Lighter Chicken Avocado Salad Sandwich

I have a total confession to share with you....  I have an addiction to sandwiches!  It's bad too! I could seriously live on sandwiches morning, noon and night with all of the different bread, meat and cheese combinations.  You can make hot sandwiches, you can make cold sandwiches and in my own mind the options go on and on.

This is seriously the worst kind of addiction for me to have because bread (and pasta) put weight on me faster than anything else out there! It's really not funny to tell you the truth.  Every time I eat a sandwich I gain a pound, no joke.  So I have to be very careful about when and how I make my sandwiches now that I've been maintaining my 50 lb weight loss.  I can't completely cut them out because I don't believe in living that strict of a diet, but I do believe in being careful about what you put into your body and being aware enough to know who it affects your physical health.

Cleaner Healthier Eating Chicken Vegetable Soup

Today I'm starting a new series on Ready 2 Lose Weight called "30 Days of Transformations". Every day I'll be sharing one of my healthier recipes or a recipe from another blogger friend of mine that is healthy and yummy too! I'll also be sharing before and after weight loss stories from people just like me that have completed the TSFL program (with the help of their FREE Health Coach) and have successfully kept their weight off!  

I hope you'll follow along by sending me a Friend Request on FB where I'll be sharing lots of fun posts.  I'd also love for you to sign up to receive our emails on the right sidebar where is says "Follow Via Email"  ---> so you can follow along with our "30 Days of Transformations"!  

Healthier Mexican Style Stuffed Mushrooms

Day # 4 of my Cleaner Healthier Eating and it's still going really well!  I'm feeling so much better and I can't even hardly believe it.  Well, yes I can believe it.  I've cut out all the unhealthy stuff from my diet and I've really been committed to eating cleaner healthier foods.  What does that mean exactly?  I'll tell you what it means to me....  I want to have more energy.  I want to be able to stay awake and not nap.  I want my clothes to fit better! It means that I've cut out all processed foods as much as I can.  I'm eating more fruits, vegetables, cheeses, healthy dairy, meats & vegetarian products.  I'm trying to eat as much organic as I can and just trying to be overall healthier in my food choices.  

No Bake PB & Banana Oat Energy Bars

I've made through day's 1, 2 & 3 of my Cleaner Healthier Eating... Yay!  Overall it has gone really good with the exception that we don't have a huge variety of clean healthy things to eat in the house, and I don't know about you but we don't have a lot of money to just run to the store and stock up right now.  So, I've been trying to be as creative as I can with what we have. 

This afternoon I started getting stressed out, really bad.  We took the baby on a walk this morning and he just cried and cried.  Then we can home and he cried some more because he didn't want to nap.  Then he finally napped and woke up and cried.  Then he didn't get his way and cried again... you get my drift.  I was stressed and then it hit me... I needed something sweet.  Yes, I'm totally an emotional eater (it's pretty bad) and all I could think about was a McDonalds Ice Cream, the pop tarts in the kitchen and the bag of Hershey's chocolate chips that I could go to the store and buy.  Yep. I almost broke down.  I was so close.  

Skip the potatoes... Zucchini Breakfast Scramble!

I'm only on day 2 of my Cleaner Healthier Eating and already I feel so much better!  I just can't believe how much the food I've been eating has been affecting my body.  When I woke up this morning I knew I wanted to make day #2 successful so I decided to start it off with a good breakfast.  It's amazing how good food can taste when you keep it simple and cut out the crap! 

Healthy Hamburger Wraps

You know what.... I have a love/hate relationship with hamburger.  I love them but I hate how unhealthy they are.  I love them but I hate when I get the hard "bad" pieces.  I love them but I hate when I get served one that is under-cooked.  Yuck!

Do you know what I mean? 

I've been working on the foods that I've been eating and trying my hardest to be healthier and guess what... I've been able to reduce my cholesterol from 234 all the way down to 155 in the past year.  Let me just take a minute to imagine that you're clapping your hands, or patting me on the back, or telling me good job Shauna! 

So, let me ask you... have you ever been to In-N-Out Burger?  They have them here in Utah and they actually do have very tasty hamburgers.  I only like to go about once every 3-4 months though and I now order my burger Protein Style so it cuts out the bun and it's served wrapped in lettuce instead.  

That was my inspiration for this Healthy Hamburger Wrap recipe.  Just like In-N-Out but better!  I've discovered Morning Star Farms Grillers Original Patties and I LOVE them!!!  They have such a great flavor, no cholesterol, no bad yuckie pieces (yay!), and they are so easy to cook!  I've literally died and gone to hamburger heaven :) 

And the best part... my hubby who is VERY picky about his hamburgers has actually given his stamp of approval and said he likes them.  Gasp!  That was the shocker of the year.  He's totally a hamburger and fries kind of guy and he said that these Morning Star Farms Grillers were tasty :)  

Baked Veggies with Garlic & Red Pepper Flakes

I have completely fallen in love with veggies cooked in the oven!  They come out with the perfect amount of crisp and aren't mushy from boiling in water.  The down side is that they take a bit longer to cook (especially since I use frozen veggies for this recipe), but if you're cooking a meat with them then you can put everything in the oven and just let it cook while you are busy doing something else.  That part I do love!

Spicy Zucchini and Tuna

Here's one of my all time favorite recipes that I make for myself during the day.  It's funny once you stop eating a bunch of junk food and you clean out your system you can really start to taste the different flavors in food and you find that it doesn't take a whole lot of seasonings to create something really yummy! 

Greek Yogurt, Berries & Granola Parfait

Sometimes I get a sweet craving... don't we all?

My normal go to would have been a chocolate bar or ice cream and well, that won't work since I'm choosing a healthier lifestyle and maintaining my weight.  That's why I'm so happy that I discovered Greek Yogurt!

I've seen it in the store a million times but didn't try it until recently and boy-o-boy am I happy I did!  That stuff should be illegal it is so good.  I use it when I'm needing a little something sweet for the day.  I add berries and a little bit of granola on the top and it helps keep my cravings under control :)

Originally I posted this recipe on my other food blog {The Best Blog Recipes} but I wanted to share it here with you because it is my new Healthy Sweet Treat go to in times of need, lol!

Mozzarella Tomato Spinich Mini Appetizers

 

I've been thinking a lot about what I want to serve for Easter Dinner this year.  I'm making healthy choices everyday because I want to maintain my new weight of 166 (down from 217)! 

Here's an example of my struggles... I sent my husband to the grocery store with the baby a few days ago so I could get a few things done at the house and he came home with 3 containers of his favorite ice cream.  I couldn't believe it.  I just laughed.  He's skinny and doesn't struggle with his weight but I couldn't help thinking about all of the cholesterol and sugars that he'd be eating.  It's amazing how much I've changed since going through this program!  I want to be healthy.  I don't want food to control me anymore so that's why I'm thinking about my healthy Easter Dinner options.

So after searching blog recipes I decided to make these cute little healthy treats for one of our appetizers.  It's something that I can feel good about eating while I'm cooking and spending time with my family.

And they are quick and easy to make!  That's always a bonus in my eyes :)

Easy Veggie Patty Soup

 

Ok world, I'm ready to admit.... I have an addiction to Morning Star Farms Veggie Breakfast Sausage Patties!

My husband always laughs at me because I get "cravings" for these little patties and I make him buy me the big packages at Costco.  They are considerably cheaper buying them in bulk rather than smaller packages at my local grocery store.

So in my Veggie Patty recipe quest I decided to create a soup using these little delicious patties and it turned out great!  Sometimes I have it spicy depending on what type of mood I'm in, sometimes just plain.

Either way, this soup is delicious and easy to make.  And the best part?  It's tasty, quick and it's made using all of the right amounts of ingredients per the program recommendations to be my "Lean & Green" meal for the day! 

Love it!

Spicy Mushroom & Tomato Tilapia

Oh my goodness... my lunch today was so delicious!

I knew I wanted to have Tilapia but I didn't know how to season it.  I had a ton of fresh mushrooms & cherry tomatoes and I just stood there looking at my ingredients until it finally hit me.

Does that happen to any of you?  You're hungry, you know what you want to use but you don't know the exact way you want to put it together?  My husband is always coming in the kitchen to ask me what I'm doing and usually I'm just standing there in deep thought, lol!

Well, today my friends it paid off.  This dish was out of this world!