Cinnamon Swirl Protein Bread + Lime Cilantro Chicken Tacos

Finally our power is back on!!! Thanks to Hurricane Irene we lost power toady around 2 or 3pm and it just now came back on about an hour ago! I always think its just a lil bit fun when the power goes out! Gives you time to think outside of the box for entertainment and food prep! Last night I decided to try some Lime Cilantro Chicken Tacos, a recipe that I found in a random magazine! They turned out really good, definitely a keeper recipe for sure! So here ya go!
Lime Cilantro Chicken Tacos
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon grated lime rind
1 teaspoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 tbsp grated cumin
2 1/2 cups roughly shredded rotisserie chicken
8 (6 inch) corn tortillas
 olive oil spray
0% Fage Plain Greek yogurt
2 sprigs of fresh cilantro

Preheat oven to 325
Whisk together lime juice and rind, soy sauce, cilantro and cumin in a large bowl. Add shredded chicken and toss
Spray cookie sheet with olive oil and place corn tortillas on the sheet. Spray olive oil on top of the tortillas as well. Bake until they are no longer limp but also soft enough that they can still bend. Once done spread the tortillas with greek yogurt, add desired amount of chicken mixture, and top with freshly chopped onion and cilantro and maybe even hot sauce if desired!!! Delish Delish Delish!!!!

My Way: I didn't use a rotisserie chicken instead I placed 6 chicken breast in my crockpot on high for about 4 1/2 hours with just a little lemon juice , salt and pepper. Once it was done I shredded it with a fork. I doubled the lime juice, soy sauce and cumin for the chicken sauce and may have added more. The sauce is the best part so you may want to make extra to taste. I also did not add the cilantro into the sauce instead we used it as a topping for the tacos. Delicious and it was enough for 2 nights of dinner!  Oh and the corn tortillas make all the difference, the first night I served it I used wheat tortillas and it was ok but the corn tortillas were the perfect match for this chicken!

Not the prettiest picture, I made this plate in the dark thanks
to Hurricane Irene! Served with a brown rice/barley/black bean/
1 can of fire roasted tomatoes and seasoned to taste! 

Next up before my computer dies......is Jamie Eason's Cinnamon Swirl Protein Bread

1/3 cup Ideal Xylitol (I used brown sugar instead)

2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 cups oat flour

2 scoops vanilla whey protein powder

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup Ideal Xylitol or 1/4 cup Stevia (which is what I used)

2 egg whites

1 cup unsweetened almond milk 

1/3 cup or 1 4oz jar of baby food apple sauce (I used regular apple sauce not baby food)

1/4 cup low sugar vanilla yogurt

Preheat the oven to 350/ Spray an 8x8 baking dish (loaf pan)

In a small bowl combine brown sugar and cinnamon

In a large bowl whisk together oat flour, whey, baking powder, salt, and stevia

In a med bowl whisk together egg whites, almond milk, apple sauce and yogurt

Mix together everything except the cinnamon/sugar mixture

Pour shallow layer of batter in loaf pan, and sprinkle heavily with cinnamon/sugar mixture

Pour the rest of batter into the pan and draw a knife through the batter to make it swirl

Bake for 24-28min and let cool, bread will be dense

My Notes: I found that the cinnamon sugar mixture turned out to be a lot so I just ended up using a little bit of it, and I needed to pop it back in the oven a couple times after the timer went off at 25 min to get it completely done. This was a huge hit this morning at breakfast for my boys! They all loved it! 

layer and sprinkle

Aaron was so hungry he stuck a big spatula down into it before
I was able to grab the camera! Next time I think I'll add nuts.
Or you could leave out the sugar and cinnamon and add anything
like crasins, nuts, or raisins. 

My boys doing their best Bear Crawl!! One of Mommy's favorite Exercises for sure!

Week one of Jamie Eason's 12 week live fit program is over and only 11 more to go!!! Yay!!! I will say that I was concerned with the no cardio thing, but every day I left the gym feeling as though I had definitely worked and this weekend I'm so sore. I did however teach one cardio class on Wed. so I can't say that I didn't do any cardio.  Then Laura and I added in a few plyometrics on the Leg day and we also attached a "Plank Off" on the ab day. We just assumed the plank position on our elbows and held it as long as we possibly could with proper form. We'll probably do the same this week, it was a great way to mix it up and get in a lil additional work. My only concern is not really getting enough rest days considering that I taught Body Pump yesterday and today but I plan on going as light as possible on the weight in there especially today. We'll see....I always say that. I'm excited about the program though and I definitely see results in the near future! If you're thinking about giving it a shot I say go for it! 

He'll kill me if he ever sees this but this is Aaron enjoying
his Cilantro Lime Chicken Tacos last night while the power was out
sportin his head lamp and all!

Chicken Muffins / Lemon Protein Bars / Carrot Cake Protein Bars

Just a couple of delicious recipes to pass along this evening! All three of these recipes are courtesy of Ms. Eason and they are all (in my opinion) a "Must Make!" For sure! 

Chicken Muffins

2lbs ground chicken or lean turkey

3 egg whites

1 cup quick oats

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp thyme

2tsp dry yellow mustard

2 tsp black pepper

2 tsp chipotle pepper spice ( I left this out)

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp garlic powder or 2 minced cloves

1 small onion

2 finely chopped celery stalks

Preheat oven @ 375, spray muffin pan with olive or canola oil

Mix all ingredients, roll in to large balls, & place in muffin tin

Bake for 40 min

Yum Yum Seriously so good and I think I like the chicken
better than the turkey.

Lemon Protein Bars

1 cup oat flour 

2 scoops vanilla whey protein powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 qt mix Crystal Light

4 egg whites

1/2 cup splenda or Stevia

8oz baby food apple sauce

4 oz water

Preheat oven to 350

Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately then mix the two together

Spray baking pan with cooking spray

Add batter and bake for 23 min

Carrot Cake Bars on Left, Lemon on Right

Carrot Cake Protein Bars

1 cup oat flour

2 scoops vanilla whey protein

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp all spice

1/8 tsp nutmeg

4 egg whites

3/4 cup splenda or stevia

8oz baby food carrots

4 oz water

Mix wet and dry ingredients separately then mix the two together. Spray baking pan with non stick spray. Bake at 350 for 20-30 min

And lastly a picture of my sweet Brock on his first day of Preschool

One Step Forward/ Two Steps Back

Sorry I've been a lil MIA recently, but after a short trip home and having my niece for a week, life around here is just now back to normal! The entire week that I was in WV my diet stayed on track and it was easy because my grandma's house is full of fresh produce in the summer! Soo Good!!!!

This past week however is a whole other story. For some reason....I've been eating as if the good Lord himself is coming tomorrow! All week last week I ate whatever I wanted and said "NO" to little. Still not sure why but what I do know is that I basically felt like crap all week. I had headaches, I only worked out when I taught classes and had little to no motivation. Lesson learned for sure....seriously that was awful not to mention I gained 4lbs!!!!
I know cheat meals happen, and they do but I especially have to be careful not to start saying yes to everything for days at a time. I think once I break the seal and have that ice cream sandwich after dinner with the boys, or grab that handful of pita chips while I'm making snacks, I feel so guilty and instantly feel like I've completely un-did all the hard work that I've been doing for the past few months and get this "F" it all attitude, and its honestly hard for me to stop. It's a problem I know and I'm well aware believe me! "Hello, My name is Maggie"  <<<Hello Maggie>>> "And I'm a binge Eater!" There....I said it! But Thank GOD for my gym friends, seriously they are awesome! Especially my friend Laura who is holding my accountable for this 12 week program that her and I had planned on starting this week! (More about that in a minute) But seriously we planned on starting the program on Tuesday and I swear Monday night up until 10pm I was still stuffing my face like I would never eat again! What the hell is wrong with me! lol Seriously who does that....but if you do , just know you're not the only one. And hopefully I will never do that again! I know I'll have cheat meals every now and then but I'm pretty sure there's no diet plan or healthy lifestyle out there that writes in "Cheat Week" or hell "Week before Execution" LOL So a big shout out to Laura for grabbing me by the hair and pulling me out of the Hog Trough, and meeting me in the weight room!

Ok, enough with the negative talk, its starting to make me itch.
Jamie Eason, (which if you don't know about her you should google her, she's just might be my favorite fitness chick) launched a brand new 12 week program through bodybuilding.com. It comes complete with workouts, videos, nutrition, and tons of helpful tips! You can feel free to check it out Jamie Eason's 12 week Live Fit program There are a lot of answers to overall general fitness and keeping the weight off in her short videos. I love that there's no cardio in the first phase,  because she's living proof that you don't necessarily need a lot of cardio in your life to look fabulous. Also the nutrition piece is amazing.
Today was day one of the program for me and my dear friend Laura who I mentioned before. The workout was good and the nutrition was a lil hard for me simply because I'm probably having sugar/carb withdrawls from last weeks catastrophe. LOL
Now,  I'm about to lay it all out on the table here and Laura gave me permission to include her in this. Before our workout today we decided to take "Before" shots of ourselves. UGH!!! Is all I have to say but I'm here for you so I'm gonna share them with you.

Ugh I hate Hate Hate my lower back for obvious reasons
Totally my trouble spot!

Honestly its a just one more piece of accountability because now I know that after the 12 weeks are over you'll expect to see new and improved pictures!

There ya have it! Nothing to hide thats for sure! No Spanx, No Editing, No enhancing, just all Natural and hopefully in 12 weeks there will be a considerable difference for the both of us! Feel free to join and if you do let me know that way you can jump on our accountability wagon to Success!  lol so corny! 

Now let's talk about food just a tad! Today I served the boys some vanilla low fat yogo with flaxseed and blackberries! Great kiddo snack for sure!

And today's lunch for me included Tuna salad served on a bed of spinach with 1/2 Baked sweet potato topped with flax seed and cinnamon! YummO!

Tomorrow I plan on making some Lemon Protein Bars as well as Chicken Muffins all courtesy of Ms. Eason herself! :)

And Last but definitely Not least a picture of my babies and their best good buds Camden and Dylan! 

Brock's new favorite dress up outfit, the wizard hat paired with a cape of course! Gotta Love it!

The Park is your Playground

Since I've been in WV, I've had to find a few creative ways to fit in workouts. Today I went to Ritter park which is my favorite park hands down.

It was pretty hot and  a lot more humid than NC but I had to make it happen even if it was 11am and getting hotter by the minute! So if you are lucky enough to live in the Huntington area, just know that this park has way more than needed to get a nice ass whooping workout for FREE! You just have to be a lil creative, and you may receive a few strange looks but who cares cause you'll look great doing it! :)

Today's workout

I started with 10 hill sprints over by the tennis courts. I started at one speed bump, ran over the next one, and stopped at the one after that. If that makes any sense at all. Basically a distance of three speed bumps, start at one , run over one and stop at the third! Run as hard as you can up, and use the walk down as your rest and immediately go again as soon as you get back to where you started. 

Picture from the Top of the hill! It's no joke!

Next I went down to the actual park and found me a nice park bench to take a rest....right! Uhhh...NO how bout to do a few box jumps using the bench. 

4 sets of 20 jumps on the bench
you simply use momentum just up on the
bench and jump back down with both feet
great exercise!

Thanks to the fabulous RPD I now have a new found love for the bear crawl! Never thought I'd say that but the bear crawl rocks! Its great for the whole body and especially the shoulders. You simply bend over at the waist and put your hands on the ground and walk like a bear .

I bear crawled in between these two trees
back and forth 4 times with rest in between

And Lastly I found this chain that I used as a make shift double dutch jump rope.

Stand on one side of the chain with both feet, and jump over with both
feet back and forth 2=1 for 10. Do 4 sets of 10 :)

After this sweaty good time I was dying of thirst and left my water bottle on a park bench near my car, well me being the freak I am I got worried that someone could've put something in my drink (I know weird) so I drove to the store and picked up one of these!

Coconut water is supposed to be excellent for hydration!
I admit its not the best tasting stuff but is a quick fix for hydrating!

As most of you know I stay with my fabulous Grandma when we come in town. I love this woman and she's a huge inspiration to me in a lot of ways but especially in how she takes care of her self and has literally taken her health into her own hands. She is now 77 years old and is healthy as a horse! She never sits down and has her diet down to a T. Anyways with her garden in full swing this is how I eat when I come here

Yumm all the veggies from her garden served with turkey breast! soo Good!

Since I was taken pictures around the park here is a picture of the fountain where Aaron asked me to be his wife! Another reason why I love this park!

10 Years! + Light Summer Recipes

Today marks our 10 year wedding anniversary!  If you don't know me very well you're probably thinking "wow....how old is she?" or "What did she get married when she was 12?" Ha! Yes we got married at the tender ages of 19 and 21...just babies! Our wedding was interesting to say the least, I'm pretty sure there were a few folks at the back of the church taking bets, my Dad was so drunk that he could barely speak, my "step-mom" showed up wearing a red prom dress decked out with rhinestones, plunging neckline and a train...yes a train, one of my groomsman almost got ran over by a car and my grandmother was trying to pay some of the other groomsman to kick my Dad's ass after the reception! So yeah, it was a good time, not to mention the fact that I was only 19 so nearly half of the guests were drinking underage and left in their own vehicles! Can you say classy?!?! But ya know....that's sometimes how things go down in the great state of West By God Virginia!

August 4, 2001

With a start like that the odds were pretty stacked, but we made it through! Aaron is absolutely the only man that could ever put up with me and I love him dearly! Heres to many more! 

I decided to try my tuna salad again and made it slightly different this time, and I think it is now officially perfect if you ask me! There are raisins in it this time and I swear every time I got a bite of raisin it was like a lil hint of joy! Ha! True story I got excited every time I got a raisin just like you do when you get an M&M while eating trail mix! Just add all the mix-ins as you wish to taste! 

Tuna Salad (revised)

1 large can of tuna drained 

0% Greek yogo

1 snack size box of raisins (credit goes to Daisy for this, thanks for the idea!)

1 hand full of raw spinach chopped

mustard

stevia

salt and pepper

1/2 onion chopped

DELICIOUS! Served on a rice cake as always:)

Next on the list is what Aaron described as "This may be the best thing you've EVER made for me!" That would be some Buffalo Chicken Salad. If you have a buffalo wing lover in your house then they are sure to love this, and its a great healthy Man-pleaser!

All you need is some chicken breast, greek yogo, and Frank's Red Hot!

That's right just 3 ingredients! Boil the chicken breast in a pan with a lil water. Place them in your food processor, add in yogurt and a lot of Frank's and give it a couple goes and wholla!!! You'll love it I'm sure...this one is an absolute Must Make and its perfect on wraps, on on top of Salad! If you want your chicken to be a chunkier just chop it up to your liking, place it in a large bowl and fold in the yogurt and Franks!

Last I'll talk about FlatOuts! These are now a staple in the Sullivan household! Tonight I made the boys pizza on these. I simple placed pizza sauce on them , added cheese and a lil chopped zucchini and red pepper and popped them in the oven on 350 for 10 min and they loved them! Flat outs are low carb, low sugar, everything good! So do yourself a favor and go getcha some! I bought them at Kroger. 

FlatOut pizza prepped and ready to go in oven

Today's Workout

 I taught a class called 20/20/20 which is just 20 min of three different types or styles of exercising with instructor's choice.

I did a lil crazy jumping around cardio that included Skaters, Jacks, Bunny Hops, High Knees, 180 Jump Squats, Slow and painful Lunges, SuperMans Jumps, Ski's , and some basic step

Next we used some free weights  

Bicep Curls, Hammer Curls, Overhead Tricep Extension, Tricep Dips, Overhead Shoulder press paired with squat, one arm bicep rows, and push ups

And last we worked our Core as well as our Tush!

Leg Sweeps, Lying Superman hold, Planks, Lying Side Oblique Crunch with elevated feet, Bicycle Crunch, and Dog Pee butt burn outs (sorry, I'll have to put this one on a video to show you but I literally don't have a better name for it :)  

I plan on making some Vlogs this week for workout ideas, with the help of some of my best friends sooo stay tuned! Also I might be a lil MIA for the next week but I'll be back don't you fret! <3

Snacks for our Travel Cooler
Red peppers with Laughing Cow Cheese triangles for me
and the other two are for the boys!

Tripp living up to his name!! 

Productive Week + Chicken Sloppy Joe, Coleslaw Dressing & Chocolate chip Cookie Recipes

 Sorry I didn't post last night but HELLO......The Bachelorette was on!!! So happy Ashley picked JP, I was a JP fan from the start! Hopefully they'll beat the odds and make it work, but with his cute smile and abs that shouldn't be a problem on her end! Ha! Anyways so this week has been quite productive! I've been ahead of the game when it comes to things that stay at home mom's do such as cleaning toilets, laundry, workouts, pool time and making healthy/ delicious dinners!

 Tonight I want to talk about workouts first!! I also want to go ahead and apologize if you are my Mother-in-law or my mother reading this but , this is too good not to post. One of my friends at the gym came up to me today after my workout and simply said "You are Insane!" She went on to say that my workouts were just crazy because today I did what I like to call a little cave man cardio , which I'll explain in more detail in just a bit. But without thinking I said "ya know....workouts are like sex.....you have to keep them crazy,  fun, and interesting or you'll get bored and plus your body responds best when you keep it guessing!" She laughed and as I walked away I thought to myself.."did I really just compare working out to sex?" But the more I thought about it , It's sooo true! Simply getting on a machine and staring a tv screen and getting the heart rate up a little each day just isn't gonna cut it people! This idea of crazy workouts became clear to me during my 10 week stent in the Raleigh Police Academy. They had this one swat guy who ran a lot of our PT and his workouts were crazy, but they were always fun, we always pushed ourselves outside of that dreaded comfort zone, and afterwards it felt great! Not to mention we were getting in the best shapes of our lives and stronger everyday! So...think outside the box when it comes to your workouts, especially for cardio and results will happen! 

Here is today's CaveMan Cardio

~Row Machine for 10min warmup level 8

~Stair Runs using the stairs in the gym or wherever you may be X30 with Up & Back Down equaling 1

Using the Indoor Track (which is really small I think maybe 20X around =1mile or something like that

~Bear Crawl on the short sides and run on the long stretches X5 2bearcrawl=1

~Side to Side Bunny Hops on the short sides and run on long stretches x5 2bunnyhop sets =1

~Grapevine on the short sides with High Knees on the long stretches x3

~Low Side Shuffle on the short sides with High Knees on the long stretches x2

~Incline Bench Sit ups holding 18lb weighted Ball with overhead press at the top x30

~Planks x1minute

~Bicycle Crunch 2x30...2count

~Lying Side Oblique Crunch with elevated feet 2x30 each side

~20 lying leg sweeps 4 count alternating between sides, and center

Then this evening I went back for Step Class!! 

I plan on making a vlog of this workout because it was great and involved little to no equipment and could totally be done at home or a park. 

Since we're talking about workouts here is what I did Monday.

Chest/Shoulders/Triceps

~Incline Bench chest press 2x20 using 20lb dumbbells

~Incline Bench Flys 2x20 using 12lb dumbbells

~Push Ups 4x10

~Shoulder Press 2x20 using 50lb Bar 

~Side Lateral Raise 2x1min using 15lb dumbbells

~Upright Rows (my fave) 2x1min using 40lb bar

~Pressdowns 2x20

~KickBacks 2x20 using 10lb dumbbells

~Lying Side oblique crunch with feet elevated x20 both sides

~20 lying leg sweeps 4 count alternating between sides, and center

Yesterday I decided to make use of my crock pot and made some Chicken Sloppy Joes!! They were a huge hit with the hubs and the kiddos so do your family a favor and Make These!

I started by placing 6 chicken breast in the crockpot. Then I made my homemade BBQ Sauce in a pan on the stove. 

I honestly Do not measure when I make this sauce but here are the ingredients:

BBQ Sauce

1 can Tomato Sauce

1 can Tomato Paste

Apple Cider Vinegar or any vinegar will do

Molasses

Garlic Powder

Onion Powder

Honey

Balsamic Vinegar

Salt and Pepper

I start with the tomato sauce and paste in a med sauce pan over low heat. I start adding the vinegar, honey and literally everything to taste. Add something then taste it, add a lil more whether you want it more sweet or vinegary (not sure thats a word) or salty its up to you!! Rocket Science I know! :)

Once all the ingredients are mixed well pour it over the chicken breast. Place lid on crock pot and put it on a low setting and let cook for around 7 hours. Once the chicken is done just take two forks and shred the chicken right there in the crock pot and its done! 

Next time I'll probably add chopped onion

ColeSlaw Dressing

1 bag of ColeSlaw Cabbage Mix found over with the bagged salad or cut up your own

0% plain Greek Yogurt (you knew I was gonna say that ;)

Vinegar

Splenda or any type of no calorie sweetener such as stevia or truvia

Light Coconut milk (leftover from the snap pea salad dressing)(usually found in the Asian Food Isle)

Salt and Pepper

Olive Oil

Lemon Juice

Once again No measuring...I started out using the yogurt as my base and just kept adding and tasting until it tasted just right! Once its how you like it pour over cabbage mix and stir! Delicious!! Really it was!

Chicken Sloppy Joe w/ coleslaw and greenbeans!
I served the boys and Aaron using a whole wheat bun as a sandwich

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2/3 cup almonds

1/3 cup cooked oatmeal

3tbsp honey or agave

1 tsp vanilla

1tsp cinnamon

1/8 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips 

1 egg

1tsp brown sugar

I used these...got them at Kroger

1) Mix everything except chocolate into the food processor. You should have a wet sticky dough.

2) Use spatula scrape dough into bowl and fold in chocolate chips

3) spoon onto cookie sheet and bake at 325 for 23 min yes 23 lol

I doubled this recipe and this is what I got...they were really good and I'll make them again for sure!

When I made the Sloppy Joes I also served the boys my homemade French Fries! 

2 Large Potatoes Peeled and cut into fries

Spray Baking sheet with olive oil

Drizzle olive oil on top of Fries

Sprinkle with flax seed and salt 

Bake at 400 for 20min!! My Boys Love these!!! 

And last but not least one of my new favorite snacks!!

DELICIOUS also bought at Kroger