Kara

Easy Healthy Breakfast Option – Egg Muffins

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As I’ve confessed to you before (see this post) I am addicted to protein shakes in the morning. However, I’ve gotten a couple messages from readers asking for a different option. This is a post I wrote for my old blog and thought some of you might enjoy it also. It’s an easy breakfast option that you can feel good about eating. (Note: You can make these ahead of time on Sunday afternoon and have your breakfast done for the week).

Ingredients needed:
6 eggs
1 cup liquid egg whites
Non-stick cooking spray
Any veggies/meats or toppings you want to put in your muffins

Step one:
Crack open 6 large eggs into a bowl.

Step two:
Add in one cup of liquid egg whites (I buy the Target brand but any brand will do)

Step three:
Whisk together and then pour into a greased muffin pan.

Step four:
Gather any ingredients that you want to include inside your omelets.

For ours,  we chose spinach (Frozen chopped spinach that I defrosted and drained), onions, and Canadian bacon, plus a little low-fat cheddar cheese.

You could use almost anything here. I love when I make them also with canned tomatoes (drained), green peppers, ham, cheddar cheese, olives…whatever you have on hand!

Step Five:

Drop in any toppings/ingredients that you want to put in your omelets (Save your cheese to go on after all other toppings).

Step Six:
Bake in a 400 degree oven for 17-20 minutes.

Step Seven:
Allow to cool, remove from pan, and store in refrigerator for up to 1 week.
To heat up two muffins, microwave 30 seconds, then I like to top with Franks Hot Sauce.  It’s a delicious, fast, easy breakfast that you can feel good about eating.

4 Common Mistakes When Trying to Get Healthy

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I had three separate conversations today with people that are trying to get healthy.

Three separate people with three different goals.

Three unique bodies with different metabolisms, food sensitivities, preferences, and millions of other variables.

But each of them was struggling with this whole “Getting Healthy” journey in the same ways. They are each doing a great job and doing the best that they can, but had begun falling prey to some very common mistakes that people encounter when trying to get healthy.

Mistake #1– They were putting their worth (and their success) into a number on the scale.
Friends, hear me on this…The scale is not an indicator of your worth. It’s not even an accurate reflection of the health improvements you’re making. Really want to know if you’re making progress? Take note of how you feel, your energy levels, your cravings and how your pants fit. Want to take it a step further? Take measurements and photographs monthly. If you absolutely MUST weigh yourself, limit it to once a week.

Mistake #2– They were expecting immediate changes to happen in what foods they crave or that lifelong patterns would suddenly be different. You did not get to the place you are right now overnight and you will not get out of it overnight. This is a process and takes time. TRUST THE PROCESS.

Mistake #3– They were trying to do a complete overhaul of their lives all at one time. This is extremely difficult, y’all. It’s the reason why almost every New Years Resolution to lose weight has fizzled out by March and why most people regain back any weight that they lost and then some. If you try to all of a sudden cut out everything at once, statistically, you have little change of being successful at lifelong, sustainable change. As we’ve talked about on our facebook page ( www.facebook.com/wellnesswitness ), we need to pick ONE healthy habit and to focus on it for a couple weeks. (Ex: cutting out soft drinks/tea and switching to water). Once you’ve gotten good at that, then add in another healthy habit (ex: getting in some form of exercise four times a week). By tackling one thing at a time, your chances of succeeding have such multiplied exponentially.

Mistake #4– We focus so much on our physical condition that we neglect our spiritual, mental or emotional condition. I am not trying to help you improve only your body weight or your pant size. Friends, I want to speak to your hearts. No six pack, hourglass figure, or perfect physique will matter one bit if our hearts are far from Christ. If you have to choose between spending 10 minutes to get in a quick workout, or to spend those 10 minutes in prayer and the Bible, I want you to choose time with God. If we don’t have this priority in place first, nothing else that comes after will matter.

My goal is that our physical fitness and our wellness, comes from an overflow of our love and our relationship with Christ. We choose to honor our bodies and to walk in wellness because we know that we were created by Him, loved by Him, and equipped by Him.

No matter where you are in your journey, know this…You can’t do this in your own strength. I’m sorry, you can’t. But through HIM and His strength, not only CAN you do it- you WILL. We are in this journey together and I’m ready to link arms with you and walk you through. Please message me, email me, or join in on the conversations on our facebook page if you have specific questions or need prayer. I’m cheering for you and look forward to seeing all the good that will come from your faithfulness to steward your health well!

Our Grilled Chicken

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Happy Sunday!
Each week, we grill around 4-5  lbs of chicken breasts to eat during the week. We also sometimes grill a pork tenderloin.

I first trim the chicken and then put it into a big ziplock bag with half a bottle of Italian dressing.

Here’s a picture of our favorite type of tenderloin.

Then Marcus grills it. Be sure you watch the video above with his grilling tips 🙂

Once it’s cooled, we use it to make lunches with for the week, plus we usually have some one night for supper and also some for snacks.

*We use a veggie basket to cook any vegetables that we are fixing that week. It’s perfect for peppers and onions- our favorites!

You can also cut it into strips then freeze it for future meals. If you decide to do this, cut it into strips, then place the strips onto a cookie sheet. Freeze the chicken and then once it’s completely frozen solid, transfer the strips to a freezer bag. You can take out the amount that you need for a quick meal and then keep the rest frozen.

Keeping an Inspiration Journal

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If you aren’t familiar with my background, let me give you a quick recap.

I love food. LOVE. I have never been extremely overweight, but after I was married and had kids, my weight slowly crept up. I ate to calm stress, I ate to celebrate good news, I ate when I was sad, I ate when I was bored, I ate when I was lonely…you get the point. Whatever I was feeling, I tended to express in the kitchen (or the drive thru!).

I’ve known this habit needed to change. I started and stopped dozens of times. I’ve tried many of the gimmicks and plans out there and they work, for a short time. But then the real issue was always still there.

Last year, I decided to tackle the root of the problem, which wasn’t a physical issue at all. The bigger issue was a spiritual one- a heart issue. Once I realized that, something clicked inside of me and I determined that 2013 would be THE LAST year I would make the same resolution as all the years before ‘to get skinny’, and that instead I WOULD GET HEALTHY. And not for reasons like it had been in the past. No longer did I just want to look good in my clothes again or feel fit, but I knew that I needed to honor God through my health and wellness.

And so the journey began. You can read a bit more about what I learned by reading this post.

The changes I made were not easy. There were many days that I failed more than I succeeded. But with lots of prayer, a pantry and fridge loaded full of healthy options, and the support of friends on the same journey, I kept pushing forward. Several tools helped me along the way.

One easy one that you can implement TODAY is an inspiration journal. Some people make vision boards that serve the same purpose, but I wanted  a small journal where I could write down things to help me in my wellness adventure.

I started by going to Wal-Mart and picking up one that I thought was cute and a good size. (Do NOT get hung up on this part- ANY notebook will do!)

Next, I started the book by writing down my “WHY”. This list grew until eventually I had multiple reasons WHY I wanted and needed to get healthy.

I keep lots of things written in this book that help me to push forward when I’m off track or when I feel like quitting.

I include quotes that I find on pinterest that inspire me.

I include my weekly weigh-ins (although the scale is only one small piece of the overall picture).

I include my monthly measurements.

I include workouts that have been especially hard or were at new personal bests.

When I would get off track I would write out what had led to it, the foods I chose to indulge in, and then how I felt afterwards, especially the physical issues that arose when I chose to resort to old patterns of eating.

Anything that happened to me over the course of the year that served to inspire or motivate went into that little book. And now, I look back at it and it STILL motivates me.

I encourage each of you to start one. Write down your WHYs. Write down what healthy habit you are tackling and put down the date when you accomplish it. Write down your workouts or your food log. This book will serve as a visual reminder of the progress you are making.

Let me know if you have questions!

Morning Protein Shake

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I have a confession.
I am addicted to my morning protein shakes!
 I eat the same, exact thing for breakfast almost every single morning.
Whether it’s summer time and hot outside, or freezing cold like it has been lately, I still choose to have one each morning.
It is filling, it’s delicious, and it meets my personal fitness and wellness goals.

 

I have experimented with many different recipes for these shakes and used many different protein powders. I’ve had some amazing ones, and some not-so-amazing ones . My favorite is the Chocolate by Momsanity. You can order yours from my affiliate link HERE.  This is the one we use in my home—all four of us!
 I thought it would be fun to share my favorite version with y’all in case you have been looking for a delicious version to start with.

 

Ingredients needed:

*8-10 oz. unsweetened Vanilla almond milk (you can use regular milk, but I have limited my dairy significantly over the past year)
*1 scoop protein powder- I use Chocolate.
*small handful of frozen blueberries
*small handful of frozen spinach (you won’t taste it, trust me!)
*2 TB of unsweeted cocoa powder (You may adjust this up or down depending on your personal preferences. Best to start with small amount and add more if you like it)
*1 TB Natural Peanut Butter (My favorite is Smuckers Natural Chunky) OR PB2 Powdered PB
I also like to pour in about half a cup of my coffee from that morning. Totally optional. But delicious.
*Crushed ice. The more you add, the more like a ‘slushy’ it will be.

Put all in your blender and blend. And be ready to have your mind blown.

 

This shake is so good that I have to make M his own portion of it or he will try to drink all of mine. It keeps me full until my morning snack.

 

This shake is NOT low-calorie, so if you are watching your calories, this may not be the best version for you. I do not watch calories, but look to eat nutritious, whole foods high in protein and fiber so this fits my personal goals perfectly.

*After drinking this (especially if you drink it while driving to work like I do) check your teeth when you finish! 🙂 The blueberry seeds and spinach like to hang around. 🙂

Hamburger Lettuce Wraps

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Looking for a quick, easy meal? These lettuce wraps are one of our favorites!

Ingredients: (Customize these amounts to what your family prefers)
1 lb. Ground Beef
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 TB McCormick Hamburger Seasoning
A few shakes of Worcestershire Sauce
One big squirt of ketchup
One big squirt of mustard

Instructions:
1- Brown Ground Beef and Onion. Drain off the fat.

 

2- Add in Garlic, Hamburger seasoning, Worcestershire, ketchup and mustard and stir.

3- Cook on Med Low for around 5 minutes.

We serve ours on Romaine lettuce leaves topped with pickles and any other hamburger type toppings you prefer. My husband really likes his topped with blue cheese.

 

Enjoy!