300 calorie breakfast

I am still looking for a camera and this is a lot of work, I am thinking about going with a refurbished one since they are a lot cheaper but I still not have decided which one I should go with.
I know I have been looking forward to my workouts now especially since the weather is a lot warmer and my body has finally not in shock by the cold weather. I am still in my pursuit to make my breakfast 300 calories and I am almost there. When the weather gets hot the meals get lighter and less portions. Thank god for summer.

300 calorie breakfast
½ cup oatmeal: 100
1 boiled egg: 70
1 boil egg white: 17
1 banana: 105
Total Calories: 292
I hope my 300 calorie breakfast has inspired everyone to make right choices that are not time consuming at all and they taste great. Just add water!

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Shopping for a Camera

This weekend turned in to major prep for the rest of the week, but since it is finally done I decided to tell you guys more about the new camera I will be purchasing. I did ramble about it Friday but I wanted to show you a few of the cameras I have been looking at. I am excited to finally have saved a few pennies for it and it was not easy but I know it will be rewarding and put to good use.
I know my main reason was because I wanted to turn my blog into a recipe blog and a pretty picture goes along way. I truly believe that a dslr brings food to life; the clarity that the pictures have are amazing versus a point a shoot. This is just my personal opinion I have been photographing a lot of recipes with my point and shoot and trying to style my food as well. It has not been the same and I really want to share my recipes with you so that is why I am looking to upgrade.
I know it will get worse for country boy he has become my camera assistant. If I need my camera he always knows where it is; before we eat he asks me do I need to get my camera before we start ( food has not gotten cold). Once I get my new camera I think he may quit his job. Then it will be left up to me to figure all that stuff out but I am looking forward to it.
I have this dslr in mind and I also have this one in mind also. I have not really decided which one I am going to go with yet. I am still deliberating, you guys know how I got indecisive I was when it came to my dehydrator(which is working like a charm by the way).
I do know I will be purchasing this lens as well, I am thinking it may be cheaper to just by the body and then get the lens as I go. I still have not decided but I will let you know before I finally purchase one.

Ramble Friday: Cameras, Recipes, and Blogs

I am so happy to finally have made it to the end of the week. I am so excited for the weekend although I do not have anything plan. I am going to try to do some things that I meant to do this spring that never got done.
I wanted to tell you guys that I am thinking about purchasing a new camera pretty soon, I have finally saved up some money that I can finally afford a dslr. I am so excited because that means more recipes that look way better. I know many people believe you can do just fine with a point and shoot camera; I completely disagree I have so many recipes with my point and shoot. I have tried every angle and lighting and nothing compares to a dslr. Maybe an iPhone would be better than a point and shoot, but I have seen some ridiculous amounts people pay for service a month just to use their iPhone. I think I will keep my plan and phone for now.
I am really excited to make more recipes I have been going back and forth should I put more recipes on the blog or should I just keep blogging the way I am right now. I really would love to become an all-out foodie blog, but I also love rambling to you guys about the things I do and how I feel. I am still torn between the two.
I guess I have ramble enough for today, I am so excited about my new purchase. Of course before I buy my camera I will show you guys a couple of cameras I am thinking of going with…
Have a good day
Love

Coconut Fudge Bites (Only 3 ingredients)

I am a sugar addict I tell ya! I always have a craving for something sweet especially at night when it is time for bed. I am happy that my cravings decided to hit in the afternoon instead of later in the day; just the excuse I needed to make one of my favorite recipes.
Coconut Fudge Bites is a very simple recipe that is easy and quite healthy for you; all you need is a blender or food processor and 3 ingredients. Let’s get cooking!

The ingredients that will make this treat delicious..

Oh boy I can eat this ball of dough right now, it is so tasty I had about two spoonfuls

Chocolate just makes everything look so much better and taste even better.

Coconut Fudge Bites Recipe(Only 3 ingredients):
6 medjool dates
½ cup dry shredded coconut (unsweetened)
4 squares of 60% dark chocolate

Directions: Add the coconut and dates to the food processor and pulse until the coconut and dates become a soft dough; add the dark chocolate to the mixture and pulse it until the chocolate turns into tiny pieces. Dump the mixture into a bowl and form bite size pieces.

Pancake Toppings

I have been looking forward to coming up with a few pancake toppings, lately I have been making a lot of protein pancakes. They are so simple and since I have a lot of time in the morning I choose to make them (early wake-up call). I know I should lay off my obsession with pancakes but gosh I just cannot help it. I really would love to eat them for breakfast lunch and dinner. I think I just may do that and just photograph them so you guys can see how dedicated I am to my obsession.

My main concern with my pancakes is I have been running out of toppings. I used to use yogurt but because of my dairy allergy I decided to lay off yogurt for a while. I am using Walden syrup but it is so bland that some flavors taste like cough syrup. Besides I am all about variety.

I know I can just eat them plain but what is the fun in that, besides I love toppings on my pancakes. I know I could add fruit, but I love for my fluffy pancakes to soak up liquids and get sticky they taste so sweet that way. I am thinking about doing a pancake topping series on the blog. It will be fun and challenging but every pancake should have syrup on it…

Question of the day: What is your favorite topping to add to your pancakes?

Honey Nut Fig Bars

I am so happy to get my appetite back, that cold really did a number on me. I really wanted something sweet that had figs and nuts. I could not wait to get into the kitchen even though the weather has been pretty warm I am still looking forward to cooking.
It was time to use these figs since they have been sitting in the fridge for a while now. I did not want them to grow mold, and since I am not turning on the oven I decided to make a raw desert to kill my sweet tooth.
Honey nut fig bars are a great recipe to share, you will have more than just one.

Honey Nut Fig Bars:
1 ½ cup dried figs
1 cup shredded coconut
½ cup almonds
3 tbsp. raw honey
1 tsp. vanilla
Directions: Place almonds and figs into the food processor; if your figs have tips cut them off (mine did) after pulse figs and almonds until you get a sticky mixture. Add the coconut and honey to the mixture and pulse it; once it is all mixed add the vanilla and mix the ingredients on high. After all the ingredients are combined take the mixture out and use a loaf pan as a mold for the mixture. Press the mixture into the loaf pan, and leave it in the fridge overnight. The next day cut in to bite size squares and enjoy.

Shout it out Wenesday Le!

Eating healthy takes a lot of time and effort; I know most recipes do not cater to people who want low calories and low fat versions to recipes.
I even have a hard time coming up with ideals of what to cook that would be healthy and not bland. There are times when I just go oh screw it! Let me just add some sauce to this throw it in the oven and I know it will taste much better. I think food has to be the hardest thing to overcome when changing your life style.

It is still a struggle but thanks to Le I am able to have healthy recipes that are way better for you and lower in calories. When my sweet tooth is killing me (chocolate cookies any one?) I can find a healthy recipe that is an alternative.
I am a recipe fanatic and her recipes have really kept me on track this month so I had to dedicate shout it out Wednesday to Le. If you like to bake, cook, or just in the mood for a quick meal her recipes are defiantly worth trying. They are also very appetizing to look at; if we gain calories from just looking at food I would be well over 500 pounds by now.
I try to get in the kitchen and come up with more recipes, but if I am out of ideals and need to make dinner for the night. I usually find a wonderful recipe on her blog that I can make in a hurry. If you are a foodie trying to get fit then defiantly give Le’s recipes a try.

Pick and Choose Random things

I finally picked a dehydrator (yes it took me a while), but I really wanted the one that would be best for me on my budget. I decided that my first recipe would be banana chips. The bananas are turning brown so why not put them to good use. I know I have a bad habit of letting bananas sit, but you know it is time for them to go once the fruit flies and pesky little gnats start attacking you’re your bananas. I hope my dehydrator is here before they go black but if not I will find something else to do with them (will keep you updated).

When I finally mustard up the courage to try and make granola bars the recipe I wanted to use was not the one I really wanted, I decided that I wanted to try this recipe but then I wanted to try this recipe. That is when I realized some of the ingredients in both recipes I did not have, neither did I want to use flour. I decided to call my grandma and ask her for a recipe. So in the end I made two different granola bars, a chewy one and a crunchy one both with black sesame seeds (only seeds I had)..

Gosh today has gone by extra fast, I still need to do 100 more squats to get up to 200 and hurry up and finish my fourth meal for the day. I am having rice cake bagels they are just that additive and I am using raspberry yogurt this time I look forward to eating so I am going to be happy once they are in my tummy. I am trying to come up with more rice cake recipes that will not leave the rice cakes to soggy. Challenges can be so difficult yet I am having fun with squats even if I can barely walk the next day.

Question of the day: What April challenges are you doing, and how far have you gotten in your challenge?

Strawberry Smoothie-Shake

Summer is approaching faster than I thought, with it being so warm out I really wanted something sweet that had strawberries in it. I know strawberry season is not here yet but the weather is defiantly calling for me to eat a big bowl; mine are frozen so I would have some serious brain freeze, if I ever decided to take on that many frozen strawberries at once. I guess I could wait for them to thaw but I am very impatient (I am working on it) person, so I would probably try to rush the process and end up with a catastrophe. I need strawberries in my life today; the weather is perfect for it since I see so many kids with ice cream cones. I would love a drink that taste like a milkshake but looks like a smoothie. We can call it a smoothie-shake and that would be the end of the controversy over “what is the difference between shakes and smoothies “(I still have no clue). Strawberry milkshakes sound great right about now but a smoothie seems healthier so let’s combine the two and get to the recipe…


Strawberry Smoothie-Shake

2 cup Frozen Strawberry
2 cup Soy Milk
2 (6oz) container strawberry yogurt
1tsp of sugar, optional

Directions: Place strawberries, yogurt, and sugar in blender (I used my food processor) allow to blend and slowly pour in milk and let puree.
Note: The Smoothie-Shake will be extra thick like ice cream you may need a spoon, I did not use any sweetener but if you have a major sweet tooth you can use more sugar or any sweetener of your choice (stevia works well).

Rice Cake Bagels

I decided to do a recipe today for rice cake bagels. I find it so hard to go to work without looking at the array of bagels and frosted doughnuts that call my name; sometimes I feel so left out from eating bagels that I just stare at them wanting to devour them all to myself. I know I should think about how great I will look this summer, but who really wants to feel left out from food (out of all things). I decided that I would create my own bagels; after making rice cake cereal it just seem rice cakes have endless possibilities. The best part if you sleep in and forgot to make breakfast, you can go to work and have a rice cake bagel that is only 35 calories; you can also spread cream cheese on them but I prefer strawberry yogurt.

Rice Cake Bagel:

2 rice cakes
6oz container black cherry yogurt

Directions: Spread liberally, it only has 210 calories…