Crock Pot BBQ Chicken

 

Are you ready for a super easy recipe in your slow cooker? BBQ chicken in the crock pot only requires three ingredients and less than 5 minutes of your time!!

Ingredients:
2 cans pinto beans
24 oz BBQ Sauce
4 Chicken Breasts

Start by placing your chicken in the crock pot (I put mine in still frozen). Rinse and drain the pinto beans and put them in the crock pot. Finally cover everything with the BBQ sauce! That is it!

Set your slow cooker to low and walk away. I let mine cook for 8 hours. This recipe creates delicious baked beans and chicken that falls apart with the touch of your fork!

How to Make Homemade Almond Joy Body Butter and a Giveaway!!!

Are you looking for a personalized gift this holiday season? This is a great gift idea for the women in your life and I bet some guys would appreciate it after a long summer of grilling and getting their hands dirty. 

My intention was to create a DIY gift of body butter that smelled like a cinnamon roll.... that didn't happen, but my cinnamon roll fail turned into an Almond Joy scented success! Tip #1 is save the cinnamon for body scrubs. The little granules don't melt down and it feels like you have sand in your body butter. I ended up straining my first batch through cheese cloth to get the cinnamon out...

Homemade Brown Sugar Body Scrub

 

An invigorating exfoliator that will leave your skin glowing and smelling delicious for a quarter of the price!

Whether you are looking to have a spa day at home or want to create the perfect gift for friends and family this Brown Sugar Scrub is perfect.

Nursery Decor: Gray with a Touch of Pink

 

Years ago my brother gave me this gorgeous photo of a pink and gray Mardi Gras mask. When I found out I was pregnant with a girl I knew the photo needed to be the centerpiece of her room. Using the mask as inspiration I decided to go with a pink and gray, New Orleans/French inspired room.

Cilantro Bouquet

 

Flowers, fruit bouquets, chocolate assortments, wine.. All of these things run through my head when I am going to someones house for dinner. What do I bring the host/hostess!?

I decided to go a little outside of the box with my last dinner party outing and had some fun while prepping for a dish I was going to make at their house. As I was gathering all of my ingredients my mind started to go wild with creative ideas of avocado monsters and lime towers. I was making guacamole so I didn't have a whole lot to work with! That's when it hit me, cilantro bouquet! I quickly pulled out a few more items and got to work.

Fiesta Chicken in the Crock Pot

With time at a premium I find myself relying on my trusty crock pot. Throw in a few ingredients and when you get home from work, dinner is served. I love this super easy crock pot meal, it has a ton of flavor is high in protein and fiber and low in fat!

Ingredients:
3 chicken breasts
1 cup salsa (choose a low sodium version)
1/4 cup cilantro
1 lime (juice)
1 can chopped tomatos
1 can black beans
1 can of corn (optional, leave out if on 24 Day Challenge)
1 tbs each of cumin, paprika, garlic powder

Layer all of the ingredients in the crock pot and cook on low for 8 hours.

Serve over brown rice, in a lettuce wrap or a brown rice tortilla. You can also top it with sliced avacado, some shredded cheese and greek yogurt (as a sour cream substitute). (If you are on the 24 Day Challenge, skip the cheese and greek yogurt)

Enjoy!

Cyber Monday Deal

Free Shipping on All-Natural Dog Treats!! Use Code: THANKS at checkout!!

Candy Canes

Bacon and Cheddar Wafers

Pumpkin Pretzels

The Skinny on Salad Dressing

You think you are making a healthy choice at lunch. You go to the store, you grab a salad, you pat yourself on the back and then you pour approximately 2 tbs of  what appears to be a healthy dressing (balsamic vinaigrette) on your salad. Did you know those 2 tbs = 170 calories, 18g fat??? 

Here is an easy way to enjoy the flavor of the dressing and save yourself some from some of the fat and calories. If you put a teaspoon of the dressing on the salad and close the lid and shake you can have the yummy flavor throughout the salad using only a fraction of the dressing.

1 tsp= 28 calories and 3g fat!

Black Bean Brownies

 

Yes, you read that correctly.... Black Bean Brownies!!

When sweet cravings get the best of you it is always nice to have something to fall back on that won't knock you off the wagon. This recipe packs in over 60 grams of protein and melts in your mouth like the ultimate cheat meal, without the guilt!  

 

Fudgy black bean brownie goodness. That really is the only way to describe this decadent, gluten free dessert.

Summer Rolls

Looking for a light snack, a refreshing appetizer or a fun side dish? Try this quick and easy DIY Summer Roll recipe.

Ingredients:

Mango

Avacado

Jicama

Cilantro

Mint

Lime

Shrimp

Rice Paper

Dual Dinner Part 2: Chili

Chili:
Mommy's Meat Sauce
2 tbs Cumin
2 tbs paprika
2 tbs chili powder
2 cans kidney beans
1 can black beans
1 can corn (optional)

Dual Dinner Part 1: Mommy's Meat Sauce

My goal is to have a  nutritious dinner on the table every night. With 2 children under 3 years old, a full time desk job, a Dog Treat Company, Personal Training Clients and sharing my favorite nutrition supplements my time is at a premium. In order to make sure I meet my goal I plan our dinners a month in advance. I also try to create recipes that can be used for more than one meal. I like to call them "Dual Dinners". This dual dinner starts off as a meat sauce and then the next night the left overs are transformed into chili (which I will give you the details on in a future post)!

Mommy's Meat Sauce:
1 onion (chopped)
2 cloves garlic (chopped)
32 oz tomato sauce
1 can chopped/diced tomato
2 bay leaves
2 tbs italian seasoning
1/2 cup chicken stock
1.25 lbs bison
1 tbs olive oil

Oatmeal Everything Cookies

I love spending time in the kitchen with my toddler and this vegan and gluten free cookie recipe is perfect for those little helping hands (and no egg, means no worries if they eat some of the raw dough). I like to call these Oatmeal Everything Cookies because you can add just about anything to them. You can make them Oatmeal Raisin or Oatmeal Pecan Choc Chip or Oatmeal Cranberry...

Cake Pups

Who doesn't love a good cake pop? Why should we keep all of the yummy goodness to ourselves, when our four legged friends deserve a delicious treat too?  Now you can make Cake Pups, for your dog...

 

What you will need:

1/2 pound all-natural peanut butter dog treats 

3 dozen rawhide sticks

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 stick of low fat cream cheese

2 tbs honey

1 tbs peanut butter

 -Mix all ingredients together until smooth

Carob Frosting:

1/2 cup unsweetned carob chips

1/2 cup peanut butter

-in a microwave safe dish, heat at 30 second intervals and mix until ingredients are combined and smooth

 

 Start by pulsing the peanut butter cookies in a food processor until crumbed. Add in a 1/4 cup of cream cheese frosting and continue to pulse.

Once a dough forms scoop out 1 tbs of dough at a time and form a ball on the end of a rawhide stick. (If you are having trouble forming the dough you can add in more frosting a tablespoon at a time to get the right consistency.)

Dip the dough ball in the cream cheese frosting and place in the refrigerator. Once the frosting has hardened repeat another 2 times. (If cream cheese frosting is too thick you can add in a tbs of water) The same dipping and refrigerating process can be done with the carob frosting if you prefer to use carob.

Decorate with a drizzle of frosting that has been colored with food coloring! Keep treats refrigerated until ready to serve.

Baked Brie with Apricot Filling

Tis the season for holiday parties and get-togethers. No one wants to show up empty handed but who has the time to make a gourmet dish for every event they attend? Well now you do! Here is a quick and easy appetizer (or dessert) that will have your friends and family calling on you to attend every party.

What you will need:
1 package frozen puff pastry sheets
1 8oz Brie round
Apricot filling
Sliced almonds
Rolling pin

 

Take the Terrible out of the Twos

There was a time when my house was run by a 3ft tall dictator. OK, who am I kidding, 50% of the time my house is still run by a 3ft tall dictator.

Yes, my 2.5 year old had taken over and I as the parent needed to take charge. In the morning getting ready for school and in the evening getting ready for bed had become a power struggle. We had no structure and we simply wanted to get our son off to school with clothes on in the morning (no shoes and Thomas the Train underwear outside of his clothes counts, right?)

I looked toward my inner kindergarten teacher and decided we needed to create a routine and I needed a visual aide that was interactive so he could feel involved. I turned to the bible for all things crafty, Pinterest, and started to create a plan.

Avoid the 3pm Snack Slump

How often do you hit your mid morning stride and there is a big brick wall between breakfast and lunch, or the dreaded 3pm slump where your energy levels start to drop. Grabbing a bag of chips seems so easy but you have been doing great with your healthy eating plan so you reach for a handful of almonds or grab the apple off your desk and wipe off the dust it has been building up because you have been avoiding eating the same boring snacks every day!

Don't get bored! Switch it up and have some fun with your snacks. Here is a fun healthy snack I whipped up and a few variations to help switch it up throughout the week.

My Breast(feeding) Friend

With baby number two making an appearance any day now I am in full nesting mode! One item I am excited to stock my house with is Rehydrate Gel and Rehydrate. With baby number one I found breast feeding to be extremely dehydrating. I drank water like a camel trying to stay hydrated and I don't know about you but I avoid the other "sports drinks" on the market because they are loaded with corn syrup. Luckily for baby number two I have Advocare in my corner!

Lucky for everyone the gel is on sale this month!!! It is an amazing product with a great taste and it is a favorite of cyclists and runners!

Quinoa Taco Bowls with Fresh Guac

 

For Cinco de Mayo this year I wanted to make a clean version of tacos for dinner that are also 24 Day Challenge friendly. I created the Quinoa Taco Bowl! It was a big hit and next year when I am not pregnant I will be pairing it with Margarita Jello Shots!

Is your fish oil supplement acting fishy?

Earlier this week I posted about what an amazing company Advocare is and how I have had a fit and healthy pregnancy while using their products.

I came across this clip from the Dr. Oz show that exemplifies what a great product Advocare produces.

Is your office fridge a fright?

The Problem: Raise your hand if the fridge in your office looks like this...

Mine used to. Every few months I would take it upon myself to clean out all the expired, yucky, and smelly food that people forgot about. I knew something had to be done, there had to be a way to clean up the office fridge.

Want to know my secret?

I debated sharing this information. It is hard to put yourself out there.... but some information is too good to keep to yourself.

This is me at 27 weeks pregnant on a recent trip to Disney World. See my shorts? Those are not maternity shorts, those are my everyday pre-pregnancy shorts!

A little bit about me and how I have been able to have an easy, healthy and fit pregnancy:

As the daughter of a medical doctor and a fitness practitioner, health and wellness have always been an important part of my life. I earned my Bachelor of Science degree in athletic training from The University of Alabama and currently work full time for a healthcare consulting firm. In addition to my full-time job I also own and run my own small business, Aunt Sasha's Barked Goods, an all-natural dog treat company. I also have a two year old and of course baby number two on the way.

Watermelon Punch

With the weather warming up I wanted to share a yummy and fun cocktail and you can serve it in a Watermelon!

Grab your ingredients:
Seedless Watermelon
Frozen Pineapple
Coconut Rum
Vodka
(for a mocktail or kid friendly version sub pineapple juice for the alcohol)

 First remove the top of your watermelon and scoop out the flesh.

Next combine your ingredients in the blender, this is a drink you can make to suit your personal taste by adding more/less of each ingredient. I used 1 cup of watermelon, 1 cup frozen pineapple, 1 ounce vodka and 1 ounce coconut rum

Finally pour your drink into the empty watermelon shell and enjoy.

If you are making a non-alcoholic, kid friendly, pregnancy friendly version add in some club soda after you have poured the mixture into the watermelon shell.

Want to kick it up a notch. Freeze your watermelon punch for a frosty treat!