No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Bars

I stumbled across this recipe a few months ago and even bought dates (at Sam's Club). But I didn't make it until this weekend. I've been having a lot of cravings for sweets and needed to find something clean to satisfy my sweet tooth. I thought these would be great to snack on while I was home on maternity leave, but never got around to making them. First tip - dates have pits. I kinda remembered this as I started making them, read it somewhere or something. So I used scissors and cut each date open to remove the pit. I must have missed one though, because it was stuck to the food processor blade when I got done. 

The 8x8 produces 16 bars. And each one is around 80 calories depending on the ingredients used. They have the same sweetness a cookie offers without the calories and bad for you ingredients that a cookie contains. The oatmeal also "keeps on giving". They do remind me of those chocolate drop no-bake cookies I made as a kid. 

NO-BAKE CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER OAT BARS

Ingredients

• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• ¼ cup coconut oil
• 3 Tbsp raw honey, or maple syrup
• 10 medjool dates, pitted
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 cups old-fashioned oats
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Line a 8x8 or 9x9-inch baking pan with wax paper, leaving an inch or so hanging over the edges.
2. In a food processor, add ¾ of the peanut butter, coconut oil, honey, dates, and vanilla, pulsing until smooth. Add in the oats and pulse until well-combined. The mixture will be crumbly, but it should hold it's shape when pressed into a ball.
3. Press ¾ of the oat mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan.
4. In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the chocolate chips and remaining peanut butter, stirring until smooth. Pour the chocolate onto the crust layer and spread evenly with a rubber spatula or spoon.
5. Crumble the remaining oat mixture over the chocolate, gently pressing it in.
6. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Once firm, remove from the pan by lifting the wax paper by the edges. Cut into bars. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

My notes: 

These were really easy and quick to make. Liam doesn't like them so they are ALL MINE.

Make sure you really press the base down. My base was a little crumbly, until I chilled it overnight. So also - chill it overnight. 

Baby Benjamin's Birth Story

I never got around the posting Benjamin's birth story. It was VERY different than Liam's 3 day birth experience. I made some inappropriate jokes that I hope he just slides right down the birth canal and comes out in two pushes. In summary, he kinda did. 

As I started to get closer to my due date, I started to have panic and anxiety attacks. At the end of September I went back on Zoloft in order to help control my anxiety. I also had a major work change I was dealing with - my boss left and I was adjusting to a lot of changes. It was a very difficult time in my life. (I can say that since returning to work things have been going very well. I'm still on Zoloft, I still see my therapist, but things are better without all those pregnancy hormones and not having to worry about everything I eat.) 

The story of Benjamin's Birth 

I had a doctor's appointment on Wednesday (October 19) and was 1-2 cm dilated! Already farther along than with Liam. I was 25% effaced and my doctor stripped my membranes to help. The good news was if I progressed a little more then I would be able to skip the induction drugs and go straight to a foley bulb! Even better news -- she said I could eat whatever I wanted!!! I still ate my sensible lunch, but we got Chic Fil A for dinner. I had french fries with my sandwich.  

I also had a therapy session afterwards. I wound up talking about expectations. Not that I have unrealistic expectations, but that I don't always verbalize my expectations and then am disappointed when they aren't met. I've carried this realization with me since. Communication is 110% a priority in my marriage. 

I then headed back to work to wrap up. After work mom came and picked up Liam. Melissa adjusted her work schedule so she could help watch him. Very appreciate to have family close by to help. Jason and I had dinner (CFA!) and wrapped up everything we haven't done the past few weeks. Like Jason vacuumed. And we packed.

I was told I would get a call between 5 and 9 am on Thursday for my induction. I was fourth on the waiting list for induction. So we attempted to head to bed early. 

Thursday October 20th 

They called at nine, right as Jason was dropping Monday at the kennel.

We wound up getting to the hospital around 10AM.

I got checked in and up to the room about 11AM.

I'm still dilated between 1.5 to 2 cms.

I was allowed to order lunch. My doctor had given me the go ahead to "ignore" the gestational diabetes diet and I could order what I wanted. I got the pizza. It was delicious!

While waiting for lunch I talked with my resident about getting a foley bulb and other options. 

At noon the evil nurse bitch (really, absolutely no bedside manner) came to put the foley bulb. I wound up already being at a 4 so I didn't need it!! I ate lunch and then they were going to start the pitocin if my contractions hadn't started.

At 2pm they started pitocin. Jason and I took a walk around the floor, twice. There wasn't a lot to see. We watched some construction going on at the front of hospital and talked about shoring and safety, you know, the normal things laboring women think about. There were some waiting room warriors. They had Chic Fil A. (Good thing I had it the night before, otherwise there might have been a scuffle...) 

I started to have more frequent contractions around 3pm. At 4pm I was dilated to 5.5 and having regular contractions. I was uncomfortable but not in pain. I wanted to wait a little longer to get the epidural. I had the epidural at 4 cm with Liam. It wasn't because of pain but because I'd been uncomfortable for days.

We facetimed with Liam around 6:30-7pm. I'm not sure how far along I was, but I was starting to feel a lot more painful contractions. I wound up getting the epidural around 9pm. I was dilated to a 7 - almost too late to get one. I was in a ton of pain and it felt like it took forever to get that epidural in correctly. Once it was in I felt better. It felt like only minutes later that BAM, I was at a 10. But I guess it was maybe 10:30pm. They called my doctor in right before 11pm. She got there around 11:15. I was in a lot of pain. The epidural wasn't doing much, and you can only push that button so many times. 

I got my legs up and ready. They were waiting for a few extra nurses from the NICU unit, but my doctor looked and said "If you need to push, go ahead and push". She could already see Benjamin - he had descended down the birth canal on his own. I had Jason run and grab a wet wash cloth because I remembered I needed one the last time with Liam. I went to push. I gave 2 good pushes, a really crappy 3rd one, and then one good push and HE WAS BORN. It was amazing. I couldn't believe how easy it was. I didn't need the silly washcloth. They put him on my chest right away. It was a really special moment. I didn't get that moment right away with Liam due to complications. 

Everything went smoothly after that too - I had afterbirth complications with Liam and am glad I didn't have those. I didn't even tear. It was an amazing birth experience. I had remained relaxed during most of the day and "hard parts" by listening to my iPOD and using essential oils. My nurses kept commenting how good my room smelled from the Thieves spray and Stress Away I was using. 

I couldn't have asked for it to go any better or quicker. Liam came to meet his little brother the next night and we went home Sunday. In the past four months he's been a great big brother. His favorite part is when Benjamin smiles at him. 

Benjamin Russell was born Thursday, October 20, 2016 at 11:24PM. He weighed 7 pounds 5 ounces, and was 19.50 inches long. 

Jason's dad was named William Russell. So Liam (William Patrick) got William, and Benjamin got Russell. And now our family is complete. :) 

Preparing for Baby #2

This blog is waaaaay overdue. All my blogging took a back seat to Baby G2.

I'm 33 weeks, 4 days pregnant. Baby Boy is coming at the end of October (best guess will be on my husband's birthday - October 22.) 

After finding out we were pregnant, I started slacking with my workouts. I was tired, very exhausted, and while I didn't have a lot morning sickness, I was struggling with a lot of food aversions. I think I ate Chef Boyardee Ravioli for a week straight once. It does boast that it has a serving of vegetables! I was very conscious of my weight gain - I gained a lot, quickly with Liam and I wanted to avoid that. 

I was able to start drinking Shakeology again in the second trimester, and have stuck with it into the third trimester. Especially after being diagnosed with gestational diabetes, again. 

I worked hard to lose 30 pounds before getting pregnant and I didn't give myself a "Free Weight Gain" punch card once I got pregnant. But weight is on my  mind. But I also want to make sure I give the baby everything it needs to grow and thrive. 

I gained a total of 33 pounds with Liam. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. And I did lose almost all of it within the first couple months after he was born. I'm currently about 9-10 pounds up from my starting weight. I had gained a few more, but the gestational diabetes diagnosed and diet change resulted in a few pound weight loss. 

I met with a dietitian who gave me a lot more info about GD than last time. She commented that if you continue the diet after the baby is born the baby weight will come off quicker and you can lose even more weight (for those who are overweight.) I couldn't stop laughing. I'm planning meals after baby like I'm on death row and getting my last meals. My first meals after G2 is born is pasta, pizza, and pie. Maybe over the course of a couple days. This time has been a lot harder than last time. Things I could eat with Liam that gave me decent blood sugar readings I haven't been able to eat. It's frustrating to have to keep adjusting, but I know it's for a short time. That's the only fact getting me through this -- it's just a few more weeks and then I can eat anything I want. Which also shows how much I rely on food for a comfort. I truly do usually "eat my emotions" and have struggled to find different outlets for my stress. 

Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole

With these last few weeks left I've committed myself every week to prepping freezer meals. On the schedule includes:

• Beef & Turkey Chili
• Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole
• Beef Enchiladas
• Meat Sauce
• Lasagna (Recipe not blogged, it's my mom's)
• Chicken Huts
• Tater Tot Casserole



Beef & Turkey Chili

• Texas Potatoes (Another Mom's Recipe.... a delicious dish...)

I have a schedule, I have lots of freezer containers, freezer labels, and a grocery list. 

I also have almost every weekend planned up until the baby arrives. Hopefully he doesn't arrive too early. :) 

In other news -- if you made it this far -- We bought a house and moved to St. Charles. It was sad to leave our house in Maryland Heights, but we knew that we had to buy before the second baby (and daycare costs) arrived. We moved around the 4th of July, which also was our 4 year wedding anniversary. We kept it simple and went out to eat. Liam turned 3 over Labor Day weekend and we had a Tie Dye party at the house. He's excited for his baby brother, but hasn't realized he has to give up his toddler bed (the crib) for the baby. We have his furniture ready for his Superman themed room. We also need to start and finish the nursery. We haven't even decided what color to paint it yet. We have almost everything we need (yea for it being a boy!), but need to get things organized. 

21 Day Fix Stuffed Peppers - Revisited

This is probably the fourth or fifth time I've redone my Stuffed Pepper recipe. My version 11 months ago included ground beef and I had estimated the Portion Control. This time I measured every ingredient in order to have the proper container count. I actually double this recipe so I can have 5 sets of 4 peppers - I freeze them in groups of four to defrost and bake later. They are delicious, but a little time consuming to make. If I can make a big batch over a weekend than I have meals ready to go. 

Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients

Note - when making stuffed peppers - you *must* boil the peppers to soften them up. Otherwise the peppers don't cook thoroughly and still have a little crunch to them.

• 10 bell peppers of your color choice
• 20 ounces pound lean ground turkey or beef 
• 1 onion (about a 1 cup diced)
• 1/2 diced pepper
• 1.5 cups of brown rice, cooked just shy of done
• 1 (15 ounce) can of Black Beans, drained/rinsed
• 1-2 cups of Corn, drained/rinsed if canned, I prefer frozen
• 1 (15 ounce) can of petite diced tomatoes 
• 1 (15 ounce) can of tomato sauce 
• 1.5 cups of your favorite shredded cheese
• Spices - Chili Powder, Paprika, Cumin, Garlic, Salt, Pepper, ect.  

Directions

1. Cut the caps of the peppers and clean out. Pre-cook the peppers by placing in boiling water for 5-10 minutes. 
2. Cook brown rice, or quinoa according to directions, just shy of done because the rice will continue cooking when the stuffed pepper is cooked. 
3. Brown ground meat and season with chili powder (1 tbsp), and 1 tsp each: paprika, cumin, and garlic. Set aside to cool.
4. Drain and rinse black beans. If using canned corn, drain and rinse also. Drain the tomatoes. 
5. Combine in large bowl: meat, tomatoes, corn, rice/quinoa, beans, sauce, and cheese. Season as needed. 
6. Stuff peppers with filling. (About 1-cup per pepper). 
7. Bake at 375 Fahrenheit for 40-45 minutes. 
8. If frozen - defrost 24 hours. 

Each Pepper counts as 1.5 Greens, 1/2 Red, 1 Yellow, and 1/2 Blue.

For lunch, this is perfect. For dinner it's a little light. However, we've been eating egg sandwiches before bed in order to get in extra Red & Yellows and fuel our body before sleep.

Crockpot Zucchini Chicken Parmesan

During the Holiday season, I try to cook as little as possible. I want to leave all my kitchen time for making cookies. That I might not make this year. It's hard for me to avoid eating the cookies. And everyone loved the rainbow sprinkle cookie and I need to find like 7 pounds of sprinkles.

So a new crockpot dish I recently discovered is this one. And it's delicious. It came out a little more like a soup, but it works really well in the crockpot, sans the cooking of the noodles in a separate pot. It's also 21 Day Fix Friendly! 

Crockpot Zucchini Chicken Parmesan

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds (about 4) chicken breasts, cut into cubes
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 large zucchini, diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 4 cloves of garlic, pressed
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
• 2 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 2 tablespoon oregano seasoning
• 15 ounces cups pasta or pizza sauce (or tomato sauce)

For after cooking:

• 24-30 ounces marinara sauce
• 16-ounce box of pasta (I used Mezzi Rigatoni), cooked to al dente
• 1 cup low fat shredded cheese (mozzarella or Parmesan)

Instructions:

1. Spray your slow cooker with non-stick spray. Line your crockpot with a crockpot liner. Combine first 10 ingredients and stir to combine.
2. Cover and cook on high for about 3-4 hours or low for about 6-8 (or until chicken is cooked through). 
3. In the last 30 minutes of cooking, add cooked pasta, marinara sauce, cheese and stir well.
4. Split into 6 servings. I added some extra cheese.

21 Day Fix Count: 1 Red, 2 Green, 1.5 Yellows, and 0.5 Blue

Notes: 

Get crockpot liners. They are lifesavers. They are made with a special heat resistant material that holds in even the heartiest ingredients without breaking or puncturing. -Reynolds. And they aren't kidding. And when you are done, you throw away the liner. And then your crockpot requires a quick scrub, no overnight or two-day soaking. They are perfect for potlucks. Tip - I still spray the inside of my crockpot with non-stick spray before putting down the liner. Just in case. 

Use whole wheat noodles instead of white. Any type of pasta would work. I liked the larger noodles. You won't be able to tell the noodle color once the pasta cooks in. 

Add extra veggies if you want. Mushrooms are great, or another pepper. Adjust the 21DF count accordingly. 

Turkey Meatloaf - 21 Day Fix - Revisited

Updated 11/4 - I first made this in January and it has turned into one of my favorite recipes. I even started making it in the crockpot. I added a few new steps in order to keep it from falling apart. 
This is also one of my most viewed recipes - so welcome to my page! I hope you enjoy this quick healthy recipe as much as I do. 

I originally got this recipe from the Team Beachbody website. Each recipe tells you how they "count" for each program you might be doing. This recipe for Turkey Meatloaf is loaded full of veggies and uses ground turkey instead of ground beef. And it is delicious. Even though it looks suspicious AND the first one fell apart. But, it is good and I would recommend it.

Turkey Meatloaf 

Yield: 10 servings
21 Day Fix - 1 Red, 1 Green

Ingredients: 

• 2.5 lbs. raw 93% lean ground turkey breast 
• 3 large eggs, slightly beaten 
• 1 medium onion, chopped in food processor
• 2 medium celery stalks, chopped in food processor
• 1 medium green (or any color) bell pepper, chopped in food processor
• 1 cup old­fashioned rolled oats 
• 1 (14.5­oz.) can petite diced tomatoes (drained)
• ½ tsp. sea salt
• ½ tsp. ground black pepper 
• dashes of other spices - garlic powder, paprika, chili powder, oregeno
• 1 cup all­ natural marinara sauce, no sugar added 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. (or see Crockpot instructions note below)
2. Chop everything really fine. In the picture above, things are not chopped with a food processor, and the meat loaf fell apart. I now use the food processor in order to chop everything into the smallest pieces possibly. However, this could result in extra "juice", so squeeze out the juice before adding the ingredient to the meatloaf mixture. 
3. Combine turkey, eggs, onion, celery, pepper, oats, tomatoes, salt, pepper, and spices in a large bowl; mix well with clean hands or a rubber spatula. 
4. Line two 9x5 inch loaf pans with parchment paper. Spray the paper lightly with non-stick spray. Divide the meatloaf mixture between the two pans.  Bake for 45 minutes; spread marinara sauce evenly on top of both loaves. Bake an additional 10 to 15 minutes or until cooked through.

Crockpot Directions:

1. Spray a large crockpot with non-stick spray. 
2. Line the crockpot with foil and spray with non-stick spray. 
3. Place the meatloaf mixture inside the foil. 
4. Turn crockpot on. Walk away. 
5. Come back! About 1-hour before done, spread the marinara sauce over the meatloaf. 
6. When done, cooked to an internal appropriate temperature, dish out. I haven't perfected how to *get* the entire meatloaf out of the crockpot. Expect another update when I do! 
7. It turned out super moist and very favorful. 

Leftover meatloaf is even better than the first day! I either heat it in the toaster oven or a skillet in order to give it a little more "crust". Every once in a while, I add an over-medium egg because I need more protein. 

Meatloaf Royale

Healthy Chicken Strips - 21 Day Fix

44 Chicken Strips

Healthy Chicken Strips. That are delicious? It can be done. My favorite part of these is that they are great to pre-make and freeze for the future. And I love the avocado dipping sauce.

This recipe makes 15 servings of 3 chicken strips each. You can halve the recipe to make a smaller amount. The recipe is pretty forgiving and doesn't need to be precise.

Ingredients

• 2 Pounds chicken strips (approximately 45 strips)
• 2-3 cups unsweetened almond milk (I used vanilla, and I like it.)
• 2-3 eggs (Use 1 egg per 1 cup of milk.)
• 1 cup of Parmesan cheese
• 2.5 cups of whole wheat panko, divided into 1 cup and 1.5 cups
• 1 cup of whole wheat flour
• 3 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp oregano



Breading Station

• salt & pepper

Directions

1. Wisk together the almond milk, eggs, and a few dashes of pepper. Soak chicken strips in mixture. (I used a very large bowl to place all the strips into.)
2. In a food processor, combine the Parmesan cheese, 1 cup of panko bread crumbs, flour, and seasonings. Blend well (up to 1 minute). Add in the remaining 1.5 cups of panko and pulse 2-3 times. (This leaves some of the panko in larger pieces.)
3. Prepare for breading - take one strip from wet mix, place in dry coating, coat, place on parchment lined cookie sheet. 
4. Use parchment paper in between layer of strips - I had three layers. 
5. Place cookie tray in freezer and freeze until solid, approximately 6 or more hours.

To Cook: Cook from frozen. Line a baking sheet with parchment or foil (spray the foil with cooking spray), place strips in a single layer, cook at 425 degrees for 25-30 minutes. (PSA - Don't eat under cooked chicken or you'll get sick.)

A serving size is 3 strips - for 1 Red, 1/2 Blue, and 1/2 Yellow. The 3 strips will fill you up too, if you eat it with veggies or a salad. 

Avocado Sauce

• 1 ripe avocado
• 8 ounces or 1 cup of Greek Yogurt
• 1/2 cup salsa
• 1 tsp Lemon Juice
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Pepper

Place all ingredients in the food processor and blend until smooth. Makes approximately 2 cups of sauce. Approximately 1/4 cup of sauce counts as 1/2 Blue (the avocado) and 1/2 red (the Greek yogurt.) The salsa is negligible.


Helpful Tips

I recommend using your food processor for both the dry coating and making the avocado dipping sauce. It's my favorite kitchen gadget, next to the Mix n Chop. 

Set up your work space correctly so you make as little mess as possible. Keep one hand wet (or I used tongs) and keep one dry hand. I even wore a glove when touching the chicken so the coating wouldn't stick to my fingers. 

Cost: The chicken strips are the most expensive, I spent $18 on 2.88 pounds at Sam's Club. I set aside 10 strips to grill/cook later and used just over 2 pounds (44 strips) to make the chicken strips. I had a little coating left over that would have given me 2-3 more strips. I estimate buying the almond milk, eggs, cheese, panko, the avocado sauce ingredients, you'll spend less than $25 to make this bulk product. 

Dear #CardinalsNation

What now? What do we do? 

A lot of people are going to bed confused. Lost. Hurt. These feelings of irritability and hopelessness are invading our bodies. Trying to figure out what went wrong. What happened? 

And that's it. Just like that, baseball season is over for St. Louis. At least until next year. Only 129 days until Pitchers and Catchers report. 

I'm not sure it's ever been over this early. Or at least not in the past few years. This year the Cardinals overcame injury after injury and were the NUMBER ONE team of the entire MLB. Number 1 out of 30 teams. After playing 162 games. What an amazing record! 

They can boast 11 World Series Titles. Second only to the Yankees. And the Cardinals have only played in 19 World Series. (The Yankees are 27 for 40.)

So what now? I came up with a list of healhy things to do while we wait for our beloved team to grace the field in 2016. 

1) Watch Hockey. St. Louis still Bleeds Blue. You can check out their schedule here. They have four games this week! I was vaguely aware they started playing last Thursday.  

2) Sleep. Remember when the Cardinals would be playing those post season games and they wouldn't start until 9 freaking PM? No more staying up until midnight trying to catch the 9th inning. Go to bed at a decent time! 

3) Enjoy the outdoors. On the opposite note, these 3pm and 5pm games are really cutting into Liam's outdoor time after work. Sorry Liam, you have to watch Elmo in Grouchland, again, instead of playing outside because Mommy is watching baseball. But not tomorrow! Tomorrow after work we can go outside. At least for the next two weeks -- until Daylight Savings Time takes that away from us. (P.S. That's November 1st.) 

4) Work out. I no longer need to juggle a live baseball game with my evening workout schedule. 7:15pm Work Outs, you're back on the schedule! 

5) Concentrate on Work. I lost a good 15 minutes today following the game and trying to bring it up on my iPad via the Uverse app. Since there's nothing left to follow, I don't have to worry about early game times, losing sleeping over late game times, or wasting time during work hours following the game. I will be a much more efficient employee. I'm sure my boss will be happy to see another stack of reports on his desk. 

6) All the St. Louis people studying for the PE and EIT don't have to worry about post season games interfering with their studying time. They will have more time to devote to studying! 

I'm sure are more. But for the rest of October and beginning of November, instead of my blood pressure fluctuating like it has been, I plan to:

• Focus on Work
• Sleep More
• Focus on the work outs
• Enjoy the Fall with my amazing husband and wonderful Son. 

21 Day Fix - Mozzarella Chicken Florentine

This was one of those meals where I realized I had a lot of leftover spinach that I was not going to manage to eat before it went bad. So what do to... what do to... I have some chicken... what else?

So I threw together this concoction. 

• Chicken
• Spinach like Pesto
• Roma Tomatoes
• Mozzarella Cheese
• Garlic/Salt/Pepper/EVOO

Those are your main ingredients. I had chicken tenders, but you can use 4-ounce boneless skinless breasts and cut them in half (so they are thinner) and/or pound it out a little. 

I had 4 cups of spinach and I put it in the food processor with some pressed garlic, a tablespoon of EVOO, and some salt and pepper. I had to get flavor into this dish. 

I sliced my Roma Tomatoes using the Mandolin.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. 
2. Grease two 9x13 pans with spray EVOO
3. In each pan, arrange 9 chicken strips in groups of three. See the picture for the spacing - this will help them quick more evenly. Salt and pepper the chicken! 
4. Spoon the 2 tablespoons of the Spinach "Pesto" over the chicken and spread it out. 
5. Layer 3-4 tomato slices over the Spinach Pesto (half a tomato)
6. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the tomatoes. I did 1 full blue container. It was *way* too much, I recommend 1/2 blue container. 
7. Bake in the oven for ~30 minutes. 

This counts as 1 Red, 1 Green, ~2 tsps, and 1/2 Blue (unless you used more.). 

21 Day Fix Turkey Chili

Just in time for fall weather, chili!! I already have a great turkey chili recipe but decided to try the one listed in the FixAte cookbook, which is full of 21 Day Fix approved recipes. I love the recipes, they are all pretty basic and easy to make, and the container values are listed. I added a few extra things and doubled the recipe. This is one of my new favorite chili recipes! 

21 Day Fix Turkey Chili
Ingredients & Directions (because it's Chili, it's *not* that hard)

• 2-3 lb cooked 93% lean ground turkey breast (or lean grass-fed ground beef)
• (I add chili powder, cumin, and paprika to my turkey while it's cooking.) 

Saute the following ingredients ~10 minutes: 

• 2 tsp extra virgin organic coconut oil, melted
• 1 large or 2 small onion, chopped
• 1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 jalapeno pepper, diced (optional)
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped or crushed

Then add:

• 4 cans (15 oz each) kidney beans (or pinto beans) drained, rinsed
• 4 can (15 oz) fire roasted tomatoes, no salt added if available
• 2 cups red wine (I choose red cooking wine)
• 1 Tbsp ground chili powder
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp ground paprika
• 1/2 tsp sea salt (or Himalayan salt)
• 2 tsp crushed red pepper
• Cooked ground turkey

Bring it to a boil and let simmer around 30 minutes on low.
2 cups of this chili counts as 1 green, 1 red, and 1 yellow.


It is very filling, and my version is very spicy. If you can't handle the spice, cut out the jalapeno and cut back on the cumin.

My favorite is to serve it over 1/2 a baked potato.
My son loves to eat the pinto beans with cheese and elbow macaroni.

The FixAte cookbook has been one of my favorite new tools to help me sustain the 21 Day Fix lifestyle. Autumn Calabrese has created some amazing recipes that you will actually want to make! Just like the rest of the 21 Day Fix plan, preparation is the number one key to succeeding with this plan. 

Autumn gives us her 4 ingredients to maintaining a healthy lifestyle:

1. Enjoy the foods you eat, 
2. Have a fitness routing you can commit to, 
3. Eat foods that are highly nutritious, and
4. Know how much of it to eat. 

These four easy steps is how I've managed to lose the weight I have. And it's why I keep making some of the same recipes over and over again, I love the foods I love.