Something Pumpkin =)

Hey all! So since Thanksgiving is right around the corner, AND we just had halloween, I wanted to get in the spirit of things and make something with pumpkin. These muffins are delicious and moist!

What you need...

1 1/2 cups almond flour (can be found at most health food stores like trader joes)

3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree or made fresh which is more fun!

3 large eggs

1tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/8 tsp sea salt

1/4 cup raw honey

2 tsp almond butter

1 Tbs sliced almonds

What you do....

Oven at 350 degrees. Mix all of the ingredients together expect almonds, pour evenly into a cupcake pan and cook for 25 mins. Sprinkle almonds on top immediately after taking out of the oven. Again pretty simple and feels like the holidays!!!!

Still loving my Paleo lifestyle everyday!!!! And it's fun to get a chance to get creative in the kitchen to make Paleo things that are similar to things I used to eat! I've been making lots of stuff lately and just saving it and eating them all week. Been really nice on my pocket book too! (once you stock yourself with all the basics!) So just have fun and get involved and make it yours!!

Yummy Chicken

Last week my football team, the Chargers, played on Thursday night. (Let's not talk about how the actual game went..) So I really wanted to eat something footballish (ok now I'm making up words...) For instance, things I've done for football games before included, pizza, chicken wings, tacos... So when I came across a recipe using chicken drumsticks and the word spicy I was sold! I decided to give it a try, and let me tell you it was delicious!!!! I make a lot of chicken, so I'm always excited when I find a new way to cook it!

So here's what I did...Get a pack of chicken drumsticks(I have also since used chicken thighs and they were just as good), however many you want to make, I made a package of six and had some for lunch the next day! Then make a dry mixture of chili powder, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. How much of each you use really depends on how spicy or how salty or how peppery you want it! I used more of the spicy ingredients. (I'd shoot for 2 tsp of the chili powder and closer to 1 tsp for the rest) Then add three gloves of garlic minced. And finally top it off with about 3 Tbls of coconut oil, melted, to help coat it to the chicken. Oven at 375 degrees and cook for about one hour. Did I mention this was a SIMPLE recipe???

So there you go, simple, yummy, Paleo approved, football appropriate food!

Healthweis goes Paleo!

It has been a LONG time since I posted on here. Since then I have lost my way and re-found it! Within a relationship I gained a lot of weight, and really moved away from any kind of healthy lifestyle!! Once that relationship ended I was able to find my way back, and even find new, amazing ways of living!

The most important being that I fell in love with The Paleo Diet!! Thanks to my sister, my forever mentor, I decided to give it a try. She had been doing it for about three weeks when I decided to jump aboard. When she first told me about it, I really had zero desire to give it a chance...all I could hear is can't eat this, can't eat that. And parts of it actually went

against ways I'd been thinking about food for a while! But within those three weeks, I could really see a difference in my sister, and I'm not talking about weight loss (although there was that) I'm talking about attitude and just how happy she was sounding! The Paleo diet, like everything else, is a way of life not just a "diet". So one day I just started it, to see how hard it would be to follow. I haven't stopped doing it since, and let me tell you I feel GREAT!

I'm not certified in knowledge about this diet, I just have read a lot about it from lots of different sources, and if you are interested in it, I ask that you look to those sources that have a much deeper knowledge than I do to explain what this diet really is. On here I'm going to do similar to what

I used to do, just share my path on this new way of life. I'll share recipes I find, struggles I face, questions I come across, and anything else that comes up!

I'm excited to share with all of you!

Corn Bean Salsa

This is one of my favorite dips to make.

What you need....
1 jalapeno
Cilantro
1 red onion
1 can of black beans, rinsed
4 ears of corn
1 can of diced tomatoes
Olive oil
Ground cayenne pepper

What you do....
Start by mixing the cayenne pepper with olive oil and brushing it on the ears of corn. Next put the corn on the grill making sure to turn it to get all the sides evenly. Once this is done cut the corn off of the ears and put in a good size bowl. Add the washed black beans and drained diced tomatoes. Finely chop the jalapeno and onion and cilantro and add them in as well. Mix everything together and WaLa your dip is done!

Slice up a cucumber to use as chips for a healthier choice.

For a quicker version use two cans of corn, drained, and toss with olive oil and cayenne pepper then spread out on a cookie baking sheet and heat in the oven for about ten minutes.

Tennis...Fun or Exercise?

Recently I have gotten into Tennis. It's a really fun sport, and even better it's great exercise!! I find sometimes if you distract yourself from the fact that you're working out with some friendly competition it helps to keep your intensity up and push through longer, at least it does for me!
So here's the breakdown on calories burned from just an hour of tennis, which goes by so quickly when your head is really in the game! I end up playing more like two hours on accident!

Doubles Tennis 130lbs=354 Calories 155lbs=422 Calories 190lbs=518 Calories
General Tennis 130lbs=413 Calories 155lbs=493 Calories 190lbs=604 Calories
Singles Tennis 130lbs=472 Calories 155lbs=563 Calories 190lbs=690 Calories

So not only do you get to get out and play a game, you are actually burning a lot of calories! Find a sport you like and start getting competitive!! It's fun AND healthy!!

For other sport calorie counts check here.

Asparagus!!

This plate may look somewhat familiar, since I did a post on the chicken you see as well as the sweet potatoes (these are white not orange, but same prep). Today however, I am going to focus on the asparagus on the plate.

Asparagus has many health benefits, it helps the kidneys and liver function better, it also is a great source of folate and a B vitamin that is good for your cardiovascular system. It is also especially important for pregnant women because it's known to help prevent certain birth defects, such as spina bifida.

That's the first good news, all the benefits it provides, the second good news, I have the perfect, EASY way to cook it so it comes out perfect, not too mushy, not too crunchy. First thing you do when you buy asparagus is to look for ones that aren't too thick, you want to look for thinner stalks. Once you bring them home you need to snap off the ends, if you just lightly bend them back and forth they will snap off where they should. Then find a flat bottom pan that fits the stalks and boil about an inch of water. Once the water is boiling throw the asparagus in. Now here's the important part, leave it in for exactly three minutes, no more no less.

My Dad gave me this recipe and it has never failed to come out perfectly. Things you can add are some garlic in the water, or after taking them out sprinkle with some pepper and garlic salt, or just eat them as is!

Sweet Potatoes!!!!!!!!!

Ok so one of my favorite things is to find a food I don't like and make it in a way that I do like it. Last night I had the pleasure of having a sweet potato dish made for me, and up until this point I had never enjoyed a sweet potato dish I've eaten. But this was delicious, so I must share it with you!

Here's the best part...it's SO simple!

Just cube up a sweet potato and toss it with some olive oil, salt, and rosemary. I'll leave it to you to judge the amounts, but make sure not to overdue any of them...a little goes a long way. Then stick it in a pan and put it in the oven at 450 degrees for 20-25 minutes...until the potatoes are soft. I know, super simple, but really really good.

AND it really makes a plate look colorful! Needless to say we didn't leave much...