Believe In Yourself!

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It’s 8 O’clock in the morning. I’m sitting in my bedroom with my feet propped up, wolffin down four rice cakes and two ounces of chicken.  Hahahah!    Welcome to the world of Figure Competition.

Later today I will have my turn to sashay across the stage and show off the results of months of consistent hard work.

ANBF

Two shows within a year… I’m blown away! Woo Hoo!! Who knew? I sure as heck didn’t!

Listen to me!!!

“Don’t underestimate your ability or your potential!”

Oh yeah and,

 “Always keep an open mind to experience new adventures.”

You have to!! It makes for a much more interesting life.  You will discover new things about yourself.

You think you know yourself? Seriously, you don’t! You can argue that point with me if you want, but you really don’t… at least not until you develop a habit of getting comfy with putting yourself in uncomfortable situations.

Think about it.  We experience more self-doubt when we are placed in unfamiliar circumstances.  Yah know..  “Can I do this?”  “Oh my gosh, what have I gotten myself into?”   The sweaty palms, racing heart beat, and the urge to flee.

It is only then do we see what we’re made of.  Do we push ourselves to follow through or do we run away and make excuses?

I thought I was all confident and sh** until last April when I had to walk across the stage wearing a skimpy suit with my behind on display!  LOL!  Oh boy, did I learn some things me and my insecurities.  But I made it through and did quite well.

I have to cut this post short because I have a few more things to do, but I will be back tomorrow or Monday to post pictures and to share my experience.

Y’all have a wonderful day as I will do the same.  🙂

Try This Dish For Dinner

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My kitchen was a mess but the food was well worth the time. I’ve said it before, Pinterest is one of my favorite sites to discover new recipes.  Being a visual person, I’m attracted to the pretty images of food.  I scroll through boards looking for pretty dishes.

Today I made two new dishes and they were wonderful! The Mexican Quinoa Burger immediately snagged my attention.  I’m no professional photographer, but to me, the photo was picture perfect. Once I read the ingredients, I pinned the recipe to my Healthy Eating board, but it found it on cookingquinoa.net’s board.

The ingredients..

black beans

The recipe called for cooked black beans.  I used Shoprite organic can beans and rinsed them in cold water.

chilli seasoning

I forgot the “taco” seasoning, so I used “chili” seasoning instead.  I hated using the processed package, but used less than half the package.

onions peppers garlic

Onions, red peppers, and fresh minced garlic

panko box

I’m so glad I learned about these bread crumbs!

pepper jack

Mmm.. the flavor and kick of Pepper Jack Cheese!

salsa

Shoprite has a fresh hot salsa that is the best.  If you don’t have the time to make salsa, this is the next best thing.  It doesn’t have preservatives and spoils quickly.  It’s good on any kind of crackers or bread with cheese.

quinoa

Cooked Quinoa

smoked paprika

Gorgeous right! Lol!  Smoked Paprika! Your mouth should be watering about now.

bowl mixture

Mixing all the ingredients together.

burgers

The recipe made six hearty meatless and delicious burgers exactly like it said.

The other recipe has my mouth-watering just thinking about it.

Avocado Cilantro Lime Rice! I know where I found the recipe, but I don’t know who first came up with it.  I am just thankful that I discovered this dish on Cooking Classy! If you like avocados, limes, and cilantro… this recipe is for YOU! You have to try it; it’s so easy.  All you need is:

brown rice

Day old brown rice, but I had to cook a fresh pot of rice.

Avocado

ripe avocados and fresh lime juice.

cilantro

Fresh Cilantro

I got so excited that I forgot to take pictures of the cumin and minced garlic, but you know what that looks like.  Anyways, the final product is the most delightful and refreshing rice that I have ever eaten.

I also cooked grilled bourbon flavor chicken drumsticks for my family and grilled curry chicken breast for me.

Yeah, the hazard of eating different from your family is cooking two sets of meals (not always, but sometimes).

While cooking and making a complete mess in the kitchen, I danced to the beat of calypso and reggae music. I call it happy music because, the rhythm and lyrics are upbeat and keeps me dancing… making cooking so much more fun.  Before I know it, time has slipped by and I’ve cooked a bunch of food.

So here is what I ate and it was AMAZING!

dinner

Please visit both websites and try the recipes.  Who says eating healthy is boring? “They” haven’t tried it yet, I suggest you give it a shot.

I can’t wait to eat tomorrow’s leftovers.  🙂

Approaching The Finish-line

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“You hit home runs not by chance, but by preparation.”

– Roger Maris
Major league outfielder

Four days remain and I am going strong!!

My meals for today?  Same as yesterday.

Lol! It’s a mental thing right now.

I LOVE chicken! The kale and collard blend really is a treat. 😜

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Yesterday after work, I practiced posing, did a little total body (except for legs), and 30 minutes of constant cardio.  Today is pretty much a repeat of yesterday.  By the way, I dropped one (1) pound.

Have an awesome day!

Passing On the Chicken

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Chicken, chicken, and more chicken!  I couldn’t take it today, so I put my unofficial culinary arts skills to work and created a new dish!

Ingredients (the only items I measured was the shrimp; everything else is an estimate)

7 oz. jumbo frozen shrimp (thawed & peeled)
1 cup of chopped mushrooms
5 small garlic cloves (chopped)
2 cups vegetable blend (kale, chard & spinach)
3 Tablespoons Olive oil
1-2 Tablespoons crushed red peppers (skip if you don’t like spicy)
1 Tablespoon granulated garlic
cooked brown rice

Toss all ingredients, except the rice, in a wok or saucepan.  Cook on low to medium temperature, while stirring until shrimp is pink.  Remove immediately and serve over freshly cooked fluffy brown rice.

Enjoy!

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Quick Saturday afternoon stir-fry

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Cooking on Saturday afternoons is not usually on my agenda.  However, since it’s such a cool, rainy/snowy Saturday afternoon, I felt encouraged to throw a little something together. 

Quick Poultry Stir-fry

 

1 lb. Pork Loin, turkey, or chicken for stir fry

1 Tbsp. Lawry’s Spoon Perfect blend chicken poultry rub

1 tsp. Lawry’s Seasoned salt

Kikkoman Less Sodium Soy Sauce *

1 medium red pepper

1 medium yellow pepper

1 medium orange pepper

1 large sweet onion

1 cup red wine vinaigrette

1 ½ Tbsp. Korean teriyaki stir-fry sauce *

1 tsp. crushed red peppers (less or none if you don’t like spice)

1 bundle of broccoli rabe

Direction

Chop onions, peppers and set aside.

Add pork loin, turkey, or chicken to stir fry pan.  Add olive oil, soy sauce, spices and slowly brown.

Once meat is thoroughly brown, add onions, peppers, stir-fry sauce, red wine vinaigrette, and crushed red peppers.  Cover and simmer on low until vegetables are tender. *Both items are still high in sodium, so use them sparingly. If I could find a substitute with even less sodium, I would use it.  But both the soy sauce and teriyahki sauce add such great flavor, I cannot resist!

You can also add broccoli, zucchini, fresh carrots, spinach or other vegetables to this dish.   At the last-minute, I found a bunch of broccoli rabe in the fridge, so I cut them up and tossed them in the pan.

We’re enjoying the stir-fry for dinner served over brown rice, cooked in 100% natural chicken broth.  It’s tasty, spicy, and has a little kick to it.  I hope that you try it and that you enjoy it.  This was a quick throw together meal, but tastes like I slaved over it.  Lol!