Doin' Some Cookin'... 5-Minute Garden Fresh Salsa

(The lighting in here does not do this justice but it tastes so good!)

Perfect way to use up all of those tomatoes you have from your garden. You can adjust this recipe to your own heat liking by keeping the seeds and ribs for a spicier salsa. Learn from my mistake and squeeze the juice out of the Roma tomatoes to keep from getting a soupy consistency... oh well... it is still delicious.

Since I took on a healthy living challenge for the month of August I was extremely proud of myself for not eating an entire bag of chips and eating all of this salsa in one sitting like I've been known to do in the past. Instead I sampled the salsa with two chips. Two chips! That was extreme willpower.

With football season around the corner this will be the perfect Game Day snack to put together before kick off.

5-Minute Garden Salsa

From: SkinnyMom

Makes 10 1/4 cup Servings

Stars of the Show:

• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded (if you want it mild)
• 4 Roma tomatoes, quartered
• 2 tbsp cilantro
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 lime, juiced

And Action:

Combine onions, garlic, and jalapeno in a food processor and pulse until very small dice.

Add tomatoes, cilantro, salt, and lime juice and pulse until smooth or desired consistency. Enjoy!

Movin' It... August Challenge (31 Days of Healthy Living) - Day 4

5:00 am - Woke up hungry but more importantly before my alarm. Threw on workout clothes, made 1/2 English muffin with 2 tsp peanut butter, and downed some water.

5:30 am - Went for a walk but had to cut it short after 0.66 miles (13 minutes 27 seconds) due to a blister. Ouch! Took a shower and after drying off I jumped into bed since I had an hour before I had to wake up to get ready for work. Big mistake! I slept in until 7:30 but it felt so good.

8:00 am - Arrived at work and made a cup of coffee with 1 stevia packet.

10:00 am - Eavesdropping on my coworkers talking about their current diet fads they are trying. There is always someone talking about food in our office. Having a couple team members with high issues is a good motivator to make healthy choices in front of them and to serve as a reminder for me. I don't want high cholesterol or diabetes. 

10:30 am - Hungry!... and trying to avoid people in the office since illness is going around. I don't want anything to derail me. Washed my hands more than normal. When waving my hand for the auto towel dispenser I couldn't stand the sight of my arm fat jiggling. 

11:00 am - Banana and water as a snack. 

11:30 am - Hungry!

12:30 pm - Finally got a break to grab some lunch, brought leftover Greek Chicken Quinoa.

3:00 pm - My bestie at work was eating Oreos. Gah! 

4:00 pm - Hungry!!

6:00 pm - Made it home and made dinner immediately. Made salsa (recipe to come), cut up a Roma tomato and cubed an avocado for a side and grilled a turkey burger to put between romaine lettuce leaves as a "bun". 

7:30 pm - Dinner didn't hold me over long so I grabbed the small container of watermelon that I picked up from Whole Foods. So good!

Movin' It... August Challenge (31 Days of Healthy Living) - Day 3

(Packed my meals the night before!)

7:00 am - Woke up, made a cup of cinnamon flavored coffee with 1 stevia packet, and got ready for work.

8:00 am - After jumping out of the car an expensive glass jar of my favorite cinnamon chai tea flew out of my lunch bag and shattered everywhere and not a single tea bag didn't land on the ground. What a fantastic start on a Monday. Ugh! The upside... I started on water... and had breakfast. Breakfast was 2 hard boiled eggs and a 1/2 cup of raspberries. 

(Loved the packaging of this egg carton)

9:00 am - I've been working on not slouching. I have the worst posture ever and kept reminding myself throughout the day to sit up straight. My back muscles are so weak and it hurts after a short period of time. Oh and speaking of period...

10:00 am - Mother Nature arrived and it explains why I've been extremely emotional. 

10:30 am - Started to get hungry but wasn't a good time to grab a snack.

11:00 am - Toasted 1/2 a whole wheat English muffin, drizzled it with 1 tsp of honey, and had a sliced banana.

12:00 pm - I slept like shit last night and being on my period has made me extremely fatigued so I went home on a lunch break (which I never take), set my alarm, and took a nap. That's exactly what I needed to feel refreshed. 

1:30 pm - Headache. Grr! Really Monday?!!! Popped a migraine pill and guzzled water.

2:30 pm - Put together lunch, had a Tuna Avocado Bowl. I usually mix my tuna with mayo but this was replaced with plain nonfat Greek yogurt and Dijon mustard with capers and black pepper. It was delicious, a little dry, but surprisingly I did not miss the mayo and the yogurt gave the tuna a more refreshing bite. Kinda hard to explain. 

6:30 pm - Came home, changed into workout clothes, and attempted to complete an Insanity workout. What a workout! I couldn't last more than 7 minutes and 58 seconds. Those double diamond jumps were killer. The shower after felt amazing. My legs are going to be sore tomorrow. 

(I'm not confident enough to wear this tee in public. It feels conceited but I love it!)

8:30 pm - Made Greek Chicken Quinoa for dinner. This is crave worthy! Did the dishes after. Brushed my teeth to keep myself from binge eating because I'm craving more of this Greek Chicken Quinoa. 

(Horrible yellow lighting in here. Ugh!)

9:00 pm - Prepped my meals for tomorrow. 

Movin' It... August Challenge (31 Days of Healthy Living) - Day 2

August 2nd, 2015 - Day 2 of the August Challenge

8:00 am - Woke up and made coffee w/ 1 tbsp sugar free coffee creamer.

I'd like to train my tastebuds to crave veggies instead of french fries. I don't really crave sweets but salty foods. Chips and salsa (guac!) are my weakness. I have a salt tooth and yes, I know that the craving comes from being dehydrated and my body is screaming for more water. Hopefully by the end of this month I'll set myself up for continued healthy eating and working out habits. To be honest, anything I do will be more than what I've been doing the past couple of years.

9:00 am - Threw on workout clothes and headed to the car wash. Just about every other Sunday when Little Man is visiting his dad I love taking the time to hand wash my car and detail the inside. I have such a sense of pride with owning a Premium GT Mustang since I have worked my ass off for the last 8+ years to trade up and get what I really wanted. My first car when I was 16 was a '93 4 cylinder Mustang that didn't have functioning door locks and eventually ran on 3 of the 4 cylinders. I ended up trading it in for what I could afford at the time which was the 2007 V6 Mustang manual in Torch Red with 20" Boss rims. I was obsessed with that car until it experienced getting t-boned twice back to back years and back in May the suspension was effed. It would have been a relatively cheap fix (about $2k) and the car would have been like new again with less than 65k miles but I really wanted the new 2015 Mustang GT and I wasn't going to settle. Instead, I traded in the '07 and put a significant down payment and got my monthly payments to a comfortable amount. I am obsessed with this car!

(*NOT my car but a photo I found online of my first car.)

(Here she is! My Premium 2015 Mustang GT in Magnetic!)

(Here she is all cleaned up)

11:00 am - After finishing the car wash I had scored a free Grande iced beverage from Starbucks so I ordered a White Chocolate Americano and a bottle of water. 

12:00 pm - Received a link from my BeachBody coach for Week 1's meal plan and it took me about an hour to plan out the week and make my grocery list.

2:00 pm - Stopped in at Alamo Drafthouse to see the movie, Vacation. We ordered chips and salsa (his want but remember it's my weakness!) but we split it and they took it away before we were even finished with it. For my entree I ordered the Mexican Salad with Grilled Chicken added and it was amazing. It had mixed greens, avocado, jicama, cotija, tortilla strips, red onion, and a jalapeño lime vinaigrette. My new go to. By the way... you need to see this movie! I laughed the entire time. 

4:30 pm - After the movie we drove down the street to Whole Foods and did our weekly Sunday shopping trip. First trip I didn't add any extras to the cart. 

6:30 pm - We dropped the groceries off and loaded up the truck with five totes overflowing with my son's clothes and toys that he's outgrown and finally decluttered his room. It felt so good to see them out of his room. He has space for a desk now! I can't get over the fact that I'm going to have a second grader. 

7:30 pm - Checked the mailbox and received exciting news when I flipped through the Victoria Secret's Pink catalog and saw that their NFL collection is finally available. Right when I came home I placed an order for two jerseys, my team (Steelers!!) and the other a Cowboys jersey since we started a yearly tradition to wear them for my boss' birthday. 

8:30 pm - Took my "before" pics which I won't be posting until I feel proud of my results. They're cringe worthy. 

9:00 pm - Showered, threw on cozy clothes, and watched Bachelor in Paradise. Got a craving for that Mexican Salad from Alamo Drafthouse and instead brushed my teeth and drank water so I wouldn't binge eat. 

Movin' It... August Challenge (31 Days of Healthy Living)

August 1st, 2015 - Day 1 of the August Challenge

8:00 am - Woke up, took starting measurements (not pretty!), and started my day with a glass of water. Weighed in at 168.6 and 40.6% body fat... grossly unacceptable. That is the same weight I was when I delivered my son 7 years ago. Ugh!

8:30 am - Turning down donuts/kolaches from Shipley's was an easy decision for me. All of the sugar in them upsets my stomach and kolaches taste fattening. Watching my son eat his donuts that were given to him as a special treat did not bother me at all.

9:00 am - Hazelnut flavored coffee w/ 1 tbsp sugar free coffee creamer. Can't give up coffee but I did use a measuring spoon for the creamer which I haven't done in 4+ years.

10:00 am - Feeling anxious. Thoughts of this challenge, saying goodbye to my son for the week, relationships, and not eating breakfast all played a part in my anxiety.

10:30 am - Suja Essentials Organic Mango Magic... sugar levels back to normal, ready to start my day.

1:30 pm - Made plans to go for a bike ride and needed fuel before I left so I made a turkey wrap with a low carb whole wheat tortilla (only 50 calories!), 2 slices of Boar's Head Turkey Breast, handful of diced red onions, and 10 kalamata olive halves. Delicious and surprisingly not dry at all without mayo. 

2:00 pm - Threw on workout clothes and slathered on sunscreen to go for a bike ride around the neighborhood. I am so out of shape! My calves burned, chest was heavy, had terrible cotton mouth, my seat on the bike is uncomfortable which left my crotch feeling used and abused, and just the right handle dug into my hand. But!! It felt incredible to be outside, sun shining with a slight breeze (yes it's 97 degrees out), favorite playlist on, and the high of the outdoor workout lasted hours after the ride was over. Looking forward to going again tomorrow. 

(Did not realize that the GPS was turned off which sucks since I have no idea how far I went or how many calories burned but I lasted 24 minutes... pathetic, I know.)

2:30 pm - Earned that shower!

4:00 pm - Grabbed a snack before dinner. I've recently discovered these broccoli bites that I picked up from Whole Foods in every flavor they had. I like them more than kale chips. The ranch flavor are my favorite though... and yes, I eat the entire bag in one sitting. A bag has 1.5 servings for 225 calories... and yes, I realize that's about one hundred calories more than a snack should be but it's broccoli.

(Check out that ingredient list!)

5:30 pm - We ordered Chinese food for dinner. I really wanted sushi but it's not the best choice. Instead I ordered the steamed chicken and veggies with the sauce on the side and it came with brown rice. So bland. Would have rather had the Hunan Chicken but I was proud of myself for making a healthier choice.

7:30 pm - Part of taking care of myself requires that I do something for me. I chose to sit down with a cup of hot tea and a stack of magazines. I'm a couple months behind so I power flipped through them stopping only on articles that really interest me.