Hi Everyone,
I’m sorry that I won’t be posting a recipe today. I am still sick. It’s been 8 days and I can’t seem to fight it. I am getting a little better, but I have no energy and the last thing I feel like doing is cooking. I just want to sleep. I am hoping to be back up and running soon. I just wanted to let you know. Sending my apologies. I’ll be back soon!
Toodles,
Jennifer
Hi Everyone,
Last month I shared with you the Squat Challenge. Did you try it? I did it up until the last couple of days, just because I was and still am sick. I am going to stick to the squat challenge again this month. I love it! I can feel it in my legs and calves, so I know it’s working. Now that we are into a new month, I thought it would be great to share with you another 30 day challenge, the Crunch Challenge. I think crunches are a fairly easy exercise and if done properly, you will feel it in the abs. Since summer is creeping up on us pretty quick, nothing like toning the abs for summer tank tops and bathing suits. I am so dreading bathing suit season. Ugh! Believe me, my abs could use some serious work!
While doing this challenge, I highly recommended upping your water intake. It will help with bloating, help lose weight, hydrate you and heck it’s just good for you. So try to get in your 8 cups a day!
So how do you do the perfect crunch? Here is how:
Here are some helpful tips:
Remember if you have any pain stop doing the exercise.
So are you you going to join me for this months challenge? Why not try to incorporate the Squat Challenge with the Crunch Challenge. You will feel it and you will feel great! These are just tiny ways to help get your body moving! Have fun with the challenge and try to get a friend to do this challenge with you! Maybe make a fun wager?
I got the Crunch Challenge from 30 Day Fitness Challenges. You can check them out for more 30 day challenges.
Have a super great Sunday! I am hoping to be better tomorrow so I can get some food recipes up on my blog this week.
Toodles,
Jennifer
Hi Everyone,
Today I decided to be apart of the Michelle Obama #GimmeFive Campaign. The First Lady is celebrating 5 years of the Let’s Move campaign. The Let’s Move campaign is about getting kids to exercise and eat healthier. This week The First Lady asked people to share 5 ways to get healthier. She encourage you to try 5 new vegetables or add 5 new healthy habits into your daily routine.
I was watching The Rachael Ray Show today and Michelle Obama asked her to share 5 meals with 5 healthy ingredients. I thought what a great idea. I am no Rachael Ray but I can surly share with you 5 recipes with 5 ingredients that is healthy. I searched through all of my recipes on my blog and I have to tell you, finding 5 ingredients recipes is hard. I didn’t include salt, pepper or olive oil Rachael didn’t, so either am I.
I think this is a wonderful campaign and I am all about making America healthier, especially the children. What are your 5 ways of getting healthier? You can Tweet, Facebook, Instagram your ideas. Just be sure to use the hashtag #GimmeFive.
Here are my 5 Healthy recipes with 5 Ingredients
Balsamic Glazed Chicken and Roasted Potatoes
Shrimp Zucchini and Snow Pea Stirfry
Lightened Up Italian Sausage and Peppers Pasta
I am still home with a cold, but I am hoping to be back up and running soon. I am so excited to sleep in!
Have a great weekend!
Toodles,
Jennifer
Hi Everyone,
I have to tell you I have been so sick this week. Ugh! I never get sick but apparently it got to me. I’ve been spending most of the week resting and eating soup for dinners. I haven’t had much of an appetite. I was sick of canned soup so I thought I would make a healthy good for you soup that I have been wanting to make for a while, which is Tomato Florentine. The soup turned out fantastic and I love it and I think you will love it too!
The soup is hardy, filling and full of tomato flavor. But besides how yummy it tastes, it’s also super easy to make. The soup contains ingredients like onions, garlic, carrots, pasta, spinach and of course tomatoes. To add some great flavor I added some basil, thyme, oregano, salt and pepper. Here are some of the ingredients in the recipe.
Normally Tomato Florentine doesn’t contain carrots, but I wanted to add them for extra nutritional punch, plus it gives the soup a little more heartiness. To peel my carrots, I used my new Cooking with Crisp Straight Peeler. It peels like a dream. No messy peeling, easy to use and dishwasher safe. It’s my new favorite peeler. I will be using it a lot.
One thing I hate to do is cut onions. I don’t know what it is about onions, but boy do they make my eyes water. I have tried everything and nothing works. Lucky for me I used my Cooking with Crisp Straight Paring Knife. It made cutting onions easy and fast. The Straight Paring Knife is one of my all time favorite kitchen utensils and I don’t think I could live without it.
For making the soup, I sautéed onions, garlic and carrots in some olive oil. Then I added my chicken broth, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and seasonings. I cooked the soup for about 30 minutes, than I added my pasta. I used quinoa pasta, but you can use any kind you like. For the finishing touch I added some freshly sliced spinach. Perfect! After a few minutes more of cooking I ladled it into a bowl and topped with Parmesan Cheese. It perfectly Italian and perfectly delicious and perfect for when your sick!
Oh I didn’t tell you but this soup is amazing as leftovers. Serve it with a side salad and some crusty bread and you have the perfect meal.
To check out Crisp Cooking and all of the fun products that are perfect for prepping your favorite meals in the kitchen, you can check out the following links:
You can also check out my Pintrest Board with fun ideas for using Crisp Cooking Tools.
Have a super fabulous day!
Toodles,
Jennifer
This was a sponsored post with Cooking with Crisp. All opinions are my own.
Hi Everyone,
It’s getting close to zucchini season again and I wanted to share with you one of my favorite recipes using zucchini, which is my Chocolate Zucchini Beanie Brownies. These are made with black beans, cocoa powder, eggs, sugar and chocolate chips. They are gluten-free, moist, healthy, delicious and a great use for zucchini. Peoples curiosity peaked when I posted this recipe and I wanted to share with you one post from Ramblings of a Newlywed, where she made them for her Husband. Check out the post.
Trust me, no one will know they are made with black beans. I still remember Little Jenny trying my brownies and then I told her to read my post. She was laughing so hard because she couldn’t believe she was eating black beans. You can get the recipe here.
I also wanted to share with you a couple new items that I tried.
You know I love bread! I could live on bread alone if I was allowed. Well now I can at least have my bread and feel good about eating it. I was asked by the Great Low Carb Bread Company if I wanted to try out their Low Carb Breads. I said yes of course! They sent me 4 breads to try, Everything Bagel, Sesame Bagels, Rye Bread and Cinnamon Raisin Bread.
The first bread that I tried was the Everything Bagel. It was only 120 calories for the bagel and has 14 grams of fiber! I was skeptical of course. So I cut my bagel open and placed it in my toaster. I buttered it up and WOW! I was surprised on how good it tastes. The bagel is normal in size, filling and tastes amazing. I was pretty impressed. I thought I would share the nutritional stats below. It also has no weird ingredients!
I have also tried the other flavors of bread and I love them just as much. I haven’t made anything with them, except for popping in my toaster. I love toast and I rarely ever have it. You can check out The Great Low Carb Bread Company here for more information. You can check out locations to see if there is a store near you that sells it.
I promise a recipe coming soon with bagels!
I received a package from Glutino to try out there new gluten-free pretzels. In the past I have shared with you my love of Glutino’s pretzels and today’s pretzels will not disappoint. They have 2 new flavors, Salted Caramel Covered Pretzels and Buffalo Style Pretzels. All I can say is I cannot live without the Buffalo Style Pretzels. They taste just like Buffalo Chicken Wings but in pretzel form. They do have a kick of heat to them, which I love.
I also love the Salted Caramel Covered Pretzels. They are sweet and salty. They are actually covered in caramel. They remind me of one of my favorite lattes. If you love salted caramel, you will LOVE these pretzels. I don’t care if your gluten-free or not, these pretzels are to die for! You can find them at your local grocery store. Here’s a link for a $1.00 off coupon so you can try them for yourself.
I know I shared with you bread and then gluten-free pretzels and that may seem weird, but I’m not prejudice against food! I love all kinds!
Have a super great day!
Toodles,
Jennifer
P.S. Here is the recipe again for the Chocolate Zucchini Beanie Brownies
