They're Baaaack

Remember these lovely gems?

If not, you can refresh your memory right here, or you can just continue reading because they're the star of this random dish I threw together in a desperate attempt for a quick, different and always usually healthy weeknight meal:

Sweet Apple Chicken Sausage Brussels Sprout Scramble! (Say THAT 10 times fast)

I was inspired by this recipe from one of my favorite blogs, Eat Live Run. 

I chopped up the chicken sausage and threw it on a fry pan and allowed them to warm up and then completed the two, well four ingredient dish by throwing on on some thinly chopped brussels sprouts, topped with a few pepper grinder twists. 

Towards the end I sprinkled on a tad bit of olive oil just to keep things cookin'. 

And there ya have it! A super easy and quick meal full of flavor and taste while keeping things light and healthy :)

Have a great Tuesday guys!

Stay Healthy, 

Sweet Apple Chicken Sausage

I've always been a hotdog girl. Hamburgers didn't, and still don't, stand a chance when it comes to making the infamous summer cookout decision of "hamburger or hotdog." Not a chance.

You would think after 26 years of weekly hotdogs on the grill during the summer and numerous pigs in the blanket dinners during the wintertime, I'd be a tad burnt out by hotdogs.... but nope! I still stand faithful to my favorite cookout food.

So while I've been eating hotdogs for 26 years years (okay, probably more like 23 years if we want to be sticklers) my type of hotdog has definitely taken to a more mature and ingredient-aware taste. Remember my first post about choosing the right hotdog? If not, you should for sure take a second look.... here ya go.

Anyway, I bring up the topic of hotdogs, (apparently for the second time) because the other day, I made a special trip to the Joe of all Trades and picked up some hotdog-like food. I love doing my grocery shopping here because, surprisingly enough, the produce is usually cheaper than stores like Kroger or Giant Eagle, and I always find fun new options for my dinners.... like these fun guys:

Sweet Apple Chicken Sausage!

Another plus about shopping at Trader Joe's is that most of their food and products are natural and you can typically understand all the ingredients on the label:

And because it's no fun being boring (I leave that for my Friday nights) I decided to slice up the sausage, heat it up on a fry pan and enjoy it on a slice of bread topped with some cheese. 

It's funny that the things that you would throw a fit about when you were a kid, are actually some of the things you like to do nowadays. If I had to eat my hotdog on a piece of bread 20 years ago all hell would break loose. I'm sure that's sign #57 of me getting old. ick. 

I enjoyed my cheesy apple chicken dog alongside a fresh salad topped with tomato and mushroom

and my new-ish favorite dressing:

Has anyone tried it?
I've been (nerd alert) reading blogs for several years now, and I swear at least one of them on a daily basis uses this dressing, so I thought I'd give it a whirl. I know the best choice would have been a homemade dressing, but I was able to pronounce the entire, (and) short list of ingredients.

It's not bad. I'd be lying if I said I fell in love at first taste, but it's adds a different flavor to my typical, routine salads.

Well, that's all for now. I'm sure you'll be seeing these fun sausage guys in future blog posts!

Stay Healthy,

Hotdogs or hamburgers?

Healthy Dogs.

Hi All! Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

It's going to be a HOT one here in Columbus this weekend.... remember my post about HYDRATION???? Put it to use!! Drink lots of WATER if you're outside all weekend, and if you are indulging in the occasional adult beverage... be sure to drink a glass of water in between those games of cornhole or what have you.  And please, be smart on the road. 

Okay, okay, enough of my ranting and raving - it's the weekend, let's have some fun!

Besides remembering those who have served (or are serving) our country, Memorial Day is all about the beginning of summer, pools opening and of course the start of grilling season.

My Boy Scout skills put to work last Memorial Day. 

The choice between a hotdog or hamburger on the grill, in some cases, is a person's biggest dilema on weekends such as these. But because I'm all about making things more complicated than they really need to be... I'm going to introduce another obstacle into the never-ending hamburger vs. hotdog debate - What KIND of hot dog???


We've all seen the viral image of the whole "pink slime" substance that is used a lot in production of meat (fast food restaurants and some hot dogs). So when it comes to choosing the right hot dog for your Memorial Day cookout, and more importantly, for your health, here are some awesome suggestions from Health.com.

Best Beef Hotdog:

Best Chicken Dog:

Best Turkey Dog:

Criteria for selecting a Healthy Dog:

• Make sure your dog is uncured. When something is cured, it means that it has been treated with nitrates and nitrites which have been linked to cancer and other fun health problems.
• Choose lower sodium products. Depending on your age, RDA sodium amounts per day are 2300 mg and 1500 mg for those over 50. 
• Watch out for products that have been mechanically separated. 
• Choose dogs with less than 6 grams of fat. 

Sound good?! I hope so!

Everyone have a safe and fun Memorial Day weekend filled with friends, family and laughs :)

Stay Healthy,

Panera Salad and Baseball

Good evening!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Saturday, and more importantly, looking past my terrible and oh-so-creative title up above!

I'm still here at my parent's house... and still taking advantage of that free HBO, those unlimited popsicles and my mom's undivided attention... although, now that I've been here more than a few days, I'm pretty sure that those popsicles aren't quite so unlimited, and... ya know, I haven't really seen my mom in the past couple hours...... hmmm, I think my days of being completely helpless are on their way out....

At any rate, I'll take what I can get.. which means spending my night on the couch with a gimp's best friend

 and watching my Reds hopefully take home a win tonight...

Earlier, I enjoyed my absolute favorite salad from Panera: 

The Strawberry Poppyseed Chicken Salad. 

I realize this photo doesn't do the salad I'm praising about any justice, but if you've been to Panera before during the summer, I can almost guarantee you know what I'm talking about! 

You can see from the nutrition facts below, that this is a great choice from Panera's menu. It provides lots of fiber from the lettuce and fruit, protein from the chicken and healthy fats from the pecans. 

There may seem like a lot of sugar in this menu item, but if you look close enough - a lot of the sugar comes from the fruit in the actual salad and not a lod from the salad dressing, or any other c$#p that shouldn't be hiding in your food. 

On that note, I'm gonna go give my full attention, well, at least half of my attention, to my boys in red on the TV and secretly plan my comeback to the world of long distance running. 

Stay Healthy,

In Your Kitchen

Good Afternoon!

Last weekend I made a trip to Trader Joe's to stock up on things that I find more expensive at your typical Kroger or Giant Eagles. (almonds, peanut butter, cheese, chicken, everything) When I got to cooking later that night, I realized that I unintentionally bought a lot of chicken - hence, the recent influx of chicken recipes. Chicken sometimes has the reputation of being boring and bland and boring, but I'm really excited to share with you guys a very popular meal that can easily be recreated in your very own kitchen...

I was a superwoman blogger while making this dinner, so I have lots of pictures to share and more importantly, to take the place of my attempts to be smart and entertaining. 

So remember when I mentioned a popular meal that could be recreated in your kitchen? (2 lines above.... there ya go) well, that mentioned popular meal was.......

Chipotle Burrito Bowls! 

Cut up some chicken and peppers and then saute them with a little bit of butter and any other spices that your little heart desires. (I stayed pretty basic with some pepper and cumin)

I was a smart little cookie, and cooked up more chicken than I would need for my dinner and then placed what I wasn't using in a container for a quick lunch or dinner during the work week:

While my chicken and veggies were cooking, I made some brown rice with some shakes of cilantro. Had I been a real superwoman, I would have used fresh cilantro... but unfortunately it came from a bottle.

Once everything was good to go, I placed the rice in a bowl with the chicken and pepps on top and then sprinkled some cheese on top:

Followed by lots of fresh salsa from Trader Joe's:

Here it is close up.... yummmm!

And what's a Mexican dish without some avocado:

All together now!!!

This is an excellent meal that contains protein, whole grain carbs, healthy fats, and vegetables... all for a reasonable amount of calories!

Have you ever tried to replicate a favorite dish or meal you've had at a restaurant?

Have a good and healthy weekend guys!

My Go-To Dinner

Morning!

I'll tell ya what, there is nothing worse than waking up at 5am for a morning spinning class, only to get there and find out that the class is already full! I decided to make the most of getting up early and ended up doing a few weight exercises, which are, not by any means, my favorite thing to do, but they sure are important when it comes to building muscle and preventing further skeletal problems down the road.

But anyway, I do have a few extra minutes this morning, and I wanted to share with you guys what I had for dinner last night:

Chicken, brussels sprouts and sweet potato rounds. Yum. 

When I'm not quite sure what I want for dinner, I usually turn to chicken, veggies and some sort of potato. My go to method for preparing chicken comes from a recipe I found years ago in a health magazine. It's easy, tasty and healthy. Check it out:

The topping on the chicken is a basic mixture of 

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp parmesan cheese
• Pepper and garlic salt to taste

Mix all the above ingredients together, and spread, or pat, the cheese mixture on top of raw chicken. I either use 2 chicken tenders or 1 chicken breast and have the perfect amount of topping.

Place on a baking sheet and pop in the oven for about 20 minutes at 400 degrees. 

When I have my oven going, I usually throw the other parts of my meal on the baking sheet as well:

I tossed the brussels sprouts with some olive oil, garlic salt and pepper and the sweet potato with some cinnamon and cumin. You can find the basic recipes of these right here. 

It's a good and easy meal! So next time you're stuck on what to make for dinner, try my go to chicken! 

I tried to play around with the natural light coming in from my kitchen window. I think I should probably stick to nutrition....

Have a good Wednesday guys!

Stay Healthy,