Baked Oatmeal with Strawberries and Bananas

I made this last night for my family to have for breakfast this morning and OMG it was so YUMMY!! This recipe is 21 day fix approved and has ZERO added sugar. I chose to use bananas, strawberries, and walnuts but you can get creative and use peaches, blueberries, raspberries or whatever you want! MAKE IT YOU OWN!! I came up with this recipe because I wanted to come up with a flavorful oatmeal that didn't have any added sugar but was easy to make ahead of time for meal prep. If you're making this for meal prep,  and want more that 4 servings, just double it and use a 9 x 13 inch pan. This recipe is extremely clean and tasty! If you aren't following the 21 day fix eating plan and you would like to sweeten it  up you can add some raw sugar, honey or stevia. This recipe is packed, packed, packed, full of vitamins and minerals to start off your day. Check out my list below!

Health Benefits

• Omega-3 fats
• copper
• manganese
• molybdenum
• biotin
• potassium
• calcium
• magnesium
• Iron
• Thiamin
• riboflavin
• Niacin
• Fiber
• Folic acid
• Vitamin B-6
• Zinc
• Selenium
• Vitamin C

Ingredients

• 4 yellow* containers of whole rolled organic oats
• 1 cup of almond milk, coconut milk or a blend
• 1 banana well ripened
• 2 purple* containers of chopped strawberries (rinsed well)
• 1 egg 
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 4 orange* containers of nuts ( I used walnuts because they are one of the healthiest nuts! ) 
• 4 teaspoons* of coconut oil

Serves: 4

Prep time : 10 minutes

Bake time: 30 minutes

21 Day Fix: 1 yellow, 1 purple, 1 teaspoon, 1 orange

*NOTE: If you aren't using the 21 day fix containers here are the equivalents: 1 yellow = 1/2 cup, 1 purple = 1 1/4 cup, 1 teaspoon = 1 teaspoon, 1 orange = 1 tablespoons

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Place 2 of the yellow containers of oats in the food processor and process it until it becomes powdery like flour. I Used a little chopper I had to chop the oats but I blended everything together in my Ninja ( best thing I ever purchased).  Here you are basically just making an oat flour. 

Next Place the Oat flour along with the remaining oats in a mixing bowl or blender if you have one. Add the baking powder and mix. Next add in 3/4 of your banana, baking powder, egg, coconut oil, vanilla, milk and blend until mixed.

 Once combined, fold in 1 purple container of strawberries. Spray your 8x8 inch pan with coconut oil spray and pour in mixture. Top with slices of banana, strawberries, and nuts. I left a serving without nuts for my dad.

Bake in oven for 30-40 minutes. Remove once the oatmeal pulls away from edge, is slightly brown on edges and set in the middle. Serve warm.  I like to eat mine with some almond milk on it! Eat, Enjoy, and feel the Energy!

SWEET POTATO AND QUINOA CHICKEN SOUP

This sweet potato and quinoa chicken soup is so nutrient dense it is insane! Check out my list below shows all of the vitamins and minerals that it contains. The recipe is super easy if made in a crock pot and it stores well.

      Health benefits

• Vitamins A, C, B-6, E. B-2
• Potassium
• Magnesium
• Iron
• Manganese 
• Folate
• Zinc
• Copper
• Phosphorus
• Choline
• Fiber
• Protein ( all essential amino acids)
• Calcium

      Ingredients

• 1 1/2 yellow containers of minced uncooked quinoa
• 1 can of black beans
• 6 yellow containers of raw cubed sweet potatoes ( 2 medium)
• 3 green containers of fresh spinach
• 1/2 green container of diced onion
• 1/2 green container of diced bell pepper
• 1/2 green container of diced green onion
• 1 1/2 lbs of diced chicken breast ( 6 red containers)
• 1 can of low sodium diced canned fire roasted tomatoes 
• 5 cups of low sodium chicken broth
• 2-3 T of chili powder to taste 
• 2 Tsp Himalayan salt
• 4 garlic cloves minced
• 1 T ground black pepper
• 1 T onion powder
• 1/2 T cumin
• Hot pepper sauce to taste ( I probably used 1/4 cup) 
• Cheddar cheese (optional)

Note: Anyone that doesn't use 21 day fix containers here are the equivalents: Green= 1 1/4 Cup, Red =3/4 cup, Yellow: 1/2 cup

       Preparation 

Cook: 3-5 hours in crock pot on high

Servings: 7 servings 

Serving size: 1.5 cups

21 Day Fix: 1 Red, 1 Green, 2 Yellow, 1/2 blue (optional)

1. Spay the bottom of you crockpot with coconut oil spray
2. Add to crockpot chicken, beans, quinoa* (make sure you rinse), sweet potatoes, spinach, onion,  peppers, tomatoes, seasonings *, pepper sauce, and chicken broth. 
3. Allow to cook on high until potatoes are tender ( approx. 4 hours) 
4. Serve warm and top with raw green onions and 1/2 blue container of cheddar cheese (optional)

*Note: I really just estimated what I used in seasonings so feel free to add more or less to your liking. Also, I used a seasoned pack of quinoa that I had so if you have some seasoned quinoa you can use that just make sure in the ingredients in only contains quinoa and spices with sea salt. If you don't have seasoned quinoa you can use regular just MAKE SURE YOU RINSE IT in a small strainer first or your soup will have a bitter taste. 

After                             Before

Last Sunday, April 12th, marked my last day of 21 Day Fix Extreme and I will admit it was definitely a bit of a challenge considering I did the countdown to competition plan but boy was it worth it! I wasn't sure if my results were going to be all that noticeable but I was surprised once I put the photos side by side. Overall I absolutely loved the program. I think I got awesome results in 21 days but I sure did have to work for it. Throughout those 21 days, I found myself eating a lot of eggs, cottage cheese, chicken, vegetables, oatmeal, sweet potatoes and of course my Shakeology.  I began starting off doing the countdown to competition plan the first 2 weeks and eating 8 times a day. Eating 8 times burned me out so the last week I switched to doing just the 21 day fix extreme plan, which still yielded incredible results! The nutrition for this plan is very clean and cuts out all processed added sugar which made my energy levels stay consistent and feeling fantastic. Luckily I didn't experience the energy crash and the headache that most experience the first couple of days. These are the best results I have ever got in such a short period.  

                                   

                                                         After                             Before

                                                        After                               Before

Click the add below to order your 21 day fix and get started!

I absolutely love, love, LOVE this pizza! Although it is made with BBQ sauce which is known for being high in sugar, I did find organic BBQ sauce made with agave. This pizza is a bit more time consuming than your typical pizza; however, you will not regret it! It is so tasty and healthy. A couple tips as mentioned below: Make sure you have a thicker non stick pizza pan and make sure you get as much water out of the cauliflower as possible! If you have any questions please comment below :)

Ingredients

1 Large head of cauliflower or 2 small heads

Yellow container of cornmeal ( or any flour if you're sensitive to corn )

1 egg

5 blue containers of fresh shredded mozzarella cheese

4 red containers of chicken breast ( hormone and antibiotic free)

1 purple containers of fresh pineapple

1/2 green container of diced red onions

Organic BBQ sauce made with agave

2 tsp Oregano

1 tsp Garlic powder

1 tsp Onion powder 

Instructions

Serving: 2 Slices

21 day fix: 1 green, 1/2 purple, 1 red, 1 blue, 1/4 of yellow

Total time: 1 hour - 1 hour 15 minutes

Crust

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

In a large pot steam cauliflower

Once, cauliflower is tender place in food processor and blend until smooth

Allow to cool

Place cauliflower on tea towel and squeeze out as much water as possible. This is the hardest part about this crust! You need to get all of the moisture out to get a good crust. 

Once all of the water is out, place the cauliflower back into the food processor and add cornmeal, 4 blue containers of cheese, spices, egg and blend until combined

Place "dough" on pizza pan and spread out to form a crust

Once your crust is formed, place crust in the oven and cook until golden brown 

* NOTE: this crust seems to work best if used on a thicker pizza tray. The one I have is from Walmart and it was between $5-$8. Don't use a really thin one or it tends to stick. Also, if using a pizza stone form crust on parchment paper and transfer to stone to bake. 

Toppings

While your crust is baking, chop chicken ( I placed mine in my Ninja and pulsed it a couple times)

Place your chicken in the skillet with about 1/4 a cup of BBQ sauce and cook on medium heat until chicken is cooked through.

Remove crust from the oven and cover crust with BBQ sauce ( don't add too much because it will get soggy quick)

Top with remaining cheese, onions, chicken, and pineapple ( I only put pineapple on half)

Place back into the oven and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes. 

Remove when cheese is melted and bubbly.

Allow pizza to cool, cut into 8 slices and enjoy!

What is it?

Clean eating is the new rave right now; however, it has been around forever! What is "clean eating"? It involves eating foods that are healthy, whole and unprocessed.  A diet that is "clean" involves eating a lot of fruits, vegetables, and meat. Clean eating focuses more on ingredients than calories.... So how do you know if its clean? Well if it doesn't have dirt on it my friends then you shouldn't eat it! For example, a sweet potato would be considered clean because it comes from the earth and it involves no processing. If you were to look up the ingredients for a sweet potato it would simply read sweet potato. However, if you were to look up the ingredients for you favorite boxed mac and cheese you would read over 20 ingredients!! Now, does this mean that you cannot eat mac and cheese ever again? Of course not because that would be absurd!! Instead you would make your own mac and cheese with unprocessed whole grain pasta, cheese, and milk. This will eliminate all of the additives that are in boxed mac and cheese such as sodium phosphate, food dyes, and other synthetically made products. When choosing food at the grocery store, I have and under 5 rule. If there are more than 5 ingredients I don't consider it clean. 

 Another example is oatmeal. The instant oatmeal packages, such as quaker,  have ingredient lists that are often over 20 ingredients! Why??!! This is so they can sit on the shelf forever and not spoil.  So how do you make oatmeal clean? Easy! Just buy whole grain old fashioned rolled oats or steel cut and cook them stove top!  Then top it off with some clean toppings such as fruit, honey or raw sugar, and organic milk.  

Why should you eat clean?


Clean eating can help you loose weight and feel energized. Items that are clean are naturally low in sugar, salt, preservatives, and all the other stuff makes you feel like a slug! When items are pure, your body can break them down easily and use them for energy but when you add synthetically made ingredients your body doesn't know what to do with them and it throws it off balance.

Salt and sugar

Im sure by not you're thinking that salt and sugar are good for you right? Well you're absolutely right! Our body cannot survive without salt or sugar. The problem here is that we don't need the 100 plus grams of refined sugar that most people consume in a day. It is recommended that the average woman should only have 25 grams of added sugar sugar a day ( roughly 6 teaspoons). Just one container of yogurt can have up to 22 grams of sugar! So does this mean you should buy sugar free yogurt? Absolutely not! These items often contain ingredients like aspartame and sucralose which are synthetically made. So those are a big NO NO!! So if you can, consume yogurt that is made with pure raw sugar! As for salt, it is often added to boxed foods as a preservative. If an item does have salt,  look for items that contain hymilayian salt or sea salt. These items are pure, non processed and high in minerals compared to typical iodized table salt.  Learn to read labels and you will be amazed at what is in food!

 The Do's and Dont's of Clean Eating

Here is a list of some clean versus non clean foods

     *Try to chose organic where possible

Clean

• Any fresh produce such as fruits and vegetables
• Honey and Raw Sugar
• Raw Meats ( I like to chose ones that are raised without antibiotics)
• Eggs ( preferably farm fresh) 
• Yogurt sweetened with raw sugar
• Whole grain bread and pasta  (look at the labels for preservatives)
• Quinoa
• Brown rice
• whole rolled or steel cut oats
• Almond milk
• Nuts
• Unrefined coconut oil
• Water and coffee

      Unclean

• Artificial sweeteners
• Foods with aded nitrates, food dyes, and chemicals ( If you can't pronounce an ingredient then you shouldn't eat it)
• Processed cheese ( velveta)
• Sugary drinks like juice and soda
• Boxed meals

Here are some examples of why you should pay attention to what is in the ingredients of the foods that you eat! A common mistake is to associate types of food as being healthy or "clean". For example, oatmeal is clean and healthy; however, oatmeal in the single serve packets are loaded with synthetic ingredients. The image below shows a comparison of healthy steel cut oats in comparison with quaker maple and brown sugar oatmeal--sorry to bust your bubble but these just aren't as healthy as you think!

Okay so lets talk about this picture.  The quaker oats have a ton of added ingredients; whereas, the steel cut oats only have 1 ingredient! Winner, winner!!! The quaker oats have less fiber, more sugar, and an artificial sweetener (sucralose). Most people, when reading labels they look at calories. If you were to look at calories and calories only, the quaker oatmeal would win because it has 120 calories per pouch in comparison to 150 calories per 1/2 cup of cooked steel cut. This is where you take into consideration which one is more nutrient dense and better for your body. In Terms of taste, the steel cut oats aren't sweetened but you can always add a teaspoon of raw sugar or honey and then top them off with some fresh fruit and nuts! Yum! Now I'm excited for breakfast tomorrow morning :) Adding fruit to your oatmeal will provide you with extra vitamins and minerals that are pure and natural....Not the kind that are added to the quaker oats and have been formulated in a lab and then added into your food! Get your vitamins and minerals the natural way by eating fruits and vegetables!!! Just remember to read your labels :) 

  

Tonight I made these stuffed peppers and man they were DELISSHH!!! I made them for my family and everyone loved them! My mom said she even liked them better than regular stuffed peppers. The recipe is very clean and is 21 day fix friendly:) The main ingredients are the peppers, quinoa, and ground turkey....all super nutritious and packed with vitamins and minerals. Check out the facts about quinoa below and why is is healthier than rice!

Quinoa

• Has all 9 essential amino acids making it a complete portion
• Contains 2x the amount of fiber in comparison to white rice
• Is a seed not a grain
• Has 4x the amount of iron than brown rice!
• One serving has 29% of your daily recommendation of magnesium
• One serving contains 6 grams of protein

In terms of the recipe, I browsed a couple online to get some ideas:) Hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

Serves: 4 people ( makes 8 half peppers)

Serving Size: 2 half peppers

Time: 90 minutes ( approx 30 min prep and 60 minutes cook)

21 Day fix: 1 Red, 2 green, 1/2 yellow, 1/2 blue, 1 tsp

INGREDIENTS

• 4 Bell peppers
• 1 lb of ground turkey
• 2 yellow containers of plain cooked quinoa
• 1 C. chopped onion
• 1/2 T of coconut oil
• 3 cloves of minced garlic
• 1 can of fire roasted diced tomatoes
• 1 can of tomato paste
• 1 can of organic,low sodium tomato sauce
• 1 tsp of the following seasonings : garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, oregano, basil, himilayian salt, and ground black pepper
• Tabasco sauce for taste 1-3 T
• 2 blue containers of cheddar cheese ( I got a block of white cheddar and yellow and grated them. I like to do this because they don't have the anti caking agent in them that pre-shredded cheese does)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Cook quinoa per instructions on package ( make sure you rinse before cooking)
3. Cook onions and garlic in skillet with coconut oil
4. Set onions aside and brown turkey in same skillet
5. Meanwhile cut peppers in half and clean out the flesh and seeds
6. Take a 9 x 13 pan and place tomato sauce in bottom
7. Once turkey is cooked, combine onions, quinoa, turkey, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, seasonings, tabasco sauce, and one blue container of cheese and mix.
8. Fill each mixture with the filling. 
9. Place peppers in pan and cover with aluminum foil
10. Bake for 50 minutes
11. Remove peppers from oven and take off foil. Top the peppers with the remaining container of cheese and place back in the oven for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly :)
12. Allow the peppers to rest for 10 minutes and serve! ENJOY

So I completely understand that no one wants to think about pumpkins right now.. this needs to be tropical chili to remind us of summer not fall! Anyway, I was craving something to really hit the spot during 21 Day Fix and boy did this do it! I had my best friend come over, who isn't on the fix and try it. No joke.....She licked the bowl. I also sent a bowl to my other friend who is a health and fitness fanatic and he really enjoyed the texture and the taste as well. I got the base for the recipe from Pinterest and made some changes to my liking! Feel free to spice it up and make it your own.  

Serves: approximately 6-8 servings
Serving size: 1 1/2 cups
Time: 4-6 hours on low in crockpot
21 day fix approved: 1 red, 1 green, 1 yellow,1/2 blue (optional) 

Ingredients

• 1 lb of lean ground turkey ( I used 93% lean 7% fat)
• Approx 3/4 C. chopped onion ( give or take make this your own)
• 1 bell pepper chopped (any color will do)
• 1 small hot banana pepper
• 1 large can of fire roasted diced tomatoes
• 1 can of tomato paste
• 1 can of great northern beans 
• 1 can of kidney beans
• 1 can of black beans
• 1/2 cup of frozen sweet corn
• 1 can of pumpkin puree ( not pumpkin pie filling!)
• 2-3 cloves of minced garlic
• 2 T. chili powder ( I added much more than this but I like mine spicy
• 1/2 tsp of cumin
• Hot sauce ( I used cholula)

Instructions

Place all of ingredients in crock pot on low for 4-6 hours. I cooked mine for about 6 hours. Serve warm. Top with a dollop low fat cottage cheese (this is what I used) or plain low fat greek yogurt and chopped green onions. Enjoy!