Turkey Sweet Potato & Quinoa Chili plus the start of a Vlog!

Quinoa & Sweet Potato Turkey Chili

photo credit via Advocare

For those of you that watched the video….thank you! Health and fitness really are a passion of mine and Eric’s and I’m excited to share a little piece of our life with you all! Hopefully we can show you that living a healthy lifestyle can be done when you find what works for your family and it doesn’t mean you have to eat bland chicken all day long. And you get a peek inside our little lives other than photos!! If you did not see the video...you can watch it by clicking HERE!

Soooooo on to the recipe….which was originally sent to me via Advocare in a Recipe Guide but I made a few changes!

My friend texted me the other morning…yes I’m calling you out Rita!! She mentioned that she finally made the chili and thought it was a little bland.

I was like awe man…I had already bought the ingredients and was looking forward to another great recipe from the guide.

I was already planning to change the recipe slightly to fit our needs/macros and when she told me this….it made me more aware of the flavor I could expect.

I changed the recipe slightly by adding 2 lbs. of cooked 93/7 ground turkey meat and added in 1 extra cup of chicken broth (I used chicken broth instead of vegetable broth). And in the last hour of cooking….I taste tested the chili and it in fact could use a little salt and pepper so I salt and peppered to taste (also added a little garlic powder and a little extra chili powder since I did add broth and turkey) and it turned out really good.

I would like to note it is a thicker type chili….not like soup. I will definitely make again as this was Eric approved!!

The macros for the recipe with my spin on it are 29 carb, 27 protein and 10 fat. One serving is one cup. Entire recipe makes 8 cups.

I eat 1 cup and Eric eats 1.5 cups for a meal. Add a side of veggies to make it complete!

It really took no time to prep…maybe 15 minutes. I started at 5pm and it was ready at 9 before bedtime. We ate this for lunch and dinner the next day.

Ingredients

2 lbs 93/7 ground turkey meat (cooked)

1 can pinto beans (rinsed and drained)

1 can diced fire roasted tomatoes

4 Tbsp. tomato paste

2 cups sweet potatoes, diced

1 cup dry quinoa

1 medium onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, minced (I bought a jar of minced garlic)

1 Tbsp. olive oil

2 Tbsp. chili powder

2 tsp cumin

1 ½ tsp dried oregano

5 cups low sodium chicken broth

Directions

Spray slow cooker with cooking spray. 

Add all ingredients to slow cooker and stir.

Cook on low for 4 hours.

It’s as simple as that!! Enjoy!

Have a great day everyone!

Xoxo

manda

The BLAND Life... Or eat these Banana Muffins

Don’t lead the bland life…

We’ve been there and done that. 

Its soooooooo boring….let me tell you.

And it gets old REAL fast.

Take a little time out of your day here and there to find healthy recipes. Your mouth….AND your family will love you for it.

The MOST important tip I can give you….is to eat the correct sized  portion….typically 25-30 g protein and 25-30 g carbs is good for breakfast, lunch or dinner (give or take a little).

REMEMBER…You may be eating a healthy dish but If you eat 3 whole servings (when you should only be eating one serving)….you’re defeating the purpose aren’t you?! YES!

Now on to these super yummy Banana Muffins! I found the original recipe HERE. I adapted the recipe to what I had on hand and it worked out just fine!

We ate these with breakfast (accompanied by eggs and turkey sausage).

ONE serving is ONE Muffin

(makes 12 regular muffins – 1 muffin = 150 calories, 20c, 7f, 2p)

Banana Muffins

Ingredients

 - 1  ½ c flour

- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda

- 1/2 teaspoon salt

- 2 eggs

- 1/2 c coconut oil (melted)

- 1/3 c maple syrup

- 2 ripe bananas peeled

Instructions

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin pan with liners

- Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Make a hole in the center of mixture and add the eggs, coconut oil and syrup. Mix until it comes together and set aside.

- In a small bowl, mash the bananas. Fold the mashed bananas into the muffin batter and distribute into the 12 muffin cups.

- Bake until the muffins begin to brown and toothpick comes out clean when inserted in center…about 20-22 minutes

Adding Healthy Fats to Your Diet

For me... 20% to 30% of my calories per day are coming from healthy fats. They really should be an essential part of anyone's diets and fitness journey.

Here are a few you can easily add into your daily diet plan and some reason why!

 

 

 

 

What are some of your favorite healthy fats?

 

have a great day!

manda

 

Fitness 101 - Meal Prepping

 

 

I think the first thing to conquer when trying to eat healthy is

learn how to meal prep.

Here are a few tips to help you:

- Pick a day...I usually choose Sunday for the big prep and Wednesday to cook more veggies and carbs. This will take at least an hour or two depending on how much you need to prep.

- Make a list of what you want to cook and ingredients needed.

 

- Buy a food scale and use measuring cups. If you eyeball your portions...you're probably eating too much.

- Cook in Bulk. I cook tons of meat once a week and freeze in baggies. I usually grill about 9 pounds of chicken and lean beef (maybe more?) and freeze for use throughout the week. I package individual servings into baggies. Servings are about 4oz for me and 6-8oz for dudes. I use this meat for quesadillas, tacos, sweet potato nachos, stir frys or whatever else your creative mind can think of.

- Roast your veggies and cook your healthy carbs a couple times a week. Good veggies to use are asparagus, bell pepper (red,green,yellow), Brussels sprouts, carrots, zuchinni, squash. Good carbs to use are sweet potatoes, make sweet potato fries, red potatoes, rice cakes, rice

- Prep your Tupperware and snacks for 3 days worth. If you have it there and ready...it's easy to grab and eat. Choose a protein, a carb and veggie plus a healthy fat

- Have healthy snacks on hand. Some of my favs are hummus with pretzels or veggies, Quest Bars ( vanilla, cookies n cream and raspberry white Choco are really good), string cheese, red jello, rice cakes topped with almond butter, greek yogurt sweetened with fruit

- Buy a good protein powder to make shakes or smoothies. I like Beverly International Casien in Vanilla.

- Keep it simple. The more you try to prep...the more overwhelming it will feel. If you don't want your prepped meals for dinner....try making quesadillas with your prepped chicken or steak...and make an extra to have a leftover.

 

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Once you try meal prepping a few times...you get the hang of it and it becomes easier and easier. It can be a little overwhelming at first but hopefully these tips can help you get started. 
 

Feel free to ask me any questions about meal prepping

and I will be happy to answer! Eating healthy is an important part of any weight loss journey.

Hope this gets you started in the right direction.

Have a great day!

Manda
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Motivate Me Monday

Welcome back to Motivate Me Monday ladies!!




Last week I dared you to eat clean for the week...how did you do?!

I did great!

and made clean french toast a couple times too!

via instagram: CLEAN CHOCOLATE FRENCH TOAST for #breakfast y'all! I was just a little tired of eating eggs and toast every morn. I made this with egg whites, almond milk and cinnamon as your egg mixture. 2 slices of Ezekiel bread. 1/2 banana. PB2 peanut butter. And I didn't have any agave syrup :-( so I made a chocolate sauce with unsweetened cocoa powder, water and stevia sweetener. So good!!!!

via instagram: More clean French toast on this Saturday morn :-) made with egg whites almond milk and cinnamon for the egg mixture. Topped with unsweetened cocoa powdered mixed with water and stevia. #pb2 peanut butter. Raspberries and agave nector as my syrup! I devoured this I think in less than a minute lol!

plus we had a Mexicano night!

via instagram: What's for dinner...mexicano. A stir fry of chicken, bell peppers, Jalopenos, and mushrooms. Topped with organic guacamole wrapped in an organic corn tortilla.

See...eating clean doesn't have to be completely boring!

A lot of you ladies have been asking for a meal plan. I really don't have one and I have no clue how to make one but below is what I could be eating daily. Just make sure you're eating every three hours. I love my overnight oats. I don't even know if this is a balanced meal plan...so don't go quoting me on this!!!

I am not a nutritionist...this is just what I eat personally.

Have fun with it tho. I made one night into mexicano night. change out your eggs one morning for the clean french toast. Change out your chicken for some shrimp over a salad. Follow me on instagram and I'm sure you will find more recipes of what I'm eating. Also, follow other Instagramers that tag #cleaneating . That's what I did.
And if you are looking for a workout routine...I posted this one last year and it's still a great workout.

If you ladies have any questions let me know!

now get your butt to the gym ladies!! AND eat clean again this week!!!

after linking up with Ashley and I today of course!!

xoxo

manda