Diet Friendly Turkey Spinach Tomato Panini and Onion Soup

Lately the weather here in Cali has been far less than sunny. It has been sooo dreary and gloomy. I don't know about you, but gloomy days always make me want something warm to eat. So I thought what better thing than soup! So I headed to the kitchen to make soup and sandwich for lunch. My taste buds are still dancing thinking about it.

(Btw, check out my plants in their pots in the picture, I had no idea I had a green thumb :o )

Recipe (s) of the day:

Turkey, Spinach and Tomato Panini

Ingredients:

• Deli Style Turkey breast
• Whole wheat bread
• Fresh Spinach
• Thinly Sliced Tomato 
• Swiss Cheese (or whatever on hand) OR Avocado (I didn't have any on hand today :'( )
• A drop of olive oil or butter

Instructions: Assemble ingredients on bread. Add oil or butter to panini press or skillet on medium heat and place sandwich. If using skillet use spatula to press down on it. Panini should be ready in 3-4 mins in panini press or 5-6 minutes on skillet, browning both sides.

Onion Soup (serves 2)

Ingredients:

• 1 chopped onion
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp butter
• 16 ounces of chicken stock
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 1 tbs flour
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp thyme (fresh if on hand)
• Pepper to taste
• Swiss Cheese

Instructions: Heat oil and butter in pot over medium heat. Add chopped onion and allow to cook until soft ( about 10-15 minutes) stirring occasionally. Allow onion to caramelize (about 5 more minutes). Add wine to reduce. Once liquid is evaporated ( 1-2 mins), add flour and cook for 2-3 minutes. Then add chicken stock, thyme, and bay leaf. Bring to boil and let it simmer on medium to low heat for 5 minutes. Season with pepper, top with Swiss cheese  and serve. 

Delish!

Half sandwich and 1 1/2 cup bowl of soup

Nutritional Info:

• 355 calories
• 14 g protein
• 21 g carbs
• 6 g fat

....100 g delicious flavor, hehe :)

I know bread has been demonized in the media as being "bad". But I am here to assure you there is no such thing as "good" and "bad" foods. There are foods that offer less nutrition and are calorie laden, and foods that contain more nutrition for less calories. But when all is said and done, it's a balancing act. It's very similar to balancing your financial budget. 

Say you spent a lot of money on expensive jeans ( I'm sure they are gorgeous and look amazing btw ;) ). Since you spent so much money on jeans, you are likely to spend less money on a blouse, right? (At least I hope so... but we all have those days... I know I do o:) ) ... Unfortunately, when you go over your caloric budget that means fat stored.... Which is a surefire way to not look so great in those expensive jeans :( 

However, we are all human, and there will be days that you go over your caloric budget-that's okay! Say it's a special anniversary dinner, your birthday or whatever it may be. It's okay. Because there will be days that you come in way under caloric budget. Returning to our shopping metaphor- say the day you got things on clearance and also had a 30% off coupon :o ( You excellent shopper, you! ).  You will likely undereat some days or exercise extra hard and burn extra calories. As long as you maintain a healthy balance, it's okay. That's life. Enjoy life, and enjoy food. 

Anyway, let me know how the recipe goes. Let me know how balancing your nutrition works. Try to make the panini with half cheese and half avocado. Which tastes better? Let me know! Keep me in the loop. I love hearing from you guys. Drop me a line. 

XO

-Carmen

Bargains, bargains!

My Saturday began very unassuming. I woke up, caffeinated up and decided I'd go to the gym. Well as luck would have it... I ended up at an Estate Sale. But don't worry I did workout! And it wasn't just my wallet :P

I browsed around. Not seeing too much. Actually, I'll back up and tell you, to be perfectly honest I drove past the Estate Sale and thought to myself, "just junk", and kept driving. Shortly after writing it off as "just junk", I remembered, I love someone who pretty much just, well loves junk! So I drove back to check it out... Oh my life as the junk collectors girlfriend.

Once there I looked around, nick-knacks, old out dated furniture, incomplete pot and pan sets. It wasn't until I was about to leave that I found this.

 (Pause for you to oohh and ahhhh them :)  )

So cute right??? My recently acquired ice cream cups! Adorable and there are exactly 4! One for me, one for the master junk collector, one for the junk collector's even MORE junk collecting furry son, and one for my perfect angel Cammy.

You know, I never really thought I had the Martha Stewart happy homemaker gene. I figured it had some how skipped me, or maybe mine had mutated and was just faulty. But no. Not the case. I just hadn't met the person I wanted to have a Martha Stewart-like lifestyle with. And as outdated as this may sound, and I know some very independent, modern women may scoff at this when I say, I can't wait to serve my master junk collecting, love of my life ice cream in these.

Oh and btw, I got all 4 for $1... yes be jealous hehe...

I suppose to further nail in my recently discovered Martha Stewart-like tendencies. I found a cookbook! But not any cookbook, this cookbook was owned by someone who very obviously who loved to cook. Someone that loved her family and enjoyed sharing her love for them through cooking. The book was complete with old handwritten recipes, cut outs from magazines, cardboards from products that had recipes listed on them. If for nothing else, I wanted to get it because it was someones life's cooking work. Their cooking legacy. And from one cook to the next, I had to appreciate it.

 I was able to talk them down to one dollar. A very reasonable price. So I packed it up in my car and drove off. After I had made the purchase I chatted with the woman who did the sale with me, and she had confessed to me that the book and items for sale belonged to her late mother who had recently passed. She thanked me for so genuinely wanting to cherish her cookbook. I asked her what her mothers name was. She told me it was Janet.

So in Janet's honor. I will be cooking some of her surefire recipes. I will share them with you and we can try them together. Janet's daughter told me her mother was a fantastic cook and everyone came to visit her for her cooking. So I am exited to try these out.

Journey with me to cook through some of Janet's book. Let's celebrate her through her cooking. When I'm gone I know I would love it if one wide-eyed, wife in training tried these out. I would laugh from above, as she undoubtedly burnt a few of the breads, forgot the salt in the salt malted caramels and probably would also absent mindedly forgot to turn over the pineapple upside down cake.

I'm exited for this. Are you?

I will post a recipe sometime this week and we can make it. Let's cook up a storm.

Peace, love, and yummy cooking,

-Carmen

Btw Check out my Radio Shack Deals!

All that (minus the cookbook) for $34 :o    SCORE!

Chicken Tikka Masala a.k.a Chicken DELISHA Masala

MmMmm... So what could be better than exotic Indian cuisine? But it takes so long to make, right? Fear no more! With this quick crock pot recipe your taste buds will be shuttled straight to new Delhi in no time.

This easy, quick, delicious, and above all DIET FRIENDLY recipe for Chicken Tikka Masala will satisfy even your biggest Indian food craving. The good thing about this recipe is that at 155 calories per serving, no fat pants needed here!

This recipe can be made in your crock pot and prepped in about 10 minutes. Faster than you can say Svādiṣṭa bhāratīya khādya... Delicious Indian Food :)

Ingredients:

• 3 Chicken breast
• 3 tomatoes or 1 can of crushed tomatoes
• 1/3 cup of tomato sauce
• 1 onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 inch of ginger root
• 2 tbs of garam masala
• 1 tsp salt 
• 1 tsp pepper (freshly ground if possible)
• 1/2 cup cilantro
• 1/3 cup 2% milk

Directions:  Chop up onion, garlic, and tomatoes (if using fresh) and add to crock pot. 

Since I was using fresh tomatoes, I crushed them in the pot with a masher. Then I added the tomato sauce, garam masala, salt and pepper and mixed them up in the pot. 

( Salt and pepper addition not pictured)

Then I added the chicken breasts to the pot. 

Then I put it on high (because I was getting hungry!) and let it be for 4 hours. At three hours you can open it up and shred the chicken with two forks. Add a little more sauce if you'd like and more pepper or salt to taste if you'd like.

Once it was done it looked like this. 

I then cooked it up on the pan to cook to then in turn eat it quicker. I added some milk and let it heat on the pan for about 4-5 minutes until it thickened a little.

Then it was ready to eat! I served it with some veggies :)

 It was deeeeeelicious!! Definitely Chicken Delisha masala. 

Nutritional Info:

Serving: 3/4 cup

155 calories

21 g protein

6 g carbs

4 g fats

Delicious and Nutritious!

Try this recipe out. Let me know how it does.

X's and O's straight from my kitchen,

-Carmen

Weeknight Skinny Enchiladas

Who say's dieting can't be delicious? I used to falsely believe that dieting could only happen by eating chicken and broccoli at all meals of the day. Boy was a I wrong! I have since learned that that is completely false. You really can have your cake, and eat it too (reduced fat and in moderation of course). 

I wanted to share with you my recipe for skinny enchiladas. These delicious bites of heaven are only 200 calories, 8g fat, 21 g carbs, and 18 g protein each. Perfect! I'll eat 4 !  Just Kidding!

Ingredients you will need:

• 2 Chicken Breasts
• 1 onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 3/4 of a can of tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1 tsp consume (optional)
• 1 tsp cummin
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp oregano
• Corn tortillas
• Enchilada Sauce (canned or homemade)
• Reduced Fat cheese- or if you are not picky regular cheese. Cheddar and Monterrey work well.
• Also about a 1 tsp of olive oil

First butterfly you chicken breasts. This will make the cooking faster, and subsequently the eating faster :).

You can either bake or boil them. I opted for boiling them. A little quicker and kept my chicken pretty moist, but sometime makes the chicken lose flavor in the water. I cooked them for about 15 minutes. I added a tsp of chicken consume for extra flavor. 

While that is cooking away dice the onion and garlic. Tip for getting the peel off the garlic- hit it with the back of the knife. Seriously. The peel will fall right off. Easy! And a great frustration reducing technique ;o

By now your chicken should be ready so take it out of the pot and let it cool until you can handle it and shred it. Set it aside.

Next cook the onion and garlic on the skillet with a little olive oil. About 2 minutes. Next add the sauce, chicken broth, chicken, and spices. Combine on the skillet so that its all good and mixed and the same color.  (Picture below was just after I added the spices and before I combined it all). 

Let the flavors marry for about 4 minutes.

Next warm up the tortillas so that they are soft. I put them in a cloth and warm them in the microwave until they are soft. About 30 seconds to 1 minute, depending on how many I'm warming. For 10 tortillas which I used, it was about 1 minute, but check them when they are done. The tortillas should be soft, and not break when you bend them.

Now comes the hard part! Scoop about 1 tbs of the chicken mixture into each tortilla and roll it up, like a fruit roll up :o oh memory lane...

Anyway. Spray glass dish with some non-stick spray and arrange in pan.

When arranged, add the enchilada sauce. Make sure the tortillas are well covered with lots of sauce, the torillas will soak up that sauce goodness. Next shred some cheese over them. I used monterey.  

Cover them with foil and pop them into the oven at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes depending on your oven. The cheese should be warm and gooey and melted. Mmmm.

And voila, dinner is served!

. 

Last step. Get a plate, and a fork, and dig in! Make sure to have a side salad to balance your meal :P.

Who says dieting is really DIEting. No need for that. Dieting can be delicious. 

Check back for some more skinny recipes. 

Did you make the recipe and like it? Did you maybe make it and have suggestions to add? Comment below. I'd love to hear.

Stay healthy, and keep staying fit and pretty. 

Sending all my love,

-Carmen

Celebrating the Small Wins: My Trip to the Flea Market

Okay so I have a confession. I recently become addicted to Flea Market Flip on HGTV- thanks Netflix ! In case you aren't familiar with the show, the show showcases two teams who are given $500 to spend at the flea market on three challenge items and then are asked to restore/reinvent the pieces and flip them at the flea market. The team with the most profit wins.

So this morning I was feeling very fliptastic, so I went to the flea market to try my luck. I walked from booth to booth, checking out their possible hidden treasures. I saw a lot of cool things. For example this great Chinese Bar. Adorable, but no place in my home for it. Plus, I think a certain someone (cough, my minimalist, and rustic decor - to say the least -_- opting partner) might not be so keen to it.

I continued foraging through stuff. Some treasures, some diamond's in the rough and of course some just plain, good 'ol fashioned junk! It wasn't until I found this kitchen piece, that I knew I had just found my flea market find.

I admired it for a good 10 minutes until I asked the price, $3. Not a lot of money, but did I really need it? Would it work in my kitchen? This is something I do, I think about things a lot before making a decision, I'm chronically indecisive ( a curse and blessing at the same time) . I actually didn't get it. I kept walking. Well, after I had completed my flea marketing day and checked out all the booths, I went back. I knew I couldn't leave without my flea market find.

I offered up $1.50 for the sign ( I happened to have two quarters that I wanted to get rid of, am I the only person who doesn't like change?). She said no, I then offered $2. Nothing, nada. Hmmmm...

I thought about it for another five minutes and pictured it in the kitchen. Imagined me leaving my partner notes on it for her to see when  she went to get her  keys before leaving to work. Hmmmmm, $3 wasn't a bad price. So I went to pay. But when I got up there, I decided I would try on last ditch effort at haggling. I offered up my final grand offer, $2.50. And guess what? SHE SAID YES! I was elated!

 I gladly handed her my $2.50 and floated out of there on cloud nine; admiring my key holder every step of the way to my car. Haggling the price down $0.50 cents really made my day. It brought the experience together. I proudly left feeling like I had just graduated to champion flea-marketer from novice. I fast tracked my career :) I'm still so proud of my deal as I sit here and share with you my find- all while on the elliptical ( gotta get that exercise in :) )

I know I only haggled $0.50 cents off the price. I know $0.50 cents; enough to buy exactly two $0.25 cent rings out of a grocery store dispensing machine that kids love or enough to buy one $0.50 cent sticker of my favorite animated super hero character. But for me it was awesome. It was thrilling. It was amazing! Small step for man, one  big step for CarMAN lol hehe, although my name is spelled Carmen lol.

Maybe if we applied the theory of small wins in our lives, our big goals wouldn't seems so daunting or hard to reach. If we celebrated milestones and saw value in the small wins or positive changes made in our lives- like switching to low fat cheese vs regular when dieting or just saying no to doughnuts at the office- we'd be more successful in reaching our health goals.  Just (healthy!) food for thought....

Anyway, I should get back to working out. Who needs a pre-workout when you just haggled $0.50 cents.... I'm on cloud 9. I'm going on an exercise storm. Unleashing the beast.

Check out your local flea market when u can, you might be surprised what you find. Remember, staying active in all you can do is great. So briskly walk around the flea market.

I also encourage you to celebrate your small wins in life. Revel in the small positive changes that you are making towards reaching your goals. In everything we do, we can find something positive.

I'm headed back next Tuesday to the flea market. This expert level flea marketer is going with a mission. I'm going to restore a home furnishing piece.

Any suggestions of what I should do? Tips? Thoughts? I'd love to hear from you.

Sending my love straight from cloud 9,

-Carmen

P.S. I also found this cool wine bottle holder for the antioxidant lover in you... Because I know that the only reason why you drink wine... for the health benefits of antioxidants ;P

Just Move: All Exercise is Good Exercise

Sunday's are notorious for being most peoples lounging day. Getting up at 6 am to workout really just doesn't sound too appealing- as the case for me yesterday.

Workouts do not have to be conducted at the gym or even doing traditional weight exercises. A lasting fitness routine conforms to your lifestyle, works for you, and involves any type of movement that gets your heart rate up. For me yesterday that was walking my dogs. We did a three mile walk around the park. It was so nice to get out in the fresh air and just move.

So what are you waiting for? Just get out there. Every little bit counts and you will never regret a workout.

Be safe and be healthy,

-Carmen

P.S. If your headed outside for a workout, bring a jacket.... Baby it's cold outside (eee the Christmas music lives on!! :D  )

New Year, new YOU!

Happy New Year

The ball has dropped, midnight kisses have been had, and Christmas decorations are no more. The holidays are over; and with that comes the start of a new year- complete with a new set of New Year's resolutions. If you are like 99% of the population, you have included losing weight and getting fit to your list. I know that I am definitely a part of that figure.


With that in mind,  I wanted to add a few tips to keep you on track with your weight loss/fitness goals:

1) Realize change will not happen in one day. You may not start seeing the changes in your body immediately, but you need to remember, that weight was not put on in one day. It was likely many (especially now over the holidays--I know I'm guilty of that).  Take it slow, enjoy the process. Slow and steady wins the race. Stay persistent.

2) You may plateau quickly. You're working out and eating healthy and seeing results, and then suddenly the results stop. What gives? If you haven't changed up your routine, this could be likely to happen. The body is great at wanting to maintain a constant level. So to prevent that, be sure to change up your routine. Make sure to incorporate cardio, weights, and interval training into your routine. That is a sure fire way to keep seeing results and avoiding plateaus.

3)  Do something you love. There is no quicker way to throw in the towel on your fitness goals quicker than not doing something that you love. So find an exercise routine that you like. Maybe you don't like working out indoors-the gym just isn't for you. That's okay. Take your workout outdoors by either running, biking, doing body weight exercises outdoors, or sign up for an outdoor fitness class. Find a way to make working out enjoyable. Why do you think you don't miss an episode of your favorite TV show? Because you enjoy it. Make fitness something you enjoy.

4) Get an activity tracker. Download a fitness tracker on your phone so that you can log your progress (either diet, workouts or even better both).  Get a fitness tracking monitor and log your food intake. Track your progress. That's the best way to see your improvements and monitor how you are doing. You are less likely to cheat on your diet if you have logged it. And you are more likely to workout if you have something tracking it.

By using these tips, you can avoid falling off track. So that come Valentine's day you are well on your way to reaching your goals.  Try them out, and let me know how they go. Please share with me any other tips that you have and have been using to keep you on track.

This year we will reach all our goals.

I raise my glass (of water that is). Cheers.

-Carmen