basil boobie bells

immediately after this morning's class! a good friend of mine told me she was coming to see me and she showed up as promised :) i know how tough a 5:30am appointment can be to make, and i was so happy to see her again.  i expressed my gratitude by kicking her butt, lol!  1 hour of total body conditioning later, we were outta there for the day.

a little later, i took Chiso to an Easter Egg Hunt that was being held at Discovery Green downtown.  they always have something going on there for all ages, love it!  we made it exactly 3 minutes before it started, but mommy forgot to put money in the meter so we had to speed walk all the way back to the truck. the meter maid  actually met us there and had the ticket in hand and everything that fast!!!! he let me make it this time though, thank God. #whew

they let the 0 - 2 kiddos go first, so we made it back in time for Chiso to grab a few eggs. i cherish spending time with my little Stank Tank.

on to tha fooooood!  i got some sliced rotisserie chicken from the HEB deli earlier this week, so i chopped it up and topped my spring mix salad with it for meal 3.  it also had strawberries, carrots, avocado, tomatoes, pecans, fat-free feta, cracked black pepper, and a couple drizzles of Walden Farms raspberry vinaigrette.

 so about those bell peppers!  how many pics of these guys did i take? lots.

they were on sale at Kroger at the time 10 for 10 dollars, so i bought a bunch of 'em.

then we walked to the mailbox later that evening and lookie there!  perfect timing for the cover of one of my fave mags! what a coincidence.  at least i think that's what happened. i don't remember anymore cause this post has been a draft since the end of January :lol: sounds about right though.

basil boobie bells

the stuff:

• 4 large bell peppers
• 2 large chicken breasts (or ground turkey, ground chicken)
• 1 cup cooked brown rice (or quinoa, or couscous)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp mrs. dash southwest chipotle seasoning
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley
• 2 tbsp fresh cilantro
• 2 tbsp fresh basil
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1 roma tomato, chopped
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2  cup low sodium oregano, garlic tomato sauce
• 1 - 2 tbsp liquid aminos
• 1/2 cup goat cheese (or shredded parmesan, or fat-free feta)
• no stick cooking spray

do this:

1. preheat your oven to 375 degrees. cut the tops off of your peppers, remove the seeds, and if need be, cut the bottoms to ensure they sit flat in your pan.

2. spray both your baking pan and a medium heated skillet with no-stick cooking spray.

3.  add the chopped garlic and onion to the hot skillet, and saute until translucent (2-3 minutes)

4. add raw, chopped chicken, liquid aminos, herbs, and spices; cook through until there is no more pink (5-7 minutes)

5. add the cooked rice, tomato sauce, chopped tomato and goat cheese, then turn off the heat and mix well.

6.  situate your peppers into your baking pan, and distribute the mixture evenly between all four peppers.

7. bake for 40-50 minutes or until tender.

8. top with more fresh basil, let them cool, then eat 'em up.

per bell pepper! remember the stats change depending on your substitutions ;)

let the bell pepper pic collage ensue:

eat arainbow!!!

also, if you haven't seen it on Instagram yet,  i'm running a contest that started yesterday (monday) and will end this FRIDAY! you MUST like the Fit Foodie Le Facebook Fan Page if you haven't already- i will pick one lucky fan to win something seriously cool. health and fitness related of course! spread the word, please and thank you!

le

@ my desk

no more start/stop- catching up NOW.

good monday that is almost over to you!!

this will be crazy random but just stay with me.

i hope you guys are using and being creative the IG food pics- that's definitely some of my motivation for posting.

this was lunch @ my desk last Friday:

100 calorie multi-grain english muffin, grilled chicken breast, avocado, spicy mustard, and a crispy red bell pepper.  since my job is waaaaaaaaay closer to Trader Joe's than my house, i stopped by there to get a few specialty items on my lunch break that day.

more eggplant humus wish it came in a big TUB.

i can pronounce everything. that's the kind of ingredient list i like to see and the kind you should look for as often as possible.  also, natural, no additives or preservatives means eat it sooner than later! won't last but a few days.

also got some sweet sugar snap peas for dipping! in the car.

 i walked into TJ's with intent to restock my fig butter, but as soon as those double entrance doors parted, i walked straight up to a tower of pumpkin butter.  clever is that seasonal marketing. they also had honey apple butter and i couldn't leave without it.  i did leave the mango butter for next time though.

i hit up HEB, Whole Foods, and Sams this weekend to do my real shopping.  i got my sample on of course,

  *high five*, HEB.  but zero points for presentation.  steak pizzaiola, italian chicken sausage soup, and creamy potato casserole was served at one of their live sample stations. oh God, those potatoes though :shock: . i always grab a recipe card to see just what they put in those samples and they never fail to freak me out.  full-fat heavy cream and cream cheese is what made those potatoes so darn good!  but they were sample size sooooo i proceeded to enjoy.

i got outta there with my usual stuff plus a few specialty items.

my kitchen island stays just like this for the most part.  i like to keep my produce out where i can see it cause i'll forget about it in the fridge and it's more likely to spoil.  gonna go ahead and add 'personal grocery shopper' to my resume, seriously!!! i could do this every day.

i've been using the sesame Ezekiel bread for the past few weeks, so i picked up the cinnamon raisin loaf this time.

i have sweet and savory dishes in mind for this puppy.

fat-free feta and goat cheese are still two dairy cheeses i won't be giving up (will expand on that shortly), but i was inspired to try almond cheese from a fellow health and fitness IGer.  i figure i love almond milk, so i'd prolly like the cheese too. uh, yeah! it melts, grates, and tastes just like dairy cheese and nutritional stats are awesome.  i'm impressed and sold.  gonna try some rice cheese too.

i've been a fan of Blue Diamond brand almond milk since Hungry-Girl introduced me to it a few years ago, but decided to try the Silk brand because of the lower calorie count.

it is so much more creamier than i was expecting! i may have been converted indefinitely...

I picked up some of Sonny's fav granola from Whole Foods - pumpkin flax.  it's the best granola (nutrtion-wise) in the bulk aisle line up.  140 cals and 5g of sugar per serving. read your labels- granola is more like a treat/dessert as the sugar content can be super high for some of them.  a few spoonfuls over some cottage cheese or yogurt or a small serving of it is just enough.

 granola + almond milk = one great bed time snack.  if only i could stop eating bowl after bowl.

lunch today @ my desk:

seeing red today for meal 2-  grilled chicken breast, avocado, red bell pepper, tomato, spicy mustard and honey apple butter.  wrapped all up in a La Tortilla Factory white-wheat soft wrap with some strawberries on the side.

i snuck in some sugar snap peas and eggplant humus too.

we had some GORGEOUS weather in Houston today!! Sonny hates the cold and is already griping about having to stop his outside runs.  he still has time to take advantage though cause it will be hot again like tomorrow.

cajun crusted tilapia recipe coming up next.

le