Dinna- by Linda

Final product, soo tasty

                        

2 frying pans simultaneously

                         

 

So I'm not exactly a chef, I pretty much learned how to cook by just doing. When I lived with my parents I didn't even know how to turn on the stove, I also didn't know how to work the washing machine, and I'm a freakin clothing designer, another story for another day...

Anyway, now although I can use my stove and whatnot, I'm still no chef, but I get by, I just try shit.  The odd time I will try a recipe, and the even odder time it will work, but mostly I use my brain to try when I can.  I wouldn't say I love cooking, I hate having to do all that after a long ass day of work, and a long commute home, but if I didn't my husband and I would be 400 lbs..so there's that.

I had the forethought to pull chicken out of our freezer one morning and came home and thought "ya Imma do Chinese".  Please don't hate me for saying this, but I despise Chinese food.  I mean I like elements of it, but greasy Chinese takeout makes my stomach churn, but husband really likes it so on this particular night I started throwing stuff together.

Step one: rice cooker, cook 1/2 a cup of rice...yep for two people thats all you need

Step two: 2 frying pans, simultaneously

           Pan 1: chopped up chicken breast with coconut oil, 1 tbsp. of soy sauce, and random ass spices

           Pan 2: Mixed Asian veggies (it came in a bag, snap peas and carrots and broccoli), 1/2 a white

                      onion, 1 tbsp. coconut oil, 1 bag of bean sprouts, 1 tbsp. soy sauce, sarachia sauce, salt

                      and pepper, and whatever other spice you want

Step three:  When veggies and chicken are done, put them together into one pan on low and throw
                    your rice into the empty pan and fry that shit up for a minute or so

Step four:  Mix it all together, throw more sirachia on top and enjoy

You can add some eggs in if you like, I was going to, but forgot, and was too lazy to go back, it was delicious without the eggs anyway.

There it is, the shitty cook's version of Chinese food,  we gobbled it down nicely.

 *yes I say shit alot

My Guide to Supplements

The one question I probably have people ask me the most is "what supplements do you take??"  Now, while I can't answer what works for everyone, I can tell you what works for me and what has worked for me.  Before starting ANY sort of supplement, read about them, read possible side effects, just read everything and anything about them and see if they are right for you.  This is what I take on a daily basis.  I've never been questioned going through airport security with my pill box either....if you are wondering about traveling and supplements.  (I've also never been stopped for having a shaker full of Whey). I know it might seem like a lot, and sometimes I feel like an old lady when I pop them all, but I'd rather support my body then not.  

My supplements: Prenatal vitamins, fish oil, Migrelief, Amino Burst 300 

PreNatal Vitamins:  NO!! I am NOT pregnant, and NO, I have NO plans on getting pregnant.  So why PreNatal vitamins you ask?? It's really pretty simple.  When we workout, we are wearing down and rebuilding muscle fibers constantly.  PreNatal vitamins contain folate.....what do we need to rebuild muscle tissue?  Folate!  Folate is critical for rebuilding and creating new cells in our body.  What is one way that muscles grow?  By rebuilding and replacing the cells we damaged when we weight train! So I can get into it even further if you want (since you probably think I'm crazy).  What else does folate do?  Helps build DNA and RNA.  What process do we use to build and grow muscle when we weight train?  Muscle Protein Synthesis!  What are the main components of muscle protein synthesis? DNA and RNA!  Yayyy!!!  So in short....a PreNatal vitamin aids in the building and recovery of muscles while weight training. It also contains DHA which is an Essential Fatty Acid that your body needs to function.  Enough said.  If you're not down with taking a PreNatal....make sure you are taking a multi-vitamin formulated for your gender.  Men and women need completely different nutrients, so make sure you are taking one formulated for your needs.  

Fish Oil: The human body cannot produce enough essential fatty acids on it's own....so it looks for the food we eat or a supplement to get the proper amount of of EFA's. EFA's are a main component in building lean muscles.  They help increase muscle synthesis and decrease the rate at which you degrade your muscles. They also help your cardiovascular health, support healthy blood flow, help joint function, and like I said before, muscle recovery. 

BCAA's:  Branch Chain Amino Acids are very important for all muscle synthesis and muscle recovery.  I swear by them. I take GNC Amino Burst 3000.  I pop 3 post workout, and I swear the next day I am not as fatigued and the pain from Delayed Onset Muscle Syndrome is MUCH less. When you weight train, you deplete your bodys natural storage of BCAA's.  Protein is made up of 22 amino acids. Eight of these amino acids the body cannot produce, so it looks for supplementation to make up for it.   BCAA's reduce muscle fatigue, speed up muscle recovery, decrease the loss of other amino acids, and help your body absorb protien (and we all know, if you are trying to build muscle, protein is a MUST). BCAA's are also metabolized in the actual muscles, not in your liver like most amino acids.  If you lack any of these BCAA's you are putting yourself at risk for muscle depletion.  

Protein:  Ahhh protien....I don't have any protein pictured, because I try to get MOST of my protein to fit my macros naturally.  I used to swear by drinking shakes errrrrday, but I've now discovered I can pretty much hit my protein goals by my food intake.  Don't get me wrong, there are days I still drink shakes, but if I can hit my goals based on the foods I eat, then I'm okay with that.  Protein is the building block for all muscle tissue.  You need protein to build muscle (duh.) The body also utilizes more calories breaking down protein which increases your natural calories burned.  Win win, right?  So get your protein in!!!  

What's the other one in the picture? Migrelief.  I suffer from EXTREME chronic migraines.  I know it has nothing to do with muscle recovery or function, etc.  But I take it everyday, so it was in my pickcha. I won't get into the details of it, but I take it every day.  It helps decrease the frequency and intensity of migraines, and was recommended by my doctor.  So for all you fellow migraine sufferers....you might be interested in checking it out!!  

Spicy Chipotle Southwest Salad

I was looking through my one food magazine and saw this amazing looking picture of a Southwest Salad with a Spicy Lime Ranch dressing. It looked absolutely amazing.....from the dressing straight to the corn chips that were on top.  I had it in my head all day that I was going to recreate something like it....and this is what I came up with.  I'm not going to do the nutrition on this, because you can top it with whatever you want. I think all around, each of my salads were about 400 cals with a nice balance of fats, proteins and carbs.   For mine, I did asparagus, avocado, roasted tomatoes, black beans, chicken and cheese.  My hubby got roasted peppers, avocado, roasated tomatoes, black beans, chicken and cheese.  When I met him he LOVED asparagus.....now he hates it.  I think I over-asparagused him last year with my over abundance of chicken and asparagus during my show training.

I didn't have corn chips or Spicy Lime Ranch....so I decided to make my own dressing and my own chipotle crisps to go on the side -- a much healthier alternative to topping with over salted and over processed corn chips.

The dressing is easy:  1/4 cup Plain Greek Yogurt, 1/4 cup Plain Almond Milk, 1 tsp Sriracha, 1 tsp Mrs Dash Southwest Chipotle seasoning, 1-2 tsp of Ranch mix to taste.  It serves up as 2 servings - 25 cals each.

The chipotle crisps were easy.  I took a low carb wrap and sprayed it lightly with EVOO cooking spray. Sprinkle a little bit of Mrs Dash Southwest Chipotle and toast until lightly browned.  Then I cut into wedges and put on the side.

On Sunday, when I was meal prepping, I made my go to shredded chicken, but I also cut up tomatoes, spread them on a sprayed cookie sheet, and sprinkled with Mrs Dash Basil and Garlic seasoning and roasted.  I did the same with the peppers.  It's so easy to roast your own vegetables.  I keep tupperware containers full of them to easily grab for breakfasts, lunches or dinners.  It really cuts down on the prep time when making meals.  Get it all done in one day!  I do asparagus, mushrooms, tomatoes, peppers, and red potatoes every week.  In addition to my chicken and veggies, I also cook up turkey sausage for breakfasts, scramble eggs and egg whites for the hubby (I don't eat scrambled eggs in any form. Something about them makes me gag), and hard boil eggs.  Having everything available and cooked makes it easier to pick healthier alternatives.

I did 1/4 avocado on each salad.  Here's a tip on keeping the rest of your avocado...place in a container or bag and squeeze with lime juice.  It will prevent it from turning brown! I used to shy away from buying avocados because they would always turn brown before I could use them up.  This solves that!

Now my presentation wasn't as pretty as the one in the magazine, but I can say it was yummy.  It was so filling I literally had to stop and take a breather mid dinner.  It's packed with healthy fats, protein and balanced carbs -- a perfect, healthy dinner.  Enjoy!

Mini Chocolate Chip Banana Protein Muffins

I really feel like I don't have to write anything after looking at that picture.  I mean....look at all that chocolatey ooey gooey goodness.....in miniature form.  These little nuggets are literally TO DIE FOR.  I mean.....I wish I had another banana so I could whip up another batch. I'll be lucky if these last more than a day.

It was a super busy day doing food prep.  I have breakfasts, lunches and snacks made for the next couple days for both me and my hubby.  I needed one more clean snack that I could easily pack for the hubs to take to work or for me to just eat the whole entire batch in one sitting...either works in my book.  If I keep writing, I'm just going to go on about how good these are....so I'll just give you the recipe...

Servings : 12           Serving Size:  3 muffins

Cals:  132    Carbs:  17g     Protein:  8 g    Fat:  4g

• 1 1/2 cup oat flour (I use my old fashioned oatmeal and blend it in my Ninja)
• 1 banana
• 1/2 cup Splenda
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 large egg white
• 2 scoops Vanilla Protein Powder
• 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 - 2/3 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.  Line 2 mini muffin pans with mini cupcake wrappers (It will make 36 muffins).  Put everything but the chocolate chips in a blender.  Blend until smooth.  Pour the batter in a bowl and add chocolate chips.  Spoon the batter into the muffin tins -- make sure to fill almost to the top.   Eat all the muffins as soon as they come out of the oven......that's pretty much what I did.  Enjoy!!  

Valentines Day Lovin!!!

Happy Valentines Day errryone!!! So.....I love Valentines Day.  Not because you are supposed to show your love for you significant other and blah blah blah....but because it gives me an excuse to make my food in to heart shapes and be ridiculous with what I create. I love hearts....and the color pink....and polka dots for that matter.  We don't go overboard on Valentines Day....and I'd rather eat food over getting flowers so he doesn't do the whole flowers bit.  Plus...my hubby just had surgery on Monday so he is NOT in the festive mood!

So I'm gonna do something a little bit different today.....maybe you're like me and loathe spending money on Valentines Day. I'm gonna show you some ideas that some of them are healthy....some are crafty...and some are just plain use up what you have laying around your house!  Valentines Day doesn't have to be about gorging yourself with food and chocolate.  Sure....I made some chocolate chip cookies from a Cooking Light  recipe I had in my box (and I made those pretzel thingys with the Hershey kisses and M&M's but somehow they only lasted 18 hours.....and I didn't get a purdy pickcha).  Instead.... make it about heart healthy choices so you can be around with your loved one for many Valentines Day's to come!!!

We started our morning off with a nommy breakfast of heart shaped fruits, heart shaped eggs, and heart shaped toast (the boys got all the rest of the bacon).  I made some fruit salad last night and used a mini heart shaped cookie cutter to cut my pineapple and cantaloupe into heart shapes. One of my hockey girls was having a fundraiser in the fall for the theater department so I bought a heart shaped and star shaped pancake mold from her. They have them at Walmart too!  They are silicone and don't stick to anything. They can easily be used for eggs too.  Both my hubby and the little guy got heart shaped eggs this morning.

But I mean lets be honest here.....who doesn't love heart shaped toast.......

At preschool on Wednesday....the local hospital came in to talk about heart health.  They gave them handouts to identify the healthy foods in each segment (although our little heathen argued with me until he was blue in the face that pancakes, butter and syrup were considered healthy.  I had to tell him while they may not be the healthiest....they sure are the most delicious but to be eaten in moderation!) and they taught them how important it was to workout to maintain a healthy heart.  Ever since then, at every meal, he has asked for a big plate of fruit to eat first so he can be heart healthy and asks to go run laps around the house. Today while he was eating his egg, he told me the whites were the healthiest part and that's the only part he wanted to eat from now on.  Hey.....I won't complain!  He helped cut out the fruit last night and talked about it all night until he had it at breakfast this morning. I LOVE that our local hospital came in to teach this.  They also talked about how smoking affects the heart and other organs and what foods can damage it. Kudos to his teachers for setting this up!!  

For lunch, I made him a monster sammy.  I did low sodium ham, reduced fat cheese, and greek yogurt. The eyes are venison hot sticks with a dab of yogurt on them (with his heart healthy strawberries of course).  He also wanted to eat his valentine -- whole grain pizza fish.  I swear I can't keep these things in my pantry long enough to get back to the grocery store.  

For a snack throughout the day, I made Parmesan Wonton Crackers. They are SUPER easy to make.  Get a pack of wontons, cut them in half.  Spray a cookie sheet with EVOO Cooking Spray, place the wontons out and spray tops with the EVOO spray, sprinkle with Herbs de Provence and Grated Parmesan.  Bake until golden @ 375 (about 5-10 minutes).  They come out to be about 80 calories for about 8 of them.  They go great with my Sabra Roasted Red Pepper Hummus obsession.....

Don't ask me what I'm making for dinner....I have no idea yet.  I might just drink coffee out of my new mug (I made the hubby and I  matching ones with our names on them....because you know they were a dollar and I'm cheesy like that) and eat all the cookies...... Whatever you decide to do....ENJOY IT!!! 

If you want to make a mug for your lover....it's really easy.  I bought my mugs at the dollar store.  Wrote on them in permanent marker. Put them on a cookie sheet in the oven.  Turned the oven on to 375 once the mugs were in it (otherwise the quick heat will make them crack) and baked for 40 minutes. I then turned the oven off and let them cool down in the oven.  We did a similar thing for our wedding....except with a big ol serving plate.  Seriously....you don't need to spend a lot of money on stuff to make it work. 

Happy Valentines Day to all of you!!! Make the best of it!!!  

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bites

So! I have a lot to catch up on......I've been creating and photographing (sup-par photographing) but haven't had time to actually blog!  I was in Texas all last week and then this week was just crazy. My hubby had surgery Monday so I sat in a hospital for 13 hours on Monday and then went back up on Tuesday morning to pick him up.  Meals in my house have kind of consisted of salads and soups because it's the easiest thing for him to get down!  Anywhoo...I made these little treats on Tuesday. I had some bananas to use up and had a craving for peanut butter cups.  These seriously are SO easy to make that the boys in my house could do it.  It just takes a little patience (that, my friends, is something the boys in my house do NOT have!!!)  So these aren't the epitome of health food.....but they are a healthier alternative for you if you are craving something sweet that is a little bit peanut butter and a little bit chocolate.  I actually add them to my oatmeal instead of adding cocoa powder.  It's a two step process but if you have some bananas that  need to get used up and you don't want to make banana bread.....do this.  Keep in mind.....my chocolate spreading skills SUCK and so do my pictures of these.  But you can figure it out....

Servings:  28   
Serving Size:  1  (I mean....who would really eat one...but I just did that so I could figure out the macros on just 1)


Cals:  49    Carbs:  5g   Protein:  1g   Fat:   3g

• 3 bananas -- cut into 56 slices
• 2/3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 4 tbsp Peanut Butter
• 1 tbsp Smart Balance Light Butter
• 1/4 cup unsweetened Almond Milk

First....you are going to make little banana peanut butter sandwiches with the peanut butter and banana slices (like the picture below).  Set them on a cookie sheet and let them freeze for about 30-45 minutes.  

Next, after they are frozen pretty good, place the chocolate chips, almond milk, and butter in a bowl.  Microwave -- making sure you stop about every 30 seconds and stirring -- so the chocolate doesn't burn.  A trick I learned is  microwave / stir until only about a third of the chocolate chips are not melty.  Take it out and stir and and everything will melt together as you stir.  It's important you add your almond milk WHILE you microwave or else the chocolate will get all chunky and not smooth.  So add your almond milk in from the get go.   After the chocolate is melted, toss your bananas and coat in chocolate.  Place back on the tray and let freeze until solid.

The only thing left to do is EAT!!!  Really.....I told you my chocolate coating skills were crappy.  But who's worried about that when you are stuffing down your throat right??

Traveling and staying on track? Wait whaaatttt

Heyyyyyyyyy everyone! Sorry for the hiatus. I just got back from my national sales meeting in Texas. A week in Texas without being able to choose your meals and spending countless hours in an airport (and on this trip....I mean countless)....wait that's all possible??? Why yes it is!

So...how do you plan for all this? It's actually really easy. Before I left, I prepped a weeks worth of meals for my hubby too. It's a choice to live a healthy lifestyle.  Sure...we all have our indulgences. Hell....my hubby took me to five guys for lunch today and I got a regular bacon cheeseburger. I actually had to take a breathing break halfway through to get it all in me.

But anywhoo....how does one travel and stay on track. First....I usually look for or book a room with a fridge. That way I can make sure to keep stuff cold in my and my ice pack frozen. If your ice pack isn't frozen....the TSA will make you throw it out (even more reason to check on a fridge). For this trip I did shredded chicken with salt free seasoning, 75% Cabot reducded fat cheddar, steamed broccoli, carrots and ranch, bananas, apples and PB, and protein oatmeal. Make sure you freeze whatever you aren't going to eat right away so it stays colder longer. I bag out in separate bags 4 oz of chicken, 1 oz cheese, 3 oz carrots, a cup of broccoli, and apples. I pack everything in a cooler bag. Remember if you're carrying on....ALL liquids have to be less than 3 oz and in your quart bag.....that means all your shampoos and stuff AND your ranch and PB. Sucks I know....but such is life.  People might look at you like you're cray cray but it'll be aight. I forgot to pack forks this trip so the first day in the airport I cave manned it with my bare hands and the guy next to me just stared. Hey....shit happens.

So the oatmeal....In little bags I pre portion out 1/3 cup oatmeal, a half scoop of whatever protein I'm deciding to use, a pack of splenda (I usually do chocolate protein). I ask the flight attendant for a cup of hot water and pour it in. I usually then add a tbsp of peanut butter.

Call me crazy....I might be. But whatevss....it works for me. There are SOOOO many ways that you can make a healthy lifestyle work for you, even if you don't have the right surroundings. You just have to think outside the box a little. Whether it be school, work, traveling, whatever.....you can make it work if you put your mind to it.