Parchment Cajun Tilapia and Balsamic Garlic Veggies

I love Tilapia. It's a mild white fish and healthy too! I love that it only takes 10 minutes to defrost from the freezer. Just run it under cool water for 10 minutes. I tried something new tonight and baked the tilapia in parchment paper. The result was yummilicious!

Tilapia fillets
2 heads of broccoli
1 yellow bell pepper
1 zucchini
1 squash
cajun seasoning
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
2 minced garlic cloves
capers
sea salt
parchment paper

Balsamic Garlic Roasted Veggies
1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Wash and chop your veggies.
3. Combine 1/4 cup olive oil with 4 tbsp. balsamic vinegar. (You may need to add more balsamic- I didn't measure.)
4. Add the minced garlic to the vinegar and oil.
5. Toss the oil/vinegar mixture on the veggies.
6. Sprinkle a little sea salt on the veggies.
7. Put in the oven.

While the veggies were in the oven, I prepped the fish, since the veggies take longer to bake.

Parchment Cajun Tilapia
1. Rinse and pat the tilapia dry.
2. Drizzle a little olive oil on the fillets.
3. Sprinkle with cajun seasoning.
4. Put the tilapia on the parchment paper.
5. Put a teaspoon of capers on top.
**optional- add a little lemon juice on top of fish.
6. Fold the edges of the paper to create a pouch.
7. Put in oven and bake for 20 minutes.
Fish should be white and flaky.

Turkey Veggie Meatloaf

This one is from Oxygen Magazine (Oct. 2010).

Ready in 1 hour and 10 minutes. Makes 4 servings. (Actually, it feeds more than 4.)


1 1/2lb. ground turkey
1/2 red bell pepper, diced. (I use a whole pepper.)
1/4 onion, diced (I use 1/2 onion.)
1/2 cup spinach, chopped (I use about a cup.)
1 egg
1/2 cup oats
a dash of salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 325.
2. Put all ingredients in a medium mixing bowl and combine. Mold into a loaf shape and place in the middle of an 8x8 square pan. (I didn't do the loaf shape.)
3. Bake for 1 hour or until cooked through.

Nutrients per serving: calories: 213, total fats: 4g, saturated fat: 1g, Trans Fat: 0g, Cholestrol: 122mg, Sodium: 109mg, total carbohydrates: 9g, dietary fiber: 2g, sugars: 1g, protein: 36g, Iron: 2mg

My Top Ten Ways to Stay Motivated

Staying motivated can sometimes be hard. Some weeks it's a struggle to get to the gym.


Here are some tips to help you stay motivated:


1. Get a workout buddy. I take spin on Monday and Wednesday. I have a few friends that take it as well. I also run with friends. It helps keep me accountable. I've also had friends join me on my leg workout.


2. Change your workout. I am pretty bad at doing the same thing over and over. Use a workout journal to track your workouts. If you've been doing back and bi's the last few months, it may be time to switch it up.

 3. Write down your goals. It's good to have them, better to say them, and writing them down is the best. You can have short term goals, say on a weekly or monthly basis. Or you can set long term goals, like having a new marathon or half-marathon PR.


4. Take a short break. Sometimes, recovery is just what your mind and body need. Don't take too long of a break, otherwise it may be hard to get back into it.


5. Take it outside. If you are run on the treadmill, take it outside. If you do classes inside, try an outdoors bootcamp. (I know of one for my Fort Myers friends, that is at a park on M-W-F for $5.)


6. Get an inspiration board. Do you want to get back into those old jeans? How about being able to exhale in the ones you have? Put a picture of you "back in the day" and it will help you. Put your goals that you wrote, on the board. Want to look like a fitness model? Put a picture of who inspires you.


7. Learn a new exercise. Look online at fitness websites to find the proper way to execute a new exercise.


8. Get new tunes. New music can work wonders. I have different playlists depending on which workout I am doing.


9. Sign up for a race or other event. For me, it's races. I love looking foward to a race. It definitely keeps me motivated.


10. Spend time in the kitchen. Have you ever heard the saying, "Lean bodies are made in the kitchen." It's true. You can workout until you are blue in the face. If your eats aren't clean, your body will reflect that.

Nike Women's Marathon 2010

Training goals this week 7/25/11

Monday: Spin 60 min., superset chest and tri's, abs
Tuesday: Speed workout (4.3 miles), *Plateau busting leg workout, shoulders
Wednesday: Spin 60 min., back, abs
Thursday: Tempo run (4-5 miles)
Friday: Back, abs
Saturday: Long run, 8 miles


*Plateau busting leg workout: Part One

Warm-up for 5 minutes
I usually go on the basketball court in my gym. I use 12lb. or 15lb dumbbells. Depending on if there's people in there, I usually go from one side to the other (not the long way).

1. Foward lunges to one side.
2. Reverse lunges back.
3. Side squat lunges to the other side and back.
4. Curtsey lunges to the other side and back.
5. 15 Jump squats
6. One legged deadlifts using your dumbbells. (12 on each side)
7. 15 Plie squats.
8. 20 Jump lunges.
9. 12 stationary squats.
10. Repeat.

Here is an example of a jump lunge.

Source

This is half of my leg workout. If done properly, you will be sore for at least 2-3 days. That's when you know you've had a good workout.
I will post Part Two next week.

No Muffin top- muffins

These muffins will NOT give you a muffin top!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup oats
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinammon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
2 dashes of sea salt
2 tbs flaxseed
1 egg white
2 tsp vanilla
1 medium apple
1 cup finely chopped zucchini
1/4 cup water

• Grind oats.
• Mix in other dry ingredients.
• Core apple and cook 5 of the 8 pieces in the microwave in 1/4 cup water. (1-2 minutes)
• Puree cooked apple slices in the blender. This should make 1/2 cup sauce.
• Add egg white and vanilla.
• Mix wet and dry ingredients.
• Stir in chopped zucchini.
• Line 6-7 muffin tins or spray with olive oil.
• Shred remaining 3 apple pieces over muffin.
• Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

3 muffins = 1 meal
265 calories, 22g protein, 6g fat, 8g fiber

You know you're a mom when the only muffin liners you have are cars!

Half Marathon training

I will begin training for my third half marathon this week. I am about 16 weeks out and have a weekly mileage base of 15ish miles. I only run 3 days a week because I need recovery between runs. I don't do well on back to back runs.
I also use the quality verses quantity when it comes to running. My runs will be structured to include an easy run, a speed workout or tempo run, and a long slow run.
I use the race training program on Runner's World. It's actually really neat. You put in a recent race time, how hard you want to train, what distance you are training for, and....Voila! You have a customized training guide. I will tweak it a little because it has four runs per week. I will cross train and include cycling and weight training.
What training programs do you use for running a race?

Spinach- feta- chicken- tomato- pitas

I found a recipe online for pitas with spinach & tomato. I tweaked it to have less carbs and more protein. I don't know the nutritional stats, but it's a pretty clean meal.


Ingredients:
whole grain pita bread
baby spinach
2 tomatoes (diced)
sun dried tomato pesto
feta cheese
mushrooms
cooked chicken (grilled or baked)

I buy the whole grain pita bread that isn't your traditional pita. It's not like a pocket pita. Anyhow, it makes it easy to split and use one pita for two servings.


1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Spread the sun dried tomato pesto on one side of each pita.
3. Add a little spinach.
4. Add tomatoes.
5. Add mushrooms.
6. Add feta cheese.
7. Put on a cookie sheet and bake for 12 minutes.
8. Take out of oven and add the cooked chicken on top.

Going into the oven.

Delicious!!