Protein Muffins

Many people have asked for recipes.  This one I thought deserved some pics and explanation.

I started with these items/ ingredients:

olive oil mister*
regular size muffin tin
carton of egg whites
Italian turkey sausage (in the links)
spinach
garlic
peppers
mushrooms
onion

* The olive oil mister is a really fun thing.  It works great for kale chips

1. Spray the muffin tin generously with olive oil.  Helps them to pop right out after cooked.

2.  This is the "hardest" (if you want to all it that) part.  Chop up all the veggies.  And cook the sausage.  Seriously doesn't take long..it's just the tedious part.

Tip:  I actually browned the sausage the night before when I was cooking and left it in the frig in a container so it was ready to go.  That way all I had to do was chop veggies.

3.  You can even have a little helper mix it all together.

4.  Fill the muffin tins with veggie and meat mixture.  Then pour in egg whites close to the top.  I took a pic so you could see...I filled them up all the way with my mixture and was keeping my fingers crossed it wouldn't end in a mess.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes (mine took closer to 25)

5.  Turned out perfect!

I actually had enough mixture and egg whites to make two whole batches (24 muffins).  I shared some with some friends, kept some out for in the morning and froze some in containers to rotate through in the next couple of weeks.

They are super yummy with salsa.  And I of course left out the cheese (the recipe called for it), but if you're not doing Whole 30...put some in there, I bet it's good.

The Italian sausage makes these!  I had grabbed some at the store and so glad I thought to use it.

Whole 30

Many of you follow me on instagram and have seen all my yummy food pics I've been posting.  There are many questions around what I'm doing exactly. 

Let's start at the very beginning. 

I started doing Crossfit about 3 months ago.  (we just got new t-shirts and I was the model that day)

More on Crossfit later.  But to sum it up, I'm loving it!  The month of October, there is a gym-wide Whole 30 Challenge.  We had to do a baseline workout, measurement, weight and in 30 days redo it all and see who has the most changes.

This is Holli (and myself), my workout buddy.  We go to almost every single class together and push each other every single day (friendly competition I promise).  We had to get a pic in front of the "NO SUGAR" sign b/c that's what we are the most sad about for this next 30 days.

 

So Whole 30...the quick rundown:

• very similar to Paleo, but more strict
• Do's: meat, seafood, eggs, vegetables, fruit, seeds, nuts, oils and fat
• Don'ts: SUGAR, dairy, grain, bread, flour, wheat, legumes, alcohol, white potatoes, corn, there is more to this list, but that's the big stuff
• Purpose: to cleanse your body from foods that are having a negative impact on it. Sometimes you might not even realize.  Theory is that some aches, pains, digestive problems and inconsistent energy levels can be linked closely to your diet.

Everyone asks if our whole family is doing the challenge.  No, it's just me.  For dinner I do make things that we can all eat.  I might substitute a lettuce wrap for a tortilla, but we all eat the same basic thing.  I've had to get a little creative, but I've done tons of planning so it wouldn't be so hard.

My input on things:

I've actually never done anything like this in my life.  Those of you who know me, know I'm a sucker for a challenge.  Since our newest addition 8 months ago, I still have a little baby fluff leftover that I'm working on going bye bye.   I'm close but not quite where I want to be.  And this isn't technically a weight loss plan (at least to my understanding), it's just a focus on being/eating very clean and healthy and in the process, weight loss results usually happen.

Here is a little rant...I'm convinced food is quite the addiction for most Americans.  You want something, you go to a drive-thru and get it.  We are drawn to quick results, quick meals, quick everything...but in that process, have sacrificed much.  In conversations with people, they say things like.."good luck, I couldn't do that" or "I could never give up....blank"  The further in I get with this, the more aware I'm becoming to our dependence on food and honestly, self-control, or lack of. 

Now I'm the first to say, sometimes you just gotta have that piece of pizza or that piece of chocolate cake.  There is nothing wrong with that...where the problem comes in is, most people I know are overcommitted in one way or the other.  Because of that, there is no time to include eating healthy and exercising.  Fast food is a normal way of life,  which leads to being overweight which leads to taking diet pills...blah blah blah. 

 And honestly...I'm not gonna lie...being healthy...it's work.  You aren't always going to make the right decision about what goes in your mouth, but EAT REAL FOOD PEOPLE!  Don't take a pill to get into smaller pants!  Find a way to balance your diet and lifestyle.  If you continue to follow me through this journey, you will see, I'm not eating boiled eggs and lettuce everyday.  I've worked hard to find yummy alternatives to things I'm cutting out so I can feel satisfied and good at the end of the day.

I'm just gonna be honest...this challenge has been quite the effort.  I've been preparing for a few weeks.  Only because I wanted to make sure I do this to the best of my ability.  With that challenge, comes lots of meal planning, blog reading, and searching out recipes that will work for me and our whole family.  I'm almost through the first week and things are going good so far.  I'll be making a post each week to share my plan and progress.  Hoping this will encourage and challenge someone, or lots of someones, to make some healthy changes for yourself and your family.

Friendly gift

Most of you know I'm a hand-made gift kinda girl.  I always try to make stuff I would want to get myself. 

We recently had some good friends buy their first house and we invited ourselves invited us over for dinner.  I wanted to do something as a house-warming gift, so I put a little spin on our teacher gifts and another home project from this past year.

For our teachers I did some fun pots with flowers, with a sign that says "thank you for helping me grow".

I felt like I could make something with more neutral colors for their new home...
and here is how I did it.

Flipped the pot over and painted all the way to the rim. 

Note:  It's easier to get a good edge if the pot is turned upside down.

 

same thing for the saucer.

 

Note: I have mentioned this before, but for easier cleanup,

 I use coffee filters to hold my paint as I'm crafting.

 



 

And here is the finished product...





So, if you're looking for something useful, easy and budget friendly to give to someone...this is a good one.  I've never had anyone not like this gift and it's definitely fun to make.

Veggie sidedish

I have had many people ask about what we eat at our house.  This is one side dish that has a pretty frequent rotation and is super easy. 

Pick whatever vegetables you have...I mix lots of different kinds, but for this dish...broccoli, squash, zucchini, onion, garlic, and sweet potato.

There is no real art to cutting them up...

the zucchini, I slice in half and then cube it.

the sweet potatoes, cut into slices and then cube

 All cut up...looks like this...I drizzle some olive oil on it...

toss it around with my hands and pop it in the oven

at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes (until fork tender)

When they are finished...this is the finished product (they do shrink up a little).

Best thing about this dish...you don't need any seasoning..not even salt.  I've done this as a side dish when I bring dinner to friends and they have all said these are yummy.

One tip: I'm not a big fan of these leftover.  They get a little mushy...so I try not to make too much extra.  Or another option is...add them to your quinoa for a little change.

Couch cleaning

We tried to be smart and got the microfiber couch a while back, when we were furniture shopping.  The sales guy did a demonstration in the furniture store about how it "won't stain"...poured a coke right on the cushion and we watched the liquid roll off onto the floor.  Well...I guess nine years and two kids later...the microfiber lost it's luster. 

I had to do something to get this thing clean besides the occasional spot scrub, when something spills.  I have googled, pinterest...can't find anything that really works so I decided after this...

it was time to take some drastic measures...take the whole cushion apart.  Who knew they were just zip on covers. 

Briggs is saying..."I didn't do it".  Cutest little, guilty face I've ever seen!

I didn't even spray them with anything...just stuck them in the washing machine on delicate with some of my homemade laundry detergent, hung them up to air dry.  And...there ya have it...

I was seriously impressed with the finished product.  Since I have tried multiple avenues to clean our couch...I guess I figured what would it hurt to try the washing machine.  Glad I went with my gut :)

Lamp Re-do

I have been wanting new bedside lamps and decided to go a cheaper route than paying $50-70 per lamp.

 

a closer look at the lamp base

literally all I did was throw a coat of paint on it....and...

there ya go...

I didn't take any step by step pics b/c it was literally just painting the lamps I already have.  No sanding, scraping, sandblasting involved and lots of $$$$$$ saved.  win-win!

Quinoa salad

Ever heard of quinoa?...pronounced ("keen-wah"). That's a new staple in our pantry and we have it a few times a week as a substitute for rice or pasta with our meals. 

What is it and why cook it?  It's technically a seed/grain...sort of like rice but not really, if that makes any sense?  It sort of has a nutty flavor and is loaded with protein, so a much healthier option than all the carbs in rice or pasta.

This is what it looks like pre-cooked.  For us I usually make 1/2 cup with 1 cup of water.  It makes plenty once I add the extras, with leftovers for the next day.

after about 15 minutes it looks something like this...

what do you do with it...
I usually add some garlic, onion, spinach

sautee it all in olive oil (sometimes I sautee the spinach and sometimes not)...

mix it all together with some raw spinach and feta cheese...

and you have yourself a great side to any dish that is also yummy the next day.

other things I add to my quinoa:
any veggies I have either sauteed or roasted...squash, zucchini, sweet potatoes
sweet corn (cut off the cob)
cherry tomatoes
feta
onion
garlic
spinach
black beans
asparagus

I do lots of variations and basically just throw anything in there I have cooked up.  There are lots of recipes online on how to use quinoa.  I've also made quinoa bites before...the options are endless.