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Fit Mom’s Corner – An Awesome Summer Pizza Recipe!

Posted by: The Fit Dad | Comments (0)

Monday, June 28th, 2010

Wow! Summer is officially here and I can’t believe how fast it is going already! I have been busier than usual and we are all feeling it in our house. Dinners need to be healthy, easy and fast so that we can get to the pool!

A favorite meal in our house is pizza. Who doesn’t love it!? During the summer we use the grill to cook them. I love how easy it is and that we don’t have to heat the house up with the oven.

Here is how we make our pizzas. There are hundreds of combinations for pizza toppings; I have listed a few of our favorites that are pretty healthy. As I have said before, I tend to throw in ingredients to our taste, so I don’t have specific measurements.

We use whole-wheat pitas for the crust. There are pre-made crusts that are a bit more moist than the pitas, but have nearly DOUBLE the calories BEFORE you even top them. The whole-wheat pitas I found have 160 calories per 6” pita and the 8” pizza crusts have 380 calories!

Another nice thing about individual pizzas is that everyone can make their own, using the toppings they want. Maren loves to make her own, but I guess right now she still loves to help with everything!

To start, for any of the recipes, heat grill to medium and brush olive oil on the TOPPING side of the crust and place that side DOWN on the grill to heat for 2-3 minutes. Bring the crusts back inside, turn them over and top with your favorite toppings. Then put back on the grill for 3-4 minutes or until cheese is melted.

BBQ Grilled Chicken:

The favorite in our house is BBQ grilled chicken. Spoon on a approximately 3 TBS of BBQ sauce on each pita, add chopped red onion to taste, shredded chicken and top with shredded Pizza mix or Cheddar/Jack cheese. Garnish with cilantro when done grilling.

Margherita:

A favorite of mine is Margherita. This is typically meant to be a dry cocktail pizza, however the pitas can dry out fast. Using canned tomato sauce or crushed fresh tomatoes will help the crust stay moist. Mix sauce/tomatoes, and garlic to taste. Spoon approximately 3 TBS sauce onto each pita and top with slices of fresh mozzarella. Drizzle with olive oil and grill. Sprinkle basil on when done grilling.

Goat Cheese and Pear Pizza:

When we were in K.C. in the Plaza to celebrate our 10-year anniversary we had a Pear, Chicken and Goat cheese pita pizza at one of our favorite restaurants. I have since tried it a few times at home; it tastes great, but had trouble getting the toppings to stay on as the goat cheese doesn’t melt down. A tip I just ran across is to blend the cheese with olive oil to desired consistency and then spread on the crust. I found a cranberry fig goat cheese that is really good; 4 oz log would probably cover 3-4 pizzas. Top with shredded chicken and thinly sliced pears and drizzle with olive oil.

I did a little research on goat cheese, and found an interesting tidbit.

Compared to cow’s milk products such as cream cheese, goat cheese is lower in fat, calories and cholesterol. It also provides more calcium and fewer carbohydrates than cream cheese. Even though goat cheese has fewer calories, it has a full, rich and creamy flavor.

Not sure that I would use it in place of cream cheese in a recipe though!

Have a great week!
Andrea

Categories : Fit Mom's Corner, Nutrition

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Change Your Perspective And Change Your Figure

Posted by: The Fit Dad | Comments (2)

Tuesday, June 1st, 2010

Just a quickie for you today.

Having just said that, I realize that it’s very difficult for me to write a “quick” article. I say they’ll be quick, but they end up being…not too quick. Hopefully I stick with the “quick” mindset.

I guess I better get on with it, huh?

I want to ask you a question.

Are you ready for it?

I know that was a question, but it wasn’t the question I wanted to ask.

What did you eat this weekend?

I don’t just mean for dinner – I mean EVERYTHING. What did you eat?

Not only that, but what did you drink?

Okay, that’s 2 questions, but they’re essentially the same.

If you need to sit and think for a bit, that’s fine. I want you to think about everything you ate or drank over the weekend.

What feelings does that food bring up?

Did the food make you feel good? Did it make you feel good AFTER eating it or did it make you feel bloated, “heavy” and with thoughts of “Why did I eat that?”

If the answer is more the latter, than the former…why?

If what you ate and drank over the weekend made you feel like crap and will eventually lead you to either gaining weight or maintaining your current weight, why did you do it?

If it made you feel like crap, did you tell yourself you wouldn’t do it again?

Did you feel bad after eating/drinking what you did?

If you did, that’s the wrong feeling you should be having.

Food is meant to not only provide you with fuel, but it should be something you enjoy and if you feel bad about what you ate, how much you ate and how often you ate, then you’re thinking about things incorrectly.

Yes, I said “thinking” and not “doing.”

What do I mean? Read More→

Categories : Boot Camp, Nutrition

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A Superfood And A Super Easy Dinner Recipe!

Posted by: The Fit Dad | Comments (2)

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

Last year I discovered a Superfood called Kefir. It is an ancient, fermented probiotic milk drink. Kefir has a unique, tangy taste (some say it tastes horrible by itself) and is mildly self carbonated and is said to stimulate the immune system, enhance lactose digestion and inhibit bacteria including those that cause ulcers.

We like to use plain Kefir in place of yogurt in our morning smoothies. There are also flavored varieties that would be easy to quickly pour and enjoy! I have bought the strawberry before and added it in with Maren’s milk. She thought that I had bought the real (sugary) strawberry milk! I have found Kefir at every local health food store and grocer.

Now for a Super easy meal.

I love it when I get creative with a meal and it ACTUALLY tastes good! A SUPER quick and easy dinner that we like is Basil Pesto Chicken served over spinach.

I have never measured this out – I just pour and throw in ingredients till I have enough for the Pesto, but here are measurements from a recipe I base mine on (3/4 c pesto total):
¼ c olive oil
½ c chopped walnuts or pine nuts
2 c firmly packed fresh basil leaves ( I use dried from the spice isle, probably 2 TBS)
½ c grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
4 cloves garlic, peeled and quartered
black pepper to taste

If using fresh pesto: place all ingredients in food processor and blend until nearly smooth. I use dried and just mix it all together in sautee pan.

Bake the amount of chicken you need as you normally would and shred it. Or, pick up a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken from the supermarket. I have found they are easiest to shred when still warm. Always throw out the skin if using a rotisserie chicken.

Throw chicken in with pesto and heat through.

Serve over baby spinach. Heating the spinach a bit with some olive oil makes it really tasty. Heat it just a minute or two, not enough to where is breaks down.

Baked sweet potatoes go nicely with this meal. We usually split a medium size one, add some real butter with a sprinkle of cinnamon. When you add cinnamon to foods, it sweetens them without adding the sugar! Besides it is said to help control blood sugars. Super Sweet!!

Oh my, I think Ed’s Superhero style is rubbing off on me! Better get that under control

Till next week!

The Fit Mom

Categories : Fit Mom's Corner, Nutrition

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Fit Mom’s Corner – Cinco De Mayo Edition

Posted by: The Fit Dad | Comments (3)

Wednesday, May 5th, 2010

Quick note from Ed…Andrea thought it would be cool to contribute to the community by sharing recipes and giving ideas from a woman’s perspective – why she thought I couldn’t do that, I have no idea! – and I thought it would be an awesome idea.

To kick things off, she thought it would fit pretty well sharing a “Skinny” recipe for a margarita – it is Cinco De Mayo afterall!

I’ve never said you can’t drink alcohol while trying to lose weight or get in better shape, you just have to do it properly and in moderation and sticking to drinks like the one Andrea is about to share is the best way to go.

So, without further ado, I’ll throw things over to my lovely wife (and newly dubbed Fit Mom)…

Happy Cinco de Mayo and welcome to The Fit Mom’s Corner! Today is my inaugural entry and it couldn’t be more fitting than to talk about one of my favorite drinks- the Margarita!!

There are many stories about who invented the tasty beach drink and why. One that stuck out was about Enrique Bastate Gutierrez. In the early 1940s living in Tijuana, Mexico he boasted to have created the Margarita as an homage to actress Rita Hayworth, whose real name was Margarita Cansino. As a side note, I also read she also had painful facial plastic surgery so she wouldn’t be stereotyped into Latina acting rolls – crazy stuff!

Recently I decided to start making margaritas from scratch. There are a few “skinny” recipes that have 100-140 calories verses the 500 in a classic restaurant version- all those calories does not a Fit Mom make!

For the best tasting, least hangover causing tequila, you want one that states 100% pure agave on the label. A favorite in our house is Milagro.

The simplest recipe with the least calories is 1 shot tequila and diet squirt. This is yummy, but if a real margarita sans carbonation is what you crave, read on.

My favorite recipe is 1 ½ oz tequila (count 1,2 while you pour, no need to measure), 1 ½ oz of orange liqueur (Triple Sec, Cointreau, Grand Marnier) and splash of sweetened lime juice, or the juice of 2-3 lime wedges for even fewer calories! I put it all in a shaker with ice, and then pour it over ice, but you could also blend it.

Then sit back, close your eyes and imagine you’re on a sunny beach somewhere in the tropics.

Mmm…they really hit the spot on a hot summer day! My mouth is watering…

Thanks for stopping by,

Andrea, aka The Fit Mom

P.S. Watch out! These Margaritas go down REALLY easy, so drink responsibly

Categories : Fit Mom's Corner, Local Flair

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3 Healthy, Fat Fighting Recipes…And 197 More!

Posted by: The Fit Dad | Comments (2)

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

“Ed, I need a meal plan. I don’t know what the heck I’m supposed to eat…help me out!”

“Can you please give me a meal plan and some recipes to help me lose fat?”

“Yo Ed! My eating is out of whack…can you help me out by giving me a meal plan?”

That’s just a small sample of the emails I receive on a weekly basis asking for meal plans and recipes and that’s not including the questions I receive from my training clients and boot campers.

Because of all those questions I thought I should hook you up with a few awesome recipes that are healthy, easy to make and will help you lose fat.

Crunchy Oatmeal: Roughly 290 calories.

1-Cup Oatmeal
2 tsp honey
1 cup sliced strawberries
2 TBS slivered almonds

Instructions:

Cook the oatmeal and then mix everything else in for a warm, sweet and delicious breakfast.

Egg Burrito: Roughly 400 calories

¾ Cup Egg Whites
1 ½ oz. low fat cheese
1 Cup broccoli (chopped)
1 Whole Wheat, Low Carb Tortilla
½ Cup Pineapple
Sliced Bell Pepper
Chopped onion – not much, just a bit for taste and if you don’t like onion, don’t include it.

Instructions:

Scramble the eggs with the vegetables, then add the mixture and cheese to the tortilla. Add salsa for extra flavor.

BBQ Chicken Flat Bread Pizza: Roughly 450 calories

3 oz. Grilled Chicken Breast, Diced
3 tbsp. Barbecue Sauce
¼ Cup Lowfat Shredded Cheese
½ Sliced Bell Pepper
½ Cup Mushrooms, Sliced
1 slice flat bread (lavash)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400. Place flatbread on baking sheet. Spread barbecue sauce on flatbread, top with chicken (should already be grilled), pepper, mushrooms, and cheese. Bake 10-15 minutes, until cheese is bubbly and melted.

Truth be told, I’m not much of a chef.

Actually, I hate cooking.

I’m lucky that I have a beautiful and drop-dead sexy wife who enjoys cooking (score some brownie points for me!).

I’m also lucky that I’ve got some awesome friends at Prograde Nutrition who have done even more of the heavy lifting for me in creating a bunch of “done-for-you” recipes.

To be more precise, they’ve come up with 197 healthy, fat fighting recipes.

I don’t promote other products very often, but when I find something that fits my ideals, I promote it with all my heart and anything Prograde does gets my stamp of approval.

The best part about the “197 Healthy and Delicious Fat Burning Recipes” eBook is that it only costs $4.95!

I can’t tell you how much I’ve (more precisely my wife) has spent on cookbooks. We have cupboards FULL of cookbooks and none of them come close to being entirely full of healthy recipes and I know for certain none of them were this inexpensive.

If you value healthy eating and need ideas on what to cook, you need to grab this eBook.

To get your hands on this awesome recipe book, head to www.FitDadNutrition.com/ProgradeRecipeBook.html

Have an awesome day!

And remember…

…Be A Superhero Today!

Talk to you soon,

P.S. – The 197 Healthy And Delicious Fat Burning Recipes” is a killer product and it’s ridiculously priced at only $4.95. You NEED to get this thing. When was the last time you found that many healthy recipes in one place for such a crazy price?

Head to www.FitDadNutrition.com/ProgradeRecipeBook.html to grab your copy today!

And in case you’re wondering I do make money if you buy it…like $1.20 or something like that. Big money baby!

Categories : Nutrition

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