saranicolefitness

Tasty Tuesday: Garlic Ranch Chickem w/ Carrots and Potatoes

I decided to share my recipe for last nights dinner! This is a favorite in our house, and we hope you enjoy it as well. 🙂

Ingredients

4-6 chicken breasts (I used breasts and tenders since my little guy prefers tenders)
4 red potatoes, halved (Use as many as you need. This fed 3 of us with leftovers for my lunch)
16 ounces baby carrots (I used whole carrots, chopped)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Ranch Seasoning (You can choose to use the packet, or a homemade version. I make homemade so I know what is going in it!)-Recipe below.
Minced garlic, to taste
Salt and Pepper, to taste

Instructions

They’re pretty simple….
Put everything in greased baking dish, sprinkle with s&p, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle garlic and ranch seasoning on top. Bake uncovered at 350 for 30-45 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and veggies are tender.
Enjoy! 🙂

Here is my recipe for the ranch seasoning

2 Tbsp dried parsley
2 tsp dried dill
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp dried chives
pinch of salt

February 2, 2016 by saranicole Leave a comment

Menu Monday: February 1-February 7

So I know I’ve been MIA the last few days. It was a long weekend. My hubby was out of town, and I’m just not myself when he’s not around. Anyway, here’s what’s on our menu this week. I made homemade breakfast sandwiches for this weeks breakfasts. And I’m not sure why, but my blog is acting up so please excuse the lack of usual bold print and bullets. They’re not at the top of my page like they usually are.

Monday 2/1

Breakfast: Breakfast Sandwich
Snack: Shakeo w/ pb
Lunch: Cottage cheese, grapes, strawberries, cucumbers, carrots and celery.
Snack: Almonds
Dinner: Garlic Ranch Chicken with carrots and potatoes

Tuesday 2/2

Breakfast: Breakfast Sandwich
Snack: Shakeo w/ pb
Lunch: leftovers from dinner 2/1
Snack: Apple
Dinner: Taco Salads

Wednesday 2/3

Breakfast: Breakfast Sandwich
Snack: Shakeo w/ pb
Lunch: leftovers from dinner 2/2
Snack: Almonds
Dinner: Lemon Pepper Salmon and asparagus

Thursday 2/4

Breakfast: Breakfast Sandwich
Snack: Shakeo w/ pb
Lunch: leftovers from dinner 2/3
Snack: Apple
Dinner: Turkey Burgers, homemade potato wedges, and broccoli

Friday 2/5

Breakfast: Breakfast Sandwich
Snack: Shakeo w/ pb
Lunch: leftovers from dinner 2/4
Snack: Almonds
Dinner: Ham and potato corn chowder

Saturday 2/6

Breakfast: Veggie omelette
Snack: Shakeo w/pb
Lunch:leftover corn chowder
Snack: Veggis w/ hummus
Dinner: Pork tenderloin, brown rice, and carrots

Sunday 2/7

Breakfast: Veggie omelette
Snack: Shakeo w/ pb
Lunch: Salad
Snack: Veggies w/ hummus
Dinner: crockpot chili

February 1, 2016February 1, 2016 by saranicole Tags: fitness, food, foodie, healthy eating Leave a comment

Thirsty Thursday: Outsmart your cravings

As most of you know, I’m pregnant with my second child. For the last two weeks I’ve been having cravings for sweets. Mostly for peanut butter cups. While I’ll admit I’ve had a few in the last few weeks, I’m not using my cravings as an excuse to ruin my choice to have a healthy and fit pregnancy. Instead of having a pb cup everyday, I’ve been making chocolate pb shakes as my morning snack/meal. It’s a pretty self explanatory recipe, but I thought I’d share how I make mine.

Ingredients

1 scoop chocolate protein powder/supplement of choice (I use a chocolate vegan meal replacement powder)

1 cup milk of choice ( You can use pretty much anything. I know there are different kinds for all of the allergies and sensitivities out there. I personally enjoy unsweetened almond milk in my shakes)

1-2 TBSP Peanut Butter (I prefer powdered pb. Jif Peanut Powder is my new favorite)

Ice to taste

Instructions

Add all ingredients to blender, and blend to your liking.

Enjoy! 🙂

January 28, 2016 by saranicole Tags: fitness, food, foodie, health, healthy eating, Recipe 1 Comment

Tasty Tuesday: Blueberry Baked Oatmeal

So in my last post, I mentioned that I made baked oatmeal for this weeks breakfast. I thought I’d share the recipe for any of you that want to try it. It’s amazing. So easy to make and good for you as well. You can pretty much use any kind of fruit you want, like blueberries, strawberries, bananas, peaches. Mix and match. Enjoy! 🙂

INGREDIENTS
2 cups rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
⅓ cup honey
2 cups milk of choice
1 large egg
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1½ cup fresh or frozen blueberries
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to 375 and grease a 9 x 9 inch baking dish.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine oats, baking powder, and salt.
In a large bowl, combine honey, milk, egg, melted butter, and vanilla. Add oat mixture into the large bowl and combine all ingredients to form a thick oat batter. Add blueberries to the large bowl and fold with a spatula to combine.
Pour oatmeal mixture into baking dish. Arrange blueberries to make sure they are evenly distributed throughout.
Baked 35 minutes in the preheated oven until the top is golden and the oat mixture is set. Remove from oven and allow mixture to cool slightly prior to serving.

You can easily reheat this in the microwave!! 🙂

January 26, 2016 by saranicole Tags: fitness, food, foodie, healthy eating 1 Comment

Menu Monday: January 25-January 29

Since we are going away for the weekend, I only have meals planned for Monday-Friday. The only thing I know I’ll definitely have over the weekend is my shake. 🙂 Blueberries were on sale, so I made some blueberry baked oatmeal for this weeks breakfast! 🙂

Monday 1/25

Breakfast: Baked oatmeal
Snack: Shakeo w/ pb
Lunch: Seasoned chicken w/ peppers over rice
Snack: Strawberries
Dinner: Marinaded steaks w/ asparagus

Tuesday 1/26

Breakfast: Baked oatmeal
Snack: Shakeo w/ pb
Lunch: Shrimp w/ peppers over rice
Snack: Apple
Dinner: Taco Salads

Wednesday 1/27

Breakfast: Baked oatmeal
Snack: Shakeo w/ pb
Lunch: Seasoned chicken w/ peppers over rice
Snack: Strawberries
Dinner: Parmesan and herb crusted salmon with sautéed kale

Thursday 1/28

Breakfast: Baked oatmeal
Snack: Shakeo w/ pb
Lunch: Shrimp w/ peppers over rice
Snack: Apple
Dinner: Marinaded pork chops w/ steamed veggies

Friday 1/29

Breakfast: Baked oatmeal
Snack: Shakeo w/ pb
Lunch: Seasoned chicken w/ peppers over rice
Snack: Strawberries
Dinner: Chicken and Kale Soup

January 25, 2016 by saranicole Tags: food, foodie, healthy, healthy choices, healthy eating, meal plan, meal prep, reach your goals Leave a comment

Sunday Funday: Snowed in!

What a weekend!!! It started snowing at our house at 6pm on Friday, and didn’t stop until 10pm on Saturday. Needless to say we got almost 31 inches of snow, and there were driving bans all over the county. Luckily we didn’t lose power and we got to stay toasty warm inside. It was so much windy yesterday that we weren’t able to play outside, but today was perfect for playing. I snapped a few pictures of my little guy and our dog playing, as well as some shots showing how awful the snow was. They haven’t lifted the driving bans yet, so we weren’t able to drive to our favorite sledding spot. Hopefully tomorrow though!!! 🙂

My hubby got to do all the shoveling since I’m pregnant. :-p

Though there was a lot of work with shoveling, some fun was had. Lol. Our dog absolutely LOVED it out there and didn’t want to come inside. Haha

January 24, 2016 by saranicole Tags: family fun, snow day, snowed in Leave a comment

Wacky Wednesday: Pregnancy Wellness

As you should know, it is very important to stay healthy during your pregnancy. There are many benefits of staying healthy and active during your pregnancy. The most beneficial is knowing you are less likely to have complications during delivery, and your baby is more likely to be healthy as well.

One way of staying healthy is eating right. Yes, you’re eating for two, but you only actually need to add 300 calories to your daily diet. Try to make sure you’re eating healthy, well balanced meals. Now, I’m not saying you can’t indulge every now and then druing your pregnancy. *cough* I ate an entire sleeve of thin mints the other night. *cough* 🙂 I feed myself and my family healthy meals to begin with, so it’s nothing new to me. Your diet should consist of lean meats, lots of fruits and veggies, whole grains, (whole grain pastas and breads) and low fat dairy products. I post my weekly menu on Mondays if you’d like to check it out. I eat the items I talked about above, as well as a healthy shake I drink daily.

Exercise is also a very important part of a healthy pregnancy. Staying active during your pregnancy is very beneficial. It can help prevent excess weight gain, ( you should gain between 20-30 pounds) reduce pregnancy related problems, like constipation, back aches and swelling, it can help improve your sleep, increase your energy, and prepare you for labor and delivery. There are so many great ways to to exercise and stay fit while pregnant. I’m personally a HUGE fan of Autumn Calabrese’s Active Maternity, but there are also some really great videos on YouTube as well!!!

If you’re currently pregnant, I hope everything is going well for you, and if you’re trying or thinking about getting pregnant, I hope this helps you have a fit and healthy pregnancy! 🙂

January 20, 2016 by saranicole Tags: family, fitness, food, healthy eating, pregnancy Leave a comment