recipes Archives - Page 5 of 9

Lean Lena April 22, 2014

Breakfast Quiche Recipe

Hey-hey! Happy Tasty Tuesday! I hope you guys had a wonderful Easter and are ready to party today 🙂

Link up your favorite tasty posts below and get them to show up on my co-host’s blog as well! Don’t forget to be nice and check out other links of our party attendees.

As for me, I am sharing an awesome recipe for Breakfast Quiche with you today. I found it on Love and Duck Fat originally and made just a few small adjustments to the recipe.

I have to say, this breakfast quiche has been my savior last week. With husband and kids being away, my lazy gene was acting up in the mornings. I was so glad I made this quiche last Sunday! Breakfasts made easy – cut, reheat, eat. One, two, three. Easy! So, here you are, guys, and don’t forget to go and thank Love and Duck Fat for the original recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

1 9” frozen pie crust, pre-baked according to directions.
1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced
8 oz. baby bella mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
3 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
4 large eggs
1 ½ cups light cream
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (4-6 oz.) shredded cheese
Handful of fresh baby spinach, arugula or parsley leaves
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F

2. To make the onions: add 1 tablespoon olive oil to the pan. Add the onions and toss until soft, about 5 minutes. Lower the heat and allow to cook until reduced in size and golden. After about 10 minutes, sprinkle with salt. Allow to cook on low heat for 20 minutes, until very soft and brown. Set aside.

3. To make the mushrooms: melt 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter to a skillet on medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and season with salt. Continue to cook on medium-high, turning only a few times until the mushrooms get brown and crispy on the edges. Remove from the pan. Set aside.

4. To make the custard: whisk together the eggs, cream, and 1 teaspoon of salt until frothy.

5. Assemble the quiche: spread ½ of the cheese on the bottom of the pie crust, then mushrooms, and then the onions. Scatter some spinach leaves on top (or parsley/arugula), then the remaining cheese. Pour the egg mixture gently over the top.

6. Bake for 40 minutes, until the top is golden and the center no longer jiggles.

7. Cool for at least 20 minutes before serving.

8. Enjoy!

Easy, right? I love easy to make, healthy and delicious recipes.

I know you do, too.

Now your turn: share your tasty finds with me in the link-up party below!

Thanks for stopping by today.

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Filed Under: breakfast, dinner, healthy snack ideas, lunch, recipes, Tasty Tuesday Tagged With: breakfast, good food, healthy breakfast, healthy dinner, healthy lunch, healthy snack ideas, lunch, recipes 14 Comments

Lean Lena April 15, 2014

Tasty Tuesday: 10-minute Chicken Pasta Salad Recipe

Hey guys! Happy Tasty Tuesday to you!

It’s time to party and share your tasty finds, tasty posts and recipes. Join the link up party below, which will also appear on my co-host’s blog – Fairytales and Fitness.

I am super-excited because last Tuesday we had the record number of 25 partiers! Thank you so much, guys! I love each and every one of your recipes and blogs!

Today I am sharing with you one of my go-to sides/lunch salad recipes – Chicken Pasta Salad.

Well, first of all, you can throw pretty much anything into a pasta salad as long as you don’t forget to throw in the pasta 🙂

I love making pasta salads because they take care of any leftovers I have in the fridge! Pasta salads are also super delicious. Win-win!

Once again, this is a recipe that doesn’t really call for any quantities – just throw in as much as you have of whatever you have, and don’t forget pasta 🙂

SUGGESTED INGREDIENTS:

Pasta (I used Barilla Whole Grain Rotini Pasta, about half a pack)
Chicken breast (you can use grilled chicken, pan fried, baked or whatever you have and feel like. I used the leftover crockpot chicken).
Bell peppers (use different colors to make your salad bright!)
Red onions
Fresh parsley
Capers
Any other veggies you have/like

For the dressing:

Lemon juice
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Either fresh or dry basil leaves

INSTRUCTIONS:

Cook pasta according to the package instructions, set aside to cool
While pasta is cooking, combine lemon juice, olive oil and spices in a bowl and whisk well until combined, set aside
Dice the vegetables and chicken
Combine all the ingredients in a salad bowl, pour the dressing over and mix until coated.
Serve cold or warm.
Add salami or any meat instead of chicken. Experiment!
Enjoy your pasta salad for lunch or as a side for dinner 🙂

See? Told you it was a 10 minute deal 🙂

Now do share with me: what tasty things have you discovered/tried lately? Link up below or share in comments, and don’t forget to check out other links in the party and spread the word by sharing this post! Let more people know and come to the party!

Have a great week, guys!

An InLinkz Link-up

Filed Under: dinner, Link Up, lunch, recipes, Tasty Tuesday Tagged With: dinner, good food, healthy dinner, healthy lunch, lunch, pasta, pasta salad, recipes, salad 13 Comments

Lean Lena April 8, 2014

Tasty Tuesday – Let’s Talk Guilt Free Desserts

Hey guys! Happy Tasty Tuesday! How is your week going?

I’m back with the traditional Tasty Tuesday post today. Don’t forget it is a link up party, too! Link up your tasty finds (or your own posts) below and remember to check out other links, too!

What I have for you today is a selection of 5 guilt free desserts!

As you probably know, I am not supporting the fat free diet. I am a strong believer that our body needs all food groups and elements (including sugar and fat) – but I also believe those have to come in the right amounts and from the right sources.

Today I wanted to share with you 5 recipes I have recently discovered that use clean ingredients (entirely or mostly) and will leave you happy and guilt free.

Just to be clear – when I say “guilt free”, I don’t really mean the calories. I mean the ingredients (even though those two seem to come hand in hand in dessert recipes below). You will not feel guilty about eating these desserts, because they are better for you! Of course they won’t be guilt free if you overload on them 🙂 But if you apply the “everything in moderation” principle while eating these, you will be much better off than hitting your favorite ice cream place or grocery store for dessert.

You can click on the recipe title to get to the recipe on the author’s blog/website.

Here we go, let’s have some dessert!

{ONE} Frozen Yogurt Trail Mix Bars by the Lean Green Bean

Photo credit: the Lean Green Bean

I love this recipe for several reasons: it has simple ingredients, is very easy to make and makes a great meal prep item! You can make a batch that will last you a whole week and keep it in the fridge/freezer.

That is something I always admire about Lindsay’s recipes – simple ingredients and simple instructions.

Check out her blog for more recipes!

{TWO} 100 Calorie 2 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake by Eclectic Recipes

I love mug cakes – they make a great quick and satisfying dessert. You got 5 minutes – you got a great dessert! However, these babies are usually packed with empty calories ranging at 300-700 each and sometimes even more!

A healthy reasonably caloric mug cake is a rare find! and I just found one for you!

Photo credit: www.eclecticrecipes.com

I found this recipe over at Angie’s blog – Eclectic Recipes.

I loved it because once again – the ingredient list is simple and contains no funky stuff.

Make sure to stop by and check out Angie’s fabulous recipe collection!

{THREE} Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Quinoa Snack Cake by Peanut Butter and Peppers

Peanut butter? Quinoa? Snack CAKE??? Count me in!!! 🙂

Photo credit: www.peanutbutterandpeppers.com

This one comes together in 30 minutes according tot he recipe and makes a great meal prep item as well (I am all about efficiency and productivity today 🙂 )

Now I don’t know about Truvia Baking Blend the recipe is calling for, I would probably just pass on that one – pretty sure the chocolate chips will do the job of making it sweet enough for me. I would probably also use avocado in place of all/half the butter the recipe is calling for. But other than that I just love this recipe! It is also simple and quick to make.

You have to check out the Peanut Butter and Peppers blog where Jennifer is sharing healthy living tips and recipes!

{FOUR} 100-Calorie Pumpkin Pie Tartlets

Photo credit: www.verybestbaking.com

I love pumpkin. Even though this recipe is listed on the Very Best Baking under winter recipes, I could eat pumpkin every day all year round.

{FIVE} Greek Yogurt Peanut Butter Cups by The Falafelser

Can you believe these guys are 14 calories each? 🙂

Photo credit: http://thefalafelser.wordpress.com

No? Than you better head over here and grab the recipe!

Definitely check out The Falafelser for more recipes while you’re there. 😉

Now your turn! Tell me what delicious recipes/eats you have discovered lately! Link up below or just share in comments!

Have a tasty week, friends!

An InLinkz Link-up

Filed Under: dessert, healthy snack ideas, Link Up, recipes, Tasty Tuesday Tagged With: baking, breakfast, dessert, healthy snack ideas, recipes 24 Comments

Lean Lena April 1, 2014

Tasty Tuesday – Five Dinner Ideas for Five Weeknights

Hey guys! Happy Tasty Tuesday!

Every Tuesday Meranda and I host a link up party for you where you can add your links to tasty posts at the end of my post! How fun is that? Don’t forget to check out other links in the party.

Let’s party!!!

Today I have my favorite weeknight dinner ideas for you. Weeknights are my weak spot – just like every busy mom’s/wife’s in the world, I guess. Throw in the workout schedule (I am not a morning workout person) and you got no time left for cooking. Not cooking is not an option – we cook meals every night in my family and rarely go out – for no reason other than liking homemade food.

That’s where the meal prep and the easy quick healthy recipes come in! Below are the most frequently cooked type of meals in my family. That’s just in terms of the type of food we like – not all of the recipes below have been tried yet. 🙂

{ONE} Pork Chops Stuffed with Spinach and Feta

I found this recipe in Cooking Light. I am subscribed to the paper magazine, but I found this one online as I was looking for a new way to cook pork chops, which we like and make a lot!

I haven’t tried it yet, but according to the recipe they come together pretty quickly. You can also stuff them when you have time and freeze/refrigerate for later.

{TWO} Fried Rice

We eat a lot of rice. I usually buy jasmine rice and we go through a whole pack in a few weeks. The beauty of this recipe is that you can add pretty much anything to it = utilizing those leftovers 🙂 Got chicken, shrimp, fish, or pork leftover? Got veggies? There – you got yourself an easy and delicious dinner.

This recipe post also has some tips on how to make perfect rice if you’re just cooking it as a side dish.

{THREE} Beef Enchiladas

Super easy to make and you can prep the filling in advance, too and even freeze it.

Here is a great recipe from McCormick for beef enchiladas, which is pretty close to what we usually do. Not the healthiest option, by they come together quickly and my husband makes them – that’s a good enough reason for me to eat them 🙂

{FOUR} Pasta

This is my all time favorite. I am a huge fan of pasta and I would eat it every day if I could 🙂 It is one of many reasons I go to the gym so much 🙂 🙂 🙂

Check out some of my pasta recipes!

{FIVE} Scallops

We usually have scallops when kids are gone 🙂 It’s kind of our secret food between me and my husband. I have no idea why and when it started, but every time we plan meals for the week we plan on having scallops when the kids are not around for dinner 🙂 I know. We’re horrible people 🙂

If you’re intimidated by cooking scallops – don’t be. They are extremely easy to cook and will only take minutes!

Check out this great article with tips on how to cook scallops perfectly and give them a try! They won’t disappoint you.

And there you have it, my friends – five ideas – one for each weeknight dinner 🙂

Enjoy it and don’t forget to link up below to tell us what delicious meals you’ve had lately.

Take care and eat well.

An InLinkz Link-up

Filed Under: dinner, Healthy Living Tips, Link Up, recipes, Tasty Tuesday Tagged With: dinner, family, good food, healthy dinner, pasta, recipes 10 Comments

Lean Lena March 25, 2014

Tasty Tuesday: Quinoa Power Salad

Hey guys! It’s Tasty Tuesday! And on Tasty Tuesdays we party!!!

Yeah! Don’t forget to link up below and check out other links of the party guests. If you link up, your link will also appear on the blog of my co-host – Meranda.

So. Today I wanted to share a recipe for one of my most favorite salads.

Guess what? There is no traditional recipe for it 🙂 Just guidelines and suggested ingredient list – no quantities. Just use how ever much of whatever you have basically!

INGREDIENTS:

Have to use to get a great salad:

Quinoa, cooked according to package instructions, and cooled
Canned black beans, rinsed and drained well
Purple onion, finely chopped
Sweet potato, microwaved, chilled, cubed
Fresh cilantro or parsley (depends on what you like more – I like both so I throw in whichever I have handy)
Lemon juice
Olive oil
Cumin, salt and pepper

Optional ingredients:

Fresh cucumber, cubed
Fresh tomato (I am not a big fan of adding it – gives a great taste to the salad, but I personally don’t like the texture)
Acorn/Butternut squash (cooked and diced – hey, good way to use those leftovers)
Bell peppers
Avocado (I only put it in if I am making just enough for us to eat in one meal, otherwise avocado gets dark and mushy the day after)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Start with cooking your quinoa according to package instructions – it takes a while to cool, and you will need to use it chilled. Can always put it in the fridge, but I try not to, just let it cool at the room temperature. I usually use 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa and 1 cup water. With everything else thrown into the salad it usually makes 4-6 servings.
Microwave the sweet potato, quarter and let cool (quartering will help it cool faster, too). I usually take a medium size potato and microwave it for 2-3 minutes.
Next – make the dressing. This is one of those salads where adding the dressing in advance makes the salad better and more flavorful. Combine lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, cumin in a bowl. Wisk it and let sit for a little bit for the flavors to combine.
Dice, chop and prep the vegetables you decided to add to your salad.
Add all the ingredients together in a salad bowl, pour the dressing over, mix until combined, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Enjoy!

Here are some serving suggestions, too:

As a side for your steak

On a bed of fresh baby spinach

Do share: have you tried any yummy recipes lately? Link up below to share with us or comment!

Stay fit, friends, and have a wonderful week!

An InLinkz Link-up

Filed Under: dinner, Link Up, lunch, recipes, Tasty Tuesday, Uncategorized Tagged With: dinner, good food, healthy dinner, healthy lunch, lunch, quinoa, recipes, salad 14 Comments

Lean Lena March 19, 2014

A Hectic Week Recap – Eats and Exercises

Hey guys! Happy ~~Hump~~ Pump Day! 🙂

I’ve had a very hectic couple of weeks as you probably noticed by the lack of my “What’s on my plate” Wednesday and Motivation Monday posts this and last week… Well, guess what? I am making it all up to you today by combining the two 🙂

Not much was going on on the exercise front last week – between the sharp right shoulder/arm pain and busy schedule I managed to squeeze in just a few workouts/classes last week.

{MONDAY} Cycling and Chicken

Cycling class with Jim on Monday

I don’t like Mondays most of the time. I am excited about Monday being a new beginning and all, but by the end of the day I am beat. It is usually the busiest day of the week for me – at work, exercising after work, etc. etc.. What do I make for dinner when I am busy? That’s right – crockpot anything 🙂

Last Monday it was chicken! I used to put it in the crockpot in the morning, set on Low and turn it off when I get home at 5 PM. It made the chicken a little overcooked to my liking…So what I’ve been doing lately is I would come home for lunch, and throw the chicken into the crock pot (Low) for 4-5 hours. That’s plenty of time to cook it and it comes out just perfectly juicy.

Hubby made wok veggies on Monday night – and we got a perfect dinner right there!

{TUESDAY} No Exercise and Lamb

Took a rest day on Tuesday night.

Foodie’s highlight of the day was lamb for dinner – grilled to perfection by my husband.

and this fruit and veggie platter I had at work for my snack throughout the afternoon:

{WEDNESDAY} Yoga and Pork Chops

I did make it to yoga on Wednesday but didn’t take any pictures so you’ll just have to trust me on that one 🙂

And then I got home and made rosemary pork chops and a salad for my tired husband.

Mmmmmm….

{THURSDAY} Rest Day and Orange Salsa

Yeah, that was the day my shoulder and arm started acting up. It was that kind of muscle paralyzing pain that makes it hard to lift even a cup of coffee.

That did not prevent me from making an awesome orange salsa to go with tilapia and rice for dinner on Thursday evening, though 🙂

{FRIDAY} Another rest day and Beet Root Salad

On Friday my shoulder/arm was hurting so much it would wake me up at night. So…another rest day for the Lena 🙁

The food highlights of the day included the beet root salad I made for lunch on Sunday during my meal prep.

Canned beet roots, lettuce, feta, roasted pepitas and purple onions

{SATURDAY} Yoga and Big Family Breakfast

By Saturday I felt good enough to go get some gentle stretching done in a yoga class.

Yoga was followed by a breakfast fest made by my husband!

I also had a super-delicious lunch – leftover pasta with scallops from eating out the night before:

YUM!!!

{SUNDAY} Food Prep

Well, that decision to go to yoga the day before was a little pre-mature. My shoulder and arm were not ready for any Sunday workout.

They were good for Sunday meal prep, so I went wild 🙂 I actually started on Saturday with this:

Apple-Cinnamon infused water, sweet potatoes and quinoa

and then continued on Sunday by making lunches and snacks for the week days:

No working out on Sunday either 🙁 Some nice kitchen time though 🙂 🙂 🙂

And that was my week of eating and non-exercising at a glance 🙂

Do share: How did you do last week? Anything fun? Anything delicious cooking?

Take care, friends, and stay fit!

Filed Under: breakfast, dinner, FitFluential, fitness, Fitness Challenges, Girls Gone Sporty, healthy snack ideas, lunch, Motivation Monday, recipes, spinning, Sweat Pink, what's on my plate wednesday Tagged With: bicycling, breakfast, dining out, dinner, fitness, fitness motivation, good food, healthy breakfast, healthy dinner, healthy lunch, healthy snack ideas, infused water, lunch, pasta, recipes, salad, spinning, yoga 4 Comments

Lean Lena March 18, 2014

Tasty Tuesday: Ham and Cheese Baked Egg Cups

Hey, guys! Happy Tasty Tuesday! How is your week going so far? Are you ready to see some tasty stuff? 🙂

Don’t forget this post is a link up party! Link your favorite tasty posts below so everyone can see what tasty foods you’re eating 🙂

Are you a food blogger who wants to co-host this link up party with us every Tuesday? Contact me for details or leave a comment below!

Now down to business already 🙂

My post today is about a wonderful page – The Lemon Bowl. Liz is my go to resource for simple, healthy and delicious recipes!

Last week I stumbled upon her Ham and Cheese Baked Egg Cups and I knew I had to make those as part of my Sunday meal prep.

They come together in less than 10 minutes, bake for 25 and make a super delicious and nutritious breakfast. My husband called them “breakfast bombs” 🙂

Because I, believe it or not, couldn’t find Canadian bacon the recipe was calling for at our grocery store, I had to improvise with Liz’s recipe.

I also didn’t have enough eggs, so I used half the amounts on the recipe and also used mini muffins pan, so I still got 12 muffins with the ingredients below.

Before we get to the recipe, make sure you give Liz some love:

On her blog
On Facebook
On Twitter

Ham and Cheese Baked Egg Cups

INGREDIENTS:

7 eggs
1/3 cup 2% milk
2 oz of Extra sharp cheddar (shredded)
3-4 oz leftover lunch meat (I used chicken breast and ham)
1/4 cup minced scallions
Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and spray a muffin pan with cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and milk until light and fluffy. Stir in the meat, scallions and salt/pepper to taste.

3. Divide egg mixture evenly between 12 muffin tins then sprinkle evenly with sharp cheddar.

4. Bake until eggs are set, 25-30 minutes. Let cool slightly to ensure eggs are set before removing from pan to serve.

Enjoy as a healthy breakfast, snack or even lunch!

Have a wonderful week, guys, and don’t forget to link up below 🙂

An InLinkz Link-up

Filed Under: breakfast, fitness, healthy snack ideas, Link Up, lunch, recipes, Tasty Tuesday Tagged With: baking, breakfast, fitness, good food, healthy breakfast, healthy lunch, healthy snack ideas, lunch, muffins, recipes 10 Comments

Lean Lena March 11, 2014

Tasty Tuesday – Latest Tasty Finds and a Linkup Party!

Hey guys! Happy Tasty Tuesday to you!

Before I start talking about all the tasty stuff, I wanted to bring your attention to the fact that starting from today, the Tasty Tuesday blog post is officially announced to be a Linkup Party!

Come here every Tuesday to add links to your favorite tasty recipes, restaurant reviews, meal prep tips, etc. etc.. – we are talking anything tasty!

And…since it is a party – once you add a link here, your links will also appear on the Tasty Tuesday blog post of the linkup co-hosts.

This week it is just me and Meranda over at Fairytales and Fitness. Be sure to check out her blog!

So. Down to business now – this Tasty Tuesday I am sharing recent Tasty Finds!

{ONE} Peanut Butter Pie Ball by Wishes and Dishes.

To all of you, peanut butter lovers – you are welcome! 🙂

{TWO} Red Velvet Mug Cake by Kiss My Broccoli

Heather, I just want to give you a hug for this one! I love red velvet anything 🙂

{THREE} Ham and Cheese Baked Egg Cups by the Lemon Bowl

{FOUR} Banana Blueberry Cinnamon Bread by A Hungry Runner

I have recently received a private message on Instagram with a video statement from my 11 year old daughter’s friends at school that this bread is super delicious. You gotta trust those girls! This bread is super awesome!

{FIVE} Lemony Cookie Bars by Lauren Kelly

Aren’t the gorgeous?

Stay fit, friends, and keep it tasty!

Don’t forget to link up your favorite tasty stuff below!

An InLinkz Link-up

Filed Under: breakfast, dessert, healthy snack ideas, Link Up, lunch, recipes, Tasty Tuesday Tagged With: baking, breakfast, dessert, good food, healthy breakfast, healthy snack ideas, lunch, muffins, recipes 10 Comments

Lean Lena March 5, 2014

What’s on My Plate Wednesday

Hey guys! Happy hump day!!!

Oh, I am so very happy it is Wednesday!

So, how about taking a peak at what I ate in the past week? Yeah, I thought so. But I am posting anyway 🙂

For some reason I wasn’t feeling like taking a lot of pictures in the mornings this past week.

I can tell you that I ate a lot of oatmeal:

why of course I have cinnamon chips on it!

And breakfast sandwiches with a fried egg, cream cheese and turkey breast on an English muffin:

I ate my wonderful salads for lunch most of the days (those I prepped last weekend):

And then they tore out my kitchen last Tuesday… We live in an old house with horse hair plaster in the walls (yeah I know it is hard to imagine there were “before drywall times” now). When you have plaster in the walls and ceilings, this can happen:

yep, a hole in the ceiling

So they tore my kitchen ceiling out completely.

like…entirely…as in no ceiling at all

Gives my kitchen kind of a rustic look, doesn’t it? 🙂

Did that effect my cooking schedule? Yeah…all that plaster dust took a while to get rid of, that’s why we had Chinese for dinner on Tuesday.

But once I got all that dust cleaned off, we were back on track with dinners!

Yeah, lots of grilling and crockpot action!

Lemon-shrimp pasta, crockpot beef with wok veggies, steak and mashed potatoes, crockpot pork and wok veggies, chicken wings.

And, I did do my usual meal prep this Sunday! I did some nice lunch prep (salads with baby romaine lettuce, avocado, bell peppers, sweet potatoes, quinoa, green onions, goat cheese, chicken breast and hardboiled eggs + a sandwich) including snacks (apples, celery, carrots, snack cheese).

And right after that – this happened!

Well…what can I say? “All work and no play” would make Lena a one boring personality – gotta break the rules sometimes 🙂

Eat well, my friends, and have a great week!

Filed Under: breakfast, dessert, dinner, home improvement, lunch, recipes, what's on my plate wednesday Tagged With: breakfast, dining out, dinner, good food, healthy breakfast, healthy dinner, healthy lunch, home improvement, lunch, pasta, recipes, salad 1 Comment

Lean Lena March 4, 2014

Tasty Tuesday: Peanut Butter Banana Blueberry Protein Smoothie

Hello guys, and happy Tasty Tuesday!

I have another guest post in store for you today. Please, welcome Nicole @ Fitful Focus who is here to share one of her most favorite power breakfast recipes with you today!

Nicole is a young professional living in NYC. Back in January 2012, she challenged herself to live a healthier life. Since then, she’s lost 20 pounds, competed in a half marathon, become a vegetarian, a Greatist Ambassador, a Sweat Pink Ambassador, and a Girl Gone Sporty Ambassador. Now, she’s trying to maintain that lifestyle, learn even more about health and fitness, and share her adventures with you.

Don’t forget to take a moment and show Nicole some love on her blog and social media pages:

Facebook: facebook.com/fitfulfocus

Instagram: @fitfulfocus

Twitter: @fitfulfocus

Pinterest: pinterest.com/fitfulfocus

I will let Nicole take the floor now.

Stay fit, my friends!

~~~~ Drumroll~~~~

Hi Lean Lena Fans! Nicole from Fitful Focus here. I’m super excited to be guest posting over here today. Big thanks to Lena for having me and you all for reading. I know Lena loves to share a lot of eats, treats, and recipes with you all, so I’m here to share one of my favorite recipes.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day for me. Without a good breakfast, I’d be sluggish and hangry, and no one likes a slug, especially not an angry one! A healthy breakfast refuels me after an AM workout and gives me energy to power through the workday.

I like to switch things up with things like this Perfect Start Cereal or Pumpkin Pie Overnight Oats, but my absolute favorite thing to have for breakfast is a smoothie!

I don’t think there is anything better than a good smoothie. I have a ton of smoothie recipes up my sleeve, but since being over here on Lean Lena is a special occasion, I don’t want to share just any smoothie recipe with you all; I want to share my absolute favorite recipe! Oh yea! Get excited, get pumped, and say hello to this Peanut Butter Banana Blueberry Protein Smoothie!

This smoothie is so delicious you’ll start loving your morning alarm for waking you up so you can go make it. Ok, ok, you’ll still hate your alarm. But you’ll be overwhelmed with happiness as soon as you take your first sip!

But for reals, it has everything you need to start your day off right. The peanut butter & protein powder give you a nice dose of protein to keep you full until lunch. The potassium in the bananas helps your muscles recover after a workout, and the blueberries give you a nice helping of antioxidants. Oh, and did I mention it’s gluten-free and vegan?!

And I haven’t even gotten to the best part yet.

Are you ready for the best part?

Are you sure you’re ready?

Ok, I’ll tell you.

The best part is it’s a piece of cake to make. Just throw everything in a blender, turn it on, and you’re done! Bazinga!

So go grab your ingredients, whip this up, and get ready for a morning of bliss!

Thanks for having me, Lean Lena readers! Come swing by Fitful Focus any time you’d like. I’d love to have you!

xoxo,
Nicole

Filed Under: breakfast, fitness, guest post, recipes, Tasty Tuesday Tagged With: breakfast, fitness, good food, healthy breakfast, recipes, smoothie 4 Comments

Lean Lena February 27, 2014

Recipe: Ham and Cheese Corn Muffins

Hello-hello! How are you today, guys?

I am sleepy and it is way too cold here! Also, they say we’re in for another winter storm this weekend with snow and ice coming down Sunday into Monday… Yuk!

So. If you’re going to be snowed/iced in – why not use that time to make something yummy? Something you can freeze and eat later, or just refrigerate and re-heat every morning for breakfast. How does that sound?

To me that sounded good last weekend, so I hade some of these breakfast muffins during my meal prep. As I promised here – I am sharing the recipe with you today.

The original recipe is by Maureen Callahan and was discovered in Cooking Light, I made a few modifications to it and here we go! Awesome muffins for breakfast.

HAM AND CHEESE CORN MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS

7 1/2 ounces whole wheat flour (about 1 2/3 cups)
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 1/4 cups low-fat buttermilk
3 eggs
3 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup (3 ounces) reduced-fat shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup finely chopped green onions (about 1 bunch)
1/2 cup frozen whole-kernel corn, thawed
1/3 cup (2 ounces) diced extra lean ham
Cooking spray

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350°.
Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (through pepper) in a medium bowl; stir with a whisk. Make a well in center of mixture.
Combine buttermilk, eggs, and oil; add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist.
Fold in cheese, green onions, corn, and diced ham.
Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray.
Bake at 350° for 23 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
Remove muffins from pan; let cool on a wire rack.

These muffins are super good for breakfast! Just throw into the microwave, reheat and enjoy!

Stay fit and warm, my friends!

Filed Under: breakfast, healthy snack ideas, lunch, recipes Tagged With: baking, breakfast, good food, healthy breakfast, healthy lunch, healthy snack ideas, lunch, muffins, recipes Leave a Comment

Lean Lena February 26, 2014

What’s on My Plate Wednesday – Weekly Eats

Hey guys! It’s hump day! Just 2 full work days left and then it is the weekend! Got anything special going on this weekend?

I will probably sleep a lot – I was not getting enough sleep this week. And when I don’t get enough sleep…well…you know…”don’t get body slammed by a low land gorilla” 🙂

It’s been a while since I shared my eats with you here, so here we go – “What’s on my plate Wednesday” post in store for you today. 🙂

Egg sandwich on an English muffin, corn muffin (recipe coming soon), oatmeal with cinnamon chips and sliced almonds, buckwheat with honey and butter, oatmeal with cinnamon chips and marshmallows. I’ve generally been pretty good with my breakfast choices as you can see.

Warm quinoa salad on a bed of spinach, pre-prepped salads, lentil soup (crockpot), salad/sandwich combo, Italian Grinder. Lunch…I am a Queen of Lunch Prep! So pretty good choices here too.

Pork loin with buckwheat, mushrooms and onions on the side; pork chops with buckwheat; salmon, rice, avocado and spaghetti squash; home made beef enchiladas; chicken roaster with veggies. Except when my hubby is making dinner (yes, enchiladas, I am talking to you), my dinners look pretty healthy. 🙂

Celery + homemade hummus, snapeas crisps, PB-banana smoothie, raspberry-banana smoothie, cuties. Yeah, this is my weakness. Can’t even begin to describe you what I snack on that doesn’t get to the social media in the form of pictures 🙂 Het, bare with me – I am working on it and it’s a journey!

What fun foods have you eaten lately?

Stay fit, folks!

Filed Under: breakfast, dessert, dinner, healthy snack ideas, lunch, recipes, what's on my plate wednesday Tagged With: breakfast, dessert, dinner, good food, healthy breakfast, healthy dinner, healthy lunch, healthy snack ideas, lunch, muffins, oatmeal, recipes, salad, smoothie Leave a Comment

Lean Lena February 25, 2014

Tasty Tuesday – Meatloaf Muffins Recipe by Amber

Hey guys! Happy Tasty Tuesday to you!

I have something new and exciting for you today – a guest post! Please, meet Amber Vesey – the face behind Eats and Exercise by Amber.

Today Amber is sharing one of her recipes with us, so I will let her take the floor from now on. I hope you like the recipe and please, take a moment to connect with Amber for more wonderful recipes and exercise routines she shares on her Facebook page, her blog and Instagram.

Growing up, I would groan at my mother’s announcement that we would be having meatloaf for dinner. Over the course of the last few years, my eating habits have transformed drastically and so have my taste buds. Now, I look forward to the next time when I’ll be home and can dine on the comfort of my mother’s meatloaf. While delicious, my mother’s recipe needed some revamping to make it more nutritious. With my meal prepper mindset, I thought it would be more efficient to make Meatloaf Muffins, so more could be made at once, prepped to eat through out the week or even frozen to eat at a later date!

This recipe was my first attempt ever at making meatloaf, let alone in the shape of muffins but I am VERY happy with how it turned out! It was super moist and juicy, a worry of mine was that it would be too dry, but that was not the case! The recipe below is based off of my mother’s original, but there are other ways you could make meatloaf muffins, such as swapping out the BBQ sauce and ketchup for onion and seasoning, and maybe even adding some spinach! It really depends on what you like best! Take an original family recipe and make some healthy swapportunities! Comment below with any switches you made or if you thought of another Meatloaf Muffin idea!

MEATLOAF MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. ground turkey (makes five meatloaf muffins)
1 whole egg
1-2 slices GF bread* (see below tip)
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 Tablespoon Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey BBQ Sauce (plus one squirt, after I mixed it all)
1/4 Cup Ketchup
Pepper and Garlic Powder to taste

* You will need to use gluten free bread as part of the recipe, *if you use Udi’s or any other frozen bread normally, it is helpful that at the end of a loaf, you save the ‘butts’ in the crisper of your fridge so you always have defrosted bread on hand. Don’t already do this? No worries, you can toast a slice of bread and it works just as well. Be careful with defrosting a slice of bread in the microwave though, I did it for too long once and the bread was not the right consistency to crumble and I had to throw the slice out which is a sacrilege since it’s so expensive in the first place!

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375
Add ground turkey, egg, garlic, pepper, garlic powder, ketchup and Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey BBQ
Crumble GF bread and add to mixture, mix well with your hands

4. Spray/grease muffin tin

5. Roll meat mixture into balls, place into tin, unlike making cupcakes or muffins, you want the meat mixture coming up out of the tin, since it will not rise

6. Place aluminum foil or a cookie sheet under your muffin tin in case the meat drips

7. Bake for 10-15 minutes, poke holes or cut in half to check the inside

8. Bake for another 10-15 minutes, to ensure that the meat is fully cooked, take out one of the muffin halves and make sure there is no pink on the inside

Pair these muffins with mashed potatoes or mashed sweet potatoes, putting it on top and creating a meatloaf “cupcake” instead!

Tips/Notes

This was my first attempt ever, so the recipe time is a bit estimated, since while I was mid cooking my oven decided to shut off, effecting the times
Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce brand is gluten free, if using another sauce, please check the ingredients or company website!
You can top each muffin with ketchup while cooking, I only tried that with one of the muffins, I am unsure if it made a huge difference
Cut muffins in half to ensure they cook fully if you are paranoid like me about undercooking meat
Place muffin tin on a cookie sheet or aluminum foil in case the turkey “drips” to prevent the excess from hitting the bottom of the oven and burning! No one likes the smoke detector to go off while trying to cook a delicious dinner!

Thanks so much for sharing this recipe with us, Amber! I don’t know about you, guys, but I am definitely making those muffins in the near future 🙂

Stay fit and warm!

Filed Under: dinner, guest post, lunch, recipes, Tasty Tuesday Tagged With: dinner, good food, guest post, healthy dinner, healthy lunch, lunch, muffins, recipes Leave a Comment

Lean Lena February 24, 2014

Weekend Cooking Spree

Hey guys! How was your weekend?

Mine was busy!

The weather was just gorgeous here this weekend, but sadly, I didn’t get to do much outside.

On Saturday morning hubby and I headed out to the Y to take Jim’s indoor cycling class. It was so nice out that I decided to take my new Vibram Five Fingers for a walk.

Love-love-love them!

Since my Spinning® instructor training I noticed that my workout attitude and the overall “feeling” at a cycling class has changed dramatically! For some reason I was always going for the speed – thinking that if I go faster, it will be better for me, I will burn more calories and all that crap. Well, that all has changed now. I am doing speed work, too but generally try to apply more resistance on the wheel than I used to and focus more on my heart rate rather than the RPM.

Taking the training also changed my entire perspective on what a bike set up should be – I have my saddle a lot higher now and I’ve noticed that it is making it much easier on my knees – a lot less cracking! 🙂

Anyway, with that in mind, I went pretty close to my usual distance on Saturday but burnt the number of calories I haven’t burnt in a cycling class in a long time.

I did take a nice two-hour nap on Saturday after this class + yoga. I just had to! It was the best nap of my life 🙂

When I woke up from my nap, it turned out the youngest had gone for a sleepover, so suddenly me and hubby had the evening to ourselves. We headed out for dinner to a Chinese place, and then decided to do some wandering around TJ Maxx. Well, I never leave that store without a score (yep, I rhymed that on purpose!)

Got me some yoga socks 🙂

I’ve been eyeing those for a while, but they just cost some ridiculous money it seems like. These were $3.something a pair so I got them and will give them a try this Wednesday!

On Saturday I also managed to squeeze in some meal prep into my day somewhere between the two workouts and the nap.

Homemade hummus, quinoa, water infused with cucumber and frozen mint leaves

Did you notice I got my water infusing water bottles that I mentioned here? 🙂 I just love the one with the orange cap except for one thing – it had a huge sticker on the front. Being an OCD driven woman, I took it off and now it’s sticky. Some Googone will have to be applied – and that’s just too many motions for something I want to get in the mail and simply enjoy. If you don’t have an OCD, you will do just that without Googone – enjoy 🙂

The one with the red lid and bottom – I haven’t quite figured it out yet – the infuser part comes out through the bottom, if you don’t put the bottom lid back on tightly – it leeks. It’ll take me a while to make friends with this one 🙂

Anyway! On Sunday morning we slept in and hubby made me an awesome brunch.