Turkey Fajitas

Mmmmmmm Fajitas are my FAVORITE!  But in my strives for a better lifestyle I wanted a healthy take on Mexican.  Therefore I decided to make Turkey Fajitas.

As a kid the Urban Farmer would call fajita fa-ji-tas which means every time I make fajitas I have to hear the Fa-ji-tas story.  It's okay because he is still cute.

Ingredients:

1 lb of boneless turkey breast

2 limes

1 diced clove of garlic

3 tbs of olive oil

1/2 of an onion

1 Red Pepper

1 Green Pepper

Adobo Powder

Wheat Tortillas

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1) Combine 2 tbs of olive oil Adobo powder (to taste), Salt and pepper (to taste), onion, peppers, diced garlic in a bowl to marinate.  Squeeze one whole lime into mix.  Mix bowl to combine ingredients.  Let sit at least 3 hours.  (I did 4 hours)

2) Pour 1 tbs of olive oil into a pan

3)  Add just the meat

4) Cook the meat till it starts to turn gold.

5) pull the meat out and cut it lengthwise (like fajita strips)

6) Add the meat back into the pan along with the rest of the contents in the bowl.

7)  cook until Golden brown

8) serve with wheat tortillas, cheese, lettuce and salsa. 

VERDICT:

I fed this to the Urban Farmer and his friend and they both ate 3.  The urban farmer stated that the meat tasted like chicken.  Perfect!  Turkey is actually healthier than chicken and has less fat and calories than chicken.  Well both the boys ate a good portion leaving me with  nothing.  I will make this again.  Drawback -- Boneless turkey is expensive.  Not good for a broke girl.  This meal cost about $17 but if I wasn't feeding 2 boys I would probably have more food for extra meals.  Hmm maybe next time.

Well I;ve had too many margaritas so time for bed.  Night bloggers!

RunDouble: Couch to 5K

Yesterday was my third Couch to 5K run using run double.


I noticed that as I have started running each run has gotten better and easier.  Just goes to show that a little work and you too can be running a 5k.


For my run I found a great park by my house that I could run through.  If you notice on the map I just crisscrossed and back tracked a lot.  It was fun and I will be running that trail more often!

Look at me running all over the place!

Don;t worry next time I'll take some pictures!


Here are the results for yesterdays run:

Compared to my last run I have improved both my pace and distance.   I know that it is not much, but every little bit counts!

Looking forward to my next run already!

The Busy Girl's Diet Rules

Because a diet can be fun!


I vastly researched different diet methods and found reoccurring themes in almost every method.  I took these themes and adjusted them to meet my needs.  As I stated before in my previous post you have to do what is right when exercising and dieting.  Therefore,  when planning your diet adapt it to meet your needs.


Below are the Rules for my diet:


1) There are no such thing as too much fruits and veggies.  They are full of flavor and nutrients.  Therefore if you want to eat 100 carrots one day, go for it!  But don't think eating chocolate covered cherries count!  To up my amount of fruit and veggie intake I have began drinking a smoothie daily!  Check out my Health and Wellness Page for some good recipes.

2) Water is your friend.  I have always been an avid water drinker.  But the truth is water is the best thing you could drink.  According to the Mayo Clinic you should drink at least 9 glasses of water a day.  Also, steer away from soda, high sugar juices and alcohol.  


3) Moderation is the key.  My mother is an avidly conscious of her health.  When diets like the Atkins and such became a big deal she told me that it is never smart to cut out any food group and she is right.  There is a reason in first grade we all learned about the food prymaid and we should still be applying it today!

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/pyramid/

4) Have a plan.  Taking 20 minutes once a week to plan out your menu for the week.  By doing this and knowing what you want and what you want to eat helps in grocery shopping for your food.  If you have your food and know what your suppose to eat everyday you are much less likely to grab a burger from McDonald's or a hotpocket out of your fridge in the morning.

My Weekly Plan!

5)  Eat at the same time everyday.  If you eat at the same time everyday your body gets in a habit and is less likely to get hungry at randoms points throughout the day.  Therefore, less munching.


6) Take a multivitamin.  This will ensure that your body is getting enough nutrients everyday while your diet changes.


Good luck in your dieting!


What are your rules for dieting?  Have any suggestions for me?

Herb Garden Update!

I've had the Thyme of My Life!

A couple weeks ago before I headed to California I wrote about planting a herb garden with my Urban Farmer.  Today I wanted to give you an update on the garden thus far.

I hope that if you have already planted your garden and that you have been keeping the plants moist.


The Urban Farmer reccomends watering every three days based off the environmental factors in your "urban farm".  It is ideal to cover the container with a plastic dome to keep the humidity and moisture in to induce germination -- but not a necessity.  

Be sure to weed your garden.  Because we use a natural homemade compost soil we have weeds. 

But I heed this warning -- know what the herb looks like as a seedling before you start pulling weeds.  Otherwise you may pull your whole CROP!

A simple Google search will give you the images of your seedlings.  See our results below:

Thyme Seedlings.

Basil Seedlings.

Cilantro Seedlings. 

Continue for the next 6 to 8 weeks till they are ready to transplant.  In Northern Virginia, you can not plant before May 10 which is considered the last day of a possible frost.  Find your growing zone here!

This year, like the rest of the country we have had an extremely mild winter so the Urban Farmer hopes to plant the last week of April (pre-cruise).  But we will also keep some inside in pots.

The Urban Farmer will keep you posted along the way!

Raspberry Orange Smoothie

In my new smoothie diet I am all for trying new things.  This recipe came from 3fatchicks which has an assortment of Smoothies on there.Today the Urban Farmer and I tried Raspberry Banana Smoothie. 


Ingredients:
1 Banana (cut up)
1/4 cup of raspberries
1 cup of Orange juice
1/3 cup of non-fat yogurt

I know my kitchen isn't clean. 

Combine Ingredients in a blender and blend.

Mmmm.

Got to love all the pink!

Make the night before and enjoy the next morning for Breakfast!

All ready to go for work tomorrow!

VERDICT:
The Urban Farmer and I agree it was delicious.  He was a bit upset about there being seeds in the smoothie and is even complaining about them as I write this.  I didn't mind the raspberry seeds and thought they added a nice crunch to the smoothie.  The orange juice added a nice little tang to the smoothie.  Plus the smoothie had me completely full till noon and I drank it at 7 am!  I'll be trying this again but won't be making any to share :).  


Try this recipe and let me know what you think!  Also, any ideas on how to get the seeds out?  The Urban Farmer wants to know!

Click for Effortless Abs?!?!?!

Yup, that's right!  While perusing the internet for some ideas to share with my bloggers I found this advertisement.  Seriously!  If abs were that easy wouldn't everyone have them?

The truth about exercise and becoming healthy is there are no quick-fixes.  Sure, there are loads of surgeries and pills you can take but then 10 Big  Macs later you are at the same point in your life.

With that being said on Thursday I began my path to getting healthy with a brisk 2 mile run and had cooked some Shrimp Fettuccine.

In the past two days I have run 3 of the four and have been watching my intake of food.

Running by Bull Run Battlefield.

I began my Couch to 5k.  Here are the results so far:

Week 1 Day 1

Stage	Distance	Time	Pace
WU	651 yards	5:00	13:29
1	176 yards	1:00	9:58
1R	175 yards	1:30	15:04
2	176 yards	1:00	9:57
2R	186 yards	1:30	14:11
3	218 yards	1:00	8:02
3R	193 yards	1:30	13:37
4	188 yards	1:00	9:20
4R	183 yards	1:30	14:22
5	181 yards	1:00	9:43
5R	160 yards	1:30	16:29
6	172 yards	1:00	10:11
6R	159 yards	1:30	16:35
7	177 yards	1:00	9:53
7R	166 yards	1:30	15:50
8	207 yards	1:00	8:29
CD	329 yards	5:00	26:44
Total	1.55 miles	18:30	11:56
inc WU/CD	2.11 miles	28:30	13:31

Week 1 Day 2

Stage	Distance	Time	Pace
WU	548 yards	5:00	16:01
1	179 yards	1:00	9:48
1R	168 yards	1:30	15:37
2	189 yards	1:00	9:16
2R	116 yards	1:30	22:41
3	207 yards	1:00	8:27
3R	146 yards	1:30	18:00
4	179 yards	1:00	9:49
4R	171 yards	1:30	15:23
5	224 yards	1:00	7:49
5R	150 yards	1:30	17:35
6	174 yards	1:00	10:06
6R	105 yards	1:30	25:07
7	197 yards	1:00	8:53
7R	131 yards	1:30	20:00
8	203 yards	1:00	8:37
CD	530 yards	5:00	16:34
Total	1.45 miles	18:30	12:45
inc WU/CD	2.06 miles	28:30	13:48

**Note:  On my second run Urban Farmer came with me and walked.  That involved me back tracking and walking slower so that was a downfall.  But it was nice to have the Urban Farmer's moral support while I ran (and his picture taking skills)

As you can see, I have a lot more work to do.  But I plan on keeping up with this for the next 8 weeks till my cruise.

I'm not going to lie.  When I started running I felt a heart attack coming on or my lungs collapsing.  I even considered a stint on TLC's "My 600 lb Life".  But as I kept running and pacing myself and soon it was like I never stopped running.

Tomorow morning I am looking forward to a brief 15 minute jog and then back to my Couch to 5k plan on Tuesday.

Now time to find a race.  Any suggestions?

How does it feel for you to start running again?  Any suggestions?

Shrimp Fettuccine

As I stated before I am a pure (okay a quarter) Italian  and am so proud of my heritage.  Probably the second best thing about my heritage (besides the wine) is the food!  I love it so much that my junior year of high school I headed to Italy for 10 days.

 

Trevi Fountian in Rome.  (Saw the Pope while I was

in Rome)

And of course I drank lots of beer.  

Even at 16 I understood finances and the 

beer was 80 cents and water was $3.

I think the Urban Farmer's and mines next big trip will have to be to Italy or Ireland since he has never been (he didn't even have a passport till he was 30).

Every so often I get a craving for Pasta.  Tonight I was inspired by the Pioneer Woman's recipe Penne a la Betsy, but of course I had to add my own touches and made Shrimp Fettuccine! 

Ingredients

• 1 pound of Fettuccine
• 1 pound Shrimp
• 3 Tablespoons Butter
• 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 whole Onion (small)
• 3 cloves Garlic
• 1/2 cup White Wine
• 1 can Tomato Sauce (8 Oz)
• 1 1/2 cup of non fat yogurt
• Fresh Parsley
• Fresh Basil 
• Fresh Thyme
• Fresh Oregano
• Salt To Taste
• Pepper To Taste

Ingredients!

Preparation Instructions

Cook the fettuccine until tender-firm, also known as al dente.

Peel and rinse (under cool water) 1 pound of extra large shrimp. Heat about 1 tbsp. butter and olive oil in a skillet. Add the shrimp and cook for a couple minutes until pink. Do not overcook them. Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes. Now, put the cooked shrimp on the cutting board and pull off the tails. Chop the shrimp into bite –sized pieces and set aside.

Finely dice one small onion. Mince two cloves of garlic.

In a large skillet heat 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add the garlic and onion and sauté, stirring occasionally. After the garlic and onions have cooked a bit add your white wine. Let the wine evaporate for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Now add an 8-ounce can of tomato sauce. Stir well until combined. Then add 1 1/2 cup of plain non fat yogurt. Continue stirring. Turn heat down to low and let simmer.

Now chop your herbs.

Now add your chopped shrimp back into the tomato cream sauce. Give it a stir and add salt and pepper to taste. Throw in your herbs and stir until combined. Finally add your cooked fettuccine and give it a good stir.

Great meal for Catholics during Lent!