Whole 30 || Menu Week 1

Hello, friends! We had a great weekend and this week my kiddos take our state assessment, so prayers appreciated. Also, thanks for all the sweet comments and prayers about my Mimi's passing. My family truly appreciates it!

Now, let's get down to this Whole 30 talk. I need preface this again by saying that I am not doing it 100%. Maybe I should just call it Paleo 30? Or eating healthier 30? My doctor wants me to be taking a probiotic each morning which contains ingredients that are not Whole 30 approved. I also refuse to give up my coffee creamer at this point (read above: state assessments). And, honestly, I am wanting this to be more of a lifestyle change and not just a 30 day fix where I get to the end and want to binge on all the ice cream in the whole world!

Here was my menu for the week:

MONDAY:

Breakfast - 2 egg muffins with salsa

Lunch - grilled chicken with quinoa and kale (quinoa is not Whole 30 approved) 

Dinner - zucchini lasagna (contained a very small amount of ricotta cheese)

TUESDAY:

Breakfast - egg muffin with salsa

Lunch - zucchini lasagna

Dinner - sheet pan chicken and veggies (seriously make this!!)

WEDNESDAY: 

Breakfast - egg muffins with salsa

Lunch - zucchini lasagna 

Dinner - eggs and bacon

THURSDAY: 

Breakfast - egg muffin with salsa

Lunch - chopped BBQ pork

Dinner - grilled chicken with bacon, salsa, and avocado

FRIDAY:

Breakfast - scrambled eggs with breakfast sausage 

Lunch - grilled chicken with quinoa 

Dinner - steak, sweet potato, grilled zucchini and squash 

SNACKS:

carrots

strawberry

apple with almond butter

almonds

cantaloupe

Y'all, I've never ate this much grilled chicken in my life. And, I still think it is gross. Gimme all the friend chicken! 

This next week I am trying to be even more strict. The Sunday before I started I made a huge pan of the zucchini lasagna that contained a very small amount of ricotta cheese. It is still a really healthy meal, so I didn't want to not eat on it all week just because of the cheese. The quinoa was a random purchase at Sprouts. I was lacking in lunch ideas and was in a crunch for time and this option turned out to be something I actually could stand day after day. 

Over the weekend I cheated with a margarita (not worth it) and salmon with asparagus drizzled with balsamic vinaigrette. I ordered the healthiest thing on the menu and didn't interrogate the waiter just to alter it to be Whole 30 approved. It was delicious and I felt good about my selection. Again, I am trying to make this a lifestyle change and not a 30 day fix.

I hope this helps some of you who are looking for meal ideas. I've gotten over trying to enjoy my food and, instead, I'm in the mindset to eat for nourishment. I'm hoping when I have more time this summer I can find better recipes to try!

Whole 30: Let's Do This!

A few years ago I did a Whole 30. I stuck to it and it sucked. There is no way around it. My why is what drove me. 

I’ve battled with acid reflux for over 10 years now. I’ve been on and tried every medication and Tums are my best friend. After being fed up with throwing up stomach bile, I decided to do a Whole 30 challenge in the fall of 2014. I didn’t do it to lose weight or for my physique. I did it for my health and, you know what, it helped tremendously.

I was able to keep up semi-healthy eating habits until time passed and I fell back into my old ways. 

So that brings me to now and why I’m doing it again, and the answer is simple: acid reflux and some undiagnosable digestive issues. 

I’m using my blog to help y’all keep me accountable. I must preface this all by saying that I’m not going to be doing it 100%. Honestly, it takes time and that is something that I have a limited amount of right now, so I’d say I’m doing it about 95%. I am not planning on splurging on anything, but I will be eating quinoa (pictured above), some cheese, and I will be putting creamer in my morning coffee because #teacherlife. We are in survival mode and creamer is a must!

I am planning on posting my meals and meal plans. I can tell you know that there will be a lot of repeated meals. I refuse to spend tons of money on random grocery items that then take me 45 minutes to prepare. Ain’t nobody got time for that. 

I am by no means a health food expert. I know my way around a gym, but the kitchen is not my area of expertise, so feel free to share easy (I repeat, easy!) Whole 30 or Paleo recipes with me!

I did take before pictures just to help myself. I refuse to post any on here because, hello, I teach pre-teens who have told me they know I blog (embarrassing), so I don’t need them seeing what my momma gave me. But, I make no promises that this summer I won’t find the guts to show off my hard work. 

Also, I’m getting back into my workout routine, so if you’d like me to post more about that, let me know! 

And, if anyone wants to join me to help me stay accountable, I’d love to hear from you! It takes a village, y’all!

Easy Overnight Oats || Pinterest Success

Sometimes we try recipes off Pinterest and they turn out terrible. Actually, the majority of times I try a recipe off Pinterest it turns out mediocre. 

Finally I can say that I've found a recipe I love!

This overnight oats recipe has been on repeat for a week now. So far I've only added strawberries to mine, but there are so many versions that I can't wait to try out! I skipped the chia seeds (for allergy purposes) and I have found that I like slightly less than 1/2 a cup of coconut milk. I add the strawberries in when I am making a batch, but also add more on top each morning.

I can't say I've eaten healthy this pregnancy, but at least my breakfast choice is taking a turn in the right direction :)

Whole 30 Confessions: Week 2

Hey guys, I'm alive! I survived two weeks of this crazy Whole 30 challenge and I'm feeling...like I could eat a gallon of ice cream and chips and salsa for days.

FOOD:
Besides my cravings still in almost full force, things were better last week. I was way more prepared and that helped a lot. I made several meals that lasted me almost all week, and Chris was out of town, so I wasn't tempted at all.

Some hits for the week were:

- this chili

- this sausage 

- potatoes fried in coconut oil

- all natural turkey sandwich meat

- homemade ketchup: 8oz organic strained diced tomatoes, 4oz organic tomato paste, 2 tbs lemon juice, 1/2 tsp dry mustard, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 garlic powder, 1/4 tsp cinnamon. Blend all together in a small blender.

- potato chips made in the microwave (I microwaved mine for 7 minutes)

- guacamole

- almond butter

- bacon, eggs, and hash browns

Let me say something about these hits. As much as I'd like to sit here and say that these hits were delicious, that'd be a lie. Yes, each items is/was pretty good, but nothing so far has compared to how it tastes normally. Out of that list, the only thing I plan on making after this challenge ends is the breakfast sausage. That is some good stuff right there. And of course the bacon, eggs, and has browns.

Chili isn't the same without cheese and cornbread. Potatoes fried in canola oil or crisco are just better. Natural turkey meat is dry. The ketchup is nothing compared to the real stuff. The potato chips are a great replacement for now, but not even in the same category as out of the bag chips. The guacamole is just about the same recipe as I've always used: an avocado, scoop of salsa, and some lime juice. The only difference is the salsa is organic and has no sugar. And yes, that makes a difference. The almond butter is delicious!

Some misses:

- I tried frying chicken patties and they were alright, but probably not a repeater. I mixed ground chicken, an egg, and some spices together, then battered them with almond flour and fried them in coconut oil. Not terrible, and they might have been a hit with real ketchup, but they just weren't my favorite.

- Beef stew meat. Just eww. I need to remember to never buy that again. I might as well just chew on Chris's boot.

- An egg, spinach, onion, a steak frittata. It just wasn't that good.

- Banana ice cream. Specifically this banana ice cream. Don't get me wrong, it was okay, but almost too rich after caramelizing the bananas. Let's just say it wasn't Blue Bell.

As for the misses, although they weren't the best tasting things around, I still ate every last bit of them. I refuse to waste the food that I am cooking and, to be frank, sometimes I don't have the time or energy to fix something else, so gross leftovers will just have to do. I'm not that picky.

My theory on the foods I don't like is...watch tv or distract yourself while eating and you won't pay so much attention to how gross the food is. In the end, I get full on eating a healthy meal and that's what this is all about.

Sunday Chris grilled chicken and I devoured two huge pieces. It was by far the best thing I have had in two weeks and he will be grilling much more this week.

MOOD:
My mood the first week was similar to dancing with a lion; dangerous, and something you probably wouldn't want to do. I was moody and cranky and if Chris Tucker were writing this post he would probably tell you that I was extremely unpleasant to be around.

I am happy to report that last week I felt like my mood was better. Chris wasn't in town to witness my gleeful attitude, but I'd say I felt less groggy and out of it. I did have some moments of fog, but for the most part, my mood was more upbeat and I felt like I had more energy than the first week.

Can I just say something? I felt like I had a lot of energy before I started this challenge. I was working out every morning, eating pretty healthy, for the most part, and was feeling really great about my body and how I was feeling. I'm not sure I can credit this diet to making me feel great...just a thought.

HEALTH: 
Y'all, I am so freaking excited to say that I have not thrown up/had any stomach pain at all since I started this!! My acid reflux hasn't bother me at all!! I used to have stomach pain after every meal, like piercing pain, but I haven't felt that in over two weeks. That makes me think my stomach may not agree with something I was eating and I hope to have an answer to that at the end of this whole challenge!

WORKOUTS:
These are few and far between. The first week I think I only went to the gym twice. Last week I only went once. I am starving, STARVING the moment the alarm clock goes off and the last thing I want to do is go to the gym when I'm starving. I am eating a lot, but I feel like I can't eat enough. Everything I am eating is healthy, but not calorie dense, so I need to work on eating more protein later in the day, so when I wake up, I have enough energy to make it to the gym. I did make it to the gym Monday morning, but felt a little nauseous when I got home because I was so hungry.

OVERALL:
Overall, I feel...I'm not sure. I love how my clothes are fitting and I know I've lost inches. I tried on my best friend's bridesmaids dress (for her wedding in January) a week before going on this diet and it fit perfectly snug, with no room to spare. I tried it on again on Sunday and it was almost too loose! I no longer have any love handles and I am starting to see all my abs, so that is nice. But, if I'm being honest, the biggest motivator in this is my acid reflux being under control. That has been such a huge pain in my butt for almost eight years now, so to know I potentially have that under control is a great feeling. On the other hand, there is no way I could keep up these eating habits forever. The meal prep and lack of delicious (to me) food is something I'm not willing to give up. Call me crazy, but ice cream and chips are just too delicious to never eat!!

And no offence at all to those people who live this healthy lifestyle all the time, because I commend you for doing this because it is really freaking hard, but no, Paleo ice cream is not better than real ice cream and homemade ketchup doesn't taste like the real stuff. So, for all those items you claim to have mastered to taste like "the real thing," I'm sorry. Pillsbury has perfected the cookie and there is just no substitute for that. Blue Bell is the master of ice cream and no frozen banana treat is even close to tasting as delicious as Cookies N Cream. And kale chips dipped in homemade organic no-nothing ranch are nothing like Chuy's chips and jalapeno ranch dip. Sawwrryyyy.

I have ten days left until we go on vacation and I am going to try my hardest to eat healthy for breakfast and lunch, then splurge for dinner. I am a little worried about upsetting my stomach, so I am going to try and take it easy, but no guarantees when you're in NYC!

Has anyone else tried Whole 30? Do you have any delicious recipes? I'd love to try them out!

Whole 30 Recipes and Meal Plans

I am no meal expert, y'all. Some nights I eat cereal and call it a day. Other nights I am on my game and concoct a yummy meal that I put on repeat.

Since cereal is not in the cards right now, and whipping meals up on the go is not the name of my game, I've been diligent about scouring Pinterest and other websites for recipes and ideas to keep this girl from going hanngryy. (You can see my Whole 30 Pinterest board, here)

Saturday mornings are when my meal planning/grocery list prepping goes down. The only bad thing about Pinterest is that 99% of your pinning friends are not on board with your clean eating so they be pinnin' stuff like this:

source

and you be like:

source

The struggle is real. I love you, Pinterest, but I hate you oh, so much!

Moving on. 

Monday, October, 6th:

Breakfast - Eggs baked in avacado skins with the avacado baked in the middle of the cookie sheet. Basically you scoop out some of the avacado, place it in the middle of the cookie sheet, crack an egg in each of the halves, and bake at 350 for about 15 mintues.

Verdict - Freakin' disgusting...literally I was gagging.

My friend Caitlin told me about this recipe and it has been her favorite so far from Whole 30. I texted her telling her that it was gag worthy, and I'm going to say I just screwed it up, someway, somehow. The texture of the eggs was like rubber and the flavor of the whole things was awful. Never will I ever do this again because I can't get the taste out of my head. Cait, you need to make this for me!

Snack - Apple with almond butter.

Verdict - This is like candy to a person who isn't allowed to have sugar...so good.

Lunch - Leftover crock pot pork, broccoli, carrots, and strawberries.

Pork rump roast, coconut aminos, whatever spices you want. Cover pork in aminos and spices, put in crockpot on love for around 4 hours. We got a pretty small roast, so it didn't need a full 6 hours.

Verdict - It was alright.

The pork was't bad, but it wasn't good. It was edible and just blah. It was sort of dry and the gravy from the crock pot wasn't enough to make it taste better. Maybe using better spices or something would do the trick. 

Dinner - Beef stir fry. 

Cup up steak sauteed in cocout aminos. Then add any veggies you want and add about 2 cups of water, simmer until veggies are soft.

Verdict - Once again, it was alright. Not Chinese food stir fry worthy. The meat was tough and it just needed more spices.

Dessert - Another apple with almond butter while staring at Chris was was eating this:

Rude.

Tuesday, October 7th:

Breakfast - 2 scrambled eggs, a banana/strawberry/spinach smoothie.

Verdict - Compared to yesterday, delicious! The eggs were eggs and the smoothie was interesting with no milk or yogurt. I just added ice and a little water. It wasn't bad, but I won't be putting in the effort to make it again. Plus, Whole 30 suggests that you not have smoothies because drinking your food messes with your brain and a lot of this program is training your brain to not be emotional about foods.

Snack - Apple with almond butter.

Lunch - Leftover stir fry, carrots, and a kiwi.

Dinner - The last bit of the pork with veggies. 

Chris's dinner? Just a large pizza and a Pepsi. Kill me now.

Dessert - A kiwi...a lone little kiwi.

Wednesday, October 8th:

Breakfast - 2 scrambled eggs, a banana, and strawberries.

Snack - Apple and almond butter.

Lunch - Leftover stir fry, carrots, and a kiwi.

Dinner - Baked chicken thighs with veggies.

5 boneless, skinless chicken thighs. Preheat oven to 350 and bake for 20 minutes. I just added random spices and a little olive oil.

Verdict - Really good! Chris said this recipe was a "repeater." Winning!

Thursday, October 9th:

Same breakfast and snack as the day before.

Lunch - Left over baked chicken and broccoli. And, as usual, a bag of carrots.

Dinner - Chipolte! I had parent/teacher conferences this whole day so during my break I found out that I could have Chipolte! If you're doing Whole 30 you can have the salad with carnitas, guacamole, and tomato salsa. That's it! Because of the oil they use, you can't have the fajita veggies and they glaze their other meats with honey, so those are a no-go. 

Verdict - It was gone in 3 minutes when I got home...

Chris came home with a foot long Subway sandwich, a bag of Cheetos, a large Coke, and three cookies. I could have swatted his toosh into the next county. Fo' real, dude?! I didn't know he had cookies until he warmed them up in the microwave that THE WHOLE HOUSE SMELLED LIKE A COOKIE!

Friday, October 10th:

Same breakfast and snack.

Lunch - This was a struggle. Because I had ate all the leftovers and had Chipolte the night before, we literally had no meat I could eat. Our fridge was empty of options for me. All that was left was pico de gallo, an avocado, and some spinach leaves. So what did I have for lunch? Spinach leaves topped with a diced avacado, pico, and lemon juice. I also had carrots and strawberries.

Verdict - To be honest, it wasn't that bad! I was dreading it, but it was not as bad as that egg thing I ate on the first day! It was fresh and the lemon juice was a smart addition.

Dinner - Mooyah! I got a lettuce wrapped burger with onions, pickles, avocado, and mustard.

Verdict - The smell of the fries were killing me, but the burger was pretty good. I miss my ketchup though.

Some recipes I tried out last weekend:

- This chili recipe. The best thing I had made yet, plus there are plenty of leftovers.

- This homemade mayo recipe. This went straight in the trash. So gross.

- These sausage balls. I can't wait to finally have more than eggs and fruit for breakfast. These are SO good!

- These sweet potato fries. Not bad! I still prefer regular white potatoes, but these were better than nothing! I just found out we can have all potatoes, so I am pretty pumped about that! I also looked up the sugar grams in a regular sized serving of Mooyah's sweet potato fries...yikes! 25 grams of sugar in those babies! You might as well drink a Coke or have a shake!

Whole 30 Confessions

Hello friends!

After Thursday's post revealing that I am doing the Whole 30 challenge, I had no idea so many of you had done it, are doing it, or want to hear all about it. I can tell y'all are going to be what keeps me going because Chris and his Cokes and cookies are not helping the cause.

If you have been around here for awhile, you know that I keep things pretty honest and I'm not good at the whole "of course eating celery instead of cookies is great" thing.

So, let me be honest, last week sucked. I was hungry, grumpy, in a brain fog, and all around pretty much wanting to gorge on pizza and ice cream. I was irritated at having to cook so much, only to wind up with a meal that wasn't even 1/100 as good at the Little Caesar's pizza Chris was eating. It was not good.

After some requests, each week I will try to let you know my grocery list and the meals I plan on eating. I think this will help me stay organized and it will help you decide if this is for you or not!

I have found the hardest thing is snacks. When I get home for school, I want a snack. It used to be a bag of chips or bowl of ice cream. Last week it was an apple, banana, orange, or a bag of carrots. Noting equivalent to ice cream, or chips.

Before I started this, I thought my eating habits were pretty good. I felt like my protein shake with fruit and Greek yogurt was a good start to my day. The Belvida breakfast biscuits I had for snack were delicious and a better choice than other snacks I could have opted for. For lunch I usually had left overs from the night before, and my dinners were normally a meat and some veggies, or spaghetti and some veggies. On the weekends Chris and I would normally go out to eat, but then again, nothing I ate I ever felt was terrible or loaded with carbs and sugar. Oh how wrong I was.

During the Whole 30 challenge you can consume absolutely no sugar, added or natural (fruits don't count). None. That eliminates basically everything. Almond milk, yogurt, bread, spaghetti sauce, noodles, grains, cereal, granola, Belvidas, and pretty much everything else I was eating. Of course my beloved Cokes, pizza, and ice cream are out the door, which has not been easy.

Last week I could tell that my brain was lost. I made so many dumb mistakes that even I was dumbfounded as to how much my brain relies on sugar to get through  my day. I am usually pretty with it and I wouldn't be one to consider myself to have a lot of "blonde moments." By Wednesday I had: put face wash on my loofah, opened the deodorant and just stared at it not knowing what to do next, put leftovers in their containers and went to the trash to throw them away, got out an apple to cut, but stood there for two minutes thinking about what I needed to do with this apple, left the bathroom door at school unlocked and someone walked in, called my classroom phone looking for a parent, walked around looking for my keys and they were in my hand, walked around looking for my phone and it was also in my hand, and this is just to name a few.

Y'all, that is bad.

I went to bed before 8:30pm every night last week. As in I was dead asleep by 8:30pm. I also noticed that I did not toss and turn as much as I used to and never once did I feel sick from my acid reflux, something that is a huge blessing.

I am typing all of this out to say that here I sit on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon feeling really good. Do I want sweets, yes, 100%. Do I crave them? Yes, 100%. But, I feel better. My brain is functioning better, I feel more alert and less like I am about to pass out at any moment. I feel skinnier and less blah. I feel healthy.

Tomorrow I will be back with some recipes I made this weekend, the hits and the misses! I won't lie to ya...if I say is is bad, it is probably pretty nasty! I was a cooking fool this weekend and I feel much more prepared going into my second week of the challenge.

Happy Monday!

Linking up with Leann and Kimberlee!

Whole 30 Challenge

A couple weekends ago I met up with Caitlin to talk about The Lovely Lookbook (click here to go link up your fall colors since my linky wasn't working last Wednesday!). While we were talking she mentioned that her and her husband are trying out the Whole 30 program. She explained to me the premise of it and I thought it sounded doable.

I left Starbucks and called Chris and told him about my new plan to only eat whole foods for 30 days. He said, "Can I still have Blue Bell and spaghetti?" to which I replied ," Nope." He quickly came back with, "Yup, I'm out." Then he decided to say, "I'll bring you home some wooden pallets from work since that's just about how your food will taste during this challenge. Plus, they're organic since they are pure wood, so they fit all the challenge rules." Hardy-har-har, Mr. Tucker.

Jokes aside, I chewed on the idea of only eating whole food for 30 days. No sugar at all. No added sugar, no fake sugar, no sugar. No pasta, bread, beans, or ice cream. No yogurt, no almond milk. Basically, I can't have most of what I eat. I thought about the idea for a week and, after a night sitting on the bathroom floor because of acid reflux, I decided, I'm in.

This is my thought; I can do anything for 30 days. YOU can do anything for 30 days.

With Chris a no-go, I knew I needed to get mentally ready for Cokes to be opened in front of me and ice cream to be ate every night after dinner. So what did I do last weekend? Ate ice cream and drank Coke basically for three days straight. No wonder my stomach hurt so bad.

Just like my year of no shopping challenge, I knew some planning had to happen.

Last Saturday I read all there was to know about this challenge. I made notes and wanted to be really educated since screwing it up would completely defeat the purpose. I scoured Pinterest in search of edible whole food recipes, made my grocery list, and set out to Sprouts for the first time in years.

Why am I doing this, you ask?

Mainly because I am working my tail off in the gym every morning. I have come to love going to workout in the mornings, but I am definitely negating what I'm doing by chowing down on crap day in and day out.

Another main reason, my acid reflux. I have struggled with this since my freshman year in high school. I have been on every medication for it and nothing seems to work except getting my diet right. I am tried of waking up during the middle of the night with a sour stomach, and Chris is tired of waking up with me.

So, for roughly 30 days (at least 25, I started the challenge Monday) I will be eating nothing but whole foods. I say roughly 30 days because we go to West Point and NYC at the end of this month and I don't want to starve if nothing is available for me to eat. I am going to try my hardest to stick to it while in New York, but my main goal is to make it to October 30th.

I will be tracking my progress, not my weight. I am not doing this to lose weight and it is not a diet because the program says I can eat as much of any whole foods as I'd like. I will be tracking inches around my waist and I will just be keeping tabs on how I am feeling. I want this to be a lifestyle change, not a thing I do for 30 days then toss it to the wind.

And as for Chris Tucker, well he gets what I cook, so like it or not, he is doing a version of the program as well!

I can't wait to share recipes with y'all and let you know how it is going!

Have you ever done a whole 30 challenge?

Easy Homemade Corn Dogs - So Good!

Hands-down the best recipe I have copied off of Pinterest. I went to the grocery store in search of a rotisserie chicken to make chicken spaghetti. My cheesy-chicken dreams got crushed when me, and the rest of Dallas, also wanted a chicken and the fresh batch wouldn't be ready for another hour. Onto Plan B.

I remembered pinning homemade mini corn dog muffins and decided I would try them out. I wanted something quick and easy.

These did not disappoint!! I followed the recipe exactly and they were amazing. Chris walked in and said, "Wow! Something smells good!" There is a secret ingredient that makes them delicious! The only thing I did different (that I just now realized) is that I used a regular sized muffin pan, and she used a mini muffin pan. Next time I will probably try the mini muffin pan, but the regular size works just fine!

Click HERE for recipe. Enjoy!

Easy Crock-Pot Broccoli Cheese Soup

This is the easiest, most delicious broccoli cheese soup! In Chris's words, "WOW! You hit a home-run with this one, babe!"  It is that good. The original recipe comes from here, but in case you don't feel like clickin', here it is for ya! - 1 lb Velveeta cheese - 1/2 yellow onion - 1/2 green bell pepper - 2T butter - 1 can cream of chicken soup - 1.5 cups of milk - 1 (10-12oz) package of frozen broccoli Saute onion and green pepper in butter then combine all ingredients in crock-pot on low for 3-4 hours. YUM! Linking up with Mel,  Jess and Ashley!

Recipe: Easy Homemade Bread

I got this recipe from a friend last year and it has yet to disappoint. Except when you use expired yeast...but this story is for a different day.
You will need: - 2T sugar - 2T active yeast 2.5c warm water - 2T oil 1T salt - 6c flour
Put the sugar, yeast, and warm water in a bowl. Do not stir. Let sit for approx. 15-25 minutes until bubbly. Add in the oil, salt, and flour. Mix well. Cover with towel and let rise 10 minutes. Stir down. Stir down and let rise two more times.
On the final time you stir down the dough, shape into loaf pans (I bake two loaves). Spray you loaf pans with Pam. Once you have the loaves of dough in pans, cover with a towel and let rise for 30 minutes. Bake at 325 for approx. 35-40 minutes.
Enjoy :)
Linking up with Jess and Ashley!

Avocado Chicken Salad with the Perfect Chips

I have been attempting to eat healthier since my workouts have become few and far between. The problem is that two of my favorite foods are chicken salad and chips, my go-to items for lunches, but not the healthiest of options.

Enter Avocado Chicken Salad and Green Giant: Roasted Veggie Tortilla Chips and Multigrain Sweet Potato Chips. Yum, yum, yum! I threw this recipe together and it turned out to be a hit among friends and family. 

The most delicious and light lunch.

Avocado Chicken Salad

- 1 rotisserie chicken

- 2-3 avocados

- 2-3 tsp lime juice

- 2 tsp mayo or miracle whip

- 1/4 purple onion

1/4 cup of chives

- garlic salt

- pepper

Peel all chicken from rotisserie chicken and place in bowl. In a separate bowl mash together avocado, lime juice, mayo/miracle whip, onion, chives, and seasoning to taste. To be honest, all of these measurements are an estimation. I only added the mayo because I wanted it a bit creamier, but you can leave it out. Adding the lime juice prevents the avocados from browning. 

After you have mashed all the ingredients together, add mixture to the chicken. Chill for a couple hours and enjoy!

Now onto the chips. Can I say addicting? I literally ate the entire bag by myself in three days. No shame here. Those chips are delicious!

The picture above is what my lunch looked like for almost a week. The chicken salad gets better as the flavors sit, and paired with the chips and some sort of fruit...wow, perfection! No need to go out and buy a pricey sandwich when you can make this at home. 

I will be packing this frequently for my lunches. The chips pair great with a veggie or garden salsa, and the chicken salad can be presented on bread, lettuce, or by itself!

I am happy to have found an alternate option to my normal boring sandwich and bland chips!

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

The Best Yellow Cake Cookies

This recipe is everywhere on Pinterest and it is amazeballscookies. I made these cookies on Sunday and have eaten all but four of the entire batch. My philosophy is, "The quicker I eat them, the quicker they are out of the house." A motto to diet by :)
What you'll need: - 1 box of yellow cake mix - 1/3 cup oil - 2 eggs
Preheat oven to 350 and bake for 8-10 minutes. Try to not eat them all within the first five minutes. 
You can also add chocolate chips, or toffee, to make them even more divine. But just plain ole yellow cake cookies do the trick for me!
Happy Tuesday! I get to start decorating my classroom today, so I am super pumped.
Linking up with Ashley and Jessica

The Egg McKnockOff

Who doesn't love a good Egg McMuffin?? 
Growing up my Mom would make my brother and I homemade Egg McMuffins for breakfast all the time. I love them because they fill you up and are so easy to make. Cereal, although delicious, doesn't fill me up. And I am not a huge fan of eggs by themselves, so this is my go-to breakfast.
What you need: - 1 English muffin - 1 egg - deli ham -cheese
I have this silver dollar pancake pan and it should be called the "perfect Egg McMuffin making pan."
I crack my egg in the center circle and heat my ham and English muffin in the other circles. Once my egg is cooked on one side, I flip it over until the yolk is hard.
Plop it all, including a slice of your favorite cheese, on the English muffin, and you have yourself a quick and delicious breakfast without the added sodium from the McDonald's version!
Enjoy!
Linking up with Jessica!

Sarah's Homemade Peanut Butter Balls

Is your mouth watering yet? Because mine is.

Growing up I participated in 4-H. Does anyone know what the "H" I am talking about?! I honestly can't tell you what the H means, or what the actual purpose of this thing/group/organization is/was (and I am too lazy to google it), but all I know is that I was involved in the recipe portion of the contest...and these balls took home first place. Yay, baby! My peanut butter balls brought home the bacon, as in a cash prize.

After I got over my sudden gush of success as an eight year old (I mean these balls were being requested left and right. Can't an eight year old just sit back and sip on her Kool-aid?!), I realized that these treats are in fact the bomb.com and there is a reason I won that cheap blue ribbon.

Every holiday party I ever went to I signup up to bring these babies. Deliciousness dipped in choclate...quite like Denzel. Mmmm. Anyways, over the years I have perfected this recipe and I am happy to share it with y'all for the Larson Lingo Cookie and Treat Recipe exchange.

The only good that can come out of this link party is that I will be consuming my weight in sugar and butter just in time to burn it all off for my race this weekend.

Without further adeiu, here is my famous, 4-H winning recipe for Sarah's Peanut Butter Balls.

1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar

2 cups of crunchy peanut butter

6 tablespoons of butter

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1 package of chocolate almond bark

Melt butter. Mix first four ingredients in a bowl until well blended. Place in refridgerator to chill.

 Break (bang on a wall, cut with an electric saw, etc) the almond bark in "half". I say "half" because it really just breaks wherever you want it to break. If you even manage to break it, you're already doing better than me. that sucker should be called an almond brick!

Place one "half" in microwave safe bowl. Heat according to instructions.

Pull "dough" out of fridge and make round balls with hands. You can make the balls before you put the mixture in the fridge, but then they get veryyy sticky because the dough is so warm. It is best to make the balls with chilled dough.

Once you have the dough balls formed it is time to coat them in your chocolate almond bark. 

I just drop mine in. Cover it with chocolate, and scoop it out. Place on wax paper covered baking sheet.

Once all peanut butter balls are covered, place in refrigerator until ready to eat!

Enjoy!

Did I meantion we get a little help with the cleanup, 'round here? They can't just live here for free :)

I know, I know...we are developing bad habits with our children. Luckily all the bad habits will be gone less when we decide to have human babies! And those puppy-dog eyes are no joke! By the way, Bailey is only licking the cheese from Chris's mac-n-cheese. So no, Prince Wrigley and Princess Bailey do not get a plate full of homemade food...only half ;) Totallyyy kidding.

When I asked Chris to take a picture of me, these were his exact words, "Ummm, but babe, you aren't exactly dressed appropriately for the blog..." (then picture his face like "I am telling you this for your own good.") Thank you for pointing that out Mr. Obvious. He spared y'all the image of my super-hot sweat pants I am wearing from junior high track. Just keepin' it real here at Tucker Up, just keepin' it real.

Have you ever made these? A version of these? You could do so much with the recipe!!

Have a happy day, y'all!

**If you are going to Pin this recipe, please link it back to this post :) Much appreciation in advance!

   

Pinterest Told Me To Cook It

I have been on a Pinterest Told Me To kick because of Sheaffer's blog and I have realized that with Pinterest making my outfit and meal decisions, life is so much easier! Seriously, I wake up in the mornings, look at outfits I have pinned, go to my closet, and get dressed. Then for dinner I pull up my Pinterest and decide on a meal. Simple as that.

I pinned this chicken recipe a long time ago and finally decided to make it. Well when you click on the source it takes you to an unavailable site. Whomp whomp. Determined that not be a roadblock, I looked at the picture and made my own version. Here is my recipe:


Picture on Pinterest


- 1 package of boneless, skinless chicken breast
- butter
- seasoning
- 2 packages of string cheese
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup of milk
-Breadcrumbs

Call me crazy, but doesn't that picture look like they are rolling string cheese in chicken?! So that is exactly what I did...if anyone has the original recipe pa-leaseee let me know!

I started by tenderizing my chicken by pounding pretty thin. Then I spread a very thin layer of butter on top of the chicken in order to help the seasoning stick. I used salt, pepper, garlic salt, and other random seasonings. After that I cut my string cheese in half and placed one half on each chicken breast and rolled it up, just like the picture. I secured it with toothpicks.

Once they were rolled up, I dipped them in my egg and milk mixture. I placed them in a baking dish and coated them with breadcrumbs.

After all sides were coated, I baked them for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

They were so good! Chris was so impressed with my "stuffed chicken." He didn't even realize how easy it was, or that it was stuffed with string cheese!

Have you ever made a delicious recipe from Pinterest? Have you ever made THIS recipe from Pinterest?! I'd love to have the original recipe!