rachyt720

What’s On Your Menu?

Cauliflower & Sweet Potato Soup w/ scallions and bacon

Majority of the time, Sunday’s are dedicated to food shopping, meal prepping and getting ready for the week. Yesterday was no exception.

What usually happens is, I go through the store circulars, store coupons and manufacturer coupons and plan our meals based on the deals of the week. I’m on a budget! “Look babe! Turkey is 99 cents per pound. Are you good with turkey this week?” “Yea, anything is good,” says my husband.

Yesterday was not one of those days…

$178.00 later: 2 lbs ground turkey, chicken breast, fresh salmon, shrimp, fruits, cauliflower, sweet potato, mozzarella cheese, eggs, almonds, strawberries, apples etc…. And my small list became this ginormous list and I was overwhelmed by the cost but the food was already scanned and bagged and the next thing I know, I am home prepping 1,000 things I had not planned on.

I stumbled upon Peas & Crayons Slow Cooker Sweet Potato & Cauliflower Soup recipe and had to give it a try. If any parents are reading this and have trouble getting your kids to eat their veggies, this is a good one. The sweet potato overpowers the cauliflower taste.

This recipe also gave me an excuse to purchase an immersion blender and I am in love. It is way better than a handheld mixer that you use for baking… I dread using those things because most of the food ends up on the walls.

Yields: 16 cups (8oz) and freezes well!

Ingredients:

2 pounds Sweet Potato (Approx 2 large potatoes)- peeled and cubed
2 pounds fresh head of cauliflower- roughly chopped
Original recipe calls for 1 quart veggie broth, I used chicken broth for extra flavor
1 large onion-diced
5 cloves garlic peeled. I minced my garlic
4 stalks scallion- chopped
1 tsp dried thyme- I did not have this so I used oregano
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp red pepper flakes (more if you really like a kick)
1/4 tsp salt or to taste- My hubby said it was enough salt. I had to add more to my soup
2 cups milk
2oz. cream cheese

Directions:

Put everything into your crock pot except for milk and cream cheese. Set on high for 4-5 hours or until veggies are fork tender (took mine 4 hours)
Once tender, turn slow cooker off, add milk and cream cheese and blend using an immersion blender.
I topped our soups off with crumbled bacon, scallions and shredded cheese.

Stay tuned for a Caprese meatball recipe. So good!

XOXO,

Rachel

Cheat Clean Pizza

This pizza is awesome and so is my Pusheen cat eating pizza shirt

You are so lucky that I am not greedy when it comes to sharing food or I would have never provided this gem of a product to you. It’s called Real Good Pizza and it’s delivered straight to your door.

Christmas came early this year and all of Santa’s Little Helpers are putting together these little, beautiful, tasty pizzas to drop at your front door. Just because you’ve eaten bad here and there doesn’t mean you’ll get a lump of coal this year. Santa actually wants to help you reach your goal while enjoying guilt free, gluten free, grain free pizza.

Whoever created this is like the Steve Jobs of pizza or wait, the Mozart of pizza, ok last one, the Picasso of Pizza (ba dum tss!)

These 5” pizzas are packed with 25g of protein and only 4g net carbs. This is a low carbers dream! Three styles available for purchase: Pepperoni, Supreme, and Three Cheese

Shipping is free and usually arrives within 2-3 business days and if you use code Rachel , you will get an additional 10% off your order.

Prep is easy as well- either microwave or oven and it has such a fresh taste. I served it along side a salad and was totally satisfied. My Husband is a huge evening snacker but he was so happy with this dinner that he didn’t reach for a snack last night. This is the definition of #cheatclean

One more thought before I go-

Pizza is life!

XOXO,

Rachel

Crock pot comfort soup

I love stews, soups, and meat and potatoes… Guess that’s the Russian in me, huh?

It’s almost October and while the days are still warm the nights are getting cooler. I love fall weather, fall outfits, decorations, tea and coffee… Call me a Basic Bitch but I don’t care!

The crock pot gets used here and there throughout the warmer months but it really takes real estate on the kitchen table during the colder months. I am a huge fan of soup. I could eat it breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s filling, easy to make, low cal/low carb and comforting. I made a huge batch Sunday night and having it for lunch every day this week.

I got a little over zealous with the black pepper yesterday

1.5cup per serving

Ingredients:

2 large onions-diced
2 large celery stalks-diced
2 large carrots-diced *In our house, the more carrots the better. Especially because our dog loves boiled carrots. Most of the time, I empty a small bag of baby carrots in the soup and scoop a bunch out for Mr.Marty Party Pants
4 slices cooked bacon diced (do not get rid of bacon drippings)…If you prefer sausage, I bet some crumbled sausage would be good
1 TSP Salt and pepper (or more to taste)
Italian seasoning to taste
4 cups chicken broth (I used College Inn)
1 LB boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into itty bitty pieces
2 Cups fresh spinach
*Red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions:

Cook bacon
While bacon is cooking, chop up onions, carrots and celery
Chop up chicken and season with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning
Remove bacon from pan and cook chicken in drippings (add oil or butter if needed) until chicken is browned
Remove chicken and saute veggies for about 5-10 min then add one cup of the chicken broth and cook for another 5 minutes, scraping the pan to loosen browned bits
Add chicken, veggies, bacon and remaining broth to crock pot and cook on high for 3 hours
After 3 hours, add spinach and stir till wilted

The end!

XOXO,

Rachel

Cryo Therapy-Dog Therapy

Hi All,

Happy Tuesday aka 27 more hours of the work week left to go. #Wompwompwomp

I’ve become somewhat of a gym fanatic over the past 2 years. I got two tickets to the gun show right here for ya. Due to my “hardcore” training, I’ve developed wrist pain, hip pain, and tendinitis in my right foot. The worst part of my weekend was when the Doc said “no more squats, zumba, stair-master” (the list goes on-basically anything that can irritate my foot). The best thing I heard all weekend was when the Doc said, “no burpees.” I texted my trainer immediately to let her know the severity of the situation and under no circumstance can we do burpees anymore.

In an effort to fix myself, I gave cryo therapy a shot and of course my Husband joined me because he is my biggest cheerleader. I understand that cryo is not a quick fix nor is it the end all be all but I’ve heard good things so #yolo. They place you in a big tank for 3 min and your skin reaches about -1F. I have a pretty high pain threshold but a very low tolerance for cold weather and to me, 75-80 is cold. I was a bit nervous hearing how cold it gets in that chamber but they assured me that it’s just the skin that gets cold and it really isn’t THAT bad.

It was a strange sensation. I was so cold on the outside and shaking involuntarily but my insides were totally normal. Sometimes it’s so cold you feel it in your bones, you know? This wasn’t the case with cryo. I felt totally normal on the inside but so so-very cold on the outside. After the three minutes, you warm up in front of a bunch of heat lamps and it’s all good in da hood. My body felt as if I just got the best massage ever. I felt so relaxed and had zero tension in my neck and back.

I woke up the next day with ZERO pain in my ankle. I thought I was cured! So, to celebrate I did an intense hour of zumba (this instructor is no joke) and spent the rest of the weekend feeling like an idiot because my ankle was throbbing. Does cryo help- I think yes. Will I do it again- most definitely.

Feeling a bit down for a few weeks now. Nothing too serious but still making me feel bleh. Sometimes all you need is some dog therapy.

My dog is the best. Marty- part Chihuahua part Jack Russell total maniac total lush. I always wondered who loved me more; my dad, my mom or my husband but that’s such a silly question, it’s obviously Marty. Who else will share a pie of pizza and pint of ice cream with you and not pass judgement and since you’re lactose intolerant you’re experiencing your own Chernobyl-like consequences but that loyal dog will sit there quietly as if nothing is happening. That my friends is the ultimate #judgementfreezone. If you don’t have a dog, you should get one. They will melt the coldest of hearts and fill your every day mundane life with love, laughter, and kisses. As always, adopt don’t shop! I hope everyone experiences a Marty in their lives ❤

Stay tuned for a low carb comfort soup recipe…..

xoxo,

Rachel

Hump Day snackaroo

This picture does the fudge no justice…just sayin’ …don’t judge a book by it’s cover

On Wednesday’s I usually post music to get us through the rest of the week but today I decided to share a no bake-6 ingredient fudge recipe.

Some strawberries, fudge and a little mid week lovin’, not a bad deal, huh?

Low carb mid week lovin’ fudge:

Ingredients:

3oz Baker’s unsweetened chocolate (this can be purchased at any supermarket in the baking aisle) *one bar has eight servings = 90cal per serving 1g of NET carbs per serving
4tbls butter
1 tbls coconut oil
1/3 cup natural peanut butter (or peanut butter of choice)
1 tbsp sugar free syrup- I used Torani (Found mine at Home Goods)
1/3 cup honey but I am sure agave or maple work

Directions:

Melt all ingredients in microwave or double broiler if you have the patience
Line a meatloaf pan with parchment paper
Pour mixture evenly throughout pan
Freeze for about 2 hours but longer the better

XOXO,

Rachel

Updates-Taco Tuesday Recipe-Music

Hi All,

Can’t believe it’s already September! Speaking of which….Why are Halloween decorations already for sale? No, wait, why are THANKSGIVING decorations already for sale?

Stop- slow down…smell the roses! Time is flying by so fast… everybody needs to relax.

My Husband and I completed our second mud run- Warrior Dash … what can I say, we love getting down and dirty.

We wanted to get one more trip in before the end of the year so we will be celebrating Thanksgiving in Prague!

This past weekend my two other blog-mates and I got to stand along side our friend and watched her marry the love of her life.

I discovered a delicious taco bake recipe that I would like to share with all of you! I am in love with this recipe for several reasons: It’s versatile (can add/swap ingredients), make a big batch to last all week or to freeze, it’s low carb, easy and quick to cook.

Taco bake recipe found here *I did make some changes to fit my needs so check out the original if you do not wish to follow mine

Ingredients

Crust

4oz of cream cheese softened
3 eggs
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon taco seasoning
8oz shredded cheddar cheese (I used taco blend- that’s what I had on hand)

Topping

1 pound ground beef
3 teaspoons taco seasoning
1/2 cup tomato sauce (I did not have this on hand so I used marinara and tasted just fine!)
4oz chopped green chilies
4oz shredded cheddar cheese (I used taco blend)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375F
Beat cream cheese and eggs until smooth
Add whipping cream and seasoning- blend well
Grease a 9 x 13 pan
Spread shredded cheese evenly throughout the bottom of the pan and slowly and evenly pour egg/cream cheese mixture on top
Bake for approx 30 min
While your crust is baking, cook the beef until brown.
Drain fat
Stir in chilies, taco seasoning and tomato sauce
Once crust is cooked, remove from oven and let it sit for 5 min. Then spread meat mixture over crust, top with additional shredded cheese.
Lower oven temp to 350F
Bake for another 20 min or until bubbly. I like my cheese more burnt so I baked for approx 30 min.

Additional topping ideas:

Salsa, guacamole, sour cream, scallions.

I divided the pan into 8 squares- one square for lunch each day this week and some left over slices for Hubby to enjoy with a side of brown rice and salad.

Sooooo… some music for ya. I have to listen to people all day long and sometimes, I just love the silence. Don’t we all? But, I don’t like to work out in silence… that’s just boring. I have found a happy medium for anyone in the same predicament.

Instrumental music! Don’t sigh at me. Give it a chance… here is some of the music I’ve been listening to:

Lindsey Stirling- Swag

Lindsey Stirling- The Arena

Lindsey Stirling- First light

Audiomachine- Legions of Doom

Jorge Quintero- 300 Violin Orchestra

London Music Works- Requiem For a Tower

Roberto Concina Escala Chris Elliot- Children

I have some more recipes for you but I will be posting in the days to come. Let me know if you like this music, I can give you all some more ideas.

Xoxo,

Rachel

Been A While

Wow! It’s been some time. Since I last posted, my husband and I participated in a 5k mud run, visited Japan and relaxed on the beach in St.Lucia.

We’ve been non stop – on-the-run and I am trying to understand how to balance me time, free time, work, and relaxation. Isn’t adulting so hard? Sometimes I want to be a kid and have nap time. Why don’t grown ups get nap time?

Anyway, let’s discuss vacations and food. Worry and panic over food and weight gain is an understatement. It consumes me…all day, every day and these vacations were no exception…oh, my poor husband. Bless his beautiful, sweet, loving, patient soul. He listens to me talk about food all the time. Unfortunately its my reality. It’s my life and my struggle.

Japan was our first vacation since I’ve lost 100 + pounds. Can I tell you how good it felt to sit on the plane?! There was so much seat belt left, so much butt room and leg room. I felt like I was in my own personal first class seat.

Food that I packed:

Beef Jerky
Single serve peanut butter
Protein bars (1 for each day)
Single serve trail mix
Bananas/Apples
Citterio Salami and Cheese packs (Sold at Target)
2 sandwiches for my husband (the flight to Japan was about 14 hours)
Chicken salad… I didn’t want to torture everyone on the plane with egg or tuna salad

I packed the food in a small lunch bag that can stay cool up to 10 hours. It worked perfectly and did not take up much space.

Japan was great in the sense that we walked 8-10 miles a day… so I never had any guilt about not going to the gym. Vacation breakfast is always the best meal of the day (IMO) because there is always eggs and bacon/sausage, fruit, and oatmeal. Lunch and dinner were the hardest- 1. Main ingredient in most dishes was fish (I don’t eat fish) 2. I am very picky with meat and most of the meat was either doused in sauces/gravies or fried…It was good because my food choices were limited but bad because I was tempted to eat udon noodles. But I prevailed. No noodles for me. I just limited my portions of fried/saucy meat and loaded up on veggies. The strangest thing in all of this is, I gained 6 pounds but lost it within 2 days of returning. Maybe it was the long travel, time difference, etc… It all went back to normal right away.

St.Lucia was another beast to tackle. This was my first island trip… first bathing suit trip…We did not exercise as much as I had wanted but come on… I need some R&R! I approached this trip the same way but made sure not to snack at all since there was very little working out. I did not gain one pound. NOT ONE PEOPLE!

Aside from the food battles, both trips were amazing. Japan was incredible and life changing and so beautiful. We will definitely visit again.

This was our second trip to St.Lucia and just as beautiful and romantic as the first time. We climbed one of the Pitons which was crazy. Rock climbing is definitely not my thing but the view was worth it.

My Husband petting an Owl at an Owl Cafe in Japan

Universal Japan.jpg — Universal Studios in Japan!

Shrine in Japan.jpg — We climbed the longest staircase to get to this shrine. Felt like we were on top of the world!

St Lucia Sunset.jpg — And finally, a sunset Kiss

xoxo,

Rachel

Life and….Cauliflower Fried Rice

I want to apologize for not being around lately. I’ve been super busy with family gatherings, work out/training, work… life in general!

Around 9:30 last night, I said to my husband, “I haven’t sat down yet and it’s almost time for bed.” That is mentally draining for me. I need some time to decompress or else I get anxious and impatient. Definitely the opposite of my usual bubbly self.

I didn’t get to meal prep this weekend (so sad) but Serge and I did accomplish one thing that’s been tearing at my soul: Spring cleaning!

We got rid of so much crap. I feel a weight lifted off my shoulders and even though the scale hasn’t moved down, I feel like I’ve dropped a ton of weight by getting rid of “things”.

Thanks for listening to my mini rant. I’ll get to the good stuff now.

My Mama and I go nuts over cauliflower, especially when they are so crispy right out of the oven! My Grandma recently nailed the whole cauliflower pizza thing (thanks Grandma for keeping the pizza dream alive!)…So you could say that cauliflower is sort of a big deal. I mean how can it not be a big deal? You can make rice, pizza, mashed “potato”, buffalo cauliflower bites, etc… etc…

So, making cauliflower rice isn’t hard. It’s just time consuming and you need to clean all the gadgets and stuff you use to make the rice. Ain’t nobody got time for that! Thanks to Green Giant and Target for making my life so much easier.

Cauli Crumbles-16oz FINAL_sm.png — Image taken from Green Giant (click link to see product info)

The only thing I got to make in advance this week was chicken cutlets… easy enough… fry them or bake them and you’re set.

People at work have been eating Chinese food this week and Serge ate Chinese food this weekend. It’s haunting me. I made cauliflower fried rice and thinly sliced a chicken cutlet on top.

I’m sure if you search the web you’ll find tons of recipes but I had zero patience and energy to do my research so I took my chances and did my own thing. Came out pretty awesome. Only problem is, I don’t have measurements for you.

So heavenly looking… like it could almost be hash browns… mmm hash browns and eggs… you’re welcome. another idea for ya.

Ingredients:

Bag of cauliflower rice
diced veggies (I used onions, garlic, mushrooms and scallions)
One egg
Protein of choice (I used chicken cutlets… you can do shrimp, tofu, beef, pork etc)
Salt and Pepper
EVOO
Soy Sauce
Optional *Hot sauce/ red pepper flakes

Directions:

Heat EVOO on skillet
Sautee veggies of choice
Cook cauliflower rice as directed on bag while veggies are cooking
Dump “rice” onto skillet
Add seasonings to taste
When cauliflower is cooked (I like mine extra crispy), crack an egg on top and mix all together
Add protein of choice

Yummy yummy yummy! This is my lunch for the next two days. I get to eat mock Chinese food without the extra calories and carbs and bathroom attacks (was that TMI? well, I don’t care… I know you all suffer from stomach issues after Chinese. WE ALL DO!)

Make ahead Chicken and Quinoa Stew

A few things before we get started on this DELICIOUS recipe.

This is a make ahead recipe. YAY! Do it on Sunday and it should last a minimum of 4 meals. So, you either got dinner covered Monday through Thursday or your lunches covered… However you decide to split this meal up, you end up with some free time on your hands 🙂
Healthy- you get protein/grains from quinoa and brown rice, protein from chicken, you get veggies and cheese and poblano peppers and tomatoes. EEEEE!!!! So good.
This recipe was adapted from the Cooking Light April 2016 issue. They called it King Ranch Chicken and Quinoa Casserole. My husband and I both agreed that it tasted more like a stew.
Final point- the pictures do it no justice. Stews always look like a mish mosh of stuff. But stews are usually so delicious. So here ya go!

Stew/Casserole cheese laying situation happening here

Crispy quinoa and brown rice final layer

1.5 cups per serving about 4 servings in this dish

Ingredients:

1.5 cups of rotisserie chicken chopped/shredded or homemade shredded chicken
2 cups cooked quinoa or brown rice
5 tbls EVOO
3 poblano peppers chopped and seeded
1.5 cups chopped onion
1 tbsl minced garlic
2 tbls all purpose flour
2 tsps cumin
1 tsp chile powder
2 cups chicken broth
1- 14.5 ounce can fire-roasted tomatoes
1- 4 ounce can of mild chopped green chiles
3.5 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
8inch square baking dish
Optional: chopped scallions on top

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400F
Mix 1 tbls EVOO with cooked quinoa and spread across baking sheet and bake for 10-15 min (this step is really optional… it just gives a crispiness to the quinoa). We also used a quinoa/brown rice blend because that’s all we had on hand and it came out delicious… so if you don’t have quinoa, think about substituting it with brown rice.
Heat a dutch oven with olive oil, add poblano peppers, onion and garlic. Sautee for about 5 minutes.
Stir flour, cumin, chili powder. Then add stock, tomatoes, and green chiles. Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to simmer for about 10 minutes.
Remove pan from heat and stir in chicken.
Pour half the mixture at the bottom of the dish, top with half quinoa/brown rice and add 2 ounces of cheese. Repeat layers once more.
Bake at 400 for 25-30 minutes

I seriously wanted to eat the entire thing in one sitting. I hope you guys enjoy this as much as I did.

If you love Fat Girls Fitness, subscribe to our bi-weekly newsletter.

(We won’t spam you)

And/or follow Fat Girls Fitness on Facebook 🙂

80’s Music Hump Day Playlist

For your listening/work out pleasure:

Whitney Houston- I Wanna Dance With Somebody
Madonna- Papa Don’t Preach
Devo- Whip It
Aretha Franklin- I Say A Little Prayer
Michael Jackson- The Way You Make Me Feel
Techtronic- Pump Up The Jam
Pat Benatar- Hit Me With Your Best Shot
Prince- Kiss
The B-52’s- Love Shack
Eurythmics- Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
Survivor- Eye of The Tiger
Salt N Pepa- Push It
Duran Duran- Hungry Like The Wolf

If you love Fat Girls Fitness, subscribe to our bi-weekly newsletter.

(We won’t spam you)

And/or follow Fat Girls Fitness on Facebook 🙂

	emgetsfitt on How a Blank Calendar Can Help…
	inauticalsoftware on Like Iron for Vegetarians
	transforming50 on Dream Big, Plan Small
	bgddyjim on Like Iron for Vegetarians
	Chasing the French s… on Like Iron for Vegetarians