Easy Take to Work Healthy Lunches: Part 1

It's hard to eat well when you're working full time. Most people go out to lunch, spending too much money and consuming too many calories and processed foods.You can easily buy food in advance, make your lunches at home, save money and feel better about yourself. Here's one of my regular lunches:

• Organic Applegate Herb Roasted Turkey Breast (or any of the other flavors they have).
• Trader Joe's Multi-grain sandwich round thins.
• Roasted Garlic Hummus (or any flavor you like).
• Raw Baby Spinach.
• French Green Lentils - pre-cooked from Trader Joe's.

Make two sandwiches with the hummus as a spread. Use one slice of turkey per sandwich and place some spinach on top to finish the sandwiches. Get a small tupperware and put about 3/4 cup of lentils in it.

A nice nutritious lunch for one! All of these items have a very good price at Trader Joe's - you'll find other chain stores will double the price of the Organic Turkey Breast.

For the rest of the day I'll take two other snacks, one mid morning and one mid afternoon. This usually consists of a raw almond and raw walnut mixture, around 3/4 cup, and a greek yogurt like Fage Total Greek Yogurt 2% or 0%.

Healthy Eats: Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Red Onions

This is one of my favorite side dishes lately and I can't get enough of it! Healthy and easy to prepare, you can pair this up with just about anything and have a nice meal ready in about 40 minutes.

What you need:

• 2 large sweet potatoes
• 1 large red onion
• 2-3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• Cracked salt and pepper for seasoning.

What to do:

1.  Preheat your oven to 350°F.Grab a deep roasting tray and line, reflective side down, with baking foil. 
2.  While the oven is heating up peel your potatoes, cut them in half horizontally, then vertically and then cut those quarters in  half. You should have a nice batch of chunks!
3. Take your red onion and cut it into nice thick chunks.
4. Place the potatoes and onion in the roasting tray and drizzle with the olive oil. Crack salt and pepper to your liking over the top.
5. The oven should be ready now so put everything in there for 35-40 minutes. 

Serves 2 large portions or 4 small.

You can mix things up a bit and add garlic or any other flavor enhancers but honestly it's good enough as is!

Berry Mango Breakfast Smoothie

To make this smoothie you’ll need a blender of course!  You can find all of these ingredients at any local grocery store. It makes enough for two adults. You can use fresh ingredients if you like however frozen ingredients are just as good and they have no prep-time. These are great for people on the go and can be an excellent way to have breakfast on a day you’re pressed for time.

Ingredients

• 1 cup of non-fat yogurt (preferably strawberry flavor)
• Half a cup of skim milk
• 2 slices of frozen Mango halves (can be found at Trader Joes, fresh Mango can be substituted)
• 1 cup strawberries (frozen if you like)
• 1 cup blueberries (frozen if you like) 4 ice cubes

Directions

1. Pour the milk into the blender with the strawberries and blueberries. Blend for about two minutes.
2. Add the yogurt blend for one minute.
3. Add the mango and ice. Blend for two minutes and then blend at liquefy speed for one additional minute or until desired consistency is achieved.
4. Serve immediately and drink with a straw.

Blueberries: Why they are good for you 

Studies show that Blueberries have many health benefits. They are high in antioxidants and possibly play a role in reducing the risks of some diseases, including heart disease and certain cancers. They contain good amounts of Vitamin C, Vitamin K and Manganese. Manganese helps keeps your bones strong and healthy as well as helps to maintain blood sugar levels, maintains nerve health and helps the body utilize key nutrients such as biotin, choline, thiamin and ascorbic acid.

Old habits die hard

What is it about a rest day that makes you feel like you're cheating your workout schedule? Even if it's well-deserved, I feel really bad about myself when I have to lay off for my body to keep up.

This after noon I woke up with a full intention of getting my lifting in. I was dressed, had my water bottles together, and made it out the door to find the temperature around 50 degrees and rain that was coming in sideways. I made it about 10 steps before the reasons for staying home started entering my mind. The gym is going to be packed, it's too nasty to be out and about, I haven't had a rest in 5 days, and so on. Before I got to the car I turned around and went back in to catch up on my DVR list. I know if I could have made it inside the car, I definitely would have worked out today. I need to force myself to get there next time.

However, the rest was deserved, after my 5 mile run yesterday my knee was feeling a bit weak and my calves were sore. And I did get to see a pretty incredible episode of "Life" that I had saved my a week or so. Also, I got my "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" fix in for the week. Memo to all: if you aren't watching that show, which is on Starz as well as streamed on Netflix, you are missing the best show on television. I started watching it thinking it would be a lame ripoff of 300, and the first couple of episodes definitely seemed that I was correct, but it really picks up. Great action, even though some parts are full of the kitschy 300-like blood effects and slow motion, and the plot-lines are superb. You really should check it out.

To close out today, I thought I'd post a great dinner idea that I will be making for dinner tonight. I bought some wooden skewers and plan to make kabobs, which should be low-fat and healthy, served with roasted vegetable of some sort.

Soak the skewers in water for 1 hour. Mix together various herbs. I choose oregano, sea salt, pepper, and thyme. Drizzle the breast with 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tsp Worcester sauce and sift the herbs on top of the meat and let sit for 30 minutes.

Cut up 1 large chicken breast, or 2 if you are feeding multiple people, into 2 ounce chunks. Cut up 1 green or red pepper into smaller wedge chunks and set aside. Cut up one small yellow or vidalia onion in similar fashion and set aside. You can add any vegetable or fruit that you choose, I generally choose a russet potato and pineapple, but feel free to experiment.

Put the ingredients on the skewer in alternating fashion. Make sure the ends are vegetable, so the chicken doesn't slide off. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes then flip over the skewers and cook for about 5-10 more minutes, until chicken is fully cooked and vegetables look well roasted.

Serve with either rice or couscous and a roasted vegetable. I usually cook the couscous in chicken broth and roast asparagus or Brussels sprouts to go with this dish. Send me a message if you would like to know how to roast Brussels sprouts correctly until they are crispy and sweet. Seriously, best vegetable ever.

Anyhow, guess that's it for now. I'll be running about 3-4 miles on the boardwalk this morning as soon as I get off work, so absolutely no chance of dodging my workout. Talk at you later.