RECIPE: Homemade Fajita Seasoning Mix

There is no reason to buy fajita seasoning mix in a packet when you can make some of your own in your kitchen. It tastes delicious!

You can mix up a batch of it and just use it whenever you want. In the photo below, I just sautéed a bunch of peppers and onions, added the seasoning mix, and served it over quinoa. No need for any meat! You can spice up all sorts of veggies this way.

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Fajita Seasoning Mix  

3 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 Tbsp. chili powder 
1 Tbsp. salt 
1 Tbsp. paprika 
1 Tbsp. sugar 
2 1/2 tsp. crushed chicken bouillon 
1 1/2 tsp. onion powder 
1/2 tsp. garlic powder 
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper 
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes 
1/2 tsp. cumin 

Mix it all up in a baggie or airtight container. To season meat and/or veggies, add 2/3 of a cup of water + 3 Tbsp. of seasoning mix (per pound of meat). This makes 10 tablespoons of seasoning, and each serving is 3/4 Tbsp. 

The peppers and onions were so colorful while they were cooking, and smelled delicious! And after adding the seasoning, I could have eaten them plain, they were so good.

You can double or triple the recipe to always have some on hand. Enjoy! 

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RECIPE: Cookie Dough Hummus

I'm SHOCKED at how good this is!!  It's hummus that really does taste (and look) like cookie dough. I ate it with pretzels, which was awesome, and then for dessert today I had it with a chocolate Vitatop. Heavenly!

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Cookie Dough Hummus

1 can of chick peas, drained AND peeled (takes a little time, but worth it!)
1/4 cup natural peanut butter
6 Tbsp. pure maple syrup (or heck, just use sugar if you want! ;) )
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
pinch of salt
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Blend all ingredients except chocolate chips in a food processor until very smooth. Then fold in the chocolate chips.  Serve with whatever you think would go well with cookie dough!

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RECIPE: French Onion Soup

Delicious! This soup has very few ingredients, and other than slicing the onions, not much work to it!

French Onion Soup

1 Tbsp. olive oil
3-4 medium onions, sliced
1 quart beef broth
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
croutons and cheese for topping, optional

Heat  a soup pot over medium heat, and add olive oil. Add onions, and  cook down for about 45 minutes until onions are soft and light brown, stirring occasionally.  Add the beef broth and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a boil, then  reduce heat and simmer for a couple minutes. Put in an oven-safe bowl,  top with a crouton and 1 oz. cheese (I like cheddar jack), and put under  the broiler for a few minutes to melt the cheese.

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RECIPE: Salisbury Steak

This is a super easy, and fast version of salisbury steak.

Salisbury Steak

1 lb. lean ground turkey (or lean beef)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 6 oz. jar of mushrooms
1 onion, chopped very fine
1 egg
1/3 cup bread crumbs

In a medium bowl, combine meat, egg, onion, bread crumbs and 1/4 CUP of the soup.  Form into 4 oval patties. Heat skillet over med-high, and cook the patties a few minutes on each side to brown. Drain any fat that may be in the skillet, and remove the patties to a plate. Put the rest of the cream of mushroom in the pan, along with the mushrooms (drained) and 1/4 cup of water (or 1/4 cup of the mushroom juice). Stir together, and then put the patties back into the pan. Cover and cook over medium heat until cooked through.

Makes 4 servings.

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RECIPE: Turkey Loaf (Meat Loaf)

Meat Loaf, but using turkey instead of beef. I love this comfort food!  I usually have all the ingredients on hand, too. This uses applesauce, which keeps the turkey moist since it doesn't have as much fat as the beef.

Turkey Loaf

1 lb. lean ground turkey
1 small onion, chopped very fine (or a tablespoon of dried onion flakes)
1 egg
1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (yes, applesauce!)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats (or you could use bread crumbs, but oats are better for you, and you can't tell the difference!)
2 Tbsp. grated parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp. ketchup

Preheat oven to 350. Combine everything except ketchup in a large bowl. Spread into a loaf pan (or you could shape it into a loaf and put in a 8 x 8 pan--I like the loaf pan because it insures that you get 4 equal portions). Spread the ketchup on top. Bake uncovered for 1 hour and 15 minutes.  Serves 4.

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RECIPE: Roasted Cauliflower with Parmesan Cheese

This is my VERY FAVORITE vegetable-- I can eat an entire head of cauliflower in one day this way, that's how good it is.

(This is more of a cooking method than a recipe, because you can adjust the amount of oil and cheese depending on how many calories you want to spend). This is how I usually make it:

1 head cauliflower
1 Tbsp. olive oil
3 Tbsp. grated parmesan cheese
salt & pepper to taste
garlic powder to taste

Preheat the oven to 425. Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray. Cut the cauliflower into bite-sized pieces, and put them in the casserole dish. Drizzle with the olive oil (I have one of those pump sprayers, where you just fill it with oil, pump the top, and then spray--I like that, because it gets more coverage). Sprinkle with parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Toss it all together with your hands, to coat the cauliflower. Bake UNCOVERED for about 30-40 minutes--for softer cauliflower, cook longer. I usually take it out when it starts to brown, like in the picture.  Makes 4 servings.

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RECIPE: Quinoa with Spinach and Feta

Quinoa tastes great, it's very versatile, and it's healthier for you than brown rice (although it's a similar texture and taste). You can substitute quinoa for brown rice in pretty much any recipe.  And likewise, you could also make this with brown rice. This recipe is definitely for garlic lovers like me!  (This recipe that I created was featured many times on Sparkpeople too!)

1/2 cup quinoa, uncooked
4 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
3-4 cloves garlic, sliced very thin
1-2 cups spinach, cut into strips
2 ounces reduced fat feta cheese, crumbled

In a small saucepan, add the quinoa and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil over high heat and then cover and reduce heat to simmer. Cook about 10-15 minutes until the water is absorbed.
Meanwhile, heat a skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil and garlic. Cook the garlic in the oil, watching it CLOSELY so that it doesn't burn. Cook it until the edges of the garlic turn very light brown. When the quinoa is done cooking, add it to the skillet, along with the spinach.. Stir it together until the spinach wilts. Add the feta cheese and stir to combine.  Makes 2 servings.

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Girls weekend

I just got home from an amazing time with amazing friends. I set my alarm for 5:00 yesterday morning, because Renee was going to pick me up at 6 to head up north. I was SO tired. I couldn't sleep at all, because I was thinking about the trip. But I got up, showered, packed a few last minute things. I was planning on writing a blog before I left, but I didn't have time.

Renee had picked up Jessica and Rachael already, so after they got me, we headed north. We went to Renee's in-law's house on Lake Huron. The view was GORGEOUS. They have their own private sandy beach.

We ate lunch (and wine!) outside on the balcony:

And then we went for a walk on the beach, looking for cool rocks.  Renee went for a swim, but I just wasn't wanting to get wet yet.

Jessica, Rachael, Renee, and me

After that, we headed over to the wine festival. We paid $10 for a glass and two tickets for tastings. I bought 5 more tickets for $2 a piece, so that I could taste more wine. 

Rachael, me, Jessica, and Renee

Cheers!

Cute t-shirts for sale

After the festival, I had a pretty good wine buzz going on. We walked around to some little shops for a while, and then went to dinner. By this time, we were all looking like we were going to fall asleep any minute, and it was only 5 pm. We ate dinner, then got ice cream. We headed back to the house, which was just a couple of miles away.

We made a campfire on the beach, and then sat around talking and laughing. We started to take pictures, and we wanted to get some that looked very genuine--so we started snapping pictures while making each other laugh. Rachael said something that made us all laugh so hard we almost peed. We spit out our wine and had tears rolling down our cheeks from laughing so hard--it was awesome!

I love this picture of Renee!

After that, we started using the timer feature on Jessica's camera. We set the timer and then ran to pose in silly ways. Keep in mind we'd all had a LOT of wine by this point, so it made a lot of sense to us! ;)

Love this one! Renee looks awesome. I'm wearing a life vest.

Super cute pic!

Getting a little goofier

We had to do this in 2 takes... my arms are a little sore today ;)

There was a fire in there... I swear!

Here, we laid on the sand to pose... and I saw a SPIDER. I flipped out, naturally.

After this, Renee jokingly suggested skinny dipping. I said I could be talked into it. Rachael and Jessica said no, but Renee and I ended up stripping to our birthday suits and running into the lake. After we dressed again, Jessica and Rachael decided to do it also, so the four of us went skinny-dipping underneath the red moon. It was so fun!!

And this picture is all you get. The camera was put AWAY for the skinny dipping part ;)  As if on a timer, while we were in the water, someone started setting off fireworks across the lake. It was the best timing ever! We watched the fireworks, then got out and dressed. We went into the house and played some Euchre. I think Euchre is just a Michigan thing... it's a fun 4-person card game.

We were faking the intensity for the picture ;)

Lots more laughs, and then we hit the hay. I was asleep almost instantly. Woke up this morning feeling hungover like I had a great time the night before. We packed up and drove home. It was SUCH a fun Saturday!!

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Have you ever gone skinny dipping?

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Grocery Shopping

I went grocery shopping today for the first time since I made the decision to stop spending so much on groceries. My budget was $100, and I ended up spending $99.58. I didn't bring a calculator or anything, but I'm really good at estimating cost. When my husband and I shop together, we always guess what the total will be, and I win every single time--usually within a couple of dollars :)

Grocery shopping is so much different when you're considering the cost rather than the calories or nutrition value. Since I'm eating intuitively, I'm not so insistent on certain brands or anything to get the least amount of calories for the largest amount of food. I still bought pretty healthy stuff, but I left out a lot of things that I normally would have loved to buy--like almond butter :(  My Kettle almond butter is $6/jar, and I just can't afford that. Also nixed from the list were Vitatop muffins--$4 per box; Ezekiel bread--$4/loaf; So Delicious coconut milk creamer--$2.50; almond milk--$3/half gallon; and some other things. Those are items that only I use, so it wasn't fair for me to spend my family's grocery budget on them.  I'll survive ;)

I bought a couple of bags of unsweetened coconut to make coconut butter. I had yet ANOTHER almost-empty nut butter jar (Kettle almond butter) this morning, so I used it for cold oats in a jar again. I washed out the jar after breakfast, and used it for the coconut butter that I made:

Have you ever made coconut butter? If not, you should try it. It's delicious! I just took two 5-oz. bags of unsweetened coconut (make sure you use unsweetened... I think I read on Lori's blog that the sweetened coconut doesn't work), threw it into my food processor, and let it rip for about 20 minutes. Occasionally, I'd stop it and scrape down the sides. It takes a long time, and I seriously thought my processor was about to overheat, but finally I was rewarded with yummy coconut butter. Some people add things to it (like chocolate!) but I've only made it plain.

My husband said that the pizza place near us now has a "chili dog pizza". I thought that would be super easy to create at home, so that's what I'm making for dinner tonight. Homemade pizza crust, hot dog chili sauce, cheddar cheese, hot dog slices, raw onions, and mustard. Doesn't that sound awesome?!

Tomorrow morning, I'm leaving at 5:15 to head up north with my friends Renee, Jessica, and Rachael. We're going to a wine festival, and then staying overnight by the beach. It should be a fun overnight girls trip. I won't be around to write a blog, but I might prepare a blog that will post tomorrow.

Do you buy any items at the grocery store that are pretty expensive, but you just have to buy it? I can give up a lot of things, but I won't budge on my natural peanut butter. I don't care what brand it is, but the only acceptable ingredients to me are peanuts (and maybe salt).

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A scary first step!

I took a very scary first step today toward something I've been thinking about for a long time. I made a consultation appointment with a plastic surgeon for a tummy tuck.

As I've mentioned before, I have a lot of loose skin from my weight loss, and my stomach is the worst. Not only is it unsightly, it hurts when I run or do anything active (it also gets in the way of movement); I have severe back pain that has only gotten worse as I've lost weight, and I'm starting to wonder if the "apron" in front may be causing that; I get rashes and infections under the "apron" sometimes, which is extremely painful.

In this photo, you can clearly see the overhang of skin...

I have saggy skin in other areas as well--my arms, thighs, butt, boobs--but I can live with that. I don't plan on getting surgery for those areas. I'm really hoping and praying that my insurance company will pay for the tummy tuck, because if not, I definitely cannot afford it.

Anyway, my appointment is August 26, which was the soonest they could get me in. It's $134 just for the consult. I know some plastic surgeons do free consults, but my sister learned (when she got a boob job years ago) that the free consults consist of a 30 second look at you and a "Yep, you're candidate, let's schedule the surgery," where the consults that you pay for consist of a lengthy appointment where the surgeon discusses it all with you in detail.

I e-mailed my jaw surgeon, because he was my favorite doctor EVER and I really trust his opinion, and asked him to recommend a plastic surgeon. He gave me a couple of names and I checked them out. I liked one in particular who happens to be a woman.

My insurance company said that once I see the surgeon, it'll take about 4-6 weeks to hear back whether I'm approved by insurance. So I'm thinking that my surgery would be in late October. I can recover all winter and then hopefully be well enough to train for the Indy half-marathon in May.

It's so scary to think that this might actually happen!! I'm super nervous, but I will be thrilled if it all works out.

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A couple of days ago, I discovered that I had not one, but TWO almost empty nut butter jars--one jar of Barney Butter and one jar of Krema natural peanut butter. So the past two mornings, I've made cold oats in a jar. I know most food bloggers do the "overnight" oats, but I never plan that far ahead. I just add chia seeds, to my mix, let it sit in the fridge for 10 minutes, and it looks like it sat overnight. Thick and creamy.

Yesterday, I used the Barney Butter jar.

I added the following: oats (a little more than 1/3 cup), almond milk (1/2 cup), 1 Tbsp. chia seeds, 1 tsp. maple syrup, 1 Tbsp. coconut, 1 Tbsp. raisins. See how liquidy it is? Put it in the fridge for 10-15 minutes.

And it comes out looking like this:

Cold oats aren't the prettiest breakfast, but they sure do taste good! Today I used the Krema PB jar, and turned it into a "no-bake cookie" type cold oats.

Oats + almond milk + cocoa powder (1 T) + maple syrup (1 tsp) + chia seeds

After sitting for 10 minutes

I love to scrape down the sides of the jar as I eat this, because you get peanut butter (or almond butter) with every bite.

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Have any of you had a tummy tuck, or other post-weight loss surgery? Any advice before I go to my consult?

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