What's in YOUR salad?

At the risk of being stereotypical, one of the easiest and most transportable healthy dishes out there is a salad. Some might also say it's one of the most boring. But it doesn't have to be...

This is where I answer the question in the subject line: What's in YOUR salad? (I can't be the only one that reads that in the Capital One commercial voice, right?)

I'm definitely a creature of habit when it comes to most things and the base ingredients to my go-to salad stick to that standard: spring mix or 50/50 blend of spring mix and spinach, cucumber, radishes, and grape tomatoes. Iceberg lettuce is definitely something that won't be found here since it adds no nutritional value.

While the base ingredients don't change, some of the add ons might. I've added a serving of grilled or stir fried chicken breast, shrimp, steak, ground beef and turkey for some protein in the meal. If it's a meal that I'm supposed to include a fat serving, I might add avocado, sliced almonds, or a little shredded cheese, too. For a carb serving meal, adding fresh berries to the mix is a good idea.

There are so many potential combinations that a simple salad every other day just doesn't get old.

Now that you've seen my salad habits, what's in YOURs?

Chili Weather Cometh...

Have y'all seen the weather forecast?! Back to the deep freeze for the next week. The forecast just screams chili weather...  So, appropriately, that's what I meal prepped today for my upcoming day shifts.

There are approximately a million different ways to make chili. The one I favor is healthy, filling, and best of all, spicy! Oh, and chunky. With hidden vegetables. Which means it's definitely not husband or kid approved so it's allllll miiiiiiine.

The batch I made today will make 3 lunches according to my nutritional goals. In addition to the chili, I also cooked some brown rice to serve with it, southeast Texas style...

So what about that recipe?

• 1 lb 96/4 ground beef
• 2 cans petite diced tomatoes
• 4 C baby spinach
• 2 T minced garlic
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
• 3-4 T chili powder
• 2 T ground cumin
• Salt, to taste

1. Coat a large pot in cooking spray and add the onion and garlic. Cook over medium heat until the onion is translucent.
2. Add the ground beef to the pot. Cook until browned.
3. Add the chili powder, cumin, and salt to the ground beef mixture. Stir until combined.
4. Add the spinach to the ground beef mixture. Cook until wilted.
5. Add the tomatoes to the ground beef/spinach mixture. Stir until combined.
6. Cover the pot. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for 30-40 minutes.

There are a lot of different ways this can be served: as is, with rice (like I will ... this time), with a little cheese, with black beans added ... if you're into that sort of thing, that is.

So let's hear from you. Any favorite healthy chili recipes out there?

Back At It

Welcome to the short week! And this time, I'm like the normies with a short work week of my own. Although unlike the normies, I've got the evening watch. So this means that my "big" meal of the day will be midday. Today, I made one of my go-to's: a chicken fajita bowl.

Think of it as Chipotle/Qdoba/Baja Jacks/whatever your fast casual burrito restaurant of choice is without leaving the comfort of your own home. Because just like at any of those fine establishments, I can customize a chicken fajita bowl in any number of ways.

Let's start with the base, otherwise known as the Fajita Part.

• 6 oz chicken breast
• 1/2 green bell pepper
• 1/3 red onion
• Chicken fajita seasoning

Stir fry the chicken (cut into 1 inch chunks), green bell pepper, and red onion in a pan coated with cooking spray, using the chicken fajita seasoning according to taste.

Now what about the rest of the stuff that goes in the bowl? Well, besides salsa (because there must always be salsa), that depends on whether it's a carb/no fat meal or a fat/no carb meal. Potential combos include:

• Spring mix + 1 serving brown rice
• Spring mix + 1 serving black beans
• Spring mix + 1/2 serving brown rice + 1/2 serving black beans
• Cauliflower rice + 1 serving brown rice
• Cauliflower rice + 1 serving black beans
• Cauliflower rice + 1/2 serving brown rice + 1/2 serving black beans
• Spring mix + 1/2 avocado
• Cauliflower rice + 1/2 avocado
• Spring mix + Cauliflower rice + 1/2 avocado

The above pictured bowl features the spring mix + brown rice combo. And it was wonderful. As always!

Feel free to share any other good-for-you combos you think might work well. Because I'm always open to suggestions...

Fabulous Banana Protein Pancakes

After a decent night's sleep, I tried out another breakfast recipe, courtesy of another blogger, this morning to begin my first full Return to the Daylight day - Banana Protein Pancakes. (Is it too obvious that I love pancakes? But who doesn't love pancakes?) In a word, they were simply fabulous. Okay, so that was two words...

My batch of pancakes was made with a full banana, 3/4 C of liquid egg white from a carton, 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder, and a little cinnamon. I also used a griddle coated in cooking spray rather than any kind of oil or butter. I think next time I make these that I'll try using my dark chocolate protein powder because who doesn't love chocolate and banana together?!

Make your Friday fabulous! Just like these pancakes...

Choose Your Treat Yoself Wisely

Let's face it. I'm not perfect, and I don't always pick and choose where to treat yoself. There's just some days that seemingly every nutritional choice is a ... shall we say ... less than prudent one. You could say that I'm fairly normal in that respect. The goal is to significantly minimize the number of those situations. Like limiting them to your summer Disney vacation or weekend in Vegas.

But that doesn't mean that you still can't have an occasional treat yoself without completely blowing the nutritional bank. Tonight was one of those nights...

Another set of mids is in the books, and surviving it deserves a little treat. My in laws drove up to pick up my kids for a weekend at their house, and we took them to dinner at a local chain restaurant that touts their awesome burgers and bottomless fries. On the drive over, I scoped out the menu and associated nutritional facts, narrowing my choices down to a few tasty-sounding but still fairly healthy entrees. I really wanted a surviving-a-7-pack-of-mids celebratory adult beverage, too, but given I limit my late afternoon/evening carb intake, I needed to make some changes to the rest of my meal to limit the impact of having a single beer. In effect, I chose my single "treat yoself" - one adult beverage. How did I pull this off? I skipped the bottomless fries, having broccoli in its stead and elected for a lettuce-wrapped grilled chicken sandwich in lieu of a traditional bun. And I left satisfied.

Pre-Mid Shift Routine Victories

Whew! Over the halfway mark in this set of mids so it's all downhill from here...

One of the difficult things about my new eat-sleep-work routine during a set of mids is the change from only eating a snack with coffee between waking up from my evening nap and leaving for my shift to now eating my full "lunch" meal during that time. This was a change suggested during my boot camp nutrition consultation. I have to admit that it's helped with my energy and fullness level while on shift. However, there's a balance to be found between sleeping as possible while still leaving enough time for some cooking. Meal prep is helpful here but so are quick, healthy meals.

Last night, I had a fabulous, filling, satisfying meal made with 4 ingredients ... okay, 5 if you count a little salt. This is not a gourmet concoction by any stretch of the imagination! If I were to give it a fancy name, I'd call it a Quinoa Tuna Power Bowl. Just because...

The 4-5 ingredients to make a Quinoa Tuna Power Bowl include:

• 1/4 C uncooked tri-color quinoa
• 1 can chunk light tuna, drained
• 2 C broccoli slaw
• 2 T soy sauce
• salt, to taste

The only cooking included here is to cook the quinoa according to package directions (usually 2:1 ratio of water to uncooked quinoa) and to stir fry the broccoli slaw with the soy sauce in a pan coated with cooking spray. Then, simply layer the ingredients and mix together. Voila! Ready to enjoy. Personally, this is one of those meals where you just feel good after eating it. Like you did something good for your body.

Something else I've been incorporating into my pre shift routine this set involves the 100 squat-per-day challenge ongoing through the month of January at my boot camp. I've found that getting my 100 squats in immediately before leaving the house is a good way to wake me up and get me off to a good start to the shift. 

So fellow shift workers... Anyone else have any good pre-shift tips that set you up for a good night? I'd love for you to share!

Staying Active on the Night Shift

Let's face it. Night shifts are the worst. Your circadian rhythm gets out of whack. You don't see your family and friends. You're tired, crabby, and feel like you're just existing.

Now that I've got that downer out of the way... There are ways to manage them so that the impact of the off kilter hours to your body is lessened. It's all about finding your groove: when to sleep, when and what to eat, and how to stay active.

Keeping a regular workout schedule is important to me even during mids. Those workouts may be more difficult than usual - I blame it on not drinking coffee except right before my shift starts! - but they bring a feeling of normalcy. They're also good for fending off the ill effects of simply working the night shift.

So when do you squeeze a workout in? Just like finding your sleeping routine, you have to find what works for you and your body. For me, it's usually easiest to just hit my treadmill after I wake up from a morning nap and have my "breakfast." I don't have to go anywhere to workout, and I can go at my own pace.

Today was one of the treadmill-only days. Surprisingly, it wasn't a difficult workout even though my morning sleep was less than stellar. Winning? Winning...

I still hit my boot camp classes when they fit in my sleep/wake cycle, but I try not to force it. For instance, there's absolutely no way that I'm making it through a boot camp class at 8:15 when my shift ends at 8:00 ... I'm too dead on my feet! But the 12:30 pm class? Probably.

Listen to your body. You do you.

Speaking of my boot camp, one of the things I love about working out there and the wonderful, generous staff and fellow campers, is that we use our workouts to benefit the community. I participated in a Holiday Accountability Challenge, with proceeds from the enrollment fee going to benefit students at an elementary school in town. Not only can I feel the workout high, but also the high of helping others.

Return to the Dark Side

Today marks the last day until late next week that I get to be a normal person, as I become a night dweller. Mid shifts, we meet again.

Everyone adapts to mid shifts differently, and each person has a preferred sleeping and eating routine that works best. I have even changed that routine mid career, as my body just stopped being able to remain asleep for a full 8 hours during the day, forcing me to split my sleep into a morning nap and evening nap.

As for meals, I also try to keep from mixing up my meals, following a breakfast, lunch, dinner sequence, although the timing of meals is shifted from a normal day. Breakfast follows my morning nap, lunch follows my evening nap, and dinner is reserved for work.

To make things easier this set of mids, I tried something different today: MASSIVE meal prepping. And by massive, I mean MASSIVE.  I spent two and a half hours in the kitchen today making 4 different dishes to give me a leg up on either my lunches, my work dinners, or snacks.

I present to you: Thai Peanut Chicken, Southwestern Turkey Cutlets (minus the corn/bean/onion mixture and grilled), Butternut Squash Soup (substituting carrots for the sweet potatoes), and Lemon Poppy Seed Energy Bites (minus the poppy seeds and formed into bars).

The recipe for the Thai Peanut Chicken is as follows:

• 6 oz chicken breast
• 2 T natural peanut butter
• 2 T soy sauce
• 1 T rice vinegar
• 1 T lemon juice
• 1/4 t cayenne pepper

1. Cut chicken into chunks and stir fry in cooking spray until done.
2. Combine the remaining ingredients in a bowl. The peanut butter may need to be microwaved for a few seconds to make it easier to mix.
3. Pour the sauce over the cooked chicken.

My hard work in the kitchen today will free up a lot of time in the coming week, allowing me to sit in a blissful, semi-vegetative state for a longer period of time.

These recipes take care of lunch, dinner, and snacks, but what about breakfast? I rely a lot on protein smoothies when I need a quick breakfast or one where I don't want to have to think too hard (like during mids). Smoothies fit that bill easily. They are quite versatile, too.

The base recipe that I use is:

• 1 C baby spinach
• 1 scoop protein powder
• 1 1/2 C berries
• 3/4 C nonfat Greek yogurt

1. Use a blender or similar to combine all ingredients.

Seriously, one step. That's it.

I typically use a combination of raspberries and blueberries but was out of raspberries this morning.

This smoothie is surprisingly filling and is a great way to work veggies and their associated nutrients into your morning.

I'll sign off for now... It's almost time for evening nap #1...

Boring can be good

It's my Friday! Which means the next couple of days will be filled with my usual home catch up activities like laundry, grocery shopping, and meal prep! These couple of days off are definitely hitting at the right time if tonight's dinner is any indication...

Most of my blog posts so far have focused on making meals using a multi-step recipe, mixing various ingredients, and sometimes multiple cooking styles. But in reality, being a shift-working mom, most of my meals are a lot more simple than that. Especially when I'm working certain shifts. Today was one of those days.

So without further ado, I present to you, tonight's very boring, unimaginative, but quite tasty and filling dinner: a grilled pork chop, steamed broccoli, and spaghetti squash seasoned with cinnamon and salt.

Sometimes boring can be good...

The extra perk with this meal is that I could make everything without any modifications for the rest of my family. Except for the boxed mac and cheese for them since I can't quite get them to buy into the squash. Yet...

Before I sign off for the evening, a few thoughts that have been running through my head about my workout journey.

Over the last couple of boot camp sessions, I've started to feel more like one of the gym veterans instead of a n00b due to all of the new faces that come with the start of a new year. It's an exciting time, and I've enjoyed transitioning to the role of motivational welcoming committee. It's also made me think about how far I've come since I started this new routine in late October. The most apparent changes are visual: clothes fit better ... or in some cases feel like they're falling off and increased muscle tone. But there are other, more important changes, too, like realizing you can do an honest to goodness pushup or noticing that it's not nearly as hard to do a sit-up as it was just a few weeks ago. I just feel STRONG! And let me tell you, that is some pretty powerful motivation to keep doing what I'm doing. So to any of you new gym-goers out there, stick with it because you will notice improvement and every bead of sweat will be worth it!

Tried and True

Happy Sunday ... or in my shift worker world, 2nd Wednesday. The weather here has been fabulous this weekend, and I hope you were all able to get out and enjoy it some.

I've written about a few of my recent culinary experiments, but every meal is not a cooking adventure. Sometimes you just need to stick to the tried and true.

Overnight Oats

One of my favorite go to breakfasts is overnight oats. The beauty of overnight oats is they are a) delish, b) quick and easy, and c) versatile. Once you master the base recipe, there are any number of flavor combinations. Feeling like chocolate strawberry? What about apple cinnamon? Or cinnamon raisin? Yep ... All doable.

Let's start with the base overnight oats recipe.

• 1/3 C old fashioned oats
• 1 scoop protein powder (any flavor)
• Water
• 3/4 C Greek yogurt
• Stevia (optional)

1. Add dry ingredients (oats, protein powder, Stevia, any spices) to the bottom of a Mason jar.
2. Add enough water to the jar to fully moisten the dry ingredients, around a 1/4 C.
3. Stir the Greek yogurt into the oats/water mixture.
4. Put the lid on the Mason jar and refrigerate overnight. The oats will be ready to go in the morning!

Now that we've got the base recipe, let's customize it! There are all kinds of things that you can add to flavor the oatmeal: fruit, nuts, nut butter, spices. All of these except the spices, which are added with the dry ingredients, would be added to the mixture after the Greek yogurt.

As for the finished product, I present to you chocolate berry oats, using chocolate protein powder, raspberries, and blueberries.

Spaghetti Squash with Spinach

Remember the spaghetti squash that I prepped last week? Well, I put it to good use for tonight's dinner. This is another recipe that's easily customizable through the use of different proteins. I've had this with shrimp and chicken, but I'm certain it would amazing with steak, pork, or other seafood types, too.

Here's the base recipe:

• 1/2 spaghetti squash
• 2 C baby spinach
• 2 T grass fed butter
• 1 t minced garlic
• Salt to taste
• 1 serving of seasoned protein

1. Cook the spaghetti squash, pierced several times with a knife to release steam, in a glass baking dish for 45 minutes in a 425 degree oven.
2. Cut the squash in two lengthwise, discard the seeds, and scrape out the "spaghetti" meat. You will use only half of the squash for this recipe.
3. Stir fry the protein in a skillet coated in cooking spray until cooked through. Transfer to a bowl.
4. Add butter, garlic, and spinach to the skillet. Cook until the spinach is properly wilted.
5. Add the "spaghetti" to the skillet, incorporating it into the spinach mixture.
6. Serve topped with the protein.

Tonight's rendition featured shrimp:

This meal is really good for busy nights if the squash has been prepped ahead of time since it doesn't take that long to cook.

You know what else is good for busy nights? Leftovers. Which is probably what we're having tomorrow. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and have a fabulous Monday!

And the Verdict is...

Just checking in this evening to report back on the taste of the sweet potato protein muffins I made yesterday: DELICIOUS! And yes, the all caps are warranted. My favorite bites were the ones with the blueberries in them so when (not if!) I make these again, I'll incorporate more blueberries into the mix instead of just placing them on top of the batter. They made for a satisfying breakfast that kept me full until lunch, despite a busy morning at work. Cannot wait to finish them off for breakfast tomorrow!

I know I said yesterday that I usually keep my culinary experiments to my days off, but there's a reason I said "usually." Tonight, I wanted to make the hubs one his favorite meals: The Pioneer Woman's Meatloaf. The problem for me is that even though her meatloaf is absolutely wonderful, it is full of ingredients that I'm avoiding right now ... like bacon ... and ketchup ... and brown sugar ... and bread. So I experimented with grain-free meatloaf for myself, with a Mexican spin.

Well ... It's not much to look at, but it was tasty. I didn't feel like I was missing much by not being able to partake of the Pioneer Woman's rendition. I topped my meatloaf with salsa and served it with oven roasted brussels sprouts and half an avocado.

In case you'd like to try it on your own, here's the recipe:

• 1 lb 96/4 hamburger meat
• 1/2 C egg white
• 1 - 4 oz. can of diced green chiles
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
• Cayenne pepper, cumin, salt, and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Incorporate all ingredients by hand. (I know ... ewwwww!)
3. Pour mixture into a loaf pan, coated in cooking spray, spreading the mixture evenly.
4. Bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
5. Top with salsa before serving.

This recipe makes 4 servings so I have plenty of leftovers to use for work lunches, too! If you decide to try this, send me some feedback. I'm definitely interested in hearing if you made any alterations and how they turned out!

To finish off my day, I may or may not have run up and down my stairs for 5 minutes straight to reach my daily Move goal on my Apple Watch. I wasn’t going to leave 30 unburned calories on the table when I’m on a 3+ week streak of reaching that daily goal! 

Tomorrow's Friday! Let's close out the first week of 2019 on a high note!

I'm a scientist... I like to experiment...

This second day of 2019 has been a very busy one, starting with an early boot camp class before moving on to midday grocery shopping and a little bit of meal prep for the next several days of work. Days off in my world are very rarely "off," as I cram a lot of typical home duties - like shopping and laundry - into those days. But that's okay because I like to stay busy.

Today's healthy eating was full of experimenting. I love making new things from new recipes ... especially if they're successful!

Sweet potato was the star ingredient in the first two experiments. I had one very large sweet potato in the fridge that needed to be used so yesterday, I baked it and removed the insides to be refrigerated overnight.

Experiment #1: Sweet Potato Protein Pancakes

This morning was the first time that I strayed from the protein pancake recipe I posted yesterday. I'll be straying more often. I followed the recipe in the link above almost exactly, except I substituted an extra tablespoon of oats in place of the coconut flour and also added cinnamon to the mix. Doubling the recipe used half of the sweet potato and featured almost exactly my protein and carb goals for breakfast. The pancakes made for a fabulous, healthy start to the day! Definitely adding this to the rotation, although next time, I will probably use my bigger griddle since they took a little more cook time than usual pancakes.

Experiment #2: Sweet Potato Muffins

Since I had roughly half the sweet potato left, I decided to try out a muffin recipe. Muffins would make for a great grab and go breakfast, which will come in very handy for my upcoming early morning shifts. The linked recipe, which I followed exactly except for the blueberries (placing just 3 on top), makes roughly 2 servings. I'll pair the muffins with the typical veggie and coffee. They sure are pretty, but stay tuned for the taste verdict...

Experiment #3: Coconut Tandoori Chicken

Two friends of mine took me to my first Indian buffet this past October, and I loved it! (For real, thanks, you two!) Since then, I've made a chicken curry here at home, and while searching for recipes for my new Instant Pot, I found a recipe for tandoori chicken. I usually save my dinner experiments for my days off sooooo tonight was the night...

I deviated from the recipe by substituting boneless, skinless chicken breasts for the thighs, a can of coconut cream mixed with some water in lieu of the coconut milk (because I only learned today that coconut cream does not equal coconut milk ... oops), and 5 to 6 drops of liquid stevia for the honey. It... Was... Amazing! My son even asked me to make it again sometime. I served mine on top of stir fried vegetables, while the rest of the family had white rice. 

Anyone out there have any healthy Instant Pot recipes for me? I'm all ears...!

Working Mom Hack in Action: Healthy Meal Prep

I mentioned above that I also did some meal prepping today in addition to my recipe experimentation. One big change that I've had to make the last couple of months is cooking for lunches and dinners at work. I don't rely solely on sandwiches and baby carrots anymore. Today's meal prep cooking included grilled chicken tenders and baked spaghetti squash - both enough for a couple of meals and not necessarily the same ones!

Hope you all have had a wonderful, productive, healthy Wednesday! 

Excellent Start to the New Year

Good morning everyone! It's the first day of 2019, and I hope everyone survived last night's festivities. The start of a new year is a time for beginnings, renewal, change for most people. How many of you set a resolution for 2019? Changed a previous morning habit today?

Taking the first step to change is the hardest part. And the more steps you keep taking, the easier it is to become a habit. Just ask Karen from October 18th, 2018, the date of my first boot camp class, or from October 23rd, the date of my first grocery shopping trip with new nutritional goals. These things are part of my lifestyle now. What step will you take today? What kind of support do you need to take that step?

My 2019 started out on a fantastic note. Since I have the day off, I was able to sleep in a bit (but not too late because of my 6-year-old!) and had time to make my favorite breakfast of late: blueberry protein pancakes! I didn't know until 2 1/2 months ago that pancakes could be healthy and tasty. But they absolutely can! I use a recipe very similar to this one, although I add cinnamon, a little stevia, and fresh blueberries. The recipe makes 4-5 pancakes, and I top them with Walden Farms brand syrup. They'd be good with some plain Greek yogurt/cinnamon/fruit concoction, too.

In addition to the pancakes, I try to have a veggie with breakfast to add to the vitamin and nutrient content. Nine times out of ten, it's sautéed baby spinach. This morning was one of those 9. And of course, I can't forget the coffee. Black except for the stevia.

After my healthy and seemingly indulgent breakfast settled and starting a little laundry, I hit the treadmill for 6 miles. I'll get a little more exercise this afternoon de-Christmasing the house. No need for the Stairmaster when you have to climb up ... and down ... and up ... and down the step ladder.

Make the first day of 2019 fabulous! And eat a few black-eyed peas for luck. It's on my lunch menu...