In Addition to Nutrition

In addition to nutrition, which I have been sharing with you, there is work. My trainer told me to publish my activities on here to complete the picture. As with all pictures, you can right-click to save and will be able to view the chart larger and more clearly.

Tonight's dinner was Turkey BLT. Yes, it was a sandwich kind of night after a hard day's work in the gym! Whew!

Healthy LASAGNA!!!! Yes, there IS such a thing!

Alright, guys. This is fantastic!!! This week's cardio goal was 250 minutes and I completed 253 of varied cardio activity. I LOVE being able to say I met my goal. Not feeling too hot today, and I think the kids' colds finally caught me. =( Bummer, indeed! BUT, Im going to the gym. Gonna work hard. Gonna see results!

This recipe came about a couple of weeks ago when I realized at 2:45pm that I had NO plans for dinner. I had to leave to pickup my daughter in less than half an hour and wanted to go straight to the gym after that. WHAT TO DO??? I decided I could make lasagna in less than half an hour and leave it to cook while I went to school, run by home to take it out of the oven, and have it waiting for us when we returned. Let me tell you, the stress reduction I felt at the gym KNOWING dinner was here for us was AMAZING. How healthy it was made it even more amazing. I've already had one friend (now a follower on my blog!!!) make this and she found it to be delicious as well. Try it tonight!

I decided to get creative and see how this would taste. I thought it was pretty darn good to have left out so much stuff.

1 lb Ground Turkey, browned
1 Orange or Red Bell pepper finely minced
1 pint of mushrooms finely minced
2 cloves of garlic finely minced
Dry Italian Seasoning, about 1 Tbsp
Package of No-cook/No-boil whole wheat lasagna noodles (I bought Archer Farms from Target)
1 Can Spaghetti Sauce, any variety
4 oz or so of shredded cheese, any variety, reduced fat

Brown the turkey with all the ingredients except noodles, sauce and cheese. I finely minced the veggies bc I was trying to sneak them past the kids, which worked! But, you could leave it chunky if that sounds better to you. Once the turkey is cooked through, add Sauce. Spray a pan ( I made a ton to freeze, like an 11X15 pan or something) with Pam no-stick spray and put down a thin layer of the sauce mixture, then a layer of noodles. Repeat - I did this 3 times. Then put a little more sauce on top and the shredded cheese. You can put as much or as little as you want. Bake covered with foil for 35 minutes then 10 uncovered at 375. (This step may vary depending on the brand of noodles you use)

So, this is healthy bc of the added veggies (high in antioxidants and vitamins!), which I would never have known were there if I didn't put them in myself. The turkey is lean and healthier than red meat. And I deleted the ricotta and eggs entirely from traditional lasagna. Some people use Cottage Cheese instead of ricotta and that cuts down too, but this was really good without it - both kids asked for seconds. I served with a big side of steamed broccoli.

Enjoy! Give me credit if you share =). The picture above is from my friend, Steph, who was able to make the chunky version. Apparently, her kids dont need stealth veggies!

Lauren~

P.S. I am going to make this again tommorrow and add minced carrots. More veggies, vitamins, GOOD stuff for the littles and me!

1st Recipe!!! Pasta Taco Salad

Delicious dinner and my attempt to convert you from sour cream to Greek yogurt!





Today's Activity was 1 hour with my Trainer, whole body and 40 mins cardio.



Tonight's Delicious Dinner was Pasta Taco Salad. Here ya go!





Ok, I will try to remember what I did!





Ingredients: 1 package Wacky Mac noodles (They are multicolored, fun shapes)


-OR- 1 box Tri color Rotini


1/2 lb. Ground Beef (lean, 93/7)


1 pkg Low Sodium Taco Seasoning


4 "stalks" (?) Green Onions


1 single serving of plain Greek Yogurt (about 4 Tbsp or the whole 4 oz container)


4 Tbsp of Salsa (any heat level you like)


1 Avocado


Head of Romaine


Several sprigs of cilantro


4 Tbsp Low-fat shredded cheese (whatever you like, I used the Mexican blend)





Cook 2/3 of the package of noodles per directions. Brown the beef, then toss in the green onions. I just ripped them into small sections with my hands. Then add package of Taco seasoning with 1/2 cup of water. Allow water to cook out mostly. In a medium size serving bowl, add Greek Yogurt and Salsa. When noodles are finished, drain well and then throw them in the bowl on top of the salsa/yogurt. Then throw in the beef mixture. Halve and pit the avocado and score into diced-size sections with knife and scoop out of the peel into the bowl with the other ingredients. Toss everything gently, but mix the sauces well. Take your Romaine and break with hands into bite-size pieces and fill your personal bowl halfway or more. Spoon Pasta Taco mixture onto the top, maybe about 1/2 to 2/3 a cup? For each serving, top with 1 Tbsp shredded cheese and several leaves of cilantro, again torn with your hands or cut up to release flavor.

Really good! Really healthy! NO ONE will know its Yogurt and not sour cream and lots of yummy veggies! And I can almost promise your kids wont detect the avocado or green onions if they are picky eaters, which was my reason for tossing everything with the salsa and yogurt instead of putting it very beautifully on top, in layers. If you are serving to adults, you may want to layer instead, which is really pretty (I did this with my Bestie yesterday for lunch with the leftovers). In this case, the first layer is big chinks of hand-torn romaine, then pasta, then beef mixture, then salsa and yogurt in dollops (about a 2 tsp each), then diced avocados, and last shredded cheese. This looked much more appetizing and pretty, but does not serve to hide anything from picky eaters. Yesterday, I also spritzed the top with a couple of sprays of the Fat-Free Ranch Dressing Spritzer. You can share, but give me credit so I can publish my cookbook someday haha!

P.S. Bestie's description was, "This is REALLY decadent!" Gosh, don't I love to hear and taste "decadence" while KNOWING how good a meal is for my body???

Now, check out this chart I made on Low-fat Sour Cream vs. Greek Yogurt. Make the switch!!!!

Meet the wonderful ME!!!

Well, here we are. You. Me. A computer screen. But that's not really the point of all this is it?I want to take this first post as an opportunity to tell you who the writer on the other side is (that'd be me).

My name is Lauren.

What, you want to know more???

Okay, okay...I am a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, and I finished with my B.A. in Political Science, cum laude, in December 2005. I LOVED college and if that could be MY vacuum, it would be. The creativity, the passion, even the angst all made for an incredible environment. I have been married for almost five years and we have an incredible blended family. We each had one daughter from our previous endeavors who are now 11 and 9 years old, AND we have two little boys, ages 2 and nearly 1. These children are seriously amazing and I am having such fun being their mommie.

Outside of my house, I work as an Optician/ Eyewear Specialist for a major eyewear retailer. I see you scrolling back up, scratching your head!!! "You studied Law, but you are doing eyessss.....?" Uh-huh. Sure am. And LOVING it! Let me tell you the Abridged Version of how this odd transition occurred. Shortly after marrying my husband, he was transferred to Colorado from North Carolina. My daughter was 5 at the time and finishing up Kindergarten, and I felt very strongly about being able to take her to school, pick her up, and be there for any and every function possible. We have a very strong extended family in NC and I knew that my availability was going to be crucial in her adjustment to the move. So, for 8 months, I was exclusively self -employed and doing really, really great. I worked the hours that were best for my family and I worked those hours consistently. I hit my personal best with a $1000 week! Then, some familial tragedy occurred and I hardly wanted to drag myself out of the bed, much less run a successful business. After a long, hard look at the fact that I just did not posses the inner gumption to keep my business going at that time, I applied for a position at my present company. I am blind as a bat and my youngest daughter needed glasses, and our insurance did nothing to help with these expenses, so "Why Not?" I asked myself. I saw it as a job only, a transient sort of means for money, certainly not as a career. But what I have found is a field I thoroughly enjoy, a boss beyond compare, and reliable coworkers (many of whom are good friends). Over the last two years, I have drastically reduced my hours at the company to be a mostly SAHM.

My husband is a soldier who fights for our freedom without complaint. A side effect of his job is that he is hot. Like, really. And I just had back-to-back babies. And Post Partum Depression. And too much junk available in the house. Bottom line is that all of this has been hard on my body but even harder on my spirit, as a once determined-to-conquer-the-world girl turned into an unable-to-conquer-the-cupboard woman. I didn't begin this journey at my heaviest ever, so that was happy news, but I certainly began with a body I was not happy with.

I started my changes on January 4th, 2010. Soooooooooooo cliche to begin with the new year, but truly that wasn't my plan. Even if it was, WHO CARES? I am excited to finally want the changes in my body enough to make the changes in my life! An update, "Before and After" sort of post will be coming the first week of March. Maybe even complete with pictures if I am brave enough. Like I said, I want to inspire and help anyone who might need it. I am totally willing to bare my soul to accomplish that.

Now, do you feel like you know me a little better? Ask anything.

Onto the recipes....
Lauren~

Debut!

Hi!

This blog is to chronicle my journey-to-fit and the recipes I am making to get there! These are inches lost and pinches found! I have been posting Notes on my Facebook page for about a month with this info but friends would like the information to be in a publicly-accessible format. Sounds great to me!

My hopes with this blog are two fold:
1) I want and need to keep myself accountable.
Knowing that I am going to "have" to write down what I did and what I ate makes me more consciously aware of those things. I am less likely to go get a Sweet Tea for a dollar at McDonald's if I gotta tell you about it later!

2) I deeply desire to inspire others.
As with love, I believe knowledge is best when shared- not hoarded all to oneself. I am a creative individual and am having a blast inventing new recipes. When something healthy turns out to be delicious, I want to pass that on! Likewise, if it's gross, I will let you know that too! Ha!

I hope you enjoy visiting and reading what is going on with my journey. I want to be healthy and to have healthy children. I want to be thoroughly strong. I ask you to please comment on anything and everything you wish. Let's discover together!