Bikini Series Week 2

Last week started the Tone It Up #bikiniseries! For those of you who don't know what it is you should check out the toneitup website by clicking here :)

In short, it is basically a workout challenge from now (started April 28th) until the first day of summer to get ready for those bikini bodies :) I thought this would be perfect timing to give myself some confidence when I start trying on wedding dresses (EEEEEEEP)!!!

The website is sometimes confusing so I decided to start laying out the upcoming week on here as soon as they list the workouts on their website. I encourage all of my friends to do this with me! The workouts are fun, totally do-able, most of them don't require a gym, and you'll feel great afterwards!

Each day there is usually a toning and cardio routine so I am going to split each day into those categories

Monday 5/5/14- Cardio &Abs (Cinco de Mayo!)

• Cardio- Excited for Spring Cardio- 30 minutes (don't forget to add your miles to your 100 miles by summer!)
• Toning- The Best Ab Routine- 15 reps of each move- repeat entire routine 3 times
• Sunset Challenge- celebrate Cinco de Mayo with friends! Check out their selected recipes and remember if you're at a restaurant, skip the chips and drink water with each margarita! :) 

Tuesday 5/6/14- Booty & Fat Burn 

• Cardio- HIIT- either HIIT the beach 2 from the Beachbabe2 DVD or the love your body with HIIT Every 10 minutes of HIIT counts as 1 mile towards your 100 by summer! 

• Toning- New booty workout comes out today! Click here for the workout :)
  
• Sunset Challenge- Yoga inspired stretching 

Wednesday 5/7/14- Cardio & Surfers Paradise 

• Cardio- Bikini Cardio - count those miles towards your 100 by summer!
• Toning- Surfer's Paradise Routine 
• Sunset Challenge- Visualize your goals- take 5-10 minutes thinking about your goals and picturing yourself achieving them! Why are you doing this challenge? Why is it worth it? 

Thursday 5/8/14- Running & Toning 

• Cardio- Wake up and squeeze in 2 miles! Count them towards your 100 by summer!
• Toning-  Inner thighs and waistline with Kettlebells
  OR New Bikini Series Toning Workout (Check back for link)
• Sunset Challenge- Stop, drop, and make a list! What are you grateful for? 

Friday 5/9/14- Running & Toning 

• Cardio- Spring into summer cardio (35 minutes) Count your miles towards your 100 by summer!
• Toning- Ab workout playlist
• Sunset Challenge- Take the opportunity this weekend to do something outside of your comfort zone! 

Saturday 5/10/14- Yoga

• Beach yoga with Karena 

Sunday 5/11/14- Running 

• Run a 5k and count your miles towards 100 by summer!
• Check back here for next weeks schedules :) 

CLICK HERE FOR PRINTABLE WORKSHEET! 

Simple Skinny Chicken and Asparagus Stir Fry

Clean eating? Yeah me too. BUT it doesn't have to be lettuce and vegetables every night! This is simple and SO good! And only 162 calories PER serving! It makes 4 servings and it is very filling :) If you are not clean eating you could put this over brown rice and make an even heartier meal!


Don't like asparagus? Try this with green beans instead! :)



Ingredients:

• 1 pound skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch cubes
• Kosher salt, to taste
• 1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium shoyu or soy sauce (or Tamari for GF)
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 tbsp canola or grapeseed oil, divided
• 1 bunch asparagus, ends trimmed, cut into 2-inch pieces (or green beans)
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tbsp fresh ginger
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• fresh black pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Cut up asparagus bundle into about 2 inch pieces. 
2. Heat a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat, when hot add 1 teaspoon of the oil. 
3. Add the asparagus and cook until tender-crisp, about 3 to 4 minutes. 
4. While asparagus is cooking, cut up chicken into chunks and lightly season with salt and set aside
5. Add the garlic and ginger to asparagus and cook until golden, about 1 minute. Set aside in a bowl. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
6. Increase the heat to high, add 1 tsp of oil and add chicken. 
7. While Chicken is cooking,  In a small bowl, combine chicken broth and soy sauce. In a second small bowl combine the cornstarch and water and mix well to combine.
8. Cook chicken until brown and cooked though on each side (about 4 minutes each side on high heat). Set aside with asparagus in small bowl.
9. Remove pan from heat and cool down. Add soy sauce mixture and bring to a boil. Cook for about a minute. 
10. Add lemon juice and corn starch mixture stirring frequently. 
11. When simmering, add asparagus and chicken mixture and let simmer for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, cool, and enjoy! 

Nutrition 

Recipe name

Number of servings

Serves  people

Total:	Calories 646	Carbs 13	Fat 17	Protein 149
Per Serving:	162	3	4	37

Skinny Enchilada Bake

Clearly I am on a melted cheese, comfort food, kick... but it's the winter and it's been -35 all the way to -50 here so I can have comfort food when I want it right? Haha if only comfort food was as comforting to our weight as it is to our taste buds ;) This dish gives you comfort AND is still on the healthy side. I used whole wheat tortillas but you can use whatever kind of tortillas you enjoy most (fiber, spinach, tomato basil, etc). This definitely has a kick to it so if you don't like spicy then you can substitute the enchilada sauce for tomato sauce or marinara. There is also wiggle room with the ingredients, you could add less cheese depending on your preference and less enchilada sauce. We really like enchilada sauce so we went with the full two cans but I think next time we could do a can and a half and it would taste the same and cut down on the nutrition!

Prep time: 15 minutes (including cooking and shredding the chicken)
Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients: 

• 1 pound shredded cooked chicken (I cooked mine in a pan and shredded right before, but you could buy already shredded chicken) 
• 1 can corn (no salt added), drained 
• 1 can (15.5oz) black beans (low sodium), rinsed and drained 
• 1 1/2 cups fat free Mexican cheese (or cheese of your preference) 
• 6 whole wheat tortillas 
• 2 10oz cans mild red enchilada sauce 
• Optional: sour cream for topping 
• Optional: rice for side 

Directions: 

• Preheat oven to 350 
• Heat a pan on medium heat and cook boneless skinless chicken breasts 
• After pink is gone from center of chicken, shred chicken with two forks (if you bought shredded chicken, skip this part) 
• Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray 
• Lay two tortillas on the bottom of the pan (overlapping is fine and preferred)
• In a bowl mix shredded chicken, 1 can corn, 1 can black beans, and 1 can enchilada sauce (leave other can of enchilada sauce to the side for now) 
• Layer half of chicken mix on top of the tortillas 
• Sprinkle on a 1/2 cup of cheese 
• Lay down two more tortillas 
• Lay down the rest of your chicken mix 
• Sprinkle on 1/2 cup of cheese 
• Lay down last 2 tortillas 
• Pour on the last can of enchilada sauce 
• Cover with foil 
• Bake for 20 minutes 
• Take foil off, add 1/2 cup of cheese and bake for another 10 minutes 
• Cool and serve! 

                                     
                                                                           
 

Quick and Easy Bruschetta

One of our favorite restaurants in North Liberty, Iowa has the BEST bruschetta. Kyle and I always crave it and are tempted to make the 4.5 hour drive there from Minnesota just for the appetizer (don't worry, we haven't gotten to that point....yet). We have however found a recipe for at home! We made it as simple as possible. 

 

Ingredients: 

• 1 loaf of wheat french baguette (or french roll)
• 1 can of petite diced tomatoes with garlic, onion, and basil (no salt added), OR 1 container of Pico de Gallo  (your favorite flavor) 
• Balsamic Vinegar 
• Mozzarella Cheese 
• Parmesan Cheese (I bought the fresh Parmesan that comes in a round container, we call it the fancy Parmesan, haha) 

Directions: 

• Heat oven to BROIL 
• Slice bread about the width of your pinky 
• Place bread on a greased baking sheet 
• Heat bread until it is just starting to brown (about 2 minutes depending on your oven) 
• Drain pico de gallo or tomatoes (depending on which you use) so that you only have the tomato chunks and no extra juice (it will make your bread soggy otherwise)
• Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on bread, lay on tomatoes, sprinkle parmesan 
• Cook for about 3-5 minutes (you want the edges to just start turning) 
• Drizzle on balsamic vinegar 
• Voila! 

Optional: add garlic and onions, olives, etc, all to your preference :) 

Simple Skillet Lasagna With Healthy Substitutions

Sometimes you just need a dish with ooey gooey cheese and pasta! Well we made some healthy modifications to this dish and it was great! Kyle and I had a fun time making this together and we had plenty of leftovers! Will definitely be on our list to make again! :) 

Serves: 6-8 hearty servings 

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped (we left this out due to the picky eater...)
• 3 cloves garlic, diced
• salt and pepper to taste 
• ½ tsp red pepper flakes (for more of a kick use anywhere from 1 to 1 1/2)
• 1lb lean ground turkey (93/7)
• 8 wheat lasagna noodles, broken
• 1 8oz can tomato sauce (no salt added) 
• 1 28 oz can diced tomatoes (no salt added) 
• ⅓ cup water
• 6 oz part skim mozzarella cheese (we bought the tube, pre-sliced)
• 1 1/2 cups fat free cottage cheese
• optional: Parmesan cheese for topping 

Instructions

1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. If using onion, add in the chopped onion and cook until translucent (4-5 minutes). Stir in the garlic and ½ tsp salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.
2. Add in the turkey and brown
3. Layer the lasagna noodles over the turkey and pour the tomato sauces and water over the pasta.  You can stir your sauces on top at this point so all of the tomatoes aren't in one spot. Cover and bring the dish to a simmer, then lower the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes or until the pasta is done. Season the lasagna well with more salt and pepper to taste.
4. Take the lasagna off the heat and ROUGHLY stir in the cottage cheese, breaking up your noodles at this point. Top with big chunks of mozzarella and let sit covered for 5 minutes or until cheese it melted.
5. If desired, top with Parmesan and basil.

<-- before the cheese melted! :) Yummmy 

Have a happy, healthy, positive, active, day! :) 

Guilt Free Chicken Parmigiana Slow Cooker

I saw this recipe on pinterest a while ago and always forget to make it! BUT since Kyle and I are planning our meals weekly, it makes it easy for me to plan in new recipes and make sure I have the ingredients without spending 150 dollars every time we go to the store (which was the case before). Soon, I will make an entry on how weekly meal planning is working for us, maybe after we have been doing it for about a month :). ANYWAY, back to the meal! Let's be honest, who doesn't love chicken, gooey cheese, tomato sauce, AND a simple recipe? I know I was ALL over it! It was as good as it sounds, easy, and loaded with flavor! Next time though I will add the onions only to my dish because they were too much for kyle (big baby) :)

Ingredients: 

• 29 ounces canned tomato sauce
• 14.5 ounces canned petite diced tomatoes (no salt added) 
• 12 ounces canned tomato paste (no salt added)
• 2 cups sweet yellow onion, finely diced (or any onion you choose)
• 1 tablespoon garlic, finely chopped (about 2 cloves)
• ½ teaspoon dried parsley leaves
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano leaves
• 2 bay leaves 
• 4 tablespoons fresh basil, finely chopped (about 6 leaves)

• 4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I am putting mine in frozen, you could do thawed)
• sliced or shredded mozzarella cheese
• grated Parmesan cheese
• optional: rolls or buns 

Directions: 

• Start the slow cooker on low heat. Either spray with cooking spray or use liner to avoid a messy crock pot cleaning process. 
• Add tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, tomato paste and stir until combined.
• 
• Add onions, garlic, stir.
• 
• Add parsley, oregano, bay leaves, basil and stir.
• 
• Set chicken breast on top of the sauce, sprinkle generously with salt/pepper, cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4 hours. 
• 
• Shred the chicken using 2 forks after it has cooked for 6-8 hours 
• 
• Top with your favorite cheese, serve on buns, or as a main dish and serve with a side salad! :)

Over a salad
Or as a sandwich :) 

Crockpot Salsa Chicken!

Salsa Chicken

This is a staple in our house. So easy, quick, effortless, and YUMMY! Kyle eats his with a tortilla like a burrito (sometimes he adds rice) and I put mine on top of lettuce. It's just as yummy by itself :)

Ingredients:

• 4-6 boneless chicken breasts (I throw mine in frozen) 
• 1 cup of your favorite salsa (we use pace medium salsa) 
• 1 can 98% fat free condensed cream of chicken soup 
• 1 packet of your favorite taco seasoning (low sodium, we use the target brand and it tastes great)
• 1/2 cup fat free sour cream 
• OPTIONAL- Tortillas 
• OPTIONAL- Fat free cheese 

Directions:

• Place chicken in crock pot 
• Sprinkle taco seasoning over chicken 
• In a bowl, combine soup and salsa 
• Pour over chicken 
• Cook on low 6-8 hours or high 4 hours 
• Shred chicken with two forks and add back to crock pot 
• Add sour cream 
• Pour into tortillas if desired