Be The Change | Till Then Smile Often

June 17, 2013

Foil Wrapped Kielbasa Dinner

I seriously don’t know if I can even call this a recipe because it was so easy! I can safely say it was delicious! I will be making this often now for sure. So easy to swap one ingredient for another too! I had pinned this on Pinterest a few weeks ago, of course. You are following me on Pinterest right? If not follow me here. The original pin found here.

Ingredients:

Kielbasa ~ 1-2 Zucchini Stalks ~ 1 Sweet Potato ~ 1/2 Red Onion ~ Salt ~ Pepper ~ Optional: Garlic Salt and Red Pepper ~ Serves 2

Directions:

Slice the Kielbasa. Chop the sweet potato, zucchini and red onion. Season with salt, pepper and garlic salt to taste. *I used half the ingredients since it was just for me but really you can’t go wrong.

Wrap in aluminum foil and seal shut.

Wrap using the long ends, this will give the ingredients the most room to cook evenly. *Note: I totally didn’t do this and probably why I had to cook longer. Again you can’t go wrong just may need to cook longer.
Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 20-40 minutes or until you can pierce the potatoes with a fork. * I ended up cooking it for about 30 minutes.

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Note: If you are not a fan of Kielbasa you could use Linguica, Chicken Sausage, Veggie Saugage or another type of Sausage. I am not a fan of cooked pepper so I left it out of the original recipe.

It was such a light tasting dish, but filling enough for a hot summer night.

What do you thing, worth a try?

Linking up with Jessica and Ashley.

June 16, 2013

Projects and Fathers

I started the weekend off with a bang and ran 5 miles on Friday night. I had to ice my knee after but hey at least I finished it. It does make me re-think the whole half-marathon thing, but I am already signed up so guess I better get used to it. While I iced my knee Seamus slept. Seriously…he melts my heart.

Saturday – I make some low carb french toast to fuel my early morning workout. I used a low carb bread and egg whites, then sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar free syrup. I also made my own iced coffee with Sugar Free Caramel Maciato creamer and truvia.

I then headed out to get my haircut. It was the worst haircut experience EVER! The woman was so rude and offensive. She started arguing with the stylist next to her about the Zimmerman case. The other stylist told he to cut it out and enough but she kept going. Needless to say this is not how I would expect a first meet should go but then she kept tugging my hair painfully. I had to count to ten in my head 5 times so I wouldn’t storm out. Needless to say I won’t go back. The hair…not great but not a total botch job. Ugh!

After the haircut I ran around to a few stores for errands and did grocery shopping. I pick up all the supplies I need to make my Father’s Day present.

Since my Dad is a Vietnam veteran I figured it was a perfect project to do for him. How do think it came out?

After working on this project for a few hours I made a quick and easy dinner. Yes, playing with my food is fun. I had a kielbasa too on the side.

Sunday I woke up and hit the gym for a 4 mile run. Then it was off to my brother’s house. I got to play all sorts of outdoor games with my nieces then had a BBQ.

They took full advantage of the nice weather to hop in the kiddie pool.

How did you spend your weekend?

Linking up with Sami at Sami’s Shenanigans and Leann at Join the Gossip .

Also linking up with Postcards from Rachel and Northern Belle Diaries.

June 14, 2013

Only Happy When It Rains

Happy Friday Everyone! I am not going to complain about how it has been raining for the last 3 days. Nope not going to do it since I know the people in Colorado are praying for it. So what I am going to do is tell you what I love about the rain:

It makes for the best cuddle sessions on the couch with Seamus.
I don’t have to mow my lawn
I get to wear warm cuddly sweaters to keep warm
I get to wear my a$$ kicking boots on casual Friday!
I wear my hair curly which takes 5 minutes versus the 20 minutes it takes to straighten.

*I hate having my pic taken and I am a horrible selfie taker so please don’t judge to harshly.

That is all I can think of for now since it is Friday! Enjoy and head on over to Whit’s Blog to catch some other jams to get you on your way for the weekend.

June 13, 2013

How To Fix a Broken Makeup Compact

Happy Thursday!! I am going to keep this short and sweet. Sorry for the fellas who read my blog. This project came out of necessity. I broke my bronzing powder into a million pieces, I didn’t want to just replace it because it was really new and mostly few, so off to Pinterest I went. I used the instructions from this pin.

All you need to do is add a capful of Isopropyl Alcohol (rubbing alcohol) over the broken up pieces and stir until smooth. You made need to add a little more if you had a full compact. Let it sit overnight or a few hours to set and good as new. I love that I don’t have to toss any more broken makeup and that it was so easy. This works on eyeshadow, blush and compacts. Pinterest Win!

Broke Compact 🙁

The original pin added a lot more alcohol than I did making it look more watery, I probably could have added more to clean it up a little bit.

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Final product. I could have done a better job of making it pretty but I had a date last night and didn’t want to spend a lot of time on this project. PRIORITIES! LOL.

Here is to no more wasted makeup! Yeah!

If you haven’t already, follow me on Pinterest here.

Now head on over to our two co-hosts Steph and Katie. Be sure to check out all the other pin inspired projects completed.

June 11, 2013

Does anyone snack anymore?

I don’t really like the word snack as I don’t really have snacks. I more so have mini-meals. I eat approximately 5-6 meals a day. The weekends I have more time to be a little creative with my food and during the week I tend to re-heat food I prepped on the weekend. Call it boring if you will but I am always pressed for time during the week so grab and go is the only way I can manage.

Breakfast: This was perfect for my early morning hike. It had a little bit of everything while still being low on calories.

A low carb wrap with 2 TBSP natural peanut butter, 1 TBSP sugar-free strawberry preserves, 1/4 of a banana, 2 sliced strawberries and 2 TBSP of gluten free granola.

Mid-morning snack: I normally don’t eat eggs twice in one day – normally my protein would be chicken, tuna, or greek yogurt if I am having eggs for dinner. The side is made up of a whole tomato, 3 oz of cheddar cheese, 3 stalks of asparagus, and a balsamic vinegar, EVOO and crushed garlic dressing.

Lunch: Like I said grab and go. After a workout I don’t want to think about what to eat. So I grabbed an apple, a whole grain salt free rice cake and natural peanut butter and kielbasa. I eat so much chicken during the weekend so the kielbasa is a welcomed change.

Mid-Afternoon Snack: This was a new concoction for me and I gotta say I kinda love it! This was three stalks of celery, organic almond butter and 12 almonds.

Dinner: This is like my standard weekday dinner (this was from Monday night post workout). I can normally eat this every night with just the veggie being rotated out. I sprinkled the asparagus with Mrs. Dash’s onion and herb. The Egg White scramble I make with 3-4 cup egg whites and 1 whole egg. I must have ketchup with my eggs but doesn’t photograph well so it is not pictured! Who is with me on the ketchup on their eggs? Anyone?

What are some of your healthy go to snacks?

June 10, 2013

Orange Chicken

For the longest time I have wanted to make my own Orange Chicken. I love to get it when I go to a Chinese Restaurant but most of the recipes I have seen have seemed a little intimidating or didn’t look right based on the ingredients. Then Brianne posted about her experience here and it made me really want to try this again. I tried this recipe and it was a fail. Although the chicken was fine the sauce did not thicken at all, so the sauce got tossed. My second try was a success!! I will be making this again for sure!! The original recipe can be found here.

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Ingredients: ~ 1 pound chicken breasts, cut into strips ~ 1 tablespoon soy sauce ~ 1 tablespoon sake ~ 1 teaspoon grated ginger ~ 1/2 cup potato starch (or Almond Flour) ~ oil for frying

For the Sauce: 2/3 cup orange juice (I used fresh squeezed juice of 2-3 oranges) ~ 1/3 cup marmalade ~ 2 teaspoons potato starch (halve if using cornstarch) ~ 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions: After cutting place your chicken strips in a bowl with the soy sauce, sake (I got the Sake at the liquor store for $2.99) and ginger and lightly toss. For the ginger I used a potato peeler to get strips and then chopped. Marinate the mixture for at least 15 minutes.

Lightly dust each piece of chicken with potato starch or in my case Almond Flour. Heat a pot with at least 1/2″ of oil in it over medium heat until hot.

Put the chicken in a bowl with the soy sauce, sake and ginger and marinate for at least 15 minutes. When the chicken is done marinating, lightly dust each piece with potato starch.

Heat a pot with at least 1/2″ of oil in it over medium heat until hot. In a separate pan, add the orange juice, marmalade, 2 teaspoons of potato starch and the salt and whisk to combine.

– See more at: http://norecipes.com/blog/orange-chicken-recipe/#sthash.vYncsbMU.T2jW5tY9.dpuf

Fry the chicken until golden brown and transfer to a paper towel lined plate to drain.

In a separate pan, add the orange juice, marmalade, 2 teaspoons of potato starch or 1 teaspoon cornstarch, salt and whisk to combine.

Heat the orange sauce over medium high heat, stirring constantly to prevent clumping until the sauce is thick and bubbly.

Add the fried chicken to the orange sauce and toss to coat. Serve! I ending up serving with broccoli but over rice would be great too!

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Would you try this recipe?

Have a recipe you want me to try and feature on my blog?

Let me know. I love trying new recipes. Just know I don’t eat fish so that is not going to happen! Sorry! 🙂

Linking up with Jessica and Ashley.

June 9, 2013

Fitness and Food

This was such an amazing weekend!! Not because I went anywhere exciting, but because I had absolutely no plans!! You know those times when you can get up whenever you can (or at 5 am since that is when Seamus wants to get up) or go back to bed for a few more hours. You can do whatever you want in any sequence you want. Since Friday was a monsoon it was a movie night with Seamus. I watched the movie People Like Us, which was ok.

Saturday: I got up fairly early thanks to Seamus but I got a chance to read a little bit of my book and drink my coffee.

I was reading the Nicholas Sparks book called The Best of Me. Let me tell you I am not going to read another one of his books! Seriously why must he end every book on a sad depressing note?! Over it! I got all my house cleaning done early and went grocery shopping, glamorous I know. I did a quick circuit workout that was tough!

SOURCE

Then I took poor Seamus for a walk. I drive by this waterfall every time I go grocery shopping and I love it! I love being near water no matter where. It doesn’t really seem that far when you are in the car. It ended up being about 5 miles. When we got to the waterfall we popped a squat on the grass and looked out at the water. Or at least I did and Seamus panted and rested. You know he is tired when he doesn’t stop every few feet. I also had to carry him when we got to the small bridge. He got a little freaked and laid down.

When we got home Seamus took a short nap and I mowed the lawn. The only downside to living near a lake is that every year I get frogs in my yard. Those things are ugly. I tend to leave them alone but I have put a few back into the lake.

Sunday: I woke up Sunday full of energy and started out with a great breakfast. It was a low carb wrap with natural peanut butter, sugar-free strawberry preserves, 1/4 of a banana, 2 sliced strawberries and 2 TBSP of gluten free granola. I was a perfect breakfast to keep my energy up to go hiking.

I love that the trails are so close to home and it is a really good workout. The trails were a little water-logged after at the rain we have had recently but not too bad. The trails are really well-marked, and they have maps at a few check points though I haven’t used a map in a while.

What did you do this weekend? Hopefully it was restful!

Linking up with Sami at Sami’s Shenanigans and Leann at Join the Gossip .

Also linking up with Postcards from Rachel and Northern Belle Diaries.

June 7, 2013

Friday calls for a celebration

Friday, I love you! This has been such a long and challenging week, but it is almost over!! So I bring you some tunes to get through this last 8 hours of work. It is sort of funny that I select a lot of R&B and old school stuff for backthatazzup Friday. My friends were actually surprised that I listed to Heavy Metal/Rock when I workout. The Pop and Top 40 comes out when I drive. Just call me eclectic. Thank you very much! 😉

Kid Cudi – Dat New “New”

June 5, 2013

Adoption Story and Homemade Dog Treats

I am not sure if I have told the whole story on how I came to adopt Seamus, it will have to wait for another day (it’s a little long at least when I tell it). The important parts –

1. I volunteered at a local Animal Shelter for two years (I miss it so much)
2. Seamus was running around the shelter for 4 days before the cops and animal control could catch him (I experienced this escape trick 4 times since I’ve had him – never lasts more than 20 minutes – he gets tired and lets me catch him). He also really hates strangers but if he knows you for ten minutes he loves you or tolerates you!
3. On the night of my shift – a co-volunteer pulled me into a room to tell me he was to be placed in a Foster to adopt situation. I think she knew I was going to lose my cool! She was right.
4. I bawled my eyes out. Like all night. I took him to “our” patch of grass where I hugged him and cried. I had been thinking of ways I could keep him (my apt didn’t allow dogs).
5. Over some alcohol and Mexican food with the other volunteers, I vowed if the Foster to adopt didn’t work out I would find a way to take him.
6. He was returned after one and a half days!!! I have had him now for 7 years!! I was never that attached to another dog at the shelter, sometimes you just know.

With a recent scare of him getting a UTI, to what I found out later was due to Chicken Jerky made in China that has been recalled, I threw out his treats and decided to make my own. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this sooner.

The recipes I found on Pinterest were all pretty easy and ingredients I already had in the house. The peace of mind for making them myself outweighs the 20 minutes it took to make the treats. For the original Pin click here.

Ingredients:

~ 2 cups +1/2 half cup rolled oats (Gluten Free*) ~ ½ teaspoon salt ~ 1 egg ~ ½ cup unsalted, low-fat beef broth or chicken broth ( I used chicken this time)

*NOTE: Some dogs can have wheat allergies so use gluten free and always watch your dog when switching up their food to make sure there is not a negative reaction. Scratching or scabs are just some symptoms.

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees.

Add 2 cups oats, salt, chicken broth, and egg to a large mixing bowl.

Combine well. Add remaining ½ cup of rolled oat and combine.

Knead dough for about 3 minutes. Let stand for about 3 minutes to begin to become firmer. (The originally recipe called out rolling it out on wax paper – DO NOT DO THIS!! The wax stuck to the ingredients and I had a hard time trying to get it all off)

Press to ½-inch thickness. Cut with cutter (I already had a dog bone shape from a Xmas gift) and place onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet.

Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for use or store in a Ziploc bag in the freezer for later thawing and use. This recipe made about 10-12 large-sized bones. A must try for your canine babies! I love that you can make a large batch and freeze for later.

Seamus LOVED these treats!

See them disappear in 3..2..1..

I also tried this pin for Sweet Potato jerky and he liked it. The bad part is it took 3 hours or more to make it and the next day the jerky was semi-soft again. I most likely will not make again. Again he liked it, just to time consuming and didn’t last long. Maybe if I had a dehydrator it would be less work. Hoping to try a few more soon!

If you haven’t already, follow me on Pinterest here.

Now head on over to our two co-hosts Steph and Katie. Be sure to check out all the other pin inspired projects completed by clicking below.

June 4, 2013

Here a snack, there a snack

Happy Hump Day everyone!! Due to such a busy weekend I feel like I have been just “off” so I am glad to see this week going. Let’s hope the rest goes by a little quicker! The fun part of Wednesday is What I Ate Wednesday! The focus for this month is sensible snacking. How to beat those craving, and prevent them from coming around.I think it will be fun to come up with some new snack choices. I usually like to do 5-6 small meals throughout the day so not sure if you call them snack but mid-morning meal and mid-afternoon meal help get me through the day and to not make me hungry. Breakfast: I went with my standard Overnight Oats. For the recipe click here.

Mid-Morning Snack: Pink Lady Apple, Jif to Go Peanut Butter and 2 oz of pecans

Lunch: I went with my standard Salad (toppings change). Romaine Lettuce, Feta Cheese, Red Onion, pineapple and pepperoni.

Mid-Afternoon Snack:

This protein bar is one of the better pre-packaged bars I have seen. It is made of mostly nuts and other whole foods. I tend to stay aways from bars as I prefer to eat more natural unprocessed foods whenever possible but this helped me get through my Turbo Kick fitness instructor training this weekend.

These are another new favorite. Again not something I would eat everyday but a good thing to mix in and great alternative to chips. They sort of taste like Funyons (not sure on the spelling). Dinner: I made a Healthy Chicken Parmesan Wrap. Click here for the recipe.

Sorry for being pretty lame with the food this week. I actually for the first time in like six weeks finally have a weekend with no plans. I can not be more excited! I am already planning like a bazillion things I want to do, but hopefully I will have some time to come up with some creative snack ideas for this month.So head on over to see what everyone else is eating by clicking the below link!

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