Tuna and Canilini Bean Salad

Since I started on this journey, I have gotten to love beans. Garbanzo beans, Black Beans, Canilini beans. Prior to losing weight and living a healthier lifestyle, the only beans I ever ate were green beans.

The other night, the husband made spaghetti for the kiddos and himself. I don't eat pasta now unless it is whole wheat and since I am the only one who eats whole wheat pasta, I decided that I didn't want to cook pasta just for me that night. So I raided my cupboards and came up with a yummy bean and tuna recipe.

Tuna and Canilini Bean Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 can Canilini Beans (opt for low sodium)
• 1 5oz can of Tuna (in water, not oil)
• 1tbs Red Wine Vinegar
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Olives (optional...I am weird I like black olives)
• 1/3 cup red onions sliced in thin strips

What to do:

1. Drain water from tuna and dump in a bowl, break up tuna with a fork
2. Drain liquid from beans and add to tuna
3. add onions and olives (if using)
4. Add the vinegar and season to taste

You can serve this at room temp.

Makes about 6 1 cup servings at just around 200 calories.

Chocolate Almond Butter Banana Smoothie

After a great trip to Trader Joe's (it was my first trip, why did no one tell me about this store sooner...love it) I was the proud owner of Creamy Almond Butter with Sea Salt. I love this stuff. I also got a good deal on more bananas (19 cents a pound).

This afternoon I was craving something chocolate. So I decided to get a little creative with the ingredients that I had on hand...the end result? A wonderful, creamy, and satisfying smoothie!

Ingredients:
1 Banana
2 Tbs Almond Butter
Chocolate Almond Milk (I used just under 1/2 cup)
Handful of ice.

What To Do:
Toss it all in a blender and blend!

You can adjust the amount of Almond Butter if you want a smoothie that is a little thicker.

Enjoy!

It's all Greek to me...

When it comes to losing weight and eating better, I am learning. A lot. I have had pretty poor eating habits for most of my adult life. So, it is kinda like teaching an old dog new tricks.

I don't like change. So, it should be no suprise that the first time I heard to put greek yogurt in my chicken salad in place of mayo, I balked. Yogurt? Are you kidding me??

But, eventually, I did give in. I decided that there had to be something to all the "use yogurt, not mayo" claims I was seeing.

You want to know a secret? It is really good.

Now, I don't like plain yogurt, greek or not. It is too bitter. So I was really hesitant to slather my chicken with the stuff. But, the little voice in my head that said "this whole resisting change thing? This is why you are F.A.T"

I poached a chicken breast with some lemon zest and a bay leaf. It take about 10 minutes. Once it was done, I waited for it to cool enough to handle and shredded it with my fingers. I added some toasted pecans, purple grapes halved, celery, and about 1/2 c of plain, low fat Greek yougurt. You can as much as you want, depending on how moist you like your chicken salad. Then pop it in the fridge for a few hours or overnight to cool.

I also did this with my tuna salad. Use salt free tuna in water (I used two cans so I had enough for leftovers). Add as much (about 1/2 cup) of greek yogurt. Now, I am weird. I diced some onion and olives and added that. Add just a couple packets of Sugar in the Raw and pop it in the fridge. When you are ready to eat, measure out about a cup onto a fresh romanie leaf, serve with some pita chips (Garden of Eatin are just awsome)  and enjoy

Super easy, Semi Homemade Oatmeal Muffins

In light of my recent success at losing some weight...finally...I have decided it was time to get a little creative in the kitchen. I have been following Jillian Michaels Master Your Metabolisim plan. I plan my meals (for the most part) each week, and have even gotten to try foods that I more than likely never would have tried before.

Today, I decided to try Oatmeal muffins. Now these are not part of the plan per se, but I have a certain allowance of fat and calories per day that I allow myself, and hey we all deserve a treat now and then.

I call these semi homemade because I didn't make the base...the oatmeal part...I used Jiffy it's 50 cents at Wal-mart. (But get two boxes for 12 muffins) but I did *modify* and add to the recipe to make them my own.

Ingredients:
Two boxes Jiffy Oatmeal Muffin mix
Chocolate Chips (I used 70%  Cacao Ghiridelli Chocolate chips)
2/3 cups Almond milk
2 eggs

What to do:
Preheat the oven to 400
Grease a 12 cup muffin tin with olive oil spray or use liners
Mix all the ingredients together
Fill the cups about 1/2 full
Bake for 13 to 17 minutes

Now, I am sure you are wondering why almond milk? Almond milk is one of my newest addictions (along with almond butter, which I sadly used up while making chocolate almond blondies) It only has about 70 calories and is super smooth and creamy and adds a great flavor. It is awsome in shakes, over cereal or just plain.

In this recipe, you cannot taste the almond milk, but I did notice they were more moist this time!

*I know, I know, I need pictures...I forgot. Next time, I promise!!*

Homemade (Healthy) Sloppy Joes

When you think of the term "sloppy joes" I am sure that the last thing you think of is them being healthy, especially if you use the canned version.

With just 20 minutes of your time, a few fresh ingredients, you can have homemade, healthy sloppy joes.

Ingredients
1 pd ground beef
1/2 chopped onion
1/2 chopped pepper ( I used red, you can use green or any other color that you like)
14oz can crushed tomatoes (I had fresh diced tomatoes, that i crushed with a spoon)
6oz tomato paste
salt,pepper, garlic powder, any other seasonings you like
*I added a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce and a few pinches of brown sugar*
Hamburger buns

What to do:
1.)Start the onions in a little bit of oil, about 1 tbs, in a skillet. Cook them until they start to sweat.
2.)Add the ground beef and peppers.
3.)By the time you are done browning the ground beef, the onions should be translucent
4.)Drain the fat and add the tomato and tomatoe paste.
5.)Season to taste. I used salt, pepper, garlic, oregano, and parsely
6.) Simmer uncovered for 10 mins and serve

*To make this dish even healthier, sub ground beef for ground turkey. My husband is not a fan of ground turkey, so I used the leanest ground beef I could find 93/7*

Enjoy