http://wp.me/p1Geme-5T Do you believe yet?

shakeology

i have posted about this on my facebook but i felt it was blog worthy. :) Shakeology is the best nutritional shake i have ever tasted in my life! it is packed with nutrients, is NOT artificially sweetened, and has 17g of protein and only 140 calories. i am hooked. granted, the stuff is NOT cheap.... so i signed on to be a beach body coach so i could get 25% off the price. ;)

check out this label for the chocolate.
and for the greenberry.

i ordered my first shipment and can't wait to get it. there are so many health benefits, it is hard to believe it only has 140 cals. when i first tried it, i had it with my oatmeal and i did not even need my oatmeal. i can't wait to make this my normal morning breakfast because it was so filling and it tasted better than any other protein shake i have ever had.

beach body carries a whey protein powder as well, but this shakeology is so complete that i like how i don't have to mix it with anything else and it's full of good stuff all by itself. the chocolate was so rich! :) YUM YUM. it's scary that i found it because after just one taste i am hooked!

side note:
if you are curious or want to try it for yourself, check out my pages:

http://www.myshakeology.com/raeannesisson
http://www.beachbodycoach.com/raeannesisson

OR you can sign up to be a beach body club member to get 10% off their products, or a COACH to get 25% off their products. just click one of my links above to learn more. :)

Homemade Chili

Chili weather is upon us! (If only for a brief moment... this weekend it was in the 60's... ahhh fall)

4 cups fresh tomatoes
1 onion
1 package ground turkey
1 pack low sodium chili seasoning
2-3 green, red, yellow bell peppers
1 46 oz V8 reduced sodium
2 cans beans (i used organic tri-bean medley)

cook turkey, chop veggies, add veggies to turkey and seasoning with some water... let simmer. pour all ingredients into crock pot. let simmer all day so the aroma fills the house. YUM YUM.

makes about 20 single cup servings. 1 cup is 120 cals, 10g protein, 10g fiber! YUM, and LOW sodium... about 120 mg. can't beat that with a stick!

Crack cocaine in Amish foods?

So I ran in the Arthur Cheese Festival 5K today and then we proceeded to go to our local crack dealer at Yoder's Kitchen.

The salad bar was amazing and I am pretty sure the pistachio salad was pure crack cocaine. There were also a couple of other yummy sweet salads that I ate without caution and boy were they delicious. The sugar free pudding was to die for. I filled my plate with lots of fresh veggies and those amazing cracker/flats that have seeds in them too. YUM YUM.

Then, I proceeded to the actual buffet, which in photographs does not look all that harmful.  But I assure you, the homemade meatloaf, chicken and noodles, fresh steamed veggies drenched in butter, macaroni and cheese, beet salad, mashed potatoes, and broasted chicken were all amazing and delectable and I could not resist. Sure, I burned 400 cals right? Yeah... not even close to the rich amazing foods I consumed. It's no wonder I am not hungry.. even 6 hours later.


Then, of course there was dessert. You know I could not resist the ice cream and cinnamon pudding cake. It was to die for. Those Amish sure know how to cook. And of course I don't actually think there were drugs in my food... but I sure have to be careful. Like an addict who has recovered, I have to watch myself. I only had one plate of salad and one of food, and I loaded up on veggies but the desserts got me! I was so overfull and I am not used to that feeling at all.

This place was amazing and delicious and wholesome. I know I was eating quality, rich foods. It's a good think Yoder's is 45 minutes away.... that's all I got!

nut butter... an ode.

oh peanut wonder, i wonder why i love to eat you out of the jar?

could it be that you have 100 calories, and that you are low fat?

YUMMY.

i eat you on PBJ, or in a wrap...

you are delicious you little wonder, you.

straight from the jar, even when you fall in my lap, 

my life is not complete without your "straight from the jar" mis-hap!

naturally more... what can i say? 

you offer me more than any other PB or J.

flax seed, omega-3's, and FIBER oh my!

why oh why do i even try...

to avoid you.

you are heavenly... and compare to no other PB.

naturally nutty... you are so organic.

i eat you and i feel your taste is quite bland-ic.

i like your chunks, but i don't get tempted...

to eat you straight from the jar.

perhaps i should adopt you as my staple peanut butter...

so i don't feel like i have to store you in a cabinet far far away.

blue diamond, blue diamond...

you make my almonds smooth

you add sugar and good ingredients

but it's a unique flavor too

i like your availability,
i can find you almost anywhere...
you are more affordable than some,
but naturally more
beats you there.

jif, jif, jif

i can buy you in bulk at sams

my hubby eats you from the jar

and then complains about his tummy sticking out far

you are smooth and dreamy

but not as good for me

would it kill you to add some nutrition

fiber, omega, flax, just for fun?

sunday morning potpourri

i haven't had time to write much this week, with school being back in full swing and also being back to school as a grad student, plus my 15k training is getting intense! we ran 2 miles monday, 6 on wednesday, 2 friday, and 9 saturday! this week is even more mileage but we taper the following week in preparation for our race september 19th. i'm excited!

i wanted to update you all on my week and different foods/recipes i tried. i am always sure to snap a picture so that i can share the love of my yummy foods! :) this post will cover some dinner ideas from this week.

coming in right at 399 cals, tilapia with multigrain pilaf and snap green beans.

side salad with balsamic vinegar to start the meal.

on monday, i made some tilapia for dinner. it is way easy.

1. i thawed the tilapia in water for about 20 minutes in the sink (it is individually wrapped... so this is very easy to do).
2. then, i sprayed the pan with pam and put some minced garlic (from the jar) into the pan.
3. i sprinkled some seasoning (mrs. dash) on the fish and put it in the pan over medium to medium high heat. it really only took about 4-6 minute per side.
4. while this was cooking, i steamed the fresh green beans using a metal steamer in a sauce pan, over water.
5. the multigrain rice pilaf was in a microwaveable bag, it was from trader joe's. YUM.
6. then, i sprinkled the beans with some i can't believe it's not butter spray, and some parmesan.

you can read the exact nutrition info on my food diary HERE. just toggle the diary back to monday august 23.

shirataki tofu noodles with chili sauce and turkey burger. 348 cals.

here's what they look like in the store...

a full plate of spaghetti... for under 400 calories! i LOVE these noodles. whenever i make this meal, i just throw together stuff that sounds good. here's how i made wednesday's dinner.

1. cook/brown 4 oz jennie-o 97% lean turkey
2. add some onion
3. add lots of tomatoes! YUM
4. add some green, red, and orange diced pepper
5. add a serving of salt-free tomato paste (hunt's makes a good one)
6. stir in two servings of texas pete's chili sauce
7. rinse shirataki noodles, drain, microwave 90 seconds
8. stir noodles into sauce
9. DEVOUR!

here's a picture of ed's version... it was "beefed up" a little bit. still had similar ingredients, but he got the remainder of the ground turkey and chili sauce, a can of diced tomatoes, a can of giant beans from trader joe's, onion, bell peppers, some red pepper and chili powder. he LOVED it and is still eating the leftovers. pretty much a yummy chili mac packed with protein and fiber. OH and his noodles were from ALDI, whole wheat rigatoni.

breakfast wrap.

after my amazing 9 mile run, i needed a great recovery meal. i threw together this egg wrap and it was DELICIOUS. it packed the much needed protein and it was so amazingly good.

1. flatout multigrain wrap
2. 1 serving egg beaters, one egg - made these in microwave: just spray a coffee mug with pam, and heat for 30 seconds at a time  until done.
3. athenos red pepper hummus, spread onto the wrap
4. yummy chopped tomato
5. chopped red onion
6. sprinkling of cheddar cheese

gargantuan salad.

then for lunch, i had this huge salad. i topped it with some peach tomatoes, red pepper, pea pods, carrots, turkey, atheno's feta cheese, ken's sweet onion dressing,  red tomatoes, and red onion. DELICIOUS.

i made a trip to the farmer's market yesterday (where i got my peach tomatoes) and i did pretty well... red and green bell peppers, yellow and green squash, two beautiful eggplants, farm fresh tomato, peach tomato, okra, farm fresh amish eggs, amish pasture-raised chicken breast, amish peanut butter spread and sugar free rhubarb/strawberry spread. YUM  YUM. all for just $20!!!! can't beat that with a stick.


that's all for this week's edition of sunday morning potpourri! :) i will perhaps post later after i make pizza for dinner... it's a delicious recipe that i think you will like. if not, i will save the picture for a rainy day and share it with you in the future.

yogurt surprise!

YUMMY DELICIOUSNESS

I don't have a lot of time tonight with the first "real" day of school/teaching being tomorrow... but a friend of mine asked me about my yogurt recipe. This is a treat I have nearly everyday and I just LOVE IT so much.

The stevia/cocoa combination is a favorite of mine, and I even use it in my morning oatmeal that I blogged about in my breakfast post from earlier this week. I use a similar mixture when I make "yogurt surprise."

This serves as an ice-cream-ish treat when I crave something sweet, and it also makes a great filling for an amazing fruit wrap. I eat the yogurt mixture plain sometimes and sometimes I top it with berries and even sugar free chocolate syrup.

Here's the basic ingredients/recipe:
1/2 serving cottage cheese
1/2 serving plain yogurt
1/2 serving greek yogurt
(you can adjust ANY of those... and sometimes I only do the cottage cheese and one of the yogurts if that's all I have... just "play with it" hehe)
1 serving cocoa
a dash of stevia (or other sweetener)
dash of cinnamon

Mix all ingredients... for a nice colder, almost frozen treat, put it in the freezer for a bit. Depending on portions, this is a really great high protein, healthy snack that tastes amazing. The calories are usually under 150 when I make it, and that's with fruit.

Topping options:
Raspberries YUM
Strawberries and bananas with SF chocolate syrup and a dash of whipped topping -- just like a banana split!!!!!!!!
Granola

Wrap variation:
Use a tortilla/flatout wrap of your choice, smother the mixture on the wrap and top with blueberries or berry mixture. ENJOY! Sometimes I like to do a smear of peanut butter on the tortilla first... EVEN MORE DELICIOUS!

That's your amazing yet odd combination for the day... I think my  next entry will be about new fruits and veggies I have recently tried. :)

Cheers!