5 Minute Meals

I don't know how you feel after the gym, but I feel like I must eat NOW! The solution I have figured out is either having ready to eat meals or quick fix meals. This would be one of those "quick fixes."

I was driving home thinking about what I had in my fridge and remembered I had leftover chicken from the store slow roasted chicken I bought yesterday. I then decided I needed to make tacos, so off to Trader Joe's I went. Originally I was going to purchase their .99 cent corn tortillas, but found their blue corn tortillas and they are less than HALF of the calories! It is amazing how many calories one can stuff into a tortilla!



These blue corn tortillas were $1.99 and 60 calories a tortilla.

As soon as I got home, I popped the chicken into the microwave and threw three tortillas into a skillet to warm. In the 40 seconds that it took to head up the slices of chicken my tortillas were ready and onto the plate they went. I shredded the pieces of chicken inside, chopped some romaine, sliced some onion, and topped it with my FAVORITE salsa! Trader Joe's has an AWESOME Pineapple salsa that is sweet AND has a little kick to it! It is the BEST salsa for anything! Tacos, eggs, burritos, salads...literally anything.



This salsa is also, only 10 calories for every 2 tablespoons. LOVE IT!

Literally in 3-5 minutes, my tacos were garnished with cilantro and off I went to eat my dinner.

It was so good and easy, I had to blog about it. :)

Try it and enjoy!

Chicken/Turkey Chili

This is one of my FAVORITE meals when I am working out a lot. It is warm, hearty, and satisfying. It is also EXTREMELY easy and quite delicious, so I thought I would share!





The secret behind a good chili is TIME. And there is no greater way to let something cook for a long period of time than a Crock Pot!

Here is what I throw into the pot:
Dice/chop:
- 1 medium sized red bell pepper
- 1 medium sized orange bell pepper
- 1 medium sized red onion
- 1 large yellow onion
- 1 large zucchini
- 1 small celery stalk
- 6-8 cloves of garlic

Add:
- 1 can black beans (strained) *low sodium preferred
- 1 can chili beans (strained) *low sodium preferred
- 1/2 cup frozen corn
- 1 can mexican stewed tomatoes
- 3 oz tomato paste
- 1/2 cup of water

Brown & season 1 lb lean ground turkey.
Season with:
- 2 TBL chili powder
- 3 TBL ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 2 bay leaves
- Salt & Pepper to taste

For additional protein I purchased a slow roasted chicken from the grocery store and shredded the chicken breasts.

Cook on low: 6-8 hours or cook on high: 2-4 hours

Once it is complete I like to sprinkle a little skim mozzarella cheese on top and chopped cilantro. For some crunch I take 1/4 of a whole wheat tortilla, cut it into strips and bake in the oven until crispy.

YUMMMM!

Yields 6-8 servings....perfect for freezing for a later date! Enjoy!

Accomplished: Day 2

Cheers to another day of not stopping and changing the mindset of "I can't" to "look at what I can do!"

I know 2.4 miles isn't far, by any means, but it's a start. It was 1.2 yesterday, 2.4 today, does that mean 3.6 tomorrow? You never know!!!

I write as I stretch on the gym mats, mainly because my legs feel like jello an I quite frankly need a moment before I get up and walk to the grocery store.

For the rest of the day it's cleaning house and making turkey chili for dinner tonight! I like this change!

Hmmm, I think I've said this before...

We all know I go through my phases...

Phases on fashion, phases on food, phases on boys, and phases on fitness. Well folks, I'm on a kick again. Except this time, I am REALLY trying not to make it a kick! I am trying to be better, trying to push myself, and trying to keep myself more motivated to be a healthier person!

I just got in from running...yes, I am currently sweating on my keyboard....and it was the BEST workout I've had so far. It was not the best because of my total distance, my total time, nor was it my awesome mix I created in my iTunes. It was the best because I did not stop, I did not give up, and I never said no. At every glance up I kept telling myself, "Just make it to the next stop sign." Before you knew it, the stop sign came, the stop sign went, and I was still running. There were many moments where I wanted to stop because I felt like that was all I had, but something in me was different. It wasn't about going to the next stop sign, but it was about proving to myself that I was better than I thought.

You have these moments in workouts and in life, where you just have to prove to yourself how good you really are. We spend so much time beating ourselves up saying how we aren't good enough, when in fact we are. It's just a matter of allowing ourselves to show it, and most of all, know it.

Hopefully my "kick" stays with me, and continues to kick my butt into becoming a better person.