Springtime Dinner

Fresh corn on the cob, grilled chicken in red pepper infused oil, and baked gluten free sweet potato fries

Advocare Order!!

I am about to place an Advocare order for some friends/family so if anyone needs anything just let me know!!

You can do a 10 day cleanse, 24 day challenge, get minerals, vitamins that are hard to obtain through diet alone, muscle building supplements, work out enhancers, appetite suppressants, metabolism accelerators, carb blockers, all kinds of meal replacement options and of course SPARK which is their version of an energy drink and it's amazing! Everything is created by a team of doctors and scientists and is safe, they use a lot of tea extracts, minerals, herbs, super fruits and other natural elements to create their products.

A Few Reasons to take the 24 Day Challenge: (I just finished mine and feel great!)

- The challenge is a great way to get out of an unhealthy eating cycle and cleanse your body of all the built up toxins and fat.

- The supplements make you feel great, curb your appetite, and are great for your metabolism, skin, hair nails etc.

- There isn't really a strict diet, just guidelines and suggestions for healthy eating. Avoid sugar and fatty/fried foods. Eat lots of protein with fruits, veggies, and whole grains. Eat small portions throughout the day so that your body is always burning cals. Best part about ordering through me is that I have been testing out all kinds of recipes to figure out which ones to recommend, how to eat healthy in a hurry, etc. 

- I have done all different kinds of cleanses and diets but this one is my favorite because it focuses the most on long term results, lifestyle changes, and health! The cleanse is especially good for gluten free lifestyles

Browse through some products:

For weight loss: https://www.advocare.com/products/trim.aspx

For working out: https://www.advocare.com/products/performance_elite.aspx

https://www.advocare.com/products/active.aspx

For health: https://www.advocare.com/products/well.aspx

Place an order through my site: https://www.advocare.com/140159981

feel free to email with any questions cillafaye@gmail.com 

Sophieologie

Sophieologie is one of my favorite blogs to read. This post especially is definitely worth the read! The way that culture tells girls to workout and eat is so distorted. Every girl is unique and has her own body type, her goal weight cannot be a number on a scale. A girl's goal weight, if she must choose one, is that weight at which she feels good about her herself, is eating food for nutrition and good portions and working out. Never forget that muscle weighs more than fat!! Since starting Advocare I have definitely lost weight, but I started to feel very mushy because I was really struggling to find the time in my schedule to workout. I started running and doing the T25 dvds a few weeks ago and I am SO sore but it feels good to know that I am pushing myself and am getting stronger. I have really been taking the time to stretch, warm up and cool down with each workout. Taking the 02 Gold supplements before each workout has really made a difference I highly suggest getting them for people who need a little extra help with cardio!

Please read:
http://sophieologie.me/2013/09/26/1200-calories/
Great thinspo: http://itstimetogetfitandhealthy.tumblr.com/
Strong Fit & Sexy:

RECIPE: Quick & Delicious Mexican Dinner!

Grilled chicken with peppers and onions in a McCormick's Grill Mates Mexican Fiesta marinade packet. I made some Mexican rice on the side and added peas, carrots, and corn to it and tossed everything together, ate with some blue corn chips.
My fiance Jesse used the veggies and the marinade but grilled strips of steak and put everything in corn tortillas with queso, salsa, and hot sauce for homemade spicy tacos!

RECIPE: Northstar Sweet Basil Burrito Inspired Dish!

MMM this was delicious! Grilled chicken and peppers in basil infused oil, made some brown rice, added pesto and voila! So good, my homemade version of the sweet basil burrito from Northstar. 

Fresh Herbs Forever!

Keep your favorite herbs fresh by cutting them, fill an empty ice cube tray with them and fill with extra virgin olive oil and freeze! Whenever you are cooking drop a cube in and voila oil & herbs, I used basil and oregano.

RECIPE: Zucchini "Pizza" Bites!

Soo I have been avoiding gluten to the best of my ability since July 2013 and the search for pizza options is always on my mind. If you live in Columbus, Harvest Pizzeria and Spagio have awesome gf pizza. I’ve also made my own dough before and was pretty successful. When I came across this recipe for pizza toppings on grilled zucchini slices I could not wait to try it!

The recipe called for an 8-ball round zucchini to have larger slices for the base, but as I mentioned I was eager and couldn’t find one at the store so I just picked the biggest zucchini I could. The recipe is really simple and flexible, I cut up the zucchini, sprayed a skillet with olive oil and grilled the slices on one side. Transferred the slices to a sprayed cookie sheet grilled side up. I added Prego to half and Kirkland (Costco brand-the best pesto oddly enough) Basil Pesto on half. Sprinkled a little mixed Italian cheese, put a piece of turkey pepperoni on the prego ones and  cut up small slices of cherry tomatoes and onion for the pesto pieces.

Baked it for about 7 minutes and that’s it!

The recipe I was working off of put the slices on an actual grill, grilled one side, flipped them, added the toppings and continued to grill. I liked the idea of baking them more and the topping/sauce options are endless! Be creative!

RECIPE: Tomato Veggie Stew!

This recipe is my savior during the cleanse, especially because I work such long days figuring out what to eat for lunch is always tough. I made this on a Sunday night and reheated for lunch a few different days throughout the week. My fiance loves to eat this too!

This recipe is from Advocare tumblr:

Tomato Basil Chicken Stew

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Yield: About 4-6 servings

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 small white onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced
• 2 stalks of celery, diced
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 (28 oz.) cans whole tomatoes (with their juices)
• 1 (14 oz.) can cannelinni beans
• 3 cups shredded cooked chicken
• 2 handfuls baby spinach
• ¼ cup roughly chopped fresh basil
• 1 tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. black pepper
• ¼ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

Method

Heat oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrots and celery. Saute for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft and translucent. Add garlic and sauté for an additional minute or two until fragrant.

Add in remaining ingredients, and stir to combine. Use a long spoon to crush the tomatoes. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer partially-covered for 10 minutes. Season with additional salt and pepper if needed.

Serve with freshly-grated Parmesan cheese.

RECIPE: Morning Egg & Veggie Muffin!

This recipe is perfect for people doing Advocare who have a busy schedule or aren't big breakfast eaters. Delicious muffin style eggs with veggies, make a batch at the beginning of the week and heat one up every morning with some whole grain granola or oatmeal, my favorite is Kind Bar Peanut butter clusters, so good.

So egg & veggie muffin:
14 egg whites (I just buy a carton of them)
4 whole eggs
4 scallions chopped
2 carrots shredded
1/2 red pepper minced
1/2 zucchini shredded
1/2 tsp. basil
1/4 tsp oregano
Pinch of sea salt and pepper

- Preheat oven to 375 degrees  and spray muffin tin with fat free or vegetable oil spray
- Mix all of the veggies in a large bowl then fill the muffin tins about 2/3 full
- Whisk eggs and seasonings in a large bow and using a 1/3 cup measuring cup, scoop egg mixutre and fill each tin.
- Bake for 30 minutes until they rise and are slightly browned

Hummus Crusted Chicken on a Bed of Veggies!

Hummus Crusted Chicken & Veggies

This chicken is served on a bed on zucchini, squash and onion. Hindsight I wish I would’ve added peppers or something with a bit more flavor, maybe mushrooms if you like those. I also served it with Uncle Bens Wild Rice and then my fiancé added Siracha to his and loved it.

3-4 Chicken Breasts

1 zucchini diced or shredded

1 butternut squash diced or shredded

¼ cup of diced onion

4 minced garlic cloves

2 tablespoons olive oil

Hummus, I used roasted red pepper

Smoked paprika, salt, pepper, and other seasonings to your liking

2 lemons

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Put all of the veggies in the bottom of greased baking pan. Add oil and toss. Lay the chicken breasts on top, season with salt and pepper and anything else desired. Coat the top of the breasts with hummus. Add paprika. Cut 1 lemon and squeeze the juice out over the dish. Cut the remaining lemon and place throughout the dish. Pop it in the oven for 25-30 minutes (depends on how thick the breasts are).

If you want prepare some type of rice and serve altogether!

RECIPE: Homemade Turkey Burger

I had a few different recipes I was working off of then kind of did my own thing!

Mix the following in a bowl:

1 lb ground turkey

2 eggs

1/3 of a zucchini diced

¼ cup of chopped spinach

1 chopped scallion

½ tablespoon of minced garlic

Salt

Pepper

Italian Seasonings

Soul food seasoning

Garlic powder

Basil

Form into patties, ( I did three and they were huge so I suggest four), they will be pretty mushy but once they start to cook the egg rises and it will solidify. Grill on each side then cover and simmer until cooked through.

Optional topping:

Diced red peppers and onions in a hot sauce or hot dog sauce and ladle over. I just used a little ketchup.

Asparagus:

Clean, cut, dab of oil in the pan, coat the asparagus, salt, pepper, Italian seasonings and crushed red pepper flakes for a small kick. Cook with lemon juice!

What's For Dinner?

I have been engaged since July 2013 and my wedding is June 6th 2014 in Dublin, Ohio. It’s January, so a little over halfway there!!

I am the worst procrastinator and even though I have managed to put that nasty habit away to plan this wedding, it has affected my diet/workout regimen. The thing is I’m a pretty healthy eater unless I’ve been drinking, then all hell breaks loose.

I started having lots of health problems last June and ending up finding that avoiding gluten solved a LOT of my problems. I lost some weight, wasn’t as lethargic all of the time, almost all of my stomach problems went away, it was great. Except for the part where I couldn’t eat so many of my favorite foods. This is where Advocare came into my life!

I realized the diet for Advocare was really similar to what I was trying to eat for my gluten free lifestyle, but there were supplements and recipes and all kinds of things to help me. I did the 24 day cleanse in June and felt so amazing. But then I got engaged and moved, twice, and had so much going on that I completely lost track of the program. 

This is my 4^th day of the 1^st phase of the cleanse and I am feeling so motivated this time around. Part of the reason I’m doing this blog is to share the things I’ve learned, but also to keep myself accountable on here and stay on track not just until my wedding day, but long after! Especially because we are waiting until October for our honeymoon to save $$ so I can’t just balloon up once I’ve locked him in.