The Best Ever Fish Tacos.....

Are you ready for Cinco De Mayo? Have you figured out your menu to celebrate one of the best eating holidays around aside from Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, My Birthday, ummm....yeah, ok! Well, the recipe I made tonight was AWESOME and it comes just in time for you to make it for Cinco de Mayo!

Spicy Fish Tacos



Start off prepping your fish - place it in a shallow dish -

8 oz tilapia, or any boneless, skinless fish fillet (I buy the individually wrapped ones at Costco), thawed

1 lime cut in half, squeeze 1 half per side of the fish

Sprinkle the fish with the following on each side:
Paprika
Chili Powder
Sea Salt
Freshly Ground Pepper

Cover and marinate for 30 minutes in the fridge.

Take our a sheet of foil & spray it with non-stick cooking spray before you place the fish on it.



Wrap your fish up and place it on the outdoor BBQ that is preheated (to medium). Cook for ~ 8-10 minutes or until the fish is cooked through. Remove from the grill, let stand a few minutes and flake.



Prep your toppings while the fish cooks.

Wrap your corn tortillas (I used THESE (Green Chile) and they are my favorite of all time!!!)



Shredded Cabbage (I bought the pre-shredded ones at TJ's to save on time)



Make up your own Pico De Gallo or buy the premade version:
Diced up a tomato, yellow or red onion, jalepeno (seeds/stem removed) & cilantro



3-4 Tbsp Lowfat Monterey Jack, finely shredded (it goes further when it's fine)



1/2 avocado, diced, then, slighly smashed



You can add hot sauce or keep it on the side, but, here are all the toppings you will need to assemble your tacos (plus the grilled fish)



Next assemble the tacos by starting with the tortilla, then, the mashed avocado, fish, hot sauce if using, cheese, cabbage, pico de gallo.



With 1 slice of lime per taco and extra pico de gallo on the side, here is what you end up with.





Not to toot my own horn or anything, but, these were seriously the BEST FISH TACOS I have ever had (even better than any bought)! I LOVED the creaminess of the avocado with the spicy fish and hot sauce and the crunch of the cabbage and veggies. I am not sure if I tasted the cheese so much but I liked having it there.

I honestly think even the non-fish lover would LOVE these! These could fall into my sushi love category - they were THAT good! :)

This dinner went together fast with hardly any cleanup/dishes - bonus since The Husband isn't here to do them. :D LOL.....

The only thing missing was the Corona with Lime, right? Why doesn't the Jump Start Plan allocate alcohol......hmmmmm, I wonder :D

Just when I thought my dinner was amazing, I remembered there was part TWO! 1 cup of melon with a 1/4 cup of Vanilla Mango Swirled Fro-YO!!!!



Whoever thought of putting Frozen Yogurt on Melon is a genius!!! This completely tasted like a dessert with the ice cream being like whipped cream and the mango puree tasting like a fancy syrup poured over the melon. This is definitely a dessert to remember and repeat (only 2 POINTS for those counting!!)

Did I mention that I also cooked up one of The Husband's favorite dinners and took it to him? When we went to The Carribean to get married, he LOVED this place where you get a steak sandwich. So, tonight, I made him my own version complete with BBQ Pop Chips on the side, Sweetened Iced Tea and German Chocolate Cake for dessert. Here is how his sandwich looked before I wrapped it up to take it to him.



Yup ~ I was sorta drooling because I had not made my fabulous dinner above yet. He ate it in about 5 nminutes when I took it to him so I think that means it was good. I did steal a couple of his Pop Chips to be honest with you all. I told him he couldn't bring the bag back home :)

If you are in the area, I received this great email from going.com about ALL THE FUN THINGS TO DO IN SAN FRANCISCO this weekend. Click HERE to check it out or search going.com for the FUN THINGS to do this weekend in a city near you. It's a pretty cool site!

Phew! I think I am all caught up now and hopefully back in your good graces. I am absolutely thrilled that tomorrow is Friday and the weekend is almost here.

I am off to catch up on all the stuff I missed today, read a bit, but, more likely than not, crash out before I get to do either.

See you all in the morning!

The Circus is Back In Town!!!

Do you all remember Circus Cookies? I honestly have to say this was my absolute favorite cookie of ALL time in my childhood and even (yup, it's true) in my adulthood. I was truly saddened when my favorite cookies disappeared off the shelves last year.

Then, I heard it.....Kellogg's saves Mother's Cookies and guess what???? They are bringing them back just in time for Mother's Day - Wooohooo!!! They hit the shelves beginning May 4th so make sure you hit up your store early before they sell out!

Then, my life got even better....FoodBuzz asked me if I wanted to sample the Circus Cookies as part of the Taste Maker Program. Ummm.....ya, I didn't really have to give that one too much thought!!! When I walked in the door today, I had this super cool box



My true love ~ The Circus Cookies were waiting inside just for me with a letter confirming the Kellogg's rumor I heard ~ Yeah!!!



As you all can guess, these do not exactly fit into the 30 day Jump Start Plan for today....but, I promise you, I WILL be making a daily calorie alotment for these for sure!

Thanks FoodBuzz & Kellogg's ~ I LOVE you both!!!! (yes, it requires that many exclamations!!)

Stay tuned as I plan to dig in and make you drool with a review soon....You know you probably already are because you missed these little pink and white cookies just as much as me!

Mushroom Soup & Mock "Grilled" Cheese

Sorry all for neglecting you today and not coming back to post until now. My day has been nonstop and this is the first chance I've had to sit down to blog. I promise to make it up to you with LOTS of pictures and little words plus some fun stuff plus recipes ~ deal?

This morning I snacked on 1 cup of that crunchy sweet watermelon & cantaloupe The Husband cut up for us.



With 2 Lite String Cheese Sticks...I am not sure why the Jump Start has you eat two but I have no complaints on that one :)



I was honestly NOT looking forward to lunch too much - figured I'd go away hungry like yesterday. But, you know what - surprisingly this lunch was soooo filling and VERY tasty! I started off with a Laughing Cow Light Cheese Wedge (only 35 calories!) on a toasted slice of Ezekial Bread with a little freshly ground pepper ~ Yum! This was awesome for dipping in my soup too!



I made up a modified version of the Jump Start Mushroom Soup last night and I have to say this might be one of the easiest, yet, tastiest soups I've ever made. This recipe is VEGAN - yeah! I had a nice 1 3/4 cup serving with lunch.



The recipe only includes a few ingredients but they go so well together. It amazes me how slightly blending the mushrooms makes the soup creamy and thick. I'd definitely make this one again and each serving is ONLY 70 CALORIES!!!

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1-2 cloves minced garlic (optional)
12 oz white or brown mushrooms, cleand and slice (4 1/2 cups sliced if using shiitakes, discard the stems)
1 tsp chopped fresh oregano or 1/2 teaspoon dried
4 cups fat-free, low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
Sea Salt & Freshly Ground Pepper to taste

In a 3-quart sauce pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for about 5 minutes, or until it's soft but not browned. Add the mushrooms and oreganco and cook, stirring regularly, for about 2 minutes or longer, until the mushrooms soften. Carefully add the borht and bring to a boil. Immediatly reduce the heat to low, cover partially, and simmer for about 20 minutes.

Let the soup cool, then transfer it to a blender or food processor and blend or process until smooth. Return it to the saucepan and reheat before serving.

Makes 4, 1 1/2 cup servings

Per serving: 70 calories, 4 g protein, 6 g carbs, 4 g sugars, 4 g fat, 0 g sat fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 1 g fiber, 245 mg sodium

This lunch actually kept me going all afternoon. I snacked of a few of these Lundberg Pico De Gallo Black Bean Rice Chips to crunch my stress away. They were completely unnecessary but I traded my afternoon snack of a pear w/1 Tbsp of Raw Almonds to balance out the calories a little.



I came home today to some absolutely FUN mail....that is coming up next!

Oh, it's one of "Those" Days!

Do you ever have mornings like this?! I woke up at 5:30 when The Husband got home from work (yeah for only 1 more day of working nights!) a 1/2 hour before my alarm. I had planned on sleeping in a little til 6:00 since I was up working until 1130 last night - dooooh! No problem....my early start to my day turned into being early, then, late.

I got ready, packed up all my stuff, walked out the door and realized I forgot to feed our super cute cat that adopted us - so I quickly set my stuff down, fed the cat and left.



In the car I realize I forgot my Magic Bullet and need it for my smoothie.....drove back to the house, grabbed it, picked up my co-worker and headed into work (yeah for carpooling!) Get to work to make my smoothie and realize I forgot the top to my magic bullet - the important part needed to blend - AHHHH! Luckily my co-worker saved the day and let me use the kitchen blender - phew!

Good start, right.......Breakfast was awesome however, once, I did ACTUALLY get it made up. I started with a fabulous berry smoothie.



1 c ff milk
1/2 c ff greek yogurt
splash of pure vanilla extract
1/2 c frozen raspberries
handful of fresh blueberries

I was sooooo excited that the Jump Start Diet called for Almond Butter today - I have seriously been missing my nut butters! Is it possible to have nut butter withdrawals?! I had 1 Tbsp freshly ground organic almond butter from Whole Foods with 1 Tbsp of Organic Apricot Preserves on a Thomas Double Fiber English Muffin.



It was soooooo GOOD! I rounded everything out with some half caf and my Nathan Bottle of water! A total liquid breakfast.....



My quick summary recap for yesterday:

2,826 Calories Burned
12,880 Steps Taken
~ 1,460+/- Calories Consumed

Today is going to be a good day, today is going to be a good day.....this is my mantra today :)

It isgoing to be a super busy day, but, I am hoping to get out for a lunchtime stroll but not sure - may have to save my workouts for tonight.....catch you later today or tonight!

Happy Thursday All!!!

A Quick & Healthy Greek Salad

Tonight I have to do things in reverse home. I carpooled home with my co-worker - yeah for one step towards being better to Earth. I whipped up a quick dinner, then, I will finish up another project for work before working out. Then, read/relax......I am pretty tired tonight though so not sure how much reading/relaxing is going to happen.

This afternoon my snack was two more of the 80 calorie Pesto Pizzettas - so good, but, seriously a serving should be more than two!



Here is the Quick & Healthy Greek Salad I whipped today for my Jump Start dinner - I changed it up a bit to make it more how I like it.



4 oz grilled chicken (threw a breast on the grill with a little garlic salt & freshly ground pepper)
3 cups chopped organic romaine lettuce (the best lettuce ever!)
1 cup chopped english cucumber
1 c fabulous cherry tomatoes, halved
4 black olives, halved
2 Tbsp fat free feta (it's not as strong as the lowfat & full fat & I like that about it!)
1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1/2 a lemon)
1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

This was one tasty salad - I am not much of a Greek food fan, but, I found myself digging this salad. I got so much chewing pleasure out of it. :D





I also whipped up yet another soup while dinner was cooking for tomorrow - yeah! Can't wait to try it.

Tonight's workout is back to 10 minutes of stretching & body weight exercises. I am definitely looking forward to it.

*Shoulder Rolls
* Side Bend
* Lower-Back Mobility
* Dynamic Lateral Lunge Stretch
* Torso Rotation

My Fun Blog news is that I am now featured on the Blog Top List too! You can click the link on the right to "Vote for Me!" by going under the "Check my Blog out on...." spot or by clicking HERE. Yeah!

Have a great night all!

I won A Furochic!!!!

Woohooo ~ I won another contest!!! I seriously need to play the lotto this week for sure! I am soooo excited in case you couldn't tell. You can check out what I won by clicking HERE. Thanks so much La Fuji Mama - I can't wait to get my Furochic and I will definitely take pictures to show it off! I can't wait to use my new furochic wrap & be greener!!!

I just got back from an amazing 4 mile chatting walk with my co-worker. I LOVE how time flies when you don't stop talking the whole way. Poor her - I had some caffeine today so I am sure she was just trying to keep up with my words.

I have to say my lunch was not too exciting today. I started off with another 1 cup serving of the Spicy Tomato Soup.

As promised, here is the recipe for this soup with the changes I made. I do have to say if you LOVE tomato soup, you should check out my favorite version that I made by clicking HERE. It's awesome in the summertime with fresh produce.

Spicy Tomato Soup
Source: Biggest Loser 30-day Jump Start Diet

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
½ cup chopped shallots or 1 cup chopped white onion
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons mustard powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander (I omitted this and used TJ’s 21 Season Salute)
28 oz chopped fresh plum tomatoes or 1 can (28 oz) plum tomatoes roughly chopped
2 tablespoons low-sodium tomato paste
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 cups fat-free or 1 % milk
1 cup fat-free, low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup cooked lentils (I bought the precooked ones form TJ’s)
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro without stems
Salt & Pepper to Taste

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a heavy 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat lentils it’s hot but not smoking. Add the shallots and cook for about 3 minutes or just until they’re softened but not browned. Add the cumin, mustard powder, coriander and cook for 1 minute or until fragrant.

Carefully add the tomatoes, tomato paste and garlic. Simmer for 4 minutes, or until the tomatoes are softened. Add the milk and the broth, simmer, stirring occasionally for about 4 minutes.

Carefully transfer the mixture in batches to a food processor or blender and process or blend until smooth. Return the mixture to the saucepan and add the cooked lentils, stirring to incorporate them. Heat the soup through and stir in the cilantro. Season to taste with salt and ground black pepper.

Makes 4, 1 ¾ cup servings or 7, 1 cup servings

Per 1 ¾ c serving:

230 calories, 13 g protein, 33 g carbs, 15 g sugars, 6 gat fat, 2 g saturated fat, 5 mg cholesterol, 8 g fiber, 210 mg sodium

On the side I had 1/2 a simple 2 oz turkey sandwich turkey sandwich with spicy mustard on 1 slice of Ezekial Bread.

Sadly ~ That's all the Jump Start Diet gave me today for lunch and my stomach is still grumbling. My afternoon snack while it is yummie I have a feeling is not going to make the grumbling go away. Must......focus.......on.......work......

Here is a cool article that I saw this morning on FatFighterTV - Can you believe how the portions have changed over the past 20 years? Click HERE to Check out portion distortion -

And what day wouldn't be complete without a GIVEAWAY ALERT!!! Be sure to sign up for this "spicy" giveaway at BlueSkyWorld by clicking HERE.


Stay tuned tonight for a fabulous Salad and workout #2!

Cheesy BK Quesadilla & a 31 cent special tonight!

Happy Hump Day all!! Wasn't The Biggest Loser awesome last night?! I have two favorite parts ~ the train the trainers had me totally LMAO and then, I absolutely loved how they showed the contestants the way they were doing the first workouts to now. It totally shows you that even when you start doing push-ups and feel like you can't, if you keep at it, you will get there. I LOVE the twist they threw in next week where America gets to pick who goes to the finale!
Love that show!

Ok, onto breakfast. I have decided today that every breakfast should seriously start with an amazing cheesy, spicy quesadilla like this.



3 Tbsp lowfat monterey jack cheese
1 fabulous handmade chile lime corn tortilla
a sprinkle of crush red pepper flakes

On the side I had an Egg/Egg White Scramble



1 egg
2 egg whites
sea salt
freshly ground red pepper
a few dashes of spicy Tapatio ( my favorite hot sauce!)

To the eggs, I was supposed to add 1/3 cup of salsa but this morning I wasn't feeling the salsa. I brought it to work with me and I still had not changed my mind...so I guess I saved myself about 10 calories LOL.

I also had 1 cup of the super sweet Watermelon & Cantaloupe that The Husband cut up for us. I LOVE melons and could totally sustain on them, I think :D



All together with the TJ's Garlic Chipotle Salsa that I didn't use, 1/2 calf coffee and my fun new Nathan LOVE bottle :)



Sorry for the bummer pictures today ~ I think my camera is tired like me! :D

I am super excited to report an awesome recap for yesterday:

2,998 calories burned (wish I knew I was so close, would've worked for 2 more to get to 3K)
15,093 steps taken - yahoo!
1,460+ calories consumed - this was my total before my BLT's hmmmmm....

TODAYS FUN NEWS:

Have you ever wondered what it takes to burn off two slices of pizza? Here is a super cool article that gives you a nice summary ~ click HERE to find out if it's worth it or not.

I am sharing this next one so I can live vicariously through you all. Tonight from 5-10 PM Baskin Robbins has 31 CENTS A SCOOP!!! Now, if I wasn't doing the whole Jump Start thing, I'd be all over that - so go out and get your super cheap ice cream today!!! So jealous.....

Today I am heading out for another fantastic walk/gossip session at lunch and I'll make sure to post that Spicy Tomato Soup recipe you all want by then (hopefully!)

Catch ya on the flip side!

Attack of the Snacks...

This afternoon I was completely fighting some sweet cravings and I swear I heard the lovely M&M Gumball Machine Call my name. I couldn't ignore it, I mean, that would be rude, right? lol....So, I caved, pushed the handle and ended up with this.



Woohoo! It's my lucky day - jackpot! Not really, but, I thought it would hold me over and I wouldn't need a snack. That worked until my stomach started growling at 4 PM. I decided to have my original snack (1 c FF Greek Yogurt with 1/2 c strawberries) & sweetened it up a bit with a little Sweet Cactus VEGAN Agave Syrup.



The Sweet Cactus Agave Nectar is my absolute favorite brand. A little goes a long way - I added a 1 teaspoon drizzle to my greek yogurt & it made it makes it sweet like froyo! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it and this is the ONLY brand that is 15 calories per teaspoon - all others have more!





When I got home, I made up my dinner & cooked/packed up a dinner to take to The Husband. While bagging up some of his treats to go with his chicken, watermelon & green beans....



A few fell on my napkin that I couldn't turn down eating! They were both really tasty & I could easily see eating way more than a serving - danger, danger....must get The Husband to eat them ASAP :)



Here is the plate 'o' grilled chicken I made up for him. He LOVES chicken drumsticks and they are the perfect thing to pack up.



Tonight, I broke out a new for me product and bought the Trader Joe's Cajun Salmon.



Like I said last night, I am not a huge fan of cooked fish - give me raw sushi anyday!!! But, in an effort to stick to the Jump Start eats, I took one for the team and thew 6 oz on the grill for me to eat.



I really liked the spicy cajun flavor, but, to me, Salmon is super fishy and super oily when cooked. I did manage to eat most of this and shared some with the cat that adopted us. She LOVED it and it made me wish I could love it like her since the health benefits rock for salmon.

I also made up the Jump Start Ranch Style "Spagetti" Marinara. You can get the recipe by clicking HERE and scrolling down to the recipe. I used butternut squash because I thought that was spagetti squash. However, mine didn't quite turn into spagetti. It was tasty though and I would definitely try to make this again.



I had some fabulous, crunchy, freshly steamed sweet green beans topped with 1 Tbsp of slivered almonds.



All together with my Perrier Fizzy Water.



After dinner, I whipped out workout #2 - Strength & Stretching from the Jump Start.

I used my 5 lb Cow Bells with each exercise:

15 Squats
15 Rear Lunges, each leg
15 Side Lunges, each leg
15 Romanian Deadlifts
15 Plie Squats

Static Stretching - hip flexor, hamstrings, claf glute & innter thighs - Stretching is my favorite part each day!

For dessert, I decided to break out one of the new teas from my "tea swap", Yogi Stress Relief tea. Sorry Cryssy, but, I thought this tea was really awful lol.....It had a bit too many spices for me but it is nice to be able to try it without buying it.



A couple of Righteous Round Mini Chocolate Chip cookies might have gone unphotographed too along with a small bite of dark chocolate. I do not know what is up with my BLT's (bites, licks, tastes) today, but, I am definitely making the commitment to have NO BLT's tomorrow!

Anyone want to join in on the fun?

I am off to enjoy the rest of The Biggest Loser!!! Go Blue, Go Pink, Go Green - go anything BUT brown :D lol....see you all in the morning!

A Jump Start lunch worth repeating....

Isn't it amazing how much faster walking and running go when you are chatting it up with a friend? We walked for an hour today and time completely flew by. I LOVE days like that! I was definitely ready for lunch when we got back.

Last night I made up this fabulous Jump Start Spicy Tomato & Lentil Soup. It cooks up in under 20 minutes but tastes amazing with all the spices in it. I had a 1 cup (230 cal, 6 g fat, 6 g fiber) serving. I really liked the chunkiness and protein (13 g per serving) that the lentils added to the soup. (Sorry I couldn't find the recipe online for this one, but, if you want it, let me know). This is a fabulous VEGETARIAN dish. You could sub soy milk and it would be VEGAN.



I also grilled up another TJ's Chile Lime Chicken Burger ~ These are my favorite premade burgers of all time. Instead of stuffing it in my pita, I put all the toppings on top of a bed of spinach!



With 1/2 a whole wheat pita on the side - perfect for soup dipping!



This really was a fabulous lunch - very filling yet light at the same time. I will definitely be freezing up some of this soup in single servings for later.

I can't wait for TONIGHT!!! It's the FINAL Biggest Loser Show before the finale. I can't wait to see who the final 4 are, but, I can bet you I am not voting for any brown.

For those of you who watch The Biggest Loser - Who do you hope wins? Have you picked a favorite yet?