Perfect Potato Recipe

Oh, who doesn't love the potato?! Yes, it is a white starch; I do use it sparingly, maybe a couple of times a month (I do try to substitute it with sweet potato instead). However, I did have a ton of potatoes at home & my niece & nephew were spending the night. They have been used to homemade french fries, fried in oil. I wanted to test them on my potatoes & I got comments "Best potatoes ever!" and "You have to give Mommy the recipe!" 

The recipe & concept is real simple! After I made the potatoes, I saved some for lunch the next day & added some chicken sausage for my protein; ignore the protein! lol Please be aware that there are no measurements in this recipe! lol

Preheat over at 400 degrees F. Chop up potatoes (as many as your heart desires) in 2 bite size chunks. But them in a bowl & sprinkle olive oil on them. Mix until fully covered. Now season. I used garlic powder, onion powder & Parmesan cheese. Bake for 20 mins.

You will not regret it! :)

Enjoy!

xo,

Nancy

Chuck Wagon Chow

I found this yummy recipe & kinda made it my own with what I had. This entire pot made 6 1/2 cup servings & leftovers for lunch tomorrow. I did top with some Amish cheese & a couple of saltine crackers. Recipe & nutritional facts to follow. 

Keep in mind that this is the recipe I followed using what I had on hand. Please customize as needed. :)

Chow Recipe

.91 pound ground chuck

1/4 c onion

1 garlic clove, minced

11 oz corn (canned)

15 oz white beans (canned)

8 oz tomato sauce

1/8 teaspoon pepper

Brown meat with onions & garlic. Once brown, add the rest of the ingredients, cover & cook for 5-10 mins until heated through. Below is the nutritional information based on one 1/2 c serving.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 158 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories  209 Calories from Fat  29

% Daily Value*

Total Fat  3.2g 5%

Saturated Fat  1.0g 5%

Cholesterol  14mg 5%

Sodium  293mg 12%

Potassium  958mg 27%

Total Carbohydrates  33.8g 11%

Dietary Fiber  7.2g 29%

Sugars  4.8g

Protein  13.9g

Vitamin A 4% • Vitamin C 12% Calcium 9% • Iron 33%

Nutrition Grade A

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Nutritional Analysis

Good points

• Low in cholesterol
• High in dietary fiber
• High in iron
• High in manganese
• High in magnesium
• High in potassium
• Very high in vitamin B6

Enjoy!

xo,

Nancy

Sweet Potato "Cantina Bowl"

The cantina bowl is always a favorite in my household; but I decided to twist things up a bit! So, instead of using rice for the base, I used baked sweet potato & topped it off with "taco" type toppings; including veggie crumbles for the protein.

Below is the approx nutritional value since nothing was really measured! lol

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 369 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories  238 Calories from Fat  23

% Daily Value*

Total Fat  2.5g 4%

Trans Fat  0.0g

Cholesterol  0mg 0%

Sodium  906mg 38%

Potassium  1307mg 37%

Total Carbohydrates  41.0g 14%

Dietary Fiber  9.6g 38%

Sugars  11.5g

Protein  17.4g

Vitamin A 25% • Vitamin C 86% Calcium 9% • Iron 52%

Nutrition Grade A

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Nutritional Analysis

Good points

• Very low in saturated fat
• No cholesterol
• High in dietary fiber
• Very high in iron
• High in manganese
• High in potassium
• High in vitamin A
• Very high in vitamin B6
• Very high in vitamin C

Bad points

• High in sodium
• High in sugar

So good for you & so yummy!

Enjoy,

Nancy

xo

Spinach Juice

When I have a ton of produce that is borderline about to "expire", then I whip them into juices so I can drink them all! lol. It's a great way to get rid of any "overstock" produce you may have instead of tossing it in the trash (which I cringe every time I have to do that) Today's juice:

This consists of:

spinach

watermelon

tomato

And yes, it is super yummy & totally good for you! :) Down the hatch!

Enjoy,

Nancy

xo

Healthified Meat Loaf

We are hardly meat eaters in my house; not because we are vegetarians or vegans, but we choose to obtain our protein from other ways as well, outside of meat. However, my sister gave me some ground sirloin the other day & I decided to turn it into mini meat loaves! It was real good & had enough for lunch the next day.

Ingredients

1 lb of ground meat

1 can of tomato sauce (no salt added)

¼ c of egg whites

½ c of rolled oats

1 tbsp of onion powder (or ¼ c of onions)

ketchup

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix the ingredients (except ketchup) I used the mini 3x2 (I believe) mini loaf pans; sprayed them with cooking oil & divided the mixture (I was able to fill 8 of the 9 with my mixture). Once you've added the mixture in the mini pans, top with ketchup.

Let baked for 35-40 minutes.

The below info is for a serving of one meat loaf from Calorie Count.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 54 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories  65 Calories from Fat  22

% Daily Value*

Total Fat  2.4g 4%

Saturated Fat  0.8g 4%

Cholesterol  11mg 4%

Sodium  174mg 7%

Potassium  174mg 5%

Total Carbohydrates  5.7g 2%

Dietary Fiber  1.0g 4%

Sugars  1.6g

Protein  5.2g

Vitamin A 2% • Vitamin C 4% Calcium 1% • Iron 5%

Nutrition Grade A-

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Nutritional Analysis

Good points

• High in manganese
• High in selenium
• High in zinc

Bad points

• High in sodium

Enjoy,

Nancy

xo

Another Kayaking Adventure

Kayaking has really become a great way for us to get away from it all, get in a good, low impact cardio workout (especially since I've messed up my knee) & become one with Mother Nature. We have talked to the kids about it (niece & nephew) & they finally decided to give it a try. This was our first time on a tandem kayak & two strong minded Rican women should NOT share a tandem kayak! My husband & 8 yr old nephew on the other hand, were just paddling smoothly along; being one with the kayak. 

More adventures to come!

Enjoy,

Nancy
xo

100+ lbs gone, time to kayak!

After losing 100+ lbs, I am starting to realize that I really can do stuff "normal" people normally do!!! We had talked about kayaking for years now, but of course, weighing in at 340 lbs, you are limited to what you can or cannot do. 

With over 100 lbs lost (approx 50 lbs left for my goal weight), I am now starting to conquer life!!!

Last week, we went to Silver Springs in Ocala & kayaked for close to 5 hrs. I was sure surprised that I had the endurance that I had to go at it for that long & still be okay at the end of the day (my hamstrings were a tad sore, but I was good!)

Below are the pictures! Conquering life!!!

Always conquer life!

Enjoy!

xo,
Nancy

Mixed Berry Muffin Recipe - 85 cals a muffin

I (well, my 10 yr old niece Leilani), discovered wild blackberries growing in my apt complex about a month ago; and it's been exciting to know I had free food for the picking (just like our ancestors did!)

I already had blueberries & strawberries at home, so I went foraging for some blackberries, in the rain, to make my muffins last night! They were delish! 

Recipe:

1/4 c butter

1/2 c unsweetened applesauce

1/2 t salt

3/4 c sugar

2 c whole wheat flour

1 T baking powder

1 t vanilla

1/2 c unsweetened almond milk

1/3 c blackberries

1/3 c blueberries

1/3 c chopped strawberries

Mix all the ingredients (sorry, I don't do the fancy step by step for mixing! lol). I used the mini muffin cups & baked at 350 degrees F for 15 mins.

Makes 24 mini muffins - 85 cals a muffin

Enjoy!

xo, 

Nancy

I Fed A Rhino....And I Liked It!

My husband & I haven't gone away for the weekend in over a year....so we FINALLY went down to Miami this past weekend; particularly to the Miami Zoo! (Don't judge us! We love the outdoorsy type outings!) 

While there, we both got to feed a rhino named Suru!!!! How awesome was that?! We've done the feeding of the giraffes, parakeets, stingrays & random barnyard animals, but a RHINO?! We could NOT resist!!!

The best two things: 

1. I walked away with rhino saliva on my fingers.

2. Scratched another item off my bucket list!

Enjoy & live life!

xo,

Nancy

New bathing suit after 100+ lb weight loss!!!

Believe it or not, I had the same bathing suit since 2009; even after I had lost all the weight, I was still using my purple bathing suit. For some reason, the purple bathing suit made me feel confident; in a way, it represented my weight loss. When I first purchased the bathing suit, it barely fit & I had to keep pulling it up to prevent "the girls" from spilling over. To date, I had lost so much weight since the purchase of said bathing suit, that the fabric was lose on me, hanging over like potential lose skin (thankfully, even after the 115 lbs I have lost, I have yet to experience lose skin) & in a way showed my accomplishment. I was holding the lose bathing suit as a badge of honor.

One day, while in the hot tub with my husband, the bubbles started to inflate my bathing suit (like it normally does) making me look fat again (there was a bubble that would show above the water). I guess it must have been me feeling super confident about my weight loss, that that experience with the bathing suit bubble (which I've experienced the bubble before, just no feeling behind it until now) made me feel "fat" & a failure for not buying a new bathing suit to commemorate my new body. 

This transformation has been easy at times & difficult at times. There has definitely been a LOT of emotion behind this weight loss. You begin to analyze everything about your past life; why you did what you did, why you acted like you did, why did you let people take advantage of you, etc.   

Needless to say, that same day I bought a brand spanking new bathing suit; for the first time in 5 yrs! I def feel super confident in it & it fits JUST RIGHT! Now I feel like I am finally showing off my new body when on the beach or at the pool. I no longer have that "lose bathing suit skin"

And the torn up purple one is officially in the trash!!!! Out with the old & in with the new!

Thank you,
Nancy
xo