp olive oil over medium heat, then add 1 cup chopped green onions and 1 tsp minced garlic to pot.  Saute about 2 minutes, then add 1 large diced tomato and saute another minute.  Add 3-14.5 oz cans of chicken broth, 1/8 tsp cumin, and 1 tsp salt. Stir well and bring to boil, then simmer on low covered for 15-20 minutes. 

In your bowl, put in some shredded chicken, cut up avocado and pour the hot broth mixture over it.  *You are supposed to put cilantro and a lime wedge but I had trouble finding good produce*

This was good for everyone, but pretty light so maybe after a long day, cold day or a day you had a big lunch.  Or a perfect lunch :)

Dinner List

My meal planning for the next few days I hope will be Advocare diet, and mostly Allergy friendly :)  Once again, the ideas and recipes I found on pinterest!  Just takes a little time to find some creative and tasty foods!
Chicken with peaches- Advocare and Eli friendly
Sweet and spicy salmon- I think both friendly
Zucchini lasagna- all except cheese is Advocare and Allergy friendly
Orange asparagus chicken- friendly to both
BBQ chicken salad- friendly to both
7 layer salad- Advocare friendly, leave out some for Eli
Cheesy spaghetti squash casserole- I've made this already... and in a few minutes I post this recipe :)  Must have been a hit since I have a request for it again :)

I love Advocare!

I just want to say how much I like this company!   I have been continuing to take my Catalyst daily, exercising almost daily, and eating healthy but not as strict as on the cleanse!  I'm continuing to loose inches along my waist- down another full inch since I finished the 10 day cleanse!  Love it!

Several New Things!

So, this last I've been a busy person with trying out some Pinterest recipes! 

First is called Energy Bites, and these were Ella's Favorite!  These were super easy to make, and no baking involved. Mix together:

1 cup oatmeal

1/2 cup peanut butter (or other nut butter)

1/3 cup honey

1 cup coconut flakes

1/2 cup ground flaxseed

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

1 tsp vanilla

Refrigerate for about 15 minutes to be able form into balls, then refrigerate for another hour at least to let form up.  Yummy in our tummies!  Next time we're going to do half peanut butter and half sunbutter because Lyle doesn't like it "just tasting like peanut butter."

 Next was some Oatmeal Banana Breakfast Bars.  Preheat oven to 375 and grease 8 inch square baking dish.  In one bowl, mix 2 cups old fashion oats, 1 cup coconut flakes, 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, 1/2 cup dried apricots, and 1/2 tsp salt.  Another bowl mix together 2 mashed bananas, 1/2 cup light brown sugar and 3 Tbsp melted butter.  Add together and mix until evenly incorporated, and spread into baking dish.  Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes and let cool.   This was pretty good, but fell apart easily, so not very portable.

 The next breakfast bar is My personal new favorite.  Of course it has more not as good stuff for you in it than the others.  I'm cutting and pasting the recipe as it's supposed to be...but I couldn't find a few ingredients.  I couldn't find psyllium husks, so I used ground flax seed.  No vanilla soy protein powder so I just added vanilla.  No gogi berries, so I did dried cranberries.  At this point I was substituting so much I stopped looking for special things...so we had plain normal honey and regular caramel sauce.  But I think it turned out great! :)

Banana Berry Granola Bars

Serves 24

2 cups gluten-free quick cooking oats
1 cup gluten-free oat flour
1/4 cup ground psyllium husks
1/4 cup vanilla soy protein powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup gogi berries
1/2 cup honey-roasted sunflower seeds
1 large, over ripe banana
1/4 cup dark amber honey
1/4 cup homemade (or storebought) salted caramel sauce*
2/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup melted coconut oil

1.      Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a 9x13" pan with greased foil or parchment.

2.      In a large bowl, combine the oats, oat flour, psyllium, protein powder, cinnamon, salt, chocolate chips, gogi berries and sunflower seeds.

3.      In another bowl, mash the banana with the honey, caramel sauce, brown sugar and coconut oil.

4.      Add to the dry mixture and stir well, until everything is thoroughly coated.

5.      Press into the prepared pan, smoothing the top.

6.      Bake for 20 minutes.

7.      Cut into pieces while still warm - they will crumble when cut cold

Banana Berry Breakfast Bars

And last, but not least.  Vegan "fried" rice.  I put chicken in it to make it chicken fried rice.  It's super easy to make too.  I've made it twice this week.  You cook brown rice first.  This gives it the fried appearance.  Then in a skillet, put in 1 tsp of sesame oil, 2 Tbsp soy sauce, and 3 Tbsp water.  Heat on high and when bubbling add in 1/2 cup of frozen peas and let boil until cooked.  Then toss in about 1/4 cup of orange pepper diced up.  Turn down head and add 2 cups of cooked rice, heat through then add 1/4 cup chopped green onions.  Turn off heat and mix well.  Enjoy!

 I also made this allergy friendly for Eli by making a skillet exactly the same but omitting the soy sauce. Easy :)

Cabbage Rolls

Today we had the cabbage rolls that I made and froze awhile back.  I set the dish in the fridge in the morning, about 15 minutes before time to bake I set out at room temp, then baked for one hour at 350.  Since it was frozen I cut one open to make sure the meat was cooked through. 

Overall it was okay, but the kids wouldn't eat the cabbage part, just the insides.  Also, it was one of those dishes that to me the turkey just didn't have enough flavor with, so we thought it'd be worth a try a different time with either sausage or ground beef.  Either way, a healthy Advocare and Eli friendly meal that just needed a little bit extra to spice it up. :)

Breakfast Bars

So I tried another Pinterest recipe to try to find breakfast bars that are healthy for my husband and daughter to have (and if it's diet friendly for me to have too!)  This latest one was okay- but was super dense and heavy.  Not sure how to tweak it to change.  That being said, it's chewy and super healthy if you want to try.  Pictured is a double batch, which I should have made because we barely ate any! 

Preheat oven to 350 and grease baking dish.  Mix together the following ingredients, pour into dish and bake for about 25-30 minutes.  Let cool and enjoy.

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup oat flour (can pulse whole oats to make flour)

1 cup whole oats

2 tablespoons chia seeds (can omit)

2 tablespoons flax meal (can omit)

1/2 cup no sugar added applesauce

1 egg

3/4 cup of milk of choice

1/2 cup raisins, craisins or golden raisins

1/4 cup of chopped nut of choice

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons honey

1/2 teaspoon of salt

handful of chocolate or white chips (optional)

I do wonder if I had only made a single batch and spread it thinner if it would have tasted better.  Maybe someday I'll try again, but I got other recipes to try first :)

Stuffed Peppers

So Sunday before work I didn't feel good...didn't sleep well and had a headache.  However I promised Lyle one of his favorites- stuffed peppers.  You can make these several styles, usually we go for either Mexican or Italian.  I made this ones Italian and he was so happy to have them!  I also had to make them because I was worried the peppers would go bad.  I have been having issues with produce again, so I'm back to buying one week at a time and hoping they last.

Italian stuffed peppers-

For these I browned ground mild sausage (that was what was in the freezer), when it was halfway through cooking a threw about a half a cup of coarsely chopped onion in, and about 3/4 threw I threw in some chunky cut mushrooms.  We like lots of yummy stuff in the peppers and Lyle prefers a little crunch to veggies.  If you like your onions soft put them in with the sausage right away.

When it is all cooked, if you need to drain the pan of oil, then dump a jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce in the pan.  Heat through (doesn't take long.)

Cut off the tops of some bell peppers- can be any colors, ours happened to be green, and scrape out the insides and seeds.  Put a touch of olive oil in the bottom of a baking dish.  Use a big spoon and fill'er up with the meat sauce mixture.  Top with some mozzarella cheese and pop in the oven at 350 until the cheese is bubbly and brown, these took about 20 minutes.  The peppers with be soft but with a little crunch too.

  Lyle had one of these for dinner, then went to the neighbors to mooch off a birthday party of hotdogs so he could take the other two to work and brag about it!

These can be allergy friendly for Eli- just make one in a separate pan with no cheese on top.

And Advocare friendly- no cheese on top (or very little) and use a leaner meat- ground turkey or ground chicken.

Cabbage Rolls

So I finally got around to making the cabbage rolls I've talked about.  They take some effort to prep, hence the delay.

They look pretty good, but I tossed them in the freezer so I can make it some day the kids are home to help us eat them.  They are Advocare and Allergy friendly.

First you take a head of cabbage, cut out the core, and put the rest in a pot of boiling salt water.  After several minutes the leaves start to peel and you can peel them off with tongs, one at a time and put them on paper towel to dry and cool.

At the same time chop one cup of yellow onion and soften the onion in a little cooking oil in a skillet. Set aside to cool.  

You then make a mixture of ground beef (I used ground turkey breast), raisins, the cooled onions, cooked rice, and salt.  You roll these up in the cabbage leaves and put in a baking dish.

Then in another bowl you combine 1 16 oz can of tomato sauce and 1/2 cup of beef broth (I used chicken broth because of the turkey) and 1/2 tsp paprika.  Pour this over the cabbage rolls.

Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour at 350

Can serve with some sour cream on top.

I'll let you know how it tastes when we try it!

Spaghetti Squash

Well, Pinterest did it again :)
Yesterday I made some spaghetti squash- the first time the kids or myself have ever had it.  I put some spaghetti sauce and turkey meatballs on it and it was Advocare and Eli friendly!  No extra food being cooked for someone else.
I didn't know what to expect, but it was pretty good!  It doesn't taste anything like noodles, which for some reason I thought it would from what I've seen people pin about it.  It kind of has a sweet flavor to it and just a little crunch.
To cook it I split the squash in half (this is for sure the hardest part....I wasn't sure I was going to be able to!  This thing wouldn't go easy even with Cutco knifes!)
You scoop out the seeds and stringy stuff (kind of like a pumpkin, just less of it).
Coat it with olive oil, salt and pepper it and I put some garlic on it.
Pop it in a baking dish with a cup of water in the bottom and throw it in the oven at 375 for about an hour.  You test it to see if it's done by taking a fork and scraping a small part, if it pulls apart easy it's done. :)
Let it cool for 25 minutes, then take your fork and scrape the insides into a bowl. 
That's it.  Done.

Tonight- cabbage rolls :)

Advocare 10 Day Herbal Cleanse Results

So at first the results don't look that awesome...only lost one pound.  161 to 160 pounds.  It is too bad I didn't get back to my lowest weight.  However....in only 10 days... I lost
2 inches from my waist- 38 inches to 36 inches
1/2 inch from my hips- 40.5 to 40 inches
and 1 inch from my chest- 37 to 36 inches

For only 10 days, only kicking butt on exercise about every other day, and several little cheats in there that's pretty awesome!  And, most importantly it's a start.  I want to get back to my lowest- 155 lbs, 35 inches at waist, and 39 inches at hips.  I wonder if it's the Catalyst that's really helped me get inches off.  I'm also going to be one of those people who claim the reason the weight didn't change is because muscle weighs more than fat!  It might be a delusion, but I don't care.  I definitely am stronger than I was, and I'm still rebuilding myself back where I was.  I used to be able to jog for 15 to 20 minutes at a time and I can barely handle 5 at the moment.  So this is my jump start/wake up call to keep going.  And I've ordered more Catalyst to help protect those muscles I'm building!

To order advocare products you can use this link... http://www.advocare.com/130346245

And I plan on keeping up the cooking the healthy stuff!  Tonight we're trying spaghetti squash with turkey meatballs, and I'm making and putting in the fridge some cabbage rolls!  Both Eli and Advocare cleanse friendly!