This week I was asked to guest post on a friends website. These ladies created Coast to Coast Challenge, an organization that focuses on helping women feel beautiful and feel confident. The ladies at Coast to Coast Central have recently initiated fitness challenges through their organization, and I feel honored that they asked me to write about how being healthy can go from temporary to permanent.
Today I want to share the blog I wrote for these ladies. I hope you enjoy.

6 TIPS TO STAY HEALTHY EVERY DAY

My name is Nicole Covarelli. I am a wife, elementary school teacher, and self-taught health enthusiast. Let me give you a little background on how I got started down the healthy lifestyle road because I have not always been fit and healthy.

From spring of 2010 to fall of 2011, I went from close to 200 pounds down to 150 pounds (yes, it took 18 months to lose all the weight I wanted), and at 5’ 9”, I am proud to still weigh 150 pounds.

How did I do it? I became an avid exerciser and began counting calories, which turned into a passion for reading about health and consuming foods that my body needs and loves. I have fallen in love with being healthy every day and hope you will too.

Today I want to share 6 tips that I live by every single day. These tips will help you live a healthy lifestyle and stay fit while still allowing you to eat foods you love and enjoy your life.

How do you make healthy living permanent?

1. Think forever- the word “diet” is not in your vocabulary.
   The moment you tell yourself that you are on a “diet,” you have just told yourself this is not permanent. Thinking short term leads to more extreme eating habits that are not sustainable. Don’t eat healthy foods that make you gag. Who wants to gag when they eat? Find healthy foods you love and eat those often.

2. Find your “niche” in healthy living.
   While some people only eat organic, others are vegetarian or vegan. We all have our “thing” when it comes to staying healthy. My thing is being an avid calorie counter because it helps me keep my food intake in perspective.
   Find what works for you and stick to it. It’s okay if your “niche” is different than your friend’s.

3. Make time to exercise- it won’t just happen.
   If you don’t make time in your day to exercise, it won’t happen. It just won’t. Pick the days each week you will exercise and stick to it! People often ask when the best time of day is to exercise. Guess what… it’s the time YOU DO IT. And you should do it 4-5 times a week.
   Exercise hard. I mean really hard. Your body will reflect the amount of effort you invest in it.

4. Find a few healthy recipes you love and cook them often.
   When you become confident cooking healthy recipes, you will cook them again and again. Don’t stress about a huge variety of healthy meals. Find a few you love and cook them. In my house, my husband and I regularly eat homemade pizza, black bean burgers, pan seared fish, and sweet potato chips. (All of these recipes are on my blog). Find recipes you love and cook them!

5. Measure the crap out of your food.
   If you have never used measuring cups when serving yourself food, you are doing your body a major disservice. You have to learn to recognize portions, and the easiest way to do this is to actually measure. When the serving size is ½ cup, get out your ½ cup measurement.
   You will find a serving size of ice cream or cereal is much smaller than you were pretending it was. Measure and measure and measure some more!

6. Splurge at one meal each week.
   When I say splurge, I mean it. ONCE a week at ONE meal, eat the food you want. Make the food worth it so that you feel satisfied after your splurge meal. If you love pizza, eat pizza. If you love ice cream, eat that too. When you only blow it one meal during the entire week, your body gets rid of what it doesn’t need rather than storing it.
   Pick the meal you will splurge on during the week, and it gives you something to look forward to all week, a glorious prize for all of your hard work!

In closing, a few tips and encouragement:

Health should be in moderation but consistent.
Don’t be too extreme. It’s not sustainable.
Don’t look to other individuals to tell you how you should look. We are all different.
Don’t let fear of failure keep you from trying. Not trying is failure.
You are beautiful. Start with believing that and the rest will fall into place.

Sweet, Savory, Delicious.

Today’s recipe is baked black beans. These black beans mimic a traditional baked bean that you would eat with BBQ, but I find these to be much tastier! The prep time for these is around 30 minutes and then they cook for about 45 minutes more- the time spent on these is well worth it! So worth it in fact, my family eats this recipe often.

BAKED BLACK BEANS

Ingredients

1 TBLSP olive oil
1/2 pound turkey bacon, chopped
1/2 yellow onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced (2 tsp)
2 medium jalapenos, seeded and chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup reduced-sodium beef broth
1/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 cup ketchup
3 TBSLP honey
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 TBSLP apple cider vinegar
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 15 oz cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray an 8 inch by 8 inch pan with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add bacon, onion, garlic, jalapenos, and salt. Cook 7 to 8 minutes until vegetables start to soften and bacon crisps.

3. Reduce heat to low and add the beef broth, brown sugar, honey, Dijon mustard, ketchup, cider vinegar, and black pepper. Stir until well combined. Add the beans and stir to coat.

4. Transfer the beans to the 8 inch by 8 inch pan. Bake uncovered for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the beans are hot and a dark crust begins to form on the top.

5. Sprinkle the cilantro over the top. Serve and enjoy!

This recipe is a great side dish during the summer or winter, rain or shine! I encourage you to try new recipes with the changing seasons- it keeps your palette fresh and your stomach happy!

I often blog about what to eat, what not to eat, what exercises to do, and how to cook. Today’s blog is about the dirtiest spots in the average kitchen. I almost didn’t share this article, but then I thought to myself “we use our kitchen to support our healthy lifestyle… why not!?” After reading this article, I bet you will be heading to your kitchen to do some cleaning in some spots you never really thought about cleaning…

I found this article on Organic Authority’s website, which I highly recommend for all types of health related information. You can find the original article HERE.

THE DIRTIEST PLACES IN YOUR KITCHEN

1. Vegetable Compartment in the Refrigerator
Because of all the veggies that visit this compartment weekly, this compartment was found to contain listeria and salmonella. Be sure to wash this compartment with soap and water monthly. Organic Authority also recommends storing your veggies above your raw meats.

2. Meat Compartment in the Refrigerator
Once again, this compartment is likely to house bacterias! Be sure to clean this container monthly, at minimum.

3. Blender Gasket
This is the rubber part of the blender at the bottom where it seals the blender. This study found yeast, mold, E. coli, and salmonella. Gross! To avoid these awful germs, authorities recommend disassembling your entire blender before cleaning to clean the hard to reach places.

4. Can opener
I have to be honest, I don’t know the last time I cleaned my can opener. Because this is used to open foods off all shapes and sizes, this utensil should be rinsed with soapy water every time you use it!

5. Rubber spatula
If your spatula can disassemble into handle and spatula, watch out! Be sure to take apart your spatula each time you use it to be sure it is entirely clean. If cleaned improperly, this too can house yeast, mold, and E. coli.

6. Water Dispenser in the Refrigerator
Because of the amount of moisture constantly living in this compartment, mold grows all to easily. It is recommend that you clean your dispenser by running a water and vinegar solution through the dispenser, a “how to” you can find in your refrigerator manual.

7. Ice Dispenser in the Refrigerator
This too is moist and an easy place for mold to grow. To clean this compartment, turn off the ice, pull out the ice container and clean with hot soapy water, and allow it to dry completely before putting it back in the freezer.

8. Knife Block
If you do not wash and DRY your knives properly, your knife block can grow some nasty mold in the tiny slots. Be sure to clean knives in hot water and allow them to dry standing up and dry completely before putting them back in the knife block. You can also clean the knife block by cleansing with hot soapy water and letting it dry upside completely.

9. Rubber Seals on Food Storage Containers
We probably all have wonderful storage containers that have a rubber seal or some difficult groove to reach at the top of the container. Be sure to clean these containers completely and dry them before putting away!

After reading this article, I am thankful I clean my kitchen as often as I do. When you use your kitchen as often as most of us do, you want to be sure you are cleaning food and containers properly so that the healthy food you are consuming does not contain unwanted germs and dangerous bacterias.

Sweet potatoes and more sweet potatoes!

This delicious orange food contains fiber and so many wonderful nutrients. I recommend eating them as often as you can, as many ways as you can think to cook them. One sweet potato has around 120 calories and 4 grams of fiber.

This recipe is from All Recipes. The ingredients, directions, and picture below are all courtesy of All Recipes. You can find the original recipe HERE!

SWEET AND SPICY SWEET POTATOES

Ingredients

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
3 TBLSP olive oil
2 tsp packed brown sugar
1 1/2 TBSLP paprika
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 pinch cayenne pepper

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Place the sweet potato chunks into a large mixing bowl. Drizzle with the olive oil, then sprinkle the brown sugar, paprika, black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, poultry seasoning, chili powder, and cayenne pepper overtop. Toss until the potatoes are evenly coated with the seasoning. Spread onto a baking sheet.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, then turn the potatoes over with a spatula, and continue baking until the sweet potatoes are golden and tender, 10 to 15 minutes more.

Honestly, savory sweet potatoes my be my favorite way to eat sweet potatoes.
This recipe is sweet, savory, and oh so good.

One of my favorite magazines is Rachel Ray’s Magazine. She always has great recipes and party hosting tips, not to mention great information about food.

This recipe is from the March issue of Rachel Ray’s Magazine, and it is fantastic!

TEX MEX SLOPPY JOES
Servings: 4

Ingredients

4 slices bacon, chopped
1 lb ground beef, seasoned with salt and pepper
1 onion, chopped
1-2 jalapeno peppers
1 TBLSP garlic, chopped
1 TBLSP chili powder
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp coriander
1 cup beer (you can buy non-alcoholic beer if you prefer not to cook with alcohol)
1 cup tomato sauce
1 TBLSP brown sugar
2 TBLSP worcestershire sauce
1 TBSLP cider vinegar
1 TSBLP hot sauce

4 hamburger buns

Directions

1. In a large skillet, drizzle olive oil over medium-high heat. Add bacon and cook until crisp. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a paper towel to drain.

2. Add the ground beef to the skillet and cook until browned. Season beef with salt and pepper. Return the cooked bacon to the pan and add the onion, chiles, garlic, chili powder, cumin, and coriander.
Cook stirring, until the onion is softened, about 5 minutes.

3. In a medium bowl, stir together beer, tomato sauce, brown sugar, worcestershire, vinegar, and hot sauce. Pour the mixture over the meat. Lower the heat and let mixture simmer for 5-10 minutes or until ready to serve.

This recipe is excellent eaten even without a bun if you are looking to cut calories there. I highly recommend this delicious and healthy version of sloppy joes!

This weekend was a new recipe experiment. I thought to myself “what is in my pantry that I can make into dinner?” And when I found chickpeas and quinoa I quickly searched for a yummy vegetarian burger recipe. Much to my delight, I found this one, tried it, and it is delicious!

I found this recipe on the Ambitious Kitchen’s blog. A big thanks to this writer for sharing her adventures so I can now share them with you. You can find a link to the Ambitious Kitchen’s blog, the complete recipe, and step by step photos HERE. I did not list it here, but this blogger also has a spicy yogurt sauce for her burgers.

QUINOA CHICKPEA SWEET POTATO BURGERS

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced small
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 medium to large sweet potato
• 1 -15 oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley
• 2 1/2 cups cooked quinoa
• 1 egg
• Buns and veggies to garnish

Directions

1. Cook quinoa by following directions. 2 1/2 cups cooked quinoa is 1 1/4 cups dry. While cooking quinoa, microwave the sweet potato 3-4 minutes until soft and easily mashed.

2. Dice the onion into small pieces and saute with minced garlic in light olive oil until onions are soft and translucent.

3. Combine chickpeas, onion saute, sweet potato, salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, cumin, cilantro and parsley in the food processor. Pulse until chunky and taste. Add seasonings as desire. Then add 1 egg to soften the mixture. Pulse ingredients until slightly chunky but smooth overall.

4. Combine above mixture with quinoa in a large bowl. Stir together to make one homeogenous mixture. Divide mixture into patties, about 8 or 9 total.

5. Heat olive oil in skillet over medium high heat. Cook burgers 4-5 minutes per side, keeping the heat at medium so they cook through without over cooking on the outside.

Nutrition

If you make 9 burgers, 1 patty only has 165 calories and is loaded with protein and fiber.

Enjoy!

I used to eat pre-packaged meat for quick protein in the mornings as a snack. Not only is this expensive when eating lunchmeat every day, but the preservatives in packaged lunch meats are not good for you.

As money was spent and I was tired of eating pre-packaged unhealthy meats, I looked for an easy recipe to cook a whole chicken. A few weeks ago, I had never cooked a whole bird. I found this recipe and have cooked it multiple times since then! Buying a whole chicken is around $1 a pound. Purchasing whole chickens to cook will save the Covarellis about $20 a month in meat! Winning!

This recipe was found on 100 Day of Real Food. You can find the link HERE.

WHOLE CHICKEN IN THE CROCK POT

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne (red) pepper
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 onion
• 1 large chicken

Directions

1. Combine the dried spices in a small bowl.
2. Loosely chop the onion and place it in the bottom of the slow cooker.
3. Remove any giblets from the chicken, rinse the chicken cavity and under the skin, and then rub the spice mixture all over. You can even put some of the spices inside the cavity and under the skin covering the breasts.
4. Put prepared chicken on top of the onions in the slow cooker, cover it, and turn it on to high. There is no need to add any liquid.
5. Cook for 4 – 5 hours on high (for a 3 or 4 pound chicken) or until the chicken is falling off the bone.

Remember, chicken should register at at 165 degrees on a meat thermometer when it is fully cooked. I suggest purchasing a meat thermometer if you don’t own one.

Nutrition

I use my food scale to portion out 4 oz of chicken when I snack.
4 oz of white meat is about 60 calories and 15 grams of protein.

Enjoy! This will save you time and money and give you guilt-free, preservative-laden chicken.

I’ve posted before about black bean burgers and how much I LOVE them. I found a new recipe for a quinoa and black bean burger that may be my new favorite vegetarian burger. The flavor, texture, and everything about this burger is delicious!

This recipe is courtesy of All Recipes, who always has wonderful food ideas. Their iPad app is a great tool when deciding what to cook for dinner. You can find the original burger recipe HERE.

I always double this recipe to make 10 burgers, each containing only 160 calories! Eat one on a sandwich thin bun and your burger is maxing out at 260 calories. You can’t lose!

QUINOA BLACK BEAN BURGERS

Makes 5 burgers-

Ingredients

1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup uncooked quinoa
1/2 cup water, to cook quinoa
1/2 cup bread crumbs (I use Italian breadcrumbs)
1/4 cup yellow bell pepper (about 1/2 of a pepper)
2 TBLSP chopped onion
1 large garlic clove, about 1 tsp minced garlic
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 TBSLP fresh chopped cilantro*
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp hot sauce, your choice
1 egg
Olive oil, to cook burgers

*The All Recipes version does not call for it, but I recommend adding a Tablespoon of fresh cilantro.

Directions

1. Bring the quinoa and water to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the quinoa is tender and the water has been absorbed, about 15 to 20 minutes.
2. Roughly mash the black beans with a fork or potato masher, leaving some whole black beans in a paste-like mixture.
3. Mix the quinoa, bread crumbs, bell pepper, onion, garlic, cumin, salt, hot pepper sauce, and egg into the black beans using your hands.
4. Form the black bean mixture into 5 patties.
5. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet.
6. Reduce heat to medium- low. Cook the patties in the hot oil until heated through, 4 to 5 minutes per side.

Cooking Light might be my favorite recipe magazine- every month it comes in the mail, and I cannot wait to tear out new delicious recipes. Today’s recipe is Walnut and Rosemary Oven Fried Chicken. One word: YUM! This recipe is not only healthy but extremely easy and tasty.

The picture above and the recipe are linked from Cooking Light and My Recipes. You can find the original recipe by clicking HERE.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/4 cup low-fat buttermilk*
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 4 (6-ounce) chicken cutlets
• 1/3 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
• 1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts
• 2 tablespoons grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• 3/4 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Cooking spray

*No need to buy an entire container of buttermilk- make your own. Mix 1 cup milk to 1 TBLSP lemon juice to create your own buttermilk at home!

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 425°.
2. Combine buttermilk and mustard in a shallow dish, stirring with a whisk. Add chicken to buttermilk mixture, turning to coat.
3. Heat a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add panko to pan; cook 3 minutes or until golden, stirring frequently. Combine panko, nuts, and next 4 ingredients (through pepper) in a shallow dish. Remove chicken from buttermilk mixture; discard buttermilk mixture. Dredge chicken in panko mixture.
4. Arrange a wire rack on a large baking sheet; coat rack with cooking spray. Arrange chicken on rack; coat chicken with cooking spray. Bake at 425° for 13 minutes or until chicken is done. Garnish with rosemary leaves, if desired.

This is Cooking Light’s exact recipe. When I cooked it, I knew it needed to be a blog recipe!

NUTRITION

Amount per serving (1 6 oz breast)

• Calories: 292
• Fat: 9.6g
• Saturated fat: 1.6g
• Protein: 42.7g
• Carbohydrate: 6.8g
• Fiber: 0.9g
• Cholesterol: 101mg

This recipe is great with kale chips and baked sweet potatoes! Find my kale chips recipe HERE. Bake your sweet potatoes at 375 degrees for 1.5 to 2 hours.

Enjoy!

You may be thinking “quin-what!?” That word is quinoa (keen-wah), and is a grain high in protein and fiber! In fact, quinoa is a perfect protein because it contains all of the essential amino acids! It is perfect by itself or is great added to soups, chilis, salads, and more.

This recipe is one we tried not too long ago and really loved. It has a basic chicken soup flavor, with the quinoa adding a nice nuttiness to it as well. Once again, I recommend doubling it and freezing some so you have a quick go to meal in a couple weeks!

QUINOA CHICKEN SOUP

Ingredients

2 TBLSP olive oil
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1/2 cup carrots, chopped
1/2 cup scallions or onions, chopped
2 cups water
3 cups chicken broth or stock
1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed and uncooked
2 cups chicken, diced and chopped (I recommend buying rotisserie chicken & shredding it)
1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped
1/2 TSP garlic powder
1/2 TSP black pepper
1/2 TSP salt

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, heat 2 TBLSP olive oil over medium high heat. Add in celery, carrots, and onions and saute until browned (about 5 minutes).

2. Stir in 2 cups of water and 3 cups of chicken broth and bring to a boil.

3. Add in the rest of the ingredients (through the salt), and reduce heat to low, and cook 20 minutes. You can adjust seasonings as needed at this point.

Serves: 8 one cup servings