Low Carb Chicken Margherita "Pasta" Bake

Here is another fabulous low-carb recipe that we LOVE! I happened to have a recipe for baked spaghetti squash "Margherita" style, but I also had some chicken breasts thawed and needed to use them. Note: I am not a food photographer. These pictures were taken with my iPhone, sorry they aren't more spectacular. The food is though! :-)

This is what I came up with. I don't usually "measure", so this is just an approximation of what I used. I have a Samsung convection oven, so I use the convection option. You may have to adjust your cooking time based on what type of oven you are using.

Ingredients:
1 spaghetti squash (instructions to prepare follow)
2-3 tbsp. olive oil
1-2 large Roma tomatoes, chopped
2 chicken breasts, pounded to 1/2" thickness & cut into bite size pieces
1 small zucchini squash, cut in half, sliced into half moons
2 gloves fresh garlic, minced
1 tsp minced onion or 1 Tbsp. fresh shallot, diced
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 - 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 - 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese


Preparation:
To prepare the spaghetti squash: Heat the oven to 400. Using a large knife or cleaver, slice the squash in half lengthwise down the middle (be careful! These buggers are tough.) Use a spoon to remove the seeds and center strings. Drizzle the two halves with olive oil (I used a brush to make sure the entire squash surface was lightly covered with oil.) Sprinkle the squash with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Place the squash, open side down, on a cookie sheet and bake for 30 minutes.

While the squash is baking, heat a large skillet on med-high for the chicken. Add 1 Tbps. fat of your choice (I like coconut oil or olive oil) to the skillet until hot. Add the garlic and onion/shallot and brown for a minute or two.  Add the zucchini, and cook until just crisp-tender. Remove zucchini from pan and set aside. Add the chicken pieces, basil, and additional salt and pepper if you like. Cover and cook until the chicken is no longer pink. Add the zucchini back to the chicken.

Remove the squash from the oven, check to see if it's soft and easily comes up with a fork into spaghetti like texture. If it's too hard to remove, cook for another 10 minutes.

Remove from squash oven, scrape and fluff the stringy squash with a fork. (Note: I only used one half of the spaghetti squash for this recipe.) Put the squash into a mixing bowl with the ricotta and Parmesan cheeses, mix well. Add the chicken/zucchini mixture into the squash mixture.

Lightly grease a 2 quart casserole dish with olive oil. Pour the cooked "pasta", chicken & zucchini mixture into the casserole dish and top with the tomatoes and mozzarella cheeses.

Broil on high until the peaks of the cheese start to brown and crisp.

This is a very hearty and filling meal packed with protein and fiber. As you can see, I don't shy away from fat. You could reduce the fat content by lowering the amount of cheese you use and using lower fat cheeses. I find that if I use full-fat cheeses, I use less and they fill me up (plus it tastes better, duh.) Remember, FAT doesn't make you fat, SUGAR makes you fat.

Enjoy!

Beginner Crossfit-Style Workout

I am a CrossFit newbie; in other words, I hesitate to even use the word CrossFit when referring to my workouts. I truly admire the men and women who have made CrossFit a part of their daily routine; their commitment is inspirational and admirable.

I don't always do CrossFit, but when I do, I feel so good when it's over. Here's what I did today. We have an empty field behind our house; we run to a local restaurant and back which we figured is about 400 meters. It's fairly rough terrain with long field grass so it's definitely a challenge. 

The lunges were the hardest part for me, which surprised me. The last set I felt a little tweak in my left hip flexor so I had to cut back on the intensity.

Today I did knee pushups. I kept my knees way behind my hips, and did full push-ups fairly slowly.

My fiancee and I did this together. Instead of squats, he did box jumps on a 20" box. Instead of lunges, he did squats. Since we only have one ball, I did Mason's twists the 1st and 3rd rounds.

I labeled this workout a beginner's Crossfit workout, but for the person who is just starting to establish a regular fitness routine, this is probably a bit more of an intermediate workout. For a true beginner, I would cut back on all of the reps and maybe increase your resting between rounds.

During my 400 meter runs; my mantra was "Calm Mind; Calm Body" - I do love a good mantra. This came to me when I was on my final run: "Fear, doubt, pain, results; these things are all temporary. Personal victories and accomplishments are forever. KEEP MOVING."

In other news, my fiancee submitted a picture of him a rolling hay bale (yes, he really was able to move it, being the beast that he is) to CrossFit. They not only featured it on their Facebook feed, but also their main web site! Pretty cool, huh? Bonus: They paid him $150 for using it! We were pretty excited and proud. It's a great picture - don't you agree? That is Bandit in the foreground. He is an Australian Cattle Dog mix (possibly mixed with Canaan dog?) He is the most gentle, sweet, loyal companion and Jeremiah's best friend (next to me of course...)

Thanks for reading!

To the Core - 20 minute workout - NO EXCUSES!

"I don't have time to work out"
"I don't have any equipment"
"I don't have the room to exercise in my apartment"

Those aren't reasons why you aren't taking care of your body, they are excuses.

Anyone, anywhere, anytime, can work on their body for a few minutes a day, even with limited equipment and very little available space.

My fiancee found a jump rope work out online and this is my twist on it. If you don't have a jump rope, I would suggest either jogging in place or doing step ups if you have a single step anywhere near you (surely, you do.)

The core work is pretty intense. If you are a true beginner, start with 30 second rounds, which will be a 10 minute workout. Who doesn't have 10 minutes? Most of us wait twice that long for a meal when we dine out. No excuses. Get up and move! You could safely practice this routine 3-4 times per week (every other day would be great!) Here are some other suggestions if you don't have a jump rope:

• Jumping Jacks
• Alternating front kicks (think about your lower abs bringing the knee up, don't extend the leg all the way out in your kick; keep a soft bend in your knee)
• High knee jog in place (if you really want to get your heart rate up!)
• Lateral shuffle-step side-to-side in a mild squat (think basketball drills)
• Skipping (yep, skipping)

To the Core - 20 Minutes - 1 minute each station

START:
1 minute jump rope (or your sub of intense cardio) - from here on referred to as MOVE!
1 minute plank
MOVE!
Ball Crunches (if you don't have a ball, do regular crunches with legs at 90 degrees)
MOVE!
Left side plank (lower bottom knee if you need to)
MOVE!
Right side plank (ditto) BREATHE!
MOVE!
Reclined bicycles (for more work, keep legs closer to floor; keep back extended, not rounded!)
MOVE!
Twister plank (alternate: knees come toward opposite elbow, keep moving! Do your best)
MOVE!
Reverse ball crunches (belly/hips on ball, crunch up, works the erector muscles) If you don't have a ball, try "lifting locust" - lay on your belly and lift/lower your chest; arms raised slightly by your sides, palms down, fingertips reaching for your toes
MOVE!
Twisting ball crunches (if you don't have a ball, do you regular twisting crunches with 90 degree legs)
MOVE!
Mason's Twist (V-Sit, twisting torso left and right, keep low back long and not rounded. BREATHE.)
MOVE!
Flutter kicks (or supine straight leg raise/hold with hands under tailbone)

If you finished, great job! If you didn't finish but gave it your best effort, way to go! Next time maybe you can make it a little further along in this routine. Good luck, and keep moving (no excuses!)

Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls - Hearty Low-Carb Deliciousness!

The day after I found this recipe, my neighbor offered up a head of cabbage from his garden. Kismet!

This dish is hands down one of the easiest and most delicious meals I've prepared lately. I have been cooking lower carb meals for several months now, and although this has more "sugar" in some of the ingredients that I used this time, I think there are ways to modify it. The diced tomatoes, specifically, can be found with lower sugar. I used Red Gold diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano, with 5 grams of sugar.

Here are the ingredients, and my modifications:

• 1 1/2 - 2 pounds lean ground beef (this time I used 1 lb. ground turkey and 1 lb. mildly spicy pork sausage)
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced (I used two large cloves, I love garlic)
• 1 small cabbage, roughly chopped
• 2 14.5 oz. cans of diced tomatoes
• 1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
• 1 tsp ground black pepper 
• 1 tsp sea salt

Here are the preparation instructions:

In a large skillet (I used a dutch oven, this wouldn't have worked in my skillet), heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the ground meat and onion and cook, stirring, until the meat is no longer pink and onion is tender. Add the garlic and cook for another minute or two. (I didn't drain the juices from the meat, but I imagine some people would. The original recipe called for 1/2 cup water. I would probably use beef broth if I felt it needed more moisture, but leaving the juice from the meat in was perfect.)

Add the chopped cabbage, tomatoes, tomato sauce, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes or until the cabbage is tender. 

This is now in my regular rotation! It reminds me of goulash - but without the heavy carb load. I think you could also easily make this vegetarian by adding some more vegetables for bulk such as zucchini, squash, bell peppers, celery, etc.

Enjoy!

Challenge yourself, or you'll never know what you're capable of.

5 years ago, I wouldn't attempt this pose. 3 years ago, I couldn't hold this pose. I still have some work to do on crow/crane, but I'm getting there!

 Practice doesn't make perfect; practice makes progress. There is no perfect in yoga. Strive for progress!

"If it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you." ~ Fred Devito

Last Minute, Low Carb Dinner for "Busy People"

We were hungry. We had no meat thawed. We knew our local grocer had dry-rub ribs in-the-bag. You know, the kind that they market to "busy people". Those ribs were calling our names. We had just finished a challenging yoga class and we were hungry!

I had fresh vegetables, so I knew I could prepare a fresh salad and a side dish in a few minutes. This is what I did:

For the salad: Roughly chop 2 cucumber, 2 radishes, and 1 tomato. Make your own vinaigrette. I used olive oil, salt, pepper, honey, fresh chopped cilantro, and apple cider vinegar. Toss the cucumber, tomato and radish with the dressing and refrigerate (Sorry, no pictures of this step. I didn't realize this was going to be a blog post until AFTER I finished the salad.)

Cut 3 avocados in half; remove the pits.

Pierce the avocado "meat" with a fork, all the way down to the skin.

Squeeze fresh lemon or lime juice over the avocado halves. Add Tabasco if you like a little heat. The citrus and the hot sauce will penetrate the fruit and make it super tasty. Salt and pepper to taste.
Heat your broiler to high. Fill the "pit" area with Parmesan cheese. Broil for 2 minutes. Add more Parmesan to the top of the avocado half and broil for an additional 2 minutes or until the cheese is crispy and lightly browned.

Open the bag of ribs (or your choice of carnivorous deliciousness protein, such as chicken, fish, etc.)

Plate up and enjoy!

This is a low carb, very filling, and a delicious summer meal!

June 2013 B-MOVED Yoga Music Playlist on Spotify

Another new Yoga Music Playlist! Available on Spotify

One hour of eclectic music for yoga. Subscribe to my on Spotify to get new yoga music playlists.

(Song, Artist, Album)

Breathing Place, Vibrasphere (Lungs of Life)
Little Bit, Perrin Lamb (Back to You)
Intro, The xx (xx)
Regroovable, Chris Botti (The Very Best of Chris Botti)
Dusk to Dawn, Emancipator (Dusk to Dawn)
Loud Pipes, Ratatat (Classics)
Russia, Magna Canta (Sanctuary)
Dubstep Yoga: Yoga Breeze, Dubstep Yoga Music (Dubstep Yoga - Dubstep Meditation....)
See in You, The Album Leaf (Into the Blue Again)
Time, The American Dollar (The Best of the American Dollar)
Living, Moby (Songs 1993-1998)
Night Becomes Her, Patrick O'Hearn (Beautiful World)
Passing Away, Hammock (Raising Your Voice...Trying to Stop an Echo)