Holiday Survival Guide

Do the holidays leave you overwhelmed? Feeling defeated that you will find yourself gaining 10-15 pounds from Halloween to the New Year? YIKES - all the candy, treats, desserts, baking, UGH.  Did you KNOW that you can totally avoid all of the stress and anxiety with a simple strategy? Planning. Let me help you out! I plan to keep myself entirely on TRACK with my health and fitness, and will be sharing all my best tips and strategies in an online accountability group done on Facebook.

Meal plans, holiday recipes, simple effective 30 minute workouts that you do in your own home (trust me, that 30 minutes is SO easy to fit in, and goes by so fast that you will catch yourself wanting to do doubles!).  Clean eating nutrition, so that you can continue the things you learn for a lifetime of healthy eating, and make it lifestyle. No diet, diet pills, or restrictive eating plans. You will not only SURVIVE the holidays, you will find yourself more confident, having more energy, making exercise and healthy eating habit and routine, and when you stick with me and your program, you could potentially be down 20 POUNDS before the New Year!!!! HOLLLLA!!  To join me, find me on Facebook or send me an email request for details at marshasmrcka@yahoo.com.

HURRY - spaces are limited and filling up!

Cookie Dough Yogurt

Who DOESN'T have a craving for something sweet once in awhile?! You can still enjoy treats without completely sacrificing your waistline with this delicious, healthy, clean eating dessert!  This is so simple to whip up, and you can use your imagination and creativity to come up with your own concoctions. Like instead of using PB, why not try Pumpkin Pie Spice Extract with a bit of pureed pumpkin? or Salted Caramel - YES PLEASE! Simply add some Caramel Extract. Or what about putting it in the freezer for about an hour for a frozen yogurt dessert?!

I'm sure this will become one of your new go-to's for that sweet "fix"! ENJOY!

Health Coaching Job Opportunity

Instead of filling your head with negativity and self doubt, instead think "what if"? 

What if I could meet the CEO of Beachbody, Carl Daikeler? What if I could earn a full-time income working from home? What if I could earn and save enough $ to pay cash for family vacations and that new car we need (had the fortune to do JUST that on Sunday!!)? What if I weren't afraid to have big dreams, and even bigger goals? What if instead of DREADING going back to work on Monday morning, you looked forward to your job? What if instead of needing to report to a boss, you were your OWN boss? What if you were entirely and COMPLETELY fulfilled, in every way, by your job, knowing you were making a positive impact and difference in someone's life? What if...you could be part of the #1 TEAM in ALL of Beachbody?

I'm opening a door for you to do just that...TAKE IT! I'm currently accepting applications for my next Health Coach apprenticeship training. Find out how YOU can duplicate my success with this business, in as little as one year achieving 4-Star Qualifying Diamond Coach rank in my organization well on my way towards FINANCIAL FREEDOM - something I certainly wouldn't have even DREAMED would be possible. Complete the application below if you are self-motivated, compassionate, caring, and have a strong desire to make a positive impact on the lives of others. #fitmomof4 #healthcoach #timetosucceed #earnfromhome #workfromhome #fitspiration #dreambig #achievebig #fitforlife #DreamTeam 

https://marshasmrcka.wufoo.com/forms/coach-apprenticeship-application-copy/

Gingered Carrot Soup

Who doesn't love the convenience of using the slow cooker in the fall?  And with the bountiful harvest of the garden root vegetables, I look forward to this recipe every year. It really is so simple to throw together, and smells SO good as it simmers throughout the day. I love to make a batch of homemade whole wheat bread in my bread maker as an accompaniment. 

You can throw all the ingredients into your slow cooker, and let it cook itself. Perfect for those days you are away from home or at work; to come home to a prepared meal is such a treat!!

Ingredients:

2 lb. Carrots, peeled and sliced

4 c. Water

1T. Coconut oil or butter

1 1/2 C chopped Onion

2 cloves minced Garlic

2 tsp. ground Ginger, or 2 T freshly grated

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. EACH - cumin, ground fennel, cinnamon, allspice, dried mint leaves

1/2 c. Lemon Juice

1 can Garbanzo Beans/ Chick Peas, rinsed and drained (optional)

Method:

1)  Place all ingredients in your slow cooker EXCEPT garbanzo beans. Set to HIGH for about 6-8 hours, adjusting water according to the desired consistency. 

2)  Use a food processor to puree until smooth, in batches. 

3)  Add in the Garbanzo Beans if using, and heat through until warm. 

Garnish with lightly toasted Cashews if desired. Enjoy!!

Clean-Eating Baked Chicken Drumsticks

My old go-to recipe for baked drumsticks called for the not-so-clean eating baking mix, so I was on a quest for a much healthier version of our beloved dark meat treat, with all the flavor but without the baking mix. This is what I came up with, and I have to say I don't miss our previous recipe ONE BIT! You can either leave the skins on, or remove them prior to baking. I do find that my family's preference is with the skin on, and removing it just before eating seems to keep the meat moist and juicy.

Clean-Eating Baked Chicken Drumsticks (serves 4-6)

Ingredients
6 chicken drumsticks 
EVOO
Smoked Paprika
garlic powder
salt (I love sea salt)
fresh ground pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 
2. Place drumsticks in a 9x13 baking dish, and rub the drumsticks with enough olive oil to lightly coat them on all sides.  Combine desired amounts of seasoning blend in a small bowl, and sprinkle the drumsticks to lightly coat.
3. Bake drumsticks at 375 degrees for 22 minutes.
4. Flip the drumsticks, sprinkle them again with seasoning blend, and bake at 375 degrees for an additional 23 minutes (so they are in the oven for 45 minutes total) until the skin is golden brown and the juices run clear.

The drumsticks are literally that easy.  I just eyeballed the amount of spices to use...just a light sprinkle of each is enough.  You'll just want to make sure that each drumstick gets a sprinkle of each spice.  I left the skins on because they brown beautifully and add extra flavor to the chicken.  My kids love to pick up their own drumstick and go to town!

I served the chicken legs with a simple spinach souffle (and apple slices for the kids), but you could also slice sweet (or russet) potatoes into wedges and add them to the baking dish at the beginning for a one-dish meal.  Just coat the baking dish with cooking spray or olive oil (and you can line your baking dish with foil for easier clean up) and make sure to stir/flip the potato wedges when you flip the drumsticks halfway through the baking time.  Crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside. This is SO amazing... enjoy!

After School/ On-the-go Healthy Snacks

Perhaps one of the biggest things we all struggle with is finding healthy protein-packed snacks that we can take with us on the go or have handy in case we are away from home for longer than we planned!  When you PLAN ahead, you really can set yourself up to succeed. I often times hear that it costs SO much to eat healthy or "clean". WELL>>>> today, I put that theory to the test. And you know what?! What I discovered is quite the opposite! You pay for convenience, regardless if what you're eating is healthy or not. I even splurged on a few items that I don't usually purchase for my little snack experiment.
So what I bought:
*Dried Cranberries
*Semi-sweet chocolate chips
*Cashews
*Chocolate covered plums
*Cocoa Almonds
*Organic unsweetened coconut flakes

My total came to $26.24. I combined all the ingredients together in a large bowl (it was cheaper to purchase a large bag of the dried cranberries, but I only used about half of the bag) and portioned into 1/2 c. servings, put them in snack-size baggies, and WALLAH! 33 servings, all ready to go! I'm set for awhile. So this came to around $0.80 per serving. I don't normally buy the organic coconut flakes (they were $2.58) or Plum Sweets ($3.28), so when calculated without those 2 items, my cost per serving came down to around $0.68 per serving, and I would also have fewer servings.  Comparable to most other pre-packaged serving size snack items in the stores, but WAY more healthy! A little planning and prep is all it took to have healthy nutritious snacks for me and my family. Perfect for school lunch packs or after school snacks!

21 Day Fix Egg White Muffins

21 Day Fix-approved>>> This is on my meal plan this week, and I'm doing my prep, making them up for the week so I thought I would share!!! 

Servings: Makes 12 full size muffins

Ingredients:
· 2 regular cartons 100% pure liquid egg whites or 1 large carton
· Vegetables of your choice- Suggest spinach, multi-colored bell peppers, mushrooms, and/or onions
· Pepper
· Garlic and/or Onion Powder, a few drops of Hot Sauce (tabasco)

Method:
1. Grease a muffin tin with olive oil spray
2. Fill each muffin compartment with chopped vegetables
3. Sprinkle with pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder
4. Fill each compartment to the top with egg whites
5. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes

Remember:

· These can be eaten by themselves or you can put them on a whole wheat English muffin, or my fave Ezekiel Bread!

· If you want to jazz it up more, top with some additional Tabasco or feta over top (Not TOO MUCH!)

· Store 2 muffins in each Ziploc bag. Stays fresh for 7 days in the fridge.

I love lists and checking things off:

Fix Portions used:
· 2 egg white muffins = 1 red, 1 green
· 2 egg white muffins + ww english muffin = 1 red, 1 green, 2 yellows
· 2 egg white muffins + cheese = 1 red, 1 green, 1 blue