Four Ingredient Energy Bites

These are so easy and so good! They will satisfy your sweet tooth and are all natural. I actually hid them from my family so that they wouldn't eat them all. Shhhh!!!!

1 cup oats
1/4 cup natural peanut butter
3 TBS honey
2 TBS dark chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients together. Put in the refrigerator for at least one hour. Roll into bite size balls. Keep refrigerated. Enjoy!

Stuffed Peppers with Brown Rice and Turkey

I had never made these before and although they were slightly time consuming, they were so worth it! The recipe actually makes enough to stuff five peppers, but I really didn't mind having leftover "stuffing" to eat on the side for another meal...

1 cup long-grain brown rice
4 large bell peppers (I prefer the red), bottoms trimmed, caps cut off and seeds removed
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 TBS coconut oil
1 lb ground turkey
2 medium sized fresh tomatoes, diced (I used 4 Roma tomatoes)
2-3 tsp dried basi
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
pepper to taste

Cook brown rice according to package directions. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut the top of each bell pepper and remove the seeds and whites. Trim bottom of bell peppers so they have a little flat surface to stand up on. Place cleaned out peppers in a baking dish lined with parchment paper. Heat coconut oil in a large skillet. Add onion and garlic, and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the ground turkey to the same skillet and brown. Add the tomatoes, spices and pepper. Mix well and cook for an additional 4-5 minutes to blend. Add the cooked rice to the turkey mixture and blend together. Stuff the mixture into the cleaned out peppers so that it's packed tightly into the pepper shell. Bake the peppers for 30 minutes. Enjoy!

Balsamic Vinegar

I absolutely LOVE balsamic vinegar! It is made from grapes and aged in wood barrels, and it has a great flavor. You don't need much to get a flavor boost...a little goes a long way!

I use it on all kinds of things....as a dressing for salads with a little olive oil; tossed with grape tomatoes, cucumbers and avocado for a quick lunch; even on a burger for a little kick. It can really help to change things up if you are feeling like something lacks flavor.

There are a lot of health reasons to include balsamic vinegar in your diet. First, it is very low in calories. You don't need much for a flavor boost and it is lower in calories than oil, etc. Second, it reduces hardening of the arteries and as a result, it is believed that it normalizes blood pressure. Third, it keeps your cholesterol levels in check. Fourth, it keeps your blood glucose levels steady...it is low on the glycemic index. This means that it is better for you than refined sugars. Plain and simple, balsamic vinegar is a "clean" food!

All of this is great, but overall I use it simply because I love the flavor that it adds to my food. It is probably my favorite of all vinegars...a perfect 10 of all vinegars!

Cranberry Salad

This is a tradition every year at the holidays at our house. It is sweet and tart at the same time....and the bonus is that even my picky hubby will eat it!

1 cup pineapple
12 ounce bag of cranberries, chopped
2 apples, diced
3/4 cup stevia (the original recipe called for sugar, but I substitute stevia...you could use another natural sweetener)
2 bananas, sliced

Mix the pineapple, cranberries, apples, and stevia. Right before serving, add in the banana. enjoy!

Cranberry Salsa

I was looking for a fun holiday recipe...something that would make a nice snack or appetizer. This is perfect...sweet, tart, and with a little kick. I didn't add all of the green onions or cilantro, but you can adjust it according to your taste. I would also suggest putting the green onions and cilantro on the bottom of the food processor bowl. I didn't and I had to process mine longer than I would have liked to get the green onion and cilantro processed as well as the cranberries. No matter...it still tasted great!

1 12 ounce bag cranberries
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 bunch green onions, cut into 3 inch lengths
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
2 limes, juiced
3/4 cup stevia (you could try using another natural sweetener too)
1 pinch salt

Combine cranberries, cilantro, green onions, jalapeño pepper, lime juice, stevia, and salt in the bowl of the food processor fitted with a medium blade. Chop to medium consistency. Refrigerate if not using immediately. Serve at room temperature.

Holiday Tips and Tricks

Staying on tack during the holidays can be TOUGH! There is so much temptation....party food and appetizers, delectable desserts, etc. It is a time of year for a lot of traditions, and in my family that includes a lot of foods that we don't normally have the rest of the year. A lot of our socializing centers around food...ever notice that? For me, that means that I have to focus on using a few "tricks" to keep myself on track.

1. Get your water in. No matter what, make sure that you are drinking all of your water. This will help to keep you full when that food is tempting you. I have my own special water cup that I keep with me at all times. It's a good habit to be in all year, not just the holidays!

2. Stay active. Get your workout in. Try to do it first thing in the morning so that the day doesn't get away from you. Our days tend to get busy during the holidays and the last thing that you should be skipping is taking care of yourself. You will get those endorphins going first thing in the morning and rev up your metabolism for the day...all good things! (I also find ways to get "extra" in like parking farther away in the parking lot while I am Christmas shopping so that I have to walk a little farther!)
Make it a family activity!

3. Watch your portion size. So often during the holidays we let our portion sizes get out of whack! Really focus...do you need that extra helping? Will a taste of that pie suffice? How much do you REALLY need?

4. Lighten up your food! So many of the dishes we serve during the holidays are so high in calories. Try using healthy substitutes. For example, use stevia or honey instead of processed white sugar. Try steaming vegetables and tossing them with a little coconut oil to make them a little healthier. Use low fat yogurt instead of sour cream in your mashed potatoes. Cut back on the oil and butter where you can. The most important thing is to be conscious of what you are using in your recipes.

5. Make sure you have healthy options. I always make sure that I have a baked sweet potato on the side for myself and that there is a dish of steamed vegetables. If there are healthy alternatives available, it is a lot easier to make better choices.

6. Don't skip breakfast! It is not going to save you any calories. In fact, it will probably make you overindulge later. Keep your metabolism revved up all day long by not skipping any meals...and have some small snacks too to keep yourself on track!

7. Eat slowly. We tend to gorge ourselves at holiday meals. Take your time and savor each bite. Give your body a chance to tell you it's full. I like to force myself to wait five minutes before taking a second serving. Usually I find that I really am not hungry for more. Leftovers are always better the next day so there is no reason to try to pack it all in at once!

8. Go easy on alcoholic drinks. These can pack on the pounds pretty quickly. Be aware and don't overindulge.

Mexican Quinoa

This is one of my new favorite dishes.  It has a nice little kick from the jalapeño and a great tang from the lime juice...a GREAT combination!

1 TBS olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeño, minced
1 cup quinoa
1 cup vegetable broth
1 15 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (14.5) can fire roasted diced tomatoes (I didn't have these so I added chopped red pepper and a little water)
1 cup corn kernels
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 avocado, halved and diced
juice of 1 lime
2 TBS chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Heat oil in skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic and jalapeño. Cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Stir in quinoa, vegetable broth, beans, tomatoes, corn, chili powder and cumin. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer until quinoa is cooked through, about 20 minutes. Stir in avocado, lime juice and cilantro.
Enjoy!

*This lends itself well to "doctoring." For instance, I substituted chopped red pepper and a little water for the tomatoes since I didn't have any. I also used only half of an avocado since that was all I had on hand. Despite both of these things, it was still GREAT!