Ok, then

Well, geez, if you put it that way ;).

Mom Truth

How I feel when I realize there are still six hours until the kids’ bedtime.

Courtesy of @HonestToddler

21 Day Fix Creamy Chicken Salad!

I LOVE chicken salad! LOVE it. Like, if I could live off Wawa’s chicken salad or the one Costco makes with its rotisserie chicken, I SO would.

But I can’t. I mean, that MAYONNAISE! It’s an absolute calorie killer–as in, it obliterates your entire calorie count for the day leaving you with only kale leaves to eat. (Yes, I like kale, too, but eating it raw? No, thank you.)

So how the heck do you make a decent chicken salad that’s oozing with flavor but doesn’t add 5 lbs. to the scale the next morning after you eat 1/4 cup of it? Well, lucky for you, I’ve got a recipe that’s not only 1) 21 Day Fix approved and SUPER clean but also 2) is SO tasty and SO flavorful you’ll have trouble not eating the whole batch. (Side note: even if you eat more than one serving, you’re STILL in MUCH better shape than devouring those mayo-heavy kinds.)

That being said, here is the recipe courtesy of my awesome cookbook FixAte. FixAte, in case you didn’t know, has more than 100 clean eating recipes–Sloppy Joes! Crepes! Brownies! Chili! Omelets!–that are so delicious options you won’t need to look anywhere else for a healthy meal.

Serving size: 1 1/4 cups

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups chopped rotisserie chicken breast (boneless/skinless) *I actually poach chicken breasts instead. Or, better yet, place them in a slow cooker for 4-6 hours on high with some chicken broth and you get super moist chicken that’s easy to cut up
• 1/2 cup chopped green apple
• 1/2 cup seedless red grapes, cut in half
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds
• 2 green onions, sliced
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh tarragon
• 1/4 cup Honey Mustard Dressing (see below)
• 8 cups shredded romaine lettuce

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine chicken, apple, grapes, almonds, green onions, tarragon, and Honey Mustard Salad Dressing in a large bowl. Mix well, cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.
2. Serve 1 1/4 cup Creamy Chicken Salad over 2 cups of romaine lettuce per serving.   

Honey Mustard Dressing:
** Serves 8 with 2 Tbsp. per serving
** 1 Orange Container

• 1/2 cup reduced fat plain Greek yogurt
• 3 Tbsp. Dijon mustard, gluten-free
• 3 Tbsp. raw honey
• 3 Tbsp. rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Sea Salt to taste (optional)

Directions: Combine yogurt, mustard, honey, and vinegar in a medium bowl and mix well. Slowly add the oil, whisking constantly until well blended.

21 Day Fix container breakdown:

1 green, 1/2 purple, 1 red, 1/2 blue, 1/2 orange

Daily Truth

I can’t be the only one, right? 😉

21 Day Fix Energy Bites!

Oh are these little nuggets of yumminess SO easy and SO kid friendly! They’re so good, in fact, I could literally pop, like, 10 of them at a time and never look back. You know, except for the fact that even all-natural, clean ingredients do actually have calories, too. (I hate when that happens!)

So this recipe is from Gimme Some Oven, which is an awesome blog to follow if you like clean eating! And bonus for all of your Fixers out there, these are 21 Day Fix approved as a treat! Hip hop hooray!

Here’s the recipe plus the 21 Day Fix container breakdown! Enjoy!

Yields 2 dozen

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup (dry) oatmeal (I used old-fashioned oats)
• 2/3 cup toasted coconut flakes
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup ground flax seed (don’t use whole flax seeds as they won’t be absorbed into your body as efficiently as ground)
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips or cacao nibs (optional)
• 1/3 cup honey or agave nectar
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds (optional)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

1. Stir all ingredients together in a medium bowl until thoroughly mixed. Cover and let chill in the refrigerator for half an hour.
2. Once chilled, roll into balls of whatever size you would like. (Mine were about 1″ in diameter.) Store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to 1 week.
3. Makes about 20-25 balls.

21 Day Fix container breakdown:

2 balls = 1 yellow

Sneak Peek of 22 Minute Hard Corps!

Tony Horton’s brand new 22 Minute Hard Corps comes out next month and I am STOKED to try it! Luckily, I got a sneak peek at the workout today on Beachbody On Demand! Here’s my review of it:

• It’s a GREAT workout in just 22 minutes. There’s little to no warm up and you dig right in from the start so if you don’t like jumping into a workout relatively cold, try a few jumping jacks beforehand.
• It’s a compilation of military-inspired bootcamp moves. Think burpees, shuttle runs, and, like in the video, bear crawls.
• It’s a fantastic precursor to 21 Day Fix Extreme or Insanity Max30. Those two programs are pretty intense so if you’re ready for something more than regular 21 Day Fix, this is a fantastic option or add on to your current routine.

Want more info. on Tony Horton’s 22 Minute Hard Corps? Message me for details!

Killer Ab Exercise!

Ohhh this is a good one! This is one of the best lower ab moves I have done in a LONG time! It’s straight from Insanity Max30, my new favorite love. (I honestly didn’t think I could love a program more than Insanity Asylum but Max30 has won my heart!) It is a BEAST!

Do 3 sets, 1 minute each. Need to modify? That’s ok! Ditch the push-up and just toe tap or touch your knees instead! Let me know how you did!

Maple-Sweetened Pumpkin Muffins!

I love pumpkin anything, Pumpkin soup. Pumpkin cheesecake. Pumpkin coffee. And, yes, pumpkin muffins. But like with any indulgences, there are lots of calories, lots of sugar, and lots of fat.

Sigh. Why can’t eating good stuff be healthy for us?

Guess what? It can be! I pinned this yummy recipe awhile ago from Cookie + Kate, a blog all about eating whole foods. And I finally got around to making these maple-sweetened pumpkin muffins this past week when my four year old was begging to bake with me.

And, let me tell you, we were not disappointed! Moist, flavorful, DELICIOUS!

Here’s the recipe:

INGREDIENTS

• ⅓ cup melted coconut oil or extra-virgin olive oil
• ½ cup maple syrup or honey
• 2 eggs*, at room temperature
• 1 cup pumpkin purée
• ¼ cup milk of choice (I used almond milk)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon, plus more for sprinkling on top
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon allspice or cloves
• 1¾ cups whole wheat pastry flour or regular whole wheat flour
• ⅓ cup old-fashioned oats, plus more for sprinkling on top

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. If necessary, grease ten cups of your muffin tin with butter or non-stick cooking spray (my pan is non-stick and didn’t require any grease).
2. In a large bowl, beat the oil and maple syrup or honey together with a whisk. Add eggs, and beat well. Mix in the pumpkin purée and milk, followed by the baking soda, vanilla extract, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice or cloves.
3. Add the flour and oats to the bowl and mix with a large spoon, just until combined. If you’d like to add any additional mix-ins, like nuts, chocolate or dried fruit, fold them in now.
4. Divide the batter evenly between the ten muffin cups. For these muffins, it’s ok to fill the cups a little higher than you normally would. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with a small amount of oats, followed by a sprinkle of cinnamon. Bake muffins for 23 to 26 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean. Place the muffin tin on a cooling rack. These muffins are delicate until they cool down (you have been warned!), so it’s best to wait until they have cooled down to remove them from the tin. You might need to run a butter knife along the outer edge of the muffins to loosen them from the pan. Enjoy muffins as is or with a spread of nut butter or regular