Moderation

I have been a slacker. I will admit to that freely. To be completely fair I had a sinus infection and a pretty nasty bronchitis flare up. I am on the mend finally finished up my antibiotics today.  So why do you ask do I go into this ramble and what does it have to do with moderation? Being sick and unable to work out stresses me out. I have to watch what I eat closer to keep up my weight loss. But I don't want to go insane when I am sick and want a piece of pizza. So what does one do? You work at moderation. Yes the statement everything in moderation is true. This moto is something I follow closely and is why I have had success over 3 years maintaining my weight now. I base my days off of the theory that some days I am going to eat fried chicken or a salad/soup. You really have to look at the big picture here and figure out what works for you. Here are some examples.

This is literally what I ate for dinner not 10 minutes ago. Two rolls of sushi and a diet soda.. Emily.. I can feel you judging but let me explain how I fit this in. I had 3 strawberries and a yogurt for breakfast. I drank two things of chai tea not sweetened in between my breakfast and lunch. I followed that up with a medium salad (no meat) and some coconut cashews. Pretty decent meals right? It leaves me with more calories if you will for that sushi. I am eating in moderation. I am looking at serving sizes and counting it all up. 

Oh goodness it is the end of the world we ate chicken for dinner one night. This was when I was sick and damn if I wanted some mashed potatoes. I have had KFC maybe once in the past year. So because of that thought and the idea of moderation I planned this day out. Yogurt, gatorade and chicken soup for breakfast/lunch this day. Left me plenty of calories for this meal. Now could I have cut out the gravy and removed the chicken skin to save even more? Sure... but come on why do that we barely ever have chicken like this.

When I talk about moderation what sorts of salads and soups do I have? Well look at my blog history I have plenty of ideas. You can really make soup with whatever you have in fridge and the same goes for salads. For me it is easier to eat a big dinner for more calories than my other meals.

So now I am sure you are like oh you make it seem easy but come on what about beverages?
I drink beer, wine, soda and juice like I eat food. Either I save up the calories or I pick lower calorie options. Let's be real though I love a good dark beer. I drink moderately though. You do not need to go get drunk every where you go to have a good time. Having a good dark beer or a glass of wine with dinner is fine. 5 glasses of wine are a bit over the top though and let's be honest that is not moderation. I also will sub in a diet soda if there are not good options as needed. Diet coke is of course my favorite.







I bring up this topic today because people comment on what I eat and drink all the time. I wanted to bring up the idea of moderation and how you can still have your cake and eat it too. Literally eat the damn piece of cake every once and a while. Just not the entire cake okay.

Until next time~
XoXo Emily

American Shepards Pie

This was exactly what we needed in this sick house of ours. I am finally feeling on the mend and Ryan is still pretty sick. This meal was a mass up of random leftovers I found in my fridge and those meals always are hit or miss. This was a hit. The creamy mashed potatoes with the well seasoned hamburger patty really hit the spot. I love to throw extra veggies into anything I can so I loved this. I would actually make this again.

What you need~
2 hamburger patties seasoned well and cooked
1 bag of frozen veggies (cooked)
1/2 cup of gravy
2 cups of mashed potatoes
1/4 cup cheese

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Prep all of the food items listed above. Once everything is prepped layer in a crock or oven save bowl in the order listed above. Place in the oven for 20 minutes and then for 5 minutes broil to brown the cheese. Great way to use up leftovers.

First layer hamburger.

Top hamburger with veggies and gravy.

Add mashed potatoes and cheese.

Ta Da! 

Hot and tasty.

This was a nice way to use up random things we had in the fridge for a filling meal. I hope you try it sometimes.

Until next time~
XoXo Emily

Coconut Flour Pizza Crust

This was so good. I have to admit if your husband comes to you and asks you to make a homemade pizza crust that is healthy and tasty you just do it. Ryan asked me to make this and with the mixer it was whipped up in no time. I made this before the death flu took over my life. I am slowly on the mend but dang that took the wind out of my sails a bit. But back to this crust it actually made about two 10 inch pizzas and I will be putting this in rotation due to how low calorie it is compared to normal pizza crust.

What you need~

• 1 tsp Garlic powder
  1 tsp Onion powder
  1 tsp Oregano, dried
  4 Eggs, large
  1/2 cup Marinara sauce
  1/4 cup Coconut flour
  1 Olive oil spray
  1 cup Mozzarella, part-skim
  6 tbsp Parmesan cheese, grated
  2 tbsp Water

It really is tasty.

Start by pre-heating the oven to 400 degrees F. Prep your pizza pan with parchment paper and spray the paper with the olive oil. In the stand mixer or a larger bowl wisk together the seasonings and eggs. Then add in the coconut flour and Parmesan cheese. Let this rest for about 5 minutes to let all the batter melt together. Spread half of the mixture on the pizza pan you prepped before. Bake until lightly browned on the edges. Remove and top with toppings. At this point I found it better to slide the crust off of the parchment paper directly onto the pizza pan to crisp the bottom of the crust a bit. Turn the oven to HI for the broiler and broil until crispy and melted. Do the same thing for the second pie. This is just the best thing to share for two. I hope you enjoy!

The second batch was much more crisp. 

Hard to let it cool before eating.

Ready to go into the oven.

 

Ready for oven.

Mixing it up.

Ready for coconut flour. 

Another picture of the yumminess.

Until next time~

XoXo Emily 

Pulled Pork

One of my all time favorite potluck recipes! I love this recipe as it is easy to make and always a big crowd favorite. I have to admit on this cold and snowy day it is nice to write a post from the comfort of my warm couch. Don't worry I am still cleaning and doing laundry today but it is nice to do it all at my own pace. Back to this tasty meal. 

I like to eat mine open face on a really good piece of bread!

What you need~

Pork shoulder (I bought 2 small ones that equaled about 5 pounds together)

Seasoning

1 cup apple cider

BBQ sauce

Buns

(coleslaw) optional 

Before Shredding 

Start by heavily seasoning the pork shoulder(s). Place fat side down in the crockpot. You will notice that there is a side of the shoulder that has a layer of white fat. I always place this down as it protects the meat from over cooking. Pour in your cup of apple cider and let this all cook for 8 hours on low. A half hour before serving you want to shred your meat. If you have a kitchenaid mixer you can shred the meat with the paddle attachment on low really quickly. I think it saved me like a half hour shredding it this way. Now you may want to pour out the liquid in the pot before putting the meat back in. DO not do that. This juice if you will is what is going to keep your meat moist while it sits. Make sure you mix the meat into the juices really well before putting on a bun and topping with coleslaw and BBQ sauce. I hope you enjoy these little heavenly sandwiches! 

Use the paddle attachment.

Starting to shred. 

In action.

Almost done takes like a minute tops.

Mix back into the juices. 

Is your mouth watering? 

Until next time~

XoXo Emily 

Veggie Packed Spaghetti Bake

Easy and tasty.  Lately I am looking for simple meals I can just throw together last minute. This worked out really well. I really liked that all I had to do was throw it all in a pan in the oven and cook noodles right before serving.

What you need~
1 small onion diced
4 cloves of garlic minced
2 chicken breast
1 can of jar sauce
2 cups of broccoli chopped
1 cup of spinach chopped
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup parmesean cheese
Natures Seasoning to taste
Half a container of spaghetti

Layer it up!

Start by pre-heating oven to 350 degrees F. In a deep baking dish layer the onion, garlic, chicken, broccoli, spinach, sauce and then cheeses. Season each layer as you go. Bake for 30-45 minutes. Close to the end of cook time boil your noodles till done. Serve noodles and bake together. It was really filling and packed with veggies.

Mmmm... 

Bubbling in the oven 

Try not to eat the whole plate. YUM!

I know some of you are trying to eat super healthy. If so you can omit half the cheese and sub out the noodles for veggie noodles if you wish. I actually made some sweet potato noddles to throw in with the normal pasta here.  Let's keep it happy and healthy!

Until next time~
XoXo Emily

Travel Adventures: Ice Auto-X Racing

Terrifying?
I am scared of being on the ice. I also did not like the idea of racing our Honda FIT on the ice or really at all. Sometimes you have to support your spouse and trust them. This actually turned out okay and I faced some big fears here. Were we fast? No. We were almost comically slow but it was really about getting out there and having some fun. There were even some really insane cars, trucks, Frankenstein cars racing. I have captures some of the fun moments below. Always remember to face those fears and don't be scared to just go out and adventure on!

Just taking my Mercedes for a little daily drive. 

I mean fashion first? This is about the time I was preparing to die. 

Waiting in grid to go race. Counting my blessings.

Waiting...

Getting lined up.

A lot of cars today.

This car was stupid slow, got stuck every five minutes so it constantly had to be pushed out of the snow drifts and was a convertible. None of that matters they seemed like they had a great time. 

You know racing.... a smart car. 

Insane... fast... Insane.

Another picture of the speed demon.

Took a couple pictures of Ryan. At start.

Fun!

Just eating up the snow. 

He looks fast but it was slow going out there. So slick! 

He looks so dang proud. Had a ton of fun. 

Two thumbs up we did not die! 

I have no idea what this was... a monster.

What a fun day.  I am sure Ryan will have me out here again real soon. Support those you love!

Until next time~
XoXo Emily