Healthy Desserts

Well, healthier, at least...



My favorite Shakeology Shake combination

Ingredients
1 scoop chocolate Shakeology
1 banana - can be over ripe
1 Tbsp - 3 Tbsp of peanut butter (depends on how hungry I am)
water

Directions: Add all ingredients into a mixer cup and use immersion blender.


My favorite Shakeology protein balls, cookies, brownie bars

Ingredients
1 cup chocolate Shakeology
1 cup oats
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup honey

Directions
Put everything in a bowl and mix together.  Shape however you would like.  

*I will often shape the mixture into a small loaf like shape, stick it in the fridge and just slice it whenever I'd like a snack or dessert. 

**Vanilla Shakeology works well in this recipe too.

*** Bonus - The kids love this one too!

Inside Out Shakeology Peanut Butter Cups
(Makes 2 servings)

Total Time: 40 min.
Prep Time: 10 min.
Cooking Time: None

2 tsp. unrefined coconut oil, melted
2 Tbsp. powdered chocolate peanut butter (like PB2)
2 tsp. Chocolate Vegan Shakeology
2 Tbsp. water

1. Combine oil and powdered peanut butter in a small bowl; mix well. Set aside.
2. Combine Shakeology and water in a small bowl; mix until it has a pudding-like consistency. Set aside.
3. Coat two foil muffin liners evenly with half of peanut butter mixture. Top evenly with Shakeology mixture and remaining peanut butter mixture.
4. Freeze for 30 minutes, or until firm.

Nutritional Information (per serving):
Calories: 64
Total Fat: 5 g
Saturated Fat: 4 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sodium: 50 mg
Carbohydrate: 3 g
Fiber: 1 g
Sugar: 1 g
Protein: 3 g

credit: beachbody / shakeology

Healthy Meals - Approved

The following recipes are a list of my go-to healthy meals that are typically quick, easy, and can be made for 1 person without too much effort.


Quick & Easy Tilapia and Tomatoes
Recipe courtesy of Foodie Test Kitchen aka Me

Ingredients

2 lbs Tilapia fillets
2-3 heirloom tomatoes
4 cloves minced garlic
oil or cooking spray
salt

Directions

1. Heat non-stick skillet on medium-high heat until nice and hot. Spray with non-stick cooking spray - I use this to keep the calories low, but you could use olive oil instead.

2. Add garlic to the pan and saute for a few seconds. Start adding the tilapia without overcrowding. Sprinkle salt over entire pan. Turn fish over after 2-3 minutes. There should be a nice brown crispness. Remove fish from the pan after 2 more minutes.

3. After all of the fish has been cooked, add chopped heirloom tomatoes, stirring frequently to ensure even cooking. Once they are nice and soft, pour everything from the pan on top of the fish.





Total Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 6

Notes: I make this as a super fast, healthy and cheap lunch. One piece of tilapia (roughly 1/4 lb) + a 1/4 of a tomato keeps this lunch under $5, even from whole foods.

Healthy Meals - to try

I have not yet tried any of these, so I can't say anything about them yet.  Once I make them, if they get a thumbs up, they will move to "Healthy Meals - Approved".  Maybe I'll even throw a photo or two in the mix to make this blog less boring!

Grilled Salmon with Mixed Greens (Makes 1 serving)

Total Time: 5 min.
Prep Time: 5 min.
Cooking Time: None

• 5 oz. grilled wild salmon
• 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
• 1 dash Himalayan salt (or sea salt)
• 3 fresh dill sprigs, chopped
• 4 cups mixed salad greens
• 2 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar (or fresh lemon juice)

1. Drizzle salmon with lemon juice. Season with salt and dill.
2. Serve salmon over greens.
3. Drizzle with oil and vinegar.

Nutritional Information (per serving):
Calories: 366
Total Fat: 21 g
Saturated Fat: 3 g
Cholesterol: 101 mg
Sodium: 692 mg
Carbohydrates: 5 g
Fiber: 2 g
Sugar: 1 g
Protein: 38 g

Flank Steak Tacos (Makes 1 serving)

Total Time: 5 min.
Prep Time: 5 min.
Cooking Time: None

1 dash Himalayan salt (or sea salt)
1 dash chili powder
1 dash ground cumin
4 oz. grilled flank steak, sliced across the grain, warm
2 (6-oz.) corn tortillas, warm
2 Tbsp. tomatillo salsa
2 thin slices medium avocado

1. Combine salt, chili powder, and cumin in a small bowl; mix well.
2. Season flank steak with salt mixture; mix well.
3. Top each tortilla with half the flank steak, 1 Tbsp. salsa, and 1 avocado slice.
4. Serve immediately.

Nutritional Information (per serving):
Calories: 400
Total Fat: 17 g
Saturated Fat: 5 g
Cholesterol: 92 mg
Sodium: 435 mg
Carbohydrates: 26 g
Fiber: 5 g
Sugar: 1 g
Protein: 35 g

Grilled Tilapia with Steamed Zucchini and Baked Sweet Potato (Makes 1 serving)

Total Time: 5 min.
Prep Time: 5 min.
Cooking Time: None

5 oz. grilled tilapia
1 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 dash Himalayan salt (or sea salt)
3 fresh thyme sprigs, leaves removed and chopped, stem discarded
2 cups steamed sliced zucchini, warm
1 baked medium sweet potato (or yam), warm

1. Drizzle tilapia with oil and lemon juice. Season with salt and thyme.
2. Serve tilapia with zucchini and sweet potato.

Nutritional Information (per serving):
Calories: 382
Total Fat: 10 g
Saturated Fat: 2 g
Cholesterol: 81 mg
Sodium: 417 mg
Carbohydrates: 35 g
Fiber: 8 g
Sugar: 14 g
Protein: 44 g

Cooked Lentils with Tomatoes and Collard Greens (Makes 1 serving)

Total Time: 5 min.
Prep Time: 5 min.
Cooking Time: None

1 cup cooked green lentils, warm
1 dash Himalayan salt (or sea salt)
1 cloves garlic, finely chopped
½ cup stewed tomatoes (or roasted grape tomatoes), warm
1 cup steamed collard greens, warm
2 Tbsp. raw sunflower seeds

1. Combine lentils, salt, and garlic in a medium serving bowl.
2. Serve lentils with tomatoes and collard greens that are sprinkled with sunflower seeds.

Nutritional Information (per serving):
Calories: 418
Total Fat: 12 g
Saturated Fat: 1 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sodium: 868 mg
Carbohydrates: 59 g
Fiber: 22 g
Sugar: 5 g
Protein: 26 g

Recipes courtesy of beachbody / shakeology

Healthy Snacks

Granola

*You can add / substitute anything as long as you use the oats, maple syrup, vegetable oil, + salt.  I often use whatever I have on hand - pepitas, sunflower seeds, peanuts, etc.

Ingredients

3 cups rolled oats
1 cup slivered almonds
1 cup cashews
3/4 cup shredded coconut
2 Tbsp honey 
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup raisins

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

2. In a large bowl, combine the oats, nuts, coconut, and honey.

3. In a separate bowl, combine maple syrup, oil, and salt. Combine both mixtures and pour onto 2 sheet pans. Cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes to achieve an even color.

4. Remove from oven and transfer into a large bowl. Add raisins and mix until evenly distributed.

Recipe adapted from Alton Brown
Original Recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/granola-recipe.html?oc=linkback

Under 200 calories

2 medium celery stalks
1 medium carrot
2/3 cup black beans, mashed with
2 Tbsp. salsa

4 cups air-popped popcorn drizzled with
2 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil, coconut oil, or nutritional yeast (for cheesy flavor)

3 Tbsp. raw almonds with
1 cup sliced apple

1 medium carrot, slice, with
½ medium avocado

½ cup plain Greek yogurt mixed with
1 medium cucumber, diced and
2 Tbsp. fresh dill or 1 tsp. dried dill
2 tsp. chopped raw walnuts

1 large sweet potato, baked with
1 tsp. olive oil and
Dash of Himalayan salt

2 medium celery stalks topped with
4 tsp. natural peanut butter (no sugar added) or almond butter and
3 Tbsp. raisins

¾ cup sliced bananas spread with
1 Tbsp. natural organic peanut butter or almond butter

1 cup fresh orange slices dusted with
Pinch of ground cinnamon,topped with
2 Tbsp. chopped raw hazelnuts

Many of these recipes are courtesy of beachbody / shakeology

Shakeology / Protein recipes I want to try...

Peanut Butter Protein Bars
http://www.food.com/recipe/peanut-butter-protein-bars-79090

1/2 cup skim milk
1 cup peanut butter
1 Tbsp honey
1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups of protein powder
2 cups dry uncooked oatmeal

DIRECTIONS
Combine PB, honey and milk in a pot.
Warm over low heat.
Add protein powder and mix well.
Add oats.
Don't cook it, just warm it through so you can stir it.
Press in a 9x13 pan.
Let the bars sit until cool, then cut into bars.
Wrap each bar in foil or plastic wrap and store in plastic.

*They do not need refrigeration.

Peanut Butter Fudgy Pops

1-½ scoops Chocolate Shakeology
1 Tbsp. peanut butter
1 cup skim milk

DIRECTIONS
Mix ingredients in blender. Pour into 4 frozen pop molds and freeze.

Chocolate Mocha Mousse

4 oz Greek Yogurt
1 scoop Chocolate Shakeology
¼ cup unsweetened almond milk
1 Tbsp all-natural almond butter

DIRECTIONS1. Place yogurt, Shakeology, almond milk, and almond butter in a food processor (or blender) and pulse until smooth.

2. Place mousse in a medium serving bowl; refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or until set.

I'm baaaaaack!

I've always been into health, fitness, food, makeup, skin care and basically anything else to make me a better me. I have to say, it's true what people say - things start changing after 30. I guess I didn't realize it at the time because I was so happy with my perfect family, but things were starting to go downhill for me! I only realize this now after looking back at photos. Wow, I never noticed these wrinkles before - where did they come from? Must have been from me losing weight. Nope, not true. I looked back at some photos and bam, they were there all along. They just weren't a priority at the time. Anyway, where am I going with this? I do a lot of research on how to care for my body, both inside and out. What I've noticed is that I often forget all of the research and end up having to do it all again. I've decided to *try to be more active on this blog to document some of the things I've researched, exercise theories, remedies, products etc that I am testing. If nothing else, I can look back at my own research instead of reinventing that wheel :-) If anybody out there actually reads this and has any tips and tricks to share...by all means, comment away! PS, I'll eventually start adding some photos so this will be more usable for people like me with severe ADD. I like pictures!

I haven't been blogging much lately.  I was doing nothing other than working for awhile until I finally decided to take some time for myself.  Running seemed like a good option.  I could go out, alone, and run for as long as I could stand to run without any disturbances.  I became addicted.

I decided to sign up for my first triathlon coming up on May 20th, the Ramblin Rose Sprint Triathlon.  A friend of mine convinced me that I could do it.  She assured me that some people even walk the swim portion (it's in a pool).  I guess that was all I needed to hear, because I have committed myself to this race.  I may not be the fastest or strongest swimmer, but I will not be walking either.  As a matter of fact, I have a swim coach - Mickey.  I've spent enough money on year round swimming for him and it turns out, he's a pretty good coach.  I haven't decided yet wether he is just tough or if he is abusing his power over me.  Either way, I'm going to assume it's just going to make me stronger.

Biking - the third piece of the puzzle.  I just bought my first road bike...a vintage Colnago.  My friend, Geof, convinces me that this is an awesome bike and that I got a great deal on it.  I think he is right and he's pretty much a bike expert, so I think I'm in good hands!  I haven't really ridden the bike yet.  I took it out once, by myself, just to get comfortable on it.  My real training begins in 2 days, when I ride the 9 mile tri-course with a few girls.  I'm just glad I finally got padded shorts :)

Overall, I haven't really figured out how to train for a triathlon.  I felt like I was getting pretty strong with the running portion so I started to focus more on the swimming.  About a week ago, I started to feel like my running was suffering which wasn't a great feeling.  I'm awful at swimming, slacking on my runs and hadn't biked yet.  Felt like a recipe for disaster or at least failure.

I decided to sign up for a 5k last week.  I was slightly terrified since my runs had been so bad lately.  I have no idea how, but I actually placed and hit a PR (personal record).  It was a fun race, called the Foxhunt.  The girls, or foxes, started first and the guys started 3 minutes later.  There were a couple of familiar faces in the crowd and my only goal was to not let them catch me since I had a 3 minute head start!

I ended up getting 1st place in my age group (30-39) with a time of 23:19 (7:31 pace).  That puts me in 7th overall out of the girls.  I was and am still shocked.  Thankfully, I met my goal...those familiar faces didn't catch me.

Foxhunt 5k

Position 32 out of 96
Bib 222
Name Amanda Olson
Age 33
Gun Time  00:23:19
Gun Pace 7:31

*1st place overall female ran this race in 18:04 (5:49 pace)
*1st place female (ME!) in my age bracket ran this race in 23:19 (7:31 pace)

Overall Results
Category Results

So...this must have been a fluke.  I was just worried about being caught, right?  I also signed up for another 5k 2 days later, the St. Timothy's Spring Sprint.  Turns out, even though it was pretty hilly and I argued with myself for at least a mile about ducking out, I placed again...this time, 3rd in my age bracket (30-34) with a time of 24:56 (8:04 pace).

St. Timothy's Spring Sprint 5k

Position 62 out of 223
Bib 105
Name Amanda Olson
Age 33
Chip Time 24:56
Gun Time 25:03
Pace 8:04

Race Results

*1st place overall female ran this race in 18:31 (5:58 pace)
*1st place female in my age bracket ran this race in 22:56 (7:23 pace)

I guess I'm feeling a little better about the running portion of the tri...now I need to step up the training for the bike and swim portion!