Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Not Enough Hours In My Day....

I wish I had unlimited time to write and blog. Way too much to communicate and way too little time.
Finished my three hour training stint....uphill treadmill, followed by boot camp, and then personal training session.  Was tortured at physical therapy, then home to soak for a bit.  Now I'm laying in my adjustable Sleep Number bed, Giada on in the background, and I want to share a serious comfort food I made last week, but healthy version of course. It is a combination of a recipes from The Chew and Ellie Krieger.  It is Bomb!!

Mac and Cheese
Cook 2 boxes of whole wheat pasta or your choice
Place 2 10oz boxes of frozen pureed squash in sauce pan over medium heat with 2 c. 1% milk (or unsweetened almond, soy, coconut or cashew) til defrosted. Turn off heat and add....
4 oz. extra sharp cheddar, 2 oz. pepper jack, 1/2 cup 0% greek yogurt, 1 t. salt, mustard powder and a shake or two of cayenne pepper.  Bring to a soft boil.

Complete Sauce


Drained Pasta



Mix together and place into baking pan.  Top with mixture of 2 T. whole wheat bread crumbs and 2T. parm.  Sprinkle over the pasta. Bake at 375 for 20-30 minutes, until bubbly and brown on top.
Finished Mac and Cheese




















That is all she wrote for now. Serve with bbq chicken and big tomato salad.  And enjoy leftovers for days. Off to fuel the body and get ready for swim session.  Gina

Thursday, July 16, 2015

My Food Prep....

Food prep is the new fad. As a fitness professional for over 25 years, I have seen dozens of fads come and go. While this one is not hurtful like so many before, it tends to be extreme and BORING!! I know plenty of my fit friends who do this for convenience, so that they can just grab and go for meals and stay on their eating plan. I often see pics posted of their food, usually grilled meats, roasted veggies, etc. My "meal prep" happens before each meal, thankfully, because I have the time to do so. I don't want the slab o' protein and my pile of veggies, I want a plate that not only looks phenomenal, but is nutritious, and while it does take a bit more time, I feel like it's worth it. I love food, but mostly, I love nutrient rich food, and as I will continue to tell you, I believe in CARBS. I eat 55-65% of my daily intake of carbohydrates, that for the most part are exclusively whole grains, beans, legumes, fruits and vegetables. I have been on a NO DESSERT phase for three months straight now, simply as part of my spartan training game plan, being in control, but also just for the detox from white flour and refined sugars, not that I had that often. On Saturday, August 15, after a four hour plus Spartan Beast race, I will be having my OWN slice of mudd pie, and I can't wait. After that, while I do have a sweet tooth, my desserts which are typically had on the weekends, will mostly include only whole grains and fruits and dairy and nuts, so stay tuned.

After 3 plus hours of exercise today, I was beat tonight. So after bailing on a yoga class, I set to prep dinner before a tub soak and short nap(I was out late night, not my normal MO). I bought whole wheat orzo when I was up in the Bay area a few weeks ago, so I knew I wanted a salad of sorts with it. I always google for my recipes, and look for those with lots of rating and 5 stars. And there was Giada's recipe for Orzo Salad. The only modifications I made, which I always make, was to remove her 1 cup of EVOO and only used 1 T. Huge modification at that!! Oh and I did use a pint of tomatoes. I always up the veggies. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/orzo-salad-recipe.html

Next, chicken was on my mind, so found a organic whole chicken on sale at Ralphs and used one of my fav recipes, also from Giada. Only modification came from omitting the EVOO in the recipe. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/garlic-and-citrus-chicken-recipe.html


I must admit I am not a great whole chicken roaster, it seems it is never cooked in the time frame I am prepared to give it, so today, I left mine in for an hour and 25 minutes. It was probably a little longer than needed, but it was cooked and I didn't have to deal with carving the chicken, seeing pink and being forced to throw it back in the oven. As you can see from the pics, it turned out beautifully.


As the chicken rested before carving, I took the pan drippings, hence the reason I didn't need extra oil, and make the sauce. It was bomb. You can throw shredded chicken over the orzo, on a bed of arugula, and add top with a little sauce, or better yet, some steamed then sauted broccolini would have been a great addition as well. Enjoy!!

Starving....

I decided to go back to blogging on this site. I have so much to say, and when I get texts and messages that my words are motivating you to make changes in your lives, it drives my desire to continue to share. If you don't know my mantra yet, you will soon know that I love CARBS and that I am fueled by carbs at each and every meal!! I'm not talking about the white, refined versions of carbs, but the whole grainy, comes in it's natural package, non-processed kind. Now do remember the name of this blog is "Moderation for Life", which means anything goes, but most of the time, I am fueling my body with nutrient rich food. That being said, lets get to this afternoon's recipes....

6:30am wake up call after being out late with a new group of momma friends, we are all parents of LGBT children. I toasted my whole wheat english muffin, topped with a tablespoon of natural peanut butter, no sugar added, and a tablespoon of all fruit blueberry jelly. After a brutal morning of workouts, 30 minutes on stairmaster alternating hands free intervals with holding intervals, I was dripping sweat. I then did my loop run, which was the first time I made decision to run after another workout. Ran my fastest mile!! Then to boot camp for a sweat sesh, followed by personal training with Samm Johnson. Lots to love about Samm Johnson, just her wonderment for life, but the way she challenges me based on my personal needs and always changing it up, makes me super proud to call her my friend as well. Downed my cup of cashew milk mixed with a cup of dark chocolate almond milk, and headed to physical therapy next, where Belinda literally ripped the fascia from my scar tissue around my implants, no bueno. And when heating my back and chest, she developed a new torture device for me, having someone poke my rehabbing foot with the dull and pokey side of a paperclip, in an attempt to de-sensitive the area. Fun and games, and to think, I pay for all this torture!!

During PT all I could think about was my lunch. And after Samm shared that she had nachos yesterday at Active Culture, I knew what I would be preparing as soon as I got home.

First I threw down a nectarine. Then I took two recipes and mixed them together. While I love avocado, it is highly calorie, so I always dumb it down with veggies. My fav two recipes are the California Pizza Kitchen Guac copy cat recipe, http://lifeyourway.net/california-pizza-kitchen-guacamole-copycat-recipe/ and this Fresh Veggie Chopped Salad,http://moderation4life.blogspot.com/2012/02/fresh-veggie-chopped-salad.html, both of which I use for appetizers with tortilla chips.

I just meshed the ingredients, lots of chopping for this impatient rumbling stomach, but within 30 minutes, I was chowing down.



I weighed out two servings of blue chips, and layered them with the salad, followed by grilled jalapenos and homemade tomatillo salsa. Yum!! Let me know what you think....