Tag: Healthy

Fuel Yourself During COVID- 19: Egg Veggie Wrap, and tips for storing fruit

On By Thinks with SpinksIn Fitness, FoodLeave a comment

While I can get the produce I will keep trying to get produce. My family and I love it. Yup you read that right. My kids both, 10, and 11 years old love this wrap. They love the veggies I give them, and will eat it.

I know I am lucky, but it is partially well mostly not luck. I have feed them veggies since they were little and only asked them to try them out. Saying, “I know that you may not like them. Not everyone likes everything, but at least try them out and see.” This got them to be willing to try, even if they don’t like them. =)

But that is beside the point of this blog post. If you are here for the tip here it is:

Freeze berries that are about to go off. For instance, these strawberries.

They were not the best looking, I washed them placed them in a ziploc bag laid them flat and then put them in the freezer. It will stop the aging process and then you can use them in baked goods, or even frozen beverages. Like a smoothie, or even adult ones like a margarita. I don’t drink but I have many friends that do. =)

Bananas we as a family prefer our bananas with slightly green tops to them, so when they get to the very brown spotty stage no one will eat them. I peel them and freeze them so that we can use them in banana muffins, bread, protein drinks and smoothies.

You can of course do this with other fruits, like apples, other berries, and veggies.

Potatoes you can dice them up, par boil them and then freeze them. Then use them in a soup, side dish mashed potatoes, or morning hash.

Enough of that prattling on, here is what I did for the egg sandwich wrap.

This is an easy very minimal cooking lunch/breakfast type of meal. Full of protein, fiber, some fat, and great raw nutrients.

This is:

  1. Vegetarian
  2. Low Fat
  3. High Protein
  4. Filling
  5. Can be gluten free, depending on the wrap you use

Egg Veggie Wrap

Ingredients:

  1. 2 eggs scrambled, I often do it with egg whites
  2. Slice up any vegetable you like, I used, cucumber, bell peppers, spinach, red onion, tomato
  3. Jarred jalapeno, this gives a little salty spicy flavor burst.
  4. Jalapeno Jack cheese (this is optional but is a great way to add a little more fat to the meal)
  5. A wrap of some sort. Tortilla, or this was a sun dried tomato wrap (I found them in the tortilla section of my local store)

Directions:

  1. cook the eggs in a scramble, when eggs are done place cheese over them to let it melt.
  2. slice veggies
  3. place wrap down, add egg, veggies, jalapeno
  4. fold over sides of wrap, tuck up bottom of wrap (or edge closest to your torso), and roll over.
  5. enjoy

stats:

Calories 508, Fat 23.8 g, Fiber 5.5 g, Carbs 48.2 g, Sodium 990 mg,
Protein 29.9 g

That is all she wrote folks. I hope this helps you come up with some healthy meal ideas. I hope the tips help you when dealing with product that might be going bad soon. Keep working to make yourself better. Keep trying to eat well and treat your body right.

During this pandemic, you can stay away from the highly processed food, with some tips and tricks to help you along the way.

Thanks for reading. Have a great day, and be kind to yourselves and others. This is a time of upheaval, and turmoil.

Fuel your body during COVID-19: Easy Veggie Soup with Sausage – (use old veggies that look ugly/go bad)

On By Thinks with SpinksIn Fitness, FoodLeave a comment
the veg

Hello everyone. Yup I had a fridge full of the ugly veggies that I took pictures of for my previous fuel your body post. I wanted to do something with them, so I decided to make it easy on myself and make a veggie sausage soup. You can totally make this vegan with no sausage, but with my family of pre teens they will riot if I don’t feed them.

I had onions, carrots, cellary that was starting to look wilting, and one stalk even looked a little anemic. I had tomatoes that were not firm any more, bell peppers that were wrinkly and not as beautiful, and a staple in my house Yukon Gold potatoes. I had one container of chicken stock, but you can sub veggie stock to make it vegetarian/vegan.

Our stores still don’t have all the products we are used to. Our shipping is over loaded. So I bought what was on sale, and what I could find. When I got home I realized I bought beer bratwurst. So I just went with it.

This recipe can be altered to be:

  1. Vegetarian/Vegan

This recipe is:

  1. Gluten Free (unless you make the bred below)
  2. Dairy Free
  3. Full of Fiber
  4. Full of nutrients
  5. Low in fat
  6. Low in salt

Anyway it came out fantastic. So here is what I did.

Easy Veggie Soup with Sausage

Ingredients:

Yield: 8 servings

  1. 4 cups of stock Chicken/Veggie your preference
  2. 4 really ripe soft tomatoes chopped
  3. 4 cups of Yukon Gold potatoes chopped
  4. 2 cups of carrots chopped
  5. 4 stalks of celery chopped even the leafy tops
  6. 1 yellow onion chopped
  7. 2 green bell peppers or 2 cups chopped
  8. 1 tablespoon of ginger sliced about the top part of your thumb worth of ginger
  9. 2 cloves of garlic chopped
  10. 2 cups of water
  11. 1 tablespoon of salt
  12. Pepper to taste
  13. Beer Bratwurst 5 casing cut removed and sauteed

Directions:

  1. Saute onions, ginger till fragrant, add meat that has been removed from casing, and saute till cooked.
  2. Add hard veggies and the rest of the aromatics, carrots, potatoes, garlic, and celery. Stir together to heat.
  3. Add stock, and water, bring to a boil and lower heat to medium. Let cook for about 10 to 15 minutes.
  4. Add soft veggies tomatoes, and peppers. Let cook another 10 minutes.
  5. Serve piping hot. I made home made bread with it, and the family gobbled it up. It made enough to have it for two nights with 4 people.

I will put a link to the bread recipe I used. It is a no knead dough, that uses yeast.

https://www.melskitchencafe.com/rustic-crusty-bread-a-simple-how-to/?fbclid=IwAR1pfUZw-Be0sV68x6MwE51elzx_49rAYZsfv8_nyxR2Xgj-SXh2s5RBHOA

This was a hit with my family. We had warm crusty bread. Delicious soup with so much depth of flavor. They gobbled it up.

I hope this post finds you and your family healthy and happy. Please stay safe, wash your hands, and take the precautions you need. Thank you for reading. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. Would you like to see posts about baking breads?

Fuel my body, during COVID-19 shortages…Strawberry Banana Lime Oatmeal Breakfast Bake

On By Thinks with SpinksIn Fitness, Food, RecipeLeave a comment

Good morning… yup I hear my family fussing about hunger. So here is what I came up with this morning.

This recipe is:

  1. Gluten free if you need it(make sure to get the gluten free oats/means it is processed away from glutenous products)
  2. Can be dairy free
  3. Vegetarian
  4. Can Be Sugar free if you choose sugar alternatives (like Stevia, equal)
  5. Natural Sugar ( Like honey, or agave nectar) or omit the sugar all together.
  6. Has a good amount of protein and fiber to fill your family up.

Right now there is a shortage of eggs in my area. I had to go to 3 stores to find them. A lot of the pre-made or instant items are being taken, so you are left with rolled oats, some produce, milk if you are lucky, but soy, almond, and alternative milks are around.

This is a great recipe for using “ugly” fruit. Fruits and or Veggies that are not the prettiest, and have been picked over, are great in baked items. My banana was going the way of the Dodo, and had some bruises, however, it still baked up just fine.

Luckily for me??? Am I lucky? I am lactose intolerant. So I tend to have alternative milk products around.

I was able to find strawberries, bananas, limes, had coconut milk, and had non instant oatmeal at home.

I decided to make a tropical-ish baked oatmeal breakfast… Can we imagine we are away on a deserted island, I mean we have the isolation part right? Win!

You can make this the night ahead and heat it up in the morning. You can also remove from the pan and wrap completely, and freeze if you have leftovers.

Enough talking here is the recipe:

Strawberry Banana Lime Baked Oatmeal

Ingredients:

  1. 2 cups of rolled oats
  2. 1/3 cup of granulated sweetener ** (or leave it out)
  3. 1 1/2 cups of milk (sub almond, soy, coconut)
  4. 1/2 cups of milk (sub lime juice, orange juice, or water)
  5. 1 tsp baking powder
  6. 1/2 tsp salt
  7. 8 oz/221 grams of Strawberries
  8. 1 each/100 grams ripe banana
  9. 1 egg
  10. 1 lime zested (optional)
  11. 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

  1. Set oven to 375 degrees F
  2. Mix the dry ingredients, oatmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt, mix in half of the strawberries, and half zest
  3. Grease or spray a 2 quart pan, and put dry ingredients down. Layer fruit on top.
  4. Whisk together wet ingredients, milk, juice, egg, vanilla
  5. Pour wet ingredients over
  6. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, depending on oven. Take it out when top of the oatmeal is browned nicely.
  7. Enjoy hot, or let it cool down and enjoy at room temperature.

I hope you get a chance to try this. It is adaptable to other fruits, and keep in mind it is a great use of fruits that are not the prettiest.

This serves ~ 6 servings. Total calories depends on the ingredients you use. But about 200 to 250 calories.

** Use any type of granulated sugar or sugar substitute that you can measure same as sugar. Honey is sweeter on the pallet. So conversion is 1 cup of sugar to 1/2 cup to 2/3 cup of honey.

Thank you for reading. You can use this time to adapt your goals and try something new. You can still stick to your healthy lifestyle its just going to take some tweaks and ingenuity. Have a great day and stay healthy.

Quick Note: Don’t throw away those squeezed limes. You can slice them up and put those in your water, for lime flavored water.

Fuel my body, during COVID-19 shortages? Berry Chia Coconut Pudding!

On By Thinks with SpinksIn Fitness, Food, RecipeLeave a comment
I had to make it instagram pretty.

So in this time of toilet paper, and hand sanitizer shortages. Shortages on meat, shelf stable staples (rice, noodles, beans, canned goods), and water. (This is the case at least in the good old U.S.A.) I noticed the foods that are readily available still are the highly processed granola bars, terrible chips/snacks (although those are going quickly too), fresh veggies, and the healthy food section.

I am going to put up recipes in this Fueling My Body During COVID-19 Shortages, that utilize the health foods (such as chia, vegan protein powders, quinoa and the likes), veggies that are getting left behind, and other products it looks like people are not using.

Interesting to note, the first pastas to go were the spaghetti and angel hair pasta. The linguine were left behind, people were not buying it. Do they not know you can still use that pasta in many pasta dishes? Even substitute it in spaghetti dishes. It may not be traditional but it will still feed you and your family.

So for today I made a berry chia coconut pudding. Aside from the coconut milk which I was out of. All these ingredients I regularly have in my pantry. Because I love to use them in my foods.

Enough with the expounding or lets be honest my prattling on, here is the recipe.

Berry Chia Coconut Pudding

Ingredients:

  1. 6 tablespoons/ 60grams of Chia seeds
  2. 1 tablespoon/23 grams of honey
  3. 1/4 cup/20 oz of coconut milk
  4. 1 whole/108 grams of ripe banana
  5. 1 cup/131 grams of frozen berries

Optional Toppings:

  1. 1 tsp/15 grams yogurt (omit for dairy free, vegan)
  2. 2 tbs/20 grams frozen berries
  3. pinch of desiccated coconut

Directions:

  1. Blend together a banana, and a cup of frozen berries. If you need to splash a little coconut milk in it to allow for better pureeing.
  2. Measure out chia seeds, and milk and mix together in a bowl.
  3. Pour in fruit blend. Taste… it is plenty sweet with the fruit, but I wanted a more dessert like taste for this so I added the 1 tbs of honey to the mixture.
  4. If you are going to make it pretty spoon it in to the individual serving cups
  5. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight like I did.
  6. Serve alone, it is delicious, or add berries, yogurt if you have it and desiccated coconut.

Yield: 6 servings

Calories 696, Fat 37 g, Fiber 35.8 g, Carbs 85.1 g, Sodium 9.5 mg,
Protein 14.8 g

1 serving:
Calories 116, Fat 6.2 g, Fiber 6 g, Carbs 14.2 g, Sodium 1.6 mg, Protein 2.5g

It is delicious. My entire family loved it. This is a great thing to make ahead of time, for meal prepping. It will last covered for up to 7 days in the refrigerator, if it lasts that long, because my family will eat it all before 7 days are up.

This is gluten free, vegetarian, and without the yogurt dairy free and vegan.

Lets use this time, when we are unsure of what is happening in our world. When the normal foods we eat are not around, or being snapped up fast. Lets try some new things if this is new to you. If its not help your loved one try out the “new healthy” foods. They may like them, and we will come out of this pandemic hopefully healthier, and with healthier eating habits.

Thank you for reading and I will post more recipes of healthy foods I make with what I can find at the grocery store. Tell me what you think and if you have any questions. Stay kind to each other, and help your neighbors. Stay safe and strong.

Easy Turkey Bulgogi Lunch Meal Prep

On By Thinks with SpinksIn Fitness, Food, workoutLeave a comment

I don’t have a lot of time, so meal preps that don’t take long to do are a must for me. This one was fast, simple, and is delicious to boot. I prepped this past Sunday for this week. It took me 30 minutes. That is fantastic in my book.

I made this for my husband and I for our lunches for the week. I took a short cut and got frozen veggies to help me prep. I also used pre-made bulgogi sauce.

This is low in fat, has good carbs, and great fiber, lean protein.

All you have to do is cook up some rice, saute up some ground turkey, add the sauce, spiced, and steam up some broccoli. I added some green onions, sriracha sauce, and kimchi but that is all optional. See easy peasy.. I will of course add more information below and a full recipe with nutritional stats.

Turkey Bulgogi Lunch

Ingredients:

  1. rice
  2. 1 lb ground turkey
  3. frozen stir fry veggies
  4. broccoli
  5. 1 tsp ground ginger or to taste
  6. 1 tsp ground garlic or to taste
  7. salt and pepper to taste
  8. 1 tbs oil
  9. Bulgogi sauce
    Optional
  10. green onions
  11. Sriracha sauce
  12. Kimchi

Directions:

  1. Cook rice according to directions on package
  2. Heat pan with oil, saute ground turkey, add spices and salt. Once meat is cooked add frozen stir fry veggies, and bulgogi sauce. Cook on medium for about 5 to 10 minutes.
  3. Steam broccoli
  4. Add 3/4 of cup of rice on one side of the container, 3/4 cup of bulgogi meat mixture next to rice, add 1 cup of broccoli.
  5. Top wit green onions, sprinkle Sriracha, add kimchi and enjoy

Stats:

Calories 633, Fat 26.2 g, Fiber 5.6 g, Carbs 64.2 g, Sodium 798.8 mg,
Protein 34.9 g

I hope you get a chance to try this out. The meat is fantastic without the sauce if you want to omit that part. Let me know what you think.

Thanks for reading, and keep working to be the best that you can be.

Chocolate Protein Pancakes

On By Thinks with SpinksIn Fitness, FoodLeave a comment

I wanted pancakes, but I wanted healthy and I wanted to stay on track so I made these. They don’t have any extra sugar in them other than what is in your protein powder, and bananas. A bit of honey is what they needed to top them off. They were delicious, and exactly what I wanted.

This is gluten free, dairy free because I use (Vega protein powder), vegetarian, full of protein, low in fat, and have fiber in them.

  • 4 large eggs
  • 2 ripe bananas
  • 3/4 cup rolled oats, uncooked
  • 1/4 cup chocolate protein powder ( I use Vega)
  • 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp coconut oil, for cooking
  • fruit garnish (I had frozen fruit)
  • Honey for serving

Directions:

Take all ingredients and blend together in the blender.

Cook them as you would a regular pancake.

Keep in mind when you cook anything chocolate it can be hard to tell when something is done due to the darkness of the batter.

Calories/Stats: Serving Size 2 servings, sans honey and fruit

Calories 800, Fat 31.6 g, Fiber 11.5 g, Carbs 80.7 g, Sodium 835.9 mg, Protein 56.7 g

I hope you all get a chance to try this out. Let me know what you think, and if you have a chance to try it out.

Spicy Mango Fruit Bowl

On By Thinks with SpinksIn Fitness, FoodLeave a comment

Ok this may seem strange to you, but this is such a tasty snack and healthy to boot. Its full of fiber, vitamins, good fats, and protein. It is gluten free, vegan, and did I mention it is tasty.

Cayenne pepper is so good on tropical fruits. I love the sweet and spicy mixture. My mango was a little under ripe so it was a little more acidic. But just as tasty.

Enough of my jabbering here is the recipe.

Spicy Mango Fruit Bowl

Ingredients:

  1. 1 mango diced
  2. 1 banana
  3. 1/4 cup or 24 grams of roasted almonds
  4. 10 grams of unsweetened tasted coconut
  5. Cayenne pepper to taste (beware the pepper packs a kick)

Directions:

  1. Dice mango up, slice banana, add roasted almonds, sprinkle on the cayenne, sprinkle on the tasted coconut.
  2. Mix together and enjoy

Stats:

Calories 371, Fat 12.9 g, Fiber 8.6 g, Carbs 63.7 g, Sodium 13.5 mg, Protein 8 g

I hope you get a chance to try this. It is one of my favorite snacks. Its a whole food snack, spicy, and tasty. Did I mention that it is easy to make. All you have to do is cut up the fruit. You could make it ahead of time and put it in a reusable container and take it to work with you.

Onigiri Rice Bowl – Spicy Salmon Mayo

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I am half Japanese and I tend to have cravings that sometimes are hard to fulfill. Sometimes it is just a lot of extra work to form them into balls. So I just made it into a bowl.

I would normally add seaweed to it, but I ran out. I know… I know… I am going to loose my Asian card cause I don’t have seaweed in my house.

So when I don’t have time between my job, and dealing with my kids, and the rest of the household chores I just made it in to a bowl.

In Japan there is a thing that is famous around the world. Used for lunch boxes all over the country. I remember getting them in my lunch box and I would get so excited. Onigiri! Onigiri is what we call rice balls. There are many kinds of onigiri with many kinds of fillings. I love many of these flavors/combos, Umeboshi (pickled plumb, a favorite of mine), Tuna Mayo, kombu (simmered seaweed), shrimp, just to name a few. Another one of my favorite is spicy salmon mayo or Shake Mayo (pronounced sha kay mah yo).

Today I made a spicy salmon mayo onigiri bowl.

I really recommend you try it if you can. Luckily it is super easy. I added other fresh veggies to it cause I wanted some more veggies.

Spicy Salmon Mayo Onigiri Bowl

Ingredients:

  1. 1 cup of cooked rice
  2. 1/2 cup shredded raw carrots
  3. 1/2 cup of sliced mushrooms raw
  4. 1 green onion sliced raw
  5. 2 radishes sliced raw
  6. 2.5 oz of salmon in a pouch/can
  7. 1 tbs of mayo
  8. Sriracha to taste
  9. salt and pepper to taste
  10. seaweed (optional but so tasty)

Directions:

  1. Cook rice to direction on package
  2. Mix together salmon, mayo, sriracha, salt and pepper.
  3. Add salmon mixture to rice, add veggies to rice, and enjoy.
  4. (alternate toppings to add, seaweed, sesame seeds, umeboshi)
This is not my image. It is just the product I use.

Stats for the lunch:
Calories 401, Fat 12.9 g, Fiber 3.4 g, Carbs 51.5 g, Sodium 536.3 mg, Protein 17.9 g

The salmon mixture is what you may find in a spicy salmon mayo onigiri. I just put it on the outside, because I don’t have time to mold the rice into balls. But you know what it tastes phenomenal and looks beautiful to boot. Is it in the cute shape of a rice ball with seaweed? Nope but it is just as good.

Its also healthy, full of fresh veggies, low in fat, full of protein, and oh so tasty.

Like I said I would have added seaweed, but I did not have any.

I love this kind of lunch. I thought you all might. So I thought I would share it with you. I hope you get a chance to try this. Let me know what you think. Thanks for reading this.

Pumpkin Pie Protein Waffle

On By Thinks with SpinksIn Fitness, Food1 Comment
Pumpkin Protein Pancakes

Yup I did it. I made pumpkin pie flavored protein pancakes this morning. I have 2.5 to 3 hours of training to do today. So I needed a good breakfast that stuck with me. The best part is it was delicious.

This is both light and full of protein so that it will take longer to digest. Its so good, and my husband and kiddos said that the topping tastes like pumpkin pie.

I added whipped cream to my waffle, and made a pumpkin pie puree topping.

Pumpkin Pie Protein Waffles

Ingredients Batter: (yield 7 servings)

  1. 2 cups Birch Benders Protein Pancakes
  2. 1 egg
  3. 1/2 cup organic pumpkin puree
  4. 2 tbl veggie oil
  5. 1 tsp of cinnamon
  6. 1/2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice
  7. 1 1/2 cup of water

Ingredients Pumpkin Pie Topping: (yield 4 servings)

  1. 1 cup pumpkin puree
  2. cinnamon to taste
  3. pumpkin pie spice to taste
  4. 2 tbs maple syrup

Directions:

  1. Mix 2 cups of Birch Benders mix, with oil, water, egg and pumpkin puree.
  2. Heat up your waffle iron, spray with pan spray
  3. Fill the waffle iron with 1/2 cup of mix
  4. Cook till done

Directions for topping:

  1. Mix together 1 cup of pumpkin puree, the spices, and the maple syrup.

Stats: For 1 waffle the recipe made 7 waffles.

155 calories, 5.4 g Fat, 1.14 g fiber, 16.28 g carbs, 183.71 mg salt, 10.3 g protein

Stats: For 1 servings topping

46 calories, 0 g fat, 2 g fiber, 11.7 g carbs, 3.4 mg sodium, 0.5 g protein

__________________________________________

These were so tasty, low in fat, vegetarian, and very low in sugar.

I hope you get a chance to try these. It was a hit with the kiddos and husband. Let me know what you think if you get a chance to. I loved them. Thank you for reading, and keep trying to be the best you can be. My respects to you and your family.

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Chicken Tortilla Soup

On By Thinks with SpinksIn Food5 Comments

Want a quick easy soup that you can make for your family? Oh yeah anything quick and easy on a school night is the best.

Here you go. This was husband and kid approved. It was easy and I was able to set it and forget it till dinner time. This is great for the cooler weather when it is nice to have a hearty warm soup.

Ingredients:

  1. 2 lbs of chicken breasts
  2. 2 cans of black beans rinsed
  3. 1 can of enchilada sauce
  4. 1 can of fire roasted green chilies
  5. 1 can of fire roasted diced tomatoes
  6. 2 cloves of garlic chopped
  7. 1 onion chopped
  8. 1/2 tbs of cumin
  9. 1 tsp of chili powder
  10. Frozen corn
  11. Salt to taste
  12. 4 cups of unsalted chicken stock
    Toppings
  13. tortilla chips
  14. sour cream
  15. shredded cheese
  16. avocado
  17. jalapeno sliced

Directions:

  1. Saute onions in olive oil till translucent (if you have an InstaPot, you can do this in the pot, if you have a slow cooker sautee on the stove)
  2. In the InstaPot or Crock Pot – add diced garlic, add canned chilies, canned tomatoes, canned enchelada sauce, canned beans, chili powder, cumin, chicken stock, salt to taste.
  3. Add boneless skinless chicken into soup
  4. Settings for appliances:
    1. for crock pot set to high for 4 hours, or low for 8 hours
    2. for an InstaPot set it to pressure, high, 9 minutes, and turn the valve to seal
  5. Once soup is done cooking, take out chicken and shredded chicken, add chicken back in and add frozen corn. Stir together.
  6. Top with toppings you like.

Two cups of this soup has about 260 calories, and 36 calories from fat. That of course is before you put the toppings on it.

I hope you like this recipe. Let me know if you get a chance to try it. Thanks for reading. Have a great day!