Sweet and Salty Chia Greek Yogurt

Robust Recipe: Sweet and Salty Chia Greek Yogurt 

I’M BAAACCCKKKK! It took me entirely too long to think up a good post for my first one back after a couple months off! I hope this will suffice. I think it is a good one and highly suggest going to the grocery store to buy the ingredients… and now that I think about it, this would make a great 4th of July treat!

Ok , so the name? Sweet and Salty? Chia? YES. Chia seeds, vanilla Greek yogurt, fresh blueberries AND sea salted dark chocolate covered almonds. This equals heavenly my friends.

Heavenly and healthy.

Chia seeds (cha cha cha chia!) are full of omega 3’s, calcium, protein and fiber! This is what we call a super food! And I am super excited to experiment with chia seeds some more this summer. Moving on to our other ingredients- I think we all know the healthy benefits of almonds (being that they are high in monounsaturated fat they are a wonderfully heart healthy addition to this sweet and salty dish). The dark chocolate covering the almonds provide antioxidants as well (the sea salt- well, it’s not a lot of added sodium if you only use 6-7 almonds 😉 ) . Even more antioxidants and fiber come from the blueberries and of course Greek yogurt is packed with calcium, vitamin D and protein as well.

This dish is a super food to the max.

Ingredients: 

Chia Seeds

Vanilla Greek Yogurt

Blueberries

Sea Salted Dark Chocolate Covered Almonds (I got these at Trader Joe’s)

Directions: 

You all know me and measuring…well I usually don’t…soooo here go my best guesses:

~4-6oz Greek Yogurt

1 pinch of Chia Seeds (~1/2 tablespoon)

Handful of Blueberries (~1/2 cup?)

6-7 Almonds ( I didn’t crush them but if you had the means of crushing them it may spread the flavor better).

Seriously go and get these ingredients. It is really good.

Until next time, Let’s Be Robust!

Glad to be back! 🙂

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Lemon Pecan Quinoa Salad

Okay, ready for this yummy recipe!? It’s sweet and spicy. This dish is inspired by a couscous salad my friend brought to a party I was at this weekend. I made it from memory with quinoa instead and guessed on some of the ingredients. Here is my forewarning though; I did not measure anything therefore these are just guesses on the amounts! I also apologize for my not so professional pictures- I am waiting until March to get a nicer phone so hopefully pictures will improve then.

Robust Recipe: Lemon Pecan Quinoa Salad 

 

Ingredients: 

1 cup uncooked qunioa- follow directions for preparation

1 lemon

2 carrots

5-6 green onions

~3/4 cup craisins

~3/4 cup chopped pecans

~1/4 cup olive oil

~1tsp paprika

~1-2 tsp cayenne pepper (depends how hot you like things)

1-2 tbsp parsley

sea salt to taste

fresh cracked pepper to taste

Directions:

1) Prepare qunioa (you can let it cool if you’d like- this salad tastes good hot or cold).

2) Wash, prepare and cut green onions.

3) Shred the 2 carrots.

4) Zest the lemon and cut in half

5) Add all the prepared ingredients into a large bowl along with the rest of the ingredients (craisins, pecans, spices, olive oil). Squeeze some lemon juice over the salad and mix.

Enjoy!!!

Let’s Be Robust!

Black Bean Avocado Qunioa Salad

Robust Recipe: Black Bean Avocado Quinoa Salad 

If you cannot tell already, I really like using black beans, avocados, peppers, and cherry tomatoes for salads of all kinds. I’ve also discovered using lemon and lime for seasoning recently! Which is a great way to flavor a salad without adding (barely) any calories or additional fat.  So here we have another fresh and nutrient dense salad, folks! Hope you enjoy.

Ingredients: 

1 cup uncooked quinoa (cook)

1-2 avocado(s), sliced

15oz black beans (low sodium)

15 oz corn (low sodium)

1 package cherry tomatoes, sliced

2-3 peppers (green, red or orange), chopped

1 lemon (squeezed)

1 lime (squeezed)

Directions: 

Cook quinoa following instructions on package. Cool after cooking.

Drain and rinse black beans and corn (if canned).

Combine all the fresh ingredients in large re-sealable bowl.

Squeeze lemon and lime over ingredients to season.

Add the cooled quinoa to the other overwhelmingly healthy ingredients 🙂

There you have it! Be sure to share and enjoy!

Let’s Be Robust!

Trail Mix Greek Yogurt

Robust Treat: Trail Mix Greek Yogurt 

So this is good.

I decided to make a batch of trail mix that contained: walnuts, pecans, almonds, craisins, raisins, mini chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, dried cherries, dried blue berries, dried apricots, and a couple dried figs. Trail mix is always a good healthy sweet and salty snack if you need a little something, right?

So one day I thought adding the trail mix to the plain non fat Greek yogurt with some peanut butter and stevia would taste good. Well it does.

Here again folks we’ve got a snack or treat that is high in protein, healthy fat, fiber, magnesium, vitamin D, phosphorus, potassium and calcium. Boom. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Trail mix- you could use a variety of different kinds. Mine had: walnuts, pecans, almonds, craisins, raisins, mini chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, dried cherries, dried blue berries, dried apricots, dried figs

Non fat, plain Greek yogurt

Natural peanut butter

1 tsp Stevia (honey or sugar would work)

Directions: 

Take your desired amount of ingredients and mix together. My portion was probably around 4-6oz.

 

Be sure to share and enjoy!

Let’s Be Robust! 

Avocado Black Bean Salad

Robust Recipe:  Avocado Black Bean Salad

This fresh wholesome salad will fill you up over lunch or for a mid-day snack. It’s got plenty of health benefits from the avocado, beans, and vegetables, including fiber, protein, monounsaturated fat, phytochemicals, anitoxidants, and plenty of vitamins and minerals. This nutrient dense salad is seasoned with lemon and lime to preserve flavor and freshness (not to mention lemon and lime do not add any additional fat).  You can also add some cayenne pepper for some additional heat.

The recipe is easy, quick and keeps for about a week!

Ingredients:

2 avocados, sliced

2-3 fresh corn on the cob (or 1 can low sodium corn), de-cobbed (?haha)

15 oz can low sodium black beans (or make from crock pot)

1 red pepper, chopped

1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced

1-2 handfuls of fresh cilantro, chopped

1-2 tsp cayenne  pepper (you can leave this out if you want or add more of you like some heat)

1/2 lime, squeezed

1/2 lemon, squeezed

Directions:

1) Assemble all the ingredients in a large resealable bowl. Season as your heart desires with the cayenne pepper and lemon and lime.

Be sure to share and enjoy!

Let’s Be Robust!

Quinoa Black Bean and Veggie Salad

Robust Recipe: Quinoa Black Bean and Veggie Salad

Thanks to my wonderful Jenna T for sending me this crisp and refreshing recipe! This salad makes a great healthy addition to a lunch or just as a snack.  This makes a large batch so it will last about a week, if you do not eat it sooner 😉 I cannot wait until the farmer’s markets open so I can get my produce from there to make this fresh salad even fresher.

It’s meatless yet is still a great source of protein (from the quinoa, cheese and beans). It’s gluten free friendly too.  Hope you all like it!

Ingredients: 

1) 1 cup uncooked quinoa

2) 1 cucumber- sliced and chopped

3) 1 container of cherry tomatoes- sliced

4) 2 peppers- yellow, red or green- chopped

5) 15 oz  can low sodium black beans (or make them in the crock pot for cheap and no added sodium! I’ll be making a post on how to make beans in a crock pot)

6) 8oz fresh mozzarella cheese or feta cheese or blue cheese (I’ve used both mozzarella and blue. My friend, JT, uses feta; I cannot wait to try it)

7) Season lightly with balsamic vinegar and olive oil OR  with light Italian salad dressing

Directions:

1) Cook quinoa and cool.

2) Mix all chopped and sliced veggies and cheese into a large resealable container and add cooled quinoa.

3) Either season as a whole or season in individual batches (I seasoned individually so I could have a few different flavors for the same salad). I also enjoyed it without any dressing.

Be sure to share and enjoy!

Let’s Be Robust!

PB and Chocolate Chip Greek Yogurt

Robust Recipe: PB and Chocolate Chip Greek Yogurt 

This post is inspired by an idea I saw somewhere on pinterest.

I recently discovered Smuckers natural peanut butter. Ingredients: Peanuts.  This peanut butter is so good, I was eating it by the spoonful right after I got it (uhhh, that is not endorsed “robust” behavior ;)).

Anyway, I decided to buy some plain non-fat Greek yogurt and take a spoonful of the natural peanut butter (with no palm oil or hydrogenated oil, might I add) and mix it into about 6oz plain Greek yogurt. I added a smidge of vanilla extract and some stevia for sweetness (my taste buds are definitely not ready for plain Greek yogurt yet). Then I mixed a little bit of mini chocolate chips into the healthy dessert. I hope you give it a shot, I really loved it.

Enjoy the protein packed (very filling) dessert.

 

Let’s Be Robust!

Boring Workouts?

Fitness Tip: Boring Workouts?

I don’t know about you, but I get really bored of some of my workouts… Here are some ideas to spice up your calorie burning sessions for all seasons of the year!

1) Watch a movie or a favorite TV show while you workout (plan your workouts around your favorite TV show)

2) Bring a book or fun magazine to the gym and read while on a bike, elliptical, treadmill, step climber…

3) Find a fitness class that interests you! Go to the class at least 3 times before deciding you don’t like it. It takes time to catch on.

4) Switch up your workout, try a new machine at the gym.

And if you feel like it embarrass yourself by wearing two different running shoes!

5) Weight lift much?

6) Dance! (I’ve never tried zumba, I think it looks like a lot of fun!)

7) What’s the weather like? Is it raining (with no lightning)? GO PUDDLE JUMPING! If it’s snowing? MAKE A SNOWMAN or HAVE A SNOWBALL FIGHT!

8) Go for a trail run (or hike)- they are soooo much better than running on roads or a treadmill. Here are some pictures I’ve taken while out on a trail run or hike…

9) Plan on just walking or hiking (half the time I plan on just going for a walk, I end up running because I get too impatient with walking..It kinda tricks me into wanting to run)

10) Play catch or kick a soccer ball back and forth with a friend- try running and passing at the same time to break a sweat.

11) Try a workout video! The library has lots you can check out for free!

12)  Do Pilates!

13) YOGA (My favorite thing to pretend I know how to do)

14) Start a tennis match or hit a tennis ball against a wall.

15) Get a group together and play volleyball or badminton.

16) Go swimming in a lake or pool.  Play water polo or volleyball…Remember the game Marco Polo?!

17) For a cardio workout- 20 min run/treadmill, 20 min bike, 20 min elliptical or stair climber (or 10 min of each)

18) Playground workouts! (There is a post to come on playground workouts :))

Here is my sister and my nephew playing on a cool fall day.

19) Yard games! Bocce ball, croquet, beanbag toss, horse shoes… Yard games are the best for when you have people over.

20) Shoot some hoops. Remember PIG or Around the World?

21) Walk your dog and/or your neighbor’s!

22) Throw a football with pass routes.

23) Run stairs! (go to a high school football stadium, find stairs in your town (local church, college campus, walking paths sometimes have stairs, or use your own stairs in your house!)

24) Interval training (There is a post to come on  interval workouts ;))

25) Run hills! (sledding is a great way to make this a fun activity)

26) Rollerblade! or roller skate.

27) Rake leaves and bag ’em up (don’t bag up your dog though!).

28) Shovel snow in your driveway and your neighbor’s (actually using a shovel none of this 4 wheeler business).

29) Yard work…Gardening, mowing (push not ride), weeding, fertilizing…

30) House work… clean, re-arrange, organize, vacuum, sweep (put some music on and go to town).

Hope this helped get a little creative juices flowing for your next workout.

Don’t allow monotony be an excuse for skipping a working out! Spice things up!

Let’s Be Robust!

Meatloaf

Robust Recipe: Meatloaf

I don’t care that people make fun of meatloaf. I love it. My Mom always made my Grandma’s delicious meatloaf growing up, and I’ve taken that recipe and made it a smidgen healthier by sneaking veggies and flax seed into it!

Since having thawed meat and poultry is a part of this recipe I thought it would be a good idea to share this link from USDA describing safe methods to thaw meat and poultry:  http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Big_Thaw/#2

*I only have one picture of the meat mixture for part of this post….I’m no prefessional photographer and I cannot make meatloaf look good with my camera phone…I promise it tastes great though!

Ingredients:

Yields 2 small to medium loaves 

1lbs lean ground turkey (90/10 or 93/7) (thawed)

1lbs lean ground pork (thawed)

1-2 green, yellow, or red pepper(s), chopped into small pieces

1/2 cup carrots, thinly shredded

1/2 cup mushrooms, chopped

1/2 onion

1/2 cup celery, chopped into small pieces

1 egg

2 slices whole grain bread, crumbled up

1/2 cup skim milk

1/3 cup ground or milled flax seed

Ketchup Sauce: (To be honest I usually don’t measure this ketchup mixture out; so these measurements are my closest guess-ta-ments.)

1/2-3/4 cup ketchup

1-2 TBS brown sugar

1-2 TSP nutmeg

1-2 TSP dry mustard

Directions:

1) Chop up or shred all the vegetables and crumble the bread in a large mixing bowl.

2) Add and combine thawed ground pork and ground turkey with all of the vegetables, ground flax seed,  crumbled bread, egg and skim milk into meat loaf mixture (I like to use my “mix’n chop” pampered chef utensil however clean hands with do the job as well).

3) Pack the meatloaf mixture into loaf pans ( I usually use 2 loaf pans (one is bigger than the other).

4) Mix all of the ketchup sauce ingredients (ketchup, nutmeg, brown sugar, dry mustard) together in a separate smaller bowl).

5) Spread ketchup mixture on top of loaves using a brush or spoon.

6) Bake in oven at 375 Fahrenheit for 60ish minutes or until internal temperature has reached 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

Be sure to share and enjoy!

Let’s Be Robust!

Also, shout of to my friend Sarah who inspired me to finish this post! She asked me to do a healthy meatloaf recipe and I had started this meatloaf post back in January and never finished it. Thanks for the request Sarah!:)

Mexican Lasagna!

Robust Recipe: Mexican Lasagna

This might be my new favorite dish. I got this idea from a co-worker and made up the recipe with ideas from her black bean Mexican lasagna. It’s g-free, loaded with veggies and lean protein, a good source of calcium and vitamin D as well.

Ingredients: 

1) 18 corn tortillas

2) 1 green pepper, chopped

3) 1 small onion, chopped

4) 2-3 roma tomatoes, chopped

5) 1- 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

6) 6-8oz enchilada sauce

7) 1/3 lbs cooked ground turkey

8) I didn’t measure the amount of spices I used. Just sprinkled these spices over one layer of the lasagna: chili powder, cumin, ground pepper, paprika, oregano, garlic powder, red pepper flakes

Directions:

I used a 9×13 glass pan. I sprayed the bottom with cooking spray because I was not sure whether the corn tortillas would stick. I’m not sure it was needed but the lasagna did not stick to the pan- you can decide what to do 😉

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

1) Place 6 corn tortillas on the bottom of the pan.

2) Drizzle some enchilada sauce over the tortillas.

3) Spread cheese across the tortillas.

4) Sprinkle tomatoes, onion and green peppers across the tortillas.

5) Sprinkle some ground turkey over the tortillas.

6) Over one layer sprinkle all the spices.

7) Repeat this until you’ve reached the top of the pan. Over the top layer sprinkle shredded cheese.

8) Bake in oven for 20-30 minutes. This is a great leftovers dish; it tastes great re-heated in the microwave.

Be sure to share and enjoy!

Let’s Be Robust!