Simple Sante Fe Chicken Packets

I am currently meal prepping dinners and everything on Sunday mornings because my husband is gone Sunday night through Friday evening for 10 weeks and he needs to bring food with him. I prepare his meals and mine and my sons' meals for the week to make things a bit easier for everyone. Yesterday, I made this Sante Fe Chicken Packet, which is normally a grilled dinner, but I did not want to grill so I made it in the oven instead (click link for grilling instructions).

I had it for dinner tonight and it was delicious! It is super easy to reheat and it is a one container meal, which makes me happy! :)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 can (15 oz each) Rosarita® Premium Whole Black Beans, drained, rinsed
• 2 cups frozen whole kernel corn
• 1 can (10 oz each) Ro*Tel® Original Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies, drained
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• PAM® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray
• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (5 ozeach) 

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven at 375°F 

Stir together beans, corn, drained tomatoes and cumin in medium bowl.

Place chicken in 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. Spoon bean mixture over chicken; cover dish with aluminum foil. Bake in 375°F oven 30 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in centers.

21 Day Fix containers:

1 Red - chicken

1 Green - corn and tomotoes

1 Yellow - black beans

Enjoy!

The worst part about being a parent...OTHER PARENTS!

I just read an article that made me feel badly for giving my sons nightly baths. Apparently, it's bad for their overall health and they could get really sick because I am washing all of their good germs away. Oh, and I'm using the wrong shampoo that has chemicals in it that are probably sucking their little brain cells away one bath at a time.

Earlier tonight I read an article about car seats and how my 2-year-old should be rear facing still (and everyone else in the car too) because in the event of an accident we would handle the blunt force better.

This week at work we talked about an article that was circulating about top 10 foods you should NEVER feed your children...goldfish, poptarts, lunchables...you know ALL  of the things they LOVE!

And then there is the vaccination debate, napping, full day kindergarten, full day preschool, home school...AAAAHHH!

Honestly, it makes me never want to read again! (I totally get that I have the option to not read these things!)

Here are my thoughts on the whole child rearing thing...

Does your child smell/is he dirty?
Does he look well fed?
Is she tired? (Does she sleep at some point in the day/night?)
Is he healthy?
Is she learning?
Does she smile more than frown?
Does he laugh more than cry?
Does she throw tantrums because you said no?
Does he play?
Does she run around?
Does he do funny things?
Do you laugh at/with your child?
Do you cry because of and with your child?
At one point or many points during the day do you wonder if you are cut out for the whole parenting thing?
Is parenting the most challenging thing you have ever experienced in your life?
Is parenting the most rewarding thing you have ever done in your life?

If you answered these questions in the way that YOU think they should be answered, than congratulations, you ARE doing an INCREDIBLE job at being a parent. If what you are doing at home is right for you, that is fantastic!

It's obvious that along with the certificate of birth you signed a certificate for the right to be judged by most people around you, but TRY to remember that if you have a happy child, that is ALL THAT MATTERS!

Healthy Comfort Foods for Game Day (21 Day Fix Approved)

It's Game Day for the Patriots and Ravens! I hate, hate, HATE bye weeks! After waiting for two weeks for a Patriots' game, I am very excited to watch the game this afternoon. Big games are only made better with good foods. The game is bound to make me stressed, excited, happy, sad, discouraged, angry, etc and with those emotions comes eating (even though I am working through this problem...).

Instead of reaching for a bag of chips or piece of pizza from the local pizza shop, I want to be proactive and create guilt free comfort foods. Some of the possibilities for today include: quinoa pizza bites, almond crusted chicken tenders, cheeseburger salad, and cauliflower crust pizza.

Cheeseburger Salad

Almond Crusted Chicken Tenders

Mini Cauliflower Pizza Crusts

Quinoa Pizza Bites

As always MODERATION is key! Enjoy your guilt free eating and please share what you plan on eating during the NFL and College playoffs.

Making 21 Day Fix Easier With Shared Cheat Sheets

Every time I find a cheat sheet for 21 Day Fix I pin it on my 21 Day Fix board on Pinterest. Then I am constantly searching through my pins to find the cheat sheets as a reference for my challenge group participants. I am creating this post to help you easily find these cheat sheets. Some of these materials are mine, but most are borrowed from other 21 Day Fixers and I appreciate their generosity in sharing their creations. Please use these items to help you find success in your 21 Day Fix journey!

This first image is helpful to use if you plan to do more than one round of 21 Day Fix. You will quickly find that there isn't enough space in the booklet to write down multiple rounds of the program.

Body Measurements Chart

This image is one way you can count your containers. Just make sure you are using the correct number of containers for the amount of calories you calculate for yourself.

Container Counting

Didn't have time to clean your containers...no worries. This image shows you the serving size of each container.

Cheat Sheet

This image shows you which foods you can put into each container.

Food List

Vegan or vegetarian...check out this list.

Vegetarian and Vegan Food List

The workout schedule may seem a little overwhelming at first, but after Week 1 you will know exactly what you are doing!

Workout Schedule

Not sure what to buy...use this list to help you choose what to purchase at the grocery store!

Shopping List

Below you will find links to a chart created by Lauren during her first round of 21 Day Fix and the link to my Meal Plan (please make a copy of each before making changes!)

21 Day Fix Food Chart by Lauren

Link to Meal Plan created by AMarshNH

Setting scary 2015 fitness goals...

In one day we will be ringing in 2015 and I have set myself up for some scary fitness goals. Beginning January 1 I will be running at least 5.5 miles per day in order to complete 2,015 miles in 2015. Yes, that means I need to run EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. and yes, that is a lot of miles, but I am excited and incredibly nervous. Signing up for a goal that lasts 365 days is daunting, but I am ready for the challenge. I am hoping to run two half marathons this year, which will help to get two days of running done in one day, so I'll earn myself a rest day :).

Interested in signing up to run 2,015 miles, check out the Run the Edge site for more information. You can run it solo, with a partner, or with a team of 3. What better way to get moving...grab a friend or 2 and get out there!

My other scary fitness goal isn't nearly as daunting, but beginning the first full week in January I will be starting Insanity Max: 30. I have heard incredible reports from test group participants with this workout! I love that I can get a good butt kicking in just 30 minutes in my own living room. I plan to incorporate what I have learned about nutrition through 21 Day Fix into this program.

Will I be able to run 5.5 miles per day plus complete 60 days Insanity Max:30? Stay tuned for updates...

Crock pot butternut squash soup

This afternoon I threw together a slow cook butternut squash soup recipe that I found on Pinterest. It was incredibly easy to put together. My 4-year-old helped me put it all together so I did not follow the recipe exactly as written, but it still came out great.

Soup Recipe

Recipe changes:

• I didn't like the idea of adding half and half to the soup so I used almond milk instead.
• I also used coconut oil instead of butter.
• The directions want you to add only half of the chicken broth in the beginning and hold off on the half and half until the end. I did not see this direction because I was trying to help my son and we put everything in at once. 
• I also add a drizzle of real maple syrup to each bowl.

It's a nice clean soup that I plan on having with my lunch most of this week. 

Enjoy!

Creative Birthday Cooking

As a working mom I always promised myself that I would do two things for my children, make their Halloween costumes and create fun treats for their birthdays and other holidays. In the middle of October my oldest son turned 4. We had a handful of birthday celebrations (one for friends, one for my family, one for at preschool, and one for my husband's family), which means I had to (wanted to) create 4 different treats.

He wanted a superhero theme for his birthday party with his friends. For this party I made a gluten free funfetti cake with Spider-Man decor.  I found a great tutorial on Pinterest on how to easily recreate pictures that made this creation super simple.
Cake decorating instructions.

For his birthday party with my family he wanted monster whoopee pies, so I created gluten free monster whoopee pies. 

His school treat did not need to be gluten free so I made pudding graveyards. The original recipe called for pre-made pudding cups, but buying 30 of those would be pricey so I bought 2 packages of chocolate pudding and small clear plastic cups to cut the price.

Graveyard pudding cup recipe

For the final birthday party I was caked out so I made candy corn cheesecake mousse. It was simple and delicious. (The recipe called for cool whip and I'm not a fan, so I used heavy whipping cream instead.)

Candy corn cheesecake mousse

The celebrating and creating was fun while it lasted, but I'm glad I'm done birthday celebrations for now. Instead I'll be working on fun holiday creations!