What I Ate Wednesday – the rainy, busy day edition

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Jessica @homemadefitfoodie

Drum roll please! It’s time for another, What I ate Wednesday!

The meal theme this week was definitely preparedness. I’ve been using Sundays to prep staples for lunch and dinner that we transform into nightly meals.

Yes, that means for the little dog, too!

I grilled lotza chicken

and boiled eggs for lunches (in this case, the chicken came first).

Baked our new veggie love, spaghetti squash.

Olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper, bake for 45 minutes at 350 and feast!

Rustled up some quinoa and turkey for the pup. He is on a special diet until we can determine what he’s allergic to. Good thing he loves it!

We transformed the staples to Creamy ‘Pasta’ with Chicken, Spagetti Squash and Angela’s avocado sauce. Super rich, yet dairy free. Yum Yum.

Chicken Spaghetti (with a ham of a husband).

and grande salad beasts.

It was a major time investment, but worth it to have healthy meals ready when we are.

We had a crazy marathon storm in Austin today, starting with booming thunder at 3 am. Call it nature’s alarm clock. Needless to say, I’m a wee-bit tired after the show.

At least I got to breakout these beauties. Heh heh.

What did you eat Wednesday?

xoxo

Jess

Improvise

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Jessica @homemadefitfoodie

Sometimes, you just gotta improvise to get the job done.

Exhibit A:

Introducing the Homemade Fit Foodie dip station made of two sturdy chairs and dish towels for padding, with a side of sandbag. Weird? No (well yes, but that’s a whole ‘nother story). Resourceful? Def.

I’m on week 4 of the BodyRock 30 day program and the 800 rep challenge looked amazing. Except, I didn’t have all the equipment. After a little digging around the house, I do now! This set up is perfect for knee lifts! I tried tricep dips too, but it felt a little unstable, so i just shimmied my booty off the end of one chair and got those triceps burning in no time.

My reward: smashing through 800 reps in 14:45. Pretty proud of my time!

Thinking on my toes continued as I prepped the most important meal of the day, dessert.

I was low on protein powder and needed to add in a little something to make my Peanut Butter Ice Cream so I threw in some cocoa powder as a substitution.

O.M.G.

Just like a dark chocolate Reese’s cup in ice cream form.

How do you improvise?

Have a great night!
Jess

WIAW: Confessions of a Choco-holic

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Jessica @homemadefitfoodie

Howdy, folks!

It’s time for yet another What I ate Wednesday! Woot!

Breakfast was the usual Protein Pancake. I’ve become painfully predictable.

Lunch was again, a staple. Sweet potato with turkey, Zico and salad.

Dinner was AMAZING! Basalamic grilled chicken, veggies and spaghetti squash. Nom nom!

Dessert was blueberry sorbet, made with coconut milk, cocoa powder and stevia. I’ll make this one again. You betcha!

Then, this:

The first step is acceptance, right?

I recently went back to a grain-free diet, in attempt to loose the muffin top I acquired over the holidays. I’ve noticed that even though I have increased my protein intake, my cravings for chocolate (and almond butter!) are fierce! I wonder if my body is trying to tell me something like I need a little more fat? More veggie carbs? Still in the process of fine-tuning my meals. Until then, I’ve been feeding the chocolate beast morsels of dark chocolate and only 2 tablespoons of nuts a day, be it almond butter, roasted almonds or in Larabar form. It’s not easy though!

Question:
How do you deal with cravings? What is your go-to solution? I’ve noticed drinking tea helps, but I have to stop by 9ish each night. Otherwise, I’ll be up at all hours!

Do you have go to meals? I seem to rotate a few recipes every few weeks, then switch. I like to keep it fresh, but also something super easy or that can be made ahead of time.

Off to bed, long day ahead tomorrow!

Xoxo,
Jess

Hard Work and Ice Cream

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Jessica @homemadefitfoodie

Today was hard work.

Today’s workout was a repeat of the BodyRock Fit Test I took first on 1/3. While I didn’t make huge strides today, I beat all of my original scores. That’s pretty amazing in my book!

Hard work should be rewarded with Ice Cream! Just MHO.

Peanut Butter Protein Ice Cream

What you’ll need:

1 frozen banana ( I peel, cut in half then freeze)
1 small scoop chocolate protein powder
1 T nut butter, I used crunchy almond
1 T PB2
1 tsp vanilla

The method:

Add all ingredients to a food processor and blend until combined. Note: A blender does NOT work well with this recipe. The food processor gives it the ‘ice cream’ texture.

You’ll see a ball of ‘dough’ beginning to slap around the bowl. That means it ready!

Scoop (check out how thick it is!)

Top with cinnamon and chocolate chips if desired. Fruit would be amazing on top, too!

Caution, highly addictive!

Enjoy!
Jess

Cinnamon Dulce Coffee Creamer

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Jessica @homemadefitfoodie

I love coffee. I would drink it morning, noon and night if i could. It’s made with water, right? So it counts as hydration? Whatever helps me sleep at night…

When I eliminated dairy from my diet, I knew my coffee routine had to change, too. But cream in my coffee is a must. It’s just not the same without!

Little did I know, coconut milk is amazing in coffee! The SoDelicious brand is really really good. Or, why not make your own? It’s easy!

Cinnamon Dolce Coffee Creamer - dairy, soy and gluten-free!

What you’ll need:

1/4 cup lite or full fat coconut milk

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

5-10 stevia drops

1- cup coffee of choice – unless you’re doing creamer shots!

The method:

Heat coconut milk in a small sauce pan over low heat and add stevia drops.

Sprinkle cinnamon and combine.

Pour your creamer first,

Top with coffee,

Slurp like there is no tomorrow. Wasn’t that easy?

Off to put this caffeine buzz to good use!
Jessica

Pics from the day

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Jessica @homemadefitfoodie

Business as usual today in Homemade Fit Foodie Land, so I thought I’d show you what usual looks like!

Yeah, that’s my corkboard at work. Passive agreesive much?

Cutie.

No workout today, aside from walking the wild dog, because I tweaked my shoulder. So I am honoring my body with rest! I have a Bodyrock workout ready for tomorrow, if I feel like I’m able. If not, there is a three-day weekend ahead with lots of sweaty workouts to catch up on. NBD.

Questions:
What does your usual day look like? Do you have a routine? I get up when my husband leaves for work to workout and walk the dog, Breakfast for us both and I get ready to head to work for the day. Nightly routine of dinner, making meals for the next day, playing tug and blogging, of course. I’m trying to get inti that routine, anyway!

Do you feel guilty when you take an unplanned day of rest? I try not to feel guilty, as I know I’m doing the right thing. I’ve re-injured myself many times and I do not want to go down that road. Trying to learn from that mistake!

xoxo,
Jess

For Sale!?

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Jessica @homemadefitfoodie

When life gives you lemons, make

Peanut Butter and Jelly Smoothies

Or is it Blueberry Protein Pancakes?

Not quite the old adage, but you get the picture!

You know when you’re bobbing along, minding your own business and when you get some unexpected news that shakes you to the core?

Yeah, I had one if those days.

We found out the owner of the house we are renting has put it on the market…9 months before our lease ends.

Not our sign or our house, but hilarious. Source

The good news is the new owners will have to honor our lease until it expires. The bad news is, we have to endure showings and unreliable realtors until it sells. Rather frustrating for us, especially this guy.

He prefers long uninterrupted naps when not stirring up trouble.

Not sure what we can do, except hope for the best and dream of the day when we can own.

Until then, my version of the old adage will be ‘when life gives you lemons, BodyRock!’

Questions: How do you cope when facing trying times? I try to breathe and put the situation into perspective. This did NOT work today. I was a hot mess

Night night,
Jess

Happy Saturday

Posted on January 7, 2012 by Jessica @homemadefitfoodie

Howdy friends! Happy Saturday to you!

I’m writing from the coffee shop today as the HMFF Mobile gets some routine car repair. Fortunately, it’s a glorious 60 degrees in Austin this morning and I’m soaking it up on the patio.

Recent eats:

Amy’s Southwestern Vegetable with all natural chicken breast added, plus homemade tomatillo salsa and cilantro.

Spinach salad with grilled chicken, sun dried tomatoes, carrots and basalamic vinegar. Nom nom.

And, quite possibly my favorite entree I’ve prepared to date, this spaghetti squash recipe and Mama Pea’s MMM sauce. I topped it off with red pepper flakes and cilantro.

It was so good, it felt wrong. It was similar a bowl of Alfredo pasta, but better. And vegan.

I’m making this again this week with some grilled chicken for added protein. Until then spaghetti squash…

I’m still on the BodyRock 30 Day Challenge.

My scores from yesterday:

I’m following along a day behind from the posted calendar since I workout in the mornings and workouts are posted in the evening. Today is supposed to be a 400 rep. challenge for me, but I’ve tweaked my shoulder, so active rest is in order, a la dog walks. We’ll see how I feel tomorrow.

Questions:

What are your recent eats? Are you sticking to old favs or trying new things for the new year?
I’m doing a little bit of both. I am so glad I ventured into spaghetti squash land.

Are you trying new workouts? I’ve really enjoyed BodyRockn’ my heart out this week, though I’m not technically new to these exercises, I wasn’t able to do anything extra with my schedule the past few months. I now have more energy and I’m sleeping like a rock at night. Double bonus.

Enjoy your day!
Jess

WIAW and Day 2 of BR’s 30 Day Challenge!

Posted on January 5, 2012 by Jessica @homemadefitfoodie

I haven’t participated in Peas and Crayon’s ‘What I ate Wednesday’ in FOR-EV-ER and it is the 50th post! Can’t pass this up.

Drum roll please.

Today’s eatsThe Blueberry Protein Pancake -my love my go-to breakfast (and sometimes dinner, ha).

Lunch was served al la office

Huge sweet potato with cinnamon, stevia and turkey; accompanied by a spinach salad and bottle o’ crack, er, Zico chocolate. I may or may not have ordered a case from Amazon…

Snacks

Dinner

Chicken salad. Meh. I knew I should have made that pancake!

Dessert

Never thought chocolate tea would be this tasty!

Today was Day 2 of the BodyRock 30 day fitness challenge and I rocked it bright and early.

Slightly more complex than yesterday, but writing it down last night helped a ton. I’m a teeny bit sore, but I’ll back at it again tomorrow.

Night loves!

Jessica

The Blueberry Protein Pancake

Posted on January 5, 2012 by Jessica @homemadefitfoodie

I am in love…with a pancake. This breakfast has been on repeat for weeks. It’s gluten-free, sugar free, dairy-free, protein-packed and only 4 ingredients! Oh and did I mention it tastes like the real thing. <3

The BlueBerry Protein Pancake

What you’ll need:

1/3 cup egg whites (2 eggs will work too, just thin out the mixture with a little nut milk
1 scoop vanilla protein powder. I use Sunwarrior Warrior Blend.
2 tablespoons unsweetened apple sauce. (pumpkin or even mashed strawberries would be good too, I’ll just change the flavor slightly)
1/4 frozen or fresh blueberries

Whisk all ingredients in a small bowl.

Lightly spray your skillet or griddle with oil and set to low.

Pour mixture and smooth into a pancake shape

Allow to cook for 2-3 minutes and lift sides to check for a ‘doneness.’ If brown, flip! It’s usually a large pancake, so try using 2 spatulas. I’ve ended up with a few pancake scrambles using only one. Still tastes good.

Give it another 2-3 minutes, but watch closely. It cooks fast! You’ll know it’s done when you can pierce the center with the spatula on both sides and the surface ‘crunches’ a little.

That’s it! Serve with your preferred pancake topping of choice. I like to heat up frozen blueberries with a little stevia or palm sugar until a sauce forms. I call it the Double Blueberry Protein Pancake!

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
Jess