Build your Summer body in the Winter

With the beginning of the new year comes those resolutions of millions of people to get more physically fit by joining gyms. Most people need a clean slate to start something new, and the beginning of the year is just the jump start they need. Along with working out and being more active, people should also focus on the other aspects that have lead you to where you are now. The most notable aspect is your eating habits. If you have poor eating habits, it will counteract the hard work you put in at the gym. Who wants their efforts to be in vain? No one (hopefully, lol). If you change the way you eat, you'll see results. This is definitely easier said than done though. You have to be focused on your goal at all times, plan to keep yourself on track, and surround yourself with positive influences. Have a friend hold you accountable, prep your meals so that hunger doesn't cause you to make bad decisions on the fly, align your nutrition with your fitness goals, etc.

A friend of mine always encourages me to workout, even when I don't want to. I feel that they hold me accountable. They do the same with my nutrition. Because they know what I'm trying to do, I feel that it makes me try harder to not let myself down, and to not let them down either. At the end of the day you have to want it more for yourself than they want it for you. Figure out what your excuses are and try to find options and solutions. We have 5 months until June people. Let's start construction on these Summer bodies made in the Winter. We can do it!!!

What are some of your goals? What are some of the things holding you back? What are your solutions? Comment. Your answers may help someone in need :-)

Dinner Food Diary

So I was watching Food Network and 'The Kitchen" was on. They had a lady on the show who had been keeping a dinner diary for 30+ years I believe. I thought that this was a great idea. She only writes down what she cooks, not the recipe. I immediately thought about how this can help people come up with dinner ideas, look back and see what they were eating to help explain differences in weight, and what lead to health problems or solutions. It is always a struggle to get me to write a recipe because I hate measuring. Cooking is my passion and I use my senses and intuition when adding ingredients. Day to day my senses and intuition can change causing me to make something completely different, but still delicious. I have been trying out the food diary for a few days and I'm loving it. Now, next month when I don't know what to cook for dinner, I'll just pull out my food diary and find my own inspiration. Try it and see if It works for you :-)

Granny Smith Apple Crescent Pie

The inspiration for this recipe came from a new friend who loves Granny Smith Apple Pie with Blue Bell ice-cream. I haven’t seen Blue Bell ice-cream where I live in VAL, but I still wanted to make an apple pie. I thought I’d make them mini pies so I wouldn’t have to cut a million apples (Yep, I was lazy. So what? Lol. It turned out to be a great thing. *Shrugs*). This recipe is so simple that even the most inexperienced home cook can do it.

This recipe serves 4 people.

Ingredients

1 Granny Smith Apple

1 ½ T Sugar (Sugar in Spanish is azúcar. Random, I know.)

2 tsp Ground Cinnamon

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 package of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls

Non-stick Spray

*Cookware needed

Cutting Board

Knife

Measuring Spoons

Cookie Sheet

Directions

1.) Pre-heat your oven to 350°F. (I know your packaging on the Crescent rolls say 375°F, but I like doing things my way. I don’t want the outside to get too brown before the apples have a chance to get tender.)

2.) Cut the apple into halves and then cut each half into 8 pieces. (Be sure to cut off any of the middle core/seed area. Not sexy.)

3.) In a bowl, add the slices apples, 1 ½ T sugar, 2 tsp cinnamon, and 1 tsp vanilla extract.

4.) Coat the apples with the mixture and let it sit while you’re preparing the dough.

5.) Open the crescent roll package and place each individual piece on a cookie sheet. (Be sure to spray with non-stick spray.)

6.) For each piece of dough, take 2 apple slices and wrap them inside. (Be sure to press any gaps together completely enclosing the apples in the dough.)

7.) Once all apples are safely wrapped in dough, bake for 15-20 minutes. (The color should be a slightly under golden brown.)

8.) Serve and enjoy with a caramel drizzle and your favorite ice-cream.

In hindsight, I should’ve peeled the apple, but it was still tasty and perfectly delicious! As always, if there is a topic or recipe you’d like me to post, don’t hesitate to comment and let me know. I’m constantly looking for ways to give you more value on my blog. Peace, love, and food!

Set yourself up for success with your food lifestyle

Have you ever had a difficult time trying to stay true to your new food lifestyle? Most people would say yes, but don’t fully understand that they have not set themselves up for success the proper way. Here’s what I mean. So you say that you’ll begin to eat clean starting today. You go to the grocery store and buy good wholesome ingredients and think that you’re well on your way to changing your habits. Sadly, this is not enough. What about the items you already had in your pantry/fridge that are not conducive to a healthy eating environment? Why do you still have them around? The answer is because you’re not fully committed to your new lifestyle. You can easily fall victim to the late night munchies (lol) or the unhealthy quick afternoon snack and suddenly you’re back at square 1.

This post came about with me trying to basically save me from myself. On Sunday night I tried a new creation, Individual Granny Smith Apple Pies. OMG they were soooo delicious and I served them with a caramel sauce and Butter Pecan ice-cream (Post coming soon! #JustWaitOnIt ). There were 4 mini pies left and I knew that if I were to simply put them in the refrigerator, I’d come back the next day and eat another 2 (because I’m a fat kid at heart. *Shrugs*). So to create a barrier for myself, I put the remaining pies in the freezer. If I wanted to eat them, it would have required too much effort to thaw out and warm back up, so I passed on the opportunity and thus successfully saved myself from myself. Now granted I indulge in sweets on the weekends, but everything else is pretty much Paleo. I told Trent (#Bae) about what I did and he thought it’d make a great post. Thanks hunnie J (He’s right 99.9% of the time).

I encourage everyone to go through every single food item (Yep, E-VE-RY food item) and determine which ones are not in agreement with your new lifestyle. Sure you don’t want to throw out all the food. Fine, I get it. You can start to get away from those items by creating barriers. Freeze the items that you can, and put the rest of the items all in one corner of your pantry/fridge. Don’t mix the bad items with the good items. Divide and conquer people (#ThisIsSparta lmao!). Doing this makes it easy for you to make an informed decision about what you’re going to cook/eat at that moment. If you open the ‘bad’ pantry or reach for the ‘bad’ shelf, you already know that you’re deliberately making that choice to go against what you said you would do in your new lifestyle. You can’t make excuses for yourself (We all know what excuses are).

Hopefully this will help someone. Set yourself up for success! And as always, if there is a topic or recipe you’d like me to post, don’t hesitate to comment and let me know. I love reading comments! I’m constantly looking for ways to give you more value on my blog. Peace, love, and food!

Set yourself up for success with your food lifestyle.

Have you ever had a difficult time trying to stay true to your new food lifestyle? Most people would say yes, but don’t fully understand that they have not set themselves up for success the proper way. Here’s what I mean. So you say that you’ll begin to eat clean starting today. You go to the grocery store and buy good wholesome ingredients and think that you’re well on your way to changing your habits. Sadly, this is not enough. What about the items you already had in your pantry/fridge that are not conducive to a healthy eating environment? Why do you still have them around? The answer is because you’re not fully committed to your new lifestyle. You can easily fall victim to the late night munchies (lol) or the unhealthy quick afternoon snack and suddenly you’re back at square 1.

This post came about with me trying to basically save me from myself. On Sunday night I tried a new creation, Individual Granny Smith Apple Pies. OMG they were soooo delicious and I served them with a caramel sauce and Butter Pecan ice-cream (Post coming soon! #JustWaitOnIt ). There were 4 mini pies left and I knew that if I were to simply put them in the refrigerator, I’d come back the next day and eat another 2 (because I’m a fat kid at heart. *Shrugs*). So to create a barrier for myself, I put the remaining pies in the freezer. If I wanted to eat them, it would have required too much effort to thaw out and warm back up, so I passed on the opportunity and thus successfully saved myself from myself. Now granted I indulge in sweets on the weekends, but everything else is pretty much Paleo. I told Trent (#Bae) about what I did and he thought it’d make a great post. Thanks hunnie J (He’s right 99.9% of the time).

I encourage everyone to go through every single food item (Yep, E-VE-RY food item) and determine which ones are not in agreement with your new lifestyle. Sure you don’t want to throw out all the food. Fine, I get it. You can start to get away from those items by creating barriers. Freeze the items that you can, and put the rest of the items all in one corner of your pantry/fridge. Don’t mix the bad items with the good items. Divide and conquer people (#ThisIsSparta lmao!). Doing this makes it easy for you to make an informed decision about what you’re going to cook/eat at that moment. If you open the ‘bad’ pantry or reach for the ‘bad’ shelf, you already know that you’re deliberately making that choice to go against what you said you would do in your new lifestyle. You can’t make excuses for yourself (We all know what excuses are).

Hopefully this will help someone. Set yourself up for success! And as always, if there is a topic or recipe you’d like me to post, don’t hesitate to comment and let me know. I love reading comments! I’m constantly looking for ways to give you more value on my blog. Peace, love, and food!

Intro to Paleo

The Paleo lifestyle is a favorite of mine because of its simplicity. At the end of every night countless people will be asked this question "What's for dinner?" I can't even think of how many times I've been asked this question, along with variations such as "What's for lunch?" and "What's for breakfast?". I mean these questions come back to haunt people day in and day out. Making a cohesive meal is a challenge for many people who don't have much time, those who don't like to cook, and those who just can't think of anything to cook.

Going Paleo makes these questions a bit easier to answer because your options are somewhat scaled down to certain food groups with meat and vegetables being the main 2. I can't even begin to truly express in words how much stress is now off my shoulders when trying to think of something to cook for dinner. I simply choose a protein, usually steak, and a vegetable or two, usually broccoli and carrots, or a salad. Done. The steak takes about 8 minutes (depending on the cut and thickness of course) and while it's cooking I'm preparing the side which will be done at the same time. How simple and easy is that, I know Rachel Ray has her 30 minute meals, but this one was a meal in under 10 minutes! I love Rachel Ray btw!

So I've mentioned that Paleo basically is meat and vegetables, but you can also eat certain fruits that are lower in carbs, healthy fats such as coconut oil and avocado oil, eggs, seafood, and nuts. Now what you are avoiding is basically processed foods and foods high in carbs such as grains, legumes, unhealthy fats, and most dairy products. Now there are some alternative things that are available like coconut and almond flour that are considered Paleo and will allow you to still eat breads, biscuits, pancakes, things of that nature. It's worth looking into if you feel like you can't live without carb loaded foods. This opens up the possibilities even more. I actually love almond flour!

Below are some things that you can eat to give an example.

Meat/Poultry/Fish: Ground Beef, Steak, Turkey, Chicken, Bison, Quail, Veal, Salmon, Catfish ,Lamb, Pork, Crab, Lobster, Shrimp, Rainbow Trout, Cod, etc. There are soo many different cuts of meat and thousands of different kind of fish. Your options for protein are very abundant.

Vegetables: Asparagus, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Kale, Spinach, Mushrooms, Lettuce, Eggplant, Spaghetti Squash, Avocado (technically a fruit though but who likes technicalities lol), Brussels Sprouts, Artichoke Hearts, Peppers, Cabbage, Zucchini, Onions, etc. You can still eat the starchy vegetables like potatoes and yams, but if you're trying to bring sexy back, those starchy vegetables are not a good idea.

I'll later post this list of Paleo meal ideas I have that might help in embracing the lifestyle. It provides a range of options so that you don't feel like your meal is missing something that is not in agreement with the Paleo lifestyle.

Thanks for reading my post. As always, if there's something you'd like me to post about just let me know. Comments are welcomed! Enjoy the weekend peeps!

She wasn't ready! (In my Kevin Hart voice): Fitness and Food struggles.

So the majority of the summer is gone and I'm sad to report that I missed out on bathing suit season. Why? My eating habits were not as clean as they should have been. It's difficult to find a happy medium between eating right, enjoying food, and looking great, at least for me anyway. On the outside people see me and think that I'm in pretty good shape, but my personal goal is to look good naked from every angle. No need for special effect in photos or filters. The biggest obstacle is myself. I was once down to the shape I wanted to be at. Knowing this should be motivation because I know that I've reached this goal before, but with starting again comes challenges and sacrifices that must be made. No excuses.

They say that summer bodies are made in the winter. This girl will be cooking this 2016 Summer Body right now and by the time I reach my goal it'll be cold, but I'll be fine as hell underneath my clothes, lol. Proper nutrition, motivation, and drive are essential to reach fitness goals. Sure you can workout 2 hours a day, but if you're eating poorly you're canceling out your workout basically.

Nutritional goals will vary from person to person based on size and fitness goals. In my case I'm looking to slim down a little bit more and gain muscle at the same time. I drastically lowered my carbs and I use the My Fitness Pal app to keep an eye on how many calories I'm taking in. With food I'm usually on a Paleo diet plan. It's just so simple and easy but sometimes meals feel incomplete without carbs. I'll do another post about the Paleo lifestyle because I actually think it's amazing and makes so much sense. I eat most of my carbs on the weekends. I can't resist French Toast on a Saturday morning, lol. Plus yall know how I feel about cookies/brownies and ice cream (Yaaaaassss!!!).

I'll be coming up with some great recipes that might help us all get in better shape and not miss out on all the summer time fun next year. Be on the lookout for posts about meal prepping, paleo, keto.

As always, if you have any topics that you'd like me to write about or any recipes you'd like me to post, feel free to let me know!

Peace, love, and food!

Bleu Cheese Turkey Burgers

Talk about deliciousness, just thinking about this burger makes my mouth water (Literally). This is a burger done right and amped up with the creamy, rich goodness that is Blue Cheese. It’s an easy weeknight dinner to make, or a great game time meal to have. Whatever the occasion, you’ll love it.

The recipe serves 2.

Ingredients

1 lb. Ground Turkey

1 cup Bleu Cheese crumbles

4 Large Tomato Slices (Cut them at least ¾ inch thick.) (I used the tomatoes I grew!! :) Yay! They were small so I used 3 slices each.)

2 T Sea Salt

2 T Freshly Cracked Black Pepper

2 T Garlic Powder

2 T Canola Oil

2 Wheat Kaiser Buns (You can use whatever bread you’d like, doesn't really matter to me, but these are fantastic!) (You can toast you buns if you’d like.)

2 Outer Leaves of Red Leaf Lettuce (You can use spring mix too. I like colorful lettuce. I absolutely do NOT recommend iceberg. Step your lettuce game up please!)

Sriracha Mayo**

*Cookware needed

Large Skillet

Spatula

Knife

Cutting Board

Toaster (Optional)

Paper Towel

Directions

1.)    Slice tomatoes and set aside.

2.)    Portion the ground turkey into 2 patties (I always make my fiancé’s burger patty bigger than mine, so maybe 9 oz. and 7 oz. burgers. Whatever floats your boat, but adjust the cooking time if you are making smaller burgers.)

3.)    Heat large skillet to high heat.

4.)    Season the meat with half of the seasoning on both sides. Reserve the other half of the seasonings.

5.)    While the patties are made, use ¼ cup of the bleu cheese crumbles (Divide between the 2 patties) and  sprinkle them in the middle of the patty. Being gentle, try to fold the patty over the cheese (like a taco) and close the edges, so that the cheese is in the middle of the burger. Flatten back to a patty carefully.

6.)    Sprinkle the remaining seasoning on top of the patties.

7.)    Add the oil to the skillet to heat for about 15 seconds and then add the patties. Cook on this side for about 5 minutes.

8.)    Reduce the heat to medium and flip the burgers. Cook for an additional 2 minutes.

9.)    Add the remaining bleu cheese crumbles on top of the burgers in the skillet. Cook for 3 minutes.

10.) Add the Sriracha Mayo** to the buns along with the lettuce and tomato. Add burger patty and enjoy!

**Sriracha Mayo**

Ingredients

2 T Mayo (I use Kraft Olive Oil Mayo.)

1 T Sriracha Sauce (The more you add, the spicier it will be. You can choose your heat level.)

*Cookware needed

Measuring Spoon

Small Spoon

Small Bowl

Directions

1    1.) Add all ingredients into the small bowl and stir well. The end, lol.

Mesquite Shrimp Fajitas

So this is a recipe that is simple, quick, and most importantly deelish!! The smoky-sweet flavor of the mesquite seasoning just does wonders to the dish making your taste buds have a party in your mouth (Yep, there will be a mouth party! lol). I always love how succulent shrimp can be and burst in your mouth as you take a bite. The ultimate food porn!!

Serves 2 or 1 really hungry person, lol.

Ingredients

8 Jumbo Shrimp (Peeled and deveined) (I used Black tiger prawns)

2 T Canola Oil

2 tsp McCormick Mesquite Seasoning

2 tsp Sea Salt

2 tsp Freshly Cracked Black Pepper (There is a huge difference between freshly cracked and regular black pepper, trust me, but if you must use regular that is fine.)

1 tsp Paprika

1/2 tsp Crushed Red Pepper

1 tsp Garlic Powder

1/2 tsp Onion Powder

4 Small Flour Tortillas

1 large Spanish Onion (sliced)

1 Yellow Bell Pepper (sliced)

Directions

1.)    Add shrimp to a small bowl.

2.)    Mix 1 tsp of sea salt and pepper and all the other seasonings with the shrimp and set aside to marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. (You can also leave it overnight if you like to prep early)

3.)    Heat a large skillet to medium heat with 1 T Canola Oil.

4.)    Add the sliced onions, bell pepper, and 1 tsp of sea salt and pepper.

5.)    Sauté for 10 minutes or until slightly caramelized (Be sure not to burn).

6.)    Remove from the heat and add 1 T of Canola Oil to the same skillet.

7.)    Add the shrimp and cook for 3 minutes on each side.

8.)    Build your fajitas by adding the onion and bell pepper mixture to a flour tortilla. Add the shrimp on top.

9.)    Serve and enjoy!! (I served mine with herbed rice).

Semi-Blackened Catfish

This is a healthier spin on a southern classic dish. Most people fry fish because they were brought up eating fried fish. Additionally, most southern cooks add all types of pork meats to their greens to add 'flavor'. It might taste good today, but I promise it wont look good years down the line. Let vegetables be vegetables!!!

Anywho, this recipe is for the Blackened catfish and is oh so deelish!!

Ingredients
4 Fresh Catfish Fillets (I always prefer fresh over frozen)
2 T Canola Oil
2 tsp Sea Salt
2 tsp Black Pepper
2 T Magic Seafood Seasoning Blend (This stuff is soooo awesome. You'll thank me later :))

Directions

1.) Mix the seasonings in a small bowl.
2.) Heat large skillet to medium-high heat and add the canola oil.
3.) While the skillet is heating, season both side of the fish with the seasoning mixture. (Be sure to pat the seasoning into the fish)
4.) Add the fillets to the skillet and cook for 8 minutes on one side. Flip and cook for another 3 to 5 mins. (Raw catfish is a no no. Make sure your fish is cooked through or else, yuck)
5.) Drain the catfish on a paper towel for a few seconds and serve with your sides. Enjoy.



The recipe for Kale is listed on the blog already, and the cornbread muffins are every southern person's favorite, Jiffy :)

Spicy Salmon Tacos

If you know me, you know that I love salmon. I especially love when salmon is cooked medium because the true flavor is allowed to shine. Overcooked salmon is the worst!!

This recipe came to me in the spur of the moment. My sister decided to live the Pescaterian lifestlye for the month of February and I decided to join her. I was making chicken fajitas for Trent and Cris and realized that I couldn't eat it. Luckily, I had a filet of Steelhead salmon and decided to make a salmon taco. This was the beginning of something special. I have eaten salmon tacos at least 6 more times since then, lol.

I'll show you the recipe for 2 tacos, which is 1 serving. You can quantify the recipe for however many people you need to.

Ingredients

1 Fresh 6 ounce filet of Salmon with skin (You can use any type of fresh salmon like Coho, Steelhead, Atlantic, etc. I always prefer a salmon that is more red than pink because of the depth of flavor.)

-1/2 Yellow Onion
-2 tsp Cajun Seasoning (I used Tony Chachere's Cajun Seasoning and it is tha bomb!!)
-2 tsp Sea Salt
-2 T Olive Oil
-2, 6 inch flour tortillas
-1 T Mayo
-1 tsp Chopped Chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
-1 tsp Chopped Parsley (For garnishing)

Directions

1.) Cut the filet of salmon, lengthwise, into 2 even pieces.

2.) Season the salmon with the cajun seasoning and 1 tsp of the sea salt. Rub the filet with about 1 tsp of olive oil. Set aside to marinate while you prep everything else.

3.) Heat a nonstick skillet to medium high heat.

4.) Add 1 T of olive oil to the skillet and slice the onions. Add the onions and 1 tsp of sea salt to the skillet. Cook for about 3 minutes and then turn the heat down to a low setting and continue cooking for 8 to 10 minutes.

5.) Once the onions finish  cooking, set aside in a different container. Clean the skillet and re-heat to medium high.

6.) Add 1 T of olive oil to the skillet and add the 2 pieces of salmon, skin side down. Cook on this side until the skin is crispy,  about 3 to 4 minutes. (Be careful not to burn the fish skin. It is delicious when done right, but horrible when burnt.)

7.) Flip and cook on the other side for another 2 to 3 minutes. (Remember, the goal is to cook the salmon to medium, not well done, unless you absolutely must have it that way. Well done should show a thin layer of pink in the middle of the fish.)

8.) Remove the fish from the skillet and sit on a paper towel skin side down to catch any excess oil.

9.) In a small ramekin, mix the mayo with the chopped chipotle pepper.

10.) Spread half of the chipotle mayo down the center of one tortilla and repeat for the other tortilla.

11.) Place a piece of salmon on each tortilla and top each piece of salmon with the quickly caramelized onions.

12.) Chop parsely and sprinkle on top.

13.) Serve and enjoy.

Guacamole Yumminess

I use to be one of those people who disliked avocados simply because they were green and I was not familiar with the taste. My love for avocado started and grew when I moved to Virginia. I enjoy them on my salads and love to season them with Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO), Mediterranean Sea Salt, and freshly Cracked Black Pepper (Out of this world deelish!). I tried my hand at a simple recipe for Guacamole since I don't like it when anyone else makes it. I think this is the message that I'd like to send for today: If you don't like it, try to make it yourself! I know what I do and do not like about it, so I can add and or omit ingredients as I see fit. One of the ingredients I omitted is Cilantro. I hate it and can only tolerate a little amount, and since I didn't have any today, I didn't use any at all and I'm okay with that, lol.

Ingredients
2 Avocados (Ripe=Soft, but not too mushy)
2 Tablespoons Fresh Lemon Juice (From a real lemon, not a bottle. Trust me. There's a difference)
1/2 Tomato cut into small pieces
2 Tablespoons Onion diced into very small pieces (You can use whatever onion you have. I used a Spanish onion, but I'm thinking a red onion might work best)
1 Tablespoon of EVOO
1 Tablespoon Mediterranean Sea Salt
2 teaspoons Freshly Cracked Black Pepper

Directions
1.) Dice the avocado into large chunks and add to a small bowl. (See pics below for those not too familiar with avocados)

2.) Add all the other ingredients into the bowl and stir, being sure not to break down the chunks of avocado. (Be gentle. Incorporate well, but don't start stirring too hard that you make a mash out of everything, lol)

3.) Damn that was easy. Serve and enjoy :)


Great as a dip for chips, with Quesadillas, by itself, however you like it, it's great.

Shrimp Trotolle

So I have gotten many requests to post the recipe of a dish I made for lunch a few days ago. I appreciate the support and requests, so here it is. It has taken me a very long time to write this recipe because I couldn't remember the name of the pasta shape. It is not your average shape that people just know. I couldn't even remember what store I bought it from so I searched google images and the databases of the store I shop at. I gave up yesterday, lol. But today, after searching more than 3000 items, I finally found the picture of the pasta shape, and the friggin name. :) I hope you enjoy this dish because there was some hard work behind the scenes to make it available to you, lol.

Let's start with the pasta name. It is called Trotolle (pictured below). It is in a spring like or coiled form and it very filling. I find that this type of pasta works well with soaking up sauces.

Ingredients
4 oz Trotolle pasta 
3 Tablespoons of Oil (Any oil like vegetable, canola, avocado- I used this one, corn, olive, etc)
1 Teaspoon of Garlic Powder
1 Teaspoon of Onion Powder
2 Teaspoons Salt
2 Teaspoons Pepper
1 Lemon Wedge
1/2 Large Onion (Diced)
8 oz Cremini Mushroms (Sliced) (These are baby portabello. You can find them at Walmart.) 
1 Orange Bell Pepper (Diced)
2 1/2 cups Heavy Cream
1/2 lb Shrimp (Peeled, tail off. . . or on, whichever you'd prefer. I have the tails
1 Tablespoon Chopped Parsley (If you don't have fresh parsley, you can used dried parsley flakes)


Directions
1.) In a medium sized bowl, add 1 Tablespoon of oil, the Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, and 1 Teaspoon of the Salt and Pepper. Mix and add Shrimp to marinate. Set aside. 

2.) Cook pasta according to package directions. (Make sure your pasta is not too soft though. It needs to have just a bit of bite left in it. Al dente.)

3.) In a large skillet, on medium high heat, add 2 Tablespoons of oil and saute the diced onions for about 5 minutes.

4.) Add the mushrooms and the other Teaspoon of Salt and Pepper. Cook for another 5 minutes. 

5.) Add the bell peppers and cook for 3 more minutes.

6.) When the vegetable are all deliciously cooked and ready, add the heavy cream and turn the heat up to high. (Do NOT walk away from the stove. Keep stirring and when the sauce comes to a rapid boil, reduce the heat to medium low and cook for 4 minutes until it thickens a little.)

7.) Saute the shrimp on medium high heat until pink on both sides. Squeeze the lemon wedge over the shrimp. Shouldn't take more than 3 minutes. (Nothing like a hit of fresh lemon juice on seafood!!)

8.) Add cooked pasta to the sauce. Cook for 2 minutes.

9.) Add the shrimp and the parsley and stir. 

10.) Serve and enjoy :) Serves 2

Cheesecake? Yes, please.

So I'm back at it again and I feel great after having a wonderful conversation with my brother. It provided me the motivation necessary to persevere. Gotta love family :)

Today I want to share my recipe for Cheesecake. I absolutely love cheesecake and have gone through many test phases to create a recipe that works for me. The one that I have formulated does not include any added sugar. Notice I said no ADDED sugar. The ingredients that already have natural sugar content in them do the trick to make this dessert just right, so there is no need for the white sweet stuff today, lol.

Follow the instructions below and prepare for a party in your mouth!!

This recipe makes about 8-10 servings depending on the size and depth of your spring-form pan. (And how hungry you are, lol)


Ingredients

Crust:

2 cups- Ground Graham Crackers
1/2 teaspoon- Ground Cinnamon
1 stick- Butter, unsalted, melted (Microwave to melt. Takes about 20 seconds. Be sure to keep your eye on it though!!)

Filling:

1 pound- Cream Cheese, softened (Just leave it out on the counter for about 30 minutes before you start)
3- Eggs
1 cup- Honey (Yep, I said Honey. Surprise! Lol.)
1 pint- Sour Cream
1- Lemon, zested
1 tablespoon- Vanilla Extract (Imitation vanilla extract will work too. Tastes good to me!)



Directions 

1.) Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees F, (Make sure you do this please!) and boil a large pot of water (You'll need it later. Just do it.)

2.) In a bowl, mix all of the ingredients for the crust.

3.) Spray your spring-form pan with non-stick spray and pour in the crust mixture. (You'll want to slap yourself if you don't use the non-stick spray. Trust me.)

4.) Mold the mixture to create a bottom crust in the pan while working the sides up to about 1 inch so you can have side crust. (Yummy!) Place this in a refrigerator until it's time to pour in the filling.

5.) In another bowl, use an electric mixer to mix the cream cheese on a low speed adding in the eggs, one at a time, until it is smooth. (If you don't have a mixer, feel free to use a wooden spoon and mix the hell out of that cream cheese. The end result is just the same.)

6.) Add the sour cream, honey, lemon zest, and vanilla extract and mix until combined.

7.) Fill a large roasting pan with the boiling water about 1/2 inch deep.

8.) Cover the bottom of the spring-form pan with aluminum foil and fold up the sides. Place in the roasting pan. (Yes! Put the pan, covered in foil, in the water.)

9.) Bake for about 40 minutes.

10.) Remove from oven and let the cheesecake sit for about 30 minutes before you handle it. After that, chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

11.) Cut, serve, enjoy.


I hope you love the recipe as much as I do. If you don't love it, tell me why. I'm always looking for ways to improve. Oh, and for an extra yummy tip you can add strawberries and whipped cream to top it off. :)

Below is a picture of a mini cheesecake cupcake I made. To make this, simply divide the above recipe in half and mold the crust into a cupcake pan. Bake the same way and time.

I'll have to get a camera and learn to take better pictures so I can show you food porn, lol. #Coming Soon.

Thanks for visiting. Come back really soon. 

It's MY Body Anyway

I have had an interesting journey in my lifetime with fitness and body image. In my younger years, I struggled with self esteem issues because I thought I was too big. I was the little sister that was bigger than the big sister. This is something that has haunted me and caused many sleepless nights sitting up wondering what was wrong with me and why I was that way. When I moved to Virginia is really when I started to notice that the people here are active and that maybe I can be too so that I'm not a victim of complacency, but a champion of my own destiny.

 During my pregnancy, it was always my goal to ensure I was not overeating just because I was "eating for two" and to this day I still believe that pregnancy cravings are a myth because I didn't have any, lol. Any who, I dropped all of the baby weight and then some. I looked great, and then the unthinkable and unimaginable happened, I became too small (in the opinion of others). Never before had I heard from friends and family members questioning whether or not I eat at all. Continuous comments on how skinny I am and that I could stand to gain a few pounds caused those same self esteem issue to arise again. I couldn't believe it! This made me angry and hate myself because my clothes started to look weird and replacing an entire wardrobe is expensive.

 It took me a while to realize that I shouldn't actually care about what others have to say when it comes to me and my body. It is hard to not care when it is the ones closest to you who have these opinions though, but overall if I want to be small, or if I want to be big, it is my choice, and my life and I will live it how I see fit. I did some deep thinking about what I wanted from myself and how I wanted to look to make myself happy. I have determined that information and have set out to make it happen. So let this be a word to the wise, Eff your opinion of me and how I look. . . with all due respect :). I'm strength training to get my long lost butt back, lol, and to pick up just a few pounds of muscle for me, myself, and I. #ThatIsAll

http://www.harveymackay.com/tag/swim-with-the-sharks-2/

Randomness

So I'm sitting here working on a final paper, well I was until I was distracted by loud neighbors. I'm thinking they have guests over because they are unusually loud today, or maybe the good weather has caused them to  think it's okay to be loud outside. . . Anywho I was thinking about the Sex and the Cit lifestlye, with them living in New York, I bet it's always loud filled with car horns honking, the sound of stop and go, mostly stop, traffic and car radios blasting. If I were in a high-rise condo these sounds would actually be soothing. The best soothing sounds for me include water and the constant spinning of a ceiling fan. Ahh the peacefulness it brings, lol. I'm hoping whatever are Trent and I decide to live in for our second house has a peaceful community with mature adults and well behaved children. I took my dad to see the house that we will probably buy. It was great hanging out with him for the time he was here. You never know how much you miss your family until you are truly away from them. Not like college away, but real life away. I never got homesick in college, but as an adult away from my familiar surroundings, it gets to be a bit much and I am sad about that a lot because I know Trent would never want to move anywhere near Memphis again. Oh the things we woman compromise on. Men, can't live with them, could probably live without them, but who wants to do that? lol.  In this next break from my paper that I definitely should be writing at the moment, I'm gonna repaint my nails pink again. #Fierce!!!

Sex and the City

I have gotten to a point in my life where I felt old and boring even though I am young and vibrant. Daily life has become mundane and even off days have become either routine or even more stressful with trying to catch up on what was not done on my work days. I am a mother to a 17 month old baby boy and fiance to a hard working man. All of our family is back home in Memphis, TN while we are the only ones in Virginia. Life is tough for me. It's truly the hard knock life. So how do you change that? I always wish that my life is like Sex and the City. The women are fabulous and they seem to have it all, great fashion, great friends, great job, great social life, great balance overall. This is what's missing from my life. The first thing I decided to do to be about that life, lol, is revamp my wardrobe.

I am lucky to have a fantastic older sister who lets me know about all the latest trends and cool places to shop so I ordered a few key items and will continue to do so every now and then until the wardrobe is completely just fab. A big thing for me is time management. I wake up early enough in the morning to throw myself together and get my son ready for daycare. So I have to either learn to wake up a bit earlier for morning fab routine or find some short cuts. Wrapping my hair at night and choosing my outfits all make he morning easier. Setting out makeup and predetermining the look I'm going for works wonders. The weather plays a huge part in my wardrobe, but I have to just go for my look no matter what.

One large aspect of the Sex and the City Life that is not complete or even near it is that set group of friends. My friends, family, and even associates are all in other states so this will take some time. Trent and I plan on buying a new house either in Cali or northern Virginia and from there I will hope to be further along in my MBA program and closer to a job in my career field that might lead to great friends with common interests.

This life is not easy to come by. But I plan on continuing to strive for it because happiness is still along the way. Anywho, got some spring cleaning to do and doctor's appointment for baby on this off day of mine. Setting myself up for success. I love clean house, healthy happy baby, and a happy man :)

More sessions to come. . .

Simply Ahkeeia

So I decided to change the name of this blog from Ahkeeia's Food Blog, to simply Ahkeeia's Blog. Reason? I have still not gotten into the much needed habit of writing down all of my recipes when I cook and I have other things I want to talk about that extend beyond food, like style, fashion, politics, entertainment, babies, relationships, etc. Pretty much everything in life. I hope that you all join in on the conversations and feel free to create new topics of discussion.  :)

Chicken Tortilla Soup

So I wanted to start the soup posts with one that is very popular with most crowds. Chicken Tortilla soup is a great mix between Mexican flavors with American influences. Here's how I did it:

Serves: 4

So there are 3 parts to this recipe.

Part 1: Cook the chicken
1 lb     Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 T  Olive oil
1 T     Garlic powder
1 T     Fajita seasoning
1/2 T  Seasoning salt
The juice of half a lemon
The juice of half a lime

Season the chicken with the spices and squeeze the citrus juice and olive oil over the top. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes.

While the chicken is baking, move on to part 2.

Part 2: Start the soup
1 T       Olive Oil
1          Medium onion, chopped
1          Medium green bell pepper, chopped
2 T       Jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
1 tsp    Black pepper
2 tsp    Crushed red pepper flakes
2 cups  Chicken stock (Divided)
2 cans  Fire roasted diced tomatoes
2 T       Cumin
1 tsp     Seasoning salt
1 T       Fajita seasoning
1/2 can Sweet whole kernel corn
1/2 can Black beans

Heat a large pot to medium high heat. When heated, add the olive oil, onion, bell pepper, black pepper and jalapeno peppers and cook until soft. About 10 minutes.

Add 1 cup of chicken stock and both cans of diced tomatoes. Add the remaining seasonings. Stir and cook for 20 minutes.

When the chicken has finished baking, shred with 2 forks and set aside.

After the pot has been cooking for the additional 20 minutes, the mixture should have thickened. Add the rest of the chicken stock, chicken, corn, and black beans and cook for another 5 to 7 minutes.

Part 3: Make the Tortilla Strips
2      Small round flour tortillas
2 T   Olive Oil
2 tsp Paprika
1 tsp Sea salt

Heat a medium skillet with the olive oil.

Cut the tortillas into thin strips.

When the pan is heated, add the tortilla strips (a few at a time) and fry, turning once. About 20 seconds per side, until golden.

Remove from oil and drain on a paper towel. Sprinkle with paprika and salt.



Serve the tortilla strips on top of the soup and enjoy :)

New Year. New You.

So every year we all think up a great resolution that will improve our lives and get up closer to an ultimate goal. Most of us look into being more physically fit but fail to realize that we need to ensure we are eating the right amount of calories to reach that goal. The majority of us hate counting calories, myself included, but having a general idea is a great way to start your path to a new you if you desire a better body image. You can get that general idea by taking maybe 15 minutes out of your spare time to do an online assessment of where you are, where you want to be, and how much or little you need to eat to get there. From there try to watch what you eat as best you can and cook more so you can control the calories that we hate to count. It does get easier though especially once you generally know how many calories are in certain key foods you always eat.

I challenge everyone to stick to their goals this year longer than you stuck to your last year's goal. My goal is to become a person who loves to workout and another goal is to keep up with this blog. The ironic thing is, working out has thus far proven to be the easier of my two goals. I am working on gathering some creativity that I have lost over time to make this blog an exciting and interesting read for all.

This week, and for the remainder of January, I will focus on my cookbook and blog. More specifically, I am trying to go section by section picking and choosing recipes and then testing them out to finalize them.

So far in my "Soup, Stews, and the Like" Section of my future cookbook I have:

Chicken Tortilla Soup
Classic Chicken Noodle
Chili
Cheesy Potato
Beef Stew
Gumbo
Clam Chowder
Veggie Soup
Miso Soup
French Onion Soup
Mushroom Soup
Spicy Thai Soup
Lobster Bisque
She Crab Soup

I will probably be adding to and taking from this recipe title list as I determine the direction I want to go as far as food point of view. I think I will try to experiment with chicken and soup this week since I just bought chicken breasts. I will post the results.  :)

Happy Eating and don't forget to try and stick to your goals this year no matter how hard. We can do it!!