21 Day Fix Clean Marinara Sauce

21 Day Fix Marinara Sauce

Some kind of pasta with sauce is a Sunday STAPLE in this house. It's the one food the live-in insists upon EVERY week. I can't blame him...sometimes there's nothing better than a heaping pile of noodles with sauce, especially on a chilly day or to fill an empty belly.

I can be very easily swayed off track, especially on the weekends - hence my need to find a healthier version of a classic.

BOOM. Insert this marinara sauce from the FIXATE cookbook, it is AWESOME.

Best part? 1/2 cup serving is THREE VEGETABLE servings! Normally with marinara it would count as a delicious, saved purple container—but not with this recipe!  You can use up your green containers with this!!! (Plus it counts as 1/2 teaspoon)

Marinara Sauce Ingredients:

2T olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped (I loathe Onion, so I half it or use powder)
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 (6-oz) can tomato paste, no salt added
1/4 cup red wine (we use alcohol free wine in our family)
2 cans whole peeled tomatoes (crushed or pureed in blender)
2T agave nectar
1 tsp sea salt or Himalayan salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 (3oz) parmesan cheese rind
3T finely chopped basil

Directions:

Heat oil in saucepan over medium high heat

Add onion and cook for 5-6 minutes (stir frequently)

Add garlic and tomato paste and cook for 2-3 more minutes (Keep on stirring! You want to make sure the tomato paste doesn’t burn, I've made this mistake, it's really unpleasant)

Add wine and cook for 2-3 minutes more (Keep stirring!)

Add tomatoes, agave, salt, and pepper and then bring to a boil (Stir every once in a while).

Reduce to low and gently boil for 3 minutes (stir a little here and there)

Add cheese rind and cook for an hour (Check on it every once in a while and give it a little stir, some days I'll let this simmer ALL day for added flavors)

Add basil, mix well, then serve!

If I'm really feeling like a healthy overachiever I'll throw the sauce on top of Spaghetti Squash. Surprisingly, it REALLY does taste like NOODLES.

Hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think 

Clean Quinoa "Fried' Rice

Clean Eating Quinoa "Fried" Rice

A few months ago, before even trying it, I decided I REALLY liked Quinoa and bought about 4 lbs worth, and it's sat in the cabinet since. Of course it's about to expire now sooooo....time to get creative and use it up! 

Back when I didn't pay any attention to what I ate, Chinese food was a STAPLE for me. Since I've learned how to eat to fuel my body, not so much. Of course since my Easter "vacation" from being healthy I've been craving all kinds of things I shouldn't and Chinese food has been one of them! 

Quinoa's like rice, kind of, right? 

Clean Eating Quinoa "Fried" Rice

Ingredients: 

2-3 Cups Leftover Cooked Quinoa

1 Tbsp Coconut Oil (Or Olive Oil)

2 Large Eggs, whisked in a bowl

3 Cloves Garlic, minced

1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger

1/2 of a small onion, diced

3/4 Cup Frozen Peas

3/4 Cup Carrots, diced

3 Scallions, chopped

2.5 Tbsp Low-Sodium Gluten-Free - Soy/Tamari Sauce

3/4 Tsp Seasame Oil

1/4 Cup Cashews (optional)

Directions: 

In a small bowl, combine the soy/tamari sauce and sesame oil and set aside.                                            

In a large skillet, heat the oil until rippling and add the onion. Stir constantly on medium-high for a minute or two and then add the garlic and carrots. Continue to stir for another 4-5 minutes you can turn the heat down to medium-low or medium.

It's extremely important to keep that hand, or someone's hand, stirring, otherwise you risk burning the garlic.

Next add the peas, scallions (reserving some for garnish on top!) ginger and cashews and… you guessed it…. stir constantly!

 After a minute, add the leftover quinoa. Continue to stir until the peas and quinoa seem to be heated through.

Stir in the tamari/sesame sauce until everything is well combined.

Turn the heat to low and push away the quinoa from the center of the skillet, creating a donut hole. Pour in the eggs and scramble. Once scrambled, work the quinoa back into the donut hole and toss well! Garnish with remaining scallions.

Healthy alternative to Chinese takeout with all the flavor but none of the guilt! Hope you love it as much as I do! 

Creamy Chicken Salad

Clean Eating Creamy Chicken Salad

Let me preface this with the fact that I HATE cabbage and that I LOVE Chicken Salad. 

However....I've always been used to unhealthy versions filled with mayo and bacon. Obviously, eating those two things everyday will wreck any kind of progress I've made..and summer's almost here sooo....Time for this girl to find a healthy replacement and I think I got it!

It was so good (and even better over Cabbage Slaw) that I didn't even waste time transferring it out of the tupperware I mixed it in! Let me know what you think!

Creamy Chicken Salad:

Serves 4 (1 1/4 cups each) | Containers: 1 green, 1/2 purple, 1 red, 1/2 blue, 1/2 orange

Ingredients:
 3 cups chopped rotisserie chicken breast (boneless, skinless)        1/2 cup chopped green apple
1/2 cup seedless red grapes, cut in half
1/3 cup raw almonds
2 green onions, sliced
1 tablespoons chopped fresh basil or tarragon
1/2 cup honey mustard salad dressing (see below)
8 cups shredded romaine lettuce

Honey Mustard Salad Dressing
1/2 cup reduced fat (2%) plain greek yogurt
3T Dijon mustard, gluten-free
 3T raw honey
3T rice vinegar
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
 pink salt to taste

Directions:

Combine the yogurt, mustard, honey, and vinegar in a medium bowl and whisk until combined

Then slowly add oil, whisking until well blended.

Adjust the salt to your taste!

Put it Together:

Combine all ingredients except for the lettuce in a large bowl, mix well, and refrigerate (covered) for 2 hours

Serve 1 1/4 cups of the creamy chicken salad over 2 cups of romaine lettuce.

NOTE:

Almost any leafy greens will work with this recipe. Lately I have been tearing it UP with cabbage slaw (1/2 cup Napa Cabbage, ½ cup thinly sliced carrots, ½ cup bell pepper (sometimes). Or try replacing the Romaine Lettuce with Spinach or Kale to add nutritional value! 

A Little About Me

"I did lose 5 lbs this week, but found it in the refrigerator this weekend." Story of my life for the last 28 years! I've always struggled with my weight, but thankfully during Middle and High School I was very involved in sports year around and was able to keep myself at a reasonably healthy weight. Flash forward to the end of Nursing School, after 4 years of stress induced beer drinking and binge eating I had managed to get my small 4'11" frame up to a new high of 188 pounds. I had become so used to how I looked and really didn't believe the scale until I saw a picture of myself on vacation. I couldn't believe it! I was embarrassed at the least. More accurately - devastated. Why hadn't anyone told me?! The day I saw that picture, I started myself on a diet and fitness regimen. While I had no idea what I was doing or how to do it, I managed to get myself down a solid 18 pounds in about 2 months. I know now it may not have always been in the healthiest way, but I didn't care! I was DOWN 18 WHOLE POUNDS! Like anybody else, I quickly gained most of it back and became insanely discouraged. Through a co-worked I found out about Tony Horton's P90X. He loved it, and I figured I would try it. I fell in LOVE with the program and being able to do it at home and almost at my own pace. Within 2 months I was back down to 170 pounds and about to run my first Tough Mudder! If it wasn't for P90X, there was no way I would have survived, but I managed to get through all the mud, sweat, and tears of a 12 mile obstacle course in 3 hours and 45 minutes! From there I was hooked!

While I would go through periods over the last 2 years of extreme dedication and disappointment, I never gave up completely. I was famous for being a work-out warrior for 3 weeks, not seeing results, and giving up, just to start all over again when my pants stopped fitting. I suffered through 2 more Tough Mudders, dropping my time down to 3 hours flat on my last go around. Oh the excitement!

Unfortunately, life happened and I decided to buy a house and a new car all at once (smart move, right?). But with all the hustle of bustle of two jobs and moving I noticed I began losing weight and tightening up. Instead of turning the back room into my office and opting to instead work from my home in my dining room, I turned it into my work-out room in January '15 where I began my journey with the Beachbody Insanity Program. Since I started with BB programs, I have completed P90X3, Insanity, a combination of Brazilian Butt-Lift and Hip-Hop Abs, completed 2 rounds of Insanity Max: 30, Hammer and Chisel, Cize, Piyo, 21 Day Fix, soon to be 22 Hard Corps and Carnivale :)

Two years ago I was a size 13. 1 year ago I was a size 10. I was also pre-diabetic and depressed. Today I am a size 1/0. I'm healthier than I've ever been in my life. I will never be perfect, I will forever be a work in progress. But it's thanks to Beachbody, the amazing set of coaches and trainers that I've had along the way, my boyfriend and puppy that have continued to push me through to finally being comfortable in my own skin and confident for the first time in my life! I promise that if I can do it, anyone can do it. You can feel comfortable again. You can feel good again. It is possible to change your life!