Strawberry Spinach Salad

My name is Jennifer Barter and I am a salad addict.  It's true.  Making this salad this week!  Yum, yum!  Plan to add some grilled salmon :-).

Our baby girl :-)

So I have been a little MIA lately, for good reason ;-).  Our daughter, Grace Virginia Barter was born on April 15 at 11:02 PM.  We are so thankful and over the moon to finally be holding her.  Despite being very sleep deprived and trying to get her on a schedule and less fussy, I feel pretty good and am excited to start T25 again!  Would love to have some more moms join our awesome group - Body after Baby and do T25 and Shakeology with me!

Paleo Slow Cooker Orange Chicken

So this is another one of the recipes that I made a few weeks ago and then froze to just throw in a crock pot - so helpful with a one week old. 

Ingredients:
*2 lbs boneless organic chicken breasts (cut into pieces)
*1/3 cup coconut aminos
*1/3 cup honey
*2 tbls orange juice
*2 tbls tomato paste
*1 tbls toasted seasame oil
*2 tsp minced garlic
*1/2 tsp ground ginger
*3/4 tsp sea salt
*1/4 tsp black pepper
*1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
*3 cups frozen broccoli
*Garnish with toasted or plain sesame seeds and green onions

1. Place the chicken at the bottom of the crock pot and turn on low heat.
2. Place all the remaining ingredients (minus the sesame seeds) in a food processor or whisk together. Pour mixture over the chicken. Make sure to turn the chicken around so all of the chicken is coated.
3. Cook in the crockpot on HIGH. With 30 minutes cook time left, add frozen broccoli.
4. Take the sauce that was in the crockpot and transfer to a small sauce pan. Cook for about 15-20 minutes on medium heat until the sauce thickens.
5. Pour over your chicken and sprinkle with chopped green onions and sesame seeds.

Serve over quinoa or cauliflower rice . . . We had this last night with salad as well. Super yummy and so easy to dump the frozen/prepped meal in the crockpot.

Slimmed-down Pizza with Cauliflower Crust

So I LOVE pizza.  We rarely eat it but splurge every now and then.  So I decided to make a clean pizza.  So here are then directions and ingredients for the crust, and then I'll explain what I put on it.  It is all paleo except for the cheese, but I did manage to find some cheese made with skim milk :-0.  

Ingredients: 

1 head cauliflower, coarsely chopped
1 cup shredded Italian cheese blend (fat free)
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 eggs
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
Salt and ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

1) Place cauliflower pieces through the feeding tube of the food processor using the grating blade; pulse until all the cauliflower is shredded.
2) Place a steamer insert into a saucepan and fill with water to just below the bottom of the steamer. Bring water to a boil. Add cauliflower, cover, and steam until tender, about 15 minutes. Transfer cauliflower to a large bowl and refrigerate, stirring occasionally, until cooled, about 15 minutes.
3) Preheat an oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon mat.
4) Stir Italian cheese blend, parsley, egg, garlic, salt, and pepper into cauliflower until evenly incorporated. Pour mixture onto the prepared baking sheet; press and shape into a pizza crust.
5) Bake in the preheated oven until lightly browned, about 15 minutes.

I then topped ours with homemade sauce, sautéed veggies (mushrooms, peppers, onions), grilled chicken, fresh parsley, basil, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh basil, and then a little more of the cheese. Then baked about 8 more minutes at 450 degrees.

Now, the cauliflower crust doesn't taste exactly like doughy bread (the delicious carbs I crave), but it turned out quite yummy, and made for a pretty yummy pizza fix without the guilt ;-), or calories.  

Love it!

Come on Baby Grace . . .

Did P90X3 Triometrics this morning.  I have LOVED this program my last trimester of pregnancy and can surprisingly still do most of the moves at 39 weeks pregnant!  I just modify where I need.  As you notice, I slowed down some of the jumping moves to soften my landing.  Walking is a daily occurrence too for the dogs and hopefully to walk myself into labor ;-).  I am getting so impatient, as I am sure many mamas out there can relate!  Try these moves out though, definitely will get the legs and booty burning!

Chicken Enchilada Zucchini Boats

A paleo friendly recipe to slim down a Mexican favorite - enchiladas . . . I think kids would really enjoy these too!

Zucchini Boat Ingredients:

4 medium zucchinis, cut in half lengthwise
1 tablespoon avocado oil
1 small onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon chipotle chili powder or regular chili powder
1 cup cooked and shredded chicken
1 teaspoon oregano
1 1/2 cups enchilada sauce (see below)
1 handful cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded (optional)

Enchilada Sauce Ingredients:

2 tablespoons avocado oil
2 tablespoons coconut flour
5 teaspoons red chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
1 garlic clove, minced
1 6 ounce can of organic tomato paste
2 1/4 cups water
Salt and pepper to taste

Zucchini Boat Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2) Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat.
3) Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and add zucchini halves and boil for 1 minute. Remove and let cool. Once cooled hollow out the zucchini halves with a small spoon reserving the flesh.
4) Heat oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add onion and peppers and sauté for 5-7 minutes.
6) Add garlic, cumin, and chili powder and sauté for 1 minute.
7) Add reserved zucchini flesh, chicken, corn, oregano, 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce and cilantro. Cook for a few minutes until heated through and remove from heat.
8) Spread 1/4 cup of enchilada sauce over the bottom of a large baking dish. Place zucchini in the dish and stuff them with the chicken filling and top with the remaining enchilada sauce.
9) Bake in oven for about 30 minutes or until zucchini is tender. Garnish with cilantro. Enjoy!

Enchilada Sauce Directions:

1) Heat oil in a sauce pan.
2) Add flour to pan to make roux.
3) Add spices and tomato paste. Stir until well blended into roux.
4) Add water gradually, stirring constantly. Heat until boiling.
5) Continue simmering and stirring until desired thickened. About 4 minutes.

(This sauce can be made ahead of time and stored in an airtight container in the fridge)

Another reason to be fit!

 Thanks to P90X3, P90X, Insanity, Focus T25, and CrossFit - I can crank out some "BOY" pushups!  Something I used to not be able to do, because I had the upper body strength of a bird, mainly running, spinning, and cycling trying to get "thin" and weigh less.  I've learned that strength is beautiful, not super model "skinny".

Clean Protein Pancakes

So I was CRAVING pancakes and decided to try and wing it to make a healthy version, that is pretty much paleo approved except for the whey protein in vanilla Shakeology.

So these measurements produced about 15 pancakes.  I decided to make a lot so I can freeze the rest and have a quick grab and go breakfast option.  Especially with our baby girl due any day now ;-).

INGREDIENTS:

2 ripe bananas
2 TBSP unsweetened almond milk
4 scoops vanilla Shakeology (or you can substitute a vanilla protein powder)
3 TBSP almond meal
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
1 cup egg whites

DIRECTIONS:

1. Beat the bananas and almond milk together until the bananas are well mashed/pureed.
2. Add the remaining ingredients and mix for about 1 minute until well blended
3. Heat a skillet with a little coconut oil.  Pour about 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake.  Flip when edges are firm and begins to bubble.
4. Ideas to serve with:  maple syrup, honey, almond butter, or a homemade fruit compote

To make a fresh fruit compote . . . I simmer 1 - 1 1/2  cups berries, 1/4 cup water, and some honey or stevia (about 1 TBSP) until it thickens and the berries are well mashed and soft.  You could do this with a lot of different fruits though.  

I just did a little honey on mine :-) . . .

A Girl and a Camera

So besides fitness and nutrition, another passion of mine is Photography.  I love pictures.  I wanted to try and get my very pregnant silhouette before our baby girl is out.  So I played around with shutter speed, lighting, and a timer (no one was around to take the picture).  I also used an App for some photo editing.  Here is the picture I made, at 38 weeks and some change pregnant:

So if you want to try and do this, here is what I did:

• Wear all black form fitting clothing.  I pulled my hair up because it is long and wanted my body shape to stand out
• Stand in front of a window with a good bit of natural light coming through it.  I pulled up the blinds and closed the very sheer curtains
• Set up a camera with a timer or have someone else take the photo a good distance away and at around belly button to shoulder height on you
• I tried to move my arms around so that you could see the curve of my back and my belly without my arms or hands in the way.  I will post some other versions I tried, but they aren't edited like this one.
• I used the photo editing Apps:  Pic Stitch and A Beautiful Mess to play with the shadows, tone, etc.
• Pic Stitch:  I made it monochrome (black and white filter), decreased the brightness, and increased the contrast
• A Beautiful Mess:  I just used this to add the text

Here are some of the other poses, unedited:

So I may play around with these to get more silhouette shots, but try it out.  I think it will be neat to show to our little girl when she is old enough one day :-).

Exercise to Try

1.  Start in plank position and do a push up.

2.  Rotate to your right side, lifting your left arm and left leg off the ground.  Balance your body in an x-position with your left leg and arm extended straight, hold for 3-5 seconds.

3.  Bring your left elbow to touch your left knee and hold that position for 3-5 seconds.  Exhale as your elbow and knee meet.

4.  Immediately lower back into a push up and repeat on the left side.  That's one rep.  Try to do 3 sets of 10-15 for an effective total body move!  Comment below and let us know how many you did!

April Newsletter

Grilled Salmon with Avocado Salsa

What's Cooking Wednesday: Grilled Salmon with Avocado Salsa . . . Umm, delicious! A great recipe for the warmer weather and firing up those grills!

Ingredients . . .
• 2 lbs salmon, cut into 4 pieces
• 1 tbsp olive oil 
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp paprika powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• ½ tsp ancho chili powder
• 1 tsp black pepper
For the Avocado salsa:
• 1 avocado, sliced
• ½ small red onion, sliced
• 2 limes worth of juice
• 1-2 tbsp finely chopped cilantro, salt to taste

Instructions . . .
1) Mix the salt, chili powder, cumin, paprika, onion and black pepper together, rub the salmon fillets with olive oil and this mix and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
2) Pre-heat the grill.
3) Combine the avocado salsa ingredients in a bowl and mix well, chill until ready to use.
4) Grill the salmon to desired doneness. Top with salsa. Enjoy!

April Promotion!

Happy April! This is going to be a GREAT month! Not only are we expecting the birth of our baby girl and welcoming warm and sunny weather, but the T25 challenge pack is going on sale again! EEKK! I LOVE this program and for the month of April you can save $90 on the T25 challenge pack versus ordering the program and Shakeology separately - hello results! I couldn't believe what an effective workout Shaun T squeezes into 25 minutes with this program!  

I did T25 straight through during my first and second trimester.  Despite the typically bloating and water retention pregnancy brings, I saw awesome definition build in my legs.  I couldn't show ab definition since I had a growing baby bump, but many have lost inches in the waistline and built up 6 packs with this program as well!  Contact me and we'll get you set up with this awesome challenge pack today!