Healthify Normal Food PART 2!

Ok I gave you some tips in my other post about how to make PASTA and CHEESEBURGERS HEALTHY!! I hope you enjoyed that, cause who wants to live a life without Pasta and Cheeseburgers? Not me! Here's a link to that post if you didn't see it: Healthify Normal food part 1

So here we- go I promised you a post about how to Healthify Mexican Food, Sandwhiches, and PIZZA!

Lets start with Mexican food!

I love Mexican food, especially the real deal authentic. And if it IS the real deal Authentic, its probably already pretty healthy and clean! But there are a couple things to look out for.

Start with the MEAT! In my opinion meat is good cause its protein! I feel like I can never get enough protein in my diet so whatever meat you choose is good! My favorite is Al Pastor:) That's pork with pineapple:) Pork may be the fattiest meat, especially if we're talking sweet pork from Cafe Rio, or pulled pork (SOOO FATENING!) Try to avoid that. But probably your healthiest option is Chicken! Grill it and chop it up and stick it in a burrito or taco. Lean ground beef is good too but again beef is a high fat meat. You could even have a fish taco, but often the fish is battered and fried, so maybe steer clear of that unless its grilled.

Lets talk about the Carbs aka taco or tortilla! I always go for a HIGH FIBER tortilla. I love the Mission-CARB Balance tortillas. They have whole wheat or WHITE that actually have a ton of fiber. Or just go with any WHOLE WHEAT or even CORN tortilla shell that has at LEAST 3g of fiber. NOT 2 grams. At LEAST 3. The more the better. We need fiber for digestion, this is oh so important. Just avoid the FRIED chimichangas, or enchiladas, anything fried will make you feel sick because of too much yukky fat.

Beans and RICE-the staples of Mexican food right? Well word to the wise- its just FILLER food, skip the beans and rice all together I say. The refried beans are loaded with fat, and the rice-unless its brown rice and not fried-will just add up to too much carbs. So seriously skip the sides of Beans and rice or at least limit them. However if you have some black or pinto beans in a burrito, they may be fillers but BEANS are amazing fruits, haha, I mean food. They have good protein AND fiber so don't stress too much about the beans. But they are both sources of carbs, and if you already have a tortilla, chips, and veggies, you already have enough carbs! Choose your carbs wisely!

Next is the CHEESE cause lets be honest, mexican food has CHEESE! I love cheese as much as anyone, and I would never skip it! In this situation you have a couple options for healthification. You can limit the cheese, like 1 oz, or a couple tablespoons is enough. Mozzerella cheese is even less fatty, and the traditional mexican cheeses are good too! Just remember Portion control! Cheese is a FAT source and you only need a little for one portion.

VEGGIES! Load up on the veggies! Load up on the PICO de Gallo! Lettuce, tomato, cilantro, salsa, and even avocado! My motto is: FIBER FILLS YOU UP! And what better to fill up on than Veggies? They help you to feel full and know when to stop eating, rather than filling up on fat and feeling NASTY afterwards. Its a different kind of FULL, the GOOD kind:)


Things to watch out for: Mexican food FAT can add up quick! So watch out for fried foods, sour cream, cheese, avocado, chips (yes they are fried), reFRIED beans (yes they are loaded with LARD) and fatty meats....all that adds up to too much fat and will make you feel stuffed, heavy, and sick:( So pick one or two fat sources and cut out the other fat sources. I usually pick cheese and guacamole:) And I also love the chips and salsa!

So there you go....Mexican Made healthy!!! Any questions?? Seriously I'd love to answer any questions you may have! Leave it in the comments or connect with me via facebook or any other means:) www.facebook.com/meganpotter08

Apple Zucchini Muffins

-by Megan Potter

I have been LOOKING for a good and HEALTHY Zucchini muffin recipe and have not been able to find one that meets my standards! So I made one up!! But shhhh!!!! Don't tell your kids they are ZUCCHINI muffins, at least if I told my kids that they would never eat them! To my kids they are just MOM's Muffins or Chocolate Chip muffins:) I toss in a few mini semi-sweet choc chips and they LOVE them:) And its fine by me cause they are 100% healthy otherwise:)

Ingredients:

-2 C. Whole Grain Flour  (I use a combination of Whole wheat, Kamut, Oat, Brown Rice, and    Spelt Flour- just for fun, health, and variety. But you can totally just use Whole Wheat flour.  And its healthier if its freshly ground if you have a wheat grinder.)

-1 C. Flax Meal

-1 C. Coconut Sugar

-2 Tb. Almond Meal or Almond flour (optional) I added this in cause they seemed a little wet  but they probably would've been fine without it, so its optional if you have it on hand.

-2 tsp. Baking Soda

-1 tsp. Baking Powder

-1 Tb. Vital Wheat Gluten (opt)

-1 tsp. Salt

-2 tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice

-2 tsp. Cinnamon

-1 tsp. Ground Ginger

-->Sift together

In another bowl combine:

-3 Fresh Eggs

-1 Tb. real Vanilla

-2 C. Zucchini, shredded (peeling is optional-I peeled mine so my kids wouldn't see the tiny  green flecks and refuse to eat them. But if it were up to me I would leave the skin on for  fiber and nutrients)

-1 C. Apple, shredded (I used a green apple, but feel free to use any variety)

-3/4 C. 1% Milk

-->Combine and then slowly add in dry sifted ingredients and mix together. 

Other optional add ins: 3/4 C. Chopped walnuts, 3/4 C. mini chocolate chips

-depending on your crowd and what you think they will like. Do half and half if you like-thats what I do to please everyone:)

Spray muffin tins with non-stick oil spray or paper muffin cups. Fill each muffin cup 3/4 full.

Bake @350 F degrees for 20 minutes. Makes 23-24 muffins.

Enjoy for breakfast, brunch, snack or dessert this fall....warm with a little butter.......oh my...so delicious. And have two every day for a week and just watch that waistline get thinner!:) You're welcome! Its something about that FLAX meal I tell ya!!

As you can see the ones on the left don't have chocolate chips...those are for me, and the ones on the right have chocolate chips, those are for my kids and husband:)

Thai Chicken Mango Salad

Peanut Dressing:

2 Tb. water

1 Tb Rice vinegar

Juice of one Lime

2 Tb Raw honey

1 Tb. Soy Sauce

⅓ C. natural smooth peanut butter

1 tsp finely chopped fresh ginger (or a few dashes of ground ginger)

Combine in a food processor, blender, or shake profusely in an airtight tupperware container.

Salad:

¾ Head of Cabbage finely chopped

1 Bunch Cilantro, chopped

3 Carrots, peeled and julienned or finely chopped

2 Mangos chopped in small chunks

3 leaves kale, stem and vein removed and finely chopped (OPT)

½ bunch green onions, finely chopped (OPT)

2 Chicken Breasts, seasoned, cooked and chopped

Chop all vegetables and toss to combine. Store separately from chicken and dressing until ready to serve and eat.

Chicken:

Using boneless skinless raw chicken breasts (organic is best), cut chicken breasts in half from top to bottom so they aren’t so thick. Season with garlic salt, black pepper, Turmeric and cinnamon. Drizzle olive oil in a large saute pan and heat to medium heat. Add chicken and cook on medium heat until cooked through. Remove from pan and let cool slightly enough to handle and cut chicken into small bite size pieces. Store separate from salad until ready to serve and eat.

Store all ingredients in the fridge. Combine 2 C. of Salad mixture, 2 Tb. dressing and ½ C. chicken for individual servings when ready to eat. Enjoy!!

-By Megan Potter

(This recipe was inspired by Dave & Buster’s Thai Peanut Salad and the Peanut-lime dressing from Beachbody’s 22 Min Hard Corps meal plan.)