Too Busy to Blog....

It's been 2 weeks since I blogged and I feel like so much has happened.  It is already March which means baby showers, wedding showers, spring break, March Madness, Warrior Dash, and field trips.  It will be another busy month but I will stay on track with my eating and exercising, AND blogging. 

Some things I discovered over the past 2 weeks:

• My Fit Foods- This place went up close to my apartment and I had been curious about it for awhile.  Then, last week at the Health Fair at my school a representative was there and he gave me some free coupons, so I thought I'd check it out.  Basically, you go in and there are a bunch of coolers along the wall.  All of the meals are refrigerated and pre-portioned into small, medium, and large sizes.  A small feeds a female, a medium feeds a male or active female, and a large is 2 servings.  I went with the Lean Lemon Chicken (I liked it, but it was strange.  Ground turkey, parboiled rice, and 2 spears of asparagus.), salmon stir fry (didn't like it, don't know why I even got it because I am not a fan of Chinese food), and the chicken alfredo.  I also got a protein bar(didn't like it) and macadamia nut and white chocolate muffins.  These were good and there were 6 in a pack.  They were pretty small and 160 calories.  They were made without flour or oil though and were still tasty :)  I would recommend My Fit Foods as an alternative to fast food, but I would never get it to replace a home cooked meal!  I like to cook and eat my own food though, so this might work better for some people.  Check out their website http://www.myfitfoods.com/
• Kale Chips- When I worked at Texas Roadhouse we always used kale as the plate garnish and I really didn't even know you could eat it.  I was looking for a new green to try so I decided to purchase some kale.  Well, it came in the HUGEST bushel that was too big to even fit in the veggie drawer.  When googling ways to cook the kale I saw a recipe for these "chips."  Basically, all you do is tear off the kale from the stem in bite size pieces.  Wash and dry thoroughly.  Coat in olive oil by tossing with your hands in a bowl.  Spread out on a baking sheet and season with salt, pepper, or if you like some kick try Tony's or Slap Yo Mamma!  Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes until crispy.  These do not keep well (I tried to bring my 2nd batch to school and they STUNK and were not crispy anymore), but they also taste delicious and you will want to eat them all up!

• Cooking with Portabello Mushrooms-  The first recipe that I tried was Chicken Amore from Hungry Girl via my friend Megan's blog.  Check out the recipe on my previous blog post.  I loved it so much that I googled more recipes to try and this week I made this one below.

This one came from a girl Jen that I am facebook fans of.  It is....
Stuffed Portobellos

by Recipes for Gals in Figure and Bodybuilding on Tuesday, September 7, 2010 at 6:01am

Makes 4 servings
Ingredients:

• 4 large portobello mushroom caps
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, divided
• 1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1 cup finely chopped fresh spinach
• 1/2 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese, divided
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped kalamata olives ( I bought the can of chopped olives and added MUCH more)
• 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 3/4 cup prepared marinara sauce
• I also added 1 T chopped jarred garlic

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.  Coat a baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Place mushroom caps on the prepared pan. Sprinkle with salt or a little Mrs. Dash table seasoning and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Bake in oven for around 20 minutes (until tender).
3. Mash ricotta, spinach, 1/4 cup Parmesan, olives, Italian seasoning and the remaining 1/8 teaspoon pepper in a medium bowl. Place marinara sauce in a small bowl, cover and microwave on High until hot, 30 seconds to 1 1/2 minutes.
4. When the mushrooms are tender, carefully pour out any liquid accumulated in the caps. Return mushrooms to pan. Spread 1 tablespoon marinara into each cap; cover the remaining sauce to keep warm. Mound a generous 1/3 cup ricotta filling into each cap and sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan. Bake until hot, about 10 minutes. Serve with the remaining marinara sauce.

*To reduce fat, leave out parmesan cheese or use fat-free parmesan cheese (in jar) instead.
Nutrition:

 201 calories
10 g fat
28 mg cholesterol
13 g carbohydrates
14 g protein;
2 g fiber
680 mg sodium
677 mg potassium


Before they went back in the over to let the cheese get melty and yummy




It was a training day, so I added a serving of whole wheat pasta!



• AND Tutti Frutti.  Not a new discovery, but it is one of my favorite things ever!  Think cheesecake frozen yogurt with strawberries, graham cracker, bits, and ff whipped cream on top!!!  It is delicious and a perfect no-guilt "cheat."  If you haven't tried em out yet, get there as fast as you can!!!!

This post was mostly food oriented and I promise I will be back for a fitness one soon!!!!  It's 9:15 on a Friday night and I am spent...Peace Out Y'all!!!