Zucchini Pancakes

Hello beautiful people!

Last night I made zucchini pancakes and thought I’d share the recipe with you lovelies.

http://www.healthymominabusyworld.com

2 medium to large zucchini’s washed and grated, you may peel skin if you wish
2 tablespoons grated sweet or red onion
2 medium to large eggs lightly beaten
7 tablespoons of flour
2 tablespoons of grated parmesan
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of kosher salt
black pepper to taste (some people like a lot I used 1/2 teaspoon)

Grate the zucchini into a bowl. Immediately stir in the onions and eggs. Stir in the flour, baking soda, salt and pepper. Mix well then had parmesan and stir. Heat a large skillet over medium heat with non-stick spray. When the skillet is hot lower heat to medium-low and drop heaping soup spoon of batter into skillet. Cook the pancakes about 2 minutes on each side. Spray the skillet each time before adding batter. Place the pancakes on a sheet pan and put in over for  about 10 minutes. (Pre-heat over to 325). Serve warm with sour cream or tzatziki sauce. 

DIY quick tzatziki sauce
2 cucumbers peeled and seeded
1 tablespoon of fresh dill (you can use dry if you want, tasted better fresh)
2 cloves of garlic
1 1/2 cup of plain greek yogurt
1 teaspoon of olive oil
salt and pepper (EVEN BETTER is dry ranch)
Place all into a food processor or a bullet if you have one and pulse.

Spaghetti…well spaghetti squash

This is good stuff I promise. Once you bake it you can eat it in the same way you would eat any of your favorite spaghetti dishes.

You can find this of course in your produce department of any grocery store. It is very hard, and its hard to cut through but its worth it.  Here is a video from PopSugar on how to prepare it. If you make it please share it with me on my Facebook.  I make pasta sauce with ground chicken or lean beef and serve it over spaghetti squash and its delish. Show me your creations.

Avocado Pudding

I PROMISE ITS GOOD! I know you hear AVOCADO and think eeww pudding but I promise you it is good. Try it!

 

Ingredients

• 1 ripe small or medium avocado
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder (After workout instead of cocoa I use pure protein chocolate whey powder)
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/4 cup milk or Almond Milk

Blend all ingredients in the blender. Taste it, if it’s not sweet enough for you add more honey. You can eat immediately or refrigerate it.

TOPPINGS

Nuts or fresh furits.

Healthy Eating for Busy Lives 101

So I hear this all the time…I do not have time to cook, or clean eating is expensive. If I had a dollar for every time I heard this I would be living on a private island by now 🙂
STOP MAKING EXCUSES AND START PLANNING AHEAD!

Its simple and easy. You will probably spend less money then you do on your regular grocery trip with a full cart frozen dinners and junk food.

1. Sit down grab a pen and paper and plan out your week ahead in meals and what you will cook for each meal.

2. Brainstorm on recipe ideas where you could have one meal today and use leftovers for another tomorrow. Pinterest!!!! Example: Rottiserie chicken and steamed fresh veggies with a cup of brown rice today. Tomorrow left over chicken pulled of bone on fresh spinach, butter lettuce, cucumbers, avocado, roma tomatoes and handful of nuts. It’s all about creativity, stop taking short cuts.

3. When you get home from grocery shopping take an hour of your  day and clean and prep your fruits and veggies for the week. This is a timesaver to morning smoothies and all your other meal prepping. This will save you tremendous amount of time during the week I promise.

• Clean all your fruits (except bananas) in a sink full of water with 1 cup of vinegar. Soak for about 10 minutes. Water will be dirty fruits will be clean and wax free.
• If you buy grapes or strawberries, pick the grapes of the vine and clean the strawberries. Put in clear plastic container in fridge.
• Clean and cut your carrots (I don’t buy baby carrots, I buy big organic carrots, I don’t believe in baby carrots to be real lol)
• Clean the rest of your veggies and put in clean containers so they will be visible to you when you open your fridge.

4. While you are cleaning your veggies put a couple of cups of rice or quinoa on the stove and cook it, place in fridge when done. You can use this for side dishes in week ahead.

5. Boil a dozen of eggs, boiled eggs can be in the fridge for up to 7 days, these are your easy snack or breakfasts on the go. Make an oatmeal for breakfast and eat your boiled egg for protein 🙂

6. Always have avocado in stock. If you are running short on time and do not know what to make for lunch grab a avocado and a tomato with 2 slices of wheat or Ezekiel bread. At lunch mash the avocado and spread on toast add the sliced tomatoes..oh and that boiled egg you have in fridge grab that too 🙂

7. Clean and marinate your meat before you put it in freezer bags then freeze. The morning before you leave for work just transfer your meat from freezer to fridge it will thaw to fridge temp and sit in that marinate by the time you get home. Grill it, bake it, or prep however you like, grab that rice and fresh veggies and dinner is done 20-30 minutes.

8. Keep your pantry clean and organized and junk free. If you bring junk in the house you will eat it. Do not use your kids for an excuse for buying chips and junk food. Shame on you if you feed your kids that. (I have been attacked by this statement before and I still stand firmly by it, if you think your body deserves healthy food why doesn’t your childs).

9. For salty cravings for you and the family stock up on nuts, that’s as long as your family is nut allergy free. Otherwise visit your health food store like Trader Joes, Kroger (healthy food section), Sprouts, Farmers Market and you will find healthier chips options like Pop Chips and Veggie Straws and other low sodium items. These are of course not 100% healthy but they are better than the “other” options.

10. Stock up on regular oatmeal, organic cereals. Make homade pancakes and freeze for the week ahead for your kids. Involve your kids in the food prep, if they help they will more likely to eat it.

 

Overnight Oats

Good Morning beautiful people. This mornings breakfast was overnight oats. I make these in many different flavors and the possibilities are endless. Honestly I was not a big fan of oats…something about its texture just did not sit well with me, I did figure out how to fix this problem. I simply put the old fashion rolled oats into my bullet and finely grind them..voila! This step is not necessary if you are ok with regular oat texture.

So for today’s oat recipe these are the ingredients I used.

For this one I used Naked juice but when fruits are in season I blend my own, chia seeds and of course rolled oats. I bought the small jars set of 12 for $7 at Walmart. So this is something I kind of eyeball. I pour Naked juice into the jar 3/4 full. I add 1/4 cup of oat and 2 tablespoons of chia seed and mix it well with a spoon. If the texture is too loose I add another spoon of oat. Remember it will thicken over night in the fridge so it should be a little loose so don’t think you need to make it thick. Cover the lid and put in fridge, eat in the morning. You can make several for few days ahead. I usually make 3 days worth at a time. I ate mine this morning and also had a boiled egg on the side and cup of green tea.

Enjoy!

Moms and finding time to work out

 

So this is the magic question..When do you find time to work out?

I am a very organized person, everything that goes on in our family is written on a calendar. I have a calendar hanging in our closet and every workout, appointment, playdate, friend visit, doctor appointment ect is written out. Each sunday I will look at the week ahead and what is planned and will add my workouts accordingly. So some days I may work out before work, some after work some I will squeeze in on my hour lunch break it all depends whats scheduled that week. Here are some workouts that I fit into my weekly schedule.

Jogging/Running/ Hiking

This is one of my favorite workouts for Mondays or days I know will have a lot on my plate and may stress. Jogging or running acts as a wonderful stress reliever to me. I don’t have to count reps, or think about what comes next, I just shut my mind and go. During summer I run through my neighborhood or the park close by, my kids are usually playing in the yard while my hubby is with them either playing or doing something outside. During winter I will run on my treadmill in the bedroom usually as soon as I get home from work to get it out of the way (If I prepped dinner ahead, if not then after dinner). On the weekends while the babies and hubby are still sleeping I will sneak away to hike a near by mountain either by my self or my brother, mom or sister-in-law. Keeping it healthy in the family 😉

Before Work

Since my treadmill is in our bedroom due to space reasons I can not run in the morning and wake my husband or kids that may have crawled in our bed during night :-). I set my alarm 45 minutes before and get up and do a 25 minute T25 workout DVD or I pull YouTube videos such as Pop Sugar Fitness, they are quick and just as effective, and no ones sleep is disturbed 😉

Working out at work

I have a mostly sitting job so every hour I will get up and stand behind my chair and do squats, lunges, jumping jacks, planks or stretches. I also bought this little bike that can go under your desk, or beside your desk if you are tall like me. You can find a similar one here.  On the days that I have an hour lunch I put my building’s 4 flight of stairs to a good use for 30 minutes. I will go up and down the stairs for 15 minutes then I will do stair jump squats. If I do not feel like doing stairs I would jump rope or do a you tube video on my cell phone. It’s even better during spring and fall to do this outside. I bring a change of clothes of course to wear during workouts..you dont want to be smelly at work 😉 Doing this with a co-worker is of course much more fun.

 

Family fun workout

This one is always fun because it’s with your kiddos. My kids enjoy it and giggle just as much as I do. I play chase with my 8-year-old and he even runs with me through the neighborhood. We go to the park and I will run while he rides his bike. At home I will take my two and a half-year old and put him on my shoulders for some killer squats and lunges. I will plank with him on my back or what he loves the most is when I am doing push ups and he sneaks under for some kisses. If I am doing kettle bell workouts they will each grab one and mimic everything I do. Sets a great example for your kids!

Local health clubs

The fitness industry is on such a rise there are health clubs, crossfit centers, YMCAs, Zumba classes on every corner. What’s awesome that it does not cost arm and leg like some of the huge name gyms. I am a member at Fitness 19 and dues for my husband and I are $7 a month per person, that’s $14 for both of us!!! Can’t beat that. You can add kids room for $9 which is still an awesome deal. Planet fitness is expanding quickly, search for a planet fitness near you they are only $10 a month. They are the home of the Judgement Free Zone® where no one is judged

As you see there are many resources to get fit, we just have to fight our self and stop making excuses and go and kick butt!

My history with fitness

When it comes to fitness I am not going to lie it was not always something i loved. When I was in school I was active, played basketball and did track. For a long time track was something I loved but had a hard time controlling my breathing until I found out that I had exercise induced asthma, so once my mom figured that out it was love from there on out. In my late teens I started “going out” more, eating crappy, working full-time and was a student so I started yo-yo dieting and completely stoppped working out. When I got engaged I guess I celebrated my happiness by eating and actually gained weight before my wedding but I did not care I was happy because my fiance loved me regardless. We got married in September of 2005 and I was pregnant by February 2006…I know I know newly weds. I gained 75 pounds in my first pregnancy and by the time my son was 3 months I was completely depressed and hated my self. My husbands bless his heart loved me regardless but I hated my self and that’s when I decided that I should do something about it. Trust me I understand how hard is to get motivated especially when you are carrying excess weight around and the thought of exercising makes you ache..been there done that…but at the end I had to change that feeling and to change it I had to get moving!!!

I started hitting the gym hard-core mainly the treadmill or as I like to call it the dreadmill and lost all the weight even the weight I gained during my short engagement. So basically it was all cardio that did it but I wanted to tone more. That is when I started lifting weights and completely fell in LOVE with working out.

I don’t have a constant routine because to me that’s boring. I like to keep my workouts fun and like to change where and how I do them. I have free weights in the garage, T25 DVDs by Sean T, YouTube channels I follow, or just some instagram picture someone posted with certain workouts and reps.

I do free weights and DVDs more during winter than summer and love it. During summer I like to spend as much outdoors as possible. I absolutely love hiking Stone Mountain on the weekends, very early in the morning to watch the sunrise. If you have not done this you absolutely must!!!

I am definitely a strong believer that no one should diet, we should just choose to nourish our body healthy. Eating clean healthy meals 3 times a day is a must…this girl does not starve! I love food. I will post more about foods later.

So to sum it all up, as long as you are moving daily, whether its dancing your bum off with your kids in the living room for 30 minutes, running on the treadmill while kids are watching cartoons, or running outside with your stroller, lifting weights whatever you got to do but find those 30 minutes and squeeze it in your day..this is your daily gift to you.

 

Maya

About Me

 

Hello! Thank you for stopping by my blog. My name is Maya and I was very nervous about starting this blog, for the obvious reason stated in the name of the blog..I’M CRAZY BUSY! I am 28 years old, married to my sweetheart and mom of 2 handsome boys 8 and 2. I work full-time and work hard everyday to make our lives as healthy as possible in this crazy busy world we live in today. I home make 99% of our meals…we eat out on occasion. I am not a nutritionist or a personal trainer I am self taught because health is very important to me. I have a major struggle and self-control when it comes to sweets (especially chocolate) but I push through it somehow and indulge here and there :-). I am also a shopaholic and love fashion!!  I love good deals..I mean who does not?!!! I love DIY projects, crafting, organizing ect and to top it all off I have major OCD and am a neat freak.  I’m starting this blog to share with others on how I do it and to also get  your input and learn from others. So between work, kids school, cooking, long commutes to work and back, homework, family time, and working out…this is my life.

~Maya