Overcoming Fallback Recipe Mode

With such gorgeous weather outside, Ryan and I knew we had to take advantage of the wonderful breeze before the sweltering Florida heat kicks in.

We decided a trip to the dog park was in order and Sadie was more than happy to romp around with a stick the size of her face.

Sadie and Her Stick... Err... Log

Nom, Nom

Clearly Sadie couldn’t get over how fantastic her stick was…

"Oooh Stick, I Love You"

Sadie + Ryan (+ Stick)

Smilin' at the Park

"I'm Just a Love Machine!"

 After the park we headed home to make some dinn-ah.

Dinner

I didn’t realize it at the time, but Ryan and I bought three packs of chicken (two packs of breasts and one pack of ground chicken) at the grocery store earlier this week.

Oddly enough, I’m not a huge fan of chicken unless it’s really doctored up in a tasty recipe. It bores me otherwise.

Seeing the numerous chicken packages we had to use this week, my mind went into instant “fallback recipe mode,” and I figured we’d use the chicken in three dishes we make for dinner regularly:

• BBQ pulled chicken
• Slow cooker chicken tacos
• Grilled chicken

Though they’re delicious, I realized I wasn’t really looking forward to any of these dinners.

That’s no way to live!

A big turning point for me in adopting healthier eating habits was making healthy meals I wanted to eat and couldn’t wait to enjoy.

Before work today, I still had my “fallback recipe” blinders on and threw the ground chicken into the crock pot with taco seasoning and ¾ cup of water to cook on low all day. I figured we’d behaving tacos tonight.

When I thought about dinner on my drive home, I realized I wasn’t in the mood for tacos. I knew I’d just be eating them because they were there and easy.

So, what’s a girl to do? Get creative in the kitchen!

Oh Crock Pot, How I Love You

Instead of using the chicken in tacos, I decided to use it to create taco pasta!

My taco pasta included:

• One serving Carba Nada egg fettuccine noodles
• 3 ounces ground chicken (prepared in the crock pot with taco seasoning)
• One Laughing Cow light Swiss cheese wedge
• 1/2 c. diced portobello mushrooms, sautéed
• 1/4 c. diced onion, sautéed
• 1/4 c. corn
• 1 hard shell taco, crushed

While I cooked the noodles, I sautéed the mushrooms and onion and microwaved the frozen corn.

Onion + Mushrooms

When everything was ready, I drained the noodles and topped them with the veggies, chicken, crumbled hard shell taco and cheese and stirred it all up until everything was taco-tastic!

Taco Pasta

With the Fixins

 

Fiesta in a Bowl

Close Up

Though tacos are delicious, this meal tasted like victory! I overcame the fallback recipe hump and made myself a dinner I wanted to eat and thoroughly enjoyed.

Dessert

Dessert was simple and simply delicious: Gingersnap cookies.

Gingersnaps

They were a great conclusion to a great meal.

So what about you… Do you ever fall victim to fallback recipes?

Broccoli Beet-Tastic Chicken Salad

Oh leftovers, how I love you.

Today my lunch included pulled chicken leftover from last night’s dinner.

I was going to make a simple chicken salad sandwich, but I decided to add a little oomph with fresh veggies.

I bring you broccoli beet-tastic chicken salad!

Revitalized Chicken Salad

Beet-Tastic

My salad included:

• 3 oz. shredded chicken breast
• 100 grams broccoli
• 2 tbsp. Miracle Whip Light
• 1.5 tbsp. dijon mustard
• 50 grams canned beets
• 50 grams sweet corn

I shook it up to cover the chicken and veggies in the “dressing.”

Broccoli + Beets + Corn + Chicken

Hump Day Lunch

For dessert I had banana yogurt pudding which I made by stirring a large spoonful of instant banana pudding mix into a cup of Greek yogurt.

Banana Yogurt Pudding

If you haven’t tried yogurt pudding yet, you must. It’s so thick and creamy and reminds me of custard.

More Tips for Gettin’ Him to the Gym

You guys had some great ideas for getting your partner to the gym, so I wanted to share a few more straight from you!

• Encourage your guy to workout with his friends. Many guys enjoy playing sports with their buddies and thrive on competition.
• Continue with your own dedication to fitness. It may take some time to rub off on your partner.
• Take your guy to a group exercise class that you’ve scoped out beforehand. This way you can see whether or not there are other guys in the class and make sure that the music isn’t too girly so he won’t feel like he’s in a girly class.
• Don’t make the gym the only option. Exercise can occur outside, in the home or with a friend.
• Offer to create a workout plan for him. Some people are intimidated by working out and don’t know where to begin or what exercises to do.

Thank you to Angela, Tina, Natalie and Tess for the above ideas!

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Gettin’ Him to the Gym

I usually like sweeter breakfasts like berry barley yogurt bowls or brownie batter hot cereal, but occasionally eggs call to me. 

“Juuuuulie…. Eat me…” 

Today was one of those days and I happily obliged. 

I made myself a big ol’ breakfast wrap with scrambled eggs, portobello mushrooms, broccoli and onion. 

Eggs + Veggies

I wrapped the egg mixture in a Joseph’s lavash wrap and dug in! 

Wrapped Up

A Peek Inside

It hit zee spot. 

Gettin’ Him to the Gym 

This morning at the gym in between songs during my typical Wednesday BodyPump class, a girl turned to me and said, “I need your tips on how to get my boyfriend to come to the gym with me.  He thinks he still has his college body, but, well… he doesn’t.” 

Of course we laughed, but it made me feel lucky that working out is a personal interest of Ryan’s. 

I started to think about her question in a little more detail during a short run with Sadie after the class. What would I do if Ryan didn’t like working out? 

Here are a couple of ideas Ryan and I came up with to try to motivate your significant other, friend or family member to workout with you: 

• Make it a social experience… Go on a jog outside together, spot each other in the weight room, etc.
• Take a group exercise class (Even guys like spinning!)
•  Have a reward waiting after your workout (People at my gym live for the free coffee and will sit in the cafe and enjoy each other’s company after a good workout)
• Do the workout where they’re comfortable, whether it be outside, in the gym or at home
• Start with an exercise they’re comfortable with (Some people hate cardio while others are really intimidated by weights)
• In return for working out with you, offer to do something they’re interested in

Would it bother you if your partner didn’t work out or live an active lifestyle? 

Having a partner who didn’t go to the gym would not be a deal breaker for me, but I definitely need to be with someone active who likes  to get out of the house and explore, go on walks with me and Sadie and be outside.