Leave a comment Tuesday, 10 November, 15 Lexa

“You need to start posting ingredients and recipes along with your pics. I gotta start eating healthy.”

Yesterday I posted a picture on my Facebook page of my lunch and it prompted the above comment.

I cannot take credit for making this salad; however, there is a story behind the salad.

Long story short– Thursday of last week, hubby and I took B’Dazzle (our 13-year-old son) to College Station, Texas to see a big football game Auburn VS Texas A & M. The spirit of Aggieland is unimaginably amazing. We had a blast!

We arrived home late Sunday; hence, no time for food prep and Monday I returned to work.

So, since I eat healthy and I eat clean, what’s the plan?

Develop a plan! Hahahah!

In my neighborhood, I have a go to for healthy food on the go. Nearly two years ago, my friend, who helps me meet my fitness goals, hipped me to Frankie’s Famous Pizzeria and their grilled chicken fajita salad; I’ve been hooked ever since.

Sunday night, I was tired from the flight. It was late but I knew that I needed lunch for Monday. Since I did not have any leftover cooked food, on Sunday, I ordered the salad (with extra chicken) and kept in the fridge overnight. Monday morning, I packed my other foods: oatmeal, eggs, apple, shake, avocado half, and grabbed my salad. All done.

Okay so what’s for dinner? I had a plan Plan B… Always have a Plan B. 🙂

On Wednesday, I knew that once we returned from Texas, I would need food for the week. I scoped out the frozen and pre-cooked seafood at Sam’s Club and BJ’s. Please know, I am not a fan of pre-cooked and frozen foods. However, with a little patience, if you read the labels carefully, you can find some decent options.

After reading the label, I could not resist the anticipated flavor of Bourbon Salmon and it’s Wild caught, so that is an added bonus.

Okay so while the salmon is boxed, the sodium isn’t too bad. Most frozen meals are nearly 1000 mg of sodium, so 173 is doable. Total fats are hidden, but saturated and trans fats are low. The 24g of protein makes this a winner for me. I was very surprised by the 0g of sugar! I’m jumping in the air!!! Whoooooop!! 🙂

The salmon is individually wrapped so you can cook only what you need.

The instructions are quick and easy. Remove plastic, place frozen fillet on a greased baking dish skin side down, and place on the center rack of oven. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

Other cooking instructions are on the box to grill (cool), pan sauté (cool) or microwave (Eeew).

I baked mine; it came out really pretty. Hehe!

The next question is, What goes with the salmon?

Well, as I said before, have a plan. I keep fresh organic baby spinach in the fridge.

Of course, nothing beats freshly picked out-of-the garden spinach, but the reality is, my life is busy and I don’t have time for that. My solution is to keep this spinach in the fridge. I buy it from BJ’s and Sam’s.

You can use the spinach in a salad or quickly steam it down via stove top or microwave for no more than a minute and 30 seconds.

The label and nutritional value of spinach is why I eat it regularly.

Uncooked spinach

I grabbed two big handfuls of spinach (approximately two cups) and tossed them onto the prettiest plates I could find.

Steamed spinach in a microwave for 1 minute and 30 seconds.

Then I added the baked salmon…

…finished product.. a healthy, colorful, quick, and nutritious meal. Anyone and I mean anyone can do this. I cooked enough salmon for lunch for tomorrow. It’s all packed up.

Finger lickin good and nutritious lunch!

Although I did not add carbs, you could add spaghetti squash (minimal calories), a baked sweet potato, yams, brown rice, black rice, or quinoa. All of the carbs are healthy carbohydrate options.

Now, tell me that you can’t this! I betcha you can… As a matter of fact, I know that you can! Give it a try and tell me how you like it!

Bona-petite! 🙂

The Verdict on Broiled Shrimp

4 Comments Sunday, 2 March, 14 Lexa

My mouth is still salivating! No chicken today!! Pinterest, my replacement cookbook is the best. Thanks to All Things G & D, I have a new recipe to add to my list. Tonight I felt the need to toss shrimp atop my organic cumin flavored brown rice and green beans, so I was happy when I stumbled on ATG&D’s quick and easy recipe.

Although I used her basic recipe, to satisfy my thirsty palette for spice, I always add a little more spice to my dish. In addition to my freshly minced garlic, I added an abundance of granulated garlic powder, old bay seasoning, freshly ground black pepper, and crushed red peppers. Oh and instead of Ritz Crackers, I substituted with Kikkoman Panko Japanese Style Bread Crumbs. The bread crumbs gave the shrimp a little crunch, which I LOVED!

I have learned to weigh all of my food. The nutritional piece to preparing for a figure competition or meeting any fitness goal is serious. You can put up all the weights humanly possible in the gym, but if your diet is off… well.. You will not meet your fitness goals. Look how many shrimp I have to eat to get to at least six (6) ounces! Lucky me!

Ooh la-la! Oh man! This was outstanding!! The shrimp cooked for about eight (8) minutes (four minutes each side). The brown rice and green beans were leftovers.

The recipe was quick, I didn’t need a bunch of pots and pans, it and was a nice change from my typical sautéed stove top shrimp. Do I recommend this recipe? Heck yeah!!

Seriously. After I cleaned my plate, I told my husband I wanted to lick the pan that the shrimp cooked in!

Yesterday I did legs; my quads ache, so I did good. Earlier I did abs in the basement. My fireplace is in full effect and, for the moment, my belly is full. So now I’m going to sit, chill, and wait for the 10-14 inches of forecasted snow.

Enjoy your evening and thanks so much for stopping by! 🙂

This Is Why I Love Pinterest

6 Comments Tuesday, 19 November, 13 Lexa

So I just learned an important lesson! Don’t simultaneously update your WordPress page on your laptop and on your iPad. Why? Grrr!!! I finished my original post on my laptop. Then I went to my iPad to upload pictures because my laptop is acting weird and shuts down when I load images on safari. Anyway, the saved version on my iPad WAS NOT complete— I saved the wrong version and now I have to start over. Grrr!! Not Happy!

Okay– now I’m trying to move my emotions from disgusted and annoyed to excitement about dinner again. Br….eeeee..aaaaathhhh….

I was excited because I found another nutritious and tasty recipe on Pinterest. The past few months I have pinned a few delicious and interesting recipes on my “healthy eating” board. Who needs cookbooks anymore when you can use your cell phone to find recipes right in the store aisle, buy the ingredients, take them home, and whip together a healthy meal.

Thanks to The Pioneer Woman on Pinterest, tonight I stuffed my face with Roasted Spaghetti Squash with Kale! Why didn’t someone tell me about spaghetti squash? I feel like I’ve been missing out in life. Geez! The dish was da bomb! Like I was sucking the juice from the kale from the bottom of the bowl. B’Dazzle came down stairs, spotted me and asked, “Is it good?” I felt kinda silly doing exactly what I tell him not to do– put the bowl to the mouth and soup the remains out. Haa! Haa!! Oh well, mom has her weak moments too.

I ate my spaghetti squash with boneless skinless chicken breast. Tomorrow when I eat the leftovers, I’m going to toss in some steamed jumbo spicy shrimp. The texture of the spaghetti squash is like thin spaghetti. The flavor is mild so you can have fun with the dish and add all kinds of flavorful food items. Mmm…

Six months from now, I will be confidently strutting across a stage in a blinged out two-piece, displaying my months of hard work and sacrifice. Meanwhile, I am trying to keep my meals interesting. Or course I had to check out the nutritional facts. Wikipedia reports the following:

The spaghetti squash is an oblong seed-bearing variety of winter squash. The fruit can range either from ivory to yellow or orange in color. The orange varieties have a higher carotene content. Its center contains many large seeds.

Nutrition Facts

Spaghetti squashSpaghetti squash

Amount Per 100 grams1 cup, cubes (101 g)1 cup, cubes (101 g)

Calories 31

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 0.6 g	0%
Saturated fat 0.1 g	0%
Polyunsaturated fat 0.2 g
Monounsaturated fat 0 g
Cholesterol 0 mg	0%
Sodium 17 mg	0%
Potassium 109 mg	3%
Total Carbohydrate 7 g	2%
Dietary fiber 1.5 g	6%
Sugar 2.8 g
Protein 0.6 g	1%

Vitamin A	2%	Vitamin C	3%
Calcium	2%	Iron	1%
Vitamin D	0%	Vitamin B-6	5%
Vitamin B-12	0%	Magnesium	3%

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

If you’re looking to add a new dish to your meal cycle, give this a try; you cannot go wrong with this. I enjoyed it and would like to know what you think about it.

This just came out of the oven. I pulled it from the skin with a fork as per the recipe instructions.

8-Ball Mouth Watering Squash

Leave a comment Monday, 29 July, 13 Lexa

During the summer, I don’t usually spend much time planning dinner. About an hour or so before 5 in the afternoon, I peek in the fridge to see what is grillable. My only plan is to light up the grill and avoid the stove and the oven.

Today after perusing through Pinterest and looking over my healthy eating board, I became inspired. I craved for something a bit more creative– Something different from the norm, so I decided that after picking up my son from camp, that I would visit my favorite roadside market; Reed’s Farm Market.

I didn’t feel like dealing with the traffic and lines at Shoprite and knew that Reed’s would have fresh produce that I could toss on the grill. I brought zucchini, Jersey tomatoes, cucumbers, red and sweet onions. I also brought two beautiful 8-Ball Squash! Cool right! This attractive round squash has the same flavor (to me) as the more traditionally shaped squash (zucchini), but the shape inspires creativity. The roundness of it screams, “stuff me!” Already I have ideas for the next ones that I buy.

8-Ball Squash

I wasn’t certain about how to cook them on the grill, so I did the following:

– Thoroughly wash

– Cut into round slices

– Place on a large greased cookie sheet

– Mince 8-10 (I didn’t count) garlic cloves

– Drizzle with olive oil (next time I will brush both sides with garlic roasted olive oil)

– Douse with freshly ground black pepper (I didn’t measure)

– Sprinkle with Cayenne (I didn’t measure)

Toss in the oven…YES THE OVEN! It wasn’t hot today and the air conditioning was on, so it wasn’t too bad. I broiled them on low for about 15-20 minutes

The result? They were too soft. I like squash with a slight crunch, but the flavor was intense. Also, next time, I’d sprinkle the squash with a tad bit of garlic roasted cheese (I buy from the Shops at Smithville), but you can probably find it somewhere in your home town.

Before the oven

My second experiment was broiled tomatoes. Yup! Ohhhh My Gooooodness! If you love, notice I said, LOVE tomatoes, you have to give this a try.

Beautiful ripe tomatoes

– Thoroughly wash 1 large (Jersey) tomato

– Slice the tomato into medium-sized circles

– Place on a large greased cookie sheet

– Coat with minced garlic (I didn’t count)

– Olive oil? (I can’t remember, but think I drizzled a little on)

– Chop a handful organic fresh baby spinach

– Grind fresh black pepper

Toss in the broiler (on low) for about 20 minutes

Mouth Watering

Hurry and eat the veggies while they are warm. The flavor is amazing!! Hubby, my son, and my mom, all especially like the tomatoes.

Now, I have to figure out how to cook them on the grill. If you know how to please do share! Several hours later, I’m still licking my lips!

Talk to you later!

Thanks for visiting!

The Life Of A Football Mom

Leave a comment Saturday, 6 July, 13 Lexa

Attending a football camp in July for my son isn’t my idea of a vacation. Anyways, this four-day trip has me scrambling in the most odd and unusually way.

The challenge? Scratching my head because both of my fridges are jammed packed with food from two consecutive weekends of partying and fun with friends at “the resort.” Ha! Ha! My friend Michelle upgraded the title of our “backyard” to “The Resort.” No, our yard is nothing over the top, just a nice pool, pretty greenery, humming birds, lots of sun shine, and good old fashion fun with two-handful of incredibly awesome friends and family.

Both fridges are filled with fresh strawberries, cucumbers, blue berries, spinach, tomatoes, and more! Leftover potato salad, turkey burgers, collard greens, baked mac and cheese, ribs, and more crowd both refrigerators. Yikes!

I am old school and was raised on the conviction of “waste not, want not.” So the thought of throwing food in the garbage makes me cringe. Speaking of cringing, I had to toss a fairly decent amount of a home-made margarita cocktail, made with Grey Goose, down the drain!! NOT cool! But there was no room in either fridge.

I am taking some of the day-old leftovers to a friend’s house, but still some items won’t make it to the fridge or freezer. Sadly, some will end up in the trash.

This morning I realized that letting broccolini, tomatoes, and spinach go bad is just too disturbing to me; hence breakfast:

Sauteed broccolini with garlic and a spinach and tomato egg omlet

Smoothies are in order for an afternoon snack and tomorrow’s breakfast. I will wash the remaining fruit and pack it on ice in my cooler, hauled right up to hotel room, and shelved in the fridge.

From what I understand, my son’s camp will include long days filled with intense workouts. Fresh fruit will refuel and recharge his battery. This is our first official football camp and I am a little nervous– nervous for me and for my son.

While this is an overnight camp, my baby, who hates being called “baby,” will stay at the hotel with mom and dad. There is no way in hell that I am trusting my 10-year-old to some unknown counselor. From the stands, binoculars and all– like a hawk– I will be watching him to make sure that he stays hydrated in the heat and to monitor the bathroom situation. Call me paranoid, but I am not giving anyone the chance to hurt my child. I want to say more, but that’s another lengthy post.

Oh yeah, speaking of resorts, Alex is all checked into the All Star Pet Resort, where posh like miniature beds await the nervous and suspicious pooches. The Resort is located in an ideal rural setting that is beautifully landscaped. In addition to pet sitting, grooming services and additional outdoor and unleashed play time (for an extra fee) is available to “guests.” Now that Alex is set, mother won’t have to worry about caring for him. Although Alex is pretty well-behaved, he is still a puppy and, at times, likes to take off running.

If you know me personally or follow this blog, then you know that I eat healthy and try to avoid junk food. My healthy snacks are already packed; which will make sure that continue I eat well and avoid wasteful spending on empty calories, non-nutritious food, loads of sugar, and only God knows what else.

This posts must end now. Why? The pool is calling me. My reward for completing this long overdue post is a dip in the pool.

Talk to you again soon!

Health & Wellness by Lexa's Journal

My mission in life is to not merely survive, but to thrive: and do so with passion, compassion, humor, and style. – Maya Angelou

eating healthy

The Verdict on Broiled Shrimp

This Is Why I Love Pinterest

8-Ball Mouth Watering Squash

The Life Of A Football Mom

eating healthy

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