Turkey Taco Zucchini Boats

Who loves tacos? Me? Who could eat tacos every night? ME!! Who is trying to eat all of her carbs before dinner....yeah, me. So I decided to take my favorite Southwest Turkey Taco Meat and make Zucchini Boats out of it! 

Both Aaron and I were a little unsure as I was making them but when we took our first bite, we were sold! 

What you need for 2 servings:
2 servings of Southwest Turkey Taco Meat (about 3/4 cup each) 
2 large zucchinis, cut in 1/2 lengthwise
1/2 cup of salsa
Shredded Cheese
Guac (optional) 

How to prepare: 
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
2. Boil water in a large pot (just enough to throw in your zucchini).
3. Spread enough salsa to cover the bottom of a baking dish (you should have about 4 tbsp left) 
4. Meanwhile, use a small spoon or melon baller to hollow out the center of each zucchini halves. Leave about 1/4 inch in each zucchini shell.  You can take the center of the zucchini and chop it up to add to your turkey taco meat, that is optional. 
5.  Place zucchini halves in boiling water and cook 4-5 minutes (we like ours soft, you can do 1-2 minutes if you prefer a crisper veggie). Remove from water.
6. Place each zucchini boat in your baking dish.  
7. Each person will get 2 zucchini halves and 3/4 cup meat mixture, so divide it equally among the boats. Press the meat firmly into zucchini. 
8. Top each one with 1 tbsp salsa (4 tbsp total) and 2 tbsp shredded cheddar (8 tbsp total). 
9. Cover pan with foil and place in oven for 25 minutes or until cheese is melted and zucchini is cooked through.
10. Enjoy! 

Optional: You can serve with a side of guac, like I did! However, since I did that, I cut back on my cheese to do so, therefore my zucchini boats only had 1 tbsp of cheese on each one. 

For my Fix Family: I counted this as 2 Greens, 1 Red, 1 Blue (some may count the salsa if they use a ton of it, I didn't) 

Hammer & Chisel Update (yep, I am behind)....

Round 2...Week 3ish, almost end of 4! 

I am totally behind on my weekly blog updates on this round of Hammer & Chisel but that's ok, we can just consider this my "throwback thursday" post for the day since I wanted to share how much better this round is going anyways! 

We started round 2 on Feb 29th, we are currently 25 days in, 31 more to go. But who is counting...I mean, not me, obviously. 

I am down 5.8 lbs, I know there are some inches gone but I haven't gotten up early enough in the morning for us to go through the measuring process yet....but what speaks to me the most is these pictures (minus my face in the bottom left and my eye in the bottom right, who am I winking at so early in the morning?)

My clothes are looser, even my pajama tank tops that were tight are loose! I have less bloat in my belly. I can feel some serious oblique action and my ass is almost...ALMOST rock solid. 

I am seeing so much more definition throughout my body and I just feel stronger. The Performance Line has been amazing! I can tell by using both the recover and recharge that I am not as sore the next day so I can push harder in my workouts. Also I still love my energize to get me going before a workout and my hydrate to replace my electrolytes during my workout so I don't get dehydrated and tired! 

And for those who are wondering, no, I still have not had a single cheat in 25 days. No wine, no bites of the kids food. I MAY have smelled Mason's breakfast the other morning, but I didn't eat it.

I really just changed my mindset this time around. In round 1 I was allowing myself to freak out over the fact that this program is 8 weeks without my favorite things (wine/chocolate...wine) and I kept thinking since the workouts were more intense, a little cheat here and there would not hurt. 

Once Autumn called me out on her post one night about being 99% committed to the eating plan, I got my act together. I started telling myself, I CAN DO THIS, it is only 8 weeks. I want results. I am still a work in progress and in order to see a change, I have to make a change. I WANT this. The mind really is a powerful thing and it will believe what you tell it so make sure to feed it what you WANT and not what you think you can't do....because whether you think you can or you think you can't, you are right!

The pictures with my hair in a headband are Feb 29th, the others are today, 25 days into the program.

Week 3 Meal Plan 

Fit Foodie Approved Pizza

I LOVE pizza. I mean love it. Aaron and I recently decided if we weren't making pizza at home or eating Dewey's or Lou Malnati's (or trying somewhere new) that it wasn't worth the calories (i.e. most delivery places). 

So this pizza recipe is a saving grace for us on our journey! It keeps us on track yet it is super satisfying! I adapted it from the Fixate Cookbook.  

Easy Pizzas (Modified) - Serves 1

What You Need: 
1 Whole Grain Ultra Thin Pizza Crust from Golden Home  or Azteca Ultragrain Tortilla
1/4 C Sauce - I use a clean Marinara or Pizza Sauce from Trader Joe's. (sugar free with no other artificial junk in it)
1/2 - 1 C or more of veggies of your choice - Peppers & Mushrooms are my favorites
1/2 C meat of your choice or 3 slices of natural lunch meat - I go for natural ham
4 TBSP (2 each) of Mozz and Parm

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 
2. Assemble pizza with toppings.
3. Bake at 425 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Alternatives for your crust: English Muffin, Pita, Pizza Dough (all wheat)

For my Fix Family: 2 Yellow, 1/2 Red, 1/2 Green, 1 Blue

Hammer & Chisel, Round 2, Week 2

I did it (AGAIN) I made it through not one, but TWO entire weeks without my kids food, without Girl Scout Cookies AND no wine! I was tempted though, do not get me wrong....there was a lot of self talk going on in the evenings. 

Struggles: It is still a challenge for me that I have 44 days left without treats or wine. I am starting to tell myself that after 21 days, I will allow myself one treat and then get back on the wagon for another 21 days.  It sort of helps me feel better...but do I really want to do that? Should I do that? I mean, I know I shouldn't...but I am all about setting smaller short term goals and that is why I LOVE 21 Day Fix.  But don't get me wrong, I love these workouts, I am just struggling more mentally with the strict meal plan! 

View fullsize

Here is a look at some of my food from week 2, it was all yummy! Again, people seem to think you have to starve yourself to get results. This is far from true! 

Most of these recipes are on my blog...they are totally worth making too!

Workouts: Well, we didn't miss a workout. I am however skipping any of the days where we are supposed to add on the 10 minutes abs. My chiropractor told me I have diastasis recti and I am really trying not to make it worse! Workouts are still not my problem area. I have gotten myself into the habit of getting up and getting it done.  

Just a peek into our workouts last week!

Performance Line: I am seriously obsessed.  I LOVE our Energize, Hydrate and Recover.  I seriously look forward to using it each day to enhance my workout, improve my recovery and in turn, improve my results because I can push myself harder! I do like the Recharge, I really think it has helped my muscles recover even more by using both the Recover (immediately post workout) and the Recharge (before bed) however, I am having a hard time with the texture! I read that a lot of post workouts have a thicker texture, but my gag reflex isn't a fan...just saying! I chug it anyways, if I drink it fast, it isn't as bad, plus the actual taste is REALLY good! 
**Update: If you use the Recharge, mix it with 10oz of water, totally fixes the texture issues I was having. Gag reflux = no longer a problem! Glad I solved that! **

Have I told you about our performance line yet? I was NEVER a girl who used supplements before. I didn't want anything that made me feel jittery or shaky. And I didn't want to put a bunch of crap in my body if I didn't know where it was from...so it is a good thing Beachbody and our Scientific Advisory Board developed this line with that in mind.

The board consists of Sports Medicine Dr's, Nutritionists, Botanical Scientists & a Microbiologist with a background in food safety! I can bet you that the supplements you go grab from your local store do not have the level of detail and science behind them that went into creating our line. 

Yep, only safe, effective ingredients from nature, that means no artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners or preservatives in our products! Beachbody wants to make sure you are maximizing your performance and getting results in the healthiest way possible!

View fullsize

Last round of Hammer & Chisel I used our Energize and Recover. Now I am using the entire line minus the creatine.  The Energize helps me push harder, do more reps and gives me that "get shit done" feeling. :) I didn't use Hydrate during my workouts before, just water and I can tell a 100% difference. I don't wear out as easily because the Hydrate is designed to account for the loss of electrolytes and water lost during my workouts therefore it has improved how effective my workouts are, I can tell that I am not tiring out halfway through because of dehydration.  The Recover has totally reduced my muscle soreness immediately after a workout but the Recharge before beds helps my muscles recover overnight when my body is in the most optimal state for recovery.  It is amazing how different I feel this round using all 4 of these combined.  You can truly tell they were designed to work together in the most effective way so you can get the best results possible.  I mean, can you tell how much I love it? I have AT LEAST two of each supplements on my shelves in my pantry. #issues 

Shredded Chicken - Perfect for Meal Prep!

I decided to do a blog post with my recipe at 9pm on a Tuesday (while I watch Fallon) so you all would get off my ass for my lunch recipe today. ;) LOL. Kidding! I was going to do it anyways, but all the comments and messages just prompted me to post it a little quicker. Thanks for the motivation friends.

This shredded chicken is simple. It is plain so you can dress it up however you like throughout the week! I will also share the exact recipe I made for lunch with it because it was SOOOO good. 

What you need (5 servings, 3/4 cup each):
1.5 lbs of chicken breast
2 celery stalks
2 medium carrots (or about 10 baby carrots...yeah, that is what I had on hand and used)
Water

Instructions: 
1. Place chicken in the bottom of your crockpot. 
2. Add in celery and carrots.
3. Pour enough water in to just slightly cover the chicken. 
4. Cook on high for 4 hours. 
5. Once it is done cooking, take out and shred.  
6. I measure mine out into about 3/4 cup chicken which makes roughly 5 individual portions.  I put a couple in my freezer and the rest in my fridge for lunches this week! 
7. Boom, you have shredded chicken for any meal throughout the week. You can throw southwest seasoning on it for Taco Tuesday or put in a wrap with some veggies. Whatever you want! But....how I ate it today was simply the best. (Are you singing that now? I am...)

For ONE serving of this mouth watering lunch you need:
1/2 cup brown rice, you know I love my Trader Joe's precooked rice. 
2 cups kale
3/4 cup of your precooked chicken
1-2 tsp szechuan sauce 

To prep ahead, I would:
1. Cook chicken as noted above.
2. Cook brown rice per instructions.  
3. Sautée kale in a pan sprayed with olive oil cooking spray until it is somewhat wilted. I did about 4-5 minutes. Don't burn it! 
4. Throw it all in a container and heat it up when you are ready to eat! 

Let me know if you try it and how you like it! Just remember, healthy food does not have to be tasteless or boring.  This is super simple but really full of flavor, even with just a tiny bit of sauce! I love the San-J sauces because they are clean and not full of crap ingredients! You should be able to find it in your grocery stores Asian food isle. 

For my Fix Family: 2 green, 1 red, 1 yellow.  I counted the sauce as an orange however I did not use the entire orange container.