Quick and Easy Breakfast Shake!

Yesterday I wanted a quick breakfast and was so tired of cereal or oatmeal and I had the idea to make a shake! The best thing about shakes is that you don't have to go out any buy certain things, if you regularly eat yogurt and fruit...you have all you REALLY need for a good and quick shake! I had bananas, strawberries and some vanilla yogurt (which to be honest...I don't like plain, so this was a perfect way to use it!). I decided to skip on the strawberries, only because I wanted to make this quick and I didn't feel at that moment like washing the strawberries and cutting them...so I stuck with the banana.

This recipe can be done with a variety of different ingredients, including blueberries, raspberries, peaches and even different flavors of yogurt and for an extra quick boost for after or before a workout, you could even add protein powder. I have protein powder on hand, but opted not to use it in this shake because the vanilla yogurt I was using had 2x the protein as regular greek yogurt.

Recipe for Vanilla-Banana Shake:

~One Medium Banana (ripped into smaller pieces- could also be cut)
~1/2 cup of whole milk (or whatever type of milk you prefer)
~1 5.3-6 oz cup of Greek Vanilla Yogurt (or any flavor)
~About 4-5 ice cubes

Place all above ingredients into a blender, cover and turn on to low speed and blend until all ingredients have been incorporated and there are no chunks (approx 2-3 mins using above ingredients). It could take less or longer depending on what fruit is used. Next time I think I want to throw in a scoop of peanut butter. I think it would make it a little thicker but the combination of vanilla, peanut butter and a banana sounds yummy!

For this recipe, I used Dannon Light & Fit Greek Yogurt which I am OBSESSED with! They are 70-90 calories and 7-9 grams of sugar! And taste good!! I also like Yoplait's Greek yogurt for the same reasons, but buy between the two based off of what is on sale!

All the flavors are good too (well those that I've tried). I don't like coconut so I have not tried that one. I really like the blueberry and black cherry and the vanilla is just perfect for shakes or even a parfait!

Tired of Chipotle Everything? Sweet and Spicy Mayo!

Here is the awesome creation from the tailgate Saturday! :) I mean, the sandwich itself was pretty simple and based off the tastes of those eating it (for example...we ALL HATE bologna), but it has my yummy sweet and spicy mayo on it! My mom had originally wanted to just be boring and pick up some subs from Subway, but I told her lets just make our own sub, it's cheaper and more variety...plus I got to play with the mayo idea I had been wanting to do!

The sandwich itself is one loaf of Cuban bread, cut in half with pepper jack cheese, swiss cheese, roast beef, salami, turkey and ham. I also cut up tomato and onion slices and lettuce leaves. We had to travel about an hour for the game, so I packed the veggies separately and the mayo was kept in the container (and this also allowed for those eating to put as much or as little as they wanted). The sandwich was not soggy at all and didn't fall apart in travel! Score one for us! :) We got creative with transporting it too. I wanted to pre-cut the sandwich and we came up with placing it back in the plastic it had been wrapped in (this was a two person job...one to hold the sandwich and lift at times and the other to slide the plastic on) and then placing it into the paper bag it had been in and sealing it.

I really wanted to do something different for the mayo. I wanted to use our sriracha instead of anything chipotle. I'm thinking peach or apricot would taste just as yummy, but I went with strawberry preserves for the sweet balance. It was simple and quick and there isn't really much measuring (although I can estimate) because I added based off personal taste. So, the recipe is going to be a rough idea of amounts, but you can alter it to your own wants. My fiance and I like spicy, but my mom likes more sweet.

Sweet and Spicy Mayo-

2/3 cup of mayo (I used Publix brand)
About 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup of Sriracha
About 1/3 cup of Strawberry Preserves (Smuckers Brand)

I started with the mayo (still in the jar and put in about a tbsp of sriracha and 2 tbsp of the preserves. Mixed it up and let everyone taste it...but it still had too much of a mayo taste. So I continued to add and mix until it came out sweet with enough of a kick to give you the sniffles! :)

If you try it out...what would you change? Did you make it more sweet or spicy? A different type of preserves? If so, which kind and how did it taste? I really think next time I want to try peach or apricot. I feel like it will have a good balance with the sriracha. :) I really am a big fan of sriracha. I like chipotle, but it is always fun to try new combinations! Enjoy!

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Onion and Bacon Dip

Yummmmmmmmy! With football season in full swing, I have been enjoying taking ideas for tailgating food and making recipes my own. This past Saturday, Miami played Savannah State...a 7pm game, so it gave me the whole morning to get my stuff done (including a needed gym workout!). I had been wanting to have some sort of dip that would go good with kettle chips (I love the extra crunch) and veggies (we had an abundance of carrots and celery) and I decided onion dip would be perfect! My mom use to make it a lot when I was younger, and she always used the handy Lipton mix, but I wanted to make it from scratch. My dad has really taught me that those mixes can be easily done with spices and such.

This would be my first time ever making an onion dip without the mix so I googled it to see what I would need. The first recipe I came across was from Alton Brown of Food Network; Onion Dip and the easiness and reviews is why I picked this one. I did make a few changes that I really feel added to my own tastes and likes.

The ingredient list was basic and simple, plus I had everything on hand (except the white ground pepper which I just substituted based off my tastes).

The original recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups of diced onion (I used sweet although the recipe does NOT specify), 1 1/2 cups of Sour Cream, 3/4 cups mayonnaise, 1/4 tsp of salt (for the onions), olive oil (to cook the onions, which I did not use), 1/4 tsp of garlic powder and white ground pepper and another 1/2 tsp of salt.

This was my first alteration. I LOVE bacon and I had some extra available. I took three slices of Publix center cut bacon and fried them in the frying pan. The perfect part of this is that while the bacon was cooking, I was able to chop the onions and get them ready!

I actually don't mind chopping onions. When I first started learning to cook with my dad, my jobs always involved chopping the veggies we would need and gathering all the ingredients and washing the dishes. One medium to large size sweet onion is plenty to get 1 1/2 cups. I like to dice them in sections. It makes it easier and allows me to take breaks to check on the bacon. :)

During this time, I had flipped the bacon and after about 10 minutes of cooking, turned off the burner and left the pan (I like crispy bacon!). Once I was done chopping the onions, I removed the bacon from the pan and placed the slices on a paper towel to drain. This is why I did not use olive oil, because I decided to use the bacon grease left in the pan to cook the onions. It worked great!

 I placed the onions in the pan, added 1/4 tsp of kosher salt, turned the stove top back on (medium-high heat) and began measuring out the sour cream and mayo. I mixed the onions periodically and waited for them to caramelize.

When the onions resemble a slightly brown color and have softened, they are ready! It takes about 20 minutes. I placed the pan on another burner that was cold, so that the onions could cool. At this point I took the bacon and chopped it up and added it to the onions and mixed it together. While the onions cooled with the bacon, I chopped up the carrots and celery.

 

I took the onion/bacon mixture after it had cooled (about 5 minutes) and mixed it with the sour cream and mayo that I already had placed in a Tupperware container (I find this to be the easiest way when I plan on taking the dip immediately for travel, in this case; a tailgate) and began folding in the mixture. I added the 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/4 tsp of garlic powder. As I said earlier, I didn't have white ground pepper and had originally planned to just use black ground pepper but saw we had chipotle Chile powder and decided that I wanted to add a spicy and smoky flavor to compliment the bacon. So, I added a 1/4 tsp of the chipotle Chile powder and mixed everything together. I stuck it in the fridge until we were ready to pack up and go, about an hour and a half. I tasted it before we left and OMG! The bacon and onion with the creaminess of the sour cream and mayo and then the slight kick and smokiness from the chipotle powder was a perfect combination!

 

My tailgating group felt the same! Everyone gave rave reviews and loved it! This is a recipe I will definitely be making again! Tomorrow I'll tell you about my sub sandwich creation and the sweet and spicy mayo I made! If you end up trying this dip, what changes did you make or did you follow the original recipe?

 

Also, for those who worry about calories and such, I created this as a recipe in MyFitnessPal and here is the breakdown-

 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups diced sweet onion

1 1/2 cups regular Publix Sour Cream

3/4 cups Hellman's mayo

1/4 tsp and 1/2 tsp of David's Kosher Salt

1/4 tsp of McCormick's Garlic Powder

1/4 tsp of McCormick's Chipotle Chile Powder

3 slices of Publix Naturally Hickory Smoked Center Cut Bacon

 

I approximated that based off the ingredients, this recipe makes about 4 cups of dip. Although it seems small, I did a serving as a half cup (which if using chips and veggies to dip is actually a lot and makes you more mindful of not overeating)

 

Based off a 1/2 cup serving, this recipe contains-- 247 calories, 23.2g of fat, 40mg of Cholesterol, 473.8mg of Sodium, 5.6g of carbs, 2.1g of sugar and 2.4g of protein. For me this recipe is good because I watch my sugar content and my carbs. Even if I had two servings (which I don't think I would need based off how many carrot sticks you could easily eat with 1/2 cup of dip), it would be less than 5g of sugar! Granted, I'm not thrilled about the sodium, but that has to do with the bacon and salt.

 

Hope you enjoy!

Nothing Worse Than Being Sick

Hello Readers! Sorry it has been more than a few days. I worked Friday and Saturday, off Sunday and just worked the last two days...all while being sick. I hate it. I can't call out because even though I am full time now, I don't get sick pay until the new year. So not cool!

I needed to get better too! Got another home game on Saturday and it is at 7pm! I am really excited about that because I have all day Saturday to prep for tailgating! My mom wanted to just pick up subs...I want to create my own sub! I am even thinking of making mayo for it and maybe even some sort of finger food with a dip. I also think nothing goes better with a sandwich than chips and dip. So I am going to make my own onion dip and yummmmmy! I really love getting to experiment and have fun with food.

One of these days, maybe even this weekend (if I am at 100%), I want to make my poppers! I tried them out last year and they were a hit but I want to alter a few things and give them another shot. I KNOW I can make them better!

So, unfortunately due to my sickness...I have not really exercised, except for a 1.25 mile walk last night (I was feeling better and didn't want to just continue laying around). I have been eating lots of yogurt and chicken noodle soup. My dad makes an awesome batch of soup! He uses small pieces of chicken that he doesn't BBQ or use for cutlets and cooks it with carrots, onions, spices in a broth and it is AWESOME! Just enough flavor and just what the doctor ordered! He teaches me so much! In fact, I'm hoping to be moved out by the end of November, so that he can come to my place for Christmas Eve dinner and see what I've learned! Every year, I do more and more on my own so that I can eventually take over and he can enjoy the holidays!

Hurricanes Beat Florida~ Tailgating at 9am, Mimosas and Pancake Bites

The Miami Hurricanes played the Florida Gators on Saturday and WON! It was one of the most awesome moments since they started playing at Sun Life Stadium! It is Wednesday and my voice is still not 100% back, which also has to do with working the last three days. But it was all worth it!

Of course though, there is always a downside and the EXTREME humidity and packed stadium definitely got stressful at moments. Plus the early start time of noon was killer since we live about an hour North of the stadium. I really did not want anything along the lines of lunch type food. I am one of those weirdos that can eat breakfast food at ANY time of the day, but must have breakfast like food (eggs, bacon, toast, cereal, oatmeal, fruit, etc) BEFORE I can eat foods more commonly eaten at lunch or dinner. Like, I ABSOLUTELY cannot eat a cheeseburger for breakfast. It does not work for me. :)

On that note, I decided that my pancake bites would be PERFECT for this game. Along with these, I made a breakfast quesadilla (no pictures because I was pressed for time at this point), sausage links, strawberries and bananas with a homemade fruit dip and Mimosas.

There are many different ways to make these, and my way of doing it is an adaptation to Pancake Muffins by theworldaccordingtoeggface. I like my pancakes plain which is why I do not choose to add toppings, although one of these times I might give in and try adding chocolate chips or bacon. I actually prefer pancake batter made from scratch, but in wanting to get these done quickly, I used pancake mix.

I used Aunt Jemima's Original Pancake Mix and followed the instructions for a batch of pancakes. I was not in the mood to do conversions for making the whole box at once, so what I did was make a single batch and while it was baking, I made the next batch. I was able to make from the small size box, 12 mini muffins and 18 regular sized muffins. The best thing is they don't harden so you can pack them up and eat them for days after. If you want them warm, they can be reheated in the microwave with no problem.

Recipes-

Pancake Muffins aka Pancake Bites (can use whatever type of pancake mix you like, including homemade)

-pancake batter (in this case I used Aunt Jemima)
-one non stick muffin pan, mini or regular
-Aunt Jemima syrup

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. After I made the pancake batter according to the instructions (one egg, 1tbsp of oil, 3/4 cup of milk and 1 cup of the mix), I added about a 1/3 to 1/2 cup of Aunt Jemima Syrup. It makes the bites taste sweeter and also a tad like maple. Definitely spray the pan with Pam OR use cupcake wrappers. You divide the batter into the pan and bake for about 12-15 minutes. I like to look for a golden brown-ish color and I also take a toothpick to make sure it is cooked all the way through. After letting them cool for about 5 minutes, I popped them out and put them in Tupperware.

Homemade fruit dip-

-Jar of favorite jelly/preserves (I used Strawberry)
-Cream Cheese
-Cinnamon

This recipe is great because you can use what you have and what you like. I love strawberry jam so I used that but you could probably switch it out with grape or cherry or raspberry, but you might have to change the type of fruit or items for dipping to better compliment the dip. I took about 16oz cream cheese and let it soften. I then took about a 1/2 cup of the strawberry jam and mixed it in, blending it together. I took a dash of cinnamon for flavor (you could do without if you wanted) and chilled it until we were ready to eat it. We dipped the strawberries and these cinnamon bagel chips my mom had purchased. It was AMAZING! Sweet, but not too sweet.

Breakfast Quesadillas-

-9 eggs
-1/2 cup of onion and green bell peppers (could use more or less or different veggies)
-4 to 5 slices of bacon
-4 large flour tortillas
-3tsp butter
-2/3 cups of cheese (also a preference item)

I usually like to cook my bacon in the pan but for time I cooked it according to the oven instructions that way I could cook the eggs and veggies while the bacon was going. I started with the tsp of butter and coated the skillet. I then took the chopped onion and green bell peppers and placed them in the heated skillet. I waited for those to cook, about 5 minutes and then added the eggs. I cooked the eggs with the veggies and then placed them to the side. After the bacon had finished, I let it cool and chopped it up and mixed it in with the eggs. I then used a new skillet and another tsp of butter and placed the first tortilla in the pan. I poured some of the egg mixture (about 1/2) onto the tortilla and sprinkled about 1/2 the cheese on top and covered it with another tortilla. I used a spatula to press down the tortilla to help seal it and after about 4 minutes flipped the quesadilla. I use the plate method (I take a plate and place it on top of the skillet and flip it that way. I then placed the quesadilla back into the skillet and pressed it down again and allowed it to cook another few minutes. I removed the quesadilla and placed it on a cutting board and let it cool while I repeated the process for the second one. After the second one was completed and the first had cooled, I used a pizza cutter to cut the quesadilla into 8 pieces and repeated with the second once it had cooled. I placed the 16 pieces into Tupperware and brought salsa and sour cream for dipping. These got RAVE reviews. I was even told to make more! Next time I WILL take pictures!!

Hope you enjoyed!





Happy Hump Day! September Goals, Tailgating, Football is BACK!

No pain, no gain! So many great things come with the month of September...a chance for new goals, NFL and College Football start and Fantasy Football!! I am an avid football fan. Tailgating and the Miami Hurricanes are life to me. I follow all the Canes sports, but basketball and football are definitely my favorites.

I have taken on the role of "chef" for our tailgates. We don't do the usual hot dogs and burgers...and throughout the next few months, I'm going to post pictures and recipes for food I make. This Saturday, Miami plays the Gators at noon...icky. But..it gives me a chance to make two different types of food. I'm going to do pancake bites and breakfast quesadillas. I am so excited. :)

Of course with tailgating and football back in full swing, it is time to work even harder on non-game days. Along with running three nights and usually three to four weight days a week, I've decided to throw in a cross training day...either bike, swimming or elliptical. Swimming will always be choice #1 (I do live in Florida after all), but on rainy days I will have to go for the bike or elliptical. I was reading Peace, Love and Low Carb (an amazing blog with tons of great low carb recipes and giveaways) and her first entry of September was about setting attainable goals and being realistic. I decided I want to give it a shot...so to end this entry, I will list my September goals which although will push me...I know can realistically be completed.
What are your goals for September?

SEPTEMBER GOALS:
1. Run a total of 20 miles
2. Lose 7lbs
3. Get my mile to 9 minutes (currently 9 mins 10 secs)
4. Do something for me (a girly day, a massage, anything)
5. Complete 5 full pages of my novel
6. Write two blogs a week
7. Try something new without fear


Happy Hump Day Everyone!

Month One is COMPLETE! Final Results! :)

So my challenge is officially over. My final weight was 131lbs...not as low as I would have liked...I plan on doing another month so that I can hopefully lose the next 5lbs that I really want to. I lost 3 1/2 lbs and a total of 5.5 inches.

Hips: 32
Waist: 26
Bust: 33.5
Legs: 20
Arm: 12

I did not give up anything in order to achieve this. I feel stronger and my running has improved. In fact, the last few times I ran...my mile was clocked at 9:10...my goal is by the end of September to be 125lbs and run a mile in less than 9minutes.

I should mention that I am a HUGE HUGE football fan!! So, I will definitely be tailgating and enjoying bad for me food and alcohol! :) Friday night was in fact the first Miami Hurricanes football game and I have been putting hard work into my workouts since to make up for my large intake of food and beer! :)