Cranberry Frozen Yogurt

Are you still going through your Thanksgiving leftovers?  I still have some sweet potatoes left, but since I made them super simple (stay tuned for that recipe…if you can call it that!), they totally fit my usual plan!

If it’s not on your plan or if it’s too tempting to resist, get rid of it!  But if you have some leftover cranberry sauce, save that for this delicious yogurt recipe!

The frozen-ness (totally a thing!), healthiness, and amount of honey will be highly dependent on the cranberry sauce.  But play with yours and make this now!

Cranberry Frozen Yogurt

Ingredients:

• about 1/4 cup cranberry sauce, frozen
• single serving plain, 0% fat Greek yogurt
• raw honey to taste

Method:

• Place all ingredients in food processor and blend!

Gotta love a super easy recipe, especially for after a big cooking holiday! If you want to check out some other easy recipes with leftovers featuring Chobani, check them out here!

Enjoy!

 

 

Wait, Is It Black Friday?

I heard something like that!

Happy day after Thanksgiving.  I hope you had a fantastic day full of gratitude and happiness!

Here’s a round up of current deals.  All come with a little me to push you and hopefully make you smile while also sticking to your plan!

First, a ton of items are up to 85% off!!  Head here to check those out.  These ones are good until supplies last or December 1st!

Next, there are challenge pack deals, some including extras!  I’ll put some amazing results below.  These are great options for real results since they are a total solution (and a 30 day money back guarantee!  Woohoo!!).  There is still time to get in 21 days before Christmas and see those results…the end of the year doesn’t have to mean gaining weight!

 

Last up, a special from me to you!  All November challenge packs (including the ones here) get a Fixate cookbook from me.  You’ve seen the recipes I’ve made!  Love it and it has both container counts to use with the portion control containers and nutrition information!  Just to say Thank you.

So stay home, order up and don’t get trampled!

Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting!

Sometimes, you want to make cupcakes.  Maybe not the healthiest treat, but definitely a birthday necessity and I had a friend with a birthday!

  
I used a recipe from the Fixate cookbook (which I’m offering with any bundled pack this month…some which already have add ons and an extra discount!) which was for a cake.  But the secret about cupcakes?  You may guess it…instant portion control!

Have you done this? You take a piece of cake.  Reasonable serving size…nothing crazy.  But then you want a little more of a taste.  So you trim a sliver off the cake.  Then some more.  And some more.

And then you ate 3 pieces.

Cupcakes are perfect for this! So I divvied the batter up and cooked for a little less.

I thought they were delicious, but the texture was a bit gritty…totally my fault because I don’t know where our mixer is! I did the cake batter by hand and the frosting in a food processor! Next time I make it, I’ll use the right tools.

   

 

Fixate Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting
Serves 12 Prep Time 20 min.  Cooking Time 30 min.
Ingredients:

Nonstick cooking spray or cupcake liners

1 cup almond flour

½ cup coconut flour

2 tsp. baking powder, gluten-free

¼ tsp. sea salt

¾ cup unsalted organic grass-fed butter, divided use

1 cup raw honey (or maple syrup), divided use

4 large eggs

1/3 cup + 3 Tbsp. unsweetened almond milk, divided use

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

2/3 cup organic unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 350.

2) Prepare cupcake tin with liners or spray.

3) Combine both flours, baking powder and salt and set aside.

4) Cream together ½ cup butter and ¾ cup honey in a medium bowl and beat at medium speed for 1 minute.

5) Add eggs one at a time and beat until blended.

6) Add ¼ cup almond milk and vanilla extract and beat until blended.

7) Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat until creamy.

8) Pour batter into prepared pan.

9) Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from pan.

10) Whip remaining ¼ cup butter in a medium bowl; beat on medium speed 1-2 minutes or until creamy.

11) Add remaining 3 Tbsp. almond milk and beat until well-blended.

12) Add cocoa powder and blend thoroughly; scraping bowl occasionally.

13) Slowly add remaining ¼ cup honey while beating on medium speed. Set aside.

14) Frost cupcakes once cool. Enjoy!

 

 

my friend’s son thought they should be pink!

If you’re counting containers, this is 2 yellows, a blue and a spoon. 

On my wishlist – part 2!

Continuing the wishlist series!

I don’t know about you, but I love fresh herbs!  I buy them, and being the only one who uses them, they often go bad before I can use them up.  I even have the Pampered Chef herb keeper, which helps, but still I end up wasting some.

How great would it be to just clip some off of an indoor herb garden??  I’m usually not great with plants, but I think the functionality here would keep them in my mind to take care of.

This one comes in a reclaimed barnwood planter that I think is gorgeous!  Do you have one you love either in your home or on your wishlist?  Leave a link in the comments!

Birthday Shake!

I just had a birthday!  My daughter and I share, so there was cake and a bunch of other out of the ordinary treats, but I kept up my shakeo habit because I know it helps!  I definitely made better choices than I might have!

What does Shakeology do for me?  Kills cravings, fills me up, doesn’t weigh me down (I have it before evening workouts!) and makes me feel generally amazing with energy and no crash.

I LOVE birthday cake/funfetti stuff.  So good.  And this shake was just what I needed.  It was more than the nothing I usually put in my shake (Shakeology, water, ice, maybe a boost or 3), but still healthy!  It also was super thick…a real dessert-like treat!

Blend together:

– 1 serving vanilla Shakeology
– 1 cup almond milk
– 1 T fat free/sugar free cheesecake pudding mix
– 1/2 t caramel extract
– ice/water to make it to your liking

Top with sprinkles, especially if it’s your birthday!!

Happy birthday to me!

Here’s the story

So, what happened last week?  I think I’m ready.  It’s not a tragedy, but I wasn’t fully ready to admit it at first, and then I didn’t want to sit and type it out…or anything else!

Well see this picture?

  
The look on my face isn’t my super peppy post workout glow, huh?  And I turned it black and white because it was BAD in color.

A bit over midway through my workout, my lower back seized up and I couldn’t move.  It was a familiar feeling.  It had happened in 2010 as I went to put a dish in the dishwasher.  But that time, I was surrounded by others.  This time I was by myself, knowing nothing would wake my husband and not wanting to wake my daughter.

Eventually, I worked up to standing.  You don’t need all the little details of my morning, but I took the day off work and got into a chiropractor in the afternoon.

This isn’t some crazy injury. I just do a lot that favors one hip…how I cross my legs and sit, hold my daughter, stand, etc over time. But the thing is, I knew it was well beyond when I should have gone to the chiropractor…I should have kept up my visits all along, but stopped just before I had my daughter 3 years ago. 

This was avoidable.

That’s why I wanted to write it all out and make it a big deal.  I tell everyone they’re worth taking care of themselves, but I sometimes have a hard time following through myself.  

So, it’s been a little different on the workout front…I’m doing mostly Tai Cheng and PiYo but am feeling pretty good so I’m slowly building intensity.  I have been to my new chiropractor 4 times in the past week and am going again tomorrow.  I’m trying to do things I know I should!

  
But I’ll need to keep it up.  I’m telling you so you might do the same for yourself, and to keep myself accountable.  As much as you don’t have time for these things now, you probably don’t have time to not be able to move either!

Party Time? Have some Ranch Dip!

For my daughter’s birthday party, I wanted to make a healthy-ish dip for vegetables.  I saw this recipe , and I think it was just as good, if not better, than any I’ve had!  I doubled the recipe and have some left for the week!

Ranch Dip

Ingredients:
1/3 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
1/3 cup lowfat buttermilk
1T ranch seasoning

Mix all well!  I let it sit for a bit to thicken before serving.  Then dip your vegetables in it!

This makes 5 servings at about 2T a piece and is 1/2 a blue container on the 21 Day Fix!

How to lose weight during the holidays!

I have a ton to update here, but I’m going to start you out with telling you to listen to this podcast!  My daughter’s birthday party is today so more will have to wait 🙂

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/chalene-show-motivation-leadership/id911042029?mt=2&i=356933791

So listen and then when you want one of those groups and someone to keep you accountable…let me know!

On my wishlist – 11/8

I’m starting a (hopefully) weekly feature of things on my wishlist that you might be interested in!

First up, this tracking water bottle!

So, this is by Zak Designs and the colored bands can be moved up to the top of the bottle so you can easily track how many times you filled the bottle.  Sounds like a super helpful system to me!

How do you track your water?

Pizza!

Yes, I eat pizza…sometimes.  I don’t love it, so it’s not a big deal if I don’t have it for a while.  But something I do love is to have my daughter help make our food.

Pizzas, especially personal ones, are perfect for that!  I didn’t take pictures of making it (because we were making them!!), but we had fun!

I also like to make things at home so I know what is in there!

21 Day Fix Personal Pizza

Mine is the one on the right, so we’re going with that one.  It was 2 greens, 1 yellow, 1 blue and about 1/4 teaspoon, so I took a bit out of a later teaspoon.

• Preheat oven to 425
• Take one small whole wheat or sprouted grain tortilla
• Add sauce…we used Grandma’s Tomato Sauce from the Fixate cookbook, so I knew exactly what was in it and how to count it.
• Add cheese…I used a blue’s worth of mozzarella and parmesan
• Add vegetables…I used 1/2 a green of tomatoes, sliced
• Cook for 8-10 minutes
• EAT!

Super easy, especially once the sauce was made.  My daughter asked for these for lunch tomorrow also.  I love having a pizza recipe that I can say “of course” to instead of conceding to be okay with it.  Not that you can’t enjoy some pizza!  It just isn’t where I choose to take my calories from.

What’s your pizza secret?