Cooking ahead

Hello beautiful people!

I’d like to share how I cook ahead for a couple of days. I plan a few meals that would have the same main ingredient than add to that main ingredient to make different meals. It cuts a lot of cooking and prepping time and dinner is ready in 30 minutes or less. In this case I used stew meat. This particular meat I buy at Aldi it barely has any fat on it and when cooked its so tender. I buy two packages.

Sunday night prep

1 large or 2 small vidalia onions
2-3 cloves of freshly minced garlic
1 large carrot sliced
handful of fresh parsley diced

Sauté on olive oil, add washed and dried meat (I dice it even smaller if the cubes are big).
Season with you favorite seasoning I just used salt and pepper.
Once you brown the meat lower the temperature to the lowest, cover and let it simmer in its own juices for 30-45 minutes 🙂

Cool it to room temp and put in fridge to use for next day.

Day 1
Brussels Potatoes Soup
Use 1/4 of your meat for this, because its a soup you do not need that much.
2 cups of washed Brussels
2 large potatoes peeled and cut into big cubes
Warm up your meat then add Brussels and potatoes. Add 2 cups of organic vegetable stock and 1 cup of water. Salt, pepper, paprika, more parsley if you would like, you can add any other vegetable you like (sometimes I add peas and freshly diced tomatoes). Bring to boil then lower temp to lowest and let look for 30 minutes.

Day 2

Beef Stew
Warm up the beef on medium temp.
Finely dice one tomatoes and add to meat and simmer on low.
Add one tablespoon of flour and stir then add 1 cups of vegetable broth. Season with paprika, salt and pepper. Simmer on low for 15 minutes.I serve this with rice or Quinoa pasta.

  
  
Enjoy! 

Maya

The Creative Blogger Award!

Hello Beautiful People!

Thank you so much to my fellow Georgia girl Angela at The Keen Peach for nominating me for the Creative Blogger Award! I am so honored, as I am still a newbie blogger this is so exciting for me.

Rules/Instructions:

1. Thank and link back to the person who nominated you (mention your nominator in your own award post with a link back to their original award post, which would be this one).
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Nominate other bloggers and comment on their blogs (usually on their about page or contact directly if necessary) to let them know.

7 Things About Healthy Mom in a Busy World

1. English is my second (or so) language. 🙂 However, these days I speak English more than any other. Bosnian is my first language. I have learned German as well, however since I do not use it often it is fading. I can understand people fine but I have a hard time with response. I know a lot of Spanish words and if I really tried I believe I could learn it easily. I could also sit here and tell you that I am fluent in Croatian and Serbian but the languages are too similar so it will be cheating 🙂 To add to this I can understand people with really thick accents easy, everyone at work transfers those call to me 🙂

2. I have moved around a lot during my childhood due to the war in Bosnia in 1992 but I believe the experience has made me a better person and help me view the world differently. We settled in USA 17 years ago and I am a US citizen 🙂

              (My coworkers decorated my workstation the day after I became a naturalized citizen)
3. I plan everything. I feel like my mind is constantly checking off things and I kind of hate that I can not just relax. I do not write many things down but I have the whole week planned ahead including our weekly meals and grocery list (that I do not write down).

4. I love traveling and learning about different cultures. People and their stories are so fascinating to me, I feel like everyone has a story. When I was little I always wanted to work for the UNICEF to be able to travel and learn about people and help kids in need.

5. Audrey Hepburn and Angelina Jolie are my idols not because of their Hollywood careers but because of their dedication to the world.

6. I cry easily and it got worse since I had my kids. I am such a softie. I somewhat dislike this about my self because I trust people easily and think they mean well with everything they do. Even though I am a softie if I am hurt or angered I can be quite feisty.

7. And my favorite….This may be cliché but my husband is truly my best friend. This year we will be married 10 years and I would be lying if I said we did not have ups and downs but I feel like we are in a really good place in our life. Our boys are my life! The love I have for them sometimes frightens me.

Blogs I would like to nominate…..

Sarah at Sarahrammfit1

Ethan at RaisingTheBar

Beth Anne and her ladies at 4Mothers1Blog

and last but not least this awesome Mum at UrbanMumble
Thank you for reading!

Maya

Matcha!

Hello beautiful people!

Today I wanted to share my new addiction….MATCHA!

I have been seeing it on Intagram for a while with a few eating healthy accounts I follow but never actually paid much attention to it. Recently a nationally syndicated radio show host was talking about it. He said that he was not a big coffee lover and wanted to steer away from caffeine and stated ordering Matcha at Starbucks. He was ordering it with ice water in a tall cup with 2 scoops of Matcha shaken, and that would cost him 80 cents. Well after he spoke about it on the radio the price went up to $2.69 because of the amount of people that were ordering it. I went to Starbucks that day to test it out. As a matter of fact all of us from work went. LOL It looked very green, but it tasted good, sweet…..and that’s the bad part. Apparently Starbuck Matcha is loaded with sugar as a matter of fact 40grams per serving. WOWZA!

Then I did some research on Matcha.

It originated from Japan. The history and the cultivation of this tea is fascinating but what is matters the most is the amount of antioxidants it has.  It is a fat burner, cancer fighter, increases concentration and boosts energy. See here what BodyBuilding says about it. Here is what I found

• Is packed with antioxidants including the powerful EGCg
• Boosts metabolism and burns calories
• Detoxifies effectively and naturally
• Calms the mind and relaxes the body
• Is rich in fiber, chlorophyll and vitamins
• Enhances mood and aids in concentration
• Provides vitamin C, selenium, chromium, zinc and magnesium
• Prevents disease
• Lowers cholesterol and blood sugar

I did some research on different brands and I found an organic one on Amazon for $19.99. Sugar free. So when I make the match drink I add a packet of stevia to sweeten it.

I have been using it for 2 weeks. I bough some at my Sprouts Market till this one arrived. If you use any water flavoring like Crystal Lights you can mix it with that if you don’t like the taste of Matcha, but honestly if you ever drank green tea its pretty much the same taste. As you can see on the bag you can use it in smoothies, lattes, baking and many other recipes. I mainly drink it in water but did test it out in my greek yogurt parfait and it was delish. I am still experimenting with different recipes and will post them.

 In two weeks that I have been taking it I definitely have a noticed 3 things. A huge difference in energy. You can ask the people at work, my bff says I am happy and bouncing off the walls ha ha 🙂  Usually I drink coffee in the morning and at 2 PM I am exhausted and go to our work kitchen and start up another pot of coffee. With Matcha I do not do that anymore. I do not crash either after drinking it. The other major difference I noticed (excuse me this is a little TMI but I got to share lol) is my bowl movements are totally regulated, I have been having issues with this for years, since high school. I even went to a GI specialist who told me to take a bunch of different medicine that was still not doing a good job. Lastly, I have had some unexpected issues come up and I have been a little stressed to which my skin decided to have a freaking zit party. With Matcha it has definitely been clearing up. So far I love it and can not find any bad reviews or experience’s on it. Will you try it? Let me know your thoughts if you do 🙂

Shoes shoes and more shoes

Why are all the shoes so cute!!! Why do we women need so many!!! Lol

I find myself wanting to wear tennis shoes whenever possible. I mean I work in them everyday but I do not know if anyone has noticed the new trend of wearing them with dresses, cute shortstops stuff. I wanted to buy another pair but I can not make my pick. I am absolutely loving the New Balance collection. 

Here are some of my favorite bloggers pulling off these looks. 

Anna from South Molton Street Style

  
Christine from Hello Fashion Blog 

 
You get the point yet?? So cute yet comfortable!!! 

I need to win some type of new balance lottery, I can not pick!! 

   

What do you think?  

Panera Quinoa Bowl my way

  I went to Panera last week with a friend fro lunch and saw this new Quinoa Chicken Broth Bowl. I ordered it, tried it, and absolutely fell in love with it. I immediately put it on my to do list to try and make a copy of this recipe. The nutrition is great…..well excepts the SODIUM.

410 Calories  9g Total Fat  1390mg Sodium  52g Total Carb 7g Fiber  34g Protein

Here is my recipe. I suggest doing this with your left over grilled chicken. I made mine the day after we grilled for dinner. Because I planned to make it the next day I soaked lentils over night to be ready for the next day. You can even precook all ingredients then just prepare the broth the day off arrange and serve.

WHAT YOU NEED

1 chicken breast grilled and sliced
1 cup of Fresh Spinach
1 handful chopped kale
1 cup cooked lentils (cook according to package instructions or you can buy precooked at Trader Joe’s)
1 cup of cooked Quinoa (I cook 1 cup of quinoa in 1 cup of water and 1 cup of vegetable stock for flavor but you can cook however you like or according to package instructions.)
You can add other steamed vegetables like carrots and peppers if you would like

For the Broth
1 cup of LOW SODIUM Vegetable stock (I buy mine at Kroger or Sprouts organic section)
1 cup of water
1/4 cup of light soy sauce
1/2-1 Tbsp red miso paste (to taste) OR 1 Tbsp Worchestershire Sauce
1/2 lemon squeezed
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tsp Garlic Powder or 1 minced garlic glove

Prepare broth by whisking together the above ingredients and bring to temperature in sauce pan. Simmer on low while arranging your bowl.

Build a bowl
In a bowl layer lentils, spinach, kale, other optional veggies if you steamed them. Place sliced chicken on top and pour hot broth over top. You can add freshly sliced cilantro, sesame seeds or even diced avocado on top if you wish. I was out of avocado when I was making mine but will add it next time 🙂

Let me know if you add anything different or have any suggestions. I did not add any salt but you can if you wish I just prefer less sodium.

Groceries and Meals for the Week

I thought I’d share one week example of my groceries and family meals. I change it up every week and of course depending on the season. During fall and winter crock pot is a life saver so a lot of the meals are made in the crock pot…spring and summer we fire up the grill for whatever we can. Oh how I love summer. I have posted here before that Sunday is groceries and meal prep day. I dice whatever I can, clean the fruits, and store in fridge for week ahead. Saves me on prep time. I grill chicken to use in other recipes however I NEVER reheat chicken in the microwave, only on stove. Reheated chicken in microwave REAKS! I do not know if its the high temp on short time or what but its gross.

CLICK HERE FOR Grocery ListPDF

Monday

Grill!!

We grilled steak garnished with parsley and garlic with side of grilled Zucchini and avocado. I also had my husband grill chicken wings for the boys they prefer it more than steak. I also had him grill the chicken breast for Tuesday….

Tuesday

Made this up lol

Diced onions, diced sweet peppers, diced zucchini, sautéed on a table spoon of olive oil. Season with salt, pepper, paprika. Then add tablespoon of flour stir. Add 1 ½ cup of vegetable stock. Add diced grilled chicken, simmer 5-10 minutes. Serve with brown rice or quinoa. Dinner done in 30 minutes or less 😊

  

 

Wednesday

Chicken kielbasa and kale pasta. Recipe posted before here.

Thursday 

Grilled chicken breast and cut into strips. (This is another big package of chicken so half will be saved for Friday) Cut remaining of sweet peppers length wise, whole onion, 1 clove of garlic. Toss on high head for 5 minutes or less, just to sear it. Mix with grilled chicken and season with fajita seasoning mix or any seasonings you like. Serve with rice or Quiona. I totally failed and forgot to snap a picture but I am sure everyone has seen fajitas before 😂.

Friday

 Salad – cold chicken breast cubed on fresh spinach or whatever lettuce I have hanging around. Cooked and cooled quinoa, boiled egg, mashed avocado, tomatoes and cucumbers. I had some corn and beans in the pantry.  Seasoned with rice vinegar. It’s scarp Friday, whatever we have left over toss it together and make it a salad.

Breakfasts we usually have smoothies, pancakes, omelets. Lunches we have left overs from dinner or I make salads, egg salads, tuna salads. Fresh fruits and veggies at lunch as well. My older son gets sandwiches fruits and veggies, cliff bars, baked chips or sometimes he just eats school lunch. Each week changes. I rarely repeat the same food in the same month. I am not a chef by any means, I cook with my heart. I do not know proper chef verbiage so please excuse if there are funny errors. I make up recipes all the time. Hope this helps someone with planning. It saves us a ton money not eating out and we eat wholesome foods. I buy whatever I can organic, I’d rather spend more money for quality foods then eat out and have shortcuts. I buy rice, dry beans, olive oil, healthy snacks for boys (granola bars, baked chips, chocolate (yes they eat chocolate)) seasonings and whatever else household items in bulk at Sam’s so we do not have to restock weekly. Because I prep ahead dinner is ready and severed by 6 or 6:30 pm, we eat together as family and we have the rest of the night to do whatever :-).  Boys love it. We eat out or order in on Saturdays but it’s usually Chinese.

I would love to hear your ideas or work week tactics. Tips are always welcome so please share!

Some of my favorite phone apps

There is an app for everything!!!

I love technology and I can not decide if that is a good thing or a bad thing LOL. My phone is my go to place for a lot of things when it comes to organization. I have an Iphone 5 and I love that I can launch Siri and just tell her to put stuff on my calendar and not bother to even open my app or type. So the calendar is a major favorite of mine. Here are a few others that I love.

Artkive– I LOVE THIS APP. I have an older son who is in elementary school. I got this app when he was in kindergarten. It lets me take pictures of all his creations (artwork, projects, ect) and print it into a book. This way we do not have art and paper all over the house I can have it all in one place. PhotoVault- I got this app for a lot of reasons. Its started for my progress pictures, then my kids just in case phone is ever stolen. You can store and protect your pictures under a password. I hate when someone wants to see a specific picture on my phone I show it to them then they start flipping back and forth through my pictures

RunKeeper and MyFitness Pal – Run keeper I use a lot when running outside. I link both apps together so it gives me a good idea of my calorie intake too which I obviously log through MyFitnessPal. I love that myfitness pal app even has foods listen from my home country of Bosnia so I don’t have to struggle to figure out how much calories something is. It also has all restaurant food and bar codes, so if you eat lets say a protein bar you just scan the bar code and it will log it. I link both of these app with my health insurance Humana Vitality and score some major points and rewards 😉

Now the shopping apps!!! Grupon- I have used this app from ordering flowers for a friend to booking a getaway with my dear hubby. There are always awesome deals. If you have not tried it you MUST! Target Cartwheel– I am sure a lot of mommies out there are familiar with this app. Especially if you had to buy a lot of diapers 😉 It is basically their app for digital coupons and discounts.

Apart from general social media, Pinterest and WordPress apps I also have a SnapSeed (awesome photo editor) and my new FitBitt app. DO YOU HAVE AN COOL APP YOU WOULD RECOMMEND?

Too cold to go to the gym

I am in Georgia and its has been unusually cold for the south lol. We even got a couple of hours of snow that I am sure wont even stick to the ground. But as usual, we freak out over it. I have serious problem getting motivation to leave the to go to the gym, and then worse leave the gym all sweaty and its cold…I know..excuses. However, I do try to workout at least 3o minutes a day no matter what the situation is. I even did it with pneumonia last week and almost killed my self (I DO NOT RECOMEND THIS TO ANYONE).  I have a treadmill at home, if I did not I would pull up some you tube video with a good cardio workout or do a T25. However, I have been loving the HIIT treadmill workout.

I recommend this video right after your treadmill. If you have weights at home then lifting always takes priority in my book.

What is your favorite at home workout?

Monday Motivation

I know Mondays are rough at work but that is exactly why you need to sweat it out! I believe that workouts are more of a mental push then a physical, once you motivate your mind your body will perform. Summer is right around corner. I am sure many of you have seen that quote “Summer bodies are made in the winter” and guess what..its the truth. So here is you motivation picture (this one always makes me get up of my butt) and a workout to finish up your Monday.

20 Body weight squats
20 body weight walking lunges
30 jumping jacks
30 second plank
20 regular sit ups
30 second wall sit
Repeat 3 times.  

HAPPY MONDAY

Rogan Josh Curry Chicken Dinner..A taste of India

My brother and sister-in-law introduced me to this super quick tasty dinner. One day I stopped by their house and they were having this for dinner. I do not like the taste of curry so I immediately crinkled my nose, but my brother was insistent I try it…and oh my God, it is delicious.

What you need

1 Jar of Rogan Josh (I found it at Publix)
1 package of chicken breast
1 whole onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic diced
1 pinch of curry seasoning (optional)
pinch of salt and pepper to your liking
Sauté onion, garlic and chicken on a dash of olive oil. Once chicken is browned pour the Rogan Josh over it, simmer on low 15-20 minutes.

Side Dish
I steamed white rice and fresh vegetables. Seasoned with sea salt. (You can season however you like)

Dinner prepped in less then 30 minutes.